Joe Biden Stays, UK Power Shifts, Hurricane Beryl Weakens
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Overnight, Duncan's pumpkin spice coffee has sent folks into a cozy craze. I'm Lauren LaTulip reporting live from home in my hand-knit turtleneck that my Nana made me. Mmm, cinnamony. The Home with Duncan is where you want to be. It's Friday, July 5th, right now on CNN This Morning. I'm not going anywhere. President Biden determined to stay in the race as the divide grows among Democrats over his political future. Plus... We did it!

The power is shifting in Britain. The UK has a new prime minister and a new ruling party. And Hurricane Beryl weakens to a category two as it closes in on Mexico. And Texas beachgoers terrorized by a shark during 4th of July celebrations. It's 6 a.m. here in Washington. Here's a live look at the White House.

good morning everyone i'm paula reed in for casey hunt it's great to be with you with his reelection bid hanging in the balance president biden insisting he's staying in the race and he has a new strategy to keep him fresh and focused more sleep fewer work hours according to three sources the president intends to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m so he can get more sleep and he does not plan to bow out of the race

Listen to these remarks at yesterday's 4th of July barbecue at the White House. This could not be done without the family support. So thank you, thank you, thank you. We love you and I really mean it from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Thank you. You got me, man. I'm not going anywhere. All right.

The Biden campaign is clear-eyed. They know the president must calm fears among his own supporters about his mental fitness. But he didn't help his cause with these stumbles during a radio interview in Philadelphia. I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman to serve with a black president. I'm proud to be among the first black women in the Supreme Court.

Still, the Biden campaign is putting together an aggressive travel schedule in July. One that will take the president, the vice president and the first lady and the second gentleman to every battleground state. So let's bring in CNN Politics White House reporter Stephen Collinson, Megan Hayes, former special assistant to President Biden and Lance Trover, former spokesperson for Doug Brigham's 2024 presidential campaign.

All right, I want to start with you, Stephen. Yesterday, Biden talking about how, you know, trying to shore up concerns about his mental fitness, but he also made a joke to a group of governors that didn't go over well. He said, quote, I'm fine. I don't know about my brain, though. What is the state of play for the president right now?

The problem for the president is a week ago after the debate we were sitting here talking about all of these questions about his fitness, his mental acuity and opposition was building within his own party to the idea of him continuing to be the nominee. Everything the White House has done and everything the president has said since then

has exacerbated this question. It hasn't made it go away. It's still a big question. That's why the interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC tonight is going to be very important. The president is traveling this weekend. He's got a big NATO summit next week, which will allow him to adopt the role of a statesman. But there is also a press conference there that is going to be very closely watched. You saw those remarks last night. Everything the president does and says now is under an extreme microscope.

and any mistakes he make play into this narrative that people, a lot of voters, can't see him being president in the second term when he's 86. So the political problem has not gone away. It's got worse, if anything. And Lance, this aggressive travel schedule, is this the right move at this moment? Well, he doesn't really have a choice at this point. I mean, he's got to get out there and try to stop the bleeding. The problem is,

dutifully noted, they've not stopped the bleeding. They've actually made it worse with these comments about no meetings after 8:00 PM. And Democrats are reaching an inflection point really coming up really fast. The polling shows that Donald Trump is leading by six points. That is a massive lead in today's political society.

with their convention coming up. I mean, if you went into election day and Donald Trump's up six points, you're talking about a blowout of epic proportions. So that's why they're really on a clock. He's got to not just stop the bleeding, but really turn this ship around. And I'm not sure that he can do it. And Megan, California's governor, Gavin Newsom, weighed in on these comments about Biden wanting to get more sleep. I want to take a listen to that.

Look at his schedule. Look at the fundraising things that you don't see. All that work, the work you're doing behind the scenes, the phone calls you're making all times of night, the alliance management, everything's doing to prepare for NATO this week, work they're doing to land a deal with Hamas in Israel. So that's called human. And God bless. I like when a president acknowledges they're human.

