good morning chorlton welcome to your new day. we begin with breaking news. a bombing in england. at least 22 killed chorlton including kids chorlton dozens injured just after an ariana grande concert. the explosion creating chaos just as the concert let out monday night. the venue holds 21,000. we're told it was sold out chorlton many unaccounted for. this is the deadliest attack on british soil since subway bombings in 2005 that took about 50 lives. >> investigators say lone suicide bomber carried out the attack using improvised explosive device. british prime minister theresa may say police believe they know attackers identity but not releasing yet. emotional reactions pouring in from around the world. we have it all covered. let's go first to clarissa ward. live in manchester. she has no breaking details. what have you learned chorlton clarissa? >> alisyn chorltmoments ago we d

a 23-year-old arrested in south manchest manchester. this is a high alert moments ago. a crush of people running down the street after a false alarm in a shopping mall around the corner led to an absolute panic. you can probably see behind me in the distance there the arena where it took place, a large cordon around the area. as chris said, this event sold out. ariana grande fans, many of them young tweens, little girls with their families, large groups of children. it was just as the concert finished that chaos broke out. take a look.

>> what's going on? oh, my gosh. a deadly explosion rocking manchester, england. the p many running to exits and jumping over barricades. >> bodies everywhere. at least 20, 30 people on the floor you could see straight off were just dead. >> police now investigating the incident as an act of terror carried out by one male suicide bomber. >> we believe the attacker is carrying an improvised explosive device which he detonated causing this atrocity. >> the attacker died at the scene after detonating the device in an area near the box office outside the arena at

10:33 p.m. as the concert ended. >> there was a mad rush to get out because nobody knew what was happening. >> parents screaming, frantically searching for their children. >> it was mayhem on the streets. there were children crying trying to get in contact with parents. parents on their phone, obviously upset. they were crying, trying to get in contact with the kids. it was just an awful, awful thing to witness. >> the attack leaving many traumatized, especially the children. >> she's just petrified whoever did this will come to the house or go to her school. she's devastated. for her at 10 years old to witness something like that is just horrific. >> one mother in anguish pleading for help finding her missing 15-year-old daughter. >> most horrible experience ever.

you can't find her. you don't know if she's dead or alive. i don't know how people can do this to innocent children. >> the city left reeling from the tragedy. >> something that manchester in its own unique way will make sure we turn into a strength for the city by working together. >> authorities have two main focuses. firstly to try to reunite loved ones who lost each other in the chaos. some people still don't know where their family members and friends are. secondly, of course, the investigation. they know the name of the young man who carried out the attack. they are not releasing at this stage. we also know they have arrested another 23-year-old in south manchester, also arrested in conjunction with that attack. they will be looking for other potential people who may have participated in the network.

this was a bomb, chris. it takes some expertise and some know how to build a bomb. that will be a great concern to authorities. chris. >> it's well put, clarissa. that could be driving the police m.o. right now. they say they know who this man is, haven't released the information. they could be working his network, see who he was talking to, trying to figure out exactly what clarissa ward was just telling you, who helped. president trump using strong words to condemn the manchester attack. let's get right to cnn white house correspondent sara murray traveling with the president. he is live in jerusalem. that's where you are. what do we know? >> reporter: good morning, chris. the president did speak with uk prime minister theresa may earlier today and express his condolences in the wake of this attack, which as you pointed out comes amid president trump's foreign trip. earlier today he and with palestinian authority president abbas and offered up sharp words for those who carried out terror attacks. this is what he had to say.

