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China Retaliates against U.S. Tariff Hike; New Details on Strait of Hormuz Attack; Hackers Target WhatsApp; North Korean Humanitarian Crisis; Sweden Reopens Julian Assange Rape Investigation; Actress Doris Day Dies at 97. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired May 14, 2019 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NICK WATT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): After Beijing strikes back, President Trump says that he is ready to put tariffs on just about everything coming in from China. Global markets unsettled by this escalating trade war.
Sabotage at sea: tensions rise in the Middle East after oil tankers are damaged mysteriously.
And WhatsApp attack: hackers remotely installed surveillance software on phones, exposing a major vulnerability in the messaging software.
Hello and welcome to our viewers, joining us from all around the world, I am Nick Watt and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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WATT: China strikes back, the trade war with the U.S. escalates, president Donald Trump remains optimistic about resolving the dispute but investors are not as confident, Asian markets opened down. Wall Street plunged on Monday after Beijing retaliated against Washington's latest round of tariff hikes with hikes of its own.
The Dow closed down 617 points, its worst day since January 3rd. The Nasdaq dropped 3.4 percent and President Trump shows no sign of backing down.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So we are taking in tens of billions of dollars, we have never done that before with China, this is a very positive step, I love the position we are in.
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WATT: Many U.S. farmers have supported the president but some are now losing patience. Wheat, soybean and corn industry groups opposed Trump's latest tariff hike. We have Steven Jiang to join us now from Beijing. So the word out of Washington -- the word out of President Trump is, I
love the position, everything will be sorted soon.
What is the view from Beijing?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Well, Nick, you know it is interesting that these counter tariffs that you mention, they have long been expected so that is not a surprise. If anything, the intensity may seem a little measured with tariffs going from 10 percent to 25 percent on $60 billion of U.S. goods, compared to Mr. Trump's 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods.
That is probably because the Chinese are running out of America goods to tax because they import a lot less from the U.S. than the other way around. But they have more options still. We are seeing some of the hints in state media, a top state newspaper editor saying that China could stop buying agricultural and energy products from the U.S.
That would, of course, hit hard the political base of Mr. Trump in the U.S. China could also cancel orders from Boeing or even dump U.S. Treasuries, of which China is the biggest overseas holder.
So these retaliations, especially non tariff barriers or retaliations could still be coming in the next few weeks or even months. That is why Mr. Trump, even though he suggested he could still be sitting down with the Chinese president Xi Jinping at the G20 summit, it is really hard at this point to see what they could resolve at this point, given how far apart the two sides remain on many key issues.
WATT: Steven Jiang in Beijing, thank you very much for your time.
And now for some market perspective, let's go to Hong Kong. Peter Lewis joins us. He is the director of Peter Lewis Consulting.
Peter, a bad day on Wall Street Monday.
How is it looking in Asia right now?
PETER LEWIS, MARKET CONSULTANT: Shares have recovered a little bit from their lows, we expected a poor open here in Hong Kong, it was a long three-day weekend and after Wall Street fell sharply overnight, we've seen $3.5 trillion wiped off the value of global stock markets. The investors here were feeling the worst.
But President Trump's comments overnight that he felt there could be a resolution to the trade war helped the yuan steady a little bit and Hong Kong stocks are very dependent on the yuan, 60 percent of businesses export to the mainland, do business with the mainland and therefore Hong Kong stocks depend on the Chinese yuan.
So they have rebounded off their lows. But we are in the situation where every single tweet from Donald Trump, every single comment on Chinese state media, is going to be scrutinized very closely and is going to have an impact on the markets in the coming weeks and months.
WATT: That is the issue here -- [00:05:00]
WATT: -- you have the two largest economies on Earth doing battle, I suppose. And you have an unpredictable leader in Washington.
That is not what people like you like to see?
LEWIS: No, it makes things very uncertain. I remember just a couple of weeks ago, investors were pricing in that the trade deal was almost done. They were anticipating that we were really in the final stages of negotiations, U.S. stocks were at record high and suddenly that is all unraveling.
One of the things that has spooked investors in particular are comments from Donald Trump, that he thinks that tariffs on goods, that this is a viable alternative to settling the trade war. That really worries investors because of the impact on the global economy if more tariffs increase on Chinese goods, for example. That will certainly impact the Chinese economy.
