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Seven Men on the Run after Escaping Louisiana Prison; At Least Five Killed, Millions under Threat of Tornadoes; Trump Returns as Domestic Problems Loom; Secret Service Interviews James Comey over Social Media Post; U.N. Aid Chief Says Don't Waste Time on Alternative Plan for Gaza; Ukraine's Missing Children; The Sports-Loving Pope Leo. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired May 17, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
A mad dash: 10 inmates, including murder suspects, escaped from a jail in Louisiana. We'll have the latest on the search to find them and how authorities say they broke free.
Deadly storms sweep through parts of the U.S. and the threat of severe weather isn't over. A look at the devastation and the forecast ahead.
Plus, we'll explore some of the key issues facing U.S. president Donald Trump at home after his whirlwind trip to the Middle East.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Authorities in Louisiana are searching for seven inmates who are still on the run after escaping in New Orleans jail on Friday. Ten inmates escaped through a wall behind a toilet in the Orleans Justice Center and they ran out of the facility and across a highway.
Three have been caught. Now pictures show the words, "To (sic) easy LOL" above a gap in the cell wall. Investigators believe the inmates may have had help from inside the sheriff's department. Officials have blamed a critical need for repairs at the facility as well as limited staffing for the security breach.
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QUESTION: So no one was watching live video all night at the jail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I won't say no one was watching live video but --
(CROSSTALK) QUESTION: How did nobody see that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were over 900 cameras.
QUESTION: How did nobody see them leaving the jail?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are over 900 cameras in those facilities.
QUESTION: I know. Just how did no one see a massive jailbreak?
But it's your job. It's your job to monitor every single person in this facility every day.
Do you want to say you're sorry to the people of New Orleans for having this happen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, we are underfunded, understaffed, underpaid. So we do our best to hire staff and retain them. But like everyone else, we're short.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Three employees have been suspended without pay pending an investigation. It took several hours for the jailbreak to be discovered and for the public to be notified. The Orleans Parish district attorney has said members of his staff had left town with their families amid concerns for their safety.
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JASON WILLIAMS, ORLEANS PARISH DA: I have never heard of a prison break or a jailbreak involving this many people in my 52 years. I, along with my team, came to work this morning, a rock's throw from this jail, having no knowledge that we should be on guard.
And that's inexcusable. I've got two lawyers here that worked with me on this case, who are getting their families out of town and getting escorted home to gather their belongings. I don't think they're being hyperbolic. And they need to take care of themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The inmates still on the loose in Louisiana faced a wide array of charges, including murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and other violent offenses. The FBI's New Orleans field office is assisting in the search and is offering a reward for tips leading to arrests.
But as CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey explains, it won't be easy to track down the escaped inmates.
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CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You've got to have different teams that are out searching for these individuals. I mean, you're looking at places where, you know they have relatives or they have friends or they have girlfriends, all those kinds of things trying to locate them.
Now they do have photographs of each individual, recent photographs that I'm sure they got out to a very wide area outside of New Orleans, outside of Louisiana, for that matter, for everyone to be on the lookout for these individuals.
But this is not good. You had people with some very serious charges -- homicide, armed robbery, other gun offenses and so forth. These are dangerous people that never should be out on the street.
And to lose 10 at one time, I haven't seen anything like that since I watched Steve McQueen in "The Great Escape." I mean, you just you just don't have this sort of thing happen.
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BRUNHUBER: At least five people were killed and 10 others injured as storms swept across the U.S. Midwest and Great Lakes.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a tornado, man. We're in the tornado.
Oh, (INAUDIBLE).
Oh, (INAUDIBLE).
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): You see it there, that dramatic footage showing a tornado ripping off the roof of a building in Missouri, where millions are under the threat of strong tornadoes and violent winds. The mayor in St. Louis says several buildings have collapsed and a lot of roofs are missing.
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One man was pulled from a home that was devastated by the storm and a bar completely collapsed in the city. CNN affiliate WKYT is reporting that a possible tornado left multiple dead in southeastern Kentucky overnight.
