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List of Candidates to Replace Former FBI Director James Comey Released; President Trump Has Threatened His Fired FBI Director; California Governor Jerry Brown Shares His Political Vision For What Is Coming; U.S. Military Had A Second Close Encounter With Russian Military Fighter Jet; U.S. Spy Satellite Has Picked Up Signs Of Missile Movement In North Korea; Political Fallout Over The Firing Of James Comey As FBI Director Has Sparked Some Concern From Some Political Leaders Abroad; President Trump Will Meet With The Pope This Week; Cyberattack That Hit 99 Countries And More Than 75,000 Computers Have Been Halted; Comedian Melissa Mccarthy Host Was In Full Spicer Regalia Whizzing Down The Streets Of New York On Her Podium. Aired 4-5 ET
Aired May 13, 2017 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[16:00:00] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are outstanding people that are very well-known, highest level. So we can make the best decision.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before the trip next week possibly?
TRUMP: Even then, it's possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: The short list of candidates being interviewed today or this week and we are told includes six names. You are looking at them on your screen. Choosing one of them is not the decision the President could take likely. Not only could this person lead the FBI for ten years but he or she can also oversee the ongoing Russian investigation which involves the President himself.
Attorney general Jeff Sessions who is already recused himself from the probe is apparently in-charge of reviewing the candidates. A senior White House official says Sessions will recommend his top picks and then the President will meet with those finalist.
CNN crime and justice producer Shimon Prokupecz is following this process.
And Shimon, they are coming in fast and furious it sound like. What can you tell us about these six people?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: Well, certainly a busy day over - busy Saturday over the department of justice which normally doesn't really work on Saturdays.
So I guess there's a whole list of names right, we have six people here. Senator John Cornyn, you know, is a name that kind of surprised some folks. His ties to the Republican parties, currently the senator will certainly make an interesting choice. He is a Trump supporter, has been out supporting Donald Trump, had defended Trump, and is known to be quite partisan. So that would be an interesting choice. He was a judge early in his kind of career. But besides that, you know, what law enforcement experience. He has -- I'm not certain of any. The current director, the acting director Andrew McCabe has been with the FBI for over 20 years, has served in the deputy/director rank for over a year now. It is well-regarded for the most part by people in the FBI. However, has some issues of his wife who is tied to the Democratic Party. She ran for state office in Virginia and received some money from Hillary supporters which is a little controversial, but that eve during this administration, he had some issues when he went over to the White House and the White House asked him to knocked down some of those "New York Times" reports, some of the other press reports accounts of the Russian investigation. And he basically were told at the time was telling the White House none of the stories were true.
CABRERA: And he also said this week that the people inside the FBI really highly regarded Comey which is again going against what we heard at the press conference this week and from the administration itself saying that rank and file were behind Comey.
PROKUPECZ: Yes, absolutely. I mean, having him say that I think was very important to the agents. It was very important to the bureau itself. People were very happy that he said that. And I can tell you in talking to the many of people at the FBI who I have talked to, no one has come out and said we have had issued with Comey. And no one has said, you know, they should have fired him and this was a good decision.
The bureau is maintaining and it is doing its thing. But you know, no doubt people are feeling the effects of this. There's some uncertainty about what's next. The mission doesn't change. But what's going to be the priority of the FBI going forward.
The Russia investigation has put a lot of focus on the FBI. It has put a lot of negative focus on the FBI. But beyond that, there's so much that they are doing that we just will never hear about in the counterintelligence branch.
You know, Russia is a very important sort of component. You know, what Russia is doing and what Russia is trying to do, beyond just meddling of our election but how they try to infiltrate our institutions is a big component and a big part of what the counterintelligence division does at the FBI.
CABRERA: Which takes time and take resources. I want to put back up the six people and their pictures and their names for our viewers, again, as we are learning more about who could be the next FBI director. There was a name just added to this list within the last half hour or so. So Judge Henry Hudson, what do you know about him, Shimon?
PROKUPECZ: OK. So, I don't know much. But from what I'm gathering this would be a really interesting choice. He is a judge. He is a U.S. district judge in Virginia. He was nominated by George Bush. What is really interesting about him is he was involved in some of the Obamacare decisions. He instruct down the Obamacare back in 2010.
