president trump on his way to israel with a focus on peace in the middle east. we go live to jerusalem with how trump will be received following a series of controversies ahead of the visit. >> drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. drive them out. >> the president kicked off his trip in saudi arabia with a call to muslim nations to share the burden in the war on terror. we're live in riyadh with more of what the president said on a sharp pivot from his campaign rhetoric, and certainly a sharp pivot from the obama

administration as well. good morning, everyone. it's monday. i'm dave briggs. good to see you on "early start." >> it is monday and it is a busy morning with a lot of events for you. i'm christine romans, may 22nd, 4:00 a.m. in the east. president trump is on his way to israel after beginning his first foreign trip in saudi arabia, that stop dominated by a speech that broke sharply with his past rhetoric on islam, the president calling for cooperation from muslim nations, asking them to drive out terrorists and share the burden in the fight against terror. more on that speech in a moment. >> today, though, the president shifts focus to another key mission on this week-long trip, making progress on the israeli/palestinian conflict. president trump wants to make what he calls an ultimate deal for peace. he'll be meeting with israeli and palestinian leaders and make a historic stop at the western wall. our coverage of the president's trip begins with cnn's sara murray, who's live for us in jerusalem, just past 11:00 a.m. there. great to have you, sara. what are the expectations ahead of this momentous visit?

>> reporter: well, it's certainly going to be a very closely watched trip and there are a number of bilateral meetings as well as ceremonial events on president trump's schedule today. he begins with this arrival ceremony at the airport in tel aviv before meeting with israeli president rivlin. after that, he has this afternoon two visits to supremely holy sites, the church of the holy sepulcher, which is the holiest site in christianity for those of that faith as well as a visit to the western wall, which is the holiest site for those of the jewish faith to pray. all of this, and then later on this evening, he's expected to meet with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, and president trump and his wife, first lady melania trump, are expected to dine with the prime minister and his wife. and of course, this all comes against a backdrop of the president making clear that he wants to see a mideast peace agreement during his tenure. to that end, while he's meeting with bibi netanyahu today, tomorrow he'll be meeting with president abbas at the

palestinian authority. if you talk to analysts, their hopes certainly aren't high that you're going to get some kind of monumental breakthrough on this trip, but it will be interesting to see what president trump says publicly in these various stops about his pursuit of this peace agreement. >> yeah, interesting. we remember trump's statement that mideast peace may be not as difficult as people have thought over the years, but that will certainly soon come to reality. but this trip comes with the president dealing with a number of headaches here at home. is this trip a departure from all those or will he be confronted with some of those headaches? >> reporter: well, i think that his advisers certainly hoped that they would be sort of a reset for him, a way for him to rehab his image to say, look, i can be productive, i can get victories for the united states, even though the cloud of this russia investigation hangs over him. but he doesn't just leave these troubles behind. obviously, back in the united states, there are still a number of questions about what's going on with this investigation, and to that end, his chief of staff,

reince priebus, and one of his senior advisers, steve bannon, actually hopped off the foreign trip after saudi arabia, headed home to do some strategic planning for when the president returns to the united states. >> sara murray in jerusalem, thank you. we'll check back with you in about 30 minutes. president trump isn't even on the ground in israel yet and already there are a few hitches. netanyahu ordering his government ministers to attend president trump's arrival ceremony after several planned to skip it. so, what are israeli officials thinking as this visit begins? for the latest, let's bring in cnn's oren liebermann live for us in jerusalem. good morning. we know the president has left saudi arabia. he is on route to israel. we expect him to land in tel aviv later this morning, maybe an hour, couple hours or so. so, what are officials there saying, oren? >> reporter: well, look, this should be an easy trip. it's a republican president, it's a conservative prime minister, and it should be easy for these two to get along, and they've certainly sent signals

