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Queen's Coffin Rest Inside Buckingham Palace Overnight; CNN Goes Inside Liberated Ukrainian City Of Izium; Unexpected Rise In Prices Sends Markets Tumbling; Fmr. Executive Accuses Twitter Of "Misleading The Public"; Xi Jinping to Visit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan This Week; Princess Anne: An Honor and Privilege to Escort My Mother. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 14, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:32]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States, and all around the world. Live from Buckingham Palace, I'm Becky Anderson. It's 5:00 in the morning here. I'll be covering all the latest developments as the world mourns Queen Elizabeth II.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN World Headquarters, I'm John Vause. I'll have details on all of our top stories including market reaction to Wall Street's worst day since June of 2020.
ANDERSON: And correcting myself, it's just after 6:00 in the morning here in London. And at Buckingham Palace just behind me, Queen Elizabeth's coffin now rests inside before the next leg of her final journey begins. In the hours ahead of procession, we'll take her coffin from the palace to Westminster Hall. Members of the royal family including King Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry will be walking in that procession.
The Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall starting on Wednesday until her funeral on Monday at Westminster Abbey. We'll ahead of all of that.
Mourners camping out in London waiting for their chance to see the Queen's coffin and pay their respects.
An outburst of emotion outside Buckingham Palace late on Tuesday as Queen Elizabeth arrived home for the last time. The crowd, some of whom waited for hours in the rain, clapped and cheered as they gathered to pay their respects to Britain's longest serving monarch.
Well the Queen had arrived in London from Edinburgh in Scotland, where thousands of mourners there paid tribute at St. Giles' Cathedral, where the Queen was lying at rest. King Charles III also joined the public to mourn his mother in the Scottish Capitol before flying to Belfast, and that of course, marked his first visit to Northern Ireland since becoming the new monarch. And CNN correspondents are following all of the developments. Scott McLean is in London where people are already lined up to see the Queen lying in stage this Wednesday. Let's start though with Nina dos Santos, who joins me here outside Buckingham Palace. And what more do we know about the days ahead?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the immediate future, everybody's focused on the procession that will take place later on this afternoon, Becky. So at about 1:50 p.m. local times, and a few hours from now, we're expecting a gun carriage to arrive, accompanied by the king's troop royal horse artillery and the Grenadier Guards. They will take Her Majesty, the Queen Elizabeth II's coffin from the ballroom, which is where at the moment it is lying in rest being watched over by palace chaplains as we speak in the West Wing of Buckingham Palace, onto that gun carriage.
And then, about 22 minutes past 2, it will start a procession over to Westminster Hall before arriving there at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon. This is probably likely to be a very visible occasion for all sorts of members of the royal family. Remember that the Queen is survived by four children, eight grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren and a lot of those members of family were also here yesterday evening to greet the Queen when she arrived here for that final night with her family inside Buckingham Palace.
This will be the first sort of visible procession that you're going to see ahead of course, the state funeral that's taking place in a few days time. It's likely that we're going to see King Charles III, also, the Princess Royal Princess Anne who accompanied her mother down from Edinburgh on that plane yesterday evening, walking alongside the casket, but also we're expecting to see Prince William and Prince Harry and other members of the royal family proceed along the streets behind us.
Some of the members of the royal family will be travelling by motorcade and cars including Camilla Queen Consort, and of course the Duchess of Sussex and Sophie of the Countess of Wessex as well.
ANDERSON: Let's get to Scott McLean. Thank you, Nina. Scott is out amongst those who have already started queuing to get an opportunity to file past the Queen as she lies in stage. Scott, just explain, you know, how many people are, where you are, where you are, and the significance of this state for so many.
[01:05:24]
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, if you want to know what a monarch means to a country, I think this is a pretty good illustration. So these folks here in the tents and in the lawn chairs and covered up with tarps and umbrellas in the rain and in the cold, they are waiting to see to file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II where you see that tent up there, that's the beginning of the line. And so it stretches all the way down along the river.
They'll eventually get across there to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall where the body will be lying in state. You can see just how many people are here who have decided to spend the night, all of these people have spent the night and many of them are woefully unprepared without any kind of tents or camping gear or anything like that, because officials have told people, have warned people not to bring too much stuff because they're only allowing in very small bags. And so that means that people have tried to bring as many clothes as they can, but they can only bring so much in terms of supplies.
