this hour in "cnn newsroom" a joint naval drill between the united states and south korea began just a few hours ago. and it comes amid worries that president trump's twitter talks will push north korean leader kim jong un to be more aggressive. we'll have a live report from seoul. more than 250 people killed in a double bombing in somalia. hundreds more are in hospitals. it is the deadliest attack in the country in years, and the question now, who did it. welcome the our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm cyril vanier. you're watching "cnn newsroom."

joint u.s.-south korean naval drills are under way against the backdrop of tensions with the north. the north korean media has called donald trump a strangler of peace. and pyongyang says the military exercises create a hair trigger situation on the korean peninsula. the u.s. secretary of state tells cnn no matter the rhetoric, the white house prefers diplomacy. >> i think he does want to be clear with kim jong un and that regime in north korea that he has military preparations ready to go. and he has those military options on the table. and we have spent actual time perfecting those. but be clear, the president has also made clear to me that he wants this solved diplomatically. he is not seeking to go to war. he has made it clear to me to continue my diplomatic efforts, which we are, and as i've told others, the diplomatic efforts

will continue until the first bomb drops. >> meantime, iran is threatening to stop unannounced inspections of its nuclear program if the nuclear agreement is canceled. secretary tillerson says washington is trying to stay in agreement, but there are flaws that need to be fixed. >> we want to take the agreement as it exists today, as i said, fully enforce that agreement, be very demanding of iran's compliance under the agreement, and then begin the process of addressing the flaw we see the concerns we have around the sunset provisions, the phase-out of the agreement. we know what that looks like. we've seen this in the past in the '90s with north korea, agreements that ultimately phase out. what happened has put us on the road where we are today with north korea. we don't want the find ourselves in that same position with iran. >> all right. iran, north korea, two major foreign policy issues. we've got both covered with fred pleitgen who is in the iranian

capital tehran. alexandra field is in seoul, south korea. let's begin with alexandra. so the cycle repeats itself, alexandra. more military drills and more rhetoric. >> and more mixed messages coming from washington, frankly. and that's what the world is hearing, cyril. you've got the secretary of state trying to declare the message. again you heard him declaring diplomacy is the goal of the administration in resolving the crisis, the mounting tension here on the peninsula. what is the with the threatening messages from the president then? the cryptic messages? the secretary of state says he is keeping the pressure on the international community to act in this case in order to rein in the regime. and he is also showing north korea, the secretary of state says, that military options are always an option. to that end, you've got these joint military exercises that are happening in the region right now. we're talking ten days of naval exercises led by the united states in cooperation with the south korean military. they're partners in this. this is going on in the waters

east and west of the peninsula. it involves u.s. carrier strike group, guided missile destroyers. this is the kind of drill, however, cyril, that really infuriates pyongyang. they see it as preparation for an invasion and offensive measure. the south korea says this is defensive and this is a counter measure to provocations from the north. >> so how do the south koreans interpret the mixed messages coming from washington? after all, they're on the front line of any potential conflict. >> yeah. that's been the big question. if this is a policy by design from the administration, this mixed messaging where the secretary of state talks about diplomacy, where the president talks about a military option, show the rest of the world perceiving it? well, the secretary of state said that allies are not confused, and he said that china is not confused. what about south korea? well, the south korean officials here continue to say they are working in lockstep with the united states. of course, they depend on the united states for their defense. you've got some 30,000 u.s. troops who are stationed here.

but cyril, i think this speaks to the gravity of the situation. you have a president who came to power here in may who is really advocating for something like the return to the sunshine policies that were previously had in south korea which meant more engagement, more dialogue with the north there was a big shift in that policy when the conservative government came to power for a ten-year period. then you had a democratic party take over back in may. this president, who so badly wanted dialogue with the north has really been forced to keep his focus on how the up his country's defenses in the face of this mounting and persistent threat from the north. cyril? >> alexandra field reporting live from seoul. thank you very much. and now to iran, which is fighting back against the u.s. president's threats to withdraw from the landmark nuclear deal. the country says it will stop letting international monitors inspect its facilities unannounced if the deal is canceled. let's go to fred pleitgen now in tehran. i guess it's in the hands of the u.s. congress now, fred.

