donald trump arrives in saudi arabia on day one of his very first international trip as u.s. president. he'll meet with a number of muslim leaders over the next two days and deliver a speech that

will be very closely watched. a story we are following live even as mr. trump was aboard air force one, news continue to break about his embattled white house. welcome to our viewers here around the united states and all around the world. i'm jornl howell. >> i'm paula newton. you're watching "cnn newsroom." it's 4:00 a.m. in the east coast and the president of the united states is getting a lavish welcome from saudi leaders. now, the kingdom has extended a few courtesies that were noticeably absent from president obama's visit last year. that means coming out to greet him on the tarmac. >> mr. trump was treated to a traditional tea ceremony. within a few hours he and the first lady, melania trump, will

head to the court. after that he will hold bilateral meetings with the king. the president looking to turn a page with this trip. the shadows of the problems he leave behind in washington seem to be growing bigger and bigger by the hour. sources tell cnn that russian officials were so confident of their close relationship with trump adviser michael flynn during the u.s. presidential campaign that they bragged about it among themselves. now, they believed if mr. trump won the election, they could use flynn to influence the white house. >> that's problem number one of four lately. number two, the former fbi director james comey abruptly fired last week. now mr. comey ready to tell his side of the story. he will testify before congress and appear before the senate intelligence committee some time before may 29th.

>> hold on, there's more. president trump reportedly insulted comey the day after the firing. according to "new york times" he told senior russian officials in the auvl that comey was "crazy and a nut job." story line number four we're following. cnn has learned that lawyers within the trump white house started researching impeachment. the white house also considering hiring an outside legal team. a lot to talk about on the domestic side, for sure. let's start by compartmentalizing all of this and starting with the story in hand starting in saudi arabia where nic robertson is live following the president's visit. good to have you with us. the first international visit as u.s. president. talk to us about the arrival. what was that like and what is set to happen today? >> george, stepping off the plane, air force one at the airport, king howard

international airport, president trump could only have been hoping for what you're talking about there. compartmentalization the step off the plane put behind himself for the time being the issues he's facing in washington and get to the issues at hand here. shaking the hand of king solomon who is now 81 years old who came out right to the end of the red carpet, the stairs of air force one. this is unusual for the saudi king to come out to visit any dig and certainly not the wemcome and warmth when president obama came here just a year ago. a strong sign along with the flags that the u.s. and saudi flags lining the road that president trump to their first engagement here. it's a very, very warm welcome. so, today, president trump will spend quite a lot of time with the king. that also is unusual.

normally the king would be one of several people that a president would normally visit, but, today a lot of time with the king. various riding in the car and greeting at the palace, as well. president trump later meeting with the deputy crown prince, the defense minister and prince mohammad and prince solomon who is also the architect of the vision of saudi arabia, the 2030 vision to win the country away from oil to cut down the number of government jobs and increase the private sector workforce here. so, a key player in the future of the country. he will also meet with the crown prince, prince mohammed who is the interior minister older than the king's son who has a longer, stronger, deeper relationship particularly on fighting terrorism. a prips personally attacked and slightly injured but survived. obviously, stories to exchange

there. but president trump's perhaps biggest part of this visit here will come on sunday and he'll meet with members of the gulf community counsel, gulf cooperation counsel and the immediate allies of saudi arabia and the united states and also meet with an expanded forum of many regional arab and muslim leaders here and it's in front of them that he's expected to give a speech about islam and about how what president trump hopes and believes and want from all these leaders is that they can preach a more tolerant, a more peaceful vision of islam and that, of course, will be a tough speech to deliver because those leaders believe that, george. >> quite frankly there are four different dimensions that viewers can see this particular trip. obviously, the trip is very important resetting, quite frankly, from saudi point of

