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King Charles on Capitol Hill for Historic Speech. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 28, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I'm Jake Tapper in Washington, D.C., and right now we are standing by to witness history on Capitol Hill. We're just minutes away now from King Charles III delivering the second ever address to a joint meeting of Congress by a British monarch, the second ever. His late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, she was the first back in 1991.

Now, just a short time ago, there was plenty of pomp and circumstance at the White House as President Trump and the First Lady welcomed the King and Queen, the President that then met with the King in the Oval Office during what has been a rather politically fraught time for relations between the United States and the United Kingdom. Tensions for weeks have been simmering, occasionally bubbling to the surface, occasionally exploding over the Iran war, as well as the President's attacks and questioning the worth of NATO. A lot of attention today will be on what King Charles does and does not say before this joint meeting of Congress.

With me now is a team of CNN experts as we await the moments. Jamie Gangel and David Chalian are here with me in studio, along with Max Foster at the White House. And David, let me start with you.

Walk us through the very high stakes of this trip and this moment.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, as you said, the U.S.-U.K. relationship is in a precarious moment. There's no doubt about that. But that has also happened over time.

And so I don't think the stakes -- I think they're high in terms of where Donald Trump is standing, how he handles the pageantry of it all, the images, all of that, because he needs some good news days these days. And so this will be one of them, no doubt. For the King, though, everything we've heard, Jake, is that he's going to put the relationship in its long historical perspective.

The arc of the --

TAPPER: Well, not too long, right? Starting maybe in the last century.

CHALIAN: Starting -- exactly. That's a good point.

It is odd to have him here on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of our nation, which, of course, was birthed by a revolution against his nation. But I do think his mission is to not focus on the immediate short-term stakes of the relationship between the two countries, but to put it in this larger context of a relationship that he believes endures and serves both nations well.

TAPPER: Yes. And Max, one of the things we heard when we reported yesterday from the Garden Party that the ambassador, the U.K. ambassador, threw for the King and Queen, one of the things we heard from the ambassador, from the foreign secretary, is that friends disagree. And the U.K. and the U.S. have disagreed before, reminding our viewers of the fact that King George VI came to the U.S. before World War II.

There was disagreement there. Queen Elizabeth came and spoke with Eisenhower after the big split during the Suez crisis. That the U.K. didn't support the U.S. during Vietnam, and on and on. How carefully crafted do you think the King's message will be?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR AND ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Incredibly. I think it's probably his biggest test yet of his reign, because he's on the global stage in Britain's key partners, you know, heartland, speaking to the nation and having to strengthen that relationship where the president is a central part, of course, but at the same time sticking up for values. I think you're going to, if you really get into the weeds of the speech today, I think you're actually going to see some very bold statements.

But considering the King's position with the president, he may be in a position to put them on the world stage and represent, actually, nations outside America. So he's going to be talking about the key pillars of Europe and the United States, the importance of NATO that came out of the war that you were just reflecting there.

[14:35:00]

He's going to talk about Magna Carta, which formed the basis of British law and subsequently American law, and how one of the key elements of that is actually a check on executive power.

And that's a very important part of that and reminding the United States of that in a way. I'm just, you know, based on my conversations, he's going to be talking about how important it is to defend Ukraine, how diverse communities are important, religious tolerance is important. So this does speak to many of the issues that the president has had with the rest of the world.

But he's very keen to sort of represent the rest of the world in a way, represent the current world order, and discourage an inward- looking foreign policy, if you like. So I think it's actually going to be quite a punchy speech, but delivered very respectfully, because he's fully aware of the true honor of being invited to speak to the joint chambers.

TAPPER: And Jamie Gangel, how much can a speech or even a visit, a four-day visit --

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: A punchy speech. TAPPER: -- a punchy speech, but even a four-day state visit by the King and Queen truly repair a relationship that is strained by serious matters of substantive differences? This isn't about President Trump didn't get invited to a party. This is about foreign policy disagreements, resentments by President Trump that the U.K. hasn't joined with him in the war in Iran, and on and on.

GANGEL: I would argue that King Charles, just by being here, actually achieves a lot of that. You know, if we had a bingo card for every time in this coverage we talk about pomp and circumstance and that special relationship, I would actually say that both of those things are critical to this trip because of who President Trump is. He loves this.

Just the fact that the King and Queen are here, I think, goes a long way to smoothing the special relationship.

CHALIAN: It's why Keir Starmer, right, early on in the term, sat in the Oval Office. And what did he do? He brought the invitation from the King for President Trump to first come to the U.K. for that visit last year and then have this return engagement.

GANGEL: You may remember it was a letter, and President Trump was so excited about the letter that he was showing it to her. And look at his signature. Donald Trump loves this.

TAPPER: Yes, I'm sure probably any president does. But yes, President Trump, absolutely. And what has stuck out to you so far?

It's only been about a day, but what has stuck out to you so far?

CHALIAN: Well, first of all, the context, the political context that is happening in each country during this visit. So Keir Starmer could not be more unpopular than he is right now, the prime minister of the U.K., probably even more unpopular at home than Donald Trump is here. And Donald Trump is struggling with his popularity here.

