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Bidens Pay Respects To Queen Elizabeth In London; Heavy Security Preparations Underway For Queen's Funeral; Complete Blackout In Puerto Rico As Hurricane Fiona Nears Island; Migrants Arrive In Sacramento As Volunteers Scramble To Assist; Ukraine: At Least 440 Unmarked Graves At Izium Burial Site; Late Monarch's Corgis To Live With Duke And Duchess Of York. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 18, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:29]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome this Sunday.

Our top news, we begin this hour with heavy hearts as the world prepares for the funeral and final good-bye to Queen Elizabeth II. U.S. President Biden along with the first lady briefly visiting the Queen's coffin today offering a silent reflection to the monarch he first met back in 1982.

Biden then signaling -- signing, rather, the official condolence book at Lancaster House and offering these words about the Queen's reign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've had an opportunity to meet with an awful lot of consequential people, but I can say that the ones who stand out in your mind are those whose relationship and interaction with you are consistent with their reputation.

When the Queen had us to the castle for tea and with joking crumpets, she kept offering me more, I kept eating everything she put in front of me. She was the same in person as her image -- decent, honorable, and all about service.

And our hearts go out to the royal family, to King Charles and all of the family. It's a loss that leaves a giant hole. And sometimes you think you'll never -- you'll never overcome it. But, as I've told the King, she's going to be with him every step of the way, every minute, every moment, and that's a reassuring notion.

So to all of the people of England and the United Kingdom, our hearts go out to you. You were fortunate to have had her for 70 years. We all were. The world is better for her. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, why does she remind you of your mother? BIDEN: Just because of the way she touched when she leaned over, the

way she had that look like, "Are you ok, anything I can do for you? What do you need?" And then also, "Make sure you do what you're supposed to do."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think she meant to the wider world beyond the U.K., Mr. President?

BIDEN: I think, look, the American press has heard me say for a long time, I think the thing that is maybe too much if you excuse the expression, the Irish of it, it's about treating people with dignity. I talk about how my mother and father thought that everyone, no matter who they were, no matter what they're station, no matter where they were from, deserved to be treated with dignity.

That's exactly what she communicated. Just the way she walked by her staff. Just the way she acted. I think what she gave is a sense of maybe above all, the notion of service. We all owe something within our capacity to do that can make things -- not just the world better but your neighborhood better, your household better, your workplace better.

That's what she communicated to me, anyway. And that was an honor to meet her. An honor to meet her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And right now tens of thousands of mourners continue to pay their respects ahead of tomorrow's funeral. CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Kate Williams are in London for the ceremonies.

Kaitlan to you first, President Biden marking this solemn occasion. So what is next on his schedule?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he just left Buckingham Palace. That's where King Charles hosted President Biden, first lady Jill Biden and other world leaders who are for the Queen's funeral tomorrow for a reception.

And it was a little bit more casual than it typically would be something of that affair, where they were visiting. Obviously his first face-to-face meeting with King Charles since that conversation that he was talking about there where he was consoling him about the loss of the Queen and saying, you know, just because she's gone doesn't mean she won't always be with you.

And that comes after earlier he had been at the Lancaster House signing that condolence book where he was making those remarks talking about not just what his experience with the Queen was like but also what he believed she really meant for the world.

[14:04:50]

COLLINS: And you saw the president signing that condolence book in the state dining room. The first lady also signed a condolence book, a separate one in the drawing room at Lancaster House. And we saw a little bit about the message that she left, about what

she believed the Queen's impression on the world was.

And Joe Biden said she lived her life for the people. She served with wisdom and grace. He said we will never forget her warmth, kindness and the conversations that we shared. Obviously that comes after the Queen hosted President Biden and first lady Biden for a private tea last year at Windsor Castle after the G7 summit.

And so they did have their last private meeting with her at that time and just talking about the impression that she left on him and President Biden had summed it up by basically saying she was someone who when you met her she lived up to the reputation that she has.

WHITFIELD: Yes, some really poignant thoughts and really nice to see his handwriting on that condolence book.