The National Weather Service reports the radar confirmed a large, extremely dangerous tornado swept across the region. Extensive damage and downed power lines were seen in one town in Kentucky, where officials are warning residents to stay indoors.
In Wisconsin, Dodge County, was hit hard, leaving significant damage and injuring at least one person there. The powerful storms left thousands of customers without power in Missouri, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana.
These storms are part of widespread severe weather that will extend into early next week.
President Donald Trump is back in the United States, though he may be wishing his trip to the Middle East could have lasted a little longer. He returned late Friday after a busy trip, where he announced several new investment and business deals.
Things at home aren't quite so rosy. Trump is facing deep concerns about the economy among U.S. consumers, driven by his ongoing trade war. And his mega bill has suffered an initial defeat in the Republican-controlled house. We'll get to all of that and have more on the trip in a moment.
But first, the president isn't happy after the Supreme Court dealt a setback to his immigration crackdown. CNN's Paula Reid has more on that.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Trump is keen to speed up deportations and is trying to use every tool at an advantage in this pursuit. One of the things he has tried to use is the Alien Enemies Act.
This is a wartime act that has rarely been invoked. And using that to facilitate deportations with less due process is something that has set off litigation across the country.
And on Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that he still could not. He is blocked from moving forward with deportations under this act, specifically for a group of immigrants in northern Texas.
So he is siding with a group of Venezuelans in Texas who said that they were poised for imminent removal and did not get enough notice or process of their removal. So the justices, they're not saying at a high level whether it is constitutional or not to use this act.
Instead, they are sending it back down to an appeals court to look at some underlying questions about exactly how much notice and process that these individuals received. So this is a significant loss for president Trump.
But it is not the final word. This will just go forward like many other cases and the rest of the litigation in this country looking at Trump's controversial use of this act -- Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: The House Budget Committee plans to meet Sunday evening after a group of Republican hardliners moved Friday to block the president's package of tax breaks and spending cuts.
The five conservative lawmakers say they're ready to tank the measure unless major changes are made, including stricter overhauls for Medicaid and deeper cuts to a clean energy tax program.
The House Speaker, Mike Johnson, and other top Republicans will try to find a way to win over the holdouts and get the president's so-called "big, beautiful bill" passed.
On top of all of that, the U.S. has now lost its last perfect credit rating from Moody's, which could rattle the markets and push up interest rates. Moody's held a AAA rating for the U.S. since 1917.
But now it's downgraded the rating to one notch below that, AA1. Moody's says the decision was based on America's growing government debt and interest payment ratios that are significantly higher than other countries with similar ratings.
Rana Foroohar, CNN's global economic analyst, digs deeper into the impact of all of this.
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RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: What credit ratings really mean is trust.
Do you have trust in the U.S.?
Do you trust that the U.S. will be able to grow, to pay its bills and to be a part of the world economy, really a distinctive part as it has been in the past?
And Moody's now is saying we think that that's a little bit less likely. So there will be market impacts. But they're going to take time to play out. But really this is about saying we're putting a little bit of a negative vote of confidence on the U.S. at the moment.
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BRUNHUBER: Optimism about the U.S. economy is at a near-record low amid president Trump's ongoing trade war. The University of Michigan's closely watched Consumer Sentiment Index continued its freefall this month, dropping 2.7 percent.
Despite that, U.S. stocks closed slightly higher on Friday. All three major indices ended the week in the green.
All right. More now on the first extended foreign trip of the president's second term. He returned from the Middle East Friday with billions of dollars in investment deals to boast about. Jeff Zeleny reports there's no guarantee all those pledges will be kept.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: U.S. president Donald Trump returning to Washington after a whirlwind week in the Middle East, traveling from Saudi Arabia to Qatar to the United Arab Emirates, making deals along the way.
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Also offering some signs of diplomacy, trying to build relationships with many leaders and business leaders in the region. The president also offered a glimpse of his globalist view on foreign policy.
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TRUMP: I have never believed in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot of people think. I don't like permanent enemies. But sometimes you need enemies to do the job and you have to do it right. Enemies get you motivated.