and messages to each other that they look forward to hosting each other and meeting with each other, trump even saying recently that he's a great lover of israel, looks forward to showing that. yet, there have been a number of these you call them hitches or misunderstandings or issues or even worse. one is netanyahu having to order his ministers to attend the arrival ceremony at tel aviv. many of them when they realized they wouldn't be able to shake the president's hand and get that photo op intended to skip. on the american side, there have been far more. first, confusion about what trump tends to do with the u.s. embassy here. is he going to move it? will it stay where it is? just days ago we got an indication from the administration that they will leave it in tel aviv as trump pursues peace, but then confusion on where they consider the western wall, is it the west bank? that's not been clarified. and then there's the leak of israeli intel to the russians. we've heard from former intel officials who say they would be furious if something like that

happens. all that casts a shadow over this trip. and yet again, it should be an easy trip because trump and netanyahu see the middle east from the same perspective, that is, they see iran as the great threat in the middle east and they see a need to combat that influence. i have spoken with a number of israeli politicians, however, who say, look, we're all on edge here. for this to go well, trump needs to come in, make the right statements, shake the right hands, and then let's get this over with. >> all right, oren liebermann for us in jerusalem this morning, again, awaiting the president's arrival in israel. thank you. >> the president's visit to israel follows a mostly successful stop over in saudi arabia where he delivered a highly anticipated speech to muslim nations, calling on them to aggressively combat terrorism. >> muslim nations must be willing to take on the burden if we are going to defeat terrorism and send its wicked ideology into oblivion. every country in the region has

an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil. >> all right, let's go live to riyadh, saudi arabia, bring in cnn international diplomatic editor nic robertson. great to have you, nic. certainly a sentiment here that human rights was missing from this speech, but how did it play there? >> reporter: this was a message for this specific audience, 55 kings, prime ministers, presidents from the region here. so, this was tailored for them, and it was one of reassurance -- our friends can always be assured that we've got their back. it was one, if you will, of aspiration, talking about the betterment of the lives of children in the region and of how that muslims are mostly the targets and are the victims of these terrorist attacks. there was con joling in there, you know. he said i have not come to tell you what to do, but you know, we have common interests and we can

find security through that, and there was also a sort of a stronger, more demanding line -- chase these terrorists out of your region. this is how he put it. >> drive them out of your places of worship. drive them out of your communities. drive them out of your holy land. and drive them out of this earth. >> reporter: the other part of this trip, aside from the security, was business. $350 billion worth of business deals signed, oil, gas, but the biggest single-ticket item was $109 billion weapons sales, defense industry sales to saudi arabia, a big deal. the first lady, melania trump, got great write-ups in the newspaper here on what she was wearing, but she also took part in engaging with saudis. she went to a girls school here

promoting women's rights here, and she also went to a business center. you know, for the president here, it wasn't all work. he got to get involved in. saudis do a greeting with leaders like him, a traditional dance that seemed to be a favorite of many in his entourage, but a moment of likeness on a trip that, as you said, did seem to go pretty well for him. dave? >> nic robertson, thank you. certainly a lot of focus on what melania trump was wearing and what she didn't wear with the head scarf as well. >> and the sword ceremony, that sword dancing ceremony. >> yeah, rex tillerson particularly seemed at home in the sword dance. >> i think as a guy who's run a energy company i'm sure has had to do a sword dance before. >> he said this was not his first. all right, the president moving from saudi arabia with a briefcase full of deals. the saudis are pledging $20 billion to finance american infrastructure.

that's part of a fund run by private investment firm blackstone, and it was about a year in the making. it plans to raise $100 billion for infrastructure projects. you can see tligt on your screen the group's ceo steve schwartzman. he runs blackstone and advises president trump. during the campaign, the president vowed to modernize aging u.s. airports, bridges and roadways, and the white house has promised a $1 trillion plan. the administration hasn't released details but is pushing for a mix of private and public funding for this infrastructure build-out. the problem, those partnerships don't always succeed in rural areas. they have less of a chance of being profitable there, so it will be interesting to see how they address that wrinkle. the blackstone agreement is one of many over the weekend between the u.s. and saudi firms. general electric, boeing and lockheed martin also signed big deals. some of those deals, by the way, took years to come to fruition, so they are being announced right now, but many of them have taken several years of negotiation, beginning negotiation back in the obama administration. a newer $100 billion tech fund backed by the saudis and japan

