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Harry Says, Mother Would Be Heartbroken by Rift with William; Georgia Grand Jury Investigating 2020 Election Completes Report; Husband of Missing Mother Appears in Court. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired January 09, 2023 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:30:00]
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Prince Harry says his mother, Diana, would be heartbroken over the broken relationship between him and his brother, William. That is just one of the fresh revelations this morning from the duke of Sussex on the day before the long-awaited release of his new memoire, Spare.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Harry also admitted in an interview with our colleague, Anderson Cooper, that after Diana died in 1997, he held out hope somehow, for nearly a decade, that she was alive and hiding somewhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You didn't believe she was dead?
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: For a long time, I just refused to accept that she was gone. Part of she would never do this to us, but also part of maybe this is all part of a plan.
COOPER: I mean, you really believe that maybe she had decided to just disappear for a time?
PRINCE HARRY: For a time and then that she would call us and we would join her.
COOPER: How long did you believe that?
PRINCE HARRY: Years, many, many years. And William and I talked about it as well. He had similar thoughts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining now to discuss, CNN Royal Historian Kate Williams and Royal Watcher Kristen Meinzer. Good to have you both on.
Kate, you heard us say there that Harry is genuinely concerned that his mother would be heartbroken over the rift between he and his members of his family. He also says that the book isn't intended to hurt his family in any way but he does want to show that this is not the fault of his wife, Meghan Markle. [10:35:00]
I wonder, given how personal many of the things he has said, harsh things, tough things, whether those relationships with his father, with his brother, with others are repairable.
KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: Yes, Jim. Harry has been very honest. He said honesty is not burning bridges, he is going to say what he thinks and he has been very critical particularly of Camilla, the queen consort, but also of William, a lot of criticism of William and some of Kate and also of Charles and the wider royal family.
A lot of his ire was reserved for the press, the tabloid press, who intruded into his life and blames for the for the death of his mother but also the family here as well. And he was telling Anderson on the interview, have you spoken recently to your brother or your father, and Harry said, no, we haven't text, I haven't heard from them, and he said there is no way that he thinks he can go back as a working royal. These relationships are very damaged and clearly how he feels that the relationships have already been so damaged that it is not going to make it worse by writing the book.
And, of course, the book comes out in about nine hours time as an e- book and people will read it. And it is full, I think, of an unhappy relationship. Harry's life in the royal family through the book seems to be incredibly unhappy and he's not holding back, he's stopping. Harry is really throwing down the bombshells.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HILL: I mean, based on what we've heard so far in interviews, in these excerpts from folks who got their hands on a book before, there is certainly nothing enchanted about his childhood or the royal family based on the picture that he paints.
It is interesting, too, one of the things that stood out to me, Kristen, as we look at what we're hearing and what's sort of new here is that Harry pointed out that he says he and Meghan did not call the royal family racist. He said this is what the press took from that interview with Oprah in coverage and talked about his and his family's unconscious bias. Was that Harry trying to pull back a little bit in some ways in terms of those comments?
KRISTEN MEINZER, ROYAL WATCHER: Is he trying to pull back? I think he's really just trying to give context. I think he's trying to add some nuance. And once again --
SCIUTTO: Oops.
HILL: We may have lost Kate there -- Kristen there. But, Kate, if you want to jump in, I'm curious, how do you think that will play? Is it him pulling back a little bit? Was it misunderstood at the time? What do you make of that?
WILLIAMS: Well, Harry said, yes, he's never going to say who it was. It did happen. The questions about Archie's skin tone. And in the Oprah interview, they were linked to -- Archie's skin tone was linked to his place in the succession, would Archie be out of the succession. This is the question that was raised. Harry he is never going to say who it was but he didn't say that his family was racist.
So, there is a contradiction there. But I think, certainly, Harry feels that there have been -- I think Harry feels that he had to learn about racism. He's talked in other parts about saying there was unconscious bias, that Kate and William stereotyped Meghan, they thought she was an American, an actress, divorcee, biracial. So, even though he isn't explicitly saying that there is racism there, he is, I think, implicitly saying this. And I think he doesn't want to go that far as accusing them in these specific terms, but I think it is going to be threaded through the book that there was stereotyping there against Meghan and against his children.
SCIUTTO: Yes, his comments have certainly created that impression.
I do -- one line from his interview with ITV caught our attention here. I'll quote. He said, I don't know whether they'll be watching, speaking about his brother or his father, watching this or not, but what they have to say to me and what I have to say to them will be in private and I hope it could stay that way. I think we lost Kristen again, so, Kate, I'll leave this to you.
Kristen is back. I don't know if you heard me there, but he says to the ITV, what they have to say to me and what I have to say to them will be in private and I hope it could stay that way. Given all he said in public, very personal things, very critical things, frankly, of his brother, his father, his stepmother, in effect, Camilla. What -- how can he say that?
Kate, I might have to go to you because I don't think Kristen could hear so well, the connection.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Harry has -- there has been a lot of criticism, but Harry sees this as honesty. I think Harry sees -- everyone knew about this in the royal family. Everyone knew how he was being treated. I mean, there were some very severe allegations, these photos are showing of Camilla, the queen concert, Harry said that -- he used the phrase, she got into bed with the press and because she used him in a P.R. campaign that she had to be queen.
So, I think forgiveness is a very long way away. Reconciliation is a very long way away. I think that Harry wants a full apology. I'm not sure whether the royals will give it. It is a long and tough road ahead, particularly a tough road for Charles' monarchy.
