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Platner Support Collapses After Rape Allegation He Denies; Platner Source To CNN: "I Think He Knows It's Over"; Questions Mount About Vetting Progress On Graham Platner Campaign; Sanders: I spoke To Platner And "Recommended That He Step Aside"; Trump Grievances Surface On 1st Day Of NATO Summit. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired July 07, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

CARI CHAMPION, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He is a striking player. If you see someone like that with that blonde ice, ice hair, walking down the street, you know something doesn't feel right. He often makes fun of himself and says that he has a weird look and people enjoy it. And I think what we are watching right now is that we're finding other superstars in other countries.

The more and more we hear about him on social media, his eating habits, how he's been stopped walking down the streets of New York, or women were walking up to him saying something about you just feels very different. I thought it was funny that you played that clip because it essentially talks about the fascination with him.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CO-ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: Good point. All right, Cari Champion, as usual. Thank you very, very much. And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @wolfblitzer and @pamelabrowncnn. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning, 10 am Eastern. Inside Politics with our friend and colleague, Dana Bash, starts right now.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: A campaign on the verge of collapse, a Senate majority at stake.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

What was once considered the Democrats' best chance to win the Senate is now their most dire political crisis. Right now, Graham Platner's main Senate campaign is unraveling after a woman accused him of rape, which he denies. More and more Democrats are pulling endorsements, and the party's Senate campaign arm says, it won't spend any cash on this crucial race unless he is replaced.

Platner calls the allegation quote, troubling, serious, and false. But for many who stood by his candidate -- candidacy through a lot, a Nazi tattoo, sexting allegations, and offensive Reddit posts. This was the breaking point.

Jenny Racicot, who told my colleague Jake Tapper that she was seeing Platner on and off for two years, until one evening in 2021 when he showed up at her home drunk and forcibly had sex with her, despite her repeated demands he stopped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNY RACICOT, GRAHAM PLATNER ACCUSER: 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, like, don't, I'm not in the mood, like, don't, whatever. And it got to the point where I was like, OK, I feel like I've said this enough times, like 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, Platner says he is, quote, taking the time to reflect on the best -- best path forward, but in just six days his window to leave the race against five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins closes.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live in Portland, Maine. Arlette, what are you hearing there on the ground?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, Platner's campaign held a staff meeting a bit earlier today, but no announcements were made about any timing for a potential decision about the future of the race. That's according to a source familiar with the call, who told our colleague Jeff Zeleny, but it comes as there has really been this cascade of Democratic voices and officials calling first Platner to step aside from this race at this moment.

The last that we heard from Platner was that video that he released yesterday, saying that he would be reflecting on the state of his campaign, following these latest allegations of sexual assault, but it also is coming as we have increasingly heard from Democrats who say he needs to step aside. The leaders of the Maine Democratic Party have called for him to suspend his campaign.

You also have in Washington Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrat Senate campaign arm, saying that they will withhold any funding from the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot. So, there is a lot of pressure building. We have also heard from some of the Democrats who had endorsed Platner, like Senator Elizabeth Warren, saying he needs to step aside. One Democrat we have yet to hear from is Senator Bernie Sanders, who was a very strong backer of Platner in this race.

But we've spoken to voters here on the ground, and several that we spoke to said that they do believe it is time for Platner to go, but they're also expressing some anxiety about what would happen if he drops out of this race. We spoke to two voters who brought up the 2024 election when President Biden stepped aside and then paved the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run, something that ultimately was unsuccessful for Democrats in 2024, so there's a lot of questions going forward. If Platner were to drop out, about what exactly would happen next? [12:05:00]

The Maine Democratic Party has said that they would have an open and transparent process. A source familiar with the matter tells me that they're still working through some details of what a nominating process might look like if Platner drops out, but some of the ideas floated include a mini convention or caucus. So, a lot still remains up in the air, but right now we are still waiting to hear from Graham Platner himself about whether he will step aside in this race, as many Democratic leaders are calling for him to do, Dana?

