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Isa Soares Tonight
Trump Hosts Artemis II Astronauts; Trump Says He Spoke with Putin about Ukraine and Iran; Trump Calls Comey a "Dirty Cop"; Hegseth and Caine Face Questions from House Committee; King Charles in New York. Federal Reserve Announces Interest Rate Decision; Senate Committee Approves Kevin Warsh to Be the Next Fed Chair; Trump Welcomes Artemis II Astronauts to the White House. Aired 2:00-3p ET
Aired April 29, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and a very warm welcome, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, we are beginning with U.S. Federal
Reserve because it's decision time for the Fed. Today's interest rate decision comes, of course, at a big moment.
This will be likely be, I should say, Jerome Powell's last meeting as Fed chair. Just hours ago, a Senate committee voted to approve Kevin Warsh as
the next man -- you're looking at him there, to lead the Fed.
He does still face a full Senate vote, though he was expected to clear that hurdle. Let's go to Anna Cooban. We are keeping an eye. If you see us
looking down because we're keeping an eye, aren't we, Anna? On the Fed chair.
Though it is -- I think it's fair to say that the markets are expecting a 100 percent, 100 percent, expecting no move here.
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: A 100 percent chance, apparently --
SOARES: Yes, apparently, we never --
COOBAN: More news --
SOARES: Yes, exactly --
COOBAN: And this is really -- if this is what happens, this is really because there is no good reason to cut, which is something that Trump
really wants to happen because you've got a robust spending.
The vast majority of American companies are posting results over the first quarter. They've exceeded expectations, and you've got inflation that's
rising with energy prices. So, really a rate-cut you would expect.
You've got rising unemployment and falling inflation. But that's not what we're seeing. And so, you know, it remains to be seen what they do. But
there's a very good chance that we will see a stabilization of this rate --
SOARES: And as you would expect it, it is unchanged. We are seeing -- we'll try and get of course, the details here because as we all know, for
those of you who often watch the Fed -- happens this hour, it's what Jerome Powell, Jay Powell says rather than the actual move to get a sense of the
reasoning.
There is also another aspect of this, there's inflation, you and I have spoken about this in great detail before, but also the impact of this war,
Anna, the impact of this war, of all -- oil prices surge, the Strait of Hormuz is still shut.
Let me go through, let's go through then this statement. Economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace, job gains have remained low on average.
Talking about 2 percent over the long run. I'm just looking -- developments in the Middle East are contributing to a high level of uncertainty about
the economic outlook.
The committee is attentive to the risk to both sides of its dual mandate. And this is something that we've heard from the Fed before.
COOBAN: Yes, and we've just got it in now. They've kept rates steady. So, this was all to be expected, and they are really keeping on the sidelines
watching and seeing how this inflation picture plays out. But I think, Isa, what is particularly interesting is the sort of politics around this. We're
--
SOARES: Yes --
COOBAN: Potentially -- well, very likely going to have Kevin Warsh as this new Fed chair in the next few months. And it would be -- and it's also
expected that Jerome Powell who's faced a lot of pressure from Trump, will actually not only step down as chair, but will continue on as one of the
governors.
Now, this is not something that's normal in recent history. Normally, when a chair steps down, he also steps down from -- he or she steps down from
his governor's position as well. But there's been a lot of controversy with the Fed recently because the DOJ has launched a criminal probe into Jerome
Powell.
This costly overrunning of expenditure of renovating the Fed's buildings. That's now been dropped. But the DOJ is still saying that they might
restart that probe again. And so, until then, Jerome Powell said that he wants to stay as a governor.
SOARES: And the reason we're showing you the markets is not because there's been any movement. I mean, the markets were already pricing the
fact there would be no move. It's the wording. It's direction.
A sense of where we go from here. And I'm looking at how they voted. I'm not sure if you've got the same document. So, it seems only one I can see
voting against within the board, and that was Stephen Miran who preferred to lower the target range for the Federal Reserve funds.
So, yes, 1-2-3, how many? Four, maybe four I think voted against, but on the whole, the concerns are very much the same. And that is this
uncertainty that we are seeing in the Middle East as a result of Iran.
[14:05:00]
I'm going to park this for just a moment this statement from the OM -- MC, and we are expecting to hear from Fed -- from Jay Powell in about, what?
Twenty-three minutes or so. Looking ahead though, I mean, this has been a rather intense chairmanship, right, for --
COOBAN: Yes --
SOARES: Him. He has faced attack after attack from President Trump. What do we know about Kevin Warsh and keeping the independence of the Fed, which
is fundamental here.
COOBAN: Well, you're right. This was a very sort of testy relationship with Powell and Trump. I think Trump called him a numskull, a dummy, among
other things, really pushing him to lower rates. Powell was very vociferous in defending the independence of the Fed.
Now, Warsh, you know, we're going to have to see how this plays out. But there are fears that he will be less like that. Trump himself has joked
recently that he will sue Warsh if he doesn't cut rates. Now, it's just a joke.
But you know, if you hear the President of the United States saying that, it sort of creates a sense of -- a sense of pressure. But I think, yes, it
remains to be seen, and it needs to be reminded of that Warsh will be on a 12-person committee that sets these --
SOARES: Yes --
COOBAN: Rates. It's consensus based. So, he will be incredibly influential as the chair, but he will be the only person deciding what to do with
rates.