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ZELENY: Unclear which enemies president Trump is speaking about there. But with his return to power, old alliances have been unsettled and some old foes have been embraced by president Trump.
Now there is no doubt a series of deals were reached on this trip, some $600 billion of investment announced by Saudi Arabia; a major Boeing investment announced by Qatar Airways, buying some 200 Boeing planes for about $100 billion or so.
And perhaps the biggest piece of investment right here in Abu Dhabi with a major artificial intelligence investment that could really shape this technology for the next decade to come.
But the bottom line is, for all of these numbers, the White House and the president were touting trillions upon trillions. Some of these deals had been announced earlier on. Some of them may never come to pass.
But perhaps one of the biggest foreign policy developments on this trip is a new U.S. policy toward Syria. Donald Trump meeting with the Syrian leader for the first time after lifting sanctions, the first time that the two leaders have come together from the two nations in some 25 years.
But going into the weekend and into the next chapter of this Trump presidency, perhaps the biggest unknown is the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin, of course, declining to travel to Turkiye to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The U.S. president suggesting he may travel there and personally mediate.
Of course, he did not do that. So Trump is essentially awaiting a call from Vladimir Putin. Many of the balls now are in Moscow's court, so that remains one of the biggest foreign policy challenges for Donald Trump as he heads back to the United States and continues focusing on domestic priorities -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. For more on president Trump's visit to the Middle East and the challenges he's facing at home, let's bring in Natasha Lindstaedt. She's a professor of government at the University of Essex, joining me from Colchester, England.
Thanks so much for being here with us again. So let's start there with Trump's Middle East trip, wrapped up; plenty of controversy around certain elements of it but even some Democrats are praising the lifting of sanctions on Syria, for instance.
We also saw him extend an olive branch to Iran. And the U.S. secured the release of an American Israeli hostage. Never mind the string of all the trade and investment deals that we just spoke about there. So what did you make of the trip and what came out of it?
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: So for Trump this was a really successful trip.
I mean, he loves the Gulf. He loves all the opulence. He loves the fact that they laid out everything for him -- the red carpets, the purple carpets, the camels, the Arabian horses. Crown prince bin Salman of Saudi Arabia broke protocol, met him on the tarmac.
And he was lavishing praise on these Gulf leaders. And they like him as well. And they like the fact that he's business-minded, he's transactional. He ignores the human rights abuses and they like the fact that they can make deals with him.
As the report already outlined, there were all kinds of deals that were made. The trip was really successful in terms of what happened in Syria.
This is a really, really important decision that he made, because Syria has been struggling with dire poverty; 90 percent of the population is living in poverty, 70 percent are needed in need of humanitarian aid.
So this news of lifting the sanctions, which have been in place in Syria since 1979, was met with, you know, jubilation inside Syria but also well received by Democrats, Republicans and the international community. So these were all successes.
But there were, of course, issues. And critics claim that much of this tour was really more of a corruption tour, that Trump was personally benefiting or his organization or his family was benefiting from some of the deals that were made.
And the one that made the most headlines, of course, was the big gift from Qatar of this $400 million jet plane or plane that could be somehow repurposed to be Air Force One. But that would cost American taxpayers hundreds of millions, possibly even $1 billion.
And Trump faced some criticism from even those within his own party. I mean, they know that this is an ethical concern, possibly violating the emoluments clause.
But Ted Cruz went on FOX News and said he was even worried that the plane could be used for espionage and surveillance. So the trip was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of the headlines for Trump.
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BRUNHUBER: Yes, certainly many questions still swirling about that plane. Speaking of planes, Donald Trump back from the Middle East on his plane there. And actually, he sent an angry social media post from Air Force One as he was traveling back about the Supreme Court.
The ruling that was blocking the Trump administration from deporting immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act. So yet another blow from the judiciary to Donald Trump's agenda.
BRUNHUBER: And Trump doesn't like this because he personally picked three of the judges. He thought that they would be more loyal to him. And all three of those judges voted against him. They were, you know, the ruling was 7-2. So it was pretty decisive.
