big ben strikes midnight. it s europe s biggest fireworks display and as the countdown began, more than 100,000 people watched along the river thames as the london skyline lit up and the sounds of big ben chimed. you can actually smell the gunpowder the air, you can smell it. it is fireworks night here. big ben, the chimes have rung and we are now officially in 202a. the best show on earth. amazing, indescribable, no words. so worth it, i am loving it so much. this is my first time for london, coming here and seeing this. i i love it, it is so good. this year s theme is unity, a message played from the king. 0ur society is woven from diverse threads. and the london mayor, who thanked those working in the nhs, the police and the fire service. he said the event took months to organise. we have planned this sincejuly. there is a team of 75 who have been working over the last four days. one of our strengths as a city and country is our diversity. we will be celebrating our dive
for his political gain. it s hard to believe that a human being could treat other human beings like this. they re killing women and children in ukraine. there is clear evidence of torture, humiliating treatment of people. the world must react to all of this. i m pamela brown in washington. you are in the cnn newsroom. a kingdom celebrates the life of its queen and a family mourns the loss of its matriarch. the queen s eight grandchildren came together to hold vigil as she lies in state outside westminster hall. tens of thousands of mourners wait to pay their respects. as you can see, the line stretches for miles. the wait at times has surpassed 24 hours. right now the wait is around 17 hours. president biden and the first lady arrived in london last hour. they will be among the heads of state from around the world to attend the queen s funeral scheduled for monday. cnn s max foster has more. reporter: a steady tide of mourners pouring into the ancient westminster