And this could also be very inflationary for the U.S. economy as well. If Donald Trump goes through with his threat to impose tariffs on every Chinese single export, that will start to hit consumer goods, which have really not had to bear the brunt of this so far. Things like smartphones, computers, toys, textiles, things that U.S. consumers buy at the shops every day.
So there is a real risk that inflation could go up in the U.S. and that could cause a recession.
WATT: And, Peter, just two things that I want to run by you that Donald Trump said. One thing is he says a lot of businesses are already planning to leave China because they can't deal with the tariffs. He also says the U.S. consumers can just buy American.
Do either of those statements hold water to you?
LEWIS: If U.S. consumers want to buy American they will have to pay a lot more for those goods, One of the reasons they buy Chinese goods is because they are much cheaper. If U.S. consumers want to buy American goods then U.S. workers will have to accept much lower wages to be able to compete with China and Asian economies and they are very unlikely to do that.
What will happen is that companies will move their supply chains and what U.S. consumers will notice is, instead of it saying made in China on the back of their goods, it will more likely say made in Vietnam or Bangladesh. So what will happen is these trade surpluses that China has will shift to other countries like Vietnam or Bangladesh.
WATT: Peter Lewis in Hong Kong, thank you very much for your time.
LEWIS: Thank you.
WATT: Moving on, we are learning new details on what has been called a sabotage attack near some of the world's most crucial shipping lanes. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are saying that four commercial ships were attacked near the Emirate port of Fujairah.
Officials say three are oil tankers, two Saudi and one Norwegian and the fourth is an Emirati fuel vessel. The UAE says that they have asked the U.S. for help and that the damage looked like a missile or a rocket attack, it is not clear who or what is responsible.
But this just comes days after the U.S. warns of shipping from the region from Iran and its proxies. With the disintegrating Iran nuclear deal as the backdrop, the U.S. was already sending warships and bombers to the region, reacting to alleged Iranian missile movements and a carrier strike group was off the Yemeni coast on Monday. President Trump had this morning for Iran.
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TRUMP: If they do anything it will be a very bad mistake, if they do anything, I am hearing little stories about Iran, if they do anything they will suffer greatly. We will see what happens with Iran.
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WATT: Let's get a little more detail on those reports, of sabotage on ships very near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world's fuel supply. CNN's Nic Robertson has more from the Gulf of Oman.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): A gaping hole at the waterline of one vessel, another, a nautical mile or so away, listing slightly. And another, the Saudi-registered Al- Marzoqah, with U.S. flagboats inspecting its damage a few miles from them.
Three of the four vessels impacted Sunday by what Emirati authorities are calling sabotage. They were at anchor along with 140 other ships near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
What we understand happened here is that a call came in earlier in the morning indicating that possibly there was water in the engine of one of the vessels. But within a couple of hours, a total of four calls had been registered, indicating that something was out of the ordinary with a number of the vessels here.
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ROBERTSON: The incidents, a few miles from the Iranian coast at a global strategic turnpoint (ph) one-fifth of the oil passes through, come just days after U.S. officials raised of concerns of an Iranian or Iranian proxy attack on shipping in the area.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: An attack on American interests from an Iranian led force, whether it is an Iranian proper or it's an entity that is controlled by the Iranians, we will hold the responsible party accountable. President Trump has been very clear about that, our response would be appropriate. ROBERTSON (voice-over): The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier group is heading into the seas around here, supported by B-52 bombers and an amphibious assault ship, a guided missile destroyer and a Patriot missile battery system.
As U.S. tensions with Iran mounts, Iran's foreign minister called the sabotage incident " alarming and regrettable," calling for "clarification of the exact dimensions of the incident."
ROBERTSON: It is not quite clear yet what caused this sabotage and how it was perpetrated or even, for that matter, who perpetrated it.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): For UAE officials, events Sunday are deeply troubling.
CAPT. ABDULLA AL HAYYAS, UAE TRANSPORT AUTHORITY: This isolated event that happens, yes, still there. It still is always a concern for us. However, we (INAUDIBLE) won't happen again.
ROBERTSON: What is clear, these incidents of sabotage risk raising tensions in this already very tense moment, right next to one of the world's most strategic and important waterways -- Nic Robertson, CNN, the Gulf of Oman.
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WATT: European diplomats have just met with the U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo in Brussels and say the meeting was both useful and frustrating. They are concerned about tensions with Iran and what exactly the U.S. plans to do to de-escalate.
