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Robert Mueller Breaks Silence, Refuses To Exonerate Trump; Seven Killed In Danube River Tourist Boat Sinking; Israel To Vote Again After Prime Minister Fails To Form Government; Arab Leader To Attend Emergency Summit On Iran; Brexit Fallout; World's Smallest Surviving Baby Defies Odds; Keeping The President Safe; Disneyland's Galaxy Edge Opens Soon; Robert Mueller Leaves with a Straightforward Message; Voters Doing it All Over Again; Tornadoes Ripped Through Midwestern U.S. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired May 30, 2019 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Robert Mueller breaks his silence. The special counsel says the U.S. president has not been cleared of committing a crime.
Plus, the search for survivors. Two tour boats collide, causing one to sink in the Danube River in Budapest. Seven killed, more than a dozen people missing.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope she knows how remarkable she is, and what a fighter she is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The world smallest surviving baby weighed about as much as an apple, just a quarter of a kilogram when she was born. Now she has reached a new milestone. That story, just ahead.
Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom.
And we begin with Robert Mueller breaking his two-year silence on the Russia investigation. The special counsel made it clear he did not exonerate Donald Trump on obstruction charges.
But the president turned to a familiar theme on Twitter, writing this. "How do you impeach a Republican president for a crime that was committed by the Democrats? Witch hunt."
We get more now from CNN's Sara Murray.
SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Special counsel Robert Mueller chose his words carefully. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MUELLER, SPECIAL COUNSEL: I'm speaking today because our investigation is complete.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Breaking his silence on the investigation after two years to clearly say he did not clear President Trump of obstructing justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: But Mueller did not declare the president was innocent, in the more than 400-page report or in front of the cameras.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: And from them we concluded that we would, would not reach a determination, one way or the other about whether the president committed a crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Instead Mueller explained he never had the power to make that decision due to Department of Justice regulations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: Under long-standing department policy, a present president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional. Charging the president with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Mueller's own words a sharp contrast to Attorney General William Barr's earlier suggestion that the Justice Department office of Legal Counsel or OLC guidelines did not weigh heavily on Mueller's decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: We specifically asked him about the OLC opinion and whether or not he was taking the position that he would have found a crime but for the existence of the OLC opinion, and he made it very clear, several times that that was not his position.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Mueller appeared to point the obstruction issue to Congress ramping up the pressure on Capitol Hill for impeachment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: The opinion says that the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Still, Mueller made clear he did want to be part of that process by testifying before Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: I hope and expect this will be the only time that I will speak to you in this manner. We chose those words carefully and the work speaks for itself. And the report is my testimony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: After two years of attacks from President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I knew how illegal this whole thing was. It was just a scam.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Mueller defended his investigation and team, saying the obstruction probe was paramount.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: When a subject of an investigation obstructs that investigation, or lies to investigators, it strikes at the core of the government's efforts to find the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: And despite Trump's constant refrain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I call it the Russian hoax. It's a total witch hunt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Mueller's team found evidence that Russia did influence the 2016 election to try to benefit Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: There were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election. And that allegation deserves the attention of every American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: But while Mueller did not charge the Trump campaign for conspiring with Russians, he did not say there was no evidence, only --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUELLER: There was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Now a spokesman confirmed that Wednesday was Robert Mueller's last day serving as special counsel. One of the last things he did in that 10-minute statement was to thank his team, complementing their integrity and their fairness after his onslaught of attacks they faced under President Trump for roughly two years.
Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: And Robert Mueller statement prompted at least three more Democrats to join the call to impeach President Trump. The details from CNN's Phil Mattingly on Capitol Hill.
[03:04:58] PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's public comments may have provided ammunition to House Democrats. A small number of House Democrats who have been urging the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to move forward with impeachment.
The speaker making clear at least for the moment she wants to stay on their current path, a path that involves multiple committees conducting multiple investigations into the Trump administration, into the president, himself. Her rationale? The people who want impeachment are not the majority. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI, UNITED STATES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm proud of our House Democrats. They have been very, shall we say conscientious about how they have reached their decisions and I think it's like 35 of them, out of the 238, maybe 38 of them out of 238 have said that they wanted to be outspoken on impeachment. And many of them are reflecting their views as well as those of their constituents.
Many constituents want to impeach the president, but we want to do what is right and what gets results.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And that, Pelosi pointing out that specific number is actually a really good window into what's going on behind the scenes here.
The people who are calling for impeachment, and they are really loud in their voices, they are making very clear this is not just about politics, this is a moral issue for them. This is why they came to Congress, but yet they are still a minority in the Democratic caucus.