They are expecting this queue to go all the way down to the other end of central London. It is remarkable. I mean, it's a 4-mile stretch. Right no, it's, obviously, a few 100 meters long right now, but they're expecting it to get much longer. We're still about 11 hours before the public's allowed in.
I just want to introduce you to these two gentlemen, Mark and Sham.
MARK BONSER, QUEUED TO PAY RESPECTS: Hi.
SHAM BHASKARAN, QUEUED TO PAY RESPECTS: Hi.
MCLEAN: They drove down from Doncaster. Last night you got here about 10:00, so you spent the night.
BONSER: Yes.
MCLEAN: I just wonder why this was so important to you?
BONSER: Well, like having a second mother really. I think same for all the nations, she's done 70 years on the throne, just least we could do, you know, just spend 25, 26 hour the long it takes. Just lovely woman. And if everybody in world would just like, well, a bit lot, that's a place she gave to not just to the nation of the Commonwealth but around the world really, didn't she? Fantastic (INAUDIBLE).
MCLEAN: And Sham, I just, you know, this seems remarkable to so many people who are watching on TV thinking, you guys drove down a few hours. You spent the night outside. Did you sleep at all? I mean --
BHASKARAN: No, no. We've been talking to people, we've met people from different parts of the country. And it's been no one's gotten to sleep, because we're talking about a Queen and what she means to all of us.
MCLEAN: But, I mean, the thing that I find remarkable is, you know, obviously that you're going to be able to file past this coffin for, I don't know, maybe 30 seconds, maybe a minute, you know, why is that worth it to you?
BHASKARAN: Because I've --
BONSER: Just given a respect -- just respecting the lady for everything she just gave to us. That's just nothing. You know, as long as we can give us a few seconds, just say goodbye to the Queen. It mean so much to everybody.
BHASKARAN: Compared to what she's done for the last 70 years for us to stand for like 10 hours is nothing compared to the seven years she's given us.
BONSER: Just amazing woman.
BHASKARAN: Yes, absolutely.
BONSER: Amazing woman. Thank you all for the Navy as well. You know I mean that.
MCLEAN: I hope you stay warm. Thanks for talking to us.
BONSER: Thank you very much
BHASKARAN: Thank you.
BONSER: Thank you.
MCLEAN: Becky, I'll just take you along and just show you well, as far as we can, the line just continues to grow. So I'm not certain as to where the end of it. Those two gentlemen Mark and Sham told me that they are number 150 in line and it still stretches on for, I don't know maybe a couple 100 meters or so before it reaches the end.
There are some 1,000 police volunteers who are lining the route of the queue. It is a remarkable effort to try to obviously secure this area. And they're expecting as well that extra trains will be added because this is going to go on 24 hours a day that people will be allowed to file past the coffin. Nonstop for the next four and a half days.
ANDERSON: One hopes for the benefit of those who are outside that the weather holds, it has rained overnight and more is expected the forecast, so thankfully, improving somewhat over the next few days.
Scott McLean is on the south bank of the river there. Nina dos Santos with me here at Buckingham Palace. To both of you, thank you.
And later this hour, we'll have more on the Queen's final journey and how the U.K. is honoring its longest reigning monarch.
VAUSE: A senior military adviser to Ukraine's President says a major counter-offensive is slowing but not stopping as troops fight to retake control of the realignment in the Donetsk region. Liberating layman (ph) could set the stage for a new push into the Luhansk region and the wider Donbas. The Ukrainians report pockets of ongoing Russian resistance as well as Russian troops looting as they retreat.
[01:10:06]
Well Russia still controls a sizable stretch of Ukrainian territory. Their forces are now facing the consequences of a military route, possibly the biggest defeat since the war began. Here is Pentagon spokesman at a press briefing on Tuesday.
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BRIG. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We've seen a number of Russian forces, especially in the northeast, in the Kharkiv region cross over the border back into Russia, as they've retreated from the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Among the villages, towns and cities which now once again under Ukrainian control, Izium stands out as potentially one of the most strategically important. CNN's Sam Kiley is the first international correspondent to report from Izium, which was a logistics hub for the Russians. He's more now in this exclusive report.
