Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Places Sanctions on Iranian Metals Exports; House Committee Holds AG Barr in Contempt; China Threatens Retaliation over Trump's New Tariffs; Chinese Authorities Hinder CNN Investigation; Former China Camp Detainee Shares Memories of Trauma; Suspects Appear in Court after 1 Killed, 8 Wounded; Colorado Student Died Saving Others; Storms to Hit Texas This Summer; Royal Baby Named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 09, 2019 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The U.S. intensifies its pressure on Iran with more sanctions while others tell Tehran to hold firm and stick to the nuclear deal.

Political war: Democrats say the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis. President Trump invokes executive privilege to block further release of the report he claims clears him of all wrongdoing.

Plus, he says they broke the deal and sounds off against China hours before trade talks are said to resume between Beijing and Washington.

Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHURCH: Washington's hard line against Tehran took another major step on Wednesday with more U.S. sanctions against Iran. The Trump administration is targeting Iranian exports of steel, iron, aluminum and copper and warning other countries not to accept any shipments.

The move came just hours after Iran said it would relax its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, specifically Iran said it would begin stockpiling enriched uranium and heavy water. Even so, Iran's foreign minister said his country is still committed to the nuclear agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The fact that they have pulled out of these agreements, there are several of them, all these are the actions and the steps that the America government has taken in the last few months.

It shows us that we are dealing with a lawbreaking government. As Mr. Lavrov said, the nuclear non-proliferation agreement is important to us and the international community.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to the nuclear agreement. The decision the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken at the moment is actually to continue with our commitments to the nuclear agreement and not go against it, unlike the USA, which has pulled out of it. We have not pulled out of the agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More now from CNN's Nic Robertson in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Standing side by side with U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo, the British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had a very clear warning for Iran that, if it does want to step out, if you will, of the JCPOA agreement, the Iran nuclear agreement, there could be very clear consequences that this is a potential fork in the road for them.

JEREMY HUNT, BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER: If they don't comply with the JCPOA, there will be consequences. And I'm sure that I'm speaking for my European colleagues in that respect as well. This is a very big moment for Iran.

ROBERTSON: The British foreign secretary seems to be implying that there could be sanctions on Iran if it doesn't remain compliant. He did say, however, if Iran sticks to the terms of the JCPOA, so will Britain, so will France, so will Germany.

Of, course that is a different position to that put forward by the United States. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo saying, as far as he could see, Iran's noncompliance here, by having a greater amount, stockpiling greater amounts of enriched radium, of heavy water, essentially cutting a pathway to making a nuclear weapon.

He called on Britain to stand much closer with the United States on all these issues to do with Iran.

POMPEO: I urge the United Kingdom to stand with us to rein in the regime's bloodletting and lawlessness, not to ayatollah's angry decision to pull out of a nuclear deal.

If this is about something like commerce, let's open markets together and know that we can.

ROBERTSON: So there the British foreign secretary began that press conference earlier by talking about the close defense and security cooperation between the United States and Britain. The reality we have seen across the day is, on Iran and China too, there are huge rifts, gaps are appearing -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd joins us now from New York. Always great to see you.

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you.

CHURCH: So Britain's foreign secretary has warned Iran of clear consequences if it doesn't comply with the JCPOA nuclear agreement. We are talking about sanctions, of course. But Britain doesn't go as far as the United States. Let's just listen to what U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo had to say on the matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POMPEO: Iran's decision to depart from the JCPOA is mostly about their decision to work on their nuclear program to create pathways which might reduce --

[00:05:00]

POMPEO: -- their breakout time. These are the things that are essential for us to continue to work and observe. And I'm confident that as we watch Iran's activity, that the United Kingdom and our European partners will move forward together to ensure that Iran has no pathway for a nuclear weapons systems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So Samantha, the United States pulled out of this nuclear agreement exactly one year ago.

Doesn't that weaken its hand, telling Iran we will abide by an agreement that the U.S. abandoned itself?

VINOGRAD: The administration has been unrealistic in terms of what Iran is expected to do, ever since they came into office. I actually helped work on the early days of the negotiations with the Iranians.

And part of what we did was try to provide them an off ramp from the maximum pressure campaign that we had laid on them after we had discovered another illegal nuclear site under the Obama administration.

