[Robyn Curnow, Cnn:] Hi, there. Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN Center. Well, this hour, we're tracking Pope Francis as he is set to celebrate a second mass on his momentous trip across Cuba.
[Curnow:] He arrived just a short time ago at Holguin in Eastern Cuba and he'll speak in the city's Revolutionary Plaza. These are live pictures you're looking at now. Holguin is in the home region of Fidel and Raul Castro and it's also considered the cradle of Catholicism in Cuba. There is still much more on Pope Francis' agenda and Chris Cuomo has more on the papal travel plans.
[Chris Cuomo, Cnn Correspondent:] Anticipation builds in the U.S. Pope Francis comes to the nation's capital Tuesday. He'll be the first pontiff to ever speak to Congress directly. While climate change and capitalism are expected talking points, some see his visit as a push toward fully lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. Controversial enough for one congressman to boycott.
[Unidentified Male:] I'm not sure if he's worried about alienating people. He'll be encouraging but he speaks the truth.
[Cuomo:] Next, a trip to New York and the United Nations, where the growing refugee crisis is expected to be on the docket. Il Papa's visit will end in Philadelphia where families will be his focus.
[Pope Francis:] See you in Philadelphia.
[Cuomo:] The U.S. tour coming on the heels of his historic visit to Cuba over the weekend, at a time when the Communist country is undergoing some change. Latin America's first pope praising the two nations for normalizing relations. And the tens of thousands in Havana's Revolution Square Sunday a message of hope and faith.
[Pope Francis:] [Speaking Spanish].
[Cuomo:] Calling on Cubans to serve one another, not an ideology. Signs of underlying political tensions as anti-government protesters are arrested after approaching the Popemobile. Pope Francis meeting privately with former leader Fidel Castro to discuss the environment and global economy. Then later, meeting once again with younger brother, Raul Castro. Ahead of the visit, the U.S. announcing further loosening of travel and business restrictions with Cuba. But on the streets of Havana, some hopeful, some doubtful that they'll ever see any positive impact on their lives. "In the short run, I haven't seen any kind of change," says this man. "Maybe later but not yet." "It's a necessary change that both countries need," this woman says. "We need."
[Curnow:] Well, that seemed to freeze at the end there. That was CNN's Chris Cuomo, reporting from Cuba. Our Patrick Oppmann is based in Havana for CNN and there's a real understanding of the importance of this visit. Hi, there, Patrick. This pope has got quite a rock star reception, hasn't he?
[Patrick Oppmann, Cnn Correspondent:] Absolutely. I covered the previous two papal visits and I never remember people screaming in the streets, "Que Papa mas chevere," "What a cool pope," certainly something that you don't hear about any head of state or most of them. And this pope, though, has been greeted with hugs, with people bringing their children up to him to bless and kiss. And just a general excitement that I haven't seen here in many years of covering Cuba. You know, you see the crowds in Holguin. Thousands of people and they're not coming out because they have been ordered to, as so often happens here in Cuba, it really seems that they're coming out because they want to. That's how we saw so much enthusiasm yesterday and today as he continues his journey on into Holguin and gets a little bit more of that rock star treatment Robyn.
[Curnow:] Indeed. A cool pope, as you say. Let's talk about this meeting between Francis and Fidel, so much of this trip has been about contradictions, contrast, hasn't it?
[Oppmann:] Absolutely. And immediately after delivering mass yesterday, Pope Francis went just outside of Havana, where Fidel Castro has a compound that is usually almost impossible to enter. But this is the pope and he had said he wanted to meet with the former Cuban leader and that's what happened. We're told for about 30 to 40 minutes he brought gifts with him, including a somewhat unusual gift: masses and sermons that had been delivered and recorded by the Jesuit priest who had taught Fidel Castro in school here in Havana and, of course, was one of the Spanish priests deported after the revolution took power. Fidel gave the pope a book that he had contributed to about religion that was actually one of the first indications that there was going to be some opening to religion in the country and then, you know, it is always somewhat unusual and interesting to see so many photos like we did yesterday of Fidel Castro's family because they've almost rarely been almost never been acknowledged in Cuba. Fidel Castro's always been projected the image of a man that lives for the revolution, in time for anything else but of course he does have a family. He has a wife and they were shown yesterday. And it's also interesting and perhaps worth noting that his wife, Dalia Soto, is there, wearing white. We see her wearing a very smart looking white dress but it's also a bit of a protocol breach, Robyn. As you know, you don't wear white around the pope unless, of course, you have a special dispensation that's only granted to Catholic queens. So she doesn't quite fit there. But I'm sure the pope was all too happy to overlook the little breach of protocol that occurred.
[Curnow:] Clearly I didn't get that memo, either. All right. Thanks so much. Patrick Oppmann, our man in Havana. Thanks a lot. Now, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow. They're discussing Syria at a time when there's evidence of increasing Russian military build-up inside the country. Our Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem. But first, let's go to Matthew Chance in Moscow. Hi, there, Matthew. We're getting new reports on how much of a military build-up there's been in Syria and also just give us a sense within that context what was said at this meeting.
[Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes. That's right, Robyn. We certainly are. Although, I have to say as a preface to this, that the Kremlin deny they're significantly boosting their military presence in Syria, merely that they're increasing their shipments of weapons to back the Syrian government in their battle against what the Russians say is ISIS and the other rebel groups. But U.S. officials have confirmed to CNN that they have observed an increase in Russian military hardware on the ground. We have got a list of some of those items here: 25 tactical aircraft that's fighter and attack aircraft, including 15 helicopters, nine tanks, three surface-to-air missile systems and approximately 500 personnel. So a significant presence of Russian military on the ground in Syria, certainly you see compared to what the country has hosted over the past several years. Of course, Russia has long had military advisers in Syria, it has a naval facility at Tartus as well, which is staffed and its weapons shipments to Syria often come with technical experts to train the Syrian army in using them properly. But this seems to be a significant uptick in the amount of military personnel and hardware on the ground. In terms of the meetings that are taking place today behind closed doors between Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, Benjamin Netanyahu here to get assurances from the Russians that any of this military hardware will not find its way into the hands of Hezbollah, for instance, the Lebanese militia, not have an impact on Israel's security. Vladimir Putin stressing that that is not the intention and that, you know, Israel's security is very much a joint interest for Russia. Take a listen to what he had to say.
[Curnow:] Matthew, it doesn't look like we have that sound bite. But just stand by. We'll come to you again in a minute. I want to ask you a question about the wider context. But let's go to Oren. The prime minister took some top IDF generals along with him. This is an indication of just how seriously he takes these developments in Syria.
[Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] Absolutely. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took with him the IDF chief of staff and the Israeli military head of intelligence. And you're right, that that attests to how seriously Netanyahu sees Russian forces in Syria and how much that could affect the region here. Now, it seems as if and analysts say that Netanyahu wants to make sure he's on the same page as Putin. Netanyahu's not worried about Russian forces as they are. What he's concerned about is advanced military equipment falling into the hands of Hezbollah or other militant groups. It's been nine years since the last war between Israel and Hezbollah but there is still very much tension along that border and we have seen some back-and-forth across that border. So Netanyahu trying to get some sort of assurance that that isn't going to happen, that that those Russian arms won't fall into Hezbollah's hands. But there's another reason that Netanyahu would want to meet with Putin or has met with Putin, and that's because Israel has said it has red lines. It will not allow the transfer of weapons shipments through Syria into Lebanon. And according to foreign media reports, in the past, Israel has struck weapons shipments. But to do that, Israel has relied on its air force edge over the region and if it's not coordinated, if there's no coordination here with Russia, there could be tension, there could be friction and there could be a collision. So analysts say Netanyahu's meeting with Putin, trying to avoid that collision, trying to make sure these two leaders and these two militaries are on the same page.
[Curnow:] Yes. Trying to avoid inadvertent confrontation. Oren, I've also got another question for you. But for Matthew, how should this meeting be seen, particularly in the wider context of tensions between Russia and the U.S. and even tensions between Israel and the U.S.?
[Chance:] Yes, well, I mean, obviously, it plays into that. Look. I think we have to look at what's driving Vladimir Putin, what's driving Kremlin policy at the moment when it comes to its intervention in Syria. It's clearly not meant as a way of undermining Israel's security and that's why the Kremlin has been so open to a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu to give the assurances, I expect, although we haven't heard anything about the outcome of these meetings yet. But I expect they're to give assurances of the kind that Benjamin Netanyahu is looking for, that this is not meant to have an impact on Israel's security. I mean, you know, Russia's playing a broader political game when it comes to its battle with the West for influence in the world. There are low oil prices, there are sanctions against Russia but it's still saying, look, you know, look, we are a country that has to be dealt with when it comes to international diplomacy. Syria is a longstanding ally of Russia, it's its last toehold, its only toehold, perhaps, in the Middle East and it's very reluctant at Russia to let that influence go in this country and it believes very much that if Syria falls, if the government of Bashar al-Assad falls, then so does Russian influence in the Middle East. And so that's what is driving Kremlin policy, I think, at this point.
[Curnow:] OK. Thank you, Matthew. And Oren, based on what Matthew has just been saying, if this build-up continues and there is more and more proof of an escalation, in a sense, that could give Moscow its most significant military foothold in the Middle East in decades. What does it mean for Israel?
[Liebermann:] Well, Matthew's exactly right, that this these two militaries and countries aren't at odds. So as long as these two leaders are on the same page and coordinate, there shouldn't be a build-up of friction and of tension. The question is, what else if anything else is Moscow and is Putin trying to do in Syria? So as long as there is that coordination and that's what it looks like this meeting is about creating, it wouldn't be a concern for Netanyahu. It wouldn't be a concern for Israel. The question there remains, what else is are these forces there for, if anything else, and Netanyahu, the intelligence officer who went with him, the head of military intelligence, will be trying to figure some of that out over the coming weeks, months and perhaps even longer.
[Curnow:] Oren, Matt, thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Volkswagen shares are tanking and its CEO is apologizing. And the automaker is ordered to recall hundreds of thousands of cars. We'll tell you why. That's next. And calls for Republican Ben Carson to bow out of the U.S. presidential race after his