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Platner Suspends Senate Bid, Rails Against Democratic Establishment; Democrats Begin Two-Week Sprint to Replace Platner; Gas Prices Post Their Biggest 1-Day Jump Since May; World Cup Action Resumes with Quarter-Finals Matchups. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 09, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The Democratic Party in Maine is scrambling to organize a convention and pick a new nominee to take on Republican Senator Susan Collins, a process that could involve multiple candidates and hundreds of delegates from the state's 16 counties, and they have less than three weeks to get it done.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All this after Graham Platner exited the race following a former girlfriend accusing him of raping her while he was heavily intoxicated in 2021, something that Platner denies. In a video announcing his exit, he blasted what he called the corporate media system and the political establishment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER, (D) FORMER MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: It's not the false allegations, though, that have brought us to where we are. It's the fact that they're being used by the political establishment to put structural pressure on us. We live in a political system that is not built for normal people.

It is a system that is built structurally to make sure that movements like ours cannot flourish, that if they begin to succeed, they can be crushed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by Democratic strategist Rob Flaherty. He was deputy campaign manager for President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign and is now co-host of Nobody Knows Anything podcast. We're also joined by Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, the board chair of Advancing American Freedom, and the former White House legislative affairs director under President Trump.

So many titles. We're going to have to pare that down for next time. Like abbreviate it.

OK, so Rob, you had a really strong reaction to the video. We can't play it because it has lots of F words in it. But nonetheless, give us like the PG rated reaction to this.

ROB FLAHERTY, DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN'S 2024 RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN: In case the kids are watching. I thought that video was unbelievable. It was brazen.

It was ridiculous. It was offensive. I just can't.

How stupid do you think people are? First of all, you want us to believe that this guy who's an extremely online Reddit pilled middle military history buff doesn't know that he has a totient content, too. You also want us to believe that none of these incredibly credible allegations of sexual assault are real, that it's an establishment plot.

Give me a break. I mean, it's completely ridiculous. And I, you know, I'm glad he is gone and I hope he, you know, follows through with it.

SANCHEZ: Despite these red flags, Marc, before the rape allegation came out, he was close to neck and neck with Susan Collins in polls. Does this now give you a sigh of relief?

MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VP MIKE PENCE: Well, no, I don't think you have a sigh of relief on this.

[15:35:00]

I think it's a pretty tragic series of events. I think that Susan Collins has always found a way to win. I thought even before this, she was going to find a way to win.

I think what's, you know, more disturbing is that outside of John Fetterman, every elected Democrat stood with him when it was a Nazi tattoo. They stood with him when he's trafficking apps to find young girls underage.

They stood with him when they were first sexual harassment allegations. Only after this last allegation did Democrats finally say this is too much. So there's a huge comfort level with a lot of it up until the very end.

KEILAR: What do you say to that?

FLAHERTY: I would say Donald Trump is currently president of the United States and he just paid five million dollars yesterday due to a credible sexual assault allegation after --

KEILAR: OK, can I ask you a question about that, though? Because I will say I think that Democrats will criticize Donald Trump for that and say that, I mean, almost entirely, they will tell you they believe that they should be held to a higher standard or that anyone should be held to a higher standard than that. So I mean, with that in mind and listen, these are not all like apples to apples things, right?

We just have to be clear. But these are this is an allegation of rape, which he denies. What do you say to that?

Because there are a lot of Democrats who did, you know, tie their horse to his wagon.

FLAHERTY: He's no longer going to be on the ballot. We're replacing him. Ken Paxton is still the candidate in Texas.

Ken Paxton, who's a crook and a philanderer, is still running for Texas. So like to me, it's you know, there's a there's a huge distinction there.

SANCHEZ: So there is no candidate, Marc, that worries you at all going up against Susan Collins of these folks?

SHORT: I think I think Rob probably knows firsthand. I think when you've replaced a candidate, you have a small group of people trying to find the successor. That usually doesn't work out really well.

SANCHEZ: They're having a convention and there's going to be --

SHORT: A convention --

SANCHEZ: -- 600 folks.

SHORT: Close to 600 folks --

SANCHEZ: For a state like Maine --

SHORT: They are going to choose a huge statewide nominee.