>> well, it certainly does seem to be. the iranians are saying look, for the time being they certainly are going to stay in the nuclear agreement unless it's breached by some other parties. they made it very clear not only would they stop these unannounced visits to possible nuclear sites, there is obviously the whole agreement would fall apart. and that would mean the iranians could very quickly ramp up their nuclear program once again. the iranians have always made clear, they're not seeking a nuclear weapon. however, they do feel they have the right to a nuclear program. and that would obviously be greatly expanded if indeed this deal did fall apart. you're absolutely right. there is still a lot of anger amongst iranians among some of the things the president did say in his speech. i was quite surprising to us, though, what the thing most people are most angry about. take a look at what we heard on the streets of iran. among the many criticisms president trump hurled at iran -- >> the regime remains the world's late leading sponsor of

terror. >> reporter: believe it or not, it was this one that most enraged iranians. >> it harasses american ships and threatens freedom of navigation in the arabian gulf and in the red sea. >> reporter: at this tehran market, folks were fuming at saying arabian gulf and not persian gulf. >> translator: i think some of what he said was okay. but when he talked about the arab golf, that caused the arab countries ties to jubilate. i got very upset with it because he insulted our history and our nation. >> it shows he is not an educated person, this woman says. and he doesn't know anything how about the world works. >> reporter: of course, iranians are concerned after president trump decertified the nuclear agreement that curbs iran's nuclear ambitions. the move seems to be uniting iran's various political factions there are deep divisions in this country between moderates who want to

open iran up to the world and hard-liners who are suspicious of the west. but after president trump's iran speech, both sides are coming to each other's defense. on the president's order, the u.s. treasury also put new sanctions on iran's hard line revolutionary guard, or irgc over its support for terrorist organizations leading the moderate foreign ministute shar tweets iranian boys men, women are all irgc. the head of the influential hard line newspaper and adviser to iran's supreme leader. he said president trump has helped conservatives by verbally attacking iran. >> translator: trump made us realize that if we don't stand together, the enemy will exploit the distance between us, he says. a widespread unity was created among us. president trump's new and tough

approach to iran has disappointed iranian moderates while hard-liners are gloating, saying tehran never should have negotiated with america in the first place. and so, natalie, really have to always point out how remarkable it is that the two sides are now unified there was pretty controversial discussion going on this year when hassan rouhani was voted in again. where hard-liners and moderates were really going at it. now a lot that ofs that evacuated. iranians are also seeing other countries coming to the deal's defense you. the germans, the french saying the same thing, the iaea is saying yes, the deal is working and it's being enforced. they also called the strictest verification regime in the world. so therefore the iranians at this point feel it's the u.s. administration that is isolated rather than them, natalie. >> fred pleitgen in iran, thank you. for more here is cyril. >> president trump has been

vocal about the deal. he has dealt a blow to barack obama's health care legislation. let's talk about this with scott lucas, professional of international politics at the university of birmingham, england. scott? >> we knew he was going after barack obama's legacy. and in the past week he's undermined what were arguably mr. obama's two most significant policies internationally and domestically, iran and health care. >> yes. i mean, the first rule of thumb for donald trump is if barack obama did it, rip it up. the question is what affect that has. we're talking not only about health care and iran, but stripping back environmental regulations, stripping back health, safety in the workplace, stripping back regulations in the lgbt rights. in iran you have the risk that the u.s. will actually isolate itself. that long-time ally, including britain, will now side with the

iranians in terms of the maintenance of the agreement. and on health care, i am just -- the amount of devastation and the amount of destruction this could cause to americans in terms of premiums and terms of lack of coverage and in terms of not having central benefits covered, donald trump said earlier this year if there was no replacement for obamacare, he would tear the system down. and let's be clear, that is what he is trying to do now. >> but isn't that going to make the health care system in this country donald trump's problem? that's to say if people are not happy with it, and they're not in the u.s., then aren't they need to start blaming donald trump once he starts meddling with it? >> well, trump is very straight forward gambling. he signalled this months ago. look, obamacare is dragging you down, americans. and by carrying out these actions, he is going to say when those higher premiums kick in and when that coverage is stripped away, oh, it's not my fault. it was the system. it was obamacare that caused all your problems. nour two questions. one, will americans buy that?

