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NEWS STREAM

Iran Condemns Israeli Strikes In Syria; Israel; Accuses Iran Of Strikes In Golan Heights; Trump-Kim Meeting Set For June 12 In Singapore; Malaysian Prime Minister: King Will Pardon Jailed Politician Anwar; Marital Rape Is Legal In Sudan; Dozens Dead After Kenyan Dam Wall Collapses; World Headlines; Trump White House; Russian Troll Facebook Ads; Author Versus President. Aired at 8-9a ET

Aired May 11, 2018 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to News Stream. Iran speaks out, protestors fill the streets of

Tehran as anger builds over the U.S. and Israel.

The date is set, Donald Trump reveals the time and the place for his meeting with Kim Jong-un. And tough talk but big support, how the U.S.

President's approach to foreign policy is playing with his base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And we begin in the Middle East where tensions are escalating on multiple fronts. Thousands of protesters in Iran taking to the streets

after Friday prayers. Now, they are furious with the United States for walking away from the international nuclear deal that gave their country

relief from sanctions.

European foreign ministers will meet their Iranian counterpart next week in the hopes of keeping the deal alive, but that is not the only issue that

has Iran on edge. Tehran has condemned Israel for its strikes in Syria, describing them as clear acts of aggression.

Israel claims it hit almost all of Iran's military capabilities in Syria after what it says it was an Iranian missile attack on the Golan Heights.

Iran still hasn't said whether it was responsible for that attack or whether its military assets were struck. We've got all angles covered on

the story.

Nic Robertson is in Jerusalem, Matthew Chance is standing by in Moscow, but first, let's go to Fred Pleitgen in the Iranian capital of Tehran. And,

Fred, you have been at the scene of the street protests, clear anger at Israel, and the U.S., at the same, Iranian officials are finally responding

to those Israeli strikes. What's the latest?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they certainly are, and you're absolutely right, Kristie, those were very, very big demonstrations that

took place, and they were quite angry as well. We saw people stepping on the American flag, spitting on the American flag, burning the American

flag, chanting death to America, and death to Israel.

And you're also absolutely right, Kristie, that even after the Iranians have now reacted to those Israeli strikes on Syrian territory, they are

still not acknowledging that Iran had any sort of role.

They are not saying that the Iranians launched any sort of rockets toward the Golan Heights. They are also not saying any of their infrastructures

inside Syria was hit. In fact, the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, he came out earlier today, and he said that he blamed Israel for violating

Syrian air space, and violating Syrian sovereignty.

So, so far, there still is no acknowledgment from the Iranians. At the same time, you could tell at these demonstrations after the Friday Prayers

that the anger was specifically directed at President Trump for pulling out of the nuclear agreement, but also a lot more towards Israel than we would

have normally seen.

It was those specific two countries that were singled out even more so than they would in other cases. It's interesting, though, however, that the

hardliners, who obviously organize all these demonstrations, they took a fairly moderate approach.

They said that, look, they still don't want nuclear weapons, however, they're also not going to back down. I want to read from you some of what

the leader of the Friday Prayers Ahmad Khatami who had played a hard line gentleman, said.

He said, quote, we are not interested in the atomic bomb, but we are increasing our missile capability in other fields, so that Israel cannot

sleep, if she, obviously referring to Israel, gets crazy.

We will turn Tel Aviv and Haifa into dust. So some very strong words, but the Iranians sticking by what they said before, is that they could if they

wanted to ramp their nuclear program.

However, they still say that they are not after an atomic bomb, but of course, at the same time saying, that they will not back down in any way,

shape, or form from their missile capabilities.

LU STOUT: All right, Fred Pleitgen with the reaction there in Tehran. Let's get the reaction there in Tehran. Let's get the reaction in

Jerusalem. Nic Robertson is standing by with that. And, Nic, Benjamin Netanyahu is defiant, saying that Iran crossed a red line. What more did

he say?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's said what has been consistently saying for sometime is that Israel will not stand back, and will not allow

Iran to base and develop weapons systems inside Syria, close to Israel's border, that are capable of targeting places, cities, towns, villages,

people inside Israel.

