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Lindsey Graham, Longtime Senate Republican, Dies At 71; Senator Mitch McConnell Releases Photo Of Him With Wife In A Hospital; Interview With Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA); Manhunt Underway After Two Killed At Toronto Festival; Sinner Beats Zverev, Holds Wimbledon Title; Rising Costs For Young Sports Renews Debate Over High Prices. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired July 12, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Look at this. He was at minus eight points on the net favorable scale. He was less popular than the already unpopular Susan Collins, who was underwater, unlike when she was running back in 2020. And then, of course, there's the ultimate anchor in Maine, and that is of course Donald John Trump, who's 23 points underwater when it comes to his net popularity rating.

When you see Trump being this far underwater and Collins being this far underwater, you say Democrats should be winning. But Platner couldn't take advantage of it. Now that Platner is out of the race, in my mind, Democrats will be able to take advantage of the fundamentals. And you know what? We can just look through the history books. Presidential parties in midterm Senate races, the last time they won a Senate race, that is the Republicans in Maine this time, because Trump is, of course, the president, Republican, the last time they won the state that they lost, that a party lost in the preceding presidential election, get this, you have to go all the way back to 2010.

Susan Collins is going to have to break history to win in Maine in 2026. And with Platner out of the race, it makes it much less likely.

Omar, back to you.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Harry Enten, always good to see you.

And another hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JIMENEZ: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York.

Tonight, we're remembering Senator Lindsey Graham, the longtime South Carolina Republican who died overnight at age 71. We're learning new details about his death. Graham's office says the senator died from an aortic dissection, essentially a tear in his aorta, as part of his complications -- as part of complications, I should say, of cardiovascular disease. That is, according to the preliminary findings from the medical examiner.

Graham, a foreign policy hawk, was one of the major supporters of both Israel and Ukraine and had just returned from his 10th trip to Ukraine since Russia's invasion in 2022. According to President Donald Trump the two spoke last night just before Graham's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's devastating. I thought he was fine. He called me last night. He just got back from Ukraine. He was tired. He said, I'm tired because it's a long trip. But other than that, he was fine. And he called me, I guess, just moments before because he called me like at 6:30 or something. And the medical people got there a little bit later, right after that. What a terrible loss it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Here with me now is chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

So, Jeff, just what more are we learning about this that, of course, everybody, for the most part, woke up to this morning here?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, as this shocking loss is still really settling in to Washington, the senator's office is releasing, as you said, a bit more information this evening, really expounding on the brief and sudden illness that they described on the early morning hours. And they are saying that this was caused by a cardiovascular disease, as you said. But again, a full autopsy will be needed before a final conclusion can be reached.

But there's no question that from the White House to Capitol Hill to South Carolina, people are trying to absorb this loss because Lindsey Graham was larger than life in so many respects. He turned 71 just last week. He spent the week on the road in a NATO as well as Ukraine. And he came back to Washington. And this, of course happened Saturday evening. But President Trump remembered his friend, the South Carolina senator, when he called in to CNN's Jake Tapper earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's a great politician. He was a natural. There are very few of them. He was a natural politician. Got along with everybody. When he didn't he was very tough. You know, he was a tough cookie, too. But he got along with everybody. He was one of the 17 people that ran against me. And he was, you know, a smart guy. And it was a nasty campaign. He was tough and nasty, but I was nasty, too. And it worked out fine.

And I got to know him by little drips and drabs. And then we became friendly and there was no better advocate. He was a fantastic advocate in the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And that may be true. He may have been one of the president's strongest advocates in the Senate. Of course, he did start out as a critic, and he warned Republican voters to not support the president back in 2016. Of course, that is so long ago. He also, after January 6th, washed his hands of Trump. He said he was done with him. Of course, that also did not stick. So that has certainly injected some of the skepticism and the criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike why Senator Graham was so loyal to the president.

But as some Republicans effectively have apologized for getting behind the president, Lindsey Graham did it with enthusiasm and never apologizing for supporting President Trump. He thought he could have a bigger impact on the inside than on the outside.

[19:05:08]

JIMENEZ: You know, and Jeff, while a lot of people today are still processing obviously the news that came so suddenly for a lot of people, there is a political process that will need to move forward. Senator Graham was running for reelection, for example, in South Carolina. What happens next for this now vacant seat?