SANCHEZ: It's similar to what they did before.

SHORT: It's basically -- you basically create an inside deal where basically, you know, power brokers are going to decide who the nominee is going to be. And again, I don't I think history shows that doesn't work out real well.

KEILAR: All right, so if a candidate is going to become the party's nominee very soon and Marc has his idea about how it's going to happen, what lessons can you take in this very abbreviated, compressed amount of time from the Biden exit when it comes to this?

FLAHERTY: Yes, I think a couple of things. One, I think the process should be as open as possible. Logistically, very hard to do a big even you couldn't do a real primary in two weeks.

So they have to balance that. But I also think you have to remember that, you know, 72 percent of Democratic voters did vote for Graham Platner. The thing about the switch with Biden to Harris was it was this explosion of enthusiasm, of grassroots momentum, of all of that.

For Democrats to win in that state, that's what they need to do, too. And so I think that if you try to plant a candidate that people can't get behind, it won't go well. And so that needs to be a thing that they balance as they go through this process.

SANCHEZ: Would you endorse any replacement of Platner to accept an endorsement of his or to accept any comment that he might make in support of them?

FLAHERTY: I hope we never hear from that man ever again.

KEILAR: And does Susan Collins hope that maybe we do?

SHORT: Oh, I'm sure I'm sure she does in some ways. I think that there's a lot of reasons just from a crass political perspective to think he would have been a flawed candidate that she would have fared better against. I think the reality is that President Trump's numbers are still very low in Maine.

So this isn't like it's a done deal. But every six years, Democrats hope of taking out Susan Collins and it doesn't work. It's hard to paint her as, boy, she's a Trump loyalist.

And so I think that she's going to do just fine here, no matter who they put up.

KEILAR: So what do you think? And there is something that has changed, though, right, which is since she was last up, which is the Kavanaugh vote, the vote for Kavanaugh, the abortion decision. And so she is facing a different set of facts than last time.

And I wonder, as she maybe faces someone who's tougher, depending on who gets put in there, I mean, how does she need to kind of put that in place, her argument for why they should stick with her?

SHORT: I think that she has a pretty long track record of putting the interests of Maine first. I think it's a pretty hard thing to say, boy, you're just a puppet of the Republican Party. She's shown her independence on many occasions.

And so, I mean, even --

(CROSSTALK)

SHORT: -- often, it's a disdain to many of us.

KEILAR: That's not a kiss of death, you think, in Maine at all?

SHORT: No, I don't. Not at all. I don't think that's the driving force in this election cycle in any way.

SANCHEZ: Rob, before we go, if you were doing an autopsy of Graham Platner's candidacy, to what would you attribute his ascension, the fact that he's made it this far, despite all the red flags that you pointed out?

FLAHERTY: Well, this is the thing you have to pay attention to. I mean, the thing with Graham Platner is, if you actually look who was voting for him, it was Normie Democrats. He was underwater with working class voters.

He was voting -- the people who were voting for him were the traditional primary electorate. That's who supported him. And so, you know, I think that is a thing you have to take to the bank, which is that Democrats are really mad right now.

They're really mad at Washington. They're really mad at the failures to hold Trump accountable. And so, I do think that that rise came from somewhere, and I think we have to be smart and wise about that.

SHORT: Look, I think there's a lot of unrest on both sides.

[15:40:00]

I think you've had a series of changed elections, more so than American history. Like the last 10 years, it keeps being a change.

There needs to be, you know, authenticity from candidates in this kind of environment. But I think this is going to be a very steep hill for Democrats to climb. I do think that overall, the midterm cycle certainly favors them.

But I think in Maine, Susan Collins is going to be just fine.

KEILAR: All right. Rob, Marc, thank you so much. It was a fun conversation.

FLAHERTY: Thanks for having us.

KEILAR: President Trump says the Iran war is not starting up again, but the oil market is sending a very different message here over the past few days. So, what could that mean for how much you pay at the pump?

We'll have that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:00]

SANCHEZ: This just into CNN. The pioneering aviator who was a part of NASA's Women in Space program, Wally Funk, has died at the age of 87.