This is the red line that he is talking about. He said he sent a very clear message to President Assad that if Israel is struck, it will strike

back seven times over. This is an ongoing type of scenario. This is how he described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through a translator): Iran crossed a red line, our response was appropriate. The IDF carried out a

broad strike, a very broad strike against Iranian targets in Syria.

[08:05:01] We are in the midst of a protracted battle, and our policy is clear. We will not allow Iran to entrench itself in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So, when he describes this as he has done as an ongoing scenario, that means Israel is in a reactive position, and ready, should

more strikes come their way. It is a tense moment, although today, calm so far.

LU STOUT: All right, Nic Robertson there in Jerusalem. It is Syria that brings all these players together, including Russia. Let's go to Matthew

Chance in Moscow. And, Matthew, where does Russia stand in all this, especially as tensions grow between Iran and Israel?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, it's in this unique position, isn't it, because Russia is, in many ways, the power broker in

Syria, and it's got really good relations both with Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was here just a couple days ago.

He was the guest of honor at the annual Victory Day Parade to commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, he also had

intensive talks with Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, straight afterwards after which he seems to have walked away feeling that he'd been

given the green light to carry out whatever attacks that he wanted to carry out on Iranian targets inside Syria.

Russia also has very good relations with Iran. It's a strong commercial partner. It's building a network of nuclear reactors in Iran for the

regime there, and of course, it fights shoulder to shoulder with the Iranians in Syria in support of their common ally, Bashar al-Assad, the

Syrian President.

And so, you know, Russia, as to say, uniquely placed to mediate between the two indeed, that's where the foreign ministry says that happening, it says

the diplomats from Russia are in contact with all sides, not just the Israelis and the Iranians.

But also the Hezbollah militia perhaps and the other militias that are fighting alongside Bashar al-Assad between Russia has contact in Syria as

well to try, and you know, bring an end to this, or to on de-escalate this crisis, and nothing's happened yet, of course.

The Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is coming to Russia on Monday for consultations with the Russian President before he heads on to Europe to

speak with European signatories to the Iran nuclear agreement. But yes, Russia is key. Russia is central, and its influence, I expect, will be

required if this situation is to de-escalate.

LU STOUT: Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you. And let's go back to Fred Pleitgen in Tehran. And, Fred, we know that both Iran and Russia backed

the regime in Syria, but we saw the optics just then, the video of Netanyahu, Putin, together during that recent visit. Are alliances

shifting? How does Iran see Russia now?

PLEITGEN: Well, I don't think -- first of all, I mean, those two countries are still very much allies when it comes to the Syrian conflict -- Iran and

Russia.

And if you look at that sort of parallel peace process that they're trying to jump start, the Astana Process, certainly the Iranians play an important

role in that, and I think that, you know, the Iranians are still very, very influential on the ground in Syria.

And there's no doubt as Matthew just said that the Russians are by far the most influential outside power right now and inside Syria, but the

Iranians, they still control a lot of those militias. They themselves still have a lot of manpower on the ground as well.

And they certainly also have a very good relationship with a lot of these militias, so they really know how to organize things there on the ground,

also when it still comes to fighting, the rebels that are fighting against President Bashar al-Assad.

At the same time, I wouldn't necessarily say that it's a relationship of love between these two countries. I do believe that there is a certain

degree of distrust between the Russians and the Iranians.

And the Iranians themselves, I wouldn't necessarily say that part of the population here is souring to what is going on in Syria, but there is a

little bit of criticism as well, when you're putting a country right now that's facing economic difficulties to then be involved in quite an

expensive, both in blood and in treasure, campaign in Syria, it's not something that's necessarily going down well with -- going down well with

everybody here in this country.

So, these two countries still very much big allies, but at the same time, I don think necessarily it is a marriage of love between Russia and Iran.

LU STOUT: Interesting. Got it, Fred. Fred Pleitgen there. And let's take the conversation back to Nic Robertson because there's one more point

that we got to hit here. Nic, we know that E.U. foreign ministers are going to be meeting with their Iranian counterpart next week to discuss the

Iran nuclear deal. Can it be salvaged?

ROBERTSON: You know, in the face of it right now, it seems improbable, and it's interesting that Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, is going

to Moscow on Monday before he goes on to meet the German -- the foreign ministers of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in Brussels on

Tuesday. They come up second.

