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Connect the World
Police Officers Shot in Ferguson, Missouri; Prince Charles's Charm Offensive; Oxfam Blames UN Security Council For Current State In Syria; Turkey Arrests Man Suspected of Helping British Schoolgirls Enter Syria; One Square Meter: Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York; Netanyahu's Party Behind In Latest Polls
Aired March 12, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MAX FOSTER, HOST: Some news just coming in to CNN this hour, there's been an arrest in connection with three British schoolgirls who are
believed to have joined ISIS in Syria.
Our Arwa Damon joins us now with more from Istanbul. Arwa, an intelligence officer?
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not a lot is really known at this stage, Max. We don't know when or how this person in
question was arrested. But Turkey's foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu did say to the media that the individual who was caught was helping these three
girls and that it was someone working for the intelligence service of a country that is a part of the anti-ISIS coalition.
Now, separately in addition to that, a Turkish official did tell us that the person in question is not Turkish, but he is also not of this same
nationality as the country he is accused of spying for. That is really all we know at this stage.
Max, we will keep viewers updated if we do get any more information.
FOSTER: What would -- what sort of theory would they be working on with this? How could this work? Because the idea was -- wasn't it -- that
they were traveling on their own, off their own volition?
DAMON: Well, they would have been trying to cross into Syria on their own presumably. But the way that these smuggling networks tend to work,
and the way that the whole infrastructure has been set up as far as we have been able to understand it is that when these individuals, whether it's
young women wanting to join the cause of ISIS as brides, or whether it's foreign fighters, jihadis wanting to cross to join the battlefield, there
are individuals whom they do eventually end up meeting in Turkey. They are helped at certain steps along the way before they are finally helped at one
stage across the border into Syria and then picked up inside Syria and taken to their final destination.
We don't know at which junction this particular individual may have been involved in this whole process, but the smuggling of someone, whether
it's a potential ISIS bride or a fighter, does involve several steps, several hops and jumps, if you will. And presumably a number of different
individuals along the way.
FOSTER: OK, Arwa, thank you very much. Stay with us, because we want to touch on another story with you this hour as well.
Four years ago this Sunday, small demonstrations in support of reform about the start of an uprising that would become the Syrian civil war.
Since then, tragedy has bred crisis, which has in turn bred catastrophe on a scale not seen in decades. Hundreds of thousands dead, millions of
Syrian displaced, and the ongoing conflict is more complex than ever with no solution in sight.
Aid agencies and charities point the finger at the international community for failing to act sooner. One of them, Oxfam, has launched a
report called failing Syria, which accuses the UN security council of allowing the situation to spiral out of control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL GONEVAN, SYRIA POLICY ADVISER, OXFAM: The conclusion of the report is that the security council resolutions have been largely ignored
by the parties to the conflict. In fact, if you look across the indicators, which we've analyzed there's been more killings, more bombings,
massive increase in displacement and a huge increase in the number of people that are in need inside -- in need of humanitarian assistance inside
Syria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, neighboring Turkey has felt the impact of the situation in Syria more than most with around 1.7 million registered refugees on its
soil. Arwa has been following the war, its international fallout, since the very start. She rejoins me from Istanbul.
Arwa, no one could have predicted the fallout that followed from those early days of your reporting, but where do you think it's gone wrong?
DAMON: On so many levels it's gone wrong, Max. And a lot of people will tell you that these failures and the fact that the war has resulted in
this unimaginable scenario that is the battlefield of Syria today is largely because of the international community's inability to come
together, the lack of intervention or the intervention by certain nations in all of the wrong ways.
The situation in Syria was allowed to fester. It was allowed to evolve into scenarios that were really out of control where on the one hand
the Assad regime would not allow access of medical aid where in some other cases it was the fighting the prevented medical assistance from reaching
individuals.
And then of course the atrocities brought on by ISIS and some of the other more extremist organizations.
