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NEWS STREAM

Two Deadly Attacks in Tehran; California Governor Meets Chinese President For Climate Talks; Conservative Party Losing Ground in Upcoming Parliamentary Elections. 08:00a-09:00a ET

Aired June 07, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:14] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Two deadly attacks in the heart of Tehran targeting Iran's parliament and the tomb of Ayatollah Khomenei. Russia denies that it is behind a growing

rift between Qatar and other Arab nations after a CNN report says Russian hackers planted a fake news story that started the fray.

And we are approaching one of the most critical days of Donald Trump's presidency. What will FBI director James Comey say when he appears in

front of lawmakers. And we begin with breaking news out of Iran. News agencies, they report at least 12 people have been killed in a pair of

attacks on two major sites in the country's capital Tehran.

Now, both attacks are now over. ISIS has claimed that fighters with the Islamic State are behind the attacks. Gunshots could be heard ringing out

from the Iranian parliament. Iranian media report that the attackers gained entry to the building dressed as women and opened fire. They

detonated an explosive device and took several people hostage.

And separately, on the outskirts of the city, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the tomb of the country's former supreme leader. Now both

sites hold huge symbolic significance for the Iranian state. The parliament is the center of Iran's political power. It's seen as a heavily

guarded and fortified cite, and about 60 kilometers away, the tomb of Iran's founder. It is one of the most revered sites in the country.

And viewed together, these attacks that happened today appear to be aimed at the very heart of Iran's values.

Now, for more on this, CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr is with us on the line from Tehran. And Shirazad, we understand that these attacks are now over.

Earlier today, you were there next to the parliament building. What's the situation there now?

SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm not there any more, but back (inaudible) a couple of hours ago where relatively large

crowds gathered around the parliament. But we waited about a half an hour. The - we dispersed them, because of the danger of the (inaudible) for

anybody around that building where the shots were being fired.

Now, by all accounts, everything is over, at least 12 people have been reported killed, and maybe 33 to 34 people have been injured and are being

treated at various hospitals (inaudible) around the parliament.

There would be an intelligence ministry issuing a statement saying that another I think it (inaudible) before it could come to fruition, agents of

the (inaudible) arrested, the culprits. And they could not succeed in carrying out their terrorist games.

So, by all accounts it seems by all accounts it seems that (inaudible) different groups that had planned to conduct terrorist operations at three

different (inaudible) in Tehran. (inaudible) succeeded. And the third one (inaudible) did not succeed and they were arrested before they could do

anything.

Everything is back to normal, according to officials here, they keep insisting that security agents are in charge. And they're taking over.

There are more shootings, apparently. And we just have to wait and see the final tally of the dead and injured. It might change.

LU STOUT: OK, the attacks are over there in Tehran after these two attacks earlier this day. Shirzad Bozorgmehr on the line for us reporting live

from Tehran. Thank you so much.

Now, CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, has been following developments from London. She joins us there now live. And

Christiane, tell us more about these attacks. Where they took place, because these are two very symbolic sites in Tehran.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, and important. And I've been to both of them, obviously, both the parliament and to the

shrine of Ayatollah Khomenei who did found the Islamic Republic during the revolution of 1979.

So, these are very, very important places to attack. And if, indeed, they did storm in the parliament dressed as women, that is also a little bit of

a style that has been used in some of the other attacks in that region.

But, the fact that Iran has been targeted now, and the fact that ISIS is claiming it, is somewhat, you know, a little bit different, because Iran is

so far kind of stood - withstood the terrorism attacks that have been going around that part of the world.

And as you know, Iran is almost 99 percent Shiite, and doesn't have a big Sunni majority, or minority even. And the last time it did thwart an

attack similar to this was back in 2010.

Now, the speaker of the parliament is playing it down, calling it just a minor issue, but it is a major issue. And it does go to the very heart of

Iran and what it believes to be the vangard, as it says over and over again, against the Sunni, these Sunni terrorist groups such as al Qaeda,

such as ISIS.

And that's why it says it is fighting in Syria.

