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President Trump Demands DOJ Investigation on Informant Claims; Rudy Giuliani Says Mueller Could End Probe of Trump by September; Community Mourns Victims of Santa Fe, Texas School Shooting; Officials Warn of Laze Hazard as Lava from Hawaii's Volcano Reaches Ocean; Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Begins Their Royal Duties; Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 20, 2018 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: -- 2016 campaign for political purposes and whether it was at the request of people within the Obama administration.

Also, breaking tonight, the president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirming that he has been talking timeline with the Robert Mueller special counsel team, and that they could wrap up the probe by September if the president agrees to an interview. More on that in just a moment.

First, I want to begin with CNN's Ryan Nobles at the White House on the president's demand for a DOJ inquiry into the FBI.

Ryan, what exactly is the president demanding here? Because we know there are already DOJ investigations into the suspected improper FBI actions.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Ana. And the short answer is we don't know specifically what the president is looking for, but we do know tonight that his tweet is already yielding results.

The Department of Justice putting out a statement this evening saying that they're going to expand that investigation that you were talking about which was looking into the wiretapping procedures of the FBI to gain access to members or people close to the Trump campaign will now be expanded to include whether or not there was any type of political motivation behind that decision to get into that level of the investigation.

And Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is overseeing the Russia investigation putting out this statement saying, quote, "If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate reasons we need to know about it and take appropriate action. Now that's all Rosenstein had to say. He didn't say that there was any evidence that that was actually taking place as the president has repeatedly said over and over this weekend.

Ana, the president seems to have reached a new level of frustration with the Mueller investigation which has now past one year since it began, and he's now making very specific claims in an attempt to discredit Robert Mueller and his work. We'll have to see whether or not those accusations impact the investigation at all -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Ryan Nobles at the White House, thank you.

Now I want to get to Rudy Giuliani's claim that Robert Mueller offered to wrap up the investigation by September. Joining us on the phone is Maggie Haberman, she is "The New York Times" correspondent who helped break this story.

Maggie, thank you for joining us. It's my understanding that this assurance was made in the context of a conversation about the president sitting for an interview. Is that your understanding?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: That's correct. And look, that has been the nature of almost all of their conversations. What Mueller is looking for is an interview with the president and any information that his legal team can get has been in the context of those discussions.

Mueller, Rudy Giuliani told Mike Schmidt and me throughout September 1st as the date that he would like to get this done by and the interview then was, you know, asterisked on to it. I think that the chances of this interview remain extremely unlikely despite what Rudy Giuliani is saying just based on my other reporting.

I do think that Robert Mueller is mindful of the fact that we are entering a window where it's going to be close to the campaign once we get past, you know, July or mid-August and I think that he is aware of the potential for his -- a report if it comes later than that but before the election appearing to impede the election and that was what Rudy Giuliani was really leaning into.

CABRERA: So does it seem like an offer that Giuliani is still considering? Because you said you still have high doubts that there will be an interview between Mueller's team and the president.

HABERMAN: I think if they came to Rudy Giuliani and said, we will not make him answer, you know, X, Y and Z difficult questions then I think probably. But I don't think that at the moment that if everything is as you say it is today, I think it's hard to see it happening.

CABRERA: I want to get a little bit more clarity. Is it your understanding that Mueller's offer only included the obstruction portion of this probe?

HABERMAN: It's not clear whether it only included that. I know that they believe that is the only -- I believe it is obstruction, collusion and possibly one or two other issues. I think that the one on which they think there is more of an issue is obstruction because, remember, they remain adamant that there is no collusion and the president is unaware of anything. Their position on that has not changed but obstruction is the one that relates specifically to Comey.

Comey is the one who was fired and that is how this special counsel came into being. There would then be the question, of course, of whether Trump ever tried to fire Mueller. Mike Schmidt and I have reported that there has been interviews with Robert Mueller's office saying that there were, indeed, efforts to do that.

I think that people around the president will try to characterize it otherwise. But that gets into a different area of it, too. But obstruction I think they've always seen as the biggest threat.

CABRERA: And you brought up Comey in your article. You say Giuliani told you, quote, "We want the concentration of this to be on Comey versus the president's credibility, and I think we win that and people get that, Maggie."

[20:05:00] This morning alone the president made 11 false statements in just five tweets. Is Trump's legal team at all worried about his own credibility and doing anything to help rehab that?