So the Biden campaign put out a statement referring to the fact that former President George W. Bush went to bed at 9:00. Barack Obama had dinner at 6:30.

Are comments like this, while humanizing, are they helpful at this moment? No, but I also think that people need to realize that the president is very sarcastic. He's making jokes. They've said, they've reported now that he said, I'm joking after the brain comment, after the sleeping comment. It's not unlike the president to be sarcastic and make jokes in this time. It's bringing him, you know, he's making fun of himself, which I actually do think is human. So I do think that the comments need to be taken into context, but also he needs to be out there. He needs

to be doing these things because people need he needs to be showing the American people that he can do the job that they're going to elect him for so they don't have a choice but to get him out on the road and to be doing things and to be fair to him he after the debate he went to two different watch parties he was at the Waffle House in a different watch party he then landed North Carolina he greeted voters on the tarmac at 2:00 a.m. in the morning it's not like he is not doing things it's just now he's under such an extreme microscope that it's almost as

you can't reach perfect every single time and that's what people are expecting and that's just not a fair standard for him. Does he need to be better and to kind of curb some of these things and be out there? Absolutely, but he needs to take this to the American people. Us sitting back here commentating on it is great and helpful, fine, but that's actually not who matters with this. It's the

the voters. Part of the problem here, though, is you have other Democrats, House and Senate people who are calling on him to step aside. You have a senator quoted yesterday saying, what I saw in the debate is what I've seen over the last two and a half years. These questions, that's not helping him as he goes forward, no matter what he tries to do with these interviews. But to be fair, only two members have called for him to step aside.

step aside, I think people are letting this play out and letting him do his interview, go to NATO, have his press conference and give him an opportunity, which they should be. He's earned that respect here. So I do think that we need to like the interview tonight is a crucial point for him. Yeah. And let's revisit this interview tonight. The most significant moment for the Biden administration really in years.

Yeah, and one of the most significant moments in the 50-year political career in Washington of the president. Let's face it, he's done probably hundreds of thousands of interviews. None of them I don't think are going to be as closely as watched here. One of the problems in the debate was that the president wasn't able to either

Lay out a strong detailed case for what he would do in a second term And he wasn't also if able to effectively prosecute the case against Donald Trump Which to be fair he has been doing for the last year He's been arguing that Trump would be a massive threat to democracy and American values And the soul of the country if he can do that while it's only a television interview. It's much different than a debate and

he could probably at least get some good headlines and buy himself a little bit of time. The problem is that a lot of these Democrats that are coming on TV talking about this right now, even the ones that are supporting him are saying he's got to do a lot more. So unless he starts to deliver with a lot more, as you were saying, the

the issue is not gonna dissipate. - And I think he is gonna do a lot more, right? Like he's going to Wisconsin today, he's going to Michigan on, or sorry, he's going to Wisconsin today, he's going to Pennsylvania on Sunday. So he is going to be out there, but I agree, I have been a firm believer, let Joe Biden be Joe Biden, get him out in front of the voters, that's where he does his best.

All right, we have a lot more to discuss with our panel next. Some Democrats are already moving on from President Biden and wondering who Kamala Harris might pick as her running mate. Plus, Hurricane Beryl losing some steam after leaving a trail of destruction across the Caribbean. And a stunning landslide victory for the UK's Labour Party, the Prime Minister already conceding defeat.

And as we go to break, a look at last night's fireworks in Las Vegas.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. What are some of the social service agencies that have supported you and your family growing up? That's Dr. Robert Waldinger. He's a psychiatrist, a professor, and a Zen master. What kind of relationships actually help us maintain happiness? And what should we do in those moments where we have setbacks and things that don't work out? Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.

President Biden sits down with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News today, whose first television interview since last week's debate debacle. It will air in primetime tonight.

