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Trump Says U.S. Will Ultimately Control Strait of Hormuz; Ro Khanna Says He Was Blockaded by Israeli Settlers; Russia Launches Missile Attack on Ukrainian Capital; Trump Backs Russia Sanctions Spearheaded by Graham; Semifinals Kick Off Tuesday With Spain vs. France; Japan Facing Shortage of Heirs to Become Next Emperor. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 14, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:43]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. launches a third night of airstrikes on Iran as Washington threatens to take charge of the Strait of Hormuz and impose a toll for protection.

In the U.S. a second ICE-related killing in less than a week. Officials say a Colombian man shot and killed by ICE agents was not the target of a warrant.

And excitement is growing ahead of the semi-finals in the World Cup. I will talk to a former professional football player and find out who he thinks will take home the trophy.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. And we begin in the Middle East, where the U.S. strikes Iran for a third consecutive night, as President Donald Trump says, the U.S. will be the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command says its forces have completed the latest wave of strikes, and the mission targeted Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping. Social media footage shows the aftermath of the strikes in southeastern Iran, and President Trump says the U.S. may soon control the Strait of Hormuz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are just going forward. We're attacking them tonight, and we're taking on all of their capability for anything having to do with the Strait, with the Hormuz Strait, and I think in the end we will end up just controlling the whole thing.

President Trump also announced that the U.S. will resume its naval blockade of Iranian ships in the coming hours.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked President Trump when the conflict is expected to end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: You've been bombing Iran for months now. Is this just the new normal for the Americans?

TRUMP: No. Well, you know, we were in Vietnam for 19 years. We've been here for four months, so I think we've done a lot. We've knocked out their navy in a period of one month. We knocked out their air force. Their air force is non-existent. We knocked out most of their missiles, most of their drones. We knocked out their drone manufacturing capability by about 92 percent. Their missile capability for manufacturing, we knocked out about 89 percent. And they have a little capability, but they don't have any capability against us. This is almost a military skirmish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Paula Hancocks is following developments from Abu Dhabi. She joins us now.

So, Paula, what is the latest on strikes across the region, and what's been the reaction there to President Trump's threat to become the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz and charge a protection toll on vessels passing through that critical waterway?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, first of all, what we've seen in the early hours of Tuesday morning is a third consecutive night of the U.S. carrying out airstrikes against Iranian military infrastructure.

Again, it does appear to have been focused around the Strait of Hormuz, or at least along the coastline of southern Iran. We've seen radar sites being targeted, control surveillance systems. We have also once again seen the response from Iran targeting U.S. military assets in the Gulf. Jordan says that it has intercepted four missiles that were incoming. There has been shrapnel falling in certain areas.

And in Bahrain, once again, residents there being woken up to emergency alerts as they believed incoming was on its way.

So, it does appear to be a familiar pattern now, but we are seeing it escalate, not de-escalate. The U.S. president has informed Congress that the war has effectively resumed, saying limited military action is the way he called it, has resumed, saying that they are defensive strikes at this point.

And as you mentioned, there we also are hearing the U.S. president saying that the U.S. will now be what he calls the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz. We have been seeing very limited vessels transiting that critical waterway, which obviously has an impact on the global economy, on oil prices.

[02:05:09]

The U.S. president saying that the U.S. will now be guarding that particular waterway, saying that there will be a 20 percent surcharge charging shippers 20 percent of the value of their cargo in order to protect vessels going through there, let's listen to what the U.S. president said about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world. We're spending money, and so what we've done is we are going to be reimbursed for protection. We're protecting by the countries that we're helping.

For instance, you look at the five countries. You have Saudi Arabia, you have UAE, you have Qatar or Qatar, as I always say. You have Qatar, Bahrain, and by the way, you have others. You have Kuwait, and you have others, and they will do very well. But we think it's appropriate that we don't need them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, there are many questions about how that would actually work. We also know that the Revolutionary Guards said that they targeted two what they called rogue super tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The Emirati officials say two of their tankers were targeted. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Many thanks for that live report.