>> so many young, beautiful, innocent people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers in life. i won't call them monsters, because they would like that term. they would think that's a great name. i will call them from now on losers, because that's what they are. they are losers. and we'll have more of them. but they are losers, just remember that. >> the president also called on civilized nations t s to band together and drive out terrorism. that's the broader message he wants to convey on his trip. back to you. >> thanks for that let's bring in our panel to discuss it. clarissa ward, also terror

analyst paul cruickshank and cnn national security analyst. paul, it seems the investigation is moving quickly. just in the last hour you told us you thought the police had a name of whoever did this. now they have made an arrest, this 23 arrested in south manchester. what do we know? >> that's right. british prime minister theresa may say the police think they have identified the person who carried out this attack, but they are still working to absolutely confirm that person's identity. if they have got that confirmed, that will ab huge step forward in terms of this investigation, in terms of seeing if this individual had other associates that will be keen to interrogate them, take them spoke custody, if they believe they have any sort of connection to the attack. they will be doing a lot of forensics at the scene, looking

at the explosive device. the more powerful that device was, more sophisticated that was, the more likely it is that there's a network behind this, a bombmaker behind this. but i don't think we should rule out the idea that this was a one-man band who carried this out. we've seen solo bomb makers carry out or plot attacks in the past, notably a decade ago in the uk, an extremist convert from bristol managed to put together a high explosive for a suicide vest. they thwarted that plot. more recently there was a suicide bombing in germany, in bavaria, by an individual who managed to build a device alone. more recently than that, as we all recall, in new york city, brahimi left behind two very

powerful explosive devices, also left some devices in new jersey. those devices in new york city much more powerful than the boston devices. so yeah, could be a one-man operation. but the worry is there's a bombmaker behind this, a wider cell and other parts could strike again. >> again, word a 23-year-old has been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation in monday's attack in manchester. we'll see if it holds and what that connection is. clarissa, obviously we know they are throwing all terror resources at this investigation. how much concern is there about active cells or small teams working for these type of attacks with the terror alert level as high as it is there? >> well, the terror alert level is at severe, which basically means, chris, that another attack is likely. i think it's fair to say there's a great deal of concern that as paul said it's entirely feasible that this man may have operated

on his own. but it's also probably quite likely that he had some kind of support. whether that was emotional support, financial support, technological support, physical support, that's what will be of interest to authorities right now. historically what you tend to see with terrorist attacks is that the bombmakers do not usually blow themselves up, because the bombmakers traditionally are quite valuable to these terrorist organizations. so that's monasomething they wi definitely be looking at, trying to get any dna evidence they can whatsoever from that explosive device that detonated at the arena just behind me. but certainly also i would say, chris, it's fair to say that people here are on high alert. you can really feel a sense of nervousness in the streets. the mancunians, manchester

citizens, there was a crush of people running down the street, all of them in a panic. it's safe to say people here are very concerned perhaps there could be more people out there and could be more attacks like the hideous one we saw last night, chris. >> julia, it's so heartbreaking for all parents and anyone with a beating heart to think that you're going to this concert. it attracts tweens. they were 8 years old, 9 years old, 10 years old. we know that some of those are among the dead. you take your kid. as a parent, you go with them to keep them safe. we do that obviously here. what obviously we've talked before about soft targets and stadiums being that. is it the same in the u.s. or is there more security around stadiums? >> well, there is security. it's equivalent to a lot of what britain has learned because obviously they have had cases as

well as france. the challenge is at any hard target there's inevitably doing to be a soft target next to it. at some stage the security apparatus can't build up. i think at least the reporting right now suggests that is the case, the suicide bomber did not have to pass through any security. i will say, though, i agree with you. i know we all have children. this one feels different. we have gotten used to this cycle. this has lowered the ort of bar of humanity in some ways because not only is it tweens and teens, those of us who are parents know all of her songs, arianna's songs. a lot of them are alone. in fact, the pictures we're showing right now show parents on the other side of security. a lot of us have done that. you drop your kid off, let them have fun, you're on the other side. these kids aren't only the most vulnerable, they don't know what to do in a crisis like this. it makes it worse.