softbank says it's nearing its goal. the softbank ceo promised half of that money to the u.s. would create 50,000 jobs for that tech fund. just two days into his visit to the middle east, there is a new potential conflict of interest for the trump administration. saudi arabia and the united arab emirates pledging $100 million to the women's entrepreneur fund. that's a concept proposed by ivanka trump. the program is supposed to support women in the middle east with capital and access to networking and financial markets, but countries like saudi arabia impose severe restrictions on women and their ability to even participate in society there. and even though the fund would be run by the world bank, critics already drawing comparisons to the clinton foundation. all right, an apology from the state department to the u.s. press corps after secretary of state rex tillerson held a media briefing in saudi arabia without members of the american media. only foreign reporters were in that room. that left american journalists

scrambling to figure out what happened. a spokesman for tillerson claims there was not enough time to alert members of the u.s. media about the briefing. calls to the white house and the state department for a comment have not been returned. all right, so much more on this trip ahead. two of the president's top aides not exactly quieting concerns that the president's conversations with the russians focused on james comey. and we are finally hearing from billy bush. what does he say about the infamous "access hollywood" tape that got him fired before donald trump was elected president?

welcome back. top administration officials are not denying that president trump discussed his motivation for firing fbi director james comey with russian officials in the oval office. "the new york times" has reported that the president told the russian ambassador and foreign minister that comey was "crazy," a "real nutjob," and that his firing ended great

pressure on the president. on sunday, rex tillerson and h.r. mcmaster seemed to concede that the president discussed the comey firing with russian officials. here's mcmaster on abc. >> i don't remember exactly what the president said, and the notes that they apparently have are not i don't think a correct transcript, but the gist of the conversation was that the president feels as if he's hamstrung in his ability to work with russia to find areas of cooperation because this has been obviously so much in the news, and that was the intention of that portion of the conversation. >> all right, all this comes after we learned that director comey will testify publicly to the senate intelligence committee sometime after memorial day, although the date has not been set, but he will testify publicly. all right, billy bush is speaking out, breaking his silence about the "access hollywood" tape that cost him his job on the "today" show, bush admitting to "the hollywood reporter" it was his own failing

that triggered the downfall. "looking back on what was said on that bus, i wish i had changed the topic. trump liked tv and competition. i could have said, can you believe the ratings on whatever? i didn't have the strength of character to do it." bush said when it hits the airwaves, he thought he could survive the scandal, but it didn't take long to find out that was not the case. >> he says "i put together an apology rightway. i told people i was ashamed and embarrassed, and i was. from the beginning, i thought, okay, we'll go and own up to this moment. then i got home and it started to become apparent that i would not be returning to "today" and it hurt a lot and i fell apart." bush knew for 11 years the tape existed but didn't think it would ever go public. he says the irony is glaring that he was fired over the tape while trump went on to become president. no doubt, the mother of all ironies there. as for his career, bush says he's planning a tv comeback but would not elaborate. all right, did you see this

terrifying moment caught on tape? >> yes, oh! >> a sea lion grabs a little girl from behind and pulls her under water. a tourist family visiting a fisherman's dock in british columbia this weekend apparently began feeding the docile creature when it popped its head out of the water, but when the girl turned her back to the sea lion, it suddenly lunged, grabbed her dress, yanked her under water. a man who appears to be a relatively immediately jumped in after her. bystanders pulled them both to safety. the good news, neither of them were injured. you know, that was in vancouver. in san francisco, where they have these sea lions are all over the place, they move people aw away. they'll even shut down docks and move people away because they keep people away from them and they have signs saying that, you know, sometimes, especially the males, can be really aggressive when they're trying to protect their territory. >> you really need to see -- the slow motion's interesting, but you need to see it in real speed. it shows how violent this girl was jerked into the water. and if that was not in front of the water, if it was a few feet

to the right in front of a boat, that could have been tragic. >> i tell you, that guy jumped in a split second. he moved so fast. >> unbelievable video. all right, china is urging all parties to show restraint after another ballistic missile test from north korea. why pyongyang's dictator says now is the time to grow the program, next.

