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Trump Bans CNN, "Politico," MS NOW from the White House; U.S. and Saudi Arabia Lack Clear Plan to Defeat Houthis; Voters Cast Ballots on Second Day of Duma Elections; "Hands around the Kennedy Center" Rally; Bipartisan Push to Regulate AI Fails ahead of Key Election; Explosive Claims in New Book by Princess Diana's Brother; Nepal Rally Calls for Climate Action after Deadly Flooding. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired September 19, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Let's go straight to our headlines.

President Trump says he is banning three major news outlets from the White House, including CNN. We'll have more on the latest press freedom attacks by the president.

The White House says it has reached a deal regarding Greenland. We'll look at what we know and still do not know about that agreement.

Plus, Congress has failed so far to regulate AI and that might not change anytime soon. We're going to explore the growing concern around the technology and if lawmakers can rein it in.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: President Donald Trump says he is banning CNN, "Politico" and MS NOW from the White House, effective immediately. He later defended that move in the Oval Office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news.

But I think it's good. I think it's good to point it out whether it survives or doesn't. I don't think a court should allow -- depends on the judge you get, to be honest with you. I don't think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day.

But it's sick. I mean, there's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.

Now, if they want to write them, that's fine. But I don't have to let them into my -- into the people's house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: But so far, there is no indication that the White House has actually taken the steps to enforce that ban. CNN reporters were still in the White House workspaces as of Friday evening and a CNN team is still traveling with the vice president.

Our senior White House correspondent, Kristen Holmes, has more from CNN's position on the White House lawn.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is still unclear what exactly this ban is meant to do. President Trump was asked specifically about the logistics because just to kind of explain it here.

There are multiple aspects of covering the White House. There is the press badge, which is also called a hard pass. You have to have a background check.

So is that what he's talking about, limiting CNN from going to campus?

But it's also a larger issue of the TV pool, which is essentially there is a rotation of all the various TV networks that is a set rotation on a schedule that has different correspondents, different networks going in on a daily basis and asking questions or traveling with the president.

So what exactly does that mean for the television pool?

And when President Trump was asked about the logistics, he didn't have a clear answer. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A very simple ban. I don't want him in my office. I don't want him here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can. And if they could straighten themselves out, if you -- if they could straighten themselves out, I'd love it. Look. They're very dishonest people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now he also seemed to imply that he didn't really care if this was legally challenged or held up in a court of law.

When he was asked about previous challenges that have been overturned by the court, he said whether it survives or it doesn't and then went on to say that he didn't want what he called fake news and dishonest press. He also spent a lot of the time lamenting what he said was negative coverage.

He said very specifically he doesn't get fair press. He said that Biden got better press coverage. And one thing to note is that a lot of our coverage has been gearing up toward these midterms.

And if you look across the board at polling and even Republicans on our air would say the same thing, they are facing tough political headwinds. And President Trump has a record level of unpopularity right now given the war in Iran and affordability, the economy.

Again, all of these are looking at datasets and they are things that we have had Republicans on our own air also acknowledge -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, The White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: CNN said in a statement that "CNN stands fully behind our White House team in their fair and accurate reporting. We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government.

"Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally protected right."

[05:05:11]

It is not the full annexation of Greenland that U.S. president Donald Trump originally wanted, a demand that had triggered a diplomatic crisis with Europe and with NATO partners. But on Friday, he announced the U.S. has struck a security deal with Denmark and Greenland. This is after months of negotiations.

Now Trump said the agreement would give the U.S. permanent control over Greenland's security and the U.S. would start building a large military presence on the semi-autonomous Danish territory in addition to the space base it already has there.

The deal resembles a pact that was established in 1951 but it would forbid U.S. adversaries, such as China, from having a military presence there. Details are still unclear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The Danish prime minister, on the left, did not repeat Trump's description but called it, quote, "a great agreement" which recognizes Danish sovereignty in Greenland.

The leader on the right said it recognizes the island's interests. The agreement still requires Danish parliamentary approval and is expected to be signed next week at the U.N. General Assembly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger talked to us about what's actually new in this deal and how it falls short of Trump's earlier plans

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: We haven't seen the wording of the agreement yet. So what we have to go on is the president's description of it, which is not 100 percent reliable, and a very different description of it that we got from Denmark.

