Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson Announces He is Resigning; Timetable for When Boris Johnson Will Step Down as Prime Minister Undetermined; Conservative Party in British Parliament to Decide on Boris Johnson's Replacement. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 07, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: -- being forgotten. Is that her worry? Is that your worry?

DAVID WHELAN, BROTHER PAUL WHELAN IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA: No, not at all. I think there's no question in our family case that President Biden and his administration is aware of Paul's case and is most likely doing what they can on Paul's case, whatever that is. And I think the challenge for us is that when Trevor Reed was released from Russia in April, there was an awful lot of media speculation, and perhaps rightfully so, that the White House had created a perception that a meeting or a call with the president was going to be definitive for your case being a priority, your family, your loved one's case being a priority.

And so I think it has made it difficult for families to know what we're supposed to be doing to ensure that our cases are being handled as a priority. And if all that we are hearing is that they are a priority, that doesn't necessarily give us any information about what's going on or what's happening. So I think additional communication from the White House about the specifics in each case would be very useful.

KEILAR: David, I'm so sorry for what you and your family are enduring, and we appreciate you talking with us about it. Thank you.

WHELAN: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: NEW DAY continues right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, July 7th. I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar.

What a moment. Just moments ago, Boris Johnson announced he is resigning as Britain's prime minister. Them's the breaks, he says, a defiant Boris Johnson, bragging about his accomplishments, his electoral mandate, but certainly not apologizing, and failing or refusing to answer the biggest question, when will he actually leave? Johnson says he will announce a timetable next week, but there are indications he may want to hang on for months. This only exacerbates the turmoil at the top of this key U.S. ally.

KEILAR: His resignation is coming after just a raft, a litany of scandals and a flood of resignations in the last 48 hours, 60 officials quitting Johnson's Conservative Party government. Johnson in his speech not dressing those self-inflicted wounds that brought his government down in the end, leaving it, as Berman mentioned there, them's the breaks. Here he was moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party, and therefore a new prime minister. In the last few days I tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we're delivering so much, and when we have such a vast mandate, and when we're actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in midterm after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging, and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.

And I regret not to have been successful in those arguments, and, of course, it is painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself. But as we have seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful. When the herd moves, it moves. And my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Nic Robertson is live at 10 Downing Street in London, which is where he was during the speech. I suppose, Nic, the speech there not surprising, but going to be incredibly unsatisfying to a lot of people who watched it.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, and for those members of his party, potentially insulting, because in essence there, you heard him say it. He called them a herd. When the herd moved, and this began with the resignation of two very senior cabinet members and is now 60 officials, senior officials within the government, ministers, cabinet ministers, have gone.

Is that the herd that Boris Johnson is referring to? If it is, then that's his party, and that's -- he sees them as a herd. This can hardly be the sort of inspirational talk that the party would be looking for. It lacked that emotion. It lacked that sense that he had gone wrong and erred, and that this was on him and it was about him and his decisions and his character and his flaws. He didn't get that.

The process that he is saying is now in place, when he will be replaced by the party, can be a very long process. As many members of his party, members of parliament, who can get eight other MPs to support them, then they can put their names forward to become prime minister.

The way the party goes about this, if it's six, if it's a dozen, they will go through them on what has in the past has been a weekly vote to whittle it down to two final candidates. [08:05:02]

And then that goes to the whole of the Conservative Party's membership around the country, who will then vote by mail over those two final candidates. So you can see what I'm laying out here is a very, very long process. Is this what Boris Johnson is talking about, that he'll hang on until that process has run its course, and then he will hand over and give whatever support he can to whoever replaces him? It sounds very much like what his office was saying earlier this morning, that he wants to hold on until the fall, until the Conservative Party conference. A lot has been left very, very unclear, not least how he has replaced, not least how the prime minister had an opportunity to apologize for his mistakes but did not.

