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Erin Burnett Outfront

James Comey Faces New DOJ Charges, Arrest Warrant Issued; Kimmel Doubles Down On Joke As FCC Targets ABC Stations; King Charles At White House State Dinner After Urging "Checks" On Exec Power; Journalist Reports From Strait, Says Trump's Blockade Is Futile. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 28, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:26]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, former FBI Director James Comey could be arrested any minute. A warrant for his arrest just issued by Trump's DOJ, as Comey is indicted a second time by Trump prosecutors.

And more breaking news this hour. ABC and the Trump administration facing off over Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC putting pressure on ABC stations. The network is not backing down. The FCC's lone Democratic commissioner is our guest.

And a reporter for "The Telegraph" reports exclusively from the Strait of Hormuz and shows us exactly what's happening with the U.S. blockade. He says it's useless against Iran's swarm of speedboats.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: And good evening, and welcome to OUTFRONT.

Tonight, the breaking news. An arrest warrant has been issued for James Comey, the former FBI director, someone Trump has made clear is a political enemy that he would like to see prosecuted is now going to be arrested at any moment. That's what we could be about to witness an incredible and unprecedented moment. The reality of the situation is that he's been charged with making a threat against President Trump.

And that specific threat, of course, about those seashells that he posted on the beach when he posted a picture. The two charges have to do with this specific post. So let me just show it to you right now. The social media post that Comey posted about a year ago while vacationing, and it is a photograph showing seashells arranged to say "86 47".

According to the indictment, a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret it as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to President Trump. Now, this is because the Justice Department argues that 86 is slang for getting rid of something, and Trump is the 47th president. Now, moments ago, James Comey responded to the indictment and he said

this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: You heard him. So he says, let's go.

Well, today, the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, claimed that this indictment is not political.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think it's fair to say that threatening the life of anybody is dangerous and potentially a crime threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, just to be clear, of course, this post is about a year old. So now there's this set of charges. Where is the outrage, given what Todd Blanche just said, over items that say the same thing that were for sale when Biden was president?

And in Trump's first term, I mean, hats and shirts with "86 46", presumably references to Biden or for sale on Amazon, "86 45", Trump's first term. These items are still for sale, right? They cancel somebody, get rid of somebody. It's all there right now.

Now, to state the obvious, right? When you look about a year past and all that stuff still out there, and its never been a problem for anybody else, it is important to note that Trump has repeatedly called for Comey to be prosecuted. He's called him a traitor and a leaker.

And Blanche, who is Trump's former personal attorney, has only been on this job for 26 days. And he is doing a lot of things that Trump clearly wanted to get done. Bondi had not done immediately after today's press conference on Comey, Blanche was seen at the White House. You can see the video here of him arriving, and that comes on the heels of a separate court filing today where blanche once again did something important to Trump. He asked a judge to let construction of Trump's ballroom proceed.

The document was signed by Blanche and includes a line saying efforts to stop the project are because of, quote, "Trump derangement syndrome". Trump derangement syndrome.

Now, if you did not know any better, you would think that maybe I was talking about a Truth Social post, some sort of a casual thing that had been put out there you know, especially when I had it all in caps. But no, it was in all caps and it was in a legal filing today.

Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House. So, Kristen, the Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has just arrived at the White House. What is the latest you're learning?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, Erin, this is something that we've come to really see on a regular basis with all of the heads of the cabinet. They have these press conferences, and then they rush over to the White House generally to meet with the president and brief him on what has just happened.

[19:05:03]

Now, when it comes to Todd Blanche and what we heard from that press conference, you really heard him trying to separate this case from any of President Trump's rhetoric, particularly rhetoric around James Comey. He was saying this was a routine case, essentially, that the only reason why this is there's so much attention around this is because it's James Comey.

He also went on at one point to say that they are doing this all the time, charging people for incendiary language, talking about President Joe Biden in a case that they have pending against somebody who was trying to incite violence against him.

But we know that president Trump, even just recently said that James Comey should be prosecuted. And it wasn't even for this. It was for something entirely differently.

And president Trump, both privately and publicly, have said that he wants to see James Comey arrested. He said privately he wants to see him behind bars. And that's really where this idea of an arrest warrant becomes so interesting to see how the Justice Department handles this.