But here are the main things to know. First of all, the president went into this saying he wanted to annex Greenland, that it had to end up being part of the United States. He said to me in January, psychologically it was just important to him to actually own it, not to just be able to use the military bases as part of a treaty.

Well, what he's ended up with is not ownership. It is, in fact, an extension of the 1951 treaty and perhaps a broadening of that treaty. And that treaty has changed many times over the years.

The second thing to know about it is the president said that the United States would have veto rights over any foreign effort to put their own bases, meaning Chinese or Russian bases, in Greenland or foreign investment.

Well, the first wasn't very likely to happen, Ivan, because Denmark's obviously a member of NATO. They weren't exactly going to allow the Chinese to build bases.

But the second part, the investment part, that Denmark is describing very differently and saying, no, the U.S. does not have a veto. We'll know as soon as we see the wording.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now to the rising cost of the U.S. war with Iran. The Pentagon says the war has cost $45.1 billion and counting. That price tag does not include the cost of repair bases or buildings damaged in the war.

And sources familiar with the matter say the Pentagon informed Congress on Friday of this latest estimate as of September 3rd. That number surpasses the latest estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, which had put the cost around $38 billion through August 1st.

Now president Trump at the White House Friday claimed that the war is going to end, quote, "soon."

But that war is actually threatening to spread with the Iranian-backed Houthi militants intensifying their attacks on Saudi Arabia; the kingdom launching strikes of its own. The Houthis claimed on Friday that Saudi Arabia carried out some 300 airstrikes on Yemen this week, though the group offered no evidence to support that claim.

The militants have retaliated by attacking an Aramco facility and a military air base in Saudi Arabia, as you can see in those satellite images there. Joining me now is Paula Hancocks. She is tracking all of these developments for us from Abu Dhabi.

So to this claim, Paula, from the Houthis, that some 300 airstrikes have been carried out just in the last week by Saudi Arabia, what is the impact of that relentless air campaign, both on Saudis and on Yemenis?

And has it contained the crisis at all?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Salma, the growing assumption at this point is certainly that the Houthis have the upper hand, that the fact they were able to take control of key port cities on the west coast, to progress almost easily.

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It's not really the right word but uncontested toward Perim Island, which is a very key part of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway that now Iran funding the Houthis has more of a control over.

So what we have seen is multiple sources telling CNN that neither the Saudi Arabian military nor the United States, a key Saudi ally, really seems to have a clear path as to how they are going to stop this progression and this assault by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Now we do know that that the U.S. military has some 100 military personnel in Saudi Arabia. According to sources, they have been helping the Saudis with intelligence sharing, with targeting sharing as well. But they are not directly involved.

And one U.S. official tells CNN that they believe that they had given Saudi Arabia enough equipment and enough training to be able to fend off the Houthis. This clearly hasn't been the case. So we are continuing to see the kingdom fighting against the Houthis. There are attacks on both sides at this point.

But experts the region do believe that Saudi Arabia is not able to beat the Houthis if it is going it alone. At this point, we have seen, for example, the UAE pulling its military out back in January from helping the government-backed militia, government-backed troops after a dispute with Saudi Arabia.

Now sources tell us that those troops were not backfilled by the kingdom, which, in itself, was another way that the Houthis were able to make this progression down the coast and into the area of the Bab- el-Mandeb Strait.

All the indications we're hearing from the Trump administration at this point is that it is not willing to become more directly involved in these attacks against the Houthis. We've heard that from the very top, from U.S. president Donald Trump himself. Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: No clear path out in what is increasingly looking like a war within a war between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. Thank you, Paula Hancocks, for that analysis for us from Abu Dhabi.

The U.S. State Department has approved a $2.7 billion military sale to Ukraine. Officials say the package would provide air defense upgrades and related equipment and services, including missiles and other weapons. The sale still has to undergo congressional review and, if completed,

Ukraine would finance the purchase with a combination of European contributions and U.S. foreign military financing funds appropriated during former President Joe Biden's administration.

President Trump has now gained more leeway to slap tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas. He signed a new Russian sanctions bill -- this was on Friday -- two days after it passed in Congress and it allows him to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on Russia's energy customers, including China and India.

