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Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom Passes Away; Gun Fired in United Kingdom for Every Year of Queen Elizabeth II's Life; Successor to Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III to Meet with British Prime Minister Liz Truss; Royal Salute Honoring Queen As King Charles on Way to London; Trump to Respond After DOJ Appeals Judge's "Special Master" Ruling. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 09, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Around the world. It is Friday, September 9th. I'm Don Lemon live in London. Brianna Keilar joins me from Washington D.C. John Berman is in New York.

Happening now, gun salutes taking place in Hyde Park and at the Tower of London. This is CNN's special live coverage of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the only British monarch most of the world has ever known. I want you to listen in now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number three fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number three!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number three fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number two gun, fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire! UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number three, Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number three fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number two gun, fire!

[08:05:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number three fire!

[08:10:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number three!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven fire! One fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one, fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number three, fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number four gun, fire!

LEMON: So what you have been watching is a royal gun salute, the royal salutes will be fired, or were fired in London today, 1300 hours, BST, as they call it in Hyde Park this. This is by the King's royal troop, royal horse artillery, in the Tower of London by the Honorable Artillery Company. One round, obviously, fired for each year of the queen's life. And then also, as this is happening, we can tell you moments ago, we

saw the first images of the new king of England, I'm talking about Charles III, boarding an airplane at Aberdeen Airport in Scotland. He is now on his way here to London where he will be addressing the nation and the world following the death of his mother, the Queen. King Charles has asked for a period of royal mourning to be observed until seven days after the queen's funeral. The British cabinet office says that further details on the funeral ceremonies will be made available. That should happen shortly.

So let's get some new information, and react to all of this. CNN's anchor and royal correspondent Max Foster joins us now. Max, 96 rounds, salute. Folks here stopped, paid attention, you could hear a pin drop. But mostly you could hear those 96 rounds.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, one for every year of her life. And it's a reminder, isn't it, what a ripe age she reached, and also a reminder, we were talking about how Liz Truss had her first audience with the Queen when she got appointed, and how the Queen, as she promised in that 21st birthday message, dedicated her entire life to her people and she never abdicated. She served right until the end. And I think that's what's poignant about all these gun salutes.

We have them here for ceremonial moments, but never this many. And that really speaks to the contribution I think the Queen made to the United Kingdom. As they fire off, I've been told that Prince William has left Balmoral and is heading to Windsor to be with his family. And I'm sure we'll be hearing from him as well, a short statement about an appearance at some point.

LEMON: So we saw Prince William has left. Prince Harry left earlier. And then we saw the king, for the first time, the new king, leaving as well. How significant is that?

FOSTER: Well, seeing the King leave and those pictures, no matter how rough they were and from whatever long distance was significant, first pictures we've seen of king William -- King Charles III. And he is a British monarch. He's found there in the history books that children will read about in the future.

LEMON: King William -- don't get ahead of yourself.

(LAUGHTER)

FOSTER: But it will be King William as well.

LEMON: Yes, because we were talking about succession, because you have succession on your mind. You just got news about succession moments ago. But, again, it is -- listen, this changes the succession, and you did -- we did see, as we said, the king for the first time. And we're used to Prince Charles rolling off the tongue.

FOSTER: It is difficult. I think his first port of call will be here at Buckingham Palace. I think he will look at the flowers, and I think he'll go inside, and he'll have an audience with his prime minister, the first audience with a prime minister, and his prime minister, the first of many.

[08:15:03]

Imagine, the queen had 15 prime ministers going back to Winston Churchill.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: What folks should know is that this is a well- planned, well-orchestrated event, ceremony, pageantry, if you will. They have been planning for this, quite frankly, since she became queen, but it all depends on the time and where.

FOSTER: Yeah, this one moment, for example, the king's troop in Hyde Park and another troop at the tower of London, they themselves would have been rehearsing every year for this exact sequence and they're just one small part of this. Imagine the amount of work going in right now to the state funeral, Westminster Abbey, with every head of state around the world, I'm sure, wanting to come and trying to arrange coming and all the logistics involved in that.

I mean, the mechanics behind this are epic. They're constantly reviewed. But they do have to be tweaked because she died in Scotland, not here in London, and then we have two weekends instead of one that we -- it could have been, so there is lots of work behind the scenes to try to tie things up and all the embassies in London working full time to arrange their heads of state to get here and safe passage and, you know, where are they going to stay, how are they going to be seen?

