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Connect the World

Queue To Westminster Reached Five Miles; King Charles III Visit Wales; Mass Graves Found In Izium, Ukraine; China Wants To Maintain Security And Order; King Charles III's Last Leg Tour Of United Kingdom; King Charles And The Future Of Northern Ireland; King Charles III's Close Relationship With The Middle East; Uber Investigating Hacking Incident. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired September 16, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome. I'm Becky Anderson in central London. You are watching an expanded edition of Connect the World.

It is three in the afternoon here on Friday, the 16th of September. And we are covering the royal ceremonies and a massive show of expect and

admiration from the British public and others as the U.K. prepares for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Well, Britain's new king, Charles III is making his first visit to Wales as monarch. The king's relationship with Wales goes back more than half a

century when he received the title of Prince of Wales.

Their majesties arrived at Cardiff Castle in the Welsh capital to both cheers and boos. Many people in the crowd were cheering and waving flags.

But as you can hear, there were some protestors. And in London, there were some disappointments today where the line of mourners wishing to view the

queen lying in state was paused for several hours because it had reached capacity.

Details of the state funeral on our public on Monday, the Queen's coffin will be taken by procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey. The

service will end with two minutes of silence across the U.K., the coffin will then make its final journey to Windsor where the queen will be laid to

rest with her late husband, Prince Philip in the King George Chapel.

Well, CNN's Scott McLean is with the crowd in that queue that stretches some eight kilometers winding along the river Thames in London. Nina dos

Santos though standing by in Cardiff. And that's where I want to start this hour.

Nina, just explain what's going on there and the significance that Wales has for the royal family.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a very good question, Becky. This is the last lap of the tour of all four parts of the United Kingdom.

That includes obviously England, but Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, those devolved nations as they're called with their own institutions, like

for instance, the Welsh Parliament, the Senate.

And we've seen the King Charles, who was the longest serving prince of Wales that Wales has ever seen since of course, Wales became part of the

English crown back in 1082, I think it was. So it was, it was in the 13th century a long time ago, but there's of course still a lot of people in

Wales who object to having an English king as the prince of Wales.

Now, king Charles is expected to exit these doors behind me in this castle. Cardiff Castle. I'm inside the castle complex, but he's been meeting

alongside the queen consort Camilla with various members of local charities.

If you speak to people here in Wales, as I've been doing right throughout the course of the day, the first thing that people well-wishes who've come

to pay their respects today say is, he's very active in charities in Wales.

And in fact, if I just step back, you can see there are many of these well wishes here behind this cordon who are waiting. You can see they're dressed

in their black. They have their wrist bands there, and they are waiting to be introduced to their new king.

This is a huge moment for so many people here. Some of them have brought really young babies. I can see one in the crowd that's probably only a few

weeks old. So, what they're expecting here is once the band stops playing, perhaps we're going to see some cadets march through, and then the king and

his queen consort will come out of the castle and greet these people.

As I was saying, though, and you pointed out in your introduction, I witnessed it firsthand outside of this castle when the king's motorcade

drew in, there were not just cheers, but they were also boos, cheers and Welsh nationalists on all sides of the junction waving the Welsh flag and

protesting against the monarchy, protesting against the fact that the prince of Wales is not Welsh, they say.

[11:04:59]

Remember that the prince of Wales is a crucial role in the monarchy here. It is the heir to the throne and that title has now been handed on from

King Charles to his son and heir, Prince William. Some people don't agree with that here, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. Let's get to the queue here in London. We'll get back to you. We've been talking about what's going on in Wales and you've seen the

crowds there. And as Nina rightly pointed out, there were cheers and some boos.

A different atmosphere in London. Scott McLean is at, what I understand is close to the back of a queue that stretches some, what, more than five

miles at this point snaking along the river Thames.

At one point today, as we understand it, that the -- that queue was paused because it was so long and it was taking so long for people to get to the

front, to pay their respects. What's going on now, Scott?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey -- hey, Becky. Yes. So, I just logged on to the official government queue tracker a few minutes

ago. And officially it says that the queue is closed for the time being, and that it will reopen in a couple of hours. But we have found that the

queue is open.

Obviously, they're trying to discourage people from coming so that you don't get lineups that are out of control, but this is what discouraging

people actually looks like in practice. They are still coming on mass. And so, this is the back of the queue for the moment.

