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Comey to Testify about Trump Next Week; Breaking: Gun Fire, Explosions at Philippines Resort; Trump Expected to Pull U.S. Out of Paris Climate Accord; Trump Breaks Promise to Move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 1, 2017 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[13:30:00] GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: -- and what he believes really occurred in hindsight. But Republicans are going to have a tough time, because they're going to listen to James Comey and then they're going to have to try and figure out what the president of the United States would say about that. And maybe he'll tweet and tell us. Who knows?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's see if Comey brings those contemporary notes he's known to have taken on his meetings with the president.

Gloria, thanks very much.

Dana, Nia, Shimon, everyone, thanks to all of you.

Coming up, anticipation building for the president's decision on the Paris climate deal. World leaders, the secretary of state, even his own daughter urging him to stay in, not break away from nearly every nation on earth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:06] BLITZER: We have breaking news coming out of Manilla in the Philippines where there are now reports of gunfire and explosions at a casino in the city. Police and SWAT teams have been deployed. It's a multi-level mall. It has casinos and high-end shopping. Details of the attack at the Resorts World Manila just coming in. There you see it's not that far away from the international airport in Manilla. It's not that far away from the international airport. We're going to monitor and bring you all the late breaking news as they unfold. Very disturbing information coming in from the Philippines. Stand by for more on that.

Other important news we're following, just under 90 minutes or so from now, President Trump will address the American people and, indeed, will address the world from the Rose Garden of the White House and announce whether the United States will stay in the Paris Climate Accord. The president is expected to withdraw from that agreement, but White House officials caution nothing is final until the president speaks at 3:00 p.m. eastern later this afternoon. We do know he had a conversation with House Speaker Paul Ryan in the last 24 hours on this issue. Pulling out of the accord would be a very significant break from

nearly other every nation on earth. 195 countries are part of that agreement. Only two, Syria and Nicaragua, have refused to sign on the deal, which aims to reduce green-house gas emissions. Each nation can set its own goals. In the case of the U.S., President Obama looked to reduce emissions by at least 23 percent by the year 2025. He also pledged $3 billion to help poorer countries tackle climate change.

I want to bring in senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.

Jim, we're hearing in this announcement the president may add some language to try to satisfy his critics. What are you hearing?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENKIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. As you know, this has been hotly debated inside the White House. A bit of a tug of war between the president's top advisers. But we are hearing the president may try to satisfy some of those inside the White House and, obviously, he's been hearing from CEOs, from political leaders, from scientists from all over the world who have been appealing to this president to not pull out of this climate agreement. Some of this is coming from inside his own family. As you know, his daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, has been appealing to the president to not pull out of this climate deal. What we're hearing from a source is that the president may, in this Rose Garden event coming up at 3:00 this afternoon, try to appease that side of the discussion.

We did hear from the president yesterday. He was in the Oval Office with the prime minister from Vietnam and the president said he is hearing from all sides of this issue. The question, of course, is how far is the president willing to go. Every indication we're getting, Wolf, is that the president is determined to pull out of this climate agreement. I talked to a source close to the White House who said this is one of those situations where the president can fulfill a campaign promise without a whole lot of blowback here in the United States. As a matter of fact, he was telling the French president last week, we heard from one French official, that he felt he was under heavy pressure back at home and that a lot of people here in the U.S. weren't in favor of this agreement. Obviously, that is not what the poll numbers tell us, but the president is at least, at this point, appearing to listen to some of those voices inside the White House.

We can put a graphic on screen and show what we're talking about here. Usually, this administration is fairly in lock step on a lot of these issues, but you're seeing here Ivanka Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Energy Secretary Rick Perry saying, no, stay in the climate agreement. Steve Bannon and Scott Pruitt, the EPA chief, are both advocating that he leave the climate agreement. It's interesting, Wolf, Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, the global oil giant, one of the voices telling the president don't get out of Paris. It appears, when we hear from the president in the next couple of hours, Wolf, that's what he's going to do.

BLITZER: The new CEO of ExxonMobil, in the exact same position, they want the U.S. to stay in this agreement.

Jim Acosta, at the White House, thanks very much.

Once again, the president expected to make the announcement regarding the Paris agreement later this afternoon. Jake Tapper will anchor our special coverage at 3:00 eastern right here on CNN.

