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Mass Shooting Spree In Near UC-Santa Barbara; Pope Francis On Historic Three-Day Tour Through The Holy Land; People Go To The Polls To Elect New Ukrainian President; Veterans Affairs Department Orders System-Wide Review Of Processes At All Its Hospitals

Aired May 24, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this week, or rather, next week we're taking you back into time. Thursday, a new series from executive producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, "The '60s." It's the decade that changed the world. The space race, the cold war, free love, civil rights and more, the 1960s reshaped American lives in ways that still affect us today. Remember Carol Burnett?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

CAROL BURNETT, COMEDIAN: On my show, I would do pratfalls jump out of windows and get pies in the face, and it was heaven.

I think it's -- oh, god!

(LAUGHTER)

TOM SMOTHERS, COMEDIAN: You know, I still -- I see a rerun of "The Carol Burnett Show," and I say, god damn, they're funny.

DICK SMOTHERS, COMEDIAN: There's never been a better sketch show ever.

TOM SMOTHERS: She was great in bed, too, Dickey. Remember?

DICK SMOTHERS: Tom, you never went to bed with --

TOM SMOTHERS: Well --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not supposed to cachet. I'm supposed to bow, but I get dizzy when I bend over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Tim Conway came on, his goal in life was to destroy Harvey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Watch or set your DVR for "The 60s" premiers Thursday, at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on CNN.

All right. For those just joining us, welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Terror rips through a small college town in California after a gunman opens fire. The sheriff's office says the suspect drove through Isla Vista, just west of Santa Barbara last night, and then sprayed the streets with bullets. Six people were killed and seven others wounded. The gunman was found dead in his car after a firefight with police.

Our correspondents are covering this breaking story. Kyung Lah is live for us in Isla Vista, California and Evan Perez is in Washington.

Let's begin with you, Kyung. You are right in front of one of those crime scenes. What else is happening today?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're trying to piece together the exact events and how they happened. We are hearing from witnesses that this is the second crime scene, the very first one happened right up the street outside a sorority house. Some people either hurt or killed outside that sorority house. And then over here, the BMW involved, racing, hitting people, the gunman opening fire. The street, busy, as Friday night was just beginning in this sleepy college town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice-over): The eve of the Memorial Day holiday weekend turns deadly after multiple drives by shootings in the small college town of Isla Vista, just minutes from the University of California Santa Barbara campus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He shot and I felt like I just felt the wind like pass right by my face. So I started running the opposite way and then I heard it again, like, two times, and I was just sprinting.

LAH: In all, authorities say seven people were killed, including the gunman. Seven others injured. Those hurt sent to a local hospital for gunshot or traumatic injuries.

SHERIFF BILL BROWN, SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA: We've identified nine separate crime scenes within the area and multiple victims.

LAH: 19-year-old Summer Young says she was almost run over by the black BMW and witnessed the shooting.

SUMMER YOUNG, WITNESS: I saw the car run down here and he was just firing off shots and then we just ran inside the nearest restaurant and waited until some stuff calmed down. It was really hectic.

LAH: Federal and local authorities continued to dig on the gunman's past. He was found dead with an apparent gunshot wound. Investigators are now trying to trace the handgun used and where the suspect obtained it. Authorities say they are now analyzing both written and video evidence that suggests this was a premeditated mass murder.

BROWN: The problem with an incident like this is, it's obviously the work of a madman, and you are, you know, it's just unfortunate that these kinds of circumstances occur, but there are very, very limited ways in which they can be prevented.

LAH: Shock and disbelief today in the small college town, but many questions. Including the big one -- why?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: What you're looking at here, live, back in this college area, is the window of the first floor of this apartment building. There are a lot of college students who live in this apartment building. You can see that it has been shot out. A lot of the people who we're talking to be here can't get into their own apartments, because there's so many different roped off areas, Fredricka. From what we understand, there are nine different crime scenes they're still trying to gather evidence from -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then among the items of evidence, we understand police have a written note there, perhaps even some video that was on the web. What more are they learning, or are they willing to share anything about that yet?

