King Charles Begins High-Stakes Diplomatic Visit to U.S.

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27:34We're back live at exclusive from the British Embassy to the United States here in Washington, D.C., where King Charles and Queen Camilla are attending a formal garden party in this high-stakes diplomatic visit where the king will attempt to repair the frayed U.S.-U.K. relationship. We're expecting the king and queen to arrive at any moment. This visit comes as we learn more about the alleged gunman at Saturday's White House Correspondents. Association dinner. CNN's Kyung La is outside the suspect's home in Torrance, California. It's about 20 miles south of Los Angeles. Kyung, what more are you learning about him?

28:10Well, we haven't seen much activity at the home here in Torrance, California, but this is where he lived with his parents. What we've been able to gather is that he is 31 years old, Cole Thomas Allen. He grew up here in Torrance and he is, according to the Department of Justice, when he was arrested, armed with a pistol and shotgun when he was detained. He went on to be a part-time teacher, also developed video games, and he graduated from Caltech. It's a difficult school to get into with a mechanical engineering degree while he was at Caltech. He belonged to a Christian Fellowship Group, according to social media photos.

28:51And even in 2017, he was featured having developed a prototype wheelchair brake. I want you to take a listen to this old news clip.

29:04The wheelchair brakes tend to lock the wheels, but don't actually lock the chair to the ground. The idea with this is to prevent it from moving at all. he would go on to get a master's degree at another university. So when did this turn happen? Well, in reviewing some social media posts belonging to him, or at least that appear to belong to him, in 2022, he seemed to be posting really largely about video game playing. And then things started to change in 2024, where he was becoming much more political. He was retweeting things about the Trump administration, retweeting a post that compared the president, Donald Trump, to Hitler.

29:52His sister said that he had been getting more politically active, even Jake belonging and joining a left-wing group that did on their page say that they are anti-violence. But it is important to note that it does appear from 2022, at least socially, into 2024, there was some type of change. Jake? All right, Kyung-La in Torrance, California. Thanks so much. Let us discuss now two important aspects of what has happened in the United States since the horrific attempted assassination on President Trump and members of the Trump administration. And let me be clear at the very outset that the violence is horrific and should be condemned by everyone.

30:36I'll get into the responsibility that we all have to help bring down the temperature in a second. But first, let me touch on the news today and what was perhaps inevitable that the Trump administration would try to use Saturday's horrific act of violence to try to clamp down on criticism and free speech. Today, the president and the first lady, Melania Trump, citing a joke that comedian Jimmy Kimmel made last Thursday on his show, tried to connect that joke with the assassination attempt. Now, there is zero evidence, zero evidence that the would-be alleged assassin heard the joke. In fact, authorities say the suspect left California for Washington, D.C.

31:16by train on Tuesday. So his trip to D.C. started long before Jimmy Kimmel told this joke on Thursday night, airing this pretend correspondence dinner skit. And of course, our first lady Melania is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow. Earlier today, the first lady tweeted, quote, Kimmel's monologue about my family is in comedy. His words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behavior at the expense of our community, unquote.

31:57This in response to a joke she did not like. This afternoon, President Trump followed with a Truth Social post that said, quote, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC, unquote. There was more. But let us just take this moment and say, is it fair to judge Jimmy Kimmel's joke in light of what happened at the dinner two nights later? White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said Saturday, shortly before the shooting, that President Trump's speech would be funny and there would be, quote, shots fired, unquote, which, of course, when not taken literally, refers to humorous insults.

32:36Does anyone out there think that Caroline Levitt had any idea what would happen? I don't. Does anyone out there think that Jimmy Kimmel had any idea what happened? What would happen? I don't. Now, do I think both, in retrospect, would choose their words differently in retrospect, given what happened on Saturday night, of course. But this crusade against Kimmel was predictable because the Trump administration's attempt to use Saturday's shooting as justification to stop all critical coverage, whether journalistic or comedic, of Donald Trump. That started even before the ballroom emptied because Carrie Lake, the election denier who's currently in charge of Voice of America, she approached a CNN table after the shooting and blamed journalists for the attempted attack and personally insulted one of our correspondents as a, quote, midget.

33:23She then went outside and trailed me for about a block. I was trying to ignore her. She was saying that I was responsible for what happened. CNN's responsible for what happened. And that unhinged rant by someone who, frankly, obviously needs help is now being matched with social media posts and more from the White House trying to use this horrific tragedy to demonize any criticism as calls for violence. And the president has been making literal calls for violence since 2015. I'm not even going to go into them. You're familiar with them. But literal calls for violence. Now, a reminder that the president's tone immediately after the attack on Saturday was praised by Democrats and Republicans, and it was far more conciliatory.

34:06I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our difference peacefully. We have to resolve our differences. That sentiment clearly did not last long. And let us turn now to this deranged, alleged would-be assassin, whose writings clearly seem to be from someone on the left. And there is a problem with violence on the left in the United States. And there is a problem with violence on the right in the United States. And to debate which one is worse is honestly to avoid the problem. It's all awful. It all needs to stop. Now, there was a time when people who tried to justify violence against anyone were considered fringe lunatics.

