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King Charles Attends Ceremony of Keys in Scotland; New Book by Former United States Attorney Provides Insider Information on Trump Administration; King Charles III Assumes Monarchy after Death of His Mother Queen Elizabeth II; President Biden and First Lady Invited to Queen Elizabeth II's State Funeral. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 12, 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]

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: That's just one allegation that Geoff Berman has in his book where he gets into some other examples where he believed there was political interference. But we had never known about this investigation into John Kerry. It had remained secret, never came out. And what he described is that Trump tweeted, Justice reacts, they ask them to investigate John Kerry for potential violations of the Logan Act. That's, as he explained, that's something that hasn't been prosecuted in more than 200 years. And all for John Kerry's work on the Iran nuclear deal as a private citizen, just maintaining communications. Of course, former President Trump's allies, Rudy Giuliani, was doing a whole shadow activity in Ukraine.

And also in this interview, he talks about the Michael Cohen case. And for the first time we've heard Geoff Berman respond to why former President Donald Trump was noted in the indictment as individual number one but never prosecuted. And his answer was essentially they didn't have enough evidence. He said evidence against one individual doesn't evenly apply against another individual. So first time Trump says he has really addressed why Trump is in the indictment as individual one but not charged.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: But there was pressure to get him out even as individual one in the book, which is also very interest. Kara Scannell, a lot in here. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

NEW DAY's special coverage continues right now.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Don Lemon live in Edinburgh, Scotland. A day of sadness, a day of reflection here in the United Kingdom as the people say farewell to their queen and begin to open their arms to the new king. The royal couple arriving in Edinburgh just moments ago. King Charles and his Queen Consort Camilla. They will lead the royal family in a procession behind Elizabeth's coffin. And then this afternoon, there will be a service of reflection at St. Giles Cathedral. Earlier this morning King Charles III addressed Parliament for the first time as monarch, acknowledging he feels the weight of history. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both houses dedicate yourselves with such personal commitment for the betterment of us all.

Parliament is the living and breathing instrument of our democracy. That your traditions are ancient we see in the construction of this great hall. And the reminders of medieval predecessors of the office to which I have been called. And the tangible connections to my darling late mother we see all around us, from the fountain in New Palace Yard which commemorates the late queen's silver jubilee, to the sundial in Old Palace Yard for the golden jubilee.

My Lords and members of the House of Commons, we gather today in remembrance of the remarkable span of the Queen's dedicated service to her nations and peoples. While very young, her late magistery pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation. This vow she kept with unsurpassed devotion. She set an example of selfless duty which, with God's help and your counsels, I am resolved faithfully to follow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And then this came in earlier this morning. Prince Harry paying tribute to -- in a statement to his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, thanking her for her sound advice and infectious smile. And he wrote, quote, "I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings, from my earliest childhood memories with you to meeting you for the first time as my commander-in-chief to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great grandchildren. I cherish these times shared with you and the many other special moments in between."

[08:05:00]

I want to get straight now to Isa Soares. She joins us live from the Royal Mile that's here in Edinburgh where she is awaiting the procession. What are you seeing there, Isa?

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Do. Let me give you a sense of what we have been seeing the last hour-and-a-half or so, almost two hours. The crowds have grown significantly. A sea of people, as you can see, right behind me. Some people brought stalls, some chairs, some even came with sleeping bags, sleeping the night here, giving you a sense, Don, of what we may come to see in London, of course.

In about an hour-and-a-half, as you were stating out there, we will see the queen's hearse leaving the palace of Holyrood House, making its way to St. Charles Cathedral. Behind the hearse will be King Charles III as well as members of the royal family, his siblings, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Prince Andrew. Behind them we will see the Queen Consort. She will be in the car.

And they'll be making their way up the royal mile. And just to give the viewers a sense of what that may mean, I'm hearing applause now. Give me one second. I'm going to move out of the way so my camera can capture this. Here we go. This is the king. Let's listen.