We know that President Trump wants to see a perp walk. He has said that privately. He wants to see Comey suffer. How the Justice Department chooses to handle this negotiation over an arrest will really give an indication of where theyre going to go with this trial or with these charges.

So, for example, we heard Todd Blanche kind of walking away from the idea of a very public arrest talking about, oh, we're going -- I'm sure we're going to reach out to Comey's representatives and have a back and forth again, not what President Trump wants.

The other part of this that's just so fascinating is that Pam Bondi was fired, in part because President Trump thought that she was slow walking these charges or bringing charges against his political foes. Obviously, now it shows that Todd Blanche does not want to meet that same fate.

BURNETT: Yeah. All right, Kristen, thank you very much, at the White House. Where's Kristen said Blanche has arrived. Ty Cobb is with me now to start our coverage, the former Trump White

House lawyer.

So, Ty, you've read the whole indictment coming about a year after the initial post of those seashells. What's your gut reaction?

TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: It's specious. It will be thrown out. It's classic, you know, revenge. You know, it's -- it's a document that it really isn't, you know, worth anything other than the P.R. that the presidents trying to get to intimidate Comey and others who might, who might speak out against him. It's a vindictive prosecution. You know, the previous attempts to get Comey certainly buttress that argument.

The directions from the president, not only to Bondi, but to Blanche about getting this done, pursuing, pursuing his enemies. Clearly helps buttress Comey's case on that as well. It'll be dismissed.

And, in part, it'll be dismissed because there just is no evidence that would suggest any reasonable person would have taken this seashell picture and thought it was a death threat to the president. It's absurd to suggest this is a normal case, that this is done all the time.

You know, the cases that theyre talking about actually include threats of assassination, murder and violence.

BURNETT: Well, I mean, these also "86", you know, can mean to cancel somebody to get rid of, which, you know, would expose some sort of a political thing. Of course, obviously, whether that means vote him out or hope he's impeached or whatever it is that perhaps the person was saying when they put those seashells or what Comey meant.

But, you know, when it comes to just the overall "86", right, I mentioned the merchandise, "86 45", "86 46", Biden, and now, "86 47", Trump again. We've never heard an issue from the DOJ on any of those before. I mean, this -- this one stands out.

COBB: Exactly. And there is "86 47" merchandise all over the Internet. Hats, t-shirts you know, thousands of protesters on no kings days had "86 47" posters. I don't think all those people are going to be prosecuted.

And, you know, I mean, when you talk about a reasonable person who would have thought this meant to kill the president, you know, Merriam-Webster's dictionary says the word was created as rhyming slang for nix, which means to veto or reject.

You could -- you could replace 86 with impeach the president, and it would have no more violent effect than 86 does.

BURNETT: All right. So you see this as Blanche doing what Trump wants him to do, as Kristen is reporting, and you have the context here of having obviously known Trump and worked with him when he was president in the first term. So you mentioned this exchange just in these past hours here after the

White House Correspondents' Dinner, potential assassination, trying to hit cabinet members, this particular exchange is something that struck you. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.

[19:10:00]

What's your reaction?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would. Because you're -- you're horrible people. Horrible people.

Yeah, he did write that. I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody.

O'DONNELL: Oh, you think --

TRUMP: I'm not a pedophile.

O'DONNELL: -- you think he was referring to you?

TRUMP: Excuse me. I'm not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Why did this particular exchange strike you, Ty?

COBB: Because Trump was humiliated. You know, he betrayed the, you know, the visceral insanity that he suffers through every day by attacking Norah O'Donnell for basically quoting the manifesto of the person who had who had allegedly come to assassinate the president. Reasonable question.

You know, it's disgusting. Of course, that we have a president who is an adjudicated rapist. The judge in the case said, yes, this was rape. Notwithstanding the absence of penetration.

So I think -- I think, you know, Trump does this to try to flood the zone. This is his style of, you know, he was humiliated today. What do we have?

We had this, we had the filing in the ballroom case, which, as you pointed out, was just a screed. It wasn't -- there was no legal argument in the -- in the document. It was just, you know, Trump wants this done. He'll feel safer.

You know, 150 years of presidents have demanded this, which of course they haven't. You know, it's full of lies.

And then you have Brendan Carr threatening ABC's licenses and ordering all their local affiliates to refile for their license approvals.

I mean, this is -- this is what you have when you have a dictator. And fascism and its coming out in full force, you know, his, his enemies are in danger. Ordinary people are in danger. The whole world's in danger, as we know from the -- what's going on in Iran.

