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King Charles III: I Cherish A Sense Of Duty To Others; Queen's Death Comes At Time Of Uncertainty For U.K.; World Mourns Death Of Queen Elizabeth II; Trump To Respond After DOJ Appeals Judge's Special Master Ruling; DOJ Asks To Continue Review Of Classified Docs During Appeals Process; White House Making Plans For Biden To Attend Queen's Funeral; World Mourns Death Of Queen Elizabeth II; BYU: No Evidence Of Racist Heckling At Duke Volleyball Match. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 09, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Victor Blackwell. Alisyn is off.

For the first time in 70 years, the world is hearing from a British monarch who is not Queen Elizabeth II. Her son just gave his first public address as King Charles III. The title will officially become his tomorrow. And King Charles promised his life to the people in the U.K. and beyond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I, too, now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.

And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavor to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Today, about 2,000 members of the public grieve together at a service at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The new British Prime Minister offered a reading during that ceremony. One of King Charles' first actions was to reach out to the many mourners who had gathered outside Buckingham Palace.

And for more than seven minutes, he shook hands, he took on the duties of the crown, of course, today that his mother wore for more than 25,000 days. Let's go now to CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster outside Buckingham Palace. Max, what is the early response to the new King's speech?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm looking at commentary from well known commentators here in the U.K. and I think, frankly, everyone thinks it was pretty spot on. It was a huge challenge for him to try to step up and express the nation's sorrow about the passing of his mother, the nation's mother, but he did that very effectively. And then he also touched on all of the issues which are touch points in relation to his own monarchy, which, of course, started yesterday afternoon when his mother died.

The sound bite you paid earlier on, I think it was pretty central, where he reached out to people from all different types of backgrounds. There are issues he was speaking more widely there, I think, for the U.K. He was speaking about realms where he is currently head of state, which may be thinking about breaking away because of historic ties to the United Kingdom, which many of those nations feel uncomfortable with, most notably Britain's role in the slave trade.

So I think he's saying it's up to those countries to choose whether or not they want to keep his as head of state, as long as they do. He wants to do the best job possible for them. I think these images were very powerful. I think he was quite emotional today. If we play you another sound bite from the end of the speech, you can see how emotional he gets. Something that his mother would never have allowed, but I think that's the difference with this monarchy. It's more emotional. It's more touchy feeling. It's fundamentally got the same principles as his mother, but it's also more approachable, I think.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES III: To my darling mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late papa, I want simply to say this: Thank you.

Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years.

May 'flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest'.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: It's very relatable, it's very powerful, it's very personal and I think it really resonated here in the U.K., Victor.

BLACKWELL: Max Foster, I want you to stay with us and let's bring in now CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, CNN Contributor Sally Bedell Smith.

[15:05:00]

And Sally is also the author of Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life. Also with us is journalist and former British talk show host, Tricia Goddard.

Christiane, let me start with you because there are sure many people who watch this speech today in the U.S. and maybe in other countries who have not heard six or seven minutes from now King Charles' uninterrupted remarks in this way. You obviously have. How does what we heard today compared to the Prince Charles of the past? CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, look, I think he has been, obviously, preparing for this for many decades. He comes to being king quite late compared to his mom, who was 26 or so when she took the reins of state over here. But what he said, I think, very similar to what Max was saying, he set the bar on many issues, not just on the issue of what becomes of Commonwealth and those other countries around the world that he is normally - well, he is had a state of their choice about whether they remain in that situation and in that in that relationship with Great Britain. It's a very, very important question and it's something that a lot of the younger generation of British people and around a very concerned about.

The issue of justice, the issue of really reckoning with that colonial past, it's a live issue and this king is going to have to deal with that. I think he also and I find this very interesting referred to his mother's accession to the throne at a point of great privation and devastation after World War II.

Well, 70 years later and we are in a state of great privation and potential devastation during an ongoing war in Europe with Russia's invasion in Ukraine, and the cost of living crisis, that has also exacerbated. And the British people are facing great privation now with the high inflation and his meeting with the Prime Minister today is going to be a very important relationship. But her job to baptism by fire right now is going to be massively important, as the people look to her to try to mitigate the financial pain that they may be going through over the next several months.