So, Kate, the final preparations are under way for tomorrow's funeral ceremonies even though we know now the plans have been in place for decades. So what should we expect?

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: Yes, Fredricka, tomorrow is going to be really such a great day in British history. We have never seen the like in London.

We have had a state funeral before for the Queen's father in 1952 but not many people can remember that. They can remember the Queen's coronation, not so many of the king's funeral. And in 1965 for Winston Churchill but that was different.

This is our first royal state funeral for 70 years and this is such a significant moment. It will be a great moment of pageantry. And also this great meeting of world leaders, they've just been having this reception that Kaitlan was talking about at Buckingham Palace -- 200, probably 300 world leaders. We don't exactly know who is here. We will once we see perhaps the condolence book online.

And it's this huge global event which reflects the Queen's diplomatic efforts. A million miles, 120 countries she visited. She only stopped doing overseas visits in her 80s and really she was the international queen and she really had such an impact on the world stage.

This is what her reign was and this is accumulated tomorrow in a great moment at Westminster Abbey. It dates to the 11th century and there where the Queen was crowned in 1952 -- 1953. Where she was married in 1947, where she saw her children and grandchildren married.

She will now be laid to rest in Westminster Abbey. And then later at King George's Chapel where her father, her mother, her sister and her husband are all buried. She will rejoin them.

WHITFIELD: And Kaitlan, I mean it is interesting to hear Biden's thoughts on -- you know, paying homage to the Queen because of her service, her service to country and her service to family.

But then he was also asked a much more personal question about why he saw in the Queen his own mother.

Tell us what his response was.

COLLINS: Yes. He's not the first U.S. President actually to say that she -- the Queen reminded him of his mother or a grandmother figure as Michelle Obama said, she believed that. They had spent some time with the Queen.

But he was asked, you know, why -- what was it about her that made him think of his mother. And he said it was really her mannerisms, the way, you know, she touched him or the way she made sure -- had this look he said as to ask are you ok, do you have everything you need? He also said that she gave a look of make sure you're doing what you're supposed to be doing.

And so just kind of shedding some light on that interaction that they had. That's really what he focused on since she passed was what she was like in that private meeting where they also talked about personal stories. She inquired about world politics, thoughts on the Chinese leader, Russia's leader Putin as well.

And so just this conversation that they had. And that meeting itself was also remarkable in the sense of the aspect of grief here because he was the first U.S. President that she had been around since Prince Philip had died. And he was also -- you know, now he is meeting with King Charles at this reception that he did just a few moments ago. He spoke with King Charles as we were talking about, consoling him about the loss of his mother and what that is like.

And of course, President Biden himself is someone who has dealt with a lot grief in his life and has talked about those experiences have really shaped him as well. And so it's an interesting aspect to look at these relationships and these conversations.

WHITFIELD: Right. It's so fascinating.

And Kate, this condolence book, I mean being signed by all the dignitaries who are coming to town to pay homage to her. What happens to that book?

WILLIAMS: Well, as a historian, I'm hoping we'll be able to see it, open it online. I hope that we'll be able to see all these messages, all these very meaningful personal messages. Just as Kaitlan was saying it's really personal what President Biden was talking about the Queen.

We saw it last with the Queen in service working just two days before she passed meeting the new Prime Minister Liz Truss.

[14:09:51]

WILLIAMS: But I really think that one of her great moments before she passed (INAUDIBLE) was when she was hosting the G7 in Cornwall with President Biden and she had a cake there and she was at many of the beautiful sights of Cornwall. And that I think was the really --

COLLINS: And that sword and the cake --

WILLIAMS: And the sword she cut the cake with.

I think it was a really happy memory for her that she was able to go to Cornwall and really meet the world leaders and meeting these world leaders, she has touched so many and so many of them have who were here today have met her repeated times. They have their own personal memories.

So I would love as a historian to see that book and I hope -- I hope it is released.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And that moment with the sword I think a lot of people remember that, you know. Someone wanting to give her some assistance and she's like I know how to use this. Putting everybody in place. That was fun.

