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Presidential Address; Britain's New Leader. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 17, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:31]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world and in the US. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Let's get into the headlines.

President Trump's primetime address trying to stoke fears about the integrity of US elections. We're going to take a look at what his newly declassified documents do and do not say about possible threats. And no signs of de escalation between the US and Iran with the Gulf caught in the middle yet again. We're going to go live to the region for the latest.

Plus, new details on an investigation into what is behind the multi- state outbreak of a parasitic diarrhea in the US.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: Let's begin with US President Donald Trump's address to the nation. The White House had promised shocking new details about lapses in election security and efforts by foreign countries to interfere. But what the President actually delivered instead was information from newly declassified documents discussing issues that had already been known for years.

Many have been addressed by election officials around the country. And none of the declassified information supports the allegation that any previous election results were manipulated in a way that would have changed the outcome. But President Trump used the occasion to push his election reforms in Congress and to the American people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: This evidence shows that the election system we have dangerously exposes and really exposes like levels never thought possible, the hacking, exploitation and foreign interference. Just as disturbingly, this vital information has for many years been covered up and hidden from you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: We have more now from CNN's Jenn Sullivan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TRUMP: Good evening.

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: President Donald Trump delivering a primetime address Thursday claiming there are "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure."

TRUMP: Tonight we're publishing a series of previously classified US intelligence community assessments and other reports proving that our government has long known these machines are extremely exposed to attack.

SULLIVAN: Still, Trump has not provided evidence that machines have been exploited by a foreign adversary. He also accused China of meddling in the 2020 election, but Trump did not elaborate on how it may have impacted the results of the election.

TRUMP: China engaged in other election-related activities to undermine my first administration in our 2020 campaign.

SULLIVAN: Trump has repeatedly claimed the election was rigged and that he won in 2020 instead of former President Joe Biden. Those claims have repeatedly been proven false. The US intelligence community released a report in 2021 that said China did not interfere, specifically saying China "considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the election."

In the states who were accused of election fraud, say every precaution is taken to ensure results are honest and authentic.

STEPHEN RICHER, FORMER MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA RECORDER: This is why we have paper ballots, it's why we do pre-election tests, and then we do post election hand count audits to make sure that the machines read the ovals correctly.

SULLIVAN: Thursday's speech comes just months ahead of the critical midterm elections where Republicans could lose the majority in either the Senate, the House or both. Many Democrats say these latest claims just spread more lies.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): We have seen so many examples of this president's craziness when it comes to the 2020 election.

SULLIVAN: Trump's remarks come on the heels of his so called SAVE America Act failing to pass in the Senate. The legislation would enact strict new ID and proof of citizenship requirement for voting. I'm Jenn Sullivan reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Joining me now from Colchester, England is Natasha Lindstaedt. She is a Professor of Government at the University of Essex. Good morning to you, first of all. I'm so glad to have you on to break down this speech because it didn't actually reveal anything new, right?

These declassified documents had largely shown election vulnerabilities that had been known for years. But it's still significant because of the timing of this address, of course, just a few months ahead of the midterm elections. What stood out to you?

[04:05:11]

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, it just stood out that he started to focus on China, and he hasn't focused on China's interference in the 2020 election as much as other factors, as much as Venezuela, for example. But he mentioned China some 20 times during this speech, and he said that they had access 220 million voters and had also engaged in some kind of hacking, or possibly could have engaged in hacking of the vote tabulation system.

So these are really serious allegations that he's levying against the Chinese at a time when his approval ratings aren't particularly good. They're under 40 percent. You have 65 percent of Americans that want to have the war in Iran over immediately. That's not popular.

The other thing that's not going well is the cost of living crisis. So you have a lot of important issues that Americans are hoping that Trump and his administration will address. And instead, he is using this decoy, this ruse of focusing on the 2020 election. And then trying to cast doubt in what's going to happen in the midterms, so that if he loses, he can say, well, it was because these elections were rigged or they were hacked, or there was some kind of irregularity that took place.

And I think he understands that the Republicans could not do well because we're seeing early signs from the polls showing that, and he could lose the House most certainly. But even the Senate is in play for the Democrats at this point. So it was really much ado about nothing.

