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Erin Burnett Outfront
Woman Alleges Senate Candidate Graham Platner Raped Her, Which He Denies; Soon: Team USA Takes The Field As Trump Draws Global Outrage; Iran's New Supreme Leader Out Of Public Eye Amid Ayatollah's Funeral. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 06, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:07]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, the call's growing tonight for Graham Platner to drop out of the Maine Senate race after a woman who dated Platner tells CNN he raped her. Platner denies it, but says he is, quote, "taking time to reflect."
Also breaking this hour, the U.S. men's soccer team about to take the field after Trump's unprecedented intervention. The world outraged, accusing Trump of cheating. We have a special report on Trump's close friendship with the head of FIFA.
And where is Iran's new Supreme Leader? Our Fred Pleitgen making his way to the casket of the former supreme leader as the mystery deepens tonight about his son's whereabouts. We're in Tehran.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with the breaking news, a rising star in the Democratic Party rocked by serious sexual assault allegations of rape. It means Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner says he's now taking time to, quote, reflect on his path politically after he was accused of raping a woman, an accusation that goes back to an incident five years ago.
Jenny Racicot telling our Jake Tapper that Platner assaulted her during an encounter at her home. She says the two had begun seeing each other on and off after meeting on a dating app in 2019. And then one night, he showed up drunk at her home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNY RACICOT, GRAHAM PLATNER ACCUSER: He came in, and I realized, OK, he didn't listen. He's in my home. And I was laying on the couch. It was probably pretty late at night, and I was getting -- I was already ready for bed. I just wasn't in bed. And so he had kind of, like, jumped on top of me and indicated that he
had intentions that were sexual in nature. And I remember just at first being like, hey, I'm not into this. I'm not in the mood. Don't, whatever.
And it got to the point where I was like, OK, I feel like I've said this enough times. He's not listening to me, or he's not hearing me. And I looked at him, and I remember this very specific look in his eyes. And I could smell alcohol, and I was like, this is different. He is heavily intoxicated.
And that blank stare was kind of like a photographic memory that I still have of that night. And his -- that was me recognizing what the situation was. And this wasn't just like, oh, hey, somebody showed up, and I'm going to tell him to go home. He was heavily intoxicated, had intentions with me, and wasn't listening when I said no. And --
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And you were saying, no, don't, no, don't, over and over?
RACICOT: The house that I live in has like this antique sewing kit that I had kept beside the couch and that got knocked over. He like backed into it or something was maybe pushed into it by me or something happened in that moment and that thing got spilled.
TAPPER: Do you remember pushing him away?
RACICOT: I remember potentially pushing away with my legs, like -- and then, as he backed into it, it spilt. And all of the sewing needles and tape and yarn and everything went everywhere. Everything had fallen onto the floor. And in that moment, I evaluated my safety.
Like, a drunk person who's blackout drunk is in my home, has these intentions with me, you know, has already caused this amount of destruction and not listening to me. And so I basically felt safe as just complying.
TAPPER: You normally use protection.
RACICOT: Yeah.
TAPPER: And this time, he didn't, and you didn't want that.
RACICOT: No.
TAPPER: And he didn't care.
RACICOT: No, I don't think -- my words were falling on deaf ears or drunk ears.
TAPPER: And you were still saying, Don't do this, or, I'm not into this.
RACICOT: I remember specifically him, like, grabbing at my chest, and I, like, hit his hand, and I said, don't touch me. And I remember that during the altercation specifically. TAPPER: And then he kept going.
RACICOT: Yeah, and it was this weird mix of, like, coming in and out of -- I don't think consciousness is a word, but, like, coming to and kind of falling back into that drunken I don't know what I'm doing state. And, yeah, and he just -- he would apologize in those moments and then go back to doing what he was doing.
TAPPER: So he was aware that he was doing something wrong.
RACICOT: Yes.
TAPPER: And saying sorry.
RACICOT: I feel like he was, in moments.
TAPPER: Is there any way that he thought this was consensual or no, just because?
RACICOT: I don't believe that you can think that that scenario is consensual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:05:01]
BURNETT: Well, this interview just came out, right? Jake just did this exclusive interview. Platner now has come out and denied the allegation. He's responded with this video on social media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM PLATNER (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false. Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political reality it will inflict. We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Platner is running neck and neck against Collins, and it's a must-win Senate race for Democrats. And Democrats have, from right now, seven days to replace Platner on the ticket if he withdraws, that's state law in Maine.
And the news, of course, comes after "The New York Times" had published allegations of unsettling behavior with other girlfriends that did not include rape in their article. One of them, though, did accuse Platner of knowingly getting that Nazi-linked tattoo. Platner has come out and denied all the allegations, but this one is having immediate impact.
