Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20170525
Intelligence in the investigation that was leaked to the u. S. News media. It has prompted British Police to suspend the sharing of information relating to the attack with u. S. Officials. The british Prime Minister theresa may said she was looking forward to discussing this very troubling issue with President Trump. On the issue of the intelligence sharing with the United States of america, we have a special relationship with the u. S. A. It is our deepest defense and Security Partnership that we have. Of course, that partnership is built on trust. And part of that trust is knowing that intelligence can be shared confidently and i will be making clear to President Trump today that intelligence that he shared between Law Enforcement aem agencies must remain secure. Today the president released a statement saying, im quoting, the alleged leaks coming out of Government Agencies are deeply troubling. I am asking the department of justice and other relevant ae s agencies to launch a complete review of this matter and if appropriate the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Lets get more on all of. This Fred Pleitgen is at number 10 downing. How angry are officials where you sare . Certainly are angry. Theyre in manchester where the bulk of the investigation is taking place. This being unacceptable for some of these leaks that are coming out. We have to keep in mind this is a very, very important and fast moving investigation that the brits are conducting here because they believe there could be a cell here active in this country that at least has the capability to build some very, very deadly bombs of the nature that were used there in manchester. So the authorities there are saying look, at this point in time, we simply dont want to risk giving any information to our american counterparts because we believe thats something that could hamper the investigation going forward. Listen in real quick to what the mayor of manchester had to say. Hes quite vocal on this issue. Lets listen in. My message is it is wrong, it is arrogant, and it is disrespectful to the people of greater manchester, but particularly to the families of those who lost loved ones and those who are injured. So i say to the u. S. Government today from the very top a clear statement must be made that this will stop immediately. So as you hear there, wolf, some really strong word being used there by the mayor of manchester. We can really feel here actually in the last 24 hours how the tone has changed from the brits. The first set of leaks came out, especially the name of the attacker they said we dont believe this hampered the investigation. Now theyre saying something different. Especially those pictures that were leaked and came up in the New York Times of the remnants of the backpack that was apparently used and some of the bomb parts as well. That certainly is something that real angered the british authorities here. Fred, theres some major new developments in the investigation into the manchester terror bombing. Update our viewers. Certainly. It is a very fast moving investigation. Certainly one where the authorities here are trying to get a lot of information very, very quickly because they fear that there could still be that cell active here in this country. They now believe that the explosive device was far too sophisticated for the attacker to have manufactured it himself on his own. They believe that there is a cell somewhere out there. Theyve arrested several more people. Two more were arrested today. Theyre being questioned. Police are saying that the information that theyre getting from these people is very, very important in moving this investigation forward. They realize that they have to do this very, very quickly. The same time theyre relying on the public to be very vigilant. But they are moving forward. You have a whole other angle which is the libya connection and what sort of connection salman abedi had. We have his brother who was arrested in libya for being part of some sort of extremist cell. Libyans saying its isis but were not sure if that is the case. It is an investigation where you see a lot of information come up very, very quickly. Theyre still trying to pinpoint what exactly the nature of the 1 cell is active and how dangerous they might be and who is behind this attack. Fred, were getting some more information from u. S. Officials that this suicide bomber, salman abe abe abedi likely had some training. That set the stage potentially for his carrying out this terror attack in manchester. Fred pleitgen, thanks very much for that report. While President Trump no longer stands by candidate trumps view that nate toe is obsolete, he did revive one of his favorite lines from his campaign, how much nato allies spend on their defense. I have been very, very direct with secretary staltonberg and members of the alliance in saying that members must finally tribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations. If all nato members had spent just 2 of their gdp on defense last year, we would have had another 119 billion for our collective defense and for the financing of additional nato reserves. Lets go to our Cnn International correspondent phil black. Hes joining us from brussels right now. It was sort of an awkward moment, phil, as the president was laecturing these nato allie for not delivering on the 2 dgp commitment. What was the reaction to the president s lecture . As the camera moved across their face its showed some stern expressions, and were pretty sure we saw an eye roll. Its not the ideas that would have surprised him. They knew President Trump had strong feelings on this but it was the precise time and place. It was at the commemoration at two new important memorials. Not just plaques on the wall but historical art facts. One was part of the berlin wall. The other was a fragment of the World Trade Center brought down on 9 11. It was supposed to be a more somber occasion. President trump spoke along those lines. But in between he lectured these other leaders in a pretty blunt way about why he believes they are not living up to their spending commitments. He pointed out that only five of the 28 nato allies make that 2 commitment. 