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New Day

Prince William & Kate Take On New Roles After Queen's Death; "The Crown" Viewership Surges After Queen Elizabeth's Death; Officers Rescue Mother And Children From Floodwaters; Power Outages Skyrocket Over Past Decade, Extreme Weather Blamed; Another Russian Businessman Dead In Latest Mysterious Death; Bill Richardson Meets With Russians In Moscow Amid Prisoner Talks. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired September 14, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have a live look from outside Buckingham Palace. Soon the Queen's casket will be moved to Westminster Hall, where she will lie in state until her funeral on Monday. Prince William and his brother, Harry, will walk behind the casket alongside their father, King Charles. For the Prince of Wales, his wife Kate, and other family members, this day represents the dawning of a new Royal era. Here's CNN's Max Foster.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It used to be all high jinks and banter between William and Harry.

PRINCE WILLIAM OF WALES: It's pretty rich coming from a ginger, so we're happy (INAUDIBLE)

FOSTER: Even after William married, there was plenty of fun to be had in front of the cameras. Over the years, William gradually rebranded from a tireless young royal mixing with celebrities and trendy parties to a more formal suited and booted figure, more fit for the throne. According to sources, it was a deliberate transformation, as he moves steadily towards the top job as his name. Once dubbed the "Work Shy Prince." Sources say William wasn't in a rush to take on full-time public duties whilst he was settling down. First, marrying his soul mate, and then raising a young family. It was all about striking the right balance. But from the moment his grandmother died, he became first in line to the throne. And with that, came a more weighty title.

KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru, the country whose title I've been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty.

FOSTER: With that, the new Prince and Princess of Wales have been elevated in position and will now be expected to step up and support the King more. They inherit huge swathes of land through the Duchy of Cornwall, giving them an independent income for the first time. William's father reinvented the role of Prince of Wales by professionalizing it. It's no longer a ticket to a playboy lifestyle. William and Kate will have plans for making it their own. But family will remain the major priority for both of them with their children starting at a new school just last week. Both will be aware that the burden of royal duties are greater than they ever were. Not just because the Queen has passed, but because these duties were always meant to be shared with Harry, who's now given up his royal role.

It leaves the monarchy, whether by design or by default, more streamlined than ever. The spotlight now firmly on the new Prince and Princess of Wales, the most high profile in history. Max Foster, CNN, Buckingham Palace, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: In light of the Queen's passing, Netflix viewers had been rushing to see more of her life. This week, the company announcing that season one of "The Crown" climbed all the way to Netflix's top 10.

[06:35:04]

Joining me now is CNN Royal Commentator Emily Nash. So, presumably, Emily, they're starting at the beginning, and these are folks who may be rewatching this or who haven't seen it before. So, what is it about "The Crown" that has people wanting to see it at this moment?

EMILY NASH, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: I think people have been reminded just how fascinating the Queen's life was in all the obituaries that you guys and other media organizations have been putting out this week. And they want to go back and see the story in that lavish setting that Netflix has managed to produce. And this is going to be people who've already seen it, but I think there's still a lot of other people who maybe didn't have it on their priority list, have turned to it at this point to find out more about this incredible woman.

KEILAR: Yes, it's an incredible show. I know that some royal watchers will say there are liberties taken with it. But when it comes to the historical events, there is a lot of attention paid to that. It's helpful if you do want to know some of the stories. I also want to ask you, we heard about that Duchy of Cornwall, Prince William becoming the new Prince of Wales. He and Kate now have this independent income for the first time ever, it's valued at over a billion dollars U.S. This estate brought in over $25 million over the past year alone when Prince Charles was Prince. He used it to fund different kinds of activities, including charitable ones. How do you think Prince William and the Princess of Wales are likely going to use this money?

NASH: Look, I think the Prince of Wales is going to do exactly as his predecessor, now the King did. He's going to use it to fund his activities. And I think he will be using it to fund in particular the Royal Foundation of now the Prince and Princess of Wales. And they've got several key interests that they promote and support. They include mental health, supporting emergency service responders. For the Princess, in particular, it's about the early years and supporting families and children from the ages of naught to five, because she believes fully that that helps society in the longer term. And of course, William's Earthshot Project, which is now an independent organization, but which he's very much driving. So, they have some well-established themes that they're going to return to, but I imagine with this huge new income, they're going to be able to expand their work exponentially.

