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What We Know with Max Foster

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer Announces Resignation; Vance Departs Switzerland After Touting Progress in Iran Talks; Messi Breaks Men's World Cup Goal Record With Two Goals In Argentina's Game Against Austria; Colombia's Far Right Populist Wins Preliminary Vote By Narrow Margin. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 22, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:31]

ISA SOARES, CNN HOST: Welcome, everyone. I'm Isa Soares, live from number 10. It's just gone 8:00 p.m. here, where earlier today, British Prime

Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation.

The U.K. will now be searching for its sixth prime minister in the past seven years after storming into office on the back of a resounding

majority, just two years ago, by the way. Mr. Starmer was undone by economic problems and a growing mutiny inside his own party. He

acknowledged that he simply no longer has the support of Labour MPs.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, OUTGOING BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general

election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question. And I accept that answer with good grace. Every decision I have

taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, the question as to who will replace Mrs. Starmer as prime minister seems all but decided. The popular former mayor of Grey to

Manchester, you're seeing him there, Andy Burnham, was sworn in as an MP only hours ago and appears to be the only person in the running for the job

so far. He could take over as soon as next month.

Let's go straight to my colleague, Max Foster, who's been on the story throughout the day. And quite another, I mean, dramatic day for British

politics, another, you know, six prime ministers, potentially in.

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: It's almost ordinary and extraordinary at the same time, isn't it ordinary because you've got

another changeover here, but extraordinary because as you say, he was -- came in on this massive wave of support, an extraordinary landslide, and

then he lost it. ever since he got into power. You never quite know what a politician will be like when they're actually in the office, but it's a

different test and the same is going to be true for Burnham.

SOARES: So before we talk Burnham, I mean, just explain that for our international audience. I mean, he won by a landslide less than two years

ago.

FOSTER: Yeah.

SOARES: What has gone wrong for him? I mean, one MPL speaking member of Parliament speaking to the last hour said he simply, he had lots, he did

very well on key areas, that there were some U-turns, but communicating was one of his challenges.

FOSTER: Well, yeah. So Burnham's team, they don't want to come straight into office because they know you've got to work on that first 100 days.

And somehow just didn't seem to have a plan for the first 100 days. So there was never anything.

None of his policies he pushed through that. He's very indecisive. He either did a U-turn. He did some disaster -- you know, there was the winter

fuel payments, which is a very UK story, absolute disaster. Mandelson is probably the most famous disaster.

But repeatedly, there have been problems. And even now, you know, he was cheered for the way he treated Trump when he came into office and, you

know, offering him the invitation to the state visit. But even that was seen as a mistake now, because now all the European politicians are pushing

it back against Trump. He just never seemed to get to grips of the actual job when he was in the office.

SOARES: Burnham now, I mean, he's the only one so far that's thrown his hat into the ring of course speak to the challenges because he is of course

known he's got the moniker of king of the north but he has to be king of the south the east and the west. That's a huge challenge. We're talking

about 3 million city or 3 million people going to 70 million people in the country.

FOSTER: As a microcosm and that is perfect for what the country needs because he's enormously popular and has been very effective. But as you say

we don't know anything about his national policies, don't know anything at all about his international policies, deliberately avoided it by saying I'm

fighting a local election. So it's a massive test, but everyone's drawn to him that video you showed for him going into parliament today.

By the way, Keir Starmer resigning before he was an even then even an MP. So this whole thing is extraordinary, but they were cheering for him. He

was joking he's got this amazing personality this amazing charisma but people are overlooking the policy not saying he doesn't have any policy but

we just don't know what they are. But everyone's so, you know, some was so unpopular by the end.

So grey, so boring, so indecisive. They just want the opposite. But, you know, you're not tested until you get into the office.

SOARES: If you're really tested and that will that bring change, which is what he's promising as well.

[15:05:00]

FOSTER: Could be July.

SOARES: Really? In a couple of weeks.

FOSTER: Yeah.

SOARES: My question is very quickly. I know I haven't been told throughout, but why not sooner? I mean, it's why not -- why not tomorrow?

Why not in two days?

FOSTER: Well, they've got to go through a process and open the nominations, and Starmer said that's at the beginning of next month.