(APPLAUSE)

SOARES: King Charles III and Queen Consort waving at the crowds. You heard, Don, that roaring applause as they made their way to the palace of Holyrood House. Of course, they'll be making their journey back here, of course, in about an hour-and-a-half. And they'll be doing that on foot, King Charles behind his mother's hearse. This will give you a sense of what this actually means. They will be walking uphill, cobbled streets, as you know, Don, with the public flanked on both sides. An incredibly raw emotion. Of course, you'll see a family grieving very publicly and the public between them, 15 feet in between them, really feeling the weight of history in that emotion as the family mourns, very exposed, of course. And I can feel the emotion will be incredibly raw when we see that happen in about an hour-and-a- half, Don.

LEMON: Isa is standing by, and we'll bring that to you live as it all unfolds. Thank you, Isa Soares. I appreciate that.

Meantime, President Biden and the first lady preparing to come to the Queen's state funeral a week from today. But the White House says the president will not have a delegation of U.S. officials traveling with him.

Straight now to CNN's Jeremy Diamond at the White House for us this morning. Good morning to you, Jeremy.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Don.

President Biden and the first lady receiving formally that invitation to attend the Queen's state funeral over the weekend. We heard yesterday from the White House that the president and the first lady do intend to attend this funeral, but a White House official also telling us that Buckingham Palace did not invite President Biden to bring a larger delegation to the queen's state funeral.

This funeral, of course, Don, is expected to be highly and heavily attended. She was, of course, the longest reigning sovereign in British history. And so the number of officials coming from various countries is expected to be quite large. In the past, for other state funerals both in the United Kingdom as well as you think back to 2013 with the state funeral for Nelson Mandela, U.S. presidents have typically been able to bring a delegation. With Nelson Mandela, we know that President Obama at the time brought former President George W. Bush, the secretary of state and former first lady Hillary Clinton, as well as other officials aboard Air Force One.

But this time, at least for the funeral itself, Don, we are not expecting President Biden to come alongside other officials. He will, however, alongside the first lady of the United States be representing the United States at this funeral a week from today. Don?

LEMON: Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much for that.

I want to get back to the pictures happening here in Edinburgh, Scotland. There is the new king, Charles III, greeting the crowd. So many people have been lining the streets here and wanting to pay tribute to the queen, and today wanting to see and get a glimpse of the king. And here they're getting so much more. They're actually getting a little bit of one-on-one time with him, if just for a second, a handshake or so and a sighting. Let's listen in and see if we can hear anything just for a second.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My condolences.

[08:10:08]

LEMON: So I am joined now by CNN international anchor Richard Quest, CNN royal correspondent Max Foster, CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, and host at BBC America, Sharon Carpenter. I'm so delighted to have all of you along to help our viewers in the United States and around the world to guide us through all of this, so thanks for joining this morning.

I'll get straight to my colleague who is here with me in Edinburgh because that's where the action is, that's where this is happening. As you see the queen consort there in the picture greeting her subjects and the king greeting his subjects. This is an important moment for both of them.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Absolutely, don. Wasting no time at all. Just arrived in the Scottish capital and immediately going out of the gates to do what we call a walkabout to meet the people and to receive their condolences, but also their support in his reign, and to show that they support him. From here, of course, it will become a lot more solemn when he goes inside and has to walk behind the coffin of his mother. But I think from the very get-go, he has now made it clear he recognizes the importance. He's had a walk about outside Buckingham Palace, he's had a walkabout here. Time and again he's making it clear he recognizes the need to interact and to connect with now his subjects. They are his subjects now.

LEMON: This, we have seen, Max Foster, you and I and Christiane witnessed it the other day, as well as Richard the other day when the king came out and greeting the crowd, warm reception, and the woman kissed him, which is a bit surprising to a lot of people. But we have seen the king and now the queen consort as well as the new Prince of Wales, William, and his brother Harry as well, we've seen a lot of contact over the last several days with the royal family and the public.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's very important for them to do this. This is actually something that the queen popularized. Before the queen, the tradition was you would just walk into a constitutional event past the crowds inside and meet officials. She was the one that on the way in started speaking to the crowds and making the walkabouts a thing. And the reason she did that is because television became a thing, and exactly what you see here, you see the monarch amongst the people.

