Monday morning news: March 25, 2019

Mueller report finds no Trump collusion with Russia » The Justice Department says special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation found no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Mueller submitted his long-awaited report late Friday. On Sunday, Attorney General William Barr delivered a four-page letter to Congress summarizing Mueller’s findings. Barr reported that no collusion was found—quote—“despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.”

President Trump responded a short time later.

TRUMP: It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this for—before I even got elected it began. And it began illegally.

Republicans say they want to know more about the origin of the Russia investigation.

President Trump called Mueller’s conclusions “a complete and total exoneration.” But on the question of whether the president obstructed justice during the investigation, the attorney general’s letter said Mueller’s report “does not exonerate” the president. Instead, Barr said, it “sets out evidence on both sides of the question.”

Democrats are demanding Barr release the Mueller report in its entirety. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff told ABC’s This Week…

SCHIFF: Make the request. If the request is denied, subpoena. If the subpoenas are denied we will haul people before the Congress, and yes, we will prosecute in court as necessary. 

Democrats also say, while Mueller has wrapped up his probe, Congress will continue to investigate the president. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler told Fox News…

NADLER: The special counsel is looking and can only look for crimes. We have to protect the rule of law. We have to look for abuses of power. We have to look for obstructions of justice. We have to look for corruption in the exercise of power, which may not be crimes. 

Death toll rises from Cyclone Adai » As floodwaters recede in southern Africa, officials are finding the bodies of more people killed when Cyclone Adai slammed the region more than a week ago. The storm has officially killed at least 750 people.

And many thousands of survivors remain in danger. As efforts to rescue people trapped by the floods wind down, aid workers across the area are bracing for the spread of disease.

More than 100,000 people are now in camps after seeing their homes washed away.

Sebastian Rhodes Stampa is deputy director of the UN Humanitarian operation. He told reporters Sunday…

STAMPA: We are doing all we can at the moment in support of government in support of government to reach those people who need our help. We have a huge number of assets now in country and more on the way in. 

Stampa said “this has been declared a system-wide emergency for the United Nations and the humanitarian community.”

Pentagon identifies soldiers killed in Afghanistan » The Pentagon has identified two U.S. Army soldiers killed last week in combat in Afghanistan.

They are 29-year-old Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist Joseph P. Collette, and Sergeant 1st Class Will D. Lindsay with the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Both men were based at Fort Carson, Colorado.

The Pentagon said only that they died of wounds sustained during combat operations in Kunduz Province.

Four U.S. soldiers have died so far this year in Afghanistan.

The U.S. still has about 14,000 troops serving in the country supporting and training Afghan soldiers.

Hundreds evacuated from cruise ship off Norway coast » Rescue helicopters lifted almost 500 passengers from a stranded cruise ship off the coast of Norway over the weekend. As the ship tossed in high winds and waves, five choppers flying in the pitch dark winched passengers one-by-one to safety.

Nearly 1,400 people were aboard the Viking Sky when it had engine trouble in rough weather forcing the crew to issue a mayday call on Saturday.

Passenger, Alexus Sheppard, said at first she was amused by a sudden jolt when she thought the ship simply hit a high wave.  

SHEPPARD: And then the furniture all bashed to one end and started breaking things and the ceiling started falling down. And so, yeah, it went from being entertaining to being terrifying in just a matter of minutes. 

Rescuers began by lifting the injured from the ship. The evacuation was a slow and dangerous process amid winds in excess of 40 miles an hour and 25-foot waves.

Tugboats later towed the ship into a nearby port with nearly 900 people still on board.

(AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and his wife Ann, depart St. John’s Episcopal Church, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019. 

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