So the political leaders in both of these countries are at a real tough moment.

TAPPER: What is it? Just a reminder, viewers, what is it about Starmer? Is it about the scandal involving him appointing the former U.K. ambassador and his ties to Epstein?

CHALIAN: Exactly. And his handling of that has certainly been, and Max could speak to this, no doubt, too, I guess, but has certainly been the crux of what has been a large unwinding. But he's experiencing, even among his own fellow partisans in the U.K., as Donald Trump is experiencing some of that here over some issues.

And King Charles gets to come in here and, you know, for the last 24 hours of images, gets to sort of rise above that a little bit and sort of elevate both countries.

TAPPER: Yes, that's interesting. And Max, Congressman Ro Khanna, a Democrat of California, has said he expects the King will address the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. Do you think he will?

FOSTER: No, I don't think he can. I think the reality is he is the symbolic head of the British legal system, just as he is of the government. His brother is being investigated due to his Epstein link, something that he's denied all along, of course.

But that investigation is ongoing. If you imagine that he's a symbolic head of a legal system, he cannot be seen to be getting involved in that legal system. And if he does, he will be potentially prejudicing the investigation into his brother.

And that would undermine his constitutional position. I just think it's impossible for him to address directly the Epstein investigations and scandals. What he can do, as he always has done, is try to emphasize that in any sorts of abuse situations, victims should always come first.

And we are seeing that reflected via the Queen during this visit. Jake, you and I were at the Garden Party yesterday. You would have seen as well how the Queen made a beeline for charities representing domestic violence survivors.

We're going to see her do that twice again during this visit. And the optics there are, you know, we always put the survivors and victims first, even though we're not directly addressing the Epstein scandal.

[14:40:00]

TAPPER: And if you're watching right now, you're looking at live pictures of this joint meeting. King Charles will address this joint meeting. You see Vice President J.D. Vance coming down the aisle, shaking hands. Greeting people behind him is the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota. And we're just taking it all in right now as these individuals walk down the aisle. Everyone stay with me.

Still to come, security tightening on Capitol Hill, understandably ahead of King Charles. More on the heightened measures since Saturday night ahead.

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[14:45:00]

TAPPER: You are looking right now at live images from the floor of the House of Representatives. This is minutes before King Charles III is set to deliver this historic address, a joint meeting of the House, Senate, and others. U.S. and U.K. officials have been working closely on heightened security measures for King Charles' visit, especially since Saturday's attack at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

CNN anchor Boris Sanchez is on Capitol Hill for us and joins us. Boris, what are you learning about these increased security protocols in place? BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Jake, despite the events of Saturday night, this four-day royal visit is going forward with only minor operational adjustments to a couple of engagements. CNN has learned that after the shooting this weekend, security teams on both sides of the Atlantic met on Sunday to review the entire itinerary for King Charles and Queen Camilla. And they went through every event that they were having, not only here in the nation's capital, but also in New York and later on in Virginia, studying the security plans and making only minor changes to a couple of events that they were having.

What those exact changes are, for obvious reasons, have not yet been made public. We can tell you that here at the Capitol, there's an expansive law enforcement presence. There's only a handful of protesters that right now are across the street.

But even just to get to where we're standing right now on the exterior of the Capitol, my producer and I actually had to enter and go through a security screening inside. Notably, we're not expecting the King to actually emerge and make an appearance outside of the building. So it gives you an idea of the added security measures, perhaps, that have been put in place.

We should also know that the King himself, we are told, never actually considered canceling this trip. More so, it was getting security clearance, making sure that security teams were all on the same page. We're told that the King's disposition was essentially to show solidarity with his friends across the pond to keep calm and carry on -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Boris Sanchez, thank you so much. I'm joined now by former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow. Jonathan, thank you so much for joining us.

So security -- you're looking, by the way, just to remind people you're looking at live images right now on the right side of your screen, the vice president of the United States, J.D. Vance of Ohio, talking to the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Jonathan, security was already going to be tight for the King's visit. Now, obviously, after the incident, the attempted assassination of President Trump and Trump administration officials at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday, thankfully, nobody was hurt.

What extra measures do you think are going to be taken now that weren't already being taken?

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Well, Jake, before I get to the measures, let me just paint a picture of what the threats are, what this threat environment is currently. And the way it should be viewed is highly elevated, asymmetric and really shaped by international and domestic volatility. And to your comment before, all of this is against the backdrop of this increased grievance driven violence that we saw manifest itself Saturday night and still remains out there. So because of that, what you're going to see is two things.

You're going to see more overt security put out there, uniformed officers, a show of force to act as a deterrent. But also, you're going to see a more of an intelligence led process that's going on in the backdrop to identify these different threat vectors that are out there. All is painting a picture of a fully integrated intelligence led security operation, not just on Capitol Hill right now, but across the capital region to support this very important visit by the King.

