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New Day Sunday
Pyongyang Carries Out New Ballistic Missile Test; White House: North Korea Is "A Flagrant Menace"; North Korean Missile Lands 60 Miles From Russia; Russia, China React To Pyongyang Missile Test; Trump: "No Right Time" To Fire Comey; Eight More Candidates Interviewed For FBI Post. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired May 14, 2017 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:00:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another provocative move from North Korea, this was not a missile that would have threatened the continental United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the investigated, the president, selecting the person who will be investigating him. You have to wonder about how objective can that whole scenario be?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think the process is getting (inaudible) because almost all of them are very well known. We have extremely capable people, in some cases, people of great prestige actually.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who would take the job to ruin their reputation by ending this investigation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought he is investigating Russia. I don't like that. I should fire him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But that is obstruction of justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. So did I get him? Is this all over? Nothing matters anymore?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good Sunday morning. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms waking up. If you're up this early, I hope it's because somebody just brought you presents in bed.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day. It just clicked there.
PAUL: It just clicked? You better call your mother! BLACKWELL: I know. I know.
PAUL: I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you.
PAUL: So new this morning, we have to tell you about the sharp words from the White House condemning the latest North Korea missile test. President Trump calling it, quote, "A flagrant menace," and calling for, quote, "far stronger sanctions against the secretive dictatorship."
BLACKWELL: The missile landed closer to the Russian coastline than ever before and putting Moscow on high alert today. All this one day after Pyongyang said it would hold talks with the U.S. if the conditions were right.
Plus, the search for a new FBI director, there is now a revolving door of hopefuls parading into the DOJ this weekend. While the new candidates jostle for space at the table, what is former FBI Director James Comey doing with his spare time?
PAUL: We'll take a look at this. Spotted at a manatee show, of a touring Broadway musical "Fun Home," having his picture taken with the cast.
All righty. We are going to have all of that in a moment. But first, we do have reporters covering the North Korea story and doing so from all angles.
Alexandra Field in Seoul, David McKenzie in Beijing, and Matthew Chance in Moscow. Alexandra, let's start with you. Talk to us about the reaction from South Korea this hour.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christi. Good morning. There are questions now about whether or not Pyongyang was testing a new type of missile given the fact that it seemed to reach a higher altitude and land closer to Russia than previous ballistic missile launches.
Don't forget this is at least the tenth ballistic missile that North Korea has launched just since the start of the year. It also comes just days into the term of the newly elected South Korean president, President Moon Jae-in. He campaigned on a platform advocating for more direct engagement with North Korea as a path to denuclearization.
In the aftermath of this ballistic missile launch, he convened a meeting of the National Security Council. He has condemned the latest launch, but he does say that talks are still possible with North Korea if North Korea changes its attitude.
Just yesterday, a North Korean diplomat had said that talks could also be possible if North Korea considered that conditions were right and just a few weeks ago, you had top officials in Washington saying there could be a possibility of talks if North Korea met certain benchmarks toward denuclearization.
But for now the White House is calling on all countries to strictly enforce sanctions against North Korea in the aftermath of this latest provocation and President Trump himself saying that Russia cannot be happy with the way this development.
We go to Moscow now where we find my colleague, Matthew Chance, standing by -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alexandra, thanks very much. That's right. The White House specifying that it can't believe that President Putin is pleased that the fact that this North Korean missile landing so close to Russian soil as the White House statement put it.
That was absolutely correct because within the last few hours there's been a statement from President Putin through his spokesman, Dmitri Peslov, saying that they are indeed concerned about the situation developing on the Korean Peninsula and particularly about the launch of that latest missile from North Korea.
There's been further reaction as well from the Russian parliament, the upper house of parliament, the head of the defense committee there, Viktor Ozerov is saying that Russian forces in the region, anti-missile forces have been placed on high alert.
Here's the statement that he issued on the state news agency, "In order to protect themselves from possible incidents, we will keep our air defense systems in the Far East in a state of increased combat readiness."