LAH: There's going to be a news conference later this afternoon, 4:00 local, 7:00 p.m. eastern time, and we hope to learn those details at that point. What we know so far is that they have called a lot of that information, and anything that was written. A lot of information posted on the web, including a lot of videos on You Tube. They give the authorities a picture to lead them to that statement, that this may have ban premeditated mass murder. That's what they're looking at to understand exactly why this happened, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Kyung Lah, thanks so much.

Now let's turn to justice correspondent Evan Perez in Washington. You're learning new information?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, we know that the ATF is on the scene right now. They are -- they've sent up some of their technicians, their experts who can help trace this handgun recovered at the scene.

Now, one of the things they are going to do is try to figure when it was bought, where it was bought, because that helps sort of explain whether, you know, how much planning went into this rampage that this gunman went on.

As Kyung mentioned, there was some video evidence that the s Santa Barbara sheriff's mentioned that they'll take a look at and perhaps that's also where they'll get help from federal law enforcement. We know that they're relying on the help of the California department of justice crime lab. Now, this is a community that, obviously, doesn't deal with this kind of thing often. So that's where federal law enforcement can lend assistance. Because obviously, there have been a number of these types of incidents around the country, sad to say, and they have a lot of expertise with this, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Evan Perez. Thank you much. And Kyung Lah, Appreciate it as well.

Our coverage of this tragedy continues.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This incident appearing to be a mass murder situation.

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WHITFIELD: Up next, the Santa Barbara county sheriff reveals what happened when deputies exchanged gunfire with the suspect.

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WHITFIELD: All right. We're expecting to hear new information from the sheriff's office in an upcoming news conference about last night's deadly shooting near the University of California Santa Barbara. As we wait, to go back live to Santa Barbara County, let's listen to what Sheriff Bill Brown revealed earlier in these statements.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: This incident appears to about mass murder situation. The timeline, as we've been able to put it together thus far is as follows.

At 9:27 p.m., the sheriff's dispatch center received calls of multiple gunshots being fired n the Isla Vista area. We had deputies in the area on foot who also heard a number of shots being fired. The deputies began responding in the direction of the gunshots, and immediately found several victims who were suffering from gunshot wounds.

As they were performing first aid on those victims, they were also receiving suspect information and a vehicle description. As this was occurring, additional shots were fired, and calls were received by the sheriff's dispatch from several areas in Isla Vista. During this initial stage, both the suspect and suspect vehicle descriptions were broadcast to those law enforcement personnel who were in the area.

At 9:33 p.m., six minutes after the initial call was received, the suspect engaged a group of responding deputies with gunfire. The deputies returned fire and the suspect fled in his vehicle. Seconds later, the suspect was again spotted by another deputy. Another exchange of gunfire occurred at that time.

The suspect fled down Del Playa, and eventually crashed into a parked vehicle. The deputies approached the crashed vehicle and determined that the suspect within that vehicle was dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head, a handgun was recovered from within that vehicle. Although we have preliminarily identified the suspect, we are not releasing the suspect's name until a positive identification can be made.

Currently the sheriff's office is not looking for any additional suspects. We believe this suspect acted alone. This is still a very active investigation, and as you can imagine, a very chaotic series of crime scenes. It is still in the very early phases of the investigation. We've identified nine separate crime scenes within the area, and multiple victims who were either shot or injured as a result of -- apparently as a result of the suspect's actions.

Seven victims are in area hospitals being treated for gunshot wounds or for traumatic injuries. At least one of those victims has undergone surgery for life-threatening injuries. We currently have seven confirmed dead. That includes the suspect and six victims.

We are in the process of identifying those victims and notifying their next of kin. We have obtained and we are currently analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that suggests that this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder.

The sheriff's office is currently interviewing multiple witnesses to these crimes, and we are asking for the public's assistance. If there's anyone who has not yet been spoken to by law enforcement authorities, we would ask if you have information about this crime, or series of crimes, if you would contact the Santa Barbara county sheriff's office tip line at 805-681-4171.

