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Source: Trump Spoke To FIFA Pres. Before Balogun Reversal; Portugal & Spain To Face Off Today In Texas; England Head To Quarterfinals 3-2 Win Over Mexico; Norway Top Brazil To Reach First- Ever World Cup Quarterfinal. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 06, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Radnedge, he's a columnist for World Soccer Magazine. He joins me from London. It's so -- it's so good for -- it's so good to see you. Thank you so much for joining us.

So, you know, I've heard a lot of, you know, plenty of arguments, some, some pretty solid arguments about just the validity of the initial call. But I wonder if we could just focus on the developments Sunday alone. What does this suspension reversal tell you about the relationship between President Trump and the head of FIFA?

KEIR RADNEDGE, COLUMNIST, WORLD SOCCER MAGAZINE: Well, there's been a lot of criticism for several years about Infantino's kowtowing to President Trump, in particular with the infamous FIFA peace prize that was presented to him. And I think this is just the next stage in the demonstration of how Infantino will, you know, pretty much do anything to keep Trump on side and make sure that the United States and the United States authorities are very happy with the World Cup.

SANDOVAL: Keir, Infantino is also up for reelection as FIFA president next year. So with the controversy, the criticism that you just -- that you just lay out, does he risk losing credibility, perhaps more credibility and support from nations that are certainly not pleased with this level of courtship of Donald Trump?

RADNEDGE: Well, I think you're right. There's a definite lack of credibility for Infantino, but I don't think his reelection is in danger because from the profits from this World Cup, a lot of nations are going to be very, very happy with his leadership.

SANDOVAL: Wonder we could talk about another big development from Sunday and one that's playing out ahead of today's Portugal, Spain meeting. We heard from Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the game, who confirmed that this is his final World Cup. But do you think that today's match will be his final game or do you see his team advancing?

RADNEDGE: I tend to think that Spain are the favorites to beat Portugal today. I think it can be a very entertaining game. I mean, and obviously a lot of focus would be on Ronaldo. There's a lot of -- there's controversy about Ronaldo really, whether Portugal play too much to him to the detriment of their team game. But I think, you know, great players rise to the great occasions.

So I think we can see a lot of explosive football today and hopefully explosive in the right and positive way.

SANDOVAL: We saw plenty of explosive football on Sunday. I wonder if I can get your thoughts on some of the devastating losses, but also some of the hard fought wins. Of course, talking about Brazil and Mexico, they are now out. Norway, England, they continue to quarterfinals. Perhaps we start on what was truly just a devastating loss for me and fellow Mexico fans as we saw them fight a hard fight, but it was just -- England was simply too much.

RADNEDGE: Yes, I mean, great atmosphere, obviously. I thought Mexico have had a very, very good World Cup, I think. Yes, obviously England were probably opponents a little bit too far for them. Because actually Mexico, with the fans behind them, their game actually suited England. It gave England an opportunity to attack and score early goals, which really proved decisive.

SANDOVAL: I mean, England doing it minus one player too. I mean, that was incredibly impressive.

RADNEDGE: Yes, it was. I think it demonstrated a great deal about the unity, if you like, in the squad and the intensity of the way they play and the game plans that the coach, Thomas Tuchel, has set up for them and the way he has got all the players on side with how he wants them to play.

SANDOVAL: I remember speaking to an expert such as yourself before the World Cup started and they told me, watch Norway closely. I mean, this match, this incredible match between Brazil and that team is just a reminder of what we're in for as they get ready to face off against England in Miami.

RADNEDGE: Yes. I mean, Norway have had an incredible run their last 14 matches in which Erling Haaland has scored in all of those games. Obviously the England players will know Haaland very well from the Premier League, but he showed yesterday against Brazil that he only needs a couple of seconds, a little gap, and he can score devastating goals. It was a devastating defeat for Brazil, one has to say also. I would imagine the Brazilian nation is in mourning for what happened to them yesterday.

[04:35:00]

SANDOVAL: I have about 10 seconds with you, Keir, what went wrong for Brazil?

RADNEDGE: The game plan just didn't work. I think there was a poor selection of players. There were players in the wrong positions and, you know, relying on their individual capabilities is not enough at this stage of a World Cup.

SANDOVAL: Keir Radnedge, thank you so much for joining me. Really appreciate it. Always great talking football. I do want to show you what it looked like in the state of Wisconsin on Friday as there were some extreme storms there that really battered the region, bringing down some trees, power lines also in the city of Lake Geneva. Look at some of these pictures in from Friday. The damage so widespread that officials declared a state of emergency. Three people died in a boat that overturned on a nearby lake. And there was several other injuries reported due to the storm.

And the storms also forced several cities to cancel their Fourth of July celebrations.

Cycling fans have been asked to stay away from the Tour de France today because of a wildfire that's burning in the southwest near the Spanish border. Cyclists are due to cross the finish line for a third stage just 60 kilometers or some 37 miles from where these fires are burning. Only the riders and those essential vehicles, will be allowed on the route due to safety concerns.