[10:40:00]
I don't think the monarchy is going to be the same again.
SCIUTTO: Well, Kate Williams, Kristen Meinzer, when she was there, sorry about the connections. Thanks so much.
HILL: Technology sometimes is not our friend. Still to come here, breaking news out of Georgia, the Fulton County grand jury, we've learned, has concluded its investigation into former President Donald Trump and the 2020 election. So, how soon could we learn about any recommendations? That is just ahead. Stay with us.
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[10:45:00]
SCIUTTO: Breaking news, something we've been following closely for some time, the Georgia grand jury investigating the efforts to overturn the 2020 election in that state by Trump and his allies has completed its work and its report.
HILL: CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig is joining us now. So, Elie, the grand jury convened eight months ago, it's heard testimony from a number of high-profile figures. What happens next? What does the D.A. do with this information?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So, Erica, think about this as the sort of beginning of the endgame. As you said, this has been a special grand jury that has been investigating this since May of last year, so 7, 8 months now. The reporting is they have completed their work. They have written up a report. We don't know whether the report includes a recommendation, indict or don't indict as to Donald Trump or anybody else. There is reportedly going to be a hearing now on January 24th, a couple of weeks from now, about whether that report becomes public.
Either way, whether that report becomes public, whether it contains recommendations or not, the D.A., Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, will have to make the next big decision, which does she now go to a regular grand jury to seek an indictment. This special grand jury has the power to investigate, to issue a report, but not to indict. So, now the D.A. has to take all of the evidence and decide, do I now take it to a separate grand jury, a regular grand jury, and ask them for an indictment.
SCIUTTO: So, what specific Georgia laws might the president and his allies be indicted under and what would the timeline be, the expected time, line given your experience, given that next step you just described to make that decision?
HONIG: So, there are various Georgia state laws that could be in play here, first of all, relating to interference of the election. It is, of course, against the law in Georgia to ask any official to count votes that were not cast, to not count votes that were cast, or to falsely certify the outcome of an election. Of course, we all think back to Donald Trump's January 2nd, 2021 call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, where he asked him to just, quote, find exactly 11,780 votes.
We also could charges or recommended charges relating to false statements relating to the false elector scheme and also there has been some reporting about potential racketeering charges, which essentially means some sort of organized group that committed a series of crimes.
In terms of timing, Jim, it is hard to say. Prosecutors can go into a grand jury, they can present evidence in summary fashion. So, they could move fairly quickly.
SCIUTTO: We'll be watching. It is a big development at least along the way. Elie Honig, thanks so much.
HONIG: Thank you, both.
HILL: Just moments ago, the husband of a missing mother from Massachusetts appearing in court to face charges that he misled investigators. What we know about her disappearance, next.
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[10:50:00]
HILL: New video in from just moments ago. This is Brian Walsh, the husband of a missing Massachusetts mother of three. Walsh was arraigned this morning after being arrested for allegedly misleading investigators. No one has seen Anna Walsh since she reportedly disappeared early in the morning on New Year's Day.
SCIUTTO: Investigators say the mother of three was supposed to go on a work trip but never made it to -- on her flight to Washington, D.C. Walsh's husband and her employer reported her missing several days later.
Let's speak now to former Senior FBI profiler and former FBI Special Agent Mary Ellen O'Toole. Mary, so some new details we just got in court. He bought $450 in cleaning supplies the day after she disappeared and that a knife with blood on it was found. I wonder, listen, innocent until proven guilty, but you're a profiler. When you look at these details here, what is your reaction?
MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, that certainly would elevate any interest in the husband and, of course, all of that physical evidence would have to be analyzed to confirm that it is her blood on the knife and cleaning supplies are often used in cases and people think that they can clean up blood or other physical evidence that is left behind. That is not true. So, if they can confirm that they do have a scene, they have a scene where she was hurt or murdered and they can confirm it is her, then that certainly elevates the interest in him.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HILL: There are a lot of things that are odd here. So, number one, apparently, she was supposed to return to work on January 3rd but apparently there was a work emergency, that is why she was going back to Washington, D.C., or going to Washington, D.C., supposed to go earlier. And there are questions about whether or not she actually got in a ride share car early minute morning on the first to go to the airport. Authorities aren't really confirmed that detail. Does that strike you as surprising? O'TOOLE: It strikes me as surprising because they should be able to -- if it occurred, they should be able to confirm the Uber or the taxi or some other ride share that picked her up. So, they probably have that information but they're not releasing it because that would be easy to confirm.
SCIUTTO: Tell us about next steps in an investigation like this. What will they do with regards both to the husband here but also in terms of investigating the disappearance itself?
O'TOOLE: Well, one of the priorities is obviously to try to find -- if she's dead -- to try to find her body, and, in fact, they have been doing that. But it is a pretty difficult situation to just have searchers out there with dogs trying to look in a location where a human body may or may not be.
[10:55:04]
So, probably at this point, what they're doing, if he's not talking to them, is they're talking to other people that are close to the family, other people that may have other information and, of course, if the husband has transported her someplace, they'll be searching the car for all sorts of physical evidence.
HILL: Still so many questions at this point. Mary Ellen O'Toole, I always appreciate your insight. Thank you.
O'TOOLE: Thank you.
HILL: And thanks to all of you for joining us today. I'm Erica Hill.
SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto.
At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts right after a quick break.
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