SOARES: And important to point out that Jay Powell was also nominated by Trump. So, this --
COOBAN: Right, he put --
SOARES: Yes --
COOBAN: Him in that position. So, let's see how this relationship evolves. And let's see, of course, what we hear from Jay Powell in about 25 minutes
or so. Anna, thank you very much indeed for breaking -- for giving us this breaking news.
We're going to stick with the breaking news we've been following in the last hour or so. A short while ago at a federal courthouse in Virginia,
former FBI Director James Comey surrendered to authorities after being indicted by the Justice Department for a second time.
Now Comey was charged with making a threat against the President and transmitting -- a threat in interstate commerce. At the center of the case,
this photo you're seeing there on your screen, that's a photo of seashells as you can see on a beach posted by Comey that spelled out 86, as you can
see there on the left, and 47.
Now 86 typically means to get rid of or discard in American slang, Donald Trump is the 47th President of the United States. Comey says he is still
innocent. The former director is among President Trump's long list of perceived political enemies.
He's publicly targeted for prosecution. A federal judge tossed out a separate indictment, if you remember, against Comey last year. Let's get
more on this by -- joined now by a senior legal analyst, Elie Honig.
Elie, great to have you on the show. So, just walk us through for our viewers who are just catching up, of course, with breaking news story. What
happened in court, because I saw something like ten minutes, that was quite short and where it goes next.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, so today was just largely a formality. Jim Comey made his original appearance in federal court in
Virginia where he lives. This case, however, is charged in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, because that's where that beach
with the seashells that you just showed is located.
And that's where the charge is located. So, Comey will have to report down to North Carolina at some point within the next few days to get this case
underway. I should say, though, with respect to the indictment with charges, Jim Comey with making a threat and transmitting a threat in
interstate commerce, this indictment is incredibly weak.
I think it is invalid. I think it will fail. And here's why? Here in the United States, our First Amendment provides extraordinarily broad
protections for speech, and especially for what we call political speech, meaning speech that is critical of our elected officials.
So, even if Jim Comey's post of that photo was intemperate or stupid, or even if it was menacing or even in a sense, threatening, it's not enough.
It has to be a specific threat of bodily injury or death.
And so, it all turns on what does this phrase 86 mean? As you said, the prevalent usage of that just means to get rid of something or to cross
something off a list.
SOARES: And we heard Todd Blanche, I think it was today speaking to "CBS", I think it was. And he only just saying that, you know, criticizing those
who said that he's prosecuting this case to try and win favor basically with the President.
And he told "CBS", "and so this narrative, this idea that out there that somehow, I am auditioning, I worked with President Trump for many years. I
don't audition for this job. I've been a deputy attorney general for over a year."
OK, this is not an audition, but we have heard, Ty Cobb, I think from -- speaking to former White House lawyer, speaking to Erin Burnett, saying,
basically, this is going to be thrown out, it's a classic revenge. How then do you think they will go after this, their lawyers?
HONIG: Well, first of all, I agree with Ty Cobb in that analysis. I don't think this case --
SOARES: Yes --
HONIG: Ever even reaches a jury trial, because what Jim Comey is going to do is raise a defense of vindictive prosecution. Now, that's a legal
concept here in the United States that basically means if you can show that you're being singled out because of personal animus coming from somebody in
the government.
[14:10:00]
Whether it's the prosecutor, the Attorney General, the President, then you can get your case dismissed. Now, it's really hard to succeed on a
vindictive prosecution claim. However, look at the record Jim Comey has here.
First of all, he and Donald Trump have publicly belittled and attacked one another verbally for many years now, literally hundreds of times. On top of
that, Donald Trump has said explicitly -- he has put up social media tweets.
Last September, 2025, saying to the then Attorney General, Pam Bondi, when are you going to prosecute Jim Comey? On top of that, as you mentioned
earlier, DOJ already indicted Jim Comey on a separate case earlier, which Jim Comey beat them on.
He got that case thrown out on a constitutional basis. So, now Jim Comey has about as strong a vindictive prosecution defense as I've ever seen. So,
don't be surprised at all if the judge throws this out before it even gets to a jury trial.
SOARES: Yes, and that's exactly what we heard from Comey's attorneys basically telling the judge earlier that they plan to file motions,
accusing the Justice Department of selectively and vindictively prosecuting their client.
HONIG: Yes --
SOARES: I wonder, though, what you make of the timing of this, Elie. I mean, is it coincidental? How do you read the timing here?
HONIG: It's hard to believe that this is just coincidental. This is just happening in the natural course. I think the most likely explanation is
after the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night, suddenly DOJ and its leadership got very interested in
going out and policing speech that they perceived to be dangerous.
The thing is, Jim Comey posted that seashell photo a year ago basically, May 15th of 2025. And when Todd Blanche was asked yesterday, well, what
took so long? Blanche said -- and he sort of hemmed in hard a bit, but he basically said, well, we've been actively investigating ever since then.
Listen, I was a prosecutor for 14 years, many of those years side-by-side with Todd Blanche at the Southern District of New York. That's nonsense.
There's no possible way this case took a year or anything like it to investigate. You have the posting.
They interviewed Jim Comey the very next day. He admitted that he posted it, but he took it down because he didn't want there to be any potential
implications of violence. Maybe you do a little more cleanup investigation, but a year-long running investigation? Absolutely not. No way.
It looks to me like they revived this thing, A, in light of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and B, in light of Todd Blanche, he is auditioning.