SOARES: Why not open the nominations next week or, you know, or tomorrow?

FOSTER: Yeah. Well, because Burnham's team don't want that.

SOARES: Right, so he wants time --

FOSTER: You know, I mean -- he doesn't, you've got to fill those offices, even who's in the cabinet?

SOARES: We'll just say a lot can happen over the day.

Max, appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Well, last hour I asked one Labour M.P., Paul Swallows, I was referring to him earlier there, about the challenges facing Andy Burnham should he

become the U.K.'s next Prime Minister. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL SWALLOW, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY: He will now need to speak to not just the north but the whole country. I'm an M.P. from the southeast of England.

You know, my constituents also feel that they've been left behind, that there are cost of living pressures across our country. And Andy will need

to speak to all of our communities. I do think that cost of living is probably the number one issue for my voters and actually for everyone in

the country. It is an incredibly tough time at the moment. We've done some stuff to make that easier, but there is definitely more to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, joining me now is Sir Anthony Seldon, contemporary British historian and biographer of several consecutive prime ministers.

Wonderful to have you on the show, sir.

You have written, and tell me if I'm wrong here, that you have a prime minister, speaking of Starmer, who had a huge power without a clue about

how to use that power, and without the curiosity before he became prime minister to inquire how to use that power.

Expand on that. Where did it go wrong for Keir Starmer?

ANTHONY SELDON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BIOGRAPHER: Well, he was a good leader of the opposition, and he got Labour to power. He was good at

campaigning to get into office, but it's like an American president who is a great campaigner but a very bad governor.

And once you are in the White House, once you're in Downing Street, you have to become a different persona. You are now head of a nation and you

have to have a policy on housing and on space and on energy and on China.

And you have to be able to -- you have to be able to captivate the whole country with a vision about why you were there. And Keir Starmer never got

that. He's a lawyer. He came across as very dull, pedestrian, sequential, legalistic, with zero ability to infuse anybody.

But this is the killer point. He had no curiosity to find out, you know, what is it, why are some prime ministers successful? What are they doing in

the past that made them successful? And why were some very unsuccessful?

And, you know, if you don't have curiosity, well, you're barely alive, are you?

SOARES: But, Sir Anthony, I mean, he was he did win only two years ago by a huge landslide, a mandate. So what do you put down that down to?

I was speaking to a member of parliament earlier, he said he just wasn't a great communicator. Yes, there were many U-turns, but the communicating

wasn't there. He wasn't able to communicate those achievement, those successes.

Do you agree with that?

SELDON: Well, I do. And we have to realize that never in history has a prime minister that had such a massive landslide picture. I mean, 400 M.P.s

out of 650. The other parties just knocked into the corner. Massive, massive authority in power. He could have done anything under the sun.

But the guy didn't seem to know, as we've just been hearing, what to do with power, the difference between governing and campaigning. And he had no

economic plan for growth. Britain is massively in debt, as are many other countries.

And he had lots of ideas for spending it and forgiving labor unions all what they want in terms of extra protection for employment. But he didn't

think enough about employers, people who generate wealth, generate income, generate growth, generate jobs, you know? And that's not acceptable. You

can't spend money unless you earn it. And this, ultimately, are good for him.

(CROSSTALK)

SOARES: Yeah, go ahead.

SELDON: Well, I mean, the country lost confidence in him. First of all, his cabinet and his M.P.s and the country, there were just so many U-turns,

so little inspiration.

[15:10:02]

And he was good at some aspects of foreign policy. He had a very brilliant figure advising him, Britain's national security advisor, indicatively, it

was the same person who was advising Tony Blair on foreign policy. I mean, he really knew what he was doing. So when Starmer had at his right hand

somebody who knew what to advise him to do, then Starmer could mouth the words, could do the things. And he came across reasonably well to foreign

leaders.

If it had an equivalent person over economic policy and domestic policy, defense policy, then it might have been a different story. But he didn't

have that. He chose cronies, people he felt safe with, people who didn't threaten him, people who had buddies. And he was --

SOARES: So, Sir Anthony, just on that point.

(CROSSTALK)

SELDON: Yeah.