ZELENY: He is running for reelection, and he just won his primary last month. So that means there has to be a new Republican primary pretty quickly. It will happen three weeks from this Tuesday, the 11th of August. And if a winner is not determined by a majority vote, there will be a runoff for the 25th of August. So the question is which candidates are going to run? Perhaps some defeated gubernatorial candidates will throw their hats in.

Another complication is there are many, of course, House members, Republican House members from South Carolina. But the Republican majority is so fragile and so narrow in the House, they not likely will not be able to leave their House seat. So that will happen in terms of a primary. But the governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, will also appoint someone to fill the end of this term, about six months or so.

So it's unclear if that will be a caretaker position, if you will, or perhaps he will try and give someone a boost to appoint the same person in hopes of having them win this primary election. We shall see what happens with that. But the seat will be filled rather quickly -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes, we were just talking to the state Republican head last hour, talking about that work, getting ready to get going. But of course, today is they're learning the news like all of us.

Jeff Zeleny, appreciate the reporting. Thanks for being here.

ZELENY: Sure.

JIMENEZ: I want to bring in Katon Dawson, the former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.

And Katon, you knew Senator Graham, as I understand, personally. So I just want to start with saying I'm so sorry for your loss. And just what will you remember most about the senator?

KATON DAWSON, FORMER CHAIRMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY: Lindsey was a warrior of the best kind. He's funny, frugal. Lindsey never really had a nice car. He probably was wearing the same blue blazer he wore in 1998 when I met him. Maybe a half dozen times and he did his job. And Lindsey would always tell you when it really got hot, Lindsey would say, you know what? They sent me home. At least they sent me home because I was trying to do the right thing for the country and the right thing for South Carolina.

And you have to admire a politician willing to take those chances. Lindsey liked everybody, got along with most people as long as you stood by your word, and he always stood by his. I mean, he's just a charming individual that, I mean, came from a very meek beginning in his life, on West Main Street around Seneca, South Carolina. And took those values to Congress, was one of the floor managers from Bill Clinton.

That's when he really became famous, was on TV as a floor manager when Bill Clinton was being impeached. And then I think what's missed on everybody is Lindsey Graham ran for Strom Thurmond's open seat, which there hadn't been an open seat in South Carolina in decades. And no one ran against him in that primary. Amazing that he had that kind of ability and political acumen, but he just was a good guy, y'all.

And just a wonderful guy who did a lot for everybody with a wonderful ability to hire really good people and surround himself with them. And for that, my heart goes out to those people because working for Lindsey Graham was a privilege and a pleasure.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, a lot of those people, no doubt, processing that shocking news we got overnight, but that many people woke up to today. You know, to your point, sort of talking about Senator Graham's evolution through political history here, he has been long a key figure on Capitol Hill, and he's sort of weathered the evolution of the Republican Party from the early 2000s. And then a critic of what would soon be President Donald Trump in that race and then into 2016 as well.

And then their relationship clearly changed to the point where they became closer allies and friends, even if they didn't agree on everything. And I just wonder for you, how do you think he viewed his role within the Republican Party?

DAWSON: Lindsey, in my opinion, and with conversations with Lindsey and I spent a lot of time together and we raised a lot of money together to make sure Lindsey stayed in office and other people got in office. And I think Lindsey would view his role as very successful because one thing he did for South Carolina, Lindsey got along with every president he served under, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Joe Biden.

[19:10:02]

Lindsey would make an effort to reach out to whoever it was that could help us in South Carolina and the country. And a lot of politicians don't have the guts to do that. Lindsey did. He had the charm, the ability to do it. You know, Donald Trump was a natural fit for Lindsey Graham. Boisterous, fun, and to be frank with you, I tell the president I know he's sad because he's going to miss Lindsey Graham more than anybody politically because Lindsey had his back with his friends, and in the Congress, in the Senate. And that's very valuable.

And I will close with this. To the president, who played a lot of golf with Lindsey Graham, Lindsey let you win every time.

JIMENEZ: Hey, that is a debate for one day. I'll let you two duke that out.

But, Katon Dawson, I really appreciate the insight. Thank you for being here and taking the time.

DAWSON: Thank you. Godspeed, Lindsey Graham.