you won't see these folks they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office?

stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again.

welcome back. south korea and japan slamming yet another medium-range ballistic missile test by north korea, pyongyang's second missile test in a week. north korean leader kim jong-un supervised the launch, kim announcing afterward the missile

is ready for deployment and mass production. cnn's will ripley monitoring developments from tokyo this morning. he joins us live. good morning, will. >> reporter: good morning, christine. yeah, this mass production statement from north korea especially troubling when you think about the fact this is a state enterprise. they own the factories. all of the employees will work around the clock if their supreme leader tells them to do so, so don't underestimate north korea's ability to create this kind of missile which puts within striking range 50,000 troops in japan, 20,000 in south korea, not to mention millions of people living in those countries. and the missile they tested last week could, experts say, have the capability to reach guam. it was a big step forward in their icbm program. this ballistic missile has a shorter range, but still potentially, according to the north koreans, could carry a nuclear warhead, and we know they're continuing to develop those as well. the timing of this really interesting, because it happened just hours before president trump's major foreign policy speech in saudi arabia. we can't read the minds of the

north koreans. we don't know exactly why they chose that moment to launch this missile, but we know that last week they launched a missile just hours before a major global economic forum in beijing. clearly, north korea uses these missile launches, one, to gain scientific knowledge, but two, as sort of geopolitical theater to remind world leaders that they're there, they're developing these weapons and they want to be part of the global conversation. they want discussed about how they can be reintegrated into the global community on their own terms, which, of course, the united states has said repeatedly just won't happen. they're not going to be rewarded, they say, for this kind of behavior, christine. >> geopolitical theater, i think that says it very, very well. will ripley, thank you so much. all right, after smooth sailing in saudi arabia, it's on to israel for president trump. >> so, i'm looking at two state and one state, and i like the one that both parties like. >> mideast peace on the agenda, but can the president help get the two sides closer?

president trump shifting focus to peace in the middle east. he's set to arrive soon in israel. we're live in jerusalem with how trump will be received following a series of controversies ahead of this visit. >> drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. drive them out. >> the president begins his trip with a call to muslim nations to share the burden in the war on terror. we're live in saudi arabia with more of what the president told arab leaders in a major shift in tone from his campaign rhetoric. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. we're very fortunate. we have reporters live in tokyo and jerusalem and riyadh. this is not your typical morning on "early start," but right now president trump on his way to israel after beginning his first foreign trip in office in saudi arabia.

that stop dominated by a speech that broke sharply with his past rhetoric on islam indeed. the president called for cooperation from muslim nations, asking them to drive out terrorists and share the burden in the fight against terror. more on his speech in a moment. >> today the president shifts focus to another key mission on this week-long trip, making progress on israeli/palestinian issues. he said -- he has said he wants to make what he calls the ultimate deal for peace. he'll be meeting with israeli and palestinian leaders and he'll make a historic top at the western wall. our coverage of the president's trip begins with cnn's sara murray, live for us in jerusalem. sara, we've just received word that israel's security cabinet has approved economic and civil measures to help ease conditions in the palestinian-controlled west bank. that's being done after a request by president trump. no doubt, he hopes this trend can keep up. >> reporter: well, absolutely. i mean, he's made it clear he wants to get the ultimate deal

