Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Several Hurt in Paris Knife Attack, Suspect Neutralized; Ukraine Troops Head to U.S. to Train; George Pell 1941-2023; Health Crisis, Uganda Expected to Declare End of Ebola Outbreak; Global Financial Crisis, World Bank Warns of Looming and Long-lasting Recession, Countries prepare for Chinese Travelers Amid Covid Risk; France Announces Plan to Increase Retirement Age to 64; Millions of People Face Flood Alerts in California Storms; Unrest in Iran; Classified Docs Found in Biden's Former DC Private Office. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 11, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I am rosemary church. Just ahead here on "CNN Newsroom."

Ukraine and Russia locked in unrelenting and a brutal battle for a key town in the east. We will take you to the frontlines.

Catholic Cardinal George Pell, who was convicted and later acquitted of child sexual abuse charges has died. We will have a live report from Rome.

And Prince Harry responds to the backlash over his comments on his time serving in Afghanistan.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: We are following a developing story out of Paris where at least three people have been wounded in a knife attack. It happened at the Gare du Nord, one of the busiest rail stations in the city. The French Interior Minister tweeted that the suspect has been neutralized. His condition is not known. French rail operator SMCF said earlier police seemed to open fire on the attacker. We will of course continue to follow this story and bring you the developments as they come in to us.

It is just passed 10:00 a.m. across eastern Ukraine where Russian- backed mercenaries are claiming victory over the entire industrial town of Soledar. Ukraine's military admits fierce battles are going on there but says that its forces have things under control. The battle for Soledar bloody. A Ukrainian soldier tells CNN that the death toll is now so high that they've stopped counting the dead.

Soledar is located in the Donetsk region not far from the city of Bakhmut. It's home to the biggest salt mine in Europe and a vast network of underground tunnels which Russian forces are likely to try to exploit.

More now on the fighting in solidarity from CNN's Scott McLean reporting from Kyiv.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Smoke billows over the salt mines in Soledar, Eastern Ukraine. This small town is now the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in this 11th month war.

Video filmed by a soldier on the frontline shows the house-to-house style fighting troops are now locked into. "The tank is working, did you hear?" Ukrainian fighter says.

The streets of Soledar littered with debris as Wagner fighters battle for control of the strategic town. This part of the war's frontline is dominated by the private military group. Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin even praising the bravery of the Ukrainian forces he is trying to defeat, admitting Sunday that his men were exclusively working to capture the town in the mines underneath Soledar and Bakhmut. The town's walls are almost entirely demolished according to Ukrainian officials.

Soledar, though small in size, is strategically important to the ultimate capture Bakhmut, a way of surrounding the city from the north and disrupting Ukraine communication lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN TRANSLATOR: The battle for the Donbas continues and although the occupiers have now concentrated their greatest efforts on Soledar, the result of this difficult and prolong the battle will be the liberation of our entire Donbas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday acknowledging the extremely difficult situation in Soledar. Russia meanwhile is still reeling over the devastating Ukrainian strike on troops housed in Makiivka on New Year's Day.

Moscow says 89 serviceman was killed but Ukraine says there were hundreds. Russia says it will not publish their names claiming it will help foreign internet activities against them.

As fighting in Soledar rages on, all eyes are on when and if it may fall. Scott McLean, CNN, Kyiv.

CHURCH: The pentagon confirms that it will begin training Ukrainian troops on the Patriot Missile System in the U.S. as soon as next week. Between 90 and 100 soldiers will visit Fort Sill in Oklahoma for the program which is expected to take several months.

[03:05:04]

And CNN's Clare Sebastian is following the latest developments for us. She joins us live from London. Good morning to you again Clare. What more are you learning about these Ukrainian troops said to begin training on the Patriot Missile System here in the U.S. next week.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it was pretty significant step for Ukrainian forces to be heading to the U.S. for training. The U.S. has for context been training forces in Europe particularly in Germany. They are planning to step up that program as well.