34:51Today, a lot of them are called influencers. Social media companies have figured out how to commodify the hate that they push. It's pushed by these twisted algorithms, too. And politicians and pundits are increasingly lending their credibility to these influencers. And those politicians and pundits are playing a role in this, too. It is a big problem. of calls for violence and dehumanization, and it's getting worse. But it is not a problem to be wielded like a cudgel to try to stop journalism or jokes. Journalism and jokes are not calls for violence. Calls for violence are calls for violence. And far too many Americans in positions of power and influence are too blasé and too glib about those who make them.

35:45We're going to show some live pictures right now. We see on the patio, right behind me, King Charles and Queen Camilla. They have arrived here at the embassy. You see right next to King Charles is the British ambassador, Sir Christopher Turner. And Lady Turner is next to the Queen. They have arrived. Let's listen in.

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38:49All right, we just heard the chorus here singing God Save the Queen, and then of course the American National Anthem. And moments ago the King and Queen inside the British Embassy here participated in an to put objects in a time capsule. That's before this evening Garden Party, with their involvement, all part of a very high-stakes diplomatic mission to try to repair strained relations between the U.S. and the U.K. And also, of course, to honor the United States of America in our 250th birthday celebration. Philip, does he have his mic? Okay, yes. Philip's just joining us here. How is the special relationship going right now, the relationship between the U.S.

39:39and the U.K.? Look, I'd say there are tensions at the political level. We've seen that. We're all talking about it between Number 10 Downing Street, the prime minister, the White House, President Trump. But overall, what we just witnessed tells you that the United States and the United Kingdom have a particular bond with the king, the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of the king from whom we declared independence. That's five greats. Years ago. Five greats for those counting. I spent a lot of time earlier today trying to figure out how many greats, but yes. But it is a direct line. Yes, from the Mad King.

40:13It tells you something about that. We have a common language. We share the common law. There's so many things in terms of our popular culture, in terms of investment and finance. The relationship is far greater than one administration or one government. It's His Majesty's government that serves in the name of the King and the Crown, but he represents the state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And I think the people of the United States understand that broadly. And I think President Trump probably understands that too. And that's why we're going to see a good visit, a positive visit.

40:47And we'll let the ups and downs of the geopolitics and the politics take its course. But I am convinced that the United Kingdom and the United States will continue to be united. Richard Quest, this visit was initially delayed because of the beginning of the war on Iran, February 28th, two months ago tomorrow. Up until the last minute, there was speculation it would be delayed again, especially after that horrific assassination attempt on President Trump and his cabinet. Why did the king go ahead with the visit? Keep calm and carry on. I mean, that's the truth of it, Jake. That is the way. Look, that's what happened with President Trump on Saturday night.

41:32He'd have happily gone back into that ballroom and given his speech. He had to be forced not to do it. The royal family just keep going. And when you look at King Charles, you're looking at somebody who has been doing this for the best part of 50, 60 years. 50 years. He is an expert at what he is doing. I mean, he's been doing it far longer than anybody else who's out there. So his ability to get the tone right, to be diplomatic, to know how to massage this to the best advantage of both, that's the brilliance of the system. And, you know, when I see something like this, for all its flaws, it makes you realise the sort of the monarchy as seen in the UK, the constitutional monarchy works pretty well at the moment.

42:28And Sally, this visit is being compared to a 1957 trip that Queen Elizabeth made to the United States after the Suez Crisis. This is when President Dwight Eisenhower was in charge. Remind us what happened there. Well, what happened was the Suez Crisis was conducted behind the back of the United States. Dwight Eisenhower was very upset and he intervened and in the end Britain was sort of shamed because it had to withdraw. So it was a really fraught moment in American-British relations. Interestingly enough in my research I discovered that the one who sort of calmed things down after that was Churchill, who wrote a letter to Eisenhower, who obviously he knew very well, and said, let's put this aside.

43:24Let's focus on our main enemy, which is the Soviet Union. And the Queen chimed in, and she agreed. But Macmillan, who was the prime minister, felt that it was necessary for the Queen to come to the United States and have a full-on six-day state visit and just have that reassurance, offer that reassurance. And she made some wonderful speeches emphasizing how strong the bond was. And interestingly enough, she said that, you know, that Britain had a lot to learn from the United States and the way it did its, you know, enacted its self -determination. Also, you have to know that the Queen and Eisenhower had a very, very good relationship dating back to World War II.

44:28He was very close to her father. And so it was an important visit and one of reassurance in the end. Thanks to one and all. Appreciate it. This visit marks the 19th official trip to the United States for King Charles. This is his first formal state visit as the British monarch. We're going to have much more from the British Embassy back in a moment.

45:06Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper, exclusively live at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. We're right now behind the foliage over here. King Charles and Queen Camilla are attending a garden party being thrown for them by the British ambassador. It's part of their state visit to the United States, which has also become not just a way to honor the U.S. during our 250th birthday, but a high stakes diplomatic mission for the king. The royal couple briefly stopped by the White House this afternoon for an informal greeting by President Trump and the First Lady, a tea. They had tea. The royals will return to the White House in the morning for a full ceremonial welcome and a chance to smooth over tensions between the Trump administration and the British government.

45:55attacked the Burma in recent weeks after Starmer refused to directly help the U.S. military in its war against Iran, although he has allowed the U.S. to use their bases and there has been other help. But beyond that, there is this sense of heightened security around this visit, of course, after the horrific attempted assassination at Saturday night's White House Correspondents Association dinner. The suspect, officially charged today with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, the third such attempt on President Trump's life. CNN's Kristen Holmes is at the White House. Kristen, walk us through what we saw when King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived today.