It's truly unimaginable. And on days like today when one thinks back as to what the situation was four years ago with the by and large mostly
peaceful demonstrations, not lasting more than five or 10 minutes because of the crackdown then by Syrian government forces, and the hope that
existed amongst many in the opposition back then that they were perhaps going to be able to bring about change, many of them not looking for
warfare, they just wanted at the very beginning basic reforms. They wanted a better quality of life and now we have the situation that we have today
with ISIS and this incredibly complex battlefield with multiple fronts with battles taking place between the Free Syrian Army, between the Assad
regime, between the various other fracturous (ph) entities that make up the rebel organizations.
And then of course you have those that are paying the ultimate price of all, and that is the civilian population. People's homes have been
destroyed, people's livelihoods have been ripped away from them, their families have been entirely torn apart.
There is very little if any hope left amongst so many Syrians that their country at any time soon, perhaps even during their lifetimes is
going to be a place that they're going to be able to go back to.
People don't know how to keep going with their lives. They don't know where to turn to for assistance, because they say of the failures of so
many of those who could have mad a difference to actually take action.
It's an incredibly hopeless and desperate situation, Max.
FOSTER: It really is.
Arwa, thank you.
Now the innocent victims of the crisis in Syria far outweigh those actively engaged in battle. And children often suffer most.
In a few minutes, I'll speak live with the regional director for the UN children's agency UNICEF in the Middle East and in North Africa. We'll
discuss the scale of the problem in and around Syria and the challenges facing those trying to alleviate this crisis.
Turning now to the battle for Tikrit. Joint Iraqi forces say they now control about 75 percent of that city. Some 150 ISIS fighters continue to
wage battle in the small port of Tikrit. That's according the commander of the main Shia militia, which is fighting side by side with Iraqi government
troops and Sunni tribesman. The offensive to retake Tikrit was launched just over a week ago.
Our Ben Wedeman is traveling with the joint Iraqi forces. He filed this report earlier from just outside Tikrit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the outskirts of the town of Al Dor (ph) not far from Tikrit itself, the town was liberated
earlier this week, but not easily. We were told by one of the commanders here that in one day alone they found 550 IEDs.
Now there aren't a lot of civilians in this town. In fact, we haven't seen any. We've been told, however, there's a small number who returned to
the town, but the army and the militias here are concerned that if people come back the problem is there may be more IEDs waiting for them.
As far as the situation in Tikrit goes, we understand that most of the city, as much as 75 percent of the city, is now more or less under
government control, however, they say that around 150 ISIS fighters remain holed up in the center of the town.
But the going is very difficult given the meteorological circumstances around here. And of course the continuing resistance by those ISIS
fighters who remain in the town.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Now, in the U.S. state of Missouri, a manhunt is underway for a shooter who fired on two police officers overnight. It happened during a
protest of the Ferguson police department. Crowds had gathered there on Wednesday night after the city's police chief resigned. Some of them were
chanting racist cops have got to go. They were calling for the entire police force to be dissolved.
It was the latest display of anger in Ferguson over what a federal investigation called a pattern of discrimination by police.
But the protests remained largely peaceful until around midnight when shots were fired.
One officer was struck in the shoulder, another was hit in the face, both are in the hospital in serious condition.
The St. Louis County police chief held a news conference a short time ago, calling the shooting an ambush and saying that shots were directed a
police. He had more details on the officer's injuries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JON BELMAR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE: Now, fortunately, with both officers, we don't have any remarkable, long-term injuries. In other
words, it -- we didn't -- there wasn't a -- it wasn't in somebody's brain or heart or anything like this. But you need to know, these two officers
took a very hard hit. Any time that you're shot in the face and have a bullet lodged in your head, any time that you have a through and through
wound where the bullet enters your shoulder and comes out the middle of your right back, those are hard hits. So we're lucky by God's grace we
didn't lose two officers last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, no one has been arrested for the shootings last night in Ferguson. The investigation is ongoing. Martin Savidge is following
this for us. He joins us now from CNN Center.
