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Trump Fires Back At GOP Congressman's Talk Of Impeachment; W.H. To Focus On Investment In Middle East As Part Of Peace Plan; W.H. Reverses Course On Sending Migrants To Florida; Seth Moulton Unveils "Civilian Version Of The GI Bill"; Koepka Keeps Up Historic Pace At The PGA; "Bodexpress" Throws Jockey, Finishes Preakness Anyway; Prince William: "Pain Like No Other Pain" When My Mom Died; Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Celebrate One Year Of Marriage; Billionaires Speaks At Morehouse, Vows To Pay Off Grads Loans. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 19, 2019 - 15:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:18] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, we begin with the President firing back at the first Republican in Congress who is raising the prospect of impeachment. Michigan's Congressman Justin Amash posted what he called his own principled conclusions on the Mueller report.

And one of them is, "President Trump engaged in impeachable conduct." He goes on to say, "President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment. America's institutions depend on officials to uphold both the rules and spirit of our constitutional system, even when to do so is personally inconvenient or yields a politically unfavorable outcome."

And now, President Trump is calling out Amash saying, "Never a fan of Justin Amash, a total lightweight who opposes me and some of our great Republican ideas and policies just for the sake of getting his name out there through controversy."

Well, so far, no other Republican has expressed support for Amash's comment. Republican Senator Mitt Romney who is not shy about criticizing the President explained why he cannot get on board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I respect him. I think it's a courageous statement, but I believe that to make a case for obstruction of justice you just don't have the elements that are evidenced to this document.

And I also believe that an impeachment call is not only something that relates to the law, but also considers practicality and politics and the American people just aren't there. And I think those that are considering impeachment have to look also at the jury which would be the Senate. The Senate is certainly not there either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Boris Sanchez is live for us at the White House. So tell us more about what the President is saying on this and what this all potentially means.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Yes, President Trump never afraid to back down from a Twitter spat. He's going after Congressman Amash essentially suggesting that the congressman from Michigan's third district is looking for publicity.

Take a look at the two tweets he sent out about the congressman earlier today. It them he says that if Amash had actually read the Mueller report then he would see that it strongly makes the case against -- that's not the right tweet, but he essentially says that Amash didn't really read the report. He calls him a total loser and he goes on to say other things about the congressman who is essentially an outlier.

He's not really a rank and file Republican. He's a strong libertarian. Someone who's frequently criticized the President. On the other side, Democrats are kind of divided on the issue of impeachment, one supporter is Congressman Adam Schiff.

He was on one of the Sunday morning talk shows saying that he respects Justin Amash for coming forward this way and he believes impeachment should be pursued as a tool in order for congressional Democrats to get some of the information that they've been subpoenaing from different agencies trying to get information from this White House.

Listen to more of what have Adam Schiff said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I respect what Justin Amash is doing and has said. He showed more courage than any other Republican in the House or Senate. But what may be pushing us in the direction of impeachment in any event has less to do with Justin Amash and more to do with the fact that the administration is engaging in a maximum obstructionism campaign against Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do think --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, impeachment as a political reality is unlikely, Fred. As you know, the most powerful Democrat in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has said that she doesn't believe it would be prudent to pursue impeachment. She would rather have Donald Trump voted out of office even though she says that she believes he commits impeachable offenses every single day, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Boris Sanchez at the White House, thanks so much. All right, two Republicans joining me right now to discuss this, CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist Alice Stewart and former Republican Congressman for Pennsylvania and CNN Political Commentator Charlie Dent. Good to see you both.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So, Romney says he is not on board with impeachment. So, Charlie, what kind of impact do you think Amash's comments will make on the party? Will this open up floodgates?

CHARLES DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Actually, I don't think it will open up any floodgates, Fred, for a few reasons. One, I think most Republicans, and I think a lot of Democrats, realize what Mueller has done. He's spoken and he said there was no criminal conspiracy and he was inclusive on obstruction.

So, I think it's going to be hard for Congress to go down that impeachment route when I think most members of Congress, both many Democrats and certainly Republicans, think this is all going to be litigated in the 2020 election.

But, hey, Justin Amash has some guts. He's a libertarian and he's right to point out that the President behaved badly. But, I don't see this impeachment scenario picking up a whole lot of momentum in light of his comments.

