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What We Know with Max Foster
Trump Tells Pentagon To Start Testing Nuclear Weapons; Trump-Xi Meeting Ends With Crucial Trade Truce; Hurricane Melissa Downgraded To A Category Two; King Charles Strips Andrew Of Titles Over Tiers To The Late Sex Offender Jeffrey Epstein; Trump Sets 7,500 Annual Limit For Refugees Entering U.S. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired October 30, 2025 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:24]
MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Donald Trump suggests the U.S. should start testing its nuclear weapons for the first time in decades.
This is WHAT WE KNOW.
Beginning then with those fears of another arms race, U.S. President Donald Trump says that after more than three decades, the United States will
resume testing its nuclear weapons on an equal basis with Russia and China. The president just landed in the U.S. after his five-day trip to Asia.
During the flight back, Mr. Trump was asked why he decided to order the Pentagon to restart nuclear testing for the first time since 1992.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It had to do with others, they seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than
anybody. We don't do testing. We've halted it years -- many years ago. But with others doing testing, I think it's appropriate that we do also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Kevin Liptak joins us now from the White House, because social media really blew up around this, Kevin, because it feels like, you know,
there's going to be a nuclear war.
I mean, what was he actually talking about here?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. And he has not clarified what exactly he's talking about. And neither has the White House
or top officials. You know, I think the big question here is whether he's talking about actually testing a nuclear warhead, which the U.S. hasn't
done since 1992, or whether he's talking about testing some of the delivery systems. You know, the missiles, which is something that the United States
does and would be considered sort of a routine practice by the U.S. military.
But if the president was interested in sort of tamping down on what people were speculating about, he didn't demonstrate it. So, this is still a
question that's kind of lingering out in the ether.
You know, I think how this all played out was pretty interesting. The president sent this message as he was aboard Marine One flying to that
airport in South Korea, where he's going to sit down with President Xi of China. Those talks were really meant to stabilize the relationship, to
avoid surprises and confrontations. So, in a lot of ways, the president upended that particular objective before the talks even began. And it has
left a lot of questions.
You know, we just heard from the Vice President, J.D. Vance. He was asked about it and said the president just wanted to make sure that the weapons
were still working. Later, he kind of returned to that and said, yes, yes. The weapons are in fact now still working. But the president just kind of
wanted to ensure it.
It seems as if the president may have taken notice last week of Russia's test of a nuclear capable cruise missile, and torpedo. Those did not
detonate any nuclear weapons. They're capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. And that seems to have been what the president was referring to
when other countries are testing. But neither Russia nor China has actually tested an explosive nuclear weapon in decades. They're abiding by the same
moratorium that the United States has.
And in fact, when you talk to nuclear engineers, they say that these tests aren't really necessary because they can simulate it all on a computer, and
that actually the testing ground that the U.S. used decades and decades ago outside of Las Vegas would take years to get ready. If the U.S. wanted to
actually do an explosive nuclear test again.
And so, what the president talking about here is not exactly clear. Just one last point that I think underscores sort of the last-minute nature of
all of this, the man that the president has nominated to be in charge of the entire nuclear arsenal was actually testifying on Capitol Hill. He also
seemed not to be aware of what exactly the president was talking about. He said he wasn't reading anything into it. That's a quote.
And presumably, if the president was prepared to change decades of practice, this person would probably have known about it. And so, I think,
you know, plenty of questions and not yet a lot of answers.
FOSTER: Okay, Kevin, thank you so much for that.
The president is hailing his Asia trip as a huge trade success, but the details and the potential impact, the economic impact of those agreements
are yet to be determined. Mr. Trump called his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping amazing and says it produced critical deals on rare earths and
soybeans between the two countries.
Ivan Watson reports from Hong Kong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: President Xi of China's coming.
I look forward to seeing him.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): After days of hype, the moment U.S. President Donald Trump was waiting for, his
landmark meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping a chance to reset the relationship between rival superpowers.
TRUMP: He's a very tough negotiator.
WATSON (voice-over): Warm words as they sat down face-to-face for the first time in six years.
TRUMP: President Xi is a great leader of a great country.
[15:05:01]
And I think we're going to have a fantastic relationship for a long period of time.
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): I always believe that China's development goes hand in hand with your vision to make America
great again.
WATSON (voice-over): The world closely watching whether these two leaders can heal the damage caused by months of a brutal trade war.
XI: We do not always see eye-to-eye with each other and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then.
WATSON (voice-over): Friction that has roiled the global economy after escalating rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs and other penalties.
Speaking on board Air Force One, before leaving South Korea, President Trump appeared confident a deal had been made.
TRUMP: Every year, we'll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time, long beyond the year.
