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One World with Zain Asher

Russia Hammers Kyiv with Deadly Strikes Ahead of NATO Summit; Trump to Join Summit After Calls with Zelenskyy, Putin; Accused Killer to Appear in Court for Multiday Hearing; Trump: I Asked FIFA Chief to Review USA Star's Suspension; Displaced Survivors Living in Temporary Camps; Prince Harry will not Bring Meghan and Children on London Trip. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired July 06, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: All right, coming to you live from New York. I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". Just moments ago,

President Donald Trump was talking about his role in one of the biggest controversies of the World Cup so far, saying that he personally asked

President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, to review the decision to suspend the star striker for the USA team. The president was speaking in the Oval

Office. I want you to listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: All I did, I asked for a review because I didn't think it was a foul. And you know, again, I'm

good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.

That was not a -- that was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything that, you know, would be different. And I think it's -- I think

it's a terrible -- if they wouldn't allow, you know, a top player, maybe the best, maybe among the best players on the team to play. I think it

would have had a big stain.

And I related just that feel. I didn't tell him what to do. I can't tell him what to do, but -- and I don't believe he made the decision. I think it

was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right, let's bring in our Senior Sports Analyst, Darren Lewis, joining us live now. So, Darren, let's -- we'll talk in a second about

whether or not this red card was justified. That's a separate issue. But when you have FIFA intervening, you've got the U.S. President calling up

his buddy Gianni Infantino.

This makes FIFA -- FIFA obviously has had clouds of controversies surrounding it in the past. A lot of people already think that FIFA is not

the most sort of morally upright, shall we say, organizations in the world. And when you have something like this, this really does, it really does

sort of devalue the currency just in terms of their reputation. Give us your take, Darren.

DARREN LEWIS, CNN SENIOR SPORTS ANALYST: Well, Zain, I've got to be honest with you, this entire episode is absolutely horrendous for the credibility

of World Football's governing body and for its President, Gianni Infantino. In fact, it possibly may well be terminal for his long term, in the longer

term, for him.

Because in simple terms, it made kind of left FIFA in danger of looking as though they are prepared to change the rules as it -- as they go along, or

if enough pressure is put on them, and for context, and the context is very important here. This is the first time in the history of men's football

that a red card has been overturned during a World Cup, during a World Cup.

And I think that should focus a lot of minds, because this is very, very serious for the World Game, for Infantino, for FIFA. There has been

widespread condemnation Zain since this decision was made. And I just give you a little scenario. England had a player sent off last night, Jarell

Quansah, as we've seen, the U.S. President had no compunction about saying that he did call the FIFA President to express his concern.

Now, the light-hearted version of this is that he clearly has no idea how FIFA works, how football works, despite what he says. But infinitely more

seriously, the move to call the FIFA President regarding this matter, does that mean that the U.S. -- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer should call

Gianni Infantino about the player that England had sent off last night? Can you see how it represents a massive rod for the bats of FIFA and for

Infantino?

ASHER: And also, on top of that, a few people have brought up this point, and I think it's such an apt one. This idea that you know, if the USA wins,

if they do really well, especially if Folarin scores a goal, he's a really good striker. There is always going to be this cloud around the wood.

Especially because the USA team has done actually quite well so far, and so to have this sort of shadow around them going forward is actually kind of

unfortunate and quite sad. I mean, this whole thing in a way reputationally backfires for Team USA.

LEWIS: I think you are absolutely right. I've got to be clear here. I don't think that there should or are any aspersions cast on the USA.

the.

[11:05:00]

They have done nothing wrong, as far as we are aware. There is no evidence to suggest that anybody from the U.S. men's national team lobbied to get

that red card changed. So, I want to just part that for a second, because this is not about Balogun or about them. This is about the people much

higher up the food chain.

And I think you're absolutely right. This now does cast a huge shadow over the entire match. If the USA were to win worldwide, the condemnation would

be relentless, because the view would be that a player who should not have played, and bear in mind Balogun has scored three goals so far to help the

USA get to where they are right now.

Lots of people will say, well, he should never have played. The rules said he should not have played. I think even if they were to lose, this will not

go away, because of the gravity of what this means for world football going forward.

ASHER: There are those who say, I mean, I've seen quite a few analysts sort of share the same point that Balogun shouldn't have been given a red card,

but Trump shouldn't have intervened either. So, obviously, two wrongs don't make a right, but for people who don't necessarily understand what was

happening on the pitch at this point in time.

