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Sixth MERS Death In South Korea As Cases Rise; The Hunt For Killers After Elaborate Prison Break; U.S. Wants Jack Warner To Stand Trial; Russia Excluded From G7 Summit; Iraqi Sources: Joint Forces Reclaim Baiji City; Saudi Arabian Court Upholds 1,000 Lashes Sentence; Europe Grappling With Immigration Crisis; Tony Awards Honor The Best Of Broadway. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 08, 2015 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll climb from the MERS outbreak in South Korea as the government quarantines thousand to try to keep the virus from spreading.

Police in the U.S. state of New York are hunting for two convicted killers who have escaped from a maximum security prison. All they left behind was a note.

Plus, a top FIFA official says if there is evidence of bribery, the location of the next two World Cup tournaments could be in doubt.

And 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison, Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court says it is the right punishment for a man who insulted Islam in his blog.

Hello, welcome to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

A sixth person in South Korea has died after contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The number of MERS cases has also shot up to 87. Virtually all of the infected patients have gotten the virus in health care facilities, but the public is on edge.

More than 2500 people are quarantined and hundreds of schools across South Korea are closed to prevent MERS from spreading. CNN's Kathy Novak is live for us in Seoul with the very latest.

So, Kathy, the numbers are alarming, six dead. Thousands quarantined and nearly 90 confirmed cases of MERS, spreading fast. South Koreans are understandably alarmed. What is the government doing to try to earn back the trust it lost and to try to contain the outbreak?

KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, one thing the government is trying to do is make good on a promise to be more transparent. This has been going on for almost three weeks now. It's been that long since the first case of MERS was confirmed.

In that time the government was not naming the hospitals that may have been affected. That had people quite concerned. The government was saying that it did not want to create unnecessary panic and did not want to have a negative impact on the economy.

But what ended up happening was that web sites were publishing their own maps and lists of hospitals that may have been affected by this MERS outbreak.

Finally over the weekend the government bowed to the pressure and named 24 hospitals that had been or may have been exposed to the virus. At the same time, it is stepping up the controls on the quarantine orders.

More than 2,000 people who are being quarantined are being isolated in their own homes, and of course, that is very difficult to track. Now what the government is saying is that it is going to use the GPS devices on their mobile phones to make sure that they are obeying orders to stay home and not go out into the public -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: An incredible move. Kathy, talk to us about the most vulnerable people. How they can protect themselves from this virus and how the people who already have MERS are being treated right now?

NOVAK: The most vulnerable people, Rosemary, are people over age 50, who have pre-existing conditions. That's the case for all six people who have passed away from MERS. We know that schools have been closed as a precaution.

But in fact it is the older people who are most at risk. In fact, we know that healthy people may really be able to ride out this virus. Two people in fact have already gone through their quarantine orders and recovered and been cleared.

One of them is over the age of 60. The other is a doctor who treated the first patient. We know it is not airborne. We are being told that by experts. Also, that the symptoms are similar to the common flu.

So what South Koreans are being told by the government is to simply practice good personal hygiene. Avoid close personal contact. Avoid big crowds and wash their hands often. And it is hoped that that will stop a widespread of this outbreak -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Certainly some good advice there. Kathy Novak reporting from Seoul, South Korea, many thanks to you.

The state of New York is offering $100,000 for the capture of two killers who escaped from a maximum security prison over the weekend. Their elaborate plan included power tools and decoy dummies in their beds.

Right now, police say the men could literally be anywhere. They have put Canada and Mexico on alert. The two men were so bold they left this sticky note on a pipe in one of the cells taunting the officers. Polo Sandoval has more from New York.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Priorities for police in New York find the two extremely dangerous individuals and try to find out exactly how they were able to pull off such an elaborate jailbreak. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[03:05:09] SANDOVAL (voice-over): A massive manhunt under way for two convicted killers on the run, the FBI, state and local police setting up roadblocks searching house to house.

MAJOR CHARLES GUESS, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: Currently we have over 200 law enforcement officers in the area with a variety of specialized units and equipment at their disposal. No stone is being left unturned.

SANDOVAL: The 48-year-old Richard Matt and 34-year-old David Sweat made a daring escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York near the Canadian border.

ANDREW CUOMO, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: We don't doubt it was an extraordinary act. You have a facility opened in 1865, think about it. This is first escape from the maximum security portion of the institution ever.

