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CNN Live Event/Special
Britain's Prince Philip Dies at the Age of 99; Voice on the Ground in Myanmar Say They Want Democracy. Aired 12-1pm ET
Aired April 09, 2021 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:22]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: Hello everyone, I'm Hala Gorani. We're alive in Windsor. It is a somber day here in the United Kingdom. Prince Philip, the patriarch of Britain's monarchy has died at the age of 99. Just two months shy of his 100th birthday.
Buckingham Palace made the announcement saying, the Queen's "beloved husband" passed away this morning at Windsor Castle behind me here. Prince Philip served the crown for seven decades and was almost always seen at the side of Queen Elizabeth, with 73 years of marriage. He is the longest-serving consort to a British monarch.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, saying he earned the affection of generations in the U.K. across the Commonwealth and around the world. Listen to Boris Johnson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, mourners have already started gathering, not just outside Buckingham Palace but here at Windsor Castle to pay their respects. CNN has learned that Prince Philip will not be lying in state. Instead, his funeral will take place at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Those were his wishes, by the way. The public will not be able to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions. Our royal correspondent Max Foster joins me now. He is live with me here at Windsor Castle. We have the required distance between us here respecting COVID restrictions. Talk to us a little bit about what a loss this means for the royal family, what it represents for the Queen as well?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think Boris Johnson spoke powerfully to -- when he talked about how Prince Philip helps steer not just the family but the monarchy. So the 73 years that you described there, that whole time he was alongside the Queen as she grew up and learned how to be a monarch herself. And he has always been her closest advisor. And they've got the steel. He's a very dominant character. If you see him behind the scenes, he's pretty out control. He does what he wants. But the deal was he would support her professional role as head of state and always respect that in public. Behind the scenes, he was very much in charge. But he also supported her. If you imagine no one else in the world could she be herself with apart from Prince Philip, even her own children bow or curtsy to her when they see her. So this closest confidant, her closest friend, and he's been lost to her, but also to the monarchy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: They were married for more than seven decades, but they've been destined for each other since childhood, according to one of Queen Elizabeth bridesmaids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she fell in love when she was 13. I mean, God he was good looking. You know, this is a sort of Viking gold. He'd never looked at anybody else ever. And I think she truly has been a rock.
FOSTER: The couple married in Westminster Abbey on November the 20, 1947. For the rest of his life, Prince Philip was a near constant presence of the Queen side. He gave a rare insight into life behind palace walls when celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
PRINCE PHILIP, DUKE OF EDINBURGH: I think that the main lesson that we've learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage. It may not be quite so important when things are going well but it is absolutely vital when things get difficult. And you can take it from me that the Queen has the quality of tolerance and abundance.
FOSTER: If this companionship came at a professional cost, it was one Prince Philip was prepared to pay.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just to have been there all the time behind and ready to have sacrificed his life. He did it to sacrifice his life because he would have loved to have gone on the Navy and really made a career out of that. So he sacrificed too. And so I think it's made for a wonderful solid marriage.
FOSTER: The Queen and Philip Mountbatten met before the Second World War when he was a young naval cadet.
ROBERT HARDMAN, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER: His number one job from the word go, has been to "support the Queen." Everything he does is in support of the Queen. It's just been one of the great royal romances I think of history. People talk about Victoria and Albert as a phrase. It's trips off the tongue and I've no doubt, but in years to come, people talk about Elizabeth and Philip in exactly the same way.
[12:05:15]
FOSTER: Famous for his energy, the Duke's health inevitably deteriorated as he headed into old age. The Royal Family Christmas was disrupted in 2011 when Philip had to be taken to hospital for minor heart surgery. Five months later, during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Philip had to go to hospital again, this time with a bladder infection. Family came and went, and within days, Philip was well enough to return home, but not to return immediately to his public duties.
In the spring of 2017, Prince Philip effectively announced his retirement, saying he would give up official royal duties. A year and a half later, he was involved in a car crash, raising questions about whether he should be driving at the age of 97. Then public appearances were reserved for special occasions, such as Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding in May 2019.
Prince Philip had been patron or president of some 800 charities, including the WWF. He was a renowned environmental campaigner. He also had his own royal heritage, being born into the Greek and Danish royal families. But he renounced those titles when he took British citizenship in 1947. So what of his role in the British monarchy?