BERMAN: Nic, I know it is early moments, but any reaction that you're picking up from either inside the government or the public to all of this?

ROBERTSON: There was reaction at the end of Downing Street. There were cheers as Boris Johnson was leaving, and boos as a statement of how they feel about the prime minister. But more broadly around the country, what we know, seven out of ten people in the country right now believe that the prime minister should go. There will be MPs who are relieved because they think this will actually help them potentially, MPs of this party, will help them win the next election, because the last two local elections they've had, the conservative party lost both seats, trounced massively, losing a huge majority in one of those local elections.

So there might be relief in some of the party that there is a path to getting rid of Boris Johnson. But across the whole country, I think a lot of people are going to potentially shrug their shoulders and wait and see what happens, because this has been a government and a leadership in turmoil, in crisis for some time. They've heard that the prime minister is going, that he was about to go for so many months now. Now the day has come when he said he's going, and it's still who knows how far away. So I think a lot of people are going to be very ambivalent, if you will, about the next few weeks. They'll wait and see what happens. But no doubt the vast majority of people in this country want the prime minister gone.

BERMAN: Look, there is already the jockeying for who replaces him even as he is jockeying to stick around as long as he can. Nic Robertson at 10 Downing Street, thank you for being there for us.

Obviously, there are immense international implications in all of this, in the short and the long-term. Who was on the other end of the line for the United States when the U.S. president calls Great Britain? What is on the other end of the line in terms of a functioning government there? Let's go right to the White House now to get the reaction from there. I think we have Arlette Saenz standing by. Arlette, what are you hearing?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, those are exactly the questions facing President Biden this morning as he is adapting to this new reality that one of the United States' closest allies, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will be stepping down from his post. Now, so far the White House has not reacted to this news, breaking this morning, but yesterday White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to engaged in the questions relating to the turmoil surrounding Johnson, simply saying that the White House is not going to weigh in on the political process of another country, but insisting that the U.S. and U.K. relationship remains strong.

Now, President Biden last saw Boris Johnson when he was traveling in Europe last week, in Germany for the G7 summit, and then later the NATO summit in Madrid. And of course, Boris Johnson has been a key and close ally for President Biden, particularly when it comes to the issue of Russia and Ukraine. There have been areas where there has been some tensions, the two leaders have been at odds on things when it pertains to Northern Ireland and Brexit. But when it comes down to the U.S. and U.K. response to Russia and Ukraine, the two leaders worked closely together to ensure that Ukraine has the support that they need, but also trying to counter specifically Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But now President Biden will be facing those questions about who he will be working with next, and when exactly that will be since Johnson has not laid out a specific timetable for when they expect a new leader to be in place. But this is something that the White House, of course, will be watching very closely as the U.K. has remained a key ally to the U.S. in this administration.

BERMAN: Arlette Saenz at the White House. Arlette, keep us posted, needless to say.

KEILAR: Joining us now, CNN's Bianca Nobilo, who is live for us in London. Bianca, it was interesting to hear Boris Johnson. He said that it would be eccentric to change the government when they're having such good results. And yet it doesn't really seem like there are that many people who want him to stick around besides Boris Johnson.

[08:10:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: No, I think he was definitely calling that wrong. And we saw that displayed physically in the very meager show of support that he had managed to muster in Downing Street. So there had been a callout to MPs who were supportive to him, and not many appeared. We did see his wife and his six-month- old baby.

But what was so striking about Boris Johnson's speech is it was more magnanimous than some might have expected. Many people who have watched him throughout the years expected him to go harder on his own legacy and really sell himself, but that's not what we saw. And it's interest, because one of the lines that he spoke was to say that being prime minister is an education. And it did make me finally consider whether or not he's absorbed this situation, that his political arc from being that maverick that got caught on a zipline in front of the world to joking about snorting cocaine and sneezing on British public television to telling the gloomsters and the doomsters to go away when he became prime minister, whether he finally absorbed the gravity of the role of prime minister. There were no jokes. There was no rhetoric. There was no bombast in

this speech. This was a man as we have never seen him before, perhaps finally bowed by the circumstances that have made the politician who has always defied political gravity finally subject to the laws of physics.

