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Graham Platner Says He's Reflecting On "Best Path Forward"; Trump Arrives In Turkey For High-Stakes NATO Summit; White Nationalist Group's July 4th March Through D.C. Sparks Outcry. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 07, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:32:10]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So the new allegations facing Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner clearly a bridge too far for some high- profile Democrats. A growing list now of Democrats are pulling their endorsements of Graham Platner after a woman who says she dated Platner came forward accusing him of rape.

Congressman Ro Khanna, for one, said, "Graham Platner should drop out of the race." The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, called the allegations "incredibly disturbing." Senator Elizabeth Warren said, "With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside."

Now, Jenny Racicot says that Platner came to her house drunk in 2021 after she explicitly told him not to. And then she says he forced himself on her after she repeatedly said no. And she says she has no political motivations whatsoever in coming forward now.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Is there any way that he thought this was consensual or no, just because --

JENNY RACICOT, GRAHAM PLATNER ACCUSER: I don't believe that you can think that scenario is consensual. You have to -- you have to understand that wasn't when someone is repeatedly -- I mean, when somebody in the middle of it says "Don't touch me." Like --

TAPPER: Yeah.

RACICOT: -- that's obviously not consensual.

TAPPER: Just to underline the point, you're not coming forward because you have any political motivation.

RACICOT: No, not at all. That was actually one of the huge reasons that I didn't come forward and still struggled. Like, that was a huge moral conflict to feel like --

TAPPER: Because you'd like a Democrat to be in the Senate. RACICOT: Yeah, yeah. I like the things that he speaks about. They're important. They're important to people. I'm one of those people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Hmm.

Graham Platner denies the allegation. He addressed the claims directly in a video statement, calling them troubling, calling them false. But he also said in that video statement he is now considering the best path forward.

Let's go to CNN's Jeff Zeleny joining us right now. And what is that best path forward when a candidate says that and you see this flood of Democrats saying it's time to get out?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well Kate, good morning.

I mean, the translation for that is looking toward an exit here. But the only really influence or power Graham Platner would still have is trying to have some say over who a replacement could be. But it is unlikely that he even has that much power.

But look, the Maine law is very clear. If he gets out of the race by next Monday, July 13, the Democratic Party has until July 27 to find a replacement here. So that is all but certain to happen. The timing, of course, is up to him.

We have not heard yet from Sen. Bernie Sanders. That is quite notable this morning. Senator Sanders was one of the biggest endorsers, an early endorser. It's one of the reasons that Graham Platner rose in the way that he did. So we are keeping an eye on that as well.

[07:35:00]

But when you say reflecting on the best path forward, I think it is clear with the support of virtually every Democrat and the Democratic Party of Maine as well, the support has collapsed around him. So now the timing is simply up to Graham Platner.

BOLDUAN: Look, the allegation and what is alleged to have happened -- what that means for Jenny Racicot and what that means for Graham Platner, that matters in and of itself. I say that because then the question --

ZELENY: Sure.

BOLDUAN: -- of course, he's running. So there is another question of what does this mean for the balance of power in the Senate.

Overall, what does it mean?

ZELENY: Well look, I mean, Democrats cannot win control of the Senate without Maine. I mean, Maine is one of the most central races there. Susan Collins is the only Republican who won in a blue state if you will.

So it means a couple of things. One, if Graham Platner is off the ballot that could make things more difficult actually for Republicans and Susan Collins because the baggage, depending on who they choose, would be -- would not be hanging over this. But that's a big if there.

I mean, the reality here is that the Republicans were hoping at this point that Graham Platner would be on the ballot because they believe that the matchup between Susan Collins and him was favorable because of all of these allegations. So we shall see who a replacement is if he decides to step aside.

But this certainly complicates things for every other Democrat as well. I mean, we saw the rush of Democratic Senate candidates from James Talarico in Texas to other places saying he should get out. So this is certainly problematic for every Democrat on the ballot regardless of where you are.

But in Maine, oddly, if they get a replacement, it could be a more interesting and perhaps a harder race for Susan Collins depending on who that replacement candidate should be if that is how this goes.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

Jeff, great to see you. Thank you so much. Let's see this morning what happens now -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right.

This morning, tangentially, oil prices are rising as investors keep a close eye on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. While up a little this morning, oil has fallen back down to pre-war levels and that is giving President Trump some unexpected leverage over Iran.

CNN senior business reporter David Goldman is with me now. Can you give us some sense of what exactly is going on here? This can be confusing as you kind of try to figure out all the machinations of why the market is doing what it's doing.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Everything about this is confusing, right? I mean, I think that the basic idea of this war was that if we attack -- if the United States and Iran attack Iran, it could bully them into submission basically to get rid of a nuclear weapon. What ended up happening though was Iran exercised incredible economic power over the Strait of Hormuz by closing down 20 percent of the world's oil traffic.