Pompeo will meet in the coming hours with the Russian president Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. CNN's Matthew Chance has a preview.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We can sense the frustration in Russia with the United States as Washington really piles the pressure on Iran, one Russian lawmaker having harsh words for the U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who announced his last- minute changes to his travel plans, calling off a widely anticipated visit to Moscow.
They say they were feverish actions instead of the stable diplomacy expected from the United States. Instead, Secretary Pompeo will fly directly to Sochi for a face-to-face meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Iran is said to be top of the agenda, the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov saying that he will try to clarify Mr. Pompeo on how the Americans plan to get out of what he called this crisis with Iran, created by what he says were unilateral American decisions, the Russian foreign minister saying that he expected the discussions to be frank, often diplomatic shorthand for angry or heated.
Iran has emerged, of course, in recent years as a key Russian ally, Moscow helping broker the nuclear agreement with Tehran the United States has now pulled out of. Moscow and Tehran have also been fighting side by side in Syria, supporting their joint government ally, Bashar al-Assad, driving a wedge between Russia and Iran as an important U.S. foreign policy goal.
But with both countries under increasing U.S. economic sanctions and fundamentally opposed to Western and America power, they seem to be forging an ever closer bond. It is unlikely secretary Pompeo is going to be able to make much progress in undoing that -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
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WATT: Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, suing Apple: why the Supreme Court says that iPhone users can file suit against the tech giant.
And why more than 1 billion WhatsApp users are being warned about a successful but limited malicious attack.
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WATT: A group of iPhone users is accusing Apple of wielding unfair monopoly powers over its ad sales. Now the U.S. Supreme Court has given those disgruntled iPhone users the go-ahead to sue the tech giant. They are saying that the company forces consumers to overpay for software applications, which can only be bought directly from the company's app store.
Apple stock fell after the ruling, which could have profound implications for Apple and other tech companies with similar business models. Apple says it is not a monopoly.
And WhatsApp, the Facebook owned encrypted messaging service, is advising its more than 5.9 billion users to update the app after an apparently sophisticated hack designed to install surveillance software on users' phones. According to a WhatsApp statement, select users were affected.
The company says the problem has been fixed but is still advising that update. Joining us via Skype from Los Angeles, Hemu Nigam. He is an Internet security analyst and founder of SSP Blue.
Tell us in layman's terms, what do we know is happening here?
HEMU NIGAM, INTERNET SECURITY ANALYST: Hello, Nick. So what we know so far is that all signs of using this exploit is probably by intelligence agencies or government actors. We don't quite know who built the exploit but we have identified it.
But what we do know is that this is something that affected all the WhatsApp users out there who have not already installed a temporary fix that once they had notified but now it's actually being deployed everywhere.
But 1.5 billion people are affected by this so everyone needs to, all your viewers need to, if they are on WhatsApp, upgrade immediately because the upgrade will have the fix to it.
WATT: And I just want to pick up on something about speculation about who might be behind it. WhatsApp itself put out a statement that they believe that this was carried out by, quote, "an advanced cyber actor." They say the attack has all the hallmarks of a private company reportedly that works with governments to deliver spyware.
What does that tell us?
NIGAM: I actually find that statement a little bit of amusing and somewhat fascinating because it is trying to blame some private entity, which is going to create all sorts of speculations about who might be behind it.
What it is not doing is focusing attention in this particular case where it really ought to be because the type of exploit that has been used here is actually a very common one. And for a company that had been showing off in a positive way, that there is an encryption, I see all sorts of articles that say you can never break --
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NIGAM: -- something like this unless you have physical code of the telephone where WhatsApp is installed. But in this case all you had to do was make a phone call that is connected to WhatsApp and it would work. The exploit takes over. It's called a buffer overflow, if anyone wants to Google search it, they can.
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WATT: Please explain that a little bit more, how exactly did this work?
Someone would call your phone and, even if you didn't answer, this malicious software could be installed, is that right?
NIGAM: Exactly because, when that takes place, that moment in time, the exploit starts taking over and starts doing things to manipulate what could be done on that and through that app.
That means everything from turning on your camera to recording what you're saying to listening to things and reading your messages that you think are confidential, especially for human rights people. This is a very dangerous and scary environment for them if it has been used and collecting information on people that may be trying to challenge a sitting government, especially dangerous for dictatorship at government.