He's trying to get the job. He's trying to please Trump. Trump wants this. And now Blanche has delivered at least the indictment part of it.
SOARES: Elie, so good to have you on the show, making so much sense of this for us. Elie Honig, thank you. Thank you very much --
HONIG: Thanks, Isa --
SOARES: Elie. Now, let's go to President Trump who is speaking at the Oval Office.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, there was a lot of rockets under them. I never saw anything like that. We were talking about
it. It's -- I don't know how they do it, I wouldn't want to do it, but it takes people like this to make our country great.
And again, I've never seen anything -- everybody I knew, they wanted to see the launch, and they especially wanted to see a successful landing. And
Jared, I want to congratulate you. What you've done at NASA, that was -- I made a great choice. I made a great choice --
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And if you have any questions for any of us, feel free to ask. But we're very proud of these people. They have unbelievable courage.
Unbelievable. A lot of other things, too, by the way. To get in there, you have to be very smart, have to do a lot of things physically good.
So, I would have had no trouble making it and physically very good. Maybe a little bit of a problem, I don't know, Jared, we'll have to try it some
time. Is a President allowed to go up in one of these missions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can get working on that, Mr. President --
TRUMP: We have no problem, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to launch more rockets, the opportunities - -
TRUMP: We'll have to try it. Congratulations very much --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure, thanks.
TRUMP: And by the way, their families are over here, beautiful families, and they're in the Oval Office. And they walked in, they said, wow, the
Oval Office, everybody likes the Oval Office. So, any questions, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, thank you, Mr. President. First of all, it's a great honor to meet all of you. Congratulations, and welcome to the
White House. I have had the privilege of interviewing Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon.
TRUMP: Oh, good, yes --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that what you would like to do? And, Mr. President, do you think that will happen during your second term?
TRUMP: Well, we have a shot at it. I mean, we don't like to say definitely, because then you say, oh, we failed, we failed. Because we're -
- I think we could say we're ahead of schedule. So, we have a -- we have a good shot. We've authorized it.
And I think with this team and you know, with Jared's done such an amazing job at NASA, I think we have a good shot, right? We'll see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Mr. President, we have -- we have an achievable plan now back to the moon. And we're back in the business of launching moon
rockets with frequency. So -- we just sent Artemis II around the moon, we're going to launch Artemis III in 2027.
We'll protect for up -- for two opportunities in 2028 to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.
[14:15:00]
TRUMP: I like space, you know, I started Space Force, as you very well know, it's been very important, and they tried to kill it, and actually,
the military would not let the Biden administration kill it. They wanted to kill it.
And it turned out -- it's going to turn out to be one of our most important things. I think it will turn out to be one of the most important things I
did. But we got involved with NASA bringing it back. And I was saying, when I first looked at some of your facilities, they had grass growing on the
runways, right? In between the cracks of the asphalt.
And -- but not anymore. It's really strong. And you know what they do? One of the things they do that's so important is for our military. Military
offense and defense. And a lot of people say, well, is it worth it? It's really worth it. Because what's happened militarily, you see what we're
doing militarily.
A lot of that comes from space. So, it's been pretty great. Good question. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President. I have two questions for you. First, on the topic of space, do you have an update on the UFO files
and what might be when we're going to be seeing those?
TRUMP: Well, I think we're going to be releasing as much as we can in the near future. For some reason -- and I guess it's just a reason it's been in
the minds of people for a long time. And that is such -- they want to find out about the UFOs and anything having to do with UFO or related material.
And we're going to be releasing a lot of things from that we have. And I think some of it is going to be very interesting to people. I've
interviewed people, my first term primarily, but I interviewed some pilots, very solid people, and they said they saw things that you wouldn't believe.
So, you're going to be reading about it. Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, you spoke to Vladimir Putin not too long ago. Did you talk to him about --
TRUMP: I did today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you talk to him about the progress in the space --
TRUMP: No --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Area and what else did you talk to him about?
TRUMP: I didn't talk about space, no. I talked about Ukraine, and I talked a little bit about Iran. I talked about a few different subjects, mostly
about Ukraine. And we had a very good conversation. I think we're going to come up with a solution relatively quickly, I hope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he --
TRUMP: I think he'd like to see a solution; I can tell you, and that's good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What involvement does he want to have in the Iran situation?
TRUMP: He told me he'd like to be involved with the enrichment. If we -- if he can help us get it. I said I'd much rather have you be involved with
ending the war with Ukraine. To me, that would be more important because we've got -- we're going to have that.
Look, we're not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon, and we've knocked out their Navy. We've knocked out their Air Force. We've knocked out their
anti-aircraft everything apparatus, everything they have. Their radar.
They have very little left. And they have some missiles, a small percentage. They have a small percentage of missile-making facilities. We
knocked out about 80 percent of them. The rest could come very quickly if we don't make a deal.
They're not going to have a nuclear weapon. They know it. And just about everybody else does. And so, we talked about that a little bit. He doesn't
want to see them have a nuclear weapon either.
But I had a long talk with President Putin. I suggested a little bit of a ceasefire, and I think he might do that. He might announce something having
to do with that. Did he announce it yet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, but I was wondering, I was just going to ask you --
TRUMP: You know, I asked him about, even if it's a little ceasefire, there's so many people being killed. It's so ridiculous.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here you are, Mr. President, in light of today's Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, do you want Republican
states in the south to look at redrawing congressional districts before --
TRUMP: I don't know, maybe you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Midterms?