BASH: Arlette, thank you so much for that reporting from Maine. I'm joined here by a terrific group of reporters, including Jeff Zeleny, who Arlette just spoke about your reporting, and I want to just go a little deeper. What you are hearing from a source close to the campaign. I think he knows it's over, but he thinks I built this thing and wants to use the movement he created to have a voice in who is going to replace him. That suggests he thinks he has leverage. Does he?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It is unclear if he has leverage. If so, not much. I mean, the reality here is that the support for his candidacy has collapsed entirely, and it's a little unclear how much his advisors are still holding on to this idea that there was this movement, well, the movement is over, at least in terms of this election cycle. There's just no doubt about it. If he would decide to stay in the race, I mean, he would be underfunded, would not have any money from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Republicans would be licking their chops at the notion of him staying in.

So, I think that the assortment on to say, he believes it's 99.99 percent clear that he'll get out. Question is when? I'm also told that the Platner had a call with the campaign staff last evening, and they thanked them all for their help, and so it seems clear where this is going. The bigger question now is how the Democratic Party manages to really capture the excitement behind his candidacy, which is very real. I mean, he won the primary. How they manage to do that without alienating some others.

But there are also some Republicans I talked to a longtime friend of Senator Collins this morning. Republicans are uncertain about this as well. They were very eager to run against Graham Platner. So, if there is a different candidate, perhaps the secretary of state or someone else, this changes things very significantly for her as well. So, everyone in Maine is on pins and needles right now, and it is unclear what comes next.

BASH: Let's just be clear about the timeline and it is as follows. In order to replace him, assuming that he does drop out. There's a July 13 deadline for him to withdraw from the race, and then on July 27, in just a couple of weeks from now, a few weeks, that is the deadline for the Democratic Party to replace him on the ballot. You mentioned the secretary of state in Maine, there are -- she's one of the names that Democrats up there are talking about. Then there's the former Maine Senate president. There is another Dan Kleban who is -- somebody who I was hearing about from folks up there last night, who is a businessman. He's not a ---

ZELENY: The Maine beer company, he's very --

BASH: The Maine beer company. He's got -- he's got money. The former director of the CDC there, and also Jordan Wood, a former congressional candidate. Jamie?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, this is about -- it's over for him. It is. And just to go back to leverage for a minute, the one piece of leverage he may have is the voter excitement. That if he endorses someone, some of his supporters, who you know, may go with that -- with that person.

But when you look at those names, and I think the Republicans are looking at them as not just, you know, will they be able to raise money and will they create the excitement to get voters out. Never underestimate Susan Collins. She has a huge war chest. She has faced difficult races before, but this does feel like Biden, Harris. This is a very, very short period of time.

BASH: Somebody in Maine said that to me as well.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST, "WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY" AND "UP FIRST" NPR: I mean, look, it's like you're basically being served -- can I say crap Platner? It's a crap Platner, right? Like, but -- like, you're -- there is no way you're going to get out of this in a way that is -- that is going to be energizing necessarily to the Democratic Party. This is like -- this is like a worst-case scenario, but I think they're in a place where there's nothing else that can be done. Those allegations are so serious, he is so tainted that you just cannot move forward with that. So, you just got to take the crap and do what the best you can with the crap.

BASH: Let me just talk for a second about, you know, the bottom falling out with regard to his support, so quickly after these allegations. And again, if they didn't -- this is a very specific and horrible allegation, again, which he denies about rape. But as I mentioned, there were many other troubles that Graham Platner had. And even then, he had the support of Ro Khanna, Ruben Gallego, Martin Heinrich, Elizabeth Warren, they are all now saying that he should drop out.

[12:10:00]

Let's listen a little bit to some of what they have said just in the last couple of months since the other allegations have come out until -- before yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): That those years that he came back were not the best years of his life. He was ashamed of some of the things he said and did, and then he, unlike others, took accountability for it. SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Let's understand that nobody is perfect. I think it's better for this country that we start focusing on the enormous crises facing working people, a corrupt political system, than spending so much time worrying about the, you know, personal life of an individual.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Those posts didn't give you any pause, the tattoo didn't give you any pause?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): He has apologized. He's out there talking to the people of Maine every day.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I think that there's lots of different ways to display character and standing up to corruption is one way to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: Fair to say those comments have not aged well and --

BASH: They're not that old.