that in fact by tearing down the system, that it was the system in the first place that was the problem and not donald trump. and secondly, will republican leaders in congress go along with this trumpian strategy. >> some of the people who stand to be affected here are the very people who put mr. trump in office. according to the associated press, 70% of the people who stand to lose live in states that voted for donald trump. is that a political miscalculation on his part? >> well, you know, if we're evaluating from the ground up in reality, i'd say yes. but so much of trump's approach and politics is run on emotion. let me give you another example. trump went in front of a trucker's convention, and he told trucker there's who aren't on the highest wages, look, i got rid telephone estate tax. i'm helping you by doing that. you have to earn at least $5.6 million or have seats of that much to even be able to benefit from the estate tax. this trumpian illusion versus reality, if people buy into it, the emperor's new clothes are still intact. >> all right.

one last one. steve bannon, donald trump's former senior adviser is waging war on the republican establishment. but donald trump needs the establishment to pass legislation in congress. is that -- does that help him? >> well, no, not in the short-term be. you got two point here is about what steve bannon is specifically doing. first, bannon, like trump, said from the start you have to tear the system apart to make it better. now whatever you think of that, what steve bannon is now saying if republican legislators don't go along with what he wants and what supposedly trump wants, he will defeat them in the primaries next year. in other words, what we're witnessing is not the question of unifying republican party, but actually waging a fight within the republican party in the same year the midterm elections. >> all right. scott lucas in birmingham, thank you very much. >> thank you. and next here on "cnn newsroom," residents in northern california were caught off guard when wildfires broke out.

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calmer winds in northern california are helping firefighters battle dozens of wildfires. they broke out a week ago, and so far they have killed at least 14 people. unfortunately, that death toll might still increase as more than 200 others are currently missing. nearly 88,000 hectares, or 217,000 acres have burned throughout california. >> they're working on plans to get the thousands of evacuees back home, but some people have already returned home, only to find out they have lost everything. joining me now from california is zack block. zack, we know that you lost your home you. had to get out with your wife and your 11-month-old baby. how did it happen? had you been evacuated? or did you just have to flee? >> so we had to flee in a pretty quick manner. we woke up around 1:00 a.m. started to smell the smoke. and then it got pretty evident where the fire was showing in

the back side of our backyard. and my brother and i were trying to do as best we could to put it out. and it got overpowering, and had to evacuate the house as well as all the neighbors as well. >> so the neighborhood is gone for the most part? >> yeah. every neighbor that we have is gone. >> and what was it like? have you gone back to see? >> yeah, we went back a few days back. and it was very overwhelming experience. it was very eerie. obviously very little movement when it comes to the neighborhood that we lived in. it was filled with love, laughter, and families. and to see it in the state that it was, it was pretty overwhelming. >> were you -- were you just -- you have an 11-month-old baby so you were just starting a family at this point in your life, right? >> yeah. so we purchased the house back in february.