JIMENEZ: And more breaking news tonight, Senator Mitch McConnell has released a statement with a picture in hopes of answering questions over his recent health issues. A short time ago, the Kentucky Republican's office put out this photo of McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, in what looks like a hospital setting, showing McConnell holding the sports page of today's "Washington Post" in that bottom left corner.

He also released a statement saying, among other things, that he fell last night -- last month, excuse me, but didn't break any bones.

I want to bring in CNN's Camila DeChalus, who's been following the story for us.

So, Camila, what more did Senator McConnell reveal in this statement and why was this statement so significant?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for many reasons. This is the first time, Omar, that we're hearing from the senator since he's been hospitalized for more than three weeks, and it has been absolutely silent from his office, even when reporters have reached out asking for a health update or what his current condition is. But today, for the first time, they put out a statement really detailing what occurred last month.

From the statement, we know that he suffered from a fall last month, and he said that he was briefly in a -- he was concussed, that he did not, he just suffered from just being briefly unconscious for a bit. And that's why he was sent to the hospital. Now, he says, according to the doctor's note that he did not suffer from any heart stroke, that he did not suffer from any broken bones or from a concussion.

But he said that while he was in rehabilitation and that he was recovering, that he developed a mild case of pneumonia. Now, this is very important, why he was saying that's why he's been out. But really, what was kind of telling is that you saw that the senator got a little bit more vulnerable in his statement, stating, and I quote, "You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older. Even in the public eye I feel that same instinct. I can't help it."

And he really details about how in the past he struggled with some health challenges. And that's what made his recent hospitalization this time around that he remained a little bit silent of what transpired. But he said that according to the advice from his doctor, that they have recommended that he does not return to the Senate while he still is in recovering from this.

And he's at right now receiving physical therapy to ensure that he does not suffer from any other falls going forward. But this is a really key defining moment because you just have this past week where the Democratic governor of Kentucky put out a public letter essentially requesting a health update from the senator and really lamenting about how his constituents have the right to know about his current health condition and about where he currently stands, and most importantly, whether he is still fit to continue to serve in office.

And really, in this statement, he really does detail laying out what he's been through and his path, how open and public his other hospitalizations were, and why he kind of remained silent this time around.

JIMENEZ: Camila DeChalus, really appreciate the reporting. Thank you.

Still to come this hour, the United States launching new strikes in Iran as fighting renews between the two countries. We'll bring you those details, plus a manhunt in Toronto, as police say several suspects are behind the deadly mass shooting at a festival Saturday night. And then later the pay-to-play debate is refueled after the U.S. men's soccer team is knocked out of the World Cup. Have youth sports gotten too expensive? We'll talk about it.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:19:07]

JIMENEZ: Breaking tonight, U.S. Central Command says forces are launching new strikes against Iran, as a military spokesperson says the new attacks come after Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired at another commercial ship crossing the Strait of Hormuz. This follows more U.S. strikes overnight, which hit roughly 140 Iranian military targets, and Iran's Foreign Ministry is tonight condemning these attacks and warning neighboring countries against aiding in U.S. military action.

I want to bring in Republican Representative Buddy Carter of Georgia.

And, Congressman, thank you for taking the time. I'm going to get to those latest Iran strikes in a moment, but I just want to start first with your reaction to the news that many of us woke up to today in the death of Senator Lindsey Graham?

REP. BUDDY CARTER (R-GA): Well, certainly, like all Americans, I am saddened by this news. And certainly my thoughts and prayers go out to Lindsey's family and his friends. And I can tell you, South Carolina has lost a great senator.

[19:20:02]

The United States Senate has lost a great senator. The world has lost a great patriot, American patriot. I had the opportunity to travel as part of the delegation with Senator Graham to the Munich Security Council in 2022, when Zelenskyy appeared before us on the Saturday before Ukraine was invaded by Russia. And I can tell you that he was asserting himself there. It was -- I remember meeting in a private meeting with the mayor of Kyiv that we were -- Mayor Klitschko, that, you know, Lindsey just kind of took over.

He was saying, hey, what do you need? What can we do to help you? How can we assist you in this? And it's a great memory that I have of Lindsey Graham. He was a true conservative bellwether, if you will, for American politics.

JIMENEZ: And as you know, Senator Graham had just gotten back from his 10th trip to Ukraine since the Russian invasion back in 2022, just a few days ago. You know, his death while everyone of course those that knew him and support him are mourning today, there will be a political process that moves forward. And as you know, already slim margins in the House and Senate.

