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Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding; Santa Fe High School Shooting; Trump Doubled Down On Spy From Obama Administration; Controversial Second Trump Tower Meeting. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 19, 2018 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm quite certain they know things about the change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, buddy. You're so calm right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know things are getting better and they're not going to end up in the pound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: To see more of Paul and how he gives these pets the first-class treatment and to nominate someone you think should be a CNN hero, go to cnnheroes.com.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Welcome to our special live coverage of the historic royal wedding. American actress Meghan Markle marrying Britain's most eligible bachelor, Prince Harry, and their new title now as husband and wife, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

At this hour the pair likely bidding farewell to their guests at their final wedding reception of the day. We saw the two leave Windsor Castle for the party earlier this afternoon. Here you see Meghan, changed to that gorgeous Stella McCartney gown, Harry into a sleek black tux.

The car they're getting into here is a converted 1968 jaguar. It is electric. It emits zero emissions. And it has a license plate on it that is their wedding date. A final look and their reception caps off what has truly been a picture perfect day. The wedding not only historic, but it was unique. From the bride's solo walk to the gospel choir. Who can forget that beautiful kiss?

Here is CNN's Nick Glass with some of the most memorable moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The gospel soul classic "Stand By Me" from 1961, we assume the song means a lot to the couple and we also assume it's never been sung at a British royal wedding before.

(SINGING) GLASS: The choir stood at the back of St. George's Chapel Windsor and simply sang for Harry and Meghan.

(SINGING)

GLASS: There was a palpable sense of departure here. On one side of the chapel a certain English royal stiffness, perhaps of reserve, in contrast a warmth and vivid emotion on the other side. Meghan Markle's arrival looks like she may help change things.

(SINGING)

GLASS: We always knew that the turnout would be glamorous, a divorced biracial American actress marrying the most popular of English princes. We weren't disappointed. The church filled. Meghan's on- screen husband from "Suits" husband, Patrick J. Adams, David Beckham, footballer and model, Mr. Elton John and husband, Serena Williams tennis player.

The vintage Rolls Royce swept bride and mother to the chapel and we glimpsed the dress for the first time. It turned out to be French couture, Givenchy with the most delicate of lengthy of veils sewn with floral symbols from all over the commonwealth. The 1930s tiara was borrowed from the queen.

It seems that Meghan had always planned to walk down the first part of the aisle by herself followed by her retinue of bridesmaids and page boys. In the absence of her father, Prince Charles met her halfway.

And, of course, at this wedding, there was love. This was visibly, inescapably a romantic union.

REV. MICHAEL CURRY, EPISCOPAL CHURCH: The late Dr. Martin Luther King once said, and I quote, "We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love."

GLASS: For a good 30 minutes or so, St. George's Chapel reverberated to unfamiliar oratory, American and passionate. The response was mixed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't -- he wasn't getting anything out of it.

JUSTIN WELBY, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: I, Meghan, take you, Harry --

MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I, Meghan, take you, Harry --

WELBY: -- to be my husband --

MARKLE: -- to be my husband --

WELBY: -- to love and to cherish --

MARKLE: -- to love and to cherish --

WELBY: -- until death us do part.

MARKLE: -- until death us do part.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GLASS: And so Harry and Meghan were married in a great English medieval chapel and kissed without any prompting from the waiting camera man. Thomas Markle watched it all on television. "My baby," he said, "looked beautiful and very happy."

In what seemed like Californian sunshine, his daughter now has a title. She is the Duchess of Sussex, although we'll still probably refer to both of them as just Harry and Meghan.

[18:05:01] Nick Glass for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Ah. So lovely, right? Our next guest knows the royal family inside and out. Hilary Fordwich is a royal watcher, former journalist. She used to cover the royals for another network. Hilary, good to have you with us. When you look back at all things that happened today, what stands out to you?

HILARY FORDWICH, ROYAL WATCHER: I think, Ana, it's the greatest contrast we've seen. And as a previous reporter said, it was the happiness. It was the sheer love. Something that nobody's really mentioned much about too was Prince Charles. You know, he's always had this image and reported to be, you know, sort of stiff and cold to the boys. His love and his warmth just radiated.