All right. Kaitlan Collins, Kate Williams, thank you so much.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So pomp and pageantry have spanned the ten days of mourning for the Queen and it will all be elevated even more as Queen Elizabeth makes her final journey through the streets of London tomorrow.

The Queen will continue to lie in state at Westminster Hall until 5:30 Eastern time Monday morning. The coffin will then travel with an escort from the Royal Army Navy to Westminster Abbey. The royal family following on footsteps close behind.

A funeral service will begin at 6:00 a.m. Eastern attended by 2,000 people including world leaders, public figures, royals and dignitaries. And then after the service the Queen's coffin will depart Westminster Abbey and travel around the Wellington Arch. The path will cut through London's government district passing Downing Street to the Wellington Arch.

The Queen will be driven 25 miles west of the capital to Windsor Castle. It is there the Queen lived the last two years of her life. And once in Windsor, the state hearse will drive along the picturesque avenue dubbed "The Long Walk" where thousands of onlookers will bid a final farewell. The king and other royals will join the procession on foot.

The king's troop royal horse artillery will fire a minute gun from the East Lawn as the Queen travels to St. Georges Chapel.

A separate more intimate service will take place there around 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. The royal family and members of the royal household and personal staff will be in attendance. The Queen's coffin will then be committed to the royal vault below the chapel where many royal family members have been laid to rest. A private burial will be held for the family Monday evening.

The Queen will be buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who she was married to for 73 years.

So all of this will require massive security, of course. Here now is CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller, also CNN royal commentator Emily Nash. Good to see both of you.

I mean it is going to be quite a day tomorrow. Of course, it's been an extraordinary 10 days of mourning. But Jon, to you first, you know, we're now, you know, just hours away from the start of the ceremonies. What is happening behind the scenes perhaps to make sure the Queen's final journey remains safe really for everyone?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, it's been happening for a long time, not just for tomorrow which is the big day but it's been happening throughout the other ceremonies where you see there's a complex police plan that accounts for what you would expect which is crowds, traffic and movement.

But behind that there's what we call the counterterrorism overlay and that is things like having bomb squad units pre-positioned ready to move in quickly in a place you won't be able to do an evacuation or halt an event the way you would in a normal procedure of a suspicious package. That means having the air monitors that are looking chemicals, radiation detectors, biological screening that's done every day.

There's a lot you don't see that goes on in the background including leads teams that every threat that's called in, every person that they say, you know, this person may have a plan. They're going out to interview that caller, find that person, assess whether it's a threat or a poison pen. All of those wheels have been turning and will be turned up tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: Emily, you know, Americans may be very familiar with Westminster Abbey, the site of so many royal events in the past. But even as I read through all the details of the map, there are other sites that hold a lot of importance. Why, in particular, is the Wellington Arch so significant and important here?

EMILY NASH, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: The Wellington Arch was the original entrance to Buckingham Palace when it was (INAUDIBLE) memorial when Wellington defeated Napoleon. So it's very important in terms of being a historical monument.

[14:14:52]

NASH: But it's also really the moment where the Queen is going to leave London and leave the palace behind for the last time. This is where she will be transferred into the state hearse. And so it's very much about bringing that final journey through the streets of London that she was so familiar with to a close and moving on to the second part of the funeral day.

WHITFIELD: I mean it really is a great distance. On the map it may not seem like it. Just talking about the center of London and all seems pretty truncated. But I mean this is quite the course here, John, which means you have tens of thousands of people expected to line the streets as I mentioned. We've got royal family members who'll be walking behind the coffin in some areas.

Talk about the challenges now to us that all of this presents security-wise as to how detail pays attention to everyone on foot, everything and anything that is moving beyond the procession.

MILLER: Well, from a security standpoint, from a counterterrorism standpoint, you have a multilayer problem here.

