Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

King Charles to Address Congress; Trump Administration Targets ABC; Trump Welcomes King Charles. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 28, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: He very much stuck to these stories that clearly had been thought about, had been curated.

He didn't -- there was a couple of -- there was a point where he went off and talked about his parents' marriage for a second and gestured to Melania. But, other than that, this was something that he was -- that was very carefully put together.

And I think part of that is coming from the fact that so much is at stake here. At one moment, it appeared that the royal family may not -- may not have actually made the visit, was that -- may have canceled their visit because of the events on Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

We also know about the tensions with the president with the prime minister of the United Kingdom. So there's a lot going on here. And I think part of what we saw is Donald Trump responding to that and saying, I have to really roll out the red carpet, but I also have to make sure that this thing doesn't go off track, because everything has to go perfect.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Yes.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: David Sanger is with us as well, our CNN political and national security analyst. He also works as a "New York Times" White House and national security correspondent.

What sort of jumped out at me, and I want to get your thought, David, they're about to have a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, the president and the king. And in the official White House announcement of coverage of that, it's closed press.

Normally, there's a meeting with -- an important meeting like this, and at least there are cameras inside, a pool, a network -- some network pool reporters inside who might be able to throw a question or two. But, as of now, unless they make a last-minute decision, it's going to be closed to the press.

What's your assessment of that?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it's not really a surprise, is it, Wolf? And the king does not want to get caught off guard here, see the president go off in a different direction, make a political statement. They all watched what happened a year ago with President Zelenskyy. And while I don't think that would happen with the king of England sitting in the Oval Office, certainly, British officials want to reduce the number of opportunities here for something to go off-line.

You know, what really struck me about the speech, which I agree was interesting that it was on script, it was short, but it also had a philosophical line through it that I don't think, Wolf, we hear very often from the president.

He said -- at one point, he referred to the Anglo-American experiment in human freedom. That is not something you frequently hear Donald Trump go back and discuss. He talked about the historic descendancy of the king from George III, addressing the descendant institution of the Continental Congress, again, something you don't hear the president do.

Now, these were scripted remarks, and they may have been as much speechwriter as they were from the president himself. But that's exactly what the British wanted to hear, which was the president respecting the institutions that are involved here.

And that's -- if the king manages to get nothing else through, that will have been a big accomplishment.

BLITZER: Good point.

David, we're also just learning that Britain's ambassador to the United States, Christian Turner, said earlier this year in a leaked private conversation that the United States' only special relationship is -- quote -- "probably Israel" and not Britain.

How could that loom over today?

SANGER: Well, it might. I haven't seen separately what Ambassador Turner reportedly said, and he's an extremely experienced diplomat.

But I think he was probably -- if it's accurate, he was probably referring to the fact that Israel seems to hold a particular sway for the president and may have had some significant role in his decision to enter the war against Iran, something that Britain thought was not only unwise, but illegal.

And I think the -- that statement certainly reflects the reality on the ground right now. And I think Britain recognizes that it's got to get back, it has no choice but to get back to the position where it is not only a close American ally, but it's a close American co-decision- maker.

And that is what's been gone in recent times.

BROWN: This is a live look, by the way, for our viewers just joining us, up at the Rose Garden. So there's more to come here at the White House with this royal visit. Jeff Zeleny, I want to bring you in to talk about these comments that

are surfacing from the British ambassador.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, the British ambassador is saying that this is not the official position of the United Kingdom.

He's not necessarily discounting that he made those remarks in a private conversation with apparently a group of British students earlier this year. But, as David was saying there, it does underscore one of the central tensions of this entire meeting.

[11:35:08]

But I think it is not going to be mentioned much today. I'd be very surprised if President Trump raised anything like this in his meeting that he's stepping into now with King Charles.

We have covered President Trump for a decade or so now. This is something, A, he was on his best behavior, by design, and, B, this is something he very much cherishes and loves. So I think one moment that will be etched in history is when he says "wounds of war healed into the most cherished of friendships" standing in the White House, that the Brits tried to burn down in 1814.

So this is a moment of history here, and President Trump knew that, and he respected that, I think, very much so.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: Those words, "most cherished of friendships," from the president of the United States speaking about the friendship with the United Kingdom over these many, many years, very, very significant.

