Queen Lays Out Government Agenda Amid Turmoil; Queen Outlines Brexit Heavy Government Agenda; PM May Has Yet To Reach Deal With Northern Ireland's DUP; King Salman Promotes Son To Crown Prince; United Kingdom PM Under Intense Pressure As Parliament Opens; May Faces Challenge of Leading Minority Government; Inside Yemen's Silent War; Reflecting on a Significant Day for Westminster.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We are live outside the Houses of Parliament where the queen presented the agenda for the British government, but is there enough political facility to put the plan into action. A lot to talk about today. Also this hour, a very significant transition of power in Saudi Arabia. The man on the left is the new crowned prince. He is kissing the hands of the man who just replaced. How could that impact the region and the world? We will break that down for you as well. We begin here in the heart of British government, but it is a government in turmoil. Today, the queen delivered a speech prepared for her by Theresa May's Torys, but they do face an uphill battle to actually get anything passed. The event may look ornate to our international viewers, but today's speech was a toned down affair, make no mistake about it. The queen arrived in a car not a carriage as she usually does for these events. As you just saw the crown was carried in, she did not wear it. The speech itself included a series of Brexit bills and struck an optimistic tone about the country's negotiating position. Listen.</s>QUEEN ELIZABETH: My government's priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union. My ministers are committed to working with parliament, the devolved administrations, business and others to build the widest possible consensus on the country's future outside the European Union.</s>GORANI: The question is can Theresa May's minority government actually pass anything outlined in the speech. CNN's Nic Robertson is live from 10 Downing Street. What's next then for Theresa May?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, there will be the debate in the House of Commons before the vote on the queen's speech later next week, and that's the period basically she has to try to get this deal struck with the DUP, the Democratic Unionist Party, of Northern Ireland. Ten MPs who then bolster her 317 MPs, which are a minority, and give them the sort of tip to get the necessary votes to pass whatever bills she wants. Right now, we are hearing from DUP that they think the talks are going well in mood music over the past sort of 24, 48 hours. This sort of indicated they are issues the DUP have been indicating those money issues. That perhaps they want to see an end to the Conservative Party's austerity. That perhaps they want money for additional building programs, schools, health care, hospitals, et cetera, in Northern Ireland. It's not clear because the talks have been sort of -- the details have been, you know, closely guarded. But the fact that it has sort of come out in the public domain in the last 24 hours does really seemed to indicate that they are struggling to get to this agreement. That we are keep being briefed that they will get to the agreement. But that's another bid for Theresa May. She needs that. She doesn't have it yet, and that doesn't look very good.</s>GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Nic Robertson. Our senior diplomatic correspondent at 10 Downing Street. Obviously a lot to talk about with my next guest, conservative lawmaker, Sir Bill Cash. He is a longtime supporter of Brexit and in fact was one of the -- you are telling that the architects of what eventually became Brexit --</s>BILL CASH, BRITISH MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: That was in the (inaudible) --</s>GORANI: Let's talk a little bit about Theresa May. I mean, she called this snap election. She didn't have to. Clearly, it backfired disastrously for her. She lost her majority. Should she stay or go?</s>CASH: Absolutely stay.</s>GORANI: Why?</s>CASH: By the way, Ken Clark would say the same and he is not on the same argument with me, same side with me as Europe -- on the European issue. But basically, you're talking about turmoil. As a matter of fact, what is actually happening is to do with the numbers in the House of Commons.</s>GORANI: She created the turmoil, didn't she? She didn't have to call this election.</s>CASH: Well, I think the short answer is that she did the right thing in calling the election. The election campaign by Common Conservatives is not the best we've ever seen. Let's put it that way. However, we did get 43 percent of the vote, which is more than even under Margaret Thatcher. And in addition to that, we have now got a completely confused opposition who actually, as I said this afternoon in the House of Commons, got to power on the basis of what I would describe and did describe as a false elcomy (ph) of reckless spending. Now --</s>GORANI: But that's putting a positive on what was an --</s>CASH: But of course.</s>GORANI: -- let's be honest. Because you are saying that essentially the opposition is in disarray, but Jeremy Corbyn outperformed every single expectation, how is that a defeat for (inaudible).</s>CASH: Not today in the House of Commons. When it gets back in the House of Commons, he shrinks, and that is the point. And that actually is where the action is now going to take place.</s>GORANI: At the polls, he did better than expected.