This administration has taken a whole separate approach. And it really makes me wonder whether they actually want Iran to come back to the negotiating table. As you mentioned, the administration has said that Iran needs to continue to abide by its commitments under the JCPOA, even though the United States violated its commitments and reimposed sanctions.

And the only off ramp that's been provided, publicly, at least, has been a set of 12 demands that secretary of state Pompeo laid out, that covers a gamut from funding terrorism to nuclear activity. So from that perspective, it's unclear to me how the administration could start to suspect that the Iranians would negotiate, if the Iranians thought we were credible.

The one question I do have is whether the U.K., as you just showed, Secretary Pompeo was in the U.K. today, can play some kind of interlocutor role between the Iranians and the U.S. to try to figure out a way forward, short of Iran starting this activity to restart its program.

CHURCH: Right. This is what President Trump had to say about increasing pressure on Iran. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Unfortunately, just today I felt compelled to authorize new sanctions on Iran's deal, copper and industries because I hope to be able, at some point, to sit down it work out a fair deal. We are not looking to hurt anybody. We want a fair deal, we just want them to have nuclear weapons. That's all we want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: OK, is this strategy of building pressure on Iran going to work?

We are talking about sanctions but especially with the increasing military pressure that we are seeing building in the region.

Or could this potentially backfire?

VINOGRAD: We just have to address the line where the president said that all he wants is for Iran not to have a nuclear program and that the United States is not looking to hurt anybody.

That's just blatantly untrue. The JCPOA, which the administration violated and we went through to remove imposed sanctions, was preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. The IAEA and other parties to the agreement agree that it was preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

The fact is the administration did not feel that it addressed the other areas of Iranian malign activity, such as funding for terrorism, which is why we just moved more assets to the Middle East, to help protect our forces there; cyber intrusions, missile tests. There's a very long list of items.

But we were preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Trump didn't think the deal covered these other areas and he says he wants to get a deal with Iran. And I really wonder, based upon his track record with North Korea, whether he is just looking to have a historic moment and sitdown with Khamenei or Rouhani or one of the other leaders so he can say he did things differently without there being any actual substance behind it.

CHURCH: Looking at the situation now, what does happen if Iran starts enriching uranium, stockpiling it, becoming exactly what the U.S. had tried to avoid, a nuclear nation?

VINOGRAD: There's a menu of options, typically, that would be reviewed and prepared in the Situation Room. You often look at covert options, which would involve some kind of hypothetical cyber attacks between infrastructure in Iran to cripple centrifuges, that sort of thing. There is a covert branch of operations.

Then there's what we call military CONOPS or military planning to try to identify whether a military strike on very specific facilities is even possible at this stage if Iran started marching towards a bomb and resuming these activities.

The preferable route, which the Obama administration engaged in, is the diplomatic route. And that, in some respects, it is going to take the most work because the administration will have to convince the Iranians that we are actually credible, that we're not going to go back on our word and convince the Iranian leadership that they can take another political hit domestically.

This cost the regime a huge amount of political capital within Iran --

[00:10:00]

VINOGRAD: -- where hardliners basically said, we told you so, you sat down with the United States, you made a deal and then they humiliated you.

CHURCH: You did touch on this but national security adviser John Bolton hasn't made a secret of the fact that he would like to see regime change in Iran.

Is this where this is going, ultimately, and is that what President Trump wants to see, as well?

VINOGRAD: It looks like it is certainly marching that way. The administration has said that they are looking for a change in regime behavior and not regime change. However, there has been a very overt campaign to demonize the Iranian regime and barely so, in a lot of respects.

The Iranian regime engages in gross human rights abuses, corruption and economic mismanagement but the administration has been quite clear about their feelings for the regime. That's overt. As I mentioned previously, we don't know what's happening from a covert operations perspective and it's unclear whether the administration's ultimate goal is -- it looks more likely that the goal is to get Khamenei and Rouhani and others out of the picture and to give the Iranian people what they rightfully deserve, which is free and transparent elections.

Again, that's not going to be solved by withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal and putting more economic strain on the Iranian people.

CHURCH: We will continue to watch this very delicate story, Samantha Vinograd, thank you very much for your analysis and perspective.

VINOGRAD: Thank you.