It also targets top government officials in Moscow, such as president Vladimir Putin. But the Kremlin warns that any new sanctions could backfire on Ukraine peace talks.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, thanked Mr. Trump and U.S. lawmakers for passing the bill. It is named after the late U.S. senator Lindsey Graham, who championed it before his death. Mr. Zelenskyy said the best way to honor senator Graham is to implement the bill as soon as possible.

And as those potential new sanctions hang over Russia, its voters are casting ballots for a second straight day. The country is right now holding parliamentary elections through Sunday. It is the first such election since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin cast his ballot online on Friday. Now technically speaking, 450 seats in Russia's lower house of parliament are up for grabs but the process is tightly controlled and, effectively, opposition is practically nonexistent. So it's a sure bet that Mr. Putin's party will retain its majority.

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ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): These are images of early voting in occupied parts of Ukraine, where ballots are also being cast. You can see armed Russian troops there following election officials as they facilitate voting in those occupied areas.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the elections you see there in the occupied regions a farce. But some voters had this to say.

ANNA, DONETSK RESIDENT (through translator): For me, elections are about ensuring that everything is good in our republic, in our country.

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We really love our president and will follow him wherever.

ELENA, DONETSK RESIDENT (through translator): The hope that life in our region will improve, that people will stop leaving, that more children will go to school, a safe city.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ABDELAZIZ: New exclusive reporting from CNN. The U.S. military had planes in the air, ready to take action against a Chinese ship because of an AI-generated intelligence report, which turned out to be entirely false.

This is according to sources who detailed this very alarming incident to CNN when sourcing the false AI report, quote, "almost started a war" earlier this spring. The U.S. military was preparing to board a Chinese ship in the Middle East after the report indicated it was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.

Two people familiar with the matter shared this with CNN. Now it was only just before this operation that officials dug deeper into the report, put together by a Special Operations Command analyst. And they found that the AI chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the Chinese ship was carrying.

We have so much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. Demonstrators rallied Friday night at the embattled Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in an effort to save that historic institution.

Plus, we'll explain why access to this year's COVID-19 vaccine has been delayed for about half of all U.S. children. That story and much more right after the break.

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ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): You're looking at protests gathered in Washington, D.C., on Friday evening for a "Hands around the Kennedy Center" rally. As the demonstration took place outside the troubled venue, another round of layoffs was made.

Sources tell CNN that more than a dozen employees were let go earlier Friday. President Trump argued once again that his name should be added to the center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I can save it easily.

But why should we be doing that and then raise money for the rest of our lives to keep it afloat?

Because that's what you have to do. If we get no recognition, I think the Trump administration should be recognized as having saved the Kennedy Center because nobody else can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ABDELAZIZ: Now president Trump has repeatedly tried to add his name to the Kennedy Center but, so far, all of his attempts have been blocked in the courts.

President Trump says every U.S. state will voluntarily participate in a five-year Medicaid program aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. Now Medicaid is a joint federal state program that provides low-cost health coverage to millions of low-income Americans under the plan.

More than 2 dozen drugmakers have agreed to provide medications at prices based on the lowest cost available in other major developed countries. The administration has not specified exactly which drugs will be included in this program.

A new COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for the upcoming respiratory virus season but access to it will be delayed for about half of all of America's children because it is not yet available through a key federal program that covers routine immunizations for families that might not be able to afford them. CNN's Meg Tirrell has the story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this program is called Vaccines for Children and it's incredibly important in enabling lower income families to get access to no-cost, routine vaccines in the United States.

It's a federal program and it covers about half of U.S. kids. Now typically, states can start to order the vaccines after the FDA gives the green light for an updated seasonal vaccine. And the FDA did approve updated COVID-19 shots at the end of August.

But still, this process has not yet begun. Now we do hear from experts that it's not completely unusual for there to be some delay between commercial availability of vaccines and availability through these federal programs.

But there's a lot of anxiety right now, given the HHS and Trump administration's stance toward vaccines and especially COVID-19 vaccines. So just waiting to see when these might become available.

And we should note that CVS tells us that, without insurance, the out- of-pocket cost for a COVID-19 vaccine could be about $150, which could be prohibitive for people.

Now we did reach out to the Department of Health and Human Services about this, which tells us that COVID-19 doesn't follow the same predictable seasonal pattern as flu and other respiratory viruses. And so they call September a, quote, "arbitrary date" in terms of procuring COVID-19 vaccines.