Now Mr. Ozerov saying that Russia understands that Russia was not the target of this missile launch. Nevertheless, they have to keep their awareness up and their forces on alert in case there are any further incidents.
[06:05:02]I mentioned, Vladimir Putin made those statements expressing his concern from Beijing, the Chinese capital. That is where we now find CNN's David McKenzie.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Matthew. Here in Beijing where Putin is and many leaders for a large conference hosted by President Xi Jinping, it's a major slap in the face to the Chinese leader this latest missile test and launch from the North Koreans.
Speaking in a statement in fact to CNN, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying, "The U.N. Security Council has set clear rules on North Korea's launch activity. That utilize ballistic missile technologies and China opposes North Korea's launch that utilize ballistic missile technologies. China opposes North Korea's launch that violated relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions."
Now it's important to note that they put out a statement at all. Often they ignore these missile tests, but hard to ignore when you have all of these world leaders from the region in China today.
Certainly they appear to be ignoring the pleas of China to stop the nuclear program and the missile test and though President Trump has repeatedly said that China holds the key to the North Korea situation, it appears China is not able to do much at this point -- Christi, Victor.
PAUL: All right, Alexandra Field, David McKenzie, Matthew Chance, thank you all so much. We appreciate it.
BLACKWELL: Joining us now Juliette Kayyem, CNN national security analyst and former assistant secretary of the State Department for Homeland Security.
PAUL: Juliette, so we know that this flew higher and closer to Russia than any previous test. With that said, what does it say about North Korean capability?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, we actually don't specifically know now just to make that clear. It's not entire clearly at least from NORAD's perspective that's here in the United States what missile this was. Researchers and people who focus on North Korea are already reporting now that it may have been one of those new missiles we saw in that recent parade just a few weeks ago that people weren't able to identify.
What it does mean, though, is that the frequency and speed by which these missile launches, whether successful or not are happening is continuing abreast. Despite all of these criticisms that are going on and despite what China is trying to do and despite statements by the United States that nothing has stopped the pace of these missile launches, which suggests that they will continue until there's some moment in which everyone can agree that North Korea stops making these statements.
This was clearly a statement launch not only to China which was hosting Putin and other leaders at the time but, of course, just right after the new leader in South Korea came into power.
BLACKWELL: So, Juliette, let me ask you about the reporting that North Korea is willing to talk to the U.S. under the right conditions. Any indication of what those conditions are? And if they are realistic at all?
KAYYEM: No, no sense from them what those conditions are. Certainly our conditions are pretty dramatic, at least from North Korea's side which was, of course, some process towards denuclearization and I think everyone is right that China holds the key here to the extent it does want to assert both trade and embargo tools to ensure that North Koreas comes to the table remains to be seen.
While you are seeing China be a little bit more aggressive today, at least in their statements, there isn't the conditions are not at all viable from the standpoint of North Korea and the United States to get them to speak.
The interesting thing about the United States, of course, the White House's statement which mentioned Russia several times in that Russia must not be too -- must be very concerned or annoyed about what North Korea did, given the proximity of the missile to Russian military exercises.
Russia seemed to sort of scoff at that a little bit and it is from the perspective of the White House an odd statement to sort of invoke Russia's concern as compared to, say, our concern, the United States.
BLACKWELL: All right, Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
KAYYEM: That's OK. It's early!
BLACKWELL: It is. I just found out it was Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to you too. Juliette, thanks so much for being with us. We will see you in just a moment.
PAUL: Hopefully, your mother isn't watching just quite yet.
BLACKWELL: I hope not!
PAUL: Another eight candidates being considered for the FBI director post. More are going to be interviewed today we understand. President Trump defending his choice to fire James Comey, though, and he's given a time line for how soon he could announce his replacement.
BLACKWELL: Plus a major cyberattack sparking worldwide fear. What you need to know before you head back to work tomorrow and fire up your computer. That is ahead.
PAUL: And Melissa McCarthy back on "SNL." Not as herself as you know but as Sean Spicer.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you just do this full-time instead of him?