when it comes to mideast peace, and i think what you're seeing are sort of some initial steps by some of the leaders to say, okay, we're willing to at least come to the table on this. now, the president, once he lands here, will have a pretty jam-packed day. he will have a welcome arrival ceremony at ben goran airport. he'll be meeting with israeli president rivlin, all that before he visits two of the holiest sites for two different faiths. he'll be visiting the church of the holy sepulcher, which is one of the holiest sites in christianity. and as you mentioned, this historic stop this afternoon at the western wall. this is the holiest site for those of the jewish faith to pray. no sitting american president has ever visited it before, so president trump would be the first. now, after that, he'll be meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, and he as well as the first lady are expected to dine this evening with the prime minister as well as the prime minister's wife. but as you pointed out, his goal in all of this, of course, is to try to get to a mideast peace

agreement. to that end, tomorrow he'll be meeting with president abbas of the palestinian authority, and it's worth noting that when you talk to experts and analysts about this, they're not expecting any kind of major breakthrough in terms of getting to a peace agreement from this short trip, but it will be very interesting to see what the president does have to say about this publicly in his various stops over the next few days. back to you guys. >> sara, so much made of the president being on this week-long trip as he deals with a number of headaches here at home. is this trip so far serving as a break from that, or does that remain a focus there? >> reporter: well, i mean, i certainly think the saudi arabia portion went pretty smoothly, and i think his advisers want this to be a reset, a way for him to appear presidential, to say, look, i can still get some victories on the chart for the united states. but the problems at home don't go away. there are still a lot of focus on the russia investigation at home, and to that end, the president's chief of staff, reince priebus, as well as

senior adviser steve bannon, both headed back to the united states after the saudi arabia stop. they're not staying with him for the rest of the foreign trip because they want to do a little bit of strategic planning for the president when he returns. we know there are a number of big issues looming over him like choosing a new fbi director, but also whether or not he's going to hire outside legal counsel to represent him in this russia investigation. >> all right, sara murray for us in jerusalem. busy day ahead for you. thank you, sara. meanwhile, the president's visit to israel follows a mostly successful stop over in saudi arabia, where he delivered a highly anticipated speech to muslim nations, calling on them to aggressively combat terrorism. >> muslim nations must be willing to take on the burden if we are going to defeat terrorism and send its wicked ideology into oblivion. every country in the region has an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil.

>> all right, let's go live to riyadh, saudi arabia, where we find cnn international diplomatic editor nic robertson. nic, good morning to you. what was your biggest takeaway from this speech yesterday? >> reporter: yeah, this was a message designed for this specific audience and this specific region. there was no kind of hint to the anti-muslim rhetoric we heard on the campaign trail, obviously as one might say, but the president was trying to reassure people in this region we've got your backs. he gave them some aspirational ideas -- this is about your children, your future, cajole them along, telling them i'm not here to tell you what to do, but we can get joint security if we work together. and there was a sort of the demanding part as well, where he said we can't do it, you have to do it. you have to chase these terrorists out of your lands. >> drive them out of your places of worship. drive them out of your

communities. drive them out of your holy land. and drive them out of this earth. >> reporter: so, that was all about security, but the other part of his trip here was all about business. $350 billion worth of business deals signed -- oil, gas, power plant equipment, but the biggest single item, if you will, defense, $109 billion of defense armaments agreed with the saudis, signed off on. melania trump playing a role here. the first lady, newspapers here commented positively about what she was wearing. she visited a girls school promoting women's rights, equality here. also she visited a business here in the city. but for both of them, it wasn't all just about work. there was some relaxation saudi style, a traditional sword dance when they went to an evening gathering with the king. very traditional here. and you know, for president trump and his white house officials traveling with him, it

did seem to be a genuine moment of relaxation and enjoyment. we're told that the president arrived here somewhat tired, and according to white house officials, was a little tired by the time he was leaving. dave? >> nic, ahead of this trip, a lot of questions on how the trump policy in the region would differ, would break from that of the obama administration. how does this positioning towards iran appear to have an opening towards breaking from what obama tried there? >> reporter: yeah, of course, he was heavily critical of obama's nuclear deal with iran. the saudis were critical of it as well. the saudis felt that the obama administration had kind of taken their eye off of the arabs in the middle east, off the saudis in the gulf states in particular. they're very worried about the increasing influence of iran. they see them creating terrorism south of their border, creating terrorism north of their border, and certainly, the president responded likewise in his speech, saying that, you know, iran is a big contributor to