SOARES: So just you're talking about economic plans, policy, looking ahead then for we're looking here potentially to Andy Burnham he's the only one

that's thrown his hat in the ring many expecting of course him to be the next prime minister here at 10 Downing Street where -- is it clear to you

what his economic policies are, where his foreign policy is right now? It - - because it's not clear to me where he stands on some key issues.

SELDON: So this is what I want you to understand. Britain is about to have its fifth prime minister in four years. That's never happened in British

history. Britain gave the office of prime minister to 70 countries in the world. They loved and admired Britain because of this superb system of

government.

And it's all gone catastrophically wrong. And it will go wrong for Burnham unless he realizes that he needs to be very strong, indeed, as a leader,

formidably strong. He's going to become immensely unpopular, the most unpopular man in Britain. He's going to have to pull in the belt, cut back

on spending on just about everything other than defense.

And he is going to have to generate jobs, he's going to have to generate employment, he's going to have to sort out our borders. Now, if he does all

that, which will make him many enemies in his own party, then he will be successful. But you know, if he's unsuccessful, Britain will be in a really

bad position, worse or as bad as in the 1970s when Britain was the sick man of Europe.

But he will also, you know, it'll be terrible and bad for the Labour Party. Britain can't afford another, a failed prime minister.

SOARES: Thank you very much, Sir Anthony Selden, contemporary historian and biographer. Wonderful to have you on the show. Thank you, Sir Anthony.

Now, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is heading home from Switzerland after talks with Iran that he says laid a very good foundation for a final peace

deal. But Iran is already pushing back on its statements about U.N. nuclear inspections. The talks will continue on a lower technical level, aiming to

resolve some of the toughest remaining challenges, including the war in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed, Hezbollah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We actually set up the right mechanism to ensure the regional ceasefire to manage the inevitable

conflicts that will come up. We feel great about that. We're working with our allies from the Israelis to the Gulf Arabs to make sure that sticks.

And we feel very, very good about where that is.

We have the Iranians allowing weapons inspectors, nuclear inspectors into their country for the first time in a long time. We're obviously going to

bolster those inspect -- that inspection regime to make sure they can never have a nuclear weapon. And finally, we continue to make progress on these

technical negotiations. We left a lot of our team. The Iranians left a lot of their team at the resort there to keep on working at. So, all in all, a

very productive 36 hours.

SOARES: Let's get more from CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from Switzerland.

So, Nic, sounding there, a very positive J.D. Vance. Are you hearing that same level of optimism from the Iranian side?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look, I think the Iranians are also trying to sell the successes of their time here in

Switzerland to their audience.

We've heard from the foreign minister saying the test of this is going to be on how well the ceasefire works in Lebanon. They came into this saying

that they wanted a ceasefire in Lebanon. They refused to come to the talks that have been scheduled for Friday. And there has been an agreement around

that of sorts, a deconfliction cell has been created to try to -- you know, stop sudden escalations of violence.

It's a Band-Aid, but it keeps the memorandum of understanding on track, if you will. It sort of battens down that part of the agreement of violence.

It's a Band-Aid, but it keeps the memorandum of understanding on track, if you will. It sort of battens down that part of the agreement for now. So

he's selling that to the population that way.

The foreign minister of Iran has been selling to the population as well, that they're getting some sanctions relief. There's been pushback on the

U.S. side about that. J.D. Vance explained their view.

This is where we're at. The memorandum of understanding was signed last week but there's very, very little action that's actually happened to

advance anything. There have been disagreements as we've heard about the role of the IAEA. That's all a detail that has to be hammered out, the

sanctions relief, when and how it happens, the frozen assets relief, how and when it happens -- all of those are details that get hammered out along

the way these 60 days, 57 of them left, to get through the memorandum of understanding.

Where we're at, they've agreed up here a structure, you know, sort of a high body to oversee a monitoring structure, a grievances structure, some

sort of lower level groups on the sanctions on the nuclear issues that agree at technical level. They've got this structure, technical reports to

political -- political reports into that that overall body that the sort of high level committee that it's called.

But the actual stuff that really needs to get agreed that was the wording was found to get this memorandum of understanding, the real stuff in that

that has to be agreed it doesn't really feel as if we've moved forward on that. But given the tensions over the weekend, that agreement, the MOU is

still in place both sides telling it to their populations there are differences of opinion. And that's how it's going to be until it finally

gets nailed down on what's what and what the specifics are.

