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NY Times: Investors Lost $3.8 Billion On Trump Crypto Coin; Interview With Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Woman Who Dated Graham Platner Says He Raped Her In 2021; Trump's Red Card Call Stirs Political Storm Around World Cup. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 07, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: She's a very bipartisan person. She's a very even keeled person who's got a long record in Maine. People know her. And so I don't she needs to do much of anything at all.

I do think the Democrats here, though, are starting to have to answer some questions about their party's process. They did this with Biden. He had no business running for reelection. They nominated him and they took him out. And through an undemocratic system they put in Harris.

Now Platner, they nominated him and now through a, I guess, an undemocratic process, they're going to take him out too, and put somebody in that the voters didn't actually choose. This is happening over and over and over again. The party of democracy is turning out to be anything but when it comes to these candidates who get all these votes and then they take them out, you know, right before the deadlines of putting people on the ballot.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I mean, Christine, what other option -- there's been on that?

CHRISTINE QUINN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE: I mean, look --

COOPER: What other option there?

QUINN: There's no other option. And it is certainly not someone who was picked by the voters, but it is what is legally allowed for either side when something like this or there's a death or some other thing. It's a legal mechanism to do it.

And for the good of the election, Platner should drop out tonight so there is, you know, close to a full week to find -- well, you actually have until the 27th. So there's more as much time as possible. But, look, this is a bad scenario just if you look at the politics of it.

This significantly weakens our Democratic chance to beat Susan Collins. There is no way around that, and the more quickly we pick a candidate, the better.

COOPER: Yes. Alyssa Farah Griffin, Christine Quinn, Scott Jennings, thanks very much. Coming up next, having learned from federal filings what the President made from selling his meme coin last year, $636 million, new reporting on how much his investors lost, and the sum is staggering.

Later, the President's intercession to get a suspended American World Cup star back in the game. Fair play or interference? Ahead on 360.

[04:05:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: New details on just how many people lost money buying President Trump's cryptocurrency. As you probably have heard, President Trump raked in $636 million in just one year. From his family's cryptocurrency business.

And that $636 million is just the money he made from the crypto business, which he oversees the regulation of. The total amount he made last year, including all the products and commemorative coins and phones and other businesses that he profits from was more than $2 billion just last year. What's interesting about the crypto windfall is that in 2021, he wanted no part of cryptocurrency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Bitcoin just seems like a scam. I don't like it because it's another currency competing against the dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, that was 2021. Two months before the 2024 election, he founded, along with his sons, a cryptocurrency exchange, along with Zach Witkoff, the son of his Middle East and Russia envoy, Steve Witkoff. And by January 17, 2025, three days before Inauguration Day, the 47th president was hawking a meme coin named after him.

Now we know just how much a lot of people lost, and there's a good chance a number of them were actually Trump supporters. According to reporting published over the weekend in "The New York Times," nearly a million people who bought Trump crypto coins lost a total of $3.8 billion.

Quoting now from the "Times" Report, which had a crypto analytics firm follow the transactions, quote, The odds were always in his favor. Mr. Trump profited whether the price of his meme coin went up or down. He collected returns whenever anyone traded the tokens, as he repeatedly pushed his followers to do, using his True Social account to promote the coin.

On top of that, the president also made several hundred million more when a UAE linked firm bought a 49 percent stake in that company. Now, he's denied any wrongdoing concerning any of this. And today the White House had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Well I'm a big crypto -- I become a big crypto guy only for one reason. If we don't have it, China's going to have it and they would like to have it. But now they're not even trying that hard because we've taken over crypto. But I'm a fan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Portraying crypto as a patriotic stand in some way against China. He did not mention, however, the $636 million other reasons he had to like it last year.

Joining us now is "The New York Times" Eric Lipton, who's done the reporting on this. What did this report reveal about just how unprofitable Trump's meme coin was for most people who bought it?

ERIC LIPTON, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, it really is quite a disconnect. I mean, this is someone who was there running for election to try to help bring the common person up. And here he is urging his followers to take a bet on him.

You know, he's always presented himself as, you know, the Apprentice guy who learned how to be rich. And if you follow his lead, you can be rich yourself. And, you know, very much pushing his followers to take a bet on him and to follow him into crypto.

And then, you know, he walks away with $600 million and nearly a million people who made the bet on at his urging lost almost $4 billion. It really is a pretty incredible expression of the disconnect that's playing out through his crypto game.

COOPER: There was a small minority of folks who did profit from it. Were they people -- sort of more sophisticated traders? Who were they? Do we know?

LIPTON: Yes. So, you know, what happened was that as soon as that meme coin was pitched by him, it was January 17th, the night -- three nights before his inauguration, there was a crypto ball in D.C. And he was, you know, and a lot of his supporters were there. And so as soon as that went on sale, people who knew that it was going to rise in value, they pumped up the price.

It went from $0.18 to nearly $72 within, you know, quickly.

[04:40:00]

And people who in the first few hours bought in and then sold it, they're the ones that made money. And then all of the kind of the MAGA people who are supporters of Trump came in and they became like exit liquidity.