SANDOVAL: The pair left make shift dummies in their beds made out of hooded sweat shirts and carved a hole through a steel wall at the rear of their cells.

ANTHONY ANNUCCI, NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: This morning, we noticed, during the standing count at 5:30 a.m. at this facility, the two cells which were joining each other, were empty.

SANDOVAL: Officials say the inmates crawled through tunnels and done a six-story catwalk, and used power tools to cut through steel pipes eventually escaping through a manhole outside the prison perimeter. Officials say the brazen pair even left a note for prison officials. It read "Have a nice day."

CUOMO: We went back and pieced together what they did. It was elaborate. It was sophisticated.

SANDOVAL: Sweat serving sentence of life without parole after he was convicted of first degree murder. Matt is serving 25 years to life for kidnapping a man and beating him to death.

CUOMO: So these are dangerous people. They are nothing to be trifled with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: I have spoken to law enforcement. They are confident that they will eventually track down these two individuals. The concern now is what would two desperate fugitives on the run be willing to do to stay beyond the prison walls?

CHURCH: Polo Sandoval reporting there. CNN law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes, has a closer look now at how the convicts may have planned their escape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It's clear that they used power tools to escape. They had to have somebody help. This is, one thing if somebody brings brownies during a visit to the prison. It's another thing if they show up with steel cutting saws and try to fit that under the window during visitation.

So I don't think that is what happened here. It's possible that with ongoing construction or reconstruct, at that prison that they could have done this during the daytime and just timed what they were doing with when other construction was going on.

So no one would hear anything suspicious. Just the normal tools, construction tools being used during daytime construction. I don't think they were using it at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning when it would be the only noise people would hear.

They've had enough inside job to get tools, they probably had enough plan coordinated for when they got outside of the prison. Somebody to drive them, bring them clothing, bring them money. I think probably the first place authorities would want to look, were they married?

Do they have wives, girlfriend, brothers, sisters, parents that may have assisted them and may be missing also right now indicating they're getting help and being driven by one of those people?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: New York state police say they are using all of their available resources to try to catch these men.

Well, now to the growing corruption investigation into FIFA. A top official for football's world governing body says Russia and Qatar may lose their rights to host the next two World Cups if there is evidence they used bribery to win their bids. Both countries deny any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, a BBC investigation suggests that former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner had transferred $10 million from FIFA to accounts he controlled and used the money personally. The U.S. accused Warner of taking that money as a bribe to vote for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup.

Both Warner and South African officials deny any accusations of bribery. Also, the "Sunday Times" claims its reporters made recordings of FIFA officials describing million dollar bribes before picking South Africa for the 2010 tournament.

Jack Warner refuses to go to the United States to stand trial and he is promising to release dirty secrets about FIFA. As our Robyn Curnow reports, he is not an easy man to get in touch with.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The list of football officials facing corruption charges is extensive. For international law enforcement none would be a greater get than Jack Warner, former FIFA vice president and biggest power in sports throughout the Americas for two decades.

As claims against the 72-year-old mount, we went to find him in his island home flying from Atlanta to Miami.

[03:10:06] And all across the Caribbean to this dot on the map now arguably the eye of the FIFA storm. A quick drive to the hotel and then we hit the phones.

(on camera): Mr. Warner. It's Robyn Curnow here from CNN.

(voice-over): We left a voice mail. Perhaps, Jack Warner would give us an interview. The man we are searching for is truly a jack of all trades, in business, in politics, sports.

Here in Trinidad, he is a member of parliament. Next stop his constituency. By now we have his e-mail address too. I tap out a brief request. Press send.

(on camera): Office of the parliament for Jack Warner.

(voice-over): Then we almost stumble on Jack Warner's office.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you looking for Jack?

CURNOW (on camera): We're looking for jack. You know where he is? Hello. Do you work here?

(voice-over): Inside we are stone walled by an office manager.

(on camera): Is he here now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he asked that you respect that.

CURNOW (voice-over): Other media turn up too. Warner's staff offering a perimeter of security, but he was there, behind them, behind the door at his desk wearing a jovial shirt, but not quite such a jovial expression.

(on camera): Well, in the simplest possible terms I have been kicked out.

(voice-over): A brief sighting and we found ourselves ejected from the premises. But knowing our man was behind that window, perhaps if we waited we could still convince him so, one more text message to Warner's phone, more waiting.