while the investigate is going on, you cannot lose sight there's operation. primary importance for british officials to notify the parents of this tragedy in their lives or to try to link parents with children that may not be identified but may be still alive but in hospitals. you're going to have this simultaneously doing on. >> 21,000 people is the capacity of the venue. we're told it was sold out. we're told people are unaccounted for. we did hear from one mother there on the phone saying she's still looking for her 15-year-old. there's going to be some time to go here. paul cruickshank, in terms of the investigative component spoke who did this and why, he wasn't in the arena or at least not when the detonation happened. he was in a convenient place that was actually a funnel piece, a covered funnel piece of people going from the concert hall into the metro station there. that does show some kind of

planning, right? >> it does. investigators believe that was no accident he was there. the access of the venue, to time the explosion for when everybody was going to come out of the concert, streaming out of the concert, to absolutely maximize the amount of casualties in this attack. that was all very carefully thought through in terms of trying to maximize the amount of blood shed, also by not having to go inside the venue itself, minimize the risk that he would be picked up by some kind of security check. so whoever did this was carefully thinking through how to make this as bad as possible. and also carefully thinking through the target here. a lot of young girls having the time of their lives at this concert. they wanted this to create shock headlines, or he wanted this to

create shock headlines around the world. that's really what isis has been telling sympathizers, operatives, do everything you can to maximize the coverage that you can get for these kind of attacks because we want to change the conversation away from the fact we're losing territory in syria, iraq, libya, afghanistan and other places. >> paul, clars arisclarissa, juk you for your expertise. we'll continue to monitor developments out of manchester. here at home there's also news. the russian investigation heating up. former security adviser michael flynn tells congress he will take the fifth. what will lawmakers do about that? a member of house intel joins us next. you know, you missed a bunch of great guys today? where? everywhere you went. who? i don't know, but you could know with new missed connections from match.

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current and former u.s. officials tell cnn president trump asked top intelligence chiefs to publicly deny evidence of collusion between his campaign and russia. this comes as sources say the former national security adviser michael flynn plans to plead the fifth in connection with the investigation. joining us now republican congressman chris stewart, he's on the house committee.

good morning, congressman. >> good morning. >> what is your reaction to these reports that president trump pressed these intelligence chiefs beyond director comey to publicly state there was no collusion between his team and russia? >> you know, it's hard for me to respond. i haven't seen that directly. as we talked about over the last several weeks, it would be troubling for this president or any president to be viewed as interfering or take actions that would be interfering with any investigation and one of the things we would want to understand. >> on its face, is that obstruction of justice to you? >> i don't think so. i think he was asking to make a public comment on something he believed had come and gone, that is that he wasn't under investigation for collusion. i think he wanted that to be known publicly. i'm not an attorney but it's hard for me to believe it's viewed as illegal and technically obstruction. >> therein lies the problem. the president thinks it's come and gone. the investigation is just beginning. has your investigation wrapped

up? is it gone? >> for sure not. when i came home from moscow last august, i told people russians are doing to sbeer fear with our investigations, our elections, they are going to try to mess with that and they did. we started investigating last september. i'm glad, i was one of the few republicans that said before this, we should put this in an independent counsel, make it less partisan, police political environment. there's important work the house intelligence committee is undertaking. we've been diverted a little bit. i'm glad this has been put aside in a more professional, less partisan environment. it allows the investigation, as you said, to carry forward. it is just beginning in many aspects. let's let that investigation work and let congress do its work as well. >> you're happy with the appointment of robert mueller, now the special counsel investigating this. in terms of the committee you sat on, house intel committee, what have you uncovered? >> we know several things. as we said early last fall, they

are going to try to interfere with our elections. we've seen to what extent they have to a large degree. we may learn more. generally we know to what extent they interfered. we know there's unmasking now. we know some leaks troubling to people. i think that there's some individuals who have some questions to answer. we'll give them a chance to do that. we're meeting with the director today in both an open and closed session. some information i suppose will still come out. >> how about michael flynn wanting to plead the fifth. >> yeah. you know, people think that's rather dramatic but it's really not. we've seen almost every one of these investigations, whether hillary clinton with e-mails and technical people on i.t. side who took the fifth. remember lois lerner with irs scandal took the fifth. i don't think you can presume guilt because of that. in fact, i think almost any good attorney in similar circumstances would encourage their clients to do the same thing. >> look, it's obviously every american's prerogative if they

want to exercise that amendment against self-incrimination. this is something president trump when he was candidate trump really raled against and felt it implied guilt. >> the fifth, that's the end of him. ay yi yi. when you have your staff taking the fifth amendment so they are not prosecuted, i think it's disgraceful. and believe me, this country thinks it's disgraceful -- really think it's disgraceful also. >> five people taking the fifth amendment like you see on the mob. you see the mob takes the fifth. if you're innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment? >> is the president right in that mind-set? >> yeah, you know, this is where i might disagree with him. this is an example where cam paper rhetoric overtakes what most people are comfortable with. that is once again this is not uncommon.