CHURCH: Appreciate it.

The House Judiciary Committee has voted, as promised, to hold U.S. attorney general William Barr in contempt of Congress. The Democrats want Barr to turn over the full, unredacted Mueller report and all underlying evidence. The Department of Justice says it is protecting grand jury testimony, which it's required to keep secret.

Before the vote, President Trump kept his promise, asserting executive privilege over the entire Mueller report. Legal scholars disagree on whether he has a valid case here. Some say any material from before his presidency would not be protected. But Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler predicted dire consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: There can be no higher stakes than this attempt to abrogate all power to the executive branch away from Congress and, more importantly, away from the American people. We have talked for a long time about approaching a constitutional crisis. We are now in it. We are now in a constitutional crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic." He joins me now from Los Angeles.

Always good to see you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good evening.

CHURCH: So House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler insists the country is in the midst of a constitutional crisis.

If that is the case, why would he and Speaker Nancy Pelosi resist using the tool availability to them to address that and impeach the president and why do you think the White House is goading the Democrats to do exactly that?

BROWNSTEIN: I think the president is doing that because he has been very effective throughout his career, conflating any attack on him with an attack on his voters. And I think what he hopes is that if Democrats move toward impeachment, he will be able to portray it as, in essence, them trying to tell his voters this is really not about me, it's about putting you back in your place and coastal elites and all the kind of arguments that he makes.

That, of course, is not their only option. In fact, it is not the only option that we are going to see, I think, immediately. I think what we are going to see is the Democrats moving into the courts because what's happening in the Judiciary Committee, as you know, is only one front of a multifront conflict where the administration are, in essence, rejecting the authority of Congress' oversight on a wide range of issues.

And I think all of those questions are going to be moving to the courts, in relatively short order.

CHURCH: Let's look at one of those triggers. Attorney general Bill Barr was held in contempt of Congress for not releasing the full, unredacted Mueller report. He responded by advising the president to evoke executive privilege over the whole of that report. But how valid is that move?

And did the Democrats play this well or not?

BROWNSTEIN: First, we know executive privilege is not an unlimited authority of the president. The Supreme Court ruled against Richard Nixon during Watergate, requiring him, despite his executive privilege claim, to give up the Watergate tapes. We know it is not an absolute.

Certainly in the case of an independent counsel report, that really seems like, I think to a lot of legal scholars, like a stretch. Especially when it's put in the context of what we were discussing, which is the president basically says that he will fight all of the subpoenas.

And we now have the pattern from the president's taxes with the Ways and Means Committee, the testimony on the 2020 census and adding a citizenship to security clearances at the White House, where the White House is systematically trying to stonewall congressional oversight --

[00:15:00]

BROWNSTEIN: -- and deny the basic authority of Congress to perform oversight.

What you may see out of Democrats on the House is more contempt citations moving forward out of various committees and potentially all get bundled together on the floor before going into the courts in one, unified package, which would be an extraordinary moment in American history that we may be heading for the next couple weeks.

CHURCH: The stonewalling seems to be a strategy.

But it's working, isn't it?

BROWNSTEIN: It works in the sense of buying time, immediately. And there's no question about that and that works in the sense of forcing Democrats to fight on this terrain. It works, in part to, the extent that it ultimately will work if the courts agree that it works and if the courts can act expeditiously.

If the president can run out the clock, that might be his goal. The largest point here is that this is a historic attack on the authority of Congress and what's striking is that Republicans in Congress, who would certainly be at the battlements on this if it was a Democratic president, are in essence aiding the executive and abetting the executive branch's attack on congressional authority.

One thing I learned in covering several decades of incorporating partisanship and polarization in Washington, is that any weapon, once it is unsheathed, doesn't go back on the shelf. And the thought that some future Democratic president is going to look at this and comply in the way they would in the past with subpoenas from a Republican Congress is ludicrous and I think historically shortsighted for Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans to be so acquiescent on what's happening. CHURCH: It's not all Republicans, is it?

Now we are learning that the president's son, Don Jr., has been subpoenaed by the Republican led Senate Intelligence Committee. This comes despite Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell saying the country needs to move on, case closed, when it comes to the Mueller report. Clearly, not all Republicans agree with him.

What do you think they want to discuss with Don Jr.?

