the polls are open right now. french voters are electing their next president. it's a choice between two candidates with starkly different visions for the country. in the united states, new details about president trump's transition team, warning his national security pick about dealings with russia. we'll have the very latest from washington. plus, the joy that dozens of parents in nigeria as 82 chibok girls are released from captivity. all the details on their return home, just ahead. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell at cnn world headquarters in atlanta. >> and i'm hannah borges live for you in london.

"cnn newsroom" starts right now. a vote for change is the question france decides is what's happening. all eyes on that nation this day as voters head to the polls for an historic presidential race. fair to say, the stakes are high. polls have been open for about two hours now. voters there set to choose between two very opposite candidates. right now we're seeing francois hollande at the polling station, 10:01 there in paris. again, the polls have been open for a couple of hours now. people going to make a very important decision. they'll choose between two candidates -- centrist emmanuel macron and the far right's marine le pen. le pen opposes the european union and has pledged to leave nato. macron, on the other hand, has led in the polls, but his

campaign said friday that it was a victim of a hack that was meant to sway the vote. and this is, of course, the place to be to get all the information you'll need to know. cnn covering this election with our correspondents at some of the polling places where voters will decide their next president. melissa bell live in paris and isa soares standing by also. let's start with melissa in the french capital. what is the mood of voters you've spoken with? set the scene for us, if you could. >> reporter: there is a sense, i think, as they head to the polls in polling stations like this one in the 18th district of paris, that this is a momentous vote that they're casting. these two very different visions of what france should be, the two explained a moment ago, george. they know what they are facing and they know that every vote will count. now, let me just show you how these polling stations are organized. you can see people cuei iqueuei there to cast their ballots. you have a booth with two pieces of paper, one with marine le pen

and one with emmanuel macron. you put one envelope inside and then queue to put your vote in a box. so, it is a slightly old-fashioned system, but there is also this sort of sacred part of it. people coming here know this is a democratic process and important in any case. but this election is like no other. and what voters have been telling us as they come here is they have a sense of how much it mattered, how important it was to get to the polling station today. >> melissa bell in the french capital, stand by, if we could bring in isa soares outside the major cities there. you're in a national front stronghold for marine le pen. what is the mood there? >> reporter: well, let's just say, george, they're not opening the champagne bottles just yet. there is no celebration. but specifically here in a french marine le pen stronghold, where she began her campaign and is expected to end it, she's expected to vote in the next hour or so. let me give you a sense of the

mood. you've got a lot of media waiting for marine le pen, expected to arrive in an hour or so. families as well are waiting to catch a glimpse of the front nationale leader. she will be voting in the school here behind me. it is a very stronghold. and this for 70 years, george, was really led by the socialist party. this was a once very popular and very well-to-do town, a coal mining town. that has changed. the last three years it has been led by front nationale. they've really tapped into the hearts, the minds, indeed the votes of people here. for people i've been speaking to, they've felt disillusioned throughout the years where the ruflt political elite, the political party's been in charge, they felt their voices weren't heard and many tell me they will be voting for marine le pen. in fact, many were holding back somewhat, keeping their cards very close to their chest when we've been asking them which way they'd vote, but when pushed on it, the majority saying they would vote for marine le pen.

we'll see whether those macron leaks will sway some of the undecided voters here in northern france, which is le pen heartland. >> it is interesting to get that context about that area. could be compared, for our viewers here in the u.s., to the rust belt that played a very important impact in the u.s. election. let's bring in melissa bell, because you touched on this, isa, the late news of the hacks of the macron campaign. there's not a lot we can say much more than that with respect to reporting restrictions, but is there something playing into this? is it having an impact on voters from what you're hearing? >> reporter: well, it is one of the big questions. and of course, as you say, we face those reporter restrictions. so do the french media, of course, so this is the slightly odd situation the french find themselves in. they know there's been a secret of series of leaks, macron's