23 do not. He said he wants them to live up to those financial responsibilities and even go back and pay for previous years. It was a very stern lecture from the president. Phil black, thanks for much for that report. Lets bring in senator ben car de oh senator, thanks for joining us. Lets talk about the leaks. How damaging are these leaks, the relations right now between the u. S. And the uk . Well, the lesson we learned from 9 11 is that if we stove pipe information and we dont share it, it can be very dangerous to our National Security and our personal safety. So weve got to repair the damage thats been done. We need uk and u. S. Sharing intelligence information in order to keep the citizens of both countries safer. So the leak is very disturbing. We saw how President Trump handled the classified information in his meeting with the Russian Foreign minister. Thats just the wrong signal as to how we have to keep information thats given to us from foreign sources totally for our own internal use. The president announced he wants the Justice Department to investigate. Look for the suspects in leaking and prosecute them if they get the evidence. You support that . I think absolutely. When youre trusted with classified information, you have a fiduciary responsibility to keep that information confidential and you have by the way a security issue with our own country that you can compromise the safety of not only our sources but our own country. We need to know that. But again, let me tell you its got to start with the president. The president also has to respect classified information. You raise an important issue. This whole uk intelligence issue sharing comes on the heels of the president sharing sensitive Israeli Intelligence with the russian officials and he also by the way told the president of the philippines about specific locations of u. S. Nuclear submarines around the korean peninsula. Both of those very sensitive classified information. So is there now another trust issue with American Allies . Well, look, weve got to straighten this out. Weve got to make it clear that we need to share information. We need to do that because terrorists are a dangerous threat to democratic countries around the world. We have to be able to share intelligence information. So this has got to be cleaned up and cleaned up quickly. But specifically the president is sharing sensitive classified information with russian officials. The president of the philippines. What if anything should be done about that . Well, the president a juis j wrong to do that and it would be nice to hear him acknowledge that he made a mistake. That would be i think helpful to know that he is sincere in making sure this doesnt happen again. At the nato meet innings brussels you heard the president deliver those comments during that dedication of the 9 11 memorial there. He took the opportunity to really blast nato members for not paying their fair share. Is the president doing the right thing or is he alienating nato allies by repeating and lecturing them in public . I think he handled that in an inappropriate way. We have a commitment from our nato allies that they must meet their 2 obligations. They have to have a plan to get to that 2 . We have supported that for a long time. And were on the path to make sure that becomes a reality. The president i think would have been more effective if he handled that in a less public setting. Its quite clear that thats a responsibility. Its quite clear thats an important point for u. S. Participation. That didnt have to be emphasized in a public setting that was dedicated to a more somber occasion. The president not only wants those nato allies to spend 2 of their gdp on defense. He wants money from previous years. He says they were delinquent in previous years. He wants them to come up with money for previous years as well. Is that even at all realistic . Well, no. I dont think thats realistic. We want to make sure we have a path forward. We want all countries paying their fair share. Were right to demand that those countries that are not living up to their commitments to nato that they live up to their commitments to nato. I dont think were going to go back and try to get retroactive payments. I think what we need to do is make sure we have a security blanket moving forward with every country sharing in the burden so that we can protect our mutual security. We need to expand that. Theres a bill just passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today that i authored that will allow us to work with europe to protect our Democratic Institutions with our nato allies and our streak partners and also to deal with russia propaganda. We need to expand our security blanket moving forward and we need to have an understanding as to what every country will contribute. Senator, on another important topic, the attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, the department of justice now says sessions did not need to disclose all of his meetings with russian officials because he was a United States senator at the time. Senators meet as you well know, im sure you do as well, with a lot of foreign officials. Should sessions have disclosed his meetings where the Russian Ambassador to the United States on his security clearance forms . Oh, absolutely. The time of that meeting was so closely connected to the elections. That is something that would be a standard reply when youre doing an fbi background check, whether its for security clearance or his nomination. To me thats information that should have been made available. Senator cardin, thanks for joining us. Now the republican candidate, who President Trump support supported has been charged for body slamming a reporter for asking a serious question. Why voters are angry and what theyre saying about that. Thats next. They just didnt stop and then. Im really sorry. I wrecked the subaru. I wrecked it. Youre ok. Thats all that matters. vo a lifetime commitment to getting them home safely. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Im ryan and i quit smoking with chantix. I tried to quit cold turkey. I tried to quit with the patch; that didnt work. Along with support, Chantix Varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. For me, chantix worked. It reduced my urge to smoke. Compared to the nicotine patch, chantix helped significantly more people quit smoking. When you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. Serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be lifethreatening. Stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. Tell your Healthcare Provider if youve had depression or other Mental Health problems. Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. The most common side effect is nausea. Im so proud to be a nonsmoker. Ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. Many insurance plans cover chantix for a low or 0 copay. Polls are open in montana where a special election is garnering nationwide attention thats in part because last night republican candidate Greg Gianforte was charged with assault after allegedly body slamming the reporter. He was recording his interview when the incident happened. Heres the audio. The cbo score, you know you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill and it just came out. Ill talk to but that later. Theres not going to be time. Speak with shane, please. Im sick and tired of you guys. The last time you came here you did the same thing. Get the hell out of here. Get the hell out of here. The last guy did the same thing. Are you the with guardian . Yes and you just bloroke my glasses chlts. The last guy did the same damn thing. You just body slammed me and broke my glasses. Get the hell out of here. If youd like me to get the hell out of here id also like to call the police. She has the latest. Well, wolf, polls are open and as voters head to those voting booths, they have this to consider. The republican on the ballot now charged with misdemeanor assault for that confrontation with the guardian reporter astonishing audio caught by ben jacobs. Jacobs recounted on cnn what happened to him. It was an open room in the campaign headquarters. It was not marked off in any way. He was making small talk with other reporters and i asked the congressman a question about the Health Care Bill that he said he was waiting until the cbo score came in to make up his mind about health care. O i wanted the opportunity to ask him about that. Gianfortes Campaign Offering a different version of events just after the incident writing jacob shoved a reporter in his face and began asking questions. Jacobs was asked to leave. After asking him to lower the reporter jacobs declined. Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Fakes on grabbed gregs wrist and spen away pushing them both to the ground. Its unfortunate that the aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist kraecreated seen. A team of fox news was in the room recounting that gianforte grabbed jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground. Gianforte then began punching the reporter. The eyewitnesses also stressing that at no point did they witness jacobs acting aggressively. Gianfortes opponent choosing not to address in an interview wednesday night. Is there anything you want to say about the audio . Thats more for Law Enforcement. Will any of this make difference. Seven out of ten have already cast their vote because abtennessee ballotia theyre hoping this will push their candidate over the edge. The Sheriffs Department says he needs to appear in court sometime between now and june 7th on those misdemeanor assault charges. Thanks very much. By the way, were just getting this in from the office of montana secretary of state. He tells cnn its been getting the office has been getting lots of calls from voters wanting to know if they can come in and change their absentee vote. Ballots that have been mailed and received by Election Officials by election day officials cannot change those votes. Thats the answer to that. The House Speaker paul ryan was forced to address this very ugly incident earlier today. There is no time where a physical altercation should occur with the press or just between human beings. That is wrong and it should not have happened. Should the gentleman apologize . Yeah, i think he should apologize. Im going to let the people of montana decide who they want as their representative. Thats not our choice. Thats the people of maryland who choose that. Lets discuss with our panel, shannon is the white house, David Gregory is our cnn political analyst. Shannon, he says this candidate has to apologize. Yeah. I bet paul ryan was hoping it was going to be a quiet week in washington with the president abroad, but no quiet days. He asked the candidate to apologize. The candidate hasnt. You judge whether or not this will have an impact on the election, but if he is elected, in washington a lot of us reporters have recorders. Were going to ask you about cbo scores and health care. Whether he apologizes or not, if he wins, he better get ready for a lot of reporters asking questions with reporters. That was a legitimate question. The cbo came out with their report on the Health Care Bill that was passed by the house of representatives. It was not an unfair question. I was talking