Well, oil prices jumped more than nine percent after President Trump announced he's reinstating the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf. Tehran had already announced it was closing the vital waterway. Oil prices are still well below their Iran war peaks of above $110 per barrel, but they've been rebounding higher in response to the surging tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Well, a second immigrant to the U.S. has been shot and killed by ICE agents in less than a week. This time in the state of Maine, a neighbor has identified him as 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero from Colombia. We want to warn you, video of the aftermath is very disturbing, and you can see ICE agents here pulling Guerrero from his vehicle after he was shot.

An immigrants' rights group says he was authorized to work in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security has issued a statement saying ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene, and fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon. That has sparked protests, a vigil, and a lot of questions about why an officer would shoot at a fleeing vehicle. Here's the mayor of Biddeford, Maine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIAM LAFOUNTAIN, BIDDEFORD, MAINE MAYOR: We're a country that needs immigration reform, but this what we saw today is not it. And our community is steadfast. We're a community that's proud of our immigrant history. In the 18th and 19th century, immigrants in our city built this city, and even today we welcome more and more immigrants from across the globe. And an incident like this, it's really hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More now from CNN's Jason Carroll, and another warning: his report contains more disturbing video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, state and federal authorities are investigating another ICE-involved shooting. this time in Biddeford, Maine. Maine Senator Angus King saying he spoke to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who shared that the victim of today's federal law enforcement shooting, identified as a 26-year-old Colombian man, was not the target of the warrant.

This, in contrast to an earlier conversation in which Senator King shared that Secretary Mullen told him the victim was the target. Witnesses tell CNN shots rang out early Monday morning around 7:15.

EM AKERLEY, WITNESSED AFTERMATH OF SHOOTING: I was getting my DoorDash, and I thought I heard a car backfiring and asked the DoorDash driver if that was a car. He said he didn't know.

So we kind of went down to the corner and saw a bunch of vehicles pull up at the same time marked and unmarked. I heard a rapid fire of gunshots afterwards. I got up and went to the window and that's when I saw the little white car being driven in a circle, like it was circling the intersection with two officers pressed up against his driver's side door.

CARROLL (voice-over): Video from the scene shows officers hanging from the side of a white Kia sedan, and moments later, a second video shows agents and vests providing aid to a man on the ground.

The victim had work authorization in the United States and was issued a Social Security number, that according to the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition.

"We are grieving, we are furious, and we will not allow his death to be treated as routine or inevitable," the organization said in a statement.

[02:10:03]

REP. CHELLIE PINGRESS (D-ME): No one should be shot by ICE under circumstances like this. We have also heard that the individual's family was nearby and that a young child was there. A lethal killing is never justified, in my opinion, in a case like this, but we don't know exactly what went on, we don't know if the individual had a weapon, none of those things have been made clear to us, we've asked for a thorough investigation. CARROLL (voice-over): According to the Maine Attorney General, the man was attempting to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer before he was shot.

This comes just days after another fatal case in Houston, where officials say an ICE agent shot and killed a 52-year-old Mexican national. Both shootings have sparked protests and calls for accountability across the country, with many questioning ICE's tactics during traffic stops.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A federal judge has handed a stinging rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump. It comes in the lawsuit he brought, then settled against the IRS, which he oversees. It led to an attempt to establish a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and immunity for the president and his businesses for any past tax issues. The judge calls the lawsuit an attempt to manipulate the judicial process and says the president acted in bad faith. Quoting her now, "This action was never about a party seeking judicial resolution of a legal issue or a factual dispute. There was never a case or controversy, and there was never a question as to who would prevail."

The judge has ordered sanctions for the attorneys involved, and she wants disciplinary boards to consider her opinion in ethics complaints against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

U.S. senators pay tribute to their late colleague Lindsey Graham two days after he died suddenly, from what a medical examiner's preliminary finding shows was an aortic dissection.

On Monday, Graham's desk on the Senate floor was covered by a black cloth with a vase of white roses placed on top in his memory. Senate Majority Leader John Thune described Graham this way:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): There wasn't anybody who was a more colorful character, more passionate about the work that he was involved with, but always brought a an energy and a sense of enthusiasm that was contagious to anybody that was around him.