campaign itself confirmed that, explaining some of the documents leaked were genuinely hacked, correspondence from within the campaign team. other documents, they warn, within that trove of documents, were fake. but of course, we, the journalists covering this election and the french voters coming out to cast their votes today aren't able really to share or talk about or broadcast the contents of the e-mails, so you find yourself in this sort of in the dark, really. i mean, it's been compared, george, to the dnc hack. but of course, by the time americans went to the polls, the c contents of the clinton camp e-mails were known. it is like the last set of e-mails, you'll remember, that we'd seen just before americans went to the polls. the investigations were revealed, but americans didn't know the contents, so it is much more similar to that. the french are voting today without knowing precisely how damaging or not the documents themselves are. >> okay, melissa, so that's a

question, will this play into the minds of voters? isa, this question for you, look, will it play into the minds of voters, that could obviously help the le pen campaign, but no one knows at this point what voters are thinking regarding this latest information about the hack. another question, though, voter apathy, people who just decide not to vote, that could play into this. and if you could explain to our viewers -- >> reporter: very much. >> -- just to give a sense of what it means to vote nil or vote blanc. how could that factor into all this? >> reporter: you know, speaking to people here yesterday in terms of what the macron leaks, how that was playing out, there wasn't the electoral commission really asking people not to report on this, media. and the majority of people here were aware what was happening, george, but the majority of them said they wouldn't be influenced whatsoever by the leaks. in fact, many saying they had already made up their minds, even though they didn't know the content of those e-mails. so people here, particularly in

northern france, they know exactly who they're voting for bh. what i would say, though, when i asked people about 48 hours ago which way they would go, there were a couple who were undecided voters or some saying they were abstaining, so voting nil, and that was interesting, because you couldn't really tell whether they were holding back, similar to what we saw with brexit, the silent brexiteers or whether they were silent marine le pen supporters, so hard to tell. there is huge concern over the macron leaks and really those people who are undecided, which way they may go. of course, we're expecting marine le pen, one final shot here, marine le pen to be arriving within the hour or so. press and family is waiting. she is ending a campaign where she started it here, where she's won the hearts, the minds, and hoping, the votes of the people of northern france. george? >> isa sauers live and melissa bell at the french capital at the polling places where people are making this very important

decision for france. we appreciate the reporting from both of you. we'll stay in touch with you as well. well, the alleged hack of the emmanuel macron team came just days, of course, before this final round of voting and has drawn comparisons to suspected russian hacking in the u.s. election. the kremlin, however, taking a proactive stance, denying it was involved and calling allegations that it might have been "pure slander." for more on how moscow's reacting, here's cnn's matthew chance. >> reporter: well, the reports of a massive hacking attack on the campaign team of emmanuel macron, the french presidential candidate, has drawn immediate comparisons with allegations in the united states that russian-backed hackers tried to influence last year's presidential election there. u.s. intelligence agencies say they have evidence that russian hackers broke into democratic party servers and released sensitive e-mails intended to damage candidate hillary clinton. the macron team say that's

exactly what's happened to them with this data dump designed to undermine his presidential campaign. they've been at pains not to accuse anyone directly, but previous cyber attacks on the macron team have been blamed on russian-backed hackers. this time, the kremlin has headed off any suggestion it was involved. the kremlin spokesman telling cnn that these, like other similar accusations are based on nothing and are pure slander. well, the kremlin says it has no preference which candidate wins the french presidency, but president putin met the far right nationalist candidate, marine le pen, last month, and russian banks have provided her with millions of dollars in loans. matthew chance, cnn, moscow. >> matthew, thanks very much. dominic thomas is a professor at the university of california los angeles and joins me now live from paris. dominic, good to see you. finally, the day is here.

