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Leo XIV Gives First Sit-Down Interview Since Becoming Pontiff; Markets Mixed After Fed's First Rate Cut Since December; President Donald Trump Arrives At Chequers. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired September 18, 2025 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:30:20]
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Pope Leo XIV has given his first sit-down interview since becoming pontiff. He spoke with a senior correspondent of the Catholic news site Crux about some of the most controversial issues facing the church. They include anything from accepting LGBTQ Catholics and the leadership roles for women to U.S. President Donald Trump, the war in Gaza, and even artificial intelligence.
For more on this interview, Christopher Lamb joins us from London. And Christopher, the Pope, in this interview, talked about his relationship with President Trump. What can you tell us?
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well Brian, that's right. Pope Leo saying that he's not actually had any direct contact with President Trump, but he will, when he has the chance, engage with the president and wants to support his peace efforts.
But he also pointed out that his brother, Louis Prevost, has, of course, been to the White House. Pope Leo noting that and saying that President Trump thinks his brother is a nice guy.
Pope Leo saying essentially that, you know, he will engage with the president but it's up to the church in the United States to take the lead on that.
He did significantly reference a letter that Pope Francis had sent to the U.S. bishops where he rebuked the Trump administration on its immigration deportation plans. Leo saying that was very significant. So suggesting there -- hinting that he is concerned about that. But he really refrained from direct criticism of President Trump.
And the whole tenor of this interview is that Leo doesn't want to fuel any kind of polarization, whether that's within the Catholic Church or outside. He really wants to be a unifier.
When it comes to questions such as LGBTQ Catholics and the role of women, he's saying that he's going to continue in the line broadly of Pope Francis but perhaps be more cautious, be more consolidating. I think that's what we've seen from Leo so far that he is certainly in line with Francis, but he's got his own style. He's more low-key. He wants to bring people together. Of course, some of Pope Francis' reforms were controversial. They were
resisted inside the church. And I think Leo is very concerned and hoping to try and heal any kind of rifts or disagreements.
He did speak out very strongly on artificial intelligence, saying that he is concerned about some of the developments there. He even said that someone had proposed that there be an avatar pope who could have a private audience with people and answer their questions. Leo said he refused to authorize that idea in the Vatican.
But he's certainly keen to engage with all these kinds of issues but he is someone who is quite cautious. He's careful, he's process- orientated, and that comes across very strongly in this interview.
ABEL: All right, Christopher Lamb. We look forward to getting more of your read on this interview in the future. Christopher, thank you.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announcing its first interest rate cut in months. How this could impact the wallet of Americans and also the global economy. That's next.
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[05:38:22]
ABEL: The U.S. stock market closed in mixed territory on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve made its first interest rate cut since December. The central bank lowered its benchmark lending rate by a quarter-point to support the job market.
And CNN's Richard Quest has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: The fact that the Federal Reserve cut interest rates was not a surprise. It was one of the worst kept secrets that they were planning to do this because they'd telegraphed it so much in recent weeks.
What is interesting is the way in which they have portrayed what the chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell, called managing risk. On the one hand, higher inflation. On the other, higher unemployment and job creation difficulties. The Fed has to balance those two and give priority to that which is important and more crucial at the moment. And so it's jobs that got the attention and interest rates were cut.
So far, so good. But then you get to the dissent. The arrival of Stephen Miran, the -- President Trump's former chief economic adviser who is now a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. He was voted in on Monday and this was his first meeting. Stephen Miran made it clear he would have cut rates by a half a percentage point, and that's now led to accusations that more politics has been introduced to the work of the Fed.
The Fed has always liked to think of itself as being above politics, doing what is right for the U.S. economy. The arrival of Mr. Miran and his latest vote suggest times are a changing.
Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[05:40:10]
ABEL: And we have live pictures right now from England where the U.S. first lady Melania Trump and Queen Camilla are meeting. And let's go back to Max Foster now to learn more about what's next for these two.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: So President Trump has flown off for his political meetings with the prime minister, but Melania Trump has actually stayed at the castle and she's getting a tour from the queen. So this is the library -- the royal library at Windsor Castle and not like a sort of library any of the rest of us would have. This -- these are -- actually, these very grand rooms which are converted from former state apartments. But they're pulling out key parts of the collection to show Melania Trump.
And Camilla has been very ill recently, and she was struggling yesterday, but she's up and running today, which is good news.
And we're going to have another event after this with the Princess of Wales as well, so we'll see Melania being treated to an event outdoors. I can tell you more about that when we start seeing it.
But these rooms are pretty extraordinary. And I think certainly for the international audience a lot of what you've seen over the last couple of days really speaks to what many people think of the British and British history about this very grand castle and all the pomp and pageantry that comes around it.