And there is a reason Democrats are in the majority in the House. Part of that reason, the number of Democrats who won seats in districts that President Trump point in 2016. They flipped those seats, they are the majority makers in at least at the moment, those individuals are not clamoring for impeachment.
And until that's the case, it's very unlikely that Pelosi changes gear.
Now House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler is really the lead on a lot of these investigations, made clear that impeachment remains on the table, nothing has been taken off the table, but as the individual who's leading a lot of these investigations so far, he's not changing course either.
And those are the two individuals that matter more than anybody else, another side issue here that is obviously important, the special counsel saying that he hopes he does not have to testify related to that 440 plus page report.
The reality is this. Pelosi in a public comment saying she belief that Mueller did have to testify. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the intelligence committee he backed that up as well. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer he said the same.
So, despite what Robert Mueller said, he would like which is not to testify. At this moment, it appears Democrats still want him on Capitol Hill, even if he is not going to divert from the actual report itself they believe, at least according to Democrats I've talked to that the public knowledge, the public actually being able to see in person Robert Mueller describing the report can have an enormous impact. One, they want to capitalize on. One, they want to utilize in their ongoing investigations.
But at least for the moment, impeachment not the route Democrats are planning on going. At least according to speaker of the house.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, Capitol Hill.
CHURCH: Joining me now to discuss all of this is former U.S. attorney Harry Litman. Good to have you with us.
HARRY LITMAN, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Good to be here, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, Robert Mueller said Wednesday that if he had confidence that the president did not commit a crime, he would have said so. But he didn't, did he? So, what is your legal assessment of what he was trying to say there, and what he was trying to clarify exactly?
LITMAN: Yes, well, look, what he said was at a minimum a sort of kissing cousin of guilt of having committed obstruction. You're right, the words aren't quite there, but when you put them together with the conduct that's really laid out in the report, and it's one of the reasons to so carefully read the report, I think the conclusion is basically inescapable that they concluded that the president had crossed the criminal line but felt duty bound not to articulate it.
But it would have been a very strange process for them to sort of approach it and say, are we over the line or not, and in the sort of lazy way, declined even to go there. What they did as prosecutors was a methodical, criminal investigation. Had it come even very closely to a point of where they could exonerate Trump, they would have.
And the fact that they did not, I think, it's only to the conclusion that they recognize that, in fact, obstruction had occurred. The elements were satisfied, but they felt handcuffed from saying those words.
CHURCH: Why do you think Robert Mueller felt the need to make a statement Wednesday about the central findings of his own report, after two years of silence, and he clearly wants to avoid testifying. But will that be possible in the end?
LITMAN: Right. I mean, I think that is one of the reasons he made it, to sort of give the crowd a little bit in the hopes that he could persuade them to not call him to testify on the ground, that all he will be saying is what's in the four corners of the report.
But he ironically made the case for his testifying, because even as sort of low key and phlegmatic as he was, it was a riveting picture where he spoke for about eight minutes and 18 hours or so, later here we are still talking about.
[03:10:08] The fact is that having someone up there under the lights makes the statements that are in his report are incalculably more effective than just giving people a 448-page sort of doorstop to read. And they're not doing it.
What the House committee wants is, in fact, for it to come to life. That's why they want to call him, and that's why the White House wants him not to testify.
CHURCH: Right. And Robert Mueller just made it impossible nail a full for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats to avoid impeaching the president. That seems to be, he sort of, handed it over to them saying, it's up to you now, hasn't he? And if that's the way this goes, how do you think an impeachment process would impact this country and of course the 2020 elections?
LITMAN: Yes. You know, I'm not sure he's gone that far, I think he has made it much more difficult for her and the Democrats not to undertake an inquiry. He made it clear that that's what he expected would happen, he flatly contradicted the Trump talking point of, this has all been decided now, and it's over.
So, I think it's made it much harder for the House Judiciary Committee to just stand silent. Does that mean they have to go all the way to an article of impeachment? I don't think it does. It will depend on the evidence that comes out. But as you suggest, it's all bound up, kind of unfortunately in
questions of politics and the 2020 election. And what you would think of as a case that the Constitution provides for exactly this remedy maybe Trump, as it were, by politics. People may think that it would backfire if they did it and try to shy away or go for some middle ground, such as censure.
CHURCH: Right. And on Russia's interference in the 2016 elections, Mueller said he had insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy. What do you think he meant by that? Particularly using the word insufficient.
LITMAN: Yes. Because look, he got to decide what he would say. He didn't talk much and he started and ended with the gravity of what Russia did. He was implicitly rebuking, I think, both the president and the attorney general in trying to make a small deal about this.
