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King Charles III Addressed to the U.S. Congress and Attended a State Dinner on Day Two of His State Visit; El Mencho's Apparent Successor Arrested. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired April 29, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church, just ahead.

King Charles is about to start his third day in the U.S. We will bring you highlights of the state dinner and the White House and his address to Congress.

Another blow to the Jalisco cartel, Mexico arrests a possible successor to the notorious drug lord El Mencho.

And Elon Musk and Sam Altman take their feud to court in a case that could change the path of A.I.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: I appreciate you joining us.

Well, in just a few hours, King Charles will be leaving Washington and heading to New York for day three of his state visit to the U.S. He and Queen Camilla will attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial, where they'll meet with first responders and families of the victims.

On Tuesday, King Charles made history as the second British monarch to address a joint meeting of Congress. In that speech, he pushed back on several points of disagreement with the Trump administration, including offering praise to NATO.

Later, the King attended a state dinner at the White House, where he gifted President Trump a World War II-era British submarine bell. He said the bell is a testament to the shared history and shining future of the U.S. and the U.K. The King also spoke about the importance of America's leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: We and I shall never forget that, not least as freedom is again under attack following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Today, our partnerships in NATO and AUKUS deepen our technological and military cooperation and ensure that together we can meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and contested world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Richard Quest has been following the King's visit and has more on his address to Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: There was a huge amount riding on this speech by the King.

When His Majesty addressed Congress, he was talking not only to the audience in the room, but of course to President Trump at the White House and to the American people. It was a gentle address. There were no real barbed comments, but there were plenty of underlying messages.

The shared values that had kept the U.K. and the U.S. together over so many centuries. The shared values that were now seemingly under threat, arguably because of some of the actions by the current administration.

There was one particularly popular line when the King talked about executive overreach. The Congress liked that and he got a strong round of applause.

There were also reminders about the rule of law and a defense of NATO in its work with Ukraine, particularly poignant, bearing in mind President Trump's criticisms, sometimes rudely, of NATO's performance. And some little remarks, for example, mentioning his own Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, who President Trump doesn't particularly like at the moment, or indeed that the fact the King had served in the Royal Navy, it's his navy after all, a reference perhaps digging at the fact that the President had been rather rude about the Navy.

All in all, this will go down as one of the great speeches of King Charles's reign. He came, he saw, he spoke, he delivered, just as the monarch is supposed to do.

Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining me now from Washington is CNN royal commentator Sally Bedell Smith. She's also the author of "George VI and Elizabeth - The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy." Good to have you with us.

SALLY BEDDELL SMITH, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Great to be on, Rosemary.

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CHURCH: So King Charles III's historic speech before Congress Tuesday was more political than usual for the Royal or for any Royal, as he called for the defense of Ukraine, support for NATO, protection of the environment, curbs on executive powers, and an independent judiciary. What was your response to what he had to say while sending subtle messages to President Trump?

BEDDELL SMITH: Well, my response is that it was actually, if you compare away the kinds of speeches he gave years ago, it was quite muted. But he's a skilled practitioner in diplomacy, and he has a way of, sort of, presenting things in a sort of silky manner that manages to make things more palatable than if he were, if he adopted a different tone.

I was looking back at a speech that his mother gave when she was here in 2007, and she very much came out and spoke about climate. And so I think it's really the manner in which he does it. And it's very effective.

And he sort of laces it in with a little humor. He got something like 12 standing ovations, and, and quite a few laughs.

CHURCH: You mentioned the ovations. I mean, in his speech, King Charles received a standing ovation from both sides of the chamber, and particularly when he said executive power is subject to checks and balances, a clear reference to President Trump. And then later, the White House tweeted out a photo of the President and King Charles together, with the caption reading, two kings.

Your reaction to that moment in particular?

BEDELL SMITH: My reaction is that was pure Donald Trump, sort of slightly trolling Charles, but not really. I think it was a demonstration that he can be as out there as he always is. And, I mean, they're, you know, it's so ridiculous that you can't take it seriously.

CHURCH: Yes, and of course, the aim of this royal visit is to reaffirm the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States and smooth over tensions that we've seen with the British Prime Minister. How likely is it that King Charles achieved that aim, do you think?

BEDDELL SMITH: I think in so far as he can, as a head of state who doesn't really have any power, at least any power over specific policy, I think he was very effective. I think he reaffirmed most of all the relationship between the two people, the peoples of the United States and the United Kingdom.

He was really speaking to that, and to our shared heritage, and that all the values that unite us and our fundamental founding principles, reference to the Magna Carta. And so I think that's important. That was an important point that his government wanted him to make, and that he wanted to make.