[06:10:06]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I'd also like to ask that question because you are clearly articulate and charming, whereas, Sean is bullish.
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BLACKWELL: The shortlist getting a little longer now, at least eight additional people are being considered to replace fired FBI Director James Comey.
PAUL: They have all been seen going into the Justice Department Building this weekend. More interviews expected today. There's a screen shot for you of who is being considered. The FBI Agents Association, though, we should point out, is endorsing former Michigan Republican Representative Mike Rogers who, full disclosure, is also a CNN national security commentator. We are going to speak to the president of the association next hour.
But as for President Trump, he tells Fox News that he could make a decision on the hiring before leaving for an overseas trip at the end of the week. One decision he is not questioning is Comey's firing.
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[06:15:08]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was this the wrong time to fire Jim Comey?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, there is no right time. Let's say I did it on the January 20th, the opening? That would have been the big story as opposed to the inauguration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right, for the latest on the search for the next FBI director, we are joined now by Kelly Jane Torrance, deputy managing editor of the "Weekly Standard," CNN political analyst, Julian Zelizer, and CNN Washington correspondent, Ryan Nobles, and we have with us, Juliette Kayyem, back with us. She is our CNN national security analyst and former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
And Ryan, let's start with you. We have this now parade of some familiar faces. Some not so familiar. Is there a frontrunner?
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's really hard to handicap it at this point, Victor. You know, the president hasn't really given us much indication which way he is leaning other than to say that he is prepared to make this decision very soon.
You know, I think that the president's goal is to find some sort of a consensus candidate that most Republicans are going to support and even perhaps bring over some wayward Democrats. That may be a tall order.
There is certainly some people on this list, you showed that list of potential candidates with impressive credentials, but Democrats, right now, are so unimpressed with this White House in the way that they handled the firing the James Comey that any potential candidate could be something that they are just not interested in.
So it's really difficult to say and of course, you keep in mind that you've got Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who are really in charge of this process and then after that, the president is going to meet with a small group of finalists.
You would think that this would take some time before he makes that final decision but as you mentioned, he said yesterday that he could make it as soon as next week.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Pretty soon before he heads off on that first international trip. Ryan Nobles for us in Washington, thank you. NOBLES: Thank you.
PAUL: All righty, so let's bring our panel back. Guys, thank you so much for sticking around with us. I want to play some sound here, Kelly Jane, from the interview with Donald Trump yesterday where he was talking about the alleged Russian collusion with his camp. Let's listen to what he said just in the last 24 hours.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were convinced you did nothing and --
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I'm not convinced. Clapper is convinced. Other people are convinced. Everybody is convinced.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody said the same thing --
PRESIDENT TRUMP: They say there is no collusion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- so get out of the White House.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: They are all saying there is no collusion. There is no collusion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Precisely.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I'd like it to move fast, if possible. But I'll tell you what I really want. There is no collusion. We had nothing to do with Russia and everything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: He said everybody is convinced. Clearly, Kelly Jane, not everybody is convinced. Will they ever be? What is it going to take to figure this out?
KELLY JANE TORRANCE, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": Well, first of all, not only is not everybody convinced but his statement is not accurate. Now it's true that James Clapper did say that he hasn't seen any evidence of collusion. That doesn't mean there isn't any.
He was very careful in his choice of words to say that. He said I have not seen evidence and he actually has come out since Trump has been -- the president has been saying things like that to clarify. And yes, there hasn't been any evidence presented yet, but we haven't seen the full results of this investigation.
And that is why it's so important to appoint an FBI director who is going to be regarded by everybody as fair and will do a thorough job investigating this so that when the results come out, we could hopefully put this behind us either way.
PAUL: OK, so Julian, I want to read something that you wrote in a column this week. You said, "This week's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey has greatly intensified the fears that our commander in chief see absolutely no boundaries to his power."
Now in full disclosure, he has right to fire whoever he wants to fire as president. The optics certainly possibly not the smartest in terms of how he did it and when he did, but he did act within the law. So what do you say to that?