And the extreme heat in Europe is also threatening the production of wine in Greece and in Italy. Even techniques that vineyards have used for decades are now failing to work now because of some of those temperatures. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): On the Greek Island of Santorini, winemakers grow vines in a basket shape called a kouloura to protect grapes from the summer sun. But even this 90-year- old kouloura couldn't survive the rising heat over the past couple of years.

YLANNIS BOUTARIS, WINEMAKER: The lack of rain in combination with the lack of cultivation in the last couple of years has led to these old vineyards really dying basically. As a winery and every winemaker around the world will tell you that old vines are special. The reason why old vines are special is because the -- because of the grapes that they give.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): Low rainfall has created a growing competition for the island's dwindling water supply, especially during the warmer months when over tourism brings millions of tourists to the Greek islands. The struggle to keep vines alive has caused wine production to go down and the price of grapes to go up, making the wine harder to sell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If we have the reputation that French wines have acquired in more than 100, 150 years, we could justify the price for Santorini to be higher.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): Winemakers across the rest of the Mediterranean are also facing similar problems. In Italy, vines are flowering more than 20 days earlier than usual. And extreme temperatures are forcing workers to push their day earlier. An order by the Sicilian government has banned work during the hottest part of the day in high risk areas. Now workers must start their day at 5:30 a.m. and finish before the sun makes the labor unsafe. SALVATORE RANDAZZO, MANAGER, BUCECI WINE CELLARS (through translator): We are moving toward a very tropical climate and temperatures, especially in the mountains, are rising much more than they did many years ago. Working in 40 degree heat under the peak of the sun in summer is becoming very stressful for a human being.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): Back in Santorini, vineyards are also adapting to the new normal. Farmers are introducing new techniques such as planting vines in rows rather than scattered, irrigating the vines from underneath and testing out a new pilot project. The practice takes waste water from homes and hotels to irrigate the vines.

BOUTARIS: The main thing for our winery is that we're not abandoning tradition. We are adapting to the changes. We're learning from the tradition and we're adapting the vineyard to the new circumstances. What we have to do is find new ways to survive, right? Because if we don't survive and if we don't adapt, we're simply going to stop existing.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): Allison Chinchar, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:39:44]

SANDOVAL: And still to come here on CNN Newsroom, sifting through the debris after deadly earthquakes. How survivors are handling the search for loved ones while so many have been displaced by the disaster.

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SANDOVAL: Venezuela's acting president ordering additional troops to be deployed to help emergency responders in the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes. On Sunday, Delcy Rodriguez announced that a new military unit would be formed to respond to both the current earthquake emergency as well as future disasters. This comes in the wake of harsh criticism of the government's response to these earthquakes. Officials are saying that the death toll has now surpassed 3,300 lives. More than 17,000 people have been displaced and some are still sleeping on the streets.

Others are venturing back into their homes as you see there, trying to recover anything that they can to hopefully rebuild their lives, even though some of those buildings are still too unsafe to go into. CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon has more on how survivors are trying to move forward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Zosan Tander (ph) has not seen her son in 10 days. They were separated in the twin quakes that shook Venezuela on June 24, but her nine-year-old, Xavier (ph), was trapped under the rubble. Four days later, she saw a video of a child being rescued at night. She believes it was her son, but in the chaos that followed, she hasn't been able to find him. She's not going to rest, but from here, there is little she can do. POZZEBON: This used to be a golf course. La Guaira was a tourist hotspot by the Caribbean Sea. And so here is where tourists will come and play golf and relax. Now, of course, it's a tent city for hundreds of displaced, many of whom actually used to live there in those blocks. And every day they wake up and they see their homes and flats broken down by the brutality of the earthquakes.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Sheyna Ceballos is also looking for a loved one. She's lost hope of finding her mother alive, but will not leave the golf course until she recovers her remains.

SHEYNA CEBALLOS, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): If I had the money, I'd dig her out, but I have none.

POZZEBON: This is what's left of Sheyna's home. An entire life shattered in an instant. Now, like her, thousands of Venezuelans are only beginning to grasp the magnitude of this catastrophe.

[04:45:12]

POZZEBON (voice-over): Before this tragedy, Venezuela was already in a deep humanitarian crisis, facing chronic shortages of food and medicines. World Central Kitchen has been operating here since 2019. In response to the earthquake, they have stepped up with free meals for survivors and volunteers.

POZZEBON: Can you describe a moment that Venezuela is right now when it's been 10 days since the earthquake?

MIGUEL TORTOSA, COMMUNICATIONS RESPONSE MGR., WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: The numbers keep increasing and we are still in the first phase of the operation. I would say this is still the emergency phase and our teams are still, like, finding the exact numbers so we can get the amount of meals needed to cover all the need.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Survivors and relatives of the victims have criticized the government response as inadequate and delayed. Many point to the armed forces who they say showed up too late or didn't do enough.

DELCY RODRIGUEZ, ACTING VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our officials were deployed immediately. You can count the hours between the quakes and when we signed the emergency decree, there were 4,000 officials out in the first 24 hours, 10,000 officials the following day.