He didn't really seem like he's doing that well, that he seemed -- that he was under attack, and therefore he had to come up with some kind of big speculation to distract from what's really going on.

ABDELAZIZ: So much to do about nothing like you said, but ultimately, while President Trump very ironically said his purpose was not to weaken confidence in the country's electoral system, the speech seemed to be aimed at doing exactly that. What do you see as the intention behind the message here?

LINDSTAEDT: Well, exactly what you said. He's trying to distract voters from this, on the one hand, but also trying to sow doubt in terms of our electoral integrity so that he can save face if he loses. But it also depresses voter turnout, because if he convinces enough people that the elections are a hoax, they're unfair, a lot of people aren't going to turn out to vote.

And so, it's a win for him in many different ways. So while he's sowing doubt in our electoral integrity, at the same time he has been actively trying to undermine our electoral integrity. He dismantled the FBI task force that was looking foreign meddling. He also gutted any kind of efforts at cyber security and also tried to get Republican-led states to not participate in an electronic voting register system that was actually nonpartisan, that was helping ensure that people were getting registered to vote and that voter rolls were accurate.

So while, on the one hand, he's saying the elections are unfair, he doesn't want mail-in voting either. He's trying to make it more difficult to vote through the SAVE America Act. It really should be himself that he is looking at due to some of these efforts that he has been putting in place.

ABDELAZIZ: You say that it's not going to really shift things, but this is still a primetime speech to America. Do you think people were buying what he's selling or is he just speaking to his own base here? Is this just an echo chamber?

LINDSTAEDT: Yes, I would say it's just speaking to his base. You have the base that is convinced more or less that the 2020 election was fraudulent. A recent YouGov poll showed about 65 percent of the base believes him, and about 50 percent of Republicans overall. But Independents, Democrats either don't believe it or they don't care.

This is not the most important issue for them. They're hoping that Trump is going to focus on other issues that are more important to them, whether it be the cost of gas prices or the cost of grocery prices. And so, when he continues to do this, I mean, Republicans in his own party must be rolling their eyes and groaning like, why is he focusing on this months before the midterms.

And suspiciously right as he's trying to negotiate with China, he is pointing the fingers at them. But this is really just to the domestic audience. It's just to his base more specifically. He's trying to rile them up, get them motivated to vote and save face.

ABDELAZIZ: Natasha Lindstaedt there on the primetime address from President Trump last night. Thank you so much for breaking it down with me.

[04:10:08]

President Trump only briefly mentioned the war with Iran during this speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, those few words were his only reference to the conflict during his remarks. His speech came on the same night the US military says it hit dozens of Iran military targets in its latest major wave of strikes. This marks the sixth consecutive night of US attacks on Iran.

Iran state media says several bridges in the country's south were targeted in the latest US strikes, along with a railway junction and power lines. Meanwhile, Gulf states are fending off fresh retaliatory attacks from Tehran. Tehran says it launched drones at US military targets in the region.

Now joining me for more on all of this live from Abu Dhabi is our Eleni Giokos. Good morning to you, first of all, Elaine. So yet again, another night of strikes from the US and retaliation from Tehran, Is this just going to continue to escalate and escalate, and escalate, or is there an off ramp here?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's such a good question because a lot of the experts that I've spoken to say that this could perhaps be the new normal where you see escalation traps sort of occurring. Another analyst I spoke to say this could turn into a forever war.

It's really important to note that even though after six consecutive nights of strikes against Iran. Iran is basically showing that it still has military capabilities and posting images of drone missile launch sites targeting Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar was under fire as well overnight, as well as Jordan intercepting missiles and drones. Importantly, the UK MTO also reported a vessel that was struck just off the coast of Oman. Damage to the vessel, but no injuries reported there.

And again, we're just seeing this sort of escalation coming to the fore. What is interesting, though, is White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sort of showing that there perhaps is some room for diplomacy or at least opening the door for that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're talking to them but, again, the President is not going to allow them to fire on ships in the Strait without paying a consequence for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: So essentially, the United States targeting Iran as retaliation against targeting of commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliating against Gulf allies, specifically targeting US assets in the region as retaliation as well. Now the question is, can mediators drag both parties to the negotiating table?