At this hour, Congressman Ro Khanna is rescinding his support for Platner, and the main Democratic Party tonight is calling on Platner to withdraw.
Lauren Fox is OUTFRONT. She's live on Capitol Hill.
And, Lauren, as you're talking to your sources, what are they telling you right now?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, we actually have some significant news that was just released by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. This is a joint statement between the chairwoman of that committee, Kirsten Gillibrand, and the Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer. Here's what they wrote.
Quote, "The allegations reported today are incredibly disturbing. Violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable. Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins. The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot."
So a very, very serious threat there from the DSCC saying that if Platner does not get out of the way, they are not going to help fund this campaign. And obviously that is extremely significant given what you just pointed out, Democrats need to win this seat in order to try to back the United States Senate in the midterm elections in just a couple of months.
But clearly, they view Platner as a candidate with serious issues that cannot win in this race. And they are asking him now to step aside. And the reason they need him to do this quickly, Erin, is because by next week, he needs to get out of this race Monday. I believe the deadline is 5:00 p.m. in order for the Democratic Party in the state of Maine to select another candidate in this race.
Obviously, just a couple of months ago, Janet Mills, who was running against Platner, exited this race because she did not have the support and campaign funding that she said she needed in order to win the Democratic primary. Obviously, there's going to be questions about whether or not she is back in this race against Susan Collins.
But obviously, a lot of that still has to be worked out. Meanwhile, Senator Susan Collins, who is facing off against Platner at this moment, she has her own statement saying, quote, "These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate."
And you pointed out that Ro Khanna is rescinding his endorsement. We also have heard from Senator Ruben Gallego, who has also pulled his endorsement. And Senator Martin Heinrich, who was a supporter of Platner, saying that these are very serious allegations that need to be looked at critically -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Lauren, thank you very much.
And everyone's here with me now.
Max, just with the news that Lauren's breaking, okay? And you have served in Congress. When the DSCC, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, they come out, signed by Chuck Schumer, minority leader, and Kirsten Gillibrand, who had stood behind Platner up until now. And they say, "We're not going to put a dollar into this race if he doesn't get out," what's the actual practical implication of losing that money?
MAX ROSE (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: It's about a $50 million statement, I'd say. Maybe someone --
BURNETT: It's a calm voice, but that's massive.
ROSE: Oh, that's huge. It's about as big as it gets because it's also a signal to all the other super PACs. It's a big deal. And look, maybe someone can get away with small-dollar donations. He could raise another $40 million or $50 million. It's a small estate.
But the long story short is this guy's cooked, and he's not going to last another 24, maybe 48 hours, tops. And that's just yet another example, that Ro Khanna, the Maine Democratic Party, the list goes on and on. No one will be standing with him by tomorrow.
BURNETT: And yet, Gretchen, everybody was, until -- until now, after "The New York Times", and my understanding is this woman would have been in "The New York Times" piece, had not -- these details were not in there. She had not shared them with them in full.
But, look, you famously sued Roger Ailes for harassment. You won, okay?
[19:10:00]
But it was -- it came at great cost. Just looking at how the trajectory of this, right? People came forward, people spoke, but it's only now this appears to be the straw that may break the camel's back.
GRETCHEN CARLSON, JOURNALIST AND CO-FOUNDER OF LIFT OUR VOICES: Yeah, so finally, we're down to a week before you can get another candidate, so now people are saying he should withdraw. What about the women who came out in "The New York Times" article three or four weeks ago? What about the Nazi tattoo? I mean, it's a little disingenuous to now say, oh, yeah, it's time to go.
And just from a personal point of view, coming forward for this woman, I understand exactly what she's going through tonight. She's going to have backlash. She's not going to be believed, maybe by some, maybe more so now after the movement of 10 years than when I came forward.
But also, it's a pattern, right? Pattern of behavior. We have seen this time and time again with people. When allegations come out, you start to see a pattern.
And the last thing I would say is that this is about power over politics. It doesn't matter if it's a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent. This is about power. This is why people think they can get away with this. And that's why we should believe women who have the courage to come
forward, not based on whether or not the Democrats want to take over the Senate. I understand it's going to be close. But we need to believe Republicans, Democrats, everyone in between.
BURNETT: I mean, Andrew, you've done extensive reporting on Platner. In fact, some of the very first explosive reporting on his past Nazi tattoo. You had all of that.
So, where do you think this is actually going here days before the deadline?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, I don't think it's going to be good for Susan Collins if he drops out. If you look at the crop of candidates, Susan Collins pretty much cleared the field before. Well, people didn't want to run against her. They saw Sarah Gideon who ran against her in 2020. She was up by six, 10 points, and she lost by 10.
