president trump making a veiled threat to former fbi director james comey. this is "cnn tonight," i'm don lemon. president trump tweeting, mr. comey better hope there's no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press. did trump's firing of comey tampen the investigation into the meddling of the election? and it's not a bird or a

plane, but melissa mccarthy around the streets of manhattan, from the briefing room podium. i want to talk about the developments in the russian investigation. the former ambassador to russia, and a writer at "the atlantic," and a former kgb spy. ambassador, you first. cnn learned today that rod rosenstein doesn't see a need for a special prosecutor in the investigation into russia's meddling in the investigation. do you think that's the right position? >> no, i don't. is i think the firing of comey and all of the things that happened underscore the need for a special prosecutor or a 9/11 style commission. that would elevate this to something with more credibility. unfortunately, looks like the republicans in the senate aren't prepared to do that.

they're in effect, becoming accomplices after the fact, with a cover-up by the administration. >> you said the administration would be better served by a russian policy than a russian scandal. look at these pictures. the former director laughing about comey's firing. listen to this. >> does the comey firing cost a shadow on your -- >> what's the question? >> what would a white house/russia policy be at this point? >> i think it's not completely impossible to get the focus back on policy and away from the scandals and investigations. but the administration ties itself up in knots. the handing of the meetings of lavrov in the oval office. and all of the back handing with

kislyak gave the impression that the president doesn't believe or doesn't care, that the russians tried to high jock our elections. i hope that some lessons can be learned after this horrible week and we can get down to the business of developing a policy towards russia. it gets worse and worse. the ukraine, there's a war going on. and the president may get a deal to get the russians out of r ukraine. but right now, everything is covered up by the scandals and the mad tweeting. >> you say you're disdraught over what's happening. why? >> the lack of class. the lack of understanding what's going on here. the lack of, you know -- what you're playing hard ball in the international arena.

all of that is disconcerting. talking about the head of our government showing naivete. this would apply to everything in foreign policy. apparently he doesn't listen to his advisers. >> how is this -- >> they are running victory laps. they have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. >> a.g. rosenstein has said he will brief everybody on the firing of james comey. do you think we will get clarity as to what happened? >> i think this scandal has so many layers. we're at the beginning of this. if you think about -- i'm not the first one to draw parallels

to watergate. they've been floating in the air all week. it took almost two years from the beginning to the end, when mixon resigned. i think we're at the first weekend of what could be a very long process. what i think is ironic about rosenstein is he was an unheard of bureaucrat. people who know him say he made the d.o.j. his life. he was a faceless functionary in this giant apparatus. known to be impartial. his reputation was that he was impartial, he was a political. he was about the d.o.j. and the rule of law. and the way the public finds out about him is in this politicized and toxic scandal that he's going to be forever associated with. even if it doesn't end in impeachment or the removal of the president, it will still go down in american history as a massive scandal. and rod rosenstein will have played a pivotal role in it

after spending decades in the d.o.j. trying to be the exact opposite of it. >> the former director, james comey, will not testify before the senate intelligence committee next week. "the new york times" is reporting tonight that comey wants to testify but is insisting that it be in public. what's your reaction to that? >> we don't know that he won't testify, right? he turned down a -- he turned down an invitation. they can compel him to testify. if i were comey, i would wait until i were compelled. if he were to go with a regular invitation, and spill the beans, he looks petty and partisan. if he could wait for a southbousubpoena, he is just serving the law. he's not doing this voluntarily. not voluntarily sinking to this much lower level. >> ambassador, what do you think of the reporting tonight by "the

new york times"? he wants to do it in public. >> i think he feels he has been mistreated this week. he wants the public to hear, not just the committee, to hear his side of the story. but i think the important thing is, that who's going to be the next fbi director? is the investigation going to be allowed to continue without political interference? that's the most important thing. but comey needs to have his say. and explain why he asked for additional resources or personnel, where the investigation is going. doing it in public i think is better for the public and better for him. >> jack, what do you think how the white house feels about this? they may not want him to do it publicly. >> yeah. the whole way this all transpired is -- it's totally bizarre. you know, one day, it was the