It's a huge loss for institutionally for the Senate, but it's a huge loss for those of us who knew him well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: South Carolina's governor has now appointed Graham's sister to serve out the rest of his Senate term. She said her brother had always been there for her, and now she will be there for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARLINE GRAHAM NORDONE, SISTER OF THE LATE SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: As Europe faces its third heat wave since May, wildfires are breaking out across the continent, including one burning through an historic forest near Paris. We'll have details just ahead.

Plus, tensions are rising in the West Bank. How some Israeli settlers are threatening Americans traveling in the region. That and more after the break.

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[02:17:56]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, European countries recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record-breaking heatwave in late June. The data comes as Western Europe bakes under its third heatwave since May. People aged 65 and older accounted for over 90 percent of the fatalities. That's according to EuroMOMO, a European death monitoring network.

The figures include deaths from all causes, not just those related to the heat. The increase was recorded during the last week of June, when temperatures shattered all-time highs in several countries, including France and Germany.

Well, Europe's heat is fueling wildfires across the continent. U.K. emergency officials have declared a major incident after a wildfire broke out in northern Wales. Video shows smoke rising along the hills as nearby residents are evacuated. High temperatures and dry vegetation have created ideal conditions for fires to ignite and spread.

Scientists say climate change is making extreme heat and wildfire conditions more frequent and difficult to contain.

Well, French firefighters are also battling a wildfire raging through an historic forest south of Paris. It's one of several wildfires to ignite as Western Europe bakes under its third heat wave since May. Crews have been scooping water from the River Seine to help battle the flames. The fire has forced many residents from their homes, and police say they are investigating whether it was deliberately set. CNN's Melissa Bell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've come as really as close as we can to give you a little perspective. Those are not clouds that you see behind me. That is the fire coming from that fire still not fixed, say authorities. So, they still haven't managed to contain it.

And what we understand as authorities have spoken about what has been happening here since last night, we're about 60 kilometers to the southeast of Paris. This is most unusual to see wildfires this far north.

[02:20:05]

What we understand is that this fire started last night. There were two different fires that started on either side of this main motorway, the A6, that leads south out of Paris right by Orly Airport. Those two fires have now, say authorities, become one. And it is raging out of control. As you say, 800 hectares already burned. It's about a fifth of the forest of Fontainebleau, this very ancient forest here to the southeast of Paris.

And just behind me, near where that fire is currently raging, of course, the famous Chateau de Fontainebleau, the royal residence here in France and one of the most famous royal residences there are. So still not contained.

And what we're hearing is that this nearly 1,000-hectare fire now is likely to continue being pushed on by the kind of winds that we've been seeing.

But it is also very dry conditions. We're now in the middle of our third heat wave in just a month and a half. Already across France, it is 32,000 hectares that have burned. That is more than the entire season of wildfires of heat of 2025. And it gives you an idea of just how dry the earth is and just how hot the air is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, meantime, Bastille Day celebrations are underway in France. Fireworks lit up the Paris skyline as crowds gathered around the Eiffel Tower to mark the country's biggest national holiday. And there's more to come, in just a few hours, President Emmanuel Macron will preside over France's annual Bastille Day military parade. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are expected to attend.

Ahead of the events, Macron told allies on Monday that France and Europe have come a long way in strengthening their defense capabilities.

President Trump has reinstated the naval blockade on Iran. Just ahead, I will speak with a former U.S. Defense Department adviser about the tensions over the Strait of Hormuz. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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[02:26:55]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. forces have wrapped up the third consecutive night of strikes against Iran.

Central Command says the five-hour mission hit Iranian military targets. CENTCOM has revealed that for the first time ever, U.S. forces used sea drones in combat operations the day prior. Now, we are seeing the aftermath of the latest wave of Iranian strikes in the region. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims it destroyed several assets, including a U.S. forces building at a Bahrain airbase.

Jordanian state media reports the military intercepted four Iranian missiles early this morning.

Joining me now from London, Jasmine el-Gamal is the founder and CEO of Averos Strategies and former Middle East advisor at the U.S. Defense Department. Appreciate you being with us.

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FOUNDER AND CEO, AVEROS STRATEGIES: My pleasure.

CHURCH: So, President Trump notified Congress Monday that the U.S. is back at war with Iran, and now he's vowing to take control of the Strait of Hormuz by imposing a 20 percent protection toll on all marine traffic. This, despite his own Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying last month that charging tolls would be unworkable.