46:38It's back tomorrow. Yeah, Jake, so we saw them pull up. We saw the normal greetings without any of the fanfare that we often see when these foreign leaders come. They could have come in the front, through the Oval Office, through the West Wing. Sometimes we see foreign leaders do that. You can have an opportunity to ask a few questions. That was not what we saw today. But again, of course, this isn't the big visit. They'll be back tomorrow. And now you are we also saw a sit down meeting. This was just in photos between the two couples. And we know that President Trump and the First Lady brought him over to see the White House beehive.

47:13And then, of course, we have tomorrow when President Trump and King Charles will have a one-on-one meeting before Charles delivers a joint address to Congress and then the state dinner at the White House tomorrow night. Now, it'll be interesting to see whether or not they actually use this, or at least King Charles uses this moment as an opportunity for diplomacy. King Charles is not somebody who is involved usually in day-to-day politics, but there is an opportunity for him to try and smooth over the relationship with Prime Minister Starmer in these kind of meetings that he's having rolling. Now, I think what's really interesting to me so far is that there hasn't been an opportunity for the president to be speaking next to the king, and we'll see if that's by design, because one very awkward moment would be if, for chance, we saw President Trump attacking Starmer while standing next to the king, something that certainly the British do not want from this trip.

48:12They want this to be much more of a collegial trip. They want this to be about the relationship between the two countries. They don't want any kind of imagery of President Trump attacking Starmer while, of course, standing next to the king. This will be a four-day state visit. These are the first two days in Washington. And then, of course, the king will also be in New York.

48:35All right, Kristen Holmes at the White House for us. Thank you so much. Joining me here is Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. Congressman, thanks so much for being here. Really appreciate it. First of all, what are your expectations? Actually, what are your hopes? What are your hopes for this? Because the U.S.-U.K. relationship is not great right now. And there have been comments by Trump against Prime Minister Starmer. Starmer made comments earlier today about how basically suggesting that the U.K. is not going to get involved in wars that the U.S. want. I'm paraphrasing that the U.S.

49:10wants them to that are not in their best interest. Kind of a swipe at Tony Blair and George W. Bush. There's obviously repairs that need to be made. Can this trip help? Well, I think we have to have realistic expectations. First, given the British system, there's only so far Charles can go venturing into politics. And of course, this visit back in the UK is deeply unpopular in their own country. So I think Charles is doing it, I suspect, to attempt to smooth over relations. But let's face the reality, whether it's the UK or Canada or Germany or France or any of our traditional allies, Donald Trump is deeply unpopular right now.

49:47And unfortunately, sadly, by extension, so is the United States. So I do want to ask you, because there are folks out there who heard me introduce you, and your name is Brendan Boyle. I do have a great Italian name, as you can tell. And and so the last president, who was a very proud Irishman, Joe Biden, would constantly make references to how much his mother hated the royal family. Not these two individuals, but he would he would say this all the time. It was a source of pride that how much the the Irish from that generation disliked the Brits. they were just avatars of it. How's your family doing with your belief in the special relationship?

50:29Well, I guess I'll find out which ones are watching you, Jake, when I get off here. But no, I mean, in all seriousness, I'm a very proud Irish-American. My father and all four of my grandparents were born and raised in Ireland. Actually, Charles's mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was welcomed in Ireland in 2012, a very popular visit because in part, she went to the Garden of Remembrance, which is where all of the Irish rebel leaders, or most of them, are buried. And she laid a wreath and bowed her head and then gave a speech in Dublin Castle, which was the center of British rule when they colonized Ireland.

51:02And she actually began her speech in the Irish language. So it's a great conciliatory moment. And so today the UK and Ireland, while there were hiccups during Brexit, the UK and Ireland actually have a very good relationship. and the UK is also a very important US ally. So I'm happy to be here. While I'm not a monarchist, I have to say, I do, after all, represent Independence Hall in my congressional district. So I can't say I support the concept of monarchy, but the reality is he's the head of state and I want to be here to show respect to an important US ally. Do you understand President Trump's frustration, not just with the UK, but with European allies, given the fact that many of them are happy that the Ayatollah is dead, the first Ayatollah.

51:50Now we have a new one. A newer one who's younger and worse. But many of them are happy that the nuclear program, the nuclear weapons program in Iran has been set back, both because of the strikes in June and the recent strikes. And his argument, I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but his argument is like, how about a little help? Like, we need the Strait of Hormuz open. This benefited you guys more than us, arguably. Yeah. So, I mean, a brief history here. Of course, the U.S. and U.K. are close allies, but we haven't always supported one another. President Eisenhower actually stood up to the U.K.

52:21and France during the Suez crisis in 1956. In many ways, it showed the end of British rule around the world. In the 1960s, the Brits returned the favor to us and didn't support us during Vietnam. So there have been those moments, actually, in which the U.S. and U.K. have seen not eye to eye on things. that's a sign of a mature relationship. In those previous examples I cited, it was treated with respect and not the sort of petty insults that we hear from Trump directed toward the prime ministry. What more do you, are you going to the state dinner? Not the state dinner. My invite must have gotten lost in the mail from this White House, but I will be at the address tomorrow in front of a joint session.