these two candidates are polar opposites, though, a stark contrast for the people of france to choose between. just sum up, if you can, how momentous today could be for france and for europe. >> right. it's been an extraordinarily complex electoral campaign. back in 2002, marine le pen's father made it through to the runoff. since then, marine le pen took over the party in 2011, did quite well in the 2012 elections, but compared to 2007, the last time her father was there, she has doubled in terms of millions of voters the number of people that are supporting her party. she in the last debate that took place before the second round promised to return the keys of france to the french by providing border control, a return to the french frank, trying to force a referendum on

the european union. and emmanuel macron is absolutely opposed to all of these kinds of questions. he's been compared to tony blair and to some of the other young, centrist, center-left leaders that have emerged in recent years, and offers a completely different view of a more open, more diverse, more multicultural france than the model of marine le pen. >> tactical voting, dominic, they say, don't they, that in the first round you vote for who you want and in the second round you vote for who you don't want in the hope that who you really, really don't want gets in, and who is set to benefit the most from these sort of tactics? >> right. well, this is the really interesting thing about it, is that ultimately now, this time around, yet again, as in 2002, more people will be voting for a candidate in order to block another one than the other way around. and i think psychologically, this has a tremendous impact. it's all about the numbers. marine le pen, who is extremely unlikely to win this election, will want to demonstrate not just in percentage points, but

in terms of the millions of voters that she's been able to obtain in the second round, that she is the, if not one of the most important political parties in france. and to take that momentum into the parliamentary elections in five weeks' time. and emmanuel macron, let's not forget, does not have a party. he has a centrist movement that he has marketed as neither left nor right. and as he heads into the legislative elections in just five weeks' time, he will want to argue that the people who supported him in this second round runoff stage did not just support him in order to keep marine le pen out, but that they also believe in his new way of thinking about politics in france that is moving away from this left-right divide in order to propose a new, centrist and democratic model. and so, the turnout for him will be extremely important as well. >> it's extraordinary, isn't it, the fact that as you were just saying, emmanuel macron doesn't have a party, marine le pen has

stepped away temporarily, at least, from her party. and yet, they have galvanized the electorate somewhat. are we expecting high turnout or a lot of people to spoil their ballots, perhaps? >> right. well, it's not just -- and to n absta abstain. in the last 40 years, turnout in the second round has been higher. this time around, it is unlikely to be as high as the first round and that creates uncertainty. the only path to the presidency for le pen is if there are massive abstentions or that people destroy their ballots or don't complete them. it's still an incredibly difficult path for her mathematically. the problem is, of course, is that this lack of sort of turnout, the big question is really how this will translate into legislatives in about five weeks' time. people are already fatigued with this long and divisive campaign, and as we go into the legislatives, the outcome there is even more unpredictable. we should know within a few hours how the turnout is looking, but all indications are that a substantial number of people will stay away from the polling booths.

>> fascinating stuff. we are expecting both candidates to vote in the next couple of hours and we'll, of course, stay across that. dominic thomas live for us in paris. thank you. now, still coming up on "cnn newsroom" this hour, was michael flynn warned about contacting russia's ambassador before he spoke with him late last year? what members of president trump's transition team are now saying, next. plus, donald trump makes his first overseas trip as president later this month. why the first three stops on his tour are especially significant. stay with us for more. introducing listerine® zero alcohol™. it delivers a whole mouth clean with a less intense taste. so it has the bad breath germ-killing power of this... [rock music] with the lighter feel... of this. [classical music] for a whole mouth clean with a less intense taste... ahhh. try listerine® zero alcohol™. also try listerine® pocketpaks