terrorism in the region. that's significantly different from president obama. but the other big thing there that's different is that in this region they felt that president obama abandoned them and president trump is very, very clear, our friends don't need to worry, we will support them. that was a very, very powerful message which really does show that turn, particularly in this region. it resonates, dave. >> and after the speech, iran's foreign minister blasted trump, of course, on twitter. nic robertson, thanks very much. all right, questions this morning about a new potential conflict of interest for the trump administration -- saudi arabia and the united arab emirates pledging $100 million to the women's entrepreneur fund. it's a concept proposed by ivanka trump. the program is supposed to support women in the middle east with capital and access to networking and financial markets. as you know, ivanka trump has been a champion. it's her issue, really, women's entrepreneurship. but countries like saudi arabia impose severe restrictions on women and their ability to even

participate in society. and even though the fund would be run by the world bank, critics are already drawing comparisons to the clinton foundation, which drew fire from candidate trump for accepting money from the very same sources. >> imagine that, hypocritical statements from the way trump campaigned to the way he's governed as president. when have we said that? coming up, did the president discuss firing the fbi director with the russians? the president's top adviser is not exactly throwing cold water on that report. and billy bush is finally speaking out. what does he say about that infamous "access hollywood" tape with donald trump that got him fired before the election?

♪ there's nothing more important than your health. so if you're on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b here's why. medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. you might want to consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like any medicare supplement insurance plan, these help pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and, these plans let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. you could stay with the doctor or specialist you trust... or go with someone new. you're not stuck in a network... because there aren't any. so don't wait.

call now to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. there's a range to choose from, depending on your needs and your budget. rates are competitive. and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. like any of these types of plans, they let you apply whenever you want. there's no enrollment window... no waiting to apply. so call now. remember, medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. you'll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. whether you're on medicare now or turning 65 soon, it's a good time to get your ducks in a row. duck: quack! call to request your free decision guide now.

because the time to think about tomorrow is today.

pain strikand so doeserve level. icy hot lidocaine. desensitizes aggravated nerves with the max strength lidocaine available. icy hot lidocaine. welcome back. 44 minutes past the hour. top administration officials are not denying that president trump discussed his motivation for firing fbi director james comey with russian officials. "the new york times" has reported that the president told

the russian ambassador and the russian foreign minister that comey was "crazy," a "real nutjob," and that his firing ended "great pressure" on the president. >> on sunday, both secretary of state rex tillerson and national security adviser h.r. mcmaster seemed to concede the president had discussed the comey firing with russian officials. here's mcmaster on abc. >> i don't remember exactly what the president said, and the notes that they apparently have i do not think are a direct transcript. but the gist of the conversation was that the president feels as if he is hamstrung in his ability to work with russia to find areas of cooperation because this has been obviously so much in the news, and that was the intention of that portion of the conversation. >> all this comes after we learn that director comey will testify publicly to the senate intelligence committee sometime after memorial day, although the date has not yet been set.

all right, despite promises on the campaign trail, the president's budget will cut $800 billion from medicaid. the white house is expected to unveil that budget tuesday, but senior administration officials confirm to cnn it will downsize the federal program. the budget also reportedly slashes funding for food stamps and the epa. the medicaid cut assumes the current gop health care bill becomes law. it was passed by the house earlier this month. the bill reduces medicaid funding in two ways -- it stops the planned expansion of the program by 2020 and it shifts the financial burden from the federal government to the states. federal support will drop 25% over the next nine years. medicaid covers 70 million low-income adults, children and disabled americans. according to a cbo score of the earlier version of the bill, 14 million fewer people will be covered. cbo releasing an updated number on wednesday. okay, billy bush breaking his silence about the "access hollywood" tape that cost him his job with the "today" show. bush admitting to "the hollywood reporter" it was his own failing

