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Dan Courtemanche is Interviewed about the World Cup; Wild Claims from GOP Frontrunner; Mace Loses GOP Primary. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 10, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: I'm going to listen to you because I believe that this market is the future. I understand that. But I think people, rightly, have questions.

There are a ton of people who are pushing back on A.I. right now. You've got some local municipalities super upset about data centers coming near them. Yesterday we played Brad Paisley in Nashville, upset there might be a data center next to the zoo.

Here at CNN I want to disclose, we're currently suing Perplexity, alleging that the company is unlawfully copying and sharing CNN content in its summaries. I've also heard of people complaining about the summaries as well.

How does that figure in to how investors look at this industry, which is facing massive blowback?

MADISON MILLS, SENIOR A.I. REPORTER, "AXIOS": Yes, this A.I. hate wave that we're seeing could be a real problem for these A.I. companies because they need something called compute that's like the currency, the energy fueling the A.I. race. If the A.I. labs can't get their data centers, then they can't get the compute that they need to service your queries.

CORNISH: Yes.

MILLS: So, it could be a big problem. And we're seeing this data center pushback really hitting a fever pitch.

CORNISH: Yes, because some of them are going -- are supposed to be coming up with their own way to power -- to sort of self-power the data centers.

MILLS: Yes.

CORNISH: But, like, people don't want them. And I was thinking, when I look at how people talk about A.I., for instance, we played the president earlier and he said, "we're talking about it where the American people can benefit from the success of A.I. They're going to like it better because we're leading China, we're leading everyone in the world. We want to keep it that way." And I felt like, if you took away the word A.I. and put

"globalization," we've heard this before. And I wonder if that is contributing to what you call the hate wave.

MILLS: Yes.

CORNISH: People feeling like, I'm being told something's going to make my life better. And my experience in the past is that that isn't -- doesn't play out the way politicians say it will.

MILLS: I mean, I would push back on that too because the overwhelming research shows that people are not happy about A.I. There's this YouGov poll people cite all the time that showed very clear bipartisan support against A.I. across the aisle.

CORNISH: Yes.

MILLS: And we're seeing that play out with the data center pushback that you had mentioned.

I also do think part of the challenge is that these models are getting better so much faster than anything we've seen.

CORNISH: Yes. Anthropic releasing a safer work mythos.

MILLS: Yes.

CORNISH: Which is still scary.

MILLS: Yes.

CORNISH: After saying that they were so worried about it they only brought it to the government and certain companies.

MILLS: Exactly. And because of that, I think that people haven't necessarily seen a lot of the benefits of A.I. because it's getting better so much faster. And so people are, you know, hearing about a data center in their backyard, they're hearing A.I. CEOs say that it could replace their jobs. And, by the way, you haven't really felt the positive use cases of it yet because it's getting more technical more quickly. So, I think that creates kind of a challenging soup for people. Yes.

CORNISH: Yes. We'll see what happens when people are ringing that bell on Wall Street.

Madison Mills, thank you so much for being here. Always love to have you.

And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the World Cup kicks off tomorrow. But with sky high ticket prices, problems with immigration, is this going to be the World Cup of chaos?

Plus, Nancy Mace broke with President Trump over the Epstein files. Is that what costs her a shot at the governor's mansion in South Carolina, or was it something else? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:37:40]

CORNISH: So, the World Cup kicks off tomorrow. I know, I said it. It kicks off across North America. But are the off the field headlines threatening to overshadow the biggest tournament in the world?

So, there was a Somali referee turned away by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in Miami when he arrived for his World Cup assignment. And he received a hero's welcome when he returned to Somalia. The Trump administration tells CNN that vetting uncovered derogatory information. They did not go into further detail.

Now, the ref told "The New York Times," quote, "I'm just simply a referee who's trying to live his dream."

Fans from Scotland said their permits were withdrawn at the final moment. Teams from Senegal, Uzbekistan were treated, quote, "like criminals," according to critics. And a player from Iraq was questioned for seven hours upon arrival in Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IAN WRIGHT, FORMER TEAM ENGLAND FOOTBALL STAR: Every few hours it's another story. Another story about fans denied, players denied, officials denied, journalists denied. Now refs. You know something? I'm laughing, but it's not funny. It's actually not funny. Something has to be said. It's expensive tickets. Most expensive tickets ever. Know what? This is the World Cup. This is a World Cup of chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining us in the group chat, Dan Courtemanche. He's the executive vice president and chief communications officer for Major League Soccer.