MASON: And they're not that old. And it's also -- it's an interesting contrast because Democrats for a long time have painted themselves as the party that doesn't accept some of the things that they were willing to tolerate with Graham Platner. And that is in part because he was just doing so well, and in part because the people whose sound bites you just played were very happy to see a left-leaning progressive candidate doing so well.

But I'll propose your question about leverage, not sure he has much, but his supporters do and that's why you're not seeing the Democratic Party in Maine galvanizing around Governor Mills, who was the second, you know, who was number two in, I mean, a far number two in the primary.

BASH: It's also not clear she wants it again.

MASON: And maybe she doesn't want it.

BASH: Yeah.

MASON: But it -- and fair enough. But the point is, like, they're going to look for, I think, someone who's progressive because that's who voters were pulling for in this race.

ZELENY: And most of these candidates ran for governor or several of them did in a very competitive Democratic governor's race. So, they have a lot of support. I'm thinking of Dr. Nirav Shah. He was the head of the CDC there, but also the number two at the CDC during the Biden administration in Atlanta. He was the top vote getter in the governor's race on the primary night, but once ranked choice voting came in, he did not prevail. So, he has some support out there as well. BASH: You know what else -- we're going to take a quick break and then pick up this conversation. But you know, what else he's had, vetting, or at least some by voters because he's been on the ballot. Speaking of, up next, as the Platner campaign crumbles, the blame game is in overdrive. Who knew what, when? Plus, my interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his vehement opposition to President Trump potentially selling F-35 airplanes to Turkey. The war in Iran and growing anti-Israel sentiment here in the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: As Democrats push Graham Platner to step aside and salvage their Senate dreams, new questions are emerging about what his campaign knew and when. Two weeks ago, I spoke to one of Platner's campaign strategists, Morris Katz, about their vetting process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Are you totally sure that nothing else will come out about Platner's past that could be detrimental to his candidacy?

MORRIS KATZ, PLATNER CAMPAIGN STRATEGISTS: I think from the opening of this campaign, Graham has talked honestly and openly about getting home from war, about struggling with PTSD, about going through dark periods of his life, and the story he's told across Maine is one of redemption.

BASH: I noticed that you didn't say no there. Just one last question, did -- as somebody who helped recruit him, did you do a full vet of him?

KATZ: So, the standard vet process was conducted, and I think them not dodging a question there by, not saying no, I'm kind of challenging a premise of which of what we consider scandal in the political landscape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: My panel is back now. Jamie?

GANGEL: I don't know what a standard vet process means, but it is political malpractice that there was not a proper vetting. It is 101 that a campaign does oppo research on itself on its candidate. And let me just say, apart from that, there's one person here to blame, and that's Platner himself. Because he had to know it certainly appears in many of these cases that he was aware that these were things that would cause scandals, that there might be these allegations, and he had quite a sense of denial about whether or not they would come out.

BASH: Yeah, I mean, Morris Katz, Bernie Sanders, others went to Maine, looking for somebody who was a progressive who could talk the talk, walk the walk outside of the political system. They found him, and that's in part what you heard Morris say there, which -- and you heard a lot of the Democrats who still supported him up until last night, which is, if you're going to find somebody who hasn't been a politician all their lives. It means that they made mistakes, but there's a mistake, and then there is an alleged crime, again which he denies.

[12:20:00]

RASCOE: I mean, look, I think I am sympathetic to the idea that, yes, you're not going to be able to find someone who maybe has never said a tweet that is, you know, sent a tweet that was inappropriate, or who has always spoken like a politician. But I think when it comes to Platner, there were just like real issues, whether it was like the tattoo on your body, which is an obscure Nazi tattoo.

