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U.K. Concert Terror; Reporter Body-Slammed by Political Candidate; Withholding Information; U.S. President in Brussels for NATO Summit; Hunt for Terror Network; Melania Trump Holds Her Own as First Lady on Trip. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 25, 2017 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:29] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isha Sesay. This is NEWSROOM L.A.

VAUSE: Police raids around Manchester as investigators try to crack the terror network believed responsible for the deadly concert bombing.

SESAY: Police have arrested seven people. But we've just learned one woman who was arrested has been released without charge. It's not clear how any of them are connected to the attack. But they say 22- year-old Salman Abedi, who blew himself up Monday night, did not act alone.

VAUSE: The "New York Times" has published photographs claiming to show the aftermath of the bombing. They appear to have been taken by British authorities just moments after Monday's attack.

SESAY: Yes. They show what could be a detonator, battery, shrapnel and fragments of a backpack. The spokeswoman for the Greater Manchester police would not comment on these photos, and Britain's national police chief counsel has warned that leaks of potential evidence like this could undermine the investigations.

VAUSE: Meanwhile, the brother of the suicide bomber has been arrested in Libya, accused of plotting a separate terror attack.

SESAY: He says he and his brother were members of ISIS.

CNN's Clarissa Ward reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators say they do not believe the 22-year-old British bomber Salman Abedi, who blew himself up outside of this concert hall Monday, killing 22, acted alone.

IAN HOPKINS, GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE: I think it's very clear that this is a network that we are investigating. WARD: Abedi's brother was reportedly detained by a militia in Libya,

which alleges that he was plotting to launch his own terror attack in Tripoli. The Libyan militia claims Hashim Abedi told them that he and his now dead brother were members of ISIS. CNN is reaching out to the militia and western authorities for verification.

U.S. military sources tell CNN Salman Abedi, the Manchester bomber, had been in Libya for several weeks before the attack.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERROR ANALYST: He certainly might have had the opportunity in Libya to connect with a terrorist group. ISIS has a presence in Libya. Al Qaeda has a presence in Libya, other jihadi groups.

WARD: Police say he was known to both British and U.S. intelligence officials, and investigators are now trying to piece together whether Abedi met with ISIS or al Qaeda operatives or received terror training while abroad. They also want to know who he was in contact with here in England.

Police continue to raid buildings across Manchester. They say they have made arrests in connection with the bombing in a frantic race to find anyone who may have helped Abedi build his bomb or plot his attack.

HOPKINS: There's extensive investigations going on, activity taking place across Greater Manchester as we speak.

WARD: The prime minister has raised the terror threat to its highest level, critical, for the first time in a decade. Police have increased security at major sites across the country, including at Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's Cathedral. And armed officers continue to patrol Manchester.

Clarissa Ward, CNN -- Manchester.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Let's get the very latest now on the investigation, also on those police raids. Our Erin McLaughlin is live in Manchester.

So Erin -- what more do we know about the arrests which have taken place, and also these properties which have been raided by police?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi -- John.

Well, we're hearing from police of a raid carried out in the Moss side area of Manchester in the overnight hour. That area is about four miles away from the Manchester Arena where the attack took place.

We understand from police that they carried out a controlled explosion during that raid. They did not say why other than to note that this is a fast-moving investigation, and they continue to keep an open mind. Some seven arrests had been made in total, six men and one woman although we are now hearing that the woman has been released without charge. Identities of those individuals have not been given by police.

Now this is part of a very broad investigation spanning at least two countries -- the United Kingdom and Libya -- involving what authorities believe was a much wider network.

And you definitely get the sense that time is of the essence here. The threat level countrywide has been raised to critical -- the highest level in some ten years.

[00:04:58] Military personnel armed have been deployed to key sites throughout the country. You definitely get the sense that authorities are very concerned about the possibility of another attack.

SESAY: Yes. Erin -- a great deal to be concerned about.

And we're learning more about the victims of this horrific attack -- Erin.

MCLAUGHLIN: That's right. 22 people killed in this attack, many of them children; their families choosing to post tributes on social media.

This, from the Greater Manchester Police posting a tweet on behalf of the family -- 17-year-old Chloe Rutherford and 19-year-old Liam Curry, a young couple killed in this attack. This is what their family wants you to know about them.