This is a moment of crisis that we're in, economic crisis for the British people and we also are, at the same time, at this moment of passing the torch on the monarchy.

BLACKWELL: I want to come back to that moment in this relationship in just a couple of minutes. But Trisha, let me come to you now and you were nodding along as Christiane was speaking there in which we heard from King Charles: "I shall endeavor to serve you with loyalty, respect and love as I have throughout my life." He is approaching this in a new way because he's approaching a changing world.

TRISHA GODDARD, BRITISH TELEVISION PRESENTER: Oh, very much so. And as Christiane has said, the commonwealth and their relationship with Britain, that is changing as well. And it's not just, for instance, the Caribbean nations which are questioning the past because of slavery, Australia as well with their new prime minister, Anthony Albanese. He is very much a republican and he's always said that while Queen Elizabeth was still alive, then let sleeping dogs lie.

Now the gloves may be off, but Charles is recognizing that. Also, we have to remember that he's got a very close relationship with Islam, for instance. And he's just guest edited the voice newspaper, the black newspaper on its 40th anniversary. So I think he's already been working to bring all of those fractured pieces together.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And the prince - when he was prince, spoke out against Islamophobia after the terror attack ...

GODDARD: Yes.

BLACKWELL: ... in the United Kingdom. Let's listen to a portion of King Charles' speech. This is where he talks about the new Queen consort, Camilla.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES III: This is also a time of change for my family. I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla.

In recognition of her own loyal public service since our marriage 17 years ago, she becomes my queen consort. I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Sally, more time in his remarks committed to the Queen consort than to his two sons, maybe for some reason here. What do you hear there in the highlighting of how long they've been married, the work she's done, her character in these first remarks?

SALLY BEDELL SMITH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think she's had a long climb to become more popular and she has done a lot of good work that has, perhaps, not been fully recognized. And she has, above all, made him happy. She understands what she - what he does.

[15:10:02]

She has supported all of his causes and I think she has been a real partner. They are soul mates. They have a lot of interests in common and I think he's trying to highlight her importance to him and how crucial she will be as his partner, not only in his marriage, but as his Queen consort.

So I think this was a very important moment for him to punch that up for the public. His whole - I was going to also say that his whole style is much different from that of his mother. I mean, he's more relaxed. He's even though people think that he's a little bit stuffy, he is and he's actually quite informal and we're going to see a lot more of that and I think people will be surprised pleasantly.

BLACKWELL: We saw the first bit of that when he arrived at the Buckingham Palace today, with a kiss on the cheek, a kiss on the hand, shaking hands and hugging. Max, we were able to boost the audio of this meeting between King Charles and his Prime Minister, Liz Truss. I want people to listen to what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES III: It's the moment I've been dreading as I know a lot of people have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: At the moment he's been dreading in one sense, obviously, the death of his mother, the Queen. But it's a rough moment for the country as Christiane talked about there. The importance of this relationship in this moment, considering all that is facing the U.K.

FOSTER: Well, perhaps they can bond through the fact that they have both come into their roles in the same week is a huge thing for the British nation to deal with the new prime minister and new head of state at the same time. And the time as Christiane described, feels like one of crisis and one that will last some time, because the economy is an absolutely joyful state with people talking about 20 percent inflation next year.

So this is a difficult time and these two will be key in managing the United Kingdom and trying to keep it together and united. And that is primarily the monarch's position to represent unity, and consistency and continuity in times of crisis and that's a big test.

I think the words that you pulled out there really speak to what Sally was saying, a more informal, more relaxed monarchy, the Queen would never be caught saying things like that on camera or on a microphone. But Prince Charles or King Charles, of course, who he is now, he is relaxed about that.

So it's slightly different, slightly more informal. I know he seems like a formal guy to a lot of people, but he's actually very emotional and quite informal for the world he comes from.

BLACKWELL: All right. And the world will get to know him over the next several weeks, months and years. Max Foster, Christiane Amanpour, Trisha Goddard and Sally Bedell Smith, thank you all.