Just walk us through what happened? And you know there is some debate around the fact that, you know, I'm always -- I'm also hesitant to sort of

complete the two issues, because they're two separate issues but there is actually some debate about whether or not the striker should have been

given the red card in the first place.

Obviously, that does not mean that Donald Trump should have intervened at all. Give us your take on that, Darren.

LEWIS: Well, yes. Thank you for doing that, because I think it is very important to clear this up. And I am aware that there has been a huge body

of opinion suggesting that it wasn't even a foul. It was the referee looked at it, his assistants looked at it. The VAR suggested he go to the monitor

and look at it.

And the foul ended up endangering the safety of the opponent against whom Balogun had been competing. And I'm trying to kind of make it in as simple

terms as possible, because it was a very simple decision. If you see it, you understand immediately why the referee has chosen to show a red card.

And as far as I am aware, the U.S. men's national team had not appealed against the red card because they accepted it as such. But what it appears

is that the momentum of the U.S. international team was in danger of being threatened, thus you get that higher level lobby, and those people

frustrated at potentially losing their place at the World Cup, and suddenly we have a situation that has caused more problems than solutions.

ASHER: Yeah, especially for Infantino. He's up for re-election, as I understand it, in 2027. So, we'll see what happens on that front too.

Darren Lewis --

LEWIS: Can I just add if I may Zain?

ASHER: Yeah.

LEWSI: You speak about Infantino, there has not only has there been condemnation from the Belgian national team, who say, listen, we are not

talking about our federation or our team, we are talking about the rules, the ethics, the principles of football.

There has been condemnation from the European football governing body, UEFA, who say that FIFA has crossed a red line. There has been condemnation

from the Belgian national team coach, who says I thought today was July 6th and not April 1st, and there will be other head coaches at this World Cup

and around the world, and high-profile players, all of whom will say this is dangerous and grave for world football.

Decisions taken within football must not be discretionary, they must be upheld. And FIFA now no longer can come out and say that they have red

lines, because today has proven that they don't.

ASHER: Yeah, I heard one coach say that they didn't actually believe it. They thought at first it was actually AI, that's how incredulous they were

at this particular reversal. Darren Lewis, live for us there. Thank you so much. We're going to have much more on this story throughout the show.

LEWIS: Thanks Zain.

ASHER: Thank you, Darren. All right; Ukraine is being hammered by deadly Russian strikes for a second time within a week on the eve of a key NATO

Summit in Turkey. The U.S. President plans to attend, Russia's Defense Ministry says it used high-precision, long-range weapons to target the

Ukrainian capital.

Explosions lit up the sky as missiles and drones rained down on the city, and at least 19 people were killed. It comes as Moscow faces an acute fuel

crisis triggered by Ukrainian missile and drone attacks deep inside Russian territory.

[11:10:00]

Ukraine says it hit Russia's largest oil refinery today in a long-range strike. International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson begins our coverage

of this NATO Summit from Ankara, Turkey.

I think one of the things that is quite interesting about this is that the main reason that Donald Trump says that he's attending is because of his

ties and his personal friendship with Erdogan, despite the fact that Turkey has, in the past, been somewhat of a problem child for NATO, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: That's sometimes been an understatement. A lot of people would point to Turkey buying the

Russian-made S400 surface to air missile defense systems to put along their borders and elsewhere in the country.

And that was the fundamental reason why the United States backed off from selling F-35 advanced stealth fighter jets to Turkey, because if it sold

them those fighter jets, then the S400 Russian system could be sort of engineered to spot those aircraft, so it was a no-no. And I think we're

still in that position.

There are other weapon systems that the Turkish President Erdogan would like to get for the United States: jet engines for some of their own

aircraft that they're designing and building, that would be very important. They'd be very happy, President Erdogan would be very happy if he locked in

a deal of that magnitude, dozens of those fighter jet fighter jet engines.

But the broader issues here at the Summit are absolutely going to be having Ukraine front and center. I mean, President Trump's coming in wanting to

make sure that what was agreed at the last NATO Summit in The Hague, this 5 percent of GDP to be spent on defense and security by 2035 that countries

like Poland and the Baltic countries and some of the Nordic countries are already very, very well advanced in doing.