He said what he meant, which is, he didn't have the evidence that the Trump campaign, which nevertheless welcomed and profited from the interference had actually agreed to it in the sort of criminal way you have to for a conspiracy charge.
But there is no doubt, a, that they were happy to receive it, and b, that they didn't go to the FBI, which is exactly what you would have thought any campaign would do.
So, they don't come out looking that well on the conspiracy side, though, it's really the obstruction side where the president looks particularly vulnerable.
CHURCH: Right, and I did want to ask you what you made of the contrast between what Attorney General Bill Barr has said about the Mueller report and what Robert Mueller said himself Wednesday.
LITMAN: Not knowing what he said, he actually after saying he wouldn't do hypotheticals, came out and made an extra statement about what he would have said on one topic that Barr represented, which is his reliance on the constitutional policy.
I just think it's very clear for and there's much evidence to demonstrate that Mueller and Barr are indifferent places, and even when Mueller credited Barr with good faith, it was for releasing the report, but not for the characterization of the report.
I think, basically, the two men have irreconcilable positions and that William Barr's factual account of things just cannot be squared with the report that Mueller delivered.
CHURCH: Harry Litman, thank you so much for your legal analysis, and of course, your political analysis as well. We appreciate both.
LITMAN: Thank you, Rosemary. Good to be here.
CHURCH: We are following a tragedy on the Danube River in Budapest. Search crews are scouring the water for 19 people still missing after a tourist boat capsized and sank. At least seven people were killed, almost all of the 34 people on board were tourists from South Korea, and the South Korean president has sent in a rapid response team.
We turn now to Paula Hancocks, she joins us live from Seoul in South Korea. So, Paula, what more are you learning about this ongoing effort to find those who are still missing?
[03:14:55] PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, rescue teams in Budapest are still working to try and find more than just the seven survivors. But many elements are against them.
The fact that this happened at 10 o'clock at night, local time, meant that they were searching for passengers in the dark. Also, the weather conditions, we understand, have been particularly bad.
There has been a very heavy rainfall in the area, so the Danube was swelling, which also meant that the currents were very strong. We understand that one of the passengers that was found was more than a mile downstream.
So, there really are very challenging conditions for these rescue teams to be trying to find more of those passengers. Now we are getting many briefings from the foreign ministry here, from the tour operator, a very good tour. They have sent a team over to Hungary as well, and we know that there is a rapid response team that's been sent by the government here.
An 18-member team. You have some naval rescue elements within that, you also have the crisis management center being represented, obviously trying to help logistically for those that have survived.
And later on tonight, at 1 o'clock in the morning Friday, there will be another plane going over to Budapest carrying some of the families of those victims or of those 19 that are still missing.
So, there is certainly a rush from the South Korean side to get to Budapest, but of course, it's a 12, 13-hour flight, potentially with a stop as well, so it's very much up to the teams on the ground in these hours after this tragedy. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Let's talk about the response there in South Korea, and of course what the tour company that was operating this boat is saying about this and how they are explaining why people were on a boat at night in such bad weather conditions.
HANCOCKS: Well, what we know so far from the tour operator is that there were nine families who were on board this boat. They had been part of a tour group which was going to be a nine-day tour. This was day five of that tour, and it was a tour around the Balkans in Eastern Europe, it was supposed to take six countries in nine days.
And this happened in the evening there. So about 8 p.m. this boat went out onto the Danube and at about 9.05 p.m., we understand from the tour operator, it came back to dock and that is when it had a collision with a much larger cruise ship.
We understand that cruise ship is being held by Hungarian authorities at this point trying to figure out exactly what had happened. Now we know there was at least one child on board, we know there was a six- year-old girl that was on board. We know the eldest passenger was 71 years old. But most of the passengers in their 40s and 50s.
But clearly, it is a race against time to try and find any more survivors. The conditions though really concerning rescue teams, the fact that these currents are so strong at this point, they do have daylight now which is obviously far more helpful, but the fact that the river has swelled so much in the strong currents is still prevalent. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Just a horrifying tragedy there. Paula Hancocks bringing us up to date on the situation. Thank you so much.
Well, coming up next, a stunning political upset in Israel. The prime minister suffered a huge defeat and he's taking his fight back to the ballot box.
Plus, shattering records as well as homes, historic tornado activity ravages the U.S. from Texas to New Jersey. We'll have that for you when we return.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just did what no other Israeli prime minister has ever done. He forced the country to hold an unprecedented second election several weeks after voters last went to the polls.
Mr. Netanyahu failed to form a new government because of a standoff with his former defense minister whose support he needs to form a coalition.
