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The Situation Room

Suspect Charged with Attempting to Assassinate President; Formal Welcome Ceremony for Royals. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 28, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: In state systems, you'll hear a person's been sentenced to life, and then you'll read he was released after 12 years or 18 years. That's parole. That only exists in the state system. In the federal system, there is no parole. A life sentence means life.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So, presumably right now, this individual is looking at spending the rest of his life in jail.

HONIG: Yes, absolutely.

BLITZER: All right. Elie, thank you very, very much. Any moment now over at the White House, a very different story unfolding. The president and the first lady will formally welcome King Charles III and Queen Camilla for their official state visit to the United States. We're going to bring you live coverage. You'll want to see this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We are still waiting for the royals to arrive. King Charles III and Queen Camilla to arrive there at the White House for this formal welcoming ceremony. As you can see, there's already some activity underway. I want to bring in Alayna Treene at the White House for more. What can we expect this morning, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, Wolf and Pamela, it seems like the British did bring some of their weather from England with them over to the United States, seeing a lot of people out there gathered here for this big event. A lot of umbrellas as well.

And look, we've all seen a number of world dignitaries also here on the South Lawn for this formal greeting for this state visit with the king and the queen, one of them being Apple CEO Tim Cook. We also saw NVIDIA's CEO out there. So, a lot of major high-profile people, of course, here as the king and queen come for this state visit to the White House.

And look, I think for President Donald Trump, this is a big moment for him. He is someone who has long boasted about how much he loves the royals. He often used to comment on how his mother, you know, who was from Scotland, how she would watch the queen on television. He would be there with her when he was a young boy. And so, a lot of this pageantry that we are seeing, something that very much is attractive to President Donald Trump.

Just to go through some of what we are expecting to see today with this visit. Obviously, we're seeing a lot of the ceremony kick off already, even before their arrival. Some of the bands already rehearsing here and drawing on a tradition that dates all the way back to the 18th century, Wolf and Pamela. The president, the first lady are going to mark the official arrival of the king and the queen with this traditional military ceremony. There's going to be military honors rendered by the United States Army Herald Trumpets. We're going to see a flyover of fire jets later today at some point. And then, of course, once a lot of this pageantry is done, we are expected to hear President Donald Trump give some brief remarks. We're going to see some of the events go inside with the president and the king having a bilateral meeting inside the Oval Office. For now, that meeting is expected to be closed.

Now, I think a key question, of course, is how we're going to see some of what else is happening apart from the pageantry, the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom on full display. And really, I think it's an opportunity to watch closely how the king, someone who often does not get involved in politics, of course, how he tries to use this visit for diplomacy, particularly at a time when we've really seen that strong alliance between the U.S. and the U.K. kind of falter a bit, particularly where we're seeing, you know, in recent weeks with the Iran war, President Donald Trump having very strong language for the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, very interested to see how that might come up as well. And the remarks we're going to hear from the king when he addresses a joint meeting of Congress this afternoon.

Now, we're getting some more of these images, as you're seeing, but I do want to look ahead as well to tonight, because that's going to be a huge moment as well. The state banquet dinner here at the White House, a number of people from Congress, many Cabinet officials, allies of the president. I assume some of the CEOs we're seeing right now who are here on the South Lawn for their arrival will be attending that dinner tonight as well. So, a huge moment for the president.

One other thing I would be remiss not to mention is how the U.K. really views the royals, particularly the U.K. Government has used the royals in the past as an asset for them in these types of situations, bringing out kind of all of the pomp and circumstance that is tied to a royal visit like this, how that could help perhaps smooth things over with the president and really the relationship between the United States and Great Britain.

So, a lot we're going to be watching unfold here as we wait for the arrival now of King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla. Wolf and Pam.

BLITZER: And you can see members of the Cabinet there in that receiving line. They're welcoming British official visitors to the White House for this formal ceremony that's about to begin. Alayna, stand by. We're going to be getting back to you. Appreciate it very much.

We're going to have extensive live coverage of the king and queen's arrival, and it's about to begin momentarily. Kate Williams, the royal historian, is with us as well. Give us a little sense of the history that's unfolding right now, Kate.

[10:40:00]

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: This is a historic moment. It was historic that President Trump had two state visits to the United Kingdom. Most second-term U.S. presidents only have one and then a smaller visit second time around. And that really reflected, just as Alayna was saying, his interest in the royals. This is this great historic moment.

We are kicking off the celebrations for 250 years of independence, when the United States freed itself from the tyranny of the United Kingdom and became an independent country. There will be big celebrations in July. William and Kate are coming over. So, Charles is kicking those off. But, of course, much of that has been caught up in politics and questions of the world situation.

However, with this pageant, this wonderful pageant we're seeing here, this incredible music we're listening to, it really flags up this long relationship between the U.S. and the U.K., the state visits, the state visits of Elizabeth II, now the state visits of Charles III.