The presidents can be looking at countries like Spain that it's already been critical of that haven't stated a pathway to making that kind of

defense commitment. And the other part of the Ukraine picture is the funding for Ukraine, but also how Europe organizes its defense industrial

complex to sort of produce more efficiently and effectively across all the nations together, not over producing a number of different, let's say, tank

platforms or jet platforms, but have some commonality.

All of that's up for discussion, but the big point tomorrow will be the Defense Investment Fund for Ukraine, and that's hoped President Zelenskyy

hoping that brings in tens of billions of dollars financial commitment, not least of which would love to be spent on missile defense systems this year

and going into next year as well.

ASHER: All right, Nic Robertson, thank you so much. Let's dig deeper with Leslie Vinjamuri, she's the President and CEO of the Chicago Council on

Global Affairs. Leslie, thank you so much for being with us.

I think this summit takes on a huge significance, specifically for Zelenskyy. I mean, obviously we hear time and time again how much Russia

continues to really try to put pressure on the Ukrainians. For President Trump, some of the words that he's used in the sort of recent past has

been, you know, we should somehow find an end to this war.

We should get Russia to knock it off. Obviously, Zelenskyy, at this point, is really looking for America's resolve, not just words here. We know that

Trump spoke on the phone to Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy, as mentioned over the weekend, in honor of July 4th. What does Trump need to do at this point

to really change things, just in terms of ensuring that there is some kind of momentum when it comes to a peace deal here?

LESLIE VINJAMURI, PRESIDENT & CEO, CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: Look, I think that first of all, Russia's attacks, in addition to being deadly

and devastating for the people and for Ukraine are also intended clearly to be very provocative.

The timing there, and with President Trump, it's very difficult to know, as we know now, we've been watching him since 2015, 2016 it's very difficult

to know how he responds to that provocation? He travels to the NATO Summit. He's clearly had a personal fondness for Erdogan, and so that's good for

NATO.

And he's also in the past had a personal fondness for Putin, but having that provocation on the eve of the NATO Summit could lead President Trump

to do what he should do, which is to double down on NATO's demonstration of unity.

I mean, after all, this is a Summit, you know? You could say it's only a Summit, so it really is about signaling, it's about NATO signaling unity,

coherence, and not division. the.

[11:15:00]

And that provocation by Vladimir Putin should be an invitation to President Trump to demonstrate the strength, the resilience, and the commitment of

the of the NATO alliance. Whether he will take that invitation is very difficult to anticipate.

You know, you can imagine a scenario where he pushes hard on Zelenskyy and says, you know, you too have to help to end the war, but let's hope that

that's not what he does. China is watching, Iran is watching. And this comes at a very difficult time for the United States and Europe, where

President Trump feels personally affronted that the Europeans did not step up, you know, immediately to support the U.S. in its war with Iran.

ASHER: Yeah, I mean, you mentioned a few key points, not just the fact that President Trump is sort of angry at European allies for not stepping up

when it comes to the war with Iran. But this idea that one of the main reasons why President Trump has said that he is attending this meeting in

the first place is because of his close ties.

Obviously, he does seem to love strong men, his close ties with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And it comes at a time not just in terms of this

important bilateral relationship between Erdogan and President Trump, but also at a time when the president has repeatedly talked about pulling and

drawing down U.S. forces in Europe and sort of scaling back America's role in NATO. Just talk to us about how all of that changes the dynamics and the

calculations within NATO itself?

VINJAMURI: Well, we've seen across Europe, across NATO's European members, a real push to increase their spending to try to increase the number one, I

think, barrier to Europe being stronger within NATO is that interoperability, that cohesiveness, joint defense procurement, all sorts

of internal mechanisms, in addition to just the raw spending calculation that will allow Europe, a Europeanized NATO, to really cohere.

Now, there are a lot of barriers to that. The UK is certainly one. The fact that it struggled to push up, ramp up that defense spending. I think this

could be a very difficult NATO Summit for prime -- outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer. But you know this is important, signaling this to the

president, while, and here I think is the catch.

Never signaling too much autonomy, or you know, being perceived to be resistant to the U.S. I think for Europe, there's a real sequencing

challenging here. Europe cannot afford for the U.S. to withdraw preemptively, or too quickly, or frankly at all. It needs those strategic

enablers, but in the short term, it just needs the United States to remain committed.

