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Historic Mosque Destroyed; Russia Cancels Meeting over U.S. Sanctions; North Korea Nuke Test Could Trigger U.S. Military Action; Influence of Saudi Arabia's New Crown Prince; Qataris Voice Concerns on Mixed U.S. Messages; Queen Elizabeth Unveils Government Agenda at Troubled Time; Uber Co-founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as CEO; New Film Explores Role of Media in Age of Trump. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 22, 2017 - 02:00   ET

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


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AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, a centuries-old mosque is destroyed in Mosul. Both the United States and Iraq say ISIS is to blame.

Plus Donald Trump takes a victory lap. The U.S. president rallies supporters in Middle America one night after his party scored a political win.

And Uber's brash CEO is out but work to rebuild the company's public image may just be getting started.

Hello and thank you so much for joining us. I'm Amara Walker and this is NEWSROOM L.A.

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WALKER: A priceless relic from Iraq's past has been destroyed, a casualty of the war against ISIS. Mosul's 800-year old Great Mosque of Al- Nouri, known for its leaning minaret, was leveled Wednesday by high explosives.

It's the site where ISIS leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi declared his Islamic caliphate in 2014. Both Iraqi and U.S. officials say ISIS blew up the mosque as Iraqi forces advanced on the old city.

Our Jomana Karadsheh joining us now from Amman, Jordan, with the very latest.

And, Jomana, there was a lot of symbolism in the mosque in the battle against ISIS.

What do we know?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Amara. This battle for Mosul that has been going on since late last year, there was this one moment that Iraqi forces were looking to and it was that moment when they would recapture the historic Al-Nouri mosque that became a symbol of ISIS' so-called caliphate.

If you remember back in the summer of 2014, when they captured Mosul, shortly after that, we saw Abu Baker al-Baghdadi, the leader of the group, holding a sermon in Al-Nouri mosque, declaring himself caliph over this so-called Islamic State.

And since then the flag of ISIS has been fluttering over the mosque. And Iraqi forces for months have been pushing, trying to recapture this mosque for that symbolic victory in recapturing Iraq's second city.

And we know, in recent days, they have started a new push to regain control of the mosque. And there were even reports yesterday, saying that they were planning on storming Al-Nouri mosque today.

But late on Wednesday Iraqi commanders announced that the mosque had been blown up, also its leaning minaret a landmark of the city of Mosul, destroyed by ISIS, they say.

And shortly after that, Amara, we heard from ISIS putting out claims through its so-called news agency on social media, saying that it was the U.S.-led coalition with an airstrike that destroyed Al-Nouri mosque, something that has been denied by the coalition and also by the Iraqi forces.

The destruction of Al-Nouri mosque just another site, another monument, another part of Iraq's history that has been destroyed by ISIS, adding that to a long list of sites that they have destroyed in both Syria and Iraq over the past three years -- Amara.

WALKER: And clearly, so the battle to recapture Mosul just rages on and that's obviously bad news for the civilians, who remain trapped in Mosul.

What's the humanitarian situation?

KARADSHEH: Absolutely. A lot of concern for the civilians. There's an estimate of about 100,000 civilians who remain in Mosul's old city. This is of course expected to be one of the toughest fights to recapture this old part of town, where you have these narrow alleyways, these really heavily populated areas.

And we've heard the estimates of about 100,000, more than half of them children, being used as human shields by the few hundred -- again, an estimate -- ISIS fighters who remain in Mosul, who are making this last stand and are expected to fight until the death.

A lot of concern for that civilian population, who have been basically held hostage by ISIS, living in dire conditions, absolutely terrified, running out of food, water and medical supplies. And this phase of the battle, Amara, is expected to be the bloodiest still.

WALKER: All right, Jomana Karadsheh with the very latest from Amman, Jordan. Thank you, Jomana. The FBI is investigating the stabbing of a police officer at a Michigan airport as an act of terrorism. They've charged a Canadian man with violence at an international airport for the attack. Authorities say Amor Ftouhi entered the U.S. legally through New York and made --

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WALKER: -- his way to Bishop International Airport.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we do know Mr. Ftouhi entered the airport. He spent a little time on the first level. Then he went upstairs. He spent some time in the restaurant up there and then he came out. He was carrying baggage.

He went into a restroom. He spent a little time in the restroom, dropped both bags and came out, pulled out a knife, yelled, "Allahu akbar," and stabbed Lieutenant Neville in the neck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: The wounded officer is in satisfactory condition. Officials say a maintenance worker was also injured while helping to take down the suspect. Ftouhi could face more charges as the FBI investigation continues.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer won't say if President Trump believes Russia interfered in last year's election. But a parade of witnesses told Congress Wednesday there's no doubt. And most agreed the problem will only get worse. CNN's Michelle Kosinski has the story.