WATSON (voice-over): Trump confirming that a range of thorny topics were on the table, including rolling back at least some of China's sweeping
export controls on rare earths, critical resources that are essential for the manufacturer of almost all high tech products, from iPhones to electric
vehicles.
Also discussed, ending the war in Ukraine, China's purchase of U.S. soybeans, a key issue for Trump's rural supporters and the global fentanyl
trade. Trump announcing he'll immediately slash fentanyl-related tariffs on China from 20 to 10 percent after his meeting with Xi.
TRUMP: I believe he's going to work very hard to stop the death that's coming in.
WATSON (voice-over): China's Commerce Ministry announced the U.S. would also halt a 24 percent reciprocal tariff on Chinese goods for a year and
suspend some export controls.
For months now, China's leader has gone toe to toe with Trump, not backing down despite punitive U.S. tariffs.
In Korea, Xi demonstrated he can negotiate with the unpredictable U.S. president to stabilize bilateral relations, even as China sprints toward
self-sufficiency from American tech.
Trump left Korea promoting a big ticket finale to a trip that's seen him ink deals across Asia.
TRUMP: I guess on the scale from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12. OK. I think it was a 12.
WATSON (voice-over): As for the Chinese leader, he released a much more restrained statement, saying his time with the U.S. president was very
pleasant.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: We've had some breaking news here in the U.K. on -- surrounding the Prince Andrew scandal. You'll be well aware of it. So, recently, he was
told he couldn't use certain titles and then more revelations came to light effectively. And Buckingham Palace has just issued a statement saying,
actually, he's going to be stripped of all of his titles. So, the king is taking away the titles, so Prince Andrew cannot use them.
Prince Andrew, according to Buckingham Palace, will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He won't even be called prince, which we were
initially told was a title that he was born with. And he's entitled to. But even that is being taken away.
His lease on Royal Lodge, which is the house that he has in Windsor, has also -- he's effectively being evicted.
I mean, Richard's joining me now. We're going to talk about this in a moment.
But he has a lease on Royal Lodge, which is his house on the Windsor Estate. And he had some legal protection for that. But formal notice has
now been served to surrender the lease, and he'll move to alternative accommodation. We're being told these censures are deemed necessary,
notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.
So, their majesties, the king and queen, want to make it clear, according to the statement, that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been and
will remain with the victims and survivors of any forms of abuse.
Richard's just joined me here.
I mean, so take us through the prince title, first of all, and then the fact -- I mean, I read it as him being evicted. He's basically being given
legal protection, which suggests that he didn't want to leave voluntarily.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: No. And I've not seen the full statement yet. I'm just looking here. So, first of all, funnily
enough, on my way in this morning, flying back from the Gulf, I was thinking, I wonder when they're going to lose his prince title. I was just
thinking it because this was the next logical step that they have to do. But it's not easy. It is easy.
But his majesty is initiating a formal process. This is different, very different to everything that's been done before. Because before, it was
always he was voluntarily going to no longer be HRH.
FOSTER: Which is cleanest way of doing it, right?
QUEST: It is. He was always going to then he was going to take away his titles.
[15:10:01]
Even recently with the duke of York, he still had it extant, but it's still in existence. This is different.
And this to me, Max, and you're more of an expert than myself. But this to me, is the king wanting to be seen to doing something from the family point
of view --
FOSTER: Yeah.
QUEST: -- from the monarchy point of view. This is not like a grubby little deal where well allow it to happen. This is the king saying no, the
monarchy is going to do something here.
FOSTER: What it says to me is that they're in negotiations with him. He wanted to stay in the house. He won't leave the house. They're telling him
to leave the house. He's given formal notice to leave the residence, which was a big issue. Just explain why it was such an issue. You had this huge
house.
I mean, you're the Prince Andrew expert. I mean, you've spent a lot of time with him.
QUEST: Right? So, he got royal lodge after the queen mother died in 2003. He then got a lease on the property, which he paid 1 million pounds, and
part of the agreement was he would renovate it and he spent. So, in total, he spent about 8.5 million on the property. In return, he was allowed to
live there for a peppercorn rent, which basically means literally a peppercorn or a pound if demanded.
FOSTER: Yeah.
QUEST: By all accounts, it's never been demanded. So, he has lived. Look, he's kept up his side of the bargain. He paid the money for the
renovations. He's got this 75-year lease. He could have stayed there.
FOSTER: Yeah.
QUEST: But now, what's fascinating is how are they evicting him? What clause are they doing to give him notice?
FOSTER: What was interesting about that -- we got a bit of insight to that because parliament -- there's a parliamentary committee looking into why he
-- because these leases aren't put out to the public. He was given a lease, and it was on the basis he was working royal. So, the politicians were
looking at the fact that why does he then deserve to keep it if he's not a working royal.