about this this morning and i felt a little bit more compassion. He obviously lost his temper. The right thing do is apologize and try to make up for it when it could have a real effect on his election. The fact that he hasnt done until now makes me think that gianforte is not ready for primetime. He may have made a lot of money in his profession, but youve got to respect the role that reporters play. You cant engage in thuggish behavior by going around beating reporters up. You certainly shouldnt be in the house of representatives if you cant clean up your act and you dont have the sense to come out within a few hours and say clearly i was wrong. Hes going to face the criminal Justice System as well. Hes facing a serious criminal charge. Right. Misdemeanor assault. And i dont know, maybe you guys would know a better precedent, a candidate that gets elected while there is a misdemeanor assault charge hanging over them. But i think it will be interesting to see what happens. It also i dont know if this speaks to any bigger climate or if this was an isolated event but there is a sense of this bigger climate of hostility towards the media. The trump rallies attacking the media, people shouting, cnn sucks or get them out. This sort of anger at the media out there. I saw on twitter last night people saying, you know, good for him, you know, thats how we need to deal with the liberal media. It sort of speaks to a broader anger. That statement his campaign put out, gianforte, they referred to this journalist, this reporter for the guardian as a liberal journalist trying to score political points. Its ridiculous. Not only is this a guy who goes around beating up reporters, but he has a guy that works for him who also is an amateur and lies in that statement. Its all very clear. The guy had a tape. I would tell my 11yearolds what the appropriate thing to do here, let alone somebody who wants to be in the house. The overall climate, theres no question its bad. Reporters annoy a lot of people. It doesnt mean you go around hitting them. Its not a commitment to a free press. Weve got to get back to some of our core principles. I agree. Lets talk about this latest ri rift, this tension that has developed between the u. S. And the uk. You heard the british Prime Minister theresa may. Shes not happy that Sensitive Information about the investigation into the manchester terror bombing was leaked by u. S. Officials reported in the u. S. News media. And i think this is just the latest example of the reason countries have been getting increasingly nervous about trying to figure out how to deal with the u. S. Obviously there was information that was reportedly leaked, that the president shared with the russians in the oval office meeting. That caused questions. Even weeks or months after the inauguration, countries in europe were trying to figure out how do we handle the us. Is it our friend . Is it our foe . I think there is a Snowball Effect of concern not just about intelligence sharing but about what information can you trust with the u. S. Even in a phone call or a transcript. The president said today he wants the Justice Department to investigate who the leakers are and prosecute them if they can find the evidence. President george w. Bush, barack obama and now President Trump just in recent memory, president s who have investigated National Security leaks which are serious here, complicated by the fact that the current president is also responsible for leaking classified information to the russians. In one case talking to duterte from the philippines, revealing the location of our nuclear submarines. That is never done. In this case this is probably happening at a different level within law enforce ment, has to be taken very seriously. But it does have been balanced. Im sure within the New York Times and other news organizations like our own here, you make you balance what information you want, what the news is with what the concerns are. I dont think, you know, the uk and the United States issue too closely linked to threat of terror is too important to share information about that this is not going to have a lasting impact. There was an awkward moment when the president started lecturing nato allies for not paying up, for not spending 2 of their gdp. Only five of the 28 nato allies do that. He was very stern on that issue. He doesnt call nato obsolete. It was supposed to be an event that symbolized the unity of nato. It was commemorating september 11th attacks so it was more of a somber tone to the event. Also my colleagues in the room there in brussels have told me before and after the event the president was sort of alien nated. No one was coming up to up and talking to him. Theres a video of him slapping someone on the back and pushing them out of the way to get to the front row which is sort of being circulating and being joked about. The defense minister. Sort of a pat and shove move. I think its going to be tense hours ahead. For a trip thats gone off arguably quite well, were getting near the end of it and now were starting to see things shaky a little bit. What strikes me about this president that is a consistent problem is the failure to take a longer view about what goals are, what challenges are. In this particular case given his history with nato, work this issue privately, get what you want. Hes got to play a longer game in terms of how hes going to want to work with allies. Ive run out of ways to explain why the president chooses to do things the way he does. Gregory, shannon, thanks very much. Coming up, President Trump visiting nato headquarters where he told the nato leaders once again its time to pay up. He lectured them to defense spending, finances. So how was his message actually rceived . Thats coming up next. It creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. Just a few dabs is clinically