CONSTANTINE 11 OF GREECE, PRINCE PHILIP'S COUSIN: I think a pivotal point because he was the head of the family. He was in -- its responsibility as a father to be that, and he does that extremely well.
FOSTER: It would have been difficult for him always in public to be taking a backseat to his wife?
CONSTANTINE: I would have thought that anybody who has that responsibility will find it. I would say taxing but you -- when you have this whole concept in your blood, and you are good, your sense of humor and your sense of dignity, and you carry it up beautifully.
FOSTER: And one thing Prince Philip certainly had was a sense of humor, and a tendency to make gaffes. On a trip to Australia in 2002, he asked an Aboriginal leader, do you still throw spears at each other? And when leaving the Obamas in 2009, a reference to world leaders.
PHILIP: Can you tell the difference between them?
FOSTER: Prince Phillip, serviceman, campaigner, great grandfather, and a beloved husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, well, so it is a huge loss for the Queen, a big loss also for the nation after seven decades of service. But it will be an unusual funeral for such a high ranking royal.
FOSTER: I think he was always uncomfortable with the idea of a funeral at all. He doesn't like fast and he wanted as low a key an event as possible. But he was involved intimately with his funeral plans as all Royals are. There was a plan outside lockdown, which would have involved processions and would have involved people gathering outside palaces, I'm sure. But I think that plan under COVID would be that everything will be contained within the castle. I think we'll probably expect to get those details tomorrow. But it won't be a state funeral, his not a head of state. Although the Queen I think would probably like to give him more of a, you know, a send off than perhaps he wanted, so it's really up to the Queen. She will sign off on the final funeral plan. I'm sure she'll be looking at that right now. She could potentially upgrade it to saint funeral if you wanted to. I speak with the Prime Minister about that, we'll have to wait for those details tomorrow.
GORANI: But if he didn't want that?
FOSTER: So she'll respect that.
GORANI: Right.
FOSTER: But she feels that he contributed more than he felt that he did. He felt that he was just doing his job.
GORANI: Our Royal Correspondent Max Foster, thanks very much.
All right, we're going to be speaking to Nigel Cawthorne, coming up next, he was the author of a book, How To Be Rude. Nigel Cawthorne, thanks very much for joining us. You've written so much about Prince Philip, about his personality, about his interactions not just with the Queen but the press and the public and some of the remarks he's made that have potentially over the decades ruffled feathers. Talk to us a little bit about the legacy of Prince Philip as we learn of his passing today.
NIGEL CAWTHORNE, AUTHOR: Well as you say, the thing that sticks in our minds are what we think of his gaffe really, when you think about it, he's a man who considered himself Danish, to start with, been forced to give up the his title in Denmark when he married Queen. And he's kind of -- he can -- he was a British figure, like you can only be British if you're a foreigner, and he kind of played the role. I run the village. He read too much P. G. Wodehouse.
[12:10:18]
GORANI: But, so talk to us a little bit, I mean, for those not intimately familiar with Prince Philip, what will be his lasting legacy? What will we remember him for most, do you think? When history is written about his time and service?
CAWTHORNE: Well, he's certainly nourishing stabilize the royal family for that generation, obviously, things are really, the wheels have come off since but he certainly managed to kick, hold the thing together while he was alive.
GORANI: And he was fond of, I mean, many things that we would consider a trivial, he liked gadgets, he liked joking around, he would even poke fun at royal majesty herself. So this was someone who enjoyed levity, right, in his every day -- in his everyday life, you could have been a serious kind of soldier of the monarchy, but he chose a different attitude, didn't he? CAWTHORNE: Well, yes, indeed. I mean, it's rather notable for since the restoration of the James II in 1660, that the monarchs of the royal family really realized that part of their role is entertainment, to keep the public happy and distracted from our normal concerns, and his has certainly fulfilled that role excellently.
GORANI: Yeah. And now with the success, I mean, obviously, in Great Britain, Prince Philip is a fixture. He is part of the lives of almost every living Brit, because of the age that he was when he passed away, obviously, but internationally, you have shows like the crown, you have the resurgence of conversation surrounding the British monarchy, because of what's happened with Harry and Meghan, for instance. So with this the passing of this generation, where does that leave the royal family, do you think?
CAWTHORNE: Well, you're in a very difficult position, I think with the trial of Max -- Ghislaine Maxwell coming up and Prince Andrew's role in that, it's going to -- they're going to go through a rough patch, I believe.
