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King Charles Arrives on Capitol Hill for Historic Speech; DOJ Indicts Former FBI Director James Comey for a Second Time; Florida Republicans Push to Flip Four U.S. House Seats. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 28, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- Let's go back to Kristen Holmes who is at the White House with more. Kristen, what are you learning?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So Boris, we still don't know the charges but we do know what this is related to. Again, remember the first round, the first indictment was about him lying to Congress and these leaks to the press. That has nothing to do with this indictment. We are told that this has to do with the case that you heard Katelyn Polantz talking about earlier, this investigation from Secret Service into Comey's social media post that he posted a picture on the beach of seashells that said 86-47.

And he deleted that post. But at the time, Republicans said that he was trying to incite violence against President Trump using that kind of social media post there. Now, I will tell you that the source that I spoke to directly correlated this to what happened on Saturday night, saying we've already seen all of this incitement of violence. We just saw it again on Saturday night.

Not that these two things were directly related, but referencing the event on Saturday night while talking about this indictment in particular and the case around this social media post. It will be interesting to hear what we hear from the Justice Department on this, if there is any kind of actual correlation talking about this incitement of violence.

But it also comes at a point where we're hearing from this White House non-stop saying that this is all about political rhetoric, that the reason that there have been so many assassination attempts have been because of rhetoric against President Trump. Obviously, we know that rhetoric on both sides of the aisle has been increasingly violent in this political environment that we are currently in.

But that is what we know so far about the current indictment against James Comey, that this is about that social media post, which at the time the Secret Service said that they were going to investigate.

SANCHEZ: Kristen, thank you so much for that reporting. Katelyn Polantz is with us now. So Katelyn, the sourcing indicates that this is over that 86-47 post that James Comey published online now years ago. There's no indication, there's no evidence at this point that we're aware of that's in the public that that post had anything to do with what happened on Saturday night, correct?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Correct. Boris, that post was from May of 2025. So several, several months ago, almost a year ago. And at the time, what happened? This is -- I was just going back to remember exactly how this went down. Comey posted it, 86-47. People who were Trump allies and Republicans responded to it initially believing that it was a call to potentially assassinate the president.

86 is what is commonly used in restaurant speak to say when something is out or no more. And 47 would be the 47th president's -- Donald Trump is the 47th --

SANCHEZ: Katelyn, so sorry to interrupt, but we are watching as King Charles is now walking alongside House Speaker, Mike Johnson. He is making his way through the Capitol, as he is set to meet with lawmakers throughout this hour and then address a joint meeting of Congress at approximately 3 p.m. We're of course going to stay on top of what is happening on Capitol Hill. We just wanted to mark that moment for you as we were watching it live.

Katelyn, again, sorry to interrupt. Please go on.

POLANTZ: Sure. Boris, the seashell post back in May of 2025, James Comey, after he -- this was posted after there was blowback from Republicans and people who were allied with Donald Trump. He took the post down and he said publicly, I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind. So I took the post down.

But the Department of Homeland Security Secretary at the time, Kristi Noem, she said that she did want to have Comey investigated for the assassination -- for calling for an assassination of Donald Trump and that Kash Patel, the FBI Director, was also standing by to work on that investigation. They spoke to Comey. It didn't result in anything at that time. But as Kristen noted, we are in a different moment.

And this has been a moment where the Justice Department and Donald Trump have wanted to see James Comey investigated, prosecuted, indicted for multiple different inquiries. We know that there have been multiple inquiries around Comey. His work as the FBI director, potentially other things that had happened after he was the FBI director.

The perjury case that he previously faced in the eastern district of Virginia, that evidence was very much locked down by a judge after the dismissal of that case. We are still waiting to hear exactly what else is going on here. I just spoke to the clerk's office in North Carolina, in the federal court that would be covering the beaches there, which is very possibly where this would have been, where he would have taken that photo.

[14:05:00]

They have nothing yet that they knew of. And I'm looking at the court records and there's nothing online at this time. So we're waiting more from either the court or the Justice Department, or from Comey himself, to get a response. Right now, still a lot of questions, but this indictment, it clearly is something much different than what Donald Trump has been so angry about over all these years, the Russia investigation that James Comey oversaw in 2016.

Instead, it's about a social media post that James Comey took down and said he intended no harm with from May of 2025. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yeah, a curveball there. Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much. Our thanks to Kristen Holmes at the White House as well.

Still ahead on "CNN News Central," we're awaiting that speech by King Charles. We have live images, or these are actually just a moment ago, I believe, of King Charles walking through the halls of Congress with Speaker Johnson.

