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Royal Welcome for Trump and First Lady Melania at Windsor Castle; Kirk Shooting Suspect Charged with Aggravated Murder; Trump Delays TikTok Ban a Fourth Time, Possible Deal in the Works. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired September 17, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Calling for us to, quote, close the skies over Ukraine, that would take a big tool away from Vladimir Putin. NATO jets can do that. I know that as a former Supreme Allied Commander in NATO.

I think it's time to strongly consider a no-fly zone before we get to putting troops on the ground.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Admiral James Stavridis, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.

A lot of news this morning, a brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: King Charles, the royal family welcoming President Trump and the First Lady to Windsor Castle. The president even riding in a historic carriage procession. The pageantry and politics at play with this big state visit.

Having her say, the former CDC director speaking out on Capitol Hill today about what exactly led up to her firing and her view after less than a month on the job. Dr. Susan Monarez is expected to say that Robert Kennedy Jr. is putting politics before public health.

And a stunning close call at sea. The U.S. Coast Guard pulls three people from the water after their boat capsizes off the coast of Texas.

Sara is out. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: The breaking news this morning, a royal welcome. Look at me standing, it looks like right at Windsor Castle. A royal welcome for President Trump as he makes an historic second state visit to the United Kingdom just a few moments ago.

These were the pictures right there. The president and first lady greeted by the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales there as well. There was a procession of carriages through the Windsor estate. You can see the president and king riding in the first, the queen and the first lady riding in the second. Three separate military bands played because one or two is simply not enough. The president and king inspected the Honor Guard.

This is all very rare. President Trump is the first elected U.S. leader in modern times to be hosted for two state visits in the United Kingdom. Tomorrow, the first lady is set to make a joint appearance with Princess Catherine.

One source tells CNN the first lady has been preparing for this trip for months, but as controversy swirls back in the United States, there is one issue the president could not leave behind. Look at that. Ahead of this visit, political activists projected images of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein onto the side of Windsor Castle. Four people were arrested for doing this.

Now, the business part of this trip really is the president will meet tomorrow with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer. We're joined right now by Matthew Doyle, former communications director for the prime minister and old friend of ours here at CNN.

Matthew, it's great to see you. And as we're watching this pageantry play out, the president and first lady arrive, the parade of carriages through Windsor, to an extent, this is exactly what you planned, the British government planned when you were in the Oval Office when the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, issued this invitation last spring for President Trump to come on this historic state visit. Why did you all want to do this?

MATTHEW DOYLE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR UK PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER: That's right. And morning, John. Thanks for having me back on.

Look, we knew that the president has a strong affection for the United Kingdom and an especially strong affection for the royal family. We've seen that repeatedly in the way in which he has spoken about the late queen and the visit that he had in his first term. So it was clear to us that if you have those assets, that opportunity, then why not absolutely make the most of it?

And it's important to say that whilst we are seeing all of the ceremonial today, the guards that there are, the president and the king riding in the Irish state coach, for us, the important thing for the UK is the substance that will go alongside the ceremonial. And that's why so much work has actually gone into the other elements of this visit, which will be the agreements on tech and trade that will mean so much in terms of bringing investment into the UK.

BERMAN: Obviously, this is something that has been important for the British government. This meeting and the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reaching out regularly and repeatedly to President Trump for the minute of his election.

Will you take us behind the scenes a little bit into the discussions about how you use this asset that you uniquely have? Because obviously, President Trump has to know that the people think that he likes this. You know, he has to know that people think that he loves all the pageantry and being wooed as much as possible here.

[08:05:00]

So do you just have to come up with even bigger ideas every time?

DOYLE: Well, look, as I say, I think when you have an asset as we do in the UK with the royal family who are so widely respected around the world, and clearly there is the personal affection that the president has, it would sort of be daft not to play into that for a strategic reason. So yes, it was important to be able to offer that historic second state visit.

I would make the point that there are a couple of things that make this unique in the fact that you have had that gap between the president's two terms that has also obviously been a change of sovereign and a change of government within the time of those two state visits.

But nevertheless, you're absolutely right that the reason for wanting to do this was precise to ensure that we could have those other conversations, those difficult conversations, not least about some of the issues around Russia and Ukraine. And if you like, there is always a kind of unofficial quid pro quo on these trips between the ceremonial and the substance.