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." new details are emerging about whether the trump transition team warned former u.s. national security adviser michael flynn about the risks of any contacts with russia's ambassador. a former u.s. official tells cnn that transition members alerted flynn in november, weeks before he then spoke with the ambassador about u.s. sanctions on russia. more now on this from cnn's athena jones. >> reporter: yeah, this reporting is shedding more light on just what the trump transition team knew about flynn's contacts with the russian ambassador. there were concerns among

trump's transition national security team that flynn didn't fully appreciate or fully understand the motivations of ambassador kislyak. that is why you had the head of trump's national security team, marshall billingsley, ask the obama white house to provide a classified cia report on the ambassador to provide to flynn to read ahead of his conversations with kislyak. one thing that isn't clear is whether flynn actually read the document. another tidbit we're learning, confirmed by my colleague, jeff zeleny, is that a former u.s. official said that the obama white house became troubled regarding the trump transition's handling of classified information. this official said that some highly sensitive documents were copied and removed from a secure room in the transition headquarters in washington. and so, as a result of that, some obama officials decided that some documents would only be allowed to be viewed at the white house.

so another interesting tidbit. one thing i should mention in all of this is that we're getting some pushback on this, this narrative, from some former trump transition officials who have said this is revisionist history and, "i'm sure everybody is telling the fbi they warned against it," meaning that they warned flynn against talking to kislyak. so, interesting details emerging in this story. back to you. >> athena jones, thanks for the reporting. scott lucas now joining us from birmingham, england, professor of international politics at the university of birmingham and founder and editor of "ea world view" with perspective this day. good to have you with us. the question, is this inside baseball, that flynn was warned about contacts with russia's ambassador but went ahead with it anyway? is this something that will make a difference with americans at this point, or is this simply more of mr. flynn's legal woes? >> well, it's trying to

rearrange the chairs before we have some hearings next week, which could be far more significant than just inside baseball. let me explain. it is quite likely that sally yates, the former attorney general, will testify next week in a closed-session hearing that she, too, warned the administration that flynn was susceptible because of his contacts with the russians, including the discussions with the ambassador, sergey kislyak. now, that's not going to look good, so i suspect that many in the trump transition team and administration are trying to distance themselves from flynn. look, we had nothing to do with this. he spoke off of his own accord to the ambassador. he went rogue. but here's the problem. when flynn spoke five times on december 29th, before trump took office, with kislyak, he spoke specifically about new sanctions that had been put on moscow by the obama administration. question -- did flynn go to kislyak and talk about what might be done to limit those sanctions, just off his own accord, or were there others in the trump team who are now in the trump administration who

knew about those conversations in advance? >> it's a big question. obviously, a very important investigation that's taking place. i want to pivot just a bit, talking about some of the same characters. the u.s. president, he'll clearly, and his team, will be watching what happens in france closely, this very important election that's playing out. and the former president of the united states, barack obama, also will be watching, given that he actually recorded a short clip urging french voters to back macron. both seem to have a stake in what happens in france. how important is this? >> well, it's important not just to the u.s., it's important to the rest of the world. in part, it's important because of the mood music. and by mood music, i mean worries about the economy, questions about immigration, changing populations in countries, and that's something that in france specifically marine le pen, the far right candidate of the national front, has capitalized on to try to put herself into the mainstream. i don't think she will win today

personally, but if she gets a sizable vote, it raises more tremors here on the idea that the old idea of the european project, the idea of trading, looking outward rather than inwards, can be -- it's in danger because of hard right opposition from those who claim nationalism. now, without linking le pen to trump specifically, donald trump has expressed admiration for her. and on top of this, it appears that we've got russian interference in the french election as we may have had russian interference in the u.s. elections. so, it's that combination of hard politics, influence operations with genuine worries about the economy and the future of europe and france that are the backdrop to this election. >> it is important to see how this plays out. just an editorial note, though. at this point, french officials not pointing the finger directly at any specific power, though there have certainly, scott, been many parallels drawn, many people looking at what happened in the u.s. with the hacking