that triggered his downfall. he says "looking back on what was said on that bus, i wish i had changed the topic. trump liked tv and competition. i could have said, can you believe the ratings on whatever? i didn't have the strength of character to do it." bush says when the tape first hit the airwaves, he thought he could survive the scandal, but it didn't take long for him to figure out that was not the case. >> he says, i put together an apology right away. i told people that i was ashamed and embarrassed, and i was. so, in the beginning, i thought, okay, we'll go and own up to this moment. then i got home and it started to become apparent that i would not be returning to "today." it hurt a lot and i fell apart." bush knew for 11 years the infamous "access hollywood" tape existed, but he didn't think it would ever go public. he says the irony is glaring that he was fired over the tape while trump went on to become president. as for his career, bush says he is planning a tv comeback but wouldn't elaborate. >> hugely talented guy.

he'll be back. he'll be back at some point. a terrifying moment caught on tape as a sea lion grabs a little girl from behind and pulls her under water. this is stunning. a tourist family visiting a fisherman's dock in british columbia this weekend. look at how violent that is. they began feeding the apparently docile creature when it popped its head out of the water. the little girl turned her back to the sea lion and it suddenly lunged and pulled her under water. a man who appears to be a her to safety.d in and pulled - good news is neither were injured. but look, you think these are cute, soft, fuzzy animals. >> they're not. >> you remember, they're not. >> they're not. >> they're wild animals and incredibly strong wild animals. >> and the harbormaster there and everywhere where the sea lions along the west coast populate along these marinas and harbors, they say stay away from them, you know? stay away from them. don't feed them. stay away. san francisco, they go to huge lengths to keep people away from

them. everyone wants to watch. everyone wants to see, but you just can't get too close. >> well, thankfully, it's an incident where no one was hurt. the people can learn from it, as opposed to the disney incident a few years back. >> that guy, i don't know if he was a relative or a bystander, but -- >> he's a hero! >> he jumped in quickly. >> didn't hesitate one second. "saturday night live" wrapping up a buzz-worthy season with a twist on a show open from last november. ♪ so i tried to touch, i told the truth but i didn't come to fool ya ♪ >> team trump's rendition of "hallelujah," the same song kate mckibbon song after hillary clinton's election loss. >> then, a final jab at the president and his problems. >> with the white house reeling from allegations of obstructing justice, president-for-now trump

said point blank that he never told fbi director james comey to end the russia investigation. so, this sets up a real dilemma. who are you going to believe, the head of the fbi or the guy who's definitely lying? a friend of comey's also revealed that comey was so uncomfortable around trump that he tried to blend in with the curtains at the back of the room so trump wouldn't see him. but if he really wanted to avoid interacting with trump, he should have just married him. >> president trump also said in a speech that no politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly than him. honey, it's because you're not a real politician. you're a politician like ja rule is a festival organizer. >> wow! all right, host dwayne johnson -- >> then this. >> -- had a bit of fun with the monologue, tweaking the monologue, suggesting he and tom hanks would run for president and vice president in 2020. he said it was a joke, although he did roll out what sounded like a slogan -- more poise, less noise.

he had some jabs at the president. indeed, he said in this day in age, he might be overqualified for president. clearly not true, but you do wonder. they sounded like someone who would actually consider it, do they not? i don't think hanks would, but -- >> tom hanks had some funny lines, too. we'll probably pull some of those later. >> that was my favorite part of "snl." >> 51 minutes after the hour. china urging all parties to show restraint after north korea launches another ballistic micil test. we're live in tokyo with why kim jong-un says it's time to grow the program.