</s>CASH: Well, he did actually do really quite well getting 43 percent, but let's talk numbers for a minute because ultimately, all these matters are going to be decided by votes in the House of Commons. On the repeal bill, for example, some of the things that are not being fully explained is that Labour MPs who are absolute and completely with us on Brexit issues. And there were about anything between 7 and 10 of those. The DUP will come with us and absolutely no question about that, although there is --</s>GORANI: Although there is no deal. Did Theresa May not -- I mean, essentially she announced as (inaudible) the fact that the DUP would rally with her, and by the way, the DUP for our viewers, we had to take the crash course in DUP politics. They are far right, Northern Ireland party. They have some social positions on for instance, gay rights, and abortion --</s>CASH: But it has nothing to do with Brexit.</s>GORANI: I get that, but British voters didn't necessarily go to the polls thinking I'm voting for a minority conservative government plus the DUP. It's being opposed --</s>CASH: That is completely true. But at the same time, the question of the alliance with the DUP is actually something intrinsic on Brexit in particular, which is this parliament. This parliament is going to be dominated by Brexit and that actually on that we can be sure that the DUP will actually work with us all the time. And that's really important because that takes us over the threshold of 326 and then we got the Labour members as well who will vote with us too. So actually it's not quite as bad as it looks for some people.</s>GORANI: That is your spin obviously as a conservative lawmaker. But let me ask you a little bit about how the Brexit negotiations are going --</s>CASH: Yes.</s>GORANI: -- (inaudible) three or four. Already a huge concession, David Davis, the Brexit minister dropping a demand for parallel trade off with the E.U. That is already a concession on -- is this an acknowledge the U.K. really doesn't have the leverage it claims that it has --</s>CASH: Now people who know me know I don't give spin and actually I take it straight, OK. And the bottom line is this, that I've just been with David Davis, as a matter of fact, and the bottom line is this, that we actually noticed a very good way forward as a result of those discussions with Mike Michel Barnaie (ph). He's known Michel Barnaie (ph) since the Amsterdam Treaty in the 1990s. They were (inaudible) one another or working with one another as Europe ministers. Actually there are some real bottom lines here and above all else, E.U. realizes that we are leaving the European Union. It is not in their interest to create a monumental problem because they want to get on --</s>GORANI: It's part of their interest to make anything for you either --</s>CASH: Well, can I simply say that actually the real truth is it's in their interest to get a good deal and a fair deal, and I believe that that is what's going to do a merge out of this and it's going to be in everybody's interest that we do because actually they know we are leaving and we don't want to have a relationship antagonism. And our industries actually have a monumental trade deficit with the E.U. and we want to look out with the rest of the world. And we have a fantastic relationship with the USA -- (inaudible) with Wilbur Ross only two days ago and they had very good talks --</s>GORANI: The commerce secretary of the</s>U.S. CASH: Exactly. And we have similar discussions with Canada, Australia with New Zealand and other countries in the Commonwealth. We have a tremendous opportunity here. This is not spin. These are facts.</s>GORANI: I know it's in your position consistently for many, many years. Sir Bill Cash, thank you so much.</s>CASH: Not at all. Nice to see you.</s>GORANI: We appreciate it. Nice to see you as well. Now amid the scale down pump in ceremony of today's queen's speech, there was one very famous face missing, the queen's husband, Prince Philip. The 96-year-old prince is being treated in hospitable for an infection. Buckingham Palace says he's in good spirits, but that he was disappointed to miss today's events. The queen's son, Prince Charles, attended the opening of parliament in his father's place. All right, we'll have a lot more from here in the United Kingdom on U.K. politics in a moment, but speaking of politics, in a completely different part of the world, a royal shakeup in the House of Saud is promising to affect Saudi Arabia's relationship with not just the Middle East, but the West as well. King Salman has removed his nephew as crowned prince and promoted his 33- year-old son, but the young heir has a lot on his plate. Here's John Defterios.</s>JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN MONEY EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (voice-over): A choreographed transfer of power at the heart of Saudi Arabia's monarchy. Outgoing Saudi crowned prince, Mohammad Bin Nayef, pledging allegiance to his cousin, 31-year-old Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, as the kingdom's new heir to the throne. Scenes of royal deference masking radical change. All triggered by this royal decree from King Salman removing the previous crowned prince, stripping him of his titles and roles in the government. Power not consolidated in the hands of this man, Mohammed Bin Salman. His swift rise began when his father ascended the throne in 2015. Young and ambitious, he's adopted an activist approach. He spearheaded Saudi Vision 2030, an economic transformation plan meant to whim the kingdom of his addiction to oil and bring about more social reforms. As defense minister, he was primary architect of Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Yemen against Houthi rebels and their allies. Two years on, it has yet to achieve its goals and has been criticized for causing civilian deaths and worsening humanitarian conditions of the region's forest country. And as his portfolio expands so too will the challenges he has to grapple with. Chief among them, the ongoing diplomatic standoff with Qatar, how to counter the kingdom's regional archrival Iran and deal with low oil prices depleting his cash pile. But the prince's backers aren't limited to his father's royal court. U.S. President Donald Trump chose Saudi Arabia as the first stop of his first trip abroad. Signaling his strong support for the kingdom and its regional policies. Support that will be key in helping the young prince push through bold domestic reforms and pursue a more confrontational foreign policy. John Defterios, CNN, Abu Dhabi.