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He did act within the law, but he also fired an FBI director who was actively in the process of this investigation. Meaning he was investigating whether this administration's campaign colluded with the Russians.
In the middle of that, the president decides to remove him and then in series of interviews after admits that part of the reason was because of the Russia thing as it was called.
And so, yes, legally he could do this but politically, I think many Democrats and some Republicans understand the enormity of this decision in the middle of an investigation. It looks to some like trying to obstruct an effort to find out the question you just raised was there collusion.
PAUL: Absolutely. We know that the president will be reading the recommendations and the reports from the Justice Department after the Justice Department conducts all of these interviews over the weekend.
[06:20:08]I'm wondering, Juliette, the FBI as we know has endorsed as we said Mike Rogers, how much weight will that carry in this, do you think?
KAYYEM: To be clear it's an FBI union of present and former FBI employees so they sort of self-represented. They have endorsed -- my understanding is that they have endorsed Mike Rogers before you and I both know Mike Rogers. He is terrific but I'm not sure how much standing that would have, sort of for the White House.
Mike Rogers, in and of himself is a very strong candidate as is Fran Townsend, someone who was actually critical of the firing of Comey. So there are some interesting names on here on the list.
The ones that will enrage people and also really raise the fire in term of the belief that Trump did this, as he has now claimed, to essentially thwart the investigation or at least to slow a town he believes that there is nothing there are names like John Cornyn.
That is the name that makes a lot of people very nervous. He is a political person. The FBI rank in file really do not see themselves as a political agency and I will say just stepping back.
This sort of bachelorette or bachelor way of getting the next FBI director when Obama did it and when Bush did it, it was much more quiet is actually you're hearing online and on Facebook from FBI agents, they don't like it.
They really don't view themselves as part of the political process and if Trump likes doing that for political appointees this sort of bringing them all in and deciding who gets the flower is not getting a lot of good play, at least online with some agents.
PAUL: Kelly Jane, there are questions about the president and the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, being the ones to make this decision. A lot of people say if it's not them, who would it fall to?
TORRANCE: Yes, that is the interesting thing. The president, himself, has gone back and forth on this. In his letter to Comey he said I am firing you because of the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and this memo by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
And, of course, Rosenstein, the case he laid out was almost nothing was new in it. It was all stuff that happened during the campaign. Almost immediately, Trump decided to say, no, actually I was thinking of firing Comey from the day I was elected.
Donald Trump has to make everything about himself. It's kind of incredible. He couldn't even keep his own story straight because he started thinking I don't want these guys to get credit for firing Comey.
Only Donald Trump would think that he needs to take credit for something like this and that was one of the striking things in that interview last night is he said, well, if I had fired him on January 20th that would have overshadowed the inauguration.
Well, it's not -- the key is not what should be in the news, what the big story of the day. What is the right thing to do? What is the right timing for things? Donald Trump sees the world in terms of how can I get my name out? How can I be the center of attention? I think that is a dangerous way for the leader of the free world to operate.
PAUL: OK, Julian, you also wrote in your article if Trump obstructed justice it would be fair to say the scandal could be worse than Watergate. In all fairness, we had two attorneys on yesterday saying they had seen no evidence of obstruction thus far. Do you believe there is more here? And is the comparison to Watergate a fair one?
ZELIZER: I think the comparison is totally fair at this point. The initial investigation into the election is certainly as important and significant as the scandal that unfolded in the early 1970s.
And even if, thus far, we don't know whether he intentionally tried to obstruct the investigation, there is more than enough evidence left by his own tweets and statements that this very well could have been at the heart of what he was doing when he fired Comey.
To suggest obstruction might have been a big part of the story, if not the story. So I think many of the pieces of something as large as Watergate are now in place and that is why in the Sunday papers you'll see even discussions of impeachment today on the op-ed pages.