LEMON: The late queen will come her in the matter of days, her body will come?

FOSTER: Yeah. So, we haven't had it confirmed, but my assumption would be the body and the casket would rest in Edinburgh for a few days in Scotland before coming to Buckingham palace, the tradition would be for the casket to be in Buckingham palace, so the staff at Buckingham Palace, household staff, can pay their tributes to the queen. And then I would expect it to move to Westminster hall in the houses of parliament for the public, they can pay their respects.

I would imagine very long lines of people snaking around London just to get their moment with history and to be with the longest-serving monarch.

LEMON: Well, I mean, listen, I think we should acknowledge what is happening behind us when you talk about very long lines. We have watched the crowds grow steadily and still growing since we have been here this morning for a few hours. And I'm sure yesterday when this all occurred you were here as well. And the crowds are here.

Despite the weather, this means a lot to the people.

FOSTER: If we can't cope with rain, we wouldn't ever go to do work or school in the U.K. It is part of life. We just all carry on.

LEMON: What do you think of the crowds?

FOSTER: I think the crowds -- it's -- people need to articulate, they have this feeling and they don't know what to do and there is nothing going on, so they're drawn to the palace just to be here and then they get here and they don't really know what to do.

So they bring flowers. There is lots of flowers being laid. They want to avoid a situation where the flowers come out to our -- to point here, which I'm sure they would do, they'll move all the flowers every day to green park.

We'll have a quite spectacular scene at Green Park just here by the palace as they're all laid out as they will be at Windsor castle in Scotland as well. I think that will speak volumes about how the nation feels about the queen.

You'll remember when Diana died, that sea of flowers outside Kensington palace, I think we'll see that time tens.

LEMON: Yeah, the procession, how are they preparing for this now? There will be a procession, yes?

FOSTER: So, yes, so the main procession will be from Westminster Abbey, where the service will be, to Windsor, where the queen will be laid to rest with her parents, Windsor Castle, in a small side chapel there at Windsor Castle.

Prince Philip is currently resting in a vault underneath the chapel and he will be brought out and buried next to the queen.

LEMON: Interesting. Stand by, Max Foster, as we were watching this 96-round salute to the queen, one round for each year of her life, I just want to tell you, a short time ago, as we mentioned, we saw Prince Harry boarding a flight in an Aberdeen, Scotland.

I want to go to Isa Soares live outside of Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where the queen passed yesterday afternoon.

What can you tell us about the movement of the immediate royal family today?

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Don.

Well, the sentiment, first of all that you and max are talking about there at Buckingham palace has really been matched here. I've seen so many people who actually picked flowers from their walks in this beautiful highlands and then just left them right outside the estate, beautiful estate. Many people taking the time to bow their heads and pay their respects, a moment of reflection for so many, really, Don, who believed and felt that the queen was really part of their community here.

She was seen walking the highlands. She would bump into many people.

[08:20:01]

She would attend to the local congregation. So she was very much part of this community. So people taking the time to reflect and to pay honor to their monarch and their matriarch. In terms of what we know about the royal family, you and Max were just

hinting at there, we're pointing out that King Charles III, he left, he's on his way to London with his wife, of course, the queen consort.

We also know that Prince Harry left before him this morning. And we have learned, of course, that the duke, William duke of Cornwall and Cambridge is making his way to Windsor, of course, where he resides with his wife.

That leaves what we know leaves Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward still beside the mother, the queen, of course. We expect the queen to remain here at Balmoral, the Balmoral Estates, 50,000 acres here of this glorious estate for two days or so. And then we're expecting her coffin to be moved to St. Charles Cathedral in Edinburgh and like Max were saying, then making its way, of course, to London.

But a moment, of course, that no doubt is very poignant to the family, very raw, very emotional, given the fact that this is all happening so quickly. But for King Charles, of course, Don, King Charles III, this is the role he's been prepared for his whole life. But no doubt doing so with his head held up but feeling a sense of immense, immense grief -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Isa Soares, thank you very much, I appreciate that.

John and Brianna, as I send it back to you, I mean, think about this, 1952, I mean, the former queen has been a fixture in all of our lives, a fixture in the world. Just think about what she's -- what happened, the decolonization here, civil rights movement in the United States, the assassination of presidents, has seen 14 U.S. presidents, 15 prime ministers here.