In reading about him, he is known to be very conservative and has ties into the Republican Party. I think what's also interesting is he, and along of some -- at least two of the other people whose names have surfaced has ties to Virginia. And the reason why that is that the person at the department of justice right now, sort of the man running the security division, Dana Beonte, he was the U.S. attorney in the eastern district of Virginia.
[16:05:01] CABRERA: He has some personal relationships perhaps.
PROKUPECZ: That is - yes. And they are integral. They have a key part in this whole Russian investigation, the eastern district of Virginia prosecutors' office.
CABRERA: All right. Shimon. You are working it for us. We appreciate you bringing us the information. It is very important. So thanks.
But by the public backlash another reason the President might be eager to move on this week from James Comey's firing is morale inside the White House. Sources inside the administration tell staffers feel rejected. They describe the vice president as quote "rattle."
CNN White House correspondent Athena Jones is outside the White House for us.
Athena, I understand the President has holding meetings with staff to try to boost morale. What more can you tell us about that?
ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi Ana. That's right. The President in individual meetings and in larger sessions was working personally to try to bolster the morale of his staff as this tough week was coming to a close.
You mentioned we have been told the White House staffers have a sense of dejection. This is in part because the communication shop in particular was kept out of the loop of the President's decision to fire director Comey until really the final moments. They had about an hour or so to prepare a co-joint (ph) explanations for the President's decision. And we saw that was a story that kept changing and that was ultimately a contradicted by the President himself.
One of the folks who have been upset, the word we are hearing is rattled, is the vice President himself. He, vice President Pence went to Capitol Hill and said seven times that the President was acting on the recommendations of the justice department, specifically a deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. We learned later in the interview that the President gave to NBC that he was planning to fire Comey all along. This is not the first time that Pence has found himself delivering a story line or talking points from the White House that weren't true. This is very interesting to see the President addressing this issue in
a tweet early yesterday morning, saying as a very active President with lots of things happening it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy. Then he went on to say, maybe the best thing to do would be cancel all future press briefings and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy.
So, that is the President himself basically telling the media and the American people that his spokespeople, the people whose job it is to speak on his behalf may not have all the information they need as they are doing that job.
In the interview with FOX News, the President also talked about future of press briefings. Watch that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you moving so quickly that your communications department cannot keep up with you?
TRUMP: Yes, it's true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what do we do about that because --?
TRUMP: We don't have press conferences and we do --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't mean that.
TRUMP: Just don't have them. Unless I have them every two weeks and do it myself. We don't have them. I think it's a good idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: So here you have the President suggesting that maybe they will do away with press briefings, not just in the tweet, but again in that interview on FOX. Now, the briefing went ahead as expected yesterday. It doesn't seem that press briefings are going to be removed from the table. But he is acknowledging that his staffers have a challenge -- Ana.
CABRERA: Yes, they are not counting it out.
All right, Athena Jones at the White House, thank you.
I want to talk it over now with our panel. Back with us, managing editor of CNNpolitics.com, Zachary Wolf. Also joining us on the phone "Time" magazine editor at-large and David Von Drehle.
David, I will start with you. Does President Trump see the FBI director position as someone who should be politically and completely neutral?
DAVID VON DREHLE, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, TIME MAGAZINE (on the phone): Boy, it doesn't look like it right now. He seems to view the position as one that he fills and that serves at his pleasure, which is the truth by law. I mean, the FBI is hired and fired by the President. But the tradition has been that -- that this is treated as a nonpolitical position, and that -- I mean prior to this the only FBI director who has ever been fired was fired for cause for having misused bureau resources. So this is something entirely different and suggest that the President has a different view of the job.
CABRERA: Zach, there has been so much said about the President prioritizing loyalty and that might have been part of the reason Comey was fired because he wouldn't loyal and wouldn't pledge his loyalty. In fact, I'm looking at the transcript from President Trump's interview with NBC earlier this week. And he goes on to say, you know, he is not my man. I didn't appoint him. He was appointed long before me. I really want to have somebody who is a competent, a capable director. He is not. He was a show boater.
Now, does this sense of loyalty in the importance to the President impact this election process?
[16:10:10] ZACHARY WOLF, CNNPOLICIS.COM MANAGING EDITOR: Well, what you just read --
(CROSSTALK)
CABRERA: I'm sorry go ahead Zachary and David you have something more you can comment.
WOLF: That's like a textbook definition I would say of a political. What you just said there, there is nothing, you know, nonpolitical. If he wants his guy leading the FBI, there's no other way you can describe it.