So, I'll just take you over here for a second. So, once you get to the end of this queue, there's a bit of a break. And then they will let you in to

this second queue. I actually met a man yesterday because there's these breaks in the queue all along the river Thames.

I met a man yesterday who said that he had accidentally got in what he thought was the back of the queue, turns out it actually wasn't the back of

the queue. And so, he had to, he waited there for a few hours and then only realized later that he wasn't at the back. And so, he went to -- found the

back of the -- of the queue a few miles down.

And so, he said, obviously, you know, as an English person, it's pretty improper to jump the queue. So, this queue stretches all the way all

through this park, snaking all the way around here. And then once you get to the end of this queue while there's a road, and then you'll go into

another park where there's another set of snaking queues and only then will you be along the river Thames.

And I just wonder, how long have you guys been waiting in line for so far?

UNKNOWN: We came Monday morning.

MCLEAN: Yes, how long have you been waiting in this queue for?

UNKNOWN: At one o'clock.

MCLEAN: One o'clock. And now it's just after three. And how long are you prepared to wait here for?

UNKNOWN: Until tomorrow?

MCLEAN: You're -- you're fully expecting to spend the night here. I think we'll be here about two o'clock in the morning, tomorrow morning.

MCLEAN: And where have you guys come from?

UNKNOWN: York.

MCLEAN: York. So not, not close. Couple hours of journey.

UNKNOWN: I was on the train. And then, how long have we been queuing now? Three hours. We've been queuing or something lost track of time now. So,

bye. Come and see me at two o'clock in the morning. You know, then I'll tell you how, how alive I am.

MCLEAN: Well, hopefully I'm still not working by then. Ma'am, I just wonder what, tell me, what is it like to be at the back of a five-mile

long?

UNKNOWN: Well, we're not right at the back. Are we?

MCLEAN: You're close.

UNKNOWN: You know, there's still a queue there. It's really exciting. We've met a new friend.

UNKNOWN: Yes, yes.

UNKNOWN: Yes. We met new friends.

UNKNOWN: And we hope to meet many more and we're just really excited about meeting the, well, not me.

UNKNOWN: I mean, it doesn't matter about five-mile queue to us. I think it's about the experience of it. You know, it keeps moving. We're meeting

lots of people. We're chatting away and we're British so we like queues. So.

MCLEAN: That's true. That's an understatement. And, you know, describe the mood to me. Because it's not necessarily somber. It's not -- it's not a

party, but it's maybe somewhere in between. It's a bit of national camaraderie. Am I -- am I right?

UNKNOWN: I think so. I think it's a time to come together, you know? She was an amazing woman who obviously dedicated her life to her duty. And I

think that everyone is here to pay that respect to her. I don't think it's somber. I think it, if anything, you know, it's a celebration of her life.

She did amazing, incredible things.

So, I think as a Brit, I think I'm just here to soak up that atmosphere to speak to lot of people about their -- her memory. And, and that's it. So,

thanks for speaking to us.

MCLEAN: Thank -- thank you, guys. I appreciate it.

So, Becky, I mean, this conversation that I just had is one that I've been having over and over again for the last two days. You know, people say

that, it's -- it almost feels like a patriotic duty to be here, to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth no matter how long it takes. Everyone

says, look, they're prepared to wait. No one says, well, you know, I'll be here for four hours. And if I'm not at the front.

Virtually, everyone says, look, I will be here as long as it takes to get to the front of the line. And that is clearly what they're doing. Though,

I'm a little bit surprised considering that not everyone has the supplies that they might need, or it seems to have the supplies that they might need

to survive standing up for the next 12 hours if it actually takes that long.

[11:09:57]

ANDERSON: Well, it, easily could do. Thank you for that. And we've been, as you've been talking, looking at pictures inside Westminster Hall, where

people are filing past the queen's casket. And it's there that Prince Charles and his siblings will hold a vigil at some point later on today.

At present, Prince Charles as we -- sorry, King Charles as we've been reporting, is in Wales. And let's get you back to Nina dos Santos. Because

we are seeing some images, some footage of King Charles and the queen consort inside the castle where you are.

DOS SANTOS: Yes, that's right. It's in the building right behind me over my shoulder here, Becky. They're having a reception in the banqueting hall

greeting about 80 guests who members of various charities here in Wales that enjoy rural patronage, but they're also speaking to people of

interface communities inside Wales, as well.

