>> so. >> check of the executive branch in the aftermath of comy's dismissal. he spoke with my colleague jake. >> this week were the president firing the fbi director while this investigation is going on? >> when he was making the decision, have we crossed the line here? >> well, i will just say the development of the past week very bothersome, very disturbing to me. i think in many ways our

institutions are under assault, both externally and that's the big news here, is the russian interference in our election system. i think, as well, our institutions are under assault internally. >> internally from the president? >> exactly. >> because he's firing the checking and balances? >> well, i think, you know, the founding fathers, in their genius, created a system of three branches of government and a built in system of checks and balances. i feel as though that's under assault and is eroding. >> are you surprised at how quiet republicans on capitol hill have been in. >> i can't say -- i think each senator or congressman has got to, i hope, will think in terms of their own conscious.

i can't characterize it as being surprised. i just hope they'll speak up. >> james clapper there talking with jake tapper. joining us now from london. she's interagsal relations of university of london, thank you so much for being with us. >> good morning. >> we just heard from james clapper, calling on the two other branches of government, the legislative and judicial branches to step up and check the executive president, the president. do you agree that it's established under the constitution around a threat as a result of president trump's actions? >> well, it's undoubtedly the case that there are a whole series of checks, not only across the branches as james clapper told us. but within the branch, they're not being protected in the way they should. the fbi itself within the

executive blanch is not -- needs to have the independence, the credibility, the eyes of the america and public and in order to discuss the investigation that's been leading. the firing and question surrounding the motivation for the firing of comey really calls that into question. now, we need to see a new fbi director. there's a genuine concern as to whether or not the person appointed will be able to carry forward that investigation with the degree of independence that is due. so it is absolutely an issue that, you know, the checks and balances are crucial. congress now has a very important role as an independent branch of government to ensure that its investigation, senate intelligence investigation, house investigation proceed, but i think, if you look at the recent polls, the nbc "wall street journal" poll, 78% of americans polled would like now to see an independent commission or independent prosecutor. there's a loss of confidence, i

think, that these investigations can continue to take place within the existing structure. so i think even the broader american public is lacking confidence that there are these checks and balances operating. >> so how possible is it for the white house to move beyond this political fire storm if its ignited, caused by the firing of the fbi director, the former fbi director james comey by quickly naming his replacement and just how careful does the white house need to be in choosing that person. we know linsey graham said let's make an agent. >> and i think one concern, one of the names that has come up is a senator from texas who seem to be very very partisan and that, what i think, would be deeply problematic. the question who comes the next

fbi director is absolutely essential, it needs to be somebody who gained the confidence internally. most people are -- contrary to president trump's allegations that comey continues to have the support and their deep respect of many people across washington, but absolutely within the fbi. so having a replacement that seemed to be not partisan, with the credentials is absolutely critical and as we know there were many people interviewed over the weekend. and this appointment if it's not a very good person who has that respect, could be deeply problematic just as donald trump getting on the airplane. he meets with the turkish president. a few days he gets to the -- he won't have control over the fall out in washington and so it could be a very difficult time if he actually chooses to put somebody forward before he goes on that trip. >> some suggestions whoever he does put forward might reveal

while he fired james comey. i want to talk to james clapper's comments, we didn't hear them there. he has said that president trump's p behavior is disturbing, he did say that in that part that we played there. do you agree with that, that his actions have been disturbing? >> donald trump, many of of his actions have been very disturbing. what's perhaps more disturbing is how much we're all acclimating to many of the things that donald trump says, the things he does. but undoubtedly the use of twitter to try to scare comey over the, you know, with the threat that he's taped his conversations and that perhaps there's been something said that he will leak or reveal is very dangerous. it's threatening the independence of the former fbi director. i think on a number of dimensions we're seeing donald

trump continue to erode basic norms of the way that a president should conduct himself in office. it's not clear how to respond to this. when we talk about strictly speaking the law, many of the laws have not been violated as so far as we know. it's the norms that we hold deeply that are being eroded, it's up to congress to try and challenge and to stand up for maintaining a degree of kdignit in the white house. >> thank you for joining us at the white house where it's just after 8:15 in the morning. appreciate that. your entire computer locked down until you pay a ran some. >> that cyber attack isn't over yet either. we'll tell you how to protect your own computer when we come back. stay with us.