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SAM KILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a stunning advance. Ukraine's route of Russian invaders has recaptured 6,000 square kilometers, Ukraine's President says. This land was held by Russia just a few days ago. Now it's providing a rich harvest to Ukraine's army of abandoned Russian equipment. The Russian Z symbol painted over.
The guns ready to kill Russians. The recapture of Izium, a strategic prize accelerated by precision strikes from new artillery donated by Western allies.
(on-camera) This was clearly hit with a very large piece of artillery or an air strike. You can see how important it was strategically, clearly a former school as a kind of children's painting on the wall. But it's also got these large holes which would have been dug to store tanks or armored personnel carriers, even artillery pieces. There's one, two, three, four, five.
(voice-over): e were shown into a command center in the bunkers of an old factory.
(on-camera): So down here we've seen the medical facility, call it something like that, inside this bunker. There's a barracks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
KILEY (on-camera): That's zipping it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KILEY (voice-over): The top brass here slit in beds made of old doors.
(on-camera): And then, of course, the new command center here. As I walk along here, it's absolutely extraordinary. They were the different labels for the different roles of the RET senior Russian officers on these school desks that have been arranged in this bunker in an old what looks like a brick factory.
Now, they were safe down here, on the ground. But they didn't feel safe enough to stay in Izium. And what's critical, ultimately for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is making sure that the senior officers of the Russian army stay on the run. If they do that, the Russian Armed Forces will collapse completely in Ukraine and potentially threaten the longevity of one Vladimir Putin. This couple celebrated liberation. They told me that some of their neighbors were less delighted and blamed Ukrainian forces for shelling their homes. But he insisted the incoming shells never hit the checkpoints or Russian artillery base right outside his house, and so blamed the Russians for false flag attacks on civilians.
He said the Russians behaved like pigs. They stole everything from all the empty houses before they ran away. The Russian guns were busy here. The ammunition boxes now stockpiled for winter fuel. And to the Ukrainian victors here, the spoils have been rich.
The capture of Izium and the route of Russia here has broken a key link in Putin's logistics chain in the battle for the East.
(on-camera): Now, you have the remarkable scene of a tank coming to collect and abandon Russian howitzer.
(voice-over): I asked him if it had been a hard fight. Not really, he said. The latest Ukrainian successes may not be the beginning of the end of this war. But not even the Kremlin can deny that this chapter has been a very sorry tale for Russia.
Sam Kiley, CNN, in Izium.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Another Russian businessman has been found dead this time at the eastern port of Vladivostok. Ivan Pechorin was the senior manager at the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and Arctic. According to local reports, he drowned over the weekend. The latest in a string of mysterious deaths of Russian executives since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Still to come here on CNN, the worst day on Wall Street since the height of the pandemic sparked by an inflation report most were not expecting. And as the markets plunged, President Biden celebrates a strong economy. But he says that slide in stocks, no need to worry.
And a former Twitter executive turned whistleblower heads to Capitol Hill to damning allegations of subpar security standards at the social media Giant. More on that when we come back.
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VAUSE: The closing bell brought some relief for most investors on Wall Street, a disappointing inflation report for U.S. financial markets to their worst day since June of 2020. The Dow lost more than 1,200 points close to 4 percent. The Nasdaq fell 5 percent. S&P 500 lost 4 percent.
The markets are looking to rebound in the day ahead. Let's take a look at the futures here, the Dow Futures up by almost a quarter of 1 percent. Nasdaq up by 0.2 percent and the S&P Futures same as the Nasdaq and the Dow Futures set by 0.2 percent. Let's look at what's happening in the Asia Pacific region right across the board right now. The Nikkei down by almost 3 percent, Hong Kong same, also Shanghai down just 1 percent and the Seoul KOSPI down just over by 1.3 percent as well.
That inflation report showed U.S. consumer prices rising a 10th of a percent from July to August. Most economists had expected the falling cost of oil and low prices at the pump would bring down inflation. News was a little better in terms of annual inflation. That number came in at 8.3 percent. The second monthly slowed down and well below 9.1 percent back in June.
More now from CNN Business Correspondent Rahel Solomon.