I mean, there were just a lot of things that pointed to character issues, and I just don't believe that you cannot find someone who is outside of the system who really believes in progressive ideas who don't have this level of baggage. I think there are people out there who exist, and if the Democratic wants these progressive candidates, they need to find them.

BASH: I just -- we're getting some news in that Bernie Sanders, who has not said anything, did just put out a statement. And in that statement, he essentially said that he spoke to Graham Platner and recommended that he, Platner, step aside, which again, this Bernie Sanders is the godfather, grandfather of the movement and of this particular candidacy.

MASON: Yeah, I mean that's it then. I mean, if it wasn't already over, it's certainly over now. And again, it's also -- its egg on the face of Democrats who were so supportive of him, given the baggage that Ayesha was just referencing, and that's something that they will have to deal with politically.

And I might add, it's also a bit of a gift for President Trump and Republicans, because the president will almost surely use one of his favorite words and say that whatever the Democrats decide in Maine will be rigged and then use that. I mean, he's not a huge fan of Susan Collins, and yet, he still is going to want to hold on to Republican, but Republican majority in the Senate, and it seems to me that that's something that he would jump on.

ZELENY: And it's interesting, so I was talking to an advisor to Senator Sanders this morning, and they were giving him space to -- Graham Platner space to make an announcement. Well, it is now noon here in the east, and there have been several hours that have passed, more than 24 hours that the campaigns aren't aware --

BASH: This is not so subtle nudge.

ZELENY: So, not so subtle nudge. I think, interestingly, will Senator Sanders decide to support someone else, or will he step aside and let the process play out in Maine? I would bet it would be the latter.

BASH: Can we just quickly look at the big picture here on why we're talking about this particular race so much? Because if you're a viewer of Inside Politics, you know the answer to this, because Maine is so critical if the Democrats have any chance in taking back the Senate, which it already is a long shot. You're looking at the map of the battlegrounds and Maine up there on the west -- excuse me, the east of your screen is really key.

And if you kind of look at the 2024 margins, these are the presidential margins, it gives you a sense of just how difficult a lot of the other races are. Alaska, which is a battleground. Donald Trump won by 13 percentage points. Iowa the same. Maine is the one Republican held seat that Kamala Harris won by a big margin, which is why finding the right democrat there is the ball game.

ZELENY: It is the ball game. I mean, that is what -- at the very beginning of this, Maine was for Democrats going to be one of the easier races they thought. But to Jamie's point earlier, I mean, Senator Susan Collins has won and won and won again. Now this is a tough environment. There's no doubt about it.

That's why all Republicans are not whistling Dixie about this news either here because this changes everything in terms of who she is going to be running against in the fall. So, again, Graham Platner has to make his decision, and then Maine Democrats will make their decision, and likely a new candidate by the end of July.

BASH: Yeah. And I just want to emphasize what we just got the news we just got, which is that Senator Bernie Sanders put out a statement saying that he spoke to Platner, saying he should step aside. So, we'll see if and when that actually happens. We are watching. Coming up, Benjamin Netanyahu as a stark warning for President Trump over the potential sale of fighter jets to Turkey. My interview with the Israeli prime minister is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: President Trump arriving at the NATO summit, greeted by the pomp and circumstance that he loves, including a warm welcome from perhaps his favorite NATO leader, Turkey strongman President Erdogan. Trump used his meeting with Erdogan to lay out his grievances with the NATO alliance over everything from not giving the United States Greenland to perceived lack of help for the U.S. in the war with Iran.

Kristen Holmes is live in Ankara. Kristen, what's at stake, and what did he say about those planes?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called this the most important NATO summit in history. And what's at stake is really the future of the 77-year-old alliance, as well as the potential for a realignment of global powers if this summit does not go well. And a lot of European leaders had expressed concern or unease that President Trump was going to come in here and be angry and attack leaders and not have any sign of unity. And truly when he did, he sat down with President Erdogan. The first words out of his mouth about NATO were this.