BROWN: Yes, and you think it was nearly 250 years ago, right, when the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. I mean, this relationship has weathered a lot. And...

ZELENY: Not a straight line always, but it's weathered a lot.

BROWN: Not a straight line.

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: Exactly. Exactly.

We're going to continue to monitor the events at the White House. Thank you all.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:41:14]

BROWN: Breaking news. We are now learning the FCC is preparing to get involved to challenge

ABC station licenses amid the controversy over Jimmy Kimmel. This comes as the late-night host is not backing down or after a recent joke, the White House again calling on ABC to fire him, including the first lady.

Kimmel joked on his show before the Correspondents' Dinner shooting that first lady Melania Trump glowed like an expectant widow. After a suspect opened fire on Saturday's event, Trump and his allies criticized the quip as a call for violence.

But here's how Kimmel responded last night:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": ... obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they're together.

(LAUGHTER)

KIMMEL: It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination.

And they know that. I have been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular. But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend. And probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.

(LAUGHTER)

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

(APPLAUSE)

KIMMEL: I also should point out Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I, as are all of us, because, under the First Amendment, we have, as Americans, a right to free speech.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, let's go live now to CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter for more insight.

Brian, you had this new reporting about the FCC's involvement. What more can you tell us?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, that's right.

Disney is standing by Jimmy Kimmel. Disney is ignoring the president's pressure to fire him, and that's important to point out first. We have seen some big examples of media company capitulation in the last year- and-a-half, and this is not one of those examples.

My sense is that Disney is prepared to defend itself, if need be, and seize this as a First Amendment fight that is worth having. But it might be a lengthy fight. That's because the Trump-aligned FCC is planning to take action against ABC as soon as this afternoon.

I'm told by a source familiar with the matter that -- quote -- "The FCC is preparing to call in all of the TV station licenses for ABC Disney for early renewal." Now, Semafor was first to report this development.

And my source says the paperwork is about to be filed, so this would be widely viewed as an act of retaliation for airing Kimmel's show and resisting Trump's pressure. It's important to say here station licensees have broad legal protection.

ABC, if it chooses to fight, will likely win. The FCC has not issued one of these early renewal orders in decades, until yesterday, when it randomly ordered one against a small station owner. So, in the case of Disney, these station licenses come up for renewal every eight years, and they're not due to be renewed for a couple more years.

But FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wants to challenge Disney. He wants to order those renewals in and start a process now, and it does start a lengthy legal process. There will be plenty of chances for Disney to defend itself.

And, like I said, ABC will probably prevail in court. But stations have to be willing to defend themselves, and that costs time and that costs money.

So, Pam, Wolf, it reminds me of that old book title, the process is the punishment.

BROWN: And, Brian, just remind our viewers. We have essentially been in this place before, a very similar place, at least, where you had Disney under pressure. There were two stations, as I recall, ABC stations, that did actually suspend Jimmy Kimmel's show for a time.

And now you have this new threat from the FCC. Give us the big picture here.

STELTER: Yes, that time was -- that time was related, but pretty different, because you had those two station owners, Nexstar and Sinclair, that pulled the plug on Kimmel, and that led ABC to briefly suspend the show nationwide.

[11:45:01]

In this instance, though, Nexstar and Sinclair have remained silent. They have not preempted Kimmel, even though they might want to, because the reality is, ABC has most of the power here and the local stations have a lot less power.

So what is the Trump-aligned FCC doing? They're going toward the national network. They're going after Disney directly. I'm told the FCC will claim this is all part of an ongoing probe into Disney's DEI practices. But most people are not going to believe that.

And we have seen in polling, back when Kimmel was threatened last fall, that most Americans reject this kind of behavior. They don't want to see the heavy hand of government trying to control what airs on broadcast television. But it looks like we're going to go through another one of those battles now.

BROWN: All right, Brian Stelter, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And just ahead, what we expect to hear from King Charles when he heads to Capitol Hill and speaks before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, making him just the second British monarch to do so.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:35]

BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures right now of the Rose Garden over at the White House.

The pomp and circumstance, the ceremony is continuing, the extremely warm welcome for King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the White House. We heard the president deliver a relatively short, about a 12- minute, beautiful speech talking about the U.S.-U.K. relationship and his love of the royal family. That was a very, very strong speech.