It's such a sensitive issue, isn't it. But what do you understand about the investigation here about what happened and who is to blame?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly what authorities have now made priority number one. They're in Ferguson as they try to
determine exactly who this shooter, or if there was more than one other person that may have been involved, were they part of the demonstration
that was taken place at that particular time, or were they simply using that demonstration as cover to carry out the attack.
Right now, authorities did not release a great deal of information about what they may or may not know. They say they had some perhaps leads.
They believe the shots were fired from roughly maybe 100 feet away, 125 feet. They say that there were three, possibly four, maybe even as many as
five different shots -- in that video that you played, you could hear how close the fire was to whoever was recording at the time.
And at one point you can hear as the police chief put it, the bullets singing through the air. That's another proximity closeness issue. You
hear it whizzing past the point of recording. So it was all very near.
The police also say it was quite remarkable, showed their discipline that they did not return fire. You have a lot of police officers there.
And they held their fire, because of course they knew there were many, many innocents that were there protesting.
It's estimated that there were about maybe 75 protesters at the time, 40 police officers, and that they believe it was a pistol used. Some shell
cases have been recovered, according to authorities, but they don't know if they were directly involved or whether these were shell casing, that is
Max, leftover from some other incident.
FOSTER: And the question now is how can that community -- how can America try to resolve these tensions? It seems as thought they haven't
gone away. And now they risk losing control again?
SAVIDGE: Correct. You know, it's extremely troubling because this came on a day -- and as you heard many in law enforcement did not believe
was truly going to be that agitated as far as protests, because it was the day that the Ferguson police chief announced that he would be resigning.
So, you would think that would be considered a victory for those who had been demonstrating and asking for that. But instead, the St. Louis
County Police Chief said the crowd appeared to be very agitated. And then of course you had the gunfire.
There's been gunfire before. This is the first time, though, that the gunfire has actually struck police officers and as was stated, it's
believed that this was an assassination attempt, for lack of a better word, that these officers were ambushed. And it was only through good fortune
that they were seriously wounded, but not killed.
As a result, more police are going to be out on the streets tonight and you can bet more on edge, and that's the problem, the escalation now
that is likely to take place. How do you try to back this off when nerves and motions are going to be so raw, Max?
And I don't think anyone right now has the answer. They are hoping for help from the community as well as probably having a lot more police on
the streets.
FOSTER: Absolutely.
Martin Savidge, thank you very much indeed for bringing us that.
Still to come tonight, royalty in the spotlight. I ask Prince Charles about his wife's journey overcoming the wary public, part of my exclusive
interview straight ahead.
Plus, it's being called the world's worst humanitarian crisis, but how did the situation in Syria get so bad? We speak to UNICEF's Middle East
director up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Tuesday in the Yarmouk camp in the south of the Syrian capital Damascus, thousands of Palestinian refugees faced another day of
abject poverty and unrelenting misery. And yet these are amongst the lucky ones.
After a three month wait, the occupants of Yarmouk are once again receiving pockets of UN aid, but they remain trapped by a wall with
seemingly no end and in a country where their plight will probably never take precedence.
You're watching CNN and this is Connect the World with me Max Foster. Welcome back to you.
The atrocities committed by ISIS in recent months have somewhat stolen the headlines in what the UN's high commissioner for refugees calls the
worst humanitarian crisis of our times.
The statistic s in Syria are sobering.
The UN says that 14 million children have been impacted by conflict in Syria, Iraq and the surrounding region. Within Syria, at least 7.6 million
people have been displaced by conflict, that's more than a third of the population.
3.9 million Syrians are now registered as refugees in neighboring countries. The burden those countries face is barely imaginable, whilst
Turkey has taken in the highest number of Syrians, some 1.7 million, their presence is more keenly felt in places like Lebanon. There, about one in
four people is now a Syrian refugee.
Behind all the figures are individual stories of hardship and of horror, the vast majority of which we'll never hear.
As we reported a little earlier, aid organizations are now accusing the UN security council of failing to act quickly and effectively. At the
same time, the UN's various agencies face funding shortfalls that threaten yet more lives and more livelihoods. One of those agencies is UNICEF,
which helps children around the world. Its director for the Middle East and North Africa Maria Calivis joins me live from Amman in Jordan via
Skype.
Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
Focusing on the children's plight, what would you say is the biggest problem you're having to deal with there?
MARIS CALIVIS, UNICEF REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MENA: There are many, I must say, but we would like to focus this year message on the young adolescents
that have not received sufficient attention. And these are children in a very crucial stage of their lives that bear a lot of scars because of the
horrors that they have seen and many of them are -- we have at least 2.6 million out of school missing out on learning.
And of course there is a risk that these children despair, lose hope and are caught up in a cycle of violence. And the risk of this is that
they may perpetrate the violence in the future.
So, for us it's very important today in this -- it's very sad (inaudible) we are entering the fifth year of the Syria crisis to really
grow the attention on the needs of these young people.
And the more -- why also it's because the young people today in Syria actually have shown resilience, have shown courage, have shown
determination. And there are many examples that are the examples of the Syrian Red Crescent where are -- that are the majority are really young
students, 16, 17, 18. And that go through lots of risks, they take lots of risks to save lives.
But to relate to schooling, I would like to say that another big issue we have is really the certification of refugee children. These children
not only they have to drop out of school, not only there are no places for them in public schools, they are in a limbo, especially when they reach the
school lever -- the last year of schooling and where without proper certification they have no future.
So this is an issue that also UNICEF together with other partners are trying to find a solution for these -- for these children.
FOSTER: And in Jordan where you are, a particular problem coming out of all of this, as I understand it, is the increase in child marriage
because that's -- that's a way of surviving for some of these children when they're left in the situation that you describe.
CALIVIS: That's very true. I mean, we say that one in four Syrian brides is underage as married before the age of 18. This has to do because
the family have a lot of economic problems and the first thing they do is really get children out of school, send them to work so the second issue, I
would say, is also the fact that 85 -- 75 to 85 percent of all refugee children are actually working.
FOSTER: And in terms of who is to blame here, we're hearing from a charity saying the UN security council didn't -- hasn't stepped in enough,
the international community hasn't helped enough. Do you feel that the international community is failing these people, ignoring them, turning a
blind eye?
CALIVIS: The biggest issue on the table no doubt -- and I would agree with the NGO report -- is that without a political solution, without that
political will of governments to end this crisis we continue to have a humanitarian catastrophe on our hands.
And the second issue is a lack of funding. Agencies -- we have seen an exponential increase in humanitarian needs. Compared to last year, we
have a 35 percent increase of people in need. And UNICEF's appeal is of $900 million dollars. Presently in march we are only 15 percent funded.
FOSTER: OK, Maria Calivis, thank you very much indeed for joining us from UNICEF and the challenge you're facing.
We'll continue to highlight the plight of Syrians and what steps the international community could or should take to end the crisis. That's all
next week here on Connect the World, but a conversation is already happening right now over at CNN.com. Head there for an inside perspective
into how Syrian refugees are finding fresh ways to cope with their situation and you may be quite surprised it involves pizza delivery. The
full story at CNN.com.
Live from London, this is Connect the World. Up next, from her being the other woman to her becoming a darling of the public, Prince Charles
tells me how Camilla won the people's hearts.
And the largest film production studio outside Hollywood is expanding. We'll show you the amazing transformation of Space just a stone's throw
from Manhattan. That's next on One Square Meter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: The madness of Manhattan just a bridge away. Brooklyn's historic Navy Yard is home to one of the
largest studios outside of Hollywood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take two. Maker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And action.
DEFTERIOS: This is the set of crime series Power, one of over 40 productions shot at Steiner Studios (ph) in the last year.
DOUG STEINER, FOUNDER, STEINER STUDIOS: They're completely sound proof. 27,000 square feet, the largest on the east coast.
DEFTERIOS: Doug Steiner opened the studio just over a decade ago.