And you know, some people -- people are divided on how they see this moment. Some people see this as a forever change, others see this as a

Trump moment, and many people are somewhere in a third slot. I don't want to say in the middle.

But one way or the other, the short-term issue is to really keep the U.S. on board while allowing Europe to move forward and try to cohere more

internally. These are incredibly difficult challenges. Europe, many European states have done very, very well, but time is not really on the

side of any kind of Transatlantic division it would be, in my view, a grave disaster and should be guarded against.

ASHER: All right. Leslie Vinjamuri. Thank you. Thank you so much for that conversation. Appreciate it. Huge crowds are lining the streets of Tehran,

all in an effort to see the coffin of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The six-day funeral comes more than four months since he was

killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes.

He and his teams on the ground is witnessing an extremely charged atmosphere. Several more, as mourners rather, now vowing revenge. Fred

Pleitgen has a story and reminder that CNN only operates in Iran with the permission of the government there, but maintains full editorial control

over its reports. Take a listen.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is as close as they're going to get to the casting of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah

Ali Khamenei, as well as several of his family members who were killed in that joint U.S.-Israeli airs on February 28th.

As you can see, as we stand here, the atmosphere is extremely charged up. Many of the people here, and it's a big, big crowd, are screaming death to

America. And they're vowing -- both against the United States, as well as President Donald Trump, and of course against Israel as well.

The government has certainly brought out people in force here. They say they expect several -- people to come out on the streets and to witness

this. The casket is now making its way through Tehran to them at some point be brought to other cities at Iraq. Today it is his final resting place

East in Mashhad.

[11:20:00]

ASHER: All right, turning now to Gaza, where Hamas is making a symbolic gesture. On Monday, a spokesperson for the group announced it is willing to

step aside and dissolve its government within Gaza, clearing the way for Palestinian technocratic committee to implement civilian law.

It's a move experts say puts pressure on Israel as a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal remains stalled. Hamas, however, did not mention anything about giving

up its weapons, and there was no immediate comment from Israel, which Hamas has accused of repeatedly violating the ceasefire.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following the story from Jerusalem for us. So, I mean, it does raise, again, as I mentioned, this sort of key issue of

disarmament, which is hugely important for moving into the second phase of the ceasefire. Other than that, this sort of move by Hamas largely does

appear to be symbolic. Jeremy, take us through it.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, what Hamas is trying to do here is to signal its commitment to this

ceasefire agreement, at least as it relates to one part of it, while ignoring the other part, that is, it is making clear that it is willing.

And in fact, taking active steps to transfer civilian governance of the Gaza Strip away from its government and instead into the hands of this

Palestinian technocratic committee, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which sits under the Board of Peace, which was

created by President Trump's administration.

So, this is the most concrete step that Hamas has taken towards that end. It is a step that Nikolay Mladenov, the High Representative for Gaza on the

Board of Peace, said, quote, underscores the importance of bringing road map discussions to a successful conclusion, saying that the sooner that an

agreement is reached, the sooner that that committee for Gaza can actually assume its responsibilities.

But what Hamas is not doing here is it is not yet committing to disarming. It is not yet committing to the demilitarization of Gaza, which is indeed a

fundamental part of that 20-point plan for the Gaza Strip.

And what Hamas is focused on here, it seems, is trying to build out on some of the momentum that we have seen in recent days and weeks with more

pressure building on Israel to A, uphold some of its obligations under this ceasefire agreement, including stopping the near daily strikes that we've

seen in Gaza, and the full entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

We've also lately seen some pressure coming from the United States and the Board of Peace behind the scenes very quietly, but pressure nonetheless for

Israel to allow for the entry of the international stabilization force and the transfer of some Palestinians from the Hamas-controlled side to the

Israeli-occupied side, where Israeli troops would then need to withdraw and allow for that international stabilization force to take over.

Ultimately, Israel is making clear that it's demanding the disarmament of Hamas before the next phases of this agreement can indeed move forward. And

while there have been multiple rounds of negotiations in the Egyptian Capital of Cairo over the course of the last several months, so far there

doesn't seem to be a pathway to overcoming the disagreement on that front.

And the Board of Peace itself, of course, has struggled with funding in order to actually make a lot of these plans a reality. So, we'll continue

to track this issue, but for now this is a very symbolic move by on Hamas' part, but one that's not necessarily going to change much on the ground, at

least not immediately.