Now, of course, the Queen's reach went far beyond the throne more than the Royal Family. How life could change for millions in the aftermath of her death and from new currency to a different version of the national anthem, already being sung outside Buckingham Palace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALL: God save our gracious king. Long live our noble king. God save the king.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you, Charles. Thank you, Charles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you King Charles. We love your mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:56]

BLACKWELL: A short time ago, we heard the first official rendition of Great Britain's new national anthem for the first time in at least seven decades, God Save the King.

Sarah Gristwood is a royal historian and author of Elizabeth: Queen and Crown. And back with us, journalist and former British talk show host, Trisha Goddard.

Sarah, beyond the anthem, how does this transition change the social fabric of life in the U.K.?

SARAH GRISTWOOD, ROYAL HISTORIAN: Well, I think it does to some degree with all of us. Generations now have only known a queen, Queen Elizabeth II. And just hearing that Anthem, I'm surprised and impressed by how readily, how fast people who've never said those words before a managing to sing God Save the King.

BLACKWELL: Four out of five Britons have only known a monarch as queen, Queen Elizabeth. Trisha, to you, you know, have met, obviously, King Charles now. It's going to take a while for us all to transition into calling him King Charles. But how do you think he's going to change the monarchy, change the role?

GODDARD: I think just by being himself. He's - I don't believe his strong environmental passion is going to disappear anywhere soon. It's going to be interesting with his meeting with Liz Truss, because one another way she's suggesting to help the fuel crisis is to bring back fracking.

[15:20:06]

Now, the word fracking to an environmentalist is a red rag to (inaudible)--

BLACKWELL: It's almost profanity.

GODDARD: It's almost a profanity. So he's going to have to bite his tongue a lot. I also think his - that touchy feelingness is new as well. They're looking at the flowers and what have you. I do think people are under estimating Camilla, who I've also met. She's really earthy. She's really down to earth. Anyone who's met her has been instantly won over and I actually think Camilla is going to be Charles' secret weapon.

BLACKWELL: Really?

GODDARD: I really do. I really do. I think, she's been - people think of Princess Diana. I mean, that still hasn't gone away, that sentiment of Diana. But I do think that - I mean, Camilla is a very hard worker. She is someone who makes people feel instantly at ease. She's very earthy. She's very down to earth and she's kind of Charles' ying and yang.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

GODDARD: And I do think she's going to be enormously important to his reign.

BLACKWELL: King Charles also talked about his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Let's listen to a bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KING CHARLES III: As my heir, William, now assumes the Scottish titles, which have meant so much to me. Today, I am proud to create him Prince of Wales. With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the center ground, where vital help can be given. I want also to express my love for Harry and Megan, as they continue to build their lives overseas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Sarah, just a couple of weeks ago that Prince William said that he was going to move to a smaller home to try to have a normal life, how does this change his life, also Prince Harry's life?

GRISTWOOD: Well, a good question. It - Prince William's life has now stepped up a notch in public terms. Kate, the Duchess, as we know her, is now Princess of Wales, which means - and she has herself acknowledged this apparently, assuming the role that we still link with Diana, Princess of Wales.

I think in fact, when Harry and Megan left the U.K., left working Royal Family, the pressure was absolutely on William and particularly Kate, to step up a notch, to step up to the plate, because only Kate could then provide the glamour factor. But they did step up. Kate did provide that factor that nobody else in the very diminished Royal Family could really do.

So I think now what we're going to see now for them will be a continuation of the path we're on, on a slightly higher note, rather than a radical alteration.

BLACKWELL: Sarah Gristwood, Trisha Goddard, thank you so much for the insight as we watch this transition.

Let's go now to CNN International Correspondent Scott McLean. He's outside Windsor Castle. What are you hearing from people there?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Victor. Yes, so we have tried to kind of survey the crowd here, especially people who have heard this speech and overwhelmingly people say that it is reassuring. If people had doubts about Prince Charles' ability, this speech has certainly put them to rest. They thought that it seemed heartfelt, that seemed genuine and they were really impressed by some of the things that he said about his mother and particularly, several people have told me that they liked the fact that he mentioned Prince Harry and Megan and kind of pointed out to them that obviously he's wishing them the best as they build their life in the United States.

Just quickly, people still continue to show up outside the castle to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth, obviously, now the focus shifting to not just mourning her passing but also celebrating her life and now looking forward to the future under Prince Charles. But I mentioned some of the reservations.