But what we know the Iranian President Rouhani has said is that the European -- these European partners, signatories to the JCPOA, the Iran

nuclear deal, have a very short window to show that that deal can work. What does that mean? That means that they have to show that there is an

economic benefit to Iran.

[08:10:05] So the moderates like Rouhani can sell that to the Iranian people, that European businesses can continue to do business with partners

in Iran, and that that can benefit the people of Iran, and therefore, you know, it's worth Iran staying in this agreement.

However, what we heard from President Trump just yesterday, and the indications from his State Department is they're going to have a very tough

line on sanctions on Iran that could also -- or we expect very likely European diplomats expect will hit the ability of European partners --

European companies to do business in Iran. Here's what President Trump said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are putting the harshest, strongest, most stringent sanctions on Iran, and I hope to be able to make

a deal with them. A good deal, a fair deal, a good deal for them, better for them -- better for them, but we cannot allow them to have nuclear

weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: When European leaders hear those toughest of sanctions that President Trump describes, that means he's going to shut down those

business opportunities, and in effect that shuts down the possibility of what President Rouhani and Iran is asking them to be able to do, which is

keep the JCPOA alive, and that may play to the hardliners in Iran.

LU STOUT: Nic Robertson reporting live from Jerusalem, Matthew Chance live in Moscow, Fred Pleitgen reporting live from Tehran, thank you for your

reporting.

Now, we finally have a date and a venue for that highly anticipated face to face between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-

un.

Now the two will be meeting in Singapore on June 12th. Mr. Trump says that the recent release of the American hostages from North Korea shows how the

U.S. is going to make a deal at the talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I believe that Kim Jong-un -- Kim Jong-un did a great service to himself, and to his country by doing this, but those hostages came out with

respect, we didn't pay for them. We are going to set the table. We're going to make a great deal for the world, for North Korea, for South Korea,

for Japan, for China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: That's fired up there. Let's bring in Paula Hancocks live from Seoul. Paula, looking ahead to that big meeting happening in Singapore

next month, is there a deal that can satisfy not just Donald Trump, but also Kim Jong-un?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a good questiong, Kristie. The question also is, are they looking at the same situation when they are

talking about denuclearization. I mean, certainly both leaders are going into this.

It appears, on face value, wanting to have a successful meeting, wanting to be able to go back to their own people, and say we did this, we managed to

secure a deal, and then afterwards comes the hard work when the around them try and do the very tricky maneuvering into what that deal would look like.

But the question is, I mean, what does Kim Jong-un want when he is talking about being willing to denuclearize, and denuclearize the Korean peninsula,

we heard him just recently when he was in China with President Xi Jinping saying he will denuclearize if the security threat, and if the hostile

policy against Pyongyang disappears.

Now, what does he mean by that security threat? Does he see U.S. troops in South Korea as a security threat? Up until this point, he's not demanded

that 28,500 troops leave the Peninsula, that's always been a sticking point in negotiations in the past, but is he waiting to use that further down the

line? Is that one of the things he can keep in his back pocket? Will he questioned the U.S. nuclear umbrella that South Korea and other allies in

the region enjoy?

So it's a very difficult question to answer, and impossible one, really, until those two leaders sit down, and try, and figure out if they're even

talking about the same kind of denuclearization. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Also, I want to get your thoughts on just the ramifications of what else happened this week, Trump, you know, backing out of the Iran

deal. And in doing so, the U.S. is now seen by many around the world as an untrustworthy negotiating partner. Could it affect talks with North Korea?

HANCOCKS: Presumably, yes. North Korea will be looking at this promptly in a fairly similar way to many other countries around the world, leaders

are questioning whether or not this should have happened.

I mean, more than that, leaders are saying this shouldn't have happened, those involved in the Iran deal, and then you have a leader in Kim Jong-un

who is about to make a deal, he thinks, with the U.S. President Donald Trump.

And he doesn't know if that deal will then be respected by the next U.S. President. This is the criticism we're hearing from many experts in this

region, saying that it almost lessens the power of negotiation that the U.S. President has.

[08:15:08] It's an incredibly difficult task already to try and convince the North Korean Leader to give up his nuclear weapons. I'm yet to meet an

expert who truly believes that he will completely give up all of his nuclear arsenal.