PAUL: As we have heard already this week, it has been a whirlwind, hasn't it? Kelly Jane Torrance, Juliette Kayyem, and Julian Zelizer, we appreciate all of you taking the time to be with us today. Thank you. Jake Tapper, by the way, will be talking about all of this with
James Clapper and Senator Chuck Schumer. It's this morning at 9:00 Eastern on "STATE OF THE UNION" right here on CNN, of course.
BLACKWELL: Pope Francis has differences with President Trump's policies on several issues, immigration, climate change, but the pope says that he will withhold judgment on the president until at least after meeting him next week.
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[06:25:02]POPE FRANCIS (through translator): I never make a judgment about a person without listening to them. I don't think I should do that. During our talks, things will come out. I will say what I think and he will say what he thinks, but I have never, never wanted to judge a person before hearing what they have to say.
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BLACKWELL: The pope is speaking to reporters Saturday aboard the papal plane. He also said that he and the president would find doors that are not completely shut. Last year, the pope criticized then Candidate Trump on his intention to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. The two will meet next week at the Vatican.
PAUL: And still to come, an urgent warning from that malware researcher who a lot of people are calling a hero after thwarting a global cyberattack. We were able to speak to that person and they said -- what they said and why it's so important as we head into workweek.
BLACKWELL: Plus new troubles for United Airlines, rough year for them. Their flight deck procedures may have been compromised, another embarrassing setback for this airline. We have details next.
PAUL: Don't worry, we have not forgotten Melissa McCarthy bringing spicy out of the bushes and back to "Saturday Night Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now I'm filling in for Sean today as you know Sean is fulfilling his duty as an officer in the naval reserve and that is why he is cannot be here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm pretty sure I can see him hiding in those bushes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:30:42]
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We always appreciate you waking up with us. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you.
PAUL: Now let's talk about this anonymous malware researcher that a lot of people are saying is just a hero. After inadvertently stopping the spread of a global cyberattack. According to British broadcaster ITV this attack targeted at least 150 countries and 200,000 victims.
BLACKWELL: CNN managed to speak with that researcher that stopped the attack. A 22-year-old from the U.K. that goes by the name Malware Tech.
Now, this person did not disclose his or her identity or gender so that's why we're saying them and their and they. Malware Tech warns that the threat is not over.
CNN international correspondent Phil Black joins us now from London with the details. And we are getting more from your poll, Phil, about the scope of this attack.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So that is where those figures that you're quoting there come from. The chief of Europol, which is the E.U.'s law enforcement agency. They are now talking about potentially 200,000 victims from this malware attack in some 150 countries which is a really a significant increase on the more recently estimates that we had as recently as, like, yesterday. They were talking about 75,000 victims in less than a hundred countries. So the scope of this is really only beginning to come clear, I think. And as a result we're only really beginning to appreciate the role that this accidental hero has played in blocking the malware attack from causing further infections.
You mentioned there the researcher's name Malware Tech, that's what this person is known as online. Other than that this person is keeping it fairly low profile. We don't know if it's a man or a woman. We know they live somewhere in the Southwest of England and work for an L.A.-based threat intelligence company. But this person was assessing, studying the malware as the attack was unfolding and while that was happening, noticed that the malware was doing something interesting. It kept trying to contact a strange web domain, an internet address. Noticed that that internet address wasn't registered, paid the $10, which is fairly straightforward thing to take control of it, and in doing so inadvertently triggered some sort of kill switch which basically called off the malware attack, stopped it from spreading further.
But Malware Tech, this researcher, is the first to admit this really was an accident. Had no idea that in doing that, registering the domain name, that would be the effect. This person is also warning that we could expect further attacks because although the shutdown was relatively straightforward this person also believes that recoding the malware, simply rewriting it and releasing it again would be a relatively straightforward thing to do and we could see that happen in the coming week.
BLACKWELL: All right. Phil Black for us there in London. Phil, thank so much. PAUL: Emmanuel Macron is participating in his first official duties as the president of France this morning. He's now laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris. You see that all the folks there who gathered for it.
Macron is the youngest president in the history of France who sworn in during an official ceremony earlier this morning. His ceremony took place. Take a look. In a palace with his friends, his family. And then he spoke about the future of France, said the world needs France now more than ever.