GORANI: When you say rough patch, I mean, could you expand on that?
CAWTHORNE: Well, but the two things here is the British government is in breach of a treaty with the U.S. that requires us if Prince Andrew doesn't submit himself to interview by the FBI requires Scotland Yard to interview him. And if that doesn't happen, he's supposed to be called it in front of a public court here. None of that has happened. I don't know why the U.S. government hasn't complained about it. But we are. And the other thing is whether Prince Charles will be able to succeed here that there's some constitutional issues around that.
GORANI: And finally, we were discussing with our Royal Correspondent Max Foster that Prince Philip was not the Duke of Edinburgh as someone who wanted to be, he didn't want a big fuss for his funeral. And I guess from, for outsiders, for people who don't live in the U.K., they would expect that the husband of the monarch, the husband of 73 years of the monarch will get a big state send off. What is your expectation as to what path the Queen will choose with regards to, her final, her -- honoring her husband, her partner for the final time?
CAWTHORNE: Well, yes, this is a really great shame. He was a towering figure in this country and things like weddings and funerals of the Royals, we do really well. And the whole world watches that this is going to be a shame. We're going to miss this.
GORANI: Well, Nigel Cawthorne, thank you so much for joining us on this day, the day the palace has announced the death of Prince Philip, at the age of 99, the companion of more than 70 years to Queen Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining us. We're going to have a lot more on the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh coming up after the break. You're watching CNN. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
[12:15:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just thought he was a wonderful man and supported the Queen and she's lucky to have him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was controversial now and again and said a few things out a turn but he's been with the Queen over 70 years, longest consort has ever been and conversely, so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well you just heard tributes from outside Buckingham Palace on this day we learn of the passing of Britain's Prince Philip who died today aged 99, the companion and more than 70 years to Queen Elizabeth. The palace says, the Duke of Edinburgh died peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Windsor is where we are coming to from live. He was hospitalized in February, you'll remember, and discharged last month after heart surgery. His funeral will be held in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
In line with the Prince's wishes, it will not be a state funeral and Prince Philip will not be lying in state. Britain's parliament will pay tribute to Philip Monday in a special session.
Well, the love story of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth goes back a long, long way in 1939. In fact it was said that Queen Elizabeth fell in love with her future husband, she was then only 13 years old. Our Royal Correspondent Max Foster has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: It was a love affair that lasted more than seven decades. As Queen Elizabeth celebrated Jubilee after Jubilee and went on to become the longest serving British monarch in history, Philip was always by her side. A childhood companion to the Queen, Margaret Rhodes was a bridesmaid at her wedding and was in no doubt that it was a marriage based on love.
[12:20:03]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she fell in love when she was 13. I mean, God he was good looking. You know, this is a sort of Viking gold. He'd never looked at anybody else ever. And I think she truly has been a rock.
FOSTER: The couple married in Westminster Abbey on November the 20, 1947. Since then Prince Philip was an almost constant presence of the Queen side. If this companionship came at a personal price, it was one that he was prepared to pay.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just have been there all the time behind and ready just sacrificed his life. He did it to sacrifice his life because that's he would have loved to have gone on the Navy and really made a career out of that. So he sacrificed too. And so I think it's made for a wonderful solid marriage.
FOSTER: The Queen and Prince Philip met before the Second World War, when he was a young naval cadet.
HARDMAN: And his number one job from the word go has been to quote support the Queen. Everything he does is in support of the Queen. And it's just been one of the great royal romances, I think of history. People talk about Victoria and Albert as a phrase, it's trips off the tongue and I've no doubt but in the years to come, people talk about Elizabeth and Philip and exactly the same way.
FOSTER: As part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Queen toward the U.K., and with her the handsome prince she met as a shy teenager, the man who was always by her side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And that was Max Foster reporting. Let's bring in Phil Black. He's in Scotland, Salma Abdelaziz is in Belfast, Northern Ireland, of course, historically a very interesting place to be not just because of what we're seeing today, resurgence of the violence, but of course historically throughout the history of this country. We'll get to Salma in a moment. First Phil Black, reaction where you are in Scotland and of course, where the royal family summers usually at Balmoral?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Hala, of course, Prince Philip had that formal association with Scotland. He was the Duke of Edinburgh. But that relationship that he had with this place, a deep, personal, really affectionate feeling for Scotland. Well, it goes back much further than that. He became the Duke of Edinburgh when he married the Queen, but he went to school in Scotland. He liked it so much. He sent his three sons to the same school. It was his experience at that school that led him to launch the Duke of Edinburgh awards. What's being described today by some is perhaps his greatest legacy. The youth achievement awards that have influenced into some degree molded the lives of millions of people around the world.