But when he doesn't know whether or not that decision will be respected by the next U.S. administration, then it's even more difficult and farfetched

to believe, according to many analysts, that he will denuclearize.

LU STOUT: Paula Hancocks, we thank you for your reporting. Take care. Now, why is the city of 5.6 million people hosting what is likely to be the

biggest diplomatic event of the year? Well, let's go through the reasons why. I mean, Singapore has neutrality.

It is a close ally of Washington with the U.S. military presence, but it's also one of only 47 countries with a North Korean embassy. Then there's

the issue of logistics. Until recently, President Kim or Kim Jong-un rarely traveled outside of North Korea, but when he flew to China this

week, it showed that he was willing to get on one of his aging planes.

Now, Singapore is only around 4,700 kilometers from Pyongyang, that's about a six-hour flight, and then there's precedent. Now in 2015, the city

hosted, a short notice, the Chinese and Taiwan leaders for the first direct talks since 1949.

And if Kim Jong-un is keen to push for economic reform for North Korea, then Singapore is an example of rapid economic growth under one party

leadership. You're watching News Stream.

Still ahead, outrage spreads across social media after a court sentences a young woman to death for killing her husband. She says, he raped her even

as his relatives watched. We'll have the shocking legal drama from Sudan. Also ahead, a fatal dam collapse in Kenya as eastern Africa gets hit by

flooding and heavy rainfall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back. This is News Stream. Now Malaysia's new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says the

country's king has agreed to pardon the jailed political Anwar Ibrahim.

He is a former political enemy, now turned ally of the Prime Minister. Now earlier, Mahathir shared this picture a day after he was sworn in following

his shock election victory. He told reporters on Friday that Anwar should be able to return to frontline politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHATHIR MOHAMAD, MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER: It is going to be a full pardon, which of course means that he should not only be pardoned, he

should be released immediately when he is pardoned. After that, he will be free to participate fully in politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, Anwar, who was in prison in 2015, watched Mahathir swearing in from a prison hospital.

[08:20:03] A royal the pardon could potentially pave the way for Anwar to succeed the 92-year-old Mahathir in just a couple of years. Opposition in

the Philippines is outrage at the ouster at Supreme Court's chief justice saying it's a hit to the constitution.

Maria Lourdes Sereno is a high-profile critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, and has voted against several of his proposals. And a few hours ago, the

Supreme Court granted the government's petition to disqualify her from office, alleging violations in her appointment process. The Senator said

that she will appeal.

In Sudan, a 19-year-old woman has been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing the man that she was forced to marry. A man who she says raped

her as his relatives held her down. Noura Hussein's supporters filled the courtroom in Omdurman, Sudan as her verdict was read aloud, and the

harrowing details of her case are being shared across social media where the campaign, justice for Noura is still trending.

Now the legal case has put the issues of forced marriage, as well as marital rape in Sudan into the spotlight. CNN's Nima Elbagir is following

the story. And she joins me now live. And, Nima, tell us more about 19- year-old Noura Hussein, what happened to her, and how this killing came about.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We spoke to Noura's lawyer after the sentencing was handed down, and the case that he describes, the details

that he describes are absolutely harrowing.

He said that Noura told him that she first met her deceased husband when she was only 15, and she was forced into marriage with him. She was able

then to negotiate with her family to continue her education, and she ran away to live with an aunt in a different state.

She was brought back by her father -- actually, she was deceived into returning home by her father where she found that the groom that she's

rejected, and the marriage she'd run away from were waiting for her.

After they were married, he attempted to consummate the marriage and she refused. Her lawyer said that she told him that he brought his two cousins

and his brother to the hut (ph) were sharing on their honeymoon where three of the men held her down, and her husband raped her.

The next day, after the men left, she says that she warned her husband not to attempt to consummate the marriage again, and when he refused, and

attempted to rape her again, that's when she killed him.

None of these details are actually being debated by either the prosecution or the defense. What's extraordinary is that everybody seems to be in

agreement that this happened as it was described.

What is being debated is whether Noura or any wife in Sudan has the right to refuse her husband. What is being debated is the very concept of

marital rape, and under Sudanese law, that does not exist. So Noura was sentenced to death by hanging. Her in-laws asked specifically for that.