[01:20:09]
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: These inflation numbers seemed to catch everybody off guard. Most economists were expecting price rises to cool in August and said headline inflation actually rose by 0.1 percent Compared to the previous month. And that's despite the fact that a key driver for inflation, the price of gas actually fell. So that means that price rises have spread beyond energy and into other areas of the economy, the cost of shelter, medical care and food all rising sharply.
Investors shock was reflected on Wall Street with the deepest losses for stocks since the darkest days of the pandemic in June 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 1,200 points, tech stocks took the biggest hit the likes of Apple, Facebook, parent Mehta and chip maker and video all seeing huge losses. The Nasdaq which is dominated by tech stocks fell by a whopping 5 percent.
At the center of investors' concerns is what this all means for the Federal Reserve. Tuesday's inflation numbers driving home the reality that the Fed still has a long way to go to get inflation under control. Investors betting on bigger more aggressive rate rises for longer. This inflation report is one of the last that the Fed will see before its policy meeting next week, where the central bank is expected to deliver its third consecutive 75 basis point interest rate hike or three quarters of a percent.
The big question is can the Fed keep hiking rates at this pace without driving the economy into a recession? Judging by the reaction on Wall Street Tuesday, it seems investors are betting that a so-called soft landing is becoming less and less likely.
Rahel Solomon, CNN, New York.
VAUSE: President Biden though brushed off the fall on Wall Street while celebrating his Inflation Reduction Act. Supporters gathered on the South Lawn of the White House just as Wall Street was wrapping up trading. This new build a new spending bill has a huge priority for Democrats. It's meant to cut the cost of health care as well as prescription drugs and address climate change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're making progress. We're getting other prices down as well. We have more to do. But we're getting there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: President Biden signed the bill into law less than a month ago, so there was no way it would have had any impact on those August inflation numbers.
Well, Elon Musk fights tooth and nail to back out of his deal to buy Twitter, the company shareholders are holding him to it. But I think Tuesday in favor of his proposal $44 billion takeover bid. The Tesla CEO has been trying since July to scrapped the deal using Twitter of not being truthful about the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Twitter then sued Musk arguing he simply has buyer's remorse and can't walk away from the agreement. The case set to go to trial next month.
Meantime, a former Twitter executive turned whistleblower went before a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday with allegations of lies, security lapses and foreign spies on the social media company's payroll. Details now from CNN's Donie O'Sullivan.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A month after going public with his claims about serious cyber security vulnerabilities at Twitter, Peiter Zatko, otherwise known as Mudge came to Capitol Hill today.
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PEITER "MUDGE" ZATKO, TWITTER WHISTLEBLOWER: I'm here today because Twitter leadership is misleading the public. Lawmakers, regulators and even its own board of directors.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Twitter's former head of security coming to Capitol Hill with a stark warning for lawmakers.
ZATKO: It's not far-fetched to say that employee inside the company could take over the accounts of all of the senators in this room.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Former Twitter executive Peiter Zatko painting a picture of a company with huge security vulnerabilities that he says are a danger to national security and democracy.
ZATKO: What I discovered when I joined Twitter, was that this enormously influential company was over a decade behind Industry Security Standards.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Zatko was hired by Twitter in 2020 after teenagers hacked the accounts of some of the most famous people in the world. His testimony today coming a month after he first stepped forward as a whistleblower, and exclusive interviews with CNN and the Washington Post.
O'SULLIVAN (on-camera): Ready.
ZATKO: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): He says too many Twitter employees have access to the company's main controls make it vulnerable to future attacks and a goldmine for espionage.
ZATKO: What I did notice when we didn't know of a person inside acting on behalf of a foreign interest as an unregistered agent, it was extremely difficult to track the people.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Last month, a former Twitter employee was convicted of spying for the Saudis. Today it emerged according to Zatko that the FBI had informed Twitter that the company had a Chinese government spy on its payroll.
ZATKO: They've simply lacked the fundamental abilities to hunt for foreign intelligence agencies and expel them on their own.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Telling lawmakers Twitter executives are driven by profit, no matter the security costs.
ZATKO: I'm reminded of one conversation with an executive. When I said I am confident that we have a foreign agent and their response was, well since we already have one, what does it matter if we have more? Let's keep growing the office.
[01:25:03]
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): As for regulators, Zatko says the FTC isn't up to the task.