Did I say your name right? I don't want your mom being mad at me.

DAN COURTEMANCHE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER: You did. Thank you.

It's terrific to be here. Really appreciate it.

CORNISH: So, I wanted to talk to you about this for a couple of reasons. One, your team sent over some information here, and I was noting that there is a record number of MLS players, 45, who represent countries in this, right?

COURTEMANCHE: That is correct.

CORNISH: And that you've also got -- done a lot of work through your academies to be a place to recruit people who will want to play here. Does this -- these headlines, do they kind of undermine that message that MLS has been so good, frankly, at cultivating over the last decade? COURTEMANCHE: Yes, I think what we're going to see is some of those

headlines tomorrow when the World Cup opens in Mexico City, then certainly in North America and Canada and the United States on Friday. It's going to shift from some of those headlines, the World Cup of chaos, to celebration, to pageantry, to a party.

CORNISH: But I'm saying, for the players, is this irritating, scary, frustrating? The whole point is international cooperation.

[06:40:01]

COURTEMANCHE: Yes.

CORNISH: It's not feeling welcoming.

COURTEMANCHE: So, I hear you. You know, ultimately, that's a question for the players. It's not something that we've seen. And in Major League Soccer, we have players from 78 different countries. And we've been around for 31 seasons. And we haven't experienced that, challenges with visa issues or anything.

But I understand where you're coming from. We want to be welcoming to all the players. We want to see them have a wonderful time here in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

CORNISH: And a lot of your incoming star players, over the last couple of years, coming to the U.S., they're coming from abroad. It's finally a place people are starting to come to and want to play, right?

COURTEMANCHE: Most definitely. The greatest of all time. Lionel Messi, by the way, scored last night in Auburn, Alabama, in a friendly against Iceland. You'll see him on Tuesday in Kansas City against Algeria. I hope he scores a lot of goals because then you can watch him playing for Inter Miami each and every weekend in Major League Soccer.

CORNISH: Now, what I loved about that person who spoke at the end of our introduction is he goes, oh, I laugh because, you know, it's sort of -- sort of sad. And then he tied all of that to ticket prices. And I thought that was really fascinating, that people are also looking at this in the context of the cost of the ticket. The average get in price for a World Cup match right now, roughly $600 for the opening round of the tournament. And people are complaining about FIFA's pricing scheme. And right now, if I want, I can still get a ticket to USA Paraguay. It's not sold out, and it should be.

COURTEMANCHE: Yes, I can tell you, I'm going to be there for the U.S.- Paraguay game. I certainly anticipate it's going to be sold out.

I got to tell you, there's unprecedented demand for the World Cup.

CORNISH: Then why isn't it sold out?

COURTEMANCHE: Much like you'll see from my Knicks tonight, where the get-in price is about $15,000 for lower level seating. Now, that said, I think you're going to see the pageantry, the celebration throughout the World Cup. But I understand where people are coming from.

Also, you have to remind people that FIFA is actually a non-profit. So, all that money goes back to the 211 FIFA nations to build the sport, especially in some underdeveloped countries.

CORNISH: OK, I'm glad you brought that up because we did have a California lawmaker, Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove. She was on the show Friday. She said something I didn't expect to hear related to ticket prices and what her concerns were.

Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE (D-CA): The issue is dynamic pricing. The other issue is, you buy a ticket, you don't know where that seat is going to be. You're spending over $1,000. And finally you got the -- you get the seat and you're behind a post and you can't see anything. We want to know why ticket prices are changing so dramatically from city to city. I want to know why cities aren't getting any financial support from the World Cup to actually put on the games, because World Cup is getting everything, concessions, merchandise, parking, tickets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: That was just a long list. Can you answer any of it?

COURTEMANCHE: Well, I can tell you, look, we're fortunate, five of the stadiums out of the 13 markets in the United States and Canada are Major League Soccer stadiums. And I can tell you that nobody will be sitting behind posts during the World Cup games in those MLS stadiums.

So, look, she brings up some valid points. She's clearly an expert on it. But we think it's going to pivot again from some of the challenges that we've seen in the media to the celebration. And ultimately goals scored by hopefully the United States national team and they make a deep run in the tournament.

CORNISH: Yes. I think, fundamentally, nobody is arguing that it won't be good. They'll be arguing about whether or not they got to participate.

COURTEMANCHE: Yes. You know, and I -- you know, it's also a good reminder that FIFA actually had $60 tickets available for those passionate supporters who registered early. So, they had some affordable prices. But I certainly understand you.