And then yes, of course, as you touched on there, in the summer, he and the Royal family very much loved to spend time at the Royal Estate at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire in Northern Scotland. They loved the lifestyle, the landscape, the beautiful, dramatic landscape, and indeed the people. Scotland by its very nature is vast and remote in places, and certainly sparsely populated, perhaps no way more so than where I am on the island of Shetland, which is about 100 miles north of mainland Scotland. But even here, people remember visits by Prince Philip and the Queen and they remember them incredibly, fondly. There are some really warm photos of Prince Philip driving the Queen around this ragged island in a Morris van around 70 years ago. So very much tied in to this place, and they are known for making an effort to really get to know the people across Scotland as well. And so today, across the Scottish political spectrum, the Duke of Edinburgh is being mourned and honored as a straight talking but dutiful hard working public servant, and someone who had an enduring relationship to Scotland. Hala?
GORANI: All right. Phil Black, thanks very much. It is the end of an era in that sense, of course, the Queen's partner of 73 years. It's that generation really that, that generation that is now passing away and emblematically we're seeing it with the death announced today of Prince Philip and certainly it must be an incredibly, incredibly difficult time for the Queen today.
Let's go to Salma Abdelaziz. She's in Belfast, Northern Ireland. And of course many of our viewers are familiar with the history that Northern Ireland has played in this country. And what it has meant for the royal family over the decades, sometimes in very violent ways. Salma what is the reaction that you're picking up in Belfast to the death of Prince Philip today?
[12:25:04]
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Hala, I'm right in front of City Hall here in Belfast and the flag behind me is flying at half-mast. But let me set the scene over the last seven days, over the last week, there has been violence in the city. There have been clashes, battles between both sides, both the Protestants and the Catholics trading Molotov cocktails, breaks, mortars, fireworks, dozens of policemen have been injured. And people here say this community has not seen this kind of violence in year. So you can only imagine that in all of this, the reaction to Prince Philip's death has also been very dividing. Take a listen to what people were telling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM BUTLER, JOURNALIST: It's very sad, he made a tremendous contribution to the royal family and the United Kingdom, as well as Northern Ireland. And he was he was very character. He has his own personality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't, I don't think the royal family are nice people. I think that there's some people celebrating, I think there'll be some people mourning. There's quite a divide here.
PETER HOSKINS, CIVIL SERVANT: Do you think it's odd for the family and you've been sort of empathetic towards them. But for me personally, it's -- for me, it's not direct connection to him that it's difficult to sort of put into words. It's not that I'm sad. I'm not happy about it, but it's sort of in the middle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: For some Prince Philip here is a sign of someone who can calm tensions, the monarchy is a symbol of union. For others, it is exactly the opposite. But since the announcement, since the news of his passing, what you have heard from both sides, both the Catholics and the Protestants is now is the time to put aside our differences to respect those who are mourning, to respect those who are hurt, to understand that this might be a difficult time. We've heard Protestants calling their own unionist allies, their own supporters to start protest tonight out of the abundance of respect for his passing. Hala.
GORANI: All right, we'll see if this calms things down. The announcement of the death of Prince Philip in Northern Ireland where we've seen an uptick in some tense, violence across some parts of the of the country, the state where you are, thanks very much.
Just the head, more on our other big stories, CNN's remarkable access in Myanmar where pro-democracy protesters tell us they're not afraid of the generals who have taken control of their country. That's next. Stay with us.
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[12:31:07]
GORANI: We'll have more on the death of Prince Philip in just a moment, but now some other big news that we've been following over the last 24 hours. I am not afraid. Those are some of the voices on the ground in Myanmar what they're telling CNN. Our network was granted remarkable access the first Western television network inside the country since the military is used to power in February, and our cameras are seeing plenty of courage on the ground. For democracy protesters and activists all display a pretty selfless bravery in the face of an armed military trying to cement its coup with a bloody crackdown on ordinary civilians. Monitoring groups is at least 600 people have been killed, including dozens of children. The people of Myanmar tasted freedom for only a few short years, but their love of democracy means they have put everything on the line to fight for it even defying the junta.
