palace released this previously unseen photo of her majesty taken back in may. well, right now the queen is lying in state at westminster hall behind me here where mourners continue to file past her coffin to pay their respect. a scene that s played out around the clock since wednesday. in less than an hour the public viewing will come to a close. well, on sunday people across britain paused for a moment of silence and reflection in her honor. prime minister liz truss also paying tribute outside ten downing street. let s start this hour with cnn s scott mcclain who joins us from very close to the palace of westminster. you are with those getting their last chance to pay their respects to the queen. at one stage the queue to do that snaked along the river thames some 6 miles. it was at one stage some 25 hours the waiting time. they ve closed that queue now. so those who are there will be the last to get the opportunity, scott, to pay their weres. what s the mood like? repo
republicans counter, of course, where have you been on this and the hypocrisy of all of this when you yourself have approved hundreds of such planes over the last year, two years year and a half i should say since he s been in power, approving migrants from all over mexico and south america, who have made their way here, sent oftentimes in the middle of the night to cities and states across the country. and there s no rage there. but again, we re just keeping you posted on these developments and there is rage about not only the people coming across the border, but all the drugs and the fentanyl problems that often times comes with them and that is a very, very big worry for nebraska s republican governor pete ricketts, joining other governors saying this has got to stop. this is from earlier. one of the things we ve seen biden administration as abdicated its responsibility to defend our southern border. a huge amount of fentanyl and other illegal drugs across the border.
keeping this chair warm in my absence. i do miss you all so. i see some of your messages on twitter and i miss you right back. so happy to be back with you today, to have my hair brushed for the first time in three weeks. the good news is the beat with ari melber starts now. before i get weepy. i have such mixed feelings. i have my feelings and news feelings. congratulations for you and the family, which i can say now, we love having you back, even though i know it s just for today. the mixed feelings is the seriousness that you were discussing with congresswoman cheney is part of why you were back today. so i did want to say all the things and let you respond to any and all of the above and again, our thoughts and happiness for your family. i ll start with the first things and i ll be brief before i get weepy. i feel like we tv people can be quirky, but we ve worked out the family dynamic on all of our big nights and i m so appreciative for the kind words and love and
begins in an hour. we will look at that in some detail. and we will take a closer look as more and more journalists arrive. the bbc has learned that the conservative party s director of campaigning is being looked into by the gambling commission over an alleged bet on the timing of the general election. tony lee, and his wife laura sanders who is the party s candidate in bristol north west are both being looked into. this morning it emerged that mr lee has taken a leave of absence from his job, and left the campaign yesterday. our political correspondent helen catt has the latest. we will have a general election on the 4th ofjuly. july elections are a rarity. now, the gambling commission is looking into some of the bets that were placed on one being called. the use of confidential information in orderto gain an unfair advantage when betting may be a criminal offense. we now know that among those being looked into are tony lee, who s the conservative party s director of ca