TRUMP: Have to tell me, when did the ruling come out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday --
TRUMP: I've been with the astronauts; I've been with contractors because we're trying to get the ballroom built --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --
TRUMP: Ahead of schedule. It's right on schedule -- it's ahead of schedule now, I want to keep it that way --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, when we came out today --
TRUMP: And I was also with commissioning some people, but one of -- you know, David Warrington's son, I don't know if you know David, everybody
knows David. He's got this incredible son, so, he was just sworn in, so we had other things. Tell me about the -- what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, something that the ruling can create more Republican-held congressional seats in the south --
TRUMP: That's good --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, would you --
TRUMP: That's the kind of ruling I like.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you want them --
TRUMP: When did that happen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the Supreme Court ruled on it this morning.
TRUMP: Really, is that right? Tell me about the ruling --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, everybody in support --
TRUMP: This is CNN fake news --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On your call with President Putin today. Do you think the war in Iran ends first or the war in Ukraine?
TRUMP: Well, we talked about -- more about the war in Ukraine, but he would like to be of help. I said before you help me, I want to end your
war. So, we had a good talk. I've known him a long time. I think he was ready to make a deal a while ago.
I think some people made it difficult for him to make a deal. But we talked more about Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But which war do you think ends first?
TRUMP: That's an interesting question. You know, coming from you, that's very interesting.
[14:20:00]
Which war would end first? I don't know, maybe they're on a similar timetable. I think Ukraine militarily, they're defeated, OK, you wouldn't
know that by reading the fake news. But militarily, look, their Navy -- so, they had 159 ships.
Every ship is right now underwater. Typically, that's pretty good. What do you think, Jared? I mean, it's going to be hard for them to make a naval
comeback, OK. Now, they have an Air Force, every one of their planes has been shot down or has been decimated.
They have missiles, about 82 percent are gone. And they have drones, and most of them are gone. Most of the factories are mostly gone, and we have
tremendous anti-drone equipment now. Between lasers and that new very special machine-gun that knocks them out of the air like flies, and we use
bullets instead of million-dollar, you know, missiles to knock out a $30,000 drone.
So, I would say, Jared would tell me that with everything you just heard, typically we're in a pretty good shape. And in addition, their economy is
crashing, their -- as you know, their money, their -- they call it their money, they don't have a name for it.
Their money is valueless. They've got inflation that nobody's ever seen before. Other than that, I think they're doing quite well. If you read the
"New York Times", you'd say -- you'd say they're doing wonderfully because it's fake news, or if you watch CNN, I mean, you cover it all the time, you
think they're doing well.
Do you think they're doing well where they have no Navy, no Air Force, no anti-aircraft apparatus other than what they may put there. They may have
brought in some light stuff during the ceasefire.
And we know exactly where it is. So, it will be knocked out within the first 15 minutes.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
TRUMP: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you very much, Mr. President. I want to go back to the Supreme Court ruling on that Voting Rights Act, I know you said you
haven't seen anything --
TRUMP: When did it come out? Just now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it came out this morning. But basically, very much narrows the Voting Rights Act --
TRUMP: Was it considered a win for who?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A win for Republicans --
TRUMP: I love it --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But my question --
TRUMP: This is a very good week; we can end this news conference right now. I want to read it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question to you --
TRUMP: Wow --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President is that, some Republican governors have not responded in terms of what they're going to do. I guess early voting,
for example, in Louisiana.
TRUMP: Republican governors, what --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republican governors.
TRUMP: What about it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Early voting begins Saturday there for instance. Should they redraw the map in the next couple of days --
TRUMP: I would. I mean, it depends. I mean, some states don't need to redraw and some do. I mean, I know what the concept of the ruling, I just
haven't seen the result. Yes, I would say, generally, I would think that they would want to do it.
Some are greatly helped and some, you know, it didn't make much difference. Yes, I would say they would do that. They have time to do it. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to ask you, there's a lot of drama on the house floor today. Several bills were stalled
and a rule took two hours to pass today, and there's still some tension over the Farm Bill. Do you think that you need to get more involved
legislatively on Capitol Hill?
TRUMP: Well, we want the Farm Bill. The Democrats don't. We want -- we want security, OK? We need security. We want security. The Democrats don't
think we need security. They actually do, but they have -- they suffer greatly from Trump derangement syndrome like at levels that nobody's ever
seen.
They're sick people. There's something wrong with them. They don't want to pay anybody for security. They don't like ICE, they don't like border
patrol people, they don't like the people that keep us safe.
You know, when they ran this, they let 25 million people into our country, and many of those people were from prisons, they were from mental
institutions, drug dealers, murderers, 11,888 murderers, half of whom committed more than one -- they -- more than one murder.
They think that was fine. I happen to like law enforcement. They essentially want to defund law enforcement. And I don't think the public is
going to let them get away with it. You know, we got it all approved in the great Big, Beautiful Bill, and they want to renegotiate. We don't like
that, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, Mr. President, the king's speech that he made to Congress, he spoke strongly, forcefully about the necessity for a
strong NATO alliance. He also spoke about the necessity to continue to support Ukraine. Did his speech in any way change your thinking on either
of those issues?
TRUMP: Well, you have to understand, my thinking is, I think exactly correct. But I was very disappointed with the fact that when we called on
them to give us a little hand -- we didn't need it. I actually did it just to see whether or not they'd be there.