Then as the afternoon wore on, a supporter offered to persuade Mr. Warner to talk, he wouldn't so, a final option to get Jack Warner's attention, the old-fashioned way.

We might not have spoken to the elusive Mr. Warner, but as the allegations against him escalate, the U.S. attorney general is confident she will. Robyn Curnow, CNN, Trinidad.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: Parliamentary elections in Turkey have delivered a setback to President Erdogan, but it was a victory for ethnic Kurds. The pro- Kurdish people's democratic party, HDP, finished in fourth place. But got more than 10 percent of the vote it needed to enter parliament.

The ruling AKP now must form a coalition government after failing to win an outright majority for the first time since taking power in 2002. President Erdogan's proposal to shift more power to the presidency is now in question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It should be then that every measure will be taken to prevent damage to people's stability and peace. People should remain in peace. People should look into the future with trust because the AK party is Turkey's backbone and the AK party is on duty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The director of the Turkish Research Program at Washington Institute says this was not the expected outcome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SONER CAGAPLAY, BEYER FAMILY FELLOW, DIRECTOR, TURKISH RESEARCH PROGRAM: I think this is surprising because Erdogan was doing so well. His party had won three successive elections before running on a platform of delivering economic growth.

Yet at the same time, the Turkey president was becoming authoritarian, cracking down on the media as well as imposing a certain amount of social conservatism on the society using the government. The election results are a reaction to that.

At the same time that Erdogan was hoping he could turn Turkey's parliamentary democracy into a U.S. style presidential system with himself at the helm as an executive style presidency. The Turkish population vetoed all of that and told Erdogan that they really don't want that.

Ironically, I think when given a choice between democracy and prosperity, the Turks have picked democracy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The HDP's co-leader ruled out a coalition with the AKP. The president's party now has 45 days to form a coalition or it could call a new early election.

The second day of the G7 Summit is just getting started in the Bavarian Alps. We have the details on what's on the agenda this morning in a live report.

Plus Iraqi forces claim a victory in the battle against ISIS, but there is more work to be done. We will have a live report on that as well, back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, the second and final day of the G7 Summit is underway in Germany. World leaders have just sat done to a morning session. They're expected to tackle climate change and climate issues in their morning session.

As this happens, thousands of people have taken to the streets nearby, mostly peaceful protests against the group of seven. Karl Penhaul was there as they marched on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of the thousands of protesters, of the last few days have been campaigning to stop President Obama and the other members of the group of seven from meeting.

But at every move today their moves have been stifled by the riot police, 17,000 police on duty to provide security. The total cost of that summit, $150 million, which is the protesters say that cost is an obscene cost for this type of meeting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Karl Penhaul reporting there. Russia is conspicuously absent as the group of seven meet. World leaders excluded the country for a second year over the conflict with Ukraine. But Russia still dominated the discussions.

U.S. President Barack Obama is pushing European leaders to keep economic sanctions against Russia in place.

[03:20:07] CNN senior international correspondent, Atika Shubert, is following the events of the G7 Summit. She joins me now live. So, what can we expect to be on the agenda for the second final day of the G7 Summit? What is likely to be achieved in all?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a whole set of issues to be addressed today especially because not only do we have the G7 leaders here, but a number of outreach partners as well. For example, African leaders will be here to address the Ebola crisis that happened in assessing whether there could have been faster reaction by the international community.

But also Iraq's prime minister will be here. He will meet with President Obama about the ongoing situation in Syria and Iraq, the fight against ISIS there.

But as you point out -- the issue of Russia and Ukraine has so far dominated the agenda. In fact, with President Obama's bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday, more than half of their discussion was devoted to the crisis in Ukraine specifically to, in the words of the White Press secretary here, "Preserving unity on sanctions on Russia." This is very key. The United States says sanctions have to be maintained to isolate Russia to deter aggressive actions in Ukraine. But in order to keep those sanctions in place, of course, all of Europe has to hold, hold fast and make sure the sanctions stand.

That is a tough job. There are countries like Greece, for example that have been meeting with Russian officials. And there is some question whether sanctions are hurting the European economy as well as Russia's.

So, President Obama is here to try and convince many of those in Europe to stay fast with sanctions. Germany is a key ally in that -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Atika, is there any sense that any really solid progress has been made in the talks just this final day now to pull it altogether.

SHUBERT: Well, you know what we know is that so far Germany for example has said that they stand united with the United States, holding the sanctions. We don't seem to see for example any indication that further sanctions will be put on Russia.