And for us, you also have to look at, there'll be nearly 80 fan festivals throughout the different markets. Twenty of our MLS clubs are going to have soccer celebrations. So, you're providing free accessibility to fans who may not be able to go to the games.

CORNISH: OK. Well, thank you, Dan, so much for being here. Good luck. I know this is your Super Bowl. That's what we say here in the U.S. instead of soccer.

COURTEMANCHE: Hey, I'm a big -- I'm a University of Georgia graduate. I love gridiron football. Come on.

CORNISH: Oh, OK. OK. All right.

Well, thank you for being here. Appreciate your time.

COURTEMANCHE: Really appreciate it.

CORNISH: Next on CNN THIS MORNING, Congresswoman Nancy Mace gets crushed in the South Carolina governor's race. Did going against Trump cost her the election?

But first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're elected governor, would you continue to perform exorcisms while governor?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Yes, controversial candidate leading in the polls in Colorado. Will the strange headlines sway voters?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:32]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE CLARK, 9NEWS ANCHOR IN COLORADO: Your campaign website falsely claimed that you had rescued more than 45,000 women and children.

You once called in a U.S. military airstrike that killed 70 ISIS fighters.

You perform exorcisms, commanding demons to come out of people.

Do you understand why so many of your critics think you're a con man?

VICTOR MARX (R), COLORADO CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, that was a wild ride. And it didn't stop there. That reporter in Colorado was interviewing a Republican frontrunner for governor, Victor Marx. He's a Marine Corps veteran. He runs a faith- based nonprofit. But he's made a lot of outlandish claims. And it does not end with exorcisms and rescuing women and children from slavery. He also says he killed a man when he was a child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE CLARK, 9NEWS ANCHOR IN COLORADO: Your claim that your abusive stepfather forced you to kill a man when you were seven years old, is that the only person you've ever killed? VICTOR MARX (R), COLORADO CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR: Well, I would say,

as a -- as a child, yes. But I've been in other situations where, you know, possibly people or persons died.

CLARK: Do you think that you've killed people as an adult?

MARX: Does it matter?

CLARK: Yes, I'd say so.

MARX: Why?

CLARK: Killing somebody is a pretty weighty thing.

[06:50:00]

So, I'm just asking you, how many people have you killed?

MARX: Well, if I did, I wouldn't be telling a reporter sitting here in my training center.

CLARK: How about voters? Would you tell voters?

MARX: Theres no need. I don't think that's important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK. Group chat is back.

I wanted to talk about this because we started the hour talking about Maine, right, and Graham Platner and being like, voters, what are they thinking? You know, like, what's happening? What will these scandals matter?

And then I was seeing a lot more stories about what's happening in Colorado. Just to give you a sense of where things are. In this Republican primary right now, the fundraising, Victor Marx is at $2.7 million. The next closest person is at around $500,000, who is a state senator.

I know you're just kind of clocking into this, Jarrett, but help me understand why he's so far ahead in the money. That means people are the donors. The people with pockets are giving to him.

JARRETT STEPMAN, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY SIGNAL": Yes. In fairness, that may shift a bit after this moment, seeing him not as credible candidate.

CORNISH: Well, that's a shift by about a million bucks. Yes.

STEPMAN: It would -- it would have to be quite a bit.

CORNISH: Yes.

STEPMAN: And, frankly, it -- Colorado, look, they haven't elected a Republican governor in that state since -- CORNISH: Since 2022.

STEPMAN: 2002, actually.

CORNISH: Oh, 2002. Yes.

STEPMAN: So, it's been a long time. I think you sometimes see this in states that have gone one way for a long time. You get sometimes candidates who are not particularly credible. There's a sort of a desperation saying, this guy seems like an outsider. He's, said, look, we saw this in Maine, somebody who's an outsider, in that case actually had a huge amount of success against a political establishment.

CORNISH: Can I tell you how far outside --

STEPMAN: He's a big outside.

CORNISH: Just how far outside.

MIKE LEON, HOST, "CAN WE PLEASE TALK" PODCAST: He's way outside.

STEPMAN: A bit outside is probably --

(CROSS TALK)

CORNISH: I'm going to -- I needed to be, like, what's happening with this exorcism bit? Is this an internet joke? Is this people sort of, you know, I don't know what I thought. But here's what I saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR MARX (R), COLORADO CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR: When you say I perform exorcisms.