And, apparently, one of our newspapers has discovered, with bias and genealogy, that the president is related distantly to Charles via James II of Scotland. And Charles has said, wow, President Trump said, and I quote on Truth Social, "I've always wanted to live in Buckingham Palace. I should talk about this with the king." So, certainly, this possibility that President Trump might live in Buckingham Palace is something he'll be discussing with the king.

BROWN: Yes. We shall see on that front. And I want to bring in our presidential historian, Tim Naftali, as we await for the king and queen to come out here at the White House. What is going through your mind, Tim, and just the significance of this moment?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I knew that Charles and President Trump both had a mother who had been born in the United Kingdom, but I didn't quite know they were related. Well, at this moment, I'm reminded of the number of times the British have well- deployed the royals to strengthen the special relationship. Franklin Roosevelt designed the entire tour for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, in 1939.

And he did that in order to humanize the royals for Americans, because he understood that it was likely the United States and Great Britain would be fighting for civilization. And so, he had the royals go to Mount Vernon. Imagine this. And King George VI put a wreath on the grave of George Washington. Now, imagine what George VI's great, great, great grandfather, George III, would have thought of that. But in the modern era, both the United States and Great Britain have understood the power, the soft power of the royals. And we're going to see it on display today.

Donald Trump wants this visit to go well, and certainly the king does too. So, they both want it to go well. And we will see how that transpires, despite the tensions in the relationship between London and the United States and the president's difficulties with allies.

BLITZER: Well, on that front, Tim, how do you think President Trump, and for that matter, King Charles, are both going to handle some of the tension that developed between the Trump administration and the British government, between President Trump and Keir Starmer, the prime minister? How is that going to fall over this entire historic arrival ceremony?

NAFTALI: Well, traditionally, the way the royals have is by seeking to talk in generalities and talk about shared values. Our president is very much committed to what he sees as English civilization. And King Charles represents, I mean, England is a diverse, evolving nation, but in a sense, King Charles represents that civilization to which Donald Trump tightly adheres.

And there are shared values that these two men can talk about. And I suspect Charles will do that. I'm not sure that Charles is going to spend much time talking about climate change. He's definitely committed to it. He doesn't believe climate science is nonsense. But I suspect the government of the day in London is going to ask him not to talk too much about the green economy.

I think there's a lot for the two men to talk about. And there's a lot they could possibly agree on. Most importantly, Charles is going to try to charm him. And that's good for the relationship.

BROWN: Absolutely. And as we await for the royals arrival, we've learned that President Trump added some new features to the state arrival. Many of what we're going to see today dates back to the 1800s, very much rooted in tradition. But the White House also includes something new, a pass and review of troops and also for the first time, the Space Force Honor Guard formation. So, that's all coming up. Stay with us. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

[10:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: King Charles and Queen Camilla are about to arrive at the White House. A formal, beautiful arrival ceremony will then begin to take place. The trumpets are already there. The marching bands are already there. We'll hear the national anthems. And then we'll hear some remarks as well from the President of the United States. A lot going on over the White House. You can see the pomp and circumstance already that is just beginning to develop there.

[10:50:00]

Alayna, I don't know if you've seen these formal arrival ceremonies on the South Lawn of the White House as dramatically as this one is, but give us your sense of how it's unfolding.

TREENE: Yes. No, I would argue this is probably the most pageantry, Wolf and Pamela, I've seen for an arrival ceremony. And I've covered many, many foreign leaders coming to the White House, especially this one, this current Trump administration, or this current Trump term, I should say. And so, a lot of pomp and circumstance being put on right now for this royal visit.

Look, I think one of the things I want to mention is just the timing of this visit, despite a lot of the pageantry, which is really fun and exciting for us to point out and to witness today. It comes at a really crucial time for the state of the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. And I think that really is going to be a huge goal for the king when he comes, trying to smooth out relationships and remind President Trump of the decades long alliance that has existed between these two countries.

It's the same type of thing we heard him discuss when he posted the president and the first lady, Melania Trump, in Windsor at Windsor Palace -- Windsor Castle, I should say, back in September. I remember being there covering that trip. A lot of pomp and circumstance for that visit as well.

And I should note that, of course, a lot of that is very helpful when it comes to dealing with this president. He is someone who has long shown outward and public admiration for the royals after that visit to Windsor in September. You know, great. All he all the president had was great words for King Charles and for the visit. And so, this is a smart move, I think, to have the U.K. deploy him at this moment when there is huge disagreements between the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister, Keir Starmer.

Now, one thing that I found fascinating, I do want to bring up, is what we saw the president post about this morning. There was an article that he had shared on his social media page, on Truth Social, that was titled, "Revealed How the Mail Traced Trump's Family Tree and Found Out that He's the King's Cousin." Well, the president shared an image of that article and wrote that that's nice and that I always wanted to live in Buckingham Palace. That is what President Trump had said. So, he said he was going to discuss it with the king. So, we'll have to wait and see whether or not that conversation actually materialized.

But look, we're hearing the president come out now, Wolf and Pam.

BLITZER: All right. let's watch a little bit of this.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

[10:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the National Anthem of the United Kingdom, followed by the National Anthem of the United States.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

[11:00:00]