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Presidential Profits; US And Iran To Meet With Mediators In Qatar; Wildlife Threat. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 01, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:32]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. Donald Trump's massive earnings will be breaking down the US President's financial disclosure to reveal just how much he made the first year of his second term. It's going to shock you.

Plus, diplomatic talks, they are underway in Doha, but the US and Iran, they are not on the same page. We'll take you live to the region. And later, excitement building as the United States gets ready to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in a World Cup knockout match. Will they advance?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: We begin with a new financial disclosure that shows that President Trump reported billions of dollars in income during his first year back in office. The 2025 report released yesterday details income from cryptocurrency, real estate, licensing deals and other business ventures. And the earnings are unprecedented for a sitting president.

The White House is denying that there are any conflicts of interest. The disclosure does show that Trump earned more than $526 million from sales of crypto tokens tied to World Liberty Financial, which is a firm that's managed in part by his sons, Eric and Don Jr. And the filing also lists $77 million in resort related revenue from Mar-a- Lago.

Trump has also continued to lend his name to many products and all sorts of ventures, collecting millions in royalties and licensing fees. You see them there across the board. But the disclosure says that one agreement with Celebration Coins paid the President $635 million. Other sources of income include $4.7 million in royalties for Trump watches, then there are the $2,000 from a Bible the President has frequently promoted.

All right, let's talk more about this with Richard Painter. He's a former White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration. He now teaches law at the University of Minnesota. Richard, glad to have you with us.

RICHARD PAINTER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ETHICS LAWYER: Well, thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: Richard. I wonder if I can get your initial assessment of some of this reporting that President Trump made more than $1 billion from cryptocurrency ventures in just the first year back in the White House.

PAINTER: Only five years ago, President Trump was saying that bitcoin is a scam, the crypto was trying to replace the US dollar. And now he appears to have changed his mind. And over a year ago, the Trump family invested a lot of money in cryptocurrency.

The President, as soon as he took office, issued a series of executive orders that would lead to a boom, at least a temporary boom, in the cryptocurrency markets in 2025. And now we see that the President has made a billion dollars in an industry that he labeled as a scam only five years ago. This is a serious conflict of interest for the President to be making that kind of money in the financial markets at the same time that he and his administration in charge of regulating the financial markets.

And that's what I explained at the Senate Banking Committee last July in my testimony on the pending legislation, the Clarity Act, that would pretend at least to regulate the cryptocurrency markets. This is a very precarious situation to have a financial instrument that's not very well-regulated, being regulated by an administration under the charge of a president who wants to make enormous amounts of money in the same industry that he described as a scam only five years earlier.

On top of that, we have foreign governments investing in Liberty Financial, apparently the United Arab Emirates and others. And to the extent the President is making money, profits, emoluments is the phrase used in the Constitution, PROFITS and benefits from foreign governments, that is flatly prohibited under the emoluments laws of the Constitution.

The President is not supposed to be making money from foreign governments while he's in office. No person holding a position of trust from the United States government can do that. So we have a serious problem here of conflicts of interest, both international and domestic, that needs to be dealt with.

[04:05:07]

SANDOVAL: Richard, your professional assessment, clearly that this is a conflict of interest. The White House has repeatedly denied that the President is, in fact, conflicted by his financial interests, at least there -- that's their argument. And the White House has emphasized that he's not actively involved in managing his businesses or investments.

Based on your experience, Richard, what are sort of the legal guidelines or the parameters that the President, in your view, should be adhering to?

PAINTER: Well, it doesn't matter who is managing the investments for President Trump. He knows that he has an enormous financial interest in cryptocurrency. It's right there on his financial disclosure report. And at the same time, he is issuing executive orders that facilitate the cryptocurrency industry that some people believe may lead to a bubble in the cryptocurrency industry.

It's a badly regulated industry. He is in charge of regulating cryptocurrency for the next two-and-a-half years, the remainder of his term. He shouldn't be trying to make money off the same industry. Now, that being said, we need to recognize that the criminal conflict of Interest Statute 18 United States Code 208, that applies to every other executive branch official, including the treasury secretary, that would make it a crime for them to regulate cryptocurrency or while investing in the industry.

That statute does not apply to the president, the vice president, and the members of Congress. And that's why we have so many members of Congress who are trading stocks while they're doing their jobs and buying and selling crypto. And now the President of the United States is doing the same. It may be technically legal, it's not a crime, just as it would be for a cabinet official, but it is a serious conflict of interest.

And remember, there's that constitutional dimension. Foreign government money cannot be used to deliver profits and benefits emoluments to any person holding a position of trust with the United States government, including the President. The Constitution is very clear about that. We do see foreign government money in these crypto ventures that President Trump is benefiting from, including the United Arab Emirates.

