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King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla Return to Buckingham Palace; Deadline for Special Master Candidates; Commonwealth Nations Mourn Queen Elizabeth II. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 09, 2022 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: To have years. And we were even surprised when she turned up at the wedding, Charles and Camilla's wedding back in 2005. But, over time, she accepted that she was non-negotiable. And, as I say, that's why, you know, there was this concession to come, well, it was a year or so ago, when the queen announced that Camilla would be known as "queen consort" and Charles had always insisted that that would be the case, but it had to be the queen to have her seal of approval, as it were, to announce that. Not for him to announce it when he took the throne.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, "DON LEMON TONIGHT": But perhaps, and maybe there's -- one would think it's understandable that she would be able to understand that considering how she became queen, because of an abdication, because of someone who was in love with another person.

FOSTER: Queen Elizabeth was supreme --

LEMON: And wouldn't have been --

FOSTER: Supremely religious, devout. She was supreme governor of the Church of England. She didn't believe in divorce. That's why Margaret couldn't marry, you know, the person that she loved because he was a divorcee.

LEMON: Yes.

FOSTER: The queen said Margaret couldn't marry him.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: So let's bring - let's bring -- stay with us, Don and Max. Don't go anywhere.

But let's also bring into this conversation again Sally Bedell Smith and Elizabeth Norton. Thank you.

And, Sally, I'm sorry I had to jump in there. We just - we wanted everyone to be able to hear and see the kiss - the kiss, right?

SALLY BEDELL SMITH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That was a moment.

HARLOW: That will be -

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A royal kiss.

HARLOW: The royal kiss. That is one for the history books.

But let -- finish your thought. I mean you've written so much about Charles, about the king.

SMITH: Well, I want to say, just -- excuse me -- you can see his warmth, which is something that when I first met him in 1991, I was so struck by the - by the warmth he exuded and he saw two quite elderly ladies who were friends of his mother, and he went over and he gave them huge hugs. And I think this is what we are going to begin to see. I think this was a sort of crucial moment in our perception of him. He is a -- he is a kindly person at heart and we're seeing very - you know, I mean, when he's doing investitures, for example, he always takes way too much time to talk to people. And that way he's very much like his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother, who took special time for people. And he does the same thing. You can really, really see that vividly right here. And I think this will shape -- this moment will shape the perception of him.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

Elizabeth, as well. What a great point. Some of these moments do live on. I imagine we're going to be talking about this moment, that kiss, that walk through the crowd, for many years to come, as perhaps defining.

And, Elizabeth, these are, we should say it out loud, these are enormous royal shoes to fill, right, in Queen Elizabeth, in terms of her legacy, but also her particular adoration by the British public and even beyond.

And Charles is beloved, not to that degree yet. How does he get there? Can he get there?

ELIZABETH NORTON, HISTORIAN AND ARCHAEOLOGIST: He can get there. I really - I truly think he can. And these scenes were so heart-warming to see.

There is, throughout history, throughout British history, there's always sort of - it's a tricky time when the monarch dies because, of course, there's sadness in the monarch dying, but there's also, because this is immediate transition of power, there's also hope and sometimes excitement.

So, I'm so glad to see that King Charles has been met with cheers and even a kiss, which is a new one. I think he can do it. He is by no means as popular as his mother. And I -- perhaps he'll never quite attain that. I mean there is clearly something special about the late queen and 70 years on the throne. She had such a way with people. But I think he can do it.

He has the legacy of his mother, which will warm people's hearts, endear him to them. And I think if he continues in the same vein as his mother, so being available, being personable, I think he can do it. And it may take him a while and it's going to be choppy waters, I think, but I can see him being just as popular in two or three years almost as his mother.

SCIUTTO: Wow, that's quite a statement.

HARLOW: That is. That is quite a statement.

Sally, let me ask you about leadership and leadership in the most difficult of times. I thought our colleague Stephen Collins wrote it so beautifully in his piece this morning. She said, she ascended a throne wobbling on the tremors of a crumbling empire. She died with the kingdom that she kept together itself at risk of splintering as she slipped away in Scotland where independence, fervor is rising.

This is quite a moment to lead now for Charles.

SMITH: Well, it is. And I agree that he -- I believe he is up to it.

[09:35:03]

He is certainly the most experienced, the most - you know, he's the most traveled. He's the most capable prince of Wales, I think, that has ever taken the throne. He has an extraordinary legacy of charities and causes that he has championed. I mean he's somebody who would go and he would spend a weekend with farmers. He's very, very good with the so-called little people. He endears himself to them. He has embraced people who are sort of forgotten. And I think that -- those kinds of attributes will be much more appreciated now.