[15:05:10] WHITFIELD: The report did reveal there were 10 attempts at obstruction from the President and exemplified it in various ways. So here's the message that we have heard from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on impeachment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I think the President every day gives grounds for impeachment in terms of his obstruction of justices. You never say blanketly I'm not answering any subpoenas. But on the other hand, we have to exhaust every other remedy on the way. And, again, use the tools at our disposal even if that means saying one possible use of this investigation might be impeachment, even though I don't want to go to that place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So that's the Democrats' point of view by way of, you know, directive from the House Speaker. So, Alice, you now, does Amash, you know, I guess, risk alienating himself from his own party? I mean, why would he take this calculus?

STEWART: Simply I agree in this case with the President, he wanted some attention for some reason. And look, he's a libertarian Republican and he's about strict as --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: But there are other ways to get -- there are other ways to get attention. I mean, he has some objective here to express himself that way. Is it possible that he would get others to -- other Republicans on board?

STEWART: I don't see that. Look, we've had several weeks to digest and absorb what was found in the Mueller report. And even many Democrats, as we just heard from Nancy Pelosi, aren't looking to seek the impeachment route with regards to this.

And the report is conclusive in regards to saying no collusion, no conspiracy and without that you can't move forward on trying to find obstruction of justice if there's no underlying crime. You don't have to be an attorney to figure out they're barking up the wrong tree if that's the route that they want to go.

But at end of the day, what we need to do is try and focus more on getting the Democrats to look at policies, look at talking about immigration, look at infrastructure and do away with the talk and the focus and the obsession with seeking impeachment in continuing this investigation because there's a lot of work that the American people would like to see get done and it doesn't involve impeaching the President and continuing these investigations.

WHITFIELD: So Democratic congressman and 2020 hopeful Eric Swalwell tweeted this saying, you know, "Should note Justin Amash is one of two House GOP members who joined me and every House Democrat after the 2016 election on bill to have an independent commission on Russia. Sadly, the other, Walter Jones has passed. We need more GOP courage to put country over party."

Charlie, what do you think about that, particularly the last line, demanding more courage of others?

DENT: Well, yes, I've said that for some time. I know that a lot of my former Republican colleagues in the House are very much displeased and disgusted in some cases by the President's behavior and conduct in office, and he's made life very difficult for them.

In fact, the 20 -- you don't need any further evidence than the 2018 mid-term election where many of my friends are now former congressmen who in many cases lost their seats largely because of the President. And I get -- I'm just sitting here in Pennsylvania.

I mean, the suburbs of Philadelphia was a killing zone for Republicans in the 2018 mid-term. And I could tell you it was largely driven by the President's unpopularity. And so the President's behavior is a real issue for my former colleagues, and they wish he'd just behave in a more presidential manner.

WHITFIELD: So on the issue of abortion now with states either with legislation or proposals that would, you know, outlaw it and in some cases even without exceptions President Trump is now weighing in on the recently passed abortion bans and he is saying, "I am strongly pro-life with the three exceptions, rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother, the same position taken by Ronald Reagan."

And then he goes on to say, "We must stick together and win for life in 2020. If we are foolish and do not stay united as one, all of our hard fought gains for life can, and will, rapidly disappear." So, Charlie, how is that being received among Republicans?

DENT: Well, the Alabama law, I can tell you, is not being received real well in my part of the country. Again, I just talked about the suburban Philadelphia being a killing zone. Well, if you want to get shut out in the election, well, maybe, you know -- I wouldn't want to be a congressman having to answer that question, do you support that Alabama law? It has gone way too far and basically it's going to criminalize abortion basically at any point in a pregnancy more or less.

And so I think that this is a very, very tough issue for Republicans status (ph), not just about the exceptions. And by the way, by full disclosure, I was probably the last pro-choice Republican left in Congress along with Rodney Frelinghuysen, a pro-choice Republican in the House.

[15:10:07] And so I'm probably maybe out of step, but I have to think that most Republicans in the northeast, mid-Atlantic region, suburban areas, do not want this as an issue. Alabama, Mississippi and these other states, Missouri and others are putting a lot of these members at great risk. We lost nearly all Republican congressmen in New Jersey in 2018, one left, and it can get worse.

STEWART: Fred --

WHITFIELD: And -- go ahead, Alice.

STEWART: I think there's virtually universal consensus among many Republicans and social evangelicals as well that supported the President that the Alabama law may have gone too far and that it didn't include those exceptions for rape and incest.

