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Lawmakers Seize Agenda From May's Government; Netanyahu Vows Tough Response To Rocket Attack; Attorney General: Mueller Finds No Evidence Of Collusion Between Trump Campaign And Russia; Trump: People Have Done Evil, Treasonous Things Against U.S.; McConnell Blocks Resolution Calling For Mueller Report To Be Made Public; At Least 19 Killed in Sudden Intense Downpour; Two Saudi Sisters Begin a New Life of Freedom; Prince Charles' Trip to Cuba. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 26, 2019 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello everybody. Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Ahead this hour, another Brexit twist. Another humiliation for Theresa May but this one like no other, Parliament voting to take control of the process.

Plus the surprise early morning rocket launched from Gaza met with a surprisingly strong response by Israel. Overnight airstrikes pounding Hamas targets in Gaza. And later this hour, Donald Trump claims total vindication after his Attorney General releases a four-page summary of the two-year-long Mueller investigation.

At the end of this week, the U.K. was meant to be leaving the European Union. The plan was for an orderly dignified departure, shake head, smile, go their separate ways, trade deals in place, agreement reached on how to move forward. Instead, after nothing but chaos, confusion, and nonsensical red lines, Britain's Parliament has finally taken control of the process away from Prime Minister Theresa May.

An unprecedented power grabs supported by 30 of her own conservatives which will give the House of Commons temporary control of the Brexit debate for just a day. But on that day they can consider alternatives to Mrs. May's deal and that will include a new referendum. Here's CNN's Bianca Nobilo reporting in from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lawmakers in the U.K. have voted to seize control of the Brexit process. MPs will now hold a series of what are called indicative votes on Wednesday while they had the opportunity to express their support for various different types of Brexit scenarios. The vote was won narrowly this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, UNITED KINGDOM: I's to the right, 327, the no's to the left 300. So the I's have it, the I's have it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Immediately after the vote one of Theresa May's business ministers resigned over the government's handling of Brexit. Then the Brexit Secretary said that this decision by Parliament sets a dangerous constitutional precedent. The vote came after the Prime Minister addressed Parliament expressing her frustration and regret at the current impasse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: Mr. Speaker, I continue to believe that the right path forward is for the United Kingdom to leave the EU. as soon as possible with the deal now on the 22nd of May. But it is with great regret that I have had to conclude that as things stand, there is still not sufficient support in the House to bring back the deal for a third meaningful vote.

I continue -- I continue to have discussions with colleagues across the House to build support so that we can bring the vote forward this week and guarantee Brexit. If we cannot, the government made a commitment that we would work across the House to find a majority on a way forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Another day, another dramatic defeat for the prime minister as a handling of Brexit and her authority are being openly questioned by colleagues. Bianca Nobilo, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: CNN European Affairs Commentator Dominic Thomas joins us once again for more on what was a pretty awful day yet again for the British prime minister. I have a statement which was issued by the government after this power grab by Parliament warning it up ends the balance between our democratic institutions and sets a dangerous unpredictable precedent for the future.

I mean, the bigger picture here seems that by the end of this Brexit process, it will have destroyed you know, hundreds of years of stability and tradition and parliamentary process and is there any clear indication of what the consequences will be?

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, at this particular stage, I think the real consequences is that we have a government that is not only unable to legislate but unwilling to even bring its legislative measures, in other words, that withdrawal agreement to the houses of parliament for a vote because it does not believe it can command their support.

Throughout this process though, democratic institutions have been put into question the very lead-up to the Brexit referendum and the ongoing and lies and misinformation that has been fed to the general public concerning the dire consequences of either Brexit or the No Deal Brexit. And one could argue that those undermine democratic processes and that since the government has been unable to legislate, there's nothing more logical than the houses of parliament here taking back control and trying to make sure that some of these rules and regulations and procedures actually go ahead particularly since the general public are repeatedly denied the opportunity to weigh in on this through a second referendum or a people's vote.

VAUSE: Well that will be one of the options that parliamentarians get to vote on now that they've got this power grab under their belts. You know, one of the theories are out there is that this could actually benefit Theresa May because all of those options everything that will be looked at her Brexit deal might just be seen as the bad option and it could win enough support.

[01:05:03] THOMAS: Well, it would be so incredibly ironic that's something that suffered the greatest historic defeat in the history of modern Parliament would end up being what she said all along the best deal and the only deal.

Now this is going to rely -- this is going to really depend on what happens over the next two weeks because in order to get the Brexiteers aboard, in order for them to support this particular legislative measure, there's really going to have to be a dire alternative in their eyes. In other words, the possibility of a No Brexit or of an extension that goes off into sort of into eternity.

They don't like this deal. They don't like the proximity it offers to the European Union. And in terms of the DUP that she relies on of course in order to get such a motion through Parliament, nothing will change. The European Union are not going to reopen this withdrawal agreement.

So it all depends really on the on the sort of extent and the degree to which Parliament is able to get something out of these discussions that will begin on Wednesday, and also of course whether Theresa May is able to last all the way through to April 12th, and whether a general election could therefore completely change the dynamic in Parliament.