And notice, it was Meghan that requested that he greet her and walk her for that second part down the aisle at the choir. And you could see the warmth that he radiated. But it wasn't just to Meghan. It was to her mother. And I think to her mother, Doria Ragland, you could see the amount of times he came over, he talked to her, he embraced her and also the royal family in entirety.

The minor royals were startled. I think you could see how startled they were at the soliloquy from Bishop Curry. I think it was the duration that startled them and, yes, I think the passion they're just not used to seeing. So I think startled is the best term there. I think overall it was love and it was a warmth that hasn't been experienced at any previous royal wedding in history.

CABRERA: Well, as Nick mentioned, we'll always sort of think of them as Harry and Meghan. They both come across so approachable. And you talk about the special touches that sort of broke the norm of these royal events. So many people are mentioning that sermon by Reverend Michael Curry. You mentioned too. We saw mixed reaction from the guests, smirks, smiles, some mouths agape. What did you make of this touch of the black church?

FORDWICH: Well, I think again, I think that they were startled just because they've never experienced anything like it. The missed opportunity I think he had was no one could remember everything he said in 30 minutes. It was important that, you know, he quoted Martin Luther King. And don't forget, the queen has endorsed everything. Nothing would have been undertaken if the queen hadn't agreed. It had a definite touch of Meghan Markle's taste, what she wanted.

So it was very American. I think the passion was actually well received initially. I think it was the duration. And the sad part is no one can remember every word in a soliloquy. So he missed the opportunity for tight sound bites that everyone will remember forever. You know, everybody remembers President Kennedy saying, the torch has passed to a new generation. Well, I don't know how many people can actually recite what Bishop Curry said.

So I think that's the pity of it, that it was less is more and he exceeded the sort of the appropriate time. Other than that it brought an American touch that startled the minor royals into the new era.

CABRERA: And at that gospel choir, I don't think anybody will forget that rendition of "Stand By Me." I know I won't. That was unbelievable when you talk about again that aspect of Meghan's life and culture of coming to be part of this event.

FORDWICH: Yes.

CABRERA: There were also several nods to Princess Diana today. Meghan's bouquet included her favorite flowers, the forget me nots. Diana's sister led a reading. In tonight on the way to the wedding reception, Meghan was wearing one of Diana's rings.

FORDWICH: Yes. She was. She actually didn't wear any other makeup from Princess Diana. I think what was important too was as you mentioned Lady Jane Fellowes was Princess Diana's younger sister. I think it was a somber touching moment. I also think that Elton John of course was there and he had sung at Princess Diana's funeral.

And that rendition went on from "Candle in the Wind" went on to sell 33 million records. And I think that was very important that he was there. So Prince Harry had had his mother's relatives and his mother's friends there. And you mentioned the bouquet. Prince Harry picked those flowers himself from the garden this morning.

CABRERA: Wow.

FORDWICH: And I think he chose the flowers he knew his mother wanted. Not what somebody else thought, it was what he wanted. So the biggest contrast of this wedding was it was highly personalized. The guest list was what they wanted. Actually, at his wedding Prince William had gone to queen and said granny, I don't recognize anybody on this list. It was all the European royals and heads of state.

And she said, rip it up. And so he did. Prince Harry and Meghan were allowed to pick who they wanted. And you saw friends, celebrities, and a very real wedding that was family-oriented. And it brought America and England closer together. The special relationship endures.

CABRERA: I love hearing too, that the queen was OK with them doing it their way.

FORDWICH: Oh, absolutely. She endorsed this. Nothing took place that she hadn't already agreed to.

CABRERA: Hilary Fordwich, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate your perspective and insight.

[18:09:43] Coming up, from the gown to the fascinators, we'll break down all the fashion from the royal wedding. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Welcome back. OK. Now, that Harry and Meghan are officially the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, let's talk fashion. This moment, the big reveal we'd all been waiting for when Meghan stepped out of the car at St. George's Chapel. Her dress, a very modest, ivory, silk, Givenchy gown with that off the shoulder neckline, a subtle look, no doubt, maybe even a little underwhelming for some.

But it's actually a very bold statement considering her dress was designed by Claire Waite-Keller, the first female artistic director at Givenchy. So let's talk about the bride look and more with fashion journalist Joe Zee. Joe, thank you for being here. First of all your thoughts on the dress.