and it was a really nice neighborhood for us to continue our family and our growth. so it was very short-lived, but yeah, we just started living there. and we were on our way to building a family. >> that's really so unfortunate, so incredible. and has it sunk in, you know, what this is like? and what you've lost? >> you know, i think it has. the level of humanity that we have seen across a couple of different resources has been unreal and amazing. and i think that's what's allowed us to be, you know, be aware of the situation. be aware of the situation. >> what types of things have people done to reach out and help me? >> well, my brother is a berkeley fireman. the berkeley fire department has been really helpful. and, you know, just the friends and family that we have. just the love and time spent

together, if you will, has been really the icing on the cake for us to have a conversation with and express our emotion and kind of understand what we went through and the level of the stages of rebuilding and coming together as a community. >> well, do you want to return to living in santa rosa? do you have any fear of living in santa rosa after this? it's a beautiful place. >> yeah, it's a wonderful place. we will be returning. and we will be rebuilding in the exact location of the fire. it's been such an amazing city for us. and we will be going back as soon as we can to help that process. >> so no trepidation, no fear of going back? >> no, not at all. >> wow. we wish you and your wife and your baby, your 11-month-old all the best. zach block, thanks for talking with us. >> no worries. >> no worries. he is california chill, even through what he has been through. pedram is here to tells us if

they're going get a break this week. pedram? >> i think it's about time. well see a little bit of improvement. well see the wind shift become more of an onshore component. worse than beijing on thursday in san francisco. it has improved a little bit. still looking at moderate conditions. but closer perspective as far as the coverage here. we've seen improvement in the fires, say 8 to 15% improvement in the coverage and containment of these fires. but still significant damage in place. but notice the trend. in sacramento upper 80s to mid-60s. los angeles middle 90s. down to 82 degrees. so all of this indicative that we're seeing an onshore component. the improvement coming with helping the firefighting efforts across that part of the world. i want to take you over portions of western europe. look at this right here. this is what is left of what was one once a major hurricane. the sixth one of the season that was ophelia. it is still ophelia. but it has moved over cooler waters built. definition it becomes a post tropical system.

but it still has category 1 equivalent hurricane-force winds as it pushes in towards western europe. places such as kerry, work your way towards galway with category 1 equivalent winds around western ireland. power outage is certainly going to be a possibility here. and we have the entire country of ireland now underneath a high impact alert. parts of the uk as well dealing with this, dealing in with gusting over hurricane force as it push ace shore later on monday afternoon to the overnight hours of monday evening and tuesday morning in eddin brou edinburgh. it happens on the 30-year anniversary of the last tropical system that was able to push through this system. once you go over cooler waters you lose tropical characteristics. but the winds could be hurricane-force as they were. middle 20s possible out of places like paris or london. that's about 70 or so degrees fahrenheit should. be in the 50 no, sir time of

year on the fahrenheit scale. dramatic changes as you get that warm they're is shifting in and pushing towards this region. but the disruption to travel, to ferry services certainly is going to be significant here for a monday into tuesday, guys. >> all right, pedram, thanks very much. >> thank you. >> pedram javaheri from the cnn severe weather center. all right. we're going to take a short break and more right back after this.

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whentertaining us,es getting us back on track,hing? and finding us dates. phones really have changed. so why hasn't the way we pay for them? introducing xfinity mobile. you only pay for data and can easily switch between pay per gig and unlimited. no one else lets you do that. see how much you can save. choose by the gig or unlimited. xfinity mobile. a new kind of network designed to save you money. call, visit or go to xfinitymobile.com. welcome back, everyone. good to have you with us. i'm cyril vanier, i'm natalie allen. an update on our top stories this heroics u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson says the u.s. is trying to stay in the iran nuclear deal, though it

needs serious revisions. this comes after president donald trump threatened to pull the u.s. out of the immigrant on friday. he says iran is violating the terms and mistreating the united states. ten days of joint u.s.-south korean naval exercises are under way. south korea's navy commander said the drills are to counter north korea's provocations. pyongyang in north korea has called such exercises of rehearsal for war. official says two isis-linked militants have been killed following a long standoff with government troops. one of the militants was a top leader in southeast asia and was wanted by the fbi. the other led a local militant group. they had spearheaded a deadly siege which sparked fears isis would gain a foothold in the region. all right. just before the storm, just before the breaks, we're telling you about ophelia the storm, which is making its way towards the coast of ireland. cnn's phil black is there. phil, how long before you start