53:05What do you want to hear from him? What do you want King Charles to Well, again, I recognize that in his system, he really has a challenge because on the one hand, he has to assert British interests. He'll probably talk about a shared history in the 20th century after a very difficult history in the 18th and 19th centuries. He might make some subtle allusions to the fact that we need to be united in the defense of liberty and our shared fight against authoritarianism. And perhaps that will be seen as a mild rebuke of the fact we currently have a president who likes to praise Putin, Orban and the authoritarians of today and so often attacks the democratically elected leaders in Western Europe.

53:50All right. Congressman Brendan Boyle, great city of Philadelphia. Thank you so much. Much more on King Charles' historic visit and the high stakes diplomacy ahead. The British ambassador is going to join me on set to preview the King's sit down with President Trump. This is the lead live and exclusive from the British embassy. Stick with us.

54:18And we're back live and exclusive at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., where just a few feet away, King Charles and Queen Camilla are attending a garden party thrown for them by the U.K. ambassador. They're kicking off their state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of America's independence from the UK. No offense. The stakes are, however, incredibly high for this trip. The frayed relationship between President Trump and the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quite notable. Joining us now to discuss CNN's Max Foster, who's been with King Charles down in the Garden just a few minutes ago.

54:52What was that like, Max? What did you see? Was he talking to people? Yes. So this is his first opportunity to really mingle. We've had members of the cabinet there. Scott Besant was there. Howard Lutnick was there. Stephen Miller was there. So that was one group. And they're moving basically between different groups of gathered people. So then there was more of a sort of a high-profile personality crowd, where our own Caitlin Collins was. She's just to the side of us. So she was meeting him as well. And then there was a quite poignant moment where you saw the Queen moving to speak to a group of charities that work with domestic violence survivors.

55:29And this is something you're going to see her do several times during the trip. And this is in reference partly, I mean, it's an ongoing cause for her, but she, you know, they've asked lots of questions about Epstein. They feel they can't talk about that, but they can show that they always put survivors first. So that was a, you know, she spent a lot of time with them, actually. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to have this whole segment be about that, but we have a lot of Epstein survivors on the show and family members and the like, and, you know, the relatives of Virginia Giuffre, who allegedly had this, you know, I don't even know what to say about it, but Prince Andrew was involved.

56:05Why not just meet with a couple of survivors? I mean, that would probably do so much good. Because the king's the head of the judiciary. He is currently prosecuting his brother. He's head of the police service. If it goes all the way, Andrew could end up in one of the king's prisons. It's seen as any sort of interference in that process. would be seen as prejudicial to the child, prejudicial to his role. Even if it was the Queen, it's still... Yeah, I think the association, you know, it's a legitimate question, and a lot of people have asked it, which is why I'm sort of referencing how they're dealing with it.

56:37So people will come up with their own ways of dealing with that. But, you know, Howard Lutnick is here, and obviously he's got some associations as well. So I'm surprised to see that you can tell me more about that. But, you know, I'm surprised to see someone who hasn't been referred to. Yeah, let's talk about the state visit, because obviously there is a lot on the line here. The relationship is frayed. President Trump calling the British prime minister, what do you call him, a moron? Loser. He called him a loser. I'm sorry. I can't always keep them straight. What is the king going to say in his speech tomorrow before the U.S.

57:08Congress? Well, he's going to start talking, referencing Saturday night and talk about how we are shoulder to shoulder, the two countries, and it's a message of solidarity. Then he's going to go quite deep into history and talk about world wars and how we have fought together alongside each other. But we've also had our differences over the centuries as well. So trying to move away from the current crisis in relations with the government, he's separating himself from that. I mean, there is a potentially sensitive part of it. He's saying actually one of the greatest things to come out of this relationship was NATO.

57:45That's something the president. Tell me what you think of that. Well, I mean, it's interesting. I don't disagree with it. But it is something that NATO is not high on the president's list right now. But I mean, it's obviously good to assert that. I mean, the relationship and the importance of NATO is huge. Something else that you told me about earlier today that is kind of pointed back to Trump from Keir Starmer is he basically compared the war in Iran to the war in Iraq in terms of we're not going to do that again. We're not going to follow the U.S. into a war that has nothing to do with us. That's bad for us again.

58:19I thought that was pretty pointed. Well, this was an interesting context because one of Donald Trump's biggest issues with Keir Starmer is that he didn't support America early on in the war. And Starmer earlier on was saying, it's not our war. He's kind of ended up with a bit of a compromise where he's helping a bit. So he's actually annoyed a lot of different groups because he's not leaning on one side or the other. Spain, for example, has very much gone, we're not going to help America. But it was interesting what Starmer said today, which was referencing, I can't remember the exact words, but he referenced Iraq in relation to Iran.

58:48And this is because Blair's decision to support Bush with Iraq was seen as a massive British failure based on wrong evidence. And he's basically saying, I view the situation in the same way. I don't want Iran to be my Iraq. Yeah, it was probably a slam at Tony Blair more than anybody else, but certainly not friendly fire to the U.S. Max Foster, stay close, stay with us. We're going to have much more live from the British Embassy in moments as King Charles embarks on this very important high stakes diplomatic trip. But the British Foreign Secretary is going to join me live on set for an exclusive interview.

59:21Don't go anywhere.