So when prices went up, certainly President Trump was under pressure.

SIDNER: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: But now it's incredible. Despite 1.4 billion barrels of lost oil supply we are down to pre-war levels in oil prices. And that has given the Trump administration incredible leverage over Iran. Now --

SIDNER: Because he doesn't have the pressure from people in the U.S. saying oh my God, this is going to break the bank.

GOLDMAN: Yeah. When they see gas prices falling then, you know, they feel a little bit better about their financial situation.

Ninety million barrels are coming out of the Strait of Hormuz right now and that means that oil prices are starting to fall. And they're not just at $70 right now; they could continue to fall, particularly if OPEC keeps pumping oil. And now we're looking at forecasts in the $60. I've seen $50 and even $40.00 --

SIDNER: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: -- range, which is really, really impressive.

But the problem is, right, we still have those emergency stockpiles that are at ultralow levels -- like since I was born ultralow levels.

SIDNER: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: The lowest since the Reagan administration.

And that means eventually those will need to be refilled. We're vulnerable now to a hurricane or if this war restarts. So this is definitely something that we need to watch.

In the meantime, though, as these negotiations continue Trump has got a little bit more leverage than he had just a few weeks ago.

SIDNER: Yeah. Watch this and watch what's happening in Turkey with NATO. There's a lot to keep your eye on.

Thank you so much, David Goldman. I do appreciate you -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. On that subject, breaking this morning, as Sara just mentioned, President Trump arrived moments ago in Ankara, Turkey for the NATO summit. These are live pictures of where he was just a few seconds ago.

I want to get right to CNN's Nic Robertson live in Ankara. And Nic, I'm not sure I have seen a meeting like this where there were such critical issues but such low expectations.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, and I think that's what Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO has been at pains to do. He knows President Trump's ire and anger with NATO allies over defense spending contributions and over the failed -- the lack of support that he felt that got over Epic Fury.

[07:40:00]

NATO's Article 5 is only triggered, of course, when an ally is attacked. The United States had and President Trump had a war of choice with Iran and that's how the European allies viewed it and didn't get entangled in the conflict so much and that's caused President Trump some frustration. Of course, this is the group of countries that the president is

walking into when only six months ago he was still talking about wanting to take control of Greenland, part of Denmark, a NATO ally.

So absolutely, there is friction in the air, but the NATO secretary general is sort of reaching high here if you will, reminding President Trump and the others about the increased defense commitment. He's talked about a $250 billion increase in defense -- core defense spending over the past year with European and -- European nations and Canada together, really making that significant lift on the way he says to matching what the United States is contributing towards its defense. And, of course, that's because he wants to lower the temperature.

But the expectations here -- what is going to come out of this -- it probably won't be -- it probably won't be a pathway for all countries to meet that five percent by 2035, but it may be an idea of how the money can be made, can be put up by investors, and can be spent more wisely.

BERMAN: I expect the NATO secretary general to talk about how much they are all spending and paint it in rosy, sunny pictures and expect President Trump to still be critical.

Nic Robertson for us in Ankara monitoring the situation. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

And joining us right now are two senators that are part of a bipartisan congressional delegation to the NATO summit. Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Sen. Mike Rounds. It's really good to see you both. Thank you so much for jumping on. I know your schedules are absolutely crazy while you're there so let's jump in.

Senator Shaheen, kind of jumping off what I was just hearing from Nic Robertson and John Berman, the defense secretary has accused some NATO countries of free riding and has done so quite recently. And ordering this six-month review of U.S. military presence across Europe, saying it's going to be a review that some countries pass and others will fail.

How can you European NATO allies convince the Trump administration that they are doing enough?

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Well, I think the news coming out of this summit is going to be very good news in terms of defense spending. As the secretary general has pointed out between 2024 and 2025, we saw defense spending by NATO allies go up 20 percent. For the first time ever all 32 countries have met the two percent of GDP goal that was set over 10 years ago. And many of them -- seven, I think, are well over three percent. And then we're well on our way.

Now, does that mean we have more to do? Of course, we have more to do. And making sure that our capabilities are there is what's really important. One of the things that's a focus of this summit is a defense forum to

look at how we can think about co-production. How we can work better together. Because one of the things revealed by the war in Ukraine is that the defense industrial base in both the United States and in Europe is not what it needs to be if we're engaging in modern warfare that we're seeing in Ukraine.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. And kind of on -- well, when you talk about defense -- the defense industrial complex, Sen. Rounds, President Trump is expected to signal that he's willing to let Turkey back into the F-35 fighter jet program, reversing a ban that he put in place during his first term. The concern being over national -- being over real national security concerns of doing that.