KYLE CLARK, 9NEWS ANCHOR IN COLORADO: Yes. You described yourself as a, quote/unquote, reluctant exorcist.

MARX: Right.

CLARK: Yes. Describe to me how your exorcisms work when you command demons out.

MARX: Well, that's a joke.

We identify the demon, like Jesus did. We asked what their name is. And then we give them commands. And they very frequently and typically will answer through the person's mind. They'll tell us what they hear. And then we destroy them, banish them to perfect judgment from Christ.

CLARK: If you're elected governor, would you continue to perform exorcisms while governor?

MARX: I would never stop praying for people.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: Help. Help.

LEON: So, Audie, remember when we were talking about candidate quality earlier in the first segment. Shout out to Kyle Clark, the reporter there, for 9News in Denver. I love watching you on social media. He's done a lot on this one.

CORNISH: He's actually become a bit of a social media star precisely for this coverage.

LEON: He has. Precisely for this and the pushback. He's asked different questions of different candidates to give them factual examples. And the fact that he did this, I think it truly exposes a candidate. The fact that he has 2.7, like you said, million dollars in campaign donations. It should be alarming for all of us given this guy's track record and his history and what he just said in that interview there. We're all trying to make sense of exorcisms. And this morning about a candidate, I mean, come on.

(CROSS TALK)

CORNISH: Yes. But, you know what, I think I also thought, like, OK, Marines, if he's a guy talking about the war, maybe people are interested in that. If he's a guy talking about Epstein, which he is, somebody who is constantly talking about child trafficking, there are lanes within the MAGA movement that are laser focused on this topic.

MAX ROSE, SENIOR ADVISER, VOTEVETS: Yes. Yes, I'll say this as a partizan Democrat to my Republican friends and colleagues, that's your guy. That's your nominee. They should vote for him. They should rally for him.

CORNISH: I think this is sarcasm. I think under his name it should say Max Rose being sarcastic.

ROSE: They should -- we should (INAUDIBLE). This is their pathway to finally take back Colorado.

(CROSS TALK)

ROSE: Us Democrats are so afraid of this guy. And, you know, I --

LEON: Republicans just learned about him.

ROSE: Oh, my God. We're --

CORNISH: Listen. No, OK, what you're saying, I can see you amused, but, however, here's Lauren Boebert of Colorado giving her word on why she thinks this is a decent path.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): So, I think right now in Colorado we need a motivator who can then lead. Motivation has to be key in any of our Republican races, especially in a non-election year. I believe that Victor Marx will get qualified people in positions. I stand ready to help him.

I am not disparaging any of the other candidates. I have endorsed Victor Marx, but that's not something that I've turned the volume way up on. I want candidates to be able to professionally run their own race. I do not like the hateful back and forth that I see with Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Today is a day of ringing endorsements, but --

LEON: I said it, don't (ph) turn up the volume.

CORNISH: No, no, this is the -- we talked about this during the break. The imperfect messenger argument. We heard this with Trump, right?

STEPMAN: Yes.

CORNISH: You're an evangelical. Maybe you're like, I don't know about the marriages, I don't know about this, I don't know about that. But maybe he will put in people that will do the thing we want.

[06:55:05]

STEPMAN: It's the outsider again. Look, I mean, in Maine, you had a guy who has a Nazi tattoo fighting the fascists. Was that a credible campaign? Maybe it wasn't.

CORNISH: Maybe he needed an exorcist.

STEPMAN: Maybe. Maybe he --

CORNISH: And maybe he should call Colorado.

STEPMAN: But again, that's also an outsider candidate that people see as different from the establishment as it is in the state. If they think things are going the wrong way, even a charismatic, let's call it, candidate like this can punch through.

Yes, the other side may say, hey, we want that guy. We want to face him. But sometimes you get what you wish for and it turns up backfiring.

CORNISH: Yes, that does backfire.

I have one more thing about being an outsider. This one is about a member of Congress who had hoped to go into a new office in the next year. They're coming up short. Last night Republican Nancy Mace finished fifth in the GOP primary for South Carolina governor. She did not get the president's endorsement in the race. She believes it was because of her vote to release the Epstein files, which may have eventually led to her defeat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): I chose to expose the abusers of children, and apparently I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election. I'm at peace with that because when a candidate is OK with corruption, when a candidate is OK with cover ups, something is broken. And that's not political opinion, that is a moral emergency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

I'm going to just say it. There's been a lot of difficult headlines for Nancy Mace. Another person who is dealing with scandal and allegations. But at the same time, she is another person who talked about Epstein a lot, right? She's another person who got on the wrong side of Trump on certain issues. Is that reflected here, or is this really candidate quality?