You were suggesting just a minute ago that perhaps WhatsApp was trying to shift focus on to the people who made the spyware rather than deficiencies of their own, was there a gap or a hole in those defenses?
NIGAM: Oh, absolutely there was or this never would've happened, that is exactly what they fixed, is a gap in WhatsApp. They didn't block something that anyone could have been an victim of. They actually fixed an issue in their own software programming, so it is a WhatsApp issue that has now been corrected.
And instead of talking about that, the statement tells us, oh, go find that private company and figure out who it might be and all sorts of speculations are being raised, even companies are coming out, some of them, and denying they had any role in directly impacting this.
So the news of the day right now is out. But it really ought to be, how did this happen for an encrypted piece of software that everyone thought, from their own words, was absolutely secure?
WATT: Can we call this spyware?
That these malicious actors were trying to install on people's phones, is it spyware?
NIGAM: It is spyware and I don't know if you are intending a pun on that one, but it truly is spyware in the sense that counter intelligence agencies are being identified in the statement itself, saying government actors are behind it, basically official spies who are going into and utilizing this.
Who they are targeting, we're starting to hear there were big lawyers; there were other types of individuals out there. There were human rights people. There are people who may be engaged in challenging governments and other people considered to be dangerous, dictatorships or things like that. So truly spyware, no pun intended.
WATT: Hemu Nigam in Los Angeles, thank you very much for joining us.
NIGAM: Thank you, Nick.
WATT: Moving on gunfire in the Sudanese capital on Monday, killing a military police officer and injuring a large number of protesters at a pro-democracy rally in Khartoum. Unclear exactly who opened fire but the ruling transitional military council blames Monday's violence on groups seeking to undermine, quote, "the goals of the revolution."
In a separate development, Sudan's public prosecutor's office wants charges brought against ousted president Omar al-Bashir and others for their alleged ties to deaths of demonstrators in recent weeks. You will recall Bashir was removed from power during a military coup last month.
And president Rodrigo Duterte's hand is strengthening, according to early midterm election results in the Philippines. The controversial president known for his aggressive rhetoric, his brutal war on drugs, is not up for reelection but candidates he backs are leading in races where most of the 12 senate seats that are up for grabs.
The election has been plagued by allegations of vote buying and other irregularities. Official result are expected in the next few days.
As many as 10 million North Koreans could right now be at risk of starvation, this according to a new U.N. report. But as CNN's Paula Hancocks reports, the U.S. and other countries may want to be cautious about sending help.
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: North Korean farmers prepared the land for rice planting. A staple free in the country. This footage was filmed last month, by the United Nation World Food Program, one of the few aid groups allowed to operate in North Korea.
It is morning, but the recent climate conditions bring 40 percent of the population are now in need of urgent food assistants.
NICOLAS BIDAULT, ANALYST, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: What is clear is that the succession of about the --
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-- drought, heat wave and floods this year has bad impact in the crop collection.
HANCOCKS: The report from WFP and the U.N.'s food and agricultural organization says those most at risk are young children and pregnant women. They warn families being forced to cut meals or eat less. It is a warning that is being heard in the highest levels. President Trump spoke by phone to South Korean president Moon Jae-in last week and supported the South's desire to send humanitarian aid.
MOON JAE-IN, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA9through translator): We would have the effect of cracking opened the door form the current stalemates in talks. President Trump expressed the total support on their regard.
HANCOCKS: This despite North Korea's suspected short range ballistic missile tests earlier this month. A violation of U.N. resolutions.
South Korea's unification ministry says they are working on a plan to send aid, bit no specifics yet. For some experts concerns of food and security may be valid, but the extent of the crisis is unclear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something bad is definitely happening. However they should also keep in mind that food prices at free market, free food prices are stable. And it sort of does not agree this idea of famine just about to erupt.
HANCOCKS: WFP has 11 supported food factories in North Korea and provides nutritional assistance to some 770,000 malnourished women and children. Its report is based on information gathered during the assessment in country last month and in late 2018, the WFP does acknowledge it some data is provided by North Korea itself, experts fear that. It could be open to manipulation.
The U.S. has been skeptical of humanitarian aid from North Korea in the past, because they say that Kim Jong-un is perfectly capable of feeding his own people, he just chooses to divert millions of dollars into his nuclear and missile program. The Trump softening of that stands could signal a return to aid shipments as an incentive for Pyongyang to come back to the negotiating table -- Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
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WATT: The founder of WikiLeaks now could be facing two extradition requests, one from U.S. and one from Sweden. When we return, a look at what is next for Julian Assange.