So, what is going on here, and will the U.S. become the guardian of the Strait, as he calls it?

EL-GAMAL: That's right. I mean, essentially, it looks like we're back where we were, you know, a couple of months ago, back in April when this first started, and there were all of these tit for tat attacks between the U.S. and Iran, and the Gulf countries were being pulled into it because of Iranian attacks, both on U.S. assets and bases in the region, and later when Iran escalated on civilian and energy infrastructure.

Right now, they're back. The Iranians are back to hitting military- related targets in those countries.

And President Trump, as you just said, went back to Congress and said the war has restarted, which, Rosemary, essentially gives him a new 60-day clock where he can conduct operations without having to seek congressional authorization.

So, instead of having a 60-day truce period where negotiations are happening and hopefully progress is made between Iran and the U.S. It seems like we're now back to a very different 60-day period where the president has that freedom to operate without congressional, you know, pressure essentially.

Regarding the toll fee, I mean, this is -- it's setting up a very dangerous precedent around the world when countries can impose tolls at will on ships passing through Straits adjacent to their territories. The Iranians wanted to charge a toll, essentially coming to one percent of the ship's cargo price or value, and now President Trump is talking about 20 percent.

It's unclear how the U.S. can really be the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz, as the president said. The amount of resources that would go into that, plus the U.S. would really be inserting itself in the region in a way that it hasn't in a long time. And I don't think that's going to sit well with Congress or the American public, Rosemary, especially coming -- as the midterm elections are around the corner. CHURCH: And Jasmine, with the U.S. now back at war with Iran and just completing a third wave of these tit-for-tat strikes on the country, where does this leave diplomatic efforts to end the war? Is there a risk of this becoming a forever war as some fear?

EL-GAMAL: Well, it certainly doesn't look good. But you know, I'll just mention a couple of things. One is that it still remains a fact that neither the U.S. nor Iran can really afford a months-long extended full-scale war. So at best, this becomes a sort of low-level conflict. But that still, even at a low level, affects shipping lanes and affects global markets and, of course, affects the safety and security of both people and governments in that region, which will have a horrible ripple effect around the region.

So I don't think that that's necessarily where the parties want to go, although they each still believe that they have the upper hand and can force the other to concede. Again, very similar language that we're using from back in April.

The best bet here, Rosemary, that I see is for the mediators to really convince both parties to ratchet down the pressure and for the parties to use the mediators as a way to save face and say, look, the Pakistanis have convinced us, we're going to listen to our friends, the Pakistanis, our friends, the Qataris, and we're going to go back to talks again.

CHURCH: Right. And Jasmine, on Monday, President Trump said the memorandum of understanding with Iran was a test and didn't mean much. So what message does that send to Tehran, the region, and of course, the world?

EL-GAMAL: Well, look, President Trump tends to be very emotionally charged when he's making statements, especially when he is angry. So you'll remember that just a few weeks ago, when things were going well, right after the MOU was signed, he was talking about how this Iranian government is a government that he can deal with, that they're very reasonable people. So I would take what he says with a grain of salt.

However, big picture wise, it does just further tarnish the U.S. reputation as a reliable negotiating partner and a trustworthy negotiating partner. I mean, the history here is that the U.S. struck Iran twice in two years during negotiations. And now that the president is saying essentially that the MOU doesn't mean anything, why would Iran trust Trump to renegotiate any further? So that really damages the U.S. reputation.

And I hope that he walks that back or, like I said, leans on the mediators in a face-saving way in order to get back to proper negotiations.

CHURCH: Jasmine el-Gamal, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your perspective and analysis. Appreciate it.

EL-GAMAL: My pleasure. CHURCH: Thank you. Well, U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna is back in the U.S. after a harrowing trip to the West Bank last week. Khanna says he and other Americans were blockaded by armed Israeli settlers for more than an hour. He also claims that when IDF soldiers arrived at the scene, they sided with the settlers.

Khanna says his team was ultimately freed only after the U.S. Embassy contacted a high-ranking Israeli official. The IDF has denied that its personnel participated in the blockade. This isn't the only such incident in the West Bank. As CNN's Jeremy Diamond shows us, a CNN crew and the father of a Palestinian-American killed by settlers last year were also confronted this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kamel Musallet hasn't been able to reach this land in over a year. This is the hillside where his son, Saif, an American citizen, was killed.