I saw Sen. John Cornyn tweet this morning that he hopes this is not true. But if this is true, what do you say to that?

SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): Well, first of all, if it does happen, and that would be good news if it does, it would be that the issues surrounding the S-400, which is anti-aircraft product that they had purchased from Russia -- that those issues have been resolved because you can't let them have the F-35 unless the issues are resolved. So we're hoping that they have been able to come to an accommodation and that the issue has been resolved.

Look, the Turks -- they were -- they were supplying some really important parts to the F-35 program to begin with. It would be a good thing if we could bring them back in. In the past it's been a matter of we haven't been able to agree with them on how they could handle the S-400, which was in their possession.

So if we've gotten to the point now where they have made a deal, it means that specific issue has been resolved. And the reason why I put it that way is because you cannot allow Turkey to have the F-35 if there is an operational S-400 where Russia could actually perhaps find some weaknesses or opportunities to attack an F-35 using the capabilities of an S-400.

[07:45:10]

But if the president is there and his team has said we've got it figured out, that would be really good news for NATO because that means we'd have one more country that would have access to the F-35 in their fleet.

BOLDUAN: And Sen. Rounds, there's no way around -- I mean, this was kind of -- this was codified. This was made into law. There's no way in your view to go around the law, so there's no way -- I mean, because Turkey has been lobbying intensely to get back into this program for a while now.

In your view, there's no way that they could skirt around this law without kind of settling this issue with what they have taken from Russia and those national security concerns.

ROUNDS: Yeah. Look, there's two reasons why I feel confident that it has been resolved if they decide to go forward with the F-35 sale.

Number one is, as you say, there is a law in place. We've tried to make it very clear that we understand how important it is. And the second part is that the administration also understands how critical it is that we protect the technologies found within the F-35. And so there's no way that they're going to do this without being assured that issue has been resolved.

And there was a way to resolve it. We know that. I -- we can't talk about that here, but there is a way to resolve it. And if they're prepared to move forward on it, I think that becomes good news because it means the issue has been resolved.

BOLDUAN: OK.

ROUNDS: And once again, not just Congress that understands that but the administration -- their team understands how critical it is as well.

BOLDUAN: To both of you, important news that impacts, well, the future of the Senate and the future of control of the Senate.

Senator Shaheen, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who is running in Maine -- he's being accused of raping a woman he was dating on and off back in 2021. She spoke on camera to my colleague Jake Tapper. Platner denies the allegation.

Should he say in the race or drop his bid?

SHAHEEN: No. Graham Platner should get out of the race, and the sooner the better, so that he can be replaced on the ballot.

BOLDUAN: Senator Rounds, what do you think of it?

ROUNDS: In the meantime, Maine already has a great choice. In the meantime, Maine already has a great choice in Susan Collins.

BOLDUAN: This is -- what is -- is this the red line though, Sen. Shaheen? In the past -- Graham Platner has faced a lot of different controversies and allegations of mistreatment of women recently as well. And to that point I know I'd seen you say before this that it's up to Maine voters to decide. This is something different for you. Why?

SHAHEEN: Well, I think in the context of all of the allegations against him and what has just surfaced -- the accusation of rape -- that it's in the best interest of Democrats in Maine and in the country for him to get out of the race. And as I said, he should do that the sooner the better.

BOLDUAN: Senator Shaheen and Sen. Rounds, thank you very much. It's always worth noting when we can see it, it is wonderful to see a Democrat and a Republican sitting down together and working together, so I appreciate you both coming on this morning. Thank you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. This morning we're learning more about that white nationalist neofascist group who marched through D.C. They've done this many times before, but they did it this weekend and there are really disturbing pictures. We're going to learn more about this group and their hateful message, and what people are saying about it there in D.C.

Also, a man survived a 30-minute attack from a lioness. How he got away from this lioness. We will watch all of it unfold coming up.

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[07:53:00]

BERMAN: In New Jersey, a roof collapsed right on top of shoppers at a BJ's Wholesale Club. Nearly 30 people were inside the store. Police do say two people were trapped briefly but were able to get out safely. Luckily, no one was hurt. Rain seems to be to blame. More than a month's worth fell in just a few hours there.

In India, man versus lion, and the lion seemed to have the upper hand for a while there. The lioness, to be more accurate, pinned the cattle herder to the ground for nearly 30 minutes. Eventually the lioness walked away. The guy was incredibly calm given the circumstances, in my opinion. His family says he is recovering from injuries to his head, neck, arm, and back.

In northern Australia the mystery of the large metallic-looking balls. Six unidentified -- let's call them spheres from now on -- appeared on the shore in Queensland. This led to all kinds of speculation and more than a few jokes, all tasteful, I am sure. Authorities believe the debris is likely space junk -- pieces of a rocket that fell back to Earth.