And I would like to acknowledge and thank those allied agencies who are currently assisting us in this investigation in addition to patrol and investigative personnel from the Santa Barbara county sheriff's office, we are being assisted by the UC Santa Barbara police department, by the California highway patrol, by the Santa Barbara police department, by the district attorney investigators, by the California state parks law enforcement personnel and by criminalists from the Department of Justice crime lab.

I know that this information that I'm giving you at this point is somewhat preliminary. We are going to work diligently to get you more information in detail, including the identity of the suspect and the victims.

The next press conference is going to be scheduled for 4:00 p.m. today at a location to be determined. We will notify you through our regular processes of where that press conference will be held.

Two things that I just want to say in closing. The first is I want to commend the deputy sheriffs who engaged very resolutely this suspect very shortly after we were notified of this incident. There's no question in my mind at this point that their resolute actions and valor in doing so very well may have prevented further loss of life and injury. I also want to let the families of the victims know that our hearts go out to them at this tragic time, and we will be doing all that we can in the -- in the near future to try to identify the actual circumstances, the complete background information as so forth, about this horrific series of events that occurred this evening.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Again, another press conference at 4:00 pacific sometime.

Coming up, what's next for investigators looking into this shooting spree? I'll ask a former ATF agent.

But first, for the nearly 12,000 homeless people in the D.C. area, finding their own place to stay may seem like a solution to all of their problems, but many people who finally lift themselves out of homelessness face yet another challenge, turning a house into a home.

That's where CNN hero Mark Bergel steps in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very emotional right now. I'm so glad things are starting to turn around. Been like five years, me and my kids had nowhere to go. We just had to go from place to place. We moved in here with nothing. When I see my children on the floor going to bed, it hurts me.

OK.

Hi!

MARK BERGEL, CNN HERO: There's no stability and there's no dignity when you live in apartments that have nothing in them.

Anything it is that you want in here, you put your sticker on and that's what you guys will take home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

BERGEL: Once we get the homes furnished they have a chance to take a breath and start to create different life.

We pick up furniture and other home goods from people that have more than they need, and distribute them free of charge to people who have nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something to sit on. Lay on. Now my kids can pursue their dreams.

BERGEL: This is a good start.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BERGEL: Right? I help people to find the hope that was missing from their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love you. Good night.

BERGEL: And the opportunity they did not know was before them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. If you know someone like Mark who deserves to be recognized, go to CNNheroes.com now, and tell us all about them.

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WHITFIELD: The investigation into that deadly mass shooting in Isla Vista, California is just beginning. Police say a gunman opened fire in that college town killing six people in a shooting spree that lasted just ten minutes. Authorities say they were examining nine different crime scenes.

I spoke earlier with Rich Mariano, retired assistant director with the ATF about where investigators go from here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICH MARIANO, RETIRED ASSISTANT ATF DIRECTOR: Well, right now daylight tell whole new story. And in the several hours that have taken place, it gives investigators the opportunity to slow down the pace, to examine the ballistic evidence, and to also conduct a thorough, very comprehensive investigation to everything this offender was involved in specifically looking at, like I said, the ballistic evidence, where the shots were fired from. How many magazines did he carry with the semiautomatic weapon?

To discuss and have conversations with his friends, relatives, interview the witnesses, they all tell a story, looking at the social network, the search of the car, all his personal belongings. The local video from ATM machines, convenience store, restaurants and bars. It's almost a story within itself that each one of these pieces contains a different frame to tell the story from the perspective of what actually happened.

WHITFIELD: And in large part -- sorry. In large part is it to figure out the motive, primarily, or is it also trying to, to try and confirm or make sure there aren't other people that may have been complicit and involved with him?

MARIANO: Yes, absolutely. They want to look at the social media aspect and they want to look at the video to see if there's anybody with him on the street, anybody in the car? Some witnesses said there were two people in there. Others can't confirm if it was one or two.

But also to corroborate whatever they have. You know, there's some mention by the sheriff's office that they have some admissions from this individual. This is going to corroborate all that, and put together a good investigation, and I think they're on the right path bringing in the government and bringing in subject matter experts to the table.

WHITFIELD: And it is the collecting of evidence any different when you have suspect who is alive, who has to be prosecuted versus one that is dead.