STEINER: It was really awful looking and wild dogs -- literally wild dogs roaming the streets here. I like the industrial landscape a lot. To
me, Brooklyn was just a great opportunity waiting to happen because of its proximity to Manhattan.
DEFTERIOS: At its peak during World War II, the Navy Yard employed some 70,000 people, but in the 1960s the 1.2 square kilometer site fell
into steep decline after the navy moved out.
Today, the yard is a different place. A non-profit corporation has been regenerating the yard with the aim of creating employment since the
turn of the century. This former warehouse represents the corporation's biggest project to date more than 90,000 square meters of space, 3,000
projected new jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that our influence on Brooklyn in general has been quite substantial. We were the first entity that started
investing very substantially back into these old buildings on the Brooklyn waterfront and to some extent proved a concept that manufacturing and
industrial and creative companies would want to -- would want to take root in Brooklyn.
DEFTERIOS: And that has helped attract a new workforce. Steiner says housing prices within a half kilometer have risen up to 10 times. Some
1,500 people work at the studio, which is set on a path of rapid expansion.
It is benefiting from the explosion in demand for high quality content across mobile devices. And Steiner sees it as part of a wider trend.
STEINER: Old media has always been based in New York City, continues to be based in New York City, film and television has been anchored in L.A.
and high tech has been in northern California. And I think right now we're seeing everything coming together in New York.
DEFTERIOS: This is the next part of the yard he intends to develop.
STEINER: Incredibly beautiful spaces that are high ceilings.
DEFTERIOS: He says this former naval hospital will act as the crown jewel for his lot.
John Defterios, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: This is Connect the World. The top stories this hour.
First, a breaking news story, Turkish authorities say a man is being held on suspicion of helping three British schoolgirls where they are
believed to have joined ISIS. The Turkish foreign minister says the man was working for the intelligence service of a coalition country fighting
the militants. CNN has learned that he is not Turkish, nor is he believed to be British. The girls disappeared from London on February 17, and
they're apparent radicalization by ISIS is the subject of a metropolitan police investigation.
Oxfam and a number of other aid groups say the UN security council is failing to protect Syrian civilians and the consequences are disastrous.
2014 was the bloodiest year since the fighting began. It's estimated that more than a million people in Syria have been killed or wounded since 2011.
Two police officers are wounded after gunshots were fired at a protest in Ferguson, Missouri. The St. Louis County police chief called it an
ambush and said the gunshots were directed at police. No arrests have been announced, but officials are now saying there is a tactical situation at
home at a home in Ferguson and that's part of the investigation into last night's shootings.
Joint Iraqi forces now say they control about 75 percent of Tikirt. Some 150 ISIS fighters have said to have been continuing to resist in a
small area of the city, that's according to the commander of the main Shia militia, which is fighting side by side of Iraqi government troops and
Sunni tribesman.
In Israel, with less than one week to go before the county's parliamentary elections The latest poll suggests that Issak Herzog's
Zionist Union Party may be taking the lead over prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party. The prime minister launched a media blitz on Thursday
to try to narrow that gap.
For more, let's go to Elise Labott. She's in Jerusalem.
I mean, it's a very, tight now it seems, according to the numbers.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, what a different a week makes. Last week Benjamin Netanyahu was riding high in
Washington, but not back home political reality has set in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LABOTT: Less than a week before the election, Benjamin Netanyahu is on the ropes. The latest polls show the prime minister running behind a
little known mild-mannered politician. Now the prospect of a major upset at the hands of Isaac Herzog known as Bougie (ph).
ISAAC HERZOG, CHAIRMAN, ISRAELI LABOR PARTY: There's fatigue. There a lot of disappointment from Benjamin Netanyahu.
I think his era is over.
LABOTT: Focused more on his current job, Netanyahu has done little glad handing, but has been quick to blame, today pointing to a, quote,
"worldwide effort to unseat him."
Campaign officials say money from around the world, much of it from the U.S., is funding a grass roots get out the vote drive called V15 with
one goal: get rid of Bibi.