But this would be 90 to 100 Ukrainian troops who, as soon as next week, according to the Pentagon will be heading to fort sill in Oklahoma which is the training facility that the U.S. uses to train its own soldiers on that Patriot Battery. They are planning to expedite the usual timeline for this training. Typically, it can take up to a year to train soldiers to use the Patriot Missile Defense System but they plan to get it done in several months.

Clearly, they want to expedite to minimize the amount of time that these Ukrainian troops spend away from the battlefield and to get the Patriot Battery to where it is needed the most. President Zelenskyy stepping up his call for western aid in his nightly address on Tuesday saying this is not even more important with Russia potentially planning another escalation.

I think several months is perhaps too long for the Patriot Missile Battery to play a key role in the very near future. But clearly, still a very prized addition to the western military aid package Ukraine is seeing.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London. Well, Cardinal George Pell, the most senior catholic official to be convicted of child sex abuse before his 2020 acquittal has died. He was 81.

Church officials say that Pell died of cardiac arrest following hip replacement surgery in Rome. He Australian-born Pell was a former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney and served as Vatican treasurer for five years. And in a case that shocked the church, Pell was convicted in 2018 for allegedly abusing two choirboys in the 1990s. He denied the charges but served 13 months in prison before Australia's high court acquitted him.

And CNN Contributor Barbie Nadeau joins me now live from Rome. Good morning to you Barbie. So, as the most senior catholic cleric to be convicted of child sex abuse and later acquitted, what we were Cardinal Pell's legacy likely be? What has been the reaction to his passing?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, it is very conflicted legacy, you know. Supporters of the Cardinal Pell which include Pope Francis would want him to be remembered as a great reformer who helped turned around the Vatican finances which he did. But he will most likely be remembered as the highest-ranking catholic official who was convicted of clerical sex abuses.

But not only was he convicted and later acquitted on appeal, he was also -- he was also found to be negligent in the cover-up of what he knew about clerical sex abuses especially in the church and Australia.

So, his legacy is conflicted and survivors of clerical sex abuse have taken to social media not to mourn his death necessarily but to talk about how he will be taking these secrets of the church to the grave and I think that there is going to be in the coming days a lot of discussion about what he did know that he did not share and how he could have helped to save a lot of young children from the horrific abuse we know existed, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, Barbie Nadeau joining us live from Rome, many thanks. Well, we want to bring in CNN Vatican Analyst, John Allen, also in Rome. He is the editor at the independent website Crux. Thank you for joining us.

JOSH ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Hi rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Cardinal Pell, he was a polarizing figure and the reaction to his death in his homeland of Australia has been very mixed, very divided. How will he likely be remembered do you think by the Catholic Church and of course the wider community?

ALLEN: Well, Rosemary it's a little difficult for me to be completely objective on this because I knew George Pell quite well and I think that it's fair to say that at some level we were friends and so, you know, to me I am more mourning the loss of a guy I knew who I always found to be brash, opinionated, hilarious, sometimes wrong but never in doubt.

But you know, in terms of his larger legacy as a public figure in the Catholic Church, certainly as Barbie has indicated, a great deal of it will inevitably be tied up with the clerical sexual abuse scandals. More broadly, I think he will be remembered is especially in the English-speaking realm, a central point of reference, a kingmaker if you like for the conservative wing of the Catholic Church for at least four decades.

And I think that especially coming on the heels of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the loss of Cardinal Pell leaves those Catholic Conservatives in the English-speaking realm a bit adrift.

[03:10:06]

I mean basically, they are going to need new leadership and I think figuring out who will pick up the mantle of George Pell in that regard is going to be one of the fascinating catholic storylines going forward in the days and weeks to come Rosemary.

CHURCH: And of course, Cardinal Pell as we've said it was convicted of child sex abuse later acquitted, but a 2017 Australian government inquiry found that Pell had known for decades that other priests had sexually abused children but had failed to act and so how does the church come to terms with that? And what is it currently doing to deal with a very clear problem when it comes to some of its priests?