They do note that the CDC is finalizing decisions regarding COVID-19 vaccine procurement and they say that additional information will be available shortly. But at the same time, this means that there's an inequity in access to

COVID-19 vaccines as we are seeing COVID rise across the country. If you look at ER department data, for example, you can see that it's particularly rising in the South, COVID-19 visits to emergency departments.

And then starting to increase across the East and West Coasts as well. And if you look at wastewater data, which is a leading indicator of viral activity, you can see that, nationwide, it's getting to higher levels in early September, approaching peaks we saw back in January.

Now not as high as previous peaks that we've seen and the hope is, of course, that we will not see a big wave of COVID this year. But, of course, it's too soon to know.

The American Academy of Pediatrics right now recommends that all children under the age of 2 do receive COVID-19 vaccination, especially a primary series, if they haven't been vaccinated before. And then for kids over the age of 2, say that it's a decision based on their health or the preferences of their families.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, how Congress' lack of action on AI could affect the upcoming midterm elections.

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After the break.

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ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

President Trump announced on Friday that the U.S. has reached a security deal with Denmark and Greenland. Trump said the agreement would give the U.S. permanent control over Greenland security and the U.S. would start building a large military presence on the island.

Denmark's prime minister did not repeat Trump's description but said it is a great deal that recognizes Denmark's sovereignty.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed his gratitude to his U.S. counterparts for a new Russia sanctions bill. U.S. president Donald Trump signed that bill on Friday, which allows for up to 100 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas.

It also targets the top figures in Russia's government, including president Vladimir Putin.

Demonstrators gathered at the Kennedy Center on Friday to show their support for that historic institution. Hundreds turned out for the "Hands around the Kennedy Center" rally. The embattled venue made yet another round of layoffs late on Friday, sources telling CNN that more than a dozen employees were let go.

ABDELAZIZ: U.S. lawmakers are going into the midterm elections in November without passing any regulations on artificial intelligence. Now this is despite numerous calls over the years from House members on both sides of the aisle. Some Democratic lawmakers see the lack of progress as an opportunity.

[05:30:00]

As Annie Grayer explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Congress has failed to regulate AI for years and there is little sign that that is changing.

So going back to December of 2024, there was a bipartisan task force that put out 85 recommendations on what Congress could do to legislate around AI.

And the Republican leading that effort, Republican congressman Jay Obernolte, went to his Republican leadership team and asked to turn this task force into a special committee so that he could work on legislation, be able to bring that legislation to the floor.

Because the way Congress is set up, AI touches so many different industries, it would be very difficult to move legislation that would be waylaid in a very complicated committee process.

But Republican leaders denied this request for a special AI committee because they felt like the task force had completed its work and the existing committees of jurisdiction could take up the recommendations from the task force and turn it into legislation.

But that's not what happened. Instead, what we saw is a number of bipartisan bills get introduced with no momentum behind them. There are a number of efforts, including from Republican congressman Jay Obernolte, that haven't even made it through the committee process.

There are 10 bills that have made it out of one committee but have yet to get any time scheduled on the floor.

And so now lawmakers are asking themselves, what role does Congress have to play here?

Republicans are adamant that it is on AI leaders and executives to put forth ideas on how to regulate this industry. But Democrats see that as a complete abdication of responsibility, that Congress regulates every other industry.

Why should AI be any different?

There's also a conversation of political will going on. Republicans, when president Trump came into power, Trump did not want to see any regulation on AI. He wanted to see developments and new businesses. He was very concerned about the U.S. race against China and did not want any regulation to slow companies on that down.

So as a result, Republicans were not focusing on AI regulations. There's also a question of age going on here. There are a lot of lawmakers who are 70 years old or older, who don't use AI in their regular lives, who don't have a basic understanding of the technology.

And that is creating a real knowledge gap that some say is really preventing Congress from being a major actor here.

But Democrats see this as an opening. They want to be very pro regulation in this space. And they argue that, if they reclaim the majority, particularly in the House, that they will make legislating around AI a very key issue as part of their legislative agenda.

There was a bipartisan group of lawmakers who was pushing House Speaker Mike Johnson to keep Congress in session to work on this issue.

