than 400 rescued migrants to shore at sicilian port of augusta, cnn international correspondent ben wedeman joins us again from there. now, ben, of course, we are waiting for this bet to arrive with the, the 400 or so rescued migrants. talk to us though about that. and the situation that has been caused as a result of these waves of immigrants who have come. and the problems that they have experienced out at sea there. we also heard from the italian prime minister, a lot to cover there. >> yeah, well you know, prime minister renzi did say yesterday this crisis, this tragedy that happened early sunday morning with the death of as many as 950 migrants has focused europe for the first time he said on this problem. and italy is desperate to get the european union on board and in some sort of comprehensive action to, to somehow deal with this problem. but this problem is so deep and so broad and goes back to sort of, so many areas, you have war in syria. you have war in somalia. you have chaos in libya. you have economic deprivation in nigeria, gambia, erritrea. and there has been a lot of talk

we have senior international correspondent ben wedeman with more from sicily. >> reporter: ben, we are in the port of katanya in sicily. we are awaiting the ship "gregoretti" where it docked and unloaded the bodies of 24 people who died in the tragedy at sea. the italian authorities are saying the number of people who they were able to rescue from the sea is 24. as far as the maltese authorities, as many as 50 people survived. last night, the italian authorities issued a statement in which they said had questioned a bangladeshi survivor from the tragedy who said as many as 950 people may have been on board the ship. a much larger number than the original 650 that italian authorities were quoting. they said this bangladeshi survivor said during the course of this disaster that many of the people who were on the lower decks of the ship were not able to escape because the human traffickers had actually locked them in. as far as the traffickers go the italian authorities say they are conducting a widespread investigation of people involved in this tragic business of human trafficking. they

ben wedeman, thanks. >>> new this morning, u.s. officials are condemning an apparent isis beheading of two groups of prisoners. the captives seen in the isis video are believed to be ethiopian christians. nationals are calling the killings a brutal mass murder. it is being called quote an attempt to promote discord. our correspondent nic robertson has more. >> reporter: good morning, john. it seems to be a multilayered message from isis. absolutely brutal. the same brutality we have seen in other execution videos. the main part of the narrative of the more than 30-minute video is to tell christians you have two choices under isis control. one, you can die, or you can submit to rule by isis. convert to islam or pay a non-muslim tax. very stark choices. that is the major narrative, if you will. they execute two groups of people. one group they behead right next to the mediterranean sea. the other group of 15 they shoot and kill by gunshot and that is in the south of libya. the message here is that isis extends control across all of l

i want to bring in senior international correspondent ben wedeman live in sicily. investigation this morning? >> reporter: as you mentioned, the italian police arrested two of the 28 survivors of the ill-fated ship. one apparently was the tunesian captain. the other was a syrian deck hand of sort. they are questioned. as far as beyond that it's not all together clear at this point how this ship capsized. one u.n. official saying it was caused because a portuguese merchant vessel got too close and caused a big wave and therefore, it capsized. we spoke to two medics from the order of malta who were at the scene shortly after the ship went down. they believe it was caused by many of the passengers we they saw this approaching ship going to one side and causing it to capsize. these two medics told us that they were out on the ocean at 1:00 a.m. in the dark in a dinghy looking for bodies. they described what they saw as a carpet of bodies bobbing in the area. they thought they were all dead. as they went in to recover some of the bodies they heard one man shouting for he

i want to bring in senior international correspondent ben wedeman following the latest on the investigation where 900 people might have died. ben, what is the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: according to the prosecutor here in catania, two men have been arrested out of the 28 survivors from the disaster. one apparently a tunesian. the captain of the ship. the other is a syrian. they are being questioned by the italian authorities. the other survivors have been sent to an old u.s. residence for families of u.s. military personnel. they will be under observation and they will get medical treatment if they need help. otherwise, they will be integrated for what passes for the system dealing with migrants here in italy. i'm on the dock in catania where the migrants and the two arrested members of the crew of the ship arrived. ironically ironically this gives you the idea of the contradictions of the situation in europe. behind me is the cruise ship that docked a while ago with elderly english pensioners. the european community is trying to come up with some sort of way to deal with thi