feeling the effects, or maybe you already are? and what is the preparation that you know of in ireland? >> cyril, it's a little before dawn here. you can see it's pretty dark. it's difficult for us at this time to give you a sense of precisely what we are feeling. but i can tell you we are starting to feel it. the gusts, the winds, they're really starting to pick up here. and it's expected to get much stronger over the coming hours. now, where we are on the southwest corner of ireland, this is one of the areas that authorities here are most worried about. the south, the southwest coast. this is the area that they issued initially what they called a highest level of alert 4 when it comes to these sorts of weather events, a red warning. overnight they have extended that. there is now what they describe as a red warning over the entire country, the entire republic of ireland is on alert for wind gusts that are described as destructive and violent. because although where we are

expected along the west coast of the country, this is going to experience it to its fullest force, everywhere else they expect the gusts to be as unpredictable and strong enough to potentially pose a risk to safety and potentially to life as well. so over the last few days, the republic of ireland has really been warning people to do what they can to get ready for this. to deal with any sorts of trees or branches or bushes that might need to be tied down or cut back in some way to make sure that nothing is left lying out in the garden. and today the advise is quite simply stay inside. do not go outside unless you have to. because they're really worried about the potentially destructive force of the winds, which as i said, they're really starting to pick up. and they're going to be felt over the coming hours here in what many expect to be an unprecedented storm for this country. cyril? >> all right. if you're in ireland, stay

inside. the whole republic of ireland is under a red warning phil was just telling us. phil, thank you very much. we'll he can in with you throughout the morning and see how the weather conditions are developing where you are. thank you. somalia's capital has endured decades of violence, but saturday's terror attacks in mogadishu are the deadly test country has seen in years. >> the twin truck bombings left at least 276 people dead and hundred morse wounded. and that number is expected to rise as rescuers continue searching through all of this you see here. all of that rubble now from nairobi, kenya, there is still no claim of responsibility for this? >> still no claim of responsibility, natalie. as we've been saying since this tragedy unfolded on saturday around 2:00 in the afternoon, it bears all the hallmarks of the terror organization al shabaab. they haven't claimed responsibility. i must stress that. but every indication are that this was a truck that was loaded

with explosives, including cooking gas. that's why you saw such a conflagration, such a incendiary effect, on bodies badly burned, the safari hotel collapsed. and the force of the blast has been the worst that somalia has seen in ten years of fighting and terrorism efforts and fighting al shabaab. it is by far the worst tragedy. as i'm speaking to you natalie, bodies are still being removed. yesterday they had mass burials for the victims. they're carrying on the mass burials and of course there are three days of national mourning. we're waiting to see ewho is responsible. but it is by far the deadliest bomb attack in somalia's history. >> right. and you say that the government has been fighting al shabaab for ten years. what gains overall, farai has it made in trying to push them bark, and certainly the united states has been involved in that as well and other countries? >> absolutely. now they will not have done this without the help of the united

states. the united states have been specifically targeting al shabaab militants. they've been dropping drones. and just three months ago it was reported that a team of engineers had gone in from the united states army to help set up roads and camps and logistics. and of course the african mission in southern somalia is also there. but the city is problematic. remember, somalia still has an arms embargo against them. it's a problem of trust. the international community, including britain who held a somali conference in may and the united states pays to try to protect the people from somalia from terrorism do not trust elements within somali government. they worry about defections. they t problem of terrorism is insidious in somali society. it has to be fought by the somalis themselves. they have to decide which way they want this to fall. the government has been trying desperately to pull the country

back into democracy with elections back in last february. but the security situation has not changed very much, natalie. >> we can certainly see that. we thank you, farai sevenzo, thank you very much. to syria, now, isis appears to losing its de facto capital. u.s.-backed fighters say the terror group has been driven from 90% of raqqah. the syrian democratic forces say only a few hundred isis militants remain there are reports some of the terrorists have surrender. others were allowed to evacuate. more fighting, though, is expected in the days ahead. the u.s.-led coalition says it will try to protect civilians. isis seems to be collapsing in ook raqqah, tensions are brewing between enemies in neighboring iraq. they have approached kirkuk. iraq's prime minister says he wants to impose security there but the kurds say they're ready to repel any attack. a standoff in the oil-rich region has intensified after a