The climate deal not the only big decision for the president. Coming up, the president has decided against moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but the White House insists he's not breaking this promise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:39:32] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Today, President Trump went back on one of his key campaign promises. He signed a waiver that keeps the United States embassy in Tel Aviv Israel instead of moving it to Jerusalem. In a statement, the White House said -- and I'm quoting now from that statement -- "President Trump made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, but as he has repeatedly stating his intention to move the embassy -- his intention is to move the embassy. The question is not if that move happens, but only when."

Congress passed the law ordering the move back in 1995, but every president since then, every U.S. president, every six months, has signed the same waiver that President Trump signed today delaying that move. President Trump clearly has followed suit from his predecessors.

Joining us now from Tel Aviv is Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States. He's now a member of Knesset, deputy minister of diplomacy. He's also the author of "Ally, My Journey Across the American/Israel Divide."

Are you disappointed in President Trump?

[13:45:07] MICHAEL OREN, ISRAEL KNESSET MEMBER & DEPUTY MEMBER OF DIPLOMACY & AUTHOR & FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: I am. We're disappointed in the decision not to move the embassy. We think the U.S. embassies, we think all embassies of countries that have relations with Israel should be in our capital. We have one capital and have never had another for 3,000 years.

BLITZER: Do you no longer trust this president?

OREN: We trust him. We hope that in the future he will as he says move the embassy. He said it's not a question if. It's a question when. Our major concern is that the Palestinians will continue to fantasize that somehow there's no connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem. That is their official position and will get bogged down again. But we appreciate the president's warm words. There were warm words attached to the decision to sign the waiver. We appreciated his trip here. His first foreign journey abroad was to Israel, the first sitting president to visit the Western Wall. And we look forward to the time the United States will recognize Jerusalem as our capital.

It's kind of a strange situation, Wolf. We have tensely allied countries where one member of that alliance doesn't recognize the capital of the other. I'll make a headline and say Israel does recognize Washington, D.C., as America's capital.

BLITZER: Ambassador, I apologize. Unfortunately, we've got to cut it short.

We've got some very disturbing breaking news coming out of Manila in the Philippines, where there are reports of major gunfire and explosions at a casino resort in the city. Police and SWAT teams have been deployed. It's a multi-level mall that has casinos, high-end shopping.

Joining us on the phone from Manila is Maria Ressa, executive editor of Rappler, an online news sight based in the Philippines.

Maria, what are you hearing? What's the latest?

MARIA RESSA, EXCUTIVE EDITOR, RAPPLER (voice-over): What we heard were gunshots from inside Resorts World and fire, smoke coming out of the building. People have been asked to evacuate. Outside there are fire trucks, SWAT Teams, people are out in robes. There's a hotel, a casino in that area. It's unclear exactly what's happening yet. We have yet to hear from authorities.

BLITZER: Tell us about Resorts World Manila. What kind of facility is it?

RESSA: It's a large modern facility. It is a casino hotel complex about 15 minutes away from the airport. It's 1:45 in the morning here, so it's still alive casino. It's 24 hours. It's nerve wracking to many people in the Philippines because this is the 10th day of martial law in that large island off the Philippines where the military has been fighting to regain control from a group linked to is.

BLITZER: Is that what the suspicion is, that the gunfire, the explosions could be ISIS related? Is that what you're hearing, Maria?

RESSA: You know, nothing yet. Again, from authorities, but what we've -- people who have come out of the building have been saying that and it certainly is something that part of what could be alarming. We know that last Sunday, the U.S. embassy gave a warning to those in Manila that there would be check points. President Duterte, when he declared a state of martial law, stated that he would extend it as needed. BLITZER: Has law enforcement, Maria, given any numbers as far as

casualties?

RESSA: Nothing yet. Nothing yet from the Resorts World area.

BLITZER: And I assume a lot of ambulances and emergency personnel have rushed to the scene, is that right?

RESSA: I'm looking at what's happening there now and we're seeing ambulances, fire trucks, people just standing outside waiting to hear word, and smoke coming out of parts of the building.

BLITZER: Is the incident over, as far as you know, or is there still a standoff? Are the shots still being fired, explosions still going on?

RESSA: There are no more shots at this point in time. People just don't know exactly what has happened yet -- Wolf?

[13:49:42] BLITZER: Maria Ressa, I want you to stand by.