And just from a point of order perspective, have you gotten any guidance from party leadership on how you all will be approaching this week moving forward and beyond?

CARTER: Well, certainly we want to get past the holdups that we've had here recently, and we want to get to reconciliation 3.0, the SAVE America Act. You know, we could really, really honor Lindsey Graham by passing the SAVE America Act. He wanted to see it passed. The president wants to see it passed. The American people want to see it passed. We need to get this done. And we can get it done through reconciliation 3.0. if we can just simply get past the obstacles that are before us now and if we can get the rule passed. And I'm very confident we can get this passed.

JIMENEZ: I will say that one, not as bipartisan as the Russian sanctions bill, that he and Senator Richard Blumenthal had also been championing as well. But as you point out, a lot of political priorities still to come on multiple fronts once we get past this phase here.

I want to shift back to Iran and these latest strikes because I wonder for you, look, this has gone on for months at this point. Obviously, there has been a lot of action by Iran and response by the United States. And just for you as a congressman, are you satisfied with the state of play right now?

CARTER: Well, obviously, Iran is choosing aggression over compromise and over peace treaty. And listen, they're suffering the consequences of it. I applaud the president for what he's doing. He is achieving peace through strength as opposed to Biden and Obama, who tried to cozy up, who tried to use kid gloves with Iran. You can't do that. The president is right. They are scum. You've got to use strength. And that's what he's doing right now.

Look, they are the ones who chose this path and they are suffering the consequences of it. Their economy is in shambles. Their military is ruined. Everything is going against them. They need to understand that their only option is to negotiate and sign a peace treaty with the United States. It'll be better for them. It'll be better for the world. And a memorandum of understanding that is out there is laden with incentives for them. If they behave well, then they will reap the benefits of that.

JIMENEZ: Do you worry at all? Look, that, you know, on one end of things, obviously there's a priority to eliminate Iran's nuclear ambitions. We know that, that has been stated multiple times by the president and beyond. But we're also a few months away from these midterms now. And, you know, a lot of folks in the country are hurting economically. They've been affected by rising, or at the very least fluctuating gas prices.

And do you worry at all that as we head into these midterms that Republicans are going to be affected when it doesn't seem like there's a clear end or exit plan in the near view for this back and forth?

CARTER: Well, what I'm worried about is making sure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. As a father, as a grandfather, I don't want my children, my grandchildren, living in a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon. And this president has made it clear that that is not going to happen. We're going to do whatever we have to do to make sure Iran behaves. This is something that's been going on for 47 years.

Obviously, we're concerned about the midterms. We feel like we've done a great job in governing and that we're going to be able to come back in the majority in the House and in the Senate. But at the same time, we've got to finish this drill here. And that is very important. The president understands that, and the president is going to make sure. He's just not going to look the other way and let Iran get away with this. They may think that they are, but they're not going to. He is achieving peace through strength here.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, before we go, Congressman, I want to ask about one specific thing.

[19:25:02]

In 2020, you voted to pass the National Defense Authorization bill, which did include some sanctions against Turkey after the country purchased, you know, the Russian surface-to-air missile system. And I bring that up because last week, President Trump said he was considering selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, and he would lift those sanctions put in place during his first term.

And just for you, would you support the sale of these U.S. jets to Turkey and the lifting of those sanctions now, as opposed to where you were a few years ago?

CARTER: Absolutely. And this should be a lesson to Iran. As I said earlier, the memorandum of understanding is laden with incentives for them if they behave properly. If they behave in a good manner, they can reap the benefits of it. Turkey has actually improved, and as a result of that, yes, it's different than it was in 2020. And we're going to -- and I support the president on this, and I hope that he looks at it very carefully. If Turkey indeed has improved their behavior, then certainly we want

to help them. And that should be the lesson that Iran should learn, that if you behave properly, if you behave in a good manner, then you're going to reap the benefits of it. And Iran, of all the countries in the Middle East, needs to understand that because right now, as I said earlier, their economy is in shambles. Their military is ruined. They need to get to the peace table and they need to get something signed.

JIMENEZ: Congressman Buddy Carter of Georgia, really appreciate you being here. Thanks for taking the time.