When we called on NATO to give us a hand with Ukraine, and in particular, the most recent, you know, we asked them to do certain things on Ukraine.
And we also wanted them to do things with Iran.
[14:25:00]
And on Ukraine, they're very much involved, but they didn't do things the way we would like to see. You know, it's been going on for a long time. And
on Iran, they weren't there, as you know. You know it better than anybody. They weren't there.
The king is fantastic. We spent a lot of time together. We had a lot of talk. We talked about this also, and he loves his country, and he's a great
king, and he's a great friend of mine. And I think if he were doing that, if that were up to him, he would have probably helped us with Iran.
He would have done -- he would have followed the suggestions we made with respect to Ukraine, because, you know, we have some disagreements on
Ukraine and not having to do with NATO so much as European countries.
But no, he -- you know, he's coming back tomorrow. We had an incredible evening last night, and he's leaving tomorrow. He's going to come back and
see us before he leaves. And, you know -- but no -- I think he's a phenomenal representative for his country.
I think the people in the United Kingdom should be proud. I love the speech yesterday, I watched it. I loved the speech last night. I don't know about
my speech, I thought my speech was OK too, but I thought he was -- I think he's an unbelievable king, and by the way, an unbelievable queen. They are
a great couple.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning, I don't know if you were talking about how busy you were this morning. James Comey was in court, he self-
surrendered. He's now been charged a second time, this time over a social media post with seashells that said 86-47. Do you really think that he was
endangering your life or threatening your life with that?
TRUMP: Well, if anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86. You know what 86 -- it's a mob term for kill him. You know? You ever seen the
movies? Eighty-six him. The mobster says to one of his wonderful associates, 86 him, that means kill him.
It's -- I think of it as a mob term. I don't know if people think of it as something having to do with disappearing, but the mob uses that term to say
-- when they want to kill somebody, they say, 86 the son of a gun.
I'm trying to keep the language nice and clear. They don't use that term "son of a gun". They use another term, but that's a mob term for kill him.
Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But do you really think your life was in danger because that's --
TRUMP: Probably, I don't know. You know, based on -- based on what I'm seeing out there. Yes, the people like Comey have created tremendous
danger, I think, for politicians and others. You know, Comey is a dirty cop. He's a very dirty cop. He cheated on the elections.
He tried to help Hillary Clinton as you know, he dismissed a lot of things that he should have proceeded with. I wasn't involved, but he should have
proceeded with. No, he's a dirty cop. He's a crooked man, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, you just described there's been disagreement between the U.S. and Keir Starmer on support for Iran. Did
your visit with the king smooth that over or create any more --
TRUMP: My visit with the king really was just -- it was extraordinary. I mean, he's an extraordinary man. He's an extraordinary person. And yes, it
helps it, from the standpoint that, you know, when you like the king of a country so much, it probably helps your relationship with the Prime
Minister.
But, you know, in that case, the Prime Minister, I said, do you want to send a little help? He said, no, we'll send it after you win the war. I
said, that's not good. That's not good. What do you think of that, Jared? Sending help after we win the war, I don't know, something that bothers me
--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go sir, we are listening --
TRUMP: Wait, I don't want to get you guys involved, but I can imagine what you're thinking.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, the United Arab Emirates, the UAE, they pulled out of OPEC.
TRUMP: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think about that?
TRUMP: I think it's great. I mean, I think it's great. OK, I know him very well, Mohammed, and very smart. And he probably maybe wants to go his own
way. That's a good thing. I think for -- ultimately, it's a good thing for getting the price of gas down, getting oil down, getting everything down.
They have it all. He's a great leader, actually. So, no, I'm OK, they're having some problems in OPEC.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, Kevin Warsh, Kevin Warsh passed a hurdle today. The Senate Banking Committee confirmed his nomination --
TRUMP: Right, it's good --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will go to the Senate floor --
TRUMP: It's good, we need him --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will be on the Fed in mid-May. Is it your expectation that he can persuade the other Fed governors to lower interest rates --
TRUMP: Well, we'll see --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they haven't done so --
TRUMP: I mean, they should --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recently?
TRUMP: Because it's a good time to lower them. We're the most prime country anywhere in the world. We're right now having investments made in
our country at a level that nobody's ever seen, no other country has ever seen it.
Tens of billions of dollars are being invested. Factories, auto plants, A.I., I mean, not just A.I., because A.I. is new. We're leading China by a
lot in A.I., as you know. I'm letting them build their own electric plants. They're building them, otherwise you could never do it.
It was a concept that I came up with, I'm very proud of it. And by the way, they're building electric plants that people in the utility industry have
never seen before. They're saying, man, that's incredible.
So, they're building these massive buildings that cost billions of dollars, and they're building their own electric plants. So, they're not taking from
a source or the old grid, you know, an old grid that wouldn't be able to do it.
No, we're leading with everything. But in the history of our beautiful world, there's never been a country that has so much money being invested
in it as us. And tremendous number of auto plants, by the way. The auto plants are coming out of Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany.
They're all coming to the United States.
And the reason is I have a very smart tariff policy. You know, we got -- we were taken advantage of for years. We're being ripped off by other
countries for years. And those days are over. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, regarding Iran, how long are you prepared to maintain the blockade? Could that go several more months?
TRUMP: Well, the blockade is genius. OK? The blockade has been 100 percent foolproof. It shows how good our Navy is. I can tell you that nobody's
going to play games. We have the greatest military in the world. And I built much of it during my first term, and we've been building it since.