The United States is being dragged into wars in the Middle East, and the idea of foreign government money going to our highest ranking officials is anathema to the Constitution. And then that's exactly what the framers anticipated and feared when they put the emoluments clause into the Constitution, prohibiting the foreign government profits and benefits for high ranking government officials in the United States.

SANDOVAL: They are nearly 1000 pages in this disclosure. Richard Painter, thank you so much for providing your analysis to help us get a better understanding of that situation. Thank you.

PAINTER: Well, thank you.

SANDOVAL: Well, President Trump and GOP leaders are currently calling on Congress to pass legislation that limits birthright citizenship. And this comes after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could not use executive power to end that status. Here's how House Speaker Mike Johnson reacted to that decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It certainly is time for us to do everything that is possible. I think it's clearly an issue that merits the attention of Congress. I don't know what the remedy is, how to define it or the timeline. It would be premature for me to project that. But I will tell you that it's a big concern with the American people because it's been abused.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And now the US Justice Department is directing all US attorneys to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of so called birth tourism schemes. The President argues that foreign nationals intentionally travel to the United States to give birth in order to secure their children's citizenship. And birthright citizenship, it wasn't the only pivotal ruling that was handed down on Tuesday. CNN's Paula Reid has more on the high court's latest decisions.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tuesday was the last day of the Supreme Court term and they released their final three decisions. All three have a lot of significance for the country and specifically for the Trump administration. Of course, the most significant was the fact that President Trump lost his effort to try to limit birthright citizenship through executive order.

In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts actually joined with the three liberal justices, as well as Justice Kavanaugh and Barrett, to emphasize that this is a right enshrined in the Constitution and cannot be overturned with a stroke of a pen through executive order. Now, in addition to that case, they also released their opinion on something a lot of folks have been watching, a case about whether transgender athletes can be banned from participating in girls sports.

Now, these cases, as a pair of cases, one from West Virginia, one from Idaho, they represent more than half of the states in this country that have similar bans. And here the Supreme Court held that those bans are not unconstitutional.

[04:10:10]

So those bans currently in place will stand, and we expect some of the states that do not have those bans, that do allow transgender athletes to participate in girls sports could see some future litigation. That is not directly a Trump case, but certainly a Trump adjacent case. The President took to social media to praise that decision.

But the decision that could likely have the largest impact on Americans is a case about campaign finance where the justices removed a cap on the amount of spending that political parties can do in coordination with political candidates. Now, these caps have been in place since the 1970s. And by removing them, especially in combination with a lot of other campaign finance restrictions that the court has rolled back, this is expected to be a boon for the GOP because while Republicans already go in with a money advantage to this election season, when Democrats are able to out raise Republicans, the money usually comes from smaller dollar independent donors.

So with this new flood of money that is really expected to primarily benefit Republicans, but it will benefit both sides. Both parties can take advantage of this and it will result in likely in an influx of political ads over the next couple of months as we head into the midterms. So this wraps a significant season. We did not of course hear any retirements from any of the justices because that is, of course, something that would be the biggest win for any president, including President Trump.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

SANDOVAL: The Colorado primaries proved to be a major test for the progressive movement, hoping to replicate last week's victories here in New York. And they did just that in the closest House race of the night, 29-year-old Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeating 15 term representative Diana Degette in Colorado's 1st district.

But in the Democratic Senate primary, CNN is now projecting that incumbent John Hickenlooper will be defeating progressive challenger state Senator Julie Gonzales. He will face Republican state lawmaker Mark Baisley come November.

And in Colorado's race for governor, CNN is now projecting that State Attorney General Phil Weiser will be the one to advance to the general election, defeating US Senator Michael Bennett.

With delegations from the US and Iran, they are expected to participate separately in technical talks with mediators today. No high level meetings are currently scheduled between the US and Iran. And all this comes just one day after Qatar's prime minister sat down with US Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

They were discussing the US and Iran talks in addition to the ceasefire in Lebanon. And sources are also saying that Oman recently delivered a proposal to the US and other allies on the future of the Strait of Hormuz. The regional diplomat says that the plan, which again has not been finalized yet, it calls for shipping companies to pay service fees to use the strait. Notice the words that they're using, not tolls.

CNN's Leila Gharagozlou is joining me now for the latest from Abu Dhabi. So as we wait for, Leila, for another round of these talks in which the Americans and the Iran delegation are essentially in separate rooms, are they at some point scheduled to meet again?

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: So it's unclear now when they will meet face to face again. These technical talks that we're expecting today are going to be a little bit lower level than we've seen so far. The Iranian delegation is going to be led by the deputy foreign minister, and it's all going to be through those Qatari mediators.

Now, this is really around the implementation of the MOU, which is where we see this disconnect, which is why we're not seeing them face to face and meeting. The Iranians are saying these aren't even nuclear negotiations. Iran's speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said this last night on state media. He said that the Iranians wouldn't be speaking about any of the nuclear issues until certain elements of this MOU were implemented, per Article 13.

