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100,000 Migrants Have Crossed Mediterranean So Far This Year; Apple Releases Apple Music; One Year Anniversary of Fall of Mosul; Investigators Interviewing Suspected Insider In New York Prison Escape. Aired 8:00a-9:00A ET

Aired June 09, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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

[08:00:12] ANDREW STEVENS, HOST: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream.

View from the battlefront: CNN brings you an exclusive as Iraqi troops face off against ISIS militants.

Plus, more than 100,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year seeking a new life in Europe. But those who make the risky

journey face uncertainty on land.

And a pair of convicted killers on the loose after a daring escape. Now a prison employee is under scrutiny.

This week marks one year since what may have been Iraq's worst defeat against ISIS. Fast forward to today, and critics of America's approach to

what's happening there may have some new ammunition.

It was this time last June, ISIS took over Mosul, the country's second biggest city. Hundreds of thousands of people fled, many more are still

there stuck under ISIS control.

Well, the city of Tikrit fell around the same time as Mosul. After a long fight, Iraqi forces did manage to evict ISIS from Saddam Hussein's

home town back in March, but the battle for Baiji and its critical oil refinery still goes on.

Iraqi security officials insist they are beating back the militants, declaring just hours ago that three-fourths of the refinery has been

liberated.

Meanwhile further south, Iraqi forces have also been battling ISIS near a military base outside Ramadi. Well, ever since that town fell to

ISIS last month, Iraqi forces have been gathering at the base ahead of what we're told is a panned assault to recapture the city.

Well, Iraq has some help from U.S. air power, but a comment by the President Barack Obama made on Monday is raising eyebrows, and leading some

to question how committed the U.S. is to helping Iraq defeat ISIS.

Well, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now from Washington.

Barbara, great to have you with us this day. Let's just start by talking about the strategy, or perhaps lack of a complete strategy the U.S.

has in Iraq for dealing with ISIS. Is there something comprehensive in place?

BARBAR STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrew, the White House will tell you that there is. And that when the president yesterday

in Europe spoke about needing a strategy for training Iraqi forces, that is indeed what he meant.

He was focused on training, because the U.S. believes that they really need to train more Iraqi forces. The ones they do train appear to be

fighting well. The ones that do not get training seem to be, at this point, the ones that somewhat lack the so-called will to fight.

What the president is talking about is a need, also, though, to get the Iraqi government more involved in this.

Look, the U.S. can't do it alone. The Iraqi government, they say, needs to identify more recruits, put more recruits into the system. Then

the U.S. can figure out how to train more of them. Will it take more trainers? Will it take more assist and advisory teams by the U.S.? If

they can make it all work, it does look like it would be headed towards some number of additional U.S. troops on the ground to help. But they're

making a very key point. They need the Iraqis to step up on their side of all of this -- Andrew.

STEVENS: It does sound very familiar, doesn't it? I mean, President Bush was talking about as Iraq step up, the U.S. is going to step down and

that was more than 10 years ago. It does seem to be revolving still around the same issues, Barbara.

But I just want to move on also to another part of this story. U.S. officials apparently learning a little bit more about how involved women

are becoming in the ISIS fight.

STARR: Well, indeed. Now you'll remember last month when that U.S. special operations raid struck deep inside Syria. They killed a man named

Abu Sayyaf. And they captured his wife, a woman named Umm Sayyaf. They've been interrogating her inside Iraq for the last several weeks and been

getting a lot of information out of her.

This is now, our sources are telling us, leading to the question inside the U.S. intelligence community had they miss -- not miscalculated,

but do they need to rethink it, perhaps? If this wife has information, and she knows things, is it possible that other ISIS wives, women intimidated

into joining ISIS, may also have a good deal of information? Does the U.S. need to be paying more attention to these women to figure out what they

know, where they go, who they talk to. Do they pass messages? Do they know about operations?

Women, of course, not quite so publicly noticed in the ISIS organization. I think the question now for the U.S., is it time to take

notice of them -- Andrew.

STEVENS: Absolutely.

OK, Barbara, thanks so much for that. Barbara Starr joining us from The Pentagon.

Now, let's return to those Iraqi plans to retake Ramadi. Our Nick Paton Walsh was with Iraqi troops on the front line of nearby Habbaniyah.