What do they want to hear from him?

BROWNSTEIN: You, know it's extraordinary, really. Because, they really have been, up until the subpoena, there really have been no Republican voices raising concerns about the stonewalling that we are seeing. Rand Paul even said he was more concerned about Democrats seeing the president's taxes than about the president possibly evading the law requiring him to provide the taxes.

That committee, the Intelligence Committee historically, has been something of an island of bipartisanship. It has certainly functioned better than the House Intelligence Committee, in terms of the parties working together, Richard Burr and Mark Warner. And we don't exactly know what they are looking to clear up with Donald Trump Jr.

Rather impoliticly, attack the chairman of the committee today immediately in response to this. So it does provide a second front in this. But at the margin, the vast majority of congressional Republicans so far are acquiescing in this blanket refusal that, I think, ultimately, is going to end up before the Supreme Court.

And like many things in American life, it may depend on what John Roberts is feeling in particular about his court being seen totally as a partisan institution.

CHURCH: You mentioned that. This is what a CNN source close to Don Jr. says about the subpoena.

"Don continues to cooperate by producing documents and is willing to answer written questions but no lawyer would ever agreed to allow their client to participate in what is an obvious PR stunt from a so- called Republican senator too cowardly to stand up to his boss, Mark Warner, and the rest of the resistance Democrats on the committee."

What's your reaction to those comments?

BROWNSTEIN: That is the way they have played this from the beginning, on every front, to try to delegitimize any effort at oversight from whatever the source. Whether it was all of the incidents that Mueller counted in his report or the president trying to block the investigation, to the attacks on the courts, whenever they rule against them.

Obviously, to this kind of systematic opposition to congressional oversight that goes far beyond what we have seen from other administrations. Certainly there have been arguments about individual pieces of information that Congress requested. It has not been anything this systematic before and that is their strategy.

Again, to the extent it works, it works because so many Republicans in Congress are willing to lock arms around it. And that is something that, as clear as anything over the last several decades, that will come around to bite them the next time there is a Democrat in the White House.

CHURCH: All right, Ron Brownstein, always great to have your analysis and perspective on these political matters. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: Now to the escalating trade war between the United States and China. Beijing says it will retaliate if President Trump follows through on his threat to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. On Friday, at a rally in Florida, Trump said he was pushed to make the threats after Beijing reneged on some of its trade agreements. Take a listen.

[00:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: By the way, you see the tariffs?

We broke the deal. They broke the deal. So they are flying in the vice premier, a good man, but they broke the deal. They can't do that, so they will be paying, they don't make the deal. Nothing wrong with taking over $100 billion a year, $100 billion. We never did that before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, markets have been rattled by the uptick in tensions, causing stocks to go on a wild ride during this week's trading sessions. Investors will be closely watching to see what comes out of the latest round of trade talks between the two countries set to happen hours from now in Washington.

And now Steven Jiang joins us now from Beijing with more.

Steven, there's a lot riding on this and a great deal of global concern. It's impossible to know where these talks will go but what are the possible scenarios?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: That's right, Rosemary. As you said, all eyes on Washington now to see what comes out of these crucial talks. You know the negotiators don't really have a lot of time. They are starting talking on Thursday and the deadline for new tariffs from both sides now is midnight, U.S. time, Friday.

So they have a day to work out all of their differences and to bridge this increasingly wide gap. I think barring the scenario of the U.S. president picking up the phone and calling up Xi Jinping to work out new tariffs, it's very likely that we will see that escalation, that is a year-long long trade war.

The Chinese state media is already preparing the public for that scenario. In the past few days, they have been touting the strength and resilience of the Chinese economy, showering people with very impressive economic data. Starting today, Thursday, they are changing their tone, really saying things like, we are the Chinese, we are no stranger to situations where we are fighting our enemies while negotiating with them.

With some articles even evoking the memories of the Chinese-U.S. military conflicts during the Korean more. So the Chinese media is also pushing back claims by U.S. officials that it was the Chinese who walked back on previously agreed commitments and key areas of concern such as intellectual property protection, market access and enforcement mechanisms.

The Chinese are saying it was the U.S. who make unreasonable demands that would harm the core national interests of China. That's why the Chinese negotiators simply could not accept them -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Those talks just hours away, global markets, we will be watching very closely. Steven Jiang, joining us from Beijing, many thanks.