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MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Special investigator Robert Mueller on Capitol Hill, meeting with senators on the Judiciary Committee who were tackling potential obstruction of justice by the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything's on the table.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): And in both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Russian cyber meddling front and center.

JEH JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: In 2016, the Russian government, at the direction of Vladimir Putin himself, orchestrated cyber attacks on our nation for the purpose of influencing our election. That is a fact, plain and simple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well planned, well coordinated, multifaceted attack on our election process and democracy.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): Homeland Security officials telling lawmakers the Russians were aggressive and relentless, trying to target not only entities like the Democratic National Committee but election related networks in 21 states.

In Illinois, alone the attackers were hitting five times per second, 24 hours a day. White House spokesman Sean Spicer says he doesn't know if the president even believes this meddling happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The one individual in America that still seems to not accept this basic fact is the President of the United States.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): U.S. intelligence agencies concluding, though, that the Russians were never able to change votes, only gather data and release it to sow distrust and uncertainty.

There were plenty of questions, too, for former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on why the Obama administration didn't alert the American public sooner, once they detected Russian activity last summer.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIF.: Why did we wait from July until October to make the statement?

JOHNSON: One of the candidates, as you'll recall, was predicting that the election was going to be rigged in some way. And so we were concerned that, by making the statement, we might, in and of itself, be challenging the integrity of the election process.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): In a Senate hearing, one of her (ph) asked if Donald Trump was unwittingly acting as a Russian agent by calling the election "rigged."

Another asked if Hillary Clinton was by, as he put it, blaming her loss on things like hacking and fake news.

KOSINSKI: And one of the enduring mysteries that has cropped up here is the question, what about the tapes?

Are there recordings or not of conversations between President Trump and fired FBI director James Comey?

This was originally something, of course, the president himself alluded to, seeming to say that there could be tapes.

And, remember, it was Comey who said, "Lordy, I hope there are tapes."

But the White House has not wanted to answer this question with a yes or a no and since then CNN has asked a number of government agencies if there's any evidence that these recordings might exist. So far, several have said they got nothing.

And the Senate Intelligence Committee asked the White House for the tapes, telling them, if they exist, they need to turn them over by this Friday.

Well, now a White House spokesperson tells reporters -- and I quote -- "I can tell you there will be something this week."

So now we just have to wait and see what exactly that something is -- Michelle Kosinski, CNN, Washington.

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WALKER: President Trump is celebrating Republican Karen Handel's win in Georgia's special congressional election. He spoke to an enthusiastic crowd in Iowa Wednesday night, taunting the media and pundits, who predicted a Democratic victory. And he took aim at the Russia investigations.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have phony witch hunts going against me. They have everything going.

And you know what?

All we do is win, win, win. We won last night. I can't believe it.

They say what is going on?

What is going on?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: In the meantime, Russia has canceled a meeting with senior U.S. officials over new sanctions on Moscow. CNN's Diana Magnay is in the Russian capital with more --

[02:10:00]

WALKER: -- details.

Diana, obviously the Russians are very angry about the expanded sanctions from the Trump administration.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, they are. There was meant to be a meeting between the undersecretary of state for political affairs this Friday in St. Petersburg with his Moscow counterpart. And that has been canceled as a result.

And the kind of language that you're hearing from the Kremlin is very, very angry. I'll just give you a sense of it.

They say that these new sanctions are a clear indication that this new administration is continuing the trend, set by the Obama administration, of ruining relations between the two countries.

The deputy foreign minister says, "We regret that the new American leadership takes the lead of inveterate Russophobes of the U.S. Congress, where they don't even know what else to come up with in order to annoy us and, most importantly, to nullify any prospects for stabilizing U.S.-Russia relations."

And let's not forget, this comes at time when it is actually very important that diplomacy is held at quite high levels; given, for example, the situation in Syria, where after the downing of a Syrian jet by coalition forces, Russia has severed this deconfliction line to try and make sure the situation there does not escalate.

Russia has also said that it will consider and is considering retaliatory measures because of these expanded sanctions. And let's also bear in mind, Amara, that this is just an expansion of existing sanctions.

There is a new sanctions bill being discussed by the House at the moment and I think this is a very clear message from the Kremlin that they will not look on a new raft of sanctions kindly.

And it also suggests that the time really to give the Trump administration the benefit of the doubt is well and truly over -- Amara.