Now here's his exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Along edgy road, leads to the Iraqi base at Happaniyah, the closest the military has taken

western television towards Ramadi since it fell to ISIS.

Huge, sprawling, it's meant to be where soldiers and militias, both Sunni and Shia, are amassing to retake Ramadi from ISIS. But we're told

they're mostly deployed outside.

And here, it is the Iraqi army along the northern edge of their base in a vicious front line with ISIS along the river.

ISIS have blocked a dam upstream to lower the tides and help them attack.

Well, it is minute by minute here. The situation can change, and that riverbed very much the front line. They've been using water from the lake

to keep its levels high, but still as you can hear, ISIS are very close.

They see and watch ISIS daily, but say they are overlooked by coalition airstrikes.

"They're supposed to give us some support now from war planes," he says. "We're in control of the ground. What we need is air support."

Here, caught between the ISIS towns of Ramadi and Fallujah. They face 1,000 ISIS they think. But here, he says, he sees only a few with long

beards and a flag here.

But soon, ISIS fire back. This is what happens when you poke that snake.

They lead us out. This, the Iraqi army stronghold, where they speak of readiness and glory to come, yet seem busied by an enemy far too close.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Habbaniyah, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: And Egyptian quarters upheld the death sentences of 11 men convicted of inciting deadly riots at a football stadium in Port Said back

in 2012. Supporters of the al Masri team stormed the stadium and the pitch after their win, clashing with rival fans. More than 70 people died. At

least 1,000 more were injured.

Well, several villages in Ukraine have been evacuated after an oil storage facility near Kiev caught fire and exploded. The fire is still

burning right now. Emergency services say at least two people have been killed, and two others are still missing. Ukraine's interior minister says

there was a huge explosion and people are being pulled back.

South Korea is trying to contain an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS. It's the largest outbreak outside Saudi

Arabia where the virus was first discovered.

A seventh victim has died, and eight new cases have been reported over the past 24 hours. 95 people have been diagnosed so far with nearly 2,900

people now in quarantine and more than 2,200 schools now shut.

Kathy Novak reports from Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHY NOVAK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many of the recently confirmed cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome can be traced to one

emergency room at a hospital here in Seoul.

Authorities are making more than 200 preliminary testing centers available, and asking anyone who is experiencing symptoms that may be

associated with MERS to report to these first. The government has also announced it will bear the costs of all testing and treatment for MERS.

A team from the World Health Organization is in town, working with South Korean experts as they try to prevent any further spread through

hospitals and crucially into the public. On Tuesday, more than 2,000 schools were closed.

A governor from a province that was affected by MERS says South Korea is now fighting two battles: the virus itself and fear.

Kathy Novak, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:10:09] STEVENS: Well, the World Health Organization says there's been more than 1,200 reported cases of MERS globally since 2012. The

symptoms are non-specific. And the WHO advises people to practice good hygiene such as washing hands, but what the WHO specifically does not

recommend is travel restrictions to countries where MERS is present.

Hong Kong, however, has just issued a red travel alert, which advises people not to go to South Korea unless it's absolutely necessary.

Now, better weather at the Mediterranean is bringing more than just tourists. Thousands of desperate refugees are risking their lives to reach

European shores. We'll take a look at the growing migrant crisis.

And a shakeup at one of the world's biggest banks. HSBC unveiling big changes that are affecting tens of thousands of workers around the world.

Plus, Apple launches new products at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, but some of them may sound, well, a little familiar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Welcome back.

HSBC has just unveiled plans for a major overhaul of his operations around the world. And it starts with some pretty big cuts: 50,000 staff

are set to go, about half will lose their jobs, the other half will be working for businesses that HSBC will spin off.

It's part of a plan to save the bank $5 billion a year by 2017. HSBC is also selling off its operations in Brazil and in Turkey. Well, that

accounts for a large number of those job cuts.

Customers are being pushed towards Internet banking as the bank plans to shut some 12 percent of its branches.

Well, Financial Times banking editor Martin Arnold says HSBC maybe placing its bets on China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN ARNOLD, FINANCIAL TIMES: A lot of talk at the presentation today from Stuart Gulliver in particular about the huge potential of the

Chinese economy, and particular this heavily industrialized area in the Po River Delta, which HSBC sees itself as particularly well positioned to

capitalize on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: Coming back to where it all began.