ASHER: All right, Jeremy Diamond, live for us. Thank you so much. We'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:25:00]

ASHER: All right, the man accused of killing Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk is in court right now in the U.S. State of Utah. The preliminary

hearing allows a judge to determine whether there is probable cause to support the charges. Charlie Kirk, the Firebrand Co-Founder of Student

Organization Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck back in September as he spoke at political event.

Our Nick Watt is outside the courthouse for us. So, we're going to see a significant sort of presentation of the evidence, and the decision will be

made whether or not this can move forward to a trial. As I understand it, his family, including his widow and his parents, are also in attendance

today, Nick?

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are in the courtroom, and so is Tyler Robinson, the now 23-year-old man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk,

just a couple of miles away from here on the campus of UVU. He was giving a speech, about 3000 people were watching. He was shot once in the neck,

prosecutors say, by Tyler Robinson.

Now, as you say, this is a preliminary hearing. It's going to look a bit like a trial. There will be witnesses, cross-examination, but it's not a

trial. It's basically the prosecution trying to establish probable cause to allow the judge to say, yep, there's enough here, we should move forward

with the trial.

So, that is what's happening. It's going to last all week we're told. Erika Kirk's parents are going to be here the whole time. They have said that

they're not going to speak to the media, but they did give us a little statement that says Charlie was a beloved husband, son, brother, friend,

and father. Every court appearance is a painful reminder of his death.

Now, one of the key pieces of evidence that the prosecution, we believe, will present is a videotaped deposition of Tyler Robinson's roommate slash

romantic partner. Now, after the killing, there was apparently an exchange, a message exchange between Tyler Robinson and this person, with the person

saying, you weren't the one who did it, right? And Tyler Robinson replying, I am, I'm sorry, explaining I had enough of his hatred.

So that is one of the pieces of evidence that will be presented. They're not going to present everything they've got. They'll hold something back.

They just need to present enough to convince this judge that there is enough to move forward with this prosecution, with this case.

We're going to hear from law enforcement officers put up by the state. The first witness is going to be a campus cop, a former campus cop. And from

the defense side they are going to put up three forensic experts to try and poke holes in the forensic case. There is going to be a camera in court,

that was a huge bone of contention.

The prosecution said they wanted a camera, so that conspiracies don't lurk in the shadows. The defense said, we don't want a camera, we don't want

this to become reality TV. There is going to be a camera. They were just arguing this morning about placement of that camera and monitors. It's a

big deal.

So, by the end of this week, maybe into next, we will hear if this trial goes forward. The case of Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old man accused of

assassinating Charlie Kirk. Back to you.

ASHER: Nick Watt, thank you so much for that report. All right, still to come, the red card scene around the world. We'll have more on this World

Cup controversy after the short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

ASHER: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are the international headlines we're watching for you today. Ukraine's Capital

came under a deadly Russian attack overnight ahead of a critical NATO Summit in Turkey, where U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet

with Ukrainian Leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Officials in Kyiv say at least 19 people in the city and the surrounding area have been killed.

Earlier, Tehran, seeing its largest funeral crowds yet, hundreds of thousands of people packing the streets in an effort to see the coffin of

late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It's been more than four months since he was killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes.

And extreme heat and wildfires are creating dangerous conditions across Europe, with firefighters tackling blazes in Spain and France. 10,000

people in Southwest France had to leave their homes evacuated as fires spread.

All right, more now on our top story. Last hour, President Trump said he asked the Head of FIFA to allow U.S. Striker Folarin Balogun to play in the

match against Belgium, which starts in a little over eight hours from now. Balogun got a red card in the game against Bosnia, and FIFA lifted his

suspension on Sunday. Now, Belgium has appealed that decision.

Let's bring in Coy Wire live from Seattle, Washington, where the game will be played. I mean, listen, you know whether or not Folarin should have been

given a red card in the first place, that's a different conversation.

I think what a lot of people are really upset by is just the fact that you have the U.S. President calling his buddy Infantino and essentially getting

Infantino to change the rules. Some people would even say rig the system in favor of the United States, and for a lot of people that is simply not on.

Walk us through it, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, a lot of people, other than those wearing red, white, and blue right Zain, there are got to be pretty happy, however,

this happened that it happened when this news broke less than 48 hours before kickoff that FIFA overturned Folarin Balogun's red card suspension.