proven to seal out more food particles. Try super poligrip free. A lower a1c is a lot witabout choices. Tes but it can be hard sometimes, cause different sides of you struggle with which ones to make. Well, what if you kept making good ones . Then . You could love your numbers. Discover oncedaily invokana®, a pill used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. Its proven to lower a1c better than januvia®. Invokana® works around the clock by sending some sugar out of your body through the process of urination. Its not for lowering systolic Blood Pressure or weight loss, but it may help with both. Invokana® may cause dehydration, which could make you feel dizzy or weak when you stand up, so be sure to drink enough water. Important side effects to know may include kidney problems, genital yeast infections, changes in urination, or potentially serious urinary tract infections. As is risk of fracture, or increases in cholesterol or potassium. Ketoacidosis is a serious condition, which can be life threatening. Stop taking invokana® and call your doctor right away if you experience symptoms. Or if you have an allergic reaction, with signs like rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing or swallowing. Do not take if you have severe liver or kidney problems or are on dialysis. Taking with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. The choice is yours. Lower your blood sugar with invokana®. Imagine loving your numbers. Theres only one invokana®. Ask your doctor about it by name. 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and they are supposed to be paying for their defense. This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States. That was President Trump earlier today lecturing nato allies on their defense budgets. Another memorable moment from this, his first trip abroad as president of the United States. Lets discuss with my next guest, Ambassador Richard haas. Hes the president of the council on Foreign Relations chl. There you see the book jacket. Richard thanks for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Good to be here. Little disarray going on today. Let me get your reaction to what we heard from the president. He was lecturing some say even scolding those nato allies. What did you think . Well, those are the accurate words and diplomacy is about trying to get others to do what it is you want them to do. If the goal is to get the allies to spend a bit more, this is unlikely the way to do it. There are also politicians. They have political systems to manage. I also think its the wrong emphasis. Much more important than how much anyone spends is how they spend it. You can get a lot of defense as you know for a smaller amounts of money if you spend that money right. I actually think its the wrong emphasis. One last thing. What he said about the people in particulars and all that, the american taxpayers, thats very reminiscent of the America First message. It suggests what we do for nato is somehow conditional and if they dont do what they need to do were not going to do what weve promised to do. I think this reinforces doubts about american reliability. I assume also the nato allies wanted to hear a Firm Specific very heartful statement by the special continuing to support article five of the nato charter. Tell our viewers why thats potentially very significant. Article five is the bed rock of nato. It essential says an attack on one is an attack on all. And the fact that the candidate donald trump raised questions about americas commitment to nato seemed to introduce a degree of conditionality which he reinforced today. The fact that they didnt hear that is going to be a problem. Both what they heard and what they didnt hear was not a good day for u. S. european relations. So where do we go from here . Lets talk about some of the damaging developments as far as Intelligence Leaks and cooperation between the u. S. And close allies like the uk and isreal for example. There have been some serious strains there, right . Theres strains on that and the only way you can do make good on that is to show in the future you can be a reliable intelligence partner. But weve got a number of other issues. The United States is basically and we supported brexit under donald trump. That raises questions about the other pillar of european security. United states has raised questions about how tough its prepared to be on russia which many of those countries the president was meeting today see as the principle threat to their own security. United states has been reticent to help ukraine in many ways. You add all this up and i think what were likely to see is something of a weakening in the trans atlantic fabric, the whole idea of a trade agreement is not even on the back burner. Its off the stove. The real question is, you know, where do we go from here and its quite possible this will be an era in which the Atlantic Alliance which as you know has been the mainstay of American Foreign policy in the world will essentially no longer be nearly as central or nearly as significant. You saw some of those nato allies, the leaders there, they were not very pleased with what they heard from the president. Earlier the german chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out and she spoke out about her personal experiences living on the other side of the berlin wall and she said this. Let me read to you what she said at the very end of her remarks because it seemed to be, and im curious what you thought, a pretty clear dig at the president. It is not isolation which the building of walls that make us successful she said. But open societies that share the same values. Did you see that as a little indirect attack on the president who clearly wants to build a wall between the u. S. And mexico . I wouldnt call it as a little indirect attack. Its a pretty big indirect attack. Its