The names, however, that we have been talking about, the five of them without - you know, except for John Cornyn seem like nonpolitical names. But he likes this sort of theater surrounding who he is going to pick. We saw that when he picked his secretary of state. And you know, he took Mitt Romney out for dinner and then ended up going with the, you now, head of the oil company. So it will be interesting to me if we don't see a little bit of theater creep up here too at some point.
CABRERA: David, did you want to add something?
VON DREHLE: And somehow loyal to him at Trump guy running the FBI then I think that's a real serious problem because the FBI doesn't serve the President, the FBI serves the people of the United States. And we have seen through our history that sometimes that mean that the FBI has to be able to take a hard look at other -- at members of the administration all the way up to and including the President.
CABRERA: About the firing and how it all went down David, you write the messenger and the moment were all wrong. Could President Trump have fired Comey at any time without prompting the kind of blow back we have seen?
VON DREHLE: You know, I think if he had gone before the American people and kind of prepared us for this and said that here is why I'm making this decision. Here's the process I'm going to follow for choosing a successor. I'm going to instruct this successor to investigate this Russia situation aggressively and here are the steps that I'm going to take to make sure that there no interference in that investigation, then, sure. I think the American people, many people, would have been able to understand that and relate to it. But instead, it's just the lightning bolt out of the blue. Even the White House staff doesn't know it is coming or why it's coming and they don't know why it is happens. Obviously, we have seen them scrambling around trying to explain it for four days now. So, you know, it was -- there was no preparation for it, no explaining for it. Just a lightning bolt from the sky.
CABRERA: Zachary, clearly, the American people are trying to make sense of all of this. Congress members returned home. We have seen a lot of them holding town hall. And it's getting heated. Here's a look at what happened in a town hall with Iowa Republican congressman Ron Blum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't leave the investigation thing alone in light of the sitting FBI director being fired by the President while investigating the President, while our attorney general recusing himself from the investigation. How can the American people have confidence that the four different investigations you talked about is beginning to be creditable. I would like you to stand with me, many of your colleagues and Americans wanting an in dependent investigation of Trump, his associates and the illegal hacking or the hacking of the election.
REP. ROD BLUM (R), IOWA: I disagree, I disagree. I respectfully disagree. We have four investigations going on now, the President lest see what they produce. Let's see what they produce. And I have heard zero evidence, zero evidence of collusion with Russia. Zero evidence of Trump campaign collusion with Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Zach, she is towing the line, what do you make?
WOLF: You know, it's interesting these town halls a week or so ago, they were all focused on, you know, the repeal of Obamacare. And now, they have apparently turned towards the firing of Jim Comey. They make for great TV. I think a lot of Republican congressmen, albeit interesting to see how many more of them we see going forward as more and more of this end up on television.
Blum had one earlier I think where they were talking about Obamacare. But you know, it is pretty clear if you look at opinion polls, if you look at outpourings of frustration at these town halls of Americans, even in parts of the country that supported President Trump are confused by the way he is leading. It's not just people in Washington. Americans generally are just kind of flabbergasted I think at what's coming out of White House. And that it didn't seem like it's going to change anytime soon.
CABRERA: Zachary Wolf and David Von Drehle, our thanks to both for talking it over with us.
Still to come, tail of the take. The President and his aids refuse confirm or deny whether there are recording of the talks with James Comey. But lawmakers are now asking the White House if that recording exists to turn them over.
You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:19:25] CABRERA: President Trump surprised a lot of people yesterday with his warning to the man he just fired, head of FBI, he mentioned the word tape in a tweet about James Comey. That word takes triggers memory of a darker chapter in American presidential history.
CNN correspondent Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump's threat to his fired FBI director isn't subtle. Quote "James Comey better hope there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press," Mr. Trump tweeted. The White House denies it was a threat but were any of the president's conversations with Comey taped?
SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I have talked to the President. The President has nothing further to add on that.
[16:20:03] TODD: President Trump says there were three conversations between him and his FBI director, two phone calls and a one-on-one dinner they had at the White House on January 27th. Press secretary Sean Spicer didn't answer when he was asked if there was capability at the White House to tape those conversations.
Former White House staffers tell us the technical capability exist for the President to tape phone conversations. But that is different from a built-in taping system used by Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Among Nixon's legendary recordings, a 1972 oval office conversation on how to push back on the Watergate investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Play it tough. That's the way they played it and that's the way we are going to play it.