MARIANO: Not much because the standard procedures that we all follow was good investigators to get the truth. We are not looking to get anywhere but to the truth of what happened and tell the story whether it is for the jury or to the American public. WHITFIELD: And then you mentioned reaching out to friends, family members, et cetera, returning to the place of residence. What would investigators be looking for when returning to the place of residence?

MARIANO: Well, specifically, in columbine, what we looked at a manifesto written by the two offenders. What tells the bigger picture is where I'm going with this. Who else knew about this individual? Who else was part of this planning? Who else may have assisted in getting him the gun? Getting him the ammunition? Who else took part in this terrible deadly act? It's going to give us more information to how long this plot has been brewing, rather than in the last 12 to 14 hours.

WHITFIELD: Because there's still --

MARIANO: A week and a half? Or still a longer time?

WHITFIELD: Because there still could potentially be prosecution if there were people or persons who knew something, right?

MARIANO: Absolutely. If someone purchased this gun for him with the knowledge and intent he was going to use it in a shooting, they will be prosecuted. Any individual that knew this was going to take place that aided and abetted and assisted should be prosecuted and charged. So there may be several people that, you know, took part in this thing. Well, he was kidding. He wasn't joking. He didn't bring it to the attention of authorities. They can go to jail for a long, long time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we'll have more on the shooting rampage, including a harrowing description of the final moments of the shooting from a witness who saw it all happen.

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WHITFIELD: People in a California college town, trying to come to grips with a nightmare that unfolded on their streets last night. Investigators in Isla Vista, the home of UC Santa Barbara, say a gunman opened fire from a slow-moving car shooting at people on the sidewalk. Seven people ended up dead, including the gunman and seven others were hurt. We have crews covering every angle of this story.

Kyung Lah is live in Isla Vista, few miles away from the UC of Santa Barbara campus and Evan Perez is in Washington.

So let's begin with you, Kyung. Apparently you've spoken with some new witnesses?

LAH: And there are witnesses all up and through all of the various scenes. We have nine active crime scenes. This began outside a sorority house. Witnesses say that there were at least two victims there, and then the BMW driving to this location. You can see that those men outside are sweeping up some glass. More bullets fired here. We've seen at least 12 to 15 bullet remnants that have been picked up by the authorities, and then over here witnesses also tell us that the BMW driving at a high rate of speed, about 70 miles per hour, estimated one witness, started running into people, still shooting, going in and out of this community area until it finally crashed at the end. And we spoke to a man who saw this all come to an end. Here's what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMANGIR SIDDIOUI, WITNESS: We heard a loud crash, and about, you know, close to 30 rounds of gunfire, and I looked outside, and I saw the BMW had crashed into the parked cars on the street. I saw one cop rush to the car. He -- the policeman cleared out the car, and then, like, very soon after, more squad cars showed up. Policemen showed up with their rifles. They cleared the scene. I saw the driver get pulled out.

LAH: Did you see the driver? I mean, how did he look?

SIDDIOUI: From what I remember, when I saw the driver get pulled out of the car, he looked very hurt. I mean, to me, he was -- either unconscious, or already dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And what we know now is that the driver did die at the scene. What we do not know, though, is if he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if there was in that shoot-out with authorities. The people there at the very end call it absolutely frightening, but they're also extraordinarily saddened, Fredricka, that they believe that this was someone who was their age, perhaps even someone who attended school with them -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then Kyung, you know, there at the active crime scene, you know, you pointed out the apartments are right behind you. Have a lot of people been coming out and, you know, watching, or, you know, volunteering themselves, or people in large part staying away from that crime scene?

LAH: There are a lot of students walking back and forth, and actually I'm going to have you do a 180. You can see there are students walking all the way through this park. There are some reporters here, but they're walking back and forth. And a lot of them are just trying to get back to their apartments.

We're just outside one apartment building. There are a number of apartments that appear to be filled with students all through this area. Several blocks just packed with young people. They all look like rental apartments. A lot of students all appearing to be about 19 to 21 years old. So this is, you know, a mini city here, and they're all trying to come to grips with what happened last night.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kyung Lah, thanks so much.