The Champions League final is set after another incredible come back. Tottenham upset Ajax in a dramatic win at Wednesday's game. They trailed 1-0 in the first leg of the semifinals but the Hotspur scored three goals in Amsterdam. It's Tottenham's first time making it this far; they face Liverpool in Madrid for an all-English final.

Reporting the news in China comes with its own special set of challenges, from constant surveillance to visa checks at odd hours. How Chinese authorities tried to shut down CNN's coverage of its controversial camps for Muslims. We will have that for you when we return.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:25:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHURCH: It could be the biggest human rights violation in the world. Detention camps in remote parts of China where the U.S. believes millions of Muslims are being held. As a CNN team investigated, it was pushed back by Chinese authorities. CNN's Matt Rivers explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The CNN Beijing bureau just spent a week reporting in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. And it's not an easy place to do journalism. So we wanted to show you a little bit of what we went through. But I think, more importantly, tell you why that matters. RIVERS (voice-over): Xinjiang is the region where the U.S. says China

put up to 2 million people, nearly all Muslims, in camps over the last few years. Activists say Beijing has done that to try to eliminate Islam within its borders. Ex-detainees told CNN they were tortured inside while undergoing political indoctrination.

China denies that and says these camps aren't prisons but voluntary vocational training centers that are being used to not eliminate Islamic, only Islamic extremism .

RIVERS: Now the Chinese government says that this area is wide open for us to freely report there. Maybe, in theory but, in reality, it's not true. For example, upon landing there, our welcome gift was a government tail.

We have been followed by three or four guys, including one of them, who I've seen follow us from the second we got out of the baggage area.

That would be this man. He and at least a dozen others followed us every single hour of our six-day trip, never more than 20 feet away, in the car, in the train station, in the hotel, in the room next to mine.

So it's a bit of an odd feeling to be in your hotel room at 1:00 in the morning and knowing that, on the other side of this connecting door that leads to the room next door to mine, there's at least three or four of the guys that have been following us around over the past couple of days.

It felt like intimidation tactics. They wanted us to know that we were being followed and, of course, there were the uniformed cops that showed up at odd hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

RIVERS: It's almost 1:00 am.

REMNICK: (INAUDIBLE).

RIVERS: I know but I was sleeping. It seems unnecessary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry to bother you.

RIVERS: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry.

RIVERS: This is what happens when you do journalism in Xinjiang.

I have lived here for nearly four years and I have watched as things have gotten tougher and tougher for foreign journalists on all types of different stories. Xinjiang is just the most extreme example but beyond just being followed, there were the more obvious attempts to try to make sure that we saw nothing they didn't want us to. For example, a highway we were on was closed for hours due to an

accident nowhere to be seen, not to mention spontaneous roadblocks that specifically target foreigners and ethnic minorities. Our IDs were checked nearly 50 times in six days and the second your book a flight or a train, the government knows about it and you can tell that because, well, government officials are waiting for you upon arrival.

They clearly knew we were coming. They met us at the airport. They're checking our visas, they're telling us they want to accompany us for our own safety. But really this is just stalling tactics. They know it, we know it and yet this is the game we have to play.

China's ministry of foreign affairs say they don't know anything about the harassment we faced but said Xinjiang is, quote, "open and hospitable."

The constant tails, the constant harassment, the constant delays, they are more than just inconvenient. They are specific tactics China's government has employed for a long time to prevent journalists from doing their jobs.

But in the last few years, there was broad agreement in the foreign journalism community here that it's gotten worse, nowhere more so than Xinjiang. The end result is that it's nearly impossible to freely report on the hundreds of thousands of people that are likely languishing in camps right now. And that means that the rest of the world can't really see what's going on there.

This is one of the biggest human rights stories on Earth, and as we saw firsthand, China is actively trying to cover it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And tomorrow, Matt Rivers visits of Almaty, Kazakhstan, to meet Muslims with family members held in camps in neighboring China. It's part of what they say is China's crackdown on the Muslim community, an allegation China denies. But Matt spoke with a former detainee. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:30:08] KAIRAT SAMARKAN (through translator): Now I hate China so much.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Samarkan is a Kazakhstan citizen but grew up in Xinjiang. On a trip to China in 2017, he says he was detained and put in a camp where he was often forced to stand for 12 hours at a time, hands and feet shackled, chanting, "Long live Xi Jinping" for China's president. He says he even tried to commit suicide.