None of these candidates, they all got into the governor's race, and they have a very strong crop of candidates in that governor's race. Any of them could jump in. And if you look in the environment, if you look in the polling, in the governor's race, those candidates were up by 10 points. Platner was underperforming them by 10. So, this is just going to totally reset the race if he drops out.
BURNETT: And yet there was an appeal of Platner to people. There was a reason, Astead, that people liked him. And in part, it was because he was flawed and imperfect and PTSD and all of the things that he had that he sort of embraced. I'm an imperfect person.
Let me just play a little bit more about what he's saying tonight to supporters. Again, this was the video statement. It's not as if he's done an interview or anything, but I'll play a little bit more of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PLATNER: This movement we have built, the largest volunteer base in the history of Maine politics, the hundreds of thousands of grassroots donors, and the supporters across the ideological spectrum. Throughout it all, you never turned your back on me, and I will not turn my back on you now.
(END VIDOE CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, Astead, hundreds of thousands of grassroots donors, right? He had done something that now sort of -- you know, speaks to a lot of other Democratic victories that have happened in primaries, right? Anti-establishment. Yes, I embrace my flaws, all of those things.
So, what happens if he goes away to all of those people, his core?
ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Graham Platner had told a story about himself that some folks were willing to believe about a story of growth, a story that comes -- even, I think, and we were willing to believe it over the troubling signs that Andrew reported, that women had come out and said before, this is a new I think new piece of information that is serious, that's corroborated and I think has had a -- has had the justified reaction to it.
I don't expect Grand Platner to last through the week and I think that. Him saying, you know, they're kind of like, you know, my we built this grassroots base of volunteers. Those are the very same people who feel quite lied to right now.
Like, you know, those are people he said that there wouldn't be more stuff coming out to. So, I think that that's actually a critical --
BURNETT: He has said, yeah.
HERNDON: Yeah, that's actually a critical piece of this is that not just that the DSCC's changed their mind or maybe some people who didn't want him to race win the race originally don't like him anymore. That volunteer base that was driving that interest is turning on him, and I think that's really going to be the most damning part of this.
But you know, to the point about kind of outsider candidates, you know, you know, even think Zohran Mamdani in New York, that's someone who had been an assembly member who had gone through some levels of vetting, who's actually, I think, doing fine now because they thought about a vision of governance. When you kind of pick floats out of nowhere, you risk something like this. And I think, you know, even in the left in their kind of vetting problems have come to fruition.
BURNETT: And then there are the skeptics, Gretchen, who will say that the timing here is OK, you know, people tried in "The New York Times," it didn't work. And now days before the deadline, shocker, here comes a major accusation, right? There's already some saying that.
And in fact, Jake asked Jenny about that, right? The people are going to say this is politically motivated. What do you say? I want to play her response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP
RACICOT: I couldn't disagree more. That was actually one of the reasons that I didn't come out.
TAPPER: Because you agree with his politics.
RACICOT: I do. I really agree with his politics. I think we need somebody with those political stances, and who are willing to do the work.
[19:15:05]
And you know, I see his political videos they get me fired up as well.
I understand why people want someone like him in office, you know, and I felt like me coming forward would essentially potentially take that away and I felt really uncomfortable with the responsibility of -- and the weight of my story and what that might do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: I understand that completely. You have no idea what's going to happen when you jump off a cliff like that. But I think this is proving what I said earlier. She actually aligns with him politically, and she's still saying that this happened.
And I think that it's an interesting retort to the other woman in "The New York Times" story who was a Republican. And so, people then had ammunition to be able to say, Well, she's coming out for political purposes. Maybe Susan Collins had something to do with her telling her story.
Much more difficult in this situation when this woman's actually saying, I didn't want to come forward because I actually agree with his policies.
BURNETT: And yet there are some who are automatically, you're hearing the familiar now, blame it on AIPAC.
ROSE: Yeah, and look, you see these, one -- Sank, who's the leader of Young Turks, for instance, immediately came out and said that this is an AIPAC-funded story. This is -- you know, whoever else it might be, but he led with AIPAC.
There's an entire new political class that's centered around Graham Platner, a whole new crop of consultants that saw him as this avatar for their movement. This is on them, right? This absence of vetting. this, that the fact that he will be stepping down and the fact that they're immediately coming out and blaming on AIPAC and code for the Jews, it speaks to who they are as humans and the movement that they are in part trying to build.
HERNDON: I think there's been, you know, I think -- in fair, for the left and folks who have supported Platner, I've seen Hassan Piker, I've seen other people come out and say that these allegations mark a new line and they no longer support his candidacy. I think that's important to say.