One, you have the royals, who of course, are at the center of this but also a potential target, also a security risk. In fact, the Metropolitan Police in London have a special unit that is dedicated to keeping track of people who have threatened royals, who are obsessed with royals, who have elaborate fantasies about them. And this is one of those days where they're going to have to figure out where are all of those people, who is with them, are they able to watch them, you know, are they in the crowd? So it comes with those complications.

But the crowd itself beyond the royals, who are going to have plenty of security, the crowd itself is a major vulnerability and that is, you know, in a city where they've had crowds attacked with ramming attacks with vehicles, with knife point attacks, with explosive -- the crowd that stretches for miles involving tens of thousands of people makes its own self a target where you can create an incident there where you don't have to attack the church, you don't have to attack the royals, you don't have to attack a world leader.

You are attacking the event which is attacking the monarchy, the Queen and the U.K. by attacking the crowd. And they have a full understanding of that.

And this is where the Metropolitan Police really have to rise to the occasion. It's a department with very tough morale problem. But this is going to give them a chance to rise to what is the most complex security challenge that any Metropolitan Police department has faced probably in recent history.

WHITFIELD: Wow. It is terrible that you have to prepare for it but, of course, you have to prepare for it.

So Emily, I want you to help me again dot the map of all these significant markers along the route. The Queen will travel to Windsor Castle. Help us explain the importance of Windsor Castle.

NASH: The Windsor Castle dates back a thousand years, considered to be built by the Normans. So this is the seat of the British monarchy. And it's hugely symbolic that she is going back there. This is somewhere (INAUDIBLE) her official residence, that she regarded as home.

She spent more time there especially over the past decade than she did at Buckingham Palace. She would go there from Thursday to Monday, most weeks while she was not at one of her other residences. And it's particularly poignant because it's where she spent lockdown with the Duke of Edinburgh before he passed away. And I think as Kate was saying earlier, you know, she had always intended to be buried alongside her late husband.

(INAUDIBLE) into the royal vault, she will be joining him there but they will later be moved to the King George VI Memorial Chapel which she commissioned for her parents and her sister Princess Margaret. So they all will then be reunited.

But more than that, this chapel, St. Georges Chapel that contains the burial spots of ten former British monarchs. So she's also taking her place in history.

WHITFIELD: That's so nice.

All right. Emily Nash and John Miller, really appreciate your insight on all of this. Thanks so much. It is going to be an extraordinary day just as it has been over the past week and a half now, too. Thank you.

We're also following breaking news out of Puerto Rico where we're not learning that the entire island is without power as Hurricane Fiona approaches. We'll take you there next.

[14:19:27]

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WHITFIELD: All right. This breaking news out of Puerto Rico. The entire island is without power as Hurricane Fiona barrels toward it with wind gusts of 100 miles an hour. Fiona strengthened into a Category 1 storm earlier this afternoon.

Forecasters say there is the potential for life-threatening flash flooding, mudslides and landslides.

CNN's Leyla Santiago is joining us live from Puerto Rico. So Leyla, pretty miserable conditions there. What's happening?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The wind picked up, the rain picked up but just in the last 10-15 minutes, a bit of breaking news confirming there is now an island-wide power outage. The governor confirming this.

So the big question now will be can this now private company that handles the utilities here in Puerto Rico get power up and running again quickly for the folks on the island.

As you mentioned we are also keeping an eye out for flash flooding as well as mud slides but I have to tell you timing here is interesting because we were almost five years to the date that Hurricane Maria struck this island. And so what I'm hearing from people that I've talked to today is pure anxiety and trauma.

[14:24:50] SANTIAGO: We went down to Caguas, Puerto Rico that is about 30-45 minutes south of San Juan, where the majority of the customers that didn't have power this morning were in that area.

We talked to a family who lost power at 8:00 this morning. I want you to hear from Lourdes, who had to leave her home to stay with her son because it's safer there. I will warn you, it's a little bit dark and hard to see because there's not power. But she speaks to what she is feeling now that the power has gone out.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: She says when the power goes out she gets real anxious. She gets really tense, worried. She's staying here because she left her house. It's safer here and she's worried what she's going to find at her house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: And while we were there a wind gust came in and that anxiety was just palpable. After Hurricane Maria they were a year without power.