But Avigdor Lieberman and his party disagree with a proposed law that exempts ultra-orthodox Jews from serving in the military.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): He never meant to reach an agreement. He wanted in the clearest way to topple the government, and he doesn't from consideration of getting more. That's what he thinks. But he's not going to succeed. He is dragging the whole country six more months in election for the second time around.
CNN's Oren Liebermann has the latest now from Jerusalem.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What happened in Israeli politics Wednesday night is absolutely stunning. Never before in the history of the country has a prime minister failed to form a government after an election, but that's exactly what happened here.
Benjamin Netanyahu who appeared to have a clear path to a right-wing coalition after the April elections failed to put together a government with his coalition partners deadlocked.
Netanyahu had two options. Go to the president, say he is unable to form a government and risk someone else being given the chance, and perhaps becoming prime minister, or legislative elections, and that's the option he chose.
It means he remains in charge of his Likud Party, in charge of the Knesset, and in charge of the country's prime minister. Those elections now scheduled for September 17.
Israel has never had two national elections within months of each other but that's the situation the country is in now. And these results go beyond internal Israeli politics.
President Donald Trump's team was ready to roll out part of its long- awaited peace plan in the coming weeks and months, this may throw all of that into turmoil.
On top of that, Netanyahu faces criminal investigations and potential charges. Those aren't going your way with the hearing scheduled for October. All of that no hangs in the balance with Israel heading for elections once again.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
CHURCH: Tornado sirens blared in several U.S. states for the 14th day in a row. Twisters were spotted in Texas like this one in Canton. Millions of people across seven states were under what's called an enhanced risk of severe weather.
The U.S. is having an unusually active tornado season in the last two weeks. More than 365 tornadoes have been reported in 22 states. Mostly in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
As nearly half the U.S. picks up the pieces from hundreds of tornadoes, the water is still riding in Arkansas and Oklahoma as the swollen Arkansas River threatens to spill over its banks.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest now from Oklahoma.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nearly 40 million people are at risk for more severe weather after two straight weeks of tornadoes and damaging storms have hammered the United States Midwest and as far east as Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
In the last 30 days, more than 500 tornadoes have been reported across the country. In Kansas, residents are cleaning up after tornadoes struck the town of Linwood late Tuesday, destroying dozens of homes on the outskirts of town.
The city's mayor tells us the homes are all gone. Linwood resident Brian Hahn describes to CNN affiliate KNBC the terrifying scene as he rode out the twister with his family huddled under a mattress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:24:57] BRIAN HAHN, LINWOOD, KANSAS RESIDENT: I could hear it was over us and I saw my bedroom just leave, it was gone. We will underneath the one part of the house that didn't get taken. We knew it was coming. I just didn't take -- I was just hoping it wasn't coming right at me. And it didn't. I feel lucky I'm alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: A tornado in Lawrence, Kansas injured at least 15, according to the Douglas County Health Department, even in the northeast, areas not accustomed to the threat of tornadoes were hit by severe storms on Tuesday. The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in Berks County in eastern Pennsylvania. Nobody was injured.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN SCALIA, CHIEF, CAERNARVON TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT: We've been so blessed. It's, you know, when you drive around and see the destruction, you really realize how lucky we are that nobody was hurt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: A band of severe weather damage to a New Jersey High School while an event was going on in the gymnasium. Again, nobody was injured. One local resident said it was over in a flash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN YOSH, RESIDENT, HOPATCONG, NEW JERSEY: It seriously looked like something out of a movie. I looked out in the back of the house and there were trees coming down, I must have seen three of them fall within five seconds, and it all happen within 30 seconds to a minute.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Here in Oklahoma, historic flooding. More rain has fallen on parts of the state already overwhelmed with rising floodwaters and the Arkansas River is cresting.
So, what you see behind me is the Keystone Dam just west of Tulsa, Oklahoma. And right now, there are about three Olympic-sized pools of water being released through those flood gates every second.
But the hope is here, we're told by the army corps of engineers, which is the agency in charge tasked with monitoring and keeping tabs on this dam, the hope is over the course of the next 24 hours they will be able to start slowly closing up those gates a little bit and that will give all of the water downstream a chance to begin receding which is what residents here in Oklahoma and Arkansas are desperately waiting for.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, near Tulsa, Oklahoma.
CHURCH: Yes, that is exactly what they want to. See let's turn to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam. He is tracking the storms in the United States. He joins us from the international weather channel. Derek, your covering the flooding but also hundreds of tornadoes. DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Rosie, what we are looking at here
is also the Arkansas River near Tulsa, and you can see just how close it is spilling over its banks, quite an incredible aerial shot coming from our drone footage there as well, but not record flooding necessarily there but other parts of the country definitely.