ben wedeman, cnn, in the mediterranean. >> ben wedeman always able to bring us so many different aspect of these stories. >> excellent story teller. always. >> all right. the sky turned red over southern chile as a volcano erupted. not once, but twice. the first time we have heard from it in almost 50 years. we will have that coming up fz. >> and u.s. general divulging classified information to his lover learned his fate. what david petraeus had to say outside the courtroom. if your purse is starting to look more like a tissue box... you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. muddle no more™ . >>> u.s. general david petraeus must serve two years probation and pay a $100,000 fine for sharing classified information with his lover. >> today marks the end of a 2 year ordeal that resulted from mistakes that i made. as i did in the past, i apologized to those closest to me and to many others, including those with whom i was privileged to serve i

ben wedeman, cnn, rome. >>> so with the message on syria and libya and the iranian message as well, i wanted to get a response from cnn's religion commentator father edward beck. he reacted to the pope's message. listen. >> it's expected in a message like this to be praying for world peace, unfortunately, we find ourselves not at peace in so many areas that the list seems particularly long, but i think, again, putting into context what christians are celebrating right now, we've just gone through the three days. good friday is about suffering. it is about somehow finding meaning in suffering and moves us to today, to easter. so i think the easter message of the pope is that even though we're living in this violent world, the prayers for peace continue. the fact is, christians celebrate that jesus rose from the dead. the pope is really putting it in the context of we can have hope in this but he's challenging the world community that we have to work together for that. it's not going to happen unless we ban together as an international community to help make it happen. >> there's been a

that where is where we're live with cnn senior correspondent ben wedeman. he situation? >> reporter: yeah john this is a ship from the italian navy which apparently has brought these people there's 446 migrants, ten nationalities, but it appears the majority of them are syrians. they've been picked up over the last few days. we've seen women and children on board the ship as well. now, we also understand that also on board are some of the crew members of those smugglers boats that were rescued here. so just a little while ago, we saw agents from the european police agency go on board. so there may be arrests happening as well. in addition to this arrival, elsewhere in italy on the island of lap pa deuce sa over 1200 migrants have come aboard. 10:24 here italian time 500 migrants have already arrived. so that gives you an idea of the scale. we've been focusing on the catastrophe that happened when as many as 150 people may have died at sea. but what we're having is daily, hundreds and hundreds of migrants arriving. the italian authorities struggling to deal w

we have ben wedeman live in rome with the latest. >> reporter: what happened yesterday, there was a massat the vatican where pope francis spoke about the 100 anniversary at the beginning of the massacres of armenians during world war ii while they lived under the empire. he described it as the first genocide of the 21st century. he was actually requoting a statement made in september of 2001 by the pope. for the turks, this is a sensitive topic. they insist the death of armenian christians during the first world war was the beginning of violence of muslims and christians. the pope seems to believe along with historians this was part of a systematic campaign by the empire to exterminate armenian christians within its boundaries. it was a time when western powers and russia were trying to undermine the empire which was fighting alongside germany in the first world war. therefore, the government then looked upon christians the armenian community, in a sense of the fifth callolumn. when the current government of turkey which has those ambitions of their own, certainly become very angry. they

ben wedeman, thanks. you can catch "finding jesus" tonight on cnn on 9:00 p.m.n. >>> the crisis in yemen claims the life of a u.s. citizen. a woman who wanted to bring his 2-year-old daughter and wife back to the states. could the state department have done anything more to save his life? >>> plus a sea change could be ahead in ferguson, missouri. the town is electing new members to its city council for the first time since the death of michael brown and the aftermath of that death. you'll experience a transformation. take the listerine® 21 day challenge and start your transformation today. i am a lot of things. i am his guardian. i am his voice. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namend

ben wedeman has more on the arrest and italy's growing my grant crisis. repo>> reporter: report they mat alive. relief sh relief shown in a shy smile. they were rescued from six rubber dinghies. off the shores of libya. this group of almost 600 migrants from africa brings the total number of people who have arrived on the italian coast in the last six days to almost 11,000. but among them, 10 men were arrested from gambia, mali and senegal, suspected of being human traffickers. while in palarmo, italian police are holding 15 men suspected of throwing a dozen migrants off a boat to their deaths after a fight broke out. all 12 were christians from nigeria and ghana. another boat has sunk. only four people surviving from the original 45 on board bringing estimated death toll so far in the mediterranean close to a thousand. some of the migrants end up here at residents in the shadow of mt. etna. until 2011, it was home to u.s. military personnel and their families. it's now guarded by the italian army. the new residents are free to come and go as they please.