So again, yes, there is a lot of concern about mudslides. There is a lot of concern about flash flooding. There's a river nearby that family. They are monitoring that closely as the rain and the wind picks up and Fiona gets ready to sort of get near the southern part of the island, the southern part of the island where Hurricane Maria came in and where we also saw powerful earthquakes in 2020.

So this is an island that understands this is a Category 1 hurricane right now but they're not taking any chances because a lot of trauma still lingers from the natural disaster that has struck here before, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Right. You said Leyla, just you know, five years ago roughly, September 16, 2017. It's almost like it was yesterday. It's such a vivid memory, I know for the people there especially.

Leyla Santiago, thank you so much.

Let's bring in CNN's Chad Myers who is tracking the storm. So Chad, oh, my gosh, what is Fiona doing right now and what is its potential?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, it really has been an overachiever. The water has been so very warm down there. Nothing really wearing it out. There hasn't been a different tropical storm to kind of cool the water off.

So this is now an 85-mile-per-hour sustained with wind gusts well over that. In fact, they even had a measured wind gust of 103.

Catastrophic flooding expected. Those are the top line words that the hurricane center put out at 2:00. Catastrophic flooding expected. So we are going to see between 15 and 20 inches. I've just measured some of it on radar, I'm already seeing some spots with ten on the ground already.

Here is Ponce (ph) right here, the big town down to the south. This is the area that is seeing the eye wall. We're not calling landfall because the center of the eye has to make landfall for that to happen. But already a transmission line from the power plant has gone away. 100 percent of the island is in the dark. Ponce, there you go, 103- mile-per-hour wind gusts.

And the heavy rainfall making flash flooding but certainly also, Fred, making mudslides. This is a very topographical country, area. This is up and down, from El Junge (ph), all the way over to Ponce, you have a lot of up and down mountains and valleys, very just deep and almost small valleys like you would have seen maybe in like West Virginia in some spots.

This is the area that's going to pick up that 10 to 15 inch rainfall. Some storm surge but maybe only about 3 feet and then it turns into a major hurricane, Category 3.

There is Bermuda right there. Maybe a near miss but close enough to watch it. You are in the cone, Bermuda, for sure. Luckily turning away from the mainland U.S., Fred.

WHITFIELD: Let's hope it continues to take that right turn and just dissipate. Not even hitting Bermuda or anywhere else.

MYERS: That's right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chad Myers, thank you so much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: So a massive typhoon rather, is bearing down on southern Japan bringing torrential rain and strong winds. This typhoon made landfall earlier today. More than 2 million people have been ordered to evacuate the island of Kyushu because of possible landslides and flooding. Millions more are in the storm's path.

Weather officials in Japan warn unprecedented rainfall, high waves and storm surges could strike the island causing a large-scale disaster.

Still ahead, the mayor of New York tells CNN today the current migrant situation is a humanitarian crisis created by human hands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: It is an all hands on deck moment where we're all supposed to come together and coordinate. Coordination during a crisis is something that we must do together.

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[14:29:27]

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[14:33:55]

WHITFIELD: As Republican governors continue sending asylum seekers elsewhere, more cities suddenly find themselves with dozens of unannounced arrivals. Several from Venezuela were unexpectedly dropped off as far west as Sacramento, and today, the Massachusetts governor activating the state's national guard to help after 50 migrants were flown to Martha's Vineyard.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino joining me live from New York.

Gloria, what can you tell us about people who are coming in being relocated to different parts of the states?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred.

Here in New York, the Department of Homeland Services has processed 11,000 migrants in the last couple of months. And as you said, people have been getting dropped off in Martha's Vineyard, in parts of New York.

Here in Manhattan, at the Port Authority bus terminal, a total of six buses arrived this morning in addition to six other buses arriving yesterday. So this is now becoming a continuous drop-off of people that the city is having to receive and connect with resources. You ask about the condition that they are arriving in.