And -- but at the end of the day, what we're seeing in almost 10 states so far, including stricter abortion laws over the last -- this past year, it is because the life issue is critical for conservatives and the Republican Party. And clearly the legislators in Alabama were trying to make a point and a statement, and this is the first step.

They understand there are going to be legal challenges against this and they understand that the possibility of this going to the Supreme Court is very high. But the goal then would be to overturn Roe v. Wade, which is a high goal for social evangelicals and those in the pro-life movement who support this President and that is in my view a large part why he clarified his position on this issue out on Twitter today because it is an important distinction because the life issue is very divisive.

And on the other side, pro-choice activists in other states, in the more liberal states, have taken an opposite approach by supporting abortion in the third trimester and 66 percent of pro-choice people don't support that legislation.

So there is extremes on both sides on the abortion issue, but in this case we're seeing many states, red states, who are taking a step -- the first steps in doing what they can to take this to the Supreme Court and in turn eventually in all hopes of overturning Roe v. Wade.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alice Stewart, Charlie Dent, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

STEWART: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, CNN has the first look at one of Jared Kushner's greatest tasks as part of the Trump administration, closing the biggest deal on the world stage, a Middle East peace plan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:58] WHITFIELD: As first reported by CNN's Jake Tapper, the White House is announcing the first of its Middle East peace proposal. The plan is led by senior White House adviser and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and focuses on economic development to help Palestinians. It has four major components, including building out infrastructure and industry.

The U.S. is calling a meeting of Middle East countries to be held late June in Bahrain to actually discuss this proposal. The much stickier political component of the plan will be announced later in the year.

CNN Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joins me now from Abu Dhabi and Jamie Metzl is a senior fellow at the Atlantic council and was on staff at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration. Good to see you both.

All right, so Nic, you first. This is purposely, you know, being called a workshop, not a summit. Finance ministers will be invited, not foreign ministers. So what is the expectation that could be the potential outcome?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the expectation and the potential outcome are vauntingly optimistic in the language that the White House is using. It reads, you know, to galvanize support for potential economic investment initiative, to facilitate discussions on ambition and achievable vision framework for prosperous future, et cetera, et cetera. These are very ambition.

I mean, what -- you know, what Jared Kushner is saying is that people should not be stuck. The grandchildren should not be stuck by the barriers, if you will, that their grandparents put up to bringing peace.

And what he's doing here is offering a vision and it does seem predominantly apt to appeal to a younger generation that may be tired with the corrupt politicians, that there can be this economic opportunities rather than laying out the sort of -- the much tougher things to achieve first, the harder political compromises that have to be made.

The carrot is here's this economic benefit, but ultimately you're going to have to sign up for this package of tough political decisions. It does seem at the moment that this is very heavy on aspiration because in essence, in a way you're asking the younger generation to push aside the older generation, and there really isn't an indication that that's an idea that can take root at the moment.

WHITFIELD: So, Jamie, do you see this as an optimistic plan, an achievable one to have, you know, at least start with a meeting?

JAMIE METZL, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Well, it's certainly optimistic. I don't know if it's very achievable. I mean, over -- in many years people have introduced the idea of let's do economic growth first.

The problem is there are so many levels and layers of dysfunction and history and distrust that it's really difficult to separate out the economic and the political issues because wherever you go, you will run into politics and there's so much conflict, and that's why the idea in the past has been for some kind of comprehensive peace.

But this negotiation to even get to this very preliminary point has been in many ways one-sided because the Palestinian leadership hasn't been involved for at least more than a year. So, yes, there's this idea that you can go around the leaders and go directly to the public, but that's going to be very, very difficult if it's not in the context of something bigger.

WHITFIELD: And many of those, Jamie, you know, Palestinian leaders are still pretty upset for the U.S. moving its embassy. So, now, asking them to come on board with this kind of plan --

METZL: Right.

WHITFIELD: -- you know, by way of the leadership of the U.S., is that, you know, a long shot?

METZL: It's certainly a long shot and it's not just moving the embassy. The United States cut off its funding to the U.N. agency that was helping the Palestinian refugees. And so there's enormous amount of distrust among the Palestinians toward the United States and toward the current leadership in Israel, and that's natural and that's part of a process.

[15:20:03] But that's why it's very difficult to just carve off economic issues and say, well, we'll build trust through that. I get it that when you're doing a real estate deal, you can start with the little things and build to the big things. But in this case, the big things are pretty big.