They could have chosen to show mercy and they refused. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Her life, her fate hangs in the balance. This is a case that affects the lives of women and girls across Sudan. The cases fixed as

parliament as you mentioned on issues like forced marriage, on child marriage, as well as marital rape. What is the reality for young married

women and girls in Sudan today?

ELBAGIR: It's a reality that has always been incredibly opaque because this isn't something that is spoken about openly in society. There had

always been a sense that there was an issue with marital rape because of the fact that the law didn't recognize it, because Sudanese women didn't

really have any options when it came to speaking out about sexual and intimate violence.

The one glimmer of hope that this case has brought is that people are talking about it, and people are outraged. Her legal team is actually

acting completely pro bono. There were only four of them, and her lawyer tells me that 11 more lawyers have offered their services.

Her team has now swelled to 15, and they have 15 more days to put forward her appeal. The hope is not just for Noura and for her lawyers, but also

for activists, or for women across the country that this case will push for greater reforms, that no one will have to suffer what Noura is suffering

right now again.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. This is a campaign for Noura. This is a campaign for women and girls across Sudan. Nima Elbagir reporting, thank you.

Now in Kenya, dozens of people are dead, another 40 are believed to be still missing after the collapse of a dam north of Nairobi. The country

has been hit with heavy rain, and flooding for weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. CNN's Farai Sevenzo has the latest on the disaster, and he joins me live. And, Farai, search

and rescue, that is still under way.

[08:25:00] Describe who is helping, who's at the scene, and what's the latest on the search for the missing.

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The search for the missing, Kristie, was quite harrowing for all of the CNN team this morning. We followed Kenya's

defense forces into this outlying villages nearby where the water came down from this mountain behind me, and a dam at the top of there, and basically

swept away many families as they were having dinner.

Of course, with this type tragedy comes a very personal heart-wrenching kind of tales. One man says he managed to save his seven children, and he

was sitting in a room, and all around them he felt like they were all in the middle of the sea.

Such was the weigh of water around them. An 89-year-old man we met this morning is looking lost, saying that he had just been to the morgue (ph)

found three of his children in the morgue (ph), obviously dead, one of them in the hospital, three grandchildren missing, showing us the flattened

place where his house once stood.

Now, where are we with this story? The Governor Ngugi Njoroge has been trying very much, very -- his hardest to explain that this was an act of

God, that Kenya has not gone through rainfall such as this in 100 years.

But of course the people that have been affected have been really talking about the owner of this private reservoir (Inaudible), who does rose is in

conflict and all kinds of controversial stuff, said that he never thought guiding permission from the water, are resources people.

And they feel some kind of compensation is due, and of course, some very angry people, and a very grief stricken people where we are here in the

valley.

LU STOUT: Of course, people are angry, grief-stricken because this is a disaster that has shattered so many lives. Can we talk more about the

survivors, because there are thousands of them. They are angry, as you said, they are grieving, they lost everything. What is going to happen to

them?

SEVENZO: At the moment, they are all being housed by different aid organizations like the Red Cross, just to the left of me, 200 yards away,

at the Solai secondary school, and of course they're being fed, and as we were there, we saw clothes arriving, cooking oil, all the essentials for

people to basically sustain themselves.

But of course that doesn't take away from the fact that the homes that they had built have simply gone in one night, in one tragic accident, whether

they blame it on the owner, whether they blame it on God, the feeling of loss is palpable in their eyes, and in their mannerisms.

So what's going to happen to them, and at the governor, and indeed all the agencies of Kenya have promised to look after them to try and rebuild their

lives, wherever their houses were.

Behind me, you can see broken edges everywhere, they're going to remain there, and try to start again, but it's very, very difficult when you're --

when you're a lone mother who's lost all her children, or a lone father without a wife, and kids, and home, and possessions. It's going to require

a great deal.

And now the other thing I need to tell you about is while we were out on the search for bodies, the research teams found one child, raised in the

counting of the dead to 45.

The (Inaudible) now is that as the rain continues to pour in Kenya, these corpses, that is what they are, still in the soil, may cause the risk of

disease.

So, the agencies are on their toes. People all around me are trying their very best to find who are the missing, and just who are the dead, and then

try to move the story on to a safer territory than the prospect of disease in the near future.