You won't believe how much precipitation has fallen across this part of the country just within the past 30 days. You are looking at an absorbed rainfall total. Pay attention to those colors of purple and white. That's where we've experienced over 20 inches of rain in the past 30 days.
That's a lot of rainfall for Kansas into Oklahoma, Missouri as well as Arkansas, and that's why we have 13 million Americans under some sort of flood threat today as water seeks its own level and starts to crest on some of the major rivers downstream.
Now there is some silver lining, we have the opportunity to dry out this weekend from the heavy rainfall we've experienced lately, that really pushes eastward, but again, the water still needs to filter downstream so flood threat continues to remain very high for many locations across the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers.
Now, in terms of severe weather, you need to go back to May 15th. The last time we experienced a day in the continental United States without a reported tornado. Nearly 500 reports just in the month of May alone, and that all thanks to this collision of air masses taking place.
We have been talking about the record heat across the south, you combine that with cold air from the north and we get the battleground for severe weather. Three hundred seventy-seven tornadoes that's the latest count we have here at CNN weather just in the past 14 days alone.
Yesterday we had 23 reports of tornadoes. Get this. Not only a tornado threat but straight-line winds. Over 200 reports of damage across the Mid-Atlantic all the way to the Central Plains.
Now, today, a slight risk of severe weather of Southwest Texas, the Mid-Atlantic once again under the gun. That includes portions of the nation's capital, so keep that in mind if you are traveling there.
And I'm going to leave you with this, Rosemary. You have to see this incredible video. This is coming out of the Dayton, Ohio area. They had a confirmed tornado, roughly 36 hours ago. This gentleman is actually walking into his apartment and seeing this scene as you walk up here staircase, typically a roof over your house. This time what do you see? The sky above you that tornado took the entire top of his home right off.
CHURCH: Wow, that is not something anyone wants to see. Thank you so much for that, Derek. Just extraordinary extreme weather conditions there. I appreciate it.
Well, recent attacks on oil facilities have put Persian Gulf nations on edge. Coming, up we will go live to Saudi Arabia where Arab leaders will soon meet for an emergency summit to discuss the crisis.
[03:30:02] Back with that, soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom, I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for you this hour. Special Counsel Robert Mueller speaking publicly for the first time on his Russia investigation. He says if President Trump did not commit a crime, his report would have said so. Mueller also said, that he couldn't consider charging the president, because of Justice Department guidelines.
At least seven people were killed when a tourist boat sank on the Danube River in Budapest, 19 people are still missing. Almost all on board were tourist from South Korea. The tour company operating the boat said it was close to docking when a larger ship plowed into it.
Stunning political developments from Israel, voters are to go to the polls in September. Now they voted just seven weeks ago, it comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government, something he's tried to do since April.
Well, Arab leaders will meet in the coming hours for an emergency summit to deal with recent attacks on oil production and shipping in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. is pointing their finger at Iran, though that country denies any involvement. Our Nic Robertson joins us now from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. So, Nick, what's expected to come out of this emergency summit?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, I think that we've got an indication from the Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf. He was speaking to the OIC, the Organization of Islamic Corporation which is 57 Islamic nations and states all gathered here together.
The foreign ministry level and it happens at the eve of this emergency GCC summit, a much smaller summit, but one that was called about a week and a half ago by the Saudi king to address the issue of those boats, just those ships, those oil tankers just off the coast of the United Arab Emirates being attack by what appears to be mines and also a key important oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia known as the East West pipeline that runs across the country.
That was attacked by an armed drone that the Houthis claimed responsibility for it. So, what this emergency summit has been called, it appears is to get unity. And the message that we've heard from these Arab States and the message that we heard from the Saudi foreign minister today was, a very clear message and a very unequivocal one. That is that these attacks potentially endanger the region. And that a very clear message should be sent to Iran, this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[23:35:08] IBRAHIM ABDULAZIZ AL-ASSAF, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The kingdom reiterates that such cowardly acts threaten the global economy and pose a danger to the regional and international security, and must be dealt with strength and firmness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So, so far it's only the Saudi Arabia and the United States officials who have said that they believe that these two attacks and one in Baghdad that run about the same time were connected to Iran, that they were some way called for directed by the Iranian government in some capacity. No evidence has been put forward for that so far, but I think what we're going to see here is a real strengthening of (inaudible) and of the message. And one of the interesting thing that is happening at this GCC, Qatar is currently at a very tense moment in its relationship with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who's has been invited as well, and this if they come on board, will unite that message further.