QUEST: Right, but he has got a lease.
FOSTER: Yeah.
QUEST: He has got a lease.
FOSTER: They're going to have to buy him out probably, aren't they?
QUEST: Well, read what it says again about the about the property. Let me just read it. What it says. It says: Formal notice has now been served to
surrender the lease.
FOSTER: Yeah.
QUEST: So, you're going to have to go back to the lease. Look at those --
FOSTER: Those clause, right?
QUEST: Exactly. Now why do I think they're doing this? Number one, the picture that came out over the last few days of Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell
and Harvey Weinstein.
FOSTER: At Royal Lodge.
QUEST: At Royal Lodge. And did you see how they found out how they how they worked it out? The picture had been around and the BBC basically
geolocated and did it by the trees.
FOSTER: Yes, I know it was interesting. I want to point out --
QUEST: One other thing though why I think this has suddenly taken on a new urgency. Did you see the report in the well you would have done in the
British media? Prince Edwards house, Bagshot Estate. Now the lease on Bagshot Estate for the duke, for the duke of Edinburgh and his wife has
been heavily, heavily redacted. Okay, the feeling clearly is that the duke of Edinburgh has got the same deal as Prince Andrew or Andrew Mountbatten-
Windsor.
There's no reason why he shouldn't have it, but my guess is the king is extremely concerned of contagion.
FOSTER: I'm hearing this from sources now as a follow up. Whilst Prince Andrew continues to deny the accusations against him and we should do that,
he's always denied any wrongdoing, right?
QUEST: Which annoys everybody even more.
FOSTER: It's clear there have been serious lapses of judgment. So, I'm hearing that from a palace source. Also, going back to the statement, their
majesties wish to make clear their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been and will remain with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of
abuse.
QUEST: But this is new. This is new.
FOSTER: It is new. And it's something that I pointed out because obviously, the massive failure of his BBC interview was that he never
expressed any sympathy for Epstein's victims. He just defended himself, Prince Andrew.
I also think the palace have sort of missed this a bit as well, constantly defending their position. And actually, it should always be about the
victims and it's bigger than Prince Andrew. It's about Epstein.
QUEST: It is. But the palace wanted to hands off. They wanted to deal with this with strong rubber gloves.
They took the view, besides, never explain, never complain, but they took the view, if we say this is something to do with Andrew, it's nothing to do
with us. We'll do it. But they can no longer do it.
And I believe it's the picture. I believe they're worried about, for example, the duke of Edinburgh and this thing widening into a full scale
review of royal houses where they live, what they pay, how do they pay? And that's why the king has decided to start this formal proceedings, and come
out with that statement.
FOSTER: They've been criticized for not doing enough quickly enough, haven't they? The family.
QUEST: Yeah.
FOSTER: And, you know, people talk about the palace. Actually, it's the family. They're explaining that a bit. According to sources, these
developments have required time, legal and constitutional expertise and support from the wider family to bring about. It's also been hoped that
they could be achieved without the need to impose parliamentary time.
[15:15:00]
So, this is a point they've made that we don't want parliamentary time used up by this. But the --
QUEST: Go by it.
FOSTER: But the duke title does need to go through parliament. So, they are going to end up using it.
QUEST: Well, whether they do that or not, judging by what I've -- what you've just shown me, it's the -- it's the latter, it's the letter's
patent.
FOSTER: Yeah.
QUEST: It's the letters patent from George V or George -- yeah. That basically said the, the sons of the monarchs. That was reinforced by the
late queen in the 1970s, as a result of it.
FOSTER: Well, they're saying they're removing the duke of York title from the peerage role, which would ensure the title cannot be used officially.
But that suggests, doesn't it, that he's being -- he said he wouldn't use them. I mean --
QUEST: It's not enough. This has moved on. This is -- this is about contagion, now, Max. This is about put -- circling the wagons around the
institution. And I think one of the things that may have really played into this was when the king was booed on a recent visit.
FOSTER: Yeah. Well, specifically saying you're part of the cover up.
QUEST: Exactly. And to a certain extent, I would never suggest for one second that they're part of a cover up. What I would say is that they have
tried for the last 20 years with Andrew, they've tried to do a scene just - - I don't want to see this. Just take it away from me. Don't do anything now. They can no longer do that.
FOSTER: They've actually spent so -- on the time, you know, they've been criticized for taking their time. They've actually found a way of not
using. And now understanding parliamentary time by stripping it from the role. They're saying they didn't want it to take up parliamentary time.
And the king's been listening to that. He's used his royal prerogative basically to take away the duke titles. They find a legal way of taking
away --
QUEST: What about the prince?