The other crisis on the agenda today is the situation in Iraq. We've seen coalition forces have major setbacks in Ramadi, in Anbar Province, and this will be addressed.

We don't expect to hear President Obama announce any further significant military aid to Iraq other than the coalition forces already in place and the air strikes ongoing against ISIS.

So do we see any concrete signs of progress? Not at the moment. We are of course waiting for that communique that will come out from G7 leaders later today.

CHURCH: All right, Atika Shubert reporting there, covering the G7 summit, and from the Bavarian Alps, many thanks to you.

Well, in Iraq, military officials say they regained control of Baiji City from ISIS. A Defense Ministry spokesman says the U.S. helped support the operation. But there are still some booby traps and small pockets of resistance.

The spokesman says ISIS fighters retreated toward Mosul while they endured air attacks. Iraqi forces are fighting to retake the nearby Baiji refinery, that is the largest oil refinery in the country.

And now Jomana Karadsheh is following the developments and joins us now from Amman, Jordan, with the very latest. So what more details are you getting on this news that Iraqi joint forces have pushed ISIS out of the city of Baiji, critically not the Baiji oil refinery. What's the significance of all of this?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, what we are hearing from both military officials in Iraq and also militia officials. Of course Shia militias here, the main fighting force on the ground also playing a key role in this. On Sunday announcing that they regained control of major parts, key parts of the city of Baiji, they have been fighting for, for months. This has been under ISIS control since last year as the group swept through Northern Iraq.

According to Iraqi officials, they say that they have taken control of the main government complex, city center, and the main mosque. What they describe as left, they say, is pockets of resistance.

They say clearing operations are ongoing. As they claim that ISIS fighters that were in the city have withdrawn to Mosul leaving behind booby traps as we have seen them in city that have been recaptured by Iraqi forces.

As you mention, Rosemary, very key here is the Baiji oil refinery. What is going on there? It is unclear at this point.

[03:25:00] Now over the past few months this refinery, Iraq's largest, changed hand several times between Iraqi forces and ISIS. And in recent weeks, we saw ISIS gain control over the majority of that refinery that is very significant for the group.

We have seen them, put a large number of fighters and real dedication in the fight for the Baiji oil refinery, both important for them symbolically keeping control of Iraq's largest oil refinery although the facility has not been functioning for months now.

And also, strategically its location, the Baiji area is very important on the way to Mosul. Iraqi officials have said, if there are any operations, whenever they decide to go forward to Mosul. They will have to gain control of the Baiji oil refinery.

The area will allow them to move forward. Big concern, Rosemary with the oil refinery is that if ISIS were to withdraw, there is concern amongst Iraqi officials that it will destroy the refinery before it moves out.

Of course, big challenge here is whether there Iraqi forces will be able to maintain control in the face of a very adaptive enemy we have seen over the past few months as we have seen in other examples and setbacks that the Iraqis have faced -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, some valid points there. Jomana Karadsheh reporting from Amman, Jordan, many thanks to you.

Online retailer amazon.com has pulled an ISIS propaganda magazine from its virtual shelves. Four different volumes of the English language magazine were apparently available in paperback for about two weeks. Amazon says the publications were removed and a quick search confirms that.

A blogger learns his sentence has been upheld by the Saudi Arabian Supreme Court including receiving 1,000 lashes. We will have a live report on the details. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers in the U.S. and of course around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. And we want to check the headlines for you right now.

The second and final day of the G7 Summit is under way with world leaders in a morning session on climate change. Russia is noticeably absent from the event. World leaders excluded the country for a second year over the conflict with Ukraine.

For the first time since the investigations began, a top FIFA official said there is a chance Russia and Qatar could lose their rights to host the next World Cup, World Cups, if there is evidence they used bribery to win their bid. Both countries have denied any wrongdoing.

Two convicted killers could be literally anywhere. That's what police say about two men who escaped from a maximum security prison in New York. Police say the inmates have cells next to each other and used power tools to break through a steel wall and put decoys in their beds.

Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has upheld the harsh punishment against blogger, Raif Badawi. Badawi was arrested three years ago and found guilty of in insulting Islam. He was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and ten years in prison. He got the first 50 lashes back in January.

Well, now we want to bring in Jan Wetzel, live from Hong Kong, he is the senior legal adviser at Amnesty International. Thank you for talking with us.