So, this is Trump basically trying to change the narrative, get away from his humiliation yesterday and, you know, turn the tables, you know, into him looking all powerful again, which of course, he's not.

BURNETT: All right. Ty Cobb, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

Let me bring in John Miller now, our chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, and Ryan Goodman, OUTFRONT legal analyst.

Okay, so, you know, as you just think about exactly what's happening here, we've got an arrest warrant out for James Comey, former head of the FBI. So, John, just when you look at this, how unusual is such a thing?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, as Ty Cobb suggested, and as the police official who used to be in charge of dignitary protection, elected officials protections, presidential security on the NYPD, when the president came to town, we dealt with a lot of threat cases. If I walked in to an assistant district attorney or an assistant United States attorney, a federal prosecutor with this case as a threat case against any president or any individual --

BURNETT: As a death threat case.

MILLER: As a death threat case, as any kind of threat case, this -- we would have never made it into the office. When we explained it on the phone, they would have said, don't bother coming over because it does not meet the elements of the crime.

BURNETT: So, Ryan, you take this to say that the indictment, as you see it, is so tenuous that the lawyers behind it could find themselves sanctioned?

RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: Yes, absolutely. The legal community has reacted to the indictment. It was easy to react to it. It's only three pages long.

There's no way it can survive. And it's even a shock that it survived a grand jury. The indictment is using a statute that the Supreme Court has interpreted very, very narrowly. And as John mentioned for years, it's hard to actually prosecute under this statute. And three years ago, the Supreme Court made it even harder.

It really must mean that the person who's threatened has to objectively believe that this individual, James Comey, in this instance, will carry out this act of violence. And James Comey himself, according to the Supreme Court as of three years ago, has to understand that everybody will see what he's doing as a threat, that he will carry out the act of violence.

So it's ludicrous. There's no way this is what that's about.

BURNETT: I mean -- yeah?

MILLER: I think there's two other things going on here.

BURNETT: Yeah.

MILLER: One as Kristen, hinted from the White House, Todd Blanche is auditioning to be attorney general of the United States, not acting attorney general. Pam Bondi was pushed out. Many believe, from the inside because she couldn't accomplish --

BURNETT: As Kristen said, she was slow walking, even though she certainly was doing everything he wanted.

MILLER: She couldn't get all the people charged, you know, that he wanted charged. But Donald Trump and Todd Blanche, both understand that none of these cases that have failed and failed again were going to make it to a conviction in a court of law.

But if you went to the FBI profilers and said, why does someone do something like this? You know, the question to ask is, who do you want to feel hurt the way you felt hurt? This is a two time president who, in his off term, was indicted, was charged, suffered mug shots and, you know, arrest procedures.

[19:15:02]

I don't think he expects a conviction. I think what he's looking for is the humiliation of the process, because as every lawyer who looks at these cases says, theyre impossible to convict.

BURNETT: Is that what this is about? The humiliation and the cost, you know, and the -- this is going to muck up Comey's life for a while.

GOODMAN: I think. So I think it's also about the visualization that what they can get with an indictment is something like Comey brought in to be charged with an arrest warrant or any other way in which there might be a perp-walk or a photograph of him. That's what they get just from an indictment. They will not get a conviction after trial.

And the Justice Department manual that has stood around for decades says prosecutors must never bring a charge unless they believe not just that there's probable cause to convince a jury, but they need to be assured that they have beyond a reasonable doubt that it will convince a jury at trial. And there's no way that this would survive such a --

BURNETT: So how is -- Ty was saying you think it will be dismissed. Sounds like obviously you're saying lawyers couldn't be sanctioned. How quickly do you think it happens?

GOODMAN: That's going to be hard. It might take quite a while because I think if you're the defense counsel, James Comey, you don't want to just say, let's go to trial because you're not going to be convicted. You might want to do all sorts of motions to have it dismissed using the Supreme Court precedent, et cetera.

BURNETT: Yeah.

GOODMAN: And then for the disbarment, which I do think is a real threat to Justice Department people who are involved in this, that might have to come after they're in office. There are some bar associations that are not going to touch it until the person is no longer serving.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much.

And next, King Charles challenging Trump during an historic speech before Congress. So in front of all of Congress, challenging Trump on one of the most fundamental things about this administration, getting a standing ovation, both parties, as the White House tweets a picture of the two men with the caption "Two kings".