ALLEN: You know, well, of course, defenders of Cardinal Pell and that would reach up to and including Pope Francis will say that actually, his record is a bit more complicated when it comes to the handling of child sexual abuse. They would note that in 1996 for instance when he was the Archbishop of Melbourne, he was the first -- one of the first bishops in the world to adopt a formal policy against clerical sexual abuse and also to provide for the reparations -- financial reparations for victims of that abuse.

So, I think the debate about how he handled these cases will go on. But clearly, you know, the second question that you put quote which is what is the church doing about that these days. I think that is really the neuralgic point.

And I think that there is general consensus right now Rosemary that while the Catholic Church under Pope Francis in particular, has adopted strong accountability measures for priests who abuse, it still does not have equally strong accountability measures for Bishops who cover up that abuse. And until that piece of the puzzle is seen to fall into place, I think that many observers will say that the work is not yet done.

CHURCH: All right, John Allen, we thank you, joining us live from Rome, appreciate it.

Uganda is expected to announce the end of its Ebola outbreak today if no new cases were reported. The World Health Organization says there have 8there's been no confirmed cases since November. The virus has killed more than 50 people in Uganda since the outbreak started in September. And for more on this, we want to go to CNN's Larry Madowo who joins us live from Nairobi, Kenya. So, Larry, talk to us what is the latest on this? What are you learning?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we know for sure Rosemary is that Uganda is starting a ceremony any moment to announce that it has gotten rid of its latest Ebola outbreak. The incubation period is 21 days. If in two 21-day periods or 42 days there has been no new reported cases then the country can under international law declare that an outbreak is over and that's what Uganda has done.

How is it possible to do that so quickly? Because Uganda was really vigilant on tracking down every suspected case of Ebola. Anyone who came into contact with somebody who tested positive for Ebola in Uganda had to go to 21-day quarantine. It was really high handed for some people, some people tried to disappear in the community but they have had health workers going village to village, every community, to try to make sure that everybody was netted to make sure that this does not spread within the community.

They did have a few cases in Kampala, in the capital, but they quickly had that under control. So, they've been able to, essentially, get rid of Ebola in a much shorter period than they anticipated. When I was in Uganda in November and I spoke to Health Minister, Jane Ruth Aceng, she expected that only by March or April would they have this under control but they are doing this almost two months early, Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Larry Madowo joining us live from my Nairobi. And still to come, Beijing keeps retaliating against countries trying to place COVID restrictions on travelers from China. What's China doing to Japan? That's ahead!

Plus, outrage in France over proposed plans to raise the retirement age while the government is going ahead with pension reforms despite the backlash. We are back in just a moment

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:15:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone! The World Bank is warning of a sharp economic slowdown that will be tucked tough to shake and the developing world will be hit the hardest. The bank is now projecting global economic growth of only 1.7% this year. That's down from a forecast of 3% just a month ago. It says that any further negative shock could force the world into its second recession in a decade that hasn't happened in more than 80 years.

An ongoing COVID outbreak in China isn't stopping travel plans to or from the country. Many of China's neighbors are hoping for an economic shot in the arm from an influx of Chinese tourists. CNN's Marc Stewart has more now from Hong-Kong.

KIKI YANG(ph): This cookie is a famous cookie in Hong-Kong.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiki Yang(ph) is packing for ourself and others.

KIKI YANG(ph): This is for my father.

STEWART: She's heading home to China with an especially purchased suitcase just to carry her gifts from her base in Hong-Kong. She's been away for a year after stringent COVID restrictions prevented her from seeing family and friends in China.

KIKI YANG(ph): They have a list for me -- what to buy and what they want.

STEWART: Yang(ph) represents an economic jolt that will be felt around the globe now that travel restrictions to and from China have been lifted.

IRIS PANG, CHIEF ECONOMIST, GREATER CHINA: So, there will be extra demand in this world that hasn't been seen for three years within China and also for the rest of the world.