So, Jan Wetzel, a disturbing case, blogger, Raif Badawi, flogged in public 50 times back in January, and he still has another 950 lashes and ten years in prison to serve and all because he blogged about free speech. What can be done to stop this? What is Amnesty International trying to do to end this injustice?

JAN WETZEL, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SENIOR LEGAL ADVISOR: Well, the first thing of course, channels like you, but also your viewers, need to pay attention to what is going on in Saudi Arabia at the moment. And crack downs and freedom of expression, like the case of Raif Badawi, is guy far not the only human rights violation in that kingdom.

This case is particularly atrocious. The 950 lashes still to come could start as early as this Friday. Now Amnesty International has taken up the case of Raif Badawi, in the campaign, fight for rights, in late December, 2014, and early this year.

We have gathered tens of thousands of signatures from supporters all over the world, calling on the authorities in the Saudi Kingdom to overturn this cruel punishment and set him free. All he did was use his right to freedom of expression.

CHURCH: Yes, what do we know about Badawi's current state of health? How is he holding up?

WETZEL: We know very little. As you say, he was -- flogged 50 times in early January. Then for two weeks, we had reports that he wasn't flogged due to medical concerns first because his wound had actually not healed enough and then because of concerns about his blood pressure.

Since then he has not been flogged, but we have not actually received any reports why that was and it was never announced. There was no official reason to be given. We have to assume that the authorities including the medical authorities in prison now consider him fit and healthy to be flogged again and waited for the Supreme Court to uphold the cruel sentence.

CHURCH: The Saudi Arabian Supreme Court decided to uphold Raif Badawi's sentence of 1,000 lashes and ten years in prison. All legal avenues clearly exhausted here. So what should the international community be doing about this?

WETZEL: Well, all of the partner states, anybody that talks to Saudi Arabian authorities need to put pressure on the government after the flogging on January 7th, even the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights, Prince Sayed, of Jordan, a country in the region called the flogging "a cruel, inhumane, degrading punishment."

So the U.N. is on our side. The United States is on our side. The international community overall must call out Saudi Arabia on the hypocrisy that it is showing specifically with regard to freedom of expression.

[03:35:07] In January, just a day before the flogging, the terrible attacks in Paris on offices of "Charlie Hebdo" happened and Saudi Arabian officials condemned the attacks.

The next day they used flogging to crack down on an innocent freedom, usage of freedom of expression, by simply having an online forum. And therefore, it showed its own hypocritical stance on the issue.

CHURCH: What exactly is it that Badawi did to insult Islam?

WETZEL: Well, he created an online forum for debate, essentially for political debate. He wrote articles. He posted articles written by others. And within these articles, the prosecution alleged that he insulted the government, that he criticized the government, and indirectly, also insulted thereby Islam.

The prosecution at first actually wanted to prosecute him for a charge that carried the death penalty. That was dropped later on in a long legal wrangling between various courts. But the point is that he still is now receiving this punishment, ten years in prison.

A quarter of a million U.S. dollar in fines, ten-year travel ban, a lifetime ban from appearing in the media, and the said lashes because he wanted to create an online space for online activists in Saudi Arabia to exchange opinions.

But obviously the Saudi Arabian government does not tolerate any dissent and cracks down on any form of criticism.

CHURCH: It is horrifying. Jan Wetzel from Amnesty International, thank you so much for talking us about this. We do appreciate it.

WETZEL: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, the actions of U.S. police officers are once again in the spotlight, this time because of cell phone video showing an officer's encounter with minors outside a swimming pool in McKinney, Texas.

Perhaps one of the most shocking parts of the encounter is when an officer forces a 14-year-old girl to the ground and unholsters his gun as other teens walk by. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Police say they initially responded to a call from a community pool about some juveniles who didn't have permission to be there and refused to leave. One of the officers is now on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

We turn now to a mass rescue operation in the Mediterranean. European Navy ships pulled more than 5,800 migrants to safety over the weekend. One aid group warms, calm seas and good weather mean even more refugees are attempting the dangerous journey.

Several European countries are involved in the rescue operations. The British Royal Navy rescued more than 1,000 migrants Sunday. The Italian Coast Guard rescued migrants from 11 vessels. Spain's navy was involved in Sunday's rescue efforts.