Our chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward has just returned from Myanmar, where she exclusively documented the tensions there firsthand. And Clarissa and her team had a military escort, it has to be noted. She joins us now from London. Talk to us about this extraordinary reporting and the extraordinary bravery of the people that you met along the way.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you, Hala. It's great to be able to talk about it. It's always tough when you're going into a country where there's this kind of a bloody crackdown going on, and you're going in with the oppressors, with the people who are perpetrating that crackdown. In this case, we felt very strongly that it was absolutely worthwhile and important to go because we wanted to confront the junta with evidence of its ruthless tactics and to get a better sense of where they see this ending, where they see this playing out. The U.N. has talked about a bloodbath. They've talked even about a civil war.
What we found on the ground though, Hala, was extraordinary acts of courage. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WARD (voice-over): By day, the junta continues its brutal crackdown, killing pro-democracy protesters who refuse to submit to military rule.
At night, the raids begin, as soldiers round up activists and drag away the dead. Their bodies, evidence of the military's shoot-to-kill tactics. Two months after overthrowing Myanmar's democratically- elected government in a coup, the junta has been unapologetic in its ruthlessness, and silent in the face of international outrage.
Fearless local journalists and activists have risked everything to show the world what is happening, while outside access to the country has been blocked.
But now, the military has granted CNN the first access to visit Myanmar. From the moment we arrive, our movements are tightly controlled.
(On camera): Gives you a sense of the intense level of security with us, one, two, three, another three over there, six trucks, full of soldiers, accompanying our every move.
(Voice-over): At township offices across Yangon, alleged victims of the protest movement dutifully await us. They tell us they have been beaten, and threatened, and humiliated by the violators, a pejorative term the military uses for the pro-democracy protesters.
In North Okkalapa Township, the local administrator complains that the demonstrators were noisy, and broke the law by gathering in groups of more than five.
(On camera): Are you seriously comparing these infractions to more than 500 people being killed, among them children? Are you saying that these are equal?
(Voice-over): Our minders are perturbed by the question, and it goes unanswered.
[12:35:00]
They take us to a shopping center, one of two attacked by arsonists overnight. Like many businesses in Myanmar, they are partially owned by the military. The strong implication from our minders is that the protesters are to blame.
(On camera): It's a similar story at several burned-out factories. This is the third factory that the military wanted to show us. They say, it's clear proof that the protesters are violent, that they have been setting fire to businesses like this. But the protesters say they had nothing to do with it at all, and the factory owners who we've spoken to say they simply don't know who's responsible.
(Voice-over): Sandra's (ph) Chinese-owned garment factory completely destroyed. She asked we not show her face.
(On camera): Do you have any sense of what you will do now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Waiting for the government giving some helping. Yeah.
WARD: Who is the government right now in Myanmar?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Laughs).
WARD: Sorry, is that a hard question? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I don't know.
WARD (voice-over): Every moment of our visit is carefully choreographed. When protesters begin posting about our movements on social media, the military cuts off Wi-Fi across the country. Still, from the window of our convoy, we catch glimpses of reality.
(On camera): Some people from the balcony just flashed three fingers at me. That's the hunger game salute to the troops, something emblematic of this uprising. I'm speaking quietly, because I don't want our minders to know what they just did, because honestly, it could be a very dangerous situation for them.
(Voice-over): We pass a small protest, rejecting Myanmar's return to more than half a century of repressive military rule. Their banner calls for a spring revolution. Our minders won't let us stop.
Finally, after days of pushing, we are allowed to visit a public space, an open market. We avoid approaching anyone, mindful of the fact that we are surrounded by security forces. But within minutes, one brave man flashes the three-finger salute.
(On camera): I saw that you made a sign, tell me what you mean by making that sign?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in foreign language).
WARD: We don't -- you just stand back, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice, justice, we want justice.
WARD: You want justice?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WARD (voice-over): Moments later, another man approaches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not scared.
WARD: Not scared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not weapons. We don't have no weapons. Not scared, but every day fighting, every day, just like that, just like this.
WARD: As word of our presence spreads, we hear an unmistakable sound. Banging pots and pans is a tradition to get rid of evil spirits, but it has become the signature sound of resistance. This young teacher says she ran to talk to us when she heard the noise.
(On camera): You want democracy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want democracy. We don't want military coup.
WARD: You know we're surrounded by military. Like this guy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't. I'm not afraid at all. If we are afraid, we people, around here, would not hit and bang the pan.
WARD: Like many young people, she sees her future being ripped away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want to go back to the dark age. We lost our voice and we had democracy only for 10 years. We don't have weapons. We don't have guns. Just only we have voice.
WARD: But even words can be punished here. Not wanting the situation to escalate, we decide to leave the market, as people honk their horns in support of the protest movement. The junta has grossly underestimated the determination of its people, and the growing hatred for the military.
In the capital, Naypyidaw, we finally have the opportunity to confront Myanmar senior military leadership.
MAJOR GENERAL ZAW MIN TUN, MILITARY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): I will tell you the reason why we have to crack down. The protests were peaceful from February 1st to the 8th. The reason for the crackdown was because they blocked civil servants. The security forces are giving warnings. Firstly, shouting to break the crowds, and then shooting in the air. And the crowds are throwing stones, and using slingshots.
WARD (on camera): Are you seriously comparing stones and slingshots to assault rifles? The military is using weapons against its own people. Really, they only belong on the battlefield. The main thing is, they aren't only using stones and slingshots to assault rifles. The military is using weapons against its own people that really only belong on the battlefield.
TUN (through translator): The main thing is, they are not only using stones and slingshots. We have evidence they used gasoline and Molotov cocktails. You need to add those, too. For the security forces, they use crackdown weapons for riots. There will be deaths when they are cracking down the riots, but we are not shooting without discipline. But the rifles we use for the front lines.
[12:40:20]
WARD: So this is CCTV footage of 17-year-old Kyaw Min Latt going past a police convoy. You can see, the police shoot him on the spot. His autopsy later said that he suffered a brain injury as a result of a cycling accident, which I think we can all see, that's not a cycling accident. How do you explain this?
TUN (through translator): If that kind of thing has occurred, we will have investigations for it. We will investigate it if it's true or not. There may be some videos which looks suspicious, but for our forces, we don't have any intention to shoot at innocent people.
WARD: So, 14-year-old Tun Tun Aung, who was killed by your forces, what do you say to his mother? You say that he was a violent protester? Or what would you say to the father of 13-year-old Tun Mak Nguyen (ph) also shot dead by your forces? TUN (through translator): We have heard about the deaths of the children, too. There is no reason we will shoot children. This is only the terrorists that are trying to make us look bad.
WARD (voice-over): But the lies are paper-thin. According to the U.N., as of March 31, at least 44 children have been killed. Back in Yangon, our minders take us to another market, in a military area. Keen to show they have popular support. But the ploy backfires.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want democracy.
WARD (on camera): I understand. A man just told me, "We want democracy" as he walked past. But he was too scared to stop and talk.
(Voice-over): Others are more bold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please save our country.
WARD (on camera): Save your country?
(Voice-over): These people are not activists. They are ordinary citizens, and they live in fear of the military.
(On camera): You have goose bumps. You're, like, shivering.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are not -- they are not human.
WARD: Yes. They're not human?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WARD (voice-over): They are desperate for the outside world to know their pain. One girl approaches us, shaking.
(on camera): I feel like you're very nervous. Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes. We are not safe anymore. Even in the night. There are shooters, and the shooters shoot the children.
WARD: I don't want you to get in trouble. I don't want you to get arrested, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, thank you.
WARD: All right.
(Voice-over): She knows her bravery will certainly be punished, but this is a resistance movement built on small acts of great courage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: That woman was arrested, in fact, just as she was running away from the market is what our Clarissa Ward is telling us, 10 others were also arrested for talking simply, for talking to CNN. Thankfully, they were all released after a couple of days and there's much more from Clarissa's team at CNN.com, breaking down what Myanmar's military says to justify this brutal crackdown and whether it matches reality, so head over to cnn.com for more from Clarissa and her team.
A lot more to come this evening, saying goodbye mourners laying flowers outside Buckingham Palace paying tribute to Prince Philip will be live outside the palace and we'll come back to you live from Windsor after a quick break. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:47:34]
GORANI: Welcome back. We're bringing you the very latest on how the world is remembering Prince Philip, how this country as well as digesting the news. The longest serving British consort in the history of the monarchy has died this morning at the age of 99.
Outside Buckingham Palace, it is a somber scene. You see here a sign being placed on the gates announcing his death. The Duke of Edinburgh passed peacefully at Windsor Castle.