HABERMAN: Rudy Giuliani has certainly never said that. That I have seen and certainly not to me. But in general do I know that his legal team and his non-legal advisers are concerned about his penchant for falsehoods, yes. I mean, that has been -- when they say the words perjury trap what some of his advisers will privately say is, and I quote, you know, "The president walks himself into perjury." You know, they're not -- they don't think that the word trap necessarily applies.

They are concerned about whether he will contradict himself, whether he will say something that is demonstrably false and so far in one of his interviews that has been the major concern. It's part of why I suspect Rudy Giuliani is trying to narrow the parameters as thin as he is.

CABRERA: Maggie Haberman, thank you very much for joining us.

HABERMAN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Now to our panel. Carrie Cordero, CNN legal analyst and former counsel to the U.S. assistant attorney general for national security, and Ryan Lizza, a CNN political analyst.

So, Carrie, I want to start with the president's new demand because you tweeted this. "The Department of Justice doesn't open investigations for political purposes which is what the president says today he will order tomorrow. There are rules and I'm convinced there are people left in this government who will follow them."

So George Conway, Kellyanne Conway's husband, re-tweeted your tweet.

Carrie, do you see Rod Rosenstein's response, his statement today as a sign he is going to follow the rules?

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think Rod Rosenstein, I think he acted very quickly today. And I think what he was trying to do was perhaps head off a -- some kind of formal demand that the president was threatening to make tomorrow.

I'm concerned that it potentially goes down the path of responding to an unfounded allegation and then the Department of Justice taking some kind of action upon that. So I understand why Rod Rosenstein, why the Justice department spokesperson issued a statement today saying that they were going to task the inspector general with determining whether or not that investigation needed to be expanded to accommodate the president's expression today, his statement today.

But I'm very concerned that the president has crossed a threshold today in terms of not just previously what he's expressed for a long time of having an intent to try to influence Department of Justice investigations but that he's crossed a threshold today where he actually is willing to take a step to demand it which is not the way investigations are supposed to be predicated.

CABRERA: And as Ryan Nobles mentioned earlier, I mean, there are ongoing investigations into the FBI's actions during the campaign including how they handled the Clinton e-mail investigation, how they applied for FISA warrants in addition to how Comey later after the campaign, after he was fired handled his memos.

So they seem to be investigating exactly what the president has been demanding through his tweets all along, Ryan. Do you think Rosenstein's statement will now placate the president in his latest rant?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I doubt it. I think he -- I think he seems to have had some success in getting the inspector general at the Justice Department to look into things that the White House and Republicans on the Hill have raised as problematic or suspicious in their view in terms of the tactics used in this investigation.

I think Rosenstein is pretty smart. He obviously has an extraordinarily difficult job. He's walking this tight rope and if I read his statement correctly, he probably understands the nature of the investigation and already knows that the Trump campaign was neither surveilled or there was an informant as the president said implanted into the campaign. Right? We know what the facts are here. They have been publicly aired.

The FBI had a third party talk to three people who were at one time part of the Trump campaign. Right? Sam Clovis, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos. Previously the Trump campaign and the White House has said that these three people were really not very important to the campaign. So the question I have is, why does President Trump care so much if the FBI was worried that these three individuals might have been penetrated by a foreign adversary, why would the president care?

Why would he want to shut that kind of investigation down? Wouldn't Trump and his campaign want to know if they had these sort of low- level campaign advisers who had some illicit connections?

[20:10:00] In other words, if the senior members of the campaign are innocent and they didn't have these connections, wouldn't they want the Justice Department to have this figured out?

CABRERA: Right.

LIZZA: And it's baffling to me that Trump then turns this into -- first of all saying what is not true, calling this person an informant implanted to the campaign. That is just false. And second of all, making it not wanting to know what their connections were.

CABRERA: Right. Carrie, what do you think is the president's end game?

CORDERO: Well, so I would just add that something really dangerous has happened this week which is that a confidential source that was being used in an FBI counterintelligence investigation had their identity revealed. And that identity was revealed through different media sources. That identity was revealed precisely because the president and some leadership in Congress and particularly the House Intelligence Committee pushed that angle and they pushed different reports to be able to focus on exposing who this individual was.

This is a very dangerous perspective from national security because counterintelligence investigations rely on a variety of sources including human sources. And so it is a very dangerous position when we have an individual, senior levels in Congress and in the White House who are actually compromising national security by encouraging the public release of somebody who has served as a national security source for the intelligence community.