DIAMOND: Looks like it's down here. You want to walk?

KAMEL MUSALLET, FATHER OF PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN KILLED BY SETTLERS: Yeah.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Beaten to death by Israeli settlers exactly one year ago. Since then, settlers have illegally occupied the area, preventing this father from getting the closure he so desperately seeks.

MUSALLET: We have to keep an eye because, usually, they'll come down that way.

DIAMOND (voice-over): We've come here in an armored vehicle wearing bulletproof vests because of how violent these settlers have been. But we've made it.

DIAMOND: What does it feel like to finally be here after a year?

MUSALLET: It's just like I'm -- to be honest with you, I'm imagining, like, well, just imagining him, you know, like, so it's just -- it's just a thought log going on in my head right now, like, just what he went through at that moment.

[02:35:00]

DIAMOND: I'll let you take a moment, Kamel.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But this solemn, sacred moment won't last. Within seconds, we spot a car speeding towards us. We start to leave, but as we drive away, we see that four settlers have set up a roadblock. Armed with clubs and rocks, they try and block our way, first with their bodies. And then -- and now it looks like he's trying to slash our tires. He's trying to slash our tires.

MUSALLET: Oh, he's got a knife. He's going for the tires. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

DIAMOND (voice-over): A group of independent journalists and activists are in the car behind us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move! Move, bitch! But their vehicle isn't armored. Move, move!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go! Watch out, watch out.

MUSALLET: Without an armored car, without a bulletproof vest, how do I get to my land? The Israeli army should, right now, should be here and kicking them out. It's illegal for them to be there. It's frustrating. You're so angry, and you can't do nothing about it. It just kills you from inside.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But the settlers aren't done. More arrive, blocking another road before chasing us and attacking us again.

DIAMOND: Now, they're trying to stop our car again. They're hitting us.

DIAMOND (voice-over): We finally make it back to safety, where I get on the phone with the Israeli military, which is responsible for security in this area. But settlers have also called the military, and these soldiers are only interested in harassing us, refusing to take action against the settlers.

Minutes later, the commander of a different battalion arrives and sends his soldiers after the settlers, detaining them until the police arrive. The Israel police said they arrested four suspects and seized clubs and a knife. They vowed to, quote, "Bring them to justice accordingly."

A full year later, Kamel Musallet is still waiting for his son's killers to be brought to justice.

MUSALLET: No one's been arrested, no accountability.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Saif was just two weeks shy of his 21st birthday when he was killed. A Florida native, he had been visiting his family in the West Bank. At the time, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee condemned Musallet's killing as a criminal and terrorist act, and vowed to pressure Israel to bring his killers to justice.

DIAMOND: I reached out to the U.S. Embassy, I sent them a list of questions, and this is the response they gave me. They said, the Trump administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further information to provide at this time.

MUSALLET: I just feel if that was true, you know, they would do something about it. You know, at least an open investigation. You know, that's the least that they could do. If it was anywhere else in the world, an American citizen was killed by a mob of extremists, of terrorists, what kind of outrage would there be? You know, how disappointed would Sayfollah be right now that, you know, his U.S. passport did nothing for him?

DIAMOND (voice-over): Saif believed in that blue passport.

SAYFOLLAH MUSALLET, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN KILLED BY SETTLERS: Blue is blue. Not because he's a Palestinian-American, he's just American.

(LAUGH)

DIAMOND (voice-over): But his family is still waiting for it to mean something, anything, in their pursuit of justice.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Sinjil, the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: No casualties have been reported after Russia fired missiles at Kyiv. The attack took place just hours after Ukraine and a group of European nations announced an air defense coalition. It would include plans to build shared ballistic missile defense capabilities.

Meantime, in the U.S., a White House official says President Trump will support the passage of a bipartisan Russia sanctions package spearheaded by the late Senator, Lindsey Graham. That package would clear the way for the president to impose tariffs on imports from nations that buy Russian oil and natural gas in an effort to further weaken Moscow amid the war with Ukraine.