assistant district attorney who triggered the firing. and the next day, trump actually dits disagrees wholeheartedly. that threat is another one of those -- the tweet about, he better not leak anything. why would trump assume there is a leak. you don't know if he has a game plan or he's just loose. it's difficult to discern from the outside. >> jack, we talked about this tweet last night. he said, russia must be laughing up their sleeves watching as the u.s. tears itself apart. and today, sean spicer was asked about it. >> if i can look at another one of the president's tweets this moshing. he said, russia must be laughing at their sleeves as the u.s. tears itself apart and a democratic excuse for using the

election. what does the president mean by that? how is the u.s. tearing itself apart over all this? >> i think the president's comments about russia and collusion have been very clear. he's been clear that it's one thing he believes the notion that there's collusion is a hoax. it's been reaffirmed by several people, including senator grassley and others who have spoken to him. and he wants to focus on doing the best for the american people. >> subpoenas have been issued in the investigation. it's a real thing, not a hoax. isn't getting to the bottom the best thing for the american people? >> absolutely. i think our president should stay out of it. his feelings are hurt all the time. he's acting like like the narcissist that he is. this doesn't help anything for anybody. he's not acting presidential. >> ambassador, the president

goes overseas next week. how to you think he will be received? what is the world thinking about this, looking at us from across the shores. >> i think the effects of the events this week, it daniels the president's credibility and world leaders wonder if they can take him at his word. his grasp is so tenuous. but he has important responsibilities on this first trip. visiti visiti visiting saudi arabia. he's going to have his first summit with nato. that's two weeks away. we haven't heard a word from the president. what's his vision for the transatlantic relationship? our most important alliance. we're so bogged down in the investigations and scandals, that the important business of our government is not being carried out. hopefully, he will refocus in the coming days. certainly, i tonight think he wants a repeat of this week. we can begin to hear some ideas

about how he's going to strengthen our security, how he's going to fight isis and reset relations with russia without selling out ukraine. these are the things he should be dealing with, rather than tweeting at 6:00 in you say tha going to win this and we'll lose influence in the world. >> we're not going to win this as long as we're shooting arrows at each other. what needs to happen, is cooler heads should prevail and determine who is adversary is. when we come back, was comey's firing the beginning of the end of trump's presidency? i'm going to speak with someone who says it could be. (male #1) it's a little something i've done every night since i was a kid, empty my pocket change into this old jar. it's never much, just what's left after i break a dollar. and i never thought i could get quality life insurance

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president trump tweeting an apparent threat to ousted fbi director james comey, suggesting their conversations may have been recorded. comey is not worried about any tape recordings. want to bring in frank rich, producer of hbo's "veep." this is a crazy week. i think i tell you that every time you come in. the week started with the president firing the fbi director, comey. you think this could be the beginning of the end for the presidency or no? >> i do. not because of that act. but we have a president who is not governing. he's issuing executive orders.

he doesn't know how to get a law through congress and can't. now, he is antagonizing anyone that will leak on him. maybe he has tapes. maybe billy bush is in them, even. he is antagonizing the fbi. he seems to be lying about fbi agents' view of comey. they seemed to respect him and he is saying otherwise. there's not going to be a tax bill. not going to be a health care bill. >> it's unbelievable. he says something and then it's contradicted. people don't know what to bho f believe. it's throwing everyone off. >> there's no baseline of reality. the vice president of the united states, the president, the various press spokes people, all giving a different version of events, then reality is gone.

>> is the administration not accountable for anything? you said in your column, a gang this transparent can't shoot straight. nobody considered that it would look bad that the only official event was an oval office meeting with the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov. and there's a firestorm. they didn't think it would be a firestorm. >> they read a punch of liberal communists saying they didn't like comey because of hillary clinton. and they thought that was the opinion of the democrats and the whole of the opposition. it's clueless. it's a firestorm. but at some point they have to govern. and if you can't do a press statement correctly, you can't arrange a photo op directly, how are you going to govern.