CHURCH: Yes, interesting and Nic, I do want to ask you how delicate these discussions are likely to be. And are all Gulf nations on the same page when it comes to figuring out how to deal with Iran?
ROBERTSON: Kuwait has been trying to be something of an intermediary and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain are very clear in their position when it comes to the GGC members. Oman has historically been seen as a go between the gulf, the West as well and Iran. At the moment, Qatar is the one that is really in the tenses relationship.
And if the message is a very strong one here against Iran then in the way this may put Qatar on the spot and really decide whether it is with the GGC or against the GGC. So this could be as much a test of Qatar's position on willingness to adopt proposals and policies put forward by the Saudi Arabia, by the United Arab Emirates at the moment.
So, amongst Gulf countries, the major players here -- there is a very clear message, that they believe Iran is in the wrong, but it's not a unified message at the moment. And I think the message from the GGC will be one not justify just to unify the Arab state's position on this, but to try to bring the West in a stronger position against Iran. And I'm thinking here of Britain, France and Germany who continue to support the nuclear deal with Iran, United States, of course, pulled out of that and along with the GGC countries, they want to see Iran -- under greater pressure.
CHURCH: All right. We will watch to see what comes out of this emergency summit. Our Nic Robertson reporting there from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, many thanks.
Well, a new twist in Britain's Brexit saga, the leading candidate to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister -- excuse me -- has been ordered to appear in court. Boris Johnson is accused of lying to the public during the 2016 Brexit campaign. He claimed Britain's membership to the E.U. cause 350 million pounds a week. Now the number was plastered on a bus that toured across Britain.
A businessman filed suit against Johnson with money from a crowd funding campaign. Although Britain's exit from the European Union is five months away, scientists and researchers in the U.K. are already feeling the effects. It's getting harder for British universities to recruit European students and faculty are getting off this to move elsewhere on the continent. It's also a great deal of research money at stake. As Nina Dos Santos reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the U.K.'s Birmingham University, these scientists are working to find new treatment for arthritis. It's vital research led by a German professor that could help some of Britain's 10 million sufferers, but because this work is largely supported by the E.U., the funding could dry up after Brexit.
DR. DAGMAR SCHEEL-TOELLNER, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: They're trying to sort of have some stopped gaps in place, but that will never going to be the same volume of funding as we have from the E.U. just trying to maintain desperately on our work.
DOS SANTOS: British University are home to some of the most groundbreaking research in Europe. As such, they receive one of the largest shares of the blocks academic funding. About one and a half billion dollars in grants per year. That is money that labs like these cannot live without. The government is guaranteed to fund current programs until next year. But, University's in U.K. which represent 136 institutions says that a firmer commitment is urgently needed.
VIVIENNE STERN, DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITIES U.K. INTERNATIONAL: It's what happens after 2021 that is the real issue, we are pressing our government to start early negotiations to allow us to associate to the research program and the (inaudible) program.
[03:40:10] DOS SANTOS: Funding is just one item on the long list of concerns for higher educators after Brexit. The U.K. top universities have 50,000 staff and 130,000 students from E.U. nations. And as uncertainty increases, so do fears about visas, higher tuition fees and fear of opportunities to study abroad.
Then there is the question of sharing knowledge and technology after the U.K.'s departure.
ANNE CORBETT, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Britain has a huge reputation, but that reputation is very largely built on collaboration to something that Cambridge makes history with. It's almost certainly not Cambridge alone, it's with an institution from another E.U. state.
DOS SANTOS: The Belgium lab is part of the network of six European research hub tackling some of the most common and complex adulated illnesses, but it could be frozen out of those networks. Because aside from Brexit complicating funding, it also makes jointly accomplishing research more difficult. Meanwhile, Ph.D. students are becoming harder to recruit and staff are being approached by European Universities, including the labs and directors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I decided to stay here for now and if my research becomes impossible here I will have to move on. DOS SANTOS: As universities wait for clarity the U.K. risks of Brexit
size brain drain with devastating stakes of Britain's world famous academic institutions. Nina Dos Santos, CNN, London.
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CHURCH: And like Britain and Brexit itself, the Speaker of the House of Commons is finding it hard to leave. Listen.
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JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: Order! Yes. Order. Order. Differences of opinion is of the essence of politics, there is never a combination of finger wagging and head shaking going on which maybe personally therapeutic, but is institutionally disadvantageous.
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CHURCH: He clearly loves his work, right? John Bercow was expected to step down as soon as July, but now says it would not be sensible to vacate the chair while there are major issues before parliament. Bercow's decision won't sit well with euro skeptics who fear he wants to thwart a no deal Brexit. Speaking to the guardian, Bercow warn candidates for the tory leadership not to try to force a no deal Brexit without the approval of parliament.