FOSTER: The prince is a -- is a -- is a note from the king.
QUEST: So that's what he's going to do?
FOSTER: Yes. But also the dukedom, which is the complicated bit.
QUEST: I think what -- I think what --
FOSTER: Here's the question I've asked, has his majesty done this against Prince Andrew's will? And the source is saying his majesty has initiated
the process. His brother has not objected.
QUEST: Well, that's -- that's now. Come on. You and I have been reading the room.
FOSTER: You know Andrew better than me. I'm not saying you know very well, but you spent more time with him.
QUEST: The man is completely and utterly suffused with his own sense of entitlement and importance. When you read that book "Entitled", that was a
perfectly, you know, that he is completely -- he will -- the title, the role, the responsibility, this is what he's been about.
FOSTER: So, Charles has started the process. So, he went to Andrew and said, this is what's going to happen. And he hasn't objected. So --
QUEST: Well, that's what they're saying.
FOSTER: Yeah.
QUEST: That's what they're saying.
FOSTER: So --
QUEST: But he couldn't object. I mean, we don't know what battle was beforehand. I think Andrew is -- I think Andrew is now really concerned
about other proceedings that may come along.
FOSTER: I've asked if the government consulted about this. I'm told, yes.
QUEST: Yes.
FOSTER: This has been done in consultation with the relevant government authorities. There'll be a lot of them because it riddles all law, doesn't
it?
QUEST: But also, I wonder whether the commonwealth on this one had to be.
FOSTER: The government has been clear. It's constitutionally proper for his majesty to take the action, and it supports the decision taken. So Keir
Starmer has said this is the right thing to do.
QUEST: Because Keir Starmer was -- Sir Keir Starmer was prepared to give parliamentary time and was prepared to allow MPs to ask questions. And Sir
Keir Starmer, by the way, is no raving liberal on the question of Republicanism. He's a total --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: No, he is a total monarchist, former DPP, former, you know, law officer of the crown. So, he -- they want, Max, they want this to go away.
FOSTER: So --
QUEST: They want it to go away.
FOSTER: When is he going to move out? I've asked as well. The move will take place as soon as practicable. So that's kind of tomorrow, isn't it?
QUEST: But where's he going? Which ones are going to.
FOSTER: What about the funds that Andrew was due to -- was due if he moved out early?
QUEST: Five hundred and sixty thousand pounds.
FOSTER: Yes, so that was part of the lease. That matter is for the crown estate. It's possible remedial works may affect any compensation.
QUEST: Yeah. Oh, yes. So lovely. Lovely.
I read between the lines on this one. So, what they're going to do here, right, just reading.
FOSTER: Works been done.
QUEST: No, no.
FOSTER: That's what you should have paid for. You're not going to get the.
QUEST: Other works done or works need to be done. You've let the place turn into a shambles. The foundations need doing. It's going to cost,
funnily enough, 560,000 pounds to do it. No check goes to you, Andrew.
FOSTER: Here's your question, I've asked it. Will -- where will Prince Andrew go?
QUEST: We don't know.
FOSTER: We do. Well, this is what they said. Prince Andrew will move to a property on the Sandringham Estate.
QUEST: Oh, this is the farm.
FOSTER: Bear with me. We won't be giving any further details regarding which property, any future accommodation will be privately funded by the
king. So, the king is paying for his future accommodation.
QUEST: I know that this is fascinating because funnily enough, I was looking at only -- gosh, I'm sad. I was only looking at this yesterday of
properties they might go to.
[15:20:00]
One of them was Adelaide -- Adelaide. The other one --
FOSTER: On the Windsor estate.
QUEST: Yeah. The other was Frogmore, but there was one on the Sandringham Estate. It is a house on the Sandringham Estate. It is a house on the
Sandringham Estate, which name I've forgotten.
FOSTER: And what's interesting because obviously, Buckingham Palace and Windsor are public properties. Sandringham is a private property. So he's
given -- the king has given him a private house.
QUEST: Yeah, what doesn't -- what's not in here? Because remember, the deal was supposed to be where does Sarah Ferguson go?
FOSTER: Yeah. No mention.
QUEST: No mention because Andrew was supposedly trying to do a double deal between Adelaide and Frogmore.
FOSTER: I'm sure she'll be able to go.
QUEST: I just wonder, I just wonder -- sorry. Sorry about that.
FOSTER: Richard will have much more on this in his show. You can tell he's interested. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Breaking news tonight, Britain's prince Andrew to be removed from the titles that he had. Those titles will be removed. Buckingham Palace
making an announcement just a few minutes ago. The process was initiated by King Charles. I'm told that Prince Andrew didn't object.