and voters, his base, is going to be affected by. we haven't had a natural disaster. tre terrorist attack, anything that would challenge him to run things. >> you look at his arrival ratings are in the 30s. >> that's pretty bad. >> pretty low. dianne feinstein said that rob rosenstein should recuse himself from the investigation. he's going to speak to the senate and give his testimony. >> she's right. >> about the firing of comey. >> she thinks he's compromised. think they the president went to him to get an excuse to fire comey. >> i think she's exactly right. furthermore, i don't know what a recusal means. he should resign. jeff sessions, the attorney general, supposedly recused himself from the russian investigation, but was involved in the comey firing, which involves the russian

investigation. and rosenstein that had a stellar reputation, is made to feel like a dupe and a fool. >> this is senator burr, what he told cnn earlier this week. watch. ? >> would a special prosecutor interfere, where do you come down on that? would it interfere with your investigation? >> to suggest that a special prosecutor would say, i don't think i can do my job, which is to lead an investigation. so, i'm not in favor of the special prosecutor because i think the committee can carry out its responsibility, can come to a conclusion. i'm going to continue down that path. earlier in the week, reports showed that he was leaning towards a special prosecutor. >> burr was? >> yes, burr was. do you think we'll get to the truth with the investigation going on right now? >> i have a little bit of hope for the senate investigation because of mark warner, his

democratic partner and has national political ambitions and is not going to sit down for a rigged investigation. i think we need, you know, an independent counsel. and we need a thorough fbi. >> you think it will slow down? jeff sessions says he won't call for a prosecutor. and they're saying this will slow down the investigation if you do that. >> i think we can have several paths at once. uh think it will speed up. people will lawyer up. they'll start talking to the press. this administration cannot control leaks, no matter how hard they try. you cancel all his press conferences, doesn't matter. >> the president went on a shocking tweet storm this week. let's go through some of them. as an active president, and lots of things happen iing, it's not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with accuracy. maybe the best thing to do would

be to cancel all future press briefings and hand out written responses for the sake of accura accuracy. >> the written statement the white house produces are also inaccurate, including about comey's firing. >> john berman had a perfect response. maybe they should cancel lies. >> that's a good idea. they'll never cancel that. i love that he says active president. he is sitting around watching television news and i'm sure you, eating junk food and occasionally going to play golf and senting out executive orders that are photo opes. the idea that he's an active president, i find hilarious. >> we have serious stuff. and as president, he needs to get on with the business. thank you, frank rich. speaking of serious stuff. exclusive reporting inside a gas attack in syria. allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool?

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last month, a shocking chemical attack in a syrian town, led to the first military

strikes of bashar al assad. carissa ward has never seen footage of the aftermath of that day. >> reporter: i do want to warn our viewers that this is disturbing material. and if you have children at home, you might want to have them leave the room. when the chemical attack hit, some brave journalists from the aleppo media center, went straight to the seen at enormous personal risk. the footage they shot provides an up-close look at the horror of a war crime. that's why we felt it is so important to show. the attack happened shortly after dawn. camera man adam hussein says that warplanes are targeting the town. from his rooftop, he quickly sees this is no ordinary strike. they are using toxic gas, he

reports. five minutes after the attack, there was a call of anyone with a vehicle to go to the scene to help, he says. i headed straight there. but nothing could prepare him for what he was about to see. we must warn you these images are shocking. it's a scene of unimaginable horror, the immediate aftermath of a chemical attack. the number of victims keeps going um, adam explains. and many of them are women and children. all around him, people are foaming at the mouth. convulsions wracking their bodies. as rescue workers try in vain to

wash away the chemicals. look at the kids here, someone tells him. >> reporter: the limp bodies of small children lie next to those skill gasping for life. death for these innocents is agonizing and slow. this doctor is among the first responders. all of the cases were suffering from suffocation, convulsions, narrowing of the pupils, increased sweating and difficulty breathing. all this is proof that a chemical agent was used, he says. i asked the rescue workers to

wash the victims with water and take off their provides. this was the only first aid we could provide. 19-year-old mohammed lies thrashing on the ground. one of the survivors, he later describes the moment the gas hit him. i fell down and i couldn't feel a thing. i felt myself laying on the ground. and i remember hitting the ground and i fainted. it was if i was hitting myself, i had no control. i couldn't see anything with my eyes. the casualties are brought to a nearby clinic, built underground to protect it from air strikes. a man brings in his lifeless little girl. he is sure he has seen her chest moving. but the doctor says, it's just air trapped in her chest.

there is nothing left but to pray and say good-bye. sudden ly, there is panic. news comes in of more fighter jets heading that way. local journalist amin is in the middle of delivering a report. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the camera crew tries to escape the chaos. but once outside, another missile hits.