view, relations in comparison to the obama administration. also, the domestic situation that we will certainly talk about here just a bit later in the newscast. there was also candidate donald trump and then president donald trump. candidate trump who is criticized for islam phobic tones during the campaign. the question here is with this speech, how important is this speech? a speech written by steven miller, a man who is also criticized by many as harboring islam phobic views. how important will this speech be and what is expected there in saudi? >> well, something that the white house recognizes has to be carefully calibrated, respectful is how national security adviser h.r. mcmaster characterized how the speech will be. it is a big ask for anyone who has been so critical of the faith to come to that faith and

preach a message to all those muslims about islam. i've been asking saudis here why they think that president trump can be trusted. what he can deliver and how can he come here and give that kind of message with the background he has. this is what i heard. >> maybe he make apologize for all muslim what he says about islam. >> i like it -- >> why? >> because he make everything different. >> what do you want from it? why is it so important? >> well, we would like to confront iran. iran has expansionist policy in the region. it has hezbollah in lebanon and would like to confront this expansionist policy. >> so, is president trump a good man? >> i don't know. >> you don't know.

>> maybe. >> he tried the mistake they make a bomb. he make a big mistake. >> this is the same president trump who had a very negative message about muslims in his campaign trail. >> right. you know, it's always sad that campaign rhetoric tends to change after the election. >> coming to saudi arabia because he like saudi arabia. and saudi arabia like it. >> one of the things he is going to do while he's here is deliver a speech to all the leaders here about islam and to us the leaders to preach a peaceful version of islam. >> well, it's a goal to confront radicalism, but not primarily islam. but radicalism is evil and should be confronted here and else where. >> now, perhaps it's no surprise

in this country that the people here are throwing themselves publicly, at least behind the leadership. there does seem to be a genuine feeling that they're prepared for the time being what president trump has said in the past. they'll remember it, they won't forget it. >> to hear the different takes that you got there during your time speaking with people. one of them confronting iran. the other confronting radicalism and one person right off the top of your piece hoping for an apology, nik. we'll see how the speech goes. nic robertson live for us in saudi arabia. thank you so much for your time today. yeah. as we pointed out in the beginning of this, all of this going on and more revelations regarding the russia probe and other things. russian officials bragged about how close they were to michael flynn. >> we're learning the russians hoped to use their relationship with flynn to influence the new

u.s. president as pamela brown reports for us. >> reporter: multiple sources tell cnn that russian officials bragged in conversations that they had cultivated such a strong relationship of michael flynn that they believe they can use him to influence donald trump and his team. now, those conversations deeply concerned u.s. intelligence officials and it even impacted one intelligence the incoming administration was privy to because some acted on their own to limit how much sensitive information they shared with flip, a former official tells our gloria borger the way he was talking about flynn was regarded as a five-alarm fire from early on. and the russian conversations indicated that flynn was their ally. the russians may have exaggerated during those conversations. flynn's relationship with russia developed throughout 2016 months before he was caught on that intercepted call in december.

that ultimately led to flynn's firing as trump's first national security adviser. cnn has reached out to flynn' lawyer who declined to comment and the white house who said there is no evidence to support any collusion between the campaign and russia. top officials and members of congress briefed on the matter have all said the same thing. pamela brown, cnn, washington. >> pamela brown, thank you so much. a short time in, right, as the u.s. president. but this is probably been one of the most tumulltuous weeks for donald trump. >> ambitious, indeed. sarah murray reports and we heard this before. the president is hoping this will be an opportunity for a reset and a break from all the controversies at home. >> reporter: donald trump leaving washington behind as he ames to use a high-stakes foreign trip as he tries to

escape the cloud of controversy. just as he took off, a fresh controversy broke out. "new york times" reporting that trump told russian officials that firing fbi director james comey relieved some of the pressure on him in the russia investigation. trump reportedly describing comey who is overseeing the russian investigation at the time as a real nut job and saying, i face great pressure because of russia. that's taken off. the white house did not deny the account. in a statement, white house press secretary sean spicer said, by grandstanding and polit sizing the investigation into russia's actions james comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with russia. the investigation would have always continued and, obviously, the termination of comey would not have ended it. trump's allies are hopeful he'll use his five-nation foreign trip as an opportunity to move beyond complaints. >> the entire thing has been a witch-hunt and there is no