ZATKO: Honestly, I think the FTC is a little, you know, over their head. They've compared to the size of the big tech companies and the challenge they have against them. They're left letting companies grade their own homework.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN: We haven't heard publicly from Twitter executives since Zatko came forward with these allegations for the first time about a month ago. But Twitter is saying today that today's hearing only confirms that Zatko's allegations are riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies. But the company not answering our specific questions about whether an alleged Chinese government spy is still working at the company.
This all coming on the same data Twitter shareholders voted for that Elon Musk $44 billion deal to take over the company to go ahead. Musk, of course, trying to back out of that. All of this coming in a showdown in Delaware next month when it goes to trial.
Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, Washington.
VAUSE: Let's get back down to London, CNN's Becky Anderson outside Buckingham Palace. And Becky it really is notable, though, just how quiet and somber these tributes have been for Queen Elizabeth. ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. It's extremely quiet out here at present. It's 25 past 6 in the morning, but the crowds will gather once again today for what is going to be a very, very busy day. But as John rightly points out, those crowds have been very quiet, very somber, very respectful.
More details on Queen Elizabeth's final journey as mourners lineup hours in advance to pay their respects to their longest reigning monarch. While some parts of the world mourn the Queen, of course, many in other parts including India, hope that her passing may bring the return of one of its most valuable treasures. Details on that is up next.
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[01:31:26]
ANDERSON: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. Live from Buckingham Palace, I'm Becky Anderson for you.
Scotland bid Queen Elizabeth an emotional farewell as here coffin was flown from Edinburgh to London late on Tuesday. Large crowds lined the dark, rain-drenched streets to watch the Queen's cortege arrive at Buckingham Palace where the coffin was received by King Charles and members of the royal family.
The coffin remains at the palace overnight before it will be taken on a gun carriage in a military procession to Westminster Hall in the coming hours. There, the U.K.'s longest reigning monarch will lie in state until her funeral on Monday.
CNN's Anna Stewart has more now on how the Queen's last journey will unfold over the next few days.
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II will move again on Wednesday from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the palace of Westminster.
Here her majesty's closed casket will lie in state for four days. Until the morning of the funeral, which is set for Monday September 19th.
Wednesday's procession will set off at 2:22 p.m. London time. Along the mass (ph), across Four-Star (ph) parade past Downing Street towards Westminster. Big Ben will toll and gunfire by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Hyde Park will echo across the capital as members of the royal family walk behind their beloved matriarch.
After a short service, the Hall will open to the public to pay their respects. An estimated 200,000 people visited the Queen Mother as she lay in state in 2002. The crowd for the Queen's lying in state is expected to grow far larger. Some media outlets estimating it could top three-quarters of a million. Westminster Hall will be open 24 hours a day to facilitate as many
people as possible with the U.K. government guidance warning "Please note that the queue is expected to be very long. You will need to stand for many hours, possibly overnight with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will keep moving. And it will continue to move once inside Westminster Hall."
As with the Queen Mother, the coffin will be placed on a raised platform called the catafalque in the middle of the hall. It will be draped in the royal standard with the (INAUDIBLE) and the scepter placed on top, representing the power and responsibility of the monarch.
Lying in state is a formal occasion, an opportunity for people to pay their respects. In the U.K., it is given to sovereigns as head state, current or past consorts and more rarely, major public figures such as the Queen's first prime minister Winston Churchill. Also her grandfather King George V, her father George VI and 20 years ago, her mother.
On Monday, the Queen's lying in state will end and her coffin will travel in procession again to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral, one of the last steps in her majesty's final journey.
Anna Stewart, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:34:50]
ANDERSON: Well, reactions to the Queen's death around the world has been varied. In India, flags were lowered and on Sunday that was declared a day of mourning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the long serving monarch as the stalwart of our time. And many people on the streets of India shared that sentiment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was head of the commonwealth of nations. And she was seen by the entire world as mother patriarch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like to see (INAUDIBLE) unfortunately I was unable to see her. Our prayers are always with her. We respect the royal family. And our prayers to the family, this is a difficult time. And our congratulations and best wishes for the new king, Charles III.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Not everyone is feeling nostalgic though for Queen Elizabeth II, nearly half of India's population is under the age of 25 and many weren't even born when she last visited in 1997.