And so, that has been going on for the last half hour or so. We're expecting just in a few minutes' time, according to the official schedule,

that they should exit the building and head over here towards the crowds that are waiting desperately to get their first glimpse, or perhaps even be

rewarded with a handshake and just a few words from the new king, not just of the rest of the United Kingdom, but of also Wales.

Because remember, he has such a history with this place. Not only did he have to learn Welsh before his investiture in 1969, a time when there were

acute concerns about the Welch nationalist sympathies growing in this part of the United Kingdom.

And there were concerns that he might embarrass himself, that he might not be able to learn to speak Welsh properly. It's a very complicated language

and lots of people here in Wales still do speak it. It's a very distinct culture in this part of the U.K.

And it was important that, of course, when he was prince of Wales, upon that investiture, that he invested enough time to show respect for Welsh

culture and language, largely because since the 13th century, the kings of England have actually subsumed the crown of Wales.

So, no longer does Wales have a Welsh born prince and some people here say they don't agree with that. Now, obviously among the crowds here, inside

the castle, and I've got to say the overwhelming amount of people who've lined up four hours.

You know, I met people in the line outside of this castle earlier this morning who traveled in with young babies and elderly relatives. They got

on the road at 4 a.m. or on trains at 4 a.m. to be here, Becky.

Overwhelmingly, there is a sense of excitement and a sense of respect. In fact, there's quite a few people among the crowds who are quite indignant,

that protestors made their way here at all. But I must say that you saw the loudest protesting voices against the monarchy, and specifically against

the role of English born princes being the prince of Wales here outside of the castle.

Very different atmosphere here, I might add, as this crowd eagerly awaits their first glimpse. And perhaps as I said, their first sort of handshake

and personal moment with King Charles returning here after so many years of being the longest serving prince of Wales that Wales has ever known, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, he was prince of Wells for 64 years. And he said in Welsh earlier today, I know the people of the Senate, which is the Welsh

Parliament and people of Wells share my sadness, Wales at a special place in the queen's heart. That he said in Welsh. Thank you.

So does the new era for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland also mean a new era in ties with the Irish nationalist party, Sinn

Fein. Well, I'll discuss that with Sinn Fein's leader, Mary Lou McDonald, a little later this hour.

We are getting across the United Kingdom as you can see. Well, the United Nations says it will investigate mass graves uncovered in a recently

recaptured Ukrainian city. Ukraine says at least 440 graves were found in Izium retaken from Russia just days ago.

Ukraine's strategic communications office describes some of the graves as fresh and says, the bodies buried there were mostly civilians. Well,

Ukraine's president is blaming Russia. Izium among the cities heavily bombarded by Russia earlier in the war.

Ben Wedeman connecting us this hour from Kyiv. What do we know about what Ukrainian authorities have discovered in Izium at this point, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, 400 and approximately 440 graves. They took journalists to the site today.

There are some reports that some of the bodies had ropes around their necks and their hands tide. We did speak to somebody who reported that there were

people being simply shot in the streets in Izium during the Russian occupation.

But that others, who, perhaps are in that grave were simply people killed as a result of shelling.

[11:14:59]

Keep in mind, Becky, that in March, Izium while still under Ukrainian control was heavily shelled by Russian forces. But as you said, a source

tells CNN that the U.N. human rights monitoring agency is going to be sending a team to Izium to investigate the situation. And perhaps later, a

war crimes investigation team.

Now, President Zelenskyy, yesterday in his nightly address, said that Russians leave death everywhere they go. And so, the Ukrainians are

obviously very eager to find out the fate of those people who are in those graves and how they were killed.

But certainly, if we look at the example of Bucha, the suburb of Kyiv where war crimes investigators found more than 400 bodies. Many of them showing

the signs of summary execution, torture, and beating. And the fear is that what we have in Izium is perhaps not unlike what the nightmare that Bucha

went through. Becky?

ANDERSON: Ben, I just want to read some of what Vladimir Putin has said earlier today in conversation with the Indian prime minister. The two

leaders met at the end of the summit of the Shanghai cooperation organization in Samarkand.

And I just want to get your response to this. He said, and I quote here, "Russia will do everything to stop the conflict in Ukraine." That's

according to a statement from the Kremlin. Are we seeing any evidence that that is the case?

WEDEMAN: No, that's an interesting statement. What Russia could do to stop the conflict I suppose, is to pull its forces out of Ukraine. But as long

as Russian forces occupy parts of Ukraine, the war is inevitably going to go on. And in fact, President Zelenskyy when he was in Izium on Thursday

said that he hopes to see the Ukrainian flag fly over all Ukrainian cities and villages.