collusion between certainly myself and my campaign. >> reporter: and refocused on his presidential agenda. >> we want to get back and keep on the track that we're on because the track that we're on is record setting and that's what we want to do. we want to break very positive records. >> reporter: a reset trump's colleagues are hoping for, as well. >> clearly it is my hope that he rights the ship and he improves so we can get going. >> reporter: in washington, the discussion is still dominated by the chaos of the past few weeks large caused by the president's own action. as actions continue swirling about his snap decision to fire comey and where the russian investigation now helmed by a special counsel will lead. and the president will have a number of pressing issues to deal with as soon as he returns from his foreign trip. among them, whether to hire an outside legal counsel now that a special counsel has taken over the russian investigation.

and, of course, who he will pick to be the next fbi director after firing james comey. sara murray, cnn, the white house. >> thank you so much. now, to get a sense of how president trump's growing problems are playing out in russia. let's go live to ivan watson following the story in the russian capital. thank you, ivan, for your time today. so many story lines playing out here in the states. one of them about basically from "new york times" saying he told senior officials in the office that he was a crazy nut job and learning from officials that they were so close with their relationship with michael flynn they bragged about it. what are you hearing in moscow? a response to this. >> this has not been front page news here in russia and don't expect the same kind of leaking and anonymous information coming from the kremlin bureaucracy and the russian government

bureaucracy that you're seeing in the u.s. likewise, the russian media which is heavily influenced by the kremlin not going to be reporting the kind of stuff that we're seeing from washington day after day talking about the investigation into alleged links between the trump campaign and the kremlin. the kremlin's line throughout all of this and this is going back months has been deny, deny, deny. and then to say this is an internal american affair and then to ether mock it or to den dprat it completely with the russian president vladimir putin saying this is an example of political schizophrenia in the american political system and to also claim that there is an anti-russian campaign going on in the u.s. it's interesting that sometimes the russian reaction, the official reaction to these claims of collusion and meddling and hacking reflect some of the argument that donald trump,

himself, has used. which his defense has been to say, hey, russia is being used by the opposition in the u.s. as this weapon to flog me with. which russian officials have suggested, as well. there is no question that moscow welcomed the election of donald trump. thought that he would be somebody who could help improve russian/u.s. relations and one of the lines that has come out of russia consistently throughout the past months since the inauguration of donald trump has been to suggest that opponents within the u.s. political system are opposed to improving relations between trump and putin and they're attacking the prospects of kind of an improvement in relations. so, that's kind of the summary of what's been going on here in moscow these past months, really. >> cnn international ivan watson live for us in russia.

a lot to cover. thank you so much for giving us the perspective there in russia. so, again, the u.s. president making his first international trip. all the while, the shadow of scandals continue to grow back home by the hour. this is "newsroom." we'll be back after the break.

two sources tell cnn white house lawyers are doing research on impeachment procedures. and they're consulting experts on the subject. the white house denies this and says it's still not true and it's still very uncertain that president trump would, indeed, face any such effort to remove him from office. >> according to sources briefed on the legal discussions that are happening, the president still has the backing of republicans in congress. democrats for their part have quieted talk of impeachment. they believe that it may be premature. they don't want to overreach. "new york times" london bureau chief joins us now from the british capital. i mean, i think the media is accused every day of perhaps this all leading to some sort of hysteria. having said that, if we deal with transactional politics, we're dealing with scandal after scandal. a lot of distraction not just