JOE ZEE, FASHION JOURNALIST: Oh, my gosh, what a beautiful day. I love the dress. And I'm surprised that people are saying it's underwhelming because for me it's the quintessential personal style and expression of who Meghan is. It is simple, it is classic, but it's so sophisticated and elegant.

I mean, there is so much construction to that dress that you can't really see. It's heavy, double-faced bonded satin. It's got the small waist. And that off-the-shoulder boat neck that we're talking about, again, a very small detail. But one that you'll see influence a lot of dresses and fashion in the months and years to come.

[18:15:12] And it's interesting to me because there is a message in that as well because in St. George's Chapel, you're supposed to have your shoulders covered. And she sort of took it to the very edge of the limit of just having her shoulders covered enough. And also part of the regulations is to have long sleeves and she did three-quarter sleeves.

So I think those small subtleties are showing the real sort of complexities of what the Duchess of Sussex is which is really about tradition mixed with modernity.

CABRERA: I have such shoulder envy seeing her in that dress. I'm such a narrow-shouldered person. And she's got these beautiful broad shoulders and wears that dress so beautifully with like you said just the --

ZEE: Oh, beautiful.

CABRERA: Of course such a timeless dress too --

ZEE: And you mentioned --

CABRERA: -- where it's not going to be something, somebody looks back and says it's super dated.

ZEE: Oh, my gosh, of course not. And she's mentioned it many interviews that she's always looked up to Carolyn Bessette's wedding dress as well, which was always very simple, very minimal. I think for Meghan, it's really about looking back at these pictures from today in 10, 20, 30 years and not having it feel dated. And I think this is a dress that will stand the test of time.

And, again, I think we talked about the designer for the dress, Claire Waite-Keller, which is the first female artistic director for the House of Givenchy. So it is a British designer at a French design house. So I think that, again, is very interesting.

And we just saw actually the second dress Meghan is wearing to the evening reception. And it's Stella McCartney. So you have to understand that she is wearing two big, independent female designers today. There were a lot of designers for her to choose from, but she chose to wear two female designers. And I think that speaks to a lot of the feminist that the Duchess of Sussex is.

CABRERA: I thought the second dress definitely had that sex appeal too, that a lot of people thought maybe it was missing in that first one. But of course she was inside a church and wanting to really embrace some of that tradition and the expectations of the royal family, I imagine. But she sent a different message with that second dress yet, still timeless, very also simple and elegant. What do you think about Harry's look? What do we know about it?

ZEE: Oh, my gosh, I think Harry looked fantastic too. I mean, I think they are the quintessential couple. Did you see them just speed away in that electric Jaguar convertible? I literally said to someone, I said, they look like the modern-day "Great Gatsby" couple. They look so carefree. They're so cool. They're so hip. They're London society. To me, I feel like that is such a wonderful image of what the monarchy is. It feels fresh. It feels youthful. It feels alive.

And I think she is such a representation of that. I mean, for me, I had lunch with somebody in London who said to me, Meghan Markle is proof that the future of the monarchy will actually survive.

CABRERA: There's no question, Joe, this was also a star-studded wedding. Oprah was there, Amal and George Clooney, they were there, all looking fabulous. Who wins best dressed in your book?

ZEE: You actually mentioned everybody, well, other than George. They were all wearing Stella McCartney, Amal, Oprah. I have to be honest, but I think Amal really stole the show today. I mean she was like a ray of sunshine. She looked so radiant in that yellow with the hat. It just stood out. She was beaming. I mean, you know, to have George on your arm, well, that can't hurt either. But it just looked so beautiful.

And, you know, the fact it was Stella McCartney. And I actually just heard here before coming here that Doria Ragland's dress for tonight's evening reception is also by Stella McCartney. CABRERA: Wow, Stella McCartney. Everybody is going to be looking her up. I imagine she's going to get a bit of a boost of business after today's wedding.

Joe Zee, wish we had more time to talk fashion. So much fun. Thank you for joining me.

A programming note. You can relive all of the magic of today. Tune in tonight for a look back first at Harry and Meghan's journey to the aisle, and then we have -- and that's at 7:00 at CNN Special Report, "A Royal Match." And that's followed by the encore presentation of the royal wedding. All the big moments that you may have missed if you were sleeping in or you just want to catch back up. It begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

[18:19:18] We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Erica Hill live in Santa Fe, Texas, a small town outside of Galveston.

