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Trump Makes Unprecedented Second State Visit to U.K.; Fired CDC Chief Susan Monarez to Testify on Capitol Hill; Charging Documents Provide Glimpse into Suspected Kirk Shooter's Potential Motive. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 17, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening now, rolling out the red carpet, President Trump and the first lady set to arrive at Windsor Castle any minute right now. You're looking at pictures of some of that pomp at this very moment. This is an unprecedented second state visit. It's already spurring some pretty creative protests.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: She says that she was, quote, fired for holding the line on scientific integrity. Susan Monarez, the director now former of the CDC that was pushed out last month, is now set to get prime billing today, testifying before the Senate Health Committee about the dangers she says her former boss, Robert Kennedy Jr., poses to public health.

And a new video shows the moment officers in Florida jumped into action after a car veers off the road into a deep embankment filled with water, the passengers trapped inside.

Sara is out. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: Breaking this morning, pomp, pageantry, and protest, live pictures just for a fourth P from the United Kingdom. We're just moments from now Britain's royal family will welcome President Trump to Windsor Castle for a historic second State visit, historic because he is the first elected leader of modern times to be hosted for two state visits.

Soon, the president and first lady will join the king and queen and the prince and princess of Wales in a carriage procession through the Windsor estate toward the castle. The first lady will make a joint appearance with Princess Catherine. One source tells CNN that Melania Trump has been preparing for this trip for months.

But controversy is following the president overseas. As he arrived in the United Kingdom, political activists, projected images of him and Jeffrey Epstein onto Windsor Castle. Four people -- look at that, very vivid images there. Four people were arrested for that.

Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene at Windsor this morning. The president due arrive very shortly, Alayna. ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, and as you mentioned, John, there is going to be a lot of pomp and circumstance around all of this with the royals literally rolling out multiple red carpets for the president.

From some of my conversations here on the ground as well as with our own Max Foster, we're told that essentially what the royals have planned is going to be much bigger scale than usual. And I'd note as well the president very much kind of relishing in this idea that this is unprecedented for him to have been engaged in two state visits with the royals.

But I'd also, you know, remark that this isn't lost on White House officials what the broader strategy is here. Of course, today, we're going to see all of the royal events. You mentioned some of them, but we're going to see both the first lady and the president go to the queen's tomb, for example. The first lady engaging in several different events, both with Queen Camilla, as well as the princess of Wales, Kate, later on today, so seeing her kind of on display as well, and then they'll gather for that state banquet tonight.

But all of this is kind of a broader strategy of ingratiating President Donald Trump with the U.K., trying to strengthen that relationship, especially before tomorrow, where we're really going to see the politics take center stage when the president and Prime Minister Keir Starmer get together in Chequers, the prime minister's country estate, to have a meeting, kind of hammer out some trade talks and technology deals, we're told.

But I do want to get back to some of the Epstein thing, because I wouldn't argue it's casting a huge shadow over all of this. Although, as you mentioned, we actually saw literal images casted onto Windsor Castle. They actually came from the hotel right behind me. Four people were arrested. But that does play a role here. It comes also as we know that the prime minister had to fire the ambassador to the United States, a huge role, but particularly a big deal at this point in time with this state visit, that firing happening just days before because of the ambassador's relationship with Epstein and some of the emails we saw come to light.

All to say the president is unlikely, John, to see a lot of that, some of the political protests and the other images of the sort that they -- we've seen protesters kind of try to put into this meeting today.

[07:05:12]

He's going to be shielded from a lot of that. That is by design.

All to say that we are expecting to see him shortly, he'll be greeted by the royals and a full day of pageantry for the president and the first lady. John?

BERMAN: All right. Great to have you there in Windsor right now awaiting the president's arrival. Alayna, we'll get back to you shortly. Thank you. Kate? BOLDUAN: This morning, former CDC Director, Dr. Susan Monarez, who was fired less than a month into her tenure, well, she's headed to Capitol Hill where she's going to be getting a huge moment and a huge platform to have her say, really, for the first time publicly, she will testify before Senate committee about what led up to that firing three weeks ago.

Dr. Monarez was pushed out Amid clashes with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy. And CNN obtained a preview of some of her prepared remarks. And in it she will say in part, I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity. And also she's expected to say that RFK Jr. put politics before public health.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is standing by. This is going to be quite a big moment, Sanjay, that this former CDC director is going to have her say and face questions. What more is expected from Dr. Monarez?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. A lot of people do want to hear from her and sort of hear how she's going to respond to this. The headline here for this committee hearing is that this is an opportunity to, quote, restore radical transparency to the CDC. That is the purpose of these hearings. But no doubt, as you mentioned, Kate, a lot is going to be made of the fact that she wasn't even in the job for a month, I think July 31st through August 27th. So, you know what exactly happened, I think, is going to be a large part of what happens today.