After six years, Netanyahu's relentless focus on security seems to be falling flat among many Israelis who want a leader to not only keep them
safe, but deal with rising food and housing prices, health care and welfare reform.
DAVID HOROVITZ, TIMES OF ISRAEL: In the increasing inequalities within the Israeli economy, the emergence and the widening of the gulfs
between the haves and the have not, there he's vulnerable in these elections.
LABOTT: Tens of thousands of people filled Rabin Square in Tel Aviv this weekend to drive home that message at an anti-Netanyahu rally.
In his final push before election day, the prime minister has doubled down on his security platform, with a major speech to the U.S. congress on
the threat Israel faces from Iran....
BENJANIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I feel a profound obligation to speak to you about an issue that could well threaten the
survival of my country and the future of my people.
LABOTT: And hedging on his commitment to a peace deal with the Palestinians leading to a two-state solution.
Herzog says Netanyahu has an empty brand, warning about growing tensions with the U.S., Israel's closest ally, under his leadership.
HERZOG: I think that he failed. And I'm trying to call his bluff.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LABOTT: The Netanyahu campaign thinks they have the winning hand, Max, with Iran a nuclear threat and Islamic extremism engulfing the Middle
East, they say at the end of the day when voters go to the polls they will realize they feel safer with the prime minister and they hope that is his
full house -- Max.
FOSTER: Absolutely.
It's going to be a fascinating election. Thank you very much, Elise.
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall are preparing for a tour to the United States. And ahead of their 10 year
wedding anniversary, CNN has gained exclusive access to the couple.
Charles spoke to me and praised what he called the brilliant way that Camilla has defined her role in public life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: People cannot believe it's been 10 years. And in that time the Duchess of Cornwall has defined her own public role as well, hasn't
she? Has that been a challenge?
PRINCE CHARLES, HEIR TO THE THRONE OF ENGLAND: You can imagine it is a real, real challenge. But she's, I think, been brilliant in the way
she's tackled these things.
FOSTER: The (inaudible) will have to overcome the perception of being the other woman and face a public that didn't know her particularly well
and had adored Diana.
But over the years, the British public warmed to her and she stood by Charles and championed her own interests.
CNN has been given intimate access to her appearances. We've watched her host a Christmas Party for very sick children, seen her visit a school
to promote writing, spent a day at the races and followed her to the base of an infantry regiment.
One of the things that struck me of the -- certainly that you know about her is her charm and her humor. It's a side that doesn't always come
across on television, but it's pretty powerful in real life, isn't it?
PRINCE CHARLES: Yes, it's a peculiar thing sometimes the camera, but also inevitably you could be perhaps a bit more relaxed when it's slightly
more private or we don't want to see people without being totally surrounded all the time by the dreaded camera.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: The dreaded cameras. He let them in, though. It's been nearly 10 years since Charles married Camilla and from original hostility
the British public had of her, the duchess, the perception had changed really in their eyes over the last 10 years.
I'm joined here in the studio by CNN royal commentator Kate Williams. And you're a historian, so I know that you always placed these things in
the context of 1,000 year history.
So, does this have a place there, do you think?
KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: I think so. I think what we're really seeing here is Charles, what do you want? It is for the British
public, for the world to love and accept Camilla the way that he does. He clearly thinks she's marvelous. She's carved out of a brilliant role in
public life. What he wants is really for her to be seen as his consort.
And the actual line of the royal family is she's not going to be crowned queen. She's going to be princess consort. She's not going to be
in the coronation ceremony. We know that Charles wants really to walk up the coronation aisle when he's crowned king with Camilla by his side and to
be King Charles and Queen Camilla. That's what he wants. But how much the British public is going to accept that, that's the interesting question.
FOSTER: Do you think he wanted to do an interview at some point to try to really explain his wife to the public? Is that what he's doing
here?
WILLIAMS: Yes, definitely. And of course what he was doing with you, Max.
FOSTER: Well, away from who he chooses to do it, he makes the decision to talk about a particular subject.