south korea and japan slamming another ballistic missile test by north korea, pyongyang's second in a week. north korean leader kim jong-un supervised the launch. kim announced afterward the test shows the missile is ready for deployment and mass production. cnn's will ripley monitoring

developments from tokyo. he joins us live this morning. good to see you, will. this is the second under south korea's new president. how does this one differ from those we've seen in the past? >> reporter: and it's the tenth launch attempt during the trump administration, dave, so the pace that we're seeing under the new u.s. president just as much as we saw with the real pickup from north korea last year. their leader, kim jong-un, is really pushing forward with this nuclear program. this missile that was tested is a midrange missile, according to the united states. it was first tested back in february. the north korean leader saying that it can be mass produced very quickly in north korean state-owned factories by state-owned workers who will work as many hours as they are ordered to do by their leader. so, don't underestimate north korea's ability to produce this kind of missile very quickly. it could put it within striking range of 52,000 u.s. troops in japan, along with millions of people, 28,000 u.s. troops in south korea, along with many others there, millions more, and the missile that they tested last week, a new kind of

ballistic missile, analysts believe could have the ability to reach u.s. military assets in guam. that missile in particular was especially troubling because it allowed for a controlled re-entry back into the lower earth's atmosphere. that is a crucial step for an icbm, the kind of missile that north korea wants to produce that could eventually hit the mainland united states. and even though there have been international sanctions, strong condemnation coming in yet again from japan, from south korea, from the united states, it is not deterring this country from continuing to develop these weapons. timing also very interesting, this launch happening just hours before president trump's major foreign policy speech in saudi arabia. the launch last week right before a major economic forum in beijing. north korea pushing itself into the center of the global conversation, telling the world that they're going to continue to build these weapons, despite what the rest of the world says, and they want a seat at the table if the international community's willing to speak with them about it, dave. >> no signs of slowing. in fact, speeding up there. will ripley, thank you.

57 minutes past the hour this monday morning. let's get a check on "cnn money stream." futures and global markets are higher. wall street finished up friday. concerns easing about the future of the president's economic agenda after a midweek freak-out. the dow closed about 140 points higher. this week investors get more information about that agenda. the administration's budget comes out tuesday, as does an updated cbo score on the health care bill's cost. the president may be moving on from saudi arabia, but he does it with a briefcase full of deals, billions of dollars of deals between the united states and saudi firms. the companies include general electric, boeing, lockheed martin. some of these, of course, years in the making. one newer arrangement, the saudis pledging $20 billion to finance american infrastructure. it's part of a $100 billion fund run by private investment firm blackstone. the white house has promised $1 trillion for infrastructure paid through a mix of private and public funding. the problem, those partnerships don't always succeed in rural

areas. they have less chance of being profitable there, so we'll watch to see how they work that out. all right, with flagging sales and a falling share price, ford ceo mark fields looks like he's on his way out. that is according to published reports overnight by both "the new york times" and "associated press." as the u.s. auto industry faces new pressure, the board was reportedly unhappy with fields' performance. ford sales are down 25% this year. the stock has fallen nearly 40% since he took over in july 2014. as for comment, ford told cnn it doesn't comment on speculation or rumors. interesting enough there. so, a lot of reporting about this from "the new york times" and "ap," but no official confirmation yet from ford. >> big economic story in the country because president trump continues to talk about the exciting things ford and gm are doing, all the while they're cutting jobs. >> and the investments they're making, the changes that are happening in the auto industry right now. mary barra from gm has said that it's, you know -- she's never seen this kind of rapid change.

you're talking about driver arrest -- autonomous cars, driverless cars, technology. so, really interesting stuff there. they're making the right investments. >> sales continuing to slump. and "early start" continues right now. president trump on his way to israel with a focus on peace in the middle east. we're live in jerusalem with how trump will be received following a series of controversies ahead of the visit. >> drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. drive them out. >> the president kicked off his trip in saudi arabia with a call to muslim nations to share the burden in the war on terror. more on what the president said in a sharp pivot from his campaign rhetoric. "early start's" full team coverage from the middle east and washington starts right now. good morning and welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. great to have reporters live for us around the world.