And in February, I sat down for a rather contentious interview with the country's foreign minister when I asked him about Syria and how could Iran

align itself with Assad, who uses chemical weapons, and indiscriminate bombing of his people. And he said it's only Iran that's standing against

ISIS and al Qaeda. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Mistakes were made in Syria as in the past mistakes have been made. The same people who armed

Daesh, armed the terrorist groups, were the same people who armed Saddam Hussein, were the same people who created and armed al Qaeda, that a group

of countries, which the United States calls allies, plus the United States itself, and here I'm referring to President Trump himself during his

campaign saying that Daesh is a creation, ISIS, is a creation of the United States government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So, there you have it. In a nutshell, Iran claims to be the vanguard against this Sunni radical jihadi terrorists al Qaeda and, in

fact, ISIS. And you could see him implicitly blaming Saudi Arabia, the Arab Emirates and the Gulf states, which he says had been arming these

groups over the past years.

And that's the heart of the political and military standoff between Iran and a lot of these countries. And that's what you're seeing playing out,

certainly since President Trump went to Saudi Arabia and in the last day, these countries breaking ties with Qatar as well. And Qatar has a close

relationship with Iran.

So, it's a very, very difficult, strained, and somewhat dangerous situation developing in that Middle East and Persian Gulf region.

LU STOUT: Yeah, so as you point out violent incidents like this are very, very rare in Iran. We have these dual attacks in Tehran this day targeting

two very significant symbolic sites. You point out there's this power play in the region, the Gulf crisis targeting Qatar and indirectly Iran.

So, is Iran turning more into a lightening rod for threats and attacks like what happened today?

AMANPOUR: Well, you can be sure that it's going to have its entire sort of military forces on alert. This is what is has tried to fend off. And this

is kind of its main foreign policy imperative, not to be attacked, not to be vulnerable, by any kind of terrorist groups, or indeed any other

entities, powers that may want to invade.

So, these issues are very, very significant if you look at it from Iran's perspective; and, of course, significant if you look at it from the

metastasizing abilities of ISIS. You know, it's claimed that we don't know whether it was, but it doesn't matter, whoever it is is doing this kind of

- wrecking this kind of havoc. And ISIS has a certain presence in Afghanistan, not huge, there the Taliban are much, much worse, but you know

if it starts to come into Iran it means it's opening another front.

LU STOUT: Yeah. And if it is confirmed that ISIS was, indeed, behind this attack - ISIS, as you point out, has claimed responsibility to that, but we

need to take that with a little bit of a grain of salt, would that be ISIS's first major assault inside Iran's quarters?

AMANPOUR: Possibly. I need to go back and have a look. But yes, basically. It's been threatening and threatening and then perhaps should

be in small incidents that may have been controlled by the Iranians. But if this is the case, it does, it is a new departure from what ISIS has up

to now been able to do inside Iran.

We can see what it's doing in Libya...

LU STOUT: I'm sorry to cut you off. Please continue your thought, sorry.

AMANPOUR: No, no, that's it. You know, it's Syria, it's Iraq where it's coming under pressure, it's fallen back to Libya, but it is trying to

target wherever it can.

LU STOUT: Got it. Christiane Amanour, thank you so much and take care.

Christiane reporting live for us from London.

Now, Qatar, meanwhile, has been pushing back against all those allegations that it supports terrorists. It's neighbor, Saudi Arabia, and eight other

countries, cut ties with the tiny Gulf nation. The UAE has banned its citizens from showing sympathy for Qatar, including showing sympathy on

social media.

Now, those convicted of doing so, they can face quite a penalty. They could face up to 15 years in prison. But not everyone in the region is on

board with the blockade on Qatar. Just listen to what the president of Turkey has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:10:14] RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): Trying to isolate Qatar, which certainly carries out an efficient fight

against terrorism, will not contribute to resolving any problems. I hope that all sanctions against Qatar will be lifted as soon as possible,

because I believe that classifying Qatar as a terror suspect is a severe accusation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now meanwhile, Moscow is denying a CNN report that Russian hackers maybe behind the diplomatic crisis in Qatar. U.S. investigators

believe that Russian hackers planted a fake news report that portrays Qatar as friendly to Iran and Israel. Now, U.S. officials say the goal most

likely to drive a wedge among the U.S. and its allies.

A Kremlin spokesman calls the report fake.

Now, for more on this, let's bring in Shimon Prokupecz from Washington. Shimon, fascinating story and what the sources are sharing with CNN.

According to them, tell us more, is Russia effectively behind the crisis in Qatar?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN PRODUCER: Well, early on the intelligence certainly right now indicates that Russian hackers were behind a cyber breach against

Qatar's state news agency. The hackers planted a fake news report that is now being used by Saudi Arabia, excuse me, and other U.S. allies as a

reason to carry out an economic and political blockade, as you know, of Qatar.