After four months, he was let out and allowed to return to Almaty.

China's foreign affairs ministry told us they are unaware of his case. Samarkan says his own government in Kazakhstan wants him quiet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And you can see the full report by Matt Rivers on Thursday at midnight in New York, noon on Friday in Hong Kong, only here on CNN.

And coming up, the hero who stood up to a killer and died trying to save the lives of his fellow students.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church. Let's update you now on the main stories we've been following.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on Iran, this time targeting its exports of steel and other industrial metals. The move came just hours after Iran said it would begin stockpiling enriched uranium.

Iran's foreign minister said his country is still committed to the 2016 nuclear agreement.

The House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold U.S. Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress. They want him to turn over the full, unredacted Mueller report and all underlying evidence.

Earlier Wednesday, President Donald Trump asserted a claim of executive privilege over the entire report.

Uber and Lyft drivers around the world went on strike Wednesday, demanding increased job security and higher wages. The protests come just two days before Uber goes public with a debut that could raise about $10 billion for the ride-hailing company.

Well, the two suspects in the latest U.S. school shooting appeared in court Wednesday. Eighteen-year-old Devon Erickson was arrested after one person was shot dead and eight others wounded in a shooting at a Colorado high school Tuesday. Prosecutors argued for more time as the investigation continues.

Sixteen-year-old Alec McKinney appeared at a separate hearing. Neither have been formally charged. They will be back in court on Friday.

Well an emotional vigil in Colorado honored the teen who died in the shooting and those who were wounded.

[00:35:06] The shooting at STEM School, Highlands Ranch, brought back memories of the nearby Columbine tragedy that happened 20 years ago, when 12 students and a teacher were murdered.

Witnesses say the student who died raced toward the shooter, not away from him, and that his actions saved lives. It's one of several such instances of heroism in the grim catalogue of these tragic events.

CNN's Randi Kaye has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Attention, all units. Getting information on a shooting at STEM School.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just before 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, a shooting at the STEM School, Highlands Ranch, in Colorado. Two shooters opened fire in two classrooms.

SHERIFF TONY SPURLOCK, DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO: Two individuals walked into the STEM School, got deep inside the school and engaged students in two separate locations.

KAYE: Deputies arrived quickly, but before they did, a hero emerged. Eighteen-year-old Kendrick Castillo rushed the shooter and saved countless student lives.

TUSCANY "NUI" GIASOLLI, STEM SCHOOL STUDENT: Kendrick lunged at him to try and subdue him. As soon as he said, "Don't you move," Kendrick lunged, giving all of us enough time to hide under our desks. And the shooter ended up shooting Kendrick.

KAYE: Kendrick had just three days to go until the end of the school year but died after lunging at the shooter. Others who tackled the shooter after him survived.

GIASOLLI: They are so brave. They all risked their own lives to make sure that 10, 15 of us all got out of that classroom safe and that we were able to go home to our families.

KAYE: Kendrick's quick action meant no other students died. Eight were injured, and both gunmen were taken into custody.

JOHN CASTILLO, FATHER OF KENDRICK CASTILLO: Because of what he did, others are alive. And I thank God for that. I love him, and he's a hero. He always will be. But there's another part of you that wishes he would have just turned and ran, retreated, hid.

KAYE: Last week in North Carolina, another student hero. When a gunman opened fire in a lecture hall at the University of North Carolina, 21-year-old Riley Howell charged the shooter.

NATALIE HENRY-HOWELL, MOTHER OF RILEY HOWELL: We are just beyond proud of what -- of what he was able to do. While kids are running one way, our son turned and ran towards the shooter.

KAYE: Four students had already been injured, but Riley knocked the shooter down, giving police time to rush in and disarm the suspect.

CHIEF KERR PUTNEY, CHARLOTTE-MECKLERBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT: You've either got to run, you've got to hide and shield, or you've got to take the fight to the assailant. He unfortunately had to give his life to do so, but he saved lives doing so.