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WATT: Welcome back. I'm Nick Watt. Let's update you on our top news this hour. The U.S. President claims that he's optimistic that the escalating trade dispute with China will soon be resolved. Mr. Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jingping at next months G20 Summit but the markets were jittery after Beijing retaliated with its own tariff hikes. The Dow plunged more than 600 points on Monday. Asian markets extended their losses but stabilized somewhat.
[00:30:13] A UAE official says it has asked the U.S. for help after what looks like an attack on four commercial ships. Saudi Arabia says two of its tankers were damaged on Sunday. It's not clear who's responsible, but the U.S. has warned of threats from Iran and its proxies in the region.
And legal issues are mounting for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is right now being held in the U.K. over bail violations. Remember: he'd spent seven years holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London until his recent arrest.
Sweden is now reopening its investigation into an allegation of rape against Assange. He's also facing an extradition request to the U.S., where he faces charges of conspiring with Chelsea Manning to hack U.S. government data.
Assange has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Mark Zaid is a national security attorney and joins us now from Washington.
So Mark, according to Pamela Anderson, Julian Assange is a courageous truth teller and an underdog. According to a Swedish prosecutor, there is still probable cause to suggest Mr. Assange committed rape and, according to a WikiLeaks spokesperson, Sweden was under political pressure to reopen this investigation. Any truth in that last allegation?
MARK ZAID, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY: Well, I obviously don't have the insight from the U.S. government from behind the scenes. But the reality of the matter, if we look at it both factually and legally.
One, factually, one of his alleged victims certainly has been very outspoken, through her lawyer in Sweden, that she wanted this case reopened. I'm sure that had more influence than anything else on the Swiss prosecutor.
Second, the premise, originally, was that, if Assange had been extradited to Sweden, he would then be turned over to the United States. Well, we don't need that anymore, because we've indicted him here in the United States, and we've submitted an extradition request. We, the United States. I'm not the government. The United States have submitted an extradition request to Britain. And if he were extradited to Sweden to face these charges, it would still be up to the British to decide whether or not Sweden could extradite him to the United States, because it still goes through the same process.
WATT: And as I understand it, the home secretary in Britain now has to make a decision as to whether Britain would extradite Assange to the U.S., where he faces, I believe, a charge of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, or to Sweden. I mean, how do the Brits make that decision? What's the legal basis for any such decision?
ZAID: Sure. So right now, the Swedish have only said they have reopened the investigation. They're going to have Europol, European law enforcement issue an arrest warrant to allow him to be questioned, which as I understand it now, the law permits that to actually happen by a video, if Assange consents. So he doesn't even have to be brought back to Sweden for it.
If Sweden does submit a formal extradition request, there are provisions in British law to decide when there are competing extradition requests. And some of the factors deal with what's the seriousness of the crime? Which country requested the extradition first? And always, it's a determination not on what is the evidence in either underlying crime but whether or not that criminal allegation would have been a crime in Britain. And of course, both what the United States has indicted him for and what the Swedish are investigating him for are crimes in Britain.
WATT: So what -- I mean, is there are a scenario under which he could go to Sweden and then the U.S.? Or the U.S. and then Sweden? I mean, let's just assume that he is charged in Sweden, that they file an extradition request. I mean, I'm just struggling to figure out how this could potentially play out.
ZAID: They are hypothetical fact patterns where he could be indicted in Sweden and then -- I'm sorry, extradited to Sweden and then extradited to the United States, so long as the British government consented. Meaning there can't be a runaround between the United States and Sweden, to sort of circumvent the British system.
So meaning if Britain extradited Assange to Sweden, Sweden would have to then make assurances to Britain that it either would not extradite Assange to the United States or that arrangements had already been made that Britain had consented to the extradition of Assange to the United States, but first, he's going to Sweden to face the rape charges. And then over to the United States.
[00:35:21] So regardless, at least under as I understand British law to be, that Britain has the say so on whether or not Assange goes either to Sweden or, ultimately, to the United States.
WATT: but it seems that nobody can make a decision in this case on any level without being accused of acting under political pressure. I mean, is there a way for the law to triumph here? Somehow?
ZAID: I mean, I certainly hope so. I'm sure, and you're absolutely right, and it's already started, that everyone is on Assange's side as decrying this to be just a political effort by the different governments to squelch WikiLeaks.