And, you know, that has sort of been brushed by the wayside this weekend as we gets towards the weekend but that is a very important and dangerous thing that happened already this week.

CABRERA: Ryan, why? Why do you think they have been so determined to get to the bottom of who this source is and to air it publicly?

LIZZA: Well, this is the second line that's been crossed by Republican Party that previously was the -- was more of a defender of these kind of tactics than the Democrats. The first line that was crossed was when the FISA court process was -- which is usually a very secretive process, it's not really much -- not opened up to the public but when that FISA warrant on Carter Page was investigated by the Intelligence Committee and it was argued that this was somehow, you know, a process that was corrupted when it's a pretty routine process, and now we have another pretty routine process for the FBI, using an informant.

Look, if you look at the reports, all this guy did was went and talk to some people who they had some suspicions about. As far as we know, he didn't do any more than that. He just had some wine and conversation with these guys. They were trying to get some information. There were other people at the FBI that reportedly wanted to go much further and the FBI was so cautious because it was an election and there were campaign sensitivities that they didn't go as far as other people at the FBI wanted.

CABRERA: Right. All the reporting is they didn't want it to get out that there was an investigation. They wanted to take extra care in terms of the impact -- potential impact on an election year. And of course, the rest is history with how that didn't necessarily transpire in the same way with the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation.

LIZZA: Right.

CABRERA: But, Carrie, before I let you both go, I want to ask you quickly about Rudy Giuliani's claims that Mueller said he would wrap up this probe by September if Trump were to sit for an interview. Is this a negotiating tactic you'd expect Mueller to use?

CORDERO: Well, look. I think -- because Rudy Giuliani is putting on such a public defense of the president I really think that he is running a political strategy that's geared towards dealing with impeachment because if he was really focused on legal strategy he would be preparing his witness, he would be reviewing documents, and he would be negotiating with the special counsel confidentially.

So any timelines that he floats out, you know, we saw the same thing with a prior lawyer that was advising the president on the White House counsel staff, Ty Cobb, who was constantly floating public potential dates that the investigation was to wrap up so I take this statement with sort of a grain of salt as to whether or not the special counsel has provided any kind of assurances to the White House about when they would end any portion of their investigation.

CABRERA: Carrie Cordero and Ryan Lizza, thank you both. Good to see you.

LIZZA: OK. Thanks, Ana.

CORDERO: Thank you.

CABRERA: Coming up, new details about the Texas school shooting suspect. The mother of one of the students killed revealing her daughter had rejected his advances for months.

Plus, just take a look at these images, pictures from Hawaii. Lava spewing from a volcanic eruption. We'll go live to the big island.

And the royal post-wedding plans revealed by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are putting their honeymoon on hold.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:19:14] ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Erica Hill in Santa Fe, Texas, where we are learning new details about the high school shooting that claimed 10 lives on Friday. Police revealing the accused teenage gunman have been firing for four minutes when officers arrived on the scene, and what followed was an approximately 25-minute gun battle, we're told, between the suspect and officers. Police say there is a great deal of video evidence as well that they're going over.

We're also learning more about the victims. The mother of one of those victims, 16-year-old Shana Fisher telling CNN the suspect had pestered her daughter to go out with him for months and just a week ago her daughter stood up in class and told him that she wouldn't go out with him. She believes her daughter was targeted.

On Friday her daughter was among the eight students and two teachers who lost their lives. 13 others were injured. And as the investigation continues now especially in terms of a motive, the community here in Santa Fe is focused on healing.

[20:20:06] Today a memorial service was held for the victims as crews arrived to set up for the event, an emotional sight. Take a look at this. A rainbow which appeared directly over the church. One person saying that it looked like it was coming from Santa Fe High School and on a day like today you can imagine the added significance.

Joining me now are three students who attend Santa Fe High School, Taylor Burns, Alexis Wilson, Harley Canales.

We appreciate all of you taking some time for us. So Taylor and Harley, you're in your caps and gowns because you just came from that baccalaureate ceremony. I know you did, too Alexis, you went home to change a little bit.

This is a lot, to put it mildly, for you guys over the last 48 hours or so. And Taylor, I know your dad and your brother were actually two of the first responders who were there pretty quickly on the scene.

TAYLOR BURNS, SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Yes, ma'am.