Now that whistleblowers and AI executives have come into the national spotlight and really raised the alarm on this, lawmakers were hoping that that would create some bipartisan momentum to get some of the stalled legislation through committee and onto the floor.

But instead, speaker Johnson sent lawmakers home a day early. And now lawmakers are heading back to their districts with no sign of passing legislation between now and the November midterms -- Annie Grayer reporting from CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Now California governor Gavin Newsom says he is stepping up to fill the void after Congress failed to act. His office released this photo of the governor signing a first-in-the-nation executive order to regulate the California-based tech companies who are at the heart of the AI debate.

The order calls for the gathering of an expert panel to provide guidelines on new regulations within the next two months. Part of those guidelines is creating a, quote, "kill switch" for technology that goes wrong and an independent agency to regulate companies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): This nation needs to get in the game. Washington, D.C., needs to do its job. If Congress again won't act, California will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: I want to bring into this conversation now Gillian Hadfield, a Bloomberg distinguished professor of AI alignment and governance at Johns Hopkins University. Thank you so much for joining us, because this is such a fascinating

debate, of course. And I was watching one of your -- one of your panels, where you're talking about regulation.

And what you said was technology moves faster than governments do. That is the pacing problem. And that is the reason to slow down.

So my question to you is, well, how do we slow down when China and the U.S. are in a race?

President Trump is pedal to the metal and there's no international governance here.

GILLIAN HADFIELD, WHITING SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND THE SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT POLICY, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Well, there are ways to slow down. And the companies themselves have called for a slowdown.

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They see the people who are closest to this technology, I think, have the, you know, the best view of what it is that that we're facing and how fast it's going.

So how do you slow down?

You say, just like with most other products or services, right?

You got to make sure that the product, your service you're releasing is safe enough, that it's not going to cause disaster, cause chaos when you put it out there. We're not talking about necessarily long- term slowdowns.

But it's a way of making sure that we're going to get the benefits from AI and not do anything like, you know, crash the economy.

ABDELAZIZ: Right. So you're saying companies can slow down and there is a call to slow down. But again, this seems so localized.

If I could bring up also in this example, we were just reporting on Gavin Newsom signing this executive order to require AI labs to implement regulations.

Does this work?

I mean, does it -- is it possible for this to happen on a local level, on a company level?

Don't you have to have a broad consensus here?

And how can you get that broad consensus when this is seen as both an economic issue and a national security issue?

HADFIELD: Well, you have to build the consensus but you can also start -- there's consensus to start with. This is a very, very new technology. And so even figuring out what we should be testing for will take -- will take some time. But we absolutely know certain things that we can be -- can be looking

for right now. So for example, we had the incident that many of your viewers probably heard about, about some OpenAI agents hacking into external infrastructure for Hugging Face.

There are -- there are tests that we can be doing and we can be looking at the behavior of those systems to see whether or not we've got good controls in place to try and prevent that kind of behavior.

There are a small number of expert, independent third-party groups that are in a position to do those kinds of tests. We need to build that sector really rapidly. But there are ways to do that. And I think that's where the focus is right now.

How do we -- how do we build that sector?

The alarm that's being pulled, I think, by the companies right now, they're saying we really do need to slow this down. And they need this -- they need governments to act. They need the public to step in, to support that move. And I hope that we will.

ABDELAZIZ: Can I ask you honestly, just as a layman, I see the headlines as a reporter, of course -- AI could kill us all. AI triggers an accidental war. AI agents go rogue.

And I feel terrified.

Do you actually feel optimistic that we can reach that consensus and that we can put those guardrails in place?

As somebody who is an expert, do you do you hold optimism in this?

Do you feel like, yes, we're going to figure it out?

HADFIELD: I think we still have the capacity to do that. I think that window could close. The -- to the extent that -- I mean, the big lesson from, what we've seen in the last few weeks has been that, when you send these agents -- when agents go out into the world and they get onto the internet and they start doing things.

And that's what we're building them for, is to go do things for you, the internet basically, that they do weird things. They do things you didn't want them to do. You don't want too much of that happening before you've made sure that they're reasonably safe.

I think we have a window to do something now. I think it's really quite critical that governments act right now to do something. And there are things we can do.