LU STOUT: And do you have any details on what precisely what is that fake news that was planted to target Qatar?

PROKUPECZ: This was a report, it turned out to be fake, that indicated remarks that were attributed to the Emir that were friendly to Iran and

critical of President Donald Trump, you know, this fake news story, this fake report, stayed on the website for some time. It even ran on a crawl

during some of the programming. And it took some time for officials there with the news agency to realize it was fake.

LU STOUT: OK. And according to the source is this the work of the Russian government is a state sponsored campaign of disinformation, or is it the

work of Russian criminal gangs?

PROKUPECZ: Right, so it certainly appears to be some sort of disinformation campaign, right. What's not clear to U.S. investigators and

intelligence officials right now is if the hackers are tied to criminal - like a Russian criminal organization or are maybe Russian security

services, which is the same group that was blamed for the U.S. 2016 election hacks, which we're all now dealing with here in the U.S. and all

the hearings and is under an FBI investigation.

LU STOUT: All right, Shimon Prokupecz, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you and take c are.

Now, Russia has long been accused of hacking as wellas engagement in so- called information warfare. And some have accused Moscow of running a cyber campaign aimed at distorting facts and spreading misinformation.

Now, security expert Ben Nimmo explained to me how that works.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIMMO: Well, if you look at the Kremlin-controlled media, they - there's very often a technique, which I think of a vilify and amplify. You find

somebody who criticizes the person you're targeting and then you give them blanket coverage and you don't put any kind of balancing voice in to

present what would actually be decent journalism.

And we've seen this many times in many different contexts. There's been a lot, for example, about the situation in Ukraine. There was a time when

Russia was having a feud with Turkey, when there was a lot of vilify and amplify tactics used against Turkey. Vilify and amplify has been used

against the people investigating the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine, for example.

And what we saw in the U.S. election last year was that this same technique was used pretty much used throughout 2016.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that was Ben Nimmo from the Atlantic Council's digital forensic research lab speaking to me recently. In the last hour, President

Donald Trump announced that he is nominating Christopher Wray as FBI director.

Now, Wray, he headed the justice department's criminal division from 2003 to 2005. And this development comes after the president, of course, fired

James Comey from that very job. And in just one day, Comey is set to testify before congress about the Russian investigation.

But before that, a top intelligence official will appear on Capitol Hill. CNN's Jessica Schneider has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America's top intelligence official Dan Coats set to testify today amid new "Washington

Post" reporting that President Trump asked Coats to intervene and get the FBI to back off its probe of national security advisor Michael Flynn just

two days after then-FBI Director Comey confirmed the bureau's investigation into potential collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

This after CNN reported last month that President Trump asked Coats to publicly deny the existence of evidence supporting the probe, a

conversation Coats declined to comment about last month.

[08:15:21] DAN COATS, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I don't feel it's appropriate to characterize discussions and conversations with the

president.

SCHNEIDER: Coats is one of four top intelligence officials set to face a grilling today over their encounters with President Trump, including deputy

attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who will answer questions publicly for the first time about the circumstances surrounding the letter he wrote

recommending Comey's firing.

The administration originally pinned the president's decision to oust Comey on Rosenstein's letter before Trump conceded that he'd been contemplating

the move for weeks, in part because of the handling of the Russia investigation.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He made a recommendation. But regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, what message do you have for Jim Comey ahead of his testimony?

TRUMP: I wish him well.

SCHNEIDER: Sources tell CNN tomorrow Comey will refute the president's claim that Comey assured him three times that he was not under FBI

investigation.

TRUMP: I said, "If it's possible, will you let me know, am I under investigation?"

He said, "You are not under investigation."

SCHNEIDER: One source says it is possible President Trump misunderstood the meaning of Comey's words, which were nuanced. Another source familiar with

Comey's testimony telling CNN the former FBI director will describe the interactions with the president that made him uncomfortable, including a

meeting where Comey says Trump pressured him to drop the Flynn investigation. But he will not say whether this amounts to obstruction of

justice.