</s>GORANI: We've now gotten word that in fact and you saw that as the last image in that report that the U.S. president, Donald Trump, has spoken in fact with Mohammed Bin Salman. Let's break down what this shift means for the region and the world. Fawaz Gerges is here with me. He is the chair of Contemporary Middle East Studies at the London School of Economics. So Fawaz, what is the most significant thing about this transition of power in Saudi Arabia?</s>FAWAZ GERGES, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: The most significant feature is the transition of power from the father's and the brother's little sons. You have a generational shift. So Mohammed Bin Salman now represents the public face of Saudi Arabia, 31-year-old, ambitious, charismatic, activist. He really for the young Saudis, they look up to him as the public face of Saudi Arabia. They view him very positively regardless of what we in the West think of him.</s>GORANI: But he's disrupting the Saudi's (inaudible) away some might call dangerous. You have the war in Yemen, the Qatar isolation, cutting off Qatar for whatever overturns it made to Iran and other reasons perhaps as well. I mean, what could happen going down the road? Because he's now effectively the ruler of Saudi Arabia.</s>GERGES: Mohammed Bin Salman, he was asked the same question about the war in Yemen. He says, he views Iran as an existential threat. He believed that Iran is trying to seize, I mean, the Islamic world and takeover the holy places in Saudi Arabia. So in this particular way, he views the war in Yemen, he views what's happening in Qatar and Syria, as really part of the regional war with Iran. He believes --</s>GORANI: But that's precisely my point, it's dividing the region more. It's creating more sectarian tension than was there before.</s>GERGES: And in fact, Mohammed Bin Salman believes that he has to really standup, Saudi Arabia has a major responsibility to standup to Iran's infiltration of the Arab world, who Iran's basically desire and designed to penetrate the Arab World. I think we are focusing on foreign policy. The most important thing about the transition is that now what you have is a new leadership. He is in charge of the economy. He is in charge of overhauling the Saudi economy. His vision 2030 is to basically -- he does not want the kingdom to depend too much on oil. He wants to create a diverse economy. He wants also to loosen some of the social restrictions in this conservative kingdom. So informed policy, I'm sure there is a great deal of criticisms, some of it legitimate in terms of the -- inside the kingdom that's why he is very popular among young Saudis.</s>GERGES: What's his plan? Because I mean, going forward you either diversify your economy if you're Saudi Arabia and your primary business is selling oil to the world or your economy will shrink inevitably.</s>GERGES: Absolutely. I mean, this is why what distinguishes Mohammed Bin Salman from the traditional leadership style (inaudible). He is not afraid to take risks. He is not afraid basically to disrupt conventional. He believes that the Saudi -- the future of Saudi Arabia lies in creating a new economy what he calls vision 2030. He wants to basically wean Saudi Arabia off the oil economy and the oil economy, you have 50 percent decline in all the processes. So he wants to overhaul the economy, create a diverse economy. Of course, everything remains to be seen, but the reality is he now in charge. And also what he needs to do is that what the king has done in the past 24 hours is to basically get rid of uncertainty, the ambiguity. No longer there is ambiguity --</s>GORANI: The price of oil is going down now.</s>GERGES: Absolutely. It's been going on for a long time and that's why Mohammed Bin Salman vision, he says he frames his vision as (inaudible).</s>GORANI: I know you're talking about internal politics and the economy inside the kingdom, but the reason I brought up foreign policy so much is because the biggest trauma that the region is going through is mainly due to the proxy battle between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia. Will this ruler alleviate that problem or worsen it?</s>GERGES: This is the biggest challenge facing him at least, is the fierce cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. And Mohammed Bin Salman deeply believes that Iran is basically an aggressor. Iran is a destructor and this is why I don't expect any major changes in this particular regional cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and guess what, President Trump has the same vision that Iran is a spoiler state. That's why you are going to see more of the same in the next one or two years.</s>GORANI: All right, Fawaz Gerges, as always thanks very much for your analysis on this very important development coming from Saudi Arabia. A lot more to come this evening. We are at Westminster. We'll get reaction to the queen's speech. We are hearing an inside voice from the prime minister's own party next. And despite an apparently unpopular president, Republicans runs aboard on special elections to fill empty seats in the U.S. Congress. What just what are Democrats doing wrong? We'll be right back.