SCIUTTO: So much to discuss and, boy, did we just witness quite a moment in the history of this monarchy for the new king.

HARLOW: A beautiful --

SCIUTTO: A beautiful moment.

HARLOW: A beautiful, warm moment.

SCIUTTO: Yes, warm, emotional, honest.

HARLOW: A kiss.

SCIUTTO: Yes, even a royal kiss.

HARLOW: That will be forever remembered.

SCIUTTO: An unexpected one, but a kiss nonetheless.

Please, do stay with us. All of you. We have much more to discuss. Our live, special coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth continues in just moments.

King Charles, King Charles III, as you saw there, just returned to Buckingham Palace as king, preparing to address the world this afternoon as those who love the queen, many of them gathered outside the palace, as you see there, mourn her loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't explain to you how I feel. I feel as though someone close in my family has passed. That's how close I hold the royal family in my heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[09:40:58]

SCIUTTO: Quite a 24 hours in Great Britain and around the world. King Charles III, you saw him there just moments ago, greeting his subjects outside Buckingham Palace for the first time there since ascending the throne. He is now back inside the palace. Heartfelt moments. Smiles. A kiss. Emotional words for the new king and even a song as he was going through the crowd.

HARLOW: That's right. That's right. And we think he -- they may have been singing God -- what did you say, God save the queen?

SCIUTTO: They might have been sticking with the old lyrics for now, understandably. I'm sure things will change over time.

HARLOW: But it does change. I mean it just marks such a change after seven decades on the throne for her.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: But what a warm reception on a beautiful, I should note, sunny, sort of blue sky day in London for the beginning of a new monarch. Members of the U.S. parliament are also paying their respects to the queen right now as thousands line up to lay these flowers outside of Buckingham Palace.

We are going to stay on this live coverage. We're going to hear from King Charles, right, Jim, in just a few hours, 1:00 Eastern Time.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: In this prerecorded statement.

SCIUTTO: And we have the floor as well there, you saw the parliament as they take in this news.

HARLOW: So, we'll stay on this. We'll get back to London in just a moment.

We do, though, have some significant developing news here in the United States.

The Justice Department and former President Trump's lawyers face a midnight deadline for submitting plans for how the special master review of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago, including classified material, should actually work.

SCIUTTO: The deadline comes as the DOJ filed notice it does intend to appeal the decision for a special master. And as prosecutors ask that the review of classified documents be allowed to continue separate from the special master review.

CNN political correspondent Sara Murray joining us now.

In effect you have prosecutors here saying, OK, there was other personal things there that you can make an argument for, but you can't make an argument for the classified documents. Those belong to the U.S. government, not to the former president.

Tell us how they made that argument and what happens now?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. So they notified the judge of their intent to appeal and then they said, look, we are not going to object to this special master moving forward, except for when it comes to these, you know, 100 something classified documents that were seized from Mar-a-Lago. They're saying there is no way that Donald Trump can claim that these were his documents. These are the government's documents. And it is putting national security at risk to not allow the FBI's review of these documents to go forward. They say that the intelligence agency's damage assessment has been temporarily put on pause because they essentially say you can't decouple what the FBI is doing in reviewing these documents from what the intelligence community is doing in reviewing any potential national security risk that could come from the documents being compromised.

You know, remember, we talked about how there were a bunch of empty folders recovered who had -- that had these classified markings on them. They point to that in their filings, saying the FBI would be chiefly responsible for figuring out what was in those folders. Has that material been lost? Has it been compromised? So they are arguing to this judge, look, let's let this special master go forward, but let's remove these classified documents, and let's let the FBI's review, as part of their criminal investigation, move forward. Let's let, you know, a full intelligence assessment of any potential damage to national security move forward.

And, of course, as you pointed out, we are still waiting to hear from both the government, as well as team Trump. They have a midnight deadline today. We still expect them to both put forward their names for who they think could serve as a special master. You know, sort of this scope of work, the timeline for how this would play out. And we would get team Trump's kind of first take on what they think of the government's proposal that these classified documents not be included in the special master's task.

HARLOW: Sara Murray, thank you. We'll see what both sides say before that midnight deadline. We appreciate the update.

Still ahead, leaders, people around the world remembering the late Queen Elizabeth. Buildings lit up or going dark in her memory. Flags lowered to half-staff, all for the queen.

[09:45:01]

We'll take you live to India, Kenya, and Australia, next.

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SCIUTTO: The queen's passing is a British event certainly but it's also a global one. And around the world people are mourning the loss of the only British monarch, many of them, frankly the mass, vast majority of them, would ever have known.