SOARES: Three steps forward, 10 steps back. Diplomacy at work right there.

Nic Robertson in Lucerne, Switzerland. Good to see you, Nic. Thank you very much.

And coming up right here on the show, after a World Cup hat trick, what could Lionel Messi do for an encore? Details of another record-setting

performance by LBS (ph) just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:12]

SOARES: Welcome back. I'm Isa Soares, coming to you live from Downing Street. We'll have more on the resignation of British Prime Minister Keir

Starmer shortly.

But first, bring you some other incredible stories. Record-breaking, in fact, has become routine for none other than Lionel Messi. The Argentine

legend became the World Cup's all-time, all-time, by the way, leading goal- scorer just minutes ago, netting both tallies in his country's 2-0 win over Austria.

And that brings his total to 18, and that means he has now surpassed the World Cup record held by Brazil's Marta in the women's tournaments with 17

goals.

I want to go straight to Don Riddell. I've done. I can only imagine the celebrations in Buenos Aires as he scored. Of course, those goals they go

absolutely crazy, but look. He's pretty good at football, isn't he, Don?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: He's alright. You know, I mean, I saw him win the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, and I think a lot of us just assumed

that was it. He was going to go out on the top. And how could it possibly get any better than that?

Well, he has proven that he can still do it. Absolutely incredible the other day when he scored his first World Cup hat-trick. Amazing to think

he'd never done that before. He did that 20 years to the day since his very first World Cup goal back in 2006. He's followed it up with a brace today,

making history, as you say.

It could have been even better, by the way. We haven't mentioned that he missed a penalty earlier in this game against Austria, so he could have had

back-to-back hat-tricks.

And look at what he has now done in the men's game, surpassing Miroslav Klose for the men's record with 16 goals. He's now up to 18. He's got at

least two more games to go in this World Cup, so you would imagine that he's just going to keep going at this rate.

And if anybody else has scored today, he might have broken another record because he's currently tied for the World Cup assists record with the great

Diego Maradona on eight. So we suspect at some point this tournament he might break that record as well.

But I mean, what Messi's doing is just incredible. He's going to turn 39 in two days time. So I guess he celebrated his birthday early. And if you look

at what he's done in his last six World Cup games, 10 goals, five now in this tournament, five in the last World Cup. Just absolutely incredible.

Football's most famous number 10 is tearing up the record books. Back to you at number 10, -- Isa.

SOARES: Thank you very much. I love that transition.

There's still hope, isn't there, Don, for us oldies there, after all. Thanks to you with that record, he's totally the GOAT.

Don, good to see you. Thanks very much.

Now, France and Iraq are set to play in the next game today, with kickoff scheduled in Philadelphia in about an hour and a half, in fact, from now.

And it could be a late night for fans hoping to watch from home, though, with some big thunderstorms in the area. The gate opening was delayed, with

fans near the stadium told to take shelter and not to show up if they hadn't arrived yet.

The gates have now opened, but no word yet on where the kickoff itself will be delayed. We'll keep you posted on that.

And still to come, right here on the show, the revolving door at 10 Downing Street is swinging open once again. Much more on British Prime Minister

Keir Starmer's resignation and who might become his successor. That's after this very short break.

You are watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:04]

SOARES: Welcome back, everyone.

For the seventh time in 10 years, the U.K. will have a new prime minister. The current occupant of 10 Downing Street, his resignation, announced his

resignation earlier today. And it follows months of political turmoil for Keir Starmer, whose tenure began with some promise. So how and why did

things go south so quickly?

Our Clare Sebastian has this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Keir Starmer promised to restore integrity to British politics.

STARMER: The fight for trust is the battle that defines our age.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And yet the moment he swept into Downing Street with one of the biggest mandates in modern British history would mark the

peak of his popularity.

STARMER: We have to take the tough decision to stabilize our economy.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Progress on domestic reforms widely seen as slow and fraught with U-turns. On the global stage, he seemed on steadier

ground, securing three major trade deals, including with the U.S., playing a leading role in rallying support for Ukraine, and standing his ground

over the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

STARMER: I will never let this country be dragged into a war that is not in our interests, never.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): But one decision would come to haunt him, the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, only to fire

him nine months later. A veteran, yet controversial Labour figure, Starmer hoped Mandelson would build bridges with the Trump Administration.