investigation and questioning whether that could be the same with france. we'll certainly be waiting to hear more from investigators about what's happened there in france. scott lucas live for us in birmingham, england. thank you so much for being with us. donald trump makes his first overseas trip as u.s. president later this month. he will head to saudi arabia, israel, and the vatican. he'll also stop off in brussels and sicily for a nato and g7 summits respectively. the trip itself is aimed at reassuring top u.s. allies and also to show that a new era of u.s. foreign policy is indeed under way. let's get more on this now from cnn's nic robertson. >> reporter: yes, certainly a big splash for a first trip for president trump, saudi arabia, israel, meeting the pope, on to nato to meet with leaders in brussels, then the g7 in italy. in total, if you add it up, approximately, he may meet as many as 37 different leaders. he's expected to meet with the gcc, the gulf leaders, when he's

in saudi arabia, nato, of course, 28 member nations, including the united states, g7, six other nations apart from the united states. but what will be the focus when he goes to saudi arabia? very likely tackling the threat of isis. we heard from general mattis, now defense secretary james mattis, when he went to saudi arabia in april, barely a month ago, saying that saudi arabia is a key pillar in the u.s. security structure within the region. the united states looking to saudi arabia as a key gulf ally there for security, and indeed, on building up strength and support to tackle the problem of isis. and israel as well. like saudi arabia, both countries there were very unhappy, to say the least, with president obama when he struck that nuclear deal with iran, so we can expect iran to be watching the early part of trump's trip quite closely, because undoubtedly, israel and saudi arabia are there, both countries there not particularly

friendly towards iran, to say the least. and it was interesting to hear what defense secretary mattis had to say when he was in saudi arabia, and he referred to this directly. he said, it's key to give support to strengthen saudi arabia against iran's mischief in the region. so, those will likely be some of the key threads we'll hear emerging there, as well, that trip to israel. president trump has been on the record saying that he wants to support a peace initiative between the palestinians and the israelis. so, we can expect that to be on the agenda there, perhaps when he gets to meet with the pope, they can iron out some of their differences. the pope has been critical of president trump during his campaign, at least. nato meeting there, the key will be for president trump to know the nato nations are contributing their fair share of costs. and at the g7 in sicily, there we're going to likely hear the combined view about how the international, the g7 nations

should tackle russia, should tackle syria, so some of the big global issues getting on the table there. nic robertson, cnn, london. >> nic robertson, thank you. bringing you the news from the united kingdom and the united states this hour, this is "cnn worldwide," and the next story ahead, the white house's vetting process. it's under scrutiny after president trump's second choice for army secretary suddenly withdraws over this past remark. listen. >> you poll the psychiatrists, they're going to tell you that transgender is a disease. plus, after more than three years in captivity, dozens of nigeria's missing chibok schoolgirls are now going home. we'll have more on the negotiations that freed them as "cnn newsroom" continues.

4:31 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. welcome back to viewers here in the united states and around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom." it is good to have you with us. i'm george howell in atlanta. >> and i'm hannah vaughan jones live in london where it's 9:32 in the morning this hour. voting is under way in france in the country's presidential election. the final round of balloting comes two weeks after a preliminary vote narrowed the field to just far right candidate marine le pen and the centrist emmanuel macron. the outcome could impact european politics for years to come. former palestinian prime minister ismail haniyeh is the new leader of hamas.

hamas is the militant palestinian group that governs gaza. in the philippines, investigators are trying to determine who set off two bomb blasts that killed two people and wounded six others. the explosions happened hours apart in the capital manila on saturday. they coincided with a summit of southeast asian nations, but police say there is no indication of any link to terrorism. libyan coast guard says it rescued more than 160 migrants off the coast of tripoli on saturday. battalion officials also report a busy weekend across the mediterranean. they tell reuters news agency, around 3,000 migrants were rescued saturday trying to reach europe. dozens of nigeria's missing chinnon schoolgirls are finally free. officials say 82 of the chibok girls were released after successful negotiations between the government and the terrorist group boko haram. they're believed to be from the group of 276 schoolgirls stolen from their village three years