Well, after the break, a look at the World Cup semifinals. We will have a preview of France versus Spain as the two heavyweights prepare to battle for a shot at football's biggest prize. Back with that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:44:20]

CHURCH: There they are, Norway's football team taking part in the now famous Viking row outside of the Royal Palace in Oslo with the Norwegian Crown Prince playing the drum. Tens of thousands of fans gave the team a hero's welcome after they were eliminated from the World Cup on Saturday by England. It was Norway's most successful World Cup to date as the men reached their first-ever quarterfinal. Well done.

Well, the World Cup semi-finals kick off Tuesday in Dallas with a showdown between two heavyweights.

[02:45:00]

Top-ranked France will put its star-studded offense to the test against a number three-ranked Spanish team that's allowed just one goal in the tournament so far. The winner will earn a spot in Sunday's final. Tamir Linhart is a former professional soccer player and president of Golden Boots Soccer. He joins us now from McLean in Virginia. A pleasure to have you with us.

TAMIR LINHART, FORMER PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYER: Same here, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Wonderful. So, the pressure is building with four teams remaining in the battle for football's biggest prize. France goes up against Spain in the coming hours. And defending champions, Argentina meet England on the pitch Wednesday.

What should we all be looking out for when France meets Spain on the pitch and which team do you expect to come out on top in that game?

LINHART: You know, it's an interesting game. It's a game between the, arguably, one of the best attacking lineup ever which is the French lineup with Dembele, Mbappe, Ollisse against a team that gave up only one goal throughout the whole tournament which is very unusual. And it's not -- they're not doing it so much from the defensive play by the fact that they keep the ball a lot. They possess the ball.

So it will be a clash between team Spain that try to slow down the game and keep the ball with them against France that will try to quickly win the ball and transition into attack quicker with this offensive lineup that they have.

CHURCH: So do you have a sense --

(CROSSTALK)

LINHART: For the second game --

CHURCH: do you have a sense of which team will come out on top there?

LINHART: I will be surprised if France will not go to the finals.

CHURCH: Wow.

LINHART: They're just -- their offensive lineup is just too strong.

CHURCH: OK. And so, what about Wednesday's game then, when defending champions Argentina meet the Three Lions of England on the pitch here in Atlanta? How do you expect that critical game to play out?

LINHART: That's another interesting clash between two different styles of play. Argentina is a very compact midfield, aggressive midfield that wins the ball and try cleverly to find Messi in offensive position against England that is more versatile.

They try to open up the game and using the wings. The key here for them is to find players other than Messi to score or other than Bellingham and Harry Kane to score, and that will be the key to their success. I will have to go with Argentina for this one --

(LAUGH) LINHART: And it's just one word, Messi.

CHURCH: Right. Oh, yeah.

LINHART: He will make the difference there.

(LAUGH)

CHURCH: He is the team, isn't he? So then, you're thinking --

LINHART: Yeah.

CHURCH: -- that Argentina and France will end up doing it.

LINHART: Yeah.

CHURCH: Who do you think will come out on top then for this 2026 World Cup? Who will win it?

LINHART: I think it will be tough to any of these four -- of the three teams to beat France. They're just too strong. The offensive line has -- they have so many options up front with so much speed and talent. I can't see France not winning the Cup this time.

CHURCH: Interesting. And Tamir, what have been the biggest surprises of this World Cup so far as far as you're concerned and how has this tournament been different perhaps to others that came before it?

LINHART: You know, Rosemary, what surprised me is how well the African teams did. Nine out of ten made it to the knockout stage which is unusual and it's interesting because, in those countries, from a young age, they stress free play and informal play. And it was great to see how they combine it with the traditional structural training and it came into play with the senior team.

You can see a strong athletic team and technical team but, at the same time, very creative and free spirited. And me, coming from the youth coaching world, it just shows us how important it is from a young age to incorporate informal play with traditional training systems.

CHURCH: And were you surprised by a lot of the upsets during the World Cup so far?

LINHART: You know, yes and no, because we had teams like, you know, Cape Verde. I mean, what about them? They captured the imaginations of all of us. But at the same time, the top four teams in the world are the ones who made the semi-finals. So there was some upsets but at the end of the day, the top four went all the way.