And the greatest anywhere in the world. Nobody even close. And you see that every whether it's Venezuela, which and they have a good military in
Venezuela. But it was over in one day. It was actually over in about 48 minutes.
Iran, the same thing. I mean, militarily, we've wiped them out. They have no military left. They're -- it's all the Navy's at the bottom of the sea.
The Air Force is never going to fly again. We've got an amazing military. Now, we -- now, they have to cry uncle. That's all they have to do. Just
say we give up. We give up. But their economy is really in trouble. It's a dead economy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- and the blockade get Iran to nuclear talks fast enough, or do you think another wave of strikes will be necessary?
TRUMP: I don't know. It depends. We have talks. We're having talks with him now. And we're not flying anymore with 18-hour flights every time we
want to see a piece of paper. We're doing it telephonically. And it's very nice. I make a call or I have my people make a call. And, you know, the
answer.
I always like face to face. You know, I consider it better. But when you have to fly 18 hours every time you want to have a meeting and you know
what the meeting is all about and, you know, they're going to give you a piece of paper that you don't like before you even leave. It's ridiculous.
They've come a long way. The question is whether or not they're going to go far enough. So, at this moment, there will never be a deal unless they
agree that there will be no nuclear weapons. Yes. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you considering relocating NASA's headquarters out of D.C.? States like Florida, Texas and Ohio have expressed interest.
TRUMP: You're going to have to say it differently.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry. Are you considering relocating NASA's headquarters out of D.C. once the lease is up? States like Texas, Ohio and
Florida?
TRUMP: Well, the best man to tell you that is the man standing right over here. You heard that question with those beautiful ears of yours. He's got
great hearing, you know, super -- he's got super hearing.
REID WISEMAN, ARTEMIS II COMMANDER: Trick of the trade, sir.
TRUMP: And what's the answer?
WISEMAN: I think the answer to that is we're -- we have a number -- we have 10 amazing centers around the country that all kind of bubble up to
contribute to the mission we're able to undertake. Like Artemis II, I think in terms of the headquarters, we have a lot of people very interested in
our mission. So, being here in D.C. gives us the opportunity to kind of interact from all our stakeholders, make sure we make the right decisions
in the nation.
TRUMP: Yes, D.C. is an advantage, I guess, for you. It's got to go around. It's got to see some senators, make sure they keep going, right?
WISEMAN: Yes, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Yes, probably. Staying around is not so bad. And importantly, Washington, D.C. is now one of the safest cities in the country. When I
came here a little more than a year ago, it was a very unsafe city. And now, maybe even more importantly than that, we have the hottest country
anywhere in the world. And you help make it hot. You know, you help make it hot.
When a year and a half ago, and I say a lot, the king of Saudi Arabia and others also, the king of Saudi Arabia said, Mr. President, a year and a
half ago, a year ago, we thought you had a dead country. We thought the United States was a dead country and now you have the hottest country
anywhere in the world. And we do.
And believe it or not, I mean, when everybody in the world was watching that incredible performance by NASA, these incredible people behind me,
where they get the bravery, I have no idea. But you're a big part of it. You really are. We have the hottest country in the world.
Thank you very much, everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, guys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for you having us, Mr. President.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Thank you, guys.
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Well, you probably wouldn't have been able to tell, of course, because there were so many topics the president
spoke of at the Oval Office there. But he was meeting, as you saw right at the end, four astronauts from Artemis II. It's been, what, three weeks or
so since they returned, the crew returned from their mission around the moon. And he had invited them there.
[14:35:00]
But he did take a lot of questions on other topics. Let me tell you what he said. He spoke, he said he had a conversation, we know this. He spoke with
Vladimir Putin of Russia. He had a one-and-a-half-hours conversation. He said he talked about Ukraine. They talked about Iran. He said, we're going
to come up with a solution, I hope. He said, I suggested a bit of a ceasefire, he said, a bit of a ceasefire in Ukraine.
He did say that Putin would like to be involved with the enrichment of Iran, but he much rather, he focused on a ceasefire. He then talked about
Iran. And the majority of the questions -- a lot of the questions, he said, were focused on Iran. Our Kaitlan Collins, as you heard her there, asked
which of the wars may end first, Ukraine or Iran? And he said Ukraine, Iran wars may end on similar timelines. And again, saying that Iran militarily
is defeated, a small percentage, they have a small percentage of missile- making facilities, their economy is crashing. They have to say, we give up, and congratulating the U.S. Navy, saying the blockade is genius.
He was asked also -- he mentioned also interest rates, so we saw just top of the hour, there was no move there on those interest rates, as, of
course, Jay Powell -- Jerome Powell, leaves the Fed chair -- as Fed chair chief. Lots of questions, of course, on the king, who had wonderful words
for him, and also some attacks after James Comey, who has faced a second indictment by the Justice Department just in the last hour. Plenty for us
to talk -- to discuss for the next 20 or so minutes.
Nic Robertson is in Islamabad. Stephen Collinson is with us in Washington. Nic, let me start with you first, and what stood out to you, of course,
from what the president said regarding Iran and that conversation with Putin, because we are waiting to hear from the Iranian side regarding this
proposal, right?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. And what Trump said that really caught my attention was that the Iranians have come a long
way, but I don't know if they're going to go far enough. That seems to be implying that he's waiting to see how far they go in this position that's
expected from the Iranians in the next couple of days. And he said very clearly, and he said this a lot of times, they are not going to have a
nuclear weapon.