It comes amid a host of scandals over Andrew's association with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew will now be known as Andrew
Mountbatten-Windsor, so that's a major event in terms of his status in the royal family. He's also going to be forced out of his home on the Windsor
Estate, but he will be given one by the king on the Sandringham Estate, which is a private property for the king in the countryside.
Elsewhere at this hour, Hurricane Melissa heading towards Bermuda after being downgraded to a category two storm. The National Hurricane Center
predicting it will continue to weaken to tropical storm status in the next few hours.
However, the recovery process is only beginning for Jamaica, where the storm hit as a category five.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DESMOND MCKENZIE, MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: We are making arrangements as I speak to get igloos with ice and water and
food supplies to these affected areas.
[15:25:05]
Over the next two days, a massive relief program between ODPEM, the ministry of labor and our partners will intensify to get relief supplies to
the various communities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Hurricane Melissa is the strongest storm to ever hit Jamaica. Those stuck in melissas path describe the moment that they came face to
face with the hurricane's fury.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIELLE, MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA RESIDENT: The worst day of my entire life, the worst experience of my entire life, to see my place being flooded out.
It's -- it was terrifying for me and my child. The water level reached me to my waist. I was stuck in my house. They had to break into my home to
save me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, I have three children in my home that we rescued, and we are literally desperate for some help at this point. There
is mud everywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: I want to take a closer look now at the remnants of what the storm left behind in many areas.
Journalist Jonathan Petramala caught the recovery efforts on camera and brings us this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN PETRAMALA, JOURNALIST: The agricultural loss is going to be staggering. Crops like coconut. This is one grove of coconut trees that
every single one in that grove, every single one of these trees has been flattened by the force of the winds from Hurricane Melissa.
Then you look over and you see the brown where the leaves were stripped away from the trees. Here again, from the force of the winds of hurricane
Melissa. It's like fall has come to this tropical island. It only happens to the strongest of hurricanes.
What's been astounding to see is just the effort of everyday Jamaicans who are getting out with their machetes, with their own chainsaws to try and
clear just a tremendous amount of trees and power lines and even bamboo because they know so many people need access to the hardest hit area here
in the western part of the island where Hurricane Melissa made landfall two days ago. It's just a race against time to try and get help and aid there
as quickly as possible, or at the very least, just to be able to make contact with a loved one that they still don't know if they're okay.
Where are you trying to get to?
STEFAN, RESIDENT OF BAMBOO, JAMAICA: Westmoreland.
PETRAMALA: The worst hit from what I understand. How are you feeling about it.
STEFAN: So bad. Because -- my friend called me and told me that my house is gone, man. I'm leaving from all over, checking to see what's going on
down there.
PETRAMALA: That is a very good sign. Heavy equipment. We have not seen that the last couple of days as miles and miles of roadway has been cleared
again. There's only one main highway to get back to these areas, and so it's very difficult as it's just strewn with debris from the force of the
winds, from Hurricane Melissa.
Near Bamboo, Jamaica, I'm Jonathan Petramala for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Extraordinary scenes. We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:31:38]
FOSTER: Our breaking news tonight, Britain's Prince Andrew is no longer Prince Andrew, is just Andrew. He's losing all of his titles, specifically
being stripped of them in the past. He just agreed to stop using them.
But this is a major step by the king. Buckingham Palace made the announcement just a few minutes ago. The process was initiated by King
Charles. It comes amid a host of scandals over Andrew's association with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew will now be known as Andrew
Mountbatten-Windsor.
CNN's royal historian Kate Williams joins me now.
Kate, I mean, you're a historian. I mean, place this in history for us.
KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: I mean, this is unprecedented. We have had princes lose their titles before. Two key examples is in 1917, some
descendants of the royal family who were in Germany and were fighting on the other side in World War I. They lost their titles, but they were in the
German army. I mean, they were essentially German.
And the other example is Henry VIII taking away the titles of both his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, the future queens, when he annulled the
marriages with their mothers, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. So that's through his claim that they were illegitimate. And the other one was
people who were fighting in the German army in World War I.
And so, this is totally unprecedented. We have a situation where Andrew is, of course, legitimate, is not fighting in an enemy army. However, he has
been deprived of his titles for essentially, I think we can all agree in bringing the royal brand -- the royal family, into disrepute -- disrepute.
As you say, the scandals have been mounting ever since the -- I mean, they've been mounting ever since he met up with Epstein in 2010 and before
then. But ever since he spoke to Emily Maitlis on the BBC in 2019, that interview and then stepped back from royal duties. Then in 2022, he lost
his military -- military titles because the military essentially petitioned for that.