WILLIAMS: He wants to talk about his wife. I mean, she has been an increasing amount of public role we've seen Camilla assuming as the queen
steps back because the foreign travel was too exhausting, Charles and Camilla has stepped forward.
And quite notably in August during the commemoration of World War I, the breakout, the queen was in Scotland, but Camilla had the key role in
Westminster Abbey in the big service that was televised. That was her role.
And we may see her take on a very large role with coming forth to the celebration of 70 days of victory there at the end of World War II, and the
queen is not going to be present in their celebrations because she feels that it's just after the election here and we may not have a government,
because we may have a coalition government. So if she's seen actually near a political leader, it may sway, it may sway things.
FOSTER: Stay well away.
WILLIAMS: So Camilla may be the one actually taking a big role in that. And Charles is really laying the groundwork here.
FOSTER: It's the reigning monarch who has the power to gift titles. So, as you are suggesting perhaps when Prince Charles becomes the monarch
he may gift her the title of queen and maybe that's part of a process we've got here.
But at the moment, it's only the current queen Elizabeth that can do that. Do you think the hope is that at some point she would do that before
she passes on the crown and the throne?
WILLIAMS: I think there was nothing more Charles would like than for Camilla to be princess of Wales, but that's simply not going to happen.
There are too many people who associate the title princess of Wales with the late princess Diana. And I think definitely that the Camilla and the
queen get on quite well.
The queen very much wants Camilla to be accepted, because she is concerned about Charles' kingship. She wants it to be a seamless
transition, for the Commonwealth to continue as it is, which we've seen some rumblings in the Commonwealth that when Charles takes over they don't
want to be part of the Commonwealth anymore. She wants a seamless transition, so whatever she and the royal family can do to create
acceptance of Camilla that's very important.
And I think she is getting more and more popular with the British people. It just is a very difficult thing for a consort. We've seen many
consorts throughout history. Prince Albert, for example, was seen as very unpopular. They don't always come into the royal family like Kate and
suddenly have that star appeal and really be so popular.
FOSTER: It seems that there's certainly been a change in palace media strategy, almost that they've got rid of a strategy in a way that in the
90s a very aggressive spin machine trying to spin the public into liking Camilla, famously backfired on a few occasions, didn't it?
And now it seems to be a strategy of just allowing her to be herself and allowing the public to find out what she's really like, because when
they do meet her, they do like her/
WILLIAMS: Yes, exactly. I mean, you're very right. She has this powerful charm. And I think exactly why -- it went too far saying like
Camilla, like Camilla, and it was too much for a lot of people and for whom Diana's death was still very raw. But now that's quite a long time ago.
There are many young people in this country who for whom Diana's death, while they weren't alive, it is history.
And I think Camilla's actual rather her humor has endeared her to a lot of people. I think a lot of people rather fell in love with her when
there was the announcement that Kate was pregnant, that Kate Middle -- that Kate the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant. And she said, "oh wicked,
that's brilliant." And she seemed so excited. I think that was rather charming to a lot of people who saw her as down to Earth.
But there still is, I think, a lot of work to go before people are going to accept her as Queen Camilla really holding the same title as say
the Queen Mother did when she was by the side of George VI.
FOSTER: Fascinating. Kate Williams, it's a long-term story this one. We'll keep an eye on it. Thank you very much indeed.
Tune in as CNN turns a spotlight on the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, Charles and Camilla. That airs on Friday 7:30 p.m.
here in London, 8:30 p.m. in Central Europe only on CNN.
Now, are you a fan of Charles and Camilla, or a committed British Republican? Let us know the team at Connect the World always wants to hear
from you. Facebook.com/CNNConnect. And you can also tweet me @MaxFosterCNN.
We're got some very sad news coming in to us as well. Since the program started this hour, Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the Disc World
series of novels, has died at the age of 66, that's according to his publishers. The author of more than 70 novels, Sir Terry suffered from
Alzheimer's Disease. A statement from his publishers says Terry past away in his home with his cat sleeping on his bed surrounded by his family.
I'm Max Foster, that was Connect the World. Thank you for watching.
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