HILL: And they called you from the school?

BURNS: No. My dad got the call and he called my mom, and I was on my way to school and she told me not to go and said that there's active shooter at the high school. Not to go to school.

HILL: That must have been almost surreal in the moment.

BURNS: Yes. So scary.

HILL: Yes.

BURNS: First thing I did was call all my friends. They didn't have any idea until I called them. It just happened so fast.

HILL: Were some of the friends that you called already inside the school or were they on their way like you were?

BURNS: She -- I called her, too. And they were in the school. And then they were walking out because they thought it was a fire drill and they weren't going to run until, like, I told them that it was a shooter.

HILL: So pretty important calls that you made.

BURNS: Yes.

HILL: Yes. Alexis, when we were talking earlier, you were saying how last night you just been praying for some sort of a sign.

ALEXIS WILSON, SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Yes.

HILL: And you woke up this morning and you saw that rainbow.

WILSON: Yes. I was praying all last night and just asking like why, God, why. I just didn't understand why something like this could happen to us. And so I was just asking for some sign to just show me that we are going to be OK and that they have made it to the other side so when I saw that rainbow this morning I just knew that everybody had made it with him and that he's with our town and we're going to be OK.

HILL: I know that you, Harley, actually had class with the suspect.

HARLEY CANALES, SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Yes. I did.

HILL: How would you describe him?

CANALES: Very quiet. He was always quiet. He never really had anything to say. He would just sit in the back of the room, get the work done, turn the work in and sit back and listen to music, sleep, play on the computer. He never said anything. He was never friendly with anyone but he was never rude to anybody. He was just quiet.

HILL: You weren't at school that morning because you actually graduated early.

CANALES: Yes.

HILL: After last year. But you were telling me earlier you almost feel guilty.

CANALES: I do.

HILL: That you weren't here.

CANALES: Yes. I feel very guilty. I feel like I should have been there not guilty, like, I should have been there, it should have been me but I do feel that way. I feel like I should have been able to run with my friends. I feel awful that I wasn't there to be there with them physically. I had to get texts from my best friend that she was running because she had heard shots. I had to get texts -- like I had to text people to make sure they're OK and I just felt like I should have been there to be with everyone that I grew up with and that I was close with.

HILL: That's a lot to hear from somebody who just graduated high school.

CANALES: Yes.

HILL: Alexis, your family is very close with the family of Chris Stone who we know is one of the victims. I know you've been in touch with the Stone family. Your family obviously grieving, too. How's everyone holding up?

WILSON: I don't want to speak for his family but for my family it's been really hard. We just want to be with them and let them know that we're there for them and that -- not that it will be OK because it won't for a long time but that together we'll all be there for them and just we have them in our prayers.

HILL: Tell us about Chris.

WILSON: He was a very nice, sweet kid. I wouldn't -- like -- done anything, like, he was nice, kind. He did everything for everybody. Like I grew up with him before I can remember and we had -- we spent every summer together. We went to Schlitterbahn and (INAUDIBLE) every Monday. I went to Six Flags with him and I rode a rollercoaster for the first time with him because they talked me into it, and he had a heart of gold.

HILL: From the people that we've met over the last couple of days, people that we've spoken to, this seems like a pretty tight knit community. How are you guys putting your arms around each other? What are you doing the try to help the people who are grieving right now?

BURNS: Just being there for everyone as much as we can. We're all coming together.

HILL: You have a lot of the details I know from your brother about what he saw and what he experienced. How hard is it for you to know those things at this point? He gave you some pretty graphic details.

BURNS: It's hard. I mean, I didn't know that he was going in the school. I was scared, like, what if they did find another bomb, like, what could have happened to him, what if there's another shooter. It was just scary knowing that he could have been more another one's gunshot.

HILL: What did he tell you about what that was like for him?

[20:25:02] BURNS: I don't know. I can't go into detail what he told me, but he did say it was very hard.

HILL: Hard on him? Yes. A lot to process especially in a community where you likely may know some of those people.

Taylor, you are saying -- or Harley, rather, just to be here and to look at the school, that's a lot for you.

CANALES: Yes.

HILL: Right now.

CANALES: Yes. It's very hard. It's a very eerie feeling to be here knowing that people I grew up with and that a lot of people I know were close with and knowing that they didn't make it out of that school on Friday was just awful. It's an awful feeling. I don't think anyone should ever have to step foot back in that school again.