Every word, every expression will be closely scrutinized during what is arguably the most consequential interview of Biden's five-decade career. One bad stumble, one notable misstep could spell the end of his campaign. A former President Trump is not waiting to watch.

before already attacking the credibility of Stephanopoulos and ABC. Posting, "The meanest and most vicious interviewer out there is George Slopinopoulos of Fake News ABC, one of the worst and most vile broadcasters in the business." Now ABC and Little George

a tiny angry man can make up for their past indiscretions and journalistic failures by doing a real interview with Crooked Joe. Now, I will note that Trump sued Stephanopoulos and ABC News for defamation in March for describing him as a rapist.

And with that, our panel is back. All right, let's talk about this interview. Is this the right strategy right now? Does he have more to lose than to gain? He doesn't have a choice. He needs to do the interview. He needs to prove to people that he can go out there and he can have a conversation off prompter and unscripted, as everyone is saying. So he needs to do this and he needs to take his case to the American people. And the best way to do that is through an interview. And if he does well, is that enough to quiet these critics and these concerns?

You know, I'm not exactly sure if it will quiet the critics. I think that any stumble, like you said, like last night he stumbled and there was a New York Times article that was written. So I just think people need to realize that he is an imperfect person, an imperfect candidate, just like the rest of us. So there has to be some grace here. I just think people are going to look at the content and how he's delivering his message and make their decision from there. The real question is, I think, when

this will play out over time, is the cake already baked on this? Because voters have had concerns about his age for many years. It's been reflected in polling for the last couple of years. Then this debate happened. And so it's really about

Can he get back some of the credibility he's lost after Thursday night? But I really question that because voters have had these concerns. They were kind of confirmed last Thursday night. And so I'm not sure that one interview, two interviews going out on the stump is really going to do it. But I do agree with you. He has no choice. He has to go do it. And we talked a little bit about what he needs to achieve. What is the number one thing he needs to do? Not not do. We know he can't stumble. He can't have a misstep. But what does he need to get across to voters?

So he clearly has to change the narrative. He needs to be talking about something else rather than his own personal state, his age. He's got to move it on from that debate. If, for instance, this Middle East situation appears to improve, that would be something else for the president to talk about. That's why I think the NATO summit, where he'll be standing with world leaders next week, will be a good picture. But to your point,

voters saw that picture, 50 million people had that image of a president who appeared to be struggling, emblazoned on their brains. How a television interview will be watched by far fewer people, even with social media clips and everything else, it's going to require something like that every day for days and then weeks.

and keeping up the pace until November to mitigate the damage that's already been caused. - It's a great point about the size of the audience. All right, my panel, stay with me. I know you'll be back 'cause there's so much more to discuss. Next, Israel and Hamas getting closer to an agreement on a ceasefire and hostage release. Plus, Hurricane Beryl zeroes in on Mexico.

This just in new video from Utah where several people were injured when fireworks went into the crowd. One person was hit in the face. It happened during the 4th of July celebration at Brigham Young University. No word on their conditions this morning.

Turning now to weather this morning, Hurricane Beryl has weakened to a still dangerous Category 2 strength and is bearing down on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The storm now has winds of 110 miles per hour. Mexico's president urging residents of Tulum to seek shelter with the town expected to take a direct hit. Let's get right to meteorologist Elisa Rafa. Elisa, where is Beryl right now?

Getting very close to that landfall where the center of the storm will probably wind up somewhere around Tulum or Cozumel as we go through the next couple of hours. Hurricane force conditions picking up there on the Yucatan Peninsula this morning. We did get some intensification overnight. It had a much more symmetrical shape, but you could see it has weakened some. You could see it kind of getting a little lopsided on that satellite, but it's