kurdish independence vote last month. and the u.s. has called on all sides to avoid escalation. earlier my colleague rosemary church spoke with cnn military analyst lieutenant colonel rick francona about this. >> kirk kirk has always ban tender box, a source of friction between the kurds and the iraqi arabs. the kurds believe this to be a kurdish city. over half the residents are kurdish, that's true. but it's not in the area that has been designated part of the kurdish autonomous region. in 2014, when isis was making its sweep across northern iraq, the kurds moved in to kirkuk to protect it and defend it. now they're there. they don't want to give it back. they believe should it be part of the autonomous region. and this was fine, as long as the iraqis needed the kurds to do some of the fighting for them. they were instrumental in the retaking of many parts of northern iraq. but that's over. isis is almost defeated in iraq.

the kurds are no long they're necessary to iraq's military efforts. so the iraqis want to reimpose control over the areas they believe to be part of the federal area. so that's what we're seeing. and we're seeing the kurds resist that. now talking about the use of weapons and all that. nobody wants it to come to that. i know the americans are also talking to both sides, trying to ratchet this down. well don't need a confrontation between two iraqi forces. if weapons are used, this creates a conflagration in northern iraq that we don't need. now, there is a long history of confrontations between the kurds and the iraqi government. but that was the sunni government of saddam hussein. the shia don't have that same desire to fight the kurds. they were both repressed under saddam hussein. so they have the common ground there. i think that abadi and barzani, the new kurdish president, they're going to sit down and come up with some way where they can come up with a compromise they can both live with. but in the end, and i hate to say this, in the end, kirkuk is

not part of the kurdish autonomous region. i think the kurds are fighting a losing battle here. they really can't stand up to the iraqi army. they don't have the force. no one, not the americans, the kurds nor the iraqis want to see another war in northern iraq. >> lieutenant rick francona there. coming up here, a new era of right wing politics. this anti-immigrant politician is set to become austria's next chancellor. we'll tell you how he did it, next. hen i brought jake home, i wanted him to eat healthy. so i feed jake purina cat chow naturals indoor, a nutritious formula with no artificial flavors. made specifically for indoor cats. purina cat chow. nutrition to build better lives.

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welcome back. the far right is celebrating another political accomplishment in europe. sebastian kurz is set to become austria's next chancellor following sunday's election, and he may form a far right government. the first in austria in over a decade. >> kurz pushed his central right party further to the right giving it a substantial anti-immigrant agenda. he wants to limit the number of refugees entering europe, and

cut benefits for eu migrants living in austria. cnn senior correspondent teekah schubert joins us now from vienna. a 31-year-old leader who will likely lead the country in a different direction. >> well, this is what everyone is wondering. and i've just been talking about with this with franz shellhorn, the think tank austria. maybe you can help us puzzle through this. how does sebastian kurz, someone who is just 31 years old get to this position where he seems on track to become chancellor. >> first of all, it's not that surprising in austria as the polls were quite accurate. probably a good job as foreign minister. and people think he see more decisive, he is more eager, and he represent sents a sentiment of change. >> so he represent sents the sentiment of change. but as you point out he is from the people's party, which is a very old party, people's

conservative centrist right. and he seems to have pulled the party further to the right and the decision to close austria's borders at the height of the refugee crisis. where does he stand politically? >> as you said, he is pulling the party more to the right. no doubt about that. it's not just migration. migration was the main issue. but it's also change of economic policy. debt is higher. unemployment is high. taxes are high. so people want something different. and he made the impression of delivering the change. if he does, this is the question of course with whom. >> exactly. he wants to be chancellor, but he needs a coalition. the freedom party, the far right anti-immigration did pretty well. got about 26% of the right. are they the most likely coalition partner? >> it's most likely, but it's not decided yet. it's even possible that coalition between the social democrats and the freedom party is going to be formed.