Let's check in with Evan Perez in Washington digging into details from there. What are you learning, Evan? PEREZ: Well, Fred, the ATF sent some of its experts to the scene there in Isla Vista. They are trying to lend assistance, because obviously there's a lot of stuff they can help with that perhaps the Santa Barbara sheriff's office doesn't have much experience with. The ATF is going to help trace the handgun recovered from the scene. We're told that is something that is ongoing right now. They're going to want to know when the firearm was purchased, from whom, because that could help explain perhaps how much planning went into this and whether or not there was anybody who may have known anything about this before this went down.

We also know that the police there are looking at some written and video evidence that they made reference to at a press conference overnight, and that's also something that perhaps federal law enforcement can help the local police go through, because, again that could help explain exactly what happened here and how long this has been in planning, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still lots of questions to be answered.

Thanks so much, Evan and Kyung. Appreciate that.

All right, you've heard over and over from so many witnesses, it sounded like fireworks. That's how they described the deadly gun fire last night. We'll talk to a man who was caught right in the middle of that chaos, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. We're following breaking news out of southern California where police say a gunman went on a shooting spree near the campus of UC Santa Barbara killing six people and wounded seven others.

Nicholas Becker was eating dinner outside at a restaurant right there in Isla Vista when the first set of shots was fired not far from where he was sitting.

Nicholas is joining us now by phone.

So Nicholas, I understand you were, you know, just having a burger at one of the places there. You're going back to get a second one, and then things took place. What happened?

NICHOLAS BECKER, WITNESS (via phone): So at first we heard sounds that sounded like firecrackers and were actually joking around about it. We saw some police, started walking down the street, and that's where the second set of shots took place outside of the deli. And about that time the police had started running, and as we went down Pardol (ph), the shots fired down, at the Deli, we saw the car turn towards Del Playa and do a little slide around the corner outside of the habit, and that's when the third set of shots went off.

WHITFIELD: And the habit is the place where you were eating. And so, when you saw this black vehicle, we're now looking at the video right now of that black vehicle which was a BMW. You describe that it was going at a pretty high rate of speed at the time that you saw it and then what else did you see about that vehicle?

BECKER: The vehicle -- I mean, I couldn't recognize it as a BMW. It was black, and it was obviously a nice sports car. It was going -- well, I'd say, like, 50, 50 miles an hour, did a little screech around the corner. And I couldn't -- I could identify only one person in the car, although I couldn't make out the person's face.

WHITFIELD: Yes. That's interesting with what police are saying. They do believe only one person was in that vehicle, that gunman. And then I understand that you had to stay put for a while, and when you and others emerged, that's when you saw body bags on the street. Is that right?

BECKER: Yes. So we were inside the habit for about 15 to 30 minutes. It was kind of weird vibes inside. Nobody really knew what was going on and everyone was kind of scared to go outside, but after a little bit, everyone is kind of slowly started to leave. That's when we headed up Embarcadero. And as we were turning left on Cordoba, there was caution tape and there was a couple body bags on the street. I couldn't make out how many, but they were recording all the aftermath.

WHITFIELD: So when you were inside that restaurant, you and many of the other patrons for that 20 to 30-minute period, did you realize, you know, that -- there was, you know, a lot of shooting taking place? I know you described earlier, you heard some firecrackers, but did you realize in all of this shooting taking place that continued that in the end, you know, people were hit?

BECKER: Absolutely not. It actually -- we heard three bursts, at three different locations, and we were -- we may be recalled like 12 shots, but we had no idea that anybody was hit. Actually, we found out one at a time. So one girl came in. Said she saw one guy. Then another person came in from a different direction, saw another guy, and then just until this morning I found out that the death rate had gone up.

WHITFIELD: So --

BECKER: I mean -- inside of the habit, people were kind of messing around. It wasn't very serious. Nobody really understood what was going on. I mean, someone was doing their homework. We'll riding their bikes around outside and parties were still going on.

WHITFIELD: So Nicholas, are you a student?

BECKER: Yes. I'm a student right now at (INAUDIBLE) high school. I will actually graduate next week and headed off to SMU in the fall.