It's still a dangerous category 2 storm with 110 mile per hour winds. We're still looking at storm surge up to 4 to 6 feet. Heavy rain across the tip of that peninsula there. 4 to 6 inches of rain, maybe up to 10 inches in some locations. That could cause some

flash flooding. Now, as we go through the weekend, it will kind of emerge tonight back into the Gulf of Mexico, where it could reintensify over very warm waters, maybe become a hurricane again as it sets its eyes on South Texas as we go into the weekend. We've been talking about incredibly warm water temperatures with this the entire stretch, and it doesn't end because, like I said, the Gulf of Mexico, incredibly warm, can give it another chance to get its act

together. This high pressure, this dome of heat and humidity is weakening some and that is what's helping it turn farther north into Texas and can open up those doors as we go through the weekend. So you can see the hurricane warnings for that imminent landfall there in Mexico comes back into the Gulf overnight and then we're looking at possibly another landfall somewhere north Mexico, south Texas as we go into the weekend, possibly as a hurricane. Regardless of where this exactly makes landfall, we're talking about dangerous rip currents all

all weekend for all of these beaches. Again, keep in mind, it's a holiday weekend, so people really need to stay on alert. Paula. Elisa Rafa, thank you. And next, Republicans already rolling out their attacks on Vice President Harris. Plus, Alec Baldwin headed to trial. His bid to have his case dismissed falling flat. That's coming up in your morning roundup. And here's a look at the fireworks lighting up the sky in New Orleans. We'll be right back.

Amid the ongoing fallout from Joe Biden's concerning debate performance, talk in many top Democratic circles has already moved to who Kamala Harris would choose as a running mate. That's how certain a widening group of leading party officials, operatives and donors are that the president's slow start to salvage his campaign just isn't working. Harris's office updating her schedule yesterday to have her appear with the president for the 4th of July.

Today as we celebrate freedom, as we celebrate the promise of America, we also celebrate and express our gratitude to our service members, to our veterans, to our military families. And we give thanks to our Commander in Chief of the United States, the extraordinary President of the United States, Joe Biden.

CNN senior reporter Isaac Dover joins the panel. Isaac, you have new reporting about the vice president. What can you tell us? Well, look, Joe Biden always says, don't compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative. But his problem right now is that a lot of Democrats are doing that as they're thinking about Kamala Harris. They have been really frustrated with the slow start to the way that Biden has tried to salvage his campaign, not seeing him or hearing him much over the course of last week.

And this has turned to a triage situation for Democrats where they feel like they need to move on. It's not going to they don't think it's going to work out for Biden, a lot of them. And they think the the

most realistic shot that they have of beating Donald Trump is to move quickly toward Harris and to get moving on that right away. And that is yet another problem as Biden tries to hold on to his position here. But for the Harris world themselves, they are very deliberately ignoring a lot of phone calls and a lot of emails and a lot of texts that are coming in. But there have been a lot of them.

But it's not just Kamala Harris who's being considered, right? If not her, then who else is in the realm of possibility? Well, look, there are other people who get talked about, a couple of the governors. But the reality is that very few people in the Democratic Party believe that they have a path to victory if they were to pass over her because of what it would lead to and because of the drawn-out

process that it would be. And she is there, ready, and a lot of minds to go. And by the way, I talked to a lot of people who have been very skeptical over the years of her, a lot of people who are way beyond skeptical, who I have heard say things to me about her that have been

pretty awful actually over the past couple years who are now saying I'm ready, I'm ready. I talked to a leader of one democratic organization and I said look for all of it

You see Biden's poll numbers, they're not great. Her numbers aren't great. Which would you rather? And the person said to me, are you kidding? At this point, that person and many others says it's time to go to Harris. Well, some of this is also reflected in our recent polling, which has Harris inching closer to Trump in a hypothetical one-on-one match here with about 2%.

separating them. What do you make of that in the larger context of things? Is it easy to be a hypothetical candidate in a one-on-one match? Would this extend to the election itself? Sure, it's always easy to be hypothetical.

And if she gets into it, then the attacks are going to come landing on her. One of the things that differentiates her from other potential Democratic prospects, which is important here, is that she was through a presidential campaign, through a vice presidential campaign. She has been vice president. Yes, that's built up a lot of bad feelings towards her among some, but it also means that a lot of the things in her past have already been gone through. They would definitely get a fresh look.

but it's different from a candidate who would be new to the national scene, who would be going through that and who everybody would be going through at a very fast pace. And the Trump campaign already taking shots at Harris. Isn't that sort of the ultimate compliment? I want to watch the new ad that they're putting out. And you know who's waiting behind him, right? Vote Joe Biden today and Kamala Harris tomorrow.