I've been working on proposals for what we can do for 10 years. We have some shovel-ready approaches that we can adopt. Yes, I do. I mean, I'm nervous, I'm nervous. I particularly worry about disruption. I worry about chaos. I worry about the internet becoming unavailable. I worry about banks crashing.

But, there really are things we can be doing. we should be doing, and -- but the time to do that is right now.

ABDELAZIZ: Gillian Hadfield in Washington, coming to us in the middle of her night. I am nervous, too. But you have reassured me just a little bit that we have a tiny window of opportunity here to act and act now, as you just said, when it comes to AI regulation. Thank you very much.

HADFIELD: Thank you.

ABDELAZIZ: Coming up next on CNN NEWSROOM, it is the war of words, an explosive claim from Princess Diana's brother and a rare rebuke from Buckingham Palace. The royal drama is up next.

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ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back.

New details have emerged from Earl Spencer's new book. In it, Princess Diana's brother reportedly discusses the day of his sister's funeral and the fallout from her divorce. Our Anna Stewart has the latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So from the latest excerpts from the "Daily Mail," it goes into great detail about how Charles Spencer experienced the day of Diana's funeral. This was his sister. It was a clearly a very traumatic day for him.

And I should say that CNN has yet to read this book. This is purely from the excerpt we've had from the "Daily Mail" and we keep getting more information. The book will be released next week.

Charles Spencer describes the procession behind Diana's coffin ahead of the funeral and describes it as the most harrowing moment of his life. He questions why Prince Charles was there in the procession for his ex-wife and says the reason given was Charles wanted to support his sons.

He also describes traveling back on the train from London to Althorp Estate, which is where Princess Diana would be buried. And being told by the queen's private secretary that she was offering to restore Diana's HRH title, Her Royal Highness. That had been taken away following the divorce and it caused a lot of upset as Charles Spencer says.

He writes, "I felt that I knew my bones how she would view this posthumous award. That's very kind of the queen, of course. But what's the point, Robert," he said, "now? I mean, Diana's dead." There's a lot of reflection as well in this on Prince Harry being so young and having to walk behind the coffin in this very public procession, something he was very against, he says, in conversations with Prince Charles ahead of the funeral.

And he says he was worried about the, quote, lack of obvious care for Harry. And he goes on to say, he needed Diana's hugs, of course and they would forever be denied him. Instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control."

Of course, that will generate a huge amount of interest.

[05:45:00]

Not least given how Prince Harry's been very public about how he felt growing up in the spotlight, the scrutiny of the media, how hard it has been and ultimately would leave him -- would lead him to leave -- leave the U.K. and, you know, leave his status as a working member of the royal family.

And also lose his HRH title much like his mother had. And all that is fresh now. He has returned to the U.K.

We will, of course, touch base with the palace but we were under the impression from yesterday with the latest excerpt that they're not going to comment beyond the statement we initially had which essentially said that grief can color memory very much.

Like a statement we've had in the past from the late queen, where she said recollections may vary, as you will remember, when Harry and Meghan did the interview with Oprah. It's the sort of diplomatic royal denial, I would say.

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ABDELAZIZ: I want to bring into this conversation now broadcaster and royal watcher, Bidisha Mamata, she joins us live from London.

Good morning to you. Thank you for being on with us today. You know, I've lived in London for 10 years. And one of the first things I do when a royal story happens is I compare British media coverage with international media coverage, because there's always a bit of defensiveness.

There's always a bit of protectiveness when it comes to the royal family. And then, of course, there is that statement by Buckingham Palace, where there was that outright denial or, one would say, an implicit denial, rather.

And we saw last night on the BBC, the Earl of Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana, have to come out and double down on his claims. Let's take a listen to his sound bite and then break it down together.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The king is plainly furious. Buckingham Palace almost never issues any kind of statement --

EARL SPENCER, PRINCESS DIANA'S BROTHER: Well, is he furious or is he embarrassed?

Because I can tell you here and now. Those are exactly the words he said. I've only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage in my life. I was hyperalert to what he was saying. And those are precisely the words he said.

And I promise that to you now. Genuinely, that is what he said. I don't hear him saying he didn't say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Describing the king -- describing the king as furious in that -- in that interview, hearing him doubling down, what do you make of that?

What do you take of this?