And then these big archives where they can basically pull something out from, you know, the last 1,000 years. I mean, this castle was built 1,000 years ago. It's as old as the monarchy and they have these extraordinary archives, much of which they haven't -- much of which they haven't even gone through yet. They don't even know what's there. But what they do know is there is being shown to the first lady.
So let's try to listen in to see if there's any sound on this.
MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Do you want to tell me what you're doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
CHILD: It's a story about the (INAUDIBLE).
M. TRUMP: Oh, it's so nice.
CHILD: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
M. TRUMP: You're a very small writing so you could put all of the story inside that small book.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
M. TRUMP: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So they're trying to fit them like a miniature.
M. TRUMP: Yes, I just saw.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's been a lot of practice.
CHILD: So maybe --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were practicing yesterday but they kept running outside.
M. TRUMP: Oh, yes. That was very exciting, wasn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They all do.
M. TRUMP: So much was happening outside.
CHILD: And then they (INAUDIBLE).
M. TRUMP: And what do you do? Do you do all of the same stories? So you come up with the story?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Different stories. Coming up with different ideas of what a fox could do.
M. TRUMP: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know.
M. TRUMP: And then do you read it to each other? You have the class and read to each other?
CHILD: (INAUDIBLE).
M. TRUMP: And you get to pick through the pictures?
CHILD: (INAUDIBLE).
M. TRUMP: Pictures as well? This is beautiful.
FOSTER: Um, so one of the queen's big causes has always been child literacy and she's been involved in lots of projects trying to encourage children to read more. And I think that is clearly what she's trying to reflect in this moment. So working with young children in a library and showing the first lady, who has also expressed a -- you know, a broad interest as well, hasn't she, in children's welfare. So they're finding an issue to connect with here.
And the media has been kicked out of the room.
There was actually another part of this visit which was going to see the dolls' house, which is meant to be the biggest, most complete, the most famous dolls' house in the world. It is quite an extraordinary thing to see and it's one that young monarchs have played with over the years. But it's behind this big, glass wall. But we weren't allowed to see that.
So there's been some toing and froing on the media. I know the first lady's team can be quite restrictive and perhaps there's some choices about when she wants to be seen. But I think she's genuinely trying to find out more about the castle and more about the monarchy. And it's interesting to see her and Camilla connect there.
And next time we see here we will see her with the Princess of Wales outdoors with scouts. We'll bring it to you.
ABEL: All right, Max Foster. Appreciate you. Thank you.
We'll have much more ahead from Windsor after a quick break.
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[05:49:10]
FOSTER: Yeah. Well, this is into the political part of their trip, isn't it? So the pomp and pageantry is over and, I mean, for want of a better phrase, Donald Trump has been warmed up by the royal family. And the point of it is to go into these meetings -- and now Keir Starmer desperately needs a win. It will be embarrassing if he doesn't. But what's he going to get from the president?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: No, absolutely. I mean, we know they're going to have this bilateral meeting. They're going to then have this joint press conference.
The goal of today, from all my conversations with people at the White House, is, of course, investments. That is the thing that the president wants to walk away from every single foreign trip with more investments in the U.S.
We know a lot of technology deals are also going to be discussed. That's why you saw Tim Cook, Sam Altman, Larry Fink -- all of them at that dinner last night. So that's going to be a big part of this.
[05:50:00]
But I do think -- look, I think -- we've discussed this a lot yesterday -- the whole point of the pomp and pageantry yesterday -- a big part of it, at least, was to try and kind of sweeten the president up so he heads into these talks with a clear mind and no question that he feels the strong alliance between the two countries.
And, I mean, you saw him when he was exiting -- when he was leaving Windsor Castle he said -- you know, he looked at King Charles and he said he's a great man. He's a great king. All of that is exactly what I think the place that they want him as he's heading into this. They want to make sure --
FOSTER: Yeah.
TREENE: -- he has the clearest mindset for these talks.
FOSTER: He's just landed at Chequers, which is our version of Camp David. It's the -- it's the -- it's the prime minister's country retreat. And they have an extraordinary collection there of Churchill documents and items, and I know that the president is a big fan and they're going to lean into that in a big way. They're going to give him a tour of all the most special items, and I think he'll find that fascinating.
TREENE: Oh, absolutely. I mean -- and you saw that a lot yesterday -- so much of this. He is obsessed with the history. He's obsessed with the big figures, particularly as it relates to England. Some of it goes back to his mother who is of -- you know, from Scotland -- who was from Scotland herself. But that just adds to all of the allure I think for the president.
But look, this is going to also still be -- despite everyone saying yesterday went perfect for the U.K. --
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: -- today will be a big test. One, obviously the president is not very popular in the U.K. Starmer, I would argue, --
FOSTER: Is weak.
TREENE: -- is not as -- is almost just as unpopular.