KAYE: He'd been just days away from graduation. Instead, Riley, an ROTC cadet, was remembered at a memorial service with military honors.

Back in 2017, a student also saved lives in Parkland, Florida, after a gunman opened fire at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. Fifteen- year-old Anthony Borges used his body as a human shield to protect his fellow classmates. Anthony was shot five times.

ANTHONY BORGES, PARKLAND SCHOOL STUDENT: I thought I was going to die.

KAYE: Incredibly, Anthony survived. He's credited with saving as many as 20 lives.

BORGES: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

GRAPHIC: -- the people. So they could save themselves and enjoy their lives.

KAYE: Still, Anthony refuses to be called a hero.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Our children now taking extraordinary actions to save lives.

Well, states across the southern U.S. can expect a wet weekend ahead. Strong storms moving across Texas and Louisiana are bringing hail, tornadoes and flooding rainfall.

The National Weather Service is expected to extend a flash flood watch for the Houston area, and at least one man was killed when he was swept away by flood waters in Austin, Texas.

Let's turn to our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, who has all the details on this. Such extreme weather conditions, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, yes. Rose, you can see that almost a bulls-eye of heavy rainfall has been right over the Houston area. This is accumulated rainfall over the past five days. Look at that dark shading of red and purples. That is indeed over 200 millimeters of rainfall, a significant amount of precipitation, to say the least.

And it extends into other parts of the Midwest, as well. Let me show you a couple of other graphics on the computer screen behind me, because this really shows you just how expansive this area has been. In terms of how much rainfall has fallen over the past several days, it continues to really pile up across the central portions of the country.

And the additional rainfall here really starting to pile up across Kansas, Oklahoma into Arkansas. And we get to the next graphic, you'll be able to see the severe weather has also been significant, with over four tornadoes, 39 wind reports and sudden reports of hail, as well.

[00:40:10] Now, this is the set up for today. The flood threat continues across Eastern Texas, Arkansas into Louisiana. In fact, the weather predictions center has a moderate risk of flash flooding today. Little Rock to Shreveport, Louisiana. That is the area we're focusing in on.

You can see over eight million Americans under a flash flood watch, and that really follows right along the Mississippi River where several rivers have reached their flood stage already. In fact, 33 river gauges reporting major flooding, over 90 with moderate flooding.

You can just follow that all the way from the upper Midwest all the way to the Gulf Coast states. So more rainfall in store. You can see just how active the forecast radar is.

By the way, a little side note. It is the middle of May and we have a full-on winter storm taking place in the upper Midwest. So that just shows you the contrasts of seasons that is taking place here.

Rosemary, unfortunately, the rainfall totaling right over Houston another 100 millimeter possible over the next several days, just exacerbating the flood threat.

Back to you.

CHURCH: Absolutely unbelievable. Thank you so much, Derek. Appreciate it.

Well, the wait is over. We finally know the name of the British royal family's youngest member. And he is already breaking barriers. We'll have the details for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, Prince Harry is making his way to the Netherlands, where he will launch the one-year countdown to the 2020 Invictus Games. But many royal watchers still focused on his new baby boy, whose name has just been revealed.

Here's CNN's Max Foster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Archie, a relatively common name here in the U.K., though it's a nickname, and you wouldn't really expect that within the royal family. They normally paw through the history books, look back to generations and pick out names that would be suitable for their new child.

That hasn't been the case this time. The couple, sources tell me, just liked the name Archie. Nothing more complicated than that. And "Harrison" simply refers to "Harry's son."

Interesting that they're not using any titles for their baby. Earl of Dumbarton is a title they could have applied to this baby, but they haven't used it, and the queen hasn't granted the title of prince either. I think that suggests that they want Archie to grow up and develop his own career outside the royal fold, unburdened by titles.

They also want to argue, I think, that they deserve some privacy for this little child. He's not got a title, so therefore, he won't take a royal role. So he should be exempted from much of the media pressure that has plagued Harry, he would argue. But also, his mother, the upbringing that he so remembers and doesn't want for his own boy.

Max Foster, CNN, Windsor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Gorgeous pictures there, too. And thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. Stay tuned now for WORLD SPORT. You're watching CNN. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:49] (WORLD SPORT)

[00:57:30] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:09] CHURCH: Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

END