WHITFIELD: Goodness. And so, you know, describe for me, you know, this area, where, you know, students, not just college students but obviously high school students, graduating high school students like yourself, you know, converge on the weekends, you know, paint a picture for me as to, you know, how typical this evening seemed to be at the very beginning?

BECKER: So Santa Barbara is kind of a cool little place. I mean, Isla Vista is a college little town. I'd never been there before. This was my first time, and, I mean, I got a bad impression, but earlier in the day, you know, we were just on the beach, and skating around. It was pretty mellow. It didn't seem like a very busy day. I know people see, like, the riots and all that, but it's portrayed bad in the media but it's not a bad place. I had a great time and I'm not scared to visit again. This freak accident happened. Can't avoid that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well Nicholas Becker, thanks so much for your time. Glad you're OK and sound like you're trying to process this just fine and, of course, all the best to you as you head off now for college.

BECKER: All right. Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, we will have much more on tat deadly mass shooting in southern California, and we'll economic some of the other day's top stories, including Pope Francis' historic whirlwind trip through the holy land.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Authorities are trying to find out the motive behind a deadly shooting rampage in southern California. They say a gunman opened fire as he drove through Isla Vista, west of Santa Barbara last night. People were shot in several different locations. Six of them were killed, and seven wounded.

Authorities say deputies exchanged fire with the suspect after arriving on the scene. He then fled in his vehicle, but then police caught up with him and got into another gun -- exchange of gun fire with him. The suspect drove off and crashed into a parked car and was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Still unclear if he killed himself or was shot by deputies.

It's a whirlwind tour we want to share with you, in other news, for Pope Francis, on a historic three-day tour through the holy land. Over the course of the next few days the Pope will shake hands with political leaders in three cities, celebrate two masses and deliver at least 13 speeches and homilies. Earlier today he visited the Jordan River where many Christians believe Jesus was baptized. The Pope described this trip as a pilgrimage of prayer.

But as what Becky Anderson explains in the Middle East politics has never far behind.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the first of two full-on masses just being completed behind me here at the sports stadium, 25,000 Christians here in the audience, 1,400 kids getting their first communion. This has been one of the highlights of this, the first day of this whirlwind trip.

Now, the Pope billed this tour as a pilgrimage of prayer and said it was strictly religious, not political, but in his first speech just before this mass at the palace with the king of Jordan, King Abdullah, he acknowledged with dip regret the continuing grave tensions in the Middle East and called for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria and for a just solution to the Israeli/Palestinian crisis. You are hearing the people cheering at the Pope leaving the stage. He is traveling with two old friends, two Argentineans and Rabbi Abraham Skorka, who co-wrote a book with the Pope and a sheikh Omar Abboud who leads Argentina's Muslim community.

This is an interfaith dialogue. Peace between Israelis and Palestinians has been one of his main foreign policy proclaimants, as it were, in his first year as pontiff. He's on record as saying he supports a two-state solution. So this is a religious event, but believe me it will have a political edge -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Becky Anderson, thank you so much.

All right, now, to a volatile situation in Ukraine. Tomorrow people will go to the polls to elect a new president. Polling places are already being set up. Ballots are being distributed, the election comes in the midst of separatist violence, but maybe a hopeful sign as Russian forces appear to be moving back from the Ukraine border. Ukraine's prime minister says tomorrow we will prove to the world and first of all to ourselves that it is not possible to intimidate us.

Our Jim Sciutto joins us live from Donetsk with two breakaway regions of Ukraine already calling themselves republic. What are the prospects for tomorrow's election?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it really depends on which part of the country you're in, in the western part of Ukraine, closer to Europe and the capital Kiev, people are going to be able to vote. But here in the eastern part of the country, you have these pro-Russian militants shutting down polling stations and intimidating voters. We went just outside the city of Donetsk where we are now, just about 20 minutes outside the city. We saw a number of polling station sealed-shot.

All right, the election materials, the ballots, the ID card burned. And we ran into one of the members of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic. He came up to us and showed us. This is orders to shutdown the polling stations issued by this self-declared government. They only emerged a couple of weeks ago. Separatist wants independence from the rest of Ukraine.