59:36And we're back with our breaking news and our world lead. King Charles and Queen Camilla are just a few feet away from us here. They're attending a formal garden party right here at the British ambassador's residence. The diplomatic stakes could not be higher. Lots of tension between the U.S. and U.K. these days. President Trump has said the state of the so-called special relationship is not good. Mainly, he says, because the U.K. is not fighting Iran alongside the U.S. He's called Prime Minister Keir Starmer a loser. Joining me now for an exclusive interview is the British Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, Secretary Cooper.

1:00:10Good afternoon. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for being here. I don't think I'm breaking any news to you when I tell you that there are senior political figures in the UK who didn't think the king should go through with this visit for any number of reasons, including the personal insults that the president has been throwing at the prime minister. You asked the king to not heed that advice. You wanted him to come. Why? Yeah, look, this is really important to his majesty the king, but it's really important to the UK. It's really important, I think, for our relationship, the UK-US relationship.

1:00:42We're here because this is the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. And it is, I think, really symbolic of the strength of our relationship through very, very many generations that we want in the U.K. to celebrate a 250th anniversary of what was effectively our defeat. But we still think this is something that is a celebration. Is it weird at all that you're celebrating 250 years since we beat you? Yeah, I know, exactly. But that in itself, that, I think, really shows the strength and the richness of the U.S.-U.K. relationship that goes back through so many generations. And, you know, whether it's on trade, on security, but also those people-to-people links.

1:01:26I first came. I have a sneeze coming. You see, this is the downside of having a... So much pollen in the air. There is so much pollen. Okay, I'm sorry. Beautiful, beautiful pollen. The cameraman was not on me. Good work. Keep going. Sorry. You're right. So the pollen is high, but it is beautiful here. You have to say it's gorgeous. No, it's gorgeous. This is some of the best real estate in the United States, much less DC. So Trump has lashed out on everything from the failure of the UK to fight the Iran war. I know you're contributing in other ways, airspace and bases, but also North Sea oil drilling, the tariffs.

1:02:03There was a lot of tension in the tariffs. how did the special relationship get this bad? It's not as bad as it was in 1812 when you were torching our White House, but it's not good. Can it be repaired? So what I figure is, of course, when you've got a strong relationship, the depth, richness of the one that we have, going back so many years, of course there are always going to be things that we disagree about and things that we agree about. There will be things where we take different views, but also things where we work immensely closely together. And the first time that I came to have visits, for example, with the NSA or the CIA and to see the work of the Pentagon, some of that joint working on security and intelligence between our countries was more than 25 years ago.

1:02:50As a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee then, I could see how closely we're working. Is it still that close? Five Eyes? Five Eyes, for people who don't know, it's the UK and New Zealand and Australia and Canada and the United States, intelligence agencies all working together. Is that as close now as it ever has been? So I think that the security intelligence cooperation, that five eyes work, the way in which we share intelligence, I would say it has got stronger and got deeper in the 25 years since I first had meetings on this. And that's partly because we have the shared technology and the interaction, but also the work between teams, between people.

1:03:27And that I think really in the end is what this visit comes down to. It's why it's important for His Majesty the King is because it's those people to people links that are so deep and also have so many consequences for our security, for our shared security, for our economy. There's two and a half million jobs that are dependent on the trade between our two countries because that trade has been so longstanding, but also so important for the future as well. Do you understand why President Trump is so frustrated with Keir Starmer and with Europe for not doing more to help defeat a regime that everybody in Europe, all the leaders in Europe opposed, did not want to get a nuclear weapon?

1:04:10You guys were arguably more in the line of fire than we here in the United States, just in terms of their missile technology. I'm not saying I'm agreeing with him, but do you understand why he is frustrated? So we took a different view on the start of the conflict. But look, we will work to make sure that we can work together to bring it to a close and to support the negotiations that have been taking place and also to make sure that we have the pressure on Iran to stop them trying to hold hostage the global economy with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. We need the Strait of Hormuz open again.

1:04:42We need freedom of navigation. That's a strong UK principle. So there are things we can work together on. But we did take a different view on the start of the conflict. But the fact that we have such a deep, longstanding relationship means that actually there are things that throughout our history, going back for 250 years, there are things, of course, that we have disagreed on. But there's also, I think, that shared respect, that understanding and also the intelligence cooperation, those deep links as well. Prime Minister Starmer said something really interesting earlier today. I'm sure you saw it.

1:05:14And he was basically, I'm going to paraphrase, but it was basically, we're not going to follow the United States into a war that's not in our best interests, even if previous prime ministers did that. Kind of a slap at Tony Blair and the war in Iraq. Is that also part of what's going on here? Kind of that the regret that so many Britons feel about participation in the Iraq war, which never would have happened if President Bush hadn't asked Tony Blair for help. Certainly, you always, I think, have to learn lessons from history. And, you know, that's a long history, goes through many different iterations.

1:05:49So there's the areas where we have worked immensely closely together. For example, after 9-11, and one of the things that His Majesty will be doing this week is paying tributes to the lives lost in 9-11. That was the time when the, it was the only time that Article 5 of NATO has been exercised. And the UK stood with the US in that time of need. And it was immensely important. It's the only time the Article 5 has been triggered. So you have that shared history, but we also have areas that we disagree on. And ultimately, in the end, look, the job for the US president is to make decisions based on what he thinks is in the interests of the US.

