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King Charles Attends Ceremony Before Queen's Casket Moves; King Charles To Parliament: I "Feel The Weight Of History"; Ukraine Counteroffensive Sends Russian Military Into Retreat; Russia Suffers Worst Defeat Since Retreat From Kyiv In March. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 12, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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


[08:30:00]

CHRISTIANA AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Appropriate, you know, sexual, I don't know, assault, whatever the formal world is, where it 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, which they're trying to paper over right now. Two, she was -- she did the right thing when she had to, even if it's her favorite son, and she was the glue that held this family together and held this nation together.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: This unity. They said the same thing of the day --

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We did see him yesterday, though --

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: Well, yes, of course, he's the son and probably her favorite son, if we believe it, but not in formal and informality -- yes.

FOSTER: It's a ceremonial moment we're talking about, we're going to have several of them coming up, where you'll see most members of the royal family in uniform, he won't be in uniform.

AMANPOUR: And as Max was saying, you know, he actually paid --

LEMON: Let's talk more about --

AMANPOUR: -- quite a heroic military operation during the Falklands War, and Harry conducted legitimate military operations during the war in Afghanistan. So these two have actually really walked the walk in that regard. And as you see in Harry's statement, to his grandmother, he called her amongst other things, you know, his commander in chief and how proud he was when she, you know, seal that, and that -- with that seal of approval.

And to be frank, many people are concerned, actually, in terms of Harry's, you know, eventual sort of frustration with his role. He could have had a distinguished military role. And yet he was pulled out of Afghanistan, for many reasons --

FOSTER: Because it's leaked to the media.

AMANPOUR: -- because it's leaked to the media, and then was a drift.

FOSTER: So his -- yes, his team.

LEMON: Yes, I wanted to discuss more Harry's statement, because he did mention as you said, his grandmother meeting you again. He's, as he says, I'm paraphrasing here, as my commander in chief, but also in that statement, mentioning when, you know, the first time that she laid eyes on his beloved wife, that he mentioned as well. And it was surprising to see as they popped up on the screen the other day, and we did see, Meghan, who was here now, and then William and Harry and Meghan, together, again, with the family, the two brothers.

So, we will see them again. But as you mentioned, you said you didn't know if Andrew was going to take place, or be a part of the official services today. But we did see him yesterday at the palace here.

FOSTER: Yes, I mean, this is all about so the reason we, you know, Prince -- as I understand it, Prince William reached out to Harry the other day for that walk about was a show of unity at a time when it's really important for the nation to come together. And I think that's what we're seeing with Andrew as well.

I realize we've seen him, you know, his mother, you know, everyone feels it's an appropriate thing. But when it comes to the ceremonial events, there are public events, not personal events. So there was a debate, frankly, about that. But I think that everyone understands that, you know, he's lost his mother. And, you know, perhaps, you know, at a time when the country is expected to unify, then the family is expected to unify too despite everything that's gone on behind the scenes.

There will be people that will have an issue with it, but these things were thought out. I think that's part of the planning process for all of these moments in their mourning process.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I think one of the things will happen here is that -- to follow on from what Christiane and Max was saying, there will be a tonal difference, if you will, between Prince Andrew just being there, versus appearing to be a leading role of that which is taking place. Where is he standing? How much precedence is he given? And I think that's going to show as Max points out, you know, it's a funeral of his mother, go -- I'm going to be there, but they're going to make very short, he's not front and center in that sense.

LEMON: Of course, he has to be there --

QUEST: Yes.

LEMON: -- just another yesterday, as we were saying, as they arrived at the palace in Holyroodhouse. He was there with Princess Anne.

QUEST: Right, but what was interesting when yesterday when the body arrived, was the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, and her husband, Commander Lawrence, and then Prince Edward to work very much to the four, with Andrew, you had to look closely.

LEMON: Yes. As we had been going, Christiane, back and forth between the ceremonial between what's happening with parliament, and also the grieving of the mother in the services here. I'm wondering, Prince -- excuse me, I'm just going to say Prince Charles -- King Charles has been holding an audience, with members of parliament with the Prime Minister. And I'm wondering if that perhaps will carry over when these dignitaries start to come into town, including the President of the United States on Tuesday, if he might indeed hold audiences with them as well.

AMANPOUR: I'm absolutely sure that will be the case. The senior members of the international community, the senior leaders of the international community such as the president of the United States, such as the presidents and leaders of Europe, such as some long- standing friends, an important leaders in the Middle East, for instance, the King of Jordan is coming over.