On Saturday, German and Irish ships also participated in rescue populations. CNN international correspondent, Nic Robertson, was at a point in Sicily when one of the rescue ships came in. He gives us an up close at the migrants' plight when they arrive in Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When the boat docked here it was already dark. The women in the lower deck were singing, joyful that they finally made it to land. The men on the upper deck there, under tarpaulins, hiding from the heat of the sun earlier in the day.

Three hundred seventy two migrants aboard the vessel "M.V. Phoenix," 366 are (inaudible), five Ethiopians and one Sudanese, part of a massive wave of migrants that have flooded across the Mediterranean this weekend.

The highest number by far so far this year in the period of just two days, close to 6,000 so far. The numbers are still going up. The operation is going on, still into the night, expected to begin in earnest again with day light Monday morning.

But the people on board this boat beginning, beginning to be -- allowed off for processing. This is where the processing begins. There are some children just coming off here with their mother right around here. You can see them. First of all, there is medical screening. They get medically checked. The processing by immigration officials, it is a massive effort under way this weekend. On Sunday, the Spanish, the Italians, Swedish, the British involved, the British warship picked up 700 to 1,000 migrants.

[03:40:08] The operation going on as dusk fell on Sunday, on Saturday as well, German involved. Irish involved. Germans had two boats of migrants. The numbers this weekend far higher, giving greater cause for concern.

Aid officials believe the reason so many migrants are coming this weekend because the conditions. The weather has been good. It's been sunny. The sea has been calm. There's been relatively little wind. The concern is this wave this weekend could well continue further into the week. Nic Robertson, CNN, Augusta, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We'll take a very short break here. Still to come, a familiar face to millions of American children, Lavar Burton has taken his popular reading show on the road.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A behind the scenes look at "Reading Rainbow" shooting internationally here in Israel. You're watching CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: You are back with us. Our Pedram Javahari joins us from the weather center. We are talking monsoonal rains in India. Much needed after the heat wave that killed so many people.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, the month of May, will go down at the books, Rosemary, the fifth deadliest month for any month in the world in recorded history when it comes to heat.

You take a look at numbers, we have touched on previous heat waves around the world, of course, 2003, 71,000 fatalities. Number five, 2,300 fatalities, almost every single one in the month of May. Now really pushing up to fourth all time with just the excessive heat, the longevity of the heat.

Look at some of the numbers, past 12 months, our planet has been the hottest in recorded history. Take a look at all that. Monsoonal rain needed to bring the temperature down, the current positioning, 600 kilometers south of where it should be for eighth of June, today's date.

[03:45:04] But still some relief in place, notice progression takes it to the north. Middle, to latter portion of June, finally much subcontinent begins to see the cooling. You notice pictures in India cooling off a degree or two, and in Delhi, still little by way of cooling. But again, it is June 8, today is World's Ocean Day. Want to touch on this because emphasis on this year is the amount of plastics across our body of water. We know over 5 trillion particles of plastics estimated adrift, globally, 72 percent of the planets are oceans of course.

Take a look, the gires, five gires around the world, the north pacific gire. These are areas with the currents in the ocean that essentially create large scale eddies. Unfortunately, a drawing point for any debris in the oceans and we talked the 5 trillion pieces.

Take a look. There is a western fringe near Japan, eastern fringe, east of the Hawaiian island and convergence to the north. But you combine this, we are talking 700,000 square kilometers of water and debris scattered about. That's roughly the size of the U.S. state of Texas.

Plastics don't go anywhere any time soon. In fact, they stay permanently in place where they become microplastics as they break done over time. They get digested by animals and marine organisms. Rosie, you think about this, World's Oceans Day, talk earth day frequently.

But people don't think of the ocean necessarily as something as significant as Earthy Day, for example. It's important to know that about 50 percent of our oxygen comes from the ocean. Food comes from the oceans.

It regulates our climate. It's been going haywire for a lot of places around the world. Just a day worth noting and doing what you can when it come to the World's Oceans Day.

CHURCH: Amazing, 50 percent of our oxygen.

JAVAHERI: Yes.

CHURCH: Many thanks to you, Pedram, appreciate it.

Well, the "Reading Rainbow" has been a staple TV show for American children for decades now and if you know it, the theme song, probably stuck in your head. But now, host, Lavar Burton, has taken his shows overseas. Oren Liebermann gives us a behind the scenes look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Millions of children have learned to love reading with Lavar Burton, host of "The Reading Rainbow," one of the longest running kids' shows on PBS history. He is taking the show to Israel for the show's first ever international episode.