That remains to be seen. As we've seen, the unraveling of the Memorandum of understanding that was perhaps going to open this window for wider negotiations. Importantly, the IRGC has also claimed that it struck US forces in Syria, specifically in Al-Tanf, part of Syria. CNN could not independently verify this claim.

We have reached out to US Central Command. But also important to note that US military departed the alternate garrison in February of this year, an important sort of development. But Iran of posting images we've seen of bridges being targeted and as well as strategic infrastructure as the US says that it's planning and thinking about expanding military operations across Iran. ABDELAZIZ: Eleni Giokos there in Dubai with the latest for us. Thank you so much for bringing that to us.

At least two people have died as floodwaters surged through Texas' Hill Country, the same area where more than 100 died last year. Officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for communities along the Guadalupe River due to flood threats. Now, first responders had conducted more than 230 rescues as the storm swept across the region.

You're looking at body cam video there that shows a crew member pulling a family to safety in Uvalde. A flood watch remains in effect until midday on Friday for hard hit parts of South Central Texas. While some rivers and creeks have receded, officials warn the threat is not over with more rain in the forecast.

Massive plumes of Canadian wildfire smoke have engulfed large swathes of the US impacting more than 120 million people. Major cities in the Midwest in Northeast already are under air quality alerts, with more cities along the east coast under watches. Poor air quality is expected to plague these regions through at least Saturday as more smoke pours across the border.

[04:15:02]

The revolving door at 10 Downing Street spins yet again as Britain prepares to welcome its seventh prime minister in a decade. A look at the looming transfer of power ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

And thousands of people across the US are sickened in an intestinal illness outbreak. Now investigators have identified what is behind the some of those infections. The details are coming up next.

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[04:20:00]

ABDELAZIZ: In less than three hours, Britain will take its next step on the path to a new prime minister. Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is expected to be officially announced as the new leader of the Labour Party this morning in London. He'll formally take over SPM on Monday, replacing Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation last month after losing the support of his party.

Mr. Starmer spent his last full day as labor leader in Ukraine. He met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and promised Britain's support for Ukraine would continue even after he leave number 10.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, FORMER UK PRIME MINISTER: The UK will provide 300 euro million of support, working together with Sweden to provide 60 new advanced aircraft to help defend Ukraine's skies. Confirmation once again that the British people stand with you with everything we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ABDELAZIZ: Joining me now is our Nada Bashir with more. So just in a couple of hours time, Nada, we're supposed to see, of course, Andy Burnham at this special party conference. Can you talk me through what we expect to take place there?

NADA: Well, this is the official and formal party ceremony to appoint Andy Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor and, of course, the Makerfield MP, as the new Labour Party leader. Now, this is the first step, of course, in a process which will see Andy Burnham being sworn in as prime minister on Monday. That official handover from the then former Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

And this official ceremony will mark his beginning as the Labour Party leader, although Keir Starmer will remain in office as Prime Minister until that formal handing over that we expect to see at Downing street on Monday. But, of course, this comes after weeks, months of turmoil within the Labour Party.

We are expecting to see other Labour members of Parliament announcing their support, of course, for the newly appointed party leader. And this comes after we did see a huge backing for the party leader from MP, some 379 Labour Party MPs announcing that they would back Andy Burnham to be the next Prime Minister, including, of course, former potential rivals that were gunning for the leadership role.

We've also seen strong backing from trade unions linked to the Labour Party. And this is, of course, a huge undertaking for a party that has seen some downward trends in opinion polls. We've seen the Labour Party lagging behind the Reform Party, the far right Reform Party, in opinion polls over recent months. And Keir Starmer, of course, did formally announce his resignation last month, saying in a statement that he believed he was not best fit to lead the party into the next general election, given losses suffered by the Labour Party in local elections in May.

But of course, there are a lot of questions around what Andy Burnham's premiership will look like, how it will differ from Keir Starmer. He has been noticeably absent from media interviews, for example, he has kept somewhat of a low profile up until this point.

There are questions around what his policy priorities will look like, both in terms of domestic policy, but also foreign policy as well. He's been very clear that he wants to make social welfare a key priority for him. And of course, another key question will be his Cabinet appointments. So we're not expecting to see any sort of formal announcements on that until Monday or perhaps after during the week. Salma?