CARTER: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

All right. Coming up, Toronto police say there is a manhunt underway for several suspects behind the mass shooting at a Latin festival. We'll tell you what we know just ahead.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:08]

JIMENEZ: Multiple suspects are still at large after a deadly shooting at a Latin Street Festival in Toronto. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has the details.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Omar, just another summertime event disrupted by gun violence.

This took place at one of the largest celebrations of Latin culture in Canada. It took place at a Latin Street Festival that was taking place in Toronto and you can see from the video that people are just running when gunshots rang out.

Now, we know from police that two people were killed and several others were injured after two people opened fire amid the crowds. There were more than 13,000 people in attendance to this festival in Toronto.

Now, a total of six people were shot, two of them were men, the two men that were killed, and police believe that there are several suspects that may have been involved in the shooting. That manhunt is continuing to be underway as we speak.

And we have been told by police that after the shooting, they were able to establish three separate crime scenes. They have recovered two firearms, but they are still looking for suspects. Again, they believe there may have been multiple people involved.

Take a listen to local law enforcement talking about this shortly after the shooting on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK BARREDO, DEPUTY CHIEF, TORONTO POLICE: There were people that were injured, there were people that were down, and there was a lot of activity and a lot of frontline responders that quickly went into action.

Two males since that incident began have been pronounced dead; another four individuals have been transported to local hospitals with serious injuries. Two firearms were recovered at the scene.

This is a very active and chaotic scene at times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, while there is no ongoing threat to the public, the event organizers have decided to cancel the remainder of the events that were scheduled to take place at this festival, including events that were supposed to take place today, on Sunday, they have decided to cancel while police continue to investigate -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Gloria Pazmino, really appreciate the reporting.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:45]

JIMENEZ: The top ranked tennis player in the world defending his Wimbledon title. Jannik Sinner beating Alexander Zverev today for his second consecutive title at the All England Club. This was Sinner's 10th straight victory over Zverev, by the way, he was coming off his first Grand Slam title at the French Open.

Zverev's previous best performance at Wimbledon was reaching the fourth round three times.

CNN's Don Riddell has the recap on all the action.

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT HOST: Omar, Jannik Sinner is once again the Wimbledon champion, but he was made to work for his title defense by Alexander Zverev on center court today.

This was a fascinating matchup between the top two seeds, but Zverev might have had a bit of trepidation beforehand, although he recently broke his major drought by winning the French Open in Paris, he had lost nine straight matches against Sinner. However, he stepped it up today, edging a tight first set on a tie break, snapping a run of 14 straight lost sets against the Italian.

The second set competitive, too, although this time it was Sinner who took it on another tie break. And although he went on to win the match by three sets to one, Zverev pushed him all the way.

In any case, Sinner is now a five-time major champion and a back-to- back Wimbledon champ, and at three hours and 46 minutes, this was the second longest win of his career.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANNIK SINNER, TENNIS PLAYER: There is no better place, honestly, to play tennis. I am standing here. You can feel the nerves on a Sunday morning when you wake up, you know that this is, you know, a very, very special day and you never know how many times you can come back on Sunday.

So I never take things for granted, playing in front of very, very special people throughout the whole couple of weeks, it has been amazing and yes, and thanks for the support. You are always amazing to me and you gave me the most special feeling a tennis player can ever feel like.

So, thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: So the focus now switches to the U.S. Open in New York, where Sinner was the 2024 champion. He would be the favorite again, you would think, although Zverev must now be considered a serious rival and at some point the injured, Carlos Alcaraz is going to be back in the mix.

But if he has been watching on T.V., he will know that sinner is going to take some stopping.

Omar, back to you.

JIMENEZ: He will be hungry to get some revenge.

[19:40:10]

Don Riddell, good to see you as always.

Meanwhile, the World Cup Semifinals are set. Some incredible quarterfinal games, by the way, saw rivals England and Argentina each needed extra time to advance, along with Spain and France, which had tough tests as well.

France and Spain are set to face off against each other outside Dallas in one semifinal on Tuesday, while Atlanta will be hosting reigning champion Argentina and England on Wednesday. All heavyweights in the semifinal here.

Now, in the wake of the disappointing loss by the U.S. Men's National Team in the World Cup this month, there is a renewed debate over whether the rising costs for youth sports is limiting the country's success on the international stage.