And while Trump had a huge win back in 2024 on July 1st, when they ruled that the president's could have immunity, since then, he's faced more resistance from the courts and even from the Supreme Court.
And he doesn't like this at all. And, of course, what he tends to do is he ignores the court rulings. And that, of course, puts us in a constitutional crisis.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, certainly. And then, on the other side, we have the House Budget Committee that shot down Trump's mega bill.
The question is how, you know, will the will the hard right Republicans essentially stick or twist here?
And can Trump force them to toe the line despite that sort of core disconnect between them and Trump about deficits and the need for painful cuts that voters will really feel?
LINDSTAEDT: So what we're seeing is there's more divisions within the Republican Party than previously thought, because each Republican, particularly in the House, they have different considerations to make.
Some of them are really in competitive districts and therefore they can't make too many cuts to spending that might affect their constituents. Others are in really deep red districts and it doesn't matter.
And then on top of that, you have ideological divisions between those that are really on the hard right in terms of the budget deficit and the debt that want to have more fiscal responsibility in terms of that and want to cut really everything.
And so what we've seen in the past is some of these hard right Republicans have really pushed things to the limit. But in the end, they've capitulated to what Trump wants them to do. That's what I suspect will probably happen. But it's just such a razor-sharp, razor- thin margin in the House that they can't really afford, really, any defection.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there. Natasha Lindstaedt, always appreciate your analysis. Thanks so much.
LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.
BRUNHUBER: Sean Diddy Combs' former girlfriend has wrapped up four days of testimony in his criminal trial. We'll have the details of her final day on the stand when we come back.
Plus, former FBI director James Comey is interviewed by the Secret Service about a social media post that seemed to refer to the president. That story and much more after the break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Prosecutors in Sean Diddy Combs' criminal trial say they plan to call the mother of his former girlfriend to testify next week.
On Friday, a former member of a musical group discovered by Combs testified that she saw him attacked Cassie Ventura in 2009. Dawn Richard testified for the prosecution after Ventura wrapped up nearly 20 hours over four days on the stand. Cole Higgins has more on the story.
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COLE HIGGINS, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Cassie Ventura testifying for four days about her former relationship with ex-boyfriend Sean Diddy Combs and her participation in freak-offs, the drug-fueled sex performances Combs allegedly orchestrated and their effects on her life.
Friday, Combs' defense attorneys asking Ventura about a 2014 recording of a threat she made to a man who claimed he had seen a sexually explicit tape of her. The timeline surrounding her rape allegation against Combs and her mental health treatment.
Ventura testified that she went to an inpatient treatment center in 2023 for a mental health program, including therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want the jury to think, well, maybe she's somewhat of a basket case after all of this and maybe what she's telling us we can't rely on, because maybe it's not exactly true.
HIGGINS (voice-over): The prosecution able to question Ventura on redirect examination.
RENATO STABILE, ATTORNEY: They're going to give her an opportunity now to explain why it is that at the same time that she's having these text exchanges that, you know, some are loving and some of the things she did in terms of setting up these encounters, she was nevertheless being coerced.
HIGGINS (voice-over): At one point, prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Ventura about a lawsuit she settled with Combs in 2023. Ventura testified that she got $20 million in that settlement.
Ventura burst into tears, telling the court, quote, "I'd give that money back if I never had to have freak-offs," and, quote, "If I never had to have freak-offs, I would have had agency and autonomy."
I'm Cole Higgins reporting.
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BRUNHUBER: Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering and sex trafficking. He faces up to life in prison if convicted on all counts.
Former FBI director James Comey was interviewed by Secret Service agents on Friday. You can see him leaving his home in Virginia in that video there. Now the Secret Service wanted to know about one of Comey's social media posts.
It shows shells on a beach, spelling out 8647, a code for removing Donald Trump from the presidency that's popular on social media. Trump and other Republicans have demanded an investigation. But experts say legal action would stand little chance because of court decisions that have expanded free speech rights in recent years.
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The federal judge overseeing the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has expressed frustration with the Trump administration during a hearing on Friday. Abrego Garcia is the Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador. A month ago, the judge demanded that officials tell the court what they're doing to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.