But, you know, I do think it's fair to kind of ask the question about, like, what lessons Democrats can take from this. And I think Gretchen's point is really important. What's clear is that this one was somewhat motivated by "The Times" story and the political attacks that came on came to um that the woman faced in that story, and that's part of the reason she came out this time.
And I think that like, you know, she connected with some influencers, they connected her to "Politico" like the ability for kind of people to go around traditional media with these stories. I think it's also a part of this mix, too.
But you know, one thing about Platner or maybe even more than the other Senate races is that people had declared teams so early. You know, pro Platner, anti Platner, and they have really dug themselves in on that front. I think you're seeing the dangers of that with things like today
because these were on this was an unvetted candidate. And this is the risk.
BURNETT: I remember, Andrew, the day that you came on, you were the first to report on the Nazi linked tattoo that Platner has. And when you came on, we were sort of like, who is this person? Oh, he's running in Maine. I mean, he was a new -- so you found this out very early. You've also previously spoken to another former girlfriend.
KACZYNSKI: Yeah.
BURNETT: So, the conservative woman, right, that "The New York Times" had spoken to after you did.
So, what did you see in the credibility of all this?
KACZYNSKI: Well, first off, when we reported on the tattoo, the Nazi symbol, the first thing was that Platner said that he hadn't learned about that tattoo until it was reported on in October. Okay?
BURNETT: And he got on the phone and talked to you, by the way.
KACZYNSKI: Oh, yeah. Well, we first reported on the Reddit post, and he talked to us for 40 minutes or so about it. He's very compelling. And he pitched, as we've talked about, this narrative that he had PTSD and he's changed.
And that's, to your point, why a lot of these people do feel -- his supporters, they feel like almost like they've been lied to with some of this stuff, right?
BURNETT: Yeah.
KACZYNSKI: But with the tattoo, you know, he said he learned about it in October. When I was doing the reporting and I connected with Lyndsey, she showed me text messages of her and her friends when Graham launched his campaign in August of 2015. And in those text messages, she said, Graham has a Nazi tattoo. And then she named it, she says, it's called a Totenkopf.
And it totally flew in the face of how would she know about his tattoo three months before he knew, it didn't make any sense. And all the times that he's been pressed on it, he's pressed on it in an MSNBC interview. And I think his answer was, well, she didn't tell me that I had a Nazi tattoo.
So, it did -- it did raise certain questions about his credibility.
BURNETT: Yeah, very, very much so.
Gretchen, today is 10 years. 10 years since you filed your lawsuit against Roger Ailes, which you won. You actually got an apology. It wasn't just a, okay, fine, you got an apology.
And the Me Too movement gained major traction. It's taken a serious hit in recent years though after that, right? So, there's been an up and a down and a backlash.
Where do you think the movement stands now? Whether you even comfortable using the words me too or not now, but in people believing women? Where does that stand now?
CARLSON: I'm very comfortable in using me too, because I do this line of work as a co-founder of Lift Our Voices every single day. So, I have to wake up optimistic about where this is.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CARLSON: But I understand people out there thinking maybe it has taken a hit. And why? Because you've seen somebody like President Trump be elected twice with numerous women who've come out against him with regard to sexual misconduct.
BURNETT: E. Jean Carroll.
CARLSON: E. Jean Carroll, more recently that he has to pay her the money. You have Pete Hegseth, who was confirmed as the defense secretary. So, I could go on and on. I understand why there might be this feeling. of people feeling pessimistic.
However, I'm in the trenches. I'm doing the work. I was instrumental with so many other survivors in passing two federal pieces of legislation in 2022 to stop the silencing of this kind of behavior in the workplace with non-disclosure agreements and something called forced arbitration, which people don't understand what they're signing in these agreements.
This legislation is groundbreaking for justice for survivors, and we continue to do that work for other classes, whether it's race discrimination, gender, disability, LGBTQ+.
So, much more work to be done, but cultural shifts take time. When you think about how long it took for the civil rights movement, it wasn't just 10 years. We're still working on it.
And so, I know that we've made so much progress. We need to do more, but check back in with me in another 10 years. I'm a fighter. If people know me, they know me well that I never give up, so I'm here to stay.
BURNETT: And we're glad for that. And thanks very much to all of you.
And next, Trump made hundreds of millions of dollars from his crypto coin. He did. But a lot of his supporters who jumped in believing him are struggling. They invested in those same coins and lost. The new report coming up.
And the mystery deepening over Iran's new Supreme Leader. He has not been seen in public yet, even as the entire country seemed to be out in the streets mourning his dead father, the coffin today. Where is the Ayatollah?