VAUSE: Well general election is what Jeremy Corbyn desperately wants, the opposition leader. He was in Parliament turning the knife just little. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, LABOUR PARTY: Mr. Speaker, the government's approach to Brexit has now become a national embarrassment. After two years of failure, broken promises, after broken promises, the Prime Minister finally accepted inevitable last week and voted to extend Article 50 and went to Brussels to negotiate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So was at the moment when Theresa May was forced to you know, beg in Brussels for this extension? Was that the moment she essentially really did lose control of the process?

THOMAS: I don't think so, John. I think if anything going to Brussels and getting an extension, you sort of -- we could put that into sort of the good category. I think going all the way back to June 2017 when she called a snap election with the single goal of expanding her power in order to sort of push through her deal and at that moment did not engage in cross-party consultation, the historic defeats of the withdrawal agreement, the cabinet resignations and so on and so forth that what we saw today with Parliament taking control was really the end of it.

But this has just been an ongoing process in an extraordinary set of circumstances that normally would have seen a prime minister being ousted or having -- or being forced to resign. So it's a really a kind of a failure of government here to be able to enlist support and to seek cross party consultation. And her party, particularly the hardcore Brexiteers here, have so much responsibility to hold for all of this.

VAUSE: Right now if we check this web page for this petition, there we are, it's what just over 5.5 million people have signed this petition demanding an end to Brexit. We also saw these huge protests over the weekend as well as demanding a second referendum. And it seems E.U. officials are watching all of this from Brussels, perhaps little shout of freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARITIS SCHINAS, CHIEF SPOKESMAN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Freedom of expression is fundamental right in the European Union. We saw indeed the very telling images of the march that do not warrant any additional comment from our side. We also take note of the petition here to for as long as the U.K. -- the U.K. government does not tell us otherwise. We are working on the presumption the U.K. will leave the European Union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: At this point, if the U.K. government is powerless to do anything, powerless to delay, powerless to stop, powerless to move forward.

THOMAS: Yes. And this is why and the European Union officials here underscoring the fact that it is very, very difficult to understand what it is that authentic politicians have to fear about going to the people. It's extraordinary when you look at the question of the -- of the European Economic Community, the European Union, this whole historical relationship of the U.K. all the way back in 1975, two years after the U.K. joined the European Union, a referendum was held, the first of its kind on this particular question tabled at the time by the Labour Party. And it was overwhelmingly one in favor of remaining in the European Union.

The simple argument of going back to the people is the most logical one. It is at best a kind of a blood-pressure test as to where things stand at the -- at a particular moment in history. And it is clear that in the last three years no matter what side of the spectrum, political spectrum you stand on, you are better informed about this process. And it seems that Parliament has been unable to solve this.

The logical conclusion is to go back to the people either through a general election or to allow a people's vote and to determine what that particular motion would be so that the U.K. can finally extricate itself from this mess and move into some kind of new direction.

[01:10:04] VAUSE: But you know the week is still young and they can still find new and inventive ways to take this down some kind of rabbit hole I guess. We'll see what happens. Dominic, thank you.

THOMAS: Absolutely. Thanks, John.

VAUSE: OK, we'll head to Middle East now. There is renewed violence between Israel and Hamas. Israeli official say air strikes overnight targeted Hamas in Gaza including its intelligence headquarters and the office of the group's leader. The airstrikes came after early-morning Hamas rocket attack which reached deep into central Israel destroying home and wounding seven people.

Hamas has not confirmed or denied launching the rocket. The Israeli response was underway while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington where U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation formally recognizing Israel sovereignty over the contested Golan Heights.

(INAUDIBLE) where all this may be heading with CNN Global Affairs Analyst Aaron David Miller. So Aaron, good to see you. We've got this quoting from the Arabic television network Al Arabiya saying that Hamas says that the early morning missile which was fired that traveled 120 kilometers, it was fired by mistake.

The same claim they made about a rocket fire in Tel Aviv earlier this month and another which destroyed a home in (INAUDIBLE) back in October. You know, to accidentally fire one rocket might be unfortunate, to fire two by accident looks like carelessness, by the time you get to number three, it just doesn't look believable.

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: No, I mean you could add a certain measure of incompetence also. And the Israelis are being quite discreet I think or careful in assessing judgment here. Although they assumed it was fire from Hamas control position in the rough area of Gaza.

And obviously, they've now gone off to after military and intelligence targets that belong to the organization. So no -- I mean once incompetence, twice carelessness, three a pretty willful act. I think to test the Israelis in anticipation of what Hamas hopes on Friday, March 30 I think (INAUDIBLE) day will be a mobilization of thousands upon thousands of Palestinians along the border.

This might have been a test or perhaps even an intentional escalation to build toward what they hope will be really large and very willful and coherent, cohesive protests on Friday. VAUSE: Will that, the Israel's prime minister who is in Washington.