you won't see these folks they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again.

welcome back, the past few days we've been telling you about this cyber attack that has paralyzed thousands of

computers, it's not over yet. demanding a ran sosome until yo unlock the files. >> experts are concerned companies may be targeted monday as people return to work. >> earlier we spoke to steve ranger, steve is the uk editor and chief at tech republic. >> here is how he explains the spread of the cyber attack. i think the biggest problem is, it started on friday afternoon, many people have gone away for the weekend and come back to work. this malware has spread, and when they get to the offense, they'll find that they became right to it. >> so, steve, what did -- particular companies and, of course, individuals need to do to protect themselves from being hit by this ransome going

forward, what advice would you give them? >> sure, there are some pretty basic kind of security things they should be doing. if you're a company or even if you're an individual, you make sure that all the patches that you can handle on your software up to date. so software often send out little byes of extra software to patch hands that they found. please make sure -- also click on things that -- just be a little bit more cautious in terms of what you click on and what you open. maybe think about backing things up. that might be important business information or it might be your family photos. it doesn't care what it encrypts and lock up. so if it's available to you, store it somewhere else, as well. >> let's say you become victim of this sieb ir attack, what do you do? there will be some people that say maybe i should pay the ran

some, should they pay it or should they not, what should people do. >> so, generally, you're dealing with people, there's no honor there. even if you pay up, there's no guarantee they'll give you data back. you just don't any what you're paying for. hey, you encouraged this. >> it's difficult if you can't move forward and you've got all of these people needing care. >> how difficult is it to trace the origin and ultimately apprehend those people behind this? >> i mean, the speed with which this spreads to pretty much every computer on the globe and hundreds of thousands of people, thousands of desks of companies just shows you how fast this stuff is spreading. could have come from anywhere. . it's an example of these

incredible threats that we now face because we're so reliable on technology. >> well samuel burke is following this story, as well. we heard that -- how to respond to these sorts of problems. hospitals, of course, have particular rest with this latest sunday. exploiting weaknesses and computers. so let's talk about what companies, hospitals, individuals need to do because we know that most people use the password 12345 or even "password." people are not educated enough as to what they need to do to personally protect themselves here. hospitals have very old equipment, don't they? >> it's not just hospitals, companies and individuals you heard steve say he was worried what would happen monday morning. in fact rosemary, we're seeing people have been at work in china today and state run media is saying they see over 40,000

infections just today, so people who are at home over the weekend seeing the news about this and not knowing it was already on their computers. and the real root of this problem is that people use windows computers nd i'm sure you've seen the update in the lower right-hand corner saying you need to restart windows. you're saying i'm about to go on air. if you just update your computer, you can avoid all of this. this is not complicated patch you have to go to. restarting and making sure windows has been updated. you have so many computers at hospitals and businesses with individuals that haven't been updated since march. a lot of companies run software that's proprietary to their companies. they don't do the updates they will have to change their software, too, this is a message to all of us, to every company and every individual to know you just need to do those updates to those computer and you can avoid all of this. this is a big change, so often we've heard about stealing passwords or credit card

numbers. this time around we see for the hackers, it's easier for them instead of stealing information, to just hold it hostage. >> for all of us, samuel, thank you so much, joining us there from london where it is nearly 8:30 in the morning. appreciate it. next, china is backing kenya's biggest investment since its independence. biggest and extensive project just to come. full day on the job. we have a live report from paris as "cnn newsroom" continues. sometimes you just know when you hit a home run.

that's how i feel about blue-emu pain relief spray. odorless and fast-acting. it soothes all my muscle aches and pains. and it's convenient for those hard to reach places. and if you're like me, you'll love blue-emu super strength cream. it's made with real emu oil, it's non greasy, it's a deep penetrating formula that works itself down into your joints. take it from me. it works fast and you won't stink. blue-emu, it works for me it'll work for you.