Now, because most people don't have that MOU in front of them, Article 13 is the article that specifically talks about starting negotiations and a final deal. But it hinges on five key points, and the Iranians are saying these five key points are not implemented yet. So we're still in an implementation phase where we're working the kinks out of this MOU, and those are the ceasefire, which includes Lebanon, and we saw quite a lot of friction around that. It nearly derailed.

The MOU, it's the unblocking of Iranian ports, the Strait of Hormuz, which again this week we've seen a lot of friction around that. It is the unfrozen assets which Iran is in Qatar to talk about with those mediators and oil sanctions waivers. So Iran says until these are implemented, we're not going to move forward.

[04:15:00]

Unfortunately for the Iranians, that clock is already ticking on the 60 day. The Americans have already started that and we're a few weeks in. So we're running out of time for things to move on. And it really does speak to the concern that a lot of experts had about this MOU, its implementation and the ability to reach a final deal in such a short span of time.

So whether they're going to meet or not is very unclear, maybe something will come out of these technical negotiations, but the Iranians are really saying, we're not negotiating on nuclear as of yet. Polo?

SANDOVAL: And, Leila, about four months after Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the current leader, was killed in some of those initial joint strikes, we understand they're now going to be holding a funeral. So is there really an understanding of why it took this long?

GHARAGOZLOU: Well, part of it I think is symbolic. They've been waiting for a while to hold this. It is on 4th of July, so a lot of people are reading this as a symbolic move towards the US. He has been lying in state is what we've heard.

These funeral processions are going to start on Sunday. They're going to be across many different cities, including moving to Iraq, where they'll also hold a funeral procession there. And it's expected to bring about 20 million people to Tehran from all over Iran. So it's going to be one of the largest funerals we've ever seen.

But we're going to have to see how this plays out with the backdrop of these talks. Polo?

SANDOVAL: Yes. And we'll see what happens to those talks if they're essentially put on pause while they get together. Thank you so much as always for that report.

Well, one week after the deadly earthquakes in Venezuela, crews are still finding survivors beneath the rubble. But just ahead here, why some families are having to do the work themselves that's looking for their missing loved ones, picking up pieces of rubble.

Plus, a dangerous heat wave it is intensifying across the eastern United States and that's putting millions of Americans at risk through the Fourth of July holiday weekend. We'll get to your forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:55] SANDOVAL: Well, it's now been a week since two deadly earthquakes struck Venezuela back to back. In the days since, the death toll has now climbed to more than 1900 people. This is a reminder of the real human toll. The port in La Guaira, which is really one of the hardest hit areas, it's now been turned into a makeshift morgue.

Families are going there trying to identify their loved ones among hundreds of coffins. And rescue efforts also continue, aided by crews from around the world. And then on Tuesday, a bit of hope here, Venezuela's acting president shared this video of a rescue team from Jordan.

They pulled a three-year-old boy alive from the rubble of a collapsed building early Tuesday. So that's a little under a week since those earthquakes. And officials do say that nearly 16,000 people have been affected or displaced by this disaster. The government has opened dozens of temporary shelters, but you see some people are choosing to stay on the streets. They're too scared to go back into any structure, fearing that the earth could shake again.

And adding to the frustration, many Venezuelans have been forced to dig through the rubble with their bare hands while heavy equipment that could be helping them sits idly nearby. CNN's Isa Soares with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With nothing more than borrowed tools, Deivis Ramos digs through the rubble. The twin mattresses of his two little girls are within sight, and he anchors his strength in knowing that soon he will hold them close, even if it's a final goodbye.

DEIVIS RAMOS, FAMILY MISSING AFTER EARTHQUAKE (through translation): I can't think about crying right now. I can't bear the thought of it, it tears my soul apart because tears -- tears won't move stone.

SOARES: While we hear rescue team from North Carolina arrive looking for signs of life or death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that we have still been finding people alive in these buildings, so I'm not ready to give up yet.

SOARES:: Almost a week since those fateful back to back earthquakes, hope of finding survivors is fading fast. But in the midst of unimaginable grief, a moment of compassion and humanity between an American rescuer and a grieving Venezuelan father.

The scene here in La Guaira is apocalyptic, with countless buildings pancaked by the ferocity of the quakes. And while families wait for answers, heavy machinery sits idle.

(through translation) Sir, why is the machine not on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have fuel.

SOARES: He doesn't have petrol, he doesn't have fuel. I mean, tell that to the families.

A sorry sight for one of the world's largest oil reserves. Hassell Mendoza has seen this firsthand. She traveled from Tampa, Florida to search for her loved ones.