Two hours bought in and then sold it. They're the ones that made money. And then all of the kind of the MAGA people who are supporters of Trump came in and they became like exit liquidity -- is the term that they use in the industry, exit liquidity. They were the way that the people who were cashing in could make their money because there were these, you know, basically, unfortunate, bad investments that were being made. And the people who were the insiders who had moved quickly were profiting at the expense of the of his supporters who were a little more slow.

COOPER: Yes, I mean, he had that dinner at which like the top earner -- the top buyers could come. And it did, as you said, it jacked up the price. And then as soon as that kind of just left, the whole thing kind of went down again.

We played the clip of the President today declaring himself a big crypto guy. He says the only reason he embraced crypto was to stay competitive with China. Do you buy that?

LIPTON: That doesn't make any sense. I mean, China has actually moved to try to ban crypto, although there's a lot of crypto trading that comes out of China. I mean, you know, he himself, he said even today when he was at the White House, that one of the reasons that he did it is he saw a constituency.

You know, crypto is a little bit like vaping. You know, he grabbed on to the vaping movement because he sees a constituency of voters who are a bit disaffected with the American mainstream economic system. And so this was a constituency and also was an easy way for insiders to make money.

So I think his son's grabbed onto it as a way to make money. He saw it as a voting constituency that he could perhaps bring with him. And both of those things ended up working well for his family, at least.

COOPER: Yes. Eric Lipton, I appreciate the reporting as always. Thank you.

Joining me now is Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. He sits on the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. Senator, to the fact that nearly 1 million investors lost a total of $3.8 billion, does that raise any concerns to you about regulation? Because, I mean, the President essentially has gone from saying he doesn't like crypto to taking regulations off of crypto.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT), JUDICIARY AND HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEES: That is an absolutely key point, Anderson, because not only did he profit after he personally pitched this scheme, he went on to social and he said, join my very special Trump community. But then he engaged in conduct that if this were a security would be a classic bait and switch or pump and dump. But he personally exempted crypto from the normal financial service regulations that would apply to securities.

And he also disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Task Force. So he engaged in this profiteering, the presidency for profit, self-reverence and self-enrichment to himself and his family in staggering terms. And there's also a national security point here because you mentioned that the Emiratis invested in World Liberty Financial, his venture.

They invested $500 million for a 49 percent stake. And then magically, Trump approved a $1.4 billion military sale and fifteen thousand advanced chip sale to the Emiratis. So there's really a pay to play here that undermines the national security.

COOPER: He gave them access to chips, which they hadn't had previously.

BLUMENTHAL: They had no access to it. And there were a lot of national security experts who were aghast that they would be provided with these kinds of chips that were enough to create a data center that in turn posed a national security threat. And it also emphasizes, going back to your first question, you know, cryptocurrency has been rife with human trafficking, money laundering, all kinds of problems that call for greater oversight and more transparency.

COOPER: The allegations, the new allegation against Graham Platner in Maine, what do you think you should do?

BLUMENTHAL: These allegations are serious. They're credible. They're unacceptable.

This survivor ought to be recognized for the tremendous courage that she showed in coming forward. She should never have had to endure this kind of assault on her. The Maine Democratic Party has called for him to withdraw.

I agree. I'm not a voter in Maine, but I won't support Graham Platner going forward.

COOPER: You think he should withdraw from the race?

BLUMENTHAL: The Maine Democratic Party says he should withdraw. I'm not a Maine voter, but I agree with them. He should withdraw.

COOPER: What do you hope happens in Maine? I mean, do you -- is there another candidate you see there? Do you follow it?

BLUMENTHAL: There are other candidates. I'm not prepared at this point to endorse any one of them.

[04:45:00]

I think the important point here is to recognize the severity, the credibility of this survivor who has bravely come forward. And we ought to recognize that there are countless other survivors who have shown the same courage and others who ought to be really elevated and supported in this kind of frankness and candor.

COOPER: Senator Richard Blumenthal, I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Next, was the President out of bounds when he twisted arms to get a suspended American World Cup star off suspension in time for tonight's big game, or was it a clutch play?

Later, who could survive something like this? How every single person inside this store amazingly did? Thankfully. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:50:00]

COOPER: It was the foul and red card seen around the world. Tonight, though, the American soccer star, who was shown that red card and given a one-game suspension, is playing the game he was supposed to sit out against Belgium.

The U.S. striker Folarin Balogun's red card suspension reversed and Belgium's appeal of the decision denied after FIFA's President got a phone call from the President of the United States, who took credit for that today and more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who's highly respected and, by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold. And he was good before this started, but, you know, he really pushed it in this country.

I'm the one that got them to do it. It was not Biden. Biden was asleep. I got him to do it. All I did, I asked for a review because I didn't think it was a foul. And, you know, again, I'm good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, CNN has learned that it wasn't just the President. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other officials also lobbied FIFA, according to a source familiar with the matter. Global reaction has not been positive. The E.U. sports commissioner posting, "Decisions on sporting rules and sporting matters belong to sporting bodies, not politicians."