WILSON: Actually I went into the school yesterday. And it was one of the hardest things I've ever done to see everything just left the way it was and my papers, my water, everything. It was just so hard and to see the doors have be broken down and have C-2 on them to be cleared. But I just don't understand why it happened to us.

HILL: You were escorted in groups of 10 yesterday to get your belongings?

WILSON: I walked in by myself.

HILL: You went by yourself.

WILSON: With the officer, me and my mom went it. We were one of the first ones to go in and it was just -- I can't explain to you all how it was. It was just a feeling that I have never felt ever.

HILL: So did the officer try to prepare you for what you might see?

WILSON: Not really. He was there for us but, I mean, he's kind of being stern. It's his job and he knows -- he like had to follow procedures so he was kind of just there and he let me cry and let me just do what I did.

HILL: School in theory could resume on Wednesday. You've all said you don't want to go back in that building.

BURNS: I won't. I won't go back. I don't think any of us should walk back in there knowing that we don't -- we get to continue school but they can't. Just I don't think so. I don't think we should have to go back in there and deal with it.

HILL: It's a lot for you guys. We really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. Thank you.

CANALES: Thank you.

HILL: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:39] CABRERA: That staggering sight and sound of volcanic bombs exploding as Hawaii's Kilauea volcano hurls molten rock high into the air and if the volatile hot lava and sulfur dioxide weren't enough, Hawaiians on the big island now face another threat. It's called laze.

Laze forms when lava reaches the ocean sending hydrochloric acid and glass particles high into the air. This laze can cause lung damage and skin and eye irritation. Officials even warn people near the coast that laze can be deadly. Two people died from exposure to it back in 2000.

Our Stephanie Elam joins me now from Pahoa, Hawaii, and Stephanie, Hawaii we know is known for its beaches. How are they going to keep people away from the coast with this new laze threat?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, Ana, one thing will do it is the fact that the lava has flown over 137 which is a highway that runs along the coast in this part -- the southeastern part of the island here. That's one way and then also from the water, the U.S. Coast Guard is keeping a perimeter there to keep people away from getting close to that lava flow into the ocean of about 1,000 feet. They want people to stay away it from. So that's a concern and then here on land, let me step out so you can

see what this looks like here. It's still bubbling here and throwing lava up into the sky. Since we've been out here today, we've watched as the volcanic gases have increased behind that fountain that you see there and then also to the side there's another bit of gas being emitted from there. This is new developments as this eruption continues to move.

It seems so malleable. Some of the fissures that used to be sort of dormant, coming back to life, the lava still splattering and then you sea of black lava cascading downhill going towards the ocean here and what we understand is that there were at least two structures in this area here that were taken out by the lava and then in the distance there's another fissure that is still very active and it's mainly active with volcanic gases.

During the day, you don't see as much red. At night you can see some red coming out of there, but when it goes off like that you can see it launching rocks, volcanic gases, high into the sky. Looked like at one point I saw them going several hundred feet in the sky from there so that is obviously a big concern when those lava bombs come down, they could be very, very dangerous and deadly, Ana.

CABRERA: And it just seems never ending, especially looking at those live images, Stephanie. And now we hear about this laze threat, sending volcanic glass particles and hydrochloric acid into the air. What are Hawaiians doing to stay safe?

ELAM: Right. Well, that's one thing that's keeping people out of that. Really one of the biggest concerns is the sulfur dioxide. They're saying that those levels have tripled over the last day or so with this moving eruption. They're deadly gases, they're toxic, if you get too much they can give you a headache, they can weigh on you and your lungs, so they're asking people to be careful because of that.

And that can be -- part of what you see behind me, that big white cloud, that is what we're talking about there. They're strong. You need gas masks to be around them and so that is part of what they're asking people to be vigilant about and staying away and watching the winds if those gases, in our case, were to change and come this direction, we'd have to leave but it's a lot of paying attention to how things are blowing, how things are moving. It's something that requires much attention in this smaller area of Hawaii.

[20:35:03] CABRERA: Stay safe, Stephanie Elam. Thank you for that report.

Coming up, the wedding is over and now the work begins. The event that has newlywed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle delaying their honeymoon.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CABRERA: All good things must come to an end. The royal wedding has come and gone. But the honeymoon is on hold for now. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are delaying those plans so they can attend their first official engagement as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

For more on that I want to bring in CNN's Nick Watt live in Windsor.