He was there on Monday meeting with U.S. president. At the time he warned of a tough Israeli response to the Hamas rocket fire. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate this. And as we speak, as I told you, Mr. President, just now Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN is reporting that Netanyahu told his security chiefs he wanted a strong attack on targets in Gaza to respond to the rocket strike. His security and defense chiefs had an existing bank of targets already prepared but Netanyahu told him -- told them he wanted more substantial targets to hit. The official added that the prime minister gave his approval for the targets that were attacked.

So you have a situation with the Prime Minister choosing targets in Gaza whilst visiting Washington. How unusual is that and how much would you attribute that to the threat posed by you know, this Hamas rocket you know, led deep inside Israeli territory? How much would you say that is you know, due to the upcoming Israeli elections which you know Benjamin Netanyahu is in a pretty tight race?

MILLER: I mean, this isn't at stake on a tough public position or call -- you're going to call for a forceful response. You're actually -- you're not actually on the ground. You're going to want to try to find the balance as Netanyahu has done it seems to me over the last decade when dealing with Gaza between too much risk aversion on one hand and too much risk radius on the other.

And he's demonstrated a real avoidance, a fear I think of a slippery slope would -- which would involve an escalation and be to the deployment of thousands of Israeli ground forces into Gaza itself. Obviously casualties this is the main concern. And looking toward an election that's two weeks away, he's got to find a way I think to be tough enough but responsible enough to avoid a situation where you don't have a lot of Israeli soldiers dying in Gaza days before an Israeli election.

VAUSE: Before he cutting short -- cut short his visit to Washington, Netanyahu -- he was there for the U.S. President to sign off on his support for Israel's claim over the Golan Heights. It's disputed territory on the border with Syria but not anymore at least according to Donald Trump. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The despicable attack this morning demonstrates the significant security challenges that Israel faces every single day. And today I am taking historic action to promote Israel's ability to defend itself and really to have a very powerful, very strong national security which they're entitled to have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:14:56] VAUSE: So how does this move by the U.S. -- by the U.S. President in particular both to Israel's national defense and what does the U.S. get out of it?

MILLER: Well in my judgment, it doesn't. I mean, in large part, this is -- and again I voted for Republicans and Democrats that work for a Republican and Democratic administrations, it's not a partisan comment but there is a consistent pattern in the Trump administration of two things.

Number one, coming up with solutions to problems we don't have. And second, allowing politics and his own persona to no pun intended here, Trump, American foreign policy and national security interest, and I think that's what's happened.

This was driven by a lot -- by and large, and today if you watch the presser, it was a veritable campaign commercial for the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu.

VAUSE: I don't -- we're out of time, but thank you as always. Good to have you with us.

MILLER: Take care, John.

VAUSE: Yes. Still, to come, the Mueller report has dropped and Donald Trump and his supporters are celebrating what they called total exoneration. It's not, but the U.S. president is enraged, do you forgive and forget?

Also, a 23 millimeters of rain, not even an inch, but it brought a death and destruction to parts of Iran, and more dangerous weather is on the way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: In victory seems comes revenge. U.S. President Donald Trump is now set his sights on those behind the Mueller report. He's claiming total victory after his Attorney General released his conclusions from Robert Mueller's nearly two-year-long investigation.

All of this happened on Sunday. That four-page summary showed the Trump campaign did not conspire with Russia, but it did not exonerate him totally on the question of obstruction of justice. Now, Donald Trump wants those who did what he calls "evil things" to be investigated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country. And hopefully, that people that have done such harm to our country, we've gone through a period of really bad things happening. Those people will certainly be looked at. I've been looking at them for a long time and I'm saying why haven't they been looked at?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: To our panel now, Michael Genovese, author of How Trump Governs? And president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. And Mark Kokanovich, a former federal prosecutor.

So, Mark, great to have you with us. We're going to you first. There's been a lot of back-and-forth about all of this, and a lot of will center on that question of obstruction of justice. So, some legal advice here, Mark.

The Attorney General Bill Barr said that because Mueller did not find enough evidence prove an underlying crime, therefore, it would be difficult to prove corrupt intent beyond a reasonable doubt on this question of obstruction of justice.

So, here is one explanation of why all of that is nonsensical. "The Attorney General's position is not only flatly wrong, it's dangerous. If Barr's view was widely adopted by federal prosecutors, it would provide a truly perverse incentive to engage in obstruction. If wrongdoers knew they were likely to be charged with obstruction if prosecutors are unable to obtain sufficient evidence of an underlying crime, then they would have every reason to engage in obstruction and witness tampering in an effort to prevent prosecutors from gaining access to underlying inculpatory testimony and other evidence that might lead to such charges."

OK, it was long but I know you're still with us. So, how do you see it?

[01:20:42] MARK KOKANOVICH, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: John, that's exactly right. And I would take a little bit of issue with the lead- in tonight. We don't have the report yet. My colleague Dennis Burke, former U.S. attorney and currently with me at Ballard Spahr now, appeared on this program on Friday.