"On the night our daughter Chloe died and our son Liam died their wings were ready, but our hearts were not. They were perfect in every way for each other and were meant to be. They were beautiful inside and out to ourselves and our families, and they were inseparable. Chloe always described herself as ditzy, who Liam adored and would do anything for, including dealing with Chloe's demands for chocolate. They lived to go to new places together and explore different cities. They wanted to be together forever, and now they are."

A touching tribute there from the family of some 64 people injured in this attack, spread across some eight hospitals, including a children's hospital which is just adjacent to the hospital where I am standing. Many of the patients, we're told are in critical condition.

SESAY: Such senseless violence. Erin McLaughlin -- joining us there from Manchester; Erin -- we appreciate the update. Thank you.

VAUSE: A little more background now on the bomber. Salman Abedi was 22. He was born in Britain but was of Libyan descent. He was studying business at a university in Manchester and had spent a few weeks in Libya before the attack.

A family friend says his father took him there and his younger brother to Libya because they were getting into trouble in England.

SESAY: That friend says Salman's father took his son's passport when they arrived and only gave it back because he thought his son was taking part in the Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca. But Salman Abedi returned to England instead and carried out the attack just three days later. .

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAMADAN ABEDI, FATHER OF SALMAN ABEDI (through translator): At the beginning, one of the girls was on the Internet and saw on the news that Salman is a suspect of the explosion in Manchester. So I went on the Internet and watched BBC World and started following the news.

They said he was only a suspect, and I kept waiting for news until morning. At 1:00 p.m., I saw the news that the suspect is Salman Abedi. I was not expecting this to happen and didn't know anything about this matter because he didn't say he was going to Manchester and staying there. He said he was going to Umrah, and he got a special offer from Manchester, and he will go to Umrah from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, members of the Manchester Islamic Centre not far from Salman Abedi's home condemned the attack. They're urging anyone with information to contact police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAWZI HAFFAR, MANCHESTER ISLAMIC CENTRE: The horrific atrocity that occurred in Manchester on Monday night had shocked us all. It has indeed shocked us all. This act of cowardice has no place in our religion or any other religion for that matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining us now for more, CNN national security analyst Steve Hall. Steve -- good to see you.

We know the bomber recently returned to Manchester after visiting Libya. He apparently went there quite regularly. But given the timing, you know, of the trip and the proximity to the attack is that kind of a great big sign that he was either directed or trained in some way by ISIS or al Qaeda or some other jihadi group there?

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This is a big problem that you have with returnees, essentially, is what we're talking about. So you've got people who are ethnically associated with, in this case, Libya, but are citizens of, in this case, the U.K. So it's hard to determine whether or not the initial radicalization happened in the U.K. and then this individual returned to Libya to get the training.

What does appear to be the case, and I think this is -- we're hearing this across the boards is that we can no longer seriously consider this I think a lone wolf type of thing. There was clearly something going on in Libya, clearly some sort of training, probably having to do with being able to put together that device.

ISIS, of course, has taken some responsibility publicly but, you know, we're still in early stages in terms of trying to piece all of this together. It's a hard thing for intelligence and law enforcement to get to the bottom of. SESAY: Yes, Steve -- as we try to get to grips with what is known

about this individual, the fact that he was of Libyan descent born in the U.K.

[00:10:02] Big picture question. Are Libyan youths especially vulnerable to terror recruiters? Is there something about them that makes them more susceptible? I mean what's your take?

HALL: I'm not sure that it's necessarily has to do with Libya specifically. I think each individual nation, each individual culture, has its own soft spots that terrorist organizations such as ISIS -- such as ISIS and others will attempt to, you know, grab on to motivate somebody to try to take this kind of action.

Clearly, the western intervention in Libya a few years back to remove Muammar Gadhafi was, you know, something that an external force showing its -- using its force essentially to execute a regime change in that particular country can leave a lot of people feeling the wrong way about how that was done. But again, it's a bit unclear still as to what this individual's motivation was. We'll have to see.