Because the last thing you ever want to do is have a head of government come to your country and have harm come to them. So the Secret Service takes this very seriously. They're working very closely with Capitol Police, other federal and state law enforcement partners to ensure that nothing happens during the King's visit.

TAPPER: There's an inherent conflict between politicians and public figures wanting to meet with the public, to be out amongst the people and the job of the U.S. Secret Service or other similar law enforcement organizations. If it were up to the Secret Service, sometimes they feel like the president would never leave the White House. And yes, when it comes to a situation like this, we're told that there were some adjustments made to the King's schedule after the events of Saturday night.

Tell us more about that tension and what kind of things if you were in charge, you would have said, no, you got to strike that off the schedule.

WACKROW: This has been a tension ever since politicians started receiving protection. And again, to your point, as a Secret Service agent, I would never want the president to leave the White House. But that's just not reality.

[14:50:00]

What you have to do is you have to look at two things, one, the threat environment and to the environment that the protectees, in this case, either the King or the President are going into and looking at their exposure there. What you're trying to do is you're never going to get to a zero risk environment, but you need to be able to manage it appropriately.

And I think now where we're seeing asymmetric threats, you know, manifest themselves very quickly, there needs to be more thought into where these political figures are going, what they're doing while they're there and giving enough lead time to build out the proper security structures. Again, we talk about Saturday night. It should have been a national special security event.

But the challenge is they didn't have enough time to plan for it. So we have to put more thought into where these protectees are going and how to build out the right structures. This isn't about prohibiting them from doing things.

This is about guaranteeing that those environments become safer for them to engage in their political activity.

TAPPER: All right, Jonathan Wackrow, thank you so much for your time and expertise, sir. History is going to be made just minutes from now, as King Charles III

will address a joint meeting of Congress. Stay with us for this live coverage of a landmark speech.

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: The breaking news this hour, King Charles III is about to deliver the first address to a joint meeting of Congress from a British monarch in 35 years. We're learning that the King will spend much of his time emphasizing what he will call one of the greatest alliances in human history, the U.S. and U.K. This will be a important moment for a U.S.-U.K. relationship that is right now rather fraught and being tested.

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar is live for us on Capitol Hill. Brianna, what are you learning about precisely what the King will say in his speech?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're expecting a message about reconciliation. I think we know that that's what he's coming here for. And I think what's also really interesting, Jake, is that there really seems to be this appetite for that here on Capitol Hill for people to hear that at a time of deep discord between Democrats and Republicans over the war in Iran and between the U.S. and the U.K.

Because oceans rise, empires fall. But we have come so far since then that you have King Charles coming as a bit of a soothing influence. He's bringing some kumbaya to the Capitol. The president has been so upset, of course, with Britain, with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who early on in the conflict was quick to say, this is not our war and we're not going to get dragged into it, and that the U.K. was not going to be joining in the military offensive. But if there is an emissary who can take down some of those rough edges, it is certainly King Charles. We saw that at the White House today, the president with some kind of uncharacteristic deference. But he very clearly does like the King, appreciate that the King is here.

And so you're actually seeing on Capitol Hill here, I was speaking with Republicans, they're welcoming that he is here. They are glad that he is bringing that message. And I think even as they stand by President Trump in the fact that he's been upset with European allies, there's also a realization that normally going into a conflict, it is more characteristic for the U.S. to build a coalition. And that's not what happened in this case.

So I think the King, someone that the president accepts coming here with this message, is something that is very welcome when it comes to Republicans, but also Democrats -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Brianna Keilar, thank you so much.

Let's bring back our panel of experts, CNN's Jamie Gangel and David Chalian here with me in the studio, and Max Foster on the White House lawn. David, let me ask you the same question I asked Jamie. This is a significant rift between the president of the United States and the British prime minister. And it's about -- I mean, it started before the war in Iran, but it really got worse with the war in Iran. President Trump feels as though he is doing a service for the world and especially for Europe in taking out the Ayatollah, who is now dead and also destroying the ballistic missile technology and the nuclear abilities of Iran.

And he wants more help than the Brits are given. Yes, they are giving some help in terms of some sorties in the area, defensive ones in terms of using U.K. airspace, U.K. bases, but it's --

CHALIAN: Which Starmer talked up, those little those items.

TAPPER: Yes.

CHALIAN: In a bit of trying to soothe this over, he was trying to point out how much they -- or what they have been doing to not Donald Trump's satisfaction at all, obviously, who has it seems like all the disfavor that President Trump holds Europe in and NATO in right now, it is Starmer who is receiving the bulk of that from President Trump as it relates in the Iran war.

TAPPER: Which is interesting also because the German chancellor just yesterday said something, I forget the exact language, but it's something, Jamie Gangel, about how the Iranians have the upper hand. It wasn't that nice, as I put it, but like about how the Iranians are not beating the U.S., but certainly an embarrassment for the United States in his view.

GANGEL: Look, just to connect back to the last monarch, the first monarch who gave a speech to Congress, that would be King Charles's mother, Queen Elizabeth. That was in 1991, two months after the Gulf War ended, Desert Storm, President Bush 41 had done the opposite ...

END