Several young people do tell CNN they associate the monarchy with the colonial past marked by violence. One man said the British quote, "took everything from India". Something literally taken from India is the world-famous Kohinoor diamond, the 105 carat gem was discovered in southern India and was in the hands of Indian princes and kings before ending up in British hands and ultimately the Queen Mother's crown. Many Indians say it's long past time for that diamond come home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM DALRYMPLE, AUTHOR: When the British got, it they put it into the Great Exhibition of 1851. And it became for the Victorians a symbol of the conquest of India. Just as today for post-colonial Indians, it is the symbol of the colonial looting of India, which is why they want it back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Joining me now to talk about India's complicated past and present with the British monarchy, Sucheta Mahajan, a professor of Indian history at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. It's good to have you with us this morning.
India had been independent for almost five years when Queen Elizabeth took to the throne. She made her first of three visits five or six years later in 1960. She was greeted with a warm welcome by India's first president.
A lot of people around the world feel that she was in a way able to separate herself from the painful colonial history of the British empire. Do you feel that she was able to do that in India?
SUCHETA MAHAJAN, INDIAN HISTORIAN: Well, thank you for having me on the show.
I'm afraid not. I'm afraid that that as an Indian people, because colonial rule was carried out in the name of the British crown and also because the rulers of India, the highest officials, the viceroy, they were specifically the representatives of the crown -- viceroy, the very word.
There was a very (AUDIO GAP) the role of the British crown in the popular perception was very strong. Hence there was an expectation from Queen Elizabeth when she came out on her third visit to India in 1997 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of India's independence and also her tragic partition (ph).
There was a great expectation that the Queen would say something which would heal those wounds, particularly the ones at Jallianwala Bagh, the infamous site of the terrible massacre that took place in 1919.
And though she visited the Queen along with her consort Philip, they both went there. But, it was completely botched up by Prince Philip questioning the data on the number of people dead, which was written on the memorial, which was about a thousand according to Indian sources. By saying, that was a bit of a horror, which the press also lapped up.
He said that General Dyer's son, General Dyer was the butcher at Jallianwala Bagh and Prince Philip said well, you know, General Dyer's son said to me that it was only about 500. [01:39:58]
MAHAJAN: So -- but it's not just the gaffe that was made. Even at the state banquet in New Delhi, on the occasion when she spoke about Jallianwala Bagh and repression in India, for some reason she could not get herself, the Queen, to make an apology. I find it very strange.
It had been a 50 years and she had come out on that occasion. All she said was it was very distressful. And she said there are moments of gladness and moments of sadness. And you know, this is one of them. How very weak.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: There have been calls -- there have been calls haven't there -- there have been calls for reparations. Of course, there is the matter of the Kohinoor diamond. What if anything do you feel the U.K. owes your country?
MAHAJAN: Well, you know, I am personally in terms of my family a victim of partition (ph). And we can never forget the fact that it was Lord Mountbatten who was integrally part of the royal family. In fact, that is why he was chosen to come out to India to make the decisions and effect transfer of party. He made this terrible disastrous decision of partition.
And the way that he advanced the date from June '48 (ph) at a time, you know, when the commander-in-chief in India had said that it would take five (ph) years to divide up the Indian army. He goes and advances it by year almost and they decide to leave India within 72 days.
This was a scuffle if there ever was one. So for as far as I'm concerned, not just personally as I just mentioned, but you know, my parents made the trek out from Lahore in Pakistan, I still have the sense of ruthlessness and exile if I might put it like that.
And there are millions like me. So, I do not think it's about Kohinoor personally though the return of the Kohinoor, I think if it's asked for as a symbolic gesture. But, I feel (INAUDIBLE) a, an apology would be very much a minimum, like has been done by countries for slavery more recently.
And b, I think it really needs to be restored if they could. They could restore our historical records which are still right there in the British media.
ANDERSON: Professor -- I have to leave it there. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
MAHAJAN: Yes.
ANDERSON: The perspective this morning of Sucheta Mahajan in New Delhi.
We're taking a very short break. Back after this.