[11:35:00]

Jaws dropped. Translation: America got its hottest striker back. It's the first time in World Cup history for the men that this sort of suspension

has been reversed during the tournament. The U.S. celebrating the decision. Belgium, let's just say they're not exactly sending FIFA any thank you

cards. Here's what the coaches have to say about the whole ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAURICIO POCHETTINO, USA COACH: I think we celebrate all that decision. We were punished enough against Bosnia and Herzegovina to play with 10 men,

99.9 percent that we all, you know, agree that was an unfair red car.

RUDI GARCIA, BELGIUM COACH: I didn't realize that at FIFA Headquarters, July 5th was the equivalent of April 1st in Europe. That was news to me.

The Belgian Football Association isn't defending itself. It's defending football in general, the integrity and ethics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right, so what does all this mean for the U.S.? Folarin Balogun is a game changer, leading the U.S. with three goals this World Cup.

Suddenly, the conversation isn't about Captain America Christian Pulisic, it's about Captain Chaos. Balogun has become the nightmare the defenders

can't wake up from the U.S. attack is simply at another gear when he's on the field.

Now comes their biggest mountain to climb yet. The Americans are chasing just their third ever World Cup quarterfinal, first in nearly a quarter

century. Standing in the way is Belgium, led by the magician Kevin De Bruyne, the battering ram Romelu Lukaku, and lightning-fast Jeremy Doku,

one of the tournament's most dangerous wingers.

They are unbeaten in the last 15 months. They beat the U.S. in Atlanta 5-2 back in March. Now they clearly have a chip on their shoulders. This

Belgian squad's base camp has been right here in Seattle this entire tournament, so they have some experience here. There's one thing they

haven't experienced yet; that's 70,000 Americans.

This field has become a fortress for the U.S. men's national team. They are 7-0 here. And the Americans have scored first in every match this World

Cup. If they do it again tonight, Zain, they may register something on the Richter scale. I played in a couple games here during my NFL years.

And I can just say it is one of the loudest places you will ever experience in your life. And as a player, you don't like going to play on the road,

but you kind of liked coming here just to experience it. It's so unique. The stage is set, the crowd ready to erupt like popcorn in a microwave. We

get Monday Night Football team Zain, footy style in Seattle. Bring it on.

ASHER: I'm excited to watch as well, maybe not as excited as you are, but I'm definitely excited. Coy wire live for us there. Thank you so much. All

right; CNN's Stephen Collinson joins us live now to talk about all this controversy. Joining us from Washington.

So obviously, Stephen Gianni Infantino has spent years courting Donald Trump, just really trying to cozy up to him, trying to become his friend,

and now we're seeing those efforts in a way backfire. I'm sure when you -- when Infantino sort of thinks about all the different phone calls he

expected to get from Donald Trump as a result of this friendship, this was certainly not one of them. Just take us into this particular friendship and

how this might hurt Infantino in the long and short run?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Gianni Infantino is an enormously powerful figure in global soccer. He's almost acting as if he

is a head of state, even though he's only the head of the world's most popular game. He has established a very close relationship with Trump over

two terms.

I think that was partly instrumental in Trump being so interested in this World Cup finals. You'll remember that Infantino created this FIFA Peace

Prize for the president after he failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize that he wasn't awarded, that he'd very much like to win, that raised a lot of

eyebrows.

And of course, Infantino has often been close to Trump. He's been seen around the Oval Office. He even showed up to the Gaza Peace Summit earlier

this year. And he was at Trump's second inauguration and said, we're not just going to make America great again, we're going to make the world great

again.

So, a lot of Infantino's critics believe that he had crossed the line into political support for the president, rather than doing what he says he must

do, which is establish a close relationship with the host leaders of World Cup finals. So that's where the political controversy started.

So, when this is layered over the top, and then you have this extraordinary spectacle of the president coming out this morning and saying, yeah, I gave

Gianni a call because I didn't think it was a foul. Well, that calls into question the entire integrity of the tournament, because if you could get

heads of state just phoning up and changing FIFA's rules, whether the sending off was merited or not. I mean, that just, you know, questions the

competitive balance of the World Cup finals themselves.