And now the latest revelations, including that he saw Epstein after he said he didn't, and the publication of Mrs. Giuffre's posthumous memoir last
week, "Nobody's Girl". I mean, simply it didn't make it tenable that Andrew could be a working not even a working but even a member of the royal family
anymore.
FOSTER: He's been given notice on Royal Lodge, his enormous mansion on the Windsor Estate. A lot of people had an issue with that, including
politicians. I mean, has he effectively been evicted?
WILLIAMS: I mean, he has been evicted, as you say, Max, that mansion, Royal Lodge, is enormous. It dates back to 17th century. Its beautiful
mansion. I think the king has been trying to get Andrew out of there into a smaller property like Frogmore Cottage, once occupied by Harry and Meghan.
But Andrew has resisted. He's refused, but simply the weight of scandal was just too great.
And essentially, Andrew's point was I have a lease. I've paid for the lease, I've paid for it to decades to come and I can't be evicted.
Now, legal experts have said that the king, if he did evict Andrew, would have to pay him a severance fee of around 500,000 pounds. We don't know
whether that's going to be paid or not. It may be just that Andrew has agreed to back down. We really don't know the truth about that either way.
However, I think it's very clear is that Andrew would have wanted to stay in Royal Lodge for the rest of his life. Weve seen this with Andrew,
haven't we, Max? I mean, we've been covering him all these years. He just never believes he's done anything wrong.
And I think he felt that he was perfectly fine to be in Royal Lodge forevermore, and simply, that wasn't tenable.
[15:35:03]
Public opinion was swelling against the thought that the prince, who'd been so disgraced was, of course, now not Prince Andrew, but the man who's been
so disgraced that he got to have this incredible lodge, incredible property on the crown estate.
FOSTER: Yeah, I'm just looking on your note because I've been speaking to some royal sources, Kate. It's so -- you know, in terms of him taking him
out of the lease on royal lodge the crown estate would have had to pay him compensation. I'm told that it's possible that remedial works may affect
any compensation due. So, any -- they're going to take any building work on the property out of what he's due. So it doesn't sound as though he's going
to get any of that. But I did want to ask you a bit. I know you're not a political expert, but you are a constitutional expert.
And I'm told, you know, how these titles are going to work because initially, what we were told that, you know, to get rid of the duke title,
it would have to take an act of parliament. The king didn't want to take up parliamentary time. They were also being accused of acting way too slowly.
And now, they're explaining from what I'm hearing, that the reason they haven't acted straight away is because they've had to consider lots of
constitutional issues. So I just want to tell you, Kate, to get your response to this. What I've been told removing the duke of York from the
peerage role will ensure that the title cannot be used officially. Same with his other Scottish titles, for example.
So, it sounds as though they've found a way -- to get rid of the -- to take the title away from him without using parliamentary time. So that's quite
interesting.
WILLIAMS: Yes, as you say, that's very interesting, Max. I mean, essentially the duke of York titles would have to be stripped by
parliament. And I was just mentioning there the two cases of people who've lost the prince title before the daughters of Henry VIII and also the
German descendants of the royal family, who were then in the German army, and that through an act of parliament, the 1917 Deprivation of Titles Act,
which was passed at the height of World War I.
So, to -- for Andrew to have lost his prince title --I mean, in the past, that would have to go through parliament. So obviously, we don't know
exactly what's going to happen there. Is Andrew stepping back from it or is he going to say, oh, are parliament just going to agree on this?
I think certainly -- what obviously the royal family have said they don't want to take up parliamentary time with this matter. And I think also the
fact is that we've seen this, haven't we, Max? I mean, many MPs are raring to debate Andrew. There was -- there was a lot of enthusiasm to debate the
duke of York title. There were some MPs moving towards a motion for that. I think they would like to debate the prince title, and I think simply I
don't -- my feeling is that I don't think the royal family would like a whole debate about Prince Andrews title in the houses of parliament,
because MPs we know parliamentary privilege. You can say what you like without fear of legal stricture.
So, I think really the royal family would want to deal with this themselves if they can. This is very different situation, German officers.
FOSTER: Yeah, I just want to say that I'm just hearing from sources, these decisions have been made by the king. It does suggest, doesn't it, Kate,
that, you know, he was meeting some resistance with Andrew, who as we know can be very forthright, if I can call it that. And the king feels there
have been serious lapses of judgment on his brother's behalf. Sarah Ferguson as well, his wife, so Andrew's ex-wife, I'm sorry.
I asked, what about Sarah Ferguson, where will she live? I'm being told Sarah Ferguson will make her own arrangements. They're basically. I don't
know, how would you describe that? I mean, it feels as though she's been cast out, but we know that Andrews been given a house on the Sandringham
Estate, which is the kings private estate. So maybe she'll go and live there.