And I agree with him and many others. And the unanimous vote of the House of Representatives that this report needs to be disclosed. It hasn't been disclosed. All of the discussion that we've had surrounding the report hasn't -- we haven't had the benefit of having the report in front of us, of reviewing what's actually in the report.

Mueller conducted this investigation professionally, scrupulously, and as he has in conducting his life with service to a cause greater than self-interest. And the American public deserves to see what's in the report.

You're exactly right that this would provide a perverse incentive to those who engage in criminal conduct to obstruct the investigation. His obstruction has been in plain view on Twitter.

In indeed, evidence of collusion has been in plain view. So, we can't say that there's no evidence of collusion. And certainly, that there's no evidence of obstruction. There's ample evidence of both. The determination about whether or not to charge someone with a federal crime is one thing.

But the four-page letter that summarizes this vast report. Points to the justice manual and the principles of federal prosecution. One of those principles is to decide whether or not there are other avenues to pursue justice.

And in this instance, one of those avenues is clearly that there's legislative oversight. So, that may also weigh in favor of not bringing federal prosecution.

VAUSE: And talking to Michael, very quickly, because right now though, does any of that matter because the narrative has been set? The president and his allies have owned this story for what? Almost 24 hours. No collusion, the president exonerated.

KOKANOVICH: Well, of course, that's --

VAUSE: To Michael, please.

KOKANOVICH: Oh, I'm sorry about --

VAUSE: It's OK.

MICHAEL GENOVESE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's OK. Of course, the president would say that. We expected that's part of the script. But I think -- I think Mark's essentially correct, and I think Mr. Barr made a fundamental error because if the president, according to his own statements and according to Department of Justice regulations, can't be indicted. Then, what's the remedy? Is there a remedy? He can't be above the law. So, the only remedy is Congress.

Congress is the only body that can look at that evidence now, and come to a determination. Is this a problem? Is it an impeachable offense? Or is it not a problem? And I think, Mr. Barr chose party and president over a country in this. He need not have weighed in at all. This should go to the Congress and the entire report with some clear redactions should go to the Congress. If not, to the public as well.

VAUSE: He said one crucial line. The special counsel states that "While this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." So, this is how the Trump legal team views that one-line. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It means they didn't feel capable of making the decision probably because they had dissent within their ranks. The most important thing is they didn't make the decision to bring a case.

JAY SEKULOW, CHIEF COUNSEL, AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE: Right.

GIULIANI: Or to conclude that a crime was committed. They actually should stop there. This extra language about not exonerating here, a lot of prosecutors called me this morning and said that's just very, very unusual and very unethical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, Mark, who are these people calling Rudy Giuliani apart from Don Jr. and Roger Stone? But -- you know, why would -- you know, why would Mueller include that line if it wasn't important?

KOKANOVICH: Yes, he clearly says, this report does not exonerate Donald Trump. Donald Trump's own public statements, intimidating witnesses on Twitter. Calling people rats, those things are good evidence of obstruction. And --

VAUSE: But why would so -- why would Giuliani call it unethical to include that line though in the report?

KOKANOVICH: Why Giuliani does things? You're asking the wrong person.

VAUSE: Right.

KOKANOVICH: For an opinion on that.

VAUSE: Fair point. It just seems that -- you know, they're obviously trying to -- you know, undermine the credibility of that one line, I guess.

[01:25:05] KOKANOVICH: Yes, and I think as between Rudy Giuliani and Robert Mueller, the credibility is an easy call.

VAUSE: Yes. Michael the other bizarre angle here is that the special counsel is appointed to take responsibility of investigating the president away from the people appointed by the president. Yet, one of the most crucial questions Mueller punts and leaves it to the Attorney General to decide.

GENOVESE: Well, that's one interpretation. It may very well be that Mr. Mueller knows that the Department of Justice regulations say you can't indict a sitting president. And therefore, he basically said, "I'm -- my hands are tied on this. And therefore, I want you to know that while I'm not concluding that he is guilty of something, I'm certainly not going to exonerate him."

So, it may be Mueller trying to just to squeeze the language out around this. So that he basically complies with DOJ rules. But also lets us know that we're not going to exonerate the president. There is something there. Who's going to find out? Congress, us, nobody? Mr. Barr is trying to make it, nobody.

VAUSE: Well, with that in mind, you know, Donald Trump has said he would not be bothered if the Mueller report was made public. But yet, hours after that, the Senate Leader Republican Mitch McConnell, he shot down a non-binding resolution calling for the Mueller report to be made public.

We also have the chairman of six House committees, all writing to the Attorney General requesting the report be submitted to Congress by next Monday. So, Mark, to you, if this ends up in some kind of legal fighting court, which is what seems to be where it's heading, who is playing a stronger hand? Is it the Attorney General, or to the Democrats?

KOKANOVICH: Well, it's clear that if the position of the administration is that this report exonerates him, despite the fact that the report specifically says, it does not exonerate him. But if that's their position, they have nothing to fear from releasing the report. And it looks very suspicious that Mitch McConnell is fighting the release -- the public release of this report.