WHITFIELD: And so, Nic, that there's a stickier political component which is a portion of the plan to be revealed later on this year. What does that mean?

ROBERTSON: That means the idea of, you know, is there a two-state solution. What about the return of refugees that has always been an issue for the Palestinians? What are they negotiating about the sort of --

WHITFIELD: And that's usually the front burner issue.

ROBERTSON: And these are the things that -- that are the thorny issues that break this down before you begin to get going. I mean, this is very much like how President Trump tried to play his meeting with Kim Jong-un in Singapore last summer, which is show him a great video of what can be achieved and hope that that is provides the inspiration for him to make the compromises, and it hasn't seemed to have worked there.

And here, you know, we're hearing from the Palestinian authority and ambassador to the United Nations who says, look, this deal is dead on arrival. And just two days ago in London, the Palestinian authority foreign minister said that this -- you know, President Trump would called this the deal of the century.

The foreign minister, Palestinian authority foreign minister said actually this is a consecration of the ordeals of a century for the Palestinian people. There's no freedom, no independence, no sovereignty, no justice. There's a huge predisposition here not to get engaged in this process and just, you know, throw it out completely from the get-go.

WHITFIELD: Jamie, this is -- the optimism at the top of this segment is now starting to sound a whole lot less optimistic.

METZL: Well, there are just some huge issues. The Palestinians have a lot of distrust that the Israeli peace movement has basically been decimated because the Palestinians have walked away, at least from an Israeli perspective, walked away from two different peace deals, different comprehensive peace deals that have been offered. So from an Israeli side, there's not much of a hope that some kind of marginal economic plan is going to lead to comprehensive peace.

And then from the U.S. side, there's been massive pressure on the Palestinians in the ways that you mentioned, Fredricka, and this idea that business interests and economic interests are just going to, "Trump everything else." And what we're seeing is that the world is a lot more complicated.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson and Jamie Metzl, author of the new book, "Hacking Darwin," thank you so much to both of you.

METZL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, up next, a major reversal for the Trump administration. What the acting Homeland Security secretary now says they plan to do with overwhelmed border detention facilities.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:38] WHITFIELD: A major reversal from the Trump administration. The acting Homeland Security chief now says the administration won't, will not, send migrants to Florida or other sanctuary cities. The sudden change comes after Florida's governor and other state and local officials blasted a plan to send migrants captured at the southern border to parts of South Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEVIN MCALEENAN, ACTING HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Flights have gone on to San Diego where there's a high capacity border patrol sector. And a planning factor, we're looking at all options for being able to detain people. But frankly, I respect the sheriff's concerns, Governor DeSantis, and Senator Rubio. Communities all over this country are extremely generous but they're not ready to receive this flood of immigration.

MARGARET BRENNAN, FACE THE NATION ANCHOR: Is Florida still being considered?

MCALEENAN: No. We're using the southwest border sectors for additional capacity.

BRENNAN: And it will not be in the future?

MCALEENAN: No, I don't believe so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Rosa Flores joins me now. So change of plans, what is the plan now?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Fred, what we've been seeing DHS do is release people into communities, flying them into other cities along the border.

WHITFIELD: Busing even.

FLORES: Right, exactly. Busing them, driving them places. It's been a patchwork of solutions, but from talking to border patrol agents on the ground, I can tell you they say it's very simple. First of all, immediately they need resources, that involves the White House. Long- term, they say they need immigration reform, that involves Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES (voice-over): The pictures of migrants waiting to get processed on the U.S. side of the southern border are difficult to watch. Families sprawled under makeshift tents, children sleeping on the ground covered in Mylar blankets. The strain is not just on migrants, it's also on the officers who have apprehended a record- breaking number of migrants, more than 500,000 since October.

DEPUTY CHIEF RAUL ORTIZ, PATROL AGENT: I'm a father. I'm a grandfather. Somebody needs to do something about this.

FLORES: Thursday, officials in Florida's Palm Beach and Broward counties said they were notified that about 1,000 undocumented migrants a month could be sent to the Sunshine State for processing and releasing.

SHERIFF RIC BRADSHAW, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: It's not a good plan. We think it's a danger to this community, and it's going to put a real strain on what the resources are. MAYOR MARK BOGEN, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: I personally would suggest that we bring these people over to his hotel and ask the President to open his heart and home to these people as well.