also not simply a reflection to the wall between the United States and mexico that could happen. But about American Immigration policy. Wolf, this is a very different president and a very different United States. And the trajectory of european societies is very different than the trajectory of American Society suddenly. So theres a big gap. Its very different than the president s trip to the middle east. There the saudis in particular, also the israelis were relieved it was no longer barack obama, someone theyd lost confidence in. Instead was donald trump. This is 180 degrees different. This is a group of people who by and large feel more comfortable with barack obama and what he represented and this is a very different president , a different country and you could just sense the political and almost cultural gap in the room today. Richard, once again, the author of an important book a world in disarray. We see some of that now. Coming up, President Trumps top pick for fbi director now withdrawing his name from consideration. Who he says is to blame. That and a lot more when we come back. Your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. Switch and you could save 509 on auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® your only worry. Ty Customer First guarantee. Will be choosing which filter to use. Get help with hotels, free twentyfourhour flight changes, and our price match guarantee. Travelocity. ® wander wisely. ™ with my moderate to severe crohns disease,. I kept looking for ways to manage my symptoms. I thought i was doing okay. Then it hit me. Managing was all i was doing. When i told my doctor,. I learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of moderate to severe crohns disease. Even after trying other medications. In clinical studies,. The majority of people on humira. Saw significant symptom relief. And many achieved remission. Humira can lower your ability. To fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened;. As have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where. Certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb,. Hepatitis b, are prone to infections,. Or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Just managing your symptoms . Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. Tech when your windshield needs to be fixed. Trust safelite autoglass. For these parents, driving around was the only way to get their baby to sleep. So when their windshield got cracked. Customer we cant drive this car. Tech . They wanted it fixed right. So they scheduled with safelite. Our exclusive trueseal Technology Means a strong, reliable bond, every time. At safelite, we stand behind our work. Bye, bye. Because the ones you love, sit behind it. parents whisper jingle safelite repair, safelite replace. Daily life a guessing game. And bloating made will i have pain and bloating today . My doctor recommended ibgard to manage my ibs. Take control. Ask your doctor about nonprescription ibgard. This just in to cnn. The attorney general of the United States Jeff Sessions is now slamming Intelligence Leaks after the uk announced it would stop sharing information on the manchester terror attack with the United States. A brand new statement from the attorney general says this. Quote, i share the president s deep concern and talked to home secretary state rudd yesterday. We of already initiated appropriate steps to address these rampant leaks that undermine our National Security. Meanwhile, white house staffers are moving on a plan to try to mitigate some very bad press coming from the russia investigation. Theyre putting together whats being described as a war room to deal with the allegations and with future questions over possible connections. Im joined now by our crime and justice reporter. The attorney general Jeff Sessions, hes at the center of this latest storm over his security clearance forms because he did not specifically spell out his meetings with the Russian Ambassador to the United States. Whats the latest . Thats right, wolf. This is the fs 86 form that people who entered the government and would need security clearance fill out. Its supposed to list all of your any foreign contacts, all of this. We learned yesterday that sessions, when he was filling out the form, did not list any of his contacts, foreign contacts and specifically with the russians. We then went to the department of justice and asked questions about it and they basically told us we were told by the fbi that we didnt need to do this, that this was just thats what sessions was told. Thats what sessions was told. That he wasnt required to put in all of these contacts. Obviously created a bit of kind of some noise, because again, were hearing about contacts that Administration People had with the russians, which they have not always been forthcoming about. So now its raising some concerns on the hill and folks over at the hill now want to question sessions again about, you know, some of the contacts that he may have had with russians. And they are acknowledging that the attorney general did not specifically spell out any of his meetings with the russians. Yeah, they acknowledge it but the reasoning seems odd. In the people that weve talked to who are familiar with these forms find it odd that the department of justice would blame the fbi, an fbi investigator was helping sessions fill out this form and the department of justice told us that this investigator said you dont need to list all of the contacts. And weve talked to a lawyer who deals with these matters, deals with fs 86 forms and that lawyer even said its kind of odd for someone to say you dont need to include this. Former Senate Joe Lieberman now has withdrawn his name for consideration as the next fbi director. What are you learning . Were learning that he wrote a letter basically to President Trump saying he was