Now, investors are waiting to hear what the bank says potentially about relocating its HQ back to Hong Kong. Currently, it's domiciled in

London.

Take a look at the stock price, though, that is the reaction so far from investors. Initially it was up in the early going, but as you see

that's a significant vote of no confidence. Down more than 1 percent. HSBC stock currently trading in London.

Now Malaysian Airline's new CEO is taking action to save the company from a worsening financial state. Christoph Mueller says the airline was

already in bad shape when flight 370 disappeared last March. And then Flight 17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine.

So far, 6,000 jobs have been cut. And Richard Quest sat down with Mueller to discuss the challenges ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPH MUELLER, CEO, MALAYSIAN AIRLINES: So, most important thing you have to do first is to bring the costs down. Our cost disadvantage is

approximately 20 percent to our main competitors. And that has been mushrooming over the years. So we have to reset the system with regard to

our (inaudible) with regard to our processes, so we will create a completely new company September 1 and start with a clean sheet of paper.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When you start, will you change the name? That's what everybody wants to know. I know you've

said you haven't made a decision. Will you change the name?

MUELLER: That is a very interesting question, because since the tragedies of 20014, the loyalty to our brand has even increased in our home

market Malaysia. So it's something we have to maintain, because it's precious. The loyalty of our customer has increased.

But this is unfortunately not the case in foreign markets where our brand, our coach and certain flight number combinations of course remind

people of a very tragic event, and insofar we are currently discussing that not only amongst us in the company, but we do discuss it with our customers

both domestically and abroad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: Christoph Mueller there speaking to our Richard Quest.

Well, he certainly has a track record. He successfully led Irelands Aer Lingus through a restructuring, and also -- he also oversaw the revamp

of Luftansa, the German carrier.

You can hear more of that interview next hour right here on World Business Today with Maggie Lake.

Now, it's been more than two months since Germanwings flight 9525 crashed in the French Alps. The families of dozens of the victims on board

have now gathered in the German city of Dusseldorf. They're waiting for the remains of their loved ones to be returned from France today.

French officials said last month that they'd identified the bodies of everyone on board, all 150 passengers and crew were killed when the plane

went down in March.

Investigators say the co-pilot deliberately crashed the jet. Luftansa plans to repatriate all victims' remains in the coming weeks.

Up ahead on News Stream, we'll be live in the Italian port of Catania for the latest on the influx of migrants crossing the Mediterranean seeking

a better life in Europe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:57] STEVENS: Beautiful night here in Hong Kong. Welcome back, you're watching News Stream. I'm Andrew Stevens standing in for Kristie

Lu Stout.

Now the epicenter of change, that's what Apple calls itself as it kicks off its annual developer's conference. We're hearing a lot of

product updates, but many of them not particularly unique. The new Apple Music streams songs and plays live radio. It sounds a little bit like

Spotify, not only Spotify, but others are also doing that as well.

And the Apple News app pulls content from websites like CNN and the New York Times, well that's similar to what Flipboard has been doing.

So, is Apple playing catch up here? And let's get a little bit more on that. We'll bring in our regular contributor Nick Thompson. He is

editor of New Yorker.com. Nick, thanks so much for joining us today.

I want to start with Apple Music. OK, it's late. The question is, is it worth the wait? Has it come to the table with something which is much

more superior than its rivals like Spotify?

NICK THOMPSON, NEW YORKER.COM: The short answer, no. The longer answer, it does seem like a compelling product. The pricing is pretty

good. It's Apple, so they have 100 million credit cards on file. It will probably be very convenient for you. The radio stations will probably be

curated by interesting DJs and interesting people, so there will be that option.

But, in general, yes I think you're exactly right. Apple was late to realize that people were shifting from downloading music to streaming

music. They started to figure that out about a year ago. They bought Beats. And now they're playing catch up.

Is it more compelling than Spotify? Probably not. If you're in Spotify, are you going to switch? Probably not.

So, yes, Apple is late here.

STEVENS: And also a new operating system, the iOS 9 was unveiled, Nick. A new, smarter, or at least more predictive SIRI. Again, look at

Google Now for for example. Is there much difference going on? Or is this whole sort of story here is really a catch up thing the Apple family is

populating with more products that people like you and I probably will use?