1:06:28The job of the UK Prime Minister is to make decisions based on what is in the interests of the UK. So of course, they have different responsibilities. That's the right thing for a UK Prime Minister to focus on the UK interests and the UK history as well. What is the job of the king since he is going to be not only meeting with President Trump many times, he's already met once. I don't know if there's anything about that meeting you want to tell us about, but also he's going to be speaking to Congress. I mean, he's going to be delivering a big speech. I'm told he's going to be talking about the importance of NATO in that speech.

1:07:03What does King Charles need to do? I know that the The roles are different. He's not here to make treaties or agreements, but the stakes are very high. The king, His Majesty the King, is our head of state, and he's above politics. He is not involved in that. Political decisions, policy decisions, but what he does is he really embodies so much of what we feel is important about our country, and those are the things he will be talking about to the president. They have, as you said, they've already had tea together this afternoon. They'll be meeting again tomorrow. And of course, the state banquet in the evening.

1:07:42And the king will be making an address to Congress. That is a historic moment for us. That's really important. Hugely looking forward to that as well. And I think he will talk about that shared history, but also the opportunities for the future. And really the way in which our country is recognising our history, but also looking forward to the future. the shared challenges we face at a time of such global instability, the shared future, the economic cooperation, the trade, how we respond to the challenges and opportunities from new technology. We have a lot of cooperation across our countries on some of those issues as well.

1:08:20But the, you know, His Majesty, I think this is, I think his 20th visit to the United States. Yeah, we've heard different numbers, 1920. Yeah, I'm not even going to... secret ones. So it makes it a Royals expert told us it was 24. But OK, I am not going to pretend to be an expert as I am. So the king was telling me on the plane just before we landed that he was recalling having been here, I think, and stayed in the White House during President Nixon's time as well. So I mean, huge long commitments. One of the Nixon. Now you're asking me. Did I make that up? OK, don't know. And even if I did, it would be hugely undiplomatic.

1:08:59You did not tell me. You did not tell me. You did not tell me. Madam Secretary, thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate it. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. We're going to have much more from the British Embassy in a moment. So I'm going to be joined live by the Deputy Ambassador, who also used to work for the late Queen Elizabeth II. What does he think about the tensions between the U.S. and U.K. right now? Stick with us.

1:09:27Welcome back to The Lead. We're live at the British ambassador's residence where King Charles and Queen Camilla are attending a formal garden party with President Trump and the First Lady nearby. As part of a high stakes diplomatic state visit to the United States, the King will attempt to use royal diplomacy to help steady a strained U.S.-U.K. relationship. President Trump and the First Lady are not here on site, of course. They visited with him at the White House earlier today. but a lot of dignitaries from the Trump administration. You see Stephen Miller there, but also Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, Commerce Secretary Lutnik, others are here.

1:10:05Let's talk about this visit with James Roscoe, the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks, man. We appreciate it. So things are tense between Keir Starmer, the prime minister, and Donald Trump, the president, right now. How much can a king who is supposedly above politics, how much can he actually help with the relationship? I think the king can help enormously. He is a constitutional ceremonial figure in the UK, but he is above politics. And in many ways, he transcends politics. And right now, the US is celebrating 250 years of its incredible history.

1:10:44It started off a bit rocky between us, but we've developed into the most important relationship over these last 250 years. And I think what the king can do is he can draw out those things that really pull us together. So our incredible defense relationship, he'll go to Arlington, he'll go to 9-11 and mark, you know, both the British and American victims of that. And he'll celebrate the economic ties. $1.3 trillion invested between our two economies,$340 billion a year in trade. These are the things that bind the U.K. and the U.S. together. Yeah. As the foreign secretary just said, there are very different opinions right now when it comes to the Iran war.

1:11:27Can King Charles and his charm offensive and his diplomacy and his talk of things that unite us transcend what is right now a very intense resentment from President Trump? I mean, I think the president and the king have a great relationship. I don't think the King is here to talk about politics, but the King is here to remind the President of the incredible things that do bind our two countries together. The incredible history that he represents, the history that the President represents in some ways through his mother. And those things about the UK that the President loves and has huge affection for, our shared values, our shared constitutional history, our shared legal basis.

1:12:08The king reminds the president, I think, of that really deep relationship and of the connective tissue between our two countries. And that's what he'll do. You were for years communications secretary to Queen Elizabeth II. What does the behind the scenes preparation for a visit like this look like? It must be unfathomably intense. It is intense. And, you know, both the queen and now the king want to come on these visits and make the most of them. They want to get out and meet people, particularly this king. He wants to get into this garden and talk to people and hear from them and understand why this relationship matters to them.

1:12:43So behind the scenes, making sure he's as well briefed as he can be is a really important thing. Who are you meeting? What's a good line of conversation with them? Just so he feels completely prepped and that can be as natural as possible. Queen Elizabeth often used soft power. That's what it's called. Charm. Diplomatic charm is the translation of that to smooth ties when politicians couldn't. And we heard about her doing so after the tension between the U.S. and the U.K. during the Suez crisis when Eisenhower was president. How does that charm, how does that soft power work, whether with your former boss, Queen Elizabeth, or with King Charles?