KEILAR: Do their lifestyles change, Emily?

NASH: Their lifestyles will change. They have inherited this Duchy. It's like 140,000 acres of land across the southwest of England. And they are going to have, as you say, their own income for the first time ever. Up to now, they still receive money from the Duchy, but it was always channeled through the then-Prince of Wales's Office. So, for the first time, they have real independence (INAUDIBLE) say and how they use those funds.

KEILAR: All right, Emily Nash, we do appreciate your time this morning. We'll be coming back to you on the procession route. Thank you. Major power outages becoming more common in the United States, and a new study says extreme weather is to blame.

BERMAN: A dramatic water rescue in Southern California as rookie police officers save a mother and her two children from the rushing floodwaters.

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[06:40:00]

BERMAN: A dramatic water rescue after heavy rain and flash flooding hit San Bernardino, California. Police body camera video shows three officers forming a human chain to rescue a family at risk of being swept away. Now, all three officers were rookies with less than a year on the job. They never trained for a swift water rescue. The mother and her two children, they were uninjured. Police in the area now -- I'm sorry. So, people in the area now face a major cleanup after waves of mud destroyed their homes and businesses.

KEILAR: There are major power outages that are becoming more common in the U.S. and a worsening climate crisis may be to blame. A new Climate Central report found extreme weather is putting the nation's vulnerable electric grid at even greater risk. Joining us now is CNN National Correspondent Rene Marsh. This is a really interesting finding.

RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. I mean, this summer, we all know, has been a summer of extremes. And really, this new report out this morning is confirming what energy experts have been warning us about since the beginning of summer, weather-related power outages from 2011 to 2021, increased roughly 78 percent. And 83 percent, you're looking at that graph there, the top line, those are all of the power outages that were caused to weather-related events. The other line is non-weather-related events. So, you see how dramatic there.

And we talk about these extreme weather events, hurricanes, wildfires, ice storms, drought, wildfires, things of that sort. They are increasing in duration and frequency. And our -- the bottom line is our electric grid was not built to withstand these sorts of weather events. You're looking at that map there. Well, that is a map that shows all of the power outages, major ones, throughout the United States.

And among the United States, they found that Texas, Michigan and California are the top three states with the most reported weather- related power outages. And Brianna, when you think about this, this is not just about an inconvenience. We're talking about lack of refrigeration, we're talking about lack of air conditioning, in many cases, this could lead to health issues. Death in many cases, we saw that happen in Texas with this ice storm. Many people died when power was out for an extended period of time. So, this is more than an inconvenience.

And you know, as these weather events become more extreme, the reality is we will see more of these power outages because again, our grid is never built to withstand these sort of temperatures. The answer is extending our power sources, renewable energy, helping the grid to get more power because the demand, when we are seeing these extreme events, is so incredibly high, more than what our grids can essentially handle at this point.

[06:45:06]

KEILAR: Yes, it really puts the elderly especially at risk, the cold and the heat. We saw that in Texas, we see that in California. Rene, thank you so much. Rene Marsh. Another prominent Russian businessman found dead becoming the ninth to reportedly die by suicide or unexplained accidents this year alone.

BERMAN: And first on CNN, diplomat and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson meeting Russian officials in Moscow. We have new reporting ahead.

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BERMAN: This morning, a Russian businessman has been found dead. Ivan Pechorin is the ninth prominent executive to die under mysterious circumstances this year alone. CNN's Clare Sebastian has the details.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, what we know is Ivan Pechorin, who is a top manager at Russia's Far East and Arctic Development Corporation apparently drowned, according to Russian state news agency, RIA Novosti, sighting local media reports that happened near a place called Cape Ignatyev near the Russian City of Vladivostok in the country's far east.

[06:50:07]

His body was reportedly found across a small bay. Now, no more information was given, but clearly there's a pattern. This death means that down at least nine prominent Russian businessmen have either died by suicide or in mysterious circumstances since late January, six of them linked to the country's two top energy companies Gazprom and Lukoil. John?