STEWART: China is the world's second largest economy with a population of more than one billion people. Asia beauty store giant Sasa is hoping to benefit.

UNKNOWN: Just think about the number of consumers -- I mean the numbers of consumers and increasing spending power they have. The propensity to spend it just massive. STEWART: And then there is the travel component. In Thailan, a welcome banner at the airports as Chinese tourists begin to visit once again promoting a lasting friendship between the two nations. The government even held a special ceremony for Chinese visitors as the first flights arrived.

Popular attractions like the Erawan Shrine and the Golden Cabaret are preparing for crowds after the COVID drought. A Thai official hopes the new arrivals will revive the economy.

Yet, in some parts of the world, the welcome is far from warm. More than a dozen countries including Japan are now testing travelers from China which China is protesting. In Milan, Italy airport workers sanitize luggage. And in Brussels, Belgium, wastewater from a jet is removed for analysis. All of this as China's COVID restrictions disappear while the case count is exploding. Hospitals are overflowing.

As for Kiki(ph), there is something that won't fit in her suitcases, precious time with her loved ones.

And now that China is back open, Chinese tourists are basically traveling the world including Hong-Kong and expect to see a two-way flow of people, from China to places in the United States, and even Europe. But this is much more that about spending money, it's about face-to-face meetings.

Rosemary, we certainly become comfortable talking to each other through these video chat services but if you are a business person, the weight that comes from a face-to-face meeting just cannot be deep, it is crucial in any relationship, a business relationship in particular.

CHURCH: Yeah, very true indeed, Marc Stewart, many thanks for that live report, appreciate it.

[03:20:02]

Outrage in France following the government's plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Dozens gathered on Tuesday to protest the proposed pension reforms. CNN's Melissa Bell has more details.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the key objectives of Emmanuel Macron when he became president back in 2017 was reforming France's pension system, not only to bring the country in line with other European countries, but also to help plug the country's public deficits.

He tried several times, bear in mind that here in France they will not leave the yellow vest protest, but also in 2019 when the pensions reformers brought back on the table huge protests across the country against those reforms, then of course COVID-19. Now, they have been brought back, the French Prime Minister speaking to parliament on Tuesday and announcing the beginning of this bill that will now head through parliament and the promises to be very controversial. The idea that France's retirement age will go from 62 to 64 by 2030. Already here in France, citizen suggested the parliamentary progress looks complicated given that Emmanuel Macron lost his parliamentary majority back in 2022, but already trade unions threatening to take to the streets on January 19th. Melissa bell, CNN, Paris.

CHURCH: California has gone from extreme drought to extreme flooding in just a matter of days. A series of powerful storm forced tens of thousands to evacuate and prompted dozens of rescues. The State's Governor says at least up 17 people died.

Millions are under flood alerts right now and many places recorded and historic amounts of rainfall. Cleanup is underway but the threat from the extreme weather is not over yet. So let's turn to meteorologist, Britley Ritz, who joins us and now. Not over yet so when will it be over? That's what's most people want to know, right?

Britley Ritz, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, exactly and give it a week, because we still have one area of low pressure after that next, Rosemary, that's going to cause quite the issue. Although the rain chances are starting to taper back a bit at the moment and each wave will start to lessen regardless, our grounds are completely saturated. So, even the little rain that we get is going to cause a nuisance.

Looking at radar now, scattered showers pushing inland maybe a few rumbles of thunder left with it but that moisture is starting to pop back off into the Pacific, will slide right up over top of us here in the upcoming hours, north of Santa Rosa, north of Sacramento, where the heaviest rain currently is falling. But some of the heaviest rain over the past 48 hours actually fell down in a SoCal where just east of Santa Barbara, we picked up over ten inches of rain.

Some of these locations like Ventura over the past few days picked up over 18 inches of rain since January 5th. There is that area of low pressure we're talking about the atmospheric river. Look at that dark blue color, that's the deep moisture that we are talking about that's getting picked up by the jet stream and pushed in. That is exactly what an AR is or an atmospheric river.