We're going to continue to follow the breaking news out of Manila, explosions, gunfire at a major resort and casino in the Philippines. We'll take a quick, resume our coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're continuing to follow the disturbing breaking news out of Manila in the Philippines where there are reports of major gunfire and an explosion at a casino resort right in the city. This is the first video we're getting. Police and SWAT Teams, they have been deployed. It's a multilevel mall that has casinos, high-end shopping, among other resort activities. It's called Resorts World Manila.

CNN's Ivan Watson is joining us right now.

You're in Singapore, Ivan, but you're familiar with this area. What are you hearing?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Most of the information we're now getting is from Philippines news sources and our sister network, CNN Philippines. Right now, what we have is an unfolding situation right now taking place in the area known as Resorts World. And we're getting accounts of gunfire taking place there, of hotel employee who have fled the scene and are describing to our sister network at least one gunman wearing a mask somewhere on the second floor of the Resorts World in Manila.

Now, I've been to this area before, Wolf. I've stayed in this area. There is essentially a compound of hotels here. It's close to the international airport in the enormous capital of the Philippines. There's a Marriott Hotel there, for example, a number of other hotels, four-star hotels. There's also a shopping mall and some kind of a casino complex as well.

Again, this is very much an unfolding situation right now, but what we're getting right now are reports via our sister network CNN Philippines of some kind of a shooting situation with police being rushed to the area, with Philippine SWAT services being rushed to the area. And we're still trying to get our heads around exactly what is taking place around these reports of gunfire at the Resorts World complex in the Philippines capital right now -- Wolf?

[13:55:58] BLITZER: Reports of gunfire, Ivan, and also explosions inside as well. That also raises alarm bells.

Give us a perspective, Ivan. Unfortunately, there's been a tremendous amount of deadly violence in the Philippines recently. Tell our viewers about that.

WATSON: Well, and we have no information about any connection here. We don't have any claims of responsibility at this point. But, yes, you have had, just last week, the Philippines government having to declare martial law on a southern island of the Philippines after an ISIS-affiliated group took over a town known as Malawi, and essentially set fire to a prison there, took control of central streets there, and killed a number of Philippine security forces there. And there's been ongoing violence there. And, of course, the Philippines government having to declare martial law. But that is on a southern island of the Philippines, quite some distance from the Philippines capital. We don't have a connection, per se, between these two very different locations.

In addition to that, you have the ongoing violence, Wolf, of the government's war on drugs. It has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people. And that's a separate issue of violence that's been taking place.

BLITZER: Hold on a moment, Ivan.

One of our CNN Philippines reporters, Camille Abadicio, is joining us.

What are you learning, Camille?

CAMILLE ABADICIO, CNN REPORTER, CNN PHILLIPINES (voice-over): Really, a series of gunfire and what seems to be explosions coming from Resorts World Manila. We saw 10 heavily armed members of the SWAT team entering the area. Right now, I believe they are engaging with a gunman inside. Right now, I'm huddled with police and other members of the media at the perimeter a block away from where the incident happened.

There was a reported shooting incident on the second floor of the resort and casino past midnight. An employee says guests suddenly rushed out of the building. Some of them jumped from the second floor just to escape, and some of them said that there was a gunman wearing a mask and that he opened fire.

Now, I talked to a security guard also that we talked to off camera and he said there was more than one attacker but we have yet to confirm that.

The regional police spokesperson just spoke to us and said that they can't divulge the information that they have right now for the safety of the police and the people still inside.

I also talked to a man who came running from the building and he told us he was on the third floor when he heard loud gunshots and he had to hide inside the bathroom with other guests. He really was very disoriented and scared, and he was just lucky because he saw a security guard who helped him escape. He also said there was smoke inside the building. So it's unclear if there's an ongoing fire but we're seeing fire trucks here around the area.

There are also a lot of police and more SWAT teams coming. And earlier, there were already injured guests rushed to the hospital -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Very disturbing development in Manila at this resort, called Resorts World Manila.

You heard Camille Abadicio, our reporter there, who described the police and firefighters and SWAT who have engaged in apparently more than one gunman there. Bot only gunshots were heard but explosions at the same time.

We're going to stay on top of the breaking news, all of the news.

Ana Cabrera picks up our special coverage.

[14:00:03] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Ana Cabrera. I want to welcome our viewers around the world and here in the U.S.

Again, with breaking news. Right now, we are following reports of an attack unfolding at --