A disturbing security breach while Donald Trump was enjoying a holiday at his Florida resort. The new details we are learning and why some say the property just isn't safe enough for the president.
And a baby girl in California graduates into the record books. How she defied the odds despite weighing about 243 grams at birth.
[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Well another alarming breach of security has been revealed at U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. CNN's Brian Todd has the details.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was an intrusion so brazen and simple that it's raising serious questions about how safe President Trump is at his so-called winter White House. Mark Lindblom, 18 years-old, a college freshmen pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally sneaking into Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the day after thanksgiving last year.
LAURENCE LEAMER, AUTHOR MAR-A-LAGO: This 18 year old has done us a big service, he has shown how easy it is to get into Mar-a-Lago and shows what a lousy job the secret service is doing. They had plenty of warnings about this, and they did nothing.
TODD: The details from court filings are stunning. While the president and first lady were at the estate, Lindblom entered the grounds through a tunnel which allows club guests to go from the beach to the restricted club grounds by walking under the main road called A-one-A. Prosecutors say the teenager was screened for weapons by secret service agents at some point, but he wasn't stopped from entering the property even though he wasn't allowed to be there.
Author Lawrence Leamer has written a new book from Mar-a-Lago. He's live in Palm Beach for more than 20 years and says he is been on the estate several times while Trump's been there. He says he is not surprised Lindblom got inside.
LEAMER: You come into the front gate, you turn left, the tunnel entrance is around here, it takes you under A-one-A and you get to about here and there you are inside Mar-a-Lago.
TODD: Lindblom, who was staying with family nearby reportedly walked around the estate for about 20 minutes before secret service agents notice him acting strangely. It's not the only time someone has got into the club without authorization.
Just a few months after Lindblom's breach, a Chinese citizen name Yujing Zhang entered a restricted zone at Mar-a-Lago while the president was not there. Prosecutors say she lied her way through security and was caught with a thumb drive, a laptop, an external hard drive and cellphones. Experts say these cases illustrate the vulnerability in the properties Trump visits often. His golf clubs, Trump Tower, his hotel and Mar-a-Lago all of which also cater to residents and guest.
JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: A lot of people refer to Mar-a-Lago as the winter White House. It's not the White House, it's not a government facility. it's a private commercial entity. Just like any other place the president goes on a temporary basis.
TODD: That is different from other presidential retreats like Camp David or the summer cottages of the Obama's, Bushes and Clinton's would visit when only the president and his family were there. Mark Lindblom reportedly told the judge, he just wanted to see if he get into Mar-a-Lago and he meant no harm. Leamer believes the president should stay away from Mar-a-Lago while he is an office.
LEAMER: Look, it's a disaster waiting to happen. The family quarters are just off the corner, that's all. People are walking all around there and it's crazy.
TODD: The Secret Service stresses the teenager did not come into contact with the president or the first lady, because of the layered security systems in place, but has or will security be tightened around that outside gate from the beach or that tunnel to the estate? The Secret Service didn't get back to us on that. A U.S. attorney in Palm Beach was quoted as saying of the breach, it wouldn't happen today. Brian Todd, CNN Washington.
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CHURCH: A little girl believed to be the world smallest surviving baby is out of the hospital. She was born in San Diego California in December. And only weighed about 243 grams. Doctors warned her parents to prepare for the worst, but she defied the odds. Eric Richards from our affiliate KSWB reports.
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ARIC RICHARDS, CNN AFFILIATE KSWB REPORTER: Well it was incredible new to hear a baby born right here at South Mary Birth Hospital, the size of a large apple considered a micro premium, to give you a perspective, this was the size of her diaper.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told my husband that he had about an hour, an issue that she was going to pass away, but that our turned into two hours and it turned into a day and turned into a week.
[03:55:06] RICHARDS: At just 8.6 ounces, this is Saybie, the true definition of a miracle. And now the world's smallest baby to ever survive.
DR. PAUL WOZNIAK, NEONATOLOGIST: Particularly when she didn't have any major complications she didn't have any major complications, like a lot of baby, they are bleeding in the brain from being born still prematurely, she never had any.
RICHARDS: Baby Saybie was born in December at Short Mary Birth Hospital after the emergency C-section at just 23 weeks. Doctors said, one of the biggest challenges finding equipment that was small enough.
WOZNIAK: So, we had the smallest tube would be possible, but we had never seen a bay this small, but fortunately it went right in the first attempt. So, we were very lucky.