[08:35:17]

There's been a decade's long relationship between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the royal family here, going back to King Hussein, and of course, now, King Abdullah. So you will see a lot of that there will be, you know, it won't be audiences, it will be meetings, it will be bilat, so to speak, on the sidelines of the funeral, if one can say it like that. But for sure, he will meet them and thank them for coming. And that will be again, his debut almost on the international stage as king because, you know, that's when he will be meeting all these heads of state and heads of government, including Commonwealth Heads, and the likes, of course.

So that will be very important. And I think in the next day, he's also going -- he's in Scotland today, obviously, but he's going to Northern Ireland and Wales before he comes back to London tomorrow when the Queen's body, a coffin will have been flown by air to England, and it will come here to Buckingham palace tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow morning U.S. time.

FOSTER: Tomorrow is the Northern Ireland day, then the Wednesday then Friday will be Wales day. And obviously, the poverty is not there, so it's not as poignant, as it is for Scotland. But there'll be services in a similar way as one, you'll seeing that's a jealous (ph) is in those two other nations to reflect how the unions together.

AMANPOUR: And how important, Max, exactly, as you say, you know, the Queen made this incredible trip to Ireland, the first monarch and --

FOSTER: Yes.

AMANPOUR: -- first British monarch in more than 100 years, to go to Ireland, proper, the Republic of Ireland, and then onwards, eventually to Northern Ireland, where she met with again in an iconic emblem of peace and what she could do as a person to reach across the hand of reconciliation, after all this war and terror that's been going on, on the island of Ireland for so many years, in fact, more than a century. So she's had that role to play as well, very importantly. LEMON: My question to you, Richard Quest, is why not a larger delegation for the president of the United States? Is it simply a space issue?

QUEST: Oh, we're -- when you say delegation, you're talking about number of people that they're going to let it. You can bring as many people really as he wants on the plane, but the delegation, the official delegation, because the RB will only hold about 2,400 people, if you cram them all in --

LEMON: Yes.

QUEST: -- that is the maximum number you can get in Westminster Abbey. And so they're going to have to find every which way and backwards to get as many people in as possible. So it's being told -- in fact, many people are also being told we can't really bring spouses.

LEMON: Yes.

QUEST: Of course, the President --

LEMON: Yes.

QUEST: -- will be bringing in the First Lady.

LEMON: So at this moment, we think it's just an issue of space, not enough for him?

QUEST: Yes, it's certainly not a diplomatic question or anything like that. No. This isn't a logistics issue.

LEMON: Everyone, stay with us. Just a short time from now, a very solemn moment as King Charles leaves a procession of his mother's casket. Brianna and John, we want to throw it back to you in the states and we'll continue to watch what's happening on this side of the pond.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Don, and we'll be right back to you. There are some new revelations though this morning that the FBI was keeping tabs on the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, what they didn't find in their investigation.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And a potential game change in Ukraine as the Ukrainian counter offensive reclaims key territory and reshapes the battlefield. What is Russia's next move? An actor Liev Schreiber will join us on his latest visit to Ukraine and his efforts to aid in the humanitarian crisis on the ground there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:16]

KEILAR: Time now for five things to know for your New Day. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman writes in her upcoming book that former President Trump repeatedly told aides following his election loss that he would refuse to leave the White House. Haberman reports that in the immediate aftermath of the election, Trump seemed to recognize his loss, but his mood quickly changed and he told one aid, quote, I'm just not going to leave.

BERMAN: Torrential rains have pummeled the Chicago area triggering flash floods, submerging roads and homes across the city. Sloppy conditions also causing real problems on the new turf at Soldier Field. But the Bears took it in stride, they won their home opener upsetting the San Francisco 49ers.

KEILAR: A California man accused of murdering eight-year-old Sophia Mason has been captured after nearly six months on the run. Dhante Jackson has been charged with murder and child abuse.

(MUSIC)

BERMAN: The queen of soul under watch by the FBI. CNN has learned that the bureau kept the file on Aretha Franklin decades ago. It was concerned about her possible ties to what they considered radical groups during the Civil Rights era. The FBI has determined there was no evidence Franklin has such connections.

KEILAR: And 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz of Spain is the U.S. Open men's singles champion. He became the youngest world number one player since the rankings began almost 50 years ago. This is his first Grand Slam title.