THOMPSON: Well, so what Apple is doing with iOS 9 is they're improving a bunch of things that didn't quite work or they were a little

buggy in the last iOS. They're improving battery life, all sorts of stuff. And then, yes, as you say, they have this you know predictive assistant,

which will look at your calendar, which will look at your apps, which will look at your history and get you the information that you don't know you

need when you need it, which is very useful.

It's something that all of the tech companies are trying to do. It's a little buggy right now. It doesn't make your life that much better. But a

few years from now it will be amazing. It will tell you all sorts of things you need to know about navigating through your day that you didn't

know.

Apple again, though, is quite a bit behind Google. But here, Apple isn't so much trying to beat Google Now, right. With their music product,

they are trying to beat Spotify, they are trying to get people to switch. With this, they're just going to try to make iPhones as good as Android

phones at this sort of predictive help.

You buy your Apple phones. Apple phones have a lot of advantages over Android phones and they have some disadvantages. One of the disadvantages

is Google Now. And so Apple is just playing a little bit of catch up here.

STEVENS: Sort of plugging that hole.

Privacy has been an issue surrounding Apple for some time. And also there's been a chat about privacy surrounding this product launch.

Are we seeing a significant change in the way Apple tackles privacy issues given the leak about the stars, the celebs, which came from the

cloud? Is Apple at a turning point with how they do things as far as security is concerned?

THOMPSON: I don't think there's a huge turning point in what they do, but there is a real marketing turning point in the way they talk about it.

We've seen Tim Cook talk very fiercely about privacy and talking about protecting the users. We had more of that yesterday. We had a big speech

a week ago. Apple clearly is trying -- Apple clearly cares about this, and they're also trying to position themselves as different from Google and

from Facebook where all of your information is in the cloud.

Again, this is mostly tactical, right. Apple is mainly a hardware company, so your information is on your phone. It's in that thing in your

pocket. Google is a cloud company, so your information is up in the sky, in the cloud. So this is a place where Apple has a competitive advantage.

And it makes a lot of sense for them to talk about it.

Are they writing better algorithms, using better encryption? You know, probably, but all the tech companies are.

[11:25:13] STEVENS: Absolutely.

Just finally, the intro to this story you would have hears was Apple describing itself as the epicenter of change. Yet, if we look at the

products, there's not so much leading as following so far, or at least what we know. Is there a bit of disappointment out there about this suite of

products coming out that there isn't any gamechanger?

THOMPSON: Yeah, I think there is -- I think there's a fair amount of disappointment.

Look, everything they launched looks pretty good. They're going to fix a lot of bugs. The products will work better, but there's nothing that

exciting. The thing everybody was hoping for, a big announcement about an Apple TV didn't come. We don't know exactly why it didn't come.

But Apple has been behind. They missed a bunch of trends, right. They missed the trend that music was going to streaming. They missed the

trend that a lot of reading was going to streams and atomization as opposed to reading a single product. So they're playing a lot of catch up. And

today, today was a catch up day. They had the big watch announcement earlier this year, so I guess they're allowed to have this one.

You can have big product launch, and then the next one just kind of shoving in all the bug fixes and move on to the next thing.

STEVENS: Yeah. I mean, as much as I'd like to hit it out of the park every time, it's really not that feasible every time.

THOMPSON: There will be car, there will be a TV some day.

STEVENS: That some day -- and we'll be talking about it, no doubt.

THOMPSON: Absolutely.

STEVENS: Thanks, Nick.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

STEVENS: Nick Thompson there with New Yorker.com.

OK, let's turn now to another shocking failure by the agency in charge of U.S. airport security. A new report reveals the TSA did not screen out

dozens of airport workers with links to terrorism and even allowed them to work in secure areas. CNN's aviation correspondent Rene Marsh has more

detail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aviation workers with terror connections working at U.S. airports. The TSA in charge of vetting these

employees greenlighted at least 73 people with links to terrorism.

CHAD WOLF, FORMER TSA OFFICIAL: These are airport workers. So this really speaks to the issue of the insider threat. TSA's primary way to

guard against that is to make sure that these background checks are complete and they're exhaustive. And what this report says is they're not

complete nor are they exhaustive.