President macron is expected to name a prime minister, in fact, tomorrow.
BLACKWELL: Well, back home. Tough week in Washington means plenty of material for "Saturday Night Live."
PAUL: Melissa McCarthy bringing Spicey back. And Alec Baldwin came along for the ride as well.
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MELISSA MCCARTHY AS SEAN SPICER: Mr. Trump! I need to talk to you! Have you ever told me to say things that aren't true?
ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: Only since you started working here.
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[06:38:40]
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MCCARTHY: Move, move! When you lie all the time your pants gets fire.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MCCARTHY: Liar, liar, pants on fire. That's why I put them (ph) out. That's right. Spicey is back and Sarah is out!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Out of the Bushes back behind the podium Spicey returned to "Saturday Night Live" to take on the latest White House headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOBBY MOYNIHAN AS GLENN THRUSH: Isn't it true that President Trump only fired James Comey to stop the FBI's investigation of him?
MCCARTHY: Shut up, Glenn. (LAUGHTER)
MOYNIHAN: I think the American people deserve to know.
MCCARTHY: You stink, Glenn!
VANESSA BAYER AS REPORTER: Were you surprised that he fired Comey before he fired you?
MCCARTHY: Oh, god! Does that answer your question?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Melissa McCarthy, like no other, hosting the show for a fifth time last night even brought Alec Baldwin along with his Trump impression.
Brian Stelter CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" is with us here. What do you think, Brian?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was highly anticipated. This might have been the most highly anticipated episode of the entire season because McCarthy had been lined up to host months ago and then of course she happens to be on the same week that this White House had a severe crisis of credibility.
[06:40:06]
So we had seen Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the real Sanders, handling the briefings earlier in the week, then the real Sean Spicer on Friday. Here's how SNL brought the two of them together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AIDY BRYANT AS SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Now I'm filling in for Sean today. As you know Sean is fulfilling his duty as an officer in the naval reserve. And that is why he cannot be here.
CECILY STRONG AS REPORTER: I'm pretty sure I can see him hiding in those bushes.
(LAUGHTER)
BRYANT: I believe that's a naval exercise. He is trying to blend in with his surroundings. Are there any more questions?
SASHEER ZAMATA AS REPORTER: Yes, I have a question. Can you just do this full-time instead of him?
MIKEY DAY AS REPORTER: If he is your friend, why is everyone saying he's about to fire you and replace you with Sarah?
BRYANT: Oh, bless your heart! This is the first I'm hearing of that.
MCCARTHY: Get out. I got to find Trump. I'm going to New York. The press interview is over! (END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: All right. The serious point behind the jokes there is that there has been speculation maybe Spicer is not going to be press secretary much longer. These are anonymously sourced reports this week saying that Trump might not be that satisfied with any of his P.R. people.
So that sets up the next sketch. We had seen this in a preview earlier in the week, Victor and Christi, because McCarthy was out there playing Spicer outside CNN's New York bureau. Here is what they made of it. Here's the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCARTHY: Come on! I need to find Trump! I promise I'll talk better! I can't go back to the Navy! I can't swim!
I don't think I can do this anymore, Mr. Trump. They are saying that you're going to replace me with Sarah.
BALDWIN: Sean, come on. I would never do that. She doesn't have your special spice. Salt and pepper. A little bit of sugar.
MCCARTHY: No! Mr. -- president, stop.
BALDWIN: You like when I do that, Sean?
MCCARTHY: No. It just tickles a little.
BALDWIN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: Well, you know, Spicer -- McCarthy playing Spicer is probably the biggest hit of SNL's season. If you think about the season finale is next weekend.
And, guys, for liberals or for moderates or for conservatives who are weary of Trump SNL has sort of been a comedic release valve. So we'll see what they do next weekend but it was interesting for the first time to see the Trump character and the Spicer character together.
PAUL: Together. Absolutely.
BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you, Brian.
STELTER: Thanks.