the journalist manages to survive. all casualties must be taken for treatment half an hour away. at that hospital, body bags are piling up on the sidewalk from the attack. as the dead are brought out to make room for the living. the tiniest victims are carried in gingerly, one by one by one. inside, medical staff struggled to cope. with the flood of patience and a limited supply of the antidote. most are treated hastily on the floor. as distraught relatives look on, powerless to help.

the youngest victims are the most vulnerable. after a quick check that the heart is still beating, the doctor moves on to the next case. those who did not survive are taken to be buried before the end of the day. in keeping with islamic t traditi tradition. in all, 92 people were killed. among them, 33 children. entire family were laid to rest in a single grave. >> reporter: he lost more than to members of his family.

this is the grave of my cousin. he is my friend and brother. his son, omar, just 4 years old. what did he do to do serve this? husband second child, mohammed. may good have mercy on his soul. and this is my brother's grave. i am your brother. you left me all alone. may god protect you and accept you as a martyr. please, god, answer me. in syria, the dead are considered lucky. free from the unspeakable crimes

of this brutal war and the agony of grief. american, british and french weapons experts believe this attack was most certainly taken from taking town force. i'll is likely guerin gas. but in an interview, mr. assad denied it had taken place. calling it 100% of fabrication. ? just heartbreaking to watch that. has the u.s. strikes made any difference to the situation on the ground there? >> reporter: i think there was a real moment of optimism, that the u.s. striblgs could change things on the ground.

they may have dwifb the u.s. more leverage when it comes to further piece talks. but for people on the ground, bombardment continues day in and day out. and whether they are using chemicals or conventional weapons they have more. >> does he have more, cla is a? >> there are widespread fears. intelligence officials who do blaef that president's assad forces have chemical weapons stores inside the country. they are continuing to produce chemical weapons. and you're not dealing with a rationale regime. >> the people involved, they want to see action from the international community.

what to they want to see? >> they want the world to bear witness, to take the time to watch. of course, they would like to see the international community could act. and i kept asking him, it has t come from the skies. we saw the attack. there was a real understanding that a lot of the hard work needs to be done at the diplomatic table. and that real consensus needs to be built between russia, between the u.s., between iron and all of the other proxy powers who are driving this. to find out how you can help survive, go to cnn.com/impact. we'll be right back. [ birds chirping ]

[ inhales, exhales ] [ announcer ] cigarettes are not just dangerous when they're smoked. [ rat squeaking ] they're dangerous long after. cigarette butts are toxic. they release chemicals that poison our water... and harm wildlife. and millions... are polluting our environment. [ sniffing ] [ seagulls squawking ] the horrors of assad's war on his own people, joining to discuss is richard haass, the author of "a world in disarray."

ambassador, i have to start with your response of clarissa ward's story. it's unbelievable the chemical attacks in syria last month. what's your reaction? >> the most powerful line was that the living envy the dead or something to that effect. this is horrific. it's not just the abstraction of war crimes. this is the reality of it that we thought was the kind of thing to read about in history. but it's stunning and it's troubling that it's happening here in 201. . >> it's hard to imagine that someone can watch and not be moved by the images. was this a red line, so to speak, for him and for the world? >> it ought to be a red line. i think the previous president

erred in another responding. it's good to respond with military force that will not only discourage bashar ail adad and anybody else. it's not going to change the future history of syria. this is a limited use of force. but a useful use of force all the same. >> you have maintained in the past how president trump reacts to syrian conflict in the attacks such as these. i wasn't separating his presidency from president obama's. do we have a better understanding of an overall strategy when it comes to a soviet contact? >> we have to provide stability to the liberated areas. and you were getting at this in your conversation, what can the

united states and russia do together to provide a degree of safety for people in parts of syria? meanwhile, the government of bashar al assad continues in power. i don't think the syrians or the turks aren't reliable partner. if we can't -- we will give support to those that we have confidence in. that was suppose a threat to syrian aircraft and russian aircraft. >> the trump administration saying it will arm cnn's kurdishish fighters. is this a wise decision? or is will going to be repercussions here. >> i think both.

at the same time, it will like have diplomatic repercussions. the united states could find itself with some of the access constrained. mr. erdogan is meeting next week. you have to disease what the priorities are. and this is the right decision. >> the white house is saying whether to send 7,000 more troops into the afghanistan fight. as you know, before taking office, trump was very vocal about his surge in tweets. you can see up on the screen. why the change, do you think, ambassador? >> things are deteriorating. the administration wants to put in more drops to work with the afghan forces.

not to defeat them militarily. that's not going to happen. but to persuade the taliban about coming to the negotiating table. i have been looking at afghanistan policy more than 25 years. it's not unclear how more american troops will flip the balance. we need to get the pakistanis to stop providing sanctuary for afghanistan. and rather, we should content ourselves against terrorists there much like we do in other countries. >> ambassador haas, thank you. >> thank you, sir. >> we'll be right back. pain used to shut me down during pick-up games.