There were existing warnings about his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, though it was not known then how deep that relationship

ran.

In February, Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, a charge he denies, though he has said publicly he regrets his

friendship with Epstein, and apologized to Epstein's victims, and he wasn't the only one apologizing.

STARMER: I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you, sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies

and appointed him.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): In May, local and regional elections revealing the extent of Starmer's fall from that 2024 landslide and the fragility of the

trust he had promised to restore. Pressure from within his own party eventually leading to this.

(CHEERING)

STARMER: Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And our thanks to Claire for that report.

Well, just for context, this time last week, Andy Burnham was just the mayor of Manchester. Now he's tasked with delivering the British government

from this mess.

[15:30:01]

His new colleagues in parliament made sure he knew about it during his swearing in ceremony. And fans of Monty Python will appreciate the

reference. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH LABOUR MP: I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his majesty King Charles, his heirs

and successors, according to law. So help me god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not the messiah!

BURNHAM: Naughty boy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: So who exactly is Andy Burnham, you ask? Well, he describes his political style as business friendly socialism. He's no stranger to

Westminster. He was health minister during the Gordon Brown years in the 2000. But after trying and failing to win the Labour leadership, he left

London for Manchester, becoming the city's mayor in 2017. There he became popular for economic revival, building new homes and improving public

transport.

So what we want to know this hour is can Andy Burnham fix the U.K.'s political problems?

Joining me now is John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Scotland and a well-known polling expert here in the U.K.

Great to see you, John. Great to have you back on the show.

So let's ask this -- answer that question. I know it's very broad, but can he because we've been talking about his moniker, of course, he is the king

of the north. Can he take that? Can he bring that to the south, to the east, to the west? Can that resonate, you think

JOHN CURTICE, PROFESSOR OF POLITICS, STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITY: Well, it will certainly have to change some of the message that he's been expounding as

the mayor of Manchester, because as the mayor of Manchester, he was often pitting the interests of the north west and indeed the north of England in

general, against what he thought was the failed politics of Westminster. He's now going to have to craft a message which encapsulates the whole

country rather than espousing the interests of one particular part of it.

I think we know two things about Andy Burnham. One, we do know he's just compared with Sir Keir Starmer, is that he's a better political

communicator. He knows he's got -- he's got political antennae. That means he understands when things are going wrong more quickly than Sir Keir

Starmer ever would.

And he can craft a speech in particular. He's got the art, which is very valuable in a politician of talking to people or seeming to talk to people

rather than talking at people. When you saw him, for example, um, at the rally in Ashton in Makerfield, at the day after his by election, when he

was talking with some of those who campaigned for him here was somebody who was from the area talking to other folk from the area as though he is one

of them and on a level. That -- that's a valuable attribute in a politician demonstrates an ability to make an emotional -- connection with your

audience, which all politicians of any value need to be able to do.

The second question, however, is how is he going to do the job and is up to the job? And there, there are kind of two question marks. One is, well,

being mayor of Manchester and advocating Manchester's interests rather effectively is one thing. Running 10 Downing Street and running government

and all the things that you can get thrown at you as another.

And secondly, does he have a sense of direction for his government? Can he tell us what some of his ideas he's got, for example, about using the state

rather more to be able to run and regulate the economy, not least with utilities like water. Can he turn that into a broad political message and a

narrative for his government? Again, something that Keir Starmer sadly lacked. And on that second criterion, I think the jury is still out.

SOARES: Yeah. And this is something I've heard, John, from several M.P.s, saying it is the messaging. He is very charismatic and hoping that he can

continue relaying that message to the British people in a way that is relatable and comes across as very, very normal, if we can call it that, in

a world of politics if and when he is inside 10 Downing Street.

But let's talk about the policies, because this is something that, when I speak to M.P.s that no one seems to give me a clear idea of where he

stands. We're talking NHS, we're talking about taxation, we're talking -- let's talk about foreign policy as well, spending.

Is it clear to you where he stands on these key issues, or does that matter right now?