I'd say, for one thing, everything Assange and WikiLeaks has been doing has been political in their own right, too. So I'm not quite sure why anyone would be surprised that there would be any politics on the other side, to fight back.
But the reality is, the countries, certainly the United States, is only fighting back because Julian Assange and WikiLeaks is accused of breaking U.S. law.
And again, this is a very narrow indictment of him: trying to conspire, allegedly, with Chelsea Manning to break into Defense Department computers. Has nothing to do with the publication of information, even though it was classified, which is against the law. But that is not what he's being charged with at all.
So it's not a First Amendment issue. It's not a freedom of the press issue. And many national security journalists in the United States have come forward and said that, made it clear that what Assange is accused of doing is not what they, as journalists, do.
WATT: It's a fascinating case. Thank you very much for your time. Mark Zaid in Washington.
Coming up, an emotional day in court for actress Felicity Huffman. Her desperate comments to the judge, as she entered her plea in the U.S. college admissions scandal.
Plus, remembering the late, great Doris Day. Why America's sweetheart never liked her squeaky-clean image.
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WATT: American actress Felicity Huffman has pleaded guilty to giving money to on accused conman to help her daughter get into college.
The "Desperate Housewives" star broke down crying before a federal judge on Monday after admitting she paid a fake charity $15,000; in return, someone surreptitiously corrected her daughter's admissions test.
[00:40:07] Huffman said that she had no knowledge of the scam's alleged mastermind, Rick Singer, apparently handing out bribes. But admitted to doing pretty much everything else that prosecutors accused her of doing.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 30.
The legendary actress and singer, Doris Day, has died at the age of 97. Day was one of America's biggest stars in the Fifties and Sixties with hits such as "Calamity Jane" and "Pillow Talk."
Stephanie Elam has more on the life and career of a Hollywood icon.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over the span of two decades, Doris Day was one of Hollywood's most popular leading ladies. The consummate girl next door, Day's vivacious on-screen charisma and sweet vocals won over fans around the globe.
DORIS DAY, ACTRESS (singing): I'm gonna ring the bell tonight. I'm gonna ring the bell tonight. That's what I'm gonna do.
ELAM: Day's career began as a teen growing up in the Midwest. A singer, she shared the stage with big band giants Bob Crosby and Les Brown.
DAY (singing): Gonna take a sentimental journey.
ELAM: Her first recording hit, "Sentimental Journey," was especially popular with American troops coming back from World War 2.
A gig in Hollywood led to her first movie role, the 1948 musical "Romance on the High Seas."
DAY (singing): I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love.
ELAM: In the Fifties and Sixties, she co-starred with Hollywood legends like Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, and James Stewart. Her films consistently topped the box office, many featuring Day's wide vocal range, like her rendition of "Que Sera Sera" --
DAY (singing): Que sera sera.
ELAM: -- in Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much."
DAY (singing): Whatever will be, will be.
ELAM: Whatever will be, will be became Day's anthem and won an Oscar for Best Song.
But it was romantic comedies like "Calamity Jane" --
DAY (singing): Twenty-three miles we've covered today.
ELAM: -- "That Touch of Mink" --
DAY: Hello?
CARY GRANT, ACTOR: Morning, Miss Mara (ph).
ELAM: -- and the blockbuster, "Pillow Talk," which endeared her to fans as America's sweetheart.
Off-screen, Day bristled at her innocent depiction on-screen, telling host Johnny Carson she wanted to set the record straight.
DAY: The image has been so boring. You know, the virgin and the goody-two-shoes, and all the nonsense, which is -- you know, it's not human.
ELAM: But that same wholesome image helped her win a total of five Golden Globes. In 1969, she was nominated as Best Actress for her TV sitcom, "The Doris Day Show." And 20 years later, she received a lifetime achievement award.
DAY: This business has been a great joy in my life. I've loved every minute of it.
ELAM: In 2004, President George W. Bush presented Day with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor.
After Hollywood, Day dedicated herself to the care of animals through a foundation that bears her name.
DAY: Go to your city shelter today and adopt a pet.
ELAM: Late in life, Day was rarely seen in public. But she still had plenty of admirers. Once a year, in her final act, she emerged to celebrate her birthday, serenaded by a chorus of devoted fans.
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WATT: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Nick Watt. Stay tuned now for WORLD SPORT. You are watching CNN.
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