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s suprizing. >> how are you, sir? >> out in the streets. that's where the comedians o. "saturday night live" is all over the administration. earlier this week, i want to show you this. this is a fun teaser with melissa mccarthy. ♪ i feel pretty oh, so pretty ♪ ♪ i feel pretty and witty and bright ♪ ♪ and i pity any girl who isn't me tonight ♪ ♪ i feel charming oh, so charming ♪ ♪ it's alarming how charming i feel ♪ ♪ and so pretty that i can hardly believe i'm real ♪ ♪ such a pretty face, such a

pretty dress, such a pretty smile, such a pretty me ♪ >> you don't think it's melissa mccarthy. she plays sean spicer better than sean spicer. then, her character driving this podium past cnn. what do you think? >> trump probably thought he was moonlighting is all. i don't feel bad for sean spicer, but every time, he is getting yelled at by trump. >> do you think -- if you were in that position, would you be upset by it or would you take it in stride and laugh? >> it was any other people, that commercial goes out and immediately spicer get s a text come to my office.

>> it's not good for him. he hid in the bushes this week. >> do you think we'll see that on "snl" him hiding in the bushes. >> i bet the wreeters were like, no way. we would not have written this. this is hilarious. >> no. right now, it's like sugar shock. there's too much good stuff. and my daughters would put too much candy on the gobuyogurt. >> it's serious because it's extraordinary taimes right now. firing the fbi director, possible tapes. do you think that's fair? >> he had time to troll rosie o

daniel this week. >> it was a good troll. >> it was. but shouldn't he had v his mind on other things? >> yeah. >> if you think we're not taking this seriously enough, president trump is saying, i'm not taking this seriously. he had time to troll rosie o'donne o'donnell. on your show, you show -- your show is about native americans and how they blend thereofing. listen. >> this is better than a tent that you buy at a store. >> you can have a fire in there. >> why can't you have a fire in a regular temp. >> i don't camp a lot. >> ideally, it used to be buffalo robes in it. that could survive negative 20 degree weather. >> oh, pa.

>> you would be able to survive? >> no. >> this is not the buffalo hyde tepee i could hold in. >> what do you do when it gets too cold? there's a show up by the road. native americans have a high rate of poverty, unemployment. what did they tell you about that? >> that's important. i like this episode because all of the things you think about native americans. and we're going to talk about where we're at. we are both black. we try to make this ton that we need to include latinos or asians. but asian-americans are rarely in that mix. %-pf

that and brings us up to snow. but in an interesting way, as well. i can't wait to watch it. kumal, thank you so much. don't miss kwp united states of america" right here on cnn. we'll be right back. i wanted to know where i did my ancestrydna. the most shocking result was that i'm 26% native american. i had no idea. it's opened up a whole new world for me. ♪

two cnn heroes joined forces last month to assist women struggling in refugee camps in greece. one works with families in the u.s. the other helps women escape loif on the streets in tennessee. refugee women refusing their lives. >> the project is making welcome matts from the life vests. we're going to sell these in the u.s. and the idea is we are lying down the welcome mat for them. >> you're done. yeah. >> we can do so much better in welcoming people into our country. this was a direct way to give empowerment and hope in something as simple as

purchasing a ma. >> how you can buy a welcome mat, two to cnn heroes.com. happy mother's day, everyone. and happy mother's day, mom. love you. his fired fbi director in case he leaks to the media. plus, a cyberattack called want to cry. it hits computers in 99 countries holding data hostage. and demanding a ransom. later on in the program, people greet pope francis in portugal where the catholic church will soon get two new things. it is 4:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. i'm george howell live at cnn world headquarters in atlanta. >> i'm hannah vaughan jones live in london. great to have you with us, t