Areas of low pressure that come up out of Southeast Asia, get picked up the jet stream gesture and all that to subtropical moisture gets pushed on to North America's west coast. So, you're seeing the darker greens and the blues, that's the next wave coming in today rolling in Thursday, Friday Saturday, doing the same thing. One area of low pressure after the next.

It's not just rain, it's heavy snowfall, 2 feet of snow expected through the sierras and this all pushes a back into parts of the four corners too which has all been official because some of these reservoirs really need the rain. Redding to Fresno, extending just north of Los Angeles, flood watches that are still in effect. The rapid rises and rivers and creeks, that is the next thing, that water is going to flow downstream and the rivers and creeks rise. We're talking about the Salinas River near Spreckels. This will rise up into major flood stage at 28 feet by Wednesday. So, we really have to watch this. When it gets to that major flood stage, Rosemary, we're talking about 40,000+ acres of agriculture land that could flood.

CHURCH: Just unbelievable isn't? Britley Ritz, many thanks.

The Iranian regime is facing growing condemnation of executions of antigovernment protesters with at least one man hanged from a crane in a public square. The U.N. accuses Iran of weaponizing the death penalty to instill fear and crush dissent.

Two executions were reportedly carried out over the weekend bringing the total known number to four. The U.N. says two more executions are imminent and as many as 100 people are facing charges for capital crimes in Iran. The regime is also handing out more jail sentences.

[03:24:56]

We have learned a Belgium aid worker has been sentenced by an Iranian court to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes for espionage and money laundering charges according to state media. He also faces a 1 million dollar fine. He was arrested last year while doing humanitarian work in Iran.

North American leaders pledged cooperation as they tackle the region's problems. From climate change to migration, to trade. The takeaways from the summit next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: We are getting new information about the classified documents discovered at a Private Office Joe Biden used before becoming president. A source tells CNN exclusively that 10 classified documents were found covering topics including Ukraine, Iran, and the U.K. The records are from 2013 to 2016 when he was U.S. Vice president.

The U.S. Attorney general has received a preliminary report according to a source, and must decide how to proceed and whether to open a criminal investigation. President Biden meantime says he was surprised to learn the documents were in that office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: When my lawyers were clearing my office at the University of Pennsylvania, they set up an office for me -- secure office in the capital when I'm -- the four years after being vice president as a professor at Pen, they found some document in a box, you know, locked cabinet or at least a closet. And as soon as they did, they realized they were several classified documents in that box. And they did what they should've done. They made a late call the archives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The leaders of Canada, Mexico, and United States committed to a declaration of North America during their summit on Tuesday. It pledges cooperation on everything from regional security to climate change and health. The Mexican President also announced a new task force to strengthen economic ties and trade between the three countries. And the Biden administration rolled out a new measures to curve migrants crossing at the southern border. They include creating a virtual one-stop shop to help migrants find legal pathways to the United States.

For more on the North American leader summit, I want to bring in Andrew Rudman, he's Director of the Wilson Center Mexico Institute. He joins me from Washington DC. Good to have you with us.

ANDREW RUDMAN, DIRECTOR, WILSON CENTER MEXICO INSTITUTE: Nice to be here, thank you.

CHURCH: So, the leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada made joint commitment and shared declaration focusing on migration, climate change, regional security, and other issues.

[03:30:00]

But what concrete achievements were actually made at the summit?

RUDMAN: Well, that's a good question. As you point out, in the declaration, there are a number of commitments for actions that will take place going forward, and I think that's really the important part.

One of the advantages, I think, at a summit of this nature is that it tends to be an action-forcing event and you have the leaders of the three countries making a number of commitments that they will then expect their respective executive branches to carry out.

So, I think it's not really surprising that there aren't a number of concrete deliverables in the sense of reaching agreement, you know, a new trade agreement or something like that.