BERMAN: These are the five things to know for your New Day. More on the stories all day on CNN and cnn.com and don't forget to download the 5 Things podcast every morning. Go to cnn.com/5things. You can also find it wherever you get your podcasts.

KEILAR: And extraordinary development on the battlefields of Ukraine. A new offensive by Ukrainian forces forcing the Russian military to retreat. CNN is live inside one liberated town next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:49:07]

KEILAR: This morning and over the weekend, just a jaw-dropping turn of events on the battlefield in Ukraine as Ukrainian forces took back key towns in a rapid counter attack. Russian troops pushed out of territory that they captured in the past six months. CNN's Melissa Bell live in Kharkiv, Ukraine with more. This was something to watch on social media, on media over the weekend, Melissa, as they marched town by town pushing the Russians out.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And really through social media and the images that the soldiers themselves were posting as they undertook that tremendously quick sweep across the Kharkiv region, that was really the only place you can see it. Because remember, that this is a counter offensive has been really kept under wraps by Kyiv. Journalists are not being given access either to the one here and the Kharkiv region or the one in the South that has been focused on Kherson. But it is this one that has seemed to prove remarkably spectacular. [08:50:07]

We were able to get to one of those key towns, where we've seen the flag raised on Saturday, the town of Kupiansk. And what we found when we got there was a lot of villages along the way that had been liberated with investigators even now going around trying to figure out what war crimes may have been committed in the six months of Russian occupation there. But as you got towards those big towns, and specifically the town of Kupiansk, there was still quite a lot of fighting yesterday afternoon.

So 24 hours after that flag was first raised, a reminder that it isn't because the flags are raised that the towns are necessarily entirely under control. But you're quite right. Brianna, really spectacular advances and I think advances that have really taken the Ukrainians by surprise themselves. And that have proven their strategy, extremely clever, starting with a counter offensive in the south, that appears to have drawn the focus of Moscow around Kherson, thereby leaving these parts of eastern of what the greater Kharkiv region exposed and therefore vulnerable to fall.

What we have seen is something of reaction here in the city of Kharkiv over the last 24 hours. A lot of airstrikes late yesterday evening and again this lunchtime taking out infrastructure including water and electricity, which is once again down this lunchtime, Brianna.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (voice over): The tanks spoke to a hasty Russian retreat, as Ukrainian forces swept eastwards over the weekend, triumphantly raising the flag over Kupiansk on Saturday. Local police forces providing CNN with exclusive access to a key town now meant to be under Ukrainian control.

We still feel uneasy because we've been bombed for four days in a row, says Vasyl and nothing certain yet. Which only became clearer as we headed further in to Kupiansk.

(Speaking Foreign Language)

BELL (on-camera): Aircraft, helicopters turning everything.

(voice over): A first artillery strike, to close for comfort, then a second much closer.

(on-camera): That was the sound of artillery landing just next to our car, or on the car. We have come into Kupiansk hoping to get to that flag to see where it had been planted only yesterday. But as you can see, this Sunday afternoon it's still the scene of some pretty fierce fighting. We'll be hearing the sound of outgoing artillery fire. That was the sound of incoming.

(voice over): Two hits directly targeting our car, says the policeman. Time to go back to what we'd come to see, those parts of Kharkiv region fully under Ukrainian control. (INAUDIBLE) where after six months of occupation Ukrainian investigators know all too well what they'll find after Bucha and Borodyanka that were under Russian control for only a month.

Yes, according to our information, we are recording war crimes in almost every village, he says. This, the body of one of two civilians killed in late February. An early victim of the invasion and evidence now of what six months of Russian occupation have caused.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL: That grim task of beginning to count the dead and the possible war crimes after six months of occupation here in the greater Kharkiv region, even as soldiers continue to fight to liberate the areas around it. Brianna and John.

KEILAR: Yes, the grim reality of these successes. Melissa Bell, thank you for that report.

BERMAN: So as the war in Ukraine seems to enter this new phase, humanitarian aid is still very much in need. Award winning actor Liev Schreiber, who is a Polish and Ukrainian descent is the co-founder of BlueCheck Ukraine, a U.S.-based initiative supporting Ukrainian humanitarian organizations. He's made three trips to Ukraine since BlueCheck launched in March. And Liev Schreiber joins me now. Great to see you here.