Our Fred Pleitgen is there in Tehran. And the U.S. men's soccer team about to face off against Belgium. It's
a crucial match after Trump interfered and got FIFA to reverse its decision to suspend a top U.S. player. World Cup superfan and former Ambassador Sean Patrick Maloney is here, and he is fired up. Oh, he's even got soccer sneakers on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:26:34]
BURNETT: Breaking news, the U.S. men's soccer team is about to take the field for a match like no other in World Cup history because of President Trump's unprecedented move to interfere in a ref's call, a move that shocked the world. Trump called the head of FIFA, a private phone call about the suspension of one of the US team's best players. After the call, Folarin Balogun's suspension was reversed. In fact, this is the first time since 1962 that FIFA overturned an in- tournament World Cup game suspension.
And tonight, headlines like this around the world, "World Cup's integrity in tatters after jaw-dropping FIFA intervention," "FIFA has created a credibility crisis." "World Cup, shameful, incomprehensible." As you can see, that's from three different continents.
Of course, the head of FIFA happens to be just happens to be the same man who gave Trump the first and only FIFA Peace Award.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He didn't do anything wrong and he's our best player or one of our best players, a very. And he gave him a red card. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't think it meant much. Then I started hearing that that means he can't play in the next game, at least in the next game. All I did was ask for a review.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, can we just take a pause to be like he actually didn't even know what a red card was, right? So, somebody told him about it and, oh, I guess I'll just call my buddy, you know, who gave me the Peace Prize.
Then Trump went on and compared the situation to His situation in the 2020 election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And you know what? If they beat us, then they can be really proud. The other way, if they beat us, we'll say it was -- I say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Coy Wire is OUTFRONT outside the game, which begins in just about a half an hour here and obviously going to be a big one. The world watching.
Coy, what do you learn?
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, we have learned in a big, a dramatic way that America's superstar, their best striker is back. Flo Balogun with many fans who are ecstatic, many others who are furious. Erin, first time in Men's World Cup history that a suspension like this has been overturned during the tournament under the current rules.
It happened in favor of Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo just ahead of this tournament and qualifiers. We caught up with some of the fans down there to get their thoughts on how we got here. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was an inaccurate call. I think most would agree it should have been a yellow at most.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all rigged for Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No special treatment. This is what it is. Decision was made. This is -- this is it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the biggest scandal of the story of the World Cup.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know what happened behind the scenes. That is her that FIFA overturned it. I was like, hey, thanks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will some people hit an asterisk? Absolutely. That's what it's all about. That's what people are going to say. I don't think so. They still have to play the game at the end of the day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: The U.S. and Belgium Erin with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. Now this has been Seattle has been Belgium's base camp the entire tournament. They have some experience here. One thing they have not experienced 70,000 screaming American fans. I have played in that stadium in my NFL days, Erin, and I can tell you this is one of the loudest environments you could possibly imagine.
The players on Team USA have told me they feed off of that energy, helps them get off to fast starts. They have scored first in every single match so far.
[19:30:03]
We will see how Belgium responds, playing with a chip on their shoulders. It's the 4th of July weekend, 250th birthday celebration, spot in the quarterfinals on the line and with a little bit of red card decision controversy sprinkled on top, this could be the most raucous environment we have seen in American sports.
BURNETT: That's really incredible. And just to look at that full stadium, as I said, we're just moments away.
Coy is going to be there. Thank you, Coy.
And all of this raising major questions about the relationship between President Trump and FIFA President Infantino, right? I referenced it. Well, maybe you forgot the moments.
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: I think it's going to be something really very special. And, Gianni, maybe I'd ask you to say a few words, and then, Charles.
GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA PRESIDENT: Definitely. Well, thanks. Thanks, President, for welcoming us here.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever since 2018, when President Donald Trump and the head of the International Soccer Federation, Gianni Infantino, announced the U.S. would host the World Cup, their friendship has grown around that golden trophy.
INFANTINO: Only the FIFA president, presidents of countries, and then those who win can touch it because it's for winners only. And since you are a winner, of course, you can as well.
MELANIA TRUMP, U.S. FIRST LADY: Here we go again.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Infantino attended the Kennedy Center premiere of that movie celebrating First Lady Melania Trump. Media outlets have widely reported on him leading FIFA to rent offices in New York's Trump Tower, which "The New York Times" says have largely set empty. In addition, the paper reports Infantino has made pilgrimages to Mar- a-Lago, a Trump golf club, and financial disclosures show FIFA showering Trump with thousands of dollars worth of soccer tickets, too.
When Trump traveled to Egypt for a peace conference last year, there was Infantino alongside, saying he was invited by the president to be among the world leaders.
INFANTINO: This is the certificate. It's yours.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And when FIFA gave out its first ever Peace Prize, guess who took it home?