WALKER: And further highlighting the tensions between Washington and Moscow, Diana, we're learning that there was a very close encounter between a Russian jet and a U.S. spyplane over the Baltic Monday.

MAGNAY: That's right. And not only that, but yesterday also an encounter between NATO jets and the defense -- the Russian defense minister's plane. He was on his way to Kaliningrad. And actually there's some pretty dramatic video of that encounter, where his plane, accompanied by two Russian fighter jets, was intercepted by a NATO plane.

And you can see the Russian fighter jet making its own intercept, waving its wings to show that it is armed and then the NATO jet goes away. Now NATO has said they didn't realize who was on board. They, in a regular routine fashion, went to see what the Russian jet was doing. And the Russian pilots were doing nothing untoward.

But this is yet another incident where these two -- where NATO jets and Russian jets in the skies above the Baltic have been effectively buzzing each other.

There have been numerous such occasions over the last few weeks but that is also because NATO has been conducting exercises in the region, which, of course, is a bone of contention for Russia.

WALKER: Yes, and it will be interesting to see if President Trump and Putin actually do meet, despite these rising tensions in July at the G20 summit Germany. Of course, we'll be watching that closely

Diana Magnay in Moscow, thank you.

And still to come here on the program, a deep dive into how North Korea's leader pays for his weapons programs and his lavish lifestyle.

Also a change in the line of succession. What Saudi Arabia's new crown prince means for the kingdom and the region.

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[02:15:00] WALKER: Welcome back, everyone.

America's top diplomat says North Korea is the United States' number one security threat. He's urging China to put more diplomatic and economic pressure on Pyongyang to prevent further escalation in the region.

Meanwhile, new activity at a North Korean nuclear site has the U.S. on edge. Barbara Starr reports on what President Trump might do if the U.S. is provoked.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kim Jong-un could soon order a sixth underground nuclear test. It could lead to President Trump considering military action.

U.S. spy satellites spotted personnel and vehicles at one of the tunnel entrances at this test site. U.S. officials familiar with the classified assessment of Kim's personality profile say he is so unpredictable, there's no way to tell what he might do next.

REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We call on the DPRK to halt its illegal nuclear weapons program and its ballistic missile test.

GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We have responsibility, we, the Department of Defense, number one, to deter any provocation by Kim Jong-un in the meantime and to provide the president with a list of options in the event that hostilities occur. And that's exactly what we're doing.

STARR (voice-over): But the Pentagon also specifically updated military options to respond to a nuclear test. Some officials say a test could indicate China's pressure on Kim isn't working and therefore military options could be presented to the president.

And a recent tweet by President Trump adding uncertainty.

"While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi and China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried."

Defense Secretary James Mattis set a military red line on North Korea's weapons program.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), S.C.: Is it the policy of the Trump administration to deny North Korea the capability of building an ICBM that can hit the American homeland with a nuclear weapon on top?

Is that the policy?

GEN. JAMES MATTIS, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Yes, it is, Senator Graham.

STARR (voice-over): But does North Korea already have a missile that could hit the United States?

GEN. JOHN HYTEN, COMMANDER, U.S. STRATEGIC COMMAND: They already have the capability to deploy an intercontinental ballistic missile. The question is, when will they be able to mate (ph) a nuclear weapon.

STARR (voice-over): Stopping Kim from getting a nuclear weapon with U.S. firepower may be impossible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's just too late. Unless you have a full-scale military invasion, where you're going to just go in and sweep the country, we simply will not be able to end these programs.

STARR: So far, there's no indication the Pentagon is getting orders for military action but commanders are making it clear they are ready -- Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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WALKER: And joining me now with Matt Rivers in Shanghai, China, and Alexandra Field in Seoul, South Korea.

Matt, let's start with you because U.S. and Chinese officials met on Wednesday. Rex Tillerson was pressuring the Chinese to do more. And we've heard this so many times before, America saying, hey, look, China, you've got to do more to rein in North Korea. You're the economic lifeline to this country.

And China keeps repeating it and saying, look, we're doing as much as we can.

Are they?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It depends on who you ask.

The Chinese are steadfast in their view that they are fully implementing the Security Counsel resolutions that have been passed out of the U.N., in which they helped draft the two latest rounds of sanctions that passed in 2016, after those two most recent nuclear tests.

So the Chinese will very much say they're committed to that and they have said that for years now. But you have lots of critics who, in many cases justifiably, say that the Chinese are exploiting loopholes in these sanctions and that China continues to prop up the North Korean regime by doing things like increasing total trade volume, from 2016 to 2017 quarter one, year over year, by nearly 40 percent.