And clearly, after this lightning offensive by the Ukrainians in the Kharkiv area, which saw in the span of two weeks, them taking control of

8,000 square kilometers. The mood at this point among the Ukrainians is that, we wanted all, we want all the territory that the Russians have taken

control of going back to the areas in the Donbas that have been occupied by pro-Russian forces, and essentially Russian forces since 2014. And the

Crimean Peninsula, which the Russians took over in 2014 and held a referendum there and declared it part of Russia.

So, it's President Putin's words certainly are something that leaves me scratching my head, Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman is in Kyiv in Ukraine. Ben, thank you.

Still ahead, Russian President Vladimir Putin praising China's balanced position on the Ukraine war while acknowledging China has some questions

and concerns. We'll break that down and have a look at those questions and concerns and find out what they might be.

And Pakistan's rivers might be going down but the death toll from catastrophic flooding could be getting higher.

[11:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. we are continuing our coverage of remembrances for Queen Elizabeth II and plans for her funeral. And as we speak, King Charles

III and his wife, Queen consort Camilla, are now out of Cardiff Castle. You can see here they are greeting crowds of well wishes as they did in

Scotland as they did in, in England, in London, and now out in Wales.

Fanning out across the United Kingdom ahead of his return to London where he will hold a vigil with his brothers and sister around the casket, which

is lying of course in Westminster Hall.

Let's get you to Nina dos Santos who is there in Cardiff. Nina?

DOS SANTOS: Thanks so much, Becky. Well, they've just exited the main castle gates inside this perimeter of the castle. And the first thing that

they went to go and do is to greet William "Billy" Windsor, who is a cashmere goat, who served as a lance corporal in the first battalion, the

Royal Welsh and infantry battalion of the British army.

He served as the lance corporal from 2001 until 2009. He's this famous mascot of the guards that you can see here over my left shoulder. You might

be able to see them later on. But as you can see in the crowd, there's -- he's walking behind the crowd over there. There's a huge amount of people

with their phones up. They're very, very, engaged and keen to see their new sovereign.

Remember, this is somebody who's had a huge affinity with Wales because of course he was the longest serving prince of Wales. And now he's come back

as the king.

In fact, when his helicopter touched down with Camilla, the queen consort, a few hours ago, it was herald -- its arrival was heralder back on Welsh

soil by a 21-gun salute that came from inside this perimeter of this castle. You could hear it reverberating right out past the walls of the

castle, across the capital of Wales.

And it's important for our viewers who might not necessarily be based in the United Kingdom to know that the U.K. is comprise of four different

parts. There of course, there's England, which is the main geographical political and economic bulk of the United Kingdom. But there's also the

other devolved nations as they're called, that Scotland, Northern Island, and here in Wales.

And over the years, they've been granted more independence they're in parliament and also, they're in jurisdictions over certain types of laws.

And that means that when the prince of Wales, obviously became the king, King Charles III upon the death of his mother, he had to embark upon a tour

of these parts of the realm.

He first of course, went to Scotland where he was already when his mother died, but then afterwards he went to Northern Ireland. And now this is the

final lap of this really important tour, which is in Wales.

Wales has a complicated history, as we've been telling our viewers with, in particular, the English monarchy, because the last prince of Wales was in

the 1300s. And since then, the heir to the English throne has of course been, a member of the highest rank of the royal family, the prince of

Wales, that's been the title.

Now that has passed from King Charles III to his son, Prince William. There's of course, some people, Welsh nationalists who don't agree with

that, but the overwhelming amount of people here, Becky, have come here to greet the king and they're very, very keen to see him for the first time in

this new role of sovereign, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. And it's a -- it's a beautiful day in Cardiff. Lots of smiles. This follows an address to members of the Welsh Parliament in a

remembrance event. That was a bilingual speech. He spoke in both English and in Welsh. Se's been prince of Wales of course for a very long time and

learnt Welsh as a youngster.

He said, he, but his heartfelt thanks for your kind words, he said to those members of the Welsh Parliament. He said that it had been a privilege to

have been the prince of Wales for so long.

King Charles III and his wife greeting well wishes outside Cardiff Castle.