This is someone we have nothing in common with, we cannot possibly relate to the position. But he can relate to ours, and it makes us feel as if he is one of us. These are the sort of nods, really, to the fact that he's a relatable person when in many ways he's not. And actually, he's done this in the past, of course, but there's a new confidence about him with the people, I think. This is more personal as was Prince Charles, it's a bit more personal Charles, but also a more personal monarch than the queen was, a bit more emotional.

Camilla, the queen consort, I have to say to you, doesn't necessarily come across as that personable on TV, but when you meet her, she is probably the most personable member of the royal family. She's very charismatic, very funny. She is someone that you can imagine sitting and having a chat with. And I think that she's really going to come into her own in this role, particularly when she's meeting people, because if the camera went back and spoke to many of the people she's just met, they would be blown away by what she's like. It just doesn't come across on TV. So I think we're going to see a lot more of this. We're going to get to know the queen consort a lot better as well.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I think, Max, what you're saying, portend really for the bigger picture --

LEMON: I think this is important for as well, I think this is important, Christiane, as well, because he is really in mourning and grieving. And I think it helps, this is at least in my estimation, this helps with all of that, as he looks at the flowers that haven't been placed here for the memorial for his dear mother, as he says, my dear mamma. Christiane?

AMANPOUR: Yes, I think what you're saying what Max was saying, point really to a bigger and equally important picture. He actually has to, has to be doing what he's doing right now. He must from the very beginning not just shake hands but again try to cement the legitimacy of the monarch with the people. This is the first chance -- like if it was a P.R. campaign, this is what you would have the new celebrity do, so to speak, the new head of the brand do.

And let's face it, and we have to, that Prince Charles has had a very uneasy and rocky road to this monarchy right now. He was way below in polls, obviously from the queen, and even his own son Prince William. And as for Camilla which dates all the way back to her being, quote, as Princess Diana once said, the third party in our marriage, she has also had to undergo decades of rehabilitation.

[08:15:00]

So, this isn't just niceties. This is a vital, vital necessity for them to start their monarchy, their reign by legitimizing themselves with the people, shaking their hands, listening to them, giving the impression that they actually are fit to take over from a woman, Queen Elizabeth II, who was universally loved.

She just was, whether you are a Republican or not a Republican, she was loved. It was so interesting to hear quoted in some of the newspapers I'm reading, the historian Timothy Garton Ash, who said "This is perhaps the last global outpouring of mourning that we will ever see around the world," because this is happening around the world in various degrees, and it is also perhaps the last moment to denote the greatness of what Britain was.

This is really, really important, and you go back to Queen Elizabeth, who said decades ago, again, quoting from various reports that I'm reading, she said, "You know," and this was in the late 1950s, "I can never lead you into battle, I can never deliver laws or justice, but what I can give you is something else and that is my heart to you, the people of this nation and all the nations of the Commonwealth and around the world."

And so this is what Prince Charles and Queen Consort, Camilla, are perhaps trying to show, that they too, cannot do anything other than give the people their heart and they hope that this will be reciprocated, not just today, and these days in the morning days, but beyond into their reign.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Christiane, you know, you're reading my mind because I was thinking the same thing and I actually posed that question to Sharon, because this is -- it's very interesting to watch.

They are keenly aware that it's not just happening in England that it is not just being paid attention to here, the whole world is watching.

And this is going to be, as you respond to this, before you respond standby because this is the -- where they're going to do the exchange of the keys. They're going to give them the keys to the city here.

Sharon, I'll have you respond in just a moment, but we want to pay attention -- particular attention to this moment?

As they say do, Sharon as we watch this, we can talk about the world watching and also you can take us through what is happening in this particular ceremony.

SHARON CARPENTER, HOST, BBC AMERICA: Absolutely. So yes, the world is watching every move that the King is making right now, and what's happening here is the Ceremony of the Keys, which is an ancient tradition usually up until this point involving the Queen is happening in the forecourt of Holyroodhouse. This is where the procession --

[08:20:00]

LEMON: All right, let's bring back in now, Sharon, I hate to keep interrupting you, but you know we are flying. We're going along as things are happening here, so please continue.

CARPENTER: Absolutely.