And just a point for your American viewers about who could potentially succeed Boris Johnson, as Nic was mentioning, the candidate is finally elected by the membership of the conservative party here in the United Kingdom. That number is around 200,000 people. According to the recent polls, the most popular candidate to them to succeed Boris Johnson, and they would be the ones making that decision, is the current defense secretary Ben Wallace. He's considered to be a figure that appeals to both sides of the Conservative Party here in the United Kingdom. He's had many engagements with President Joe Biden before, disagreed with him on the withdraw from Afghanistan last year. And in fact that is something where the prime minister and the foreign secretary in the United Kingdom were heavily criticized for their handling. Ben Wallace, the defense secretary, was lauded for being in the Ministry of Defense, day in, day out, through the nights, trying to extract Brits from Kabul and trying to fix the situation. So he is one of the frontrunners and somebody to watch, something of a dark horse, but these contests are always deeply unpredictable.

KEILAR: And that is where it heads next. The timetable, though, so up in the air. Bianca Nobilo live for us in London, thank you. Of course, we are going to be covering this so much more in the show, big day today coming out of London.

So a scathing new report on the police response to the Uvalde school shooting finds that lives could have been saved if the officers took different actions.

BERMAN: And just in, a Russian plane strikes Snake Island, this is just a week after the Ukrainian military pushed the Russian forces off that location. We have the details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:16:31]

KEILAR: They could have been saved, new developments in the Uvalde elementary school massacre.

According to a scathing new report on the law enforcement response, a Uvalde police officer who was armed with a rifle, weapons matching that of the shooter, spotted the gunman outside the school and asked for permission from a supervisor to shoot him, that supervisor either did not hear him or responded too late. That brief hesitation allowed the gunman to get inside the building where he killed 19 students and two teachers.

Pete Blair is the executive director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University, the organization that wrote this report.

He joined us last hour and he summed up the events of that tragic morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. PETE BLAIR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALERRT AT TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY: These things had to line up perfectly from the exterior door of the school being unlocked to the interior door lock apparently being broken it allow access to the stalling of the officers after that initial push, all of those things had to line up to produce this. And it is rare that you see those things occur, and it is horrible that it happened in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Joining me now is Uvalde resident Kim Hammond. She filmed the video of the police response to the shooting at Robb Elementary. She's been a strong advocate for the removal of Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo from the city council, which he is now gone from.

Kim, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

I know each report we hear is tougher and tougher. What is your reaction to this one, that there were opportunities for police to stop the gunman before he entered the school?

KIM HAMMOND, UVALDE, TX RESIDENT: Well, the report -- good morning. The report just confirms what we all feared, that they didn't act, so the reaction initially was there is a couple of dads that very, very upset that the media put this out there before they knew about it. So the -- it is -- it is disheartening.

It's -- these law enforcement officers are being paid, and they didn't do their job. They just didn't do their job. And they weren't willing to take a bullet for a roomful of kids and teachers.

So, we're -- my mind is still kind of spinning over it. But that's my reaction.

KEILAR: What was the most -- what is the most upsetting part to you, the part where maybe you think this really could have made the difference?

HAMMOND: Well, we have been asking amongst ourselves why didn't they breach the room? At first we were told that it was reinforced door, it was locked, he tried a lot of keys. And then the question came up why didn't you go to the windows in none of us are trained in ALERRT. Just average citizens.

But we ran through scenarios, like, they didn't try anything. They were trained to do a lot of things and they didn't do any of them. They stood on a closing ends of a hallway, and they didn't do anything, knowing that there is kids in there dying, knowing there is kids in there screaming and crying, calling 911, and they didn't breach.

