Deadly Crackdown in the Philippines.
VAUSE: President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drug has led to a deadly crackdown in the Philippines. The country's national police says nearly 6,000 people had been killed since July 1st. Just over 2,000 of those deaths happened during police operations. More than 3,000 were extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings. Philippines' Vice President Leni Robredo, a former human rights lawyer, has been often critical of the president's war on drugs. She is resigning her cabinet post as housing secretary, while remaining as vice president.</s>LENI ROBREDO, PHILIPPINE VICE PRESIDENT: It is not as if we are against the war of drugs. We do agree with the president that it has reached a level wherein the government must really do something about it, where government has to be really creative in coming up with ways on how to solve it. But, you know, doing it this way, we think it only makes the problem more complex.</s>VAUSE: Daniel Berehulak joins me now via Skype from Bangkok in Thailand. A photojournalist with "The New York Times." He photographed 57 homicide victims in over just 35 days in the Philippines for covering the government's war on drugs. Daniel, thanks for stopping by. I will get to some of your images in a moment. But you were in the Philippines for a month. You are covering the story. What was your impression overall of who is being killed and who is actually doing the killing.</s>DANIEL BEREHULAK, JOURNALIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES: The impression that I got and the reality was that most of the victims were in of course the neighborhoods. And talking to this people in these communities, most of them were at the hands of the police. In official police operations and as you mentioned, there are over 3,000 unsolved homicides which these people believe are linked to the vigilante killings, who they feel being perpetrated by the police also.</s>VAUSE: And the Filipino police said since July, they've been to more than five million homes as part of this crackdown. So that in mind, tell us what happen to 34-year-old Florjohn Cruz who was killed at home.</s>BEREHULAK: Florjohn was home one evening fixing their transistor radio for his mother when a group of masked men stormed into his living room and within -- ordered his mother out, within three minutes Florjohn was dead. Neighbors heard that the police yelled out that Florjohn was fighting back and within a short period of time they heard gunshots and Florjohn was shot dead in the middle of his living room.</s>VAUSE: I think he admitted to using drugs in the past, but had since given it up.</s>BEREHULAK: He has since surrendered, exactly. So this anti-drug campaign that President Duterte is out on is not only targeting drug dealers or drug addicts, they are also targeting people who do believe that they were getting some kind of amnesty. Over 700,000 people have surrendered over in the Philippines. And so the feeling that this people have and of course communities that no one -- that, you know, echoing the rhetoric of the president which is that they feel like they are being slaughtered, which is --</s>VAUSE: Sorry to interrupt, Daniel. But tell us of the funeral of Jimboy Bolasa.</s>BEREHULAK: That was probably one of the toughest days to photography and to watch. It's a photograph of a young girl grieving, Jimji, who is 6, grieving for her father, Jimboy, who was weeks before abducted by vigilantes, masked man from in front of the house. His neighbor was also abducted and within 45 minutes their bodies were found tortured and with bullet wounds under a nearby bridge.</s>VAUSE: Right. Also, we know that this war on drugs has led to thousands of people being locked up. The jails overcrowded. We look at one of your photographs of that right now, but I want to hear your reaction. The office of the Filipino president criticize your story on Monday saying it's totally one sided. What's your response?</s>BEREHULAK: Well, this is the actual reality on the streets. Some people call it and see it in a very, very different way. They believe that what's going on is a war and these deaths are legitimate actions. The statistics that -- they are actually questioning statistics that the actual Philippines national police gave us.</s>VAUSE: And we're just looking at that photograph in a jail which wall-to-wall people. There's no room, obviously, for anybody to even more in there. The deplorable conditions. Daniel, thanks so much for sharing that with us.</s>BEREHULAK: Thanks so much for having me. Thanks, John.</s>VAUSE: Sure. You may remember Jonathan Hancock, the American marine Iraq war veteran. We talked to him here on NEWSROOM last week. He was finishing up a walk across the United States. Well, he has completed that journey on Monday. He walked into Camp Pendleton in California 5800 miles from where he started in Maryland. The trek began September 11 last year and brought Hancock face to face with some snakes, wolves, even a mountain lion. He also, though, reconnected with Marine Corp brothers and made new friends with the families of fallen vets. He did it to heal himself and to raise awareness of the struggles that war veterans are facing and now he's done. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. "World Sport" is up next. And I will be back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.