But this is -- I mean, you know, a lot of people sympathize with what the king has done here, but it's pretty brutal.
WILLIAMS: It is absolutely unprecedented. It is very strong. It is very quick. And essentially it goes to the heart of the sort of issues with the
royal family. They are a business. They are a business. They are the royal firm, but they're also a family.
I mean, employees are fired for bringing the firm into disrepute. We all have that in our contracts. But you cannot fire a member of the family in
the same way. So, you have this discrepancy.
But essentially, you know, in the end, royalty, they're not selling shampoo or pies. Royalty are selling perception and message. And the message and
the perception when it comes to Andrew is totally disastrous. How fortunate it was, isn't it, Max, that Andrew had COVID? Obviously not severely, many
people did. But Andrew had COVID during the platinum jubilee, so we didn't see him anywhere because Andrew on the balcony is totally toxic to the
royal brand.
And he's -- I've been reading Mrs. Giuffre's memoir. It's heartbreaking she's no longer with us.
[15:40:02]
And really, you know, in all of this, we do have to remember the victims of Epstein and what they've been through. And her memoir is very
heartbreaking, but simply a memoir of this strength coming out, the power of those words. It makes it very untenable for Andrew.
FOSTER: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: And I think the king had to move quickly. He's had to move quickly. He's had to move with strength because of the strength of public
opinion. The public polling on Andrew is very poor.
FOSTER: I think you're absolutely right, Kate. You're right to bring up Virginia Giuffre. I mean, the massive failure of Andrew in particular, but
also, I probably argue the palace is that they don't mention the victims enough. And it's interesting that the statement came that we had just a few
minutes ago saying it's very clear. It's a short statement.
Their majesties wish to make clear their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been and will remain with the victims and survivors of any and all
forms of abuse. I think a lot of critics of the royal family will say it's way too late for them to say that, but at least they've said it now.
But, Kate Williams, appreciate your time. Thank you for joining us. More from you later on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Our breaking news tonight, Britain's Prince Andrew, or Andrew as he is now, because he's lost all of his royal titles. They've been stripped
from him. It's not just that they're being made redundant.
Buckingham Palace making the announcement just a few minutes ago. The process was initiated by the king comes amid a host of scandals over
Andrew's association with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, also a Chinese spy, allegedly. Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-
Windsor.
Paul Page is a former royal protection officer.
Paul, you know the institution better than most. We're talking to Kate Williams, who's a royal historian. She was -- she's not saying it's
unprecedented. Nothing is in the royal family, is it? This has been around for 1,000 years.
But you know how the palace operates. This is pretty brutal, isn't it, on their -- on their part. But obviously most people will agree with what he,
the king, has done.
PAUL PAGE, FORMER ROYAL PROTECTION OFFICER: I think it's really weird because yesterday I was saying that that there's a constitutional crisis
knocking on the doors of the monarchy, and it's got Prince Andrew's name written all over it. And obviously, it's come true.
For them to make such a move, there's obviously information that they've got or which is about to come out, which is going to put Andrew in a very
difficult position, potentially criminal charges, as I suggest.
FOSTER: Just explain to us the importance of titles, because a lot of people outside the country just think there's a lot of -- there's a lot of
nonsense, really. What does the title matter? But as you know, having a title, you know, you have the HRH taken away, he's got prince taken away,
you've got duke taken away. I mean, you know, they're defined by their status, aren't they, and their titles.
PAGE: It's very important. It's part of history. And as you said, and I was part of that sort of bubble within the monarchy for six years. It's a
very archaic system. There's a lot of rules and regulations that are set in stone that haven't changed over hundreds of years.
And for this to happen obviously, the king has been briefed on certain matters in relation to Prince Andrew. I mean, we've already -- we already
know that he's lied about his relationship. We've already know there's emails coming out that in, in terms of, you know, his conduct and asking
police officers to make illegal checks on police computer systems literally after Virginia Giuffre has made allegations against him. And not only that,
the worst thing he could have done was defend his relationship with a convicted pedophile on national telley, which went worldwide.
Basically, what he did there is he made himself the poster boy for every pervert, deviant and sex offender around the world. He's justified their
actions. And so, when he did that, he literally started the rock.
And if I'm going to be honest, I think with regards to the royal family, what they've done now is too little, too late. We're talking about -- we
spent three days talking about the Royal Lodge and kicking him out of the premises. Where's the victims? No mention of victims.
FOSTER: Yeah.
PAGE: At the end of the day, this is what it's about. It's about victims. And this is a -- this is a win for them, as far as I'm concerned.
FOSTER: It's interesting you say that because the main statement from the palace talks about the victims. Famously, Prince Andrew did not acknowledge
Epstein's victims in his BBC interview. So that was the number one failure.