[11:40:00]

ASHER: Yeah, and obviously, I mean, the argument that everybody has been making is the sort of slippery slope argument. I mean, you talked in your

piece about this idea of Trump not seeing rules as an impediment, and obviously, over the course of, you know we've gotten to know Trump

politically over the course of the past 10 years and clearly, he has a mindset that rules don't apply to him.

But having him call up Infantino and sort of persuading him to have a similar type of mindset is really what has shocked a lot of people here.

So, just in terms of how this sort of backfire, even on, I mean, I was speaking to someone earlier in the show about this, just even in terms of

Team USA's reputation, even if they do wonderfully tonight, there is always going to be this stain, this cloud over them.

COLLINSON: Yeah, and it's a shame, because I think the U.S. team has got a lot of exciting players, and it has impressed a lot of people in this World

Cup. And there's going to be great pressure on them now because of this political intervention. I think it was quite possible they would have won

against Belgium without Balogun, but now there's going to be extraordinary scrutiny on this match.

And it's also a shame, I think, that this has been a World Cup which has been a moment of joy, really, in the United States at a time of great

political fracturing. I think it's shown an image of the United States that's been very different from what a lot of people abroad have seen over

the last few years.

And it would be a real shame if this taints it and takes away from the broader moment that this World Cup has created. That said there's all sorts

of, you know, amazing deeds on the pitch, which ultimately World Cups are remembered for. But I do think, however, this plays out, and you, I think,

must start to question how this impacts Gianni Infantino's future, despite the fact that he's a hugely powerful figure within FIFA.

There was a statement from UEFA, which is the governing body of European Football, which was exceedingly scathing. Now, FIFA and UEFA have had their

differences, but if that is an example of what the rest of the world in the football community is thinking, there's going to be some repair work for

Infantino to do after this World Cup.

And I think there's even the risk that he could lose control of this World Cup now, because other countries who get players suspended or who have

yellow cards and red cards against their players, what's to stop them demanding that that be rescinded because of the precedent that was created

by Donald Trump. So, an extraordinary political twist to what's already been a compelling World Cup.

ASHER: But and psychologically, explain this to me, Stephen, in that moment when Infantino gets that call from Donald Trump, why did he feel that he

could not say no? Because that, I mean, just the willingness to do the wrong thing when the pressure is on you is something that I'm interested in

here.

Because you know, Trump oscillates between, you know, putting pressure on you, intimidating you, praising you, being somewhat unpredictable. Why did

Infantino feel that he could not say no?

COLLINSON: Yeah, and this is something I think that's a question you often think, when Donald Trump, who, you know, let's put it nicely, is somewhat

of a divisive figure. The way that he gets people to do what he wants, the way people join his administration for example, the United States, and

sometimes leave with their reputations that aren't at all enhanced.

There's some kind of almost magnetic power that Trump has, the wielding of power that enables him to do this. It's almost, I guess, it's a lifetime of

Wheeler dealing and understanding what pressure points to put on. I think it would have been one thing if FIFA had come out and done this.

The fact that Trump then came out today and said yes, I was instrumental in this, and FIFA didn't really explain in its statement yesterday why the

suspension was lifted, it didn't actually rescind the red card for the foul that Balogun committed that earned him the sending off, but it said that

the suspension now had been lifted pending any further foul play by Balogun.

So that is a very strange and intricate insider moment. And I don't think we really understand what happened in that moment between Trump and

Infantino? And why FIFA decided to do this? And whether they'd really considered the implications for the rest of the tournament?

ASHER: Yeah, because you know, I'm sure that just like a lot of people, you sort of fear what might happen to you, your reputation, your career? What

he might say about you if you say no? And that fear is what got Gianni over the line. Stephen Collinson live for us there. Thank you so much.

All right, coming up, the response is transitioning from live rescue to recovery in Venezuela. There's nearly two weeks after devastating twin

earthquakes. We'll have that story after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

ASHER: All right, Venezuela's Interim President is defending her country's emergency response to the twin earthquake disaster as the death toll rises.

Delcy Rodriguez says that thousands of rescue teams have been deployed to help find survivors following the quakes nearly two weeks ago.

More than 3300 people have been confirmed dead, and thousands are displaced, with many sleeping on the streets. Stefano Pozzebon shows us how

survivors are trying to move on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Zo Santander (ph) has not seen her son in 10 days. They were separated in the twin quakes that shook

Venezuela on June 24th. But her nine-year-old Xavier was trapped under the rubble. Four days later, she saw a video of a child being rescued at night.