TODD: That White House taping system was shut down in the summer of 1973 at the height of the Watergate scandal.
TIMOTHY NAFTALI, FORMER DIRECTOR, NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: The American people, the press or the media, they didn't know anything about the taping systems until Alexander Butterfield, a White House aide in July of 1973 told the Senate Watergate committee, told the staff that there was a taping system. At that point, Richard Nixon had the opportunity to destroy the tapes, he decided not to.
TODD: As for the one on one dinner between Trump and Comey at the White House, former staffers tell us they don't know of any built-in systems in the dining room to tape conversations. They say the President could bring in a recording device or have an aid take notes on the conversation but it's unlikely he would.
Could Comey have taped the phone conversations on his end? We have no information from the FBI. Former top bureau officials tell us that would only be allowed if the President himself was under investigation which Trump says he is not, and if the FBI chief got a warrant to tape him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot imagine that happening, the FBI director does not tape conversations with the President or members of the hill or staff members. I cannot see that happening.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: If there are tapes between Trump and Comey recorded at the White House there is now significant pressure on Mr. Trump and his team to produce them. This letter we obtained from top house Democrats Elijah Cummings and John (INAUDIBLE) of key House oversight committees is calling on the White House to produce handover any recordings, communications, emails between Trump and Comey in this matter. So far no comment on this letter from the White House -- Ana.
CABRERA: Brian Todd in Washington, thank you.
Let's bring in CNN legal analyst Paul Callan joining us.
Now Paul, one member of Congress, New York Democrat Jerrod Nadler said the firing of James Comey and the warning the President tweeted afterwards warning, is how he took it, add up to obstruction of justice. Is that how you see it?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, I don't think the congressman is wrong on that. Now, it could be a first step in process that leads towards the obstruction of justice, but just firing Comey alone, it doesn't add up to that crime.
CABRERA: What about the tweet that he sends like -- a threat about you better not -- you better watch out if there are tapes out there?
CALLAN: Well, if you do gown the road if there was some massive obstruction of justice in other areas, documents being destroyed and activity investigations being interfered with. This could be one element proving that crime.
But where we are right now, we only know that he fired his FBI director and he is saying - you know, Trump's version of the tapes is going to be I'm just warning this guy. He better not tell lies about me because maybe there are tapes that will establish what the truth is. I think that's what the President is trying to imply.
I think the President could be indicted for bumbling stupidity in the way he is handling the firing of the FBI director. But I don't think there is enough to charge a crime at this point. Of course, he is immune to criminal charges while he is President of the United States. The only way the President can be processed criminally is by the filing of articles of impeachment and then after impeachment he can be prosecuted criminally. That's the way it works. And I don't think we are at that point yet.
CABRERA: Well, let me ask you about that because there was another Capitol Hill Democrat senator Richard Blumenthal who told CNN that impeachment proceedings against President Trump are a possibility.
I want to read you what he told us. It may well produce another United States versus Nixon on subpoena that went to the United States Supreme Court. It may well produce impeachment proceedings although we are very far from that possibility, he says. I mean, what is the threshold to get to a point where impeachment proceedings happen?
CALLAN: Well, to show you how crazy lawyers are I was reading the Nixonian articles of impeachment this afternoon to seek precisely what Nixon was charged with. He was charged with obstruction of justice. But a lot of it involved him not responding to congressional subpoenas, him trying to suppress other witnesses from testifying. There was no reference incidentally to the Saturday night massacre which, of course, over the past few days we have been talking about the similarity there.
But the articles of impeachment never charged Nixon with improperly firing the attorney general to suppress the investigation. Instead they focused on specific acts, disobey of subpoenas, destruction of evidence, paying off witnesses not to testify about the Watergate burglary, specific criminal acts.
And coming back to the Trump situation, I don't think we are at a point yet where we know or anyone has articulated specific criminal acts that have been obstructed by the firing of Comey. So, could this be an early step in a process that may lead to bad thing for the President, yes. But there could be a fork in the road where it goes another way as well.
[16:25:30] CABRERA: All right. Paul Callan, thank you for laying it out for us. We always appreciate your expertise.
CALLAN: OK. Thank you.
CABRERA: Still ahead, history lessons, when he took office he was one of youngest governors in California now he is the oldest governor in the nation. California governor Jerry Brown shares his political vision for what is coming next.