for the president but his staff, as well. at this point, do you believe the trump administration is handicapped by having all these scandals in the hopes of having some sort of transformative policy in the next nine days? >> i think trump is badly hurt. now, it doesn't have to last forever, but the white house is consumed with its own problems. it's like they have a bad, bad intestinal problem and it is very hard for them to kind of look outside to the rest of the world and see what needs to be done. so, in this sense, i think this long trip that president trump apparently was grumpy about doing it would be quite a good thing for him because, first of all, it sends him abroad where he's going to be honored and treated like a king. which is happening in saudi arabia now where everyone will want a bit of his time. where everyone will be listening

incredibly closely to what he says about them than rather what he says about himself and his problems. where generally in a number of these countries, they have real interest in a trump administration that is different from the obama administration. that's particularly true in saudi arabia and in israel. so, for all those reasons, i think, you know, trump may enjoy this period abroad, but at the same time, leaders will look at him and wonder can he last? that is a serious question. >> it does seriously undermine him. i want to know from you if you noticed the allies getting more nervous. i mean, they all seem to deal with the earthquake that was that political, you know, campaign and that was the election. and they all seem to be willing to deal with the trump administration on their own terms. i detected quite a change, though, in the last two weeks. what is it like, especially there in europe where trump will be headed after he heads to

saudi arabia and israel? >> it's been a bit like a roller coaster. everyone is waiting for the asteroid to hit and they're not really sure what kind of impact it's going to make. you know, people are very nervous because trump had said a lot of, you know, very hostile things during the campaign especially. nato is obsolete and the nato union is going to break apart. he seem to support marine le pen in france and he's been a big backer of brext and scottish independence. he is nervous and people see him as transactional. the problem with a transactional america is it's all about interest, it's not about values. and if, for example, with nato where trump is going to be later, there's article five which is a commitment to collective defense. now, that's not a transactional deal. that is a deal forever. if it's going to work.

if it's going to act as a real deterrent. so, the more transactional trump seems, actually, the more nervous allies get. now, some of his criticisms make perfect sense. nato needs to do more for itself. needs to spend more. it also needs to spend more efficie efficiently. so, this can have a good impact. everyone in brussels certainly i've talked to a lot of them. both at the european union and nato are hoping that nothing goes wrong. they set the bar very, very low and if trump sticks to the script, everyone else will be polite and everyone will give a great sigh of relief after he goes. >> such vivid language from you this morning, stephen. that's nothing compared to what we have heard from behind the scenes. they are hoping to cross their fingers behind their backs and i hope the trump administration wishes that, as well. still ahead, this very

important trip and more coverage on the u.s. president in saudi arabia. cnn is live on the story. and trump's campaign trail comments about islam didn't win him any favors in the region. take a look back as trump gets ready to address the muslim world. he's a nascar champion who's she's a world-class swimmer who's stared down the best in her sport. but for both of them, the most challenging opponent was... pe blood clots in my lung. it was really scary.

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show me the billboard music awards. show me top artist. show me the top hot 100 artist. they give awards for being hot and 100 years old? we'll take 2! [ laughing ] xfinity x1 gives you exclusive access to the best of the billboard music awards just by using your voice. the billboard music awards. sunday, may 21st eight seven central only on abc. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta we welcome our viewers in and around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. >> i'm paula newton. u.s. president donald trump has arrived to saudi arabia. his first stop on his first

overseas trip since taking office. he is set to meet with other muslim and arab leaders, as well. moscow embraced this ban, the retired u.s. general michael flynn as an ally who could influence donald trump. sources tell cnn that russian officials bragged among themselves about their strong ties with flynn. flynn was fired after less than a month as national security adviser. now, after firing the fbi director president trump reportedly insulted him as a "nut job." according to "new york times" he said it the next day to senior officials in the oval office. the fbi investigation into russian meddling had put, in his words, great pressure on the white house. >> the story we're following in iran. the state media says the state president is in the lead as the vote continues to be counted in that country's presidential election. rouhani seeking a second term in office.