It was interesting on the account of his conversation with President Putin, remembering, of course, that the Iranian foreign minister on Sunday night
flew from here in Islamabad to St. Petersburg in Russia and met on Monday with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Vladimir Putin, the
president there, for quite an amount of time. And it wasn't clear what came out of that conversation.
But, of course, there had been a lot of speculation that because in the 2015 nuclear deal between the United States with the Europeans, with Iran,
the JCPOA deal, that back then one of the issues was this medium, 20 percent enriched uranium that was outside the bounds of the agreement. What
to do with that? Well, Russia took it back then.
So, there was a lot of speculation when the foreign minister, the Iranian foreign minister was speaking to Putin, it might come up about the
question, the very vexed question, as President Trump has said, he wants to have the nuclear dust, this highly enriched uranium, that there was
speculation that that had been part of the conversation about what Iran could do, possibly give the highly enriched uranium to Russia, as it done
back in 2015. President Trump seemed to sort of draw a line under that and say, well, I told Putin to get a ceasefire in Ukraine, to focus on Ukraine,
that essentially, he was seen to be saying that he'd turn down the offer of help on the highly enriched uranium, which again leaves that very difficult
part of the negotiations of what to do about the highly enriched uranium, which is hugely sensitive for the Iranians, less perhaps about giving it
up, but who and how they give it up.
There were moments where the president sounded a little bit encouraged, saying he still hoped to get a deal, but he wasn't going to fly over for
it, that this can be done on the phone, because when you go there, you know you're going to get a piece of paper that you're not going to like. I think
that sense of a new Iranian position could lead to a key phone call. I think that's something that is perhaps anticipated here.
The next step could be something where the U.S. and Iran, through Pakistan, talk on the phone rather than meet, and the president seemed to be sort of
pushing his preference in that direction.
SOARES: And, Stephen, just coming into this and sticking with Iran, he didn't sound as frustrated regarding Iran as we have heard him before, at
least on social media. He did say they have to say, we give up.
[14:40:00]
But it comes, of course, as we saw Secretary Hegseth today on the Hill defending the war and defending the spending around that. I think it was
something like $25 billion, which is staggering. How are this sort of numbers being received at home at a time when, of course, the reason he
came into office, so much of it was economy and affordability?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. And I think it opens up a very obvious attack line for the Democrats in the midterm elections,
is that Donald Trump broke his promise to have no more foreign wars and spent $25 billion in Iran, and by that time it'll probably be $50 billion
if the war goes on, and he's doing nothing for you at home. That could be a very powerful political message.
I have to say, just listening to Hegseth this morning in that hearing in the House, listening to the President now, the same thing is true that has
been true for the entirety of this war. It's very difficult to see what the plan is. They do still seem to be making up as it goes along. The entire
locus of American decision-making seems to be with the president.
We have some new reporting today from CNN, from our White House team, that says he's told his staff to prepare for a long blockade. This could go on
for a number of months. It doesn't seem so. So, the U.S. position is basically, well, Iran's economy is going to go into meltdown. There's going
to be such hardship that the leaders of Iran will therefore have no option but to capitulate and give us everything we want.
That's quite a big leap. It may seem a logical position from the Oval Office, but that is not necessarily how Iran and the people who have power
in Iran are going to react to this. So, I think there are still a lot of assumptions being made about how Iran will behave. Everything we're seeing
from their negotiating strategy looks like it's the same. They're trying to set the stage for months of negotiations.
Trump seems to think that this, once there's a deal, that will end and everything will go back to normal. And that doesn't seem to be very likely.
SOARES: Nic, just pick up then with what we heard there from Stephen. I mean, this idea that they're hoping that Iran would capitulate. Of course,
you've got fantastic sources there on the ground in Islamabad. We have also this conversation that the President, President Trump, had with President
Putin for one and a half hours. Just frame this for us. What are you hearing about what the next steps may look like? And this idea from the
United States, they're hoping, of course, they will capitulate.
ROBERTSON: Yes, I think the view that we get from here is that Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister who was here over the weekend in Oman, went
to went to Russia, St. Petersburg. The foreign minister is really the sort of designated point person to do the international running, if you will,
the running around diplomacy.
The speaker of the Parliament, Ghalibaf, is still widely regarded. And as we understand, the one who is sort of in charge of the broader
negotiations. And on that, interestingly, the parliament in -- which is the speaker in Iran, had a vote in terms of support for Ghalibaf and a number
of other issues. But it said that all the vote came up this way, that of 290 parliamentarians, 261 came out in favor of Ghalibaf.
So, it does appear that the sort of main person in charge of the negotiations, as far as we see, does have a lot of respect and authority
within the parliament. So, his position seems fairly solid. One of the other things that came out of that vote was the importance of the ayatollah
being part the supreme leader, being part of the decision making. It suggests perhaps that the hardliners are a smaller group, but they are
perceived at the moment, from here at least, as being potentially disruptive when it comes to the talks process. But it speaks also to the
opaque nature of how things are done in Iran and also the way talks get strung out.
SOARES: Stephen, let me go back to you and something that the president said that struck me. Because, of course, we were talking earlier in the
show about James Comey, the former FBI, the head of the FBI, who, of course, who's had faced a second indictment just in the last hour or so.