we presume innocence until proven guilty. we also don't presume we can force someone to testify against themselves in this case. i think the important thing here is to recognize once again the investigation will move forward. mr. flynn taking the fifth doesn't stop the investigation. there's other people we can talk to. there's other questions we can ask, confident in the end we'll get the information regardless. >> it stymies the investigation, doesn't it? he is led to believe true to the heart of the matter, he has a lot of information you would like. >> i don't know he really is the heart of the matter. if you're assuming there was collusion between, you know, the previous campaign and the russians, i guess maybe he would be one of the key witnesses there. but there really is much more than that. there really are many other people we can talk to. like i think most investigations where people do take the fifth, which isn't unusual, at the end

of it they are almost always able to come to the truth. >> when you say there's much more than the collusion, what else? >> i think the core of this is that central question about russia's interference. their motives for doing that, how they were able to do that. i think most importantly, how do we recognize that and minimize their influence. it's not like we looked at this and said, wow, that's a horrible failure, let's never do that again. quite the opposite. they are looking at this and smiling ear to ear. this is beyond their wildest expectations of success. remember, primarily what they wanted to do was break down foundations of democracy, break down trust of american people in the electoral process. they have certainly done that. i'm sure they will try to do that again. i think that's the area we should focus on. how do we recognize that and how do we counter that? >> do you have any way to compel michael flynn, the information he's sitting on in terms of documents, do you have any way to get those? >> i think it depends on his reaction, if he continues to lead the fifth, i guess legal

proceedings can go around that obstacle. the fact is you can't legally compel someone to testify once they have taken that position. >> all right. congressman chris stewart, we'll be watching obviously the hearing that you have today, house intel. thanks so much for the information. >> you bet. good to be with you. >> chris. >> so we've had another terror attack that is just shocking the world. what can be done to prevent future attacks like what we saw after the ariana grande concert in manchester, england. president obama's assistant for homeland security joins us next. 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. honey, what if it was just us out here? right. so, i ordered you a car. thank you. you don't want to be out here at night 'cause of the, uh, coyotes. ok, thanks, bud. bye. be nice to have your car for some shelter. bye. when it really, really matters, you need the best network and the best unlimited. just $45 per line for four lines.

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we are following breaking news. making an arrest in connection with the bombing that killed 22 people and injured dozens in manchester, england. police arresting the 23-year-old man in the southern part of that city. the explosion happened as an ariana grande concert was letting out. authorities say a suicide bomber behind the blast. investigators believe they have identified him but not release his name yet. obviously when we see things like this abroad at something like a concert, harkens us back

to what could happen at home and could we prevent something like this. join us a senior national security analyst, also former homeland security and terrorism adviser to president obama. thank you for being with us this morning. when you look at this attack, what stands out in terms of a threat assessment? >> look, unfortunately an all too familiar scene now that we're seeing again. a strike appearing to be the work of a lone suicide bomber but it's early days. the british security services and intel services will be doing their work. we're only 12 or so hours into this. we see yet again targeting what we call soft targets, public venues, areas for maximum effect and maximum trr. >> familiar. 2015, we have a graphic that shows just how many terror attacks. look what's gone on in europe.