Plus, Trump adding to the list of things that feature his face. Now, some American passports will include his image.

And ABC standing firm against Trump for now, so far, refusing to fire Jimmy Kimmel as Trump's FCC is upping the ante, now ordering a review of ABC stations. Terry Moran worked at ABC News for a long time and knows all the players here is next.

Here he is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:39]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Disney tonight, not backing down against the Trump administration's push to fire Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel minutes away from taping tonight's show just hours after ABC's parent company hit back at the Trump aligned FCC for challenging ABC local station licenses across this country.

It is a major escalation as President Trump and the first lady called for ABC to fire Kimmel over a joke that he made days before the White House correspondents dinner shooting that Melania Trump looked like an expectant widow, a joke that Kimmel is defending.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: Obviously, was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they're together. It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination. And they know that. I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Brian Stelter is OUTFRONT outside ABC headquarters here in New York.

Now, Brian, Disney and its new CEO, who is new to that job, but not new to the company, showing no signs yet of caving to Trump's pressure.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: No, to the contrary, Disney is standing tall today and basically saying there's no real reason to challenge its licenses. The company says it is confident it will prevail through the legal system. Disney also invoking the First Amendment in a statement today, signaling that its new CEO, Josh D'Amaro, is not going to cave to Trump's demands.

Now, look, if he did, the brand damage would be enormous. We saw some of this last September during another Kimmel controversy, when the show was briefly suspended, creating a huge public backlash. Most Americans say they don't want the heavy hand of government telling a channel what to do that reminds them of authoritarian regimes. In fact, we used to talk about Viktor Orban doing this in Hungary, but Orban was recently voted out of office. For what its worth, the Trump aligned FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, he claims there is good cause to investigate Disney. He says he's already having a probe underway of Disney's DEI practices, so that's why the licenses are now being scrutinized.

But legal experts tells me, if Disney fights, Disney will win. Disney will have a strong legal case in court. Licenses are essentially never revoked in the United States. This is basically never happened before. So here at ABC headquarters in New York, where they produce "The View", another show that's come under scrutiny from the FCC. There's a sense that Disney will push through this, and Disney's willing to have the fight.

"The View", of course, a program that interviews lots of Democratic politicians, maybe that's why the FCC has been investigating "The View" ahead of the midterms. There are multiple political pressure points all coming against Disney. But so far, Erin, the company is standing tall.

BURNETT: All right. Brian, thank you very much.

And I want to go OUTFRONT now to Anna Gomez, an FCC commissioner. And I know she is the only Democratic commissioner on the committee of three.

And, Commissioner, I appreciate your time. I'm glad to be speaking to you again. Of course, we spoke last fall during the imbroglio over Jimmy Kimmel.

You believe that the FCC's actions today, though I understand, are the most egregious assault on the First Amendment that you have ever seen. That's not a small thing to say. How come you feel that way?

ANNA GOMEZ, FCC COMMISSIONER: Yes, that is correct. This is the most egregious assault on the First Amendment that we have seen from this FCC. It is unprecedented. It is unlawful, and it is bound to fail.

And I'm glad to see that Disney is going to push back, because it has the First Amendment on its side.

[19:25:06]

BURNETT: So Brendan Carr, who, of course, is the chairman of the FCC, talked today about the prior fight with ABC and Kimmel, when he was -- he spoke, I'm sorry, when he spoke a couple of weeks ago at CPAC, obviously, the conservative organization. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENDAN CARR, FCC CHAIRMAN: National programmers, Comcast and Disney in particular, have amassed an enormous amount of power and control. And theyre effectively pushing this New York and Hollywood foie gras down through all these local stations. So, what were doing at the FCC is we're working to empower those local broadcasters to actually push back on Comcast and Disney. You saw that in the instance with Jimmy Kimmel, for instance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, Commissioner, you obviously know Brendan Carr. You've spent time with him. You've worked with him. I mean, the last time he feuded with ABC and Kimmel, his threat infamously was, quote, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Has this become personal for him?

GOMEZ: I can't speak to the chairman's motivations, but what I can tell you is that this is not an attempt to make local communities be better served by their broadcasters. Instead, it's a way to wage a political fight against the parent company Disney. What we're seeing here is the FCC issuing, requests to renew early the eight broadcast stations, the local broadcast stations, so that the FCC can pressure Disney to alter its conduct and its content. And that is unlawful. It's bound to fail.