It's critically important for the public to know what Russia did to interfere with the election. It's -- a democracy depends upon the legitimacy of free and fair elections with integrity. And the public deserves to know which of their elected leaders take seriously that charge to protect the integrity of elections.

So, those leaders that are in favor of allowing the public to get access to the facts as developed by Mueller in this extensive investigation need to stand firmly in favor of releasing the report with redactions as Michael has pointed out to the legislature and also to the public.

VAUSE: Yes, this full-page summary which came out over the weekend, it's got like a Rorschach test of the country. Here's on Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat House Speaker saw it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Speaker Pelosi, are you ready to say that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and later the Mueller finding?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does this exonerate the president?

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I think that Mueller report was clear the president is not exonerated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Clear the president was not exonerated. Despite that CNN is reporting that Pelosi has told the party's leadership to move on to focus on, you know, their own agenda, pocketbook issues.

And according to our own reporting as well, "Trump plans to turn the investigation, Democrats' constant accusations of wrongdoing and the media's coverage of it all into a new foil, half a dozen advisers and aides have said.

He has already signaled he'll weaponize the results, targeting those who ordered the investigation and Democrats he says waged political warfare. The counteroffensive has some advisers concerned the president could overstep, diminishing a clear victory by sinking back into old grudges and calling for extreme steps to punish those he views as foes." So, Michael, if the Democrats hold the line here, that's the big if. And if the president overreaches which is not a big if. How quickly could things turn badly for Donald Trump?

GENOVESE: In a nanosecond. But I think this was and I'm -- "was" may not be the appropriate word. But I think it was a great opportunity for the president to push the reset button. He could choose to be a bigger person or a smaller one. He could choose to turn the page or turn to revenge. And he's clearly turned to revenge. He's attacking people as evil as treasonous.

He wants to now it seemed to use the tools of the federal government to investigate his political enemies. So, this could get ugly very quickly.

VAUSE: Now, thanks to Michael Genovese, there. Former federal prosecutor, as well, Mark Kokanovich, for their time, as well as their insight into what has been a very big story.

Still, to come here, they ran away from what they claimed was an abusive family. They're nearly kidnapped by their own government. But now, two sisters from Saudi Arabia may soon be starting a new life. Details next here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:32:03] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

British lawmakers have taken control of the Brexit process from Prime Minister Theresa May. Thirty conservatives voted against the Prime Minister on Monday. They pass a so-called Letwin Amendment that sets up a series of non-binding votes on Wednesday. Lawmakers could support a second referendum.

Israel has launched airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza hours after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in a home in central Israel. This comes despite a reported ceasefire between the two sides. A CNN team says Israel intercepted a number of rockets, some 45 minutes after a ceasefire was meant to take effect.

U.S. President Donald Trump taking a victory lap after the Mueller investigation found no collusion between his campaign and the Russian government.

The President now is turning his anger towards those he calls the other side, indicating those behind the Mueller investigation. This is all based on the summary of the Mueller findings from his handpicked attorney general. Democrats are demanding the release of the entire Mueller report.

At least 19 people have died in flash flooding in Iran. Sudden intense rain, a month's worth in just a few hours inundated the city of Shiraz and surrounding areas. It turned streets into rivers and it swept away dozens of cars. Authorities say it happened so quickly there was no time for a warning. More rain is expected on Tuesday.

Let's go to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with more on this -- it was 23 millimeters, right? That's not even an inch of rain.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, you know. It's really remarkable to think about the amount of rainfall that came down which, as you said, it's not much in the grand scheme of things. For a dry area it is, but in the grands scheme of things it's not. But it's the ferocity of that water that you really have to point out, because even at ten kilometers per hour, moving water has the same force per unit area as an EF-5 tornado.

So once you wrap your head around the incredible intensity of just a little bit of moving water then you know how conditions turn out to be something like this in a matter of just a few minutes.

And, you know, you hear about dozens of fatalities, at least 19 fatalities, could be a significantly higher number once everything is said and done across this region. And rainfall amounts in other parts, other provinces not too far away -- over 80 millimeters coming down on Monday alone.

And we know the Iranian new year a very big holiday Nowruz happening just about a week ago so a lot of people made their way to this historic city of Shiraz. I spent some time here to celebrate the holiday, certainly, that was a worst-case scenario when it comes to the amount of rainfall in the short time period here in the very end of the wet season.

And notice, the true (ph) desert once you get your way into the summer months, rainfall very hard to come by across this part of the world and seems as this in poor infrastructure and also poor urban development, part of the blame as well.

But we know the landscape, being an arid landscape, a desert landscape, a lot of that water instantly becomes runoff. That's part of the concern. And also it is a very elevated terrain across this region.

So the waterways, essentially, are created through say canyons into the mountainous areas and all of that is funnel downhill and eventually ends up into the city itself. And debris is also captured and brought down with it so it really has tremendous force behind it.