VAUSE: Knowing the who doesn't answer the why, at least not yet anyway. Once again though, Steve, it seems there are missed opportunities here to stop Abedi. He was known to both U.S. and British authorities. He was on a watch list for a period of time. There are reports community leaders actually tried to warn authorities that he was becoming radicalized and nothing was done. This is such a familiar story.

HALL: Yes. You know, it's really tough, and it's -- in my opinion, what we have here is the difficulty of dealing with open societies where we encourage people to be able to communicate privately amongst themselves to hold whatever religious beliefs they want, but we also have, you know, law and order. So the balance of those is really hard.

I mean on the one hand you can be 100 percent effective in stopping these kinds of attacks if you have a totalitarian regime which spies on everybody and has other spy on everybody and you technically penetrate all potential targets.

In an open society we don't subscribe to those values. We want to have -- people to have the openness that they can. But the problem is that what that leads to oftentimes is this.

The police and the intelligence services walk a very fine line. And, you know, for all the success that the services had, we don't hear about all those thwarted attacks. The ones that get through cause us to ask that question. And it is a valid question. It's not invalid.

It's good to think about how we can do it better. But it really is tough for law enforcement and intelligence to walk that fine line.

SESAY: Steve -- final question to you. The "New York Times" posting images of the device involved in this horrific attack. Talk to us about what that -- talk to us about that, the fact that we are seeing elements of this bomb.

Is this the greatest source of information for investigators when it comes down to figuring out who else was involved in this attack?

HALL: It's certainly a key part of it. Whether it's the most important part, it depends on what other intelligence the law enforcement folks in the intelligence agencies have. But the bomb is always -- the device itself is always a signature in terms of other attacks that have used similar types of technology, similar types of devices that we now know are definitely -- were definitely conducted by ISIS or al Qaeda or whichever organization. But they do serve as sort of a fingerprint in terms of where it comes from.

So the device, how it was set up, the size of it, which was considerable, and the types of actual chemicals of the explosives involved very important for determining whether or not it really was ISIS or whether there was other involvement.

VAUSE: Ok, Steve -- thank you. Steve Hall -- national security analyst there, former CIA operative giving us some perspective. Thanks -- Steve.

SESAY: Thank you -- Steve.

VAUSE: And with regards to the bomb in the photographs that were published in the "New York Times", you know, the "Times" reporting it was designed to inflict maximum damage from the shrapnel. That means, you know, there is now 20 people in hospital in critical condition among the 64 others who have actually been wounded after this attack in Manchester.

SESAY: Absolutely. A lot of them are young people. Some are children, as you said. And they're in several Manchester hospitals, doctors are describing the unique challenges they face treating some of the very youngest of the victims who were separated from their families.

Our own Muhammad Lila has more.

MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now I'm standing in front of the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Behind me is where a number of the victims are being treated. They include children and adults.

Just about the only good news today is that the death toll has not gone up. It's still sitting at 22 people killed. But the bad news is that the number of injured has gone up. It's now 64 reported injured compared to 59 yesterday.

Now earlier we spoke to some of the first responders who were at the scene inside the hospital during those first few crucial hours as victim after victim was being brought in for treatment. And they describe a particularly tragic and unique ordeal that none of them have ever faced before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [00:15:05] DR. PETER-MARC FORTUNA, ROYAL MANCHESTER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: One of the hardest things that certainly I directly dealt with, with my colleagues at the children's hospital is looking after children who we didn't know who they were, we didn't know their name, we hadn't identified them.

I mean I can't imagine what their parents were going through until we had done that but actually, it was remarkably hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LILA: And we now have new background information on some of the people who were killed. Olivia Campbell was 15 years old. Her mother had been looking for her for 24 hours when her daughter didn't pick up the phone on Monday night after that concert.

Neil Jones is a student in Cheshire. Her principal had to break the news to the student body today. Her classmates described her not just as a classmate, but more like a sister.

Michelle Kis (ph) has now also been confirmed among the dead. She was a wife and a mother of three.

And those tragic stories underscore that even while the investigation is unfolding, the city of Manchester has paid a heavy and a deep human toll.

Muhammad Lila, CNN -- Manchester.

VAUSE: Ariana Grande was scheduled to perform two shows at London's O2 Arena on Thursday and Friday, but she has suspended her tour after the attack.