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

BERMAN: So we're all safe, Kate.

BOLDUAN: We are all safe. Welcome to this episode of space balls, J.B. Thank you. You can run now.

Here we go. President Trump vowed to cut energy prices even by half when he got back into office. Part of his agenda, cutting back on wind and solar alternatives. But a new analysis suggests that his promise has backfired, resulting in millions of Americans paying even more for power and energy.

CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has the details and he's joining us now. Hey, Bill. What are you learning?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate.

[07:55:00]

Well, this is a new report from a clean energy thinktank called Energy Innovation. And they really kind of point to the obvious. You don't need a master's in economics to know that if the United States pays, say, a French energy company $2 billion not to build wind turbines when they have a lease that the prices of energy are going to go up and you're going to take that energy source offline at a time when the country needs it most. Artificial intelligence data centers gobbling that stuff up.

So they did the math and said if Donald Trump hadn't gone on an all- out war against clean energy and killed all the incentives of the Biden administration, what would it cost the average home? Well, right now electricity rates nationwide are up about 7 1/2 percent and it's double digits in many states, especially the mid-Atlantic where a lot of those data centers are. But over the next decade it will be $460 per family and $490 if you extend that out a few more years as well.

Now there's still a lot of solar and wind going online. One hundred seventy gigawatts of solar and 43 of wind. That's a lot but not as much as would have been there before, which would have driven everyone's energy bills down over time.

And then EV's are about to hit a cliff. There's still a lot of demand. The used EVs are selling well but a lot more of them on the road would have brought gas prices down for everybody.

This report finds a Trump spokesman calls this a partisan report and dismisses it out of hand. But at a time when the cheapest forms of energy, which are wind, and sun, and batteries to hold that overnight, the rest of the world is moving towards these energy streams. Here in the United States, Trump is trying to take it in the opposite direction and people are feeling it in their electricity bills.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

It's great to see you, Bill. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

This morning we're getting a new perspective on what it was like on the D.C. Metro when the white nationalist group, Patriot Front, boarded en masse on the Fourth of July.

The president and CEO of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society also happened to be on that same train. He says it was an "unnerving" experience, but he was relieved when he realized a photographer was there to capture the moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSWELL ENCINA, PRESIDENT AND CEO, U.S. CAPITAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY: And the photographer also gave me some comfort knowing that somebody was there with a camera just in case something happens. Because I was realizing if anything happens, I won't be able to identify any of them because they're all dressed the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: This is stunning pictures. Other photos taken onboard the Metro show other people of color surrounded by these masked men. Metro Police say there were no physical or criminal incidents though tied to the group on this holiday.

Joining us now is CNN senior correspondent Donie O'Sullivan. You have reported extensively on this group. Um, look, I have come across this group myself --

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Um-hum.

SIDNER: -- and it seems always that their whole purpose for being is to recruit as many people as possible and they do it by pulling off stunts like these.

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, Sara. And as you know, they really are stunts because this is what happens, right? They show up in D.C. one morning. They sometimes even call journalists to go and film them.

SIDNER: Right.

O'SULLIVAN: So this -- what you're seeing is part of what they want, in a way, right? And I think people are reporting on this but also people are just trying to figure out how to deal with a group like this more generally is well, what do you do here? Do you ignore it and pretend it's not happening, or do you call it out?

Last year, for an episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" we interviewed a musician in Boston who had been attacked by the Patriot Front group.

SIDNER: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: He's a Black man. His name is Charles Murrell. We spoke to him. Take a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES MURRELL, ATTACKED BY PATRIOT FRONT IN 2022: When the shields touched my skin though that initial touch triggered just in a blink of an eye all of this ancestral information that's held within my body, and I immediately knew I wasn't safe.

I think the uniform is so plain or so casual that it doesn't stand out. It's not like white men wearing robes and hoods.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. And a lot of discourse about this group online, particularly from Republicans, is this idea that these guys are all so-called feds. That they are, you know, government plants or something like that.

SIDNER: That's bullshit. It's bullshit.

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah.

SIDNER: I mean, I've talked to some of them. I mean, it's just bullshit.

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. These are real guys --

SIDNER: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: -- and it doesn't take a lot -- especially the leader of the group is very out there publicly.

SIDNER: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: Look. Of course, you know, there are sources and there are spies in all different sorts of organizations and groups.

I did see that Republican Congressman Anna Paulina Luna has called for an investigation into this group.

And it's very possible if there is an investigation and what it might find is that big bunch of young men who are misled or misguided or disillusioned, or whatever you want to call them, who are exercising their First Amendment right to protest and gather in this way. Although clearly, as you can see with the masks and how they gather like this, the intention is obviously to intimidate people.