[01:35:06] And the concern, John -- moving forward is rainfall again, in the very dry area of the world here could be pretty intense over the next 24 or so hours before conditions begin to approve. So it's certainly going to be another risky day across that region -- John.

VAUSE: Yes, an incredible thing for a region, I guess, which isn't used to rain -- this is what the problem is, even a small amount.

Thanks -- Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Yes. VAUSE: Well, for six months they have lived with an uncertain future, not knowing if they will be forced to return to Saudi Arabia and a family they say were abusive. But now, two Saudi sisters are set to start a new life, a life without fear and a future with hope.

We have more now from CNN's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the moment two sisters from Saudi Arabia find out they will suddenly be free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll be going out the end of next week.

WATSON: A country, which we won't identify for their safety, has just granted the sisters emergency humanitarian visas. Six months of living in limbo in Hong Kong now finally over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will finally have my rights for the first time in my life.

WATSON: This is 18 and 20 year old Rawan and Reem, not their real names, during much less happy times. For their security, they have asked us not to show their faces.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since when we were teenagers, we experienced family violence and abuse and we wanted to run away from this.

WATSON (on camera): Who was committing the violence in the family?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Father and the brothers.

WATSON (voice over): In September of last year the sisters conspired to flee from their family during a beach vacation in Sri Lanka. They were en route to Australia during what was supposed to be a two-hour layover in Hong Kong International Airport when they say airline employees and diplomats from the Saudi consulate in Hong Kong intervened, taking their passports, allegedly canceling their tickets to Australia without their permission and trying to get them on a flight back to Saudi Arabia. Their lawyer filed criminal charges on their behalf.

MICHAEL VIDIER, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: We allege that they were the subject of an attempted kidnapping at Hong Kong International Airport in a restricted area.

WATSON (on camera): Hong Kong police confirmed to CNN that they are investigating what happened in the airport on that day. In the meantime, CNN reached out multiple times to both the Saudi foreign ministry in Riyadh and the Saudi consulate here in Hong Kong for comment but received no answer. In fact, the Saudi consulate sent back our letters by mail unopened.

(voice over): For the last six months, the sisters have been stranded in Hong Kong living in fear. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm afraid that if I will go somewhere they will

kidnap me, because if they can do it in the safest place, in the airport, some official place, can they do it in the street? Can they do it in any place in Hong Kong?

WATSON: But humanitarian visas to a new country have taken away that fear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would have so many options that I never had in my life. I will have to choose, which is a very new thing to me.

WATSON: Under Saudi Arabia's male guardianship system, women have fewer legal rights than men, forced to cover up and unable to travel or even apply for a passport without a husband, father or brother's permission. The sisters have now escaped that system.

VIDIER: They are the lucky ones.

WATSON: Their attorney says they have a message for the women they've left behind.

VIDIER: The coverage of their story will alert people to the plight of women in Saudi Arabia.

WATSON: As they step into their new future, these sisters say they feel reborn.

Ivan Watson, CNN -- Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back, families and communities still grieving from the horrors of school shootings are now hit by a new wave of tragedy. Two students who survived and the father one who did not (INAUDIBLE) their lives in just a matter of days. Why more must be done to help the victims families and the survivors -- that's next.

[01:39:17] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: We know the routine. It starts with reports of shots fired at a school. Then a few minutes later the numbers start coming. One, maybe two shot, wounded, possibly dead. In the minutes which follow, the toll ticks upwards. In the most horrific of cases like Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut it reaches 20. That's 20 children in first and second grade shot dead.

Or the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida -- 17 dead. The gunman, and yes, it's always a man who is most always white is usually shot dead. After briefly morning the lives that are lost and replaying the same arguments both for and against gun reform, we move on.

And for those who survive and the families of those who were murdered, often there is no moving on and once again they are grieving in Newtown. Jeremy Richman's daughter, Avielle was shot dead at Sandy Hook. On Monday morning he was found dead at his office in Connecticut in what appears to be a suicide, but there's every chance the gunman who killed Avielle took the life of her dad, as well.

Once again, they are grieving in Parkland, Florida. Sydney Aiello survived the shooting just over a year ago but it seemed she could not survive the guilt that came with living, and last week she took her own life. Another apparent suicide of a student survivor from Parkland in the span of a week.

Well, for more, our psychologist Eric Fisher is with us. So Eric, thank you for coming in. Let me just say from the outset, you don't know the specific details of all these cases because you are not involved, so we are looking at this from a distance.

So if we could start with the case of Jeremy Richman, he was a neuroscientist. I want you to listen to something he said last year because he was talking about the foundation he set up. He named it after his daughter Avielle. And you know, its mission to focus on violence prevention through research, community engagement as well as mental health.

Here he is from about a year ago.

JEREMY RICHMAN, VICTIM'S FATHER: It was no more than a blurry 48 hours before we decided that we needed to take action and start this foundation. And we were fortunate to have some friends that were familiar with nonprofits and knew what went into that process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: On Monday, we also saw a tweet from the Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy sending his condolences. He also talked about how Jeremy had been in his office, you know, two few weeks ago, he was excited about always working with the foundation and what its' doing.