What we expect to hear from Dr. Monarez based on an op-ed that she wrote, and some of the opening remarks that she's already given to us, is she's going to say, basically, there were two points of disagreement. One point was that Secretary Kennedy had asked her to pre-approve recommendations made by this vaccine advisory committee.

Now, the Vaccine Advisory Committee hadn't even met yet, Kate, at that point, and not even all the members had been assigned yet. And yet, at least, according to Dr. Monarez, she was asked to pre-approve recommendations that she had not even seen, number one. Number two was the idea that she was asked to fire officials responsible for vaccine policy at the CDC without cause.

So, these are the two things that I think we're going to hear a lot about. No surprise, a lot of this discussion's going to sort of revolve around vaccines.

Now, Secretary Kennedy has denied what Dr. Monarez has said. I want you to listen to this because this was an exchange that he had with Senator Warren during his hearing about what happened with the CDC director.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: I told her that she had to resign. Because I asked her, are you a trustworthy person? And she said, no. If you had an employee who told you they weren't trustworthy, would you ask them to resign, Senator?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: I mean, that was -- I don't know if you saw that, Kate, but that was quite an extraordinary moment, and he sort of doubled down on that. He said, are you saying that she's not trustworthy? He said, yes, she told me she was not trustworthy.

Now, I think Dr. Monarez is going to address that again from some of her opening comments today. What we're likely to hear, we got a copy of this, I want to read you this, regarding trustworthiness, I cannot define that word for Secretary Kennedy. I made commitments to the committee that I would lead with integrity, transparency, and purpose, and work with Congress to maximize health outcomes and protect the American people. She goes on to say that Kennedy told me he could not trust me.

You know, so this is going to be really interesting to sort of see unfold. I don't know how they're each going to sort of defend what they have said.

I should point out as well that, you know, when she was confirmed, it was not contentious, Kate. It was a pretty straightforward hearing. In fact, you know, Kennedy said that Dr. Monarez had unimpeachable scientific credentials. She has a PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of Wisconsin. So, you know, everything was fine, Kate, until it wasn't.

BOLDUAN: Everything was fine until it wasn't. Yes, Sanjay, I could not say it better myself.

All right, that's going to be happening very shortly. We will be tracking it, Sanjay, we'll be watching it very closely as well. It's great to see, Sanjay, thank you so much.

Coming up still for us, what we are learning from the new text messages between Charlie Kirk's accused killer and that man's roommate, the messages that they exchanged the day of the murder.

Plus, the Federal Reserve widely expected to cut interest rates today, a big day for the Fed. Why now, and what this could mean for you.

And why the prime suspect in the disappearance of three-year-old Madeline McCann was released from prison overnight.

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BOLDUAN: This morning, there is a flood of new information on the investigation into Charlie Kirk's murder that is coming out. The man now accused, Tyler Robinson, faces several charges, including aggravated murder. Prosecutors have made very clear and filed paperwork that they plan to seek the death penalty in this case. Court filings also reveal quite a lot.

[07:15:00] DNA consistent with Robinson's was found on the rifle, used to kill Kirk, and prosecutors also provided several text message exchanges allegedly between Tyler Robinson and his roommate that say a lot. In one the roommate asks Robinson, quote, why, in reference to Kirk's murder, to which court documents, say, Robinson asks, why did I do it? And then he allegedly says, quote, I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated. In another exchange about the weapon, Robinson says, quote, judging from today, I'd say grandpa's gun does just fine. I think that was a $2,000 scope.

Here with me, CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson. I mean, also when the roommate asks, you weren't the one who did it, right, and he and Robinson allegedly writes back, I am, I'm sorry, I mean, it's a lot. The investigators appear to have gathered so much and are putting out into the public so much of what they have revealed. How do they use these text messages and will they going forward in this case?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Kate, good morning. So, in terms of putting out in the public, it's in what's called the criminal information that was in the charging document. So, it's fine because this is what they say they're intending to prove. But in terms of the text, you have everything in there, which go to show guilt, which is, at the end of the day, the prosecution's job. Number one, you have admissions. An admission is when a defendant makes the admission, says. It was me. Not only that, you have, as you just showed, why, right? It gives the motivation.

Now, generally, Kate, prosecutors don't have to show why, but here they do because they're charging also political expression, meaning prosecutors are saying you're doing it because of that. You also have consciousness of guilt. He's talking about the fact that he wanted to go back and get the rifle, right, in order to cover it up. He talks about the fact that, hey, I want you to delete these text messages, that's a big deal. And so the text messages are damning.

And then you have the other evidence, which you spoke to, which is the DNA, not only on the rifle, it's on the casings, it's on the towel, you have, you know, the clothes that he disposed of. So, there's a lot of information here that they're going to use to establish their case, which, of course, is a death penalty case.

BOLDUAN: And on that, what -- the bar is clearly very high when you're talking about the death penalty. What evidence do you think prosecutors then focus on if, as they say, they're going to pursue the death penalty?