Now China has done some things like ban the imports of North Korean coal for the --

[02:20:00]

RIVERS: -- remainder of this year, a move it made several months ago. But the fact is that China continues to trade with North Korea, continues to increase the total trade volume in North Korea. And that is money that critics will say absolutely goes towards funding this ongoing missile development program.

And if China wanted to stop that program it could simply do so by cutting off that trade. The question is -- and probably the answer to that question is -- will China do that?

And the answer is no.

WALKER: Yes, so far it hasn't, through all these years of talks between the U.S. and China.

Alex, to you, the pressure is on the White House right now to do something, to respond to the death of Otto Warmbier. We've heard U.S. officials saying that North Korea needs to be held accountable and this is only going to raise tensions there in the region.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it certainly has raised tensions here in the region. You have heard lawmakers call for that. You've also just heard the U.S. Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, saying that there can be no understanding of this situation, this situation cannot be met with understanding, the fact that this 22- year-old American university student was detained for 17 months, finally returned to the United States in what was described as a vegetative state, only to die on U.S. soil days later. It was something that enraged the President of the United States. He was swift in condemning the regime for the treatment of Otto Warmbier. The South Korean president has joined in that kind of condemnation, also expressing regret over the death of Warmbier and calling for the release of other detainees. This certainly adds to the tension that you have seen ratcheting up between North Korea and the U.S. and South Korea in recent months.

But how do you act in response to this?

Well, there's no new option for the U.S. There's no new way to meet the threat from North Korea. You continue simply to hear the Trump White House saying that they're working with China, hoping that China will continue to exert pressure on North Korea.

But you heard Matt Rivers say that this has been a process that they have been undertaking for some time now without the kinds of results that the administration would want to see by now -- Amara.

WALKER: Yes, that's the reality, the U.S.' options are quite limited.

Matt Rivers in Shanghai, Alexandra Field in Seoul, thank you to both of you.

Let's dig deeper now on the high-level talks between the U.S. and China Wednesday and the secrets behind Kim Jong-un's cash flow that allows the regime to , in effect, dodge international sanctions aimed at its weapons program.

Joining me now is Anthony Ruggiero. He is a senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and spent more than 17 years in the U.S. government as a finance expert.

Anthony, thank you for joining us.

ANTHONY RUGGIERO, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Thanks for having me.

WALKER: Just wanted to first get your take on this annual meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials. Still saying that he urged his Chinese counterparts to rein in North Korea, to crack down on these illicit North Korean activities.

This has is something that has been said many times before by previous administrations to the Chinese.

Do you think anything notable, any notable changes may come out of this meeting?

RUGGIERO: Well, Secretary Tillerson today did list all of the problems we had with North Korea: money laundering, illicit activities. But unfortunately, the Chinese have heard this before; they've heard it for 10 years, frankly.

Republican and Democrat administrations, the same tune. And the Chinese know that we won't do anything about it.

I mean, the question here for the Trump administration is, when are they going to go after the Chinese banks and the Chinese companies that are aiding North Korea's sanctions evasion?

WALKER: When you look at the state of North Korea and the fact so many North Koreans starve, they don't have any basic needs and their dear leader in the meantime spending a huge chunk of the regime's money on luxury items. We've seen Kim Jong-un stepping out of a Mercedes limousine, a private jet he uses.

He also built an exclusive ski resort for millions and millions of dollars. He also has a $5 million yacht.

Where is all of this money coming from?

RUGGIERO: They send their own laborers overseas in what is essentially slave labor and they get at least $500 million a year just from that alone. They sell their missiles and conventional arms overseas.

They recently were tied to the WannaCry ransom virus. They tried to steal a billion dollars from the Bangladesh bank but they got $81 million of that. So there's a bunch of illicit activities they're engaged in.

And what's equally troubling is we see the South Korean president, who wants to increase the inducements to North Korea but there's no evidence, no evidence that that will go to the North Korean people. It will go to the North Korean nuclear weapons program and their missile program and to the elites.

WALKER: How much money in total --

[02:25:00]

WALKER: -- is Pyongyang believed to generate annually through these illegal activities?

RUGGIERO: Well, we're talking at least billions of dollars. They're able sustain their -- essentially, it's a black market economy for themselves. And the money does not go to their people.

And this is where he's buying stability. And the issue here is, if we don't think this regime is going to give up its nuclear weapons program, why would we promote his own stability?