LEMON: This is the Ceremony the Keys, and usually it's traditional for them to give him the key and then he gives them back and says, "I think they're much better in your hands." But go on, please.

[08:25:01] CARPENTER: Exactly and that's exactly what we just saw. We saw King

Charles inspecting the troops first of all before the Lord Provost.

He offers the keys to the monarch ceremonially, and then every time the monarch returns those keys, as you said, saying, "They're better in your hands, I'm entrusting them with you, the elected officials."

Now this is a bittersweet moment right now. It is usually the Queen who is involved in the Ceremony of the Keys, as she was this past summer to open Holyrood Week, which is a week where the Royal celebrate the people, the culture and the achievements of Scotland, and we have reached a point in history where this tradition has had to be passed down to the new King.

But the Queen did attend the Ceremony of the Keys as recently as this past summer. We weren't sure if she was going to be able to make it. This was a time where she was dealing with ongoing mobility issues. We hadn't seen her, or the last time we saw her in public was during the Platinum Jubilee. And of course, she missed out on a number of events during that time because of her health issues.

But she was able to make it to Holyrood Week. She was able to make it to the Ceremony of the Keys. And Harry said in the statement earlier, he spoke about the Queen's infectious smile, and you could see that during that moment. She was so happy having this lifelong love for Scotland and the people of Scotland for her to be able to sort of push through and make it to Holyrood week, and a Ceremony of the Keys.

You can see the delight on her face that she was able to be there.

LEMON: Richard Quest, as we are watching this, there have been a reviewing of the troops there, by the way that the King and the Queen Consort have entered the Palace of Holyroodhouse, but there was -- this is ceremonial.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.": Yes, and I think you're going to now see a dramatic shift in tone.

From what we've seen so far, which is welcoming the King, doing this ancient Ceremony of the Keys, which his mother did only a few weeks ago when she was here, as Sharon eloquently was saying, but now we're going to start to see it get extremely somber.

LEMON: The traditional funeral --

QUEST: A procession. We're going to see very slowly progressing up Princess Street, at the Royal Mile, all the way to the Cathedral.

LEMON: To the Cathedral of St. Giles, which you see there up on the screen.

I want to bring in Max Foster now to talk to us. We're looking at pictures now of the Queen doing the keys just months ago -- Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so just before they exchanged the keys, the Lord Provost would have said to His Majesty, that 'This is your ancient and hereditary Kingdom of Scotland," emphasizing the point that this is very much part of the King's Kingdom.

So, these were all reiterations really of his legitimacy in Scotland in a Palace that goes back, you know, nearly a thousand years and has gradually developed into what it is today.

This is a living breathing Palace, the Queen used to hold Garden Parties every year there, investitures. This is the seat of the King in Scotland, and these are all assortations effectively of that.

He is going to go in and look at the coffin. Of course, spend time with the coffin at the Palace of Holyrood. A service probably in there as well.

In about an hour's time, he'll come out. I think that's going to be the really emotional part really of this mourning period so far, where you're going to see the coffin in procession followed by the Queen's four children. Obviously, the King upfront there.

Included, I can't confirm that Prince Andrew, despite the fact that he has not got a working role and is meant to be -- has withdrawn from public life, he will be in that procession. This is his mother they are laying to rest.

Over this period of mourning, the only difference you're going to see with Prince Andrew is that he'll be wearing a suit rather than uniform and that is because he is not a working member of the Royal family.

The same will be true of Harry as well when we see him. He'll be in a suit.

Some frustration, I have to say behind the scenes, frankly about that, because these are the two members of the Royal family that actually fought on the frontlines, but both sides, everyone here sticking to protocol for one reason and that is because respect for the Queen and she signed all of this off.

AMANPOUR: I mean, let's face it, Harry was of his own volition, he left being a working Royal. Andrew was fired by his mother and by his brother who is now King. He was fired for deep transgressions, for being accused in that awful Jeffrey Epstein pedophilia case of inappropriate you know, sexual -- I don't know assault, whatever the formal word is, but he was fired.

And he was the Queen's favorite son, which also goes to show two things. One, there has been some dysfunction in this family.

[08:30:10]