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Inside Politics
DeSantis Aims To Add Four Red States To Congressional Map; Today: Illinois Board Releases Findings On Chicago "Operation Midway Blitz" ICE Actions; Voters Still Hold Deeply Negative Views On Democrats In CNN Poll; Today: King Charles, Queen Camilla Arrive In D.C. For State Visit. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired April 27, 2026 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:00]
ELI STOKOLS, WHITE HOUSE & FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: -- disadvantage and the fact the President's trending down in his approval rating, they're staring into some pretty heavy headwinds, or headwinds, you know, looking into November. And so I think you can understand the circumstances trying to, you know, get this Hail Mary at the end and maybe re-even the playing field.
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR: And again, the reason why this is so significant, this is all happened, typically gerrymandering, redistricting, that happens at the beginning of a decade. It reflects a new census. It's supposed to be because of where the population lies. Now it's been mid-decade.
Trump launched this cycle in Texas. Democrats have responded in kind. You've seen this back-and-forth play out. And then as a result, we could see a whole bunch of very partisan members who only care about winning primaries rather than general elections, which means they're catering to their bases and not to the middle of the electorate.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and if I'm a Republican, an incumbent Republican in a very lean Republican district, I'm very anxious right now.
RAJU: Yes.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: If it's a district that Trump won by 10 percent or less, Republicans, as Betsy said, are very nervous about this.
RAJU: Yes.
ZELENY: And there's no doubt about it. We should just point out this entire gerrymandering war is effectively going to be a wash.
RAJU: Yes.
ZELENY: What Democrats were worried about a year ago, it's fired up the base. But mathematically speaking, we're about at parity. Again, a few legal challenges will be out there. Florida certainly will be challenged here. RAJU: Virginia's going to be challenged, yes.
ZELENY: Exactly. But it's effectively a wash, which means onto the midterm elections, which never favors the party of the President --
RAJU: Yes. Very rarely.
ZELENY: -- as it shows. Very rarely.
RAJU: Yes, indeed.
All right, we have a lot more to discuss, including next, King Charles keeps calm and carries on. His diplomatic trip, kicks off at the White House in just hours. Why this trip, though, may be one of his toughest missions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:36:15]
RAJU: It's been seven months since President Trump deployed federal agents to Chicago in a massive chaotic deportation mission known as, quote, "Operation Midway Blitz." In just a few minutes, the state commission in Illinois created by Governor JB Pritzker to review what happened will begin publicly presenting its findings.
Governor Pritzker joins me now to talk about that. Governor, thank you so much for being with me this afternoon. I appreciate it. And I do want to --
GOV. JB PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: Good to be with you.
RAJU: -- ask you about the commission's findings in a second. But first, I want to talk to you about the breaking news from today and that is, of course, the aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this weekend. Governor Pritzker, we've seen this uptick in political violence targeting both parties over the last decade.
Yesterday, though, in 60 Minutes, the President said there's always been political violence in this country and it really isn't a new thing in his view. Do you agree with that?
PRITZKER: Look, it's the job of all of us in leadership to push back on this idea that political violence is acceptable. It is not acceptable. We agree in this country to disagree and to take out our views at the ballot box. Not at the point of a gun. And so I think it's what's happened at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, frankly, is a sad reminder of the uptick of violence on both sides that has been against Republicans and Democrats over the last, let's say, eight to 12 years.
RAJU: I want you to listen to what President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson said about the role that they say Democrats play in turning up the political temperature.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats, much more so, is very dangerous.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: They've incited violence, in my view. I mean, you have some of the most prominent figures in the House and the Senate on the Democrat side, effectively, you know, calling for war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Do they have a point, Governor?
PRITZKER: Remember that it's been Donald Trump and the Republicans that have called for political violence there. You know, Donald Trump, from the very beginning, remember when he talked about a protester at one of his rallies that they should just beat him up, punch him? You know, he's talked about the death penalty for General Mark Milley. He has called for jailing his political opponents, me included.
So this is a President who, unfortunately, slips into that mode so easily. But I think we should get away from all of that. I'm sure that we can find examples across both sides of the aisle of rhetoric that people didn't mean or perhaps that they went too far about.
RAJU: Yes.
PRITZKER: This is a moment when I think we should all take a step back and just remember that this country needs to bring peace to its politics and that we need to just argue in the, you know, in the dialogue here about the issues and which party should be in control after November.
RAJU: Because some of your critics may point to what you said in the State of the State last year, when you compare the Trump administration to the rise of Nazis. What would you say to that?
PRITZKER: Well, Manu, remember what I was talking about was the fact that a constitutional republic was torn apart in 53 days in Germany in the 1930s, and that we need to watch out for that in this country. That is what I was talking about.
And we've seen it -- by the way, that speech was given in February of '25. I think over the last year, much of what I said has been proven to be true, that the institutions of this democracy are being attacked by the Republicans and by Donald Trump.