welcome back to our viewers all around the world. >> you're watching "cnn newsroom" i'm rosemary church. >> i'm george howell. >> the former u.s. director of national intelligence said u.s. institutions are under assault both externally and internally. james clapper said the internl assault is from president trump, the external assault is from russian interference. he said other branches of government must step up to check the executive branch. >> israeli prime minister is calling to use the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to israel. rex tillerson said mr. trump was being very measured about the decision. he'd said to meet and palestinian authority on a trip to the region next week. >> going to work, logging into your computer, think about this, hackers have created a new

version of the virus that's hit more than 2,000 computers worldwide. the security expert was able to shutdown the first version of this harmful software on friday. more computers could be effected monday, again, as people head to work. political party has scored a major victory and crucial state elections, exit polls show the christian democrats surging ahead of the social. . they're on the boost in september's federal elections when they seek a fourth term. >> north korea is claiming it has achieved one of its nuclear goal. sunday's missile launch showed it can put a large nuclear war head on a missile. the regime is also claiming it can now strike the u.s. mainland. there's no independent evidence to support those claims.

that launch came as they hosted a major trade forum. david mcken zee has more from beijing. >> i think it's important to note this appears to experts and to the north koreans to be a successful launch, it appears mid to long range, ground to ground missile that they're calling the 12. now, that is important because in recent months there have been a great deal of failures in the missile tests out of north korea, sometimes that has been attributed to possible cyber operations from the u.s. that has never been completely verified. this appears to be a successful test personally supervised so the north koreans by the leader kim jong un and they're pushing the fact that this missile might be capable of carrying a large scale nuclear war head, as they called it, and that it would be

for testing of the capability of that. they claim that the u.s. mainland is in striking distance, appears to be exaggerated at this point, according to experts, but certainly this is a worrying for those wanting them to stop the program. the statement from the ministry of foreign affairs here in china, they sometimes don't even mention when there's a missile test, saying when they oppose anything that breaks u.n. sanctions, they haven't said much more than that because i don't really want to sway any attention away from this plan that has unvailed formerly here in beijing for all of these world leaders. >> thank you. north korea's missile launch comes as a slap in the face to china, timing matters here, beijing kicked off its belt and -- the same day as the test.

north korea delegation kept a low profile at the economic summit after the u.s. presence could effect the participation of other countries. the russian president, vladimir putin, was one of the 29 leaders to attend that forum and he spoke at the opening soceremony >> russia sees the future of the partnership has not just an establishing of new ties between countries and economies. it should change the political and economical landscape of the continent, being peace, stability, prosperity and new quality of life. our citizens need very obvious things. >> and as china expand its global reach with its one belt one road initiative. it's also offering loans for infrastructure in after fra ka. >> many of the cash strapped governments are taking them up on it. they tell us about china's game changing railroad investment in the nation of kenya.

>> it's a towering achievement. kenya standard gate railway. built and financed by the chinese. it will run 300 miles to the city to the capitol of nairobi with plans to connect kenya with six other east african countries. it's the largest investment since 1963 and being called a game changer, replacing the belt line. it's plan to take half the load coming through the port, which currently travels down a slow an congested two lane highway. >> for now, all tracks lead to here, to nairobi's brand new terminal which will become operational this june. they hope it will open up the east african markets. it has come, for one, there's a billion dollars price tag, which is 6% of kenya's gdp. it's a massive risk which they hope will pay off. >> this is a very big that you've taken in comparison to

your economy. i think that, you know, there will be a very strong return from this investment, but, obviously, it has been expensive. >> kennian officials involved in the project did not respond to cnn comment. chinese authorities referred to chinese headquarters, which is not to respond either. chinese presence of the company have seen allegations of corruption. at the expense of african labor and lack of transparency. the company behind the project, bridge corporation, employed 25,000 locals on this railway. and for environmentalist protecting the effects on wild life, crbc have designed wild life corridors, locals, though, appreciate the dependable construction. >> they're the best. we have had a lot of problems with the african, but now it's been good. they've been extremely good.