According to "The New York Times," that meeting prompted Comey to confront Attorney General Jeff session a day later, telling him he not want to be

left alone with the president again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And Jessica Schneider reporting there.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead, countdown to decision day. The UK is now just hours away from its election. We've got the latest on the

race, and it's a tight one, in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong. Welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Now, in breaking news out of Iran, ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks on two major sites in the country's capital Tehran. Both attacks

are now over. Iranian news agencies report at least 12 people were killed.

Now, the attackers reportedly gained entry to the parliament building dressed as women and opened fire. They detonated an explosive device and

took several people hostage.

And separately on the outskirts of the city, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the tomb of the country's former supreme leader Ayatollah

Khomenei.

Now, Iran's intelligence agency says it managed to prevent a third terror attack. And details of that still not known.

And we'll bring you more details on this as they come into us here on CNN.

Now, a body has been recovered from the River Thames in London, believed to be a 45-year-old French national. He had been missing since Saturday's

terror attack at the London Bridge. And he hasn't been formally identified, but his family has been informed.

Metropolitan police say the discovery brings the number of dead to eight. And we have just learned that 29 of the wounded remain in the hospital, 10

in critical care.

Now, after three terror attacks in just three months, security is on the minds of many in the UK. It's something that the leaders of the country's

political parties are addressing as they make a final push for votes before Thursday's election.

The latest polls suggest the opposition Labour Party is closing the gap on the conservatives ,but the prime minister's party remains in the lead.

Now, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has an ambitious schedule on Thursday as he campaigns in England, Scotland, and Wales, but his often unconventional

leadership has presented a unique challenge, winning over Labour's traditional voters. Phil Black has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This man continues to defy many people's expectations. Jessup (ph), J.C., or just Jeremy: Jeremy

Corbyn's faithful can be fanatical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want Jeremy to run the country, because he's a fantastic leader. He cares for everyone.

JEREMY CORBYN, LABOUR PARTY LEADER: There's a great mood and spirit here that we're moving on the win this election. Is that right?

BLACK: This left-wing veteran, who had never held a senior position in the party, became the surprise pick for Labour leader in 2015.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Jeremy Corbyn represents something young, something new, like we're - he's not a traditional career politician.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If only (inaudible) could have been here today to listen, to be there in the presence of this man, to feel that leadership.

BLACK: That's one side of the Corbyn effect. There's another. And you find it by traveling away from the rallies into some of Labour's

traditional heartlands.

This is Bridge End in Wales. For decades, voters here have been sending Labour candidates to parliament. But over a drink in the Prince of Wales,

we learned why that might not happen this time.

Like his parents before him, Aniron Lewis (ph) has always voted Labour. He did it in the last election. Not this time.

We're only a couple of years down the track. What's really changed, do you think, so quickly in that time, do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, it's Jeremy Corbyn.

BLACK: Jeremy Corbyn?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he's the man to run Labour. I don't think he's got enough substance.

BLACK: Here the party and its leader are losing lifetime Labour voters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't trust Jeremy Corbyn. He's (inaudible) interest.

BLACK: Why is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His values are different than mine.

BLACK: People here are talking about an extraordinary political shift, not just abandoning Labour, but doing what was for so long unthinkable, backing

the Conservative Party.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember a time growing up when if I'd said that in the future I'd be voting conservative, I may have been (inaudible) quite

frankly, by my parents.

BLACK: If you were lucky.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Indeed, yes.

BLACK: Jeremy Corbyn entered this campaign a clear underdog. Early opinion polls pointed to a Labour wipe out. Since then, he's closed the

gap significantly. But few outside the leader's circle are talking about a Labour victory.

CORBYN: Let's go and win this thing. If that all right?

BLACK: As the election nears, Corbyn's campaign is still fighting to get past its greatest challenge, growing his personal appeal and credibility

beyond a passionate core group of supporters.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And CNN political commentator Robin Oakley is with us now live from London. And Robin, this is a close race. Will the recent terror

attacks influence the choice voters are goingto make at the ballot box tomorrow?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think almost inevitably, Kristie, the attacks in Manchester and on London Bridge have cast a shadow

over this election and will affect how people vote. Originally, I think it would have been said that thse sort of happenings would have helped the

government of the day. It tends to have been the pattern in past elections in other countries, particularly with conservatives in power.

But this election, there are so many uncertainties, not just in the polling figures, and the terrorist attacks have actually caused a rather rigorous

examination of Theresa May's previously rather admired tenure as home secretary, the minister looking after the police and security matters in

Britain.