[11:25:00]

And it has to be said is a beautiful day, very nice day, chili, but a nice day in London all the same. There is a near eight-kilometer-long queue

snaking along the river Thames. We've been reporting on this now for, for what, 48 hours or so. These are well-wishers who are just waiting for the

opportunity to get, to pay their respects as Queen Elizabeth II lies in her Cark of course, in Westminster Hall.

And a famous face is just filed through that of David Beckham, the global footballing superstar in that queue, it seems, and one has no idea. I don't

have no, any idea about how long he's been in that queue, but if he's been in the queue as long others have it, could have been upwards of 14 hours.

David Beckham in the queue in Westminster Hall moments ago, taking the opportunity to pay his last respects.

Chinese president Xi Jinping is calling on Russia and other nations to promote the development of a more just international order. During a speech

at a regional summit in Uzbekistan, Mr. Xi says, countries need to support each other's efforts to safeguard their own security and prevent what he

calls color revolutions.

Well, his latest remarks come a day after his first meeting in seven months with Russian President Vladimir Putin. You remember the last time was that

the Beijing Olympics back before the war. And he talked about the balance position on the war in Ukraine, despite admitting that China had questions

and concerns.

CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson joins me from Hong Kong. And you have been listening in, and keeping an eye on what President Putin

has been saying at this meeting. And he certainly acknowledged yesterday that the Chinese president had questions and concerns over the invasion of

Ukraine. What might those be?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this war has not been prosecuted quickly. It's a mess it's contributed to supply

shortages around the world, the food shortages and it's disruptive.

And here Xi Jinping comes to this regional meeting talking about trying to promote stability and yet his closest ally and partner arguably has done

quite a bit of damage to global stability with his invasion of Ukraine. It was the silence from Xi Jinping about the war in Ukraine was truly

deafening at this face-to-face meeting.

Xi Jinping left it to Putin to mention Ukraine. And to, as you mentioned, concede that there were questions and concerns that the Chinese leader had

about this war. Xi Jinping was not publicly offering some kind of grand assistance to Vladimir Putin to help turn the tide of this war.

And that theme of concerns was echoed today when Vladimir Putin sat down with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, also talking about concerns

which the Indian prime minister continually expresses and saying that he was going to do everything possible to bring it an end to the conflict.

So, Vladimir Putin showing kind of uncharacteristic humility in meetings with the leaders of two of the world's biggest most populous countries.

Countries that he's had good relations with in the past, who are clearly uncomfortable with this disastrous war in Ukraine. Becky?

ANDERSON: Yes, it was, interesting. And we remarking with Ben Wedeman that at this same meeting, certainly towards the end of it and on the sidelines

of it, Vladimir Putin, in conversation with the Indian prime minister, acknowledging India's concerns about the conflict and suggesting that

Russia will do everything to stop it.

Xi and Putin have spoken in the past about a new world order. Do you believe given what you have heard during this meeting that they believe

that we are any closer to that?

WATSON: Well, they certainly like the world to be heading in this direction. And if you listen to the statements coming from Xi Jinping, it

is kind of an implicit criticism of the existing ruled order, which they do not like these leaders. The fact that the U.S. has such a dominant position

in this.

[11:30:00]

Let's take a listen to an excerpt from what Xi Jinping had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): We should support each other's efforts to safeguard security and development interests. Prevent

external forces from staging color (ph) revolutions, and jointly oppose interference in the internal affairs of other countries under any pretext.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So, again, these kind of are hints. They are kind of code for criticizing the U.S. and its role in the world regarding whether or not

we're headed towards a new world order yet. I'm not sure that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, while it is an interesting group and you have a

gathering here that does not have a presence of any western, traditional western actors in it, I don't think this is the new world order.

It's a place that leaders can gather to talk in, but there are awful lot of problematic bilateral relations here. Two of the Shanghai Cooperation

Organization members, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan were fighting border clashes just today. India and China have fought deadly border clashes in

the last couple of years. India and Pakistan, who are full-fledged members, they have their own tumultuous history of conflict.

So, there are an awful lot of problems like this. That, said this is a gathering without lecturing from countries like the U.S. about democracy

and human rights where these leaders can get together and talk about trade and try to enhance relations. Becky?

ANDERSON: Yeah. Ivan, thank you. We're going to take a very short break, and as we do that, I'm just going to leave you some pictures from Wales

today, part of Great Britain, of course. The United Kingdom and Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And these are images of King Charles III

leaving Cardiff Castle having been speaking to well-wishers there after a very busy day in Wales, addressing the Wales parliament as well.