I mean, that is something to be said. What a life to have led, 96 years, 70 of those years as queen.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, and providing so much stability, just being this kind of constant presence there in the UK as they have gone through so much of their own turmoil, and now are at such a critical juncture where there is also some instability, economically, and there is this change with the new prime minister as Britain is entering this new phase.

Don, we're going to go back to you in London here in the moment.

But in other big news today, a shooting overnight in Uvalde, Texas, putting an already tense community on edge.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And President Biden calling out Republicans for taking credit for legislation that they voted against. Chris Wallace joins us to weigh in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:04]

KEILAR: Time now for "5 things" to know for your NEW DAY. In Georgia, two sheriff deputies were killed in what officials described as an ambush while they were serving a warrant in a home north of Atlanta. Following an hours-long standoff with police, two suspects are now in custody.

BERMAN: A shooting at a memorial park in Uvalde, Texas, injuring with people. The park is a mile from Robb Elementary School where 19 children and 2 teachers were killed. Police believe the shooting was gang related. Four suspects are in custody.

KEILAR: Firefighters in southern California battling the rapid spread of the Fairview Fire that has killed two people and forced thousands from their homes. Officials say it has burned nearly 24,000 acres and it is only 5 percent contained.

BERMAN: Michigan's Supreme Court has ruled that a citizen sponsor initiative that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution should be added to the November ballot. The measure would establish the individual's right to reproductive freedom.

KEILAR: NASA announcing two new possible dates for its historic launch of the Artemis I moon mission. The agency says the next attempt could be September 23rd or the 27th, but there are still several things that could delay it further.

BERMAN: Those are the "5 things" to know for your NEW DAY. More on these stories on CNN and CNN.com, and don't forget to download the "5 things" podcast every morning.

KEILAR: The Justice Department now saying it intends to appeal a court-ordered special master review and if, this is a review of the materials sized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago. This includes more than 100 classified documents, it is arguing that the order puts U.S. national security at risk.

Joining us now is Chris Wallace, CNN anchor and host of "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE."

They have gone back to the judge, who stopped the review that the DOJ was doing. And they're saying this has thrown a wrench into everything including this intel assessment.

What do you think of what DOJ has said here?

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's a limited effort. They're not saying reverse the entire decision. They're saying we will appeal to the circuit court in Atlanta, the 11th circuit court, if you don't grant us this by next Thursday.

But what they're specifically saying is give us access to the classified material. You can still have a special master, special master can still go over everything except the 100 plus documents. For two reasons, exactly as you put it, this is interfering with their ability to cooperate with the intelligence community to conduct this damage assessment, how much damage was done by the president, former President Trump having these classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. And in addition, they're saying, you know, we had all of these folders there were no documents in, and it is interfering with our ability to find out where those documents are. Are they missing? So they're basically saying, give us access to the 100 classified documents and let the rest of the order stand, although we think that's bad too.

BERMAN: It was interesting to see in the filing, in the language of a court paper reference to those empty folders.

I think a lot of people were wondering if that's something they were actively looking at or if they're chalking it up to an office supply, Chris.

WALLACE: No, they're making it clear, not that they know the answer, but they're investigating whether or not there are still more documents, classified documents, top secret documents, documents that affect national security at Mar-a-Lago and they say, you know, they're continuing to investigate that and they say having access to be able to use the classified documents they have that they seized in the raid at Mar-a-Lago would be helpful in being able to pursue that part of the investigation.

KEILAR: A lot of legal experts looked at this initial injunction and thought it was too much, that it was too much what the judge was doing. But what she at least appeared to be doing was saying, okay, this investigation the DOJ is doing, you are not going to have access to these documents. But the damage assessment, this intel damage assessment about hey, with these documents being floated out there, how much damage was done, that could continue.

Now, DOJ is coming back and saying, actually, no it can't. That's not how it works, and it has actually stalled it.

Is that, you know, believable point, does that make sense to you that they're saying that?

WALLACE: Well, I mean, we don't usually say this, I have no idea whether it is a believable point, but that's what they're going to argue. They want a decision by Judge Cannon by next Thursday and that's their argument.

They can't -- well, here's why I think that it does make some sense. They're saying in assessing the damage that was done by having these documents there, one of the things they got to do is find out who had access to the documents and did anybody except the former president actually look at the documents, somebody who didn't have top secret clearance.

So, if you don't have clearance. If you don't have the documents, it is harder to pursue that part of the investigation to find out whether or not --