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At This Hour
Soon: King Charles Meets With Scottish Leader Nicola Sturgeon; Ukraine: Forces Have Reclaimed Huge Areas In East In Major Advance. Aired 11-11:30a ET
Aired September 12, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(SINGING)
VERY REV. PROF. DAVID FERGUSSON, DEAN OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL IN SCOTLAND: Well, let us pray. God of all grace, we thank you that You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to break the power of death, and to bring life and immortality to light through the gospel.
He shared our life, took upon himself our death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all who trust in him. Look not on us, but look on us as found in him and bring us safely through judgment to the joy and peace of your presence.
MORAG MYLNE, ELDER OF THE CHURCH OF THE SCOTLAND: Most Gracious God, with all our hearts, we thank you for the long life, the shining example, the steadfast commitment to duty, the strong faith and the good humor of our wise and great Queen. We thank you for the deep love.
She has inspired from all her subjects, for the myriad ways in which she met and welcomed people from all walks of life. For the diplomacy, with which she resolved conflict and for the stability she brought to her realms, and to the Commonwealth.
FERGUSSON: For the life and example of our Queen.
CROWD: With all our past we give you thanks.
FERGUSSON: For the King in the role he now assumes.
CROWD: (INAUDIBLE).
FERGUSSON: God of mercy, we pray your comfort to all members of the royal family and their time of grief and loss. And fold them in your love we pray you uphold them in their sorrow and grant that they may be confident of your mercy and the promises made to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Lord in your mercy.
CROWD: Hear our prayer.
FERGUSSON: Look with compassion, we pray you upon the King as he assumes the office to which you have called him and owe him with that spirit with which you're blessed and guided the Queen these many years, that he may walk in the joy of your strength, and be affirmed by the love of his people throughout this kingdom. Lord in your mercy.
[11:05:19]
CROWD: Hear our prayer.
MYLNE: We pray for all in our nation, that we may live according to the standards set by our beloved Queen that we may continually uphold in prayer, our King, as he seeks discernment and wisdom for his calling. And that together, we may seek justice and prosperity for all people in this land. Lord, in Your mercy.
CROWD: Hear our prayer.
SAMUEL NWOKORO, COMMONWEALTH STUDENT FROM NIGERIA: We pray, we pray for wisdom to become worthy stewards of your good gifts. Give to us a constant concern for the Earth and all its creatures, a spirit of understanding in our dealings with others and keep the nations of our Commonwealth united, united in bonds of cooperation and friendship, Lord in your mercy.
CROWD: Hear our prayer.
FERGUSSON: Almighty and everlasting God, from whose love nothing can separate us, we commend to your kindness, one another here, and all people engulfed of sorrow of any kind.
We pray for the peace of the world, and for just dealings between the nations, we pray for the hungry and the poor, for those displaced by conflict, for all who suffer hardship, and do not enjoy the benefits which we have known in our day and generation. We pray together as our Savior taught us.
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
(SINGING)
[11:11:42]
REVEREND CALUM I. MACLEOD, MINISTER, ST. GILES' CATHEDRAL: And now go out into the world and be of good courage, render no one evil for evil, but hold fast to the good. Honor all of God's children love and serve the Lord and the power of the Spirit and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love this day, this night, and even forevermore.
(SINGING)
[11:15:36] DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And you're looking at the conclusion of a service of thanksgiving to the Queen at St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. King Charles III, walking behind the Queen's coffin, accompanied by her other three children, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
Seen at the services, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who's a member of parliament from Scotland, also giving readings, of course, members of the clergy giving readings at the service, but also giving a reading is the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, and seen in the crowd as well, Liz Truss, the current prime minister.
And the sovereign holds the title and defender of the faith and she was, and also the supreme governor of the Church of England, and that is now the new King. But it was the Queen now before then.
And of course, as our Max Foster pointed out, as we listened to the applause in the crowd, that they would be singing Psalm 23, which starts the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want an ends by saying surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, quite fitting for someone who held the leader of the Church of England for such a long time.
Max Foster, Christiane Amanpour, Richard Quest, joining me now as we watch this procession, lead away from St. Giles' Cathedral, a moving and fitting ceremony, Max.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I was struck by Iain Greenshields address, really, he's the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church and talking about how most of us can't remember a time that the Queen wasn't monarch. She was a constant in our lives.
And I know, we've said similar things, but I really think that's the thread that links to all of these events and why it really sort of distills why the Queen means what she does to Britain and the Commonwealth.
They talked about, there's lots of flavor of Scotland in here. All of the hymns you heard there are hymns that the Queen was seeing in the local church of Balmoral.
So it almost felt like we were singing with her in a way once we were told that. And one of the psalms was a song that was sung at her marriage to Prince Philip, so a way of reflecting Prince Philip into the service as well, today.
And it very poignant to see the crown there, lying on the coffin with the Royal Standard, because that was the crown, the Scottish crown that she received in that very churched on in 1953. And it really speaks to the longevity of her reign, not just in the United Kingdom, but in the nations like Scotland.