representatives of the freedom party they would love to go with the social democrats because they think it's easier with them. but this is still a very open question. the margin between the kurz party and social democrats is quite significant. so the most likely coalition would be the freedom. >> so people's party and freedom party. what would that mean for the rest of europe? especially on the issue of immigration, which has been a very divisive issue in the eu? >> well, i think europe has to deal with it anyway. the migration policy is changing everywhere. and austria of course was hit quite significantly by the immigration crisis. and something has to change. we can't say that borders are open. we have to have control of migration. and that's what people want, i think not just in austria. >> this is something we heard from voters yesterday. they felt that in 2015, somehow the government had lost control of its borders. so is this basically sort of a reaction to that now, this election? >> this is sort after reaction.

but it's not the only explanations. remember, one year we were standing here in the very same hotel. >> yes. >> and we were discussing that we have the first green president. first president from the green party. and we have same situation yesterday. it's not only migration issue, but it is one of the main topics. >> yeah, it's fascinating actually. the green party looks like they didn't even make it in this time to parliament. so a huge loss for them. what does this say about the changing political attitudes, not just in austria, but in europe? >> i think the green party didn't make it is the biggest surprise in this whole campaign. and it's telling that it's more difficult for smaller parties, i would say. and people fear this loss of control. and they ask for clear answers. and they want the whole migration thing solved. and they fear also severe change in economic policies. >> so what do you want to see sebastian kurz do next? we're presuming that he will

become chancellor. but as you point out, it's not a guarantee at this point. what do you think his next moves are? thinking could be surprise as well what he does next. but what everybody expects is he is talking to first of all the social democrats. but the atmosphere between these two parties not really good. so he could move on with the freedom party and then form a stable coalition. and then change a lot of economic policy issues. taxes should be going down. debt should go down. and we have quite good growth now. and this should be a very positive for implementing these changes. >> now, for many of our international viewers, this is the first time they're really hearing about sebastian kurz as a leader. he is very young, 31. how would you describe him as a world leader? >> well, he is very focused. he he is very divisive. i would say he is very eager. and for his age, a lot of

experience. he has been in the government for seven years now at the age of 31. and now he is -- this is the biggest task, of course, and we'll see eif he is going to deliver. >> absolutely. certainly achieved a lot more than i have at the age of 31. well, thank you very much. . natalie, that's franz schellhorn from the austria think tank. a look at why voters voted the way they did, why you saw such a surge of popularity behind sebastian kurz, he is portrayed as the change candidate here. but again, that migration crisis claimed very heavily here, especially when we saw all the votes going to the anti-immigration freedom party. still a lot of coalition building in the works. we'll see what happens in the days to come. the final results will be on thursday. and that's when we're likely to see the beginning of those coalition talks, natalie. >> we appreciate it, atika shubert for us in vienna. thank you. >> we'll hear more from atika next hour. next up on "cnn newsroom"

for now, russia's russian meddling apparently far more extensive than first thought. in a cnn exclusive, see how one russian-linked campaign used instagram, youtube, even pokemon to try to shake up u.s. politics. stay with us. express yourself.. new brow stylist shape and fill pencil by l'oreal. the easy-to-use triangular tip shapes and fills. the spoolie brush blends. brow power! new brow stylist shape and fill from l'oreal paris. ♪ (bell mnemonic) i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke as far as i used to. due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but no matter where i ride, i go for my best.