And the ones that suffer are the local broadcasters. But I'm very, like I said, I'm very happy to see that Disney is pushing back. And not only Disney is pushing back. This is a First Amendment violation. This is the administration's attempt to force Disney and other broadcasters to broadcast content that they like and to go after vocal critics that they don't like.

BURNETT: What happens though, if ABC does give in?

GOMEZ: Well, it would be a shame if anybody gives in, because capitulation does not actually lead to protection. We have learned this in multiple instances. Capitulation leads to more demands from this administration.

So what we need is for broadcasters and networks like Disney and ABC to push back and stand up for the First Amendment, because that is the choice. You either stand up for the First Amendment or -- and freedom of speech, or you surrender it.

BURNETT: Commissioner Gomez, I appreciate your time. Anna Gomez, thank you.

And now, Terry Moran, he worked at ABC as a correspondent for 28 years. He was dropped by the network after an online post calling Trump and Stephen Miller, quote, world class haters.

And, Terry, I always appreciate having a chance to talk to you. I mean, you obviously know the organization, all the players here, you know better than anybody. Where do you see this going?

TERRY MORAN, VETERAN JOURNALIST: De-escalation. That's clearly what Josh D'Amaro, the new CEO wants to do.

And as Anna Gomez just said it, there's a way to get through this where you can stand for the First Amendment and kind of quietly try to de-escalate. I'm sure somebody talked to Jimmy Kimmel. And going forward, you know, what's happened at "The View" is that there was effort by corporate to kind of tone down the politics on "The View".

And I think what theyre trying to do is have their cake and eat it too. And they may be able to get away with it, which is stand up to Trump, don't knuckle under in the most obvious way of saying, okay, Kimmel is fired, but try --

BURNETT: Easy way or the hard way.

MORAN: Right. Just try to get out of this. Try to get out of this with the brand intact. That's the highest priority.

BURNETT: So we played a little bit of Kimmel defending himself, right, and saying, well, this was a joke about a much younger woman who's even younger than me and her husband who's turning 80. And, you know, he laid out his thing.

He directly addressed Melania Trump in what he said. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMEL: I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Obviously, the President Trump has threatened to wipe civilization off the map, among other recent comments. You have dealt with this administration. What does a response like, what Kimmel just did do to this situation?

MORAN: Well, it inflames it. I mean, he's trying to stand up for what he said and to say, why are there rules for me and not for thee? Well, you know, why do you get to do the most vile and vicious posts on social media about other countries and about individuals as well?

BURNETT: Right.

MORAN: Now, my own feelings, I thought the joke was unfunny and unkind, and I'm not sure that's a genuine apology. And I think he means it to be. Not that he needs to apologize for it, but I didn't love it.

That said, the government should stay out of this. Americans really need to remember the liberties that we have.

[19:30:02]

And that it's no business of Brendan Carr or Donald Trump to dictate the jokes comedians tell. What kind of country is that? And on that, Kimmel is on very strong ground.

BURNETT: On very strong ground.

So here's the joke. I'll just play it again. That prompted, you know, President Trump to, to call for the whole thing, the original joke. And again, I want to just say this joke was days before the dinner.

And, and the individual who was trying to commit a horrific act at the dinner was already well on, on his way to doing so. Okay. So just to make that, that clear, but here's the joke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMEL: And of course, our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at -- so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, okay, and I know --

MORAN: I don't get it. I've got a younger wife. No woman wants to hear, I hope your husband dies soon. It's mean.

BURNETT: So but I guess the question here is he does know his audience, right? His audience is an audience that by and large is going to think that that's funny.

MORAN: Yeah. And good for him and good for them. And that's America. You can make a joke. People can laugh at it. I can say it --

BURNETT: People who are offended don't have to watch Jimmy Kimmel.

MORAN: Yeah, I don't like it. But the notion that we are having this conversation on CNN at this moment shows how far we've come from our understanding of our basic liberties to tell jokes that we had just ten years ago, or whenever it was.

BURNETT: Right. I mean, why would we even be talking about this?

MORAN: We wouldn't even be talking about it. We'd say, well, I didn't laugh at that. Did you? Oh, okay. Instead, the chairman of the FCC is using the power of the government

to come down on this comedian and on the company and on all of us. That's the real message. Watch what you say. And that's un-American.