RAJU: Let's turn to the news in Illinois today. You created this Illinois Accountability Commission to investigate ISIS Operation Midway Blitz last fall.
[12:40:03]
They've interviewed over 60 eyewitnesses, reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance footage, phone videos and body-worn cameras. Trump administration officials, though, declined to cooperate or participate, it seems. What has this review found?
PRITZKER: Well, first, that laws were broken, that people violated their oaths, they violated protocols. We're talking about CBP and ICE agents on the ground, as well as their leaders, their supervisors, all the way up to Kristi Noem, leading the Department of Homeland Security, Tom Homan, Greg Bovino. So many have just ignored what the law is
And what we ended up seeing was black and brown people being tackled. We're talking about U.S. citizens whose safety was taken away from them. This was never about public safety. It was never about public safety.
He said he was going after the worst of the worst. That's not who they arrested. Eighty-one percent of the people that they detained were people who had no record at all of any violence or any kind of crime that they'd committed.
And so, our effort here with the Accountability Commission is to keep a record, to make sure that when we can bring accountability -- and by the way, some of it's already been used in court cases to limit what CBP and ICE are doing on the ground. We, of course, in Illinois, have pushed back on the National Guard being allowed into our cities to enact this kind of immigration violence that the President has brought.
So the Accountability Commission's design is really to keep a record so that when either there's a Democratic Congress or a Democratic President or anybody that will actually hold people accountable for breaking the law or breaching their law enforcement protocols, that they will be held accountable and responsible.
RAJU: And are you saying if any ICE or Border Patrol agents, do you think any of them should face charges for allegedly breaking the law? Is that what you're suggesting?
PRITZKER: If they broke the law, of course they should. And of course people should be --
RAJU: But did you find anyone -- did you -- did this review find anybody broke the law then they should face charges?
PRITZKER: Well, it depends. So here's the thing. It's the federal government that needs to hold them accountable. They did break the law. There's no doubt about that.
But when the federal government isn't holding them accountable, we've got to keep the record so that when they can be held accountable, we are able to do so. And, yes, there are going to be people who are criminally liable and civilly liable.
RAJU: Governor, we're about six months away from the midterm elections. President Trump's approval rating has dropped because of a variety of issues, some of which dealing with these issues we're talking about now. But the approval of your party, the Democratic Party, still remains as low as ever, now just standing at 28 percent. You may very well be someone running for the Democrats' presidential nomination in 2028. So why is your party still struggling to connect with so many voters?
PRITZKER: Look, the voters are upset with both parties. They're upset with the political system. People are ready for a change. And what they want is to make sure that something's getting done for them.
You know, when Donald Trump imposes tariffs and it costs every family $1,700, and it's found to be illegal, and yet none of them are getting checks back, that is why people are upset. That's an example. And what about the high price of gas? What about people dying in a war in Iran, a war of choice by Donald Trump?
RAJU: So what is your party different? What's in your party differently?
PRITZKER: Well, we need -- we're the party that's standing up for peace. We're the ones who don't think we should have gone into this war of choice by Donald Trump. And I'm here to speak and defend the state of Illinois and the people of Illinois.
And I can tell you, they're upset by everything that's happening in this country right now. And I believe that in November, they're going to want a change.
RAJU: All right. And last question, and speaking of the people of Illinois, as you know, I'm a lifelong Chicago Bears fan. And of course, there's an intense fight in your state that may actually see the Bears leave Chicago and the state of Illinois and build a stadium in Northwest Indiana.
Governor, can you stomach being the governor who sees the Bears leave Illinois on your watch?
PRITZKER: Look, the Bears are a private business that's worth $9 billion owned by a billionaire family. They're trying to make decisions about their future. We ought to keep them. They ought to stay in the state of Illinois.
And I have actually put forward a deal that they're willing to accept that is now passed the House of Representatives and is going to go to the Senate. So I think that we have a real chance of them staying in Illinois. I think that's where they want to be.
And I think that their fans, including me, will be very upset if they try to get up and move across the border and become, I don't know, the Hammond hams, I guess we'll call them.
RAJU: Yes. Well, hopefully they'll still be the Chicago Bears no matter where they stay. And as a Bears fan, a lot of us wanted to stay in the state of Illinois. I can say that for sure.
PRITZKER: Yes, we do.
RAJU: So -- yes. [12:45:05]
All right, Governor Pritzker, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate your time.
PRITZKER: Thank you.
RAJU: All right. Next, can it be both special and not great relationship at the same time? We'll go inside the challenge that awaits King Charles at the White House, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJU: Right now, King Charles en route to Washington. His first stop will be at the White House. But British front pages today, very focused on the states. In the center there, the words, quote, "Security crisis." And President Trump had this to say about the King's visit last night on CBS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think it was great. He'll be very safe and he'll be staying here now. I believe he's going to a couple of other locations because he's here for a few days, and he's a great guy. They called and they are so looking forward to being here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:50:16]
RAJU: But as CNN reports, King Charles' task at the White House may actually be his, quote, "toughest mission yet." CNN's Royal Correspondent Max Foster is on that byline along with Betsy Klein. And already he's here, Max Foster, in the U.S. at the British Embassy.