According to the Aspen Institute's Project Play, the amount families spend on youth sports rose 46 percent between 2019 and 2024, and parents across the country who spoke to CNN Sports reported spending thousands of dollars each year to support their kid's competitive soccer careers. So if families can't afford it, they're out taking potentially untapped talent off the pitch.

I want to bring in a talent herself, two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup winning goalkeeper, Briana Scurry into the conversation.

So I just wonder, you know, you've been seeing what is going on and I just wonder, does the rise in costs surrounding youth sports concern you at all? What are you paying attention to?

BRIANA SCURRY, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST AND WORLD CUP WINNING GOALKEEPER: Hey, Omar, thanks for having me. It absolutely does concern me. It has always been something that I've been worried about and concerned about.

It is a matter of location and economics. In the suburban areas, that's usually where soccer is played; in the suburbs, big fields, lots of space and also the economic piece that you mentioned, I mean, we are talking about thousands of dollars. It is a small fortune to get high quality club team sports.

And so, it is difficult for families to make that justification. I mean, I understand it, I get it, my family didn't have a lot of money either when I was younger, and I found out recently in my book research that I did in 2022, that my coach had paid for me for seven seasons, and he kept that secret for 40 years.

So I wouldn't be talking to you right now if it wasn't for the generosity of my coach.

JIMENEZ: I like to think your competitive spirit, we would have found some way to talk to you. You would have been successful in something. But yes, it takes help. It takes help. And, you know, for those that have been watching the World Cup, you know, former U.S. soccer player, national soccer Hall of Famer Alexi Lalas got into the debate on Twitter, he actually pushed back on some of the criticism of paying this much for sports or the for profit sport, questioning why people should be the arbiter of how much someone gets paid.

Essentially, if soccer is free, then who is paying for it? Or what's next? Piano lessons or something along those lines. Do you agree on that front? I don't know if you heard some of his comments or read some of what he had been putting out.

SCURRY: I did not hear what Alexi said, and I do greatly appreciate him and his opinions, but I completely disagree. I mean, we are talking about thousands and thousands of dollars here, and you're talking about a huge barrier for so many families. I mean, there is no telling how much untapped talent we are missing out on.

In other countries. You know, it is a lot more reasonable. They have different systems, but a lot of these kids in other countries, they can have an opportunity to play and it actually helps them even more get out of maybe some financial situations that they are in because of the low barrier for them. And these costs, they keep going higher and higher. I mean, it is just really absurd. We are talking about it, like you said, thousands of dollars and so many families out there probably have a very, very talented child to play the game and they may not ever find that green grass because they don't have the money to pay.

JIMENEZ: Is there a European model that you think might work well in the United States that maybe you've seen or come across?

SCURRY: Yes, there are a couple of them, but I don't know -- I don't know how well they work here. One of the problems too, aside from the cost that we have here, is there are so many other choices for different sports to play. And so often in Europe and Africa and other countries around the world, soccer is the number one sport, and so that's the only thing that kids play. That's all they think about. That's all they want to play. That's the only option in a lot of cases.

But here in America, we have, you know, four or five other options for that. And so a system would take some big overhauling. It would take a lot of effort and a lot of understanding and a lot of trust. It would be more difficult to do that.

So I think the best way right now is to try to get those costs down or have some kind of scholarship system that helps younger kids who can't make that cost be able to be seen and play.

JIMENEZ: And just before we go, the women have done it. You all have found a way to battle through and have been consistently the gold standard. What is the difference there?

[19:45:05]

SCURRY: So one of the things I think is the difference is we were ground zero in the United States for women's soccer. I mean, ever since 1991 -- 1985 even, way back then, we were always leading. And we have always been running ahead.

And although we are getting -- you know, people are getting closer, other teams are getting closer and closer to us. Weve always won a major championship every single cycle.

For the men, it is different. Like I mentioned earlier about soccer being the number one sport everywhere in the world, but here. And so our guys are basically chasing. They're chasing Europe, they're chasing Africa, they're chasing, you know, Asian countries as well, Europe especially. So it has just really hard for them. And I get it, I get it and they've got a long way to go.

But they really did do themselves a lot of good for this World Cup. I mean, they had a fantastic run. This country got behind them. I had two watch parties, which is saying something for me.

So I mean, there are a lot of people that are interested in the game now, and hopefully we can get some folks involved and get some answers to all of these questions that we need to solve.

JIMENEZ: A lot of work to be done starting at the ground floor.