Obviously, Prince Charles is not nearly as popular as his mother, not nearly as popular as his son either and when you really sort of prod people on this issue, that some people have said he might have to rein back in some of his opinions and things like that. I just want to bring in these guys who actually three generations it looks like who heard the - heard Prince Charles' speech and I just wonder what you guys thought.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I thought his words were amazing, considering the hard times he's going through at the moment.

[15:25:02]

I think it's all unexpected and I think he's going to serve our country well.

MCLEAN: What stood out to you, young man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I liked the part of the speech where he said that his mother shall be carried by fowls and angels. And I think he's going to be a very good king and more rule this country well like his mother did.

MCLEAN: Well said, young man. Thank you so much, guys.

And Victor, look, I mean, it is important to remember that everyone seems to love the Queen because she had this squeaky clean reputation. Prince Charles carries a little bit more baggage, perhaps, even just this summer, there was controversy surrounding donations that his charitable foundation had taken from the half brother of Osama bin Laden.

And so, things like that certainly don't give him the same necessarily squeaky clean image going into his role as the new king of the United Kingdom.

BLACKWELL: Well, he's also ascending to the throne in his 70s versus his mother who ascended in her 20s and it's a different era. I mean, we know a lot more about most public figures now. It's good to hear from them there. They look back at the Queen and ahead at their new king. Scott McLean for us, thank you.

Back in the U.S., the Justice Department has appealed a judge's ruling to appoint a special master to oversee the documents seized from Mar- A-Lago. The next phase of that legal fight is ahead.

And we'll continue our coverage of the tributes out across the U.K. and the world honoring Queen Elizabeth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00]

BLACKWELL: The Justice Department and former President Trump's lawyers face a midnight deadline to submit proposals on how the special master's review of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago should work, and who that special master should be. Now, the deadline comes as the DOJ filed notice that it intends to appeal the judge's decision to grant a special master. Let's bring in Kara Scannell now. So, what do we expect from today's deadline on this special master question?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the main thing will be this filing that is a joint filing from both team Trump and from the Justice Department of a list of candidates who could possibly serve as the special master. Now, it's not necessary that they have to agree on all these names but they have to submit them in this one filing. In addition to the names of possible candidates, they will also have to include what they think the scope of the duty should be and what the limitations of the duty should be. How long this will go on, some sort of schedule, as well as who's going to pay for this.

I know the judge did, though, in light of DOJ move yesterday asking her to pause her from enjoining DOJ from looking at all of these classified documents, 100 out of 11,000 plus that were taken. She's asked both sides to say something today in the filing about this proposition, this proposal that DOJ has put forward.

In their filing, DOJ notes that the Trump team has already said that they oppose this. So, we're not really sure what they're going to put in this filing about it. She gave them until Monday to submit a formal response, you know, a motion of their own to weigh in on DOJ's proposal.

BLACKWELL: So, get that list of who should possibly be the special master before answering the questions about limitations on the special master.

SCANNELL: That's right. And what's interesting there is, you know, the issue that DOJ wants to take off the table here is they want to say, you can do the review for the attorney client privilege and personal documents, but they want the judge to allow them to continue to look at and use the classified documents, a subset. Now, the issue with the special master, whoever that person would be, if they're going to be reviewing these classified materials, they would need certain clearances, security clearances or keep people that would qualify for those types of clearances. So, you don't know how that's going to affect the composition of who they put forward as candidates.

BLACKWELL: All right, Kara Scannell, thank you.

Let's bring in now Josh Skule, former FBI assistant director for intelligence and now is the president of Bow Wave for corporate technology and security company. Josh, one of the requests from the DOJ is to bar the special master from looking at the classified information. Does a special master need to look into that? I mean, I can't imagine that there would be classified information that would be covered by attorney/client or executive privilege.

JOSHUA SKULE, FORMER FBI EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR INTELLIGENCE: Thank you, Victor. No, I don't think the special master needs to look at the classified documents. It appears to me that the Department Justice and probably the wider intelligence community doesn't want to disrupt their review in determining whether or not there's been damage done or sources potentially put at risk based on the classified information exposure. BLACKWELL: One other thing in the request to continue to look at the

classified information at least from DOJ's perspective, they zero in on the dozens of empty folders marked with classified markings there.