HASSELL MENDOZA, FAMILY MISSING AFTER EARTHQUAKE: This guy, you know, work with their nails. They try, the hands, they try to do everything without nothing. They don't have, you know, shoes, they don't have machine like drills, big drills that you need. They don't have sensors, they don't have anything.

SOARES: We walk from building to building. The scale of destruction stretches for blocks. Around every corner, a house of horrors. Still Venezuelan steel with rickety tools, shovels and buckets.

As we depart La Guaira, an arresting scene of casket after casket, and of overwhelming loss. Isa Soares, CNN, La Guaira, Venezuela.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And at this hour, search efforts do continue across Venezuela and aid groups on the ground providing assistance to those who are affected. If you scan the QR code there on your screen, you get more information about how you can help the earthquake victims, or you can also go online and head to CNN.com/impact. Again, that's to help.

[04:25:10]

Millions of Americans across the Eastern United States, they are at risk from a dangerous and potentially record breaking heat wave. A major heat dome, it is expected to expand and intensify starting today and potentially last through the Fourth of July holiday weekend. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has your forecast.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We have several major weather topics to follow along on this Wednesday. Check this out, heat dome continues to bring in oppressive heat for the eastern half of the country. But right around the periphery of this high pressure in the heat dome is the potential for some stronger storms today, particularly across the Great Lakes in the Upper Midwest.

Mainly a wind threat but we want to keep an eye to the sky and weather aware from Green Bay into Traverse City, Michigan. But there's also a critical fire risk across the four corners that continues basically from this past weekend right through the week. We have dry conditions, they're also being fueled by strong winds out of the southwest helping ignite additional fires.

Look at these high temperatures, 98 degrees for Washington, 98 for Nashville. But, of course, we all know it's the humidity that makes it unbearable as we step outside. The heat index values or the feels like on your skin, as you step outdoors, will feel like 110 degrees in many locations along that I-95 corridor right through the busy holiday weekend as this ridge of high pressure or a heat dome settles in and just migrates across the southeastern US. SANDOVAL: That is a lot of red on that map, Derek. Meanwhile, there are dozens of wildfires that are burning across several western US states. It's hot dry and also the windy conditions, you can even hear them. All of that continues to fuel the flames.

The Aspen Acres fire in Colorado has already burned nearly 30,000 acres, and that's prompted evacuation orders in two counties. Colorado's governor says that 15 other wildfires were burning across the state as of Monday night, and that's triggered several state emergency declarations.

To Florida now where residents are on alert after multiple people were attacked by alligators in the past week. And the most recent attack resulted in the death of a 31-year-old woman. CNN's Randi Kaye with more details on what happened.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 Dispatcher: Somebody got bit by a gator.

CALLER: Bad, real bad. Please hurry.

CALLER: We got to get rid of the gator. Get away from the gator.

911 DISPATCHER: OK. How bad is the bite?

CALLER: Horrible.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A frantic scene Sunday afternoon in Seminole County, Florida just north of Orlando. A 31-year-old woman attacked by an alligator while swimming in the Econlockhatchee River in just three feet of water.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 DISPATCHER: Does she still have her arms attached to her or does the gator got them?

CALLER: One of them is like very hanging on my thread and the other one's off.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KAYE: Authorities say the woman was with her boyfriend and another friend.

CHAD WEBER, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE: She was bitten on both of her arms. The boyfriend was the one that made the phone call. He was trying to get her from the alligator's mouth.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 DISPATCHER: Do you know where the other arm is?

CALLER: Gone.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WEBER: And on the way to the hospital, she did pass away from her injuries.

KAYE: Hikers were left in disbelief.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've seen really big gators in here. I've never heard of an attack, though.

KAYE: According to FWC, two alligators were captured in the area.

WEBER: One was 12 foot, the other one was 13 foot.

KAYE: A day earlier at Nelson's Fish Camp in Marion County, Florida, an alligator bit a boy on his hand while he was fishing with his father. FWC tells CNN they've captured and killed that gator, and that it measured nearly nine feet.

On June 21st, a snorkeler suffered an alligator bite in the Rainbow River about 100 miles away from Sunday's fatal attack in Seminole County.

There are alligators in all 67 counties here in Florida, and that's why they have signs like these, beware of alligators, warning people that there are alligators around. And we understand there was a sign at the trailhead where that woman was attacked on Sunday, where she died in Seminole County. We just don't know where she entered the trail and if she ever saw that sign.

It's also worth noting that it is alligator mating season here in Florida right now until September, so the alligators are especially aggressive and territorial. And I know it sounds like there are a lot of alligator attacks happening in recent days, but Florida Fish and Wildlife say it's actually pretty rare. Last year there were 13 alligator attacks, two of them fatal.

Randy Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And more diplomatic talks expected in Doha. Ahead, we'll bring you the latest as US envoys meet with Qatari officials regarding a potential solution and a deal with Iran. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)