BURNETT: And trying to get him fired. Which, by the way, it is clear now that this is -- I mean, it was already personal between Trump and Jimmy Kimmel. They've obviously had many words before, but, I mean, this is seizing the moment --

MORAN: Yes.

BURNETT: -- because they failed in September. They came close to not failing in September.

MORAN: He was off the air for a couple of days, and there was a great outpouring of support from ordinary Americans who understand their liberties. And that has to happen every single time.

Brendan Carr or whatever henchmen in the -- in the Trump administration tries to silence comedians or reporters or anyone.

BURNETT: All right. Terry Moran, thank you so much. It is great to see you.

And next, an exclusive look inside the Strait of Hormuz reporter who just traveled to the strait right into that shipping lane, that central shipping lane. That's a verboten right now. He went. And he'll tell you why Trump's blockade, he says, cannot stop Iran's speedboats. They are there.

Plus, Trump's picture about to appear on U.S. passports. S.E. Cupp and Jamal Simmons have a lot to say about this latest development of Trump's face. And they are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:36:58]

BURNETT: Breaking news, King Charles and Queen Camilla just arriving at the White House for a state dinner. After the king made several points in his address to a joint meeting of Congress, which were very clearly directed at Trump, including this about America's checks and balances on the executive branch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: The U.S. Supreme Court historical society has calculated that Magna Carta is cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since 1789, not least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It's an incredible moment. He just comes out, that's just speaking the basic American way. And there was a standing ovation from both sides of the chamber to that line.

Almost on cue, the White House later tweeted a photo, tweeted a photo of the two men with -- as you can see -- two kings in caps and a crown. That's not checks and balances.

OUTFRONT now, S.E. Cupp and Jamal Simmons.

I guess I just had to say it, Jamal, I mean you know right. What did George Washington refuse to stay on because he did not want America to have a king. So the bipartisan standing ovation King Charles just coming. I mean, he's so King Charles -- 179 references or 1789, whatever. I'm mixing my numbers. You get the point.

But this is an incredible thing. This is coming from the king of England, who was dismissed by this country in a war over this issue.

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The king of England is here celebrating the 250th anniversary of us rejecting the king of England. Yes. Right. It's pretty amazing.

Look, that is the most remarkable part, is that there was a bipartisan standing ovation. The question is, will any of those Republicans who stood up for that moment stand up for the country and stand up for that principle after that moment? And will they do that when the president offers something that clearly is illegal or clearly should not happen? Will they stand up and allow it to happen anyway?

BURNETT: And yet, S.E., the White House post was King Charles anti- Trump together with the words "two kings" in caps and a crown emoji.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think Trump's made any secret of the fact that he wished. He wishes he had more power, whether it's monarchical or tyrannical or, you know, I mean, he wishes he had more power.

And he loves the royals. He's obsessed with the royals. He thinks the royals are fantastic. It's really interesting. I just wonder if he's going to get any of the sub-tweeting. The subtext that King Charles was not allowed to talk about politics, he's banned from doing that, actually.

But he was very clearly talking about, you know, we should embrace our allies in NATO. We should be giving aid to Ukraine. We should be bolstering our checks and balances. We should blah, blah, blah, and executive orders, even to --

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: -- be aware that America's words are strong. But your actions are even stronger. I mean -

CUPP: Yes.

BURNETT: Thinly veiled.

[19:40:01] CUPP: Will he listen to any of that? Will the Republicans, as Jamal said, who have really abdicated their thrones of power, the only job theyre meant to do is be a check and balance, right, and pass laws. They've completely rejected that responsibility. And there they were applauding.

It's just so fascinating. Did anyone listen to what he was saying?

BURNETT: I mean, Jamal, it is -- it is stunning. Go ahead.

SIMMONS: Well, you know, I was just thinking about the story you did earlier about, the James Comey indictment. There's something really wrong. When the president of the United States gets the Justice Department to put to indict a citizen because he doesn't like that citizen, but its also something wrong when a senator like Thom Tillis can get the justice department to indict somebody because they don't like that, as he did with the Federal Reserve chair.

Now, I understand that was an answer to Trump's. You know, Trump's overstep, but were answering that overstep with another overstep. And both of those are really bad for the democracy.