PAUL: Thanks, Brian.
And don't forget you can catch Brian on "RELIABLE SOURCES" -- he's not going anywhere this morning 11:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. He will be back.
BLACKWELL: United Airlines' P.R. department working overtime, again, after revealing cockpit access information could have been made public. The steps airlines are now taking and asking you to take to keep the deck secure when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:47:18]
PAUL: Well, another embarrassing mishap it seems at United Airlines this morning and one that some say could put potentially thousands of people at risk. A bulletin went out to all United pilots saying their flight deck access procedures may have been compromised after some cockpit door access information was made public.
BLACKWELL: Now you remember this comes one month after that disturbing incident where a passenger was forcibly dragged off a United flight.
Joining us now to discuss, former inspector general of the Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo. Mary, good morning to you and how is it possible something like this could happen?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, lots of ways it could have happened United is saying it wasn't part of the computer hack breach but, you know, could have been something with a misdirected e-mail, could have been a posted information about this someplace in the airport. There's many ways it could get out. But it's very disturbing because United was also part of the forefront, one of those airlines that has decided not to have what is called secondary barriers.
You recall a few years back there was a big push and Congress even had some bills introduced where a secondary gate would be required on aircraft so when the pilots come out to get food or use the restroom that there would be a secondary barrier. That bill was never passed and the FAA never required it so that will renew that debate as well.
BLACKWELL: Yes. So that we see the flight attendants using the drink card to kind of block off that section to keep people from getting too close.
SCHIAVO: That's right.
BLACKWELL: What is the protocol -- what is the protocol for moving forward in a situation like this?
SCHIAVO: Well, for United, you know, most of this is going to be completely secure information. It's classified. It's what is called sensitive security information so we won't hear. But what they to do is redo the cockpit security and then will have to be reapproved again by the government.
Their procedures have to be approved. It's part of a national airline security plan that the public never sees but they will have to review their procedures and make sure they have something in place. And of course they will renew the debate about the secondary doors that cost about $5,000 apiece. And they're a good idea but they're not the law so airlines mostly don't have them.
BLACKWELL: So give me some insight into this. If I'm sitting on a plane and I don't see any logos around I can't tell if I'm on a United flight or a Delta flight, but is -- are these, I guess, door access information, these code, are they specific to United or does this jeopardize all of the airlines?
SCHIAVO: No, they are specific to the airline and, depending upon the pilot and the crew, they can be specific to each flight. They have a -- the pilot discusses with the crew what they are going to do on that particular flight and what the codes are.
[06:50:03]
So, no, they vary from airline-to-airline. But, in general, they are the same across the board. But each airline has their own method of doing things and how they decide on what the codes and what, you know, what they are going to do before they do the door access on each flight.
BLACKWELL: And after, you know, what we watched for -- what went on more than a week with United last month with that passenger being dragged off the flight, what does this mean for their ability or their effort to rebuild their relationship, their image with their customers?
SCHIAVO: Well, I think, you know, when these episodes keep happening it looks like an airline that just really doesn't have good management and no good communication and really hasn't got all of its employees on board. Probably through training and through other reasons. But it really sends a message that from top, down, United is very disorganized and they're not a very well managed airline right now.
BLACKWELL: All right. Mary Schiavo, CNN's aviation analyst, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
PAUL: You know, five years after Trayvon Martin was shot and killed his parents now have his posthumous college degree.
BLACKWELL: Florida Memorial University presented his parents with a Bachelor's of Science in Aeronautics. His mother, Sybrina Fulton, is a graduate of that university, and they proudly accepted the degree in honor of their son's dream of becoming a pilot before he was killed. The shooting death captured the attention of the nation, the world and sparked a debate about racial profiling and civil rights.
PAUL: Pretty frightening crash on last night's NASCAR race. Kristina Fitzpatrick -- Fitzpatrick coming up next. What are your learning this morning?
KRISTINA FITZPATRICK, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christi.