FLORES: Sunday, the acting DHS secretary said the agency had been looking at all options. President Trump told Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that migrants would not be flown to Florida but border patrol agents on the ground say Washington has to do something.

ORTIZ: Until, you know, folks in Congress, folks at the White House, folks on Capitol Hill actually put forth an honest effort to address the situation here on the border, it's not just a humanitarian crisis, it's a border security crisis.

FLORES: Without more resources from our nation's capitol, DHS has resorted to other measures like releasing thousands of undocumented migrants into border communities, flying or driving thousands of others to Laredo or San Diego and reassigning agents from ports of entry to migrant processing centers. One newly added temporary facility in South Texas alone holds 8,000 migrants on any given day.

[15:30:02] ORTIZ: We're doing everything we can in our power to ensure that they're safe. We want to let them know that they're safe now.

FLORES: While agents continue to do their jobs along the border, many are asking if politicians are doing theirs in Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: The latest numbers that we're getting from Customs and Border Protection from what is considered ground zero of this issue and the real grand valley of South Texas is about 10,000 migrants being apprehended every week, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. These are extraordinary numbers. All right, Rosa Flores --

FLORES: And they're all human beings, that's what -- that's one of the things that we cannot forget.

WHITFIELD: And all ages, and all ages. All right, Rosa Flores, thank you so much. Good to see you.

All right, a quick CNN programming note. Tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, a new CNN Original Series "The Redemption Project" with Van Jones, see what happens when victims and offenders of violent crimes meet face to face. It's followed by "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell, that's at 10:00.

All right, still ahead, 2020 candidates fight for center stage with policy launches this weekend, but one common message is emerging in the abortion debate. We'll take a look at how candidates are campaigning on the new state laws.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Well, here's something you don't see every day, a Democratic candidate, this one Democratic congressman and 2020 candidate Seth Moulton doing push-ups to commemorate veterans who die daily by suicide at a military charity event this morning.

[15:35:11] A little bit of shade from the announcer at the event who said he would like to see Vice President Joe Biden's try as well. And at the event, Moulton unveiled a new plan for national service at a military charity event which he described as a "civilian version of the GI bill."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm calling on every one of the 33 million young Americans to consider serving their country and the deal is this. If you invest in America, we will invest in you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: As the 2020 candidates continue to roll out various policies, abortion is now at the forefront thanks to a recent string of anti-abortion legislation. Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar teaming up with former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to release a video on abortion rights.

Cory Booker also penned an open letter to men in "GQ" magazine writing, "Women should not have to face this fight alone. Men, it's on to us listen, to speak out, and to take action."

And Bernie Sanders slammed the recent laws this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That is a decision that is being made -- that should be made by the woman and her physician. And I think many of, you know, what people are doing is sadly is creating a political issue out of a medical issue. So the decision about women should be able to control their own body and those decisions are made by a doctor and the woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Sanders is also out today supporting an abortion rights march in Birmingham, Alabama. CNN's Ryan Nobles is traveling with the Sanders campaign, and he's joining me right now. So, Ryan, tell us about this march and the timing that Sanders would be partaking.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Fred, this just turned out to be good timing for the Sanders campaign. They've had this massive southern swing planned for his campaign for some time now. It started in North Carolina, went to South Carolina, Georgia, and was always designed to end up here in Alabama. But the timing associated with the passage of this law has allowed Sanders to kind of seize on this issue and he'd already had a rally planned right here in downtown Birmingham this afternoon and it just so happened that around the same time a group of local reproductive rights groups decided that they were going to hold the march at the same time.

So what Sanders plans to do is give his speech here to this rally at this park, go march with the protesters right around the block from here, and then there'll be another rally that ends up right back here in this same park. So, this is an example of how these campaigns kind of have to adapt to the changing winds of current events.

And we should point out that Sanders had a number of policy rollouts on different issues related to -- different issues that Democratic candidates are talking about, including a really important education plan that he unveiled yesterday in South Carolina where among other things he called for the end of for-profit charter schools.

So, this isn't necessarily what the Sanders campaign had planned about talking about here in Alabama, but the current changed that situation and he is adapting to it and that's what we're going to see here tonight, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ryan Nobles in Birmingham, Alabama, thank you so much.

