why he does what he does. in firing and the manner which james comey was fired was wrong. it was not something -- the way it was done was not presidential. it was more like "the godfather." the federal viewer of investigations -- bureau of investigation is a very, very important office. i watched jim comey when he was by-- when he was interviewed "60 minutes" when he first came aboard as the director. host: i want to stop you if we could get on to show you what's happening in great britain right now as the british prime minister heads to buckingham palace, meeting with the queen. these are live pictures from london as we watch the headlines from newspapers around great

britain, including "the daily telegraph." a shock for theresa may. exit polls pointed to a hung parliament, which is exactly what we are seeing. are joined live on the phone from stephen earlier. thanks for being with us. guest: sure. glad to be here. host: tell us what happened overnight. guest: [laughter] what happened overnight is that britons noticed and they decided they did not like theresa may as much as she hoped they would. they voted in large numbers and they decided that her campaign for a new mandate three years earlier was not something they wanted to give her. part -- a lotarge of lot of young people turned out for jeremy corbyn, the man of the left, but ran a very optimistic campaign.

he criticized the conservatives on a sturdy questions -- austerity questions, policeman, social welfare. he did not explain how it was going to get paid for. in general, the problem for theresa may is that the more people hurt her, the less they seem to like her. host: was part of this based on the fact that the snap election was called an expectation among the conservative party that jeremy corbyn was weak and that the labour party was preparing to get rid of him? guest: not so much that they were going to get rid of him, but that he was weak and vulnerable and she was going to be strong and stable. he turned out to be quite a good campaigner. is not always such a good organizer, but an extremely good campaigner. she turned out to be a terrible campaigner. they also that, the conservatives, the party that pushed hard for the exit from the european union, the u.k. independence party, which was

falling apart, would break much more toward the conservatives . it did so to some degree in the north of england, but in the southern part of england, it broke more for labour. jeremy corbyn did a great job when trump did a great job of getting republicans to vote for him. jeremy corbyn's problem is given the system. he is a far from forming a majority of his own. host: i'm going to jump in very quickly. we are going to hear from the british trimester. stay with us. we are going to get your reaction live from 10 downing street. >> the election that she changed her mind about and as any human being and her position, she must regret her decision. here she is, theresa may. may: i've just seen

the claim, her majesty, and i will now form of government, a government that can provide certainty and lead britain forward at this critical time for our country. government will guide the country through the crucial brexit talks that begin in just 10 days and deliver on the will of the british people by taking the united kingdom out of the european union. it will work to keep our nation safe and secure by delivering the change that i sent out following the appalling attacks in manchester and london, cracking down on the ideology of islamist extremism and all those who support it, and giving the police and the authorities the powers they need to keep our country safe. the government i lead will put fairness and opportunity at the heart of everything we do so that we will fulfill the promise

of brexit together, and over the next five years, build a country in which no one and no community is left behind. a country in which prosperity and opportunity are shared right across this united kingdom. what the country needs more than .ver is certainty having secured the largest number of votes in the greatest number of seats in the general election, it is clear that only the conservative and unionist party has the legitimacy and ability to provide that certainty by commanding a majority in the house of commons. as we do, we will continue to work with our friends and allies in the democratic unionist party and particular. -- two parties have enjoyed our two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years and gives me the

confidence to believe that we will be able to work together and interest of the whole united kingdom. this will allow us to come together as a country and channel our energies toward the successful brexit deal that works for everyone in this country. securing a new partnership with the eu, which guarantees our long-term prosperity. that is what people voted for last june. that is what we will deliver. now let's get to work. the british prime minister theresa may outside of 10 downing street. we are rejoined by stephen erlanger, the bureau chief of "the new york times." what can you tell us about the unionist party in northern ireland? guest: the democratic unionist party won a lot of seats and it's the main protestant parties. won 10 seats and

obviously has done some kind of deal with the conservatives. it is not clear what that deal is. it sounds like an agreement to support the conservatives on ates of confidence so that minority tory government can stay in power. we don't know in exchange for what, what the price has been for that party. and theresa may is going to have trouble. she went to the polls to get a increased authority and mandates. she lost authority and lost the mandate. as confident that she says now that lifting out the next five years, that's not clear it will happen. host: with is that leave her, her position -- where does that leave her, her position as leader of the conservative party, and jeremy corbyn, the leader of labour party? guest: elites or where she was -- it leaves her where she was,

the head of a government, but a minority government that will be shaky because it relies on the support of an ally party with its own interests and a party that also favored brexit. they want to be very careful that brexit does not mean a new hard border in ireland and will want more money for ireland and so on. it leaves jeremy corbyn remaining with more power really as the head of a labour party which did well, very well compared to very low expectations, but is still very, very far from winning a majority on its own. host: we should point out that theresa may was what they call a remainer, someone who wanted to stay inside the european union. as british voters voted against that, she supported the effort by her constituents in the presence of great britain, correct? guest: yes, that's right.

she was known as a reluctant remainer. thedecided on the basis as home minister, the interior minister, that was better for britain to be inside the eu. that was what prime minister david cameron believed. she did not campaign very hard to remain. she has said since that i listen to the people and i will carry out exit to the best of my ability, to get the best deal for britain. unfortunately, she is wounded. she is winded domestically -- wounded domestically international. luyy. the labour party does not have enough power to pull her down, but i would be surprised if this arrangement last the next five years. host: final question -- i know it has been a busy couple of days for you with everything going on in your country. we appreciate your time on c-span.

there's some speculation the tweets back and forth in the boroughk market between the london mayor and the president might have spurred more people to go to the polls. any sense on whether that had an impact in the election? guest: it is hard to say. the pollsters did not ask that question. london turned out big for labou r. labour has been very critical of donald trump. labouror of london is a person, also a muslim and has been articulate about donald trump's tweets on how they misinterpreted in them and how it made him feel. i'm not sure it was important to the outcome of the election because the labour party was going to do well among young people and londoners anyway. it is hard to parse what