1:13:24I mean, remember when the Queen came to the throne, she was only 25 years old. And the King has come to the throne at 73 years old. So a little bit more prepared. A little bit more prepared, certainly more steeped in the politics, but also he's been able to shape his own thinking about what he cares about and what he wants to talk about. The Queen was so young at 25 and was thrown into the front line of politics in the most extraordinary way. But she had that innate ability to connect with people because she cared about what they had to say. And that's the soft power. What do you think the King personally is hoping to achieve with this visit beyond, let's say, you know, better relations between the U.S.

1:14:03and U.K.? Like, what is he? I know he's been to, first of all, I don't even know how many times he's been to this country because nobody can agree. It's either 19, 20. I heard 24, if you include some secret visits. Has that even been figured out yet? We try not to figure the stats out. We also had a question about King Charles's relationship with King George II, the one that we went to war with 250 years ago. I think it's five greats. Yes. Great, great, great, great, great grandfather. Is that your understanding? It's five generations. Okay. Five generations. Anyway, what do you think he's personally hoping to achieve?

1:14:38I think the king wants to come and celebrate America 250. This country is the most extraordinary experiment. And in some ways, you know, we had a similar route and we parted company and went in different directions in how we want to govern ourselves and how we want to allow our countries to develop. But at the same time, so much still unites us. I think what the king wants to do is remind people of those incredible things that unite us. I mean, specifically what we fought was because we didn't want any more kings. What's extraordinary though is if you look at the history, there were plenty of people in the UK at the time who agreed with the revolutionaries in America.

1:15:16And of course, there were plenty of people in America who had agreed with the British government back in London. A lot of my ancestors were those guys. And that's the interesting thing, right? Ultimately, people will find a way to move forward. And we got through the early part of the 19th century. And since then, we've built this incredible relationship. Yeah. All right. James Roscoe, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Our coverage continues next as we broadcast live and exclusively from the British Embassy in D.C. here, where King Charles and Queen Camilla are right behind me, socializing with guests at a garden party.

1:15:47But the High Stakes Diplomatic Commission picks up steam tomorrow as the royals head to the White House and King Charles gives a speech before Congress. Stick with us.

1:16:07Welcome back to our live coverage of King Charles and Queen Camilla's high-stakes state visit to the United States. We're live and exclusive at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., where the royals are attending a formal garden party with many distinguished guests being thrown for them by the British ambassador. We're told that Camilla has gone inside, but the king is still out there socializing. One of the fancy guests here joins me now. She's Esme Morgan, and she's the center back for the England women's national football team. But she also, for Americans, she also plays for the Washington Spirit, what we call soccer.

1:16:46So what's it like to have the worlds converging, given the king and queen here in D.C., a town where you also play professional? Surreal. It's really special. Like I was saying before, I felt a bit emotional when the national anthem began and they were just kind of stood there. because obviously the royal family means so much to us back home and so yeah it's surreal being over here in america and having them here too and such a special occasion sort of celebrating the relationship between the us and the uk england has won all four matches in the 2027 fifa world cup qualifiers as i'm sure you know um you're top of your group with a perfect record what's the mood on the team is it just like ebullience or are you like don't jinx it don't jinx it I think there's a lot of confidence.

1:17:31We've been performing well and got a good result in the most recent camp against Spain, who are obviously the world champions. So there's a lot of confidence that we're in a good place coming into the last two qualifying games. But, yeah, we are a bit superstitious sometimes. And, like, don't say too much. The job's not done yet. Sort of feet on the floor and make sure we concentrate, ready for the last couple of games. Well, you'll have to come on after you win, knock on wood, because we cover a lot of women's athletics on my show. Did you just meet King Charles? I did, yeah. Was it the first time?

1:18:01Yeah, it was the first time. Tell me about it. I've met Prince William before, and he's lovely, so I thought his dad must be lovely too. It was a surprise, to be honest, because I only got told that I was going to meet Her Majesty the Queen, so then when I got to meet King Charles as well, my legs started to shake. I was like, oh my gosh, yeah. Oh, wow. Because it's just surreal. The royal family, as I say, is so important in Britain, and to be able to meet the two most important members of it It was just, yeah, a real shock. Did he say anything to you? Yeah, I kind of like said, it's lovely to meet you.

1:18:35I'm one of England's lionesses. And he was like, oh, you're very successful. I said, oh, thanks. But he was so sort of relaxed and funny and engaging. There was an impressionist in our group. That friend, right? Yeah. And he started to do his impression of Charles. And he was like, I'm working on my impression of you. And Charles said, keep working on it. so that sort of comedic moment i was just like he's just a normal person dry british yeah really working on it i can see um are you going to any of the other events surrounding the state visit i am not no this is my my one and done but i'll be keeping keeping an eye on it maybe i'll tune into cnn to see what else they're up to please do please do it was so lovely having you here thank you so much thank you for being oh well let me my team wants me to ask you how you're preparing for the next matches?

1:19:26Oh, just usual training schedule. We train out in Leesburg. So, yeah, looking forward to it. We're playing against Louisville on Wednesday. So hopefully we'll win that one. Alright, good luck to you. Thank you so much. We're going to have much more from the British Embassy live in moments as King Charles is right behind us greeting the crowds at a garden party before his meetings with President Trump and his address to Congress tomorrow. Stick with us. We'll be right back.