All right, before we go to break, take a listen to the moment last night on "Saturday Night Live" in between the usual jokes about women's reactions to the state abortion laws. Leslie Jones took a moment to get serious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLIE JONES, COMEDIAN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Look, the fact that nine states are doing this means this really is a war on women. And if you're a woman out there and you feel scared or confused, just know that you're not alone. There are so many women out there that got your back, especially me.

You can't tell me what to do with my body. You can't make me small or put me in a box. I'm 6 feet tall and 233 pounds. Ain't no box big enough to hold me, and I know because one time I tried to mail myself to a dude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:13] WHITFIELD: Another beautiful day for golf in New York, but the PGA Championship is seemingly all but over with one golfer dominating the competition. Andy Scholes is at the course. Sandy, one guy really ran away with this tournament.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, that's right, Fredricka. Brooks Koepka's record-setting week continuing here today in the final round. Koepka game in today a 12 under a seven-shot lead, barring an epic meltdown. Koepka is going to win back-to-back PGA Championships.

And in the last 30 years, only two guys have won a major three years in a row, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and now Brooks Koepka. And this was just one of the most dominating performances at Bethpage Black, a really tough course, has ever seen.

And after yesterday's round, you know, Koepka explained why he's been able to dominate the recent majors that he's competed at.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS KOEPKA, 3-TIME MAJOR CHAMPION: I think I'm more focused than anybody out there. I think I'm tunnel visioned. I don't need a sports psychologist. I'm pretty good at it. I know what I'm doing. I feel like it's simpler than what guys think. Guys make the mistake of trying to figure out when they get to a major what's going on, you know, what's different. It's not, it's just focus. Just grind it out, suck it up and move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And the 29-year-old Koepka setting all kinds of records this week. The win will Koepka's fourth major title in eight tries and he will be the first player ever to hold back-to-back titles at two majors at the same time.

And, you know, the majority of the fans who came on Thursday and Friday came to see Tiger out here, but they may have accidentally seen the passing of the torch. It certainly seems like we are entering the Brooks Koepka era of golf. Yes.

Now, we had some drama yesterday at the Preakness Stakes --

WHITFIELD: Big time.

[15:45:01] SCHOLES: -- at the very start of the race. Check this out. Yes. At the start, Bodexpress bucks off his jockey, John Velazquez. Luckily he was OK. But then Bodexpress just went on and run the race without a jockey.

At one point, it looked like maybe he would challenge those front runners, Fredricka, an outrider at one point in the race trying to come in and corral Bodexpress. But, yes, he was having none of it. He was going to finish that race.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

SCHOLES: Bodexpress even did a victory lap, Fredricka, but didn't -- none of it counted. He did not finish for the race war of will, ended up winning, but definitely another interesting rate, Triple Crown race this year. Who knows what the Belmont stakes is going to bring us.

WHITFIELD: I mean, it's also unpredictable, you know, but exciting nonetheless all the time. All right, Andy Scholes, thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, up next, a rare look at the royal family with never-before- seen photos of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding day. And Prince William talks about a topic rarely discussed in public, his mother, Princess Diana.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A pain like no other pain, that's how Prince William describes the time following his mother's death. The duke of Cambridge opened up about the devastating loss that he felt at such a young age while also addressing mental health in a new feature film for the BBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: I think when you are bereaved at a very young age, anytime really, but particularly at a young age, I can resonate closely to that, you feel pain like no other pain.

[15:50:02] And you know that in your life it's going to be very difficult to come across something that's going to be even worse pain than that. But it also brings you so close to all those other people out there who have been bereaved.

So instantly, when you talk to someone else, you can almost see it in their eyes sometimes. It's a weird thing to say, but I can, you know, somebody -- particularly me, somebody who's desperate to talk about bereavement, you can kind of pick up on it quite quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see it?

PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes. They want to talk about it. But they want you to go first, they want you to say it's OK, you know, they want to have your permission that in that particular conversation one-on-one, it's OK to talk about bereavement. Because I think particularly in Britain as well, we are nervous about our emotions, we are a bit embarrassed sometimes.

You know, the British stiff upper lip thing, you know, that's great and we need to have that occasionally when times are hard. There has to be a moment for that. But otherwise, we've got to relax a little bit and be able to talk about emotions because we're not robots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. CNN Royal Commentator Victoria Arbiter joining me right now. Victoria, wow, such a candid take on something so tender. He allows himself to be, you know, very vulnerable, reveal, you know, what he felt like at a very young age when he lost his mom. What do you suppose inspired him to share like that?