Protesters demonstrated outside during the lengthy hearing. The judge ruled that Abrego Garcia's attorneys would be allowed to depose additional administration officials. And he ordered the secretary of state to justify why state secrets should prevent the production of certain documents and testimony.
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BRUNHUBER: Talks in Istanbul failed to get Russia and Ukraine any closer to a ceasefire. And the U.S. president now says it's up to him and the Russian leader to pick up the mantle. We'll explain.
And the battle to highlight Ukrainian culture amid the war is shifting to Switzerland. A little later, one of Ukraine's top recording artists talks about why Eurovision is more than just a song contest. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Ukrainian police are accusing Russia of a cynical war crime, reportedly committed just hours after the two nations' face-to-face talks in Istanbul. Ukraine says nine people were killed after a Russian drone hit this bus in the northeastern Sumy region. Seven others were injured.
Russia's state news agency says Russian troops targeted a Ukrainian military equipment staging site. The strike followed the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in three years. They agreed on a prisoner exchange and future talks.
But a Turkish official says Russia shot down the idea of a ceasefire, a main request from Ukraine and its European allies.
The focus is now on U.S. president Donald Trump. He recently floated the idea of sanctioning Russia if it didn't accept a ceasefire. But he now wants to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying that's the only way to make any progress. Here he is.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He is at the table and he wanted this meeting. And I always felt there can't be a meeting without me, because I don't think a deal is going to get through.
There's a lot of hatred on both sides. I have a very good relationship with Putin. I think we'll make a deal. We have to get together and I think we'll probably schedule it.
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BRUNHUBER: Clare Sebastian has more on the negotiations from Istanbul.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, even before they started, it was clear the talks here at Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace were on Russia's terms, not Ukraine's. Despite urging during the week from President Zelenskyy and Trump for Putin to turn up himself, he sent a low-level delegation.
And the results we got, well, it's not clear that they moved the needle toward peace in any way. The only concrete one was the promise of a prisoner swap involving 1,000 prisoners on each side, a very large number.
But we've seen many of these throughout the war. They also discussed that the next steps would be a meeting between the two leaders, Zelenskyy and Putin, and they discussed what a ceasefire would look like.
And here's where the reality sets in. According to a Turkish official, Russia stated that, if Ukraine wanted the guns to fall silent, it needed to withdraw from all of the four regions that Russia has illegally annexed, even though Russia does not fully occupy those regions. Now this is a red line not only for Kyiv but also for the U.S. Now it
was only a week ago, remember, that Ukraine and its allies were telling Russia that they would ramp up the pressure if it didn't sign on to a ceasefire.
President Zelenskyy trying to get back to that point today in a phone call with president Trump, joined by several of those same European allies.
So what we got here today at the very best was an anti-climax, especially for the press, who've been camped out here for the best part of two days. At worst, it's a setback. Russia allowed to call the shots here and still no ceasefire in place -- Clare Sebastian, CNN, in Istanbul, Turkiye.
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BRUNHUBER: Israel has begun a major new military offensive in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces say they have launched extensive attacks and mobilized troops to seize strategic areas in the enclave.
It's the opening move of what Israel calls Operation Gideon's Chariots and the expansion of its military campaign. On Friday, the Palestinian ministry of health said Israel's offensive in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 53,000 people and that death toll doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians.
But the U.N. and other agencies say the majority of those killed are women and children. Many Palestinians have been trying to flee Jabalya in northern Gaza, as Israeli strikes have focused on the area in recent days. Gaza's health ministry says the attacks killed dozens of people, including women and children.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The last night was an extremely tragic night for us. The quadcopter was above our heads, above our tents. It tore through my tent. And the bullet of the quadcopter slept next to me. I almost lost my son. I almost lost my daughter. I almost lost myself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Thank God. God kept us safe and our children safe. And here we left. By God, we're tired. And here, I have a little newborn with me.
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BRUNHUBER: Amid the humanitarian crisis, the U.N. is pushing back against a new alternative plan backed by the U.S. and Israel to deliver aid to Gaza. The U.N.'s aid chief says time shouldn't be wasted on yet another plan when they already have a network in place.