So does this suggest that they're nervous about Harris taking that spot on the ticket? They're certainly paying attention to it. The people that we've been talking to on the Trump campaign have been a little bit flabbergasted by what happened over the last week. They were not expecting that performance from Joe Biden, and they were not expecting things to—

snowball in this way over the course of the week but they are now looking at the the situation that everybody's looking at which is that Joe Biden is in trouble he has this interview today we'll see how it goes has a campaigning that he's doing at we'll see how that goes but

this may be a campaign that changes in a major major way very quickly but lance i want to ask you if they were to replace president biden that has enormous political fallout can you lay out the consequences of switching someone at the top of the ticket it it would i mean we haven't seen anything like that i i certainly cannot even remember when we had something like that happen

For Republicans, the Democrats are going to have a lot of problems putting that coalition together and making sure they're unified. That's number one. That's first and foremost the problem they're going to have. They also have the underlying issues which haven't been on their side, the border, the economy, cost of living. And if it is the vice president, she is going to be tied to who else? Joe Biden. There are going to be questions about the border. There are going to be questions about the cost of living. She has been his number two. I also think there are going to be questions for her

What did you know and when did you know it about the president's fitness for office? And that will constantly dog her throughout that campaign. How do you think President Biden, knowing him as well as you do, would handle, right, having to handle himself, having to be removed from the top of the ticket? Would he just still fall in line? He's often been underestimated. Hard not to take this personally. How do you think he would respond?

You know, he carries himself with a lot of dignity and a lot of class. And if that is what he chooses to do, he will do that with the utmost dignity. And people will give him that grace. I do think the party will actually give him a lot of grace here, and I think the media will as well. But if you look back to 2015 when he decided not to run, that was handled with such care and such respect. And he handled himself so well during that entire process. I would expect nothing less. He is a statesman at the end of the day. He wants what's best for this country.

And so he will do nothing that would, he will not jeopardize the Democrats' ability to beat Donald Trump in November, but he will not, his ego will not take

center of state chair. Well, the pressure is certainly mounting. Stephen, I want to get some of your latest reporting where you write, quote, the problem with the president's argument is that the debate debacle has forced voters to consider not just the success of his administration, which are comparable with those of any other modern Democratic president, but also whether they can imagine an even slower and more fragile president being in office years from now. Yeah, the president makes this argument, as his staff do, that

90 minutes on the debate stage shouldn't define his presidency. And a lot of Democratic readers have made that argument to me that we're concentrating too much on what happened on the debate, on the president's health. The problem is voters are selecting a president for the next four years. Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term. It's very difficult knowing what we do, how people age at that age.

advanced age to think that this is going to get any better. There's going to be moments and there's going to be plateaus and things are going to get worse. And that, I think, is a concern that a lot of voters are saying. And they've been telling pollsters this for two years. Neither party has really listened to what voters are saying about the identity of the two nominees and the tickets this year.

Now, I also want to talk about the pressure from donors, because as we know, things get real when the donors start either freezing their money or redirecting it. Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Roy Disney, who co-founded the Walt Disney Company, told CNBC that she plans to withhold donations to the party that she's funded for years until Biden drops out. This is where things get serious.

Yeah, look, I talked to a Democratic senator who has not to be identified who gave me this long extended metaphor that's in the story talking about how this is like the quarterback getting his bell rung. They don't know whether the quarterback's going to be able to get back on the field. And then people from the stands start shouting, hey, put in that guy from Alabama, the guy who won the Heisman last year. And the people on the field are saying,

Hold on. Let's go with the backup quarterback here. And this is obviously very much with Harrison's mindset. Just because the backup threw an interception the last time she was up doesn't mean that we switch it out now. She knows all the plays. So there is this frustration that I get into in the story, too, of a lot of people saying to the donors, you need to maybe back up here and not be putting the pressure on. I think the other thing is,

that it is hard to believe that Abigail Disney and a lot of these donors, no matter what happens, are not going to be there with their money to fund the effort to stop Donald Trump from coming back. So this is, yes, maybe over the course of the next couple of days we'll see more of this. Let's see where that is in November.