TRUMP: Thank you very much. This is truly one of the great honors of my life.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Amid all that, 50 members of the European Parliament, representing more than a dozen countries, signed on to an ethics complaint just last month, suggesting the bromance between Infantino and Trump was undermining FIFA's commitment to political neutrality.
INFANTINO: You're part of the FIFA team. TRUMP: That's good.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But if either man is troubled by the cries of foul, they don't show it, and apparently they won't, even as the World Cup roars toward its big finish.
INFANTINO: We will be together with the president, enjoying the final and handing the trophy to the winner, of course, together.
BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Together, you'll be doing it?
INFANTINO: Of course, we are together all the time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: For a lot of soccer fans, especially internationally -- yeah, the call on the field was bad, but they see the call afterward between these pals as even worse, a form of cheating, which they just can't abide -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Tom, thank you very much.
And OUTFRONT now, former congressman, ambassador, and soccer fan Sean Patrick Maloney.
You really can't make it up. That last soundbite there in that interview with the FIFA president, we are together all of the time and he gives him this gold fake award and Trump loves it and you can't make this up.
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Okay, well, first I got to get out of here in 27 minutes because the game's on.
But before it starts, look, I think this is a case where two wrongs maybe make a right, but there's definitely two schools here. One is that, you know, Trump ruins everything. And the other is, this is corruption we can get behind.
And I got to tell you, I'm torn. But I do think you got a bad process. But the result is actually fair. I mean, Balogun got screwed on that red card call. It never should have been red card. The whole point of a red card is you want to stop --
BURNETT: If I raise my hand at everything where there's a bad I'm calling a baseball game for my kid or any parent watching, right? But people don't because that's called playing by the rules and it's called sportsmanship. It's called world leaders don't call the head of FIFA and say, look at the card and have FIFA cave and say we're going to hand out the award together. I'll play the other side.
MALONEY: I agree. But man, I also feel like this is one of those Trump traps where the Democratic Party is going to be the HR department and say the right thing and everybody's going to hate us.
But I do -- but I hear what you're saying. I am sympathetic to it. I do think that -- I do think that, you know, had FIFA made this decision on its own, I think a lot of us would have said that's -- that's absolutely right. It was a terrible call. Yellow card would have been enough.
And by the way, they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina with 10 players, not 11. These guys, these guys are an incredible team. They've earned their spot. They're maybe going to the quarterfinals. We should all be excited about that.
And I just wish there wouldn't be an asterisk on it now because it's -- that's the next unfairness to this team after the red card.
[19:35:00]
BURNETT: FIFA has had a lot of issues with corruption, to state the obvious. And their former anti-corruption advisor told "Newsweek" that Trump's phone call was a blatant abuse of power, demonstrates how President Trump and Mr. Infantino are playing the power game at the expense of football fans. And a player who's received a red card, soccer legend Wayne Rooney, said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE ROONEY, FORMER ENGLAND STAR PLAYER: To suspend it for the year. I think it's absolute disgrace and Infantino -- he should be ashamed of this because I think for the sportsmanship of this game is in question here, and, you know -- if I'm one of the opponents, if I'm USA's opponent, I'd be absolutely fuming, but I just think it's -- it's wrong in every way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right, so here's what I the question I want to ask about that. The question is, soccer is the world's sport. It's not America's sport. People are excited about this game. That's wonderful, right? America's football and baseball, and, right, soccer's always struggled here, maybe because we call it soccer.
But around the world, right, this is something that won't be forgotten. What are the implications of something like this in the court of world opinion about America?
MALONEY: Well, look, I mean, it's not great. No argument for me. But, look, if these guys beat Belgium 11 against 11, You know they can hold their heads up high. That's a that's a real win.
If they go -- if they go to the beyond the quarterfinals -- I mean, my God, this is -- this U.S. team, it's young. It's energetic. It's athletic. You know, they're up against tonight. One of the best midfielders in the world, in De Bruyne. I mean, if they can, if they can keep that pace and get past midfield, you know they will deserve this win.
BURNETT: By the way, the player wouldn't be a citizen if Trump's birthright citizenship passed.
MALONEY: There's so many things about this that drive me crazy and I and the biggest one. Yes, that's right. This young kid, Balogun, is amazing. For people who don't know, he was almost accidentally born here in the United States, but is a U.S. citizen because of that. And under Donald Trump's view, he wouldn't -- he wouldn't be allowed that citizenship.
So yes, crazy. But look, nothing should take away from the achievement of the U.S. team. These guys have earned this place where they are. That red card call was terrible. And I do think Trump has made it worse, and he's put an additional burden on their backs.
I just hope they block it all out, win tonight, and keep winning.