These are live images now of the two sitting side by side. You see, I believe that's Leader John Thune just to the right of Johnson. This is all part of a trip by the monarchy to try to patch things up between the United States and the U.K., specifically over a rift regarding the U.K.'s lack of perceived support by the Trump administration for the ongoing war in Iran.

You see Chuck Schumer is there to the right of the Speaker as well. We're going to stay on top of these images and bring you the latest as we get them as the press, as you can see, is being escorted out of the room. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:11:09]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We're back here on Capitol Hill, where moments ago, His Majesty, King Charles III met with top congressional leaders, the top Democrat and Republican in each chamber. You see those pictures coming to us here, ahead of his historic address to a joint meeting of Congress. He was in Speaker Johnson's ceremonial office for that meeting. And he will be just the second British monarch to speak here on Capitol Hill.

The first, of course, being his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, back in 1991. As we are looking there inside the House chamber, where he is going to be addressing this joint meeting of Congress, we'll be hearing his speech there at the top of the hour.

We're joined now by someone who will be in that chamber, listening, Republican Congressman, Mark Alford of Missouri.

REP. MARK ALFORD, (R-MO): Thank you.

KEILAR: Yeah, thanks for being with us.

ALFORD: Thanks for having me. I just missed the King. I was rushing over here. I got near the floor, House Chamber, and they said, Congressman Alford, the King is coming your way, so please hurry up. So we rushed over here. And he's, of course, sitting there in the Speaker's reception room. And I'm sure they have a lot to talk about.

KEILAR: I'm sure they do. And that doesn't happen every day. We're losing our signal there on the House floor, but they're getting everything ready and tinkering with it there. Why do you think it is so important that he is here and that he is bringing a message to Congress today?

ALFORD: Well, look, I think this is a time of reconciliation between our two countries. We have a long-storied partnership, I think, ever since World War II. And Winston Churchill and really his involvement to convince FDR to get involved in defeating Nazi Germany. And ever since then, our ties have grown even closer. I think there's a certain appreciation for the monarchy. We don't have that here in America. And I know it has lost some of its luster in Great Britain.

But I think Americans look up to what England is about, its resolve. Have we had conflicts in the past? Have we had current stresses? Yes. Their lack of support for us as we were and are still trying to decimate Iran's nuclear capabilities. We needed their help and support at the time when they refused that.

And I think part of this reconciliation visit, if it turns out to be that, that will be addressed. I don't think you're necessarily going to have an apology from the King of England. But his coming here and talking with Congress and reaffirming our close relationship, this talk of reconciliation of a special relationship, I think it's very important.

KEILAR: You're right, that special relationship has been feeling not so special --

ALFORD: Yeah.

KEILAR: -- for some time now. And the Financial Times is reporting this morning that they obtained an audio recording of the British ambassador to the U.S., Christian Turner. And this is from mid- February, this audio, where he was at an event with British students who were visiting here in Washington. And he was talking about that. This was shortly after he became ambassador. And here's part of what he said.

He said that the special relationship is a phrase I try not to utter because it's quite nostalgic. He said it's quite backwards-looking, and it has a lot of baggage about it. He said, I think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States, and that is probably Israel. I do need to mention the Foreign Office said these were private, informal comments he made --

ALFORD: Yes.

KEILAR: -- to British students. They're not a reflection of the U.K. government's position. What did you think about those comments, though? Is he right?

ALFORD: Well, look, we do have a special relationship with Israel. I'm proud of that special relationship.

[14:15:00]

I'm proud of President Harry S. Truman, who helped establish the state of Israel, from my home state of Missouri in 1948, the first nation to recognize Israel.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Sure, but is it that nostalgia about the special relationship with Britain? Is it nostalgic? Is it backwards-looking? Is it antiquated?

ALFORD: Look, it's not antiquated. But relationships evolve, whether you're in marriage, in business. Even my team here in Washington, D.C., the more you get to know people, people who come in and out of your team, things change, relationships change.

I think what you're seeing is a great reset by this administration, and in particular, our wonderful Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. And I'm on the Appropriations Subcommittee, national-state related programs that oversees the State Department. And we are seeing a course correction in our State Department policy and our foreign relations that is putting America first, but not America only, making sure that our concerns come first.

England has to look out for itself, but together on our shared interests, which I think decimating the nuclear capabilities of Iran is definitely a shared interest. That's where they made the mistake. I think going forward, there's going to be more consideration for our shared interests.

KEILAR: I want to ask you about this Breaking News that we have just learned about, that the Justice Department has indicted former FBI Director, James Comey, for a second time. How are you seeing this?

ALFORD: Well, look, I think he was -- the indictment was dissolved after the federal judge said that the attorney who indicted -- who led to the indictment of him on these charges of lying to Congress shouldn't have been there to begin with. So basically, in a technicality, that indictment was done away with.