if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held. now, for more on the u.s. president's trip to saudi arabia. we're joined by our white house reporter jeremy diamond in riyadh. he did just land, again. we're seeing a lot of the reverence that the kingdom is showing right now to donald trump. having said that, i mean, even you, jeremy, you must have been confronted with so much news getting off that airplane. do you believe that it will distract from what is a very, very ambitious nine-day foreign trip? >> well, certainly, the swirl of controversies that this white house and this president are facing are continuing to dog him, even as he lands here in saudi arabia. as they traveled the several thousand miles from washington to riyadh overnight, several significant news stories breaking, including additional information and more allegations

concerning the russian investigation, the investigation into potential contacts between trump campaign officials and russian officials. we're learning that michael flynn who became the national security adviser for just 24 ho days. russian officials believed they could influence president trump during michael flynn and that raised questions from officials during the transition. the white house making clear they hope during this investigation that now has a special counsel overseeing it in an independent manner. officials telling cnn they hope it will be resumed swiftly and nothing will be found of those contacts between russian officials and trump campaign associates. but, clearly, the president and his team as they land here in saudi arabia hoping to change the focus away from those controversies and towards this week of powerhouse diplomacy that the president has. the greeting that the president

got here this morning in saudi arabia was one full of pageantry and despite his old age and the heat we have here going to the tarmac to greet president trump and his wife as they stepped foot in saudi arabia. what to expect here from this visit is the president is looking to potentially reset with the muslim world. of course, you'll remember his strong rhetoric during the campaign. controversial rhetoric that billions of muslims around the world found very offensive. the president, of course, called for a total and complete shut down of muslims entering the united states said that "islam hates us." that, of course, very much in contrast with the reception that he is getting here from saudi officials who are, of course, looking to forge a stronger partnership with the trump administration to confront regional conflicts like with iran and, of course, to confront terrorism together. >> what strikes me, this isn't a rhetorical reset. i mean, the trump administration

had some very different ideas than the administration. do we get any indication of that that he will be raising human rights or not raising human rights in saudi arabia? >> what one senior white house official told us just a couple days ago we're not going to lecture anyone. that has been the message from trump as he met with these leaders from several of these muslim countries. president trump has made clear that, you know, he's not trying to lecture people, certainly not in public. white house officials telling us he will raise human rights concerns in private. he greeted earlier in the white house in his term. of course, they didn't raise human rights concerns publicly but we later saw one of these american activists in egypt who is imprisoned. she was released shortly following that meeting. >> again, just bringing up the

tip of the iceberg of all there is to talk about on this visit. continue to follow it there for us in riyadh, appreciate it. no doubt a very important speech for the president seen as a reset in the muslim world. president trump gearing up to address muslims all over the world. but when he was running for office, a different story. very vocal about what he thought about muslims. >> he once said in an interview as jeremy reminded us, "islam hate us." going back over the speech from president barack obama in cairo after his presidency completely different in terms of the frame of reference that donald trump had. it's inest theteresting how he bring that back. brianna keilar looks at some of president trump's controversial comments. >> reporter: he drew wide criticism when he falsely claimed that muslims cheered the collapse of the world trade center on 9/11.

>> i watched in jersey city, new jers jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. thousands of people were cheering. >> reporter: just weeks later in december 2015, trump first announced his proposal to ban muslims. came in wake of the isis-inspired attack by a u.s. born pakistani american and his wife. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shut down of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> reporter: as trump surged in the primaries, he said the religion as a whole was anti-american. >> do you think islam is at war with the west? >> i think islam hates us. there's something, there's something there that is a tremendous hatred there. >> reporter: a message heard loud and clear in saudi arabia. the birthplace of islam.

trump is now there to give a speech intended, his top aides say, to unite the muslim world against terrorism. >> it is there that we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our muslim allies to combat extremism, terrorism and violence. and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young muslims in their countries. >> reporter: he'll have a lot of explaining to do, particularly on his travel ban of several muslim majority countries now tied up in the court system. >> well, first of all, it's not a travel ban. he is very clear that it is extreme vetting. >> reporter: also clear that it was, indeed, a ban. >> we're going to have a very, very strict ban and we're going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for many years. >> that ban offered with significant impact from top white house aide steven miller.

as a college student, miller work would the terrorism awareness project, a group considered an anti-muslim hate group by the southern poverty law center. brianna keilar, cnn, washington. still ahead here, a royal reception in saudi arabia. one that won't go unnoticed on the other side of the persian gulf. reaction from iran. the president set to travel to israel after saudi arabia. what the talk might mean for the next part of that trip as "cnn newsroom" continues. as after a dvt blood clot,ital i sure had a lot to think about. what about the people i care about? ...including this little girl. and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital,

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this is cnn breaking news. we are following breaking news out of iran this hour. the election that's taken place there. iranian state media has a new ticker scroll reading the national media, irinn

congradilates the victory of rouhani. you see the president rouhani in the presidential election. this video is what we're looking at right now. iran's interior ministry has not released new numbers since their last update. those numbers had the incumbent president rouhani with 22 million votes. little more than 22 million, 22,700,000. his main challenger with 15 million of the votes. the broad numbers could be more specific leer. exactly 22,796,468. let's go live to fred pleitgen who is on the ground following this.

>> around the next 45 minutes the ministry will release the official results of this election. the numbers you were given is with 38 million of the votes counted in this election. again, the iranians saying more than 40 million people voted in this election, so, still, some ballots that were being counted. there isn't any sort of official official announcement yet. but apparently the state media seeing that rouhani is so far ahead they're already congradi g congradilating him on winning this election. some smaller news agency that have done the same thing. they're also saying rouhani has won this election. which, of course, george, as we have been saying, is a very important one. very important in shaping this country's role in the middle east and shaping this country's role globally, as well. and, of course, internally as far as economic policies are concerned. and from having been at a lot of these polling stations. one major polling station in

tehran yesterday could really see that the turnout was very, very high. many people coming out and telling us, look, we had two candidates especially whose economic policies are diametrically opposed and that's why many of them said that they believe this election is so very important. finally, george, one thing we shouldn't underestimate is that in the runp to the election, the donald trump factor. with the president being in saudi arabia and israel, also still on the policies and some of the rhetoric coming out of the trump administration, rouhani put under a lot of pressure by the conservatives. he was the one who negotiated the nuclear agreement and he said this country should engage more with the west and also with the united states. that's something very much criticized for after the trump administration took that hard line. it doesn't seem to have hurt him in the polls. judging from what we're just hearing, he will be declared the victor of iran's 12th presidential election in its

history here. >> fred pleitgen live, thank you so much. the headline here, nationled media congratulating the victory of rouhani in the presidential election. cnn has corresponded on the ground and we'll continue to bring you updates and newslines as we learn more about this breaking news we're following. a lot going on in the middle east right now. donald trump on the ground in saudi arabia. we want to let you know that israel will be his next stop. how they're viewing that visit there. thanks so much. nice to see you. i want to get your take on this. reading the headline in israel the last few days. but it is interesting because donald trump was fond of saying on the campaign trail that israel will never have a better friend. how is israel thinking he is going to live up to that now? >> well, that's where the focus wants to be and as close and as short as possible to that.

this should be an easy visit. it's a republican president. a conservative government here. republican congress and republican senate and yet the israelis are very much on end. there is a sense of nervousness here about this visit because of what he is libel to say off script and any spontaneously comments he might make. because the issue here and the issue that trump wants to address is very sensitive. if he says too much about it or demand too much from benjamin netanyahu's government it could affect netanyahu because many coalition partners or at least some of the key ones are anti-palestinian state. you don't want to see netanyahu making concessions. the more it focuses on the conflict and on israelis and palestinians the worst it is from netanyahu's government. the more this focus is on iran and the threat iran poses for the renale the region. i have spoken and they all basically have the same sentiment which is this is about the optics.