[14:35:01]

We've gotten reports of people that are arriving dehydrated, haven't had access to proper food while they make the several days' trip here to New York. And the mayor has been speaking about this as well. He has been critical of these Republican governors who are not coordinating with the city of New York or any other jurisdictions where people are being dropped off. He is saying that is making helping people and being able to connect them with resources really difficult.

He was on CNN earlier today describing the condition that people have been arriving in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: We should be clear that this is, as you stated, a humanitarian crisis created by human hands. And it is -- it is an all hands on deck moment. We are all supposed to come together and coordinate.

It's really unfortunate when you watch government misrepresent where you are sending people. In some cases, we have those who are COVID positive on the buses, with individuals who were dehydrated, didn't have proper food. Some were even tagged like you would tag an animal.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAZMINO: So, Mayor Adams speaking about the lack of coordination. Obviously, the city having to now set up people with resources. Similar challenges are being felt in other states. People needing shelter to be connected to legal services and as these drop-offs by these Republican governors show no sign of stopping anytime soon.

As I said, six more buses arrived at port authority this morning -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then, Gloria, do we know anymore about the mayor says some people were tagged. In what way?

PAZMINO: Yeah. So we actually have seen the reports and have seen video of migrants who have arrived with a wrist band on their arms, basically, they have given a bar code, and this is just one of the things that has really outraged people here in New York, public officials and many of the volunteers that have been trying to help people arriving. That's what the mayor was talking about, describing it as a way you would tag an animal, people are wearing wrist bands with numbers on them that obviously evokes really bad memories and really negative images about the way that people are being treated.

WHITFIELD: Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much.

All right. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine has found torture chambers in reclaimed areas of Northeast Ukraine. Details on that.

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[14:41:45]

WHITFIELD: Disturbing new details emerging about torture rooms found in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy says that more than 10 torture rooms have been found in several liberated areas of the Kharkiv region. Zelenskyy said Russian troops dropped the torture devices as they fled during Ukraine's counteroffensive.

And it follows the grim discovery of a mass burial site in the eastern city of Izium. Authorities say they found at least 440 graves and some of the bodies show signs of torture.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us now.

And so, Nick, what more are you learning about these torture chambers? I know you showed us these horrible grave sites, but what more is being learned about these torture chambers?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yeah, Fredricka this forms part of the increasingly horrifying body of accusations and evidence that Ukrainian officials are finding as they move into areas that were occupied by Russian forces for months. In this instance, these 10 torture chambers appear mostly to be in former detention centers, filtration centers used by Russian forces when they held an area often it seems looking for pro-Ukrainian sympathizers, former Ukrainian military members, sort of making sure that there were no potential threats, it seems, in the area they control.

The devices appear, according to Ukraine officials like electric shocks and grisly images of the kind of prison cages people were held in as well. So, appalling conditions, appalling treatment certainly. The Russian government has made no comment on this. I should say a long history in Chechnya and other places they've been deployed of using such kind of tactics.

And you reference that mass burial site in Izium. Today, they said it's going to take them two weeks to exhume all the bodies there. It seems as they slowly do so, they find increased evidence of the mistreatment of people and possible signs of torture, according to Ukrainian officials -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Nick, what's the latest with Ukraine's counter offensive?

WALSH: Yeah. I mean, there appears to be continued progress, slight, hard to be totally sure of. On the eastern side of the Oskil River, complex but important, essentially now seems increasingly in Ukrainian hands. They've crossed over to the eastern side of it. It's important because it means they can push to the south and come at the Russians from the north in a particular direction they may not have been expecting.

There's other progress it seems, possibly where I'm standing in Kramatorsk and continued tense situations in the south according to Ukrainian officials. So, no massive leaps forward but it does seem Russia is continually on its back foot trying to readjust its frontlines because of this Ukrainian momentum -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

Still ahead, the corgis and the Queen. The loyal companions were by her side spanning her 70-year reign. We'll take a look at what happens to her beloved royal pups.