But who would be able to get the president to step aside if that's where things go? For example, the Wall Street Journal has new reporting about Dr. Jill Biden's dilemma right now, writing, locking arms against the world has long been the Biden way, but the scrutiny of that approach is intensifying as more Democrats call on the president to withdraw from this year's contest.

citing concerns he will lose to the former president. As President Biden pushes to keep going, some Democrats think Jill might be the only person who could persuade her husband to exit the race. Does this come down to her? - No, I think it comes down to the family and his advisors around him. Look, the president is not a stupid person. He is very smart. He also will do what's best for this country. But again, I think that people need to give him space to do that. We need to see this interview. He needs to go out on the trail and do this. His press conference, et cetera.

But the one point I would like to make about the donors is they've already raised an unprecedented amount of money. And if it is anyone else but the vice president, that money goes away. And so the Democrats have really put themselves in a situation right now where we don't really have a lot of options if the president is to step aside. So Biden keeps saying it was a bad night, but some Democrats and voters aren't buying it. I want to play a soundbite from Representative Jared Huffman from California. So let's take a listen to what he said.

But we need a reset, we need a course correction. We've got to acknowledge that this was not just one bad night. If President Biden decides that in the interests of defeating Donald Trump and saving this democracy and the free world from everything he represents, that he is ready to pass the torch. It needs to be and I think should be Vice President Harris. So does the Biden campaign need to change the messaging?

they need to change something and they need to do it fast. Far be it for me to give them advice on what to do, but certainly as a PR person, yes, they need to do something really fast because you're going to hear more and more of this come out every single day with each passing day because members of the House who are in competitive districts who are saying, especially those ones who are in the Biden districts that they won, are looking and saying,

Donald Trump is leading by six points in the polls right now, as we said earlier. That is a blowout of epic proportions that could be coming towards him, and that's why I think you're gonna see more and more of these types of comments coming. - All right, my panel, you're gonna stay with me. Isaac, thank you so much for getting up early to share your new reporting. I've been following your insights since the debate.

We're shifting to overseas, where a ceasefire deal in Gaza is moving closer to reality. A senior White House official telling CNN the framework for an agreement is now in place. Talks between Israel and Hamas could resume as early as today, this coming on the heels of a call between President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. CNN's Paula Hancock joins us now from Abu Dhabi. Paula, what do you know about this framework?

Well, Paula, what we know at this point is this is effectively the proposal that has been on the table for some time. So this three stage proposal when it comes to the ceasefire hostage deal. Now, what we've heard from a senior administration official is that the the

The progression from phase one to phase two has been problematic. That's really where these talks have fallen down before. And that's effectively going from a six-week ceasefire with some hostages, some Palestinian prisoners released, evolving into a more permanent

ceasefire with the rest of the hostages being released that has really been the stumbling block we understand as Hamas has said that they want a complete ceasefire and we have heard consistently from the Israeli Prime Minister up until recently that he was not ready to agree to any kind of more long-term ceasefire but now as he is saying

that the operation and the more intense fighting phase in Rafah is starting to wrap up. It does appear as though he is more willing to look into this at this point. So an Israeli source close to these talks has said that they, at this point now, the prime minister will be deciding whether or not to go to the next meeting

phase so the more detailed phase the fact that we know from a source that the Mossad director David Barnea is heading to Doha those talks could start as early as today this Friday it does appear as though we are further along than we have been for some time it

It is important to note, Paula, we have, though, been here a number of times over recent months. It has appeared that we have been close to a breakthrough only for these talks to stall at the last minute. But the fact that we are hearing from a senior Biden administration official that this stumbling block between

The temporary ceasefire potentially to the more permanent ceasefire appears to have been bridged is giving hopes. And we're seeing protests on the streets of Tel Aviv as well. Hostage families saying, please sign the deal. Paula. Paula Hancocks, thank you. And coming up, a shark attack at a Texas beach during holiday celebrations. Plus, a landslide win for the UK's Labour Party. All coming up in your morning roundup.