CHURCH: Sally Bedell Smith, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

BEDDELL SMITH: You're welcome.

CHURCH: Well, during the state dinner, President Trump appeared to break with protocol, suggesting King Charles agreed with him that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, sources tell CNN that Iran is expected to submit a revised peace proposal after President Trump indicated he would not accept an earlier version. That version called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war first, and discussing Tehran's nuclear program at a later stage.

CNN's Eleni Giokos is standing by for us in Dubai. But first, let's go to Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. So Paula, what more are you learning about Iran set to submit a revised peace proposal?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, this is what we're hearing from sources close to the mediation process. They have said that they are expecting Iran to come back to the mediators in Pakistan to give a revised proposal. Now we understand from sources that there was an initial proposal, we understand this is an ongoing fluid process, but the most recent proposal was not acceptable to President Trump.

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We heard that from sources in Washington as after the national security meeting on Monday, the U.S. President signaled that that was not a proposal he was going to accept, that particular one that the parameters of which believed are -- believed to be that the war would be declared over that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened and that the thornier issues of the nuclear program would be dealt with later.

Now, of course, there would have been far more detail than that broad stroke I've given there. But what we are expecting is that sources believe there could be a new proposal that has been revised in some way to make it more palatable to President Trump.

We're being told this is an ongoing process. It is fluid that there is intense diplomacy going on behind the scenes and that the next few days could be critical in trying to secure this deal between the U.S. and Iran.

Now also, you did mention that Rosemary, we did hear from the U.S. President about Iran when he was at that state dinner with King Charles. And he did break protocol by pointing out that Prince Charles believed that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. Now it is very unusual for this kind of declaration to be given.

And of course, King Charles himself, cannot counter that claim. He has to maintain neutrality when it comes to political issues. Let's listen to exactly what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're doing a little Middle East work right now, two of you might know. And we're doing very well. We have militarily defeated that particular opponent.

And we're never going to let that opponent ever, Charles agrees with me even more than I do. We're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon. They know that and they've known it right now very powerfully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Of course, when it comes to the U.K. Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, he's made it clear that he doesn't believe Iran should have a nuclear weapon. But he has also made it clear that this is not a war that the U.K. should become involved in much to the anger of the U.S. President.

So where we are at this point is that we are waiting to see if there are updated proposals from Tehran. We have heard from sources that the two sides may not be as far apart as it may appear on face value. So there is somewhat of a waiting game now to see whether there can be something suggested that is palatable to both sides, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Indeed, we'll certainly hope for that. And Eleni turning to you, what more are you learning about the UAE's decision to leave OPEC and the likely impact that will have?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it's really interesting timing because it comes while we're experiencing the largest energy crisis in the history of global markets, this closure of the Strait of Hormuz is choking off a lot of the Gulf oil producing countries and the UAE being a member of OPEC and OPEC-plus was a really important player in terms of the stabilization and the influence on pricing at a global level.

The UAE now announcing it's bringing to an end a six-decade long relationship with this organization that has been dubbed a cartel because it influences energy markets by controlling output from the oil producing countries that are part of the members of the group.

So it's OPEC as well as OPEC-plus, which includes Russia and other countries as well. But the UAE is the third largest oil producer that is part of OPEC. So this is quite a big blow to the organization and importantly, the UAE has been restricted by quotas that are around 3.4, 3.5 million barrels of oil per day.

But the UAE has ambitions to produce a lot more and frankly can because it has production capacity of around 5 million barrels of oil per day. And this isn't the first time we've been hearing about the UAE wanting to exit the group.

There've been rumors through the years because they haven't seen eye- to -eye with Saudi Arabia, which is the de facto leader of OPEC. But interestingly, now the UAE has said they want to focus on national interests.

And importantly, during what we saw the press release yesterday, Rosemary, they say that during the time in the organization, they've made significant contributions, but also point out they've made significant sacrifices and they say for the benefit of all and that is to ensure that there's oil price stability.

But with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the enormous pressure that we're seeing coming through on oil prices, they want to start producing more. This decision kicks in on the First of May. So in just a few days, but also keeping in mind that they can't actually increase capacity just yet because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and they're going to be able to export it but this is, of course, in reference to the day after.

And the UAE has been spending billions of dollars in increasing capacity and unable to basically sell that oil.

[03:15:01]

So we're talking about around 1.5 million barrels of oil per day extra in terms of adding on to what the quota is with OPEC, that accounts for around one and a half percent of global supply. While we're not going to see an impact on oil prices just yet, it could assist in terms of bringing oil prices lower once we start seeing the Strait of Hormuz returning to normal tanker traffic.