We've got to keep in mind, though, that these are federal grand juries that hand up the indictment. It is not the Justice Department indicting. It is a grand jury that's heard testimony. And now, we'll see what happens. If James Comey lied to Congress about the Russia hoax, then he needs to be held accountable.

KEILAR: This is about the seashells, though. This is about the picture that he put up of the seashells --

ALFORD: Right.

KEILAR: -- that say 86-47, where he wrote in the caption, cool shell formation on my beach walk. Is that serious enough to merit? He ended up taking that down and saying -- ALFORD: Right.

KEILAR: -- he didn't realize that some folks --

ALFORD: Right. Why did he take it down, Brianna?

KEILAR: He said that he didn't realize some folks associated it with violence and that he opposed violence of any kind.

ALFORD: Yeah. James Comey is a very intelligent man. I would assume he knows what the term 86 means. I was a waiter for some time. When you 86 an order, you kill the order. When you 86-45, that is tantamount to saying killing the president of the United States. He should have known that.

KEILAR: When you 86 an order, you get rid of the order, right?

ALFORD: Right.

KEILAR: But you're not actually -- I mean, you're not killing the food. I just want to be clear. When you 86 --

ALFORD: You kill the order. It's the same principle, Brianna. We can agree to disagree.

KEILAR: I hear what you're saying.

ALFORD: Yeah.

KEILAR: But there could be room for debate on that. And certainly --

ALFORD: Why even put something out there like that?

KEILAR: I mean, a very good question. But do you -- a very good question. But do you indict over it is my question.

ALFORD: I don't -- I have not seen this specific indictment. What is the charge? What is the charge against him?

KEILAR: The charge at this point -- let's see.

ALFORD: I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I haven't seen this.

KEILAR: No, that's OK. I'm going through exactly our wire here.

ALFORD: Is it a threat to the president of the United States?

KEILAR: They haven't posted it. This is our exclusive that he's been indicted.

ALFORD: Yeah.

KEILAR: So we're just waiting to see what the charge is. But we know that it has to do with this picture that he posted.

ALFORD: Well, Brianna, I will say this. This is a much larger discussion that we're having in America right now to tone down the rhetoric. We need to unite as a nation. And saying to 86 the president of the United States, whether you think kill or to cancel or whatever, it has no place in the public discourse.

KEILAR: A great conversation to have.

ALFORD: We need to keep this conversation going. I am determined, as a member of Congress, I've been thinking about this a lot. What can I do personally? I have a communication directive that I sent out last week to our staff before this attempt on the president's life or his cabinet this past weekend, that we're going to start being positive. No more negative, no more name calling. I've tried not to do that in the past.

We don't need that. I'm not going to agree with everyone in Congress, but I'm going to talk to people in Congress and I'm going to listen to my constituents and other members of Congress, whether they be Republican, independent, Democrat, politically agnostic. We've got to listen, reflect, and respond.

KEILAR: A good aim. Congressman Mark Alford, thank you so much for being with us.

ALFORD: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: We appreciate it.

Still to come, our coverage of King Charles' speech to Congress will continue this hour. We'll also have a closer look at his visit with President Trump just moments ago at the White House.

And up next, a look at the latest battle over redrawing Congressional District. What is next for Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis' plan to give Republicans more seats on Capitol Hill? We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:37]

KEILAR: Happening now, a special session underway in Florida where lawmakers are considering a new congressional map ahead of the midterm elections. Governor Ron DeSantis proposed it, seeking to flip several House seats in this latest redistricting battle.

CNN's Annie Grayer is joining us now with more on this. Annie, what's the latest here?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Brianna, Governor DeSantis is trying to give Republicans an edge by targeting four seats through redistricting.

[14:25:00]

One of those seats is a Tampa-area district that's currently represented by Democrat Kathy Castor, an Orlando-area district that's represented by Democrat Darren Soto, and a bunch of Miami-area districts currently represented by Democrats. And we know the Florida legislature is going to take this up this week, and Democrats are not mincing words here, that they are going to fight these new maps tooth and nail.

They are ready for a legal battle here. And this is just the latest installment in a back-and-forth, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been trying to redraw maps across the country ever since President Trump urged Texas state lawmakers to redraw their maps last year. That's what kicked this whole thing off.

And redistricting experts warn that this plan for Republicans could backfire, depending if Democrats have a massive blue wave in November. So, both sides are gearing up for a major fight here, and the battle of control of the House is what is in the balance, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Annie Grayer with the latest there from Capitol Hill, thank you.

Still to come, we are getting closer now to King Charles' speech to Congress here at the Capitol. What we're expecting to hear and why this moment is so important for both countries, next.

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