SESAY: Take a look at these. These are the first photos of the pop star since the bombing. You see her there getting off that private jet. She looks visibly shaken walking off the plane as she returned home to Florida.

She has canceled shows in Europe through June 5th but there is no word yet on exactly when she'll be back on tour.

VAUSE: Well, amid all of the grief and sorrow in Manchester, there is one bright spot. The city's most famous football club has won the Europa League final. The timing of the match has to say it's far from ideal but it went ahead anyway. That it was dignified. It was respectful when they played this match in Stockholm.

SESAY: The club and the fans determined not to let terrorism derail hopes of champion league glory. And they held a minute of silence before kickoff.

After that, the Red Devils made quick work of their Dutch opponents Ajax overcoming them two-nil. And back in Manchester, Man U fans seemingly desperate for a release. Well, as you can see there, they went wild. VAUSE: Yes. Ok. Well, for a list of ways you can help those

affected by the terror attack in Manchester, please go to our Web site, CNN.com/impact.

SESAY: You can also help with the investigation by uploading photos or videos of the scene for Manchester police. Again, that's at CNN.com/impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Well, they say politics at times can in fact be a blood sport. That's meant to be a figurative speaking. It's not meant to be taken literally. But, but it does seem that in the past couple of hours, a candidate for U.S. Congress has actually come into physical contact with a reporter from the "Guardian" newspaper.

[00:20:02] SESAY: Yes. Well, Greg Gianforte is the Republican running in a special election to fill an open seat for Montana. That election is scheduled for Thursday.

Reporter Ben Jacobs asked Gianforte about the Congressional Budget Office score on the U.S. health care bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN JACOBS, THE "GUARDIAN": The CBO score because you know, you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill, and it just came out.

GREG GIANFORTE (R), MONTANA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We'll talk to you about that later.

JACOBS: Yes. But there is not going to be time. I'm just curious to --

GIANFORTE: Speak with Shane, please.

I'm sick and tired of you, guys. The last guy that came in here did the same thing. Get the hell out of here. Get the hell out of here. The last guy did the same thing. Are you with the "Guardian"?

JACOBS: Yes. And you just broke my glasses.

GIANFORTE: The last guy did the same damn thing.

JACOBS: You just body slammed me and broke my glasses.

GIANFORTE: Get the hell out of here.

JACOBS: You'd like me to get the hell out of here. I'd also like to call the police. Can I get your guys' names? He just body slammed me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well -- SESAY: It's remarkable.

VAUSE: It's still incredible to hear. And shortly after all that happened, we did get a response from a spokesman for the candidate saying this. "Tonight as Greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, the Guardian's Ben Jacobs entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg's face and began asking badgering questions. Jacobs was asked to leave after asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined."

SESAY: Went on to say this. "Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at a campaign volunteer barbecue."

VAUSE: And it's a shame that this account just doesn't match up with what we heard on the tape and what the witnesses of the scene have said.

More than 2.5 million people are employed by the U.S. federal government, and most of them are required to fill out this form. It's form SF-86. It's an application for security clearance. It is a monster -- 127 pages long. And right there on page 1, paragraph 3, it says very clearly, "It is imperative that the information provided be true and accurate to the best of your knowledge."

And that brings us to page 60, the part which deals with foreign contacts. It asks "Do you have or have you had close and/or continuing contact with a foreign national within the last seven years." And then you have the space here to list all of those contacts.

Here is the problem now, though, for the U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. According to the Justice Department, Sessions failed to disclose meetings he had with officials from Russia and other countries on his application for security clearance last year.

In particular, he made no mention of meeting the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He would then go on to fail to disclose that information during his Senate confirmation hearing in January.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AL FRANKEN (D), MINNESOTA: If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Senator Franken, I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's legal analyst Paul Callan joins us now from New York. Paul -- good to see you.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Nice to be with you -- John.

VAUSE: Looking at this on its own, there is nothing else going on here. No other investigations, no allegations of the Russia investigations. How serious is an omission like this on a security clearance application form just in and of itself?

