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The Situation Room

Federal Reserve Expected to Cut Interest Rates; Charlie Kirk Murder Investigation Continues; Trump Visits United Kingdom. Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired September 17, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news: a royal welcome, President Trump met with pomp and circumstance as he arrives in the United Kingdom for his historic second state visit to the U.K.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with the breaking news. The British royal family goes all out to welcome President Trump and the first lady to Windsor Castle, the pageantry and the sheer scale nothing short of stunning.

Trump and King Charles rode in the first carriage of a long procession through the castle's estate accompanied by soldiers on horseback and three military bands. He becomes the first U.S. president to be honored with a second state visit to the U.K.

BROWN: And moments ago, we received these images of the king and queen leading the Trumps through a specially curated display of items from the royal collection. They are tied to the long history between the U.S. and the U.K.

Outside the ceremonies, the president's welcome is more mixed. Last night, protesters projected these images of him and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein onto Windsor Castle. Four people were arrested for that.

Let's go live now to CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins in Windsor.

Kaitlan, what are you seeing there this morning?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Yes, Pam, it's been a morning full of formalities for President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, as they have been here at Windsor estate, at Windsor Castle now for several hours, as you saw, the day starting with that carriage procession that took place, and then President Trump inspecting the guard of honor.

I should note, this is the largest military ceremony in living memory for any foreign head of state who is visiting for a state visit, which essentially underscores what they are trying to do here, which is to impress President Trump, who has long had a fascination with the royals and the royals, the royal family that dates back to his mother and her respect for the queen.

That is why it was so impactful for him when he had his first state visit here in 2019. Of course, that was queen with Queen Elizabeth and at Buckingham Palace. So, yes, it is a second state visit, but it looks completely different than his first state visit did. And now they have been inside, they had a private lunch and they toured that royal collection that you showed there, which is curated for whichever head of state is visiting.

Obviously, when the Spaniards visit it, they curate it to their history, and they are doing that certainly with President Trump here as well. Really, all eyes, though, tonight are going to be on the banquet that is going to happen with hundreds of guests in attendance. That is going to be all kinds of not only business executives, but obviously the royal family as well and other dignitaries that are going to be there.

And the king will speak there and then President Trump will return that and also will speak as well in response to that. So, everyone will be watching to see that moment. And, of course, they're kind of rolling out the red carpet ahead of where they're going to talk business tomorrow as he meets with the prime minister here.

And there are questions about what that's going to look like on trade and all of these other issues like Ukraine, like the war in Gaza that are going to be at the forefront for that conversation. And you showed those images, Pam, of the Jeffrey Epstein pictures with Donald Trump, the video, of course, from Mar-a-Lago, that was projected on Windsor Castle last night.

Four people were arrested as a result of that, I should note. And there has been protest here outside the castle in response to President Trump's visit. That's not a surprise. We saw that back in 2019 when he visited as well, certainly in the streets of London. Obviously, though, inside the castle today, it has been all of the pomp and circumstance and the lavish touches that they have put on the state visit for President Trump.

BLITZER: Kaitlan, it's Wolf.

Has the president seen protesters, the protesters who've been gathering during his visit there?

COLLINS: It doesn't seem likely, Wolf, because, remember, they stayed in London last night. They were at the U.S. ambassador's house, and then they took a helicopter here this morning. And so obviously, one, that's convenient, but, two, it does allow them to bypass a lot of the protesters who are in London.

And, Wolf, you will recall back in 2019 when the president visited that time, there was that large blimp of a baby Donald Trump basically wearing a diaper that was floating over London, something that caused a lot of consternation for officials here as they were hosting Donald Trump.

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And so, yes, certainly, there are protests, as relations really haven't changed in terms of how the people here feel about President Trump, but he's been safely ensconced inside the walls of Windsor. So it doesn't seem at this point yet that he has seen any of those protests.

BLITZER: All right, Kaitlan Collins on the scene for us.

Kaitlan thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, happening now, students at Utah Valley University are returning to class for the first time since conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed last week on their campus.

And we're also learning more about the 22-year-old murder suspect Tyler Robinson. According to court documents, Robinson confessed in messages to his roommate, writing about Kirk -- quote -- "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out."

Joining us now is CNN legal analyst Carrie Cordero.

Carrie, good to have you here.

So listen to what the prosecutor said at yesterday's news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY GRAY, UTAH COUNTY, UTAH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Robinson's mother explained that, over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the left, becoming more pro- gay and trans rights-oriented. She stated that Robinson began to date his roommate, a biological male who was transitioning genders.