LAVAR BURTON, HOST, "READING RAINBOW": Out here in the desert.

LIEBERMANN: Visiting a Bedouin village, drinking tea with a local family and from the desert to the beach. He spent a morning exploring Tel Aviv. On his last day in Israel, Burton reflected on the people he met.

BURTON: Warm, open-hearted, full of hospitality, frustrating, bull- headed and insistent on maintaining long-held grudges that make no sense to me as an outsider.

LIEBERMANN: Burton used celebrities, popular characters to get people interested in books. The highlight of the show has always been Burton reading a book to children.

A hand in hand an integrated school in Jerusalem, his audience was Israeli and Palestinian.

BURTON: It was an amazing day. I think those kids are, and my hope is that those kids are the future of this region, of the world. And that they're willingness to look beyond labels and to embrace one another has human beings, I hope that becomes the model for generations to come.

LIEBERMANN: Shooting the episode took Burton all over the country and brought an international flavor to this classic American show. Oren Liebermann, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A big night in New York for Broadway actors. We will bring you all the details on the Tony Awards. Plus the weekend's Box Office winners and which movie only pulled in $600.

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[03:53:13]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Tony goes to Helen Miren "The Audience."

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CHURCH: There she is. Star-studded night as Broadway actors honored their colleagues at the Tony Awards. That is Helen Miren winning her first Tony for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in "The Audience."

For more on the awards and other entertainment news, I spoke earlier with Kim Serafin, contributing editor at "Closer Weekly."

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CHURCH: Kim Serafin, thanks so much for joining us. We want to start with the Tony Awards and all the buzz surrounding host Kristin Chenoweth and Allen Cumming, did they live up to the hype and all of those that performed and were nominated. What's being said about that?

KIM SERAFIN, "CLOSER WEEKLY": Look, a hard thing to do, to host the Tonys. Hugh Jackman has done it before. It was really good to get two Broadway veterans like Kristin Chenoweth and Allen Cumming, who were really funny and they had a lot of really funny humor. Both sing and perform. It was a really good show.

Yes, you have the Tony Award telecast, but that maybe not as interesting to a lot of people as the Oscars because people haven't seen as many Broadway shows. You have so many of the huge movie stars involved.

Nominated, like Sting, Bradley Cooper, and then even presenting and performing, Josh Groban performed with 175 people, and you had Vanessa Hudgens performing, and Jennifer Lopez introducing. So you get all of these big a-list stars.

I think that made people want to see more of the Tony Award and makes people interested in Broadway, a-listers are actually appearing in Broadway shows right now.

CHURCH: Presumably why they did that, right? Let's go to the movies now, Melissa McCarthy celebrates her latest Box Office success, the movie bombed, what happened?

[03:55:06] SERAFIN: Yes, Melissa McCarthy great weekend, her movie "Spy" won the weekend beating "Entourage," which was interesting because you know, there's been a lot of talk about women in Hollywood whether they get paid as much as men.

You have a female-driven, big action movie with Melissa McCarthy, beating male-driven movie, "Entourage." Yes, the FIFA movie made $607, the FIFA movie, not $607 million, or $607,000 but $607. It was a limited release only in ten theaters. That's pretty low.

CHURCH: Interesting timing as well with what is going on with FIFA. We'll leave that for now. And Downtown Abby, getting ready to say goodbye, sad fans out there. Why did they decide now was the time to bail out?

SERAFIN: Yes, I think this is very sad for a lot of people. End of an era. They did have an event Saturday where Julian Fellows, cast members were there, talking about filming the final sixth season of the show. They are about midway through. Saying they felt it was the right time for it to end.

Again, I think a lot of fans don't think that way. We don't know how it is going to end. They didn't really give much preview. Julian Fellows has not written the finale. He maybe doesn't know how it will end, but clearly a lot of anticipation.

Interesting things were said, older romances on the show, you don't see a lot in Hollywood. They talked a little about that. Just how they wanted Maggie Smith right from the beginning, they knew what they were going for at the beginning of the show. It makes sense it has been popular.

CHURCH: Always intriguing when actors decide it is time to bring the show to an end. All right, well, Kim Serafin, many thanks for covering all of those topics.

SERAFIN: Thanks so much. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: That brings our show to an end. Thank you for watching CNN. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is coming up for our viewers here in the U.S. And for viewers elsewhere, stay tuned for "CNN NEWSROOM."

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