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: I think overall, Fredricka, William has just been astounded at the statistics in the U.K. Now, these are purely for the U.K. I don't know how it reflects in the U.S., but suicide is the biggest killer of young men in the U.K. It accounts full -- it has deep scale for men under the age of 45 and 75 percent of all suicides are men.

And so I think William, he's really trying to reduce this stigma somewhat in the same way that Diana reduced the stigma around HIV/AIDS in the '80s when she shook hands with an AIDS patient. People couldn't believe what she had done and it blew the myth that this was something you could catch by touching somebody.

Well, mental health has long had a stigma. And actually in this documentary, one of the footballers says he was diagnosed with depression, and a football club wanted to meet him just to make sure he wasn't crazy. So this is this terrible association that if you confessed to having a mental health issue, somebody might say you're crazy.

So I think what William is trying to do here, using the power of very famous footballers as well, is start national dialogue and particularly try and get young men to open up and say, "It's OK to cry. It's OK to struggle. It's OK, you are normal. I'm a prince. I struggle." So, it's very candid and it's an important conversation.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Do you think he would have -- this would be an occasion which he would have to even get the permission, you know, from the queen? Or, you know, is he, you know, taking the bull by the horns and just saying, "I'm doing this. This is what I feel is right and this is how I know I can make an impact."

ARBITER: He absolutely won't have asked permission. The queen is very quick to say when she feels like something hasn't gone terribly well, but she's not a dictator by any stretch. And she's very keen for the family to focus on what they are most passionate about.

And so Harry, Meghan, William and Kate have led this charge on mental health. This is not a new initiative, but this is the deepest they've gone with it. And I think it's going to have a dramatic impact. And I think in turn, the queen will be very proud of what these younger generations are achieving.

WHITFIELD: All right. It's definitely a look into the new monarchy, that's for sure. So then speaking of new, it's hard to believe that it's been almost a year now -- about a year now since, you know, the duke and duchess of Sussex married. And now we're seeing some new pictures, never before seen. Tell me about them.

ARBITER: Well, this is a rare treat. Today is actually their one- year anniversary of Harry and Meghan's wedding. As you say, it's hard to believe, but they have shared on their Instagram account a series of pictures. They've done it as sort of a slide show. It's some behind the scenes from the wedding. And some of them are wedding pictures that have just never been seen before.

And this is unusual for royals. They guard their privacy intensely, but Harry and Meghan said in the post they were keen to thank people around the world for their support and love over this year and what a great way to surprise their fans today.

WHITFIELD: And what an interesting choice that it would be in black and white.

ARBITER: Yes, it's very artistic, very artistic.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

ARBITER: And I think that's where we're seeing sort of Meghan's very keen eye for what's going to look good.

(CROSSTALK)

ARBITER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Color as well, a variation. OK, striking so many different emotions during that beautiful, you know, wedding. All right, Victoria Arbiter, good to see you. Thank you so much.

ARBITER: Thank you. Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, the commencement speech that may not be able to be topped. Morehouse College students today got a lot more than a diploma.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:58:07] WHITFIELD: Talk about a graduation gift. The 2019 class of Morehouse College would have left campus today with around $40 million in student debt, until this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. SMITH, VISTA EQUITY PARTNERS CEO: This is my class, 2019. And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. So that speaker, Robert F. Smith, went on to encourage the 300 graduates of Morehouse to pay it forward. Smith is the founder of Vista Equity Partners, and "Forbes" estimates he is worth about $5 billion. He received an honorary doctorate at the ceremony. Doctor very big heart.

And West Point will have its own historic graduation moment this week. 34 African-American women are expected to graduate from the military academy, the largest class of black women to graduate together in the school's history. And this year's class will also include the highest number of female Hispanic graduates.

And the institution's 5,000th, well, that's hard to say, female graduate. About 10 percent of undergraduate students at the school are black, and women make up about 20 percent of the cadets. Many congrats to all of them. Huge achievements.

We have so much more straight ahead in the "NEWSROOM" and it all starts right now.

All right, thanks again for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We begin with the President firing back at the first Republican in Congress who is raising the prospect of impeachment.

Michigan's Congressman Justin Amash posted what he called his own principle conclusions on the Mueller report. And one of them is, "President Trump engaged in impeachable conduct." He goes on to say, "President Trump engaged in specific action --