BERMAN: What does the United Kingdom want to get out of the United States? What promises would you like to hear from President Trump in regards to Ukraine?

DOYLE: Well, I think the key thing for the UK, but for all of Europe really, is wanting to ensure that the president has got a plan to get Russia to the table. We've seen a change of tone from the president in recent months, but we still haven't seen a willingness to really go on the front foot in pushing Russia to get to the table. And there are obviously other measures that have been looked at. Whether it is some of the secondary sanctions or tariffs that the U.S. administration has now been talking about when it comes to the likes of India and China that are still using Russian oil.

So Ukraine is clearly the biggest issue on the foreign agenda. And then domestically, as I say, look, the U.S. is the UK's largest trading partner. It's a special relationship, not just in rhetoric, but in economics as well.

And so the investment decisions that we've seen when it comes to things like AI, nuclear, quantum, are all things that will be the real substantive legacy we hope from this trip.

BERMAN: Matthew Doyle, former Advisor Communications Director for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Great to see you this morning. Thank you so much for helping us understand why we're seeing what we're seeing at Windsor right now. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly. I was thinking, giving us the real skinny on what actually went into this.

Coming up for us just two hours from now, the former head of the CDC is set to speak out on Capitol Hill three weeks after she was fired. Dr. Susan Monarez is who we're talking about. She was pushed out amid clashes with the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr., really of her vaccine policy. CNN obtained a preview of her remarks and Monarez is set to make clear that she believes that Kennedy is putting politics before public health. And also saying this, I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity.

Also this, on the morning of August 25th, she's expected to say, Secretary Kennedy demanded two things of me that were inconsistent with my oath of office and the ethics required of a public official. He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation, regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause. He said, if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign.

Much more on that to come.

Also this, the evidence now revealed by the Utah prosecutors against the man accused of murdering Charlie Kirk, why they think it is enough to pursue the death penalty in this case.

And a man accused of stealing Beyonce's unreleased music from her choreographer's rental car. Do you remember this story? Well, this person is now under arrest and behind bars. There's an update on that wild investigation.

And a high-speed chase sends sparks flying, literally. California police pursue a stolen truck that was going a hundred miles an hour along the LA freeway.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: This morning, there's new information on the investigation into Charlie Kirk's assassination. The man now accused of shooting and killing Kirk, Tyler Robinson, is facing several charges including aggravated murder. Prosecutors say that they plan to seek the death penalty in this case, and when it comes to the possibility of federal charges, I want to play for you the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, last night on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're looking at everything we can do to bring charges if appropriate, but again, this isn't something we need to rush. This is something where the state has already brought charges. They brought charges that carry the death penalty, and so if at the right time, federal charges are appropriate, of course we'll bring them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BOLDUAN: Let's go to our scene as Danny Freeman outside the jail in Utah this morning. Danny, what's the latest you're learning?

[08:15:00]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Kate, it really just has been a remarkable 24 hours here in Utah with the case of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. We saw him make his first court appearance yesterday, and amazingly, as the judge was informing Robinson that this was going to like a death penalty case. Robinson still basically showed no emotion during the entire course of that court proceeding.

And then just the amazing thing, Kate, that we learned yesterday was a trove of new information, specifically concerning text messages that Tyler Robinson sent, allegedly to both his roommate, and conversation with his parents. So I want to focus on some of those messages now. This is part of the conversation that Tyler had with his roommate, who the Utah County prosecutor emphasized was a romantic partner, also a male transitioning to a female.

At one point, it appeared that Tyler Robinson was confessing to the crime on the day of the shooting, texting -- I should say the roommate texted Robinson, saying, you aren't the one who did it, right?

Robinson responded, I am, I'm sorry.

And then Robinson's roommate asked the question, why?

Robinson replied, Why did I do it?

The roommate said, yes.

Robinson said, I had enough of his hatred, some hate can't be negotiated out.

Just part of the stunning amount of conversation between Robinson and the roommate, including a moment when Robinson actually asked the roommate to please delete these text messages, which led to one of the charges in terms of witness tampering.

And then Kate, I just want to focus for a moment on the parents here, because this was really remarkable as well. We learned that the mom, Robinson's mom, was actually the one who saw the photos that were released by law enforcement.

She said, I think this looks like my son. She confirmed with her husband, Robinson's dad. And the family, they were conservative. But in these court documents, they said that Robinson himself had been drifting more left over time.