We're going to hear more, of course, during the course of the day. About three hours or so from now, King Charles is scheduled to deliver a speech before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate. The president is going to be meeting earlier, very soon, we're told, in the Oval Office with King Charles for a little private meeting.

There won't be any coverage of that. The White House has closed press. We will see if they open it up, though, and that there will be some cameras and reporters inside that meeting. We will see what happens on that front.

I want to go live right now to CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju.

Manu, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna just said he expects King Charles to address the survivors of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal during the course of his address before this joint meeting of the House and Senate. Tell our viewers what you're learning.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this would be significant. We don't know for sure if that's exactly what was going to happen here, but Ro Khanna was meeting with a group of Epstein survivors.

And, of course, this scandal has roiled the royal kingdom, has roiled U.K. politics, and affected the king's family. And the question is going to be exactly how the king plans to address the victims, if he indeed does decide to do it.

This is what Ro Khanna just said to reporters. He said: "I met with the British ambassador. The British ambassador has suggested that the king will acknowledge the Epstein survivors in his address today," he said. And then Khanna went on to say: "I hope his flunkies don't take out the acknowledgement from his text."

But he went on to say he fully expects him to do just that. So we will see how he ultimately plans to address that. But this comes, of course, at a time of high tension between the U.S. and the U.K. over Iran, over tariffs between President Trump and between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

We do expect the king to acknowledge some recent tension between the two countries, but stress, in particular, the shared bond between the U.K. and the United States that has existed over the last 250 years, talk about the many things that need to be -- that they have accomplished together, the two countries, and how they plan to proceed in the months and years ahead.

This is coming at a moment of high anticipation here in the Capitol. I can tell you there are a lot of members of Congress who are looking forward to this address. They have changed their schedule completely here on Capitol Hill. The press conferences that would usually happen on Tuesday afternoon have been rescheduled.

Republicans had a conference. Their weekly conference meeting that happens every Tuesday morning has been rescheduled, all changed around because of the anticipation and the preparations under way to meet the king. The king plans to come here in the afternoon.

About 1:40 p.m. Eastern time, he will be greeted by the speaker of the House, then will meet with the top leaders in both parties in the House and the Senate, John Thune, the Senate majority leader, along with Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, and the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, along with the speaker, planning to greet him going in.

And then he will go and address this joint meeting of Congress, all 535 members. And pretty much all of them we expect to be there, other than a few who may not make the address, but, Wolf, a lot of anticipation for this address. We will see what he decides to say.

We will see how far he goes in acknowledging tension between the two countries and about that big scandal rocking the U.K. about Jeffrey Epstein -- Wolf.

BROWN: Yes, I know a lot of people will be looking to see how he addresses that, if he addresses that.

Just talk a little bit more about the historical significance, Manu, of a British monarch giving this address to a joint meeting of Congress.

RAJU: Yes, this has not happened since 1991, when his -- when the king's mother, Queen Elizabeth, addressed Congress at that time. It is rare for a foreign leader to address Congress in this setting.

Really, in the last 10 years or so, there have been about a dozen or so foreign leaders who have come and spoken to a joint meeting of Congress. We have seen Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel come and talk to Congress on multiple occasions.

We have seen Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine come in and address Congress as well. Some of those have been rather controversial. People have boycotted those leaders for a variety of their own personal and political reasons.

[11:55:08]

This time will be different, because there's a lot of people who have strong admiration for the king, the royal family. We do expect this to be a pretty civil crowd in the audience, but a lot of people eager to hear what the king has to say and what he has to say about how the two countries can try to soothe those tensions that have been growing over the last year or two, guys.

BLITZER: Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill.

Very quickly, Manu, before I let you go, given the shooting incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night, there was talk of increasing security throughout Washington, especially looking forward to the king's visit to Washington.

Have you seen up on Capitol Hill an increased level of security?

RAJU: Yes, there are a lot of security detail around the Capitol, Wolf, but this would be expected for a meeting of this magnitude and with the head of state like the king.

So, this is not unusual to see this level of security, but obviously comes at a moment of high tension, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, you're going to be busy this afternoon. Thank you very, very much.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our royal visit coverage after a break with Phil Mattingly.

Have a great rest of your day.