This resulted in several discussions with family members, but especially between Robinson and his father, who have very different political views.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, for someone without a legal background, this case may feel cut and dry, right? But explain why authorities still haven't come out and said they nailed down a precise motive here.

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think it's important for us to distinguish between the legal case that the prosecutors actually have to bring, which in some ways is straightforward.

This is a state and local prosecution, and the main charge is aggravated murder. And so from that perspective, what they really need to focus is on the specific evidence that they have to prove that charge and some of the other ancillary charges like obstruction of justice, tampering with witnesses that they have brought against this individual.

Separate from that is the part of this event that is important from a national conversation and a public policy perspective. And that is the motivation for this individual because it appears to be a political assassination.

And so that's why there's not an urgency from the perspective of the criminal case that these prosecutors have to protect the integrity of and bring and prosecute this individual versus answering the questions that are very important to the national dialogue with respect to this national tragedy.

BROWN: And when you look at that charge aggravated murder, you mentioned that, why is that so significant in the state of Utah?

CORDERO: Well, the state of Utah, as I understand, is a death penalty state, and the government officials there have said that they will seek the death penalty in this case.

Given just the amount of very clear evidence that they have laid out in just the limited charging document that they have provided so far,it appears that they have a good amount of evidence, both forensic evidence and text messages, for example, between the defendant and his roommate and partner.

And they're very clear, I mean, when you see them laid out in the charging document. So the only issue really, if that evidence is as strong as it appears, is whether or not this individual ends up fleeing and whether the death penalty then becomes part of the conversation in that potential plea.

BROWN: The suspect is also charged with two counts of tampering with a witness for directing his roommate and partner to delete those text messages and stay silent about the attack.

Now, authorities say the roommate is cooperating. But does it surprise you at all that the roommate isn't at this point facing any sort of legal repercussions?

CORDERO: Not the -- all I have to go on is the text messages that the authorities have provided publicly so far. And based on just the plain text of those messages, it doesn't appear that the roommate was involved.

But obviously there will be an investigation that is continuing. And so they will look into other aspects of the roommate's behavior and any other information they found out about the defendant's activities prior to the offense to determine whether anybody else was involved. BROWN: Correct me if I'm wrong, but we still don't know if the

roommate alerted authorities to the text exchange in Robinson -- or if authorities identified Robinson and then tracked down the roommate. But what would the legal obligation be, if any, for the roommate to tell authorities about these text messages?

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CORDERO: Well, so prosecutors can serve legal process to an individual to compel them to provide information. And I'm not sure we know at this point whether or not this individual was compelled to produce text messages or whether this individual voluntarily provided information. People can do both.

They can provide information voluntarily. They can be compelled. Or authorities can go and get legal process or serve warrants on the defendant's devices themselves. So there's a variety of mechanisms that law enforcement has available to it to obtain that type of evidence.

BROWN: So, before we go, I want to ask you about what the deputy attorney general told my colleague Kaitlan Collins about the idea of potential investigations into those who protest the president.

This is pretty extraordinary. Would the White House have a case for that? He talked about wanting to look into the groups that could be behind these protesters.

CORDERO: Well, there's a wide variety of types of protest activity. And as a very, very general manner, protest activity is protected by the First Amendment. Violence is not.

And so it really would depend on the specific facts how the Justice Department is going to approach actual protest activity that is purely First Amendment-protected versus if they have information to suggest in the course of their responsibilities, for example, under the Justice Department or the FBI, that protest activity has something that is going to turn violent or there's some threat involved in it.

We are in an environment where political figures, obviously, are in a significant threat environment. And there are real public safety concerns for not just the president, but public figures, both elected and non-elected. So I think it's hard at this point, just based on those statements, to parse the nature of what the Justice Department might be thinking regarding its protective responsibilities to potentially prevent acts of violence against political figures versus just trying to crack down on protected protest activity.

BROWN: All right, Carrie Cordero, as always, thank you.

All right, and new this morning, we're learning that a Spirit Airlines pilot was scolded by air traffic control yesterday after failing to immediately respond to instructions as Air Force One was just eight miles away. President Trump was on board at the time traveling to the United Kingdom for his state visit.

Both his aircraft and the Spirit Airlines planes were flying parallel over New York.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pay attention, Spirit 1300. Turn 20 degrees right. Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees right now. Spirit wings 1300, turn 20 degrees right immediately. Spirit 1300, traffic is off your left wing by six mile -- or eight miles, 747. I'm sure you can see who it is. I got to talk to you twice every time. Pay attention. Get off the iPad.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BROWN: Wow.