ago. cnn's isha sesay has been covering this story extensively and has the latest for us. >> reporter: after more than three years in captivity, it is the news that people around the world, not to mention the families, have been waiting for, that 82 of the missing chibok schoolgirls have finally been released from boko haram captivity. according to treats put out by the nigerian president bioharri, this release came about as a result of lengthy negotiation and there was a swap of boko haram suspects that was done in order to free these girls, who will be transported to the capital of nigeria on sunday, may 7th, where they will be welcomed by the nigerian president. the nigerian president also in tweets goes on to say that a number of people were involved in this effort to free these girls. he thanks a number of individuals, including the government of switzerland, the international committee of the red cross, local and

international ngos alongside security agencies of nigeria. this really is a momentous moment with three years having gone by. some had begun to doubt whether any more girls would be released. as you may remember, some 21 were released in october of 2016, and after that, there had been largely silence. we had heard no word of negotiations to bring about the release of more girls. but here we are on this day celebrating the news that 82 more girls have now been freed and will shortly be reunited with their families. of course, amid the joy, amid the celebration, we must remember that there are still well over 100 girls who remain in boko haram captivity, and there is no word as to whether negotiations continue to bring about their freedom. so, that must be borne in mind. but for the families, the families that await news as to whether their children as part of this 82, this is just an incredible day filled with so much emotion as they look

forward to being reunited with their loved ones, and we look forward to bringing you just more coverage of their re-entry to normal life. these girls have been through so much in their three years in captivity. we know they've undergone tremendous hardship while they've been away from their loved ones, and the road to recovery will be a long and a difficult one, but on this day we celebrate the fact that they are finally free and they will shortly be reunited with their loved ones. isha sesay, cnn, los angeles. >> isha, thanks for that reporting. earlier on, my colleague, natalie allen, spoke with nigeria's former minister of education about the impact that social media had on bringing these schoolgirls back home. >> i can't even describe how i feel when the news first broke. i couldn't hold myself back. and so, i immediately tweeted

that i am fully praying right now that this news be true. and then i began to walk and the more i walk the more it come out that the news was actually real. and at that point in time, my heart was pounding so badly. i mean, ee was palpitating. i just couldn't take it all in. >> yeah. >> i mean, we've had expectation, but for it to actually then become true, that was emotionally a very -- >> hard to describe, yeah. i can't imagine. while you talk, i've got chills right now, goose bumps, because the world got behind your effort, so many people's efforts, to say, no, this isn't acceptable, bring back our girls. and the world held it up. and this is happening. so, help us understand how the

power of social media with the government is calling these girls to come home. >> you know, the power of social media was in the fact that globally, the whole world took ownership of the problem of our chibok girls. so, no matter where you recite it or you recite, you were drawn to the very tragic story of girls who went to be educated and ended up being abducted by terrorists. however, that was as far as it went. when social media then moved on, and the rest of the world carried on with other priorities, it simply took those of us in nigeria who had been the voices that began to call attention to the problem that had befallen these girls, to

continue to persist. if there was no persistence in terms of local ownership of the problem, it would never have resulted in this series of positives that we have seen. and i am so grateful to god. i really am, because it took a lot of faith for every one of us that's been advocating for oyer chibok girls to continue, even when the rest of the world moved on to other priorities. >> it is good news to report that they have been returned. obviously, there are still others who are missing. now to the white house. the vetting process is now being scrutinized. multiple nominees for key government positions have been criticized, and now the president, donald trump, his second pick for army secretary, has withdrawn from consideration. mark green blames what he calls "false and misleading attacks" against him. our jessica schneider picks this story up from new york.