CALLAN: Well, for an ordinary human being working for the federal government, I think it would be a very serious matter if there had been many foreign contacts with a foreign government that were not disclosed. But we're not, of course, dealing with an ordinary human being here. We're dealing with a United States senator who is soon to become the next attorney general of the United States.

So they're going to cut him a lot more slack on this than they would an ordinary person. But it's a criminal offense to fail to answer that form accurately and a somewhat serious criminal offense. You can go to prison for it.

VAUSE: Ok. Let's look at the bigger picture here because there is context here -- the ongoing investigation of possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Jeff Sessions played a major role in the Trump campaign. So does that change the dynamic here in any way? What does it say?

CALLAN: It should change the dynamic because Senator Sessions had very serious explaining to do when he failed to disclose his meeting with the Russian ambassador in that clip that we just showed.

And now in filling out this very important security clearance form, he fails to mention numerous contacts with foreign governments.

[00:24:59] You know, I think he has some very serious explaining to do about how this omission could take place. I mean I guess he is going to say I don't remember. I didn't remember. Or I thought that because most of those meetings had to do with my role as United States senator, I didn't have to list them.

But you look at the form, it doesn't say oh, by the way, if you're a senator, you don't have to answer all these questions. The same questions are posed.

The final question, though, is would he be prosecuted for this in the way a normal human being would? That's a harder road to go because it's the Justice Department that makes the decision to prosecute. And you would have to have a special prosecutor or a new special prosecutor come in to look into this case to see whether it's worthy of prosecution.

And even if he were prosecuted, President Trump could pardon him. So I suspect in the end nothing is going to come of this other than some more embarrassment for the Trump administration.

VAUSE: What you mentioned just briefly about essentially this excuse that as a U.S. senator, he was exempt from listing these meetings with ambassadors. That's what the Justice Department is saying that they were told by the FBI that, you know, he didn't have to do it because there was some official capacity there.

There is no legal exemption for that as you point out. But if you look at the overall behavior here of Jeff Sessions, there does seem to be a pattern of behavior, which a lot of people are pointing to now.

CALLAN: Yes. Of course, he is going to say that even though it's not listed on the form, the custom and practice in Congress has been if we were meeting with these officials in our official capacity as senator we didn't have to list it. And there have been other senators who have said, well, if he was at a conference or a convention of some kind with other senators and these meetings occurred, they wouldn't have to be listed then.

But from what I've heard, the meetings that he did not list were not convention meetings. They were sort of maybe one-on-one contacts that he had or small group contacts that he had with foreign officials through the years that clearly should have been listed on the form.

It certainly looks very, very bad. But, you know, how it will pan out in the end, you'd have to prove that these were intentional omissions in order to prove a crime. And as I said, you'd probably need a special prosecutor appointed. And that would have to be done with the approval of Congress and the President.

So and you have a Republican congress in place. He is a Republican so I don't know. In the end I think it's going to be extremely bad politics for the Trump administration. But Sessions probably will survive the scandal.

VAUSE: Ok, Paul -- as always, good to speak with you. Thanks for being with us.

CALLAN: Ok. Good talking to you -- John.

SESAY: Well, Donald Trump is in Brussels. The Belgian Royals welcomed the U.S. President and the first lady at the royal palace shortly after their arrival on Wednesday. And official business will get started in the coming hours. Mr. Trump will meet with European Council leaders, sit down with the new French president and attend a NATO summit.

One of the biggest issues on the agenda is combating terrorism and Mr. Trump is acknowledging the challenge he and his allies are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Number one right now is terrorism. And we are fighting very hard, doing very well under our generals and making tremendous progress.

But when you see something like happened two days ago, you realize how important it is to win this fight. And we will win this fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, our Phil Black joins us now, live from Brussels. Phil -- given all the tough talk from candidate Trump on NATO during the presidential campaign, how much apprehension is there among NATO leaders ahead of this summit?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes NATO leaders and other European officials too, Isha. There is no doubt that President Trump's election inspired a lot of nervousness here in Europe because over the course of his campaign, he said things that American presidential candidates and American presidents tend not to say. He criticized the E.U. He criticized NATO.

So today will be the first opportunity for many European officials and leaders to try and build their own personal rapport with President Trump, to try and get a sense of what might be possible as they move forward.