WALKER: So as long as North Korea has this cash flow, there's really no incentive for North Korea to end or scale back its nuclear weapons program.

What is the best way to choke off these illicit funds?

And also, in the end, it all comes down to China.

RUGGIERO: Right. The game plan is the Iran game plan. We know it worked. It's the Iran sanctions plan. What happened with Iran is the United States went after European banks, even the ones of our allies, and fined those banks.

So when it comes to China, we have to have the exact same attitude. Go after their banks, go after their companies. It's a small number of companies, only 5,200 of them. The Chinese have over 67,000 that they do business with with South Korea. So we're talking about a small set there that they can go after.

WALKER: So are you talking about secondary sanctions?

Because that's something the White House says it's considering, going after these Chinese banks and other entities that do business with North Korea.

RUGGIERO: Right. It's long overdue. We saw, in a network last year that was only designated by the U.S. government because a private firm really forced their hand, is that a North Korean designated bank was using four Chinese individuals and a Chinese company to do business around the world. And what it looked like to the business world was the Chinese were doing the transactions. But what we know is that it was a North Korean bank behind that.

And it was so serious that the Justice Department indicted those Chinese individuals.

WALKER: Quite a fascinating dive into North Korea's finances. Anthony Ruggiero, a former deputy director of the U.S. Treasury Department, thank you so much for joining us.

RUGGIERO: Thank you.

WALKER: And coming up next for our viewers in Asia, "STATE OF AMERICA" with Kate Bolduan. And for everyone else, after the break, Uber presses reset. What's

next for the ridesharing company that turned its name into a verb. That's just ahead.

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[02:30:11] AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Amara Walker.

The headlines this hour --

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WALKER: Saudi King Salman seems to have signaled a new era for reforms for his kingdom. He's reordered the dynastic line of succession with a new crown prince who could have a big impact on the region and the world.

John Defterios has more.

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JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (voice-over): A choreographed transfer of power at the heart of Saudi Arabia's monarchy. Outgoing Saudi crown prince, Muhammad bin Nayef pledging allegiance to his cousin, 31-year-old Prince Mohammad bin Salman as the king's new heir to the throne. Seems the royal deference masking radical change. All triggered by this royal decree from King Salman, "Removing the previous crown prince, stripping him of his titles and roles in the government."

Power now consolidated in the hands of this man, Mohammad bin Salman. His swift rise began when his father ascended the thrown in 2015. Young and ambitious, he has adopted an activist approached. He spearheaded Saudi Vision 2030, an economic transformation plan, meant to wean the kingdom of its addiction to oil and bring about more social reforms.

As defense minister, he was the primary architect of Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels and their allies. Two years on, it has yet to achieve its goals and has been criticizing for causing civilian deaths and worsening the humanitarian conditions of the region's poorest country.

And as his portfolio expands, so, too, will the challenges he has to grapple with. Chief among them, the ongoing diplomatic standoff with Qatar, how to counter the kingdom's regional arch rival, Iran, and deal with low oil prices depleting his cash pile.

But the prince's backers aren't limited to his father's royal court. U.S. President Donald Trump chose Saudi Arabia as the first stop of his trip abroad, signaling his strong support for the kingdom and its regional policies, support that will be key in helping the young prince push through bold domestic reforms and pursue a more confrontational foreign policy.

John Defterios, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: The ongoing isolation of Qatar by its neighbors in the region has drawn several strong responses from the U.S. The problem is many of those responses are seemingly contradictory.

Our Jomana Karadsheh went to Doha to ask Qataris about the mixed messages.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is more useful to you to proceed with one line of questioning --

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of miles away from America, these students are getting an Ivy League education. While Cornell is one of six American universities with a campus in Doha's education city, an ambitious project by the Qatar Foundation to create a regional educational hub, building on close American-Qatari ties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have entire generations of Qataris graduating from American universities, going to American careers, and so the relationship between the United States and Qatar is not only deep but it is multi-dimensional. It is security and military. It's economic and commercial. And it is cultural and educational.

KARADSHEH: But with the gulf nation boycott of Qatar, America has sent mixed signals. While the U.S. president seemed to take credit in tweets for triggering one of the worst diplomatic crises to hit this region, his State Department called for calm. The inconsistency has sent shockwaves across this tiny country that, for decades, this has been a close U.S. ally, hosting the largest American base in the Middle East.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I first saw the tweets, it happened, I was kind of confused, but I had faith in the U.S. government. And Secretary Rex Tillerson spoke and then I felt better, and then President Trump spoke again, and I was just confused.