. >> for more ben wedeman is standing by in rome. there is a bit of a precedent for this.paul ii cited it in 2001. pope francis has made similar comment before. for turks, these comments come with a sting. >> reporter: yes, indeed. this is a very sensitive subject for the turks who not only recalled their ambassador to the vatican and summoned the vatican ambassador in ankara to emperess unhappy not. we heard from the turkish foreign minister who tweeted that the statements are unacceptable, those statements by pope francis, and are out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis. the turk have always contended that the massacre of armenians which left 1.5 million dead were simply the result of intercommunal violence during world war i. of course, if you look back at the historical record, diplomatic correspondents, press reports at the time, it does appear that it was indeed a systemic genocide of the armenians during the first world war. but as i said, the turks have always denied it. it's important to note that in fact pope francis was, as you mentioned, merely

ben wedeman, cnn, rome. >> watch the season finale of "finding jesus" at 9:00 on cnn.re back in a moment. hey mike, it's lucy from lifelock. good news. we just learned your case is closed and your stolen retirement funds are finally being restored. lucy, wow... that 401k is two years in the mailroom ten in customer service, and the last five as sales director. that's some resume. try raising teenagers. you only have one identity. protect it with the best. lifelock. i am totally blind. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. people ship all kinds of things. but what if that thing is a few hundred thousand doses of flu vaccine. that need to be kept at 41 degrees. while being shipped to a country where it's 90 degrees. in the shade. sound hard? yeah. does that mean people in laos shouldn't get their vaccine? we didn't think so. from figuring it out to getting it done, we're here to help. >> collecting top stories, a father remains hospitalized and two son

senior international correspondent ben wedeman is live in vatican city with the details. the pope had to say. >> reporter: the pope really went through a long list of conflicts, just to name a few, syria, iraq, the holy land, libya, yemen, nigeria, sudan and the congo and ukraine. many of those conflicts where christians are being killed, are being driven from their homes. he is particularly concerned about the situation in iraq and in syria where we see that isis is driving christians from villages, areas where they have lived for centuries and centuries, going back almost to the first century after the death of christ. so certainly this is one of his main concerns. he did, however, seem to be praising the framework agreement worked out between the united states, its allies and iraq on the nuclear issue, but definitely the worrying situation around the world not only for christians, but for everybody is occupying the pontiff's mind as he celebrates this, his third easter as pope. alison? >> as many people there brave the rain, that laundry list of countries, ben, that he

straight to ben wedeman. you've spent a lot of time in that region familiar with that consulate in erbil. what do we know about this attack? >> we understand wolf, the explosion took place at about 5:50 p.m. local time. according to kurdish security forces there was a small ied explosion into the consulate, a christian neighborhood very popular with expats. now when that bomb went off, shortly afterwards another -- a car started to approach the consulate. kurdish supreme court forces outside the consulate opened fire on that car, but the car subsequently exploded. as you said killing at least three people wounding five according to our sources in the area. now, also what happened afterwards there is a parentally an hour-long exchange of gunfire according to eyewitnesses we've spoken to who were in that immediate area. now, this is a part of town where there's high security and this is a part of iraq erbil, where the kurds take security very seriously. and rarely are there such occurrences in erbil itself. for

we have ben wedeman on the phone from italy. what do we know now? >> reporter: what we know is this ship -- >> ben, can you hear us? the connection dropped off. >> reporter: on board that ship is 28 of the survivors. now, the ship halls has picked up 24 hour bodies from the sea. they were left at malta. as far as the rescue effort goes at this point it appears it is winding down. we spoke to the cap tan of one fishing boat that took part in that initial effort. he says they were able to rescue fought rescue but pull four bodies from the sea and since then they have been called back. at this point it's only the italian coast guard and the maltese navy that are conducting this rescue or search operation. meanwhile, we know that a european officials are going to be meeting later today in lafayette to discuss the crisis. there is also talk of a crisis summit involving the 28 foreign and interior ministers of the european union to discuss some way to address this mounting crisis. >> ben, do we still have you? >> reporter: you've got me. >> the numbers are