So, Max, what's the King's perspective going into this meeting?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting. He's on his way over. He's due to arrive today, as you say, and then he'll go to the White House. As I understand it, he's looking over his key speech, which he'll address to Congress tomorrow.
And he'll, you know, I think we can expect him to address what happened on Saturday night there, very broad-ranging speech, talking about the long-shared history of the two countries, rising above the current dip in relations between the two governments, and really speaking to that personal relationship he has with President Trump, but also reaching out to the American people.
And I think the fact that this trip went ahead, because there was a question over it yesterday over the security concerns, is a real sign that the King wants to show that, you know, this relationship between the two countries transcends history. We want to stand shoulder to shoulder.
If it pulled out, it wouldn't have felt like that message. So I think it's all about speaking to shared history and long-term alliances between two very similar nations with a big shared culture, shared economic links, shared intelligence. There's -- he's going to emphasize all the things we share.
RAJU: All right. Max Foster outside the British Embassy here in Washington. Thank you so much for being with me.
Our reporters are back here, including Betsy Klein, who has done this reporting with Max Foster about all of this. So you've got some new reporting, too, at this moment about what President Trump has been up to.
KLEIN: Yes, Manu. It's no secret that President Trump loves the formality and the fanfare of a state visit. But we are learning, according to one source familiar with the matter, that the President has taken an expanded role in planning for this state dinner.
Of course, we know the First Lady involved in floral design, China selection, things like that. But President Trump personally involved in details like the guest list, the menu selection, with his wife weighing in. And of course, this state visit also comes as there is no social secretary planning this visit. That is a critical role for large-scale, high-stakes diplomatic events like this. So we'll have to see how that shakes out.
RAJU: And that state dinner tomorrow night, the coming as we've seen this tension between the U.S. and the U.K., particularly Trump and the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Just listen to what some of the things that Trump has said in the last few weeks about all this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And when I hear the U.K., which was sort of considered the Rolls-Royce of allies, right? When you say -- you see that man right there? You know who that is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Churchill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Winston Churchill.
TRUMP: The late, great Winston Churchill. Unfortunately, Keir is not Winston Churchill. He was the longest, the oldest, should be the best, always was the best until Keir came along and now -- and I like him. He's a nice man. He says everything beautifully. He's a very nice man with a beautiful family. Everything's perfect. But he doesn't produce.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Doesn't produce.
STOKOLS: Yes, tough crowd. And, you know, everybody knows that the President sees these alliances in these black and white terms. Are you doing what I want or are you not? He's obviously eager to stand toe to toe with the royal family.
He loves the royalty. He loves the imperial nature. He's made the presidency more imperial. He's created this gilded setting for himself in the Oval Office of the White House.
But the King's job is that he's not a prime minister, right? He's not usually there to talk about politics. Yet we know this King does have strong feelings on politics, whether it's about climate change, whether it's the need to continue to support Ukraine. So it's a very difficult tightrope for him to walk.
RAJU: Yes, especially when he's addressing a joint meeting of Congress tomorrow. The King, what will he lean into? Any of these policy areas or just talk more generally about the historic nature of the U.S. relationship with the U.K.? This is what Trump said in Betsy's excellent reporting, said, "Asked this month about the state of this 'special relationship,' Trump replied, "Not good, not good at all.""
ZELENY: Look, I think it would be very hard to imagine the King weighing into the specific rows back and forth. But he has been -- I mean, he's very political. Climate, of course, has been one of his essential issues. But I think we can expect the speech tomorrow will be very interesting. It's going to be remarkably longer than the speech that the queen gave, we're told, up to 30 minutes or so.
But I think when President Trump, I mean, he has a special relationship of his own with the royals. I mean, I'm thinking back to his first term when he was welcomed by the queen. It was one of his favorite moments of his time serving as President the first time around. So he's going to very much enjoy welcoming King Charles.
So I think for a moment, at least, a lot of the current back and forth is going to be left with the prime minister and the President will have nothing but praise for the King.
[12:55:08]
RAJU: Yes, do you think -- how much do you think this will change the relationship between Trump and the U.K. right now, this visit? Will it have any difference at all?
KLEIN: This visit can only improve relations at this stage. He is here to smooth things over with the White House. We'll see if he's able to do that.
RAJU: Yes, we shall see.
ZELENY: It's more controversial in Britain than it is here.
RAJU: Yes.
ZELENY: When some people are watching the King visiting President Trump --
RAJU: Yes.
ZELENY: -- very unpopular there.
RAJU: And we'll see what the next episode of "The Crown" looks like. Is that still on air? Actually, I'm not sure. That was a great show. I love that.
All right. Thanks for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.
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