[09:50:08]

Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai lama, offered his, quote, heartfelt condolences, calling the queen a model of strength and dedication. And last night it was a truly emotional, personal reaction from Canada's prime minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: She was our queen for almost half of Canada's existence, and she had an obvious, deep and abiding love and affection for Canadians.

Canada is in mourning. She was one of my favorite people in the world. And I will miss her so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Wow.

HARLOW: Wow.

CNN has our reporters all around the world, in several commonwealth nations, covering reaction to the queen's death.

Vedika Sud joins us live from New Delhi, India. Larry Madowo is in Nairobi, Kenya, and Angus Watson in Sydney, Australia.

Vedika, first to you. What is the reaction there?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: India will observe a day of state mourning on 11th of September. On this day, according to the Indian government, flags across India will be flying at half-mast. And what we're also being told is that the Indian prime minister has gone on to Twitter and he has made a statement there where he has, in fact, gone ahead and said that the queen will be remembered as a stalwart of our times. Modi said she provided inspiring leadership to her people, as well as the nation.

Now, let's also just tell you what the headlines across India have been this morning after the news came in of the queen's death. According to the top papers in India, one of the headlines stated, "Elizabeth, the queen who moved with the world for decades." Another headline said, "a queen across eras." And a third said, "the crown passes, Charles takes center stage."

Now, Queen Elizabeth, when she was queen of England, made three state visits to India. According to (INAUDIBLE), the first was the most significant because it was after she ascended the throne after the death of her father, who was the last emperor of India, that she made that visit to India. And it was the first time for India, after gaining independence, that a ruling monarch had come visiting India.

Vedika Sud, New Delhi.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim and Poppy, Africans are ambivalent about the queen's legacy because of what she represents, the dark, oppressive colonial history with Africa. Britain in charge of much of Africa for about 100 years until the empire kind of collapsed.

And the well-curated narrative, the fairy tale, is of a young Elizabeth vacationing in Kenya. She went up the treetops a princess and came down a queen. That was in 1952. But in the eight years that followed that, more than 1.5 million Kenyans were herded into concentration camps where they were tortured, where they were detained. They -- unspeakable things happened there. Some of them were executed. And many Africans, many here in Kenya feel that she was complicit in that. The atrocity that was carried out in her name, or under her watch, that they don't feel that Queen Elizabeth meaningfully apologized for or even acknowledged.

But you see some critical statements, such as this one, from the official opposition - the opposition party in South Africa, the economic providers have said, we do not mourn the death of Elizabeth because to us her death is a reminder of a very tragic period in this country, in Africa's history. During her 70-year reign as queen, she never once acknowledged the atrocities that her family inflicted on native people that Britain invaded across the world. If there is really life and justice after death, may Elizabeth and her ancestors get what they deserve.

But many African leaders have been almost united in their glowing tributes to Queen Elizabeth. I want to read you this from President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria that talked about his sadness in learning about the passing of Queen Elizabeth at the end of her unique and wonderful 70-year reign. She was the only British sovereign know to 90 percent of our population. And to use a sign of the times, President Buhari has been (INAUDIBLE) for that. A lot of criticism for ignoring that that colonial history, even in Nigeria.

I'm Larry Madowo in Nairobi.

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Jim, Poppy, a day of mourning here in Australia marked by several public events across the country. Here in Sydney, where I am, on Sydney Harbor, the Opera House lit up with an image of her majesty, the queen. A solemn tribute to Australia's head of state for over seven decades.

In Canberra, the capital of Australia, a 96-gun salute at 10-second intervals, guns fired for each year of her majesty's life.

However, the royals are a controversial topic here in Australia.

[09:55:00] There has been a referendum in 1999 to dislodge the royal family, to remove the queen as the head of state. That was defeated by Australian voters, but there has been political chatter ever since about Australia becoming a republic. The prime minister here is in favor of that, and that will be a conversation for the future.

For now, mourning here in Australia.

Jim. Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Thanks so much to everybody. Really do get a sense there of what was once the expanse of the British empire.

HARLOW: Absolutely.

SCIUTTO: And the complicated, difficult, divisive history that comes with that through the decades.

HARLOW: No question.

SCIUTTO: Good to hear that scope.

Still ahead, as the world mourns the death of Queen Elizabeth, her son and successor, King Charles III, is preparing to meet, his first meeting as the royal, with the prime minister, as the king, as the monarch. We're going to have more of our continuing coverage, coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUEEN ELIZABETH II (April 5, 2020): We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. We will be with our friends again. We will be with our families again. We will meet again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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