Cameron: "The Decision Must Be Accepted"; S&P Downgrades U.K. Credit Rating; Brexit Vote Throws Labour Party Into Turmoil; Reports Of Rise In Racial Abuse After Referendum
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. Live from London's Houses of Parliament. This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I am Hala Gorani live in the British capital where a major political drama is playing out as we speak. This country has of course voted to leave the European Union, but no one seems to have a plan for what happens next. We have full coverage for you this hour. Four days after the U.K.'s E.U. referendum and the fallout from its vote to pull out of the E.U. is continuing all over the globe. Let me walk you through the latest developments. Volatility continues to rock the financial markets. The pound has taken another big hit, slumping to its lowest level in more than 30 years. Standard and Poor's has just downgraded Britain's top sovereign credit rating from a stellar AAA to AA. Stocks are taking a hit on this second trading day since the referendum. Right now, we're seeing another triple- digit dive on the Dow following a deep selloff in European markets. We are down more than 250 points for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. On the political front, it's not better. Upheaval is ripping Britain's political establishment. Questions over what to do next are mounting as the two major political parties grapple with the issue of leadership and how to move forward. Now British lawmakers were back in parliament today, asking their prime minister what the U.K. out of the E.U. will look like. David Cameron spent his afternoon swatting back those questions. He plans to step down over the vote and his party says his successor will likely be in place by early September. Nevertheless, today Mr. Cameron urged his country to accept the results despite the challenges.</s>DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Mr. Speaker, the British people have voted to leave the European Union. It was not the result that I wanted nor the outcome that I believe is best for the country I love, but there can be no doubt about the result. Of course, I don't take back what I said about the risks. It is going to be difficult. We've already seen there are going to be adjustments within our economy. Complex constitutional issues and challenging new negotiation to undertake with Europe. But I am clear and the cabinet agreed this morning that the decision must be accepted and the process of implementing the decision in the best possible way must now begin.</s>GORANI: Let's bring in CNN political contributor, Robin Oakley, and CNN Money editor-at-large, Richard Quest, who are with me outside the Houses of Parliament here. Robin, let me start with you. Here we have a prime minister about to step down. Not exactly sure who is the next leader of the Tory Party will be. The leader of the opposition Labour Party is facing an internal revolt. We don't know what's happening there. This is complete chaos.</s>ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: This is complete chaos, yes. Let's start with the labor party leadership, Jeremy Corbyn tonight meeting with his MPs. He's lost half his shadow cabinet, the main people working with him on the front bench, supposed to be attacking the conservative government. Half of them have walked out. Several of them because they think he didn't do enough for the "remain" campaign to which the Labour Party was committed in the referendum. Many others, because they simply feel he is not up to the job. They have thought they got two or three years for him to try himself out in the job. Now they fear an early snap election, in which the Labour Party, they suggest, on the Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, could be decimated. He's facing a vote of no confidence among his MPs, but he says he will fight on and standing again for the leadership and his party activist in the country who have the final say are very much behind him. So what will happen then? You have the Labour leader totally disowned by his party in parliament, but carrying on as the leader, which would probably mean a split in the Labour Party.</s>GORANI: And we'll talk about the conservatives in a moment. Richard, let's talk about the Standard and Poor's rating downgrade. It's one notch. It's two notches.</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNN MONEY EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Yes, and Fitch and Moody's had already downgraded the United Kingdom during the sovereign debt crisis. Now the S&P -- really, the reasons why, S&P said it just can't guarantee the security of the U.K. It's worried about obviously the whole Brexit process. But to be -- I mean, it's a kick in the groin, two days -- normally it takes a little longer for a ratings agency to move.</s>GORANI: But everything seems to have happened so fast.</s>QUEST: And the negative watch continues. Take a look at the Dow Jones. I mean, the pound was down in 3 percent today --</s>GORANI: Almost 300 points lower now.</s>QUEST: At 300 points on the Dow, frankly, no obvious reason.</s>GORANI: But I'll tell you, there's something to be happy about. England just scored, I'm told, against Iceland. Just a little aside.</s>QUEST: Something for national morale.</s>GORANI: As we look at these Dow Jones numbers and the pound that went 31.</s>QUEST: I mean, people are sort of saying, the humiliation can't get much worse other than losing tonight, which would be the coup d'etat of a really bad week. Each day there's going to be another development, a drip, drip. Easy Jet down 18 to 20 percent. IAG down 20 percent on Friday. Day after day, we're going to see little bits of the economy brutalized, to use that horrible phrase.</s>GORANI: Robin, I want to ask you about Merkel and Hollande, and other big European leaders, they're saying to Britain, we don't have time to waste here. We don't want this uncertainty hanging over us, you're the ones who decided to leave, get on with it.