And you know what, Fredricka, they're not asking these polling stations to close. They're doing it at gunpoint. When we try to talk to eyewitnesses, election commissioners, and other election workers who were kicked out, they were too scared to tell us their stories because those gunmen are still around. In this part of the country, it's a very fearful situation now.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So with that kind of intimidation, it would seem unlikely that people would venture out to some of these polling stations.

SCIUTTO: Absolutely, at least in this part of the country. And we talked to people like that today who just told us not only would they not tell us the stories of how these gunmen took over the polling station, at least not on camera because they didn't want to be identified, but also they said tomorrow they didn't want to face up against these militants. They want to have the right to vote, but they don't want to pay for that right to vote with their safety, possibly with their lives.

As you know in the last couple of days, dozens of people have been killed, most of those militants and separatists as well as Ukrainian soldiers, but the threats to civilians as well. So, the intimidation by these armed militants here is working on some of those voters. So I think you can expect tomorrow in this part of the country that you're not going to have very good turnout.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jim Sciutto. Thanks so much for that.

All right, some of the other big stories crossing the CNN news desk right now.

The Veterans Affairs department has ordered a system-wide review of processes at all VA hospitals in an effort to speed up care to veterans. In a statement from the department, it says quote "the VA has developed a coordinated system-wide initiative to accelerate care to veterans and promptly communicated this to leadership in the field on May 22nd, with implementation occurring the morning of May 23rd."

And this, a bad wildfire crisis in Arizona could get even worse this holiday weekend. With 10,000 acres between flagstaff and Sedona already scorched, fire officials said the hot dry and windy weather isn't going to let up. An army of fire crews is trying to get a handle on situation there. It is only five percent contained right now.

But first, a teenager diagnosed with Lyme disease finds a unique way to cope with it.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has today's "Human Factor."

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Schuyler Ebersol, high school started pretty normally, but his luck quickly took a turn for the worse.

SCHUYLER EBERSOL, SUFFERS FROM LYME DISEASE: I'd have severe dizziness so I couldn't really walk or see straight, for days at a time.

GUPTA: At first, he just chocked it up to stress. But Ebersol quickly realized something was wrong.

EBERSOL: No one knew what was wrong with me and there were all sorts of hypotheses.

GUPTA: Home from school for months at a time, Ebersol desperately need an escape. And he found it in writing.

EBERSOL: I just started writing and I got lost in this world and identified with this character and it was just a way to keep me going.

GUPTA: And then after several months, doctors finally discovered the cause of his symptoms, a rare form of Lyme disease. At the same time, his scattered pages started to gel into a book.

EBERSOL: The book is called "the hidden world." It's about a main character who has a heart attack, slips into a coma and when he wakes up, he turns into a Wolf in the hospital room.

GUPTA: "The hidden world" was published last December with more in the works. And Ebersol says through it all, writing saved his life.

EBERSOL: You really just have to find something that can sustain you and keep you mentally strong.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

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WHITFIELD: All right, take a look at this. Items from Apollo 15 have sold for big bucks at auction. A joy stick from the moon land went for more than $600,000 and a device to actually help astronauts see. I wish I could tell you more specifically what that means, sold for $100,000. Apollo 15 became the fourth mission to land on the moon more than 30 years ago.

So, next week we're taking you back into time with a new series from executive producers Tom Hanks and Gary Getzman, "The 60s." It's the decade that changed the world. The space for cold war, free love, civil rights and more. In 1960s reshaped American' lives in ways it still affects us today. Remember the Smothers Brothers?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our government is asking us as citizens to refrain from traveling to foreign lands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, all you guys in Vietnam, come on home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The times were changing so quickly in the '60s, and we didn't change them. We just reflected them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting ready to go to college.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CBS gave the Smothers Brothers that show because they were clean-cut folk satirists. You know, they wore blazers. They could sing well. They were funny.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You lower your voice.

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WHITFIELD: Watch or set your DVR for "The Sixties" premiere, Thursday night, 9:00 eastern and pacific on CNN.

That's going to do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for hanging out with me so much of today. The next hour of NEWSROOM begins right now with Deborah Feyerick in New York.