You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:00:01] CABRERA: Tonight at 9:00, "the Axe Files" with CNN senior political commentator and former Obama senior advisor David Axelrod, it airs right here on CNN. And in this new episode, Axelrod talks with California governor, Jerry Brown.
I sat down with David Axelrod earlier and we asked -- talked about how Governor Brown sees California role in a world where Donald Trump is President.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: On your special tonight you talk with California Governor Jerry Brown. He, of course, a vocal opponent of some of President Trump's policies. Did you get a sense of his strategies to fight back against the administration?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it is really interesting because he really sees California as charting its own direction.
Jerry Brown, this was his second go around as governor. He was once one of the youngest governors American in the '70s in California and then he came back in 2010 for a second go around. Now he is the oldest governor in America.
But one thing that has been consistent is he has always been, for example, a champion on climate change issues and environmental issues. And California is charting its own course and that's a very aggressive course on climate manage, on immigration issues, a quarter of the population in California are immigrants and he is very strongly a proponent of immigrant rights. They have had great success with the affordable care act and he is a big proponent of that.
And so, in all these areas, California's going one way and the administration in Washington is going the other. As the largest state in the country, the direction California goes is meaningful and he takes great pride in that, obviously.
CABRERA: It almost sounds like you are saying that he believes state really do have quite a bit of power to make a difference.
AXELROD: Well, certainly a state that big because the markets in California are so big. So on an issue like climate, if they promulgate regulations those regulations are going to mean something to manufacturers, they going to want to meet those regulations. That's going to have impact much broader than California.
One thing, Ana, that he took to light in saying is when he took over California was sort of an economic basket case, huge debt, high unemployment. He raised taxed on the wealthy. He has promulgated some significant regulation around for example environmental issues. They completely embrace the affordable care act and they have been very successful. Their economy is strong. He has brought unemployment way down. So he likes to hold it up as a rebuttal to some of the arguments that you hear being made in Washington.
CABRERA: Got you. Last question for you. I'm curious what would be going through your mind right now if you were part of the current administration and where do you go from here?
AXELROD: Yes. No, if I were Sean Spicer, I would have -- I know he is in the naval reserves, I probably wow put in for one of those cruisers headed to North Korea right around now. Probably the waters would be less choppy than the ones that he faces in the White House.
I think it was interesting on Friday you saw the press briefing, Sean came back from his naval duties. And you know, H.R. McMaster, the national security advisor gave a long briefing on the President's upcoming trip. Every sense punctuated by the President ordered this, the President asked for that. This was the President's strategy. And then Sean has a lengthy treat us on all the things that were going on right now that the president was doing, in the administration was doing.
All of which was meant to say, you know, forget about the car wreck over here. We are moving forward. The President's doing what he is supposed to be doing, trying to reassure people that the chaos that we have seen this week is not over running the White House. And you know, whether they are successful or not, we will see. It doesn't feel like this story is going away any time soon.
CABRERA: David Axelrod, thanks so much for your time.
AXELROD: Always good to see you, Ana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Don't forget about "the Axe Files." It's tonight at 9:00 right here right here on CNN.
Still ahead a picture worth a thousand words. After seeing this, allies of the United States has a lot to say how the world views the Trump presidency right now.
But first, a reminder tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. eastern, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" taking you to corners of America that we don't get to see. This week an Indian reservation where W. Kamau Bell found out how having a sense of humor helps Native American cope with oppression.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
W. KAMAU BELL, CNN ANCHOR: What do you think is the future for Native Americans?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People don't realize how tough it is on reservations.
BELL: Ninety-seven percent of the people here live below the poverty line.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have all these issues and there's no help.
[16:35:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need more recourses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Travel nation has a history of being disempowered. We were emasculated as a warrior people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has been clinically shown that actually harms (INAUDIBLE) see this racial stereotype. Can you imagine a team called the Asians?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They liked us in the 1800s. BELL: They likes us in the 1800s too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:39:33] CABRERA: A U.S. military official now confirms a second close encounter between a Russian military fighter jet and an American navy surveillance plane operating in international airspace. It happened yesterday over the Black Sea where more than 100 miles south of Crimea. And U.S. official say the Russian fighters flu within 45 feet of the Navy P8 surveillance plane. This is now the second such close encounter in just a week.