When they tried to reach out with him, he said initially, oh, I'm sick. I've been sick for the past few days.

But then they had an inkling because they kept seeing these photos and knew that that was likely their son. Amazingly, they were able to convince Robinson to come and turn himself in, ultimately without harming himself. And that's how we have ended up here today with him in custody behind me here at the Utah County Jail.

Now, Kate, I just want to run through quickly what is coming up next. Robinson was told by the court that he has to have an attorney appointed to him by his next court appearance. That's due to happen on September 29th.

And then I'll note, Kate, classes are set to resume today at the Utah Valley University as well, where the shooting took place -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, Danny, thank you so much. I really appreciate your reporting all throughout this.

Still ahead for us, TikTok on TikTok, friends. The president once again delays a nationwide ban on the app after Congress passed that ban last year after the administration says it has struck a deal with China. What's now at stake when the two leaders, President Trump and Xi Jinping, prepared for a critical call on this this week?

Texas authorities search for a man they accuse of attacking and robbing a 74 year old man in a walker outside of a convenience store. Got more on this coming up.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, TikTok deja vu, President Trump says he has reached a deal to save TikTok from being banned in the United States, which was part of a bipartisan law passed by Congress. Sources say a group of investors will create a U.S. based company to operate the app, but nothing's been finalized yet and things could change before the president speaks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week.

CNN's Hadas Gold is here with the latest on all this. I mean, what do we know about any of this?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: So what we know, according to sources who have been talking to our colleagues, is that this new TikTok company will be made up of an 80 percent consortium of American companies and 20 percent of Chinese companies. Because if you remember, this law that was passed said that the company had to be taken out of Chinese ownership in order for it to be able to continue operating. Also, this company will be run by a U.S. board, U.S. Majority Board, and one of the members will actually even be appointed by the Trump administration.

Now, we know from these sources that these three of the main companies will be running this are Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz and Silver Lake. And Andreessen Horowitz and Oracle are actually run by well-known Trump allies and Trump donors. One of the biggest questions, though, about this whole deal and all of these delays is what is going to happen to the algorithm?

BERMAN: I was waiting for the word. GOLD: Because the whole magic of TikTok is its algorithm. And it was well known that the Chinese were very resistant for the algorithm to leave China essentially. Now we understand -- this is according to the Wall Street Journal reporting -- that part of this deal is that this new company will actually license the algorithm from China.

And now what's going to happen is all of the TikTok users in the United States, you will be asked to download a new version of TikTok, but it should be essentially the same exact algorithm. Now, there is a question kind of what changed, what softened here? And we did hear actually from the Treasury Secretary yesterday.

He suggested that another hard threat from the president about actually shutting down the app after these many, many delays is might have what moved the needle. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I will tell you what turned the tide was a call that Ambassador Greer and I had with President Trump the night after the first day of negotiations. And President Trump made it clear that he would have been willing to let TikTok go dark, that we were not going to give up national security in favor of the deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: Now, John, there does seem to be some sort of legal gray areas, lots of questions. You were having questions about the algorithm and whether it actually being licensed complies with the law, but also these delays.

If you remember, the original law allowed for one 90 day delay. We are now on our fourth delay till December 16th.

[08:25:00]

Now, the whole idea of these delays was if a deal is in the works, then you can delay it. The White House has been asked about the legality of these delays, and they have all essentially said, you know, we are quite confident of the legality of it without adding any more details. But, but sources are still cautioning our colleagues at the White House that things could still change. Nothing is final until it's final.

And President Trump and the leader of China, Xi Jinping, are expected to talk on Friday, where we should get hopefully some more cementing of this deal.

BERMAN: We'll see. We need so many more details. I mean, there are questions about whether they've been compliant with the law all along. And now with the algorithm, of course, being compliant with the law only matters if anyone's going to enforce it, right?

GOLD: Exactly.

BERMAN: Hadas Gold thank you very much.

First Lady Melania Trump meeting with the Princess of Wales for the very first time. Sources tell us it took the first lady months to prepare for this state visit.

And police tracked down the person who allegedly stole unreleased Beyonce music from a rental car. Where investigators were able to find it all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, a suspect is in jail accused of stealing some of Beyonce's unreleased music. Police arrested Kelvin Evans for allegedly breaking into an SUV in Atlanta over the summer and stealing hard drives with that music. The car had been rented by her choreographer, Beyonce's choreographer during a cowboy.

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