LEON: I want to go back to something we talked about in Maine with Susan Collins, talking about the issues, and Platner as well, talking about issues to Mainers. I feel like South Carolinians didn't hear Nancy Mace talking about that. And more of those headlines and more of her getting a microphone in front of her --

CORNISH: Yes.

LEON: Or coming on this network and arguing with somebody and then saying something completely the opposite when she gets off camera, I think those things are what really caught up to her in this race.

CORNISH: I also heard she didn't do ad spend on TV.

ROSE: Right.

CORNISH: Like only digital. Is that wise?

ROSE: Well, I -- first of all, Donald Trump still has a stranglehold on the Republican primary. And that is why his party is getting ripped apart.

LEON: And didn't endorse her.

ROSE: Because the primary base is so extreme and they are so disassociated at this point from independents and moderates nationwide. But Nancy Mace took it one step further. She decided to antagonize, not just Donald Trump, but literally everyone in her life to include just random folks at the airport.

So, what you saw here was -- and politicians do this sometimes. They jump into races not to win, but to bolster their public profile for something they're after.

CORNISH: Yes. Well, this is the kind of thing that is in my group chat because every member of the YOLO caucus, the people who limp back to Congress from their primaries, they're really upset. And they plan to spend the next couple of months antagonizing the White House. Do you think Nancy Mace will be one of those?

STEPMAN: I think she's going to in her final months. I mean she's already burned all the bridges. She's -- I think the voters in her state didn't like the drama and they said, hey, we don't want that actually running the place.

CORNISH: Yes. That's a good point, you're not effective if you're at odds with everyone.

STEPMAN: You're not effective. And you're infective (ph). And she's going to continue this. Obviously, if she's done it up to this point, I don't think she's going to stop. But I -- she's already burned the bridges with President Trump, clearly. So, what have you got to lose now?

CORNISH: What have you got to lose?

OK, speaking of YOLO, we're going to talk about what's in our group chats on this news show.

Mike Leon, what are you talking about in your group chats?

LEON: Well, first off, it's always the Knicks. But I'm talking about UFC 250. One thing that is always interesting to me --

CORNISH: This is the UFC fight. The claws going up on the White House lawn.

LEON: The UFC Freedom 250. Unnecessary. All of this that you're seeing here in the screen here. But Trump has always used the combat sports space to talk to voters. It's something I've talked to Democrats about. Senator Ruben Gallego, who's a big boxing fan, him and I have had this conversation. Democrat --

CORNISH: And they're giving tickets to combat (INAUDIBLE).

LEON: Correct. And -- exactly. And Trump has always used it as a vehicle, for his relationship with Tyson and the fights that he would put on in Trump -- at Taj Mahal or whatever.

CORNISH: Yes.

LEON: He would always be in this space. He's always had these relationships because those are the kind of voters that go out and vote for him. That's the thing that we've always talked about.

CORNISH: All right, my friend at "The Daily Signal," what's in your group chat?

STEPMAN: So, I'm going to bring up the Knicks because it's a big thing. I moved here to New York --

CORNISH: Why do I even bother?

STEPMAN: I know. Why did you even bother.

LEON: Just change the segment.

STEPMAN: You know, it matters to me. I'm from Oakland, California. The saddest sports town in America. We've lost all of our sports teams. So, just the fact the Knicks -- look, I have a lot of New York sports fan friends who haven't seen the Knicks or the Jets, or these teams ever do anything pretty much in their life, and now they get to spend some time with their kids and enjoy this moment. It may not come again. So, you know what --

CORNISH: I love it. I love it. It's communal.

STEPMAN: It's communal. Its wonderful.

CORNISH: Yes.

Last word.

[07:00:00]

ROSE: You know it, not just the Knicks, Donald Trump lost that game for the Knicks.

LEON: Zero-11, 0-11 in sporting events.

ROSE: Stay away.

CORNISH: You're one of those people.

ROSE: Your whole cabinet.

CORNISH: Yes.

ROSE: Stay away. He lost it for us. We -- all we were doing is winning. This guy shows up.

CORNISH: Well, luckily, he's not going. So, all of New York is not calling him the cooler.

ROSE: Fine. I thought I couldn't dislike the guy more.

LEON: I agree.

(CROSS TALK)

CORNISH: You guys.

Thank you so much. Thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish, and the headlines are next.