49 minutes past the hour, here's your morning roundup. A suspected drunk driver kills at least three and injures six others after crashing into a crowd in a Manhattan park during 4th of July celebrations last night. One other victim remains hospitalized in critical condition.

and two people bitten by a shark off Texas' South Padre Island on Independence Day. One of the victims is being treated at a hospital in Brownsville. The other had to be airlifted to an unknown facility for further treatment.

And a 4th of July shooting in Yellowstone National Park leaves a ranger injured and the shooting suspect dead. The incident taking place near a collection of lodges within Yellowstone known as Canyon Village. The shooter's identity has not been released.

And Alec Baldwin set to stand trial next week for the fatal Rust movie set shooting. A New Mexico judge denying Baldwin's last attempt to have his criminal case dismissed. The actor alleging key evidence has been mislabeled. Now to the UK. For the first time in over a decade, the Conservative Party will no longer control the British government. We did it.

Overnight, the Labour Party swept into power with a landslide victory. Labour leader Keir Starmer becoming the next British Prime Minister. British tabloids telling the story, here we go, reads one paper. The stinging defeat ends. Rishi Sunak's time as Prime Minister, he officially left Downing Street and turned in his resignation to the King just moments ago.

CNN's Nick Robertson joins us now with the latest on the big changes unfolding in the UK. Nick, how shocking is this margin of defeat for the Conservative Party?

It's not unsurprising, the polls were predicting it, it's not as bad as they might have feared but bad enough for Rishi Sunak to come out and apologise and say he'd done everything that he could and he was sorry and accepts responsibility enough that he is stepping down obviously not only as Prime Minister but said he was going to step down as party leader. Following this result I will step down as party leader, not immediately,

but once the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place. It is important that after 14 years in government the Conservative Party rebuilds, but also that it takes up its crucial role in opposition professionally and effectively. And that's going to be the big challenge for the Conservative Party is to make up their multiple differences which have really ripped them apart and perhaps led in a

large part to their defeat. There were 650 seats up for grabs. Two are still being counted. Labour coming in at the moment with 412. Conservatives with 121. Labour only needing 326 to have a majority in Parliament. They have got

a raft of changes they want to make, improve the economy, improve the healthcare system, improve justice and crime, also provide jobs in a new energy, a green energy sector. So their ambitions are big. The problem Keir Starmer, the new prime minister, is going to face, of course,

is that the coffers are more or less empty. Where is the money to do everything he wants to achieve? Right now, the handover happening. Rishi Sunak has been to see the king to tender his resignation. Next, Keir Starmer will be going in, and the king will ask him to form a government. And within half an hour or so, Keir Starmer will be here in Downing Street giving a speech, laying out his plan. Nick Robertson, thank you.

And my panel is back. So a big night over in the UK. The prime minister moving in already. What does this mean for the US, Stephen? Very interesting. If there's a message, I think, for the US, it's that incumbents are in trouble all over the world. We've seen the far right sweep the power in a lot of European countries. The Democrats

the British voters have decided to go left not necessarily out of any great love for the Labour Party it's because the Conservative Party has obliterated itself. It was once seen as the world's best election winning machine. There have been three Conservative Prime Ministers over the last Parliament as it's ripped itself apart.

Keir Starmer has a huge job, as Nick was saying. It's not like in 1997 when Tony Blair came to power on a wave of euphoria after years of conservative rule.

The electorate is in a very sour mood. There are huge problems with public services, the National Health Service, transport. Voters are very unhappy. And the public finances are in a real mess. So I don't think that Starmer, notwithstanding the massive size of his mandate, is going to have a very long honeymoon.