Because this is ultimately a war of words, isn't it?

BIDISHA MAMATA, BROADCASTER AND JOURNALIST: I agree with you completely. It definitely adds a little bit of oil to the fire going on. Clearly there is no love lost between these wings of the party.

And let's not forget that there are two people, ex-boys, now middle- aged men, Harry and William, who are caught in the middle of it between their uncle on their late mother's side and between their father.

As it happens, I do fundamentally believe Earl Spencer, because of the emotional truthfulness of what the king, now king, is alleged to have said. It was indeed in an awful way convenient for Diana to pass. It was indeed paving the way for Prince Charles to marry Camilla Parker Bowles.

These things did indeed happen and we do actually remember very precisely things that occurred and were said to us, particularly if they were insulting or awful or traumatic in those moments of heightened tension.

So maybe he didn't get exactly every single word in his memory. But I do think that this conversation, that was so hurtful, so awful and at such a time, did indeed occur.

Having said that, I'm wondering why it's all playing out now in public. As you so rightly said, this book, "Swan Song," is out very, very soon.

What's the thing that happens in publishing after that?

It's the Christmas market. It's when you try to create the big bestsellers for the year. So it's not as if one party is completely innocent and one party is completely guilty of all of these sorts of tactics. So I do question that somewhat. ABDELAZIZ: You know, I questioned that as well. And I do want to dig

deeper on that question of the timing, because it has been 30 years since the death of Diana. And then, of course, you see these rumors or this conversation circulating about the timing of it coinciding with Harry and Meghan's return to the U.K.

What do you make of the timing and why now?

Why come out with this now?

MAMATA: I am, unfortunately a professional cynic, so I do think that there's a little bit of desiring to make this book a bestseller, to get out ahead of the narrative. And that's true of all sides of this situation and of realizing that the saga will continue, apparently forever, because myths only get stronger with time.

So it's the 30th anniversary of Diana's passing in 2027. Then it will be the 35th. Then it will be the 40th. And it will only create more public fascination with all of this.

[05:50:03]

Part of the reason the entire world is so fascinated by this family is because Diana's passing was so tragic but also because we are seeing in real time the knock-on effects of an event like this amongst all of the other generations -- the brother, the sons, the grandchildren.

And it's making us ask all sorts of questions around the British aristocracy, around royalty, around the damage that can stay within these situations that seem so privileged, so wealthy, so lucky and luxurious on the outside.

And it's asking us, what do we want people's legacy to be?

Do we want it to be about good works?

Is it about saving face?

Is it about hiding trauma?

Is it about pushing people aside when they don't seem to fit the narrative?

That's why it's so compelling. And yet we must never forget this is a family story as well. This was about a woman and her sons who had a very, very, in many ways, difficult and tricky life. And that's why it's compelling, too, because we must not let go of the tragedy at the heart of all of this. This is a family tale.

ABDELAZIZ: Bidisha Mamata -- and that book is coming out next week on Tuesday, I believe. So there will be more drama and more controversy to come. Thank you so much for joining us today.

MAMATA: Thank you.

ABDELAZIZ: We have more news straight ahead. Please stay with us. (MUSIC PLAYING)

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[05:55:00]

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ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Activists in Kathmandu, Nepal, held a silent protest and candle vigil on Friday, demanding more action from the world on climate change. The nation is still reeling from the collapse of a glacier in late August that triggered catastrophic flooding, that killed more than 1,300 people and left thousands still missing.

Activists honored those victims during Friday's rally. One demonstrator talked about the reason he decided to participate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a protest. We are silently just making all the crowd, all the public to recognize the climate change and how it is affecting the Nepal, despite its contribution, is very low.

Like Nepal is contributing 0.027 percent in the carbon emission, global carbon emission. And we are getting all the, you know, climate- related hazards. And we, the youth, are here to show the solidarity to the people who lost their life in the respire (ph) (INAUDIBLE) flood.

And we are just asking for the climate justice. We are not asking for loans. We are asking for the, you know, climate justice.

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ABDELAZIZ: Chile's Chillan volcano erupted Friday. It sent rocks, ash and other volcanic material 380 meters or more than 1,200 feet above the crater. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the plume above the snow- covered mountain range. Authorities maintain a security perimeter around that active crater.

Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. For our viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES."