[Harlow:] Well, this
[Sciutto:] We've all probably had some awkward family meetings
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Sciutto:] before. This one would qualify. The queen of England, sitting down with Prince Harry, her grandson, and Meghan, his wife, who shocked a lot of folks in the U.K., announcing they're stepping back from their royal life. Joining us now, historian Kate Williams. She's a CNN royal commentator and a lecturer at the University of London. So what happens behind closed doors in this meeting? Is the queen going to say, hey, guys, I know what you want to do but here's what you're going to do?
[Kate Williams, Cnn Royal Commentator:] You know, Jim, it's a big question. That's what we're all asking, here in Britain. The whole country's galvanized by this huge story. And exactly at this moment, the meeting is going on at Sandringham, the queen's palace in Norfolk. Charles has flown in, William has flown in, Harry is there, Meghan is dialing in by conference call. All the courtiers are there, the government is involved our government, the Canadian government. And the queen basically is saying, guys, find a solution. Because what she doesn't want, there have been this very damaging speculation that we've seen in the press about rifts, about arguments. The longer this story goes on, the more of this expose is going to happen. So she wants it stopped. She's saying, let's find a solution. So I'm expecting to see, you know, some kind of solution within a couple of days. But the queen is in charge and she is saying, sort this out.
[Harlow:] Can we talk about what this means, Kate, for the future of the monarchy and modernization? Because there are those that say, look, you know, it's time for this structure to be modernized, it's time for it to look different.
[Williams:] You're right, Poppy. I mean, what we're doing here, what the monarchy's doing here actually, there are lots of naysayers saying it can't work, this half-in, half-out, flexi-royal. I disagree. What actually it brings the British monarchy in line with the other European monarchies, like the ones of Sweden or of Holland, where most of the members have full-time careers. And this is what's going to happen here. And I think it could work very well and be a positive way forward for the future. Because, you know, the monarchy demands body and soul, and it's tough. And we can sympathize with this. But certainly, there are big questions here for the monarchy, it's a big change. But also for Britain, because there's been racist coverage, sexist coverage and really, I think we have to reckon with ourselves about what's happened here.
[Sciutto:] Yes. I want to ask you about that, Kate, because that's what Meghan and Harry say led to this, that they felt attacked by the British tabloid press. And of course, for Harry, that's a very personal issue because that's what he and his brother think, in effect or they blame it, in part, for the loss of their mother's life in that in that crash there. I mean, is it is their point of view justified here?
[Williams:] I do think there is justification. I think that women who marry into the royal family, they get this terrible time. You know, they're criticized, they're attacked. And it's been worse for Meghan, and particularly worse because it's unfair. Things that other royal women have done, such as editing magazines or wearing certain types of gowns or, you know, even using avocados, Meghan is criticized for. And it has to be said, there has been racist, sexist, very cruel criticism. And I think, really, Harry felt this very much, there's no reason to it, but children do feel this way that he couldn't protect his mother, he was just a little boy. His mother's death stays with him, it will never leave him and now he wants, above all, to protect his wife. And he thinks that this is the way to do it. And you have to have sympathy with him. It they meant to be full- time royals. Within two years, they were wanting out because it's just been so miserable.
[Harlow:] Kate Williams, thank you for being there.
[Williams:] Thank you, thank you.
[Harlow:] Appreciate it. All right. So Spotify, right? You probably listen to music on it, but it wants to be a whole lot more, especially when it comes to podcasts. This is all part of the company's strategy to try to dominate how we listen. Will the bet pay off? Watch this.
[Rachel Crane, Cnn Digital Correspondent:] Spotify wants to be known for more than just music.
[Dawn Ostroff, Chief Content Officer, Spotify:] Our goal is to be the largest global audio network.
[Crane:] The streaming giant bought Gimlet Media, Anchor and Parcast, three popular podcast companies, for nearly $400 million, a large price tag considering the entire podcasting industry's ad revenue was less than half a billion dollars in 2018.
[Steve Jobs, Ceo, Apple:] Now, we recently announced something new for iTunes and iPod, and it's called podcasting.
[Crane:] Apple had you guys beat a little bit in terms of the timeline. They got into podcasting in 2005. And as a result, most people go to Apple. So how are you guys going to change that?
[Ostroff:] One of the big initiatives for us is to be as good at podcast discoverability as we are on the music side. And we're finding that creators are excited about working with us on an exclusive basis because we're able to put so much more of our marketing and on- platform data and insights in their hands.
[Alex Blumberg, Ceo, Gimlet Media:] In the old world, people download the podcast and then you don't know what happens to it. And so as part of Spotify, you can sort of see, like, this group listens to this music and they like this kind of podcast, that's one of the biggest advantages.
[Crane:] Even Spotify says it can't guarantee it will make a profit from podcasting. But for Ostroff, it's all about betting on the future.
[Ostroff:] The younger generation has really taken to it. And I always say, where the young people go, the older people follow.
[Sciutto:] You'll really want to watch this next story. He lost his legs, fighting in Iraq. Now, this Arm veteran, trying to hold Iran accountable. Why the news of recent days and weeks means a lot to him.