You know, from the outside, at least, from a distance, it looks as if he was a guy who was dealing really well with all of this. That he was making a positive out of what was, you know, an incredibly traumatic experience. I guess, looks can be deceiving and sometimes all that great work just isn't enough?

ERIC FISHER, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think, you know, one thing we have to look at is, there is a Zen cone that says make medicine from suffering. That basically, just take the challenges in our life and know that we are all basically a world of patients. And in order to become a doctor, we have to understand ourselves.

He was trying to do that in his own healing and applied it to his daughter, however also what happens is people show their ideal self to the world while they feel (INAUDIBLE) as often deep inside.

We have to change the way not just our culture but really around the world humans tend to show emotions that look positive or powerful or strong where they hide the emotions that feel weak and bad and wrong.

[01:45:06] VAUSE: Yes. Because if you look at the Web site on the mission statement, they write, "My wife Jennifer and I are infinitely heartbroken. In the years since the murder of our beautiful six-year- old daughter, our heartbreak has been repeated with hundreds of school shootings in the United States."

And he also goes on talking about shootings in general, but I guess, how difficult is it for parents like Jeremy who have been through something like Sandy Hook to watch other shootings take place and to see nothing being done in any significant way?

And everyone just moves on. It's almost like their kids were meaningless.

FISHER: Well, I think we have to look at that idea of, first of all, post-traumatic stress often can co-occur not from people who just go through the experience but secondhand. And every time that there is another school shooting, it's another trigger.

And the Sandy Hook promise was to change the way we looked at gun laws and the use of guns and things. And for them to try to do what they were trying to do and be turned away again, and again, and again is a very helpless feeling from the standpoint of a parent, a survivor and somebody who wants to make a difference in the lives of others.

You know we saw one of the student leaders emerged from the Parkland shooting -- his name is David Hogg. He tweeted on Sunday, "Stop saying you will get over it. You don't get over something that never should have happened because those that died from gun violence were stolen from us, not naturally lost. Trauma and loss don't just go away. You have to learn to live with it through getting support."

I mean that's key, here. But it seems there is no shortage of hope. In the hours and days immediately after the Parkland shooting or Sandy Hook, over the long term, it seems those resources, you know, years after the event are thin on the ground.

FISHER: Well, and I think you're absolutely right because we have to realize that often people do forget when the next news cycle comes that they are on to the next story. But people with, you know, post- traumatic stress, doesn't always come on immediately. You can have delayed onset post-traumatic stress, but the depression, the grief process often takes years and you have more complicated bereavement when you have somebody who's taken from you than when somebody just naturally passes on.

And we need to build stronger communities overall. Not just for these traumas but for all the people in our culture who feel disenfranchised.

VAUSE: You know, a very basic approach to this we have seen this in Parkland at the high school shooting. Last year, they came up with essentially , you know, a list of six very, very basic questions to ask someone.

It starts, you know, from the very, very basic there we can see, have you ever had thoughts of killing yourself all the way through to essentially questions about have you taken any kind of action, specific action to deal with this.

I'm just wondering, could these sort of questions, which are very basic enough themselves, make a situation in Parkland worse in the sense that, we are looking at what could be a suicide cluster question.

You've got two suicides that then go to others. Yet these are very basic questions. Does it make a situation worse rather than help.

FISHER: You know, research actually supports that actually makes it less likely because you're putting it out there.

When you put it out there and you can talk about it. Then you're going to help find solution. It's when you create environment where you're trying to keep everything hush-hush because you don't want to upset people that then they're going to try to not upset others and keep it in sight.

So he wanted to create a new environment where you're honest, you are direct, you are open and you are seeking solutions together. You are letting them know, I understand you are having some challenges or maybe having some challenges and I want you to know we care about you and we want you to hear, here.

VAUSE: We are out of time Eric -- but very, very quickly, anybody who has these thoughts or we're going to do anything , get help. Seek help.

FISHER: Exactly.

VAUSE: Call, talk to anybody -- right. Just say some thing. a. Something

FISHER: Suicide hotlines, find a therapist, find a minister, pastor, pastor, teacher somebody who was trusted, somebody who understands.

VAUSE: Yes. Ok. Thank you.

FISHER: Thank you.

VAUSE: A short break, now.

History is made as British royals pay their first ever visit to Cuba. But the timing is raising some eyebrows back home and the ire of the allies who aren't so happy with Havana. That's next.

[0148:45] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: We are following what could be a wardrobe malfunction in space. NASA astronaut Anne McClain who's seen here on the right, and Christina Koch in the center there were set to make history on Friday as the first all female crew to conduct a space walk at the International Space Station. That historic moment though has been delayed because of space suit issues. Both women wear a medium, although they say it's a small. There's only one of those at the station so now Astronaut Nick Hague, seen on the left, will join Koch for Friday's walk.