withdrawing. Hes blaming it on, because he because trump is now hiring counsel to represent him outside of the white house and to deal with some of the questions that may come up in the investigation into the russian meddling and potential obstruction of justice. Rumors sort of we had heard just over the weekend that he was no longer being considered but it was interesting to see that today lieberman admitted that he withdraw his name from consideration. He was a partner in that same law firm. Thats right. So there could have been a conflict. That was the explanation. Right. And lieberman is not going to be the next fbi director. Thats right. Theyre working on that. Any other do they seem to be get going lowsecloser. People at the fbi are pretty happy to hear lieberman would not be the next fbi director. They were concerned about the position being politicized and a former politician taking that job. Thanks very much. Good reporting, you and your team. Coming up, a u. S. Official says the manchester bomber likely received isis training in syria months before the attack. What about his connection to libya libya . We have a closer look coming up how isis is trying to regain strength in that region. Hi. And i know that we have phonaccident forgiveness. Gent, so the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight four weeks without the car. Okay, yup. Good night. With accident forgiveness your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Switching to allstate is worth it. As the story behind the manchester bomber unfolds, were now getting a closer isis in libya. 22yearold salman abedi traveled to libya for three weeks before returning to manchester and carrying out the deadly attack. He likely received isis training in syria months before the bombing as well. Lets go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. Youve been doing reporting on this. We focus on the fight against isis in iraq and syria but theres a battle going on in libya as well. Reporter yeah, not to be ignored, thats exactly right. Theres still several hundred isis fighters believed to be in libya. The u. S. Last year pushed them out of a coastal city that had been their stronghold, pushed them south with a bombing campaign, and they are said to be regrouping, said to be trying at least regain their footing. One and before the manchester attack, did he make contact with isis there . Thats a key line of inquiry. Back it up several months and now this new information that he also traveled to syria where he may have gotten some training, raising additional questions. This is actually something that french officials had hinted at a few days ago and now u. S. Officials say they are looking at this thread of intelligence as well along with the british in the lead. If he went to syria, if in fact he got training, support there, this would indicate a much longer trail of radicalization for him and it would indicate that somebody, some Intelligence Service somewhere missed the fact that he had done so much traveling to questionable places. Why did he miss the signals, how did he get out of these areas and back into the uk with nobody asking any questions. Wolf . Yeah, its very significant and it helps to explain why they no longer believe this is simply some lone individual who inspired to carry out a terror plot like this. But it was part of a much wider plot and i think it explains why the uk, British Government has gone on its highest state of alert right now, fearing that another attack could be imminent, right . Well, thats right. You know, what you have to assume in these attacks, in the investigations right from the beginning, you dont have all of the pieces of the puzzle. There may be others out there. One of the key things we have seen time and time again in terror attacks, investigators look at the fragments of the bomb device, they try and determine how it can be made. Would this bomber have had the capacity to do it all on his own and if he did not, who is out there that might have helped him . Wolf . I know the uk intelligence community, Law Enforcement community is very concerned right now about leaks from u. S. Officials. They are holding back on providing a lot of the details of their own investigation. They are deeply irritated. You heard it from the british Prime Minister theresa may earlier today. Barbara starr, thank you very, very much. And thats it for me. Thanks very much for watching. Ill be back at 5 00 p. M. Eastern in the situation room. Up next, in our next hour, new details on the uk bomber, the leaks in the investigation that have so deeply angered british officials. The news on cnn continues right after a quick break. For a lot less than you might think. With a certified preowned mercedesbenz, you can enjoy legendary safety, innovation and performance at a price you can afford. And thats a pretty sweet dream. Visit the certified preowned sales event, now through may 31st. Only at your authorized dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Jeanne only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® the future isnt silver suits anits right now. S, think about it. We can push buttons and make cars appear out of thin air. Find love anywhere. Hes cute. And buy things from, well, everywhere. How . Because our phones have evolved. So isnt it time our networks did too . Introducing americas largest, most reliable 4g lte combined with the most wifi hotspots. Its a new kind of network. Xfinity mobile. Here we go, top of the hour. Im brooke baldwin. Were getting breaking news in with regard to President Trumps travel ban. This is actually the revised travel ban that would keep individuals out of the United States for 90 days from countries including iran, libya, sudan, syria and yemen. This involves the Fourth Circuit. The news is that the Fourth Circuit has just ruled to uphold the block on the