KEILAR: Funk was an accomplished pilot who went on to become the first female flight inspector for the FAA. But she had a huge dream of one day going to space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALLY FUNK, THE OLDEST WOMAN TO GO TO SPACE: I said, I want to become an astronaut, but nobody would take me. I didn't think that I would ever get to go up. They said, Wally, you're a girl, you can't do that.

I said, guess what? It doesn't matter what you are, you can still do it if you want to do it. And I like to do things that nobody has ever done.

KEILAR: She finally accomplished that dream in 2021 when she went up to space with Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos on a New Shepard suborbital flight, becoming the oldest woman to ever go to space at 82. Blue Origin called Funk a pioneer in every sense of the word, and her story will continue to inspire generations.

SANCHEZ: We're just minutes away from the closing bell on Wall Street, and stocks have been mostly higher today, despite new fighting between the U.S. and Iran, a bit of a recovery after blue chip stocks fell sharply on Wednesday after President Trump said the temporary truce was over.

KEILAR: That's right. The tough words and the new round of fighting have sent oil prices sharply higher. And AAA says gas prices had their biggest one day jump since May.

CNN's David Goldman is joining us now. So, David, how is this war and this war of words changing what we're paying at the pump?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, you're right. I mean, gas prices exploded higher yesterday. They are down pretty meaningfully today.

But let's just put this into context. Where are we right now? Because we're at about 76 bucks.

If you look at where we were before the war, well, actually, you know what? Seventy six. That is not too far off.

We were at one $112 in May. So certainly oil prices have come back down a lot despite the tensions that are going on. The gas prices, though, this is where it's starting to hurt.

Right. Five cents in a single day. That was the biggest increase since May.

So we're back at $3.85. Now, remember where we were. Again, we were at $4.56.

So we're about 70 cents lower than the peak. But again, this is something that you need to remember.

We were below three dollars. We were at $2.98 before the war. We've got quite a ways to go to get back there.

Now, what's going on in the Strait? Well, the threats that President Trump have made an effect. Iran got 10 million barrels of oil out yesterday. To put that into context, they've gotten 60 million barrels out of the Strait in the past three weeks.

So certainly a huge escalation because Iran wants to make sure that it can get this oil out before if there's a blockade, the blockade stops them from doing that. So what happens to U.S. oil? Well, we need that oil to get out because there is only 320 million barrels of oil left in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

That is down 23 percent, almost a quarter from where we were before the war started. And we need that oil. Not only are we using that to fill the gap from the lost Middle East oil, but this is also what we're relying on if there's a hurricane, a power outage or if there is a resumption of tensions.

So certainly there's a lot to take stock of. And there's a big threat to the economy if this war resumes.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a lot to keep an eye on. David Goldman, thank you so much.

Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour.

Renowned defense attorney Benjamin Crump and the Reverend Al Sharpton are joining calls for a thorough investigation into the death of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old whose body was found on a Mississippi barrier island, on Monday. Wells traveled there to celebrate the Fourth of July with a group of friends over the weekend. A state run autopsy is now being conducted.

The family, though, is seeking an independent examination into how Wells died. The coroner says that no immediate physical injuries were apparent. The sheriff's office says no foul play is suspected.

Crump released a statement today that says in part, quote, "We will not rest until every fact about what happened to Nolan on Horn Island is brought into the light." The investigation remains active and the cause of Nolan's death has not yet been determined.

Also, one of the most recognizable voices from the 1980s pop charts has passed away.

KEILAR: Singer Bonnie Tyler has passed away. That 1983 hit, Total Eclipse of the Heart, catapulted her to fame, became a number one song in both the U.S. and the U.K.

[15:50:00]

Born in Wales, Tyler was also one of several iconic voices on the Footloose soundtrack with her song Holding Out for a Hero. According to a statement on her website, Tyler's death resulted from an illness that she was being treated for in Portugal. Bonnie Tyler was 75.

And a new steel structure will record every single step that humanity takes toward catastrophe. The aptly named Earth's Black Box sits on the remote island of Tasmania off the southern coast of Australia.

And its job is to record climate data points, everything from temperatures to sea levels to political speeches and weather news. Ultimately, the idea here is that if climate change wipes out humanity, the black box can provide an unbiased account of events that led to the demise of the planet. The box should be up and running by the end of the year.