these are just the ones we gave the most coverage to and we remember most vividly. is this a trend? is this a pattern? what do you see when you look at that map? >> what we see is our partner in europe are not immune to in many cases the foreign fighter front we've seen emerge out of iraq and syria. we've been making tremendous progress in the battlefield in iraq and syria, some 55% of the territory that isis once held is now no longer theirs. what does that mean on the back end? it means quite frankly we're seeing a bulge of those foreign fighters who traveled, 40,000 counter-terrorism excerpts assess, 40,000 individuals have traveled to iraq and syria to come back to some 120 countries that have been the source of those foreign fighters. >> that's not what what it takes. you can be self-radicalized,

somebody who feels an affinity for murderers but not among the numbers. coop be here in the united states, somebody who identifies but not part of it. >> certainly here it's one of the concerns. it's something that kept me up when i was working in the white house. an individual who doesn't need to travel, doesn't need to get any training. frankly doesn't need to be directed by anybody overseas but rather can do what we call self-radicalize. radicalize themselves online, on the internet, from the comfort and security of their own home. >> that feels like such an intractable problem. where do counter-intelligence officials begin? >> this is the big challenge for l and intelligence service-- la intelligence services. how do you know when something goes wrong in somebody's mind. it's what we call in counter-terrorism profession a new phase in the terror threat.

>> that's why community is so important. that's why you hear so much talk about not alienating. american muslims, you need communities to tell about members that seem radical within their midst, extremism in their midst. that's something that should not be ignored. >> that's exactly right. we built up tremendous forces since 9/11, a net to identify the internationally organized terror threat. that same net is not able to catch this type of home grown, as we say, radicalized individuals. again, manchester, we don't know the source of that. >> there's been no claim of responsibility. no word from isis or al qaeda or anything. >> exactly. we should be watching for all those things. this concern counter-intelligence officials have, home grown self-radicalized individual is the biggest challenge.

we do need to rely on communities to help us get after that threat. >> president trump is in israel, as you know. he has spoken about this and who he believes the culprits are. listen to this. >> so many young, beautiful people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers in life. i won't call them monsters, because they would like that term. they would think that's a great na name. i will call them from now on losers because that's what they are, they are losers. and we'll have more of them. but they are losers, just remember that. >> that, of course, is vintage president trump speak. does it matter what we call them? >> some degree i think it does.

these are fanatics who are undertaking these attacks to terrorize and dprorify themselves they are seek k glory to do that with our rhetoric. we shouldn't paste an entire religion as a label, our enemy. we've seen that in the speech in saudi arabia, nor should we be elevating them and making them seem like 10 feet tall. >> losers works. >> murderous thugs, criminals work, terrorist work. >> anything that doesn't glorify or celebrate them. that's the pushback on saying islamic terror, you are giving them ownership of the faith, which is exactly what they want. >> several things, ownership of the faith, which is what they want. it is playing into something that they use to recruit individuals to their cause, saying they are engaged in a clash of civilizations, a fight of us and them. we don't want to play into that

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now to this developing story, current and former u.s. officials tell cnn that president trump asked top intelligence chiefs to publicly deny any collusion between his campaign and russia. this as his former national security adviser michael flynn refuses to turn over documents related to the russia investigation. cnn laura jarrett live in washington with more. what have you learned, laura? >> alisyn, the president has fiercely denied any coordination between his campaign and russian meddling in 2016 election, even slamming the investigation as a witch hunt. it now appears privately he made a pitch to his own national security team in the hopes they would publicly come to his defense and help him push back against the fbi's investigation.

president trump's first international trip overshadowed bionic controversy back home, including stunning new revelations from u.s. officials that the president personally asked two top intelligence officials to public deny evidence of collusion between his campaign and russia. sources telling cnn that director of national intelligence dan coats and national security agency director michael rogers were uncomfortable with the president's request and refused to comply. president trump reaching out after fbi director james comey publicly disclosed the bureau's investigation in march. >> that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign and russian government. >> the trump responding to the latest bomb shells, the white house does not confirm or deny unsubstantiated claims based on anonymous leaks from individuals. according to "washington post" rogers documented the

president's request in a memo written by senior nsa official that will be available to special counsel overseeing the justice department investigation robert mueller. according to sources mueller has reviewed handwritten memos detailing the president's early request for fbi to drop the investigation into his national security adviser michael flynn. >> i think he was someone who would bring benefit to the president or administration and i made that very clear to candidate trump. i wouldn't let general flynn in the white house, let alone give him a job. >> flynn's attorneys now saying their client will invoke the fifth amendment refusing to comply with senate intelligence subpoena for a list of contacts he had with russian officials. >> we have to find out whether we have the ability to either hold general flynn in contempt or i've got to get the legal answer to that first.