CURTICE: Oh, I think -- I think you've mentioned all sorts of issues where we don't know very much. He's not somebody who's got a -- he's not been

involved in foreign affairs in the past, as mayor of Manchester, he's not been particularly involved in the U.K.'s foreign connections. That I think

is very much an open book.

On taxation, he has said he will keep to the -- to the taxation promises that may be made not to increase the standard rate of income tax, or

national insurance, et cetera, et cetera, even though those very heavily hemmed the government in.

[15:35:05]

He has said that he's going to keep to Rachel Reeves fiscal rules, though, whether he'll keep Rachel Reeves might be another matter.

The area where he does have this track record is certainly-- well, I think two things. One is he is somebody who is clearly concerned about

inequality, and particularly inequality between places. He says he's going to allow more in the way of devolution. Once you've got into Westminster

and got into Whitehall, devolution sometimes looks less attractive. But he seems to be keen on giving more economic powers to the various major

provincial cities.

And he certainly seems to be very interested in using this power of the state, not necessarily to nationalize but essentially to bring things into

public control. He's done that in Manchester with public transport. We're already doing that with railways. I think we can expect that to continue.

We can expect you to see it with water.

And I think the fascinating thing is, does he also do it with electricity and gas?

SOARES: And he's been very clear on that front, John. But so I wonder in the weeks ahead, of course, when we have a clear idea if it is going to be

him, we're all expecting it to be him. He's the only person who's thrown his hat in the ring so far.

But I suppose the best -- the first sense we'll get is his cabinet. How -- because he has to show some sort of unity here. How do you think that will

be shaped? Let's start with, you know, 11, Downing Street.

CURTICE: Well, lots of discussion as to whether or not Rachel Reeves will be kept. And, of course, Rachel Reeves was the person who was responsible

for the one thing that everybody remembers about Keir Starmer's government, and that is getting rid of the so-called winter fuel allowance and

allowance paid to people on a pension to help them pay winter fuel bills. And that's still the thing above all that people remember.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being Wes Streeting, because -- during the last few days, both before and after the by-election,

it looked increasingly likely, as what we learned today, that Wes Streeting was indeed coming to an accommodation with Andy Burnham. And given that Wes

Streeting gave up the job of health, you'll want one of the big offices I've stayed in St. Paul's, he's helped to pave the way.

I suspect Yvette Cooper will probably keep Foreign Affairs, getting a great deal of interest for Mr. Burnham. I think Shabana Mahmood, he said he's

actually backing her on immigration, so he'll probably keep her in the home office. Thereafter, well, I mean, it's rather more open as to who he

decides to get rid of and who he doesn't. I mean, clearly, the transport secretary and having come out in favor of him early on, I think she's

probably fairly safe.

Whether or not Mr. Murray, who was put into health, whether he'll be kept there or whether Mr. Burnham wants somebody he can trust rather more,

former health minister, we'll have to wait and see.

SOARES: And, John, this is something that my colleagues in the United States will be very keen on hearing your answer to this. What about the

relationship with the United States? He was, of course, Starmer was seen as a Trump whisperer that very quickly. The relation very quickly soured, of

course, with President Trump saying, you're not Winston Churchill. Speak to that and what he has to do to maintain that relationship.

CURTICE: Well, I guess it will be interesting to see, first of all, whether or not Jonathan Powell, who has been Keir Starmer's foreign affairs

advisor, who was involved in Blair's government, whether or not he is retained or not. And therefore, I think Mr. Bernard keeps some of the

expertise from the previous regime in that era. I think the honest truth is-- I mean, A, with what he said, we're very unclear.

But I think given that most European leaders have decided that kowtowing to Donald Trump doesn't give you much dividend. And therefore, basically, I

think he will be continuing the stance on Iran, which many people will feel was justified. I think the United Kingdom will be following the midterm

elections with great interest to see whether or not Trump's authority and power is reduced as a result of those.

But in the meantime, of course, he will be faced with that major issue, which is how is the United Kingdom, given its fiscal constraints, going to

find the money to deal with the increase of defense that the ministry of defense has called for, and the failure of which, at least in the eyes of

John Healey, the former defense minister, led to his resignation only 10 days ago. Again, another thing that helped put him out of the coffin of

Keir Starmer's premiership.