And the players are back on the pitch, still ahead, we're counting down to the first game of the World Cup quarterfinals.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: World Cup action is back at a fever pitch after taking the day off.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the quarterfinals kickoff, just minutes away, France, Morocco battling it out at the top of the hour. Friday afternoon, Spain goes up against Belgium. Saturday, we see Norway versus England, Argentina against Switzerland.

A jam-packed schedule for World Cup fans. Let's check in with CNN Sports anchor Amanda Davis. Amanda, who's favorite to take it all right now?

AMANDA DAVIS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, France were very much pre- tournament favorites and heading into their game against Morocco. That is still very much the case with that fearsome attacking lineup, the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Barcola, you saw there, and Ousmane Dembele. But Morocco are being seen as the biggest test for them of this tournament so far.

It's a rematch of the semifinal from four years ago in Qatar 2022. France won that one. But you might remember in Qatar, Morocco, very much the team that swept so many of us along with their enthusiasm as they made history, the first African side ever to reach a World Cup semifinals.

This time is different. Expectations are higher and they've been putting in the performances to match. They're unbeaten in the 10 games since they won the Africa Cup of Nations just a couple of months ago and, of course, swept aside Canada 3-0 in their last round.

The Moroccan fans have traveled in their masses to Boston, very much picking up that mantle from the Tartan army. And all those people who didn't know what to do with themselves yesterday, that first day in, what, just under a month without football, I think the feeling is this one is going to be worth the wait.

KEILAR: Yes. I wanted to turn on a match -- I said a game, a match --

SANCHEZ: Game.

KEILAR: -- and there wasn't anything to watch, which was a bummer. But Amanda, we did learn that U.S. forward Christian Pulisic actually fractured his leg in that bruising loss to Belgium, the definitive, the upsetting, the searing loss, I think you could call it. And how is he doing?

DAVIS: Yes, it wasn't only the egos that were bruised by that defeat to Belgium, it turns out. We have had this update on Captain America. He has been diagnosed with what is being described as a microfracture and bone bruise of the tibia fibula in his right leg.

And that follows, of course, the calf injury on the other leg he suffered in that opening game against Paraguay that caused him to go off at halftime. And he's had a lot of criticism, hasn't he, in recent days from U.S. legends the likes of Landon Donovan and Carli Lloyd. After that post-match interview where he'd been talking about his availability, he said he needed time to rest, and Carli Lloyd said, you rest when you're retired.

And interestingly, after this news, she's doubled down on that criticism, saying, I don't owe anyone an apology. He ended up resting up a whole year. That's the fact. Nothing personal against him. Carli, of course, knowing that in the women's game, the likes of Lucy Bronze, the England player, played the entirety of the European Championships with a fractured leg just last year. But it's a really interesting timing.

Why feel the need to reveal this now with the U.S. out? And I think it's been fascinating, the motivation behind this injury update.

SANCHEZ: All right, Amanda Davis, thank you so much for the update. We'll keep track of all those games.

Some of us, though, may be feeling sick of this planet and may be wanting to leave in a good way.

That could be taken in a morbid direction. NASA is recruiting volunteers for a test to simulate what it's like to live on Mars and the moon for a full year. The space agency wants four people to live in habitats that mimic traveling and living in space.

You get the chance to grow some crops, take care of your health, perform simulated space walks in special small quarters to study how humans handle life on Mars and the moon.

KEILAR: Do I get to recite lines of Matt Damon's from The Martian? Because if so, sign me up. And if you want to do this, applicants have to be a U.S. citizen. You have to be a permanent or a permanent resident. You have to be between 30 and 55 years old. See, I can do this, Boris.

You have to be no taller than six feet, too. You have to be fluent in English. Check, check.

NASA said it's looking for people with astronaut-like qualifications.

[16:00:00]

Oh, here's the downfall for me. Maybe like a bachelor's degree in engineering. Military experience.

I don't have that. OK.

But maybe you do. This is a program that could start next summer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was looking good for a second.

SANCHEZ: It was. I mean, it's not too late. You can probably, you can hammer out a bachelor's degree in a month.

KEILAR: I don't think I can make up for that resume there. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunts turns right now.

[16:00:00]