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more women are coming forward with sexual abuse allegations against one of hollywood's most powerful producer, harvey weinstein. british actress lissette anthony is one of the newest accusers. she says weinstein raped her in her home in the 1980s. in an interview with the sunday times, anthony says she just recently reported the attack to police after spending years trying to forget what happened. police in the u.s. and uk are investigating multiple rape allegations against weinstein, who has categorically denied any allegations of nonconsensual sex. the scandal has blown up hollywood's culture of secrecy around sexual harassment. filmmaker woody allen calls the scandal sad for everybody involved, but says he doesn't want this new openness about harassment in the industry to turn into, quote, a witch-hunt atmosphere.

in other news we're following, a new cnn exclusive investigation finds russian attempts to meddle in last year's u.s. election went way beyond facebook and twitter. >> we're talking youtube, tumblr, even pokemon go, apps used by americans every day. cnn's drew griffin reports. >> reporter: it was a strange e-mail that came directly to the desk of baltimore city paper editor brandon wiigland. don't shoot us, a group claiming to be made up of black activists was planning a protest outside the court hearing of a baltimore police officer involved in death of freddie gray. they wanted weigel to cover it, but he was immediately suspicious. >> it wasn't a group i had heard of, either locally or nationally. >> reporter: cnn has now learned don't shoot us wasn't local nor national. it was russian. and the black activism don't shoot us was promoting in baltimore was part of a much bigger strategy.

georgetown professor marc jacobson says was aimed at attacking the u.s. democratic system. >> what the russians are doing by fomenting distrust for the american government, and by also trying to organize rallies is what you do when you want to destroy a country from within. these are war-like acts. these are acts designed to destroy the united states. >> a cnn investigation shows russia's propaganda attack on the u.s. went beyond using fake accounts and ads on facebook and twitter. cnn tracked multiple accounts from don't shoot us across the internet. a website that boasted 300,000 followers. a youtube channel with videos of police brutality. a tumblr account. most surprising, a post announcing a contest on pokemon go when it was at its most popular, directing gamers to visit locations where alleged police brutality took place. all part of a kremlin-connected campaign of misinformation that

actively sought to influence opinion and meddle inside the u.s. the e-mail that arrived on brandon weigel's city newspaper computer this is don't shoot. we raise police awareness of police violence against people of color. the idea is to protest in front of the courthouse and demand justice for freddie gray. >> it made sense it would be a hot button issue. but i don't think it was something that the russians would have exploited. >> the russians not only exploited divisive racial issues in the u.s., cnn has learned don't shoot us was operating almost a rapid response to the shootings. in minnesota last july, the day after philando castile was killed by a white police officer, don't shoot us was using social media to organize its own protest. the effort failed because local community members determined something was wrong. it turns out they were right. and their suspicions had russian links. the evidence to the extent russians used to try to divide

the american electorate just keeps on growing. blacktivist is another site made up by russians to sow discord between police and black people in this country. the group even went so far as to sell its own blacktivist t-shirts online. as far as we know, none of the people who engaged with blacktivist or don't shoot us had any idea these sites were actually russian propaganda tools. drew griffin, cnn, washington. "saturday night live" is poke fun at president trump's feud with the nfl. last week he upped the ante, saying he ordered vice president mike pence to walk out of a stadium when nfl players knelt during the national anthem. >> now "snl" figures the duo can take on some new culture wars. take a look. >> i need row to check the cups, okay? do they say happy holidays or merry christmas? >> sir, it's october. they wouldn't have

christmas-themed cups yet. >> they would if they respect america might cups. they would show me as santa claus giving all the children coal. check the cup. >> they say pumpkin spice is back, sir. >> get out of there right now! vamoose! >> now he has been on "snl." >> all right. that's it for now. thanks for watching "cnn newsroom." i'm cyril vanier. >> i'm natalie allen. we're back with another hour of news. our top stories right after this. come on dad!

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this hour on "cnn newsroom," a joint naval drill between the united states and south korea began just a few hours ago, and it comes amid worries that president trump's twitter talk will push north korean leader kim jong un to be more aggressive. we'll go live to seoul. and nearly 300 people killed in a double bombing in somalia. hundreds more are in hospitals. it's the deadliest attack in the country in years. thanks for joining us, everyone. i'm cyril vanier. >> and i'm natalie allen. these stories ahead here on "cnn newsroom."