>> it's been a dramatic change. they saw china as santa claus, you want a stadium, you've got it. what else do you want, youf eve got it. i don't think that the days are there any more, they still had the capacity to do big things, but they're going to make sure their interest are covered. >> while this infrastructure presents a massive potential for kennians it's up to them what they do with it. in the end, it's not aide the chinese provided, it's business. cnn, nairobi. >> the new president of france is starting his first full day on the job. emanuel macron was inaugurated after winning election far right candidate marine le pen, he's just 39 years old, the youngest president in french history. >> he thanked his supporters in this speech after taking office.

>> on the seventh of may, the french made the choice. and let them be. >> the responsibility which they conferred isn't and i'm aware of the gravity of that. the world in europe need france more than ever. they need a strong france, sure, of its destiny and france which pose high the voice of freedom and solidarity, they needed france which knows how to invent its future. >> for more now, let's bring in our senior international correspondent live in the french capitol. jim always a pleasure to have you here on the show. macron, he's a fresh new face. he's promised a lot with regards to hopefulness and national confidence, but now it's his job, his job to do it. he has a lot to do.

>> while, he does, and first on the agenda this morning just to name a prime minister, that's something that's going to be telling about what direction his government is going to head, but then the leading contender seems to be the mayor of the -- edward and he's young, 46 years old. he's had affiliations with both the socialists on the left and the republicans on the right. and also he graduated from the same school as macron did, the elite they called that out, one of the elite schools that generates a lot of the leaders. so he seems like kind of an ideal candidate, that's where all the press is talking. all the press is talking about this morning. however, there could still be surprises, we expect that decision to be made any moment now. after that, this afternoon around 3:00, he's going to apply to germany his first foreign

trip symbolically, to solidify things, he's going to get a very warm reception. she was known to be quite relieved that got elected because he's proeuropean. so that will be on his agenda. before the week is out, we also expect him to take another foreign trip, perhaps, to mali or to iraq to visit with french troops on the ground there. george. >> typically, when a new french president takes power, they know who their allies are. they know where they can have support. but in this case, macron created his own political movement. does he come into this new role with uncertainty with whom his allies will be when it comes to getting things done. >> and that uncertainty, george, symbolized by the fact that this morning the choice of prime minister there's really no certainty about the fact, it could be anyone, frankly, from either side of the political aisle, he does seem to be leaning towards someone on the right in order to solidify his

standing on the right. but it's not clear which way he's going to go and that prime minister who will only be in office until the new legislature comes in on june 11, will have to lead the fight for those new legislative seats for macron, george. >> senior international correspondent live in paris, this hour, thanks for the report. still ahead here on newsroom. pope francis speaks out on his upcoming meeting with the u.s. president. why he says he won't judge donald trump just yet, stay with us. plus the white house is creating a commission to try to prove the u.s. president's bogus claims of massive voter fraud. that story, still to come. stick around.

he's scheduled to meet with mr. trump later this month. >> they've talked differences on immigration and climate change. pope francis says he will be sincere when he chants with mr. trump. >> what can the world expect peace, whatever the topic or whoever it is in front of me, whoever that person may be, it's peace. i never make a judgment about a person without listening to them. i don't think i should do that. during our talks, things will come out. i will say what i think and he will say what he thinks. but i have never, never wanted to judge a person before hearing what they have to say. >> it was president donald trump wants to prove his unfounded claim that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election. >> unfounded and bogus because there's no evidence to support it. though he signed an executive order forming a commission to investigate voter fraud and

elections. >> despite her electoral, the facts that hillary clinton won the popular vote by 3 million, but not the way tweeted. i won if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. right after the inauguration he said i'll be asking for major investigation into voter fraud, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal. >> we're going to protect the integrity of the ballot box and we're going to defend the vote of the american citizen. >> never mind the small scale fraud is extremely rare. never mind that some of the own party opposed the effort. >> there's no evidence that it occurred in such a significant number that would have changed the presidential election and i don't think that we ought to spend any federal money investigating that. >> those who believe in rampant