LU STOUT: Farai, so much loss, so much devastation, and with the risk of disease, more misery to come for these poor people. Farai Sevenzo

reporting live from the scene of this disaster. Thank you for your reporting.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been, as we all know, making major foreign policy moves lately, and while some are unpopular with other countries, his

base back home, they're thrilled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you vote for Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great, great. We've finally got somebody who is involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines.

Thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of the Iranian capital, Tehran. They are furious with U.S. President Donald Trump for walking away

from the international nuclear deal. Now, there is also anger in Iran over Israel's latest strikes in Syria. Israel claims it hit most of Iran's

military assets there after rockets were fired toward the Golan Heights.

The highly anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un will take place in Singapore on June the 12th.

Mr. Trump is showing cautious optimism about the talks and says he and Mr. Kim will be discussing a future of peace and prosperity for the world.

Seven people have been found dead in a rural property in Western Australia. ABC reports that authorities are treating this as a murder-suicide and that

there were gunshot wounds. This will be Australia's worst mass shooting since 1996.

A White House aide is apologizing to Senator John McCain's family after she came under fire for her callous remark about his health. An official told

CNN Kelly Sadler said it didn't matter that McCain opposed the president's nominee because, quote, he's dying anyway.

The official said Sadler meant it as a joke. McCain announced last year that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Senator McCain's wife

responded to the comment with this tweet, saying, quote, may I remind you that my husband has a family, seven children, and five grandchildren.

White House official issued this statement, quote, we respect Senator McCain's service to our nation, and he and his family are in our prayers

during this difficult time. Critics say that the aide may have thought it was OK to mock McCain because the preside himself has been mocking him for

years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured,

OK? I hate to tell you.

And except for one senator, who came into a room at three o'clock in the morning and went like that, we would have had health care too. We would

have had health care too.

We got a bad vote the evening that we were going to terminate Obamacare. We got a bad vote. You know about that, right? That was not a nice thing.

We actually had it beaten except for one vote. You remember that beautiful night. It was -- it was defeated, but one vote changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Some of Mr. Trump's supporters are sounding off on his latest actions. CNN's Martin Savidge traveled to Pennsylvania to speak to them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, an hour drive northeast of Pittsburgh along the banks of the

Allegheny River. Here, the hills are green and the politics red.

TRUMP: My fellow Americans --

SAVIDGE (voice over): President Trump's tough-talking foreign policy may trouble some diplomats, but not his base.

Did you vote for Trump?

RON FARSTER, TRUMP VOTER: Yes, I did.

SAVIDGE (voice over): How are you feeling?

FARSTER: Great, great, finally got somebody with some balls.

SAVIDGE (voice over): I'm at "Bench Racers" gas station on Pennsylvania's route 66, talking to trucker Ron Farster, who believes for too long enemies

even allies have taken America for granted.

FARSTER: Everybody's taken advantage of the United States. We've always been too easy and gave them what they wanted.

[08:35:00] SAVIDGE (voice over): It's shaping up to be quite a week in Trump's world. Withdrawing from a nuclear deal with Iran, welcoming home

three Americans detained by North Korea, then announcing the time and place of a historic summit with North Korea's leader. And Monday, going forward

with his controversial move at the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

DAN WAGNER, TRUMP VOTER: It's not rocket science --

SAVIDGE (voice over): Dan Wagner loves all of it. Retired from the Air Force, he says as presidents go, Trump has become his new foreign policy

favorite.

WAGNER: Reagan used to be, because of what he did, he told Gorbachev, tear down this wall. Trump is more -- you down, I'm going to smack you. And

that's what the world needs.

SAVIDGE (voice over): Trump got 74 percent of the vote in Armstrong County and voters we talked to said when it comes to America's international

dealings, forget diplomacy, it's all about respect.

Brian Klingensmith says the U.S. has been too soft for too long, and he is not bothered one bit America is out of the Iran nuclear deal.

BRIAN KLINGENSMITH, TRUMP VOTER: There were some bad deals made and, you know, you can't trust all these regimes that are out there. You know, I

think he's doing what he thinks is right.

SAVIDGE (voice over): That is not what most Americans believe. According to a recent CNN poll, 63 percent of those asked said the United States

should not give up on the Iran nuclear deal.