And of course what people of the opposition parties are now pointing out, Jeremy Corbyn in particular, is that since 2010 there are 20,000 fewer

police officers in Britain. Now the conservatives are countering that by saying that overall the security budget has been protected and that there

had been 1,900 new security officers in MI-5and so on are being appointed.

But there are criticisms, certainly, of the government that they have allowed police numbers to fall. Whether that will be an election turner or

not is difficult to say, because usually things turn as much on the economy as on anything else.

But this, of course, was supposed to be the Brexit election. And that's the one subject we've heard very little about, Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, this was supposed to be the Brexit referendum of sorts, but this has turned into an election about security.

You mentioned that Prime Minister May's record on security is under scrutiny. She is now under pressure to address security failings right

before the election. And we also know that May and Jeremy Corbyn have two very, very different views on how to deal with terror.

OAKLEY: Well, indeed. He has been accused of opposing virtually every counterterrorist measure that has been introduced in the British parliament

over the last 20 to 30 years. He's got a long record of association with controversial organizations like the IRA, like various Middle East

organizations, Hamas and so on, who he has on occasion called his friends.

So, Jeremy Corbyn is not seen as a natural person by many to be put in charge of the nation's security.

But it has to be said that he's fought a very effective election campaign on other issues, particularly offering people some hope and some excitement

after the years of austerity since 2008 when the government, concentrating on balancing budgets, cutting back on a lot of public services and so on,

he's managed to energize young voters, and he's offering, for example, to cancel tuition fees that they have to pay at universities at the moment.

So, that has helped to swing things towards Labour, and certainly to cut the enormous gap there was between Theresa May's Conservatives and Jeremy

Corbyn's Labour Party at the start of this election.

When she called the election, it looked like an absolute landslide victory for the conservatives. She said give me the majority to negotiate strongly

in Europe on Brexit. And she was expecting to get it.

But this was an election she didn't have to call. She'd already got a majority. She'd already got Brexit legislation through the House of

Commons. Now, Kristie, I suspect she may be wondering if it was a good thing to have called this election at all.

LU STOUT: Absolutely with now the race so very close the last day of campaigning is today. Robin Oakley, always a pleasure. Thank you.

You're watching News Stream. And up next, not all is well in the Trump administration. We are told the president is having a spat with one of his

long-time supporters. Why Attorney General Jeff Sessions is said to have offered to quit. That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:24] LU STOUT: Now tensions are growing within the Trump administration over the Russian investigation. A source tells CNN Attorney

General Jeff Sessions had heated exchanges with the president over the issue, even offering to quit at one point.

Let's go straight to our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns for more on this story. And, Joe, so there's word out there that the U.S. president

and his attorney general are not getting along. What is the White House saying?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For one thing, the White House, quite frankly, is not saying too much about whether the president has confidence

in the attorney general or not, but we're also told that's a reflection of the fact that when people make representations about the president's

thinking on a particular issue he occasionally will tweet something that is completely contradictory. So that is ground that the communications staff

here doesn't really want to step on whenever they don't have to.

But, our reporting really paints a picture of a president who was furious about losing control of the Russia investigation, which is ongoing. And it

happened when one of his most fervent political supporters, his hand-picked attorney general, removed himself from all things related to Russia,

setting off just a chain of events that led to the appointment of a special counsel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Amid a series of heated exchanges in recent weeks between President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, sources tell

CNN that the president's long-time ally threatened to resign if the president no longer wanted him in the position.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would you describe the president's level of confidence in the attorney general, Jeff Sessions?

JOHNS: White House press secretary Sean Spicer declining to answer when asked on Tuesday.

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I have not had a discussion with him about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said that there was a development.

SPICER: I'm asking -- I'm answering a question, which is I have not had that discussion with him.

JOHNS: The White House still has not clarified the president's position. One official telling CNN they wanted to avoid giving a definitive answer.

The president has frequently contradicted his aides in the past. A Justice Department spokeswoman telling CNN Sessions is not stepping down.

JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: I have recused myself in the matters that deal with the Trump campaign.

JOHNS: Tensions between the two men have been brewing since Sessions announced he would step aside from any Russia investigation in March. After

failing to disclose two meetings with the Russian ambassador.

SESSION: I didn't have -- not have communications with the Russians.