Briana Scurry, really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for being here.

SCURRY: Thanks, Omar. Appreciate it.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

All right, everyone, we will be right back.

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JIMENEZ: Tonight, an all-new CNN Film unravels the story behind the poisonings of former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in a sleepy small town in England. Really a shocking act on U.K. soil, which Moscow continues to deny. Here is a preview of "The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door."

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DR. STEPHEN COCKROFT, INTENSIVE CARE CONSULTANT AT SALISBURY DISTRICT HOSPITAL: Then I became aware of his name, Sergei Skripal, and I thought, this is a little bit odd bit of Salisbury.

I started to initiate intensive care and Sergei is breathing, just he is not speaking. He is sitting bolt upright, almost like a statue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eyes closed.

COCKROFT: Eyes were open, but it was absolutely rigid. It was -- it was -- it was the most bizarre presentation and it suddenly began to dawn on me that somebody has poisoned these people.

at that moment, somebody came up to me and said, Dr. Cockroft, I've just Googled Sergei Skripal, and you're not going to believe what I've just found out. So I went and looked and there it was. He has a Wikipedia page. Right? Okay, this is beginning to smell a bit fishy this.

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JIMENEZ: Joining us now is the film's director, Dan Vernon.

And Dan, look, poisoning a double agent using a perfume bottle, it sounds like a spy novel turned film. But this was real. This happened. And I just wonder what drew you to this story?

DAN VERNON, DIRECTOR, "THE SALISBURY POISONINGS: A SPY NEXT DOOR": I remember reading this in a paper, and the whole thing did feel like some kind of spy story. You know, it was an attempted assassination of a Russian spy. I remember reading on a park bench in probably the most quintessential city you could imagine in Britain, and stuff like that just doesn't happen.

And then the story just grew and the papers then said, you know, it became this kind of crazy manhunt. But at the end of it, there was also, you know, real tragedy. It was a story with human costs attached and so, it felt like it was a story that never really got fully behind the headlines, which is why we wanted to pursue this and dig further.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, to your point, in the film, we hear from people who were personally affected by the poisonings, and I think you alluded to it a little bit there.

How did that change the film's perspective?

VERNON: We always coming to this, we always thought it was important to hear. I mean, for us, I think the most compelling characters in the film is kind of Salisbury itself. And by that, I mean the people that live there.

This is not the sort of thing that happens to normal people, you know, you suddenly you're the front page headline and you've got networks coming down to your sleepy little town and you're thrust into the limelight and beyond that, you know, without giving too much away in the film for people that are going to watch it, there was -- there were people there who unwittingly got involved.

It was an incredibly reckless act on the part of the Russian government, which cost someone their lives. So, you know, it is one of those films that tonally you can sort of play around with the spy caper if you like, but at the heart of it is a tragedy.

So, it felt like a story that sort of pulled on quite a few strings.

JIMENEZ: Yes. You know, as we get ready to premiere this tonight, what do you hope that viewers take away from this story that maybe they didn't quite get sort of reading those headlines initially in the same way that you did when you were first drawn into this story?

VERNON: Yes, I think to be honest, I learned so much from doing this, as did the rest of my crew because what Salisbury really is, is it kind of exposed the front line of a hidden war between Russia and the West?

I mean, there was stuff going on and you had the death of Litvinenko not long before, well, quite a few years before, but not a hell of a lot was done back then and it felt like the British government had to do something, and it had to also get help from NATO. It had to get -- it got help from the U.S. too.

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And it feels like a time when there was a lot more conversations going on between governments and people trying to do the right thing. So it feels like a sort of benchmark of maybe we should return and look at see how we can get back to that kind of these kinds of conversations and try to fix things.

JIMENEZ: You know, just -- I remember reading those headlines when it first sort of broke, and you know, the nature of news is so if you learn one little bit at the beginning and then as days and weeks go by, you sort of get a bigger and fuller picture of this, and I think as people will see in this film, just the scale and human toll that this took on not just a sleepy town, Salisbury, but people personally affected as well. It is pretty remarkable.

Dan Vernon, really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for being here.

VERNON: Thanks very much.

JIMENEZ: And be sure to tune in, next for "The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door," right here on CNN.

Thank you all for being with me tonight. I am Omar Jimenez. Have a great week. We will see you again next weekend.

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