Today, in the morning, 10 lives lost inside Santa Fe High School behind me. And we now know the names of all 10 victims. We can share with you some of their pictures as well. 17-year-old Jared Black, he was supposed to have his birthday party today, Pakistani exchange student Savika Sheik, a 17-year-old, Christopher Jake Stone and teacher, Cynthia Tisdale.

These are the victims we have pictures of so far. But as we mentioned all the victims have now been identified, their names being released, Glenda Ann Perkins who was also a teacher and students, Kimberly Vaughan, Shana Fisher, Angelique Ramirez, Christian Riley Garcia, and Aaron Kyle McLeod.

Now, also for the first time, we are hearing from the family of the alleged shooter. They are speaking out as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis sits in solitary confinement in a local jail. The Pagourtzis family releasing a statement which reads in part, "we extend our most heartfelt prayers and condolences to all of the victims. We are as shocked and confused as anyone else by these events that occurred. We are gratified by the public comments made by other Santa Fe High School students that Dimitrios as we knew him, and know him a smart, quiet, sweet boy."

[18:25:05] They go on to say, "we share the public's hunger for answers as to why this happened." The suspect's attorney saying, that he spent 30 minutes with the 17-year-old today, who he described as not doing well and confused. According to authorities, information in his journals, on his computer and his cell phone suggest that he also wanted to take his own life after the shooting.

On his Facebook page a photo of a black t-shirt with three words "born to kill." I want to get right to CNN's Rosa Flores with more now in terms of the investigation. Rosa, what more are you learning? ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Erica, one of the things I can't reiterate enough is that we don't have a lot of new information. We were hoping for new information during a press conference today. But there were no investigative threats discussed at that moment.

What we do know, however, from authorities is that the accused shooter acted alone. Authorities did interview two other individuals but then cleared them. Now, what we know about the ammunition, about the guns, about the weapons that were us used in this case according to authorities is that a shotgun and a 38 revolver were used.

Initially we had heard that this individual had placed bombs, pipe bombs, pressure cooker bombs in different areas, not just on campus but off campus. Now, authorities describing those devices as very juvenile and also unsophisticated.

Now, we are learning a little more from a probable cause document. In that document it states that the accused shooter walked out of the art lab and then surrendered to police and then told a police officer that he had spared some students because he thought that he liked them and that he was hoping that they would tell his story.

As you mentioned, the accused shooter is in custody. He's in solitary confinement. And from what we heard from authorities, he is cooperating with police. And from that statement with -- from an attorney that is representing the family, the family is also cooperating with authorities. Erica?

HILL: Our Rosa Flores with the very latest for us. Rosa, thank you.

Throughout the afternoon here behind us we have seen students coming in, groups of 10 people being led in one group at a time so that they can collect their belongings in the school, many of them also taking their cars from the parking lot which throughout the course of the day behind us has emptied out.

And keep in mind they're going back into the school for the first time since the sooting happened. Many of them of course know the victims and also the suspect. Joining us now is Madeline Williams. Madeline, this is a lot for anyone to take in. You're a senior here. You were getting ready to start studying for finals yesterday. And I know now you're thinking about people that you've lost. How are you and your friends holding up today?

MADELINE WILLIAMS, SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Well, like I said when we were talking, we're a town that if you fall off your horse you've got to get back up and dust yourself off. A lot of everyone in Santa Fe is coming together in a beautiful way. The vigil last night that we were at, so many faces that I haven't seen in years. Sorry.

HILL: You don't need to apologize. Take your time.

WILLIAMS: People that I was -- that I haven't talked to in years, people that I had gotten in huge fights with. They just came up to me and hugged me. They said, even though I'm upset this happened I'm glad you're OK. HILL: I know you sort of put the phones aside today. You and your mom were saying, you turn the T.V. off, put away the Facebook. And you're wearing this pin because you were actually at a baby shower earlier.

WILLIAMS: I was.

HILL: That was an important thing for you to be a part of today.

WILLIAMS: Yes. In this time of so much mourning and grief there is still time to celebrate the life that we still have. And I feel like if they were here, their life should have been celebrated instead of mourned because they did live and they did have a chance.

HILL: I know you know some of the victims. That's a lot to process.

WILLIAMS: It is.