</s>OAKLEY: of course, they don't want that uncertainty hanging over them because they don't want groups in their own countries, and there are some very heavy euroskeptic movements in several other European countries, they don't want them catching fire and contagion spreading from the British exit. So they are saying get on with it fast. David Cameron explained today, no, the Article 50 trigger for serious negotiations will not be pulled, he said, by him, it would be pulled by the new leader of the conservative party, and new prime minister. That can't happen until September the 2nd at the earliest. And he says it won't be pulled anyway until there is a shape emerging of what kind of deal Britain might get out of Europe.</s>GORANI: Yes, it's a two-speed process. OK, we've got to leave --</s>QUEST: I'm just warming up.</s>GORANI: I know, but Iceland just equalized.</s>QUEST: You're not serious.</s>GORANI: I am serious.</s>QUEST: I'm going.</s>GORANI: All right. I'm just here to provide live coverage. I'm going to move. Boris Johnson said the U.K. will survive and thrive as never before. The leading "leave" campaigner is urging people to be proud and positive. He also wanted to clear the air over what would happen to Europeans living in the U.K. currently. Take a listen to Boris Johnson.</s>BORIS JOHNSON, "LEAVE" CAMPAIGNER: I think a lot of confusion over the weekend about the status of people living in this country. It's absolutely clear that people from other European countries, who are living here have their rights protected. All that people want to see is a system that's fair, impartial, and humane for people coming from around the world, and for people from the U.K. living abroad.</s>GORANI: Hang on one second. Now, the opposition Labour Party has been in turmoil since the vote. Its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, spoke in parliament. Listen to what he had to say about an apparent spike in hate crimes after the referendum.</s>JEREMY CORBYN, LABOUR PARTY LEADER: The real concern exists about immigration. But too much of a discussion in the referendum campaign was intemperate and divisive. And in the days following the referendum results, it appears we've seen a rise in racist incidents, such as the attack which the prime minister quite right referred to, and sadly many other such incidents across this country. I hope the prime minister and home secretary will take all action they can to halt these attacks, halt this disgraceful racist behavior on the streets of this country.</s>GORANI: All right. Jeremy Corbyn there, the leader of the Labour Party, facing an internal revolt as many of his shadow ministers have resigned. Here to talk about this leadership turmoil engulfing his party is Labour MP, Ben Bradshaw. Thanks for being with us. You're calling for Jeremy Corbyn to go, correct?</s>BEN BRADSHAW, LABOUR MP: Yes, as have most of the people serving him loyally for the last ten months or so because I think they feel that after the referendum, everything in this country has changed. Our politics, the economic turmoil, and at this time of all times, we need firm, clear, and decisive leadership.</s>GORANI: What did he do wrong in your estimation?</s>BRADSHAW: Well, I mean, they have all been saying today in their resignation statements that he didn't provide leadership during the referendum when he spoke in favor of the E.U. membership that was half- hearted. There are even reports well substantiated that his office tried to undermine the "in" campaign. But I think people are now focusing their attention on the likely election in the general election.</s>GORANI: But that's a serious accusation that the leader of the Labour Party was secretly campaigning against the "remain" camp. Do you believe that?</s>BRADSHAW: Well, it's been made openly and publicly today by the man who ran the campaign, Alan Johnson, the very highly respected former home office minister here. People's attention here is focused on the likely election in the autumn. The fear is among very many of my colleagues that Jeremy has qualities, but he doesn't have the leadership qualities that we need to avoid a --</s>GORANI: He's saying I'm not going anywhere. He's very clear about that.</s>BRADSHAW: At the moment he's saying that. But I do hope that -- he's man who says that he has the best interests of the Labour Party and the country at heart. And I think if that's really true, I hope he will reflect on the overwhelming view and the changing view among the party membership as well who feel very let down over the European referendum that it would be in the interests of the party and the country if he went.</s>GORANI: As a Member of Parliament and many people have asked me this question and frankly I don't have an answer, but procedurally is this it? The result of this referendum is final, there's no going back, no trying to massage it or come up with some other scenario that might allow the U.K. to keep a foot in the E.U. somehow?</s>BRADSHAW: Well, no, you're right to ask that question because we don't know what's going to happen in the next seconds and minutes in Britain at the moment, let alone the next weeks or months. Whatever is decided has to be voted here in parliament. There's a big parliamentary maintaining to stay in the European Union. In my constituency, a big majority of voters voted to stay in. That's my mandate. So I will be doing everything I can to minimize the damage.</s>GORANI: But what can you do?</s>BRADSHAW: Well, we have to wait to see what deal the Brexiteers come up with and the danger at the moment is they don't seem to have a plan. As you said earlier in your introduction, they are clueless what to do now and this uncertainty is doing our country great damage.</s>GORANI: Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP, thanks so much for joining us on CNN. We appreciate your time. A lot more to come this evening. European leaders meet in Berlin to discuss what comes next after the U.K.'s vote to leave the E.U. We'll have more on what Angela Merkel had to say. She says don't waste any time, go ahead and get on with the process. Then later, reports of racial taunts in the U.K. flood in following this Brexit vote. We'll dive deeper into that issue, ahead.