U.S. spy satellite has picked up sings of missile movement in North Korea. A department of defense official says satellites show Pyongyang is preparing for a potential missile launch. The missile appear to be the same sky missile that have failed in recent launches. So right now, the U.S. is simply monitoring.
Meantime, a senior North Korean diplomat has opened the door to having direct talks with the United States. The official told South Korea's news agency and other reporters for the country will hold dialogue under right conditions with the U.S. administration. Earlier this month President Trump also expressed willingness to meet with the North Korean leader Kim-Jong-un also under certain conditions but note-worthy here is these comment from North Korea come amid a light lit up in the military tensions on the peninsula right now.
And President Trump is gearing up for a big week. He is preparing for his first trip abroad since taking office. We will carry with him a message of unity. At least that is according to his national security advisor, H.R. McMaster. But the political fallout over the firing of James Comey as FBI director has sparked some concern from some political leaders abroad.
CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Trump, Comey, and that Russian meeting is enough to worry America's closest allies.
JEREMY CORBYN, LABOUR PARTY LEADER: Britain's deserves better than simply outsourcing our country's security and prosperity. It is the wins that Trump voters (ph).
ROBERTSON: Britain's election campaign heating up, Trump an issue, the U.K.'s flailing opposition leader looking to lay hits on the PM bringing up that hand holding again.
CORBYN: A labor government will want a strong and friendly relationship with the United States, but we will not be afraid to speak our mind.
ROBERTSON: Even the Philippines outspoken leader shaken at the prospect of Trump in the driving seat of North Korea.
RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINES' PRESIDENT: The first victim would be Asia and Southeast, the whole of the Asian countries and the rest. Because if those are really nuclear warheads, that it means the end of the world. Two nations are playing with their dangerous toys.
ROBERTSON: At least one American diplomat at a loss tweeting this. Increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news at home knowing I will spend the rest of the day explaining our democracy and institutions.
In London those worries resonate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump has the idea of - he has ability to (INAUDIBLE) as he pleases. Now, it's a really shame because he plays games with democracy as it is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got quite a strange impression of him over here I think.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sort of gives Trump of a bit dictator feel.
ROBERTSON: Mostly though, the world is busy getting on with its own stuff like elections, in France relieve the Trump-style candidate lost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will work hard in French Donald Trump.
ROBERTSON: More than 100 days now the French is watching, worried of what will come next.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: The President will meet with the Pope this week. Pope Francis says he will not judge President Trump until after they are meeting. Their meeting is actually set to happen on the 24th at the Vatican. Now, the pontiff says quote "I will tell him what I think. He will tell me what he thinks, but I never want to judge someone before I listen to him first." Today in Portugal, Pope Francis led a canonization mass at a site where a young brother and sister said they saw the Virgin Mary appear 100 years ago.
CNN Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher has more.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Hope Francis is in Fatima to commemorate 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin of Fatima. This is when Mary was said to have appeared to three shepherd children in 1917. And in front of a crowd of more than 600,000 people from all around the world Pope Francis canonized saint two of those three children. The Third, Lucia died in 2005 and she is also on the path to sainthood.
Now, the Virgin of Fatima is one of the most beloved figures in the Catholic world. She is responsible they say for miracles and for prophecies. Those prophecies are known as the secret of Fatima. And many believed that she predicted the world wars of the last century. And Pope Francis at a candle light vigil on the spot with the Mary said to have appeared praying for peace in the world asking for humanity to tear down walls and end the wars that are tearing apart our world.
Delia Gallagher CNN, Portugal.
CABRERA: Our thanks to Delia.
It is called Ransomware and will only give you your commuter data back if you pay up. A global computer attack strike that leads 99 countries.
You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:49:20] CABRERA: First the good news, the cyberattack that hit 99 countries and more than 75,000 computers have been halted. The bad news, cyber experts warn there could be a reboot. Hackers hit hospitals, government offices and major companies all around the world yesterday with a Ransomware called "wannacry." A hospitals and emergency rooms, this is what happened. Phone stopped working, appointments got moves, ambulances got redirected, hackers demanded payment to make all of these stop.
I want to bring in CNN correspondent Claire Sebastian joining us here New York.
Claire, how did the hacker pull this off?
CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, (INAUDIBLE), Ana, because really its one hack that led to another. We believe this stems from a set of data that was essentially leaked online from a U.S. national security agency back in April. They were the first to discover putting this expert this floor in the windows operating system and that what was essentially was used this attack. Now, Microsoft has published a fix to this. They have published an update in March, even before the NSA leak. But apparently, a lot of people hadn't yet updated their computer. So what happened was the Malware was able to spread, essentially scan the Internet for computer that didn't have the security fix and infect them. And that's why you see on the map so many countries were effected. And then it spread so quickly throughout the day on Friday.
[16:50:35] CABRERA: I am so guilty of seeing those updates and just ignoring them for quite some time because I don't want to stop what I'm doing and, you know, take the time to do the updates. So how did this all get halted? What stopped it? It was an accident.
SEBASTIAN: Yes. An extraordinary. Apparently, it was a 22-year-old private security researcher in the UK who was simply looking into this. And he discovered that essentially for the Malware to spread it had to communicate with an unregistered domain. Now, (INAUDIBLE) more about this, all registered the domain. He paid $10 and fix to do that. And that what was stop it, purely play accident.
Now, he becomes something of a hero online. He says that was not at all what he was looking for. But the bottom line is this is only a temporary fix. Experts say we are not out of the woods yet. Somebody can come in and rewrite the code. There could be other version of this. They could have communicate with the different unregistered domain. So this could still spread further. But for the moment we believe it stopped.
CABRERA: So it sounds like that those impacted were big businesses, governmental entities, hospitals, universities, I heard something about gas stations taking a hit in some ways, but for individuals, do we need to worry about if there is a reboot? Do we need to do -- take any action?
SEBASTIAN: I think this is a real wake-up call. A lot of cybercrime is exploiting human imperfection, human trust. We know that you shouldn't be open emails with unverifiable attachments. We know you shouldn't go on to suspicious website. This is about actually doing something. I know it is (INAUDIBLE) when these windows, you now, this pop-up when they say update your system. But this is really important. This is how companies like Microsoft try and stay ahead of the bad actors. So it is really important if you are a company or an individual to take these thing seriously.
CABRERA: Claire Sebastian, thank for that good reminder to all of us.
Still ahead, a parading podium. In a runway, press secretary, take a look closer. It is "Saturday Night Live" with a Washington twist.
You are here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:56] CABRERA: Politics often collide with pop the Eurovision song competition and this year is no exception. The grand finale featuring 26 remaining acts wield down from 42 countries. Got underway nearly two hours ago in Ukraine. But one country not there, Russia. Eurovision host Ukraine barred the Russian contestant from entering the country because she has performed in Crimea after it was annexed by Moscow. And Russia turns down the opportunity, defended different performer. Two hundred million people around the world watched this contest last year.
You can expect thing to get a little icy on tonight's "Saturday Night Live" after comedian Melissa McCarthy host and the show is already hinting she will be having a field day with her portrayal of the White House press secretary of Sean Spicer.
CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter gives us a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is the Trump administration making America laugh again or just making the press even more frustrated? SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President has nothing
further to add on that.
STELTER: A credible crises intensify this week. And making late night comic rewrite their scripts right up until airtime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any other questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes just mentally though are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you kidding me?
STELTER: Melissa McCarthy back this weekend, its perfect timing for her to host "SNL" partly in character.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And also I don't talk so good.
STELTER: Friday the same day Sean Spicer returned to his real podium, McCarthy was in full Spicer regalia whizzing down the streets of New York on her podium. "SNL" going the extra mile promoting her return.
One likely purchase line, Spicer's impromptu press briefing among the bushes Tuesday night.
SPICER: OK, hold on. Just turn lights off.
STELTER: The internet has already had a field day with it. But just how long McCarthy will get to play Spicer is an open question. His absence from the briefing room earlier this week stirring speculation about his future. This as the president refuses to commit to (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: He is going a god job but he gets beat up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will he be there tomorrow?
TRUMP: YES. Well, he has been there from the beginning.
STELTER: For now, "SNL" fans are waiting for McCarthy's masterful impression.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You like that? You like dork?
STELTER: Brian Stelter CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Coming up live next hour you have live pictures right now from the department of justice where attorney general Jeff Sessions and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein are interviewing candidates to be the next FBI director. We know of six candidates who have interviewed for the job. That any moment we expect to see seven candidate vying to replace the fired James Comey. Who will it be? We will bring it to you live as soon as we know.
Stay with us. END