So he is meeting first of all this morning with the leaders of key European institutions. There is a lot to talk through there whether it's trade, climate change, Russia, security, terrorism. But there is no formal agenda. Only one hour to get through all of that.

And that is before he has lunch with the newly elected presidents of France -- newly-elected president of France Emmanuel Macron. Again, their first chance to get a sense of one another as well.

And then he moves on to NATO, an organization that he -- an alliance that he repeatedly described as obsolete. He has since backed away from that slightly, saying it is no longer obsolete. But there will be some nervousness there as well.

[00:29:55] There is a real desire here through the course of all of these largely informal meetings that they go well. That maybe big decisions won't be made but they will provide a strong stepping stone to build future relations upon -- Isha.

SESAY: One of the things President Trump has been clear about as he heads to this NATO gathering is that he wants to see NATO step up in the fight against terrorism. Is there willingness on the part of NATO leaders to expand the alliance's scope of operation on the front?

BLACK: Yes. So there's two key issues that will be discussed over the NATO dinner tonight. One of them, as you say, yes, expanding the fight against terrorism. The other ensuring that NATO members are seen to be paying their way. Spending enough on defense, meeting the 2 percent of GDP targeted NATO members signed up for a couple of years ago.

There is a desire to give President Trump I think something of a victory on both of those points. But precisely what they will be, what the decisions are that will be announced, we'll have to wait until the end of the meeting.

It is likely that all the countries will agree to a payment plan that will see them increase their spending over time. And it is likely that they will announce some sort of expansion of their commitment, their contribution to the international coalition against ISIS. But the specifics of that are still open -- Isha.

SESAY: Lots to discuss. Phil Black joining us there from Brussels. Phil, thank you.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: We shall take a short break. When we come back, a lot more on the investigation into the Manchester bombing and we'll also remember the young lives which have been lost.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone. Britain remains under its highest alert as police hunt what they now say is a terror network behind Monday's deadly bombing. Investigators have now made seven arrests staging raid after raid in and around Manchester.

VAUSE: U.S. military sources tell CNN the bomber Salman Abedi spent several weeks in Libya before returning to Britain, just days before the attack. Investigators say they still don't know if he built the bomb or if it was made by a bomb maker who is still at large.

Twenty-two people were killed, at least 64 others wounded. Twenty of them believed to be in critical condition. Many of the victims are just children.

Britain is now planning a nationwide moment of silence. It's set for 11:00 a.m. local time on Thursday.

Let's bring in CNN's Nina dos Santos. She is live outside Number 10 Downing Street.

So, Nina, there does seem to be this concern growing about -- from the British about the leaks which are coming from the U.S. side of things. What are their concerns here? And what is the potential problems it could cause for the investigation?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR: Well, the concern is that this is very much a live investigation, and that leaking this level of detailed information is very counterproductive towards that. For anybody who might have been involved in this wider network because of course they are now saying that this is part of a wider network and working to the assumption that Salman Abedi probably didn't or may well not have built the explosive device that he detonated himself.

He may well have been one of a number of mules who was sent out by a master bomb maker. And if there is a master bomb maker loose in the British isles, that will be the first time in more than a decade since in fact 2005 that we've seen the scenario that this country is having to cope with.

[00:35:12] So the Britain's -- British authorities very much not just irritated, but now particularly concerned about the level of detail that has been leaked.

And I should point out, John, if you ever covered a counterterrorism investigation in this country, the kind of detail that has come out over the last 24, 48 hours as authorities of this country are still trying to piece together information -- information and detail that is being leaked from the other side of the Atlantic. In particular photographic evidence of the debris on the scene, potentially of the remnants of the bomb that was used here to kill 22 people, that is something that we're not used to seeing in this country.

The Home Secretary this time yesterday, Amber Rudd, took to British television and radio to make it very clear that she had said she was irritated by these leaks, particularly coming from the United States, that she'd made it clear to U.S. authorities that this had to stop. But now we've also had various counterterrorism officials and the police come out in this country saying this is very counterproductive to what still remains very much a live investigation -- John.

SESAY: And Nina, with that in mind, do we anticipate there'll be changes to the intelligence sharing relationship between the UK and the U.S. during this period?