Norway's coach called FIFA's decision a, quote, "big mistake." Europe's soccer's governing body said FIFA, quote, "crossed a red line." And here was some reaction on British media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY MAITLIS, THE NEWS AGENTS: And this has left an extraordinarily nasty stench over a World Cup that up to this point was going fantastically well.

JON SOPEL, THE NEWS AGENTS: It is so ugly. It is so reprehensible. It was absolutely out of order for Donald Trump to have made the call to Infantino. And it was absolutely pusillanimous on the part of Infantino to go, oh, yes, Donald, let's look at it and we'll try and sort this out.

TOM SWARBRICK, LBC: What I'm about to play you made me wonder whether or not we're living in a simulation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Others could not help but point to the President's relationship with FIFA's head, who you will remember, concocted a special prize for him last year, which he was thrilled about after the Nobel Committee snubbed him. Some underscored the irony of Mr. Trump going to bat for someone he might otherwise be trying to deport.

Balogun is able to play for the U.S., thanks to his birthright citizenship, a passage in the Constitution that the President has tried to fight, even taking it to the Supreme Court. Mr. Balogun was raised in the U.K. but was born in New York to Nigerian parents.

His mom, who was visiting at the time, tried to get back to England, tried to fly back when she was seven months pregnant with him, but the airline refused to let her fly. So she stayed, gave birth and flew back to London with him weeks later.

Alyssa Farah Griffin is back. Where do you stand on this?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's a fascinating saga. OK, so I preface all this to say everything I know about soccer is from Ted Lasso. So I'm a bit of an armchair expert here.

It's not -- OK, so internationally, this is being received very poorly as you pointed out.

COOPER: That's a yes.

FARAH GRIFFIN: It's not the worst domestic politics. I have to be honest, like most Americans are rooting for Team USA. This was a call from what I saw, again, armchair expert should have been a yellow card. It shouldn't have been a red card that would have kept him out of the next game.

I think a lot of Americans are going to say we're OK with this kind of Trump corruption. If you're going to cut, you know, swoop in here and call in some favors with the FIFA President, it's fine. But the part you noted that's just so fascinating is if for Trump's own policies, he wouldn't be playing on the U.S. team right now --

COOPER: Right.

FARAH GRIFFIN: -- because of the desire to overturn birthright citizenship, which narrowly made its way and was upheld by the Supreme Court just last week.

COOPER: And, I mean, do you think he, his advisers, Miller -- I mean, do you think they're done trying to chip away at birthright citizenship or do you think more to come on that?

FARAH GRIFFIN: This has been kind of a pet project of Stephen Miller's as well as other advisers for many years? I expect that there could be other efforts and other state led efforts. I thought it was remarkable that it was a 5-4 decision. To me, it's couldn't be more clearly laid out in the Constitution.

But this is also the saga on FIFA is a bit fascinating, too, because one, Andrew Giuliani, the son of Rudy Giuliani, is essentially the sports liaison to the White House. And my understanding through reporting is that he flagged this to the President. He said this is blowing up.

People think this was an unfair call. This is a great politics moment for you to step in and get him reinstated. So it shows, you know, Trump does politics very differently than everyone else does, to put it mildly.

COOPER: It is interesting, though -- I mean, his ability and maybe his people around him, but also just to sense like areas that he can kind of campaign in a way or please people. I mean, he wants to sort of have his finger in a lot of different pies.

FARAH GRIFFIN: He's the executive producer of America.

COOPER: Yes, that's what it is.

FARAH GRIFFIN: He wants to be tapped into what America is talking about --

COOPER: Yes.

FARAH GRIFFIN: -- what Americans care about. And he occasionally picks really smart fights. I think this is at least an 80-20 issue that he would win on in the U.S. Abroad, it's seen very differently. I think we're often seen as bullies right now on the world stage on more important matters like NATO. But this doesn't help either. But at home, it's not bad politics.

[04:55:00]

COOPER: Yes. Alyssa Farah Griffin, thank you very much.

FARAH GRIFFIN: Thank you.

COOPER: See, you know, a lot more about soccer than we thought.

Up next, a scary moment, incredibly scary caught on video. A roof partially collapses at a New Jersey store, temporarily trapping two people. But it's incredible, everyone got out OK. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We've all seen a lot of sudden storms the last few days on July 3rd and July 4th, of course. But we want to show you some terrifying video from Ocean Township, New Jersey. Part of a roof collapsing at a BJ's Wholesale Club this morning as heavy rain hit the area.

More than a month's worth of rain fell in just a few hours in this area, according to estimates. It led to the ceiling crumbling down inside the store while people were shopping. Officials said 27 people were inside the building when it happened.

Two people were trapped for a time, but thankfully, they were able to free themselves. No one was seriously injured. Incredible when you look at the damage done there.

Also finally tonight, stunning pictures from Space. This video of an aurora. Aurora shimmering in the Earth's atmosphere.

It's incredible.