CHURCH: Before the summit, an early agreement for the U.S. to send as many as 30,000 expelled migrants per month back to Mexico. That will continue. How significant is that?

RUDMAN: As you say, the fact that came out before the president's trip and then that there weren't going to be any announcements beyond that on migration, it is really President Biden driving his migration policy, and I think a really good example of how U.S.-Mexico issues tend to wind up being domestic or (INAUDIBLE).

CHURCH: And the U.S. border agents, they will continue to embed with Mexican patrols, a joint effort that has already resulted apparently about 7,000 arrests of human smugglers in the last six months or so. How important is that in the effort to stop human trafficking?

RUDMAN: You know, I think that's extremely important. There has to be a deterrent. The people committing the crimes have to know that they are at risk. The smugglers certainly don't want to spend time in U.S. or Mexican jails.

And I think also it just sends the message to those who seek to migrate that they really need to do it lawfully, they need to follow the rules, as President Biden said.

CHURCH: So, what follow up, what needs to be done now to make sure that this summit's movements or treatments, if you want to go as far as that, to make sure this count?

RUDMAN: Well, you know, I think that's exactly the point. They made a number of commitments. And six months to a year from now, we will want to look back and see whether those commitments delivered.

For example, the plan to do critical minerals mapping to really try to understand what is available in North America. Will they have done that or not? They talked about expanding "100,000 Strong in the Americas." Will we see an increase in the number of Mexican and Canadian students participating in that?

There are a number of areas where we can see some real (INAUDIBLE) commitment to have a common standard for electric vehicle charging on the border. Those are the kinds of things that we would be able to say in six or 12 months, that, you know, they are developing the standard or perhaps they published a draft standard for comment. Those are the kinds of things that you would (INAUDIBLE) as real progress.

The risk, of course, is that 6 to 12 months from now, when they meet again in Canada in about a year, if they are making the same commitments, that, obviously, undermines the credibility of the (INAUDIBLE). It's really on all three governments now, as you suggest, to deliver on what they promised.

CHURCH: Andrew Rudman, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

RUDMAN: My pleasure. Thank you.

CHURCH: Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of the country's former justice minister under Jair Bolsonaro just days after the attacks by Bolsonaro's supporters on the three branches of government.

Anderson Torres had been in charge of public security in Brasilia when the violence broke out Sunday. He is currently on vacation in Florida, but pledges to turn himself in.

Police have detained more than 1,500 people since Sunday. Of those, at least 527 have been arrested for allegedly participating in the storming of Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court.

Brazil's Senate president says rioters will have to pay for the damages caused. Officials say windows, furniture and valuable artwork were destroyed during the attacks.

One Brazilian minister says the violence was enabled by negligence from the government of the federal district. The governor of Brasilia has been suspended for 90 days.

And still to come, Prince Harry's memoir has quickly become a top seller in the U.K. and beyond. The latest on the highly-anticipated release and a live report from London. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Controversial kickboxer and internet personality Andrew Tate will remain in custody in Romania along with his brother after a court rejected their appeal for release.

Late last month, the judge ruled they should be held for 30 days as Romanian authorities investigate their alleged involvement in human trafficking and rape.

Andrew Tate is known for his viral online rants expressing misogynistic views. He also advocates violence against women.

Prince Harry's eagerly awaited memoir "Spare" is already a top seller after hitting bookstores worldwide on Tuesday. He details his life as part of the British royal family and lays bare some of the rifts within the monarchy. CNN's Bianca Nobilo has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The much-anticipated memoir has been making headlines for days. The most sensational lines from Prince Harry's book already splashed across the front pages following the leak excerpts and buzzworthy TV interviews. But now, readers finally get a chance to read all 416 pages for themselves in context.

UNKNOWN: Everything is context. So, I really want to see for myself what the true story is.

UNKNOWN: Quite clearly, the UK media and -- have sensationalized the parts that make him look the worst and sell them to most (INAUDIBLE) and create the most public outrage.