He will be now be on his way back to London where he will hold a vigil around his mother's coffin later on today. Taking a short break, back after

this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Let's just have a look at some of the images that are coming into CNN. These from Wales where King Charles III has just left Cardiff

Castle driving through the streets of Cardiff.

[10:34:59]

Now, you are not seeing well-wishers on this route. This is the main route, but he has been greeting well-wishers in the streets as he drove through.

Well, lines, having addressed the Welsh parliament early on today in Wales. This is of course the former Prince of Wales. And let me just get you to

what is going on in here in London.

In the building behind me, the palace of Westminster. In Westminster Hall, the casket of Queen Elizabeth II is lying in state. Well-wishers are filing

past. They have been doing that since Wednesday. The queues to do this are some eight kilometers long, more than five miles long. The queue is about

14 hours as we understand it today.

Celebrities like David Beckham who first stood in that queue, as I understand it, for some 12 hours just to get the opportunity to pay his

last respects alongside so many people from Britain and elsewhere. We've been talking to people in the queue who have flown in to do this.

Well, as we have been seeing today, King Charles is in Wales. That is the last leg of his United Kingdom tour. And that tour took Charles and Camilla

earlier this week, of course, to Northern Ireland, which has had a complicated history to say the least with the monarchy.

Queen Elizabeth II was remembered for her role in repairing relations after the violent decades of what were known as The Troubles. Among others, King

Charles this week met with representatives of the Irish political party, Sinn Fein. In an interview last week, Sinn Fein leader, Mary Lou McDonald,

talked about the maturing relationship between Britain and Ireland and said, "I think it's very important that dialogue and relationship-building

continues."

Well, let's talk more about that. Mary Lou McDonald joins me now via Skype from Dublin. And before we talk about what happens next and where this

relationship goes, let's begin if we can with the queen's legacy. She has been commended in the last week for her role in pushing through the Good

Friday Agreement, which was a seminal point in the history of Northern Ireland's peace. How important do you believe she was to that

reconciliation process?

MARY LOU MCDONALD, SINN FEINN PRESIDENT: Well, hello Becky. I think when the history books are written they will report (inaudible) Queen Elizabeth

II proved a very, very powerful and a very resilient ally in the pursuit of peace and reconciliation in Ireland. Of course, Britain has a

constitutional monarchy. The monarch is, according to their rulebook, beyond the pale and above the fray of day-to-day politics and political

horse trading.

But there is absolutely no doubt that the support of the royal family in its totality, the head of the state, Queen Elizabeth herself at most

dramatically, I think, exemplified in a historic visit to Ireland, a very historic handshake, series of handshakes, actually, with the late Martin

McGuinness, former Deputy First Minister in the North of Ireland and of course, a great Sinn Fein leader.

All of these moments, all of these images, all of these initiatives cannot be underestimated in terms of the effect that it has on the kind of

political acoustic, the galvanizing of political will, and I think above all else, the mobilizing of popular goodwill because as you noted in your

introduction, the relationship not just between the north of Ireland but all of Ireland has been a very troubled one, enough for a decades, but

indeed for centuries because we experienced colonization and the sharp end of imperialism.

And all of the trauma that that brought to Ireland through famine, through poverty, through conflict, and through partition. But we've come a long,

long way. And I think it is such a joyous thing, such a commendable thing that we will mark 25 years next year of the Good Friday Agreement and of

peace, and that's a huge collective achievement. And absolutely, Queen Elizabeth II deserves rightly her place in the pantheon of those who made

that happened and I commend her for it.

ANDERSON: And your analysis and insight on this is so important. Mary Lou McDonald, I just want our viewers to take a listen to the tribute from Sinn

Fein's Michelle O'Neil who, of course, you know very well of course. Let's just have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE O'NEIL, VICE PRESIDENT OF SINN FEIN: -- and (inaudible) both Martin McGuinness, Queen Elizabeth herself had a very significant building

terms of (inaudible) very, very strong message that we have healing to do with some people (inaudible) between our two islands, between the people

who live on this island, and I think that both of them, they had a very significant role in helping us all to step forward and to actually to step

outside of our comfort zones. I think in life that's very, very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:40:04]

ANDERSON: Well, high praise from the Republican community in Northern Ireland there. And obviously, loved by the Unionist community. And you've

been talking about how Queen Elizabeth II was a unifying figure in Ireland. The baton now of course passes to King Charles III. He visited Northern

Ireland this week and was met, it has to be said, with general enthusiasm. Take a listen to what he had to say about his mother's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE CHARLES III, KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: My mother felt deeply I know of the significance of the role that she herself played in bringing

together those who history had separated. And in extending a hand to make possible the healing of long held hurts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: She extended a healing hand, he says. Are you confident that Charles will do the same based on what you have seen and heard so far?