CHURCH: Right. And I did want to ask you this because FIFA is looking to expand future tournaments to 64 teams. What do you say to that plan? What do you think? I mean, they're saying they want to do this --

LINHART: Yeah.

CHURCH: -- to be fair, to be more inclusive in the world.

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LINHART: I'm not for it for a couple reasons. First of all, if you go to 64, it is going to affect the level of play. Also, the number of games will be so high that it will be tough for the top players because they play so many games during the year.

And if you add more, they'll be more prone to injuries. And you know, Rosemary, for me, I still value the World Cup and would like to see teams strive to get there and not to let too many players in. That will be something special to make the World Cup.

CHURCH: Right.

LINHART: So I'd rather keep it at 48.

CHURCH: OK, we'll see what happens there, of course. Tamir Linhart, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

LINHART: Of course. You're welcome, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And still to come, Japan is running out of royals. But rather than allow a woman in the royal bloodline to ascend to the throne, lawmakers have another idea. We'll have that after the break.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, Japan is running dangerously low on male heirs who could one day take the throne and become emperor. Even though Japan has had eight empresses throughout its history, some people are opposed to the idea in modern times. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more.

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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Japan is facing a royal crisis. With just three men left in line to the throne, one 19, 60 and 90, it's running out of eligible heirs.

MONTGOMERY: And one proposed solution is to adopt members of former royal branches. But here's the catch. They have to be all men.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): This bill submitted to parliament gives Japan more choices for future emperors and helps preserve an unbroken male bloodline, a tradition that hasn't changed in over 2,000 years. But some argue there's an easier solution. Just let a woman rule.

KANA SAKAKURA, TOKYO RESIDENT (through translator): When it comes to the qualities required to bear the responsibilities of being the emperor, there is no difference between men and women.

AKIO KUBOTA, TOKYO RESIDENT (through translator): We have gender equality and things like that. So I guess it just feels a bit strange that only the role of the emperor would be strictly passed down through men. MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Before being banned in the 19th century, women have ruled Japan in 10 out of 126 reigns. But their reigns often awaited a male heir to reach adulthood and succession only passes from father to son.

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And in deeply patriarchal Japan, changing that tradition is politically unthinkable, including for the country's first woman prime minister.

SANAE TAKAICHI, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): It is considered appropriate to limit eligibility to male descendants of the imperial lineage.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Tsuneyasu Takeda is a descendant of the royal family. Now a commoner, he's a vocal advocate for preserving this male-only lineage.

MONTGOMERY: Some people say that it would just be easier to allow women to become emperors. Why isn't that a possibility?

TSUNEYASU TAKEDA, ROYAL FAMILY DESCENDANT (through translator): Since the potential to maintain the patrilineal line still exists, that is what we are focusing on right now. If that fails, then discussions about changing a 2,000-year-old tradition are perfectly acceptable.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Under the proposed law, Takeda himself can't become emperor because he's already married, but his grandson could, a future he doesn't envy.

TAKEDA (through translator): You lose the right to vote and you cannot run for public office. Thus, the freedoms ordinary citizens enjoy on a daily basis are significantly curtailed.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Heavy is the head that wears the crown, a burden that, for now, remains one reserved for men.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A count of the royal swan population is underway in Britain. The 800-year-old tradition is called swan upping, and it involves tallying all the swans on stretches of the River Thames. The Sovereign's Swan Marker and his team take the census of all the swans that King Charles owns. It was once about preparing for hunting season. Now it's focused on education and conservation.

Finally this hour, they say love is blind and that is definitely the case when you're blindfolded. A Buddhist matchmaking retreat was held in South Korea over the weekend. Young single men and women walked hand in hand while blindfolded at a centuries-old temple. The Korean Buddhist Foundation for Social Welfare ran the two-day event with the goal of helping to tackle South Korea's low birth rate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM DO-YEON, MATCHMAKING PARTICIPANT (through translator): My impression is that getting to know people in a temple is a completely new experience for me, which feels really fresh, and I think it allows me to get to know someone more seriously. Also, I came up the hill blindfolded here with a female participant, and in that sense, too, the fact that there are activities different from typical blind date settings felt refreshing to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And thanks so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Lynda Kinkade, after a short break. Stay with us.

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