BURNETT: All right, and you'll be going to watch. I got to let you go.
MALONEY: I'm out.
BURNETT: Go because you only want to listen on the radio. You want to watch it.
All right, thanks so much.
MALONEY: Sure.
BURNETT: And next, in the red, Trump supporters lost massive amounts of money investing in Trump's crypto coins. So what are they saying about it? Even, of course, as he made, what, more than half a billion dollars? New reporting next.
Plus, this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is as close as we're going to get to the casket of the supreme leader and his family members who were not killed in a U.S. airstrike.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: One family member who is not killed has gone missing. His son, who is the new supreme leader. Where is he?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:03]
BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump pushing crypto just days after it was revealed he made more than a billion dollars from it last year, including more than $600 million alone from the crypto meme coin named after Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I've become a big crypto guy only for one reason. If we don't have it, China is going to have it. I'm very much for crypto because it's -- I don't -- it's not a question of a personal thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But it is personal for Trump. He has made massive profits from crypto, but some of his biggest supporters who invested in Trump's meme coin have gone broke even as Trump is minting money.
OUTFRONT now, Dan Alexander, senior editor at "Forbes", who does extensive reporting on Trump and his finances. You know, Dan, and part of this is that even when the coin loses value, even just the trade back and forth, right, Trump makes money off of that, whereas the person who's trading it and losing just loses.
I know you've talked to several people, some of whom were Trump supporters. That's why they bought the meme coin, right? They believed in him, and they've lost a lot of money after investing in the meme coin. What did they tell you?
DAN ALEXANDER, SENIOR EDITOR, FORBES: Well, you know, many of them are really disappointed right now. One of the funny things that they told me is that they went to these meme coin dinners or events. And at the first one, you know, it was outside of Washington, D.C. at his golf club in Virginia.
BURNETT: I remember that one.
ALEXANDER: They said it was kind of like a wedding full of crypto bros, you know, and people were all just talking about crypto stuff, and it was random things were happening. A billionaire gets on stage, he's not Trump, and starts selling Trump watches.
And Lamar Odom, the former basketball player, is walking around. And one guy says that the service is no good. He really wanted soda and all he could get was water. So just sort of this funny mix up of like glamour and really not glamour. And then there's a second event that just happened in April at Mar-a-Lago.
And at that one, they sort of worked out some of the wrinkles. They had shuttles taking everybody in and they gave out goodie bags to the attendees. And a lot of people got really, really excited about these goodie bags because of what they contained in them. Some of them had Trump-branded watches that people were really excited about.
They also had bottles of cologne that were in little mini-golden Donald Trump statues. And people were so pumped about all this stuff that they started stealing each other's bags. Somebody would stand up and another person would go under their chair, grab a bag, walk out.
But the thing with these events, the point is just to get people excited about trading this stuff. And the more trades that happened, the more fees kick off to Donald Trump. He knows that, which is why even though he's president, he's willing to take the time to do something like go to his Golf Club or Mar-a-Lago and host all of his meme coin holders.
BURNETT: Interesting in the grab bags, there were the little fake gold statues of Trump. That was new. That's new information to me. OK, so you talk about this, how he makes money on the trades, even as
if the overall value goes down, right, and the people who bought it, they lost.
[19:45:02]
So, you then, Dan, went and dug into some other ventures. Melania's meme coin as well as Don Jr. and Eric Eric's crypto business where some Trump fans have also lost huge. What did you find there?
ALEXANDER: Well, it's a consistent pattern across these ventures, and if you add them all up, The Trump family has cashed out at this point already like $1.9 billion, and they're up about $3.1 billion in terms of how much it's lifted their net worth.
Meanwhile, their supporters collectively are down, we estimate, $7 billion. All of these things are structured so that then the Trump's do really, really well, and even if the assets collapse at the end, they're still left with a huge pile of money.
BURNETT: How does that happen where they lose, just keeping this up on the screen, where the Trump family can make $3.1 billion while everyone else that believed in them, they're obviously, most of these people are going to be core, core supporters, lose $7 billion?
ALEXANDER: It happens in a couple of different ways. The first is that Trump just sells a lot of this stuff out front. So, for example, with the World Liberty Financial tokens, they were selling this stuff for large amounts of money and collecting most of the proceeds of that right at the get-go.
The other thing that's happened is that they've taken companies public, and those companies, when they're on the public exchanges, attract massive valuations. They've then used those huge valuations to dump more stock upon retail investors, and then purchase other things, mostly Bitcoin. So that then as that ratio between sort of the underlying holdings and the myth that people have in their head, closes, they're still left of the big pile of assets at the end, which means that they still end up up because they invested hardly anything into these things at the outset, even though people who got in at the peak are way down.