BURNETT: So, you know, it's interesting with the king's though thing, and I know everyone saying, okay, is anyone surprised? No. No one surprised that he posted that. But nonetheless, it still has to be pointed out. Okay?

And it comes in the context as there was a giant gold statue of Trump spotted on the Doral golf course. That's his golf course. Okay, that was posted there -- posted. I'm sorry. That's there.

I guarantee you it's -- okay. I don't guarantee -- I don't believe that solid gold. I'm just saying.

(LAUGHTER)

BURNETT: I'm sorry. I'm just going to be the reporter. I don't believe -- I don't I haven't checked my facts on it. But we are learning as well as, S.E., that the U.S. is going to start issuing passports with Trump's picture.

There's been the reporting on the National Parks entrance. You know, passes with his picture money for the 250th anniversary, perhaps with his picture. What the passport for the United States?

CUPP: Yeah, yeah. I mean, this, this is -- this is silly and small, but there's a layer of this that I find really interesting, whether it's the arc, the ballroom, putting his name on the Kennedy Center, the money, the passport, he's building these monuments to himself while he's in office. Because I have to imagine there is some part of him that realizes they will not be built when he's gone. I don't think he's delusional about his standing, right?

I know he talks himself up and he sort of placates himself and builds himself up to make him -- think MAGA loves me. All Republicans love me. I have 100 percent approval. But you don't do this if you think theyre going to come when you're

gone. He knows theyre not. I think he's aware that his -- the history books will write him correctly. And so this is why he's so desperate to get his name and likeness on everything he can in the moment.

BURNETT: So, Jamal, show these. Okay. The coins the Treasury Department is preparing to put these coins out. Ill show everyone what those look like. The coins for the 250th anniversary.

Okay. The park service, as I said, putting his face on park passes with George Washington's. Just to be clear, usually it's a picture of a bunch of parks, so he didn't just put his own on there. He put it next to George Washington his name on the Kennedy Center, which I thought was interesting.

I drove by there recently. I took a picture of it as I've been driving by there my whole life. And I thought, you know, this is -- it's -- it's -- it's a big thing. And his name is obviously on top. And then there's the Trump gold card, the battleships that he's called Trump class. The Trump accounts for children that he has launched, and the Trump website for prescription drugs.

I mean, anyone at home is saying, wait, why are you still listing things? I just want to make sure everyone's aware. It's a lot of things. And there are people around him who are aware that this matters a lot to him. You say its petty and you're right, but it's also not. It's a big deal to him.

CUPP: Yeah.

SIMMONS: Jesus, take the wheel. I mean, we have got to do better than this as a country.

Listen, Hakeem Jeffries has called this presidential graffiti that he's just going around the country and painting his name all over things. These are -- I think S.E.'s right. He knows that this is not something that's going to last.

And so he's going to do as many things as possible until he leaves. And then at some point, were going to take all these things down. What makes me nervous is that theyre going to be some things we probably won't be able to take down.

Maybe the arch that he's going to build. Sorry. Yes, the Arc de Trump that he's going to build, or maybe the ballroom if he ever gets the ballroom done, I'm sure there'll be inlaid Trump, you know, crowns or something inside the marble.

It's going to be really tough to do some of those things, but we've got to figure out a way to, you know, get out of that.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much.

And next, I'll talk to a reporter for "The Telegraph". Just went through the Strait of Hormuz, right in the center of that narrow part that's completely shut off right now. And you're going to hear exactly what he saw and why he says Trump right now is powerless to stop that armada of Iranian speedboats, as he describes it.

And a battle between two of the biggest names in technology playing out right now in court. Elon Musk testifying in a landmark case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:11]

BURNETT: Tonight, an exclusive look inside the Strait of Hormuz right now. Our guest tonight is a reporter for "The Telegraph". And he traveled into the straight and is here to tell us what he saw. As Trump tonight is posting on social media, quote, "Iran has just informed us that they are in a state of collapse. They want us to open the Hormuz Strait as soon as possible as they try to figure out their leadership situation."

Of course, it isn't the United States blocking the Strait of Hormuz, it's Iran. And Trump has not been able to stop Iran from doing it.

OUTFRONT now, Adrian Blomfield, he is the senior foreign correspondent for "The Telegraph".