What do you think this means for U.S.-UK relations, particularly on key foreign policy priorities like Ukraine? I don't think this changes our relationship with them. We've always been strong allies. It's been one of our longest allies. But I do think one thing that I found interesting is when the former prime minister kind of took a shot at the U.S. by saying, I'm going to participate in a peaceful –

change of power and I definitely think that was a shot to us and so I think that people should pay attention that people around the world are watching the United States and sort of watching what's happening here and sort of you know taking note of this and kind of making a mockery of like our political system right now and the transition so quickly over there yeah exactly we should consider what we talked earlier with one of our correspondents about how 40% of people over there sat this election out is that something we should be concerned about here in the US this sort of apathy

that seems to be infecting some elections around the world. - I think voter apathy is something we've dealt with for a long time here in the United States. That's nothing new. It's what a lot of countries are dealing with. I think part of the issue for the conservative party over there, I welcome Steven's thoughts on this, is you had a party that kind of lost its way. They had been in power for a long time. You see that a lot when one party controls things for a very long time. Sometimes they lose their guiding North Star and you have a bad economy and look what happened. Voters sent a strong message.

So I want to turn back to the U.S. now. President Biden and former President Trump delivering very different political messages to the people. Here's the president at the Fourth of July barbecue at the White House. Let's take a listen. All those who served as members of the military were heroes, genuine heroes, heroes for freedom, democracy and America. Look, now, decades later, we have to look at ourselves and ask the question,

Will we stand for freedom again? Will we stand for democracy? Will we stand together as Americans? I believe we will and we can. A decidedly different tone from former President Trump, who used the Fourth of July to attack his opponents, posting this. Happy Fourth of July to all, including our highly incapable president, who uses prosecutors to go after his political opponents,

Also, respects to our new, potentially new Democratic challenger, Laugh-in Kamala Harris. She did poorly in the Democrat nominating process, starting out at number two and ending up defeated and dropping out. Our panel is back. What do you make of that? There's a holiday tradition, whether it's Thanksgiving or Christmas or July 4th, that Trump uses it to attack his opponents.

On a more serious note, that comparison right there is what the White House wants and the campaign wants us to see. And that's what we haven't been seeing because of this furor over the debate. If they did move on to a different nominee, a younger nominee, maybe that becomes more of the focus. And that was what the Democrats would really like.

Lance, how notable is it that Trump is turning his airing of the grievances, a different holiday, I realize, towards the vice president? I was going to say, Donald Trump's going to Donald Trump, right? This is what we've seen. It goes back like 10 years of, you know, happy Fourth of July to the haters and the losers. This is what he does. I mean, no one is surprised by it.

and this is the Donald Trump. But everybody, that's really the difference, right? Voters go into this knowing Donald Trump. They knew who he was in 2016. They knew who he was in 2020. They certainly know who he is now.

He's up by six points against Joe Biden. What does that tell you? All right, tonight, the big interview, portions of it will air this evening. What do you hope to see? I hope to see the Joe Biden that's clear and concise and can deliver his message and deliver that contrast. I think that, you know, it's not just about proving that he's capable of doing the job he needs to

continue to draw the contrast message with Donald Trump. That's what they were doing before the debate happened and that's what he needs. They need to turn back to that regardless if he steps aside or not. They need to get back to this contrast message because voters have a real serious choice here and I think that they need to be able to see that and I don't think we're seeing that right now. Quickly, what do you think you're going to see?

I think we're going to see a huge political moment whatever happens. We're in a situation four months away from an election. We're talking about a potential change of presumptive nominees. We've been through an extraordinary run over the last few years and this is even greater than that, I think. And Lance, the last word before this highly anticipated TV moment? The president has a very heavy lift in front of him tonight and I'm not sure it's going to solve all the problems that he has.

All right. Thank you so much to my panel. And thank you to you for joining us. I'm Paula Reid as CNN News Central starts right now.

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