And the president was talking about this photo where he was asked about the photo that James Comey put, I think, on social media that said 86. And I
think it was a photo of seashells, 86 and 47. 47 was referring to the 47th president of the United States. And 86 is common -- has a common meaning.
Slang -- American slang, is to remove, right? To remove or delete or get rid of.
The president said that it's a mob term for kill him, which we know it's not. That means get rid of, eject, refuse to serve. And he also called him
dirty cop. I mean, what just -- what did you make of what we heard? Because I'm assuming this will be used potentially by Comey's attorneys.
[14:45:00]
COLLINSON: Certainly. And I think what you put your finger on there, just on the meaning of what 86 is all about, shows how this is going to be an
exceedingly difficult case for the prosecutors to take anywhere. And that is going to be, I think, the very -- the real likelihood that his attempt
to prosecute Comey fails again.
But that may not necessarily be the point. I think what the president wants is for Comey to go through the same kind of legal worries, expensive legal
fees, having a cloud over his innocence that he had to go through when he was out of office. Let's remember, Comey was fired in the very first days
of the first Trump administration. That is years ago. But the president never forgets a slight. He sees his role as giving him the power to do
exactly what he wants and to go after his enemies. Some of this, of course, is a distraction strategy from what we're talking about right now, the
stalemate in Iran.
SOARES: Yes. Appreciate it, Stephen, for coming on. Stephen Collinson and our Nic Robertson there in Islamabad, thank you very much. We are going to
take a short break. Be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, King Charles and Queen Camilla are in New York today as part of the official state visit, of course, to the United States. A short time
ago they visited the 9/11 Memorial as you can see there and met with first responders.
Right now, the king is scheduled to take part in an event in Harlem and urban farming and sustainability while the queen is set to attend an event
at the New York Public Library. And this follows a whirlwind day in Washington on Tuesday which included an address to Congress and a white-tie
state dinner at the White House. However, Buckingham Palace is now trying to distance himself from comments by President Trump over the war with
Iran.
Our Max Foster joins me from Washington. Max, good to see you, my friend. I'm not sure whether you heard the President speaking just moments ago at
the White House. Basically, lots of praise for the king saying, you know, he's a phenomenal representative for his country.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: And that he would probably take President Trump's view on Iran and Ukraine, particularly Ukraine, which he
has spoken about. I just -- you know, I would question that. It is a big potential issue because, you know, those conversations are meant to be
private, they're not meant to get out. And any indication that the king is departing from U.K. government policy is a problem.
[14:50:00]
But I don't think, you know, that latest comment from Trump will be a huge issue because it was his interpretation really. But he was absolutely
gushing about the king at the same time as being very critical about NATO and the U.K.
So, it's interesting that he's got this separation between the king and the U.K. -- well, not the U.K., but the government certainly. I think actually
he spoke about that yesterday. It's the association with his mother. And that bond -- you know, he relates Charles almost to his mother, so that's
kind of an unbreakable bond. And it seems though Charles can do no wrong.
SOARES: What did you make, Max, of that speech? Because I mean, I was listening to it with my kids, and it really was a masterclass, wasn't it?
In kind of subtle diplomacy.
FOSTER: It wasn't that subtle, was it?
SOARES: Maybe for some people it was subtle.
FOSTER: I mean, a whole list of issues, which are huge, you know, U.S. current political debates. I think certainly the most pointed part of it
was about holding power to account, holding the executive to account. I think a lot of people have seen that as pointed towards the president. I
actually don't see it as that. I think it was pointed towards Congress, perhaps Congress not doing its job holding the executive to account. So, I
don't see why President Trump should necessarily take that personally.
But there were -- you know, if you take some of the soundbites from that speech and put them against soundbites that President Trump has said
before, they're completely different worldviews. But I think it's interesting that the king used this, you know, global platform. And in a
way he's emerged as the defender of the transatlantic alliance through this process, which is fascinating, and he does have the president's ear. So,
it's a strong position.
SOARES: Max, you know that gray sky behind you? Not here, it's blue sky. It's just showing off. Good to see you. Bye, Max. Max will be back in about
10 minutes or so with his show. We're going to take a short break. We'll see you in a bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: We want to finish the show tonight by turning to the breaking news story, if you remember, that we brought you at the top of the show and that
is the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady in what could have been Jerome Powell's last policy meeting as Fed chair. And he spoke just
moments ago. I want to bring you some of his remarks discussing, of course, his decision to remain on the Fed board. Have a listen.
[14:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: My concern is really about the series of legal attacks on the Fed, which threaten our ability to conduct
monetary policy without considering political factors. And I want to note here, this has nothing whatever to do with verbal criticism by elected
officials. I've never suggested that such verbal criticism verbal criticism is a problem, and neither has anyone else here.
But these legal actions by the administration are unprecedented in our 113- year history, and there are ongoing threats of additional such actions. I worry that these attacks are battering the institution and putting at risk
the thing that really matters to the public, which is the ability to conduct monetary policy without taking into consideration political
factors. It is so important for our economy, for the people that we serve, that they can depend over time on a central bank that operates that way,
free of political influence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And of course, if you've missed the breaking news at the top, the Fed kept interest rates steady, unchanged for the third straight meeting.
And we had the most dissenting voices today since 1996, eight in favor, four dissenting.
That does it for us for tonight. Thank you very much for your company. A very busy hour of fluid breaking news stories. Do stay right here, "What We
Know" with Max Foster is up next, live from Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