[02:25:08] KARADSHEH: This woman, spending her first year abroad in Washington, describes D.C. as her second home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have been the best of allies and that really keeps me grounded. And I have faith that Washington will look at the history when it decides to have a better, clearer understanding after hearing our voices and our perspective.

KARADSHEH: Like most Qataris, student here say they were stunned to wake up to their neighbors blockading them on June 5, restricting trade and travel. Many were concerned about how this will affect them.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Georgetown conducted a town hall meeting by faculty and staff for all the students and all the staff at Georgetown to reassure us of the structural continuing of our campus and how nothing will affect our education and everything would continue as normal.

KARADSHEH: While Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain expelled Qatari citizens, Qatar said it will not do the same.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have assured the state leadership of the state of Qatar and the leadership of the foundation that we are going to treat all the students equally. We're not going to ask any of our students to leave.

KARADSHEH: Officials insist they will not let politics get in the way of education.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll keep supporting our students. We'll keep providing them with opportunities and hoping she would become the change agent in the reason.

KARADSHEH: A region that may never be the same after this crisis.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Doha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Up next, Queen Elizabeth opens a new session of the British parliament with less pomp and pageantry than usual. We'll have the key moments from her speech just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Britain's government is back to work with a number of very difficult issues to tackle, including Brexit and the recent terrorist attacks. Parliament's new session began with the Queen's speech.

As Hala Gorani explains, it was unlike other speeches she's given in recent years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A steady presence during a time of great uncertainty, Queen Elizabeth opens parliament. She delivered the government's agenda at a critical point for the United Kingdom.

QUEEN ELIZABETH: My lords and members of the House of Commons --

GORANI: The queen's speech, which is written by the government, follows a rocky few months in the U.K., the Grenfell fire tragedy and the prime minister's snap election, which backfired badly for her. She lost her majority in parliament and still has no deal with her only coalition partners the DUP of Northern Ireland. All this, as she begins Brexit talks.

QUEEN ELIZABETH: A bill will be introduced to repeal the European Communities Act and provide certainty for individuals and businesses. This will be complimented by legislation to ensure that the United Kingdom makes a success of Brexit.

[02:40:11] GORANI: Prime Minister May is under heavy pressure. While she cobbles together a coalition, anger and frustration rage over the response to the Grenfell fire.

QUEEN ELIZABETH: My government will take forward measures to introduce an independent public advocate who will act for bereaved families after a public disaster and support them at public inquests.

GORANI: Britain has faced four acts of terror in the last three months alone, putting the fight against extremism high on the agenda as well.

QUEEN ELIZABETH: In the light of the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, my government's counterterrorism strategy will be reviewed to ensure that the police and security services have all the powers they need, and that the length of custodial sentences for terrorism- related offenses are sufficient to keep the population safe.

GORANI: Queen Elizabeth has been delivering these speeches for decades, but this year saw a few notable changes. Price Philip was not at her majesty's side. According to the palace, he's in hospital as a precaution for a preexisting condition. Prince Charles did step in for his father.

(MUSIC)

GORANI: The pomp and circumstance was also scaled back. The queen travelled by car instead of carriage, and opted not to wear the traditional robe and the imperial state crown.

Members of parliament will vote on the agenda set in this speech, which could be seen as a vote of confidence on the embattled prime minister.

Hala Gorani, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: And one more note on the queen's speech, many on social media were stunned at how closely the royal hat resembled the E.U. flag. Of course, it may have been a coincidence. But we couldn't resist saying this. While many hats provide shade, this one could actually be throwing it.

The search is on for Uber's new CEO now that co-founder, Travis Kalanick, has resigned. That's not the only major position the ride- sharing giant needs to fill. Several other top executives are also gone after a few disastrous months. Kalanick courted controversy during his time at the helm. His aggressive style took a no-name company to its current valuation of $68 billion. But his critics blame his leadership for Uber's repeated P.R. mishaps, legal issues and a troubled office culture.

Joining me now, Eric Schiffer, CEO and chairman of the Patriarch Group, a private equity firm in technology and media. Eric, I don't think it's a surprise that the CEO of Uber, Travis

Kalanick, has resigned. It's no good when you're the CEO and you're the one creating controversy.

ERIC SCHIFFER, CEO & CHAIRMAN, PATRIARCH GROUP: And he's a visionary CEO. He deserves his credit. He's created an amazing company. But the challenge is he's stuck in arrested development? He has no matured. He never grew up. And the board has known this for a while. They've been way too timid. They finally took action because investors called for it. They wanted his head. They recognized that he was taking the company down.