Calvin Lane voted for Trump and now regrets it, worrying that Trump has become too unpredictable.

(on camera): So you voted for the man, but you're thinking now maybe you shouldn't have?

CALVIN LANE, TRUMP VOTER: Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. He's a little too reckless to be in charge of everything.

SAVIDGE (voice over): Dawn Piper has no regrets. She likes what Trump is doing. At a restaurant in Kittanning, she tells me unpredictability can be

a positive, since it keeps opponents guessing.

DAWN PIPER, TRUMP VOTER: And I think that it is a good thing to not know, you know, because sometimes the best defense is not knowing what the

offense is.

SAVIDGE (voice over): Back at the gas station, I asked co-owner Chris Tolliver if he ever worries Trump's words could go too far and maybe lead

to war.

CHRIS TOLLIVER, CO-OWNER, BENCH RACERS: Yeah, that does worry me a little bit, the war part of it, because he does come across a little harsh

sometimes, but like I said, he says what everyone else is probably thinking, you know.

SAVIDGE (voice over): The reason Trump voters don't have a problem with how Trump sees the world, is because many of them see it the very same way.

(on camera): At the end of these interviews, I always ask one last question, which is, would they vote for President Trump again? And lately,

I've been noticing a trend. The answer is still yes, but some do qualify it by saying, it might depend on who's running against him.

Martin Savidge, CNN, Kittanning, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Such a revealing report there. Now, Black Lives Matter, Muslim-Americans, Donald Trump supporters, and now we're finding out that

Mexican-Americans also targeted. Russian trolls targeted all these groups with over 3,000 Facebook ads between 2015 and 2017. That's according to

newly released U.S. congressional documents.

Groups like this one called "Brown Power" were set up by Russian trolls. This pro-immigrant ad aimed at Mexican-Americans was shared some 3,000

times. But other ads like the one you see here had a more "America First" message. Twelve thousand people clicked on it.

In total, more than 120 million Americans may have seen posts like this, created by Russian trolls. Facebook says it is making steady progress in

solving this problem.

Now, President Trump's habit of holding up those freshly signed bills and documents, it's a bit of a running joke on social media at this point. But

now J.K. Rowling is making fun of not just the president's love of showing off his signature, but also its size.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, U.S. President Donald Trump has taken heat from critics about many issues, big and small. Now, the creator of "Harry

Potter" is sounding off on the size of the muggle's signature. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: It's a big one.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not just big, it's enormous. It's colossal. It's huge. Marking his territory. When it comes to President

Trump's signature, even (INAUDIBLE) won't be needing their reading glasses. Why? Why is his signature so big, someone tweeted.

Author J.K. Rowling responded, I didn't believe in graphology until about three minutes ago. She leaned to a side (ph), analyzing what large

handwriting means. An independent handwriting expert confirmed.

BART BAGGETT, HANDWRITING EXPERT: Size of the signature correlates with narcissism, with ego, with a grandiose sense of self-importance. The size

alone equals, I'm so important, I don't need to obey margins, I can just scribble like I'm a movie star or a rock star.

MOOS (voice over): Or a president, or a best selling author. Trump supporters dug up J.R. Rowling's signature. I guess you're no different

then.

BAGGETT: It's funny because she is throwing stones about Donald Trump, but she also has really big signature, which I think is a (INAUDIBLE).

MOOS (voice over): That goes for both of them, but graphologist Bart Baggett says Rowling exhibits a fluid, feminine flow, while President

Trump's sergeant looks like a hacksaw.

BAGGETT: His sharp, angular, scissor-like Ms and Ns, which basically is a lack of compassion.

MOOS (voice over): Tweeted one critic, it looks like the result from a polygraph. He's lying, of course. A polygraph, a seismograph. Since we're

comparing size, the handwriting expert's signature is no shrimp (ph), though perhaps not Trumpian.

BAGGETT (voice over): It's really the epitome of Narcissism.

MOOS (voice over): Internet pranksters keep changing the president's signature.

(on camera): When it comes to certain presidents and authors, the writing is not just on the wall, it takes up the whole wall and big hands to sign a

big signature.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That is "News Stream". I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Don't go anywhere. "World Sport" with Amanda Davies is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END