Anna Stewart joins us live now from Buckingham Palace with more. And you've been speaking to people who've come to pay tribute to Prince Philip, what they've been telling you, Anna?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Yes, that's right. The day since this announcement was made we have seen a steady groups of people really coming outside Buckingham Palace to pay their respects to Prince Philip. It is a very somber mood here. The flag, as you can see is flying at half-mast behind me. And we have been speaking to people to get their reaction. What do they remember about Prince Philip? What are they going to miss? Here's what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a big symbol for a lot of people in England, and it's nice to pay our respects to him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have deep respect for the queen. I love her. I think she's a wonderful woman. And I'm very sad for today because she's lost a life partner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he embodies everything about the country really. And I think he's just a real kind of royal consort.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning I was in tears and, you know, it's just a sudden, you know, news about him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he was a complicated man. But he was very hard working. And she loved him and I think in his way he loved her. I think that's wonderful. And it was a very, very long love story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Certainly people's thoughts with the Queen, who of course, has lost her husband of 73 years. People laying flowers outside the gates of Buckingham Palace that brings back memories of course of the Queen Mother and Princess Diana and years gone past, but today the government are encouraging people not to come outside the palace here or Windsor Castle. They're telling people to, you know, obey by all the sort of public health guidelines out there due to the pandemic at the moment and there is an online book of condolence has been launched by the royal family, it's on their website, so people are being encouraged to take to the internet, unfortunately to be able to pay their respects and say all their memories and all their fun thoughts of Prince Philip and his family.
We've also just had some response from Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex who on their website Archer welfare charitable organization have a darkened out page saying in loving memory of His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, 1921-2021, thank you for your service, you will be greatly missed.
[12:50:12]
It is a somber mood here outside Buckingham Palace. But Hala, everyone wants to remember the fantastic legacy that Prince Philip had, a life well lived and one that we'll be delving into in great detail over the coming days.
GORANI: So I wonder if we're going to get more reaction from his grandchildren, from other members of the royal family that statement that was posted on Prince Harry and Meghan's website was very short and official. I wonder, do we expect more reaction from them down the line? How does this -- how do these things normally unfold?
STEWART: Well, I think we can expect at some stage to hear from other members of the royal family perhaps through their various Twitter pages. Any major statements will of course be made through the palace and Prince Harry and Meghan have left the folds of the sort of royal household so they are free to make their own statements as they wish.
I would expect to see some responses from royal family members coming forwards. But of course today is a day of, you know, severe grief I imagine for this family. For the Queen who's lost a husband for 73 years. And for his four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren all who will be very sad today and probably one would imagine on the phone to each other remembering him as a family before they put out any public statements.
GORANI: All right, Anna Stewart at Buckingham Palace, thanks very much. We are here in Windsor, behind me, you can see the outline of Windsor Castle. It is starting to drizzle a little bit here from the sunny day. We moved on to a cloudy and slightly colder atmosphere here in Windsor. People have also gathered laying flowers and paying tribute to Prince Philip as we mentioned with our Royal Correspondent Max Foster.
The flags at Buckingham Palace have been lowered to half-mast. And the prince will not be getting a state funeral. He'll not be lying in way, these are his wishes. And there will not be of course the opportunity for crowds to gather to pay tribute and honor Prince Philip because COVID restrictions are still very much a reality throughout the United Kingdom. Our coverage of the breaking news of the passing of Prince Philip continues. And believe it or not Prince Philip was worshipped as a god in one place, will tell you about that unusual story coming up.
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[12:55:48]
GORANI: Well, we're looking back at the incredible life of Prince Philip who died today at the age of 99. Here are some facts about his life that might surprise you.
Decades before the mobile phone Prince Philip's 1950s convertible was fitted with a radio telephone, he enabled him to call the palace apparently he loved gadgets. It was the first British Royal to be interviewed on television. His nickname for the Queen was "cabbage." And he's worshipped as a god by the people of Tanna Island in Vanuatu.
All right, well, thanks for watching. Those are some facts about Prince Philip you may not have known. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back at the top of the hour, we'll have more on our breaking news. The passing of Prince Philip, age 99 announced today by the palace, will look back on his life. We'll be speaking with guests. And we'll bring you other big news headlines from around the world. Stay with CNN.
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GORANI: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We're coming to you live from Windsor. It is a sad day across Britain today, as people across this country mourn Prince Philip.