WALKER: So what kind of leader does Uber need right now? Someone completely different from his brash and aggressive style?

SCHIFFER: I think choosing a woman, a female CEO, would send a clear message to investors, to the public that we hear what you said. We get it. We understand what we did wrong. And we're going to make changes and they will be sensitive to building a culture. It's also about removing the toxicity, it's about building a culture that people can feel safe in and feel protected and respected.

WALKER: Talk about a corporation in major crisis. There's no one at the top, no CEO, no COO, no CFO, no president. And just last week, we were talking about the senior vice president of business stepping down as well. How can Uber survive?

SCHIFFER: They have an incredible platform. The technology does a lot of its work, it's already in play, the drivers are in play. So a lot of this is running on its own. But to grow, to really stay competitive against Lyft, which is getting smarter, better -- they took huge advantage of what happened. They really need a leader that can guide them. I think the board will be wise, and hopefully, they're going to pick someone that everyone can look up to and learn from and has the emotional maturity. That's the big piece.

WALKER: How much does this bad-boy, bad-behavior reputation hurt Uber as a business? The valuation is still $68 billion. Are the customers being scared away?

SCHIFFER: That's on the private side. I think consumers are being affected by this. The continual news, why do you want to give your money to a company that might treat women terribly or break the law or do things that there questionable? Lyft has moved in from a market- share standpoint. But Uber can get it back. They just need the right leader. They need to stop doing harm to themselves and bring in a more diverse board, get rid of some of the additional bad apples, and look at ways to grow the business without having a culture "where everything goes." They created this culture where there were no rules and they made sure winning was breaking the rules. And unfortunately, unless you've got the emotional maturity as a leader, you can't stop that kind of mentality.

[02:45:44] WALKER: Changing that corporate culture is going to have to start at the top.

SCHIFFER: Starts at the top.

WALKER: They need to find someone to run the company.

Eric Schiffer, great to have you. Thank you very much.

SCHIFFER: Thank you. It's good to be here.

WALKER: Critics who say Hollywood has been too slow to change have a new effective weapon for their argument. Diversity pays. Box office numbers for movies like this one, "Get Out" support a new study by the Creative Artist Agency. The movie reportedly has earned $250 million to date. The study found, from 2014 to 2016, films with diverse casts attracted diverse audiences and made more money than films that were less inclusive.

And 2016 was Barbie's year for a diversity makeover. Now her boyfriend, Ken, is getting one of his own. The Ken doll is now available in three body types. As you can see, several skin tones and various hair styles. Yes, including a man bun. Why would they leave a man bun out? Mattel says the company is redefining the look of its dolls for this generation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a need in popular culture, like again, fashion or media to see representation of everybody. So it's not isolating people for being different but it's celebrating all types.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Ken made his debut in 1961 with red swim shorts and cork sandals, and his look has evolved quite a bit over the decades. Wouldn't you say? I mean, man bun? That is an evolution.

Next on NEWSROOM L.A., a BBC anchor gets caught doing nothing. The story behind his silent blooper, just ahead.

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WALKER: Rarely has there been a time in American history of such division and discord between the U.S. media and the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If the media's job is to be honest and tell the truth, then I think we would all agree the media deserves a very, very big, fat failing grade.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:49:58] WALKER: It's become the new normal for President Donald Trump to regularly criticize and discredit the press. He's declared the media is on a witch hunt to bring him down, and has accused many outlets of pushing out fake news. Mr. Trump even went as far as to say the fake news media, including CNN and "The New York Times," are the enemy of the people.

Meanwhile, many journalists are concerned with how the president is denying access to information and, ultimately, threatening their ability to uncover the truth.

The new documentary, "Nobody Speak, Trials of the Free Press," explores journalists' limitations and presents possible solutions to being silenced in the modern Trump era.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED NEWS ANCHOR: If we lose that, we've lost what America stands for. We have to fight harder and smarter than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED NEWS ANCHOR: Here's a message from the White House. You keep lying, we're going to keep reporting.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: The president believes the press is a threat to the country.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED NEWS ANCHOR: We're talking the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: And the director, Brian Knappenberger, joining us now from New York to discuss this more.

Thank you so much for your time, Brian.

BRIAN KNAPPENBERGER, DIRECTOR: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

WALKER: So how did this documentary, which emerged from Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against "Gawker" magazine, become an exploration of the free press, it's role, and the people that have a power to influence it

KNAPPENBERGER: I was captivated by the Hulk Hogan-Gawker case. First of all, this is the first celebrity sex tape of its kind to go to trial. And as salacious as that sounded, I thought there were big- picture, First Amendment versus privacy issues at stake. And I had some degree of sympathy for Hogan's case. By itself, I found it very compelling. It became something very different for me in the way that big money could, behind the scenes, start to influence or silence critical voices.