Spirit Airlines told CNN in a statement that the "Pilots followed procedures and air traffic control instructions and that safety is always our top priority" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Should be indeed.

All right, happening now: Financial markets have all eyes on the Federal Reserve just ahead of a highly anticipated decision today. The country Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates for the first time this year when it meets later today.

And that would impact Americans' mortgages, car loans, credit cards and much, much more. The Fed is meeting as President Trump reshapes its very highest ranks, despite its traditional independence from politics.

Let's go live right now to CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich. She's watching all of this unfold in New York.

Vanessa, tell us more about what we can expect out of this Fed meeting later today.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: A consequential decision is going to be made at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, where we will hear from the Federal Reserve about whether or not they're going to cut interest rates.

But look at the odds from investors right now; 96 percent of investors believe that there's going to be a 25-point -- excuse me -- 25-basis point cut; 50-basis point cut, averaging about 4 percent of investors thinking that might happen.

But this is really consequential because we have not had a rate cut since December of last year. If you look at this line graph, you can see that the Fed funds rate has really just held steady for many, many months now.

Of course, President Trump has been calling on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. But Jerome Powell has said that he and the Federal Reserve has been waiting to see how tariffs are going to impact the U.S. economy. Tariffs have been around for a little while now. And prices have risen, but we haven't seen runaway inflation. And at the same time, Wolf, we have seen a slowing labor market, a

labor market that is actually much weaker than initially reported by the BLS and other economists. These are revisions, of course, to the labor market that are expected and not unusual. But we are seeing a weaker labor market.

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And a Fed funds rate cut would alleviate some pressure from businesses to free up some cash to potentially absorb higher prices, but also hiring or maybe not laying off employees. We have actually seen mortgage rates prepare for this in the past couple weeks. Mortgage rates have fallen in anticipation of this cut from the Federal Reserve.

And also for everyday Americans, you can see right there on your screen you can see the line trailing off on the right-hand side. That is good news from Americans who maybe were unable to buy a home because of higher rates that we have seen in the past year.

And then, of course, as the Fed cuts interest rates, what follows is interest rates coming down for things like credit cards, car loans, student loans, and, of course, mortgage rates right there.

Also, I would note, Wolf, that this is an interesting meeting because we have a new member Stephen Miran. He was just sworn in yesterday. He was a head of the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House. Trump appointed him. He is now voting in his first meeting. Also there, Lisa Cook. A judge ruled that she could show up to work, she could vote.

This is the Federal -- or the Fed governor that President Trump has tried to fire over allegations of mortgage fraud, but both of those members are going to be there today. The vote is going to be announced at 2:00 p.m..

And 2:30, Wolf, is probably a more interesting time for us reporters because that is when reporters get to ask Jerome Powell a lot of questions that we have about the new members of the Federal -- the new member of the Federal Reserve, but also where he sees the economy right now. And so we will be paying very close attention to 2:00 p.m., that announcement, but also 2:30, that press conference with the head of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.

BLITZER: All right, we will look forward to that. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, still ahead right here in THE SITUATION ROOM: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are fleeing the biggest city in Gaza as Israel unleashes an expanded ground assault there, a move that many are warning is making the humanitarian crisis even worse.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BLITZER: All right, take a look at this. We're looking at some live pictures coming in from Windsor Castle.

The president of the United States and the first lady, Melania Trump, they're there with King Charles III and Queen Camilla for what's called this beating retreat on the performance, a musical performance, on the east lawn. Three military marching bands are performing for the president and the first lady, Pamela.

And, presumably, President Trump is impressed. He likes this kind of attention, and he is, as the British keep making this point, the first U.S. president to receive two state visit attractions along these lines. And he's very happy about that.

BROWN: Yes, it's unprecedented. And the Brits, of course, know how to get to the heart of the President Trump, right, the flattery, the pomp, the circumstances. This is what we are seeing right here with, as you said, the beating retreat musical performance on the east lawn at Windsor Castle.

They have already had a busy day. President Trump and the first lady were there laying a wreath at Queen Elizabeth's crypt, and then they toured St. George's Chapel. Tonight, there will be a state dinner, and then tomorrow there is going to be a meeting with Keir Starmer and other officials there.

So today is more about the ceremony, it seems, and then tomorrow they're going to get more down to business.

BLITZER: I love this kind of music, so let's just listen in briefly a little bit to this music.

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