And, Adrian, obviously, this is incredible exclusive reporting that you have here. And I want to show everyone what you did, where you traveled in the street. You were on a boat near the red dot on the screen, really. And those that narrowest part of the strait near the shipping channel.

[19:50:05]

You spent a full day out there and you know, I'm not going to share exactly how you got out there because you don't want to endanger anybody who took you there. But what did you see?

ADRIAN BLOMFIELD, THE TELEGRAPH SENIOR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: So yes, we got out onto the narrowest point of the strait, which is about 20 nautical miles across. So directly opposite the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. And in fact, from where we were, you could -- you would be able to see the lights on a clear night, although often its not a clear night on the strait.

And as we expected, the strait itself was empty to the north. We could still see vessels, vessels lying at anchor. This part of the strait, which is normally where the ships are going out on the Omani side, remains closed and it remains mined. What was most striking was that a couple of hours after dawn, we were suddenly surrounded by hundreds of speedboats bouncing across the water. Coming from Bandar Abbas, heading towards the Persian Gulf States of Oman and the UAE.

BURNETT: So that's incredible. So a swarm, you know, the hundreds of them. I mean, this is -- this is consistent with what shipping CEOs have told me about that. The little small boats are the biggest threat.

And I want to play a moment that you recorded, Adrian, when you were on the boat out in the strait. Here you are. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLOMFIELD: It doesn't mean that trade between Iran and the gulf doesn't continue, because we've actually today, we've seen hundreds of speedboats passing along these waters between Iran and the gulf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So Iran uses small boats as part of their navy in a sense such that they still have one to lay mines. But also, what else? I mean, what are all of these small boats that you saw?

BLOMFIELD: So essentially, theyre bringing fuel, diesel petrol to the Gulf because Iran heavily subsidizes its petrol and continues to do so. It's part of its mechanism to try and prevent unrest at a time of economic distress in Iran.

So the arbitrage opportunities are huge because prices for petrol are 500 to 1,000 percent higher in the Gulf. So petrol fuel, diesel comes across the strait from Bandar Abbas to the gulf and then going the other way, you get electronic items from the UAE, primarily. So screens, fridges, all of that kind of stuff, which doesn't get through to Iran at normal times because of sanctions.

We did see a boat mounted with a machine gun that is used by the IRGC. We haven't been able 100 percent to confirm whether that was an IRGC vessel. It was flying a black flag. Those black flags have been flying in Iran since the death of Ayatollah Khamenei. We don't know that for certain, but we do know that Iranian boats are among that smuggling trade that goes across the strait.

BURNETT: It is stunning, though. It seems like what you saw for your own from your own eyes is a strait closed international shipping, but completely controlled by Iran. Just -- I mean, you're talking about thousands, hundreds of boats, right? I mean, its tangible, what you saw.

BLOMFIELD: Yes. And I think this is the challenge, because, you know, how do you open this? How do you get rid of those boats? We've heard Donald Trump saying, I'm giving the order to hunt down, destroy, kill those boats. But it's very hard. They can hide in coves and caves on the Iranian coast, and then they can disguise themselves in this armada, this swarm of boats that crosses the strait every day.

It's very easy to mine the worlds most important waterway. It's much harder to remove those mines. Its going to be a problem that experts I've spoken to, and I'm sure you've spoken to, say is going to persist a lot longer than when this strait is eventually reopened.

BURNETT: Well, you know, thanks to such important reporting and, and what -- what you were able to do there. Adrian, thank you so much for sharing it with us. I appreciate it.

BLOMFIELD: Thank you for having me, Erin.

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, Elon Musk faces off with one of his most bitter enemies, Sam Altman in court, Musk warning that A.I. could kill us all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And finally, tonight, epic face off. Elon Musk versus Sam Altman. Musk taking the stand for nearly two hours today in a case that could decide the future of A.I. for all of us,

Musk and Altman are now bitter enemies. They had co-founded OpenAI more than a decade ago. Today, the judge reprimanded Musk for his barrage of online attacks of Altman, who Musk refers to as Scam Altman.

Musk is seeking about $130 billion in damages, and he wants to force OpenAI to become a nonprofit again. He says Altman is stealing from the public good. OpenAI's lawyers call Musk's lawsuit revenge driven and a pageant of hypocrisy. Musk is expected to take the stand in this seminal trial again tomorrow.

Thanks so much for joining us tonight. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

"AC360" with Anderson begins right now.