[15:35:03]

They want to know what happened to the contents, potentially if there's some certain methods and sources that must be now treated as lost or compromised. How much can be learned from just the folder without the information inside?

SKULE: Well, that's very tough to determine, Victor. I'll tell you, working in a SCIF in a sensitive compartmented information facility, there are going to be folders marked secret, top secret, confidential in that facility to safeguard those classifications. So, it is right now based on what we know tough to tell whether or not there were actual classified documents in those folders or those folders were taken along with the dearth of other items from the White House.

Unless the FBI already has information that there was information in those folders and they received that from sources on the ground or some other means in which case that would be a very strong lead to continue to follow up on other witnesses.

BLACKWELL: All right. Good to know, Josh Skule, thank you.

President Biden says he will attend the Queen's funeral. We've got new details on that and how the Queen's reign transcended American politics and party lines.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The White House is making initial preparations for President Biden to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral. A source tells CNN they will only announce his attendance once the palace reveals its plans for services. The White House also says that former presidents are not expecting individual invitations, but they could be part of President Biden's official delegation.

Queen Elizabeth's 70 year reign spanned 14 U.S. presidents. She met all of them except for Lyndon Johnson. She witnessed the leadership of 15 British Prime Ministers, seven Popes. CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is live in Balmoral, also with me presidential historian Doug Brinkley.

Doug, let me start with you. 13 presidents over her reign. Former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama, they released a statement as did every former president.

They said: Back when we were just beginning to navigate life as president and first lady, she welcomed us to the world stage with open arms and extraordinary generosity.

She was, Doug, for, you know, the more recent presidents, a dean of world leaders of sorts.

DOUG BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: She was a dean and an upgrade. If you could be a politician and be in a photograph with Queen Elizabeth II, there was no downside. And so, all American presidents, first ladies wanted to be seen with her. That would be a photo that would live forever, even if you were somebody as well-known as George W. Bush or Barack Obama. To be able to have a photo shoot with the Queen was a big deal.

And you know, she took a particular liking to President Ronald Reagan because of their love of horses that they shared, and perhaps a similarity in politics. But in truth, she liked all American presidents because she knew that the future of Great Britain was so importantly tied to the United States to keep that transatlantic alliance alive well into the 21st century.

BLACKWELL: Nic, here in the U.S., our head of state changes at most every eight years, but as we've said several times, 80 percent of Britons have never known another monarch other than Queen Elizabeth. Help us understand the depth of this loss for many?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Wherever you turn in this country, whether you're pulling the change out of your pocket to buy a cup of coffee or putting a postage stamp on an envelope or passing a letter box in the street, you're seeing an image of the Queen. You're not seeing an image of a previous King. It was the Queen and that's how familiar. She was there in everyone's lives every day, and it's something you just sort of accepted. It was normal.

But now of course that will change, the face on the postage stamp will change. It will become King Charles III. The face on our currency, on our bank notes will change, on our coins will change. Those kind of things are not the thoughts that you had before the Queen passed. Because you just didn't think forward to that. You didn't have to. It wasn't necessary. There was -- you'd always known this one thing, and so as you say, more than 80 percent of the people in the country were used to that.

You know, King Charles today began to give a sense to the country of the continuity of his renewing the pledge of service, that strong sense of continuity, but also of the change coming, that Prince William is no longer just -- and Katherine Middleton, no longer just the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

[15:45:04]

But now also -- it goes beyond, it's changed, things are changing in this country. So, I think this is what people are now beginning to be prepared for. But as King Charles said, the values remain the same under the Queen, there was much change, many cultures now, many faiths, but the values of the country stay. So, the continuity, but the change at the same time.

BLACKWELL: And that continuity, Douglas, of course through a quarter of U.S. history, Queen Elizabeth was the British monarch, and she offered obviously condolences and support during some of the greatest tragedies. Here's what she offered.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: And to build a better life with our children, not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: 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 VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Of course, there during the pandemic also at the start of that, after the assassination of Kennedy. President Biden says that she made the relationship special, this special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. -- Doug.