>> reporter: the trump administration has repeatedly been criticized for its vetting process. well, now the latest nominee for army secretary has been forced out, once again raising the question, is the trump team getting this vetting process right? mark green is a victim of his own words. >> if you poll the psychiatrists, they're going to tell you that transgender is a disease. >> reporter: green has also made critical comments about muslims and is a self-identified creationist who once delivered a lecture arguing against the theory of evolution. now the west point grad, who was president trump's second choice for army secretary, is taking his name out of consideration. the first pick withdrew, citing financial entanglements. green is just the latest problematic pick for president trump, drawing doubts about the administration's vetting process. questions are also being raised about 28-year-old steven munoz. he was hired for a top job in the office of protocol at the state department on january 25th, but police records

obtained by cnn show multiple people accused munoz of sexual assault while a student at the citadel military college. the alleged victims came forward to college officials and police between 2010 and 2012. munoz was never charged with a crime, but an investigation by the citadel revealed that based upon a preponderance of evidence, the college concluded that certain assaults likely occurred. munoz's lawyer maintains the allegations were unfounded, it was an overreaction by the citadel to even investigate and ultimately no charges or lawsuits were brought against him. the state department is standing by munoz and its vetting procedure. a simple search would have revealed the allegations. the white house and state department did not comment on whether they considered or knew about the allegations. perhaps the most serious case of questionable vetting, the appointment and subsequent resignation of former national security adviser michael flynn. the retired general accepted $45,000 in speaking fees from russian state tv in 2015,

despite being warned by the pentagon not to accept money from foreign governments. and flynn initially failed to register as a foreign agent for work he did for a turkish-owned company. president trump deflected responsibility, pinning flynn's approval on former president obama. >> he was approved by the obama administration at the highest level. and when they say we didn't vet, well, obama, i guess, didn't vet, because he was approved at the highest level of security by the obama administration. >> reporter: and president trump is right. the obama administration granted michael flynn a security clearance, but flynn resigned from that post in 2014, a year before he was paid for that speech in russia. it's something that a second background check, if done by the trump team, may have picked up. >> that report from cnn's jessica schneider. well, president trump's former national security adviser, michael flynn, is also under scrutiny for his contacts with russia's ambassador to the

u.s. jack barski is a former kgb spy. he spoke with cnn's ana cabrera about general flynn. >> i'm absolutely blown away by the naivete of a senior person, such as mr. flynn, not understanding that when you get in touch with somebody in an official capacity from russia, or in the old days, the soviet union, you might as well talk to their secret service. i mean, these types of individuals are either directly associated with one of their services, or at least report back. this has always been like that in the soviet union. it's been like that in my days and that hasn't changed. >> so, you think that it's very likely that flynn should have known even after he was warned as well that what he was saying could be scrutinized, not just by u.s. authorities, but also by

russian authorities? >> i can't even grasp how somebody with that kind of an impressive background of service and intellect can fail so miserably. i mean, it goes sort of along the line that i found americans to be rather naive when it comes to the world. we think everybody should like us and we sort of like everybody. there's a lot of naivete amongst the general population. i just did not expect this to extend to some of the highest level in government. >> the saga continues. jack barsky there. coming up on "cnn newsroom" this hour, germany's past catches up with the present, forcing thousands from their homes in the city of hanover. we'll explain why after this break. ugh, no bars. oh no, looks like somebody needs a new network. when i got this unlimited plan they told me they were all the same. they're not. verizon has the largest, most-reliable 4g lte network in america. it's basically made for places like this.

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it is decision time in france. voting in the french presidential election has been well under way, and there you can see live pictures of the

favorite, the front-runner at the moment, emmanuel macron. his movement has taken france and the rest of the world by storm. he doesn't actually have a party. it is just a movement, but he is there in northern france, on the coast of the english channel, greeting his supporters and well wishers, no doubtedly going into the polling station to cast his ballot. he is up against marine le pen of the front national, as she has a lifetime of political activity. he, though, is relatively inexperienced, just 39 years old. he has played a role in the interior ministry in france before, but as an independent centrist candidate, he is slightly unknown, and so, it will be interesting to see how the french people cast their votes today. first round of voting, he did do quite well, and he is expected to garner a lot of the support that would have initially gone for his opponents, other than marine le pen, in the second round of voting, where there's tactics that come into play, people who don't want the