KEILAR: First on CNN, former New Mexico Governor and diplomat Bill Richardson was in Russia this week meeting with Russian officials. The details of those meetings are not immediately clear, though they may have something to do with the Biden administration's ongoing efforts to free Americans, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Joining us now, we have CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood. Can you tell us what you're learning about why he was there?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, the fact that Bill Richardson went in the first place is a big deal here, right, because it's not normal for a private U.S. citizen to travel and to have discussions on what we expect was Americans who are wrongfully detained in the country. We should also note, Brianna, that the last time that Bill Richardson traveled to Russia was in February of this year, and just two months later, Trevor Reed, who's another American who was wrongfully detained in Russia was released. And so, what we now know, according to a source familiar, is that when Richardson came back from that trip, he actually briefed White House officials, Biden administration officials, on what Russia was willing to do, and how they were willing to do it in terms of pulling off that prisoner swap that we saw earlier this year.

So, the expectation here is that he's likely to brief the Biden administration, we should know that he doesn't work with the U.S. government. And a senior administration official said that anyone who is traveling to Russia is traveling on their own, they do not speak for the U.S. government. We also know that the U.S. has put forward this substantial offer for a prisoner swap with Russia earlier this year. And they have repeatedly followed up on it. But we haven't heard a whole lot in terms of these conversations in recent weeks. So, the fact that Richardson made this trip is pretty significant right now, and we'll watch to see if it could create any momentum here.

KEILAR: Maybe it gives him latitude, right, obviously, that he doesn't work for the government. Why I asked you, too, because the Biden administration -- an official tells CNN that Russia has spent $300 million influencing foreign elections since 2014. How did they come up with that number? And where's that -- where was that money being spent?

ATWOOD: Yes. So, what we know is the Biden administration went to the intelligence community over the summer, and they said that they wanted this analysis of what Russia was doing globally with these covert political operations. And that's how they got to this number. But we should also note that what they said is that this 300 million doesn't include the money that was probably undetected. And what they do is they feed this money to politicians through cryptocurrency, through cash, through shell companies, and the like.

KEILAR: Very interesting. Kylie, thank you so much for that. Senator Lindsey Graham proposing a nationwide abortion ban. Why several high- ranking Republicans are scrambling to push back.

BERMAN: And a procession about to begin in London where Prince William and Harry will join their father, King Charles, on a walk to Westminster where the Queen will lie in state. We are live on the ground.

[06:55:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH MEYERS, HOST OF LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS, NBC: Buckingham Palace will reportedly only extend invites to Queen Elizabeth's funeral to current heads of state and no former presidents, which is a bummer because we all kind of wanted to hear that eulogy. Elizabeth, she loved everyone at Hogwarts, even the gingers, even the gingers. And if she were here right now, I know what she'd say. She'd say, January 6th was mostly Antifa.

JIMMY FALLON, HOST OF THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON, NBC: King Charles is still adjusting to his new role, and yesterday, we showed a clip of him getting angry over some extra pins on his desk. In case you missed it, here's the clip. Look at this. He was not happy. Let's check in to see if things have gotten better for him. By the way, this is real, this is a clip from today.

KING CHARLES III: Oh, God, I hate this pen.

CAMILLA, QUEEN CONSORT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Oh look, it's everywhere. Hang on. (INAUDIBLE)

KING CHARLES III: I can't bear this bloody thing. What they do, every stinking time.

FALLON: What? If this were baseball, Prince William would already be warming up in the bullpen. You know what I'm saying? Everyone was quickly like, it's OK, Your Majesty, pens are hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Look, pens are hard. And the good news --

KEILAR: I agree.

BERMAN: -- for the King now is there's a lot of people who are there for him. There's a whole staff of pen maidens and like, you know, pen men standing by to help when necessary.

KEILAR: What else? What else is there, do you think?

BERMAN: I mean, whenever -- whatever there is, it'll be well taken care of. That's for sure.

KEILAR: For sure.

BERMAN: All right, NEW DAY continues right now.

KEILAR: Thousands of mourners lining the streets of London to say their farewells to their Queen. Good morning to viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. It is Wednesday, September 14th, and I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman.

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