FOSTER: And he'll be even weaker if he doesn't get anything from this.
TREENE: Right. And there's a lot of other things -- key things that they need to discuss -- Ukraine and Russia, the war between Israel and Gaza. All of that also weighing on this.
FOSTER: Yeah.
TREENE: It's not just, you know, seeing all these tech billionaires throwing money at them. There's a lot of hard policy things that need to be hashed out.
FOSTER: A bit more pomp and pageantry laid on for the president here. It doesn't need to be done but they're trying to add it on there, Alyana, to any sort of moment they can. So you've got Chequers, the country mansion for the prime minister. And they've brought the military in and the flags.
The president is Marine One and he's about to step off onto the Beast, which they got over to -- got over there pretty quick time, didn't they -- the Beast.
TREENE: Very quick, yeah. It's always fascinating for me as someone who is at the White House every day.
FOSTER: Is there two, by the way, because he drove to the Marine One in Windsor --
TREENE: Um-hum.
FOSTER: -- and there's another one there.
TREENE: Yeah. Well -- so technically, any car that the president is in is the Beast.
FOSTER: OK.
TREENE: That's what they refer to it as. So I wouldn't be surprised if they had two. It's the same with the helicopters.
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: Any helicopter, even if it wasn't the typical one that we're looking at right now --
FOSTER: Hmm.
TREENE: -- if he's on it it's considered Marine One. But it is fascinating to see how they are able to get all of this overseas as well.
FOSTER: Unbelievable.
TREENE: Yeah. We're watching him come out of the Marine One now.
FOSTER: And yeah, he's heading to the Beast. A very short drive up the driveway to the entrance and he'll be welcomed by Keir Starmer. And Keir Starmer -- I think that the meeting -- the substantive meeting -- this is a business meeting isn't there, as well -- substantive meeting currently is looking about an hour long.
Is that a decent amount of time to get something done?
TREENE: Yes. But also, I'm not sure how it normally is in the -- with the prime minister for -- time is a concept to Donald Trump --
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: -- and whenever --
FOSTER: OK.
TREENE: -- we see these meetings between foreign leaders, if he wants this to go longer it will go longer and they will make sure that time is added for the schedule. If he needs to depart the U.K. later, they'll do that to make sure that there is enough time for them to have these talks.
FOSTER: The security has been absolutely incredible, hasn't it, throughout this whole trip. Is that a reflection, do you think, in part to the Kirk murder?
TREENE: Partly. I mean, I don't think when it relates to this there's always a ton of security --
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: -- around the president, particularly on foreign trips. But --
FOSTER: But literally no access for the public?
TREENE: Well, we will have some access -- oh, well, you mean all the protesters and civilians. I mean, I'm not totally surprised, to be honest, that they're doing that. I think part of that is by design because of all the protests and wanting to make sure that the president is insulated from that -- isn't seeing that.
But, I mean, I think there is also no question that they have totally upped security in light of Charlie Kirk's death. We've seen that in D.C. with the events he's going to. He's actually going to Charlie Kirk's funeral --
FOSTER: Yes, on Sunday.
TREENE: -- this weekend, on Sunday, where he's expected to speak. There is going to be a much bigger presence there and what we've seen throughout really than there had been before. But I'm not sure if it's totally tied to this. I think whenever there's a foreign trip I know Secret Service -- they go full bore.
FOSTER: Yeah. It's just the previous trips there has been some sort of element of going out onto the streets, but we haven't had that at all.
In terms of freedom of speech it was interesting. He didn't mention it last night. He actually thanked the U.K. for --
TREENE: Um-hum.
FOSTER: -- bringing it to America. So that was an interesting mention.
We're expecting him, potentially, to do some interviews as well but nothing has been confirmed.
Do you think it's going to come up in meetings here in some sort of way? There's certainly a press conference and that there will be some restrictions there presumably.
[05:55:00]
TREENE: I wouldn't be surprised, particularly as it relates to Charlie Kirk.
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: I think that he'll want to discuss the strength of the First Amendment in the United States and wanting to ensure that he brings up Charlie Kirk. I think a lot of people, of course, many of whom are with the president on this trip, were very close to him. And so they're trying to make that point as much as they can this week. And, of course, I think that's one of the things that's been so striking about this entire trip overall, particularly all of the events with the royals yesterday. There are so many pressing domestic issues --
FOSTER: Yeah.
TREENE: -- back home in the United States that he's kind of left behind. I'm curious to see how much of it he brings up, including the Jimmy Kimmel -- it was amazing to me that at 1:30 a.m. here, U.K. time, he's posting about Jimmy Kimmel.
FOSTER: From the royal suite.
TREENE: Right, exactly -- while being inside Windsor Castle. Really, the only kind of comment we heard from him, which is very different actually from his first trip.