CHURCH: Alright, our thanks to Eleni Giokos for bringing us that live report from Dubai. I appreciate it.

Disney is now wading into a legal battle following President Trump's feud with late night host Jimmy Kimmel. Still to come, why the FCC is requesting early renewals for ABC licenses. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Welcome back.

The U.S. Justice Department has indicted former FBI Director James Comey for the second time since President Trump returned to the White House. A judge dismissed the first case, which accused Comey of lying to Congress, this time he's charged with threatening President Trump.

CNN Senior U.S. Justice Correspondent Evan Perez reports.

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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SR. U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: This all rises from a post on Instagram that Comey made back in May of last year, where he showed a picture of some shells that were arranged with the numbers 8647.

Now, the Justice Department, the President and some of his allies have insisted that that constituted a threat against the President of the United States. 86, in some contexts, can mean removing something. They say that that constitutes a threat against the President of the United States. And then 47, of course, refers to the fact that the President Trump is the 47th President in U.S. history.

Now, Comey denies this. After he made the post, he said he learned that that was being taken as a threat. So he removed it and he apologized and after these charges were announced, he responded here. JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Well, they're back, this time about

a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won't be the end of it.

But nothing has changed with me. I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let's go.

PEREZ: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at a press conference here, the Justice Department insisted that this case is being handled just as any other would. We do know that the grand jury issued an arrest warrant for James Comey. We anticipate that there's negotiations going on between Comey's lawyers and the U.S. government for him to turn himself in in the coming days.

One of the issues here is that this charge is being brought in North Carolina. Comey lives here in the Washington, D.C. area.

So the question is whether he is going to be arrested. At this point, his legal team is trying to make those arrangements with the U.S. Marshals Service.

Evan Perez, CNN, Justice Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The FCC is going head to head with Disney calling for an early renewal examination of eight ABC station licenses. Trump officials argue the request is part of a larger ongoing probe into Disney's diversity initiatives. The company's filings are due by May 28th, and Disney remains confident it's in full compliance with industry standards.

But it comes amid President Trump's clash with ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel after he joked that the first lady had the glow of an expectant widow. Kimmel says the jab was aimed at the couple's age difference. But the President tied the joke to the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, calling on both Disney and ABC to immediately fire Kimmel.

Then during a speech Tuesday, President Trump himself seemingly made a joke about his own mortality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: My wonderful mother, Mary McLeod.

Mary McLeod was born in Stornoway, Scotland. She came to America at 19, met my incredible father. We loved him so much, we all loved him, we loved her, we loved him. Fred and they were married for 63 years.

And excuse me if you don't mind. That's a record we won't be able to match, darling. I'm sorry, just not going to work out that way.

We'll do well, but we're not going to do that well. 63 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: While Kimmel didn't directly address the FCC escalation during his latest opening monologue, he did reference the President's remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY LIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Wait a minute. Did he just make a joke about his death?

Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age. And then a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The Mexican government has dealt another blow to a powerful drug cartel. Still to come, how the latest arrest of an alleged Jalisco cartel leader may affect security just months before Mexico hosts the World Cup. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will head to New York in just a few hours to visit the 9/11 memorial and meet with families of the victims. It follows the King's historic address to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday.

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This is the monarch's first state visit to the U.S. and the British government hopes it will help ease some of the tensions over the war with Iran.

Former FBI Director James Comey says he's innocent and he's not afraid after the Department of Justice indicted him over a photo of seashells spelling 8647. The DOJ claims that image posted on social media last year is a threat against President Trump.

President Trump broke with protocol when he appeared to reveal King Charles' opinion on the Iran war. During the state dinner, Trump suggested the monarch agreed with him that Tehran should not have a nuclear weapon. As a constitutional monarch, King Charles is able to only represent the United Kingdom rather than speak for its government.

A U.S. Special Forces soldier has pleaded not guilty to misusing classified information to make more than $400,000 from a prediction market. Prosecutors say Gannon Ken Van Dyke was involved in the planning and capture of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. The 38-year-old soldier is accused of placing a $32,000 bet on the

U.S. raid in Venezuela and the removal of Maduro from office ahead of the military operation. Afterwards, Van Dyke allegedly funneled his winnings through a foreign cryptocurrency vault and asked Polymarket to delete his account. Van Dyke is currently on military leave, he's been released on a $250,000 bond and is expected back in court in June.

Mexican authorities have arrested a man identified as one of the alleged leaders of the Jalisco New Generation cartel. This comes two months after the fall of the man known as El Mencho, considered for years to be the top leader of the drug organization.