RICHARDS: One lucky and remarkable journey beating all odds, Saybie is now a little more than five pounds and left the hospital earlier this month.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's so many things that I'd want to say to her, but I hope she knows how remarkable she is and what a fighter she is. The strength that she showed us her first day.
RICHARDS: And in this video taken by hospital staff, you can clearly hear an emotional mom and incredibly thankful to the nurses and doctors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to cry. Look at all those signs that they made, you know, I would come in and it's like a happy birthday mom. It's just -- I'm so grateful for them.
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CHURCH: Tiny, but mighty, our thanks to Aric Richards for that report. And according to the University of Iowa which keeps track of premature surviving infants. Saybie weighed seven grams less than the previous smallest baby who was born in Germany back in 2015.
Well, still to come, set the hyper drive for Southern California opening day for Disneyland's a brand-new star wars attraction is almost here. We will be back in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Amazon has now addressed a major privacy concerns about its Alexa voice recognition devices. They have been growing worries that Alexa and similar devices capture and store much more data than intended. Even casual conversations, so now users have the option of telling Alexa to delete that day's recordings. In a few weeks Alexa will be enable to delete anything that's just been said.
Bloomberg recently reported that Amazon reviewed some audio clips in order to improve Alexa's voice recognition software. So, just a reminder, you can get rid of them.
Well, on Friday, Disneyland will open one of the most ambitious theme parks ever built. The dedication ceremony was held a few hours ago in Anaheim, California with George Lucas, Billy De Williams, Mark Hamil and Harris Ford showing up. And as you may have, guessed the galaxies edge is all about Star Wars, it's a state of the art experience that immerses visitors in a truly alien world. CNN's Frank Pallotta spoke with one of the creators behind the massive project.
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FRANK PALLOTTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where are we?
SCOTT TROWBRIDGE, PORTFOLIO CREATIVE EXECUTIVE WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING: Well, right now, we are in the heart of the space port at Black Speier outpost, which is kind of the center of this thriving, bustling, remote trading port on the planet of Batuu.
[03:55:05] Welcome to Batuu, it's the home of the smugglers, and the bounty hunters, that rogue adventurers, looking to crew up for some adventure into wild space. And, of course, it's the stepping off point of our Star Wars story
PALLOTTA: And that's interesting you say our Star Wars story. Because my Star Wars story has always been Tattooine, Sky Walkers home and instead of this land that I've never heard of, why didn't you just make it something that everyone for the last 42 years has known.
TROWBRIDGE: Everybody knows what happened on Tatooine, everybody knows what happened on (Inaudible). We know those stories and we know Luke and Leia's story, but we also know that we are not in those stories, right? So what we really wanted to create with Star Wars Galaxies Edges is an opportunity for you to feel like, you can play an act of role in Star Wars, not just be a spectator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: today, I am offering an opportunity of a lifetime. I need flight crews to transport this valuable merchandise across the galaxy.
PALLOTTA: What would happen to me in the rest of this land when I leave the ride, it say I failed the smugglers round?
TROWBRIDGE: Well, you know, (Inaudible) might not be so happy with you and you might actually end up coming back owing more money than when you started, you know, you might side up to the bar and the bartender might over and say, hey, word on the street is Hondas is not too happy with you. I've watched out if I were you, because I think your name is on the list of the local bounty hunters.
Because for those guess to want to play Star Wars with us, we have ways, by using their own personal technology. Your cellphone and the play Disney parks apps, the magic band plays into that, it's an invitation to play.
PALLOTTA: I have heard that this is the most immersive, land that Disney has ever done. Explain to me what that means.
TROWBRIDGE: Well, I think, when we say immersive, I think that means, it is big, how scale it is, it doesn't just reveal itself all to one -- in one view.
PALLOTTA: We don't know the (inaudible) to see everything on your first visit.
TROWBRIDGE: Because we want you to come back.
PALLOTTA: Why do you think that's important?
TROWBRIDGE: That depth of storytelling makes things real. We want the experience to feel deep. We want the place to feel deep, so that your relationship with it also have that kind of depth.
PALLOTTA: And that -- I believe into the whole story of Star Wars itself.
TROWBRIDGE: We had one view of what the Star Wars story is and the events that happen here in Black Speier on Batuu are true in the world of Star Wars. We are not isolated from the rest of the Star Wars storytelling.
PALLOTTA: How is this place going to tell the Star Wars story for the next 20, 30, 50 years.
Well, we can do now is make this a launching point for untold number of Star Wars stories. There will never be an end for the number of Star Wars stories that we can tell.
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CHURCH: All those Star Wars fans, very excited. Thanks for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church, remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. We'd love to hear from you. And the news continues now with our Max Foster in London. You are watching CNN. Have a great day.
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