You've talked about a sort of maturing relationship. What should that look like?

MCDONALD: Well, I believe that he will. I very much hope that he will. I think that it is essential that he does. And Michelle O'Neil, as you know,

is the last two throne, the deputy leader of Sinn Fein. And she and I met with Charles when he was only a prince -- of course, he is our King Charles

-- some time ago, and we have had subsequent interactions.

And I have to say that we found him to be a person of great interest, great clarity, and a person with whom you could have a frank but still very

cordial and warm exchanges, and we have a lot of work to do. And that healing, that journey towards reconciliation is well underway.

And we are now at a point in our history where in the course of this decades that we are living in, the question of the partition of Ireland,

ending the partition of Ireland and re-unifying our country after a decade or a century of division will be very much on the political agenda.

And it is essential that all of us in positions of leadership, and I include in that King Charles and the monarch as the head of the state, that

we act collectively with common purpose in goodwill, with mutual regard and mutual respect to facilitate the Irish people with free of coercion or

outside pressure to make our decision collectively at the ballot box for the future of our country.

So, you asked what role the monarch, the king might play in that. I hope that it will be a very constructive one. And by the way, I say that in the

full knowledge that the position of the British state is a unionist one. To continue the union with the north of Ireland, that is not the majority view

of the people of Ireland, it never was, but it's where we're at.

We have the democratic tool box now to address that and it has to be done in a peaceful democratic and fully orderly way. And I believe this journey

towards unity, towards the ending of division is good news for all of us in Ireland and in Britain. It will mark the full maturation and the full

normalization of the relationships between our two countries. And my hope, my dream and my wish are that we become not just the best of neighbors, but

indeed the best of friends.

ANDERSON: Huge political change in the U.K. in the past few weeks of course. Liz Truss is the new prime minister here. Have you spoken with her

yet? You were also, and that's one question, and briefly, you're in the United States last week, a country that has been totally in support of the

Good Friday Agreement, of course and the Northern Island Protocol.

What guarantees did you receive while you were there? Two questions, and I am running out of time so, if you can address them rather briefly, if you

will.

MCDONALD: Yes, well, very briefly, the result of the United States on a bipartisan basis across the administration and the White House is

absolutely firm that there can be no damage done to the Good Friday Agreement. That the protocol, which was agreed to negotiate, gratified by

the British government, needs to be honored.

If there are operational issues, let's sort them out. We've always been up for that. That in, by my estimation, and I met with the Speaker of the

House, Speaker Pelosi. She reiterated that position.

[10:45:01]

President Biden spoke with Liz Truss, reiterated that position. That's not going to change because we need the protections of that protocol. And we

also need government in the north of Ireland. It's outrageous that the Democratic Unionist Party is holding the rest of us to ransom. I haven't

met with the new British prime minister. I no doubt will, and in the very near future, and we will set out for her very, very clearly the challenge

ahead, what needs to be done.

And it's all about good faith. It's about respecting international law. It's about keeping your word and working in common purpose and in good

faith. And if Liz Truss is prepared to do that and drop the bombast and the destructive instincts of Boris Johnson, then this can be sorted out and we

can have a resolution and we can have government back up and running in the north of Ireland's, and we can have the protections that we need, the

necessary protections post Brexit.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you on. Thank you very much indeed for your time and wide-ranging discussion and I very much appreciate that. Thank you

very much indeed. Mary Lou McDonald for you.

Well, a new king and his history with an ancient land. Ahead, we'll look at Charles's long ties with the Middle Eastern gulf region and what that

region expects and hopes from him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in London and you are watching CNN's continuing coverage. This is special coverage of the Queen's passing

and her upcoming funeral. More leaders from all over the world will attend the Queen's state funeral on Monday. Among them, officials from across the

Middle East, a region that holds special meaning for King Charles III.