fraud often cite this research paper suggesting noncitizens may vote heavily enough sometimes to change results. that paper's analysis has been strongly criticized by other experts. there's expected report saying millions of voters are registered in more than one state, but the arthuthor says that's mainly of sloppy recordkeeping. >> there's inefficiency on the list and the act of voter fraud. >> voter fraud. >> then why did you write the report? >> nonetheless, leading the president's new commission will be vice president pence and kansas secretary of state chris kobach an advocate for voter identification laws, a man who said he's caught people voting in his state and another at the same time. >> my office prosecutors it. i got that authority year and a half ago. we've filed nine cases and we have six guilty pleas. >> facts are facts and the facts

show there's no evidence to support that bogus claim. still ahead, a lot of places in the northern heems femispher getting sweltering summer heat a bit early. >> you see him there, working hard, we'll talk to him very soon, stay with us. [hissing] uh- i- [sound of wrench] [intricate guitar riff] [engine starts] [guitar continues]

that's how i feel about blue-emu pain relief spray. odorless and fast-acting. it soothes all my muscle aches and pains. and it's convenient for those hard to reach places.

and if you're like me, you'll love blue-emu super strength cream. it's made with real emu oil, it's non greasy, it's a deep penetrating formula that works itself down into your joints. take it from me. it works fast and you won't stink. blue-emu, it works for me it'll work for you. for something that finally relieves your pain, icyhot lidocaine. desensitizes aggravated nerves

with the max strength lidocaine available. icyhot lidocaine. live from new york, it's sean spicer, kind of. actress apprised her role on live this weekend, does the white house press secretary. >> spicy is back before poking fun at all the other things that washington this week. take a look. >> i'm filling in for sean today. sean is fulfilling his duty as an officer in the naval reserve that's why he cannot be here. >> i'm pretty sure i can see him hiding in those bushes. >> i believe that's a naval exercise he's trying to blend in with his surroundings. are there any more questions? >> yeah, i have a question, can you just do this full time instead of him? >> if he's your friend, why is everyone saying he's about to

fire you and replace you with sarah? >> oh, bless your heart. this is the first time hearing that. >> i've got to find trump. i'm going to new york. press interview is over. >> very clever. >> all right, well we turn from that to weather the if we can make that rather sharp change. parts of india and pakistan are suffering from terrible heat. here is more on that and talk to us about what people could do to protect themselves against this sort of heat wave. >> yeah, you know, very little at this point. officials guys are saying this is a very serious set up. the hottest time of year across parts of india, pakistan, you see what folks are doing, some of the kids trying to cool off. even at this hour, sitting at 51

degre degre degrees se degrees celius. 110 to 120 in degrees fahrenheit. typically the large scale fatalities anywhere in the world come result of excessive heat. it's just about anyplace on earth. you notice the area of the top five here, 2,500 fatalities in india from heat back in 1998. and, again, you get the premonsoon heat that sets up tremendous radiation building up and the despairty between the cooler water temperatures and the warmer land here, creates, essentially, what the monsoons are over the next several weeks. you get the shift in the wind and moisture begins to pick up. we want to show you something here, trees in particular, a lot of ways when you think about parts of india, of course, nonexistent. 300 million people without electricity. it has a net cooling effect of about ten portable

air-conditioning units over 20 hour period together, so something fascinating to keep in mind and a lot of people take that into consideration, of course, when you're talking about an area that has very little in the way of dealing with such excessive temperatures look at the observations getting up into the middle 40s. this is without the humidity, you factor in the humidity, 50 plus seis what you expect. >> early start is next. the viewers here in the united states. >> for everyone else stay tuned for more news and have yourselves a wonderful day. hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool?

try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®.

♪ president trump weighing his options for a new fbi director, but some top democrats say no replacement for james comey should be confirmed until a special prosecutor is appointed for the russia investigation. an ominous warning for the u.s. from north korea following its latest missile launch. pyongyang says not to provoke them because the u.s. is in range of a missile strike. and companies worldwide bracing for more fallout from a cyber attack, and some are calling it the bigges ever. what it means for you and who could be behind it. this is terrifying on a monday. >> yeah, it is.