national front leader to take the palace and win this presidency. it is expected that they may, indeed, now vote for emmanuel macron. there he is in northern france. polling places across the country, as i said, have been open for several hours now, and we expect to see marine le pen also casting her vote in the next hour or so as well. and now we turn our attention to a mass evacuation under way in hanover in germany. right now, 50,000 people are leaving their homes so that experts can defuse suspected bombs dating back to world war ii. they were uncovered during construction works. hanover itself was heavily bombed in 1943, and finding unexploded ordinance more than 70 years later is not unusual. >> thank you. back now in the united states, the state of california once had the distinction of having the worst drought in the

u.s. now that designation goes to florida. meteorologist derek van dam is here to tell us more. >> they're breathe a sigh of relief on the west coast in california. >> for sure. >> now when we focus on florida, they have a similar problem, although it's not been as long of a drought, but you've got to see what this has ultimately turned into. there are several dozen fires that are active across the state right now, about 29 of which are actually 100 acres or more. and what's interesting to note is that arsonists have actually started approximately 320 of these wildfires since the beginning of the year, and that's burned nearly 20,000 acres. you're looking at a fire just outside of the tampa region, and this is responsible along with some of the other fires for closing temporarily interstate 75, as the smoke drifted across that region, prohibiting motorists from traveling across that major, major artery throughout the state. so, look at the updated drought

monitor. we have at least 5% of the state -- that's central and southern florida -- with extreme drought conditions. if you recall, parts of california had extreme to exceptional drought conditions not six months ago. of course, that's now abated, thanks to the heavy rainfall. there are 29 active wildfires, over 100 acres, and so far, since the beginning of the year, over 90,000 acres have burned across the state of florida. and again, it is all being made worse by the ongoing drought conditions throughout the state. now, just 1,000 miles away, we have a completely opposite weather scenario taking place, and that is the major flooding that continues across the mississippi river. we have 20 major flood stages that are being read across the region. good news is, the storm system responsible for the flooding across the central u.s. continues to move on, but i've got to show you this, george. check that out. that is snow in upstate new york -- >> buffalo! >> and it is the middle of may. >> yep. >> wow. >> they're used to snow there. >> welcome to spring. >> derek, thank you. >> thanks.

>> "newsroom" back after this. [car engine failing to start] [wind blows] yo- wh- ah- he- [gas pouring] [slurps loudly] [engine starting] [loud slurping continues]

albreakthrough withyou back. non-drowsy allegra® for fast 5-in-1 multi-symptom relief. breakthrough allergies with allegra®. welcome back. it is 10:55. live in france this hour, this

live image where the centrist candidate, emmanuel macron, is going to cast his vote in this historic presidential election. again, keeping in mind, macron was a surprise candidate, created an independent political campaign. that is different from many of the traditional campaigns that opposed him, but now he is there in the lead, obviously, along with marine le pen, the two leading candidates who french voters will decide between. >> emmanuel macron there just being greeted by many supporters in le tuoquet in northern france. he's taken the country by storm in the campaign. he is about to cast his vote in this crucial second round of the french presidential election. we'll have plenty more on this next hour, but that is a wrap of our first hour here at "cnn newsroom." i'm hannah vaughan jones live in

london. >> and i'm george howell live in atlanta. more news after the break. stay with us. hey you've gotta see this. c'mon.

no. alright, see you down there. mmm, fine. okay, what do we got? okay, watch this. do the thing we talked about. what do we say? it's going to be great. watch. remember what we were just saying?

go irish! see that? yes! i'm gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. making history. hours from now, france will have a new leader. will it be the far right's candidate, marine le pen, or the centrist emmanuel macron? we have all the ground covered in this historic election. and finally free after years in captivity. some of these girls will soon be reunited with their loved ones. details on the release of the nigerian chibok girls, ahead. plus, you know him as the duke of eddinborough, but did you know this community says prince philip is the sacred son of a mountain god? mo