ABDELAZIZ: Nada Bashir there on the rise of yet another new prime minister for Britain. Thank you so much for that.

For more analysis, we're joined now by Patrick Baker here in London. He is the host of POLITICO's podcast, West Minnesota Insider. Good morning, first of all, to you.

So, as you heard there from our reporter Nada Bashir, we have the special party conference today. I understand that Mr. Burnham has a speech prepared that's supposed to set a new path for Britain. What policies does he actually plan to roll out that will distinguish him from Keir Starmer here?

PATRICK BAKER, HOST, POLITICO'S WEST MINNESOTA INSIDER PODCAST: Yes. So we're expecting a speech today from Andy Burnham and it will probably contain a lot of the messaging that we've been hearing from him since really he launched his comeback effort back in May. In terms of specific policies, well, the general trend which is probably easier to look at first, is that he's trying to basically create a country that he says will be more responsive to the everyday person.

So he's going to try and devolve a lot of power, take a lot of power out of central government, out of Westminster and put it in local authorities, councils. He was obviously the mayor for Manchester as well. He wants to give mayors more powers to kind of be able to affect change where people are.

And specifically on industries like water, rail, mail, he wants to re nationalize or at least give those industries more public control, take them back into the hands of public ownership. And that is clearly something that appeals very much to the left wing of the Labour Party.

[04:25:09]

Part of the reason he's got such appeal over huge numbers of very left wing MPs within the Labour Party is this quite radical agenda. But it's going to be interesting to see once he lands in Downing Street, whether the same kind of fiscal, financial headwinds that really caused Keir Starmer a lot of difficulty in kind of being more radical, bolder than he might want it to be. So we'll have to see.

But he's also said he wants to make serious change on social care, which people will know has been a huge issue in UK politics for a long time. Successive prime ministers unable to reform social care and make it work as efficiently as it could be. And he says he's willing to spend a lot of political capital on that.

But we've seen so many Prime Ministers over the years, and so many of them campaign well and say that they're going to deliver all these different policies, but actually we're going to see from Monday whether Andy Burnham is any different and if he's really able to deliver in a way that improves Labour's popularity in the poll ratings.

ABDELAZIZ: And I have to be honest with you, so I'm American, I've lived in this country for more than 10 years. In that time, this is going to be the sixth prime minister that I will see. Is this really what is best for the country or are politics just broken here? I mean, as you mentioned there is Burnham really going to outlive his predecessors?

BAKER: Well, I think what we've seen in the UK, certainly since the Brexit vote, which was essentially 10 years ago now, is a serious amount of political volatility. Voters are clearly not happy. They keep trying to push a button marked change, whether that was in the form of Brexit or Boris Johnson, who was promising to deliver Brexit.

Or post-pandemic, we saw different Tory leaders in the form of Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak. They voted change again, unhappy with the Conservatives. And there was a real sense that Keir Starmer's Labour government was going to be this moment for delivering change. That clearly is not how many voters see it. I mean, Labour did really, really badly in our equivalent of the midterm elections just in May.

So there is this sense that there's a general frustration and someone needs to come in and sort it out, but there are serious problems in the UK in terms of being able to actually make these long term changes. We have a, a very difficult 24/7 media environment which makes it really hard to govern strategically. And in the long term, a whole host of other factors in terms of the global headwinds economically that are driving up interest rates and making it really difficult to find extra money to spend on public services.

All of these things confecting in a very difficult way for any prime minister, any leader. But what's clear is Keir Starmer didn't have a very good communications ability. Andy Burnham is a much better political operator, a better salesman, if you like. So, even if he actually isn't that different, he might be able to sell his message a little bit better to the electorate. And in that sense, he might have a better chance of lasting a little bit longer than Keir Starmer did.

ABDELAZIZ: Patrick Baker there on the work that is cut out for the new prime minister in a very tough climate. Thank you so much for breaking that down for us.

Donald Trump's primetime address is getting a response in Beijing. After the break, we're going to go live to China's capital for reaction to the President's election interference accusations. Plus, we're going to hear from the woman accusing the chief prosecutor of the ICC of sexual misconduct. That world exclusive coming up on CNN.

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