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[14:49:15]

WHITFIELD: As the world remembers Queen Elizabeth's life and legacy, it's impossible to forget her love for race horses and her cherished corgis. The duke and duchess of York, Andrew and Sarah, will now care for the dogs at the royal lodge on the Windsor estate. The duchess and the queen bonded over a shared love of dog-walking and horse-riding even after Sarah's divorce from Andrew in 1996.

As CNN's Randi Kaye reports, the Queen's passion for the breed date back to her childhood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Queen Elizabeth II's love of Corgis may be traced back to her family dog named Dookie. That's her as a young princess with Dookie. Later for her 18th birthday, she was given a corgi of her own named

Susan.

MICHAEL JOSEPH GROSS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, VANITY FAIR: Susan was so close to the Queen she went on her honeymoon with her.

[14:50:03]

A year after the Queen had Prince Charles, Susan had her first two offspring. Those were sugar and honey.

KAYE: And so it began. Michael Gross is writing a book about the Queen and her corgis and said she loved Susan so much that she bred 14 generations of corgis from her, about 25 litters, as many as 100 puppies. There was whiskey, pickles, ranger, mipt and legend and dash. Queen adored them. They were her constant companions.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II, UNITED KINGDOM: Where did you come from? I know what you want.

KAYE: It turns out the Queen's corgi served a multiple of purposes. They were good PR showing a softer side of the monarch, and stealing the spotlight in this James Bond spoof. And even though they seem to waddle a bit, the pups were somewhat of a security team.

GROSS: There was one visitor to Balmoral who noticed that any time anyone came near the room where the Queen happened to be, a whole pack of corgis would just break out barking and scampering around.

KAYE: During awkward moments, the corgis were a conversation starter.

GROSS: The corgis always made conversation go more easily.

KAYE: And apparently, their opinion mattered, too. After Prince Harry introduced Meghan, the duchess of Sussex to the queen for the first time, "The Daily Telegraph" noted he said the corgis took to Meghan straightaway.

When times got tough, the Queen took comfort in corgis like in 1992 when then Prince Charles' marriage to Princess Diana was falling apart.

GROSS: Almost immediately, she called in breeders to pick a stud dog to put with a favorite female dogs because what would chief her up better than new puppies.

KAYE: She loved her corgis so much, she bred one of them with her sister Princess Margaret's dachshund, creating what's known now as a dorgi.

GROSS: The dorgi creation was 100 percent hers and this is the most radical innovation she made as a breeder.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: One of the most (INAUDIBLE) when she came down in the Windsor. KAYE: The Queen also loved horses. This is a picture of Elizabeth as a young princess writing her first pony Peggy. The phony was a gift for her 4th birthday from her grandfather George V. Later as queen, she rode regularly.

Here she is riding with former President Ronald Reagan. Over the last 30 years, the Queen reportedly earned millions of dollars racing horses she helped handpick, but it may not have been about the money as much as it was the sheer joy.

JOHN REID, FORMER JOCKY FOR THE QUEEN: She's cheering like mad and she just -- she's got that passion about it and she just loves it. And you can see that. That's not a put on. That's not a put on.

KAYE: This was the Queen in 2013 when her horse Estimate won the gold cup at Royal Ascot.

A lifelong animal lover no matter how big or small.

Randi Kaye, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. And now pictures of dignitaries from all over, coming to pay their respects and show their love for the queen.

Tomorrow is the funeral and so many have come into the town beyond the tens of thousands who have been standing in line for upwards of 24 hours to pay their respects. We have much more straight ahead.

And this quick programming note, all this week, meet the change makers and dream makers as our journalists shine a light on those who inspire them. "Champions for Change", all this week right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:59:38]

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Symbols of mourning, love and respect across the U.K. at this hour, all to honor the life of the longest-serving monarch in British history.

Moments from now, a national moment of reflection will begin for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. London's Big Ben set to toll marking one minute of silence. You see live pictures right there.

And it comes as tens of thousands continue to stream into Westminster Hall where the Queen lies in state.