PAGE: Yeah.
FOSTER: But, do you -- I mean, wouldn't you argue that the, you know, the rest of the royal family can be accused of the same thing? Because whenever
we get a statement, we don't hear about victims? I think this is pretty much the first time.
PAGE: Yeah, but being part of the royal protection command, I'm pretty sure, and I'll lay my life on the fact that her majesty the queen and then
Prince Charles were fully briefed on the allegations and the evidence against Prince Andrew. I'm pretty sure intelligence sharing between the
U.S. and the U.K. would have brought the facts of the matter.
What we're now finding now, it would have been with them and that hence why the 12 million pounds was paid to shut this off. What's happened is two
things, major things. The queen passed. So, a lot of the loyalty that the establishment had for her dissipated and unfortunately, Virginia Giuffre
went from a survivor and a champion for abused women and children and all the rest of it to a victim.
And although they weren't directly responsible for her death, as far as I'm concerned, Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew bought the ticket.
FOSTER: Yeah. Listen, I really appreciate your time tonight. I know it's a shock for anyone like you that has this massive loyalty to the monarchy.
And, you know, the shocks that you guys have been through and what Andrews created there.
Thank you for joining us tonight.
Prince Andrew continues to deny the accusations against him. I'm reminded from a royal source tonight. But they're also making it clear that there
have been serious lapses of judgment. And, the palace clearly thinking that they've done enough now to create a distance between the king and Prince
Andrew. He's lost his titles. He's effectively been evicted from his home as well, although he'll be given another one.
We'll be back a bit later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:51:45]
FOSTER: The Trump administration is restricting the number of refugees it allows into the U.S. to 7,500 people a year. Those allowed in will mostly
be white South Africans. That's according to a note in the federal register, not a formal announcement. It's a dramatic drop. The U.S.,
previously allowed in more than 100,000 people every year who were fleeing from persecution.
Kylie Atwood is with me.
I mean, the numbers extraordinary, but also the idea that, you know, if you actually work it out, most of those will be South Africans as opposed to
persecuted people from other people, other parts of the world.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right, and there's -- there's really no justification given for why they are so
dramatically reducing this cap of number of refugees that the administration is allowing to come into the United States with this 7,500
cap. That's the maximum number that they are going to be allowing in over the course of the next year.
And as you said in the past, just last year, the Biden administration had the refugee cap at 125,000. That is more in line with what we have seen,
you know, in recent years. And this will be the lowest number that we have seen really admitted as refugees to the United States in decades.
So, this is a dramatic policy shift. It's not necessarily one that is altogether surprising for this administration, because they have already
been putting a premium on these white South African Afrikaners coming as refugees to the United States. So much so that the deputy secretary of
state has even gone to the airport to welcome some of those refugees coming here.
So, this is obviously a space for us to watch in terms of how it aligns with the Trump administration's, you know, overall policy goals. But one
interesting thing is that the deputy secretary of state did say that one of the important criteria for the administration was easily assimilating into
American society, when someone is admitted as a refugee.
So, they are viewing it through that lens. That obviously does beg the question of race here, because many of these Afrikaners are white South
Africans, not black South Africans.
The other thing I do want to point out is that by reducing this number so drastically, it means that there are people who have submitted and are
hoping to come to the United States as refugees, going through that process, and they just won't be allowed to come in, even though they have
gone through the steps and followed the rules that the United States typically lays out, they're not going to be able to admit all of those
people who have applied, as we see crises around the world expanding at an exponential rate, so sadly.
FOSTER: Kylie, thank you. A dramatic announcement.
Our other big breaking news tonight, Britain's King Charles removing his brother Andrew's royal titles. That means removing them. In the past, it
was the idea that you wouldn't use them. Buckingham Palace made the announcement a few minutes ago. It comes amid a host of scandals over
Andrew's association with disgraced financier, of course, Jeffrey Epstein.
[15:55:02]
Andrew will be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from now on, but it's not really just his association with Epstein. It's the many lies that he's
been found out on a big BBC interview, which is a big part of this story. And there are so many inconsistencies of it. That's one of the issues here.
So, Prince Andrew denying all the accusations against him, as we know. But my royal sources saying its clear that he's made some serious lapses of
judgment, which is why this has happened.
So, the statement from the palace also adding that his lease on royal lodge, which is his enormous mansion on the Windsor estate, has to date
provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. But formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease. So he's effectively
evicted as well.
His wife, Fergie, Sarah Ferguson doesn't appear to be getting anything out of this. We'll have more updates in the next few hours.
But that is WHAT WE KNOW for now. Do stay with CNN.
END
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