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: He was posting a lot back in 2019.
FOSTER: Let's listen in and see what we can hear.
(Trump greeting Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife).
REPORTER: Mr. President, how was your night at the castle?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was very nice, thank you.
FOSTER: He's going to go home from the U.K., I have to say, with bagpipes ringing in his hears.
TREENE: Yeah.
FOSTER: Every five minutes we're hearing them.
TREENE: He loves the bagpipes though.
FOSTER: Well, you know, they remind him of --
TREENE: Um-hum.
FOSTER: They frankly -- this is a messaging process. You know, you are Scottish.
TREENE: Um-hum.
FOSTER: This is home.
TREENE: I mean, it is. That was to me as well what was so striking about some of the speeches last night. I know a lot of people saying wow, his speech was so complimentary of the royals. There was so much flattery. But that's exactly I think what they need because the alliance which used to be between the United Kingdom and the U.S. so unquestionable and unshakable. It has become so much more questionable because of the president with what we've seen with tariffs.
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: I mean, he has thrown a wrench into a lot of the order, I would argue --
FOSTER: Um-hum.
TREENE: -- of post-World War II. He's kind of scrambled it.
And so I think that's such an important point through all of this and I'm very curious to see if it carries through in these talks today.
FOSTER: Well, it's so interesting because they've really -- they've solidified the emotional bond for the president. But when it comes to negotiation, he is a tough negotiator and it's all about wins for him.
TREENE: Um-hum.
FOSTER: I'm just wondering what the U.K. can offer him. I mean, in terms of investment it's not going to be big numbers.
TREENE: No, absolutely. That was the whole thing about this trip. I remember when I was chatting with some White House officials I was, like what do you want to get out of this?
FOSTER: Yeah.
TREENE: And as I mentioned, they always talk about investments. But really, I think it was -- he was excited to come for all the events yesterday. For the state visit. For the pageantry. Today is kind of just an add-on I think --
FOSTER: Yeah.
TREENE: -- in a lot of their minds.
You're right, though. I think so many of the reporting that we have is that there's a lot being offered to the U.K.
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: Not very clear what's being offered --
FOSTER: But maybe that he's happy to do that off the back --
TREENE: Um-hum.
FOSTER: -- of the state visit.
TREENE: I think so. And what also has been striking -- despite the completely different politics that Starmer and Trump have --
FOSTER: Hmm.
TREENE: -- the president really likes him. You can see it every time they meet. They've met many times now during the president's second term. There is a warmth. He likes Starmer --
FOSTER: Yes.
TREENE: -- even though he recognizes that Starmer is much more liberal than he is on a lot of key policy issues. So I think that plays into it.
FOSTER: So the business part of this state visit has begun. The president has gone into the prime minister's country residence for some negotiation. It won't be hard negotiation; it will be soft negotiation. It is -- you know, you've had this great state visit. What -- where can we find some common ground on trade, Ukraine, NATO.
Any other issues you think that they could work together on or --
TREENE: Israel --
FOSTER: Yeah.
TREENE: -- and Gaza, for sure. Um, I don't know. I mean, I do think -- like you mentioned, I can see free speech and all of that coming up.
FOSTER: Yeah.
TREENE: I'm not really sure if they can work together on it but --
FOSTER: And how is he going to respond at the press conference to, you know, the British political correspondents particularly? You've seen how they operate. They like to prod people --
TREENE: Um-hum.
FOSTER: -- and they -- you know, they're going to deliberately be expressing their freedom of speech.
Is that going to be awkward if the president gets some awkward questions?
TREENE: I don't think so. What will be awkward --
FOSTER: Yeah.
TREENE: -- is if he's pressed on Epstein -- which is, of course, another big kind of shadow that hung over this.
FOSTER: I think it's likely he'll be asked. I mean --
TREENE: Absolutely. And look, he's asked about that all the time back at the White House. I think I can already presume what he is going to say. He's going to dismiss it and say there's much more --
FOSTER: I didn't see it.
TREENE: -- important things to talk about.
FOSTER: Yeah. TREENE: I didn't see it. Everyone needs to move on.
[06:00:00]
But I'm sure there will be awkward moments not just when the British press -- definitely the U.S. press --
FOSTER: OK.
TREENE: -- since we didn't get questions yesterday.
FOSTER: Alayna, we are going to be covering every twist and turn --
TREENE: Yeah.
FOSTER: -- aren't we --
TREENE: Yes.
FOSTER: -- so do stay with us.
We've also got some fun pictures, Brian, coming up as well. We have -- the Princess of Wales is taking Melania Trump out into the great outdoors here in Windsor with some child scouts.
ABEL: Oh, looking forward to that. Alyana Treene and Max Foster at Windsor for us. Thank you, guys.
And thank you all so much for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.