BURNETT: All right, Dan, thank you very much. Dan Alexander from "Forbes".
ALEXANDER: Thanks.
BURNETT: And next, outrage boiling over in Iran. Massive crowds calling for Trump to be killed at the supreme leader's funeral. As the mystery deepens, because, you know, all of this mass funeral, right? Just look at these images. And yet the new Supreme Leader is nowhere to be seen. Fred is on the ground in Tehran.
And as Team USA is about to take the field, new reporting on what was going on behind the scenes at the White House that led to the FIFA suspension reversal. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:51:30]
BURNETT: Breaking news, growing questions about Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly -- not been seen publicly since his father was killed end of February. It is now the third day of the funeral for his father. The former supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, suffered serious injuries during the attack in which his father and much of his family were killed. but neither hide nor hair in 128 days since.
The funeral, though, has brought out massive crowds in Tehran, with some attendees holding up signs you can see there saying, "Kill Trump".
Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT in Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Millions of Iranians taking to the streets as the procession commemorating the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made its way through Tehran for hours. The crowds surrounding the trailer transformed into a giant hearse.
(CHANTING)
PLEITGEN: This is as close as we're going to get to the casket of the supreme leader and his family members who were killed in a U.S. airstrike. As you can see, the people here are very extremely angry. What they're chanting right now is "Death to America", for the killing of the supreme leader, both against the United States, as well as President Donald Trump.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): While some Iranians oppose their government, the leadership says it's managed to mobilize an unprecedented number of people, many carrying posters bearing the likeness of the late supreme leader, along with a simple message: Iran has a score to settle with America and with Israel.
"We've come here for the revenge of the blood of our leader, and we will not put this aside for one second," this woman says.
And he says, "The objective for being here is to take revenge against Trump and Netanyahu."
Absent from the funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who so far has not appeared in public, communicating only via written statements since taking the reins.
But the people on Tehran's streets insist their new leader is in charge, their country stronger than before and ready for another military confrontation with the U.S. should negotiations fail.
"Our message to Trump is, do not repeat your mistake," this man says.
As Iran lays its longtime supreme leader to rest, his message of confrontation with the U.S. endures, even as Washington and Tehran attempt to negotiate an agreement for a lasting peace.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: Erin, among those spotted in the crowd today, Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who, of course, is a highly controversial figure in the West and someone who's said to have somewhat strained relations with Iran's supreme leader, especially recently, of course, one of the many hundreds of thousands of people attending today's events -- Erin.
BURNETT: It's really incredible and incredible to see you in that crowd. Thanks, Fred.
And next, new reporting on the discussions taking place inside the White House about the calls to overturn the red card in the World Cup.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:49]
BURNETT: Breaking news, minutes away from the US men's soccer team taking the field against Belgium in the World Cup tournament. And star striker Folarin Balogun is the line -- is in the lineup, so he's there after FIFA's president Gianni Infantino overturned a red card over this play in the previous round.
Now, the decision came, not by any standard protocol in any way, shape or form. No, it came because President Trump called Infantino and asked him to review the call. And now CNN is learning new details about what else was going on behind the scenes there.
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT in Turkey, where President Trump will be heading for the NATO summit.
Kristen, what are you learning?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, President Trump just played a small role in what was an all out full court press by this administration, not just actually the administration, but allies of the White House to try and lobby FIFA to work with U.S. soccer officials, to work with the lawyers to try and get this call overturned.
And we know that Andrew Giuliani, who is running the White House task force for the World Cup, as well as Howard Lutnick, who is the commerce secretary, almost immediately after the game started rallying the troops. They started working with other U.S. officials They started having allies who have relationships with FIFA, making calls. They were all trying to get this reviewed and ultimately overturned. They wanted the U.S. soccer team to have the strongest case it possibly could on appeal. And one thing to note is that they all have told me, and all these
officials have told me, that they believed that this was an unfair call, but that's where this was stemming from. Now, one interesting point that one official that's close to the White House told me in all of this is that a lot of people were feeling some hope that there might be some wiggle room because of what we had seen before this World Cup with Cristiano Ronaldo and his suspension of his suspended games going into the World Cup. They thought maybe there was some wiggle room here, Erin.
BURNETT: It's really incredible, though, as you're pointing out between Andrew Giuliani and Howard Lutnick and everyone getting involved. It's incredible, full-court press on such a thing.
Kristen, thank you very much. Kristen, as I said, joining us tonight from Ankara in Turkey, the capital there, where the President will be heading for that NATO summit.
Thanks so much to you, Kristen.
And of course, thanks so much to all of you for joining us. We'll see you tomorrow.
"AC360" with Anderson Cooper begins right now.