HILL: Is that something that you and your friends have been talking about?

WILLIAMS: It is. We were just talking about how just Thursday we were laughing with them, we were cutting up, just being teenagers, and now we don't get to do that anymore.

HILL: You also knew the shooter.

[18:29:59] WILLIAMS: I did. I was talking to him in seventh period on the Sunday or on Thursday. And there was no warning signs. There was no indication that he could do any of this because he was very quiet. And he was very sweet. He was funny. He was never mean to me. He was nice. We make jokes. We laughed about memes on the internet. And there was no red flags, no warning.

HILL: If you could ask -- have any question answered right now, what is it that you want to know?

WILLIAMS: The big question on everyone's mind. Why? Why did he do it? You know, why them? Why that period? Why 20 more minutes and it would have been my class.

HILL: It's a lot for you. Madeline, I know it's important to talk about things. And I know its part of the process. We appreciate you taking some time. And I know your mom's here with you. And I can see how much she cares about you. And you clearly have a good support system. And that is important to know as well. Thank you.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

HILL: Ana, we'll send it back to you.

CABRERA: My heart goes out to her. Erica, thank you for continuing to lift up these victims and sharing the stories of these children who had to experience something they certainly should never have had to experience. Coming up here in the NEWSROOM, the president doubling down on a conspiracy theory this evening that the Department of Justice planted an informant inside his campaign in 2016.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:36:12] CABRERA: President Trump is doubling down on his theory that a government spy from the Obama administration infiltrated his presidential campaign. In the last hour the president tweeted this, "If the FBI or DOJ was infiltrating a campaign for the benefit of another campaign that is a really big deal. Only the release or review of documents that the House Intelligence Committee, also Senate judiciary is asking for can give the conclusive answers. Drain the swamp."

CNN's Ryan Nobles is at the White House. Ryan, do we know -- we do know there was an informant. But what more we learned about, who that informant is and his or her role?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right. We do know, Ana, that there was someone working on behalf of the FBI to attempt to gain information about the Trump campaign in 2016. But the reports are not that this person was in the campaign, had not infiltrated the campaign as the president has described. But instead according to both the "Washington Post" and the "New York Times" this was someone who was outside the campaign attempting to make contact with campaign officials to glean some of this information.

And there is a big concern among some in the intelligence community, with the FBI and even some elected leaders that the release of some of these documents and information related to this informant could lead to this person's identity being revealed. And that's a real concern. The vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, has warned against that saying, it could hurt future investigations. And even Christopher Wray, the FBI director who is an appointee of President Trump's, has said, that the day that we cannot protect human sources is the day that we become less safe.

Regardless, Ana, this seems to be something that President Trump is using to discredit the Mueller investigation. He's now tweeted about this topic four different times and has even tried to make it seem as though this would discredit the Mueller investigation. It's important to keep in mind that this informant was doing work prior to Robert Mueller becoming involved in this at all. Regardless, Ana, this is something the president at least at this point is not willing to let go.

CABRERA: Ryan, I also want to ask you about another presidential tweet, Donald Trump welcoming home his wife Melania from the hospital by misspelling her name?

NOBLES: Yes. That's right, Ana. I mean, there's no doubt a sense of relief here at the White House that Melania Trump is home after a five-day stay in the hospital after having that procedure to deal with an issue with her kidney. And President Trump was among those very happy that she returned. He did tweet, "Great to have our incredible first lady back home at the White House. Melania is feeling and doing really well. Thank you for your prayers and best wishes."

But you can take a look. We've got these tweets side by side. The first tweet he wrote his wife's name as Melanie as opposed to Melania. That tweet was up for a good five to ten minutes before it was pulled down and he corrected it. Now, obviously, with autocorrect maybe this was just an honest mistake. But the president, you know, did go to visit his wife a couple of times. But in tweeting her well wishes, he just spelled her name wrong. No other way to describe it.

CABRERA: Oops. Ryan Nobles at the White House, thank you, my friend.

Coming up --

NOBLES: Thank you.

CABRERA: -- some breaking news from the "New York Times." Another meeting apparently at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and people from overseas who were eager to influence his father's election campaign. This time, we're not talking about the Russians.