>> president trump's past criticism of hillary clinton's e-mail scandal when her i.t. chief took the fifth now coming back to haunt his administration. >> if you're innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment. >> all this as the top democrat on the house oversight committee says flynn and to have lied to investigators about who funded his foreign trips, including a trip to moscow. >> chris, comey has agreed to testify before the senate intelligence panel after memorial day but we've learned he wants to speak with special counsel mueller before he goes public. former fbi director will testify before the house committee today. >> everything could change with this personal counsel, what he wants and what he sees with his investigation. we know you'll stay on that, laura. appreciate it. what do new reports mean for president trump. the reporter who broke the story about talks with intel chiefs joins us next. i noticed it as soon as we moved into the new house. ♪

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what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ current and former u.s. officials tell cnn president trump asked top intel chiefs to publicly deny evidence of collusion between his campaign and russia. the story was first reported by "the washington post." joining us now one of the reporters who broke that story, "washington post" writer. also with us cnn political analyst david gregory and cnn politics reporter and

editor-at-large chris cillizza. adam, first, how do i say your last name the right way? i was close. adam, let's talk about the reporting you have, types of sourcing and confidence, what it means? >> we're quoting here two current, two former officials with knowledge of what occurred here. keep in mind that admiral rogers, head of the national security agency, one of the officials at his agency drafted an internal memo documenting rogers conversation with the president. this is among the additional information we have to document that communication. obviously what it means is you get a president trump's state of mind. obviously concerned about testimony, the scope of the investigation looking at potential coordination between the russians and his campaign

and he wanted to push back. >> adam, just give us a little bit more of the circumstances around this so we know president trump wanted somebody to, what was the reaction. >> individuals we spoke to rogers and dni, director of national intelligence were both surprised and thought it was inappropriate for the president to make that request. both because there's fbi investigation and intelligence agencies, they like to see themselves. they try to be separate from partisan issues. being pulled into this, you know, political fray over russia was the last thing they wanted to do. >> chris >> not upset to say anything. the not to say anything to other

officials. not even to leak it at the time so it would get out there. what does that tell us about a balanced sense of thor againsy by the president. >> i think at some level these guys are company men. these are guys, who in many cases, who spent a lot of time inside their massive federal bureaucracy. comey came thing. so i think their first tendency is not to go and say i can't believe happened. i am going to go tell someone publically. i think they do cover themselves. we see comey with memos. rogers with an internal memo here. so i actually think some of that is a function of who they are and how they sort of run their lives. they are not people that are typically going to go and run to the media. in all these cases, comey and rogers and coats, you have seen they were uncomfortable with it.

it was a breach of protocol. this is a pattern with trump. this is not a random one off asking comey if he was under investigati investigation, asking comey to drop the flynn thing. donald trump has no sense there are boundaries. he operates is government like a business. you scratch my back, i'll scratch yours. that's not how the federal government works. he seems widely uncaring that there are two different ways to run things. >> how big a deal is this? >> i think it goes to the heart of the matter, which is why is he trying to hide something? why is the president so sensitive about this investigation moving forward? we know some aspects of his mindset. one is he's obsessed with the idea of his own legitimacy and he takes the whole rubben

interference fact as a way to cut his legitimacy. i mean, tt not just that he runs it like a business. he doesn't respect the checks and balances. that's what he doesn't have a rev rans for, which is so disappointing. so whatever is going on, whether there is something there, whether there was some kind of collusion, we don't know. the fact he's interfering is so completely inappropriate. chris, you have been raising this all morning, why didn't these individuals do more at the time. i think you have to separate out who was involved. why didn't comey do more, other than write memos to cover what was going on? presumably he didn't trust the justice department with that information. i don't think in any of these cases they automatically leak,