MARSH: According to a Department of Homeland Security inspector- general report, the slip up is a potential national security risk even the TSA acknowledges, quote, "the individuals were cleared for access to

secured airport areas, despite representing a potential transportation security threat. They worked for major airlines where airport venders and

other employees with unescorted access to commercial plans, the tarmac and luggage. The misstep happened because TSA does not have complete access to

every agency's terror watch list."

WOLF: This is a classic example of them not working together as they should. And so who is to blame? TSA and DHS are really at lead here.

MARSH: The fear: airport workers with terror links could facilitate an insider attack. In a CNN investigation, Drew Griffin uncovered

employees with access to airplanes and tarmacs were not screened daily.

Although the agency says it ramped up random screening after a baggage handler was caught smuggling guns onto commercial plans in Atlanta.

Scrutiny over TSA's vetting process comes after embarrassing news the agency's officers fail to detect weapons and fake explosives almost every

time undercover teams put them to the test.

WOLF: It just points to a larger problem the TSA has in making sure that their operations are running smoothly. And it comes from leadership,

and not having a leader in place for some time now I think has been detrimental to the agency.

MARSH: Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Still to come here on News Stream, migrant season in the Mediterranean: the number of people crossing to Europe tops 100,000 just

this year and we're only in June.

And New York police investigate a daring prison breakout, questioning a possible inside accomplice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:45] STEVENS: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

A U.S. official says Iraqi forces only partly control the city of Baiji, contradicting a report the Iraqis made at the weekend that said the

city had been liberated from ISIS.

Meanwhile, three Iraqi security officials tell CNN, Iraqi forces have retaken at least three-fourths of the city's oil refinery.

Hong Kong travel agents are canceling hundreds of tours through South Korea because of the threat of MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

A seventh victim has died, 95 people have now been diagnosed with the virus.

The parents of Reeva Steenkamp are asking a parole board in South Africa to keep Oscar Pistorius in prison. Pistorius is serving a five year

prison sentence for the culpable homicide of his girlfriend in 2013. Under South African law, Pistorius could be released in August. Well,

Steenkamp's parents reportedly wrote to the parole board calling for Pistorius to be held accountable.

No end to the claims and counterclaims of bribery surrounding football's world governing body FIFA. Italian police have told CNN that

Argentine businessman Alejandro Burzaco, subject of an INTERPOL red notice, has surrendered to police in Italy. No further details are available at

this moment.

More than 100,000 migrants have arrived by sea to Europe this year alone. The International Organization for Migration says 102,000 people

crossed the Mediterranean into Europe with most landing in either Italy or Greece.

It's expecting a surge in the number of crossings in the months ahead with calmer conditions likely to encourage smugglers.

Well, hundreds of migrants rescued at the weekend have been handed to authorities in the Italian port of Catania. Nic Robertson is there. He

joins us now.

Nic, what's the latest there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrew, the rescue efforts continue. The Italian coast guard say they received a

distress call this morning, they believe it relates to two wooden fishing vessels off the coats of Libya about 40 miles off the coast of Libya. That

could be as many as 1,000 people. They're checking that there may be other distress calls in that same area at this time.

And for those going out to rescue them, there really is a very, very strong sense that they're absolutely, absolutely saving lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Barely 24 hours earlier, these migrants were plucked from the sea, more than 1,100 saved by the British navy from possible death off

the coast of Libya.

CPT. NICK COOKE-PRIEST, BRITISH NAVY: I have no doubt, particularly having seen the weather conditions we woke up to this morning, with

heightened winds, heightened sea states, that the 1,100 plus people who have been picked up yesterday might not be here today.

Now, safely stepping ashore in Italy, part of the biggest wave of Mediterranean migrants in a single weekend this year, close to 6,000. Ten

of those rescued were pregnant women.

COOKE-PRIEST: There is one very happy story to come out of that, in which one woman's water broke while she was being recovered. It didn't

look as if her pregnancy was going, perhaps as planned. So I took the decision to fly her ashore. She was taken to Malta. And I'm delighted to

say that she gave birth to a little boy.

[08:35:02] ROBERTSON: At the harbor site in Sicily, first health screening, then immigration processing.

Many escaping oppression in Eritrea and war in Syria, others from Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Nigeria even from Pakistan. This

ship, HMS Bulwark, a British navy assault ship, one of several from European navies, ramping up rescue efforts. Italians, Germans, Irish

Spanish, Swedish as well as several independent operators struggling to keep pace with the exodus.