They all just need to be removed. That's what the families want. I know -- I spoke to two dads yesterday about this, and they just -- they want them all removed and just start over, clean slate.

[08:20:02]

Start over with human beings that are willing to go into a profession that they know they may have to be shot, injured or killed, protecting a citizen. So, that's -- that's what they want, realistically, probably not what they'll get, but ideally the city manager would place his law enforcement agency on administrative leave, the school district, superintendent, would place his department on administrative leave, the sheriff's department, the same. Border patrol, the same. DPS, the same. But nobody has been held accountable thus far.

KEILAR: Our correspondent Shimon Prokupecz who has been asking a lot of questions about this story from the time that it happened, he sat down with that Robb Elementary School teacher who survived the shooting but lost several students in his classroom and this is what he was told.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNULFO REYES, ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER: I mean, they probably thought we were all dead or something. But still would have got in before, some of them probably would have made it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Kim, that sort of reinforces what you were saying there. What do you think hearing that?

HAMMOND: Oh, Mr. Reyes, my heart goes out to that guy. Laying there for at least an hour, playing dead, he probably would have bled out, he lost 70 percent of his blood and had he not played dead, he may have bled out all the way. I think he remained calm.

I can only imagine what he's going through, not being able to move, having that guy flick blood in his face, it just brings up a rage inside of me, that these guys that are -- they signed up to serve and protect and they didn't. They just didn't do it.

We're going to keep pushing.

KEILAR: You're going to keep pushing. And, Kim, we're going to keep talking with you. We thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you so much.

HAMMOND: Thank you.

KEILAR: Ahead, former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney says members of his party see Trump as, quote, damaged, because of the January 6th hearings. We'll have more of his interview with CNN.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, the breaking news. Boris Johnson announced he is resigning as British prime minister. But, honestly, not going quietly just yet. Still questions about how long he will remain in office.

Our special live coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:53]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I know that there will be many people who are relieved, and perhaps quite a few who also will be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. Above all, I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me. And I want you to know that from now on, until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served and the government of the country will be carried on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Boris Johnson, just moments ago, announcing that he is resigning as prime minister, resigning as head of the Conservative Party, which will lead to his departure as prime minister, eventually. We still don't know when exactly which is an open question. This follows a mass exodus from his government when some 60 above the officials, these are his supporters, his closest supporters, all resigned en masse amid the latest round of scandals there.

Joining us now, CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman and CNN chief national affairs analyst Kasie Hunt.

Kasie, needless to say, in Washington they're watching this with more than keen interest. The United Kingdom such a crucial ally to the United States, and this president, and the last president had to work so closely with Boris Johnson.

What do you think the discussions are right now in the Oval?

KASIE HUNT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, John, I think stability at the end of the day is what matters in terms of our transatlantic relationship as well as our relationship with our allies, especially in the context of the many global challenges we're facing, whether it is the war in Ukraine, or the recent news that we saw from the British and American home -- domestic intelligence services saying we really have to start to worry about threats from China.

So, you know, anything that kind of distracts from the missions at hand, I think, potentially causes some challenges. You know, I also think politically there is a lot of perhaps confusion in the United States about how it was finally this particular round of scandals that finally got the prime minister to step down. This is not exactly a new kind of state of being for Boris Johnson over this time.

And I do think it is going to be interesting to see how it plays out once he does step down. And what that tells us about where politics are in the UK because let's be honest, sometimes it reflects, sometimes they're a little bit ahead of the trends we see here in the United States as well.

KEILAR: Well, that's what people are going to be looking at. Maybe had is the case of the straw breaking the camel's back had it comes to Boris Johnson. If you're looking for comparison, and you look at former president Donald Trump, folks may wonder why would Boris Johnson's party say enough when Donald Trump's party will not say enough, Maggie?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, because, Brianna, these are different circumstances and different countries and different setups in terms of the party structure and in terms of who they're accountable, too.

[08:30:00]