POZZEBON (voice-over): The government also laying out credit agreements with the International Monetary Fund and plans to begin the reconstruction. But at the golf course in La Guaira, the present is too dark to look ahead.

CEBALLOS (through translator): Now I just want to find her remains. To think about the future makes no sense.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, La Guaira, Venezuela.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And during his weekly prayer service from the Vatican, Pope Leo on Sunday expressed solidarity with the victims of the deadly earthquakes that struck Venezuela. The Catholic pontiff expressing his support, saying that he always remembers, quote, the victims of the earthquake and the entire Venezuelan people. He added that he keeps praying for them. Authorities in Venezuela say at least 3,300 people died in the earthquakes last month.

And a priest from an excommunicated Catholic splinter sect told worshippers on Sunday that they would be welcomed back to the church under a different pope. The sect known as The Society of St. Pius X was excommunicated last week, and this after four bishops were ordained without Pope Leo's consent. The group was founded in Switzerland in 1970 and his followers around the world. They claim that the church has strayed from its true faith and that Pope Leo has failed to hear their concerns.

The act of ordaining bishops without the pope's approval was considered so grave that the excommunication was automatic.

An earlier CNN spoke with religion commentator Father Edward Beck about this schism. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: It's the most serious rupture in Catholicism in decades. I mean, Rome didn't just excommunicate the bishops, it hit the priests, too. And it also warned the lay followers that they're at risk if they stay loyal. I mean, it's harder than even John Paul II's response back in 1988.

So it's a big deal because it's a -- it's a wide swath of people who are following this particular society, and they're all at risk of being excommunicated. But I think that the door's not fully shut. The Vatican has already invited people back and said that not every society member, layperson will be automatically excommunicated. It depends on their intent. But, you know, any reconciliation risks the same trap that happened last time with Pope Benedict and he looked weak to conservatives and as rewarding defiance to progressives.

And I think what Pope Leo's action does is it isolates the hardliners while giving him room to keep courting the broader conservative wing that didn't support the consecration of these bishops. So, yes, I think that there's precedent for some negotiation here, but he's taken a much harder stance than popes before him. So really be interesting to see what happens with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: One of the most surprising teams at the World Cup, they have returned home to a hero's welcome. Up next, fans celebrating the historic performance by Cape Verde's players and a huge parade in the tiny island nation. My favorite stories of the day. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:53:35]

SANDOVAL: Well, two days after they almost upset the defending World Cup champions, Cape Verde's national soccer team, they have returned home to a hero's welcome. The underdogs from the tiny island chain off of the West African coast, they captured hearts around the world and they became one of the most watched stories of the tournament. Here's Ben Hunte with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A triumphant homecoming for a team that didn't win a single match at the World Cup. But that's not counting hearts and minds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My national team was at the World Cup. This is my greatest pride, and I believe it is the greatest pride of everyone who is here.

HUNTE (voice-over): Thousands of fans cheered the Blue Sharks as they arrived back in Cape Verde after stunning the football world by nearly upsetting champions Argentina in a thrilling 3-2 loss in extra time. It was the tiny African nation's debut at the World Cup, but they held their own against some of the giants of the game with three draws, including one against Spain before making the mighty Argentina sweat for its hard fought victory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We went game by game, showing our worth. We started against the world champion, current European champion, and we managed to draw. In the second game we played against Uruguay, which is also a two time champion and we drew as well. Everyone started to know us from there.

HUNTE (voice-over): Cape Verde defied all expectations from day one. Coach Bubista scoured the world to find players with Cape Verdean heritage for his squad, coming up with a magic combination that not only qualified for the World Cup, but also won over fans worldwide.

[04:55:15]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They showed attitude, courage, strength, everything they represented. The strength on the field, there is no explanation. They united everyone to support Cape Verde.

The turnout at home is just one sign of how much has changed for Cape Verde. The team's newfound fame and street cred on the pitch is the beautiful game at its best. They may not have made it to the round of 16, but that's not what it takes to be number one in this crowd.

Ben Hunte, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: That's really what the tournament's about, right? And then these robots, they are one step closer to taking part in the World Cup. This is Atlas, an advanced humanoid robot who delivered the match ball to officials on Sunday during the game between Norway and Brazil. Well, here he's practicing ahead of the match last week. It required a new communications channel due to the size of the stadium crowd.

Well, technicians, they ditched the Wi-Fi connection in favor of a more reliable radio device attached to Atlas' back. I think he might be gesturing at where it is.

And the largest active volcano in Europe, it has been erupting. The Italian Department of Civil Protection, they issued a red alert as Sicily's Mount Etna admitted some -- emitted, I should say, emitted some large clouds of ashes. And on Sunday you see those plumes. The volcano has been active for nine years straight. A lava flow first moved downhill accompanied by volcanic tremors back on June 26th.

And thank you so much for joining me and thank you so much for bearing with me at the top of the hour as I cleared my throat. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. We leave you with CNN "Headline Express." It starts in a moment.

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