[04:35:00] With 160,000 pallets of aid and trucks ready to go. The U.S. and Israel say their plan is designed to prevent Hamas from stealing humanitarian aid. But the U.N. and other aid groups reject that claim, saying there's no evidence of any significant diversion of aid.
We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The countdown has begun to today's grand finale at Eurovision. And even non-competitors in the host city of Basel, Switzerland, are getting in on the act. Have a look.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The often quirky song competition features acts from the outrageous to the mainstream. You remember it once launched megastars ABBA and Celine Dion.
This year, participants from 37 countries have been whittled down to 26 finalists. Bookmakers favor the Swedish band KAI to win. But experts say the results don't always match the algorithms.
Artists from Austria, France, the Netherlands and Finland have also shown promise heading into the final.
Now representing Ukraine in the finals this year is the group, Ziferblat, with its song "Bird of Pray." For Ukraine, Eurovision is more than a chance to show off its musical talent. It's an opportunity to make a statement that Ukrainian culture is alive and well and thriving, despite the war that aims to snuff it out.
And one of the biggest names in Ukrainian music represented her country in Eurovision last year as part of a duet. Singer Jerry Heil joins me now from Kyiv.
Good to see you again. Thanks so much for joining us here. So first of all, just talk to me about --
(CROSSTALK)
JERRY HEIL, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Hello and thank you for having me.
BRUNHUBER: Pleasure, pleasure. So tell me about the band, Ziferblat.
What do they bring?
What do they represent? HEIL: Well, actually, I love their music. They are so different. And they have been different through all the journey. And they never, never gave up because this music wasn't like traditional pop music for Ukraine for a long time.
And now, knowing that the majority of Ukrainians vote for them, voted for them to -- for them to participate and to represent our country, it's a big thing. And I'm so happy because now the world can see us differently also, musically.
They can know that we can do different kind of music. And culturally we are very developed. So I'm very happy for them.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, as they saw when you showcased your own music last year. Now I understand the band is fundraising to buy robotic de- mining systems to help clear mines in Ukraine, which is also a cause that that you've been supporting as well, right?
HEIL: Actually, it's a very, very important thing when so many people are looking at you to bring attention to the topics which are really matter because, people need to live somewhere. People need to grow food somewhere. And big, enormous amount of Ukrainian land is now mined. And we have to demine it.
And without the support from the world, that's just almost impossible. And, of course, we see that support. And even with our case, when we were trying to save Ukrainian school or we're bringing attention to Ukrainian kids, which are in Russia now.
Without the people who can see that from abroad, who can still talk about that, even talking about that, even like posting something about it's so important, bringing attention to what's going on in your country, it's really important through the culture.
BRUNHUBER: Exactly. And you know this as well from your own musical journey in the contest last year.
So with the stakes already so high, how much added pressure is there to represent your country to the world in the middle of a war?
HEIL: Oh. It is pressure. It is a responsibility, first off from your own country, because, you know, it is a responsibility. Every Ukrainian, almost every Ukrainian is watching you now. And they want you to represent Ukraine as good as it is, because I love Ukrainian culture. And we, so many of us bring Ukrainian folk music to our stages.
Because this is who we are. This is our identity. And it is so cool to make the world hear it and see it. But talking about myself, I remember that, when you go to the stage and you take a -- breathe in and breathe out, you know that it's happening now and no pressure anymore.
But, of course, it is very responsible, very responsible, not even being on a stage but being behind it and spreading the truth.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Now you mentioned the children and that's a -- that's a cause that you've been behind for a long time.
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And you've been using music to make a difference. "All Eyes on Kids," your song dedicated to children who were abducted by Russia. I just want to show a little bit of that video.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Well, that video features a 14-year-old girl from Mariupol who lost both of her parents during the war and then she was forcibly taken to occupied territory. Now she was eventually brought back to Ukraine, thanks to her grandfather.
You and I spoke about this last year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So just give me an update.
Do you know how she's doing?