CNN's Valeria Leon reports from Mexico City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Burnout businesses, streets filled with smoke is the scene in the Mexican state of Nayarit after local authorities dealt what they're calling a second major blow to the Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of the country's most powerful criminal groups.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Because of what this individual represented in terms of extortion, theft and drug trafficking.

LEON (voice-over): Audias Flores Silva, better known as El Jardinero, was arrested Monday during a military operation in western Mexico. Video released by authorities shows the moment Flores Silva was detained right after emerging from a drainage ditch. Forces moving in, handcuffing him on the ground.

He's believed to be a key figure in the organization formerly led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, who was killed two months ago during another operation. His detention has sparked a new wave of violence in tourist hotspots like Puerto Vallarta. The latest in a series of incidents that local officials are now trying to dismiss.

MIGUEL ANGEL NAVARRO, NAYARIT GOVERNOR (through translator): Educational, commercial and social activities are continuing in full peace.

LEON (voice-over): With less than two months before Mexico could host the World Cup, scenes of military operations and violence have renewed concerns worldwide.

NATALIA LOPEZ, JALISCO RESIDENT (through translator): How is it possible that more attention is being given to the World Cup that's coming when insecurity among young people has already increased by 30 percent?

LEON (voice-over): In Guadalajara, one of the host cities, insecurity is already a major issue. According to a national survey, more than 90 percent of residents say they feel unsafe. CHRISTIAN DIAZ, JALISCO RESIDENT (through translator): Violence is definitely increasing. You can see it every single day.

LEON (voice-over): And for the millions of visitors expected for the World Cup, it raises a broader question. How safe will this global stage really be?

OMAR GARCIA HARFUCH, MEXICAN SECURITY SECRETARY (through translator): Regarding the World Cup, all security protocols are ready. We've been working on them for over a year.

LEON (voice-over): But as this war against the cartels intensifies, so does the uncertainty over what comes next.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Just ahead, it's Musk versus Altman. The tech billionaires face off in a trial over OpenAI's future. What Elon Musk said about the company when he took the stand.

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[03:35:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN, this is your Business Breakout.

King Charles has met with top tech leaders as part of his visit to Washington. The British monarch spoke with a number of CEOs at a Tuesday gathering, including Apple's Tim Cook and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. The King also met with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, he reportedly discussed start-ups and the difficulties they face.

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Jerome Powell is likely to hold his final meeting as the chairman of the Federal Reserve in the coming hours. His term ends on May 15, the Fed is not expected to cut interest rates at the meeting. President Trump nominated Powell for the role during his first term, but in recent months railed against him for not lowering rates faster.

Families of the victims of a mass shooting in Canada are planning to file lawsuits against OpenAI. CEO Sam Altman has apologized to the Tumbler Ridge community, he admitted OpenAI did not alert authorities when the shooter's ChatGPT account was flagged for disturbing conversations with a chatbot. Eight people were killed at a local school in February.

Altman and Elon Musk are facing off in court over the future of OpenAI. Musk is set to resume his testimony in the hours ahead, he filed the lawsuit accusing his OpenAI co-founder, Sam Altman, of betraying the company's original non-profit mission.

CNN's Hadas Gold has details from outside the courthouse.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Elon Musk warned a jury here in Oakland, California that A.I. could kill us all, and he wanted to avoid a Terminator-style outcome for all of humanity, partly by helping to found a non-profit open-source A.I. research foundation that became OpenAI. He walked the jury through his version of founding OpenAI, saying it partly came after a disagreement with Google co- founder Larry Page, who he says called him a specious for being pro- human.

Elon Musk saying he wanted to found an open-source, non-profit counterbalance to what he said was Google's closed-source, for-profit company. He also warned that if he loses this case, which of course rests on whether OpenAI deceived him and unjustly enriched themselves after he helped co-found and fund the company when they switched over to having a for-profit subsidiary, he said that if he loses, it will give license to looting every charity in America.

Now, what was interesting today is also the judge in this case, she reprimanded Elon Musk for his social media activity. Musk, of course, is a prolific poster on his social media platform X.

He's been posting a lot about this trial, as recently as Monday, calling Sam Altman, scam Altman. But the judge told him to stop doing that immediately.

She said, try to control your propensity to use social media to make things worse outside this courtroom, perhaps you've never done that before. Musk and all of the other parties in this case did agree to stop posting about the trial.

Elon Musk will continue his testimony tomorrow. We will also likely get the chance to hear the defense cross-examine Elon Musk. And then we will go on to the other witnesses, which could include the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, as well as other major figures in the tech scene.

This trial will go on for several more weeks. And should Elon Musk win, it could have drastic effects not only on OpenAI, but on the entire landscape of the A.I. industry.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Oakland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I want to thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "World Sport" is coming up next.

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