DOS SANTOS: Well, at the moment all we know is that remember that Theresa May will probably be have a tete-a-tete with the U.S. president Donald Trump later on today on the fringes of that NATO summit that you just heard Phil Black reporting from. And it is likely that she will probably raise this at the highest possible level. She knows a lot about intelligence sharing because by the way she is longest serving Home secretary that this country has had before stepping up to the prime ministership a year or so ago in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. So security cooperation and sharing of information, particularly across the Atlantic between the Brits here is who have a very well developed intelligence network and the United States has been a linchpin, if you like, in the counterterrorism strategy over the last 20 years or so.

She'll probably undermine that point when she gets a chance to sit down with the U.S. president. And in the meantime, this is very much a fast-paced investigation. There are several arrests that have been made. One person has been released without charge. But among those seven people who've been arrested largely men, one of them was the brother of Salman Abedi. He was arrested in Libya. So this goes to show how this is very much an international investigation.

So obviously British authorities will be relying very much upon other authorities around the world, including the United States that has intelligence manpower on the ground in places like Libya, in places like Syria, where this individual and others from this network may well have traveled -- Isha, John.

SESAY: Nina dos Santos joining us there from outside 10 Downing Street. Many thanks, Nina.

VAUSE: Well, Manchester is known for sport. It also loves music. With homegrown bands like the Smiths, the Stone Roses and Joy Division.

SESAY: Well, students from the Chatham School of Music made their voices heard about the arena attack by singing a song with a message. "Don't Look Back in Anger" by hometown favorite Oasis.

VAUSE: The "Manchester Evening News" posted the video and reported the students wanted to show support as well as optimism.

SESAY: Beautiful sign of solidarity there.

Well, time for a quick break here. And coming up, Melania Trump steps into the spotlight on her first trip overseas as U.S. first lady.

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[00:40:59] VAUSE: Always been intense scrutiny of Donald Trump on his first foreign trip as U.S. president. Hs normally publicity-shy wife Melania is also getting a lot of attention.

SESAY: She certainly is. And by most accounts, Melania Trump seems to be holding her own as she appears at one event after another, sometimes with the president, sometimes solo.

CNN's Kate Bennett has the latest.

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Reporter: Without actually saying significant publicly, the first lady has been a hit with international audiences, even joking with the Pope, who earlier today during a visit to the Vatican teased Melania about feeding her husband too many Slovenia sweets.

POPE FRANCIS, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER (Through Translator): What do you give him to eat?

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Potica.

BENNETT: She also ventured solo in Rome to a children's hospital where she made a friendly greeting to the children in Italian. Hugging the kids, making drawings, even posing for a few selfies, the first lady connected with one young boy, whom she learned hours later was notified that doctors had located a donor for the heart transplant he needs. Melania tweeting the news.

The trip has been the most the world has seen of the first lady in consecutive days since her husband took office, and Melania has made sure she's looking her best. The White House telling CNN her strategy was to pack a separate bag for each stop on the trip, taking every event on this five-city, nine-day journey as a separate focus.

Every outfit from the demure black jumpsuit she arrived wearing in Saudi Arabia to her white ensembles in Israel, where white is considered by some to be a holy color, a symbol of peace and purity, to the black lace dress by Italian designers Dolce & Gabbana that she wore to greet the Pope.

Everything was planned down to her Manolo Blahnik high heels. She and Ivanka Trump wearing the required black formal wear, long sleeves and head veil for their audience with the pontiff. Part of the protocol she likely studied when she met with State Department officials in preparation for this trip.

But it hasn't all been perfect. There was that hand swat heard round the world, the moment on the tarmac in Tel Aviv, when the president, crowding her out on the red carpet, reached back for Melania's hand and she didn't take it. That clip going viral, even noticed by President Obama's former White House photographer, Pete Souza, who was quick to troll the moment, posting his own image of Barack and Michelle on his Instagram page clearly holding hands.

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VAUSE: That has to be an interesting part of the trip, watching the interaction between the first lady and the president.

SESAY: Yes. Kate Bennett reporting there. And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I am Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. "WORLD SPORTS" is up next. And then we'll be back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.

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