HEIL: Yes, she's peacefully living with her grandfather and family now. Of course, not all of members of her family can join them because her father was killed. And it's a tragedy for many, many, many families in Ukraine.
(CROSSTALK)
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And many, many, just to give our viewers a context of how many, I mean, there were some 19,000, at least, children, from Ukraine who've been abducted by Russia.
(CROSSTALK)
BRUNHUBER: And less than a 10th of those have come back to Ukraine.
So just tell me a bit about why this cause is so important to you and how you're trying to help raise awareness about this.
HEIL: Oh, actually, I can imagine being a person from a peaceful country, who just hear news that, OK, it's still war. There, there in Ukraine, also, everywhere is war. So it kind of like erases the important topics because children are the future and also Ukrainian children are the future of Ukraine.
But this just distracts us from the possibility to spread our culture and to share it with the world and to bring something important to the world. Ukraine won't develop without its children. And it's around like 30,000 of kids are still kidnapped. And we don't even know the right amount of those children.
And they erased their identity. We don't know what they do with them but there -- but then when they come back to Ukraine, they are deeply traumatized. And that's a huge -- that's a huge thing. So if we don't bring this to attention in the world, if this is not discussed enough in the world, nothing will happen. Nothing will change.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Well, listen, I know that, in this context, I mean, especially you'll be cheering on Ziferblat to represent Ukraine in Eurovision and to bring awareness to this and so many other causes that are important to Ukrainians.
I really appreciate having you on today, Ukrainian singer and songwriter, Jerry Heil, thank you so much for joining us.
HEIL: Thank you very much.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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[04:50:00]
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BRUNHUBER: This Sunday in Rome, the Vatican will celebrate an inaugural mass that officially begins the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV. And in his hometown of Chicago, the Cubs will host the White Sox at Wrigley Field. Both teams are looking to claim the new pope for their own.
Whitney Wild has more on how Chicago is celebrating the Vatican's number one sports fan.
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WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One week after being named the head of the Catholic Church, the world is meeting Pope Leo XIV through both his homilies -- and his hobbies.
Pope Leo is an avid tennis player.
Just days ago, meeting the top men's singles player in the world, Jannik Sinner at the Vatican, who gave him a racket.
ANGELO DI BERNARDINO, FORMER AUGUSTINIAN SUPERIOR AND FRIEND OF POPE LEO XIV: He loves tennis. Even now, until a few days ago, he would play tennis if he could.
WILD: And after living in both Peru and Rome, he developed a love for soccer and the Italian league club in Rome, AS Roma.
Pope Leo is a South Side Chicagoan by birth, a White Sox fan, according to his brother, who showed up in the World Series broadcast in 2005.
What do you think it means for the organization? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that this is, you know, first of all, just the fact that its like a historic global moment but I really think its making our White Sox fans have that little boost of pride, which, quite frankly, we could use.
WILD: And where did he sit during that game?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we are. Section 140, row 19, seat two.
WILD: So this would have been his view at that World Series game.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not a bad view, huh?
WILD: The White Sox have retired number 14. No player will wear the pope's digits on the field.
But Stephanie and Josh Ganal are making sure 14 shines in the stands.
How many orders for Pope Leo jerseys do you have?
STEPHANIE GANAL, OWNER, GRANDSTAND: At this point, we haven't had a chance to count them all but I definitely would say over 100 of them already.
WILD: Stephanie's parents started Grandstand in 1989 when she was just three years old. The high school sweethearts now run the family's store a few blocks from where the Sox play.
GANAL: It means a lot to us to have something fun and a good blessing. Like this on the South Side is something that we drastically need.
WILD: According to the online betting site, BetMGM, lots of folks are putting their money on Chicago teams and banking on divine intervention.
[04:55:05]
MATT PREVOST, CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, BETMGM: The Bears in Chicagoland
have been the biggest recipient of pope enthusiasm. So we have seen the -- mostly the Chicago faithful lean in to betting on Chicago teams since the pope announcement.
WILD: After Leo was named pope, the White Sox snapped a four-game losing streak taken by some Chicagoans as a sign prayers were answered -- Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