UNKNOWN: I expect to be able to read about -- more about the truth of what goes on behind the palace walls. I feel like they are (INAUDIBLE) secret family.

NOBILO (voice-over): The readers got their hands on the book at midnight when it went on sale in the UK. Many more have ordered copies online. "Spare" is currently number one on the Amazon UK bestseller chart.

Buckingham Palace has repeatedly declined to comment on the memoir, which reveals a number of private confrontations between Prince Harry and other senior royals, and delves into his split from the family.

But beyond revealing the dramatic allegations and details of his life inside the palace, the book has raised some issues for the monarchy.

MICHAEL STRAHAN, ABC HOST: Do you think in the 21st century, there is a place for the British monarchy?

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: I genuinely believe there is. Not the way that it is now.

STRAHAN: Do they need to modernize? And if so, in what way?

PRINCE HARRY: I think the same process that I went through with regarding my own unconscious bias would be hugely beneficial to them. It's not racism --

STRAHAN: Uh-hmm.

PRINCE HARRY: -- but unconscious bias. If not confronted, if not learned and grown from, then that can then move into racism.

NOBILO (on camera): The question now is, what impact will the fifth in line to the British throne raising concerns about the monarchy have on its stability and reputation? The monarchy defines itself as head of the nation, a symbolic source of national identity and pride. Now, it brought down to earth by the allegations in this book.

[03:40:00]

NOBILO (voice-over): Yet new polling data shows more than half of the people in the UK do not trust Prince Harry to give an accurate depiction of events. About 39% trust him to give a true account of his experiences, according to a Savanta poll released Sunday.

Meanwhile, the continued silence from the palace is deafening, appearing to hope that the fiery book release will blow ever faster if they don't fuel the public debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Bianca Nobilo joins us now live from London. Good to see you, Biana. So, Prince Harry is now condemning what he calls dangerous spin about the number of people he killed in Afghanistan after he made a reference to this in his memoir. What is he saying?

NOBILO: Yes, Rosemary, many allegations and headlines were generated from the release of "Spare," many perhaps being considered to be gossip. This is the most consequential, one of them, to emerge. This is the fact that Prince Harry revealing that he had killed 25 members of the Taliban during one of his tours of Afghanistan.

It led to an outcry among some military analysts, saying that it wasn't the down (ph) thing. Those levels of details are not supposed to be released. It could jeopardize Prince Harry and his family's security, the security of British troops, make them more of a target. But here's what Prince Harry had to say about why he decided to speak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY: Last few days have been hurtful and challenging, not being able to do anything about those leaks that you referred to. But perhaps the -- not perhaps -- without doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan.

If I hurt anyone, boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it's a lie. And hopefully, now the book is out, people would be able to see the context.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Rosemary, Prince Harry went on to say that the reason that he divulged those details is because he wanted to prevent suicide in military veterans, which was (INAUDIBLE) round of applause from the audience.

I'm not sure in the British press anyone was accusing Prince Harry of boasting necessarily. It was just being critical of revealing that level of detail about military operation.

This seems to gone down very well with Stephen Colbert among American audiences, as you would expect. He speaks about how great it is to live in America. The audience is definitely highly sympathetic to Prince Harry.

And it is interesting to see, again, we've spoken about it for this week, that juxtaposition between how the reports are being received in the United Kingdom versus America. It seems that Prince Harry was definitely playing to that audience.

CHURCH: All right, Bianca Nobilo, many thanks, joining us live from London. Appreciate it. One of the biggest music festivals of the spring has just announced its lineup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHURCH: Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny is set to headline both Fridays of Coachella, the annual two-week music festival in California's desert. And Korean pop group Black Pink will headline both Saturdays. Meanwhile, Frank Ocean, who was originally scheduled for the 2020 festival that was canceled due to the pandemic, will headline Sundays.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "Marketplace Middle East" is up next. Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo will pick up with more news in about 15 minutes from now. Enjoy your day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST)

[04:00:00]