WALKER: So is it clear to say, for you, Hulk Hogan's victory in the Gawker case and subsequent shut down, was that a turning point for the freedom of the press?

KNAPPENBERGER: I think it was a kind of early harbinger, a canary in the coal mine in the last year. Because it was that beginning of Trump's rise. You couldn't separate what was going on in the court room in Florida from the larger election. And of course, Donald Trump's rise, like the clip you just played, was largely due to a kind of -- you know, being critical of the press. He called them scum, said they were the enemy of the people, did all sorts of things, like blacklisted them from getting to the rallies and speeches in the usual way. And you couldn't separate the two things. And so these things together started to paint a picture of a changing press.

WALKER: I want to jump in, because you were talking about President Trump and the trials of the free press, most evident right now in its dealings with the White House. I want to ask what you find most concerning about the treatment of journalists. As Candidate Trump, he basically said a lot of things, negative things about the mainstream media. Kicked a lot of reporters out of his rallies. And White House daily briefings are not exactly daily. And just the other day, the White House press secretary wasn't allowing audio or video recordings during these briefings. What are the biggest concerns you have?

KNAPPENBERGER: Just that example right there is extraordinary. They're holding a press briefing and you're not allowed to broadcast audio or film from the briefing from the White House press secretary himself. Not exactly sure what the point of the briefing is. There seems to be an overall contempt for a free press and the republic's right to know what their government is doing. And you saw that, as you said, with Candidate Trump, President-elect Trump, and now with President Trump. And it does worry me. You have this rising hostility towards the press. And I think you have to look at Donald Trump's daily tweets and animosity towards the press as one of the main causes.

WALKER: Just to talk about the other side, though, many things think media has treated Trump unfairly since he ran for president, seem even to think his hostility towards the press is justified. Do you see that perspective?

KNAPPENBERGER: Yeah. Look, I think the press -- one of the things that seems to be happening is that the press is being reminded what they're there for, to question power, to go up against these powerful forces, to be skeptical about what they're being told and dig for the story. So, to me, that might be a positive aspect of some of this. You've seen really good reporting out of the last two or three months.

[02:55:13] WALKER: And the documentary, "Nobody Speak," will be in theaters and on Netflix, June 23rd.

Brian Knappenberger, appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much.

KNAPPENBERGER: Thank you very much for having me.

WALKER: Viewers in the U.K. were met with the sound of silence when they tuned into a BBC newscast Tuesday evening.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's what the news sounds like when the anchor doesn't make a sound for four minutes.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: BBC's flagship news at 10:00 was silent except for breaking news announcements run amuck.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: During those four long minutes of technical meltdown, veteran newsman, Hugh Edwards, sat calmly with only the occasional facial flinch.

Tweeted one viewer, "Kind of absorbing, like lava lamp."

"After so much bad news lately," tweeted someone else, "wasn't it lovely, sort of time out from all the craziness."

(on camera): No matter how many times they played the graphic saying, "breaking news" --

(MUSIC)

MOOS (voice-over): -- the news remained broken.

The show editor blamed it on a technical system crash seconds before air time.

The veteran anchor told Radio 4 --

HUGH EDWARDS, BBC ANCHOR (voice-over): There was no much going on in the director's gallery that nobody bothered to tell me, of course, that I was actually on air. After that, I sensed I probably was so I tried to behave myself.

MOOS: He played with his mouse, he scribbled, prompting everyone to ask the same question, "What did you start writing? Help?"

"I think he was writing down his order for dinner."

EDWARDS: I was listening to all this pandemonium in the background.

MOOS: We know one guy who would especially appreciate four minutes of silence from the BBC.

TRUMP: Where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED BBC REPORTER: BBC.

TRUMP: There's another beauty.

MOOS: Speaking of beauty, after the meltdown ended, cue the anchor.

EDWARDS: Tonight at 10:00 --

MOOS: Actually 10:04.

Edwards' only sign of stress was his post-newscast tweet, "A double Dragon Ale. I think I'm going to enjoy this little beauty after that."

Followed by the welsh equivalent of cheers.

EDWARDS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MOOS: Rename that newscast, then at 10:00.

Jeanne Moos, CNN --

(MUSIC)

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Got to love the face expressions and feel bad for him as well.

That is our time. I'm Amara Walker.

The news continues with Rosemary Church right after this.

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