She believes it was her son, but in the chaos that followed, she hasn't been able to find him. She's not going to rest, but from here there is

little she can do.

POZZEBON: This used to be a golf course. La Guaira was a tourist hotspot by the Caribbean Sea, and so here is where tourists will come and play golf

and relax. Now, of course, it's a tent city for hundreds of displaced, many of whom actually used to live there in those blocks, and every day they

wake up and they see their homes and flats broken down by the brutality of the earthquakes.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Sheyna Ceballos is also looking for a loved one. She's lost hope of finding her mother alive, but will not leave the golf

course until she recovers her remains.

SHEYNA CEBALLOS, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: If I had the money, I'd dig her out, but I have none.

POZZEBON: This is what's left of Sheyna's home and entire life shattered in an instant. Now, like her, thousands of Venezuelans are only beginning to

grasp the magnitude of this catastrophe.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Before this tragedy, Venezuela was already in a deep humanitarian crisis, facing chronic shortages of food and medicines. World

Central Kitchen has been operating here since 2019. In response to the earthquake, they have stepped up with free meals for survivors and

volunteers.

POZZEBON: Can you describe a moment that Venezuela is right now when it's been ten days since the earthquake?

MIGUEL TORTOSA, COMMUNICATIONS RESPONSE MANAGER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: The numbers keep increasing, and we are still on the first phase of the

operation. I would say this is still the emergency phase, and our teams are still like finding the exact numbers.

[11:50:00]

So, we can get the amount of meals needed to cover all the needs.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Survivors and relatives of the victims have criticized the government response as inadequate and delayed many points to

the armed forces, who they say showed up too late or didn't do enough.

DELCY RODRIGUEZ, ACTING VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT: Our officials were deployed immediately. You can count the hours between the quakes and when we signed

the emergency decree. There were 4000 officials out in the first 24 hours, 10,000 officials the following day.

POZZEBON (voice-over): The government also laying out credit agreements with the International Monetary Fund, and plans to begin the

reconstruction, but at the golf course in La Guaira, the present is too dark to look ahead.

CEBALLOS: Now I just want to find her remains. To think about the future makes no sense.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, La Guaira, Venezuela.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right, Britain's Prince Harry will be traveling to London this week to carry out several charity engagements, but he will be -- he'll not

be staying at Buckingham Palace. A Royal Source told CNN the Duke of Sussex replied too late to King Charles's offer of royal accommodation by the

required deadline. His wife, Meghan, and their two children will not be joining him either. CNN's Anna Cooban has more details.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONIMICS REPORTER: Well, there is just a lot of confusion around this, so in order to understand it, we really have to

go back to 2020 when Harry and Meghan decided, controversially, to step back from royal duties.

Now what that automatically meant was they were not eligible for taxpayer funded police protection. But Prince Harry has made it extremely clear that

he will not bring his wife and two children to the UK, where he says they get multiple threats that compromise their security. He will not do that

without proper protection.

Now, CNN has learned that his private security detail are trying to see if they can make this trip work. And they want to make it work, because this

would be the first time in four years that the Archie Liebert would come to the UK with Meghan and potentially see other members of the Royal Family.

Now, there are some big question marks around this. Will they join him outside of London? We've, you know, know that he'll be doing engagements

around the UK, one in the second city of Birmingham, to really foreshadow Invictus Games next year. And the second question is, where will they stay?

[11:55:00]

So, CNN has learned that they were going to stay at both a private residence and a royal residence, the second of which they would

automatically receive police protection.

But now that now that's all thrown into doubt, and there was further confusion sowed when Buckingham Palace clarified that an invitation by King

Charles to stay at a royal residence has not been accepted by Prince Harry, so big question marks over this, but I suppose we'll find out not in the

not-too-distant future.

ASHER: Anna Cooban reporting there. All right, the largest active volcano in Europe has been erupting. The Italian Department of Civil Protection

issued a red alert as Sicily's Mount Etna emitted large clouds of ashes on Sunday.

The volcano has been active for nine days straight. Lava flow first moved downhill, accompanied by volcanic tremors, back on June 26th. All right,

stay with CNN. My colleague and friend, Bianna Golodryga, will join you for more "One World" after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END