LIEV SCHREIBER, CO-FOUNDER, BLUECHECK UKRAINE: Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: You were just glued to Melissa Bell's report from Kharkiv right now, and I know you're watching this as closely as any of us, stunning developments the last few days.

SCHREIBER: Yes. It really is remarkable the territory that they've been able to gain back. I mean, it. What we're seeing, and I mean, as you know, consistently is that the way Russia responds to Ukraine's military advances is by striking civilian infrastructure. And so, the need for humanitarian aid and support doesn't stop here. We have to keep pushing this agenda as long as we -- as long as there --

BERMAN: I think that's a really important thing to note, even as Ukraine is enjoying some success and remarkable success, all of a sudden, it may only increase the need for the humanitarian assistance.

SCHREIBER: Yes, I mean, that front line is around 1,200 miles long which is approximately the distance from Atlanta to New York.

[08:55:04]

So the number of casualties and wounded as a result of the fight and now with the new offensive both in the northeast and the south, there's even more injured. And so, there's even more need particularly for medical aid, mobile medical aid, single use medical aid. You know, in other words, usually, limb damage is something that only happens to soldiers. But in this war, it's happening to civilians, also children. And with children, you know, they need to be refitted all the time for prosthetics and things like that.

The fixators that are in need for keeping people's limbs intact, while they wait for surgery or all of this stuff is really essential. And by the way, is what's helping them and giving them a little bit of relief so that they can make advances like this --

BERMAN: So talk to me about BlueCheck and how the work you're doing for Bucha gets that need to them right where they need it.

SCHREIBER: Well, humanitarian outcomes, an outfit out of U.K. did a report about a month ago about the aid situation in Ukraine. And about $2.6 billion had been donated to Ukraine. Unfortunately, at that time, only 6 million of that has actually been activated. So what BlueCheck does is we go directly to the NGOs and the boots on the ground people who are doing the work.

We have pro bono, vetting and verifying from Ropes & Gray, a law firm here in the States. And we very, very quickly find out who's doing work. Now working with the President's platform, United 24, and the Ministry of Health, they help us to identify the NGOs that are doing effective work. And for people who want to support Ukraine who want to give, what we do is we fast track their support to the people who we believe are really, really doing the work.

BERMAN: You get it right to where it is most needed quickly. You've been there three times, including most --

SCHREIBER: Yes.

BERMAN: -- recently in August, how have things changed to your eyes, since you've been going?

SCHREIBER: One of the most alarming things that we're noticing is that a lot of the refugees have returned. So you have these big cities. There's also 6 million internally displaced Ukrainians from the shelling. So you have these big cities that are way over capacity, and many, many people who are dealing with homelessness and food crisis, shelter crisis. So those are a lot of the things that we're looking at.

What we are -- what I'm excited about today, and we should spend more time talking about, but I -- are the advances. I think that the military and the President had been really successful about playing his cards close to his chest, so none of us saw this coming. I think those first initial advances of town here or town there, were impressive, but not real news. I think what's happening in Izyum and to the northeast, right now in the south is really exciting.

BERMAN: Do you think this is the real deal?

SCHREIBER: I think this is impressive. Yes, this is really impressive to me, at least.

BERMAN: And you were just meeting with Zelenskyy last month.

SCHREIBER: I did, yes.

BERMAN: What can you tell us about him? What do you notice about him? SCHREIBER: He's got a great sense of humor. I remember someone asked him, you know, like been like 12 attempts on his life since he's been in office, and someone asked him, what's that like? Really perfect timing. in Ukrainian loosely translated. He said, well, the first three are pretty awful, but then you get used to it. And that, to me is sort of distinctly Ukrainian attitude. They're incredibly resilient, really courageous and proud people. And I'm really grateful to everyone who's supported them.

BERMAN: Well Liev Schreiber, you should be proud of the work you're doing. It's making a real difference on the ground there. We applaud you for this. We know it's a real effort. We know it's close to your heart. So thanks so much for everything.

SCHREIBER: Thank you for having me.

BERMAN: So we're live in the United Kingdom with more of the special coverage as the British public says goodbye to Queen Elizabeth and Charles assumes his new rule as king.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Time now for the good stuff. A retired nurse jumps into action after a three-month-old stopped breathing on her flight. Tamara Panzino was starting vacation when the crew said an infant was not breathing. She immediately ran to help and her years of experience kicked in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMARA PANZINO, RETIRED REGISTERED NURSE: Gave daddy the baby, held it, while I did a sternal rub.