[18:39:30] Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Stunning new details about a second meeting that happened at Trump Tower between the president's son, Don Jr., and a small group of foreigners offering to help Donald Trump get elected president. The meeting with Donald Trump Jr. included an emissary for two Arab Princess and an Israeli social media specialist, happening just three months before the election.

"The New York Times" talked to several people with knowledge of this meeting and reports that a social media expert at this meeting talked about how his company could help a political campaign gain an advantage. The "Times" also reports this company by then had put together a multimillion-dollar proposal for a social media manipulation effort to help elect Mr. Trump.

Joining us now, David Fitzpatrick, he is the international correspondent for the "New York Times" and part of the team that broke the story for the "Times." David, take us inside this 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. Who was there? And what exactly were they offering?

DAVID FITZPATRICK, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: So the person who convened the meeting was Eric Prince, who people might know of because he was the founder of Blackwater, the controversial security company that was active in Iraq.

[18:45:07] He appears to have set up the meeting as a campaign meeting, and a meeting to help the Trump campaign. And he brought to the meeting two people, George Nader. He's an American citizen but an adviser to the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, who's the effective ruler of the UAE.

And they brought with them also Joel Zamel. And Joel Zamel is an Israeli citizen. And he runs this interesting social media company that's kind of an intelligence company really. It employs several people who used to work in Israeli intelligence. And it offers to kind of, well, control reality is its motto.

And they make various presentations. Nader says, that my friend, Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince who runs the UAE, very much wants to help you get elected. Mr. Zamel lays out the things the company could do to try to help. It's not clear whether he made an explicit pitch. But when we contacted Donald Trump Jr., he recalls it as a pitch. They came in and they were pitching services to try to help the campaign.

CABRERA: So what came of the meeting?

FITZPATRICK: Well, that's a good question. It's not entirely clear what happened in terms of actual contributions to the campaign. But funnily enough, given that it's illegal for foreign governments or foreigners who try to help a campaign, Mr. George Nader was not -- and Mr. Joel Zamel were not kicked out then and there.

They appear to have been embraced. That was the beginning of a period of several months of the most hectic months of the campaign, right before the election, when many of the people around President Trump, his advisers at the time, drew George Nader very close and met with him often and steadily through the transition and into the White House.

And then comes another puzzling detail. After Trump is elected George Nader, who's, working as an adviser to the UAE, pays Mr. Zamel, the Israeli social media manipulator, a lot of money, maybe $2 million according to some reports. And some of that money goes to provide a presentation showing what a big help to the campaign social media was.

So if that campaign -- if that presentation was delivered to the Trump campaign as it seems. Then here's an offer to help for the campaign. And here's a wrap-up afterwards saying, look at all the help we did. And it rises a lot of questions about what they thought was happening inside the campaign.

CABRERA: Let me read you something we got from a lawyer representing Donald Trump Jr., telling CNN in a statement, "Prior to the 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. recalls the meeting with Eric Prince, George Nader, and another individual who may be Joel Zamel. They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested and that was the end of it." Have you gotten any other reaction from the players involved here?

FITZPATRICK: That's the same statement he gave us. And you can find it printed in our newspaper article. After that meeting Mr. Nader went on to meet again with Jared Kushner, with Steve Bannon, with Mike Flynn who was President Trump's first national security adviser. So he may not have met again with Donald Trump Jr. But from that moment on he became a pretty regular part of the Trump circle.

CABRERA: Fascinating reporting. It's all so complicated. But putting more puzzle pieces together for us. David Fitzpatrick, thank you very much for joining us. Let me also talk this over with Juliette Kayyem. She's the CNN national security analyst, former assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. Juliette, what would make this second meeting at Trump Tower illegal?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it would be whether -- two things. One is a foreign government is not allowed to engage in elections. So in and of itself, whether they got help from the Trump campaign is irrelevant. And then the second is of course the big question of collusion. And what it looks -- and whether the Trump campaign was receptive to assistance, whether it was the social media assistance from the Israeli contractor or others.

And I think what you're starting to see the outlines of, and the "New York Times" reporter and the story certainly careful not to draw conclusions but simply to layout what they know at this stage including money transfers is that the Trump campaign, regardless of who the country was, was willing to accept offers of assistance from foreign governments to win a domestic campaign against Hillary Clinton.