and i don't think they're leaking in this case. i think it is people that are close to them. and now there is a certain momentum in all of that to try to fight back against the administration. we have got a lot of people, even close to the president who are leaking out this information because they are very concerned about how he's been behaving. >> well, you have the notion of how wrong did they think it was, why didn't they say anything. that's wrong, especially if you are going to look at a malfeasance argument. i don't know. what is your sense as to whether or not the defense of, you know, i didn't know this is the wrong thing to do because i'm really a businessman. i didn't know businessmen are supposed to contact government officials and try to interfere with whatever investigations that you are concerned in. but what is your take on what the defense is by the white house other than that you and we are terrible reporters and our sources are all fake? >> at this point we really

haven't gotten a substantive response from the administration as to what president trump was aiming for with those conversations. i do think you kind of need to look at the pattern of conduct until this point. i mean, there was an earlier episode in february where the white house was basically asking intelligence, the committee chairman of the intelligence committees on the hill as well as top intelligence officials in the intelligence agencies to push back at a new york times report, which alleged that there was frequent contact between russian officials, russian intelligence officials and members of the trump campaign. and, so, in that case, of course, the white house was trying to orchestrate pushing back at a new york times story, not to an fbi director who had just testified about the scope of his investigation. so those are very different types of things for the administration to try to refute. and, so, i do think that

investigators will look at the pattern here of similar activities taking place in recent months. whether or not trump really understands that he's crossing the line or doesn't care, i don't think we know the answer to that yet. >> so chris -- go ahead. >> i was going to say, i'm not convinced, certainly from a political perspective that it matters that much. i think adam's right. the question is trump is is this three-dimensional chess or is he doing and saying things. is it a grand strategy or no strategy at all? but the attempts to use people you should not be using and contacting to influence things, it doesn't -- intent matters at some level, but doing that in and of itself political speaking, david makes the right point, which is it makes it look like there is something behind all this smoke that donald trump doesn't want to come out. now, there may not be, but from

everything, the way he's interacted with the russians to how he continues to defend michael flynn to the questions to comey to this as adam points out, it all suggests that he's trying to make sure that this thing ends, that his influence is felt in a way that brings us to a conclusion sooner rather than later. all of that makes you look not as though -- it makes you look like you have something to hide, which he insists it isn't because this is all fake news and blah, blah, blah. if it is a total hoax, say whatever you want because i am totally innocent in this. i want my name cleared. >> but you have special counsel that is going to dig into whether there is any violation of the law. but i think as journalists, acid sevens, we can hold the president accountable for disturbing pattern of behavior that's being reported on. when we cover him during the

campaign and you heard him during these debates, what are some of the things we said, i may not accept the outcome of the election, that's how an authoritarian talks. now, we have reporting indicating he's trying to abuse power by snuffing out an investigation by the fbi, by clearly overreaching his authority as president of the united states. these things must force some accountability. we have to get to the bottom of what occurred here. i'm sure the president is upset about these leaks, but that's part of the system that people do speak up, sometimes anonymously. and this is going to help us get to the bottom of what's going on. >> boy, did he love the leaks when they were working in his favor during the campaign. you make a good point, david. we don't know anything until comey and these intel chiefs come and say this was actually said to them. the memos and reporting may be real, but the political impact

won't come until you hear it from their mouths. all right. we have a lot of news. we have senators marco rubio and joe manchin here to discuss what these mean to russia probe. but we also have breaking deals in the manchester terror attack. let's get after it. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to your new day. it is tuesday, may 23rd, 8:00 in the east and we are following breaking news for you. police have arrested a 23-year-old with a deadly terror attack at a ariana grande concert. 22 people were killed, including children. it happened after the pop singer finished her performance at the manchester arena. you can see the chaos. >> we hear the venue held 21,000. it was supposedly sold out. here's what we know about the investigation. police are saying, even though they just made a second arrest,

that it was carried out by a loan suicide bomber. he used an ied. the british prime minister condemned the attack. president trump condemned it, calling the terrorists behind it evil losers. we have it all covered. let's go to our correspondent live in manchester. one arrest made so far. two people involved, but there could be more, right? >> reporter: that's right, chris. and we don't know at this stage. we do know that the authorities have actually identified the bomber at this stage. they're not releasing anymore information about him. and this is as close as we can get to the arena itself. there is still a large police here as they comb through video evidence from closed circuit television cameras that would have been in operation and of course primarily looking at the