LEMON: Christiane, as we watch these images leading away from the cathedral. It is, as you said, there's quite moving. And you can now besides the applause for coming out of the cathedral, you can really hear a pin drop, there's reverence and respect for her Majesty.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Absolutely, I think what's really striking is not just the outpouring of respect and farewell from the Scottish people who've been able to fill this particular part of Edinburgh the Royal Mile, but also the fact that, you know, as one historian says, you know, this is probably not just the last outpouring of global grief, but the last time one talks about the global prominence of the U.K.
And I think we have to mention that right now. Because King Charles III will probably preside over an even further devolve and weakened Britain, when I say weakened, either in political influence, or indeed in size and consequence.
And that is something that was happening under Queen Elizabeth's reign, and people sort of held it together because she was the glue. But I think once she is gone, now that she has gone off to this whole week of memorials, culminating with the international event that will be her funeral, the state funeral on next Monday the 19th, I think then you will start not immediately, but you'll start to see that.
And I think most especially her relationship or the crown's relationship with Scotland, the government's relationship rather, with Scotland in terms of the continuing union will also be under question. And we really don't know where that's going to go because you can't measure anything by the emotions of today. It'll be what people said before the Queen's death and what people say afterwards.
[11:20:29]
FOSTER: He's heading into the castle now for an audience with Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister who's leading that independence campaign, so it'll be interesting to be a fly on the palace walls today.
LEMON: Yes. The castle, Richard Quest right over our shoulder behind us that we're looking at, it's such, I mean, it's such a beautiful scene here. But as we have been sitting here, it's 4:00 in the afternoon, 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. And normally, just bustling, it is bustling. But you could hear a pin drop, complete and utter silence as this was happening.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Solemnity, respect, dignity, these are the words that one uses, and this is what they'd ask people to do. They asked people not to throw flowers or bring teddy bears and put them there. They asked them to be respectful.
And indeed, for those who will now start to fall past the Queen's coffin on the Cathedral, those who will start to fall past, they have been asked to dress appropriately, modestly, no offensive slogans. And that will follow through to what's going to happen in London, when, of course, we've had a pre tasted, if you will, of what's likely to come as this builds, the momentum builds on towards the funeral.
LEMON: And her coffin still sitting there at St. Giles', as we look at the pictures. So it has been a very moving day. It's actually been a very moving two days, as we covered yesterday, the body making its way from Balmoral to Edinburgh here in Scotland, taking that beautiful long journey across a down the --
QUEST: Spectacular. It's absolutely spectacular and so fitting for the occasion.
LEMON: Yes. And this is the beginning of services that will happen, events, I should say, and moments that will happen up until her funeral next week when the world comes really to London to watch and to participate.
QUEST: I think that pendulum that we've talked of swings very firmly back to the memory of the Queen now. The King is going to get on with the business of pulling the reins of power together. We would like for example, as Max says the meeting with the First Minister. But the big events now are really concerning Her Majesty.
LEMON: A fitting beginning to a final farewell that will wrap up in days here. Christiane, thank you very much, Max, you as well, and Richard, of course, thank you so much.
That concludes our coverage for now. It does it for us today. So thank you so much for joining us for our special coverage. I'm Don Lemon. At This Hour, Kate Bolduan picks up right after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:27:39]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: You've been watching CNN special coverage of events in Edinburgh, as Scotland mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth, thank you so much for being here, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan.
We're going to be following the continued tributes to the Queen throughout the day. But first we do want to get to the other major story today, which is Ukraine. And new developments and a possible turning point in the war there.
Ukrainian forces launching a blitzing advance retaking huge swathes of several eastern regions from Russia, Russian forces just collapsing, Ukraine saying it has now recaptured some 1,200 square miles of territory and today in response to these bruising and embarrassing losses, Russia has launched new strikes, including on civilian infrastructure.
CNN's Melissa Bell is in Kharkiv, Ukraine for us at this hour joining us now with much more of this important reporting. Melissa, can you put this into some perspective for us. What is happening there?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing here in Kharkiv are those strikes that you mentioned a moment ago, Kate. They began last night. President Zelenskyy speaking to them in his nightly addressing, look, this is retaliatory on the part of Moscow and it is coming in light of those extraordinary advances of the counter offensive that you mentioned.
Not just the one that was kicked off at the end of August towards the south, but more importantly, the one that has made those spectacular advances here in the Kharkiv region and further to the south over the course of the last few days, sweeping across villages, first of all eastwards to the south of the city of Kharkiv and then heading further south taking cities where we've seen the Ukrainian flag being raised in places like Izium.
And what we're hearing now is that the Ukrainian troops, Kate, have just crossed the Severodonetsk River, taking a village on the south bank of the river in Donetsk province.
So an astonishing series of advances, the speed of which really no one I think, including the Ukrainians had expected. Now, that isn't to say that all of these towns are entirely secured or that indeed the fighting has finished or indeed that Ukraine is going to win in terms of its objectives with this counter offensive.
Remember that this is a counter offensive that's being kept under tight wraps. Journalists are not being allowed to the front or haven't been allowed so far.
And so what you're seeing is images coming from the troops themselves as they raise the flags that were then able to geolocate and that tell the story of their advance, but it is slightly misleading. We had the opportunity to travel yesterday to the key town of Kup'yans'k, which was one of the first major targets in this counter offensive here in Kharkiv region.