[18:50:02] And so it's not just the Russians anymore. It's the Saudis. It's the UAE. And I just want to make one policy point here. It was really confusing at the beginning of the Trump administration terms so quickly against Qatar and towards favorable policies with the Saudis in particular.

And I think the piece, the really well reported piece by "The New York Times," at the very least, suggests that the Saudis were very early on trying to influence direct policy, foreign policy. And it may just be a coincidence that the Trump campaign or that the Trump administration changed it course once it came in to support the Saudis. It may just be a coincidence or it may be something bigger.

CABRERA: I also want to ask you about the reporting we heard from our Ryan Nobles, the other tweet that the president has been giving out today, saying, you know, he is doubling down on this idea that there was a government spy from the Obama administration who infiltrated his presidential campaign. Do you see any truth to that?

KAYYEM: None whatsoever. I mean clearly the president is very, very nervous because two things are happening now. One is he's discovering, at least from published reports, that people in his campaign, once again at the very least, were discussing potential collusion with the Russians and how the FBI knows that is through not a spy, but because the FBI was concerned about all these guys hanging around the Trump campaign, Carter Page in particular, but certainly Mike Flynn as well, was nervous about their interactions with the Russians.

The FBI began to ask for assistance from this third party, this informant. So he's not a spy. He's someone who was talking to the Trump campaign and was willing to give information to the FBI. We can't forget --

CABRERA: But just for the layman like me here, Juliette, really quickly if you will.

KAYYEM: Yes.

CABRERA: What's the difference between a spy and an informant?

KAYYEM: Well, informants are happening in every case. In other words, if you have a conspiracy, right, and someone comes forward and says -- comes to the FBI or the FBI is worried about the conspiracy and discusses with this person, this informant, it's basically your typical criminal case. It's someone who is giving information about a potential conspiracy.

A spy would be that the FBI, you know, let's just be honest here, Ana. The spy language is purposeful by Trump because he wants to make it seem like the CIA also was getting involved. A spy sort of makes it sound like nothing bad was happening. And the FBI sent someone in to make all sorts of bad things happen so that Trump looks guilty. So Trump is trying to flip the coin here by his tweets and make it sound like everything was all innocent.

In fact, the reason why you have an informant is because there is substantial evidence or whatever the standard would be depending on where the FBI -- what the FBI was doing at the time. But that there was sufficient evidence that criminal culpability, not by Trump, by certainly members of his team, was happening. And then just on the other point, we cannot talk about this story without talking about Donald Trump, his team, and certainly House Republicans.

Essentially, you know, outing someone who was an informant for a criminal case.

CABRERA: Right.

KAYYEM: The FBI has been very clear that the name ought to be protected for his safety and for obviously other criminal investigations. But when people talk about obstruction of justice, this is something that they have in mind, that the Trump White House and his proxies in the House are certainly trying to disclose the name that in any other situation we would think is absolutely crazy.

CABRERA: Right. We've even seen Christopher Wray, the president's hand-picked FBI director, push back and say, you cannot give up this source. This would be dangerous for him, potentially other people.

Juliette, got to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll talk again soon, much more to discuss as always.

Coming up, a live report from Hawaii, where rivers of lava are cutting off homes and forcing people to escape by air. Some recent explosions have also shot volcanic ash up to 10,000 feet into the sky.

[18:54:24] We'll take you there live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here on the big island of Hawaii, people are very much still dealing with the effects of the Kilauea eruption. There was an earthquake not too long ago they're registered about 5.0. And from what we understand, those earthquakes indicate that seismic activity indicating that the eruption is still happening.

Over the last few hours, there was an ash explosion from the volcano sending up ash about 10,000 feet. This just after two days ago there was 30,000 feet ash eruption as well. All of this as lava from some of those older fissures reactivating and pouring in and covering up some of the streets. So they're telling people who live in the area to be very clear, to listen to authorities, if they say to evacuate, to get out when it is time.

CABRERA: Stephanie Elam reporting in Hawaii for us. Thank you. And thank you all for being with me tonight. I'm Ana Cabrera. CNN's Special Report, "A Royal Match, is next followed by an encore presentation of the royal wedding at 8:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN. Goodnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:00:066] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NARRATOR (voice-over): He was the party prince.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was photographed incessantly in one nightclub after another.

CAMEROTA: Who rebelled against royalty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He decided --