(BEGIN VIDETAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): The new king and his queen consort, dipping their fingers of what is believed to be the baptismal site of Jesus Christ. Then

heir to the throne, Charles's visit to Jordan in Egypt in 2021 was significance, being the first overseas tour by a senior member of the royal

family since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The king's affection for Jordan, like his mother's, well-established. Here, a 2015 meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a relationship that dates

back more than 20 years.

NASSER JUDEH, FORMER DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF JORDAN: I have no doubt in my mind that this friendship between our two royal families, between our

peoples will continue to flourish, prosper, and get stronger by the day under his majesty, King Charles III, whom we've had the pleasure of

welcoming in Jordan on numerous occasions. He knows Jordan and he knows many friends in Jordan.

[10:50:03]

ANDERSON (voice-over): Over the years, he's undertaken hundreds of documented meetings with leaders from the region. The crown prince of

Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Oman's Sultan,

Haitham bin Tarik, Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and the list goes on.

DAVID ROBERTS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: There are an awful lot of very senior relationships that have, you know, a bit of

history to them, which I'm sure will help as it were going forwards when it comes to re-establishing those relationships. Now that he is king, I don't

particularly see, you know, all that much changing in the sense that the Middle East will continue, I'm sure, to be a key part of his portfolio.

ANDERSON (voice-over): His visit to that holy site in Jordan, however, an example of the king's affinity with the Middle East, going much deeper than

mere diplomacy. He's long had a keen interest in Islamic art and culture, having studied history, archaeology and anthropology at the University of

Cambridge. More recently, he spent time learning Arabic so that he could better understand the Quran. And he's toured numerous ancient religious

sites.

KING CHARLES III: How else can we heal the divide between east and west?

ANDERSON (voice-over): Although a Christian, the new monarch has made reaching out to the Muslim community, a cornerstone of his public service.

He also serves as a patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.

FARHAN NIZAMI, DIRECTOR, OXFORD CENTRE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES: For King Charles, this search for spirituality within the Christian tradition, and

then to look out for commonalities with other faith has been very important. In his first major lecturer at the center, in 1993, he spoke

about the indebtedness that the west has to Muslim civilization.

Now, that might be of fact well known to historians, but for him to stand up and say this, I think reminded people that we are talking of universal

civilization to which all people have contributed and from which all people can benefit.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Indeed, the king sees himself not as just defender of the faith, but also a protector of all faiths. A bridge, traversing the

western and Arab worlds.

So, while the queen's passing signals the closing of a chapter, Charles's track record in the region suggests a new one is just beginning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

On camera: You're watching our continuing coverage of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the start of a new era here in the U.K. with King Charles

III as monarch.

Well, someone hacked into Uber's computer system and sent employees an alarming message. We'll tell you how the hacker reportedly got in after

this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Uber is investigating a cyber security incident. Someone hacked into the company's computer network using Slack. Now, reports say that the

hacker sent a message to employees saying that the company had suffered a data breach.

[10:55:00]

An explicit photo was also posted on an internal page.

Well, Uber says it's in touch with law enforcement. CNN reporter, Matt Egan, joining us live from New York with more. Should we be worried? Should

we be logging off of Uber Slacks or Slack?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Becky, I think that this hack has got to be setting off alarm bells in C suites and offices really around the world. In

this never-ending cat and mouse game between companies and hackers, Uber has ended up on the losing end here again.

Uber shares down 4 percent today after the company says that it is investigating an apparent breach of its internal systems. This comes after

a hacker reached out to journalists and researchers claiming that he had gotten inside of Uber's network.

Let me read to you what Uber said in a tweet about this incident. They said quote, "We are currently responding to a cyber security incident. We are in

touch with law enforcement and will post additional updates here as they become available."

Now, major questions loom here. Has any sensitive information on either customers or drivers been accessed here? And if so, how many? Also, what

about Uber's very lucrative sensitive information, their algorithms, their sort of their secret sauce. Has that been accessed? We don't know, but we

do know that Wall Street is taking this seriously.

This 4 percent loss for Uber, you know, that translates to the loss of nearly $4 billion in market cap. I think that this incident really shows

that no one is safe when it comes to cyber. Companies, they have to get it right every single time. Hackers only have to get it right once, Becky, and

billions of dollars are at stake.

ANDERSON: Thank you, Matt. The world continues after this short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, it is 4:00 in the afternoon here in London. Xi Jinping appears to be doing a delicate dance along the ancient silk road in

Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The Chinese president met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, pledging mutual support and cooperation on

core interests.

[11:00:06]

END