this has to look good but the sooner trump gets in and shakes the right hands and makes the right statements the sooner it is over the better it is from the israeli perspective. that's a role reversal here. the palestinians are fairly calm going in. they believe president mu mud abbas played his cards right with his meeting with the other arab leaders in saudi arabia right before trump comes here and what he has to address the peace process. the israelis that are nervous. the palestinians that are calm. we'll see how this all plays out. again, paula, it's about the optics. if the right statements are made this should be an easy visit and that's where it should end up. if this goes off script, it could have serious consequences playing out here. >> i really hope you haven't jip jinxed anything. the next few days to bring us through this and, again a lot riding on the line with what is

a privtle relatial relationship middle east. still ahead on "cnn newsroom" pippa middleton was nearly the center of attention at her sister's wedding and now getting ready for her own. water. every day women around the world spend millions of hours just collecting it. stella artois has partnered with us at water.org to help provide access to clean water to women and their families in the developing world. we can be the generation remembered for ending the global water crisis once and for all. what do you want to be remembered for? ♪ >> i'm alex trebek. if you're age 50 to 85, i have an important message about security. write down the number on your screen, so you can call when i finish. the lock i want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door.

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welcome back to "newsroom." we are hours away from the biggest wedding in the united kingdom. pippa middleton is about to walk down the aisle. >> nice wedding, nice dresses. members of the royal family including her sister, the duchess of cambridge will attend, of course. erin is live where the ceremony will be held. i know this isn't a royal wedding, yet, a lot of anticipation or is my imagination, i just want to see the kids so badly, erin. what is it? >> so much anticipation and media speculation surrounding this wedding, paula. let me give you a sense of where i'm standing. i'm in buckleberry wedged between where the ceremony is going to be taking place at a 12th century church on a private estate and where the reception is going to be taking place which is, of course, at the middleton family home, not far

from here. now, there is limited media access, as you might imagine to the event itself. but they are allowing two royal pool cameras to cover their church arrivals and departures, which is very unusual for a royal family to be covering a middleton event this way. but, of course, this is a special occasion. prince george and princess charlotte are expected to attend and they have roles in the wedding and what promises to be a lavish affair. >> reporter: it's not quite a royal wedding but in the scale of hotly anticipated nuptials, it's pretty close. the duke and duchess of cambridge attending and prince george and princess charlotte taking starring roles. and prince harry on the guest list, pippa middleton's wedding is set to be britain's wedding of the year. the details are being kept under

tight wraps, the bride and groom to be tending to the final preparations of the 12th century church where the wedding ceremony will take place. just a few miles from her parent's estate, the reception. she grabbed the attention of the world to her sister and her dress and her figure made headlines. suddenly the overshadowed younger sister shot to fame. >> it's been a crazy couple years since my sister's wedding, and i just feel really fortunate to be able to build a career as a writer. >> reporter: with the celebrity status came opportunity. pippa authored a book and became a contributor for "vanity fair." after dating a string of high society men, 41-year-old matthews popped the question last summer after almost two years of dating. despite all the interest in the couple themselves, the biggest

question is whether prince harry's girlfriend will be his date. speculation abounds, but it's unknown if the american actress will accompany prince harry to the church or the reception. if she attends, the highest profile outing to date and may spark rumors of another royal wedding in the wing. and we're about an hour and a half and a away from the wedding ceremony itself. lots to look forward to. paula. >> erin, appreciate it. looking pretty in pink for the wedding. that's all for this hour of "cnn news room." i'm paula newton. >> i'm george howell. the news after the break. if you have medicare

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in chief in saudi arabia. president trump in readd, set to speak on a peaceful version of islam. will sunday's speech hit the mark? cnn is live for his first foreign visit. he may be out of the controversy but ties to russia continue to haunlt russian trump. the latest russian official bragged about the relationship with michael flynn. we go to moscow for reaction. and congratulating president rowhani on his election. cnn will have the latest on this important story. >> want to welcome viewers around the united states and around the world. i am paula newton. >> i am george howell. cnn newsroom starts