Whether or not John Healey comes back in defense, we'll wait and see. That would be fascinating. But if he does, he'll want the money. Rachel Reeves

wouldn't give him the money. Maybe a new chance he will.

SOARES: Same problems, maybe a new prime minister, but the same challenges are going to be facing him.

John Curtice, thank you very much, John, great to see you.

Well, it is the final moments of trade on Wall Street, and stocks are moving, well, in pretty much different directions. If I show you the

numbers, I'm going to quickly look at the board.

And you can see, Dow, it's just up almost two-tenths of a percent. The Nasdaq, though, is off more than 1 percent, partly due to SpaceX shares

falling more than 10 percent.

This is our Business Breakout.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance says he wants to ensure that Iranian funds, which are unfrozen by the U.S. government, are used to buy American

agricultural goods. Mr. Vance described a plan that Iranian money would be spent on American corn, wheat, and soy. He said he wanted unfrozen funds to

benefit the people of Iran, not to fund terrorism.

EasyJet has rejected a new takeover bid from an American investment company. The airline says the bid from Castle Lake is, quote, "highly

opportunistic due to the company being affected by the conflict in the Middle East". It is the third time that EasyJet has rejected a bid from the

firm.

Clive Davis, the legendary music producer who signed artists like Bruce Springsteen, Santana, and Billy Joel, has died. Known as the man with the

golden ears, Davis launched his music career by singing Janis Joplin in 1967. His family called him a towering figure whose influence changed music

forever. Clive Davis was 94 years old.

And also being mourned today, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chair, Alan Greenspan. He served as Fed chair for five terms under 4 president. His

wife, the NBC journalist Andrea Mitchell, said he suffered complications from Parkinson's disease at the age of 100. Greenspan and Mitchell were a

high-profile Washington couple spanning the worlds of finance and media.

When he spoke to CNN in 2008, just two years after he left the Federal Reserve, he spoke about their relationship post-retirement and admitted he

was someone who found it hard to let go. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN GREENSPAN, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: If I were around the house, I would be a pain. But she may have experienced the extent of my

retirement for a minute or two, because that's about as long as I was retired. So she hasn't come upon it yet, and I trust that she never will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:27]

SOARES: Well, a man who calls himself El Tigre, the tiger, Abelardo de la Espriella, is narrowly ahead in the preliminary vote count for Colombia's

next president. He has campaigned on waging a tough crackdown on crime that has plagued the country for decades. His rival, left-wing candidate Ivan

Cepeda, is filing an appeal on the vote count.

As we wait for the final tally, last hour, we spoke with Colombia's former president, Juan Manuel Santos. I asked him about the challenge of having

such a close election result. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, FORMER COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT: The result, so close, the closest ever, less than 1 percent, has different effects. On the one hand,

there's no clear mandate for the new government. And because he doesn't have any majority in Congress, his party is very small -- well, he's going

to have problems of governability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Juan Manuel Santos there.

Well, in the past few minutes, U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated de la Espriella in a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump said -- and you're looking

at there -- I look forward to working together to build a powerful relationship between Colombia and the United States, which will bring new

levels of greatness for both our countries.

Our Stefano Pozzebon has more from Barranquilla.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, we think that both campaigns, in terms of muda, are trying to maintain calm, are trying to quiet down the

situation. There were actually fairly big protests in some cities of Colombia. Of course, not here in Barranquilla, which is the hometown and

the bastion of Abelardo de la Espriella, but, for example, in the city of Cali, in the south, southern periphery of Bogota, which are closely

associated with the left, when we did see some clashes and some protests overnight, minor ones, by the way.

But I think that both campaigns are trying to say, let's just wait for the results. Let's just wait for the electoral authority to give back to us.

And normally, here in Colombia, that is a process that takes between three and four days. And just to give you context, Isa, this is the very first

time in Colombian history that an election, a second round of a presidential election, is so close, actually too close to call with a

preliminary result. Normally, the discrepancy between the preliminary results and the official vote is less than one percentage point. And so

that's why most Colombian politicians would accept the preliminary results as a reliable indicator of who won the election. But given that this

election in particular is so tight, with less than 250,000 votes that are separating the two candidates. Well, of course, both campaigns are trying

to be careful. And even speaking with members of Abelardo de la Espriella's team this morning, we got a sense that they are still trying to keep their

cards close to their chest and understanding how to move forward in this couple of days before the electoral authorities will give back to us and

publish the officials and final results.