Nick, thank you for staying up late for us. What more can you tell us about this upcoming event?

[20:40:05] NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is going to be Tuesday and at Buckingham Palace. And as you say, it will be their first official appearance together. It's going to be a celebration of the charities that Prince Charles, Harry's dad, supports. Prince Charles is actually turning 70 this year so it's all connected with that.

It's, you know, a classic royal event in terms of a lot of handshaking, the old grip and grin, but Meghan I believe is going to be more than that in the royal family. She's not going to be a princess who just, you know, stands a couple of paces behind Harry and does what she's told. And we got a clue to that today.

On the royal family Web site there's a new profile of Meghan and in pretty bold type there's a quote from a speech she gave at the U.N. back in 2015 in which she said, "I am proud to be a woman and a feminist."

So it appears that she is going to be more than just a, you know, patron of charity. She is going to continue to be an activist. You know, when she was 11 years old she started a campaign to change the wording of a TV commercial that she thought was misogynist and she succeeded so she is clearly wanting to continue that kind of activism and the royal family is clearly encouraging her -- Ana.

CABRERA: And she continued to sort of break the mold of what a traditional royal wedding and reception are like, actually speaking we learned at this private reception last night and the after party that went late into the night. Any other memorable moments that have leaked out?

WATT: Well, yes. Actually speaking. Can you imagine? I mean, that is breaking protocol. Obviously --

CABRERA: How dare a woman do so?

WATT: Traditional weddings here. You know, the men, the father of the bride and the groom would speak. She spoke and apparently thanked the royal family.

Now they have done a very good job of keeping a lid on what happened at that small reception last night for 200 people. In this social media age, it's frankly miraculous that they have kept such a tight lid on it. "The Daily Mail" newspaper claims to have some information. They claimed that they danced to their first song, it was a Whitney Houston number. Apparently they ate Dirty Burgers. That's a chain, that sounds disgusting but apparently it was very, very good.

They ate cotton candy. They drank cocktails called when "Harry Met Meghan." Sounds like a great night and as we said she spoke. That seems to be the highlight of it. Oh, Prince William, I'm sorry, also spoke and "The Daily Mail" claims that his speech was naughty.

CABRERA: Naughty.

WATT: That is it. The royal wedding is over and now we wait to see how she's going to behave as a royal -- Ana.

CABRERA: And now you get to go to sleep.

Nick Watt, thank you for all your great reporting there. It's been so much fun to hear the stories and help you -- help us walk through the event as it unfolded. We appreciate it.

Coming up next, hear from the designer who created the dress the world was waiting to see, Meghan Markle's wedding gown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:47:27] CABRERA: Today Kensington Palace released two sketches of the wedding dress created for Meghan Markle. It was designed by Clare Waight Keller, the first female artistic director for Givenchy. Here's what she said about working with Meghan on the look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARE WAIGHT KELLER, DESIGNED MEGHAN MARKLE'S WEDDING DRESS: It was an enormous honor to be asked to be part of this historic moment. It's truly a privilege to have worked on this project.

I think with Meghan she's so modern and fresh, and I think that was part of what she wanted to be and really wants to represent her. I wanted her to feel absolutely incredible in the dress and also I wanted her to feel like it was absolutely right for the occasion.

I truly do believe that we worked very closely together on actually bringing ideas to the table. She had definitely a vision of what she thought and then I very much tried to bring even more to that part of the discussions around the veil or what we were going to do. Would bit a lace edge or a border? And I said, wouldn't it be amazing if we took the 53 countries of the commonwealth and embroidered a flower from each one of those and that they would go up the aisle of that journey, up the aisle with you?

She was absolutely radiant. It was just a glow to her. You could tell they were so in love and that moment where it all comes together for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Keller says after the service Prince Harry came up to her and he said of his bride, quote, "Oh my gosh, she looks incredible."

Coming up, Anthony Bourdain travels to one of Europe's hidden gem. A preview of tonight's brand new "PARTS UNKNOWN, ARMENIA," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:53:55] CABRERA: Tonight, on an all new episode of "PARTS UNKNOWN," Anthony Bourdain heads to the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. During his visit, Bourdain also tackled one of the country's most emotional, controversial issues. The mass killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman empire that began in 1915 during World War I. it went on for almost a decade.