senior international correspondent ben wedeman is in rome with details. >> it's supposed to be a holiday occasion but the weather was cool and rainy, the spirit of easter this year marred by violence most recently in kenya where militants from the islamist group al-shabaab slaughtered almost 100 mostly christian students at a university. pope francis marking this third easter as pontiff -- in nigeria and sudan and the democratic republic of the congo and the ukraine. >> we love syria and iraq that the roar of arms may cease and that peaceful relations may be restored. among the various groups which make up those beloved countries. may the international community not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries. and the drama of the numerous refugees. >> reporter: clearly his mind occupied by war and rumors of war the world over. he did however end his easter address on a slightly lighter note asking all those present to pray for him and wishing one and all a good easter lunch. >>> and kenyan officials have identifying the manage they say planned last week

cnn's correspondent ben wedeman went on surveillance with italian police. >> reporter: we observe a dinghy with people on board the lieutenant calls out on the plane's radio giving its coordinates. it's about 15 meters long with 150 people on board. he's part of the crew of an italian financed police surveillance plane on patrol in the mediterranean. down below, the italian coast guard ship gregoretti steams toward. it's a wide ranging effort. we're only about 45 miles off the libyan coast. within minutes a smaller boat dispatched arrives, the plane's high-powered cameras capturing the moment when it sidles up to the dinghy. lieutenant pulici has done this for years with the finance police but he still can't believe the dinghies crammed with migrants bobbing in the water. we can't leave people at sea like that, he says, we would feel guilty if somehow they disappeared from our screens. as long as we can see them, we're like guardian angels. those are human lives down there. this plane flying out of the italian island of lampedusa every day. lampedusa is italy's southernmost territory just

. >> and ben wedeman has spent a lot of time on the ground in iraq. as a matter of fact, he was just in erbil and he was at this consulate. so i want to bring you in now, ben. how significant do you think this attack is? >> reporter: erin it definitely shows that after almost daily coalition air strikes going back to last autumn isis is still capable of conducting this type of brazen broad daylight attack on such a high level, high-profile u.s. target as the u.s. consulate in erbil. now, last autumn or rather late last summer isis was able to get near to erbil, but they've been steadily pushed back. but what today's incident underscores is that despite all of that isis still has enough supporters sympathizers perhaps sleeper cells to conduct this sort of attack. now, until today, most western diplomats i've spoken to in erbil have been confident that kurdish intelligence and security forces would be able to prevent the kind of daily car bombings and suicide attacks that you see in places like baghdad. but perhaps that confidence was premature. erin? >

ben wedeman, thank you very much. i appreciate it. >>> coming up next we are going to talk about this -- >> hands up! [ bleep ] stop! stop right there! i don't want to shoot you, man! i'm not gonna shoot you! >> wait until you see all of this video. a double-murder suspect charges the police officer, begging the officer to shoot him. show you how it plays out next. >>> all right, that's tonight. stick around, a lot of news for you before that, including this. an ohio police officer is being praised for his restraint during a heart-stopping confrontation with an accused killer. officer jesse kidder had his gun drawn when the double-murder suspect charged at him, daring the officer to shoot. officer kidder was wearing a body camera. it recorded the entire thing. >>> get your hands up! get your hands up! great your hands up right now! [ bleep ] stop! stop right there! i don't want to shoot you, man. i don't want to shoot you! [ bleep ] shoot you, i'll shoot you. >> no you won't! no, you won't! >> get back! get back! get

i want to turn to cnn senior international correspondent ben wedeman track inging the latest for us in italy. ben. >> reporter: yes, michaela. we have two different differing versions on what may have caused this catastrophe. on the one hand italian officials are saying they believe it was indeed when they -- portuguese merchant vessel was coming to the rescue of this ship in distress when many of the passengers rushed to one side of the ship and caused itd to capsize. however, there may according to other u.n. officials and one official from the international organization for migration that i spoke to, he said it may have been caused by that migrant ship accidentally ramming into that portuguese vessel. but what we're seeing is you just look at the numbers of people crossing everyday the mediterranean, this problem is only getting worse. this morning a desperate fight for survival. playing out in international waters. thousands of migrants fleeing homelands gripped by poverty some escaping the brutal advances of isis. according to the international organization for migration more boat