COOKE-PRIEST: It is difficult to predict. Ramadan is coming up, for example. That might have an impact. We don't know. But it's something

that we are taking into account. The best thing that we can do is make sure that we're in the right place at the right time with the right number

of assets.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Now, the captain who was just speaking there also handed over yesterday to Italian authorities five suspect smugglers that they

picked up with all those migrants at sea there. That's often the situation where when the navies help the migrants, there's an opportunity there to

catch the smugglers as well. And certainly that was the belief, the British ministry of defense saying that those five have now been handed

over to Italian authorities for further investigating -- Andrew.

STEVENS: 102,000 migrants in the first six months of this year have reached European shores, Nic. As you say in your report, the initial

medical screening is carried out. What, then, happens to them? How many of them are likely to be able to start new lives in Europe?

ROBERTSON: You know, quite a large number.

There is a right for Eritreans and Syrians to apply for political asylum because of the situations in their countries. But of course while

they make up a significant number of those migrants, their not the total, far from it. And we pass the station in Catania this morning. And there

were people outside the station at the internet and phone store, the mobile phone stores where you can, you know, pay for a card, make a quick, cheap

phone call, making calls, getting ready, it appeared, to either let loved ones know that they'd made it safely here or potentially contact friends,

relatives inside Europe to move on.

And that's what I learned yesterday from talking to UN officials here that very many of these people, they go to an immigration center where

they're given accommodation for a day or two days or three days and within that time some of them quite literally leave and head for northern Europe.

A lot of them I was told are settling in Sweden and in Germany. They're given here five euros a day to help buy food, perhaps buy a phone

card. It's not much money. But many of them are really not hanging around. They are trying to get further into Europe, Andrew.

STEVENS: And tens of thousands more than likely to appear in Europe over the next few months as well, and perhaps years.

Nic, thanks so much for that. Nic Robertson joining us from Catania.

Now, to see which organizations are helping rescue and care for the migrants, you can log on to our website. You can also learn more about why

these migrants are braving this dangerous trek across the Mediterranean at this time of the year. It's all at CNN.com/impact. So make sure you check

that site out.

Still ahead here on News Stream, two convicted killers are still on the loose after escaping from a New York prison.

Suspicions are building that they had help from the inside who authorities are now looking at. We'll take a look at ourselves in just a

moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:19] STEVENS: U.S. authorities are still trying to track down two convicted killers who broke out of a maximum security prison at the

weekend. As they piece together how the men escape, suspicions are growing that they had help perhaps from someone on the inside.

CNN's Polo Sandoval explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The intense manhunt is spreading. The fugitives could be anywhere from New York's north country up to Canada

or even south into Mexico where 49 year old fugitive Richard Matt is believed to have connections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything is a possibility. We really need the public to call in.

SANDOVAL: A law enforcement source tells CNN an employee is being questioned as a possible accomplice. The woman who worked with inmates,

tailoring clothing knew Richard and 35 year old David Sweat. But she hasn't been charged.

A man who claims to have confronted the escapees in his backyard talking exclusively to ABC News.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: They were looking around a little bit. As soon as I came across, they ran out of my yard.

SANDOVAL: Many think the dangerous duo could not have done it alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They redid that wall twice since I've been working here.

SANDOVAL: Rich Plumedore (ph) worked behind the 60 foot walls for three-and-a-half decades. He says he retired from his job as maintenance

supervisor of the prison. His daily duties included working in the hidden maze or walkways believed to have served as Matt and Sweat's path to

freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's so many tunnels, all the attics, all the catwalks. It's a big maze.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: They used that maze.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They used the maze. They knew exactly where to go.

SANDOVAL: Plumedore (ph) suspects the escape plan took time and serious know-how to execute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Inmates should never get that knowledge.

SANDOVAL: Cutting at the wrong steam pipe at the wrong time would have been deadly, or at least blown the inmates' cover.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had high pressure steam coming up this tunnel, you have low pressure. I believe they cut into a low pressure line,

because they couldn't cut into it live.

SANDOVAL: Like the rest of his neighbors, Plumedore (ph) waits anxiously for the search to be over and a pair of cunning criminals to be

back behind bars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: That was Polo Sandoval reporting. And again, both the escapees are convicted murderers.

And that is News Stream. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Andrew Stevens.

END