JACKSON: Sure. So, not every case, as we know, right, a killing is death penalty eligible. Here, you have that. And what they're hanging their hat on is the notion that you endanger other people based upon where this occurred, based upon the amount of people who were there and the endangering of those other people when he did this, that makes it eligible. Now, you add into the fact that there were children there as well. That's a charge separate --

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE) talk to that in court, yes. JACKSON: Yes. And so you have the children there. Then you have the political expression issues, and all of that's going to go into what the prosecutors are going to do, which is, say, if ever there was a case that was death penalty, not only eligible, but what should be imposed, it's here. Long way away from that, but that's, of course, what they're going to do. And then he'll have the mitigating factors which say, hey, save my life. We'll see how that plays out.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Wheels in motion as of yesterday, for sure, his next court date coming up in a couple weeks. Thank you so much, Joey.

JACKSON: Of course.

BOLDUAN: All right. Right now, President Trump, let's take a look at some live pictures. It looks like he has just arrived at Windsor Castle. It looks like you see the back of President Trump and the first lady along with William and Kate standing right there and King Charles and Camilla, all there together as he's just now arriving. And so the ceremony will begin for this unprecedented second state visit is now getting underway.

We're going to keep watching these life pictures and bring you these moments, a lot of pomp and pageantry, and then let's see if what business they do get down to.

We'll be right back.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: That is a live picture of Windsor Castle right now. Inside that coach that just went by, the president of the United States and the king of England in the United Kingdom, King Charles, in this second coach right now, the first lady and Queen Camilla, they are going on the tour of the Windsor Estate. This is really the beginning of the pageantry that the United Kingdom, both the government and the royal family have prepared for President Trump in an historic state visit, his second, something that has been offered to no other U.S. leader in modern times, something they expect, I think, that the president will really eat up. He enjoys this type of pageantry.

Let's get to CNN's Christiane Amanpour Chief International Anchor, who's nearby in Windsor. Christiane. We're seeing the beginning of this, there's ceremonial activities but then real business as well.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes indeed, John. So, as you can see, and as you've been describing, the actual parade has started, the carriage parade, through essentially the grounds of Windsor and Windsor Great Park. There won't be any interface between the president and the people because there's a huge, huge security operation, they're saying it's the biggest, since the coronation, everything is being transmitted to us as being the biggest and the best ever in terms, even of the fly paths for the first time, there's going to be U.S. and British flights flying over, but that'll be later. And the number of forces, the number of military, we're told, that the entire parade, you know, carriage parade route is manned by huge numbers of the British Armed Forces. So, that's to security, and that is to the idea that he is going to be kept away from the people.

Yes, it is the president and the king in the first carriage, the queen, and the first lady in the second, the prince and princess of Wales in the third. And then slightly further back, you have President Trump's key administration officials, including his Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, and maybe I'm told Steve Witkoff, the key negotiator.

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All of this is about the business end of what they're going to be talking about. Not today, though, it has to be said.

And while we're talking, we can hear the British -- the American National anthem being played, and we will hear the British as well. But you can hear in the background that that is being played, this U.S. national anthem.

In any event, the main objective is pageantry. Apparently, the president told the pool press who were flying with him overnight yesterday, enjoy yourselves, okay? He said he was really, really, really looking forward to this. He said, it's going to be a beautiful event.

Now, you can hear the British National anthem playing as the carriages continue to move towards eventually Windsor Castle. And then they're going to have a lunch. And then there's going to be more pageantry. The president and the first lady will lay a wreath on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II, who the president really, really appreciated. He met her twice here, one, an official state visit, which was at Buckingham Palace, and then a later visit here to Windsor Castle.

This is the first time there's been this kind of major state visit for an American president at Windsor Castle. Usually, they're in London at Buckingham Palace and, you know, they go up the mall, but certainly Windsor Village has been decked out with the stars and stripes and the Union Jack, and so as much pageantry as they can muster without the usual people involved is happening right now.

The huge issues, of course, are what can Britain get out of this in terms of trade, in terms of U.S. in investment. Already, we're being told that NVidia, Google, Microsoft, all these others have pledged, you know, tens of billions of dollars in investment. But the big issues, of course, also on foreign policy, on the war in Europe, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the war in Gaza, Israel's invasion of Gaza and its current invasion of Gaza City. That, we understand, will be left to when he meets the prime minister officially tomorrow. John?

BERMAN: Christiane Amanpour in Windsor, not too far from the pictures we're seeing right now, this procession of the carriages, the parade through the Windsor Estate with President Trump and King Charles in the front carriage. As Christiane was saying, this is the ceremonial part of the state visit. The business part begins tomorrow. But in terms of what the United Kingdom government wants, Keir Starmer in his administration, this pageantry, very much part of their effort to woo President Trump and has been for months and months. So, we're standing by for much more on this. Christiane, thank you very much.

In the United States, a huge day for the economy, one of the most watched meetings of the Federal Reserve in memory. What signs should you be looking for?

And standing by for what could be blockbuster testimony, the fired CDC director speaks to the Senate about her standoff on vaccine policy with Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.

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