In the meantime, de la Espriella spoke last night here in Barranquilla, for example, and he seemed to pivot from the vitriolic rhetoric that propelled

him to this victory to an image of a more cautious, almost like a statement, and making a direct appeal to the people that voted for Cepeda.

Take a listen.

ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA, FAR RIGHT COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): Petro and Cepeda, by disregarding the verdict of the

ballot boxes, you are not challenging the Tiger, you are challenging millions of citizens who freely gave victory to Jose Manuel and me at the

polls in the democratic process. The campaign ended today. Petro and Cepeda, refrain from unleashing social unrest.

POZZEBON: We said a candidate that has aligned himself very closely with Donald Trump, with the Make America Great Again world. Yesterday, for

example, at his campaign, we saw a lot of people with a hat saying "Making Colombia great again", similar to what we see in Brazil when we go to

Bolsonaro's rallies or Argentina when we go to Milei's rally.

It seems like there is a regional trend here in Latin America of people moving to the right and to this particular flavor of the right, the MAGA

world, but de la Espriella showing caution and perhaps trying to appeal to the 40 million Colombia, 35 million Colombians that actually did not vote

for him directly -- Isa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Our thanks to Stefano Pozzebon.

And still to come, the sweltering heat that's spreading across Europe. Our Melissa Bell has the unusual order French officials gave due to the heat.

That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:47]

SOARES: Well, it's not just the U.K. prime minister feeling the heat. Scorching temperatures are spreading across Europe. A heat dome is sitting

over the continent for the second time in two months. That's when high pressure systems trap hot air and push it down. Heat alerts have been

issued in 26 countries stretching from Ireland to Greece. In France, temperatures have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. That's 104 Fahrenheit in

some spots.

Our Melissa Bell has more for you from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is an intensifying heat wave that is spreading across Europe from Greece all the

way through to the west of the continent here. In the world's fastest warming continent, we are seeing a heat wave that authorities are warning

will not just intensify, but could prove much longer than average.

Already here in France, we've been seeing sweltering temperatures for the last few days, including here, the Canal Saint Martin in Paris. Normally,

you're not allowed to swim, but they made a special exception, with many people just seeking a little respite from these temperatures. Some of the

highest expected here in Paris today, with authorities predicting they could be some of the French capital's highest ever on record. We saw it

already on Sunday. France had its national music festival, the Fete de la Musique, across the country. In those hardest hit parts of the country, the

public consumption of alcohol was banned in order to try and protect people's health. Authorities really warning people to stay at home as much

as they can.

What we're seeing are these alerts across the continent and across with red alerts here across half of France. They're the highest level of alert with

things only likely to get worse. What we expect is an intensification through to Wednesday, Thursday, by which time the heat wave should move

northwards. It is in the United Kingdom that they expect their heat wave to come Wednesday and Thursday.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, U.S. President Donald Trump says vandals have damaged the reflecting pool at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Officials with the

Trump administration say police have arrested five people for vandalism and issued federal citations to five others. The reflecting pool has been

plagued with algae issues, or for many years, in fact.

[15:55:01]

However, recent $14 million renovation was supposed to fix the problem. In addition to the algae, some of the new paint is now peeling. The president

says the pool will once again need to be drained and fixed.

And finally, for you tonight, a viral sensation from the World Cup is being officially honored. Monday in Mexico City, President Claudia Sheinbaum

hosted Merlin the Duck and his family is seeing him there.

Merlin is a two-year-old duck who normally roams the streets of Mexico City. You've probably seen him. He became a social media hit after being

spotted with fans at Mexico's victory celebration in the opening match.

Like any loyal fan, Merlin makes sure to wear his national team jersey and even has little socks. FIFA has officially dubbed Merlin a World Cup

ambassador.

I'm Isa Soares. This is WHAT WE KNOW. Do stay right here. We'll have much more news after this short break.

You are watching CNN.

END

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