Three cars involved in a fiery wreck at Kansas speedway sends one driver to the hospital. We'll tell you who that is coming up in this morning' "Bleacher Report."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:56:17]
BLACKWELL: A fiery crash ends up with a veteran NASCAR driver being air-lifted to the hospital during last night's race.
PAUL: Kristina Fitzpatrick is looking into this. What are you learning this morning again?
FITZPATRICK: We are learning no serious injuries thank goodness but it was definitely an ugly scene out in Kansas City.
Aric Almirola is being held overnight at a hospital in Kansas City but he managed to escape major injury in this scary looking wreck. It happened on lap 199 after Joey Logano and Danica Patrick got into a crash. Almirola in car -- the 43 car was right behind them and just couldn't avoid slamming into them.
You see back tires lift of the ground as it come barreling in seemingly trying to brake (ph) to brake to soften the blow. But he hit them head-on. Safety workers had to cut the roof off of his car to get him out. He was alert after the accident and was flown to a nearly hospital.
Richard Petty Mothersports released a statement last night (INAUDIBLE) saying he is in stable condition and will be held for observation.
The Golden State Warriors welcomed a familiar face at yesterday's practice. Head coach Steve Kerr was back with his team for the first time since taking a leave of absence about three weeks ago. He's still out indefinitely while he recovers from back surgery to repair a spinal court leak.
The Warriors opened their western conference final series against the Spurs this afternoon. Tip-off is set for 3:30 Eastern.
And finally, yesterday's Indians-Twins' game was delayed for about five minutes because of a squirrel on the field. Five minutes is a long time, though.
The (INAUDIBLE) rodent jogged around the bases. He hang out in front of the pitcher's mound, the ground crew shot him off the field but then it caused even more trouble by running into the stands. Fans are going crazy. Where is this guy going?
The Indians lost the game 4-1 so you can't really call him a rally squirrel. But he provided some entertainment, I'm sure, for fans. Imagine trying to be the guy that has to catch the thing! That would be a lot to do.
PAUL: And I immediately go to the post squirrel!
BLACKWELL: And I'm saying let's get on with the game.
FITZPATRICK: Yes. I'm sure everybody (INAUDIBLE) including the pitcher who's like, what are we going to --
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL: Yes. Can we please move on?
BLACKWELL: A squirrel, really?
FITZPATRICK: Really move on here, yes. But good day the ball park for the fans. I'm sure they were entertained by it.
PAUL: Gave the fans some -- yes, all right.
Hey, thank you so much Kristina.
FITZPATRICK: Absolutely.
PAUL: Good to see you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another provocative move from North Korea. This was not a missile that would have threatened the continental United States.
REP. CHARLIE CRIST (D), FLORIDA: You have the investigated, the president, selecting the person who will be investigating him. You have to wonder about how objective can that whole scenario be.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the process is getting -- (INAUDIBLE) because almost all of them very well known.
We have extremely capable people, in some cases, people of great prestige actually.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who would take the job to ruin their reputation by ending this investigation?
BALDWIN: I thought he is investigating Russia. I don't like that. I should fire him.
MICHAEL CHE AS LESTER HOLT: But that is obstruction of justice.
BALDWIN: OK.
CHE: Wait. Oh, did I get him? Is this all over? Oh, no I didn't? Nothing matters? Absolutely nothing matters any more.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Happy Sunday, happy Mother's Day! Don't forget to call your mom. Is all I'm saying. Good morning. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good Sunday to you. PAUL: So new this morning. Let's talk about some of the sharp words that we are hearing from the White House condemning the latest North Korea missile test.
President Trump calling it -- quote -- "A flagrant menace" and calling for far stronger sanctions against the secretive dictatorship. The missile landed closer to the Russian coastline than ever before putting Moscow on high alert today.
BLACKWELL: All this just one day after Pyongyang said it would hold talks with the U.S. if conditions were right.
[07:00:02]
Now, let's turn to the search for a new FBI director. A revolving door here. Look at this. We've got eight on the screen. There have been more who have been interviewed. The hopefuls here you see at DOJ this weekend.