BRINKLEY: I think that's true. And she had an intimidating seniority. If anybody got a call from Queen Elizabeth, whether you were president or secretary of state, everything stopped. That was what was most important. In fact, Ronald Reagan who had met every Hollywood star, John Wayne and Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, the whole gang, he had no sense of celebrities because Reagan was a celebrity. But he, after he was shot, said that, you know, that the only time he was nervous is getting to be with Queen Elizabeth II and being with the Pope and Mother Teresa. That was it.

So, she was in kind of a league of her own, and there's been reports that she didn't meet Lyndon Johnson because of the Vietnam War. But there was nothing against -- she had nothing against Lyndon and lady bird Johnson. And in fact, in 1991, she came to the LBJ library with Anne Richards and the Johnson family and celebrated that library and museum here in the United States. So, she really was equal opportunity, liked all the presidents.

BLACKWELL: Doug Brinkley, Nic Robertson, thank you.

BLACKWELL: And as we head to break, a live look at Buckingham Palace as a constant stream of people come to pay their respects.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Got an update now on a story we have been following. Officials at Brigham Young University now say there is no evidence that any racial heckling happened during a volleyball match against Duke University last month. BYU athletics initially apologized to Duke and banned a fan accused of shouting racial slurs. CNN's Martin Savidge joins us now. So, a couple of big reversals. What is BYU saying?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: BYU officially saying that they did an internal review and they have found nothing, they say, that can corroborate the claim by a Duke University athletic student that there were racial -- there was racial harassment that took place.

Let me just sort of back this up. So, it was the end of August when Rachel Richardson, who is a sophomore starter on the Duke University volleyball team, tweeted out that two days prior, the Duke University team, especially black members of that team, were heckled by a BYU fan during a game that was being played in Utah. What's more, she went on to say, this was racial heckling. This was hatred, pure hatred that was coming out. And on top of that, when the Duke athletic members made this known to the BYU personnel, sports personnel, they did nothing to intervene or stop it in real time.

And since that time, there's been an investigation that has been done by BYU, and they say that they have reviewed audio and video recording for the game as well as from the university broadcast footage. They also maintain they talked to at least 50 game attendees that including Duke and BYU athletic personnel and student athletes and came up with the following.

From our extensive review, we have not found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event. As we stated earlier, we would not tolerate any conduct that would make a student athlete feel unsafe.

OK, so that was BYU. Shortly thereafter, Duke University came out with their own statement and they say this in response.

The 18 members of the Duke University volleyball team are exceptionally strong women who represent themselves, their families, and Duke University with the utmost integrity. We unequivocally stand with and champion them. Especially when their character is called into question.

So not a direct criticism of BYU and their investigation.

[15:55:00]

They simply -- Duke is saying we believe our own student athletes here. It's quite clear that both universities are likely to say in their minds this is the end of the matter. We agree to disagree. We will see -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we will see. Martin Savidge, thank you for the reporting.

SAVIDGE: You're welcome.

BLACKWELL: There are tributes to Queen Elizabeth coming in from around the world. Buildings lit up or went dark, flags were lowered to half- staff. Some of the world's biggest stars remember the Queen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The Netflix historical drama "The Crown" paused production today. Producers say it's a mark of respect following Queen Elizabeth's death. Now, the Emmy winning series centers on the life and reign of the late monarch. Production of a new season will also go dark on the day of the Queen's funeral.

And tributes and farewells for the Queen are pouring in from around the world. This is Auckland, New Zealand. Members of the country's defense forces performing a ceremonial dance to honor the commonwealth's longest reigning monarch. And pictures of the Queen were projected on to the Sydney Opera House.

Harry Styles took a moment out of his show at Madison Square Garden to honor the Queen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY STYLES, SINGER: Please join me in a round of applause for 70 years of service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And Elton John reflected on his long friendship with the royal at a concert in Toronto.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELTON JOHN, SINGER: I'm glad she's at rest and she deserved it. She's worked bloody hard.

[16:00:00]

I send my love to her family and her loved ones. And she will be missed, but her spirit lives on, and we celebrate her life tonight with music. OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Our special coverage continues. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.