In the years before World War II, Britain imported about 60 percent of its food supply. When war broke out, the minister of food decided what the country would -- bacon, butter and sugar were always in short supply and heavily rationed, and so were meat, fish, tea and jam.

Back then hoarding was frowned upon. These days with a no Brexit crash after the E.U. looking likely, the U.K. is importing about 50 percent of its food and stockpiling is big business.

As CNN's Isa Soares reports, it seems to be a case of "We'll eat again".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Recent winter months we typically see a decline in business for this cold storage hub outside of London.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can see, we have reached maximum capacity.

But this year has proved very different.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of our existence clients panicking, due to the uncertainty around Brexit and therefore stockpiling and getting goods shipped in for us in larger box and quantities.

SOARES: The site stores produce for a range of clientele -- from manufacturers and restaurants to caterers and small businesses.

And this space here, for over 2000 pallets of frozen goods, items such as bread, chicken breasts and ice cream. The fully stocked shelves to present an unwelcome problem in this industry.

We had quite a few new enquiry's over the last couple of months. It's bad for business because in an ideal world, we've got perhaps if he's turning away business.

SOARES: Threats of leaving the E.U. without a deal or with a bad one have created a safety first approach for many retailers across the U.K. who feel trade disruptions. Those with enough resources are stocking up while they have the chance.

FRASER MCKEVITT, RETAILA ND CONSUMER INSIGHT: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know that retailers are taking a number of steps. They can be looking to hire extra staff working their customs unit to help to get things through the border if there should be any delays. They have also been looking at what they stock. Is there a chance, perhaps, to source things locally from the U.K.

Everybody wants to do that, of course it's a great marketing tool to talk about locally grown produce and British produce to British consumers, but the simple fact is, Britain only produces half of the food that it actually eat.

SOARES: The government has so far reassure the public that food supply, irrespective of Brexit, will remain unchanged.

A spokesperson for the department for Environment, Food and rural affairs said this to CNN. "The U.K. has a high degree of food security built on access to a diverse range of sources including strong domestic production and imports from third countries. This will continue to be the case as we leave the E.U. They added, while we are making sensible preparations for all eventualities as we leave the E.U. the government is not and will not be storing food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do know that 10 percent of consumers have said that they are already stockpiling goods, but another 25 percent of consumers have said they would consider stockpiling.

SOAREZ: And as Brexit uncertainty continues to fester, businesses and consumers must now choose how best to feel their freezers.

Isa Soares, CNN -- CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Venezuela's government is blaming an attack on its electoral system for another power outage. The blackout affected mostly Caracas and about a dozen state. Services were restored within a few.

The minister of communications for President Nicolas Maduro said the attack came from the opposition, Juan Guaido's people, a town Guaido, recognizes the countries interim president by a host of western countries, blame the government for the blackout.

Prince Charles met with Cuba's president on Monday. The heir to the British throne and the Duchess of Cornwell on a Caribbean tour and that includes Havana.

And as CNN's Max Foster reports it's a the controversial visit and it comes at an awkward time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Bring a senior royal couple to Havana, show them around the narrow streets, add some tourists, a ton of media and you very quickly END up with this.

[01:55:02] The British royal family aren't particular well-known here in Cuba but you wouldn't know it from the amount media that's shown up in these very narrow street.

Much of its state media controlled by the government.

FOSTER: The regime came for its media to show it still has powerful friends in the west who (INAUDIBLE) to visit the country's government

The couple were guided by senior member of a communist party -- Eusebio Leal and have him here.

EUSOBIA LEAL (PH), POLICE OFFICIAL: It's very important for all the people around the world that come to Havana on its 500th anniversary. It's a great motivator to come.

FOSTER: Charles doing his bit to reinforce that message with in hyper Cuba on behalf of the British government. But it's infuriated some in Washington who are pushing for tougher sanctions against what they regard as a tyrannical regime.

SENATOR RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: Why would the British government want to recognize Juan Guaido as the new president of Venezuela, the dictator. And Venezuela -- and at the same time have the prince who has unbelievable world wide influence will prop up the regime. This doesn't make sense.

FOSTER: This image, more than any other, showing how far U.K. Cube relations of have come: Prince Charles, hosted by the President Miguel Diaz Kane in the palace of the revolution itself.

A U.K. government source said they show they are conscious of how their approach is very different from that of the U.S. but they are confident that they have got it right.

Max Foster, CNN -- Havana, Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well the young man who smashed an egg into the side of the head of an Australian senator, controversial one, spoke out about the incident for the first time on Monday.

Will Connelly seen on the right with his cellphone, explained that he singled out Frazier Adding (ph) because the lawmaker blamed New Zealands's mosque shootings on a policy which allowed Muslims to emigrate to the country. That video became a social media hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL CONNELLY, TEEN: I understand what I did is not the right thing to do, however, this egg has united people and money has been raised, tens of thousands of dollars has been raised for those victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: He says he appreciates the support, but claims the egging was not, in fact, a political act.

What a joke, it wasn't funny. Which is funny.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. The news continues here right after a break, this continues here right after the break.

END