JOHNS: Trump was reportedly furious with the recusal, believing it triggered a chain of events that ultimately intensified the Russia probe,

leading to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller last month. The president's anger on display this week when he slammed his Justice

Department publicly for watering down his original travel ban. Something the president had to approve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:35:23] JOHNS: And CNN is being told the president has no intention to accept a resignation from his attorney general, the optics of it would be

bad. There would be an uproar on Capitol Hill and finding a replacement would certainly be difficult, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And, Joe, within the last hour, Donald Trump tweeted his pick for the new FBI director, someone who he says is a man of impeccable

credentials. What do we know about Christopher Wray?

JOHNS: Well, he's certainly right about that. Christiopher Wray was assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal investigations

division of the Justice Department from 2003-2005. He's probably best known as a personal attorney for New Jersey governor Chris Christie during

his Bridgegate scandal problems.

Christopher Wray is well known around the city and in other places. He was a United States attorney in the state of Georgia way back when and has been

in and out of the Department of Justice for quite awhile. So, the president has picked a career prosecutor who had gone into private

practice, representing people in the civil white collar litigation, criminal as well. And a safe pick, especially given the fact that critics

on Capitol Hill had told the president they thought this is not the time to put career politician in the job. It should be someone with more

familiarity with the Department of Justice and its procedures.

LU STOUT: Compelling resume and a quote, unquote safe pick. Joe Johns reporting live for us. Thank you.

Now, despite President Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate deal, the sixth largest economy in the world is taking

matters into its own hands. The deal, the state of California just signed with China just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, California has defied Donald Trump's move to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate agreement by signing a new clean technology agreement with

China. It came as the governor of California attended an energy forum in Beijing.

Matt Rivers has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Krsitie, California Governor Jerry Brown is spending six days here in China focusing on fighting climate change,

including making a stop here in Beijing for a clean energy conference. But he also had the chance to visit with President Xi Jinping of China for

about 45 minutes where the governor said they primarily talked about, as you might expect, fighting climate change. He also said they talked about

making joint investments directly between China and California, and also about California's emerging electric automobile industry.

And on its face, Kristie, it might not seem that strange that the governor of California would meet directly with the Chinese leader, given that

California in its own right is actually the sixth largest economy in the world, but the fact is it is unusual for Chinese President Xi Jinping to

meet with anyone not at the federal level.

But here's the thing, the Chinese leadership, and President Xi Jinping, doesn't do things by accident. Governor Brown is one of the largest, most

vocal critics of the Trump administration's decision to withdrawal from the Paris climate accords. He's been extremely vocal both here in Beijing and

back home in the United States since the Trump administration made that decision.

And so what some analysts are saying is by taking that meeting with the governor, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping is actually trying to send a thinly

veiled message to the Trump administration saying maybe they didn't make the right decision leaving that agreement.

Now, Governor Brown did say that President Xi did not specifically criticize the U.S. decision to leave the Paris climate agreement and so we

asked him why he thought that was.

Why aren't the Chinese being more critical, more vocal, against the Trump administration?

GOV. JERRY BROWN, CALIFORNIA: Well, first of all, just from a diplomatic point of view you don't meet the governor of the largest state of America

and then criticize the president. I don't want to do that.

What we want to do is forge a partnership to deal with the existential threat to the world.

This climate change is not about building your base, it's not about appealing to your party, it's about dealing with the changes that humanity

is facing. And those changes can be very bad, or they could be very good.

RIVERS: And California is certainly not the only state whose leadership say they are committed to fighting climate change moving forward. In fact,

the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group started by the governors of New York and Washington say that they are now 13 states in that alliance committed to

continuing to fight climate change under the terms of the Paris agreement and then some.

And that is, of course, in direct opposition to the Trump administration, since they chose to signal their intent to withdraw from the Paris

agreement.

China at least appears to be willing to work with individual states when it comes to fighting climate change. And so whether that could get in the way

between China and the U.S. being able to cooperate on other issues like national security or trade, well that remains to be seen - Kristie.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Matt Rivers there. Thank you.

Now, the former U.S. President Barack Obama is commending state and local leaders who have pledged to push for clean energy and to fight climate

change, despite President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Climate deal.

Now, Obama, who as president signed on to the accord talked about it in Montreal on Tuesday. He said he was disappointed, but the accord can

still be effective, despite what he called the temporary absence of American leadership.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere, World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

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