Now the Armenians say 1.5 million of their countrymen were killed and they are demanding it be recognized as genocide. Turkey vehemently opposes that term. They say about 300,000 Armenians died and that the killings took place during a war where both sides suffered losses. The U.S., UK and Israel do not recognize the mass killing as genocide, though 20 other countries including France, Canada, Italy and the Vatican do.

I recently talked to Anthony Bourdain about his trip and I asked him how this tragedy from a century ago is still shaping Armenian culture and identity today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": It is the central feature in Armenian culture. Particularly diasporas of Armenian culture. Most Armenians don't live in Armenia for reasons that become all too obvious in the story.

[20:55:03] This is going to be a very controversial -- I mean, for reasons I don't fully understand, this will be a very controversial episode. I am not shy about calling it a genocide. I believe it to have been a genocide. I think it is ridiculous to call it anything but a genocide.

CABRERA: And yet the U.S. doesn't recognize it as a genocide.

BOURDAIN: The rule at large has generally refused to call it much beyond a regrettable series of incidents or what other euphemism they come up with. I have been waiting for a long time to find a way to the right person to go into Armenia with. Many Armenian Americans have been asking me, how come you haven't come yet? I finally found the right person. Serj Tankian from the band System of a Down called me up out of the blue and said, dude, let's go to Armenia. And I thought, OK, we're ready.

We also hop across the border into the disputed territory of Nagorno- Karabakh, which is technically part of Azerbaijan --

CABRERA: And you become a persona nongrata, right?

BOURDAIN: I am now -- I can probably say I am now PNG, which means persona nongrata in the nation of Azerbaijan.

CABRERA: Why? BOURDAIN: I entered into disputed territory without official

permission from that side. I mean, I went in on the -- you know, I did everything right. We did -- all our documentation approval on the Armenian side were applied. We went in on an Armenian military transport.

CABRERA: You mentioned the Diaspora and in fact about three times as many Armenians live abroad has actually lived in Armenia. How do you think Armenians living in, say, California or in Beirut, are shaping outside perception of what Armenia is like or who Armenians are?

BOURDAIN: Well, I think that because the genocide has never been acknowledged as they feel it should be there's a sense that things have not been resolved in their minds. They are very active all over the world. Diaspora Armenians in their desire to go back, to visit and to help, to help build or rebuild their country.

There were some terrible problems after the Soviet Union broke up. You know, big mother Russia was no longer there to help out. There was a horrible earthquake that left the country in runs. Easy hospitals, schools, social development programs all funded privately by Diaspora Armenians in places like Lebanon, California, and throughout the United States and all over the world. And many of the people you meet in fact in Armenia are people who returned proudly and want to be part of that process.

CABRERA: What kind of country do they see for themselves in their future?

BOURDAIN: I think since they don't produce that much and they have always been largely a producer of great brains of mathematicians, engineers, computer scientists, rocketry experts, I think they will do quite well as a tech center and a place of learning and, you know, human assets.

CABRERA: You call this the Silicon Valley of the caucuses?

BOURDAIN: Well on its way.

CABRERA: Yes. What about the food?

BOURDAIN: Well, the food is greater great. I mean, the food, throughout the Middle East and Russia, everywhere you go Armenian food is looked at.

CABRERA: What's it like?

BOURDAIN: I guess it's kind of a mix of other influences from the region. You know, China, Iran, Russia, Turkey, there are influences from the many people who -- you know, who invaded it at various points or mashed through. Delicious, comforting, hearty, soulful. I believe they were the world's first producers of wine so hopefully the wine industry is going to start coming back in a big way. It's a country with an incredible history.

CABRERA: Yes. BOURDAIN: And lovely people. And really tasty food.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: All new "PARTS UNKNOWN, ARMENIA," airs next right here on CNN.

And finally tonight, new details just in about a rare mountain lion attack that left one man dead and another lucky to be alive. It happened near Seattle where two men were riding their bikes down a remote road when a mountain lion began chasing them. One of the men apparently hit the animal in the head with his bicycle and it ran off only to return and attack.

At one point the survivor of this attack says his entire head was in the lion's mouth. He escaped and the big cat left had him and then attacked and dragged away his companion. The injured man rode nearly two miles before he had a cell phone reception and was able to call 911. That lion was eventually found standing on top of the dead man's body. Wildlife authorities killed the mountain lion.

That does it for me. I'm Ana Cabrera. Have a great night. Thank you for being here.