1:20:03Moments ago here at the British Embassy, these images just in. There is King Charles, Queen Camilla, with the British ambassador to the U.S., Sir Christian Turner, and his wife, Lady Claire Turner, who are hosts of this magnificent garden party. This state visit is a high-stakes diplomatic opportunity for the king to repair a fractured U.S.-U.K. relationship. and let's bring in the man himself. No, not the king, but the ambassador. Sir Turner, thank you so much for being here. Jake, great to be joining you. Thank you for letting us do this. Well, this is the relationship at its best. This is the special relationship.

1:20:37The special Jake-Christian relationship. So I have just bid farewell to their majesties at the end of this wonderful event, and it's great to have you here. So it's great to be here. It's beautiful. So before they came here, the king and the queen went to the White House. We met with the president and the first lady. We saw some pictures. We saw them greeting. It looked very warm. Is there anything you can tell us about that meeting? Well, you know, these are private moments. And at the minute, what you're seeing is that so much diplomacy and so much of politics is actually personal. It's that close and intimate relationship, the respect the two principals have for one another.

1:21:12Of course, that goes back to the king's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth. I don't know whether your viewers will know, but the president has a portrait, the last portrait painted of Queen Elizabeth hanging in Mar-a-Lago. So that sense of affection, that history that goes back to the first state visit in 1939. The late Queen had four state visits. This is King Charles' 20th time in the United States. So actually it's very important at these moments to let the four of them just have a moment together. We'll have a lot of state pageantry tomorrow, the joint address to Congress, This wonderful garden party with 600 or so guests who've kindly joined us here.

1:21:51But for the two of them, the four of them, it was just a private moment together for some tea. And then they were shown the White House beehive. I'm happy to say the bees appeared reasonably subdued. I kept my distance at this point, but it was a very nice moment. So there is work to be done to repair the relationship, obviously. How much work can a king who's supposed to transcend politics and be above politics, how much work can he even do, given that the beef really seems to be President Trump's disagreeing with Prime Minister Starmer's decision to not directly go to war against Iran with the U.S.

1:22:32and Israel? So let me say two things, Jake. First of all, is that actually the relationship between our two countries, it's very wide and deep. And there are multiple touch points all the time. So although there clearly has been a disagreement between the two governments about that decision prior to the conflict, there's been a huge amount of cooperation since on the Iran war itself with British bases being used for defensive strikes. We've had over 2 ,000 sorties from British jets flying in the Middle East and intelligence cooperation. So what I see every day is deep cooperation, trade discussions, tech cooperation.

1:23:09What are those 2 ,000 sorties about? Just other parts of the... No, they're defending the skies, defending the response against Iranian incoming fire. So that is... Defending the Gulf countries and Israel. The Gulf countries, allies, Israel. That's more jets in the air for the UK than we've had for 15 years. So to say we've not been part of this defensively is not correct. And then I'd also say, second, that our two countries have long had moments where there are different approaches to international issues. To have a state visit in the middle of a complex situation is not unusual, actually. It's probably the norm.

1:23:44George VI visiting on the eve of the Second World War in 1939. I could think of Churchill and Roosevelt disagreeing over how to handle Stalin. I could think of... Queen Elizabeth coming to talk to Eisenhower during the Suez Crisis. Exactly, the Suez Crisis. Or even actually Thatcher and Reagan, very close colleagues, big disagreement over Granada. So it doesn't actually feel unusual that we would have this. And as you say, the king is above that. And it's exactly why it's a moment to remind ourselves that this relationship is deep. It will endure. It's between two peoples. And in our 250th year, it's exactly right to be celebrating it.

1:24:21So Iran's foreign minister met with Putin earlier today. This meeting obviously coming after these peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. They have failed to materialize. The German chancellor today said the U.S. is, quote, being humiliated by Iran. How do you see this conflict playing out? How do you see it ending the US and Iran? Yeah, well, you know judge a country by the company it keeps I I think we are all very very resolved on two things first that we cannot allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon We must fight to constrain the the terror the threat it is exported this after all is a regime that killed 20 perhaps up to 30 ,000 people in three nights.

1:25:02We all share that resolve Second is we've got to find a way to end this conflict, to open the Straits of Hormuz. The president has blockaded it to put more pressure on. And as I say, the UK has been a central part of that conversation. And I really hope we can get those negotiations that the vice president started back on track so we can open up the straits, get trade flowing in a way that helps all of our economies. Is there anything in the 45 seconds we have left, is there anything you can tell us from your private moments with the king and queen that might interest our viewers. Well, Jake, as you're learning, I'm quite a talkative ambassador, but some things should rightly be kept private.

1:25:40It's something that he said that you thought was enjoyable and will be charming to our viewers. We have viewers all around the world, of course. Well, actually, His Majesty, I think raised an eyebrow at me for the rather fulsome way in which I sang the national anthem. So that was a moment for me. But it was lovely to see everyone enjoying themselves. And I know the hospitality, the fanfare, But those small people moments in the next three days are what we're going to really celebrate and cherish for years to come. Mr. Ambassador, thank you so much for everything. Thank you so much for this wonderful spread in the hospitality.

1:26:10Aaron Burnett Out Front starts right now.

1:26:21I'm Daniel Dae Kim. I'm going to South Korea to figure out how this small nation conquered the world with its culture. Join me and meet the artists and creators behind the phenomenon. K-Everything, streaming May 9th on the CNN app. Influential journalist Kara Swisher is taking a hard look at the longevity industry. There's so much bad information that the really good information gets drowned. The new CNN original series, Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever, now streaming on the CNN app.