[01:42:58]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping scheduled to travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for a regional summit and his first international trip since the onset of the COVID pandemic. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be there and the Kremlin says he plans to meet with Xi on the sidelines.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout following all the developments live in Hong Kong. So I guess this would be an important meeting for Putin, because he gets to meet with his very best friend Xi Jinping. And he maybe can get a lifeline for the war in Ukraine here.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That also depends on what China wants here. Because China is continuing to monitor very closely the shifting battleground inside of Ukraine. We know that China wants to stay away from any western sanctions being slapped on it for any material support for Russia but it also values the relationship with Russia as an expression of being able to counter the west, in particular the United States.
But for the very first time since the early days of the pandemic, the Chinese President Xi Jinping will be making this visit, leaving China.
He is touching down in Kazakhstan today. Tomorrow, he is expected to meet with the Russian president on the sidelines of an economic summit in Uzbekistan.
And with this meeting, it is an opportunity for China to be able to express the opposition to the U.S. to be able to show off its international clout on the world stage.
But it is also an opportunity for Xi Jinping to do some political muscle flexing to prove that he is confident about his hold and grip on power domestically inside China even though there are so many pressures, economic headwinds against China right now.
So that is what is happening here. The timing of the visit is critical. It is happening just weeks ahead of the 20th Party Congress. That is when Xi Jinping is expected to secure that unprecedented third term in power.
I do want to bring up quickly for you, the statement though from Putin's foreign policy aide because it shows you what the Russians are thinking right now ahead of this expected meeting between Xi and Putin.
They say on the agenda, they will be talking about Ukraine. In the statement it says this, quote, "In the current difficult situation in the face of illegitimate western sanctions, this cooperation demonstrates sustainability which continues to progressively develop and to gain momentum.
Now, we are waiting comment from Beijing on the agenda, let alone any comment about whether or not a meeting is going to take place.
Back to you.
VAUSE: Kristie, we appreciate the update. Kristie Lu Stout live for us there in Hong Kong.
That does it for me this hour, Becky Anderson continues our live coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II after break. I will see you right back here tomorrow.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back.
Queen Elizabeth's coffin now rests here in Buckingham Palace behind me after being flown from Scotland to London on Tuesday. Accompanying the coffin at every stop has been Princess Anne, Elizabeth's only daughter.
And in a statement, she says it has been an honor and a privilege to be with her mother on her final journey.
CNN's Isa Soares looks at how the Princess Royal has been a constant support for the Queen and for the monarchy.
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ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the Queen's coffin continued its route from St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, with cameras focused on King Charles, onlookers may have missed the Queen's second child -- Princess Anne, served (ph) dutifully alongside.
Elizabeth's only daughter Anne was by her mother's bedside on Thursday. Fitting then that she should accompany the procession. When the coffin entered the palace of Holyroodhouse, after an arduous six- hour journey, Anne performed a final poignant courtesy.
Her efforts often go unnoticed. In 2021, She carried out 387 engagements, two more than her elder brother. And she maintains involvement with hundreds of charities.
During the pandemic, the Queen turned to Anne for help with her first Zoom call.
PRINCESS ANNE, PRINCESS ROYAL, QUEEN ELIZABETH II'S ONLY DAUGHTER: You should have six people on your screen.
QUEEN ELIZABETH II, FORMER BRITISH MONARCH: Well, I can see four anyway.
[01:54:59] PRINCESS ANNE: You don't need me, you know what I look like.
SOARES: Speaking on British television over the weekend, she said that there was no manual on how to be a royal And that she learned by following her mother's example.
PRINCESS ANNE: To know what the true values are and to stick with those, not worry too much about the things, the fashions, the things that come and go and to understand what is the bedrock of society.
SOARES: 16th in line to the throne, Anne has been princess royal since 1987.
Her importance in the court of King Charles is assured. Just 21 months apart in age, the two are said to be very close.
KATE WILLIAMS, ROYAL HISTORIAN: Charles would be very wise to use Anne in the monarchy going forward. Anne is popular, she's well loved, her work ethic really commands respect. People really find her a very engaging character. And Charles while he is in the honeymoon period, he really does need all hands on deck and someone who can really help him is Anne.
SOARES: The Princess Royal will continue to be an integral part of her majesty's last journey. A testament to her belief, like her mother's in duty and service.
Isa Soares, CNN -- Edinburgh, Scotland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And thank you for watching this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Wherever you are watching in the world, you are more than welcome.
Live from Buckingham Palace, I'm Becky Anderson. Our coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II continues after this short break.
Stay with us.
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