[Howell:] Welcome back to our viewers around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.
[Allen:] And I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories this hour. The king of Saudi Arabia promises a speedy investigation into the deadliest tragedy at the Hajj in 25 years. At least 717 people were killed in the stampede near the holy city of Mecca. It happened during a ritual known as the "Stoning of the Devil," and it was tremendously hot at that time. We have this live video to show you right now from Saudi Arabia. People continuing to gather in Mina for the final day of the Hajj pilgrimage. We are also expecting Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest city.
[Howell:] Pope Francis is in New York City. The second stop in his six-day U.S. tour. In the coming hours he will speak to the U.N. General Assembly and visit the 911 Memorial Museum. He will also celebrate mass at Madison Square Garden and meet with families of migrants in Harlem.
[Allen:] Take you out now to Washington state in the U.S. and this scene on a bridge there. Four international students were killed in Seattle, Washington, after their tour bus and a tourist vehicle called a duck boat collided. Nearly 50 people were hospitalized. Two of them remain in critical condition. The tour company has pulled all of its boats from city streets.
[Howell:] Volkswagen's Supervisory Board will meet on Friday to appoint a new chief executive. Martin Winterkorn stepped down on Wednesday. Volkswagen admitted last week that it cheated on emissions data for as many as 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide. Media reports suggest the CEO job may go to Mathis Mueller who currently is the head of Porsche.
[Allen:] The brother and father of one of Mexico's best-known film directors have been found dead after they were kidnapped and held for ransom. It happened in an area known for violence between rival gangs.
[Howell:] While the overall murder rate in Tamaulipas has fallen in recent years, families are still losing loved ones. Our Rafael Romo has this report.
[Rafael Romo, Cnn Senior Latin American Affairs Editor:] A father-son moment shared on Instagram. Mezcal in their cups and kind words on their minds. Alejandro Gomez Monteverde calling his father his best friend, his mentor, and the wisest man he knows. That was nine months ago. Now the sweet snapshot taking on a somber meaning. This weekend, the bodies of his kidnapped father and brother were found in Pueblo Viejo, Mexico, a tiny coastal town on the border between Tamaulipas and Veracruz States. The pair had suffered apparent head trauma and had been dead for several days. The Veracruz attorney general says they were discovered Saturday night, more than two weeks after being abducted while leaving their home in Tamaulipas. The deaths are under investigation. And CNN affiliate, Telavisa, reports the family paid a ransom. Police have also found the car they believe is connected to kidnappers. It has Tamaulipas plates and is being tested for evidence. The region, which borders the United States, is among the most violent in Mexico thanks to ongoing disputes between rival gangs over lucrative drug trafficking routes, though it's not yet clear if gangs or cartels are involved. Monteverde is married to Ali Landry, an actress, model and former Miss USA. He most recently directed the drama "Little Boy," which stars Eduardo Verastegui. The actor shared his condolences on Twitter requesting prayers for his friend.
[Allen:] Raphael Romo now joins us live from Mexico City. And hello to you, Rafael. Let's talk about violence and crime in the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas where the victims lived. How prevalent is it? What's the root cause? You mentioned the drug situation, the drug cartels. And how often do you see kidnappings related to the violence and ransom?
[Romo:] It's very important to understand their location. And we just saw on the map a moment ago that Tamaulipas is just south of Texas, and right next to the Gulf of Mexico, and has been traditionally a transit point for a drug cartel known the Gulf Cartel. In the late 2000s, that cartel split and their former enforcers, Los Zetas, began finding Gulf Cartel and that thus started creating all the violence that we now see. The problem was that not only that fighting fragmented the cartels, but also the Mexican government sending soldiers to the region. And crimes that we didn't used to see before, like kidnapping, the one we're talking about, but also extortion, prostitution, criminal gangs, stealing cars, all kinds of different crimes. That started appearing a number of years ago. And that's the situation right now. Just a couple of days ago the State Department issued a travel warning saying that Tamaulipas has the highest rate of kidnappings in all of Mexico. So definitely a place to avoid and a place that has been mired by violence for the last seven years or so Natalie.
[Allen:] All right. Thanks for putting it in perspective. We certainly hope that they can find the killers in this particular case. Rafael Romo, joining us from Mexico City, thank you.
[Howell:] Straight ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, it looks like a rocket and it's fast it could travel 80 kilometers by the time we get back from this commercial break. Meet the Bloodhound, next.