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One World with Zain Asher

Iran Accuses U.S. of Committing a "Blatant War Crime"; Ukraine Ramps Up Pressure on Russian-Held Crimea; Democrats Scrambling to Replace Platner in Maine Senate Race; Farage to Face Trash Can in UK Election for his Own Seat; Kane, England Clash with Haaland, Norway Saturday in Miami. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired July 09, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching "One World". Iran

prepares to bury its slain Supreme Leader as Tehran and Washington trade a fresh round of strikes and counter strikes.

We begin with the intensifying conflict. This video, just in from Iran, shows explosions along Iran's coastline Thursday. Iran's state news agency

says the U.S. struck several locations, including the perimeter of the Bushehr Nuclear Plant. The U.S. has not commented yet about Thursday's

daylight attacks, but says that it hit some 90 Iranian military targets overnight.

Now, for its part, Iran says that it targeted American facilities in Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain and fired 10 ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in

Jordan. All of this as massive crowds throng the streets of Mashhad to build a final farewell to late Leader Ali Khamenei. He will be buried in

the city where he was born later today. CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now from the White House.

Alayna, we haven't heard yet from the president publicly, or at least on "Truth Social", following a lot of vitriol that we heard yesterday when he

was coming back from the NATO Summit there in Turkey, all but saying this deal is off, calling the leaders there in Iran cuckoo. What is the latest,

and is there any response we can expect in the coming hours?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I am sure we will be hearing from the president at some point today. He did land really late last night,

or I should say, really early this morning, in the hours after midnight, and so I think he's taken some time for himself and that residence behind

me, Bianna.

But look, you're exactly right, I mean, there's been so much tense rhetoric coming from the president aimed at Iranian Leaders in recent days, and of

course, following that up with that second round of strikes on these Iranian targets yesterday, all of them specifically targeting coastal

cities, areas along the Strait of Hormuz.

One thing I do want to be clear on is that so far these strikes have really been geared toward the Strait. The message being from the United States,

from the military, CENTCOM, et cetera, being that these are really in response to what they argue is not the free and open traffic within the

Strait of Hormuz, responding to different Iranian attacks on Monday.

I do want to bring you behind the scenes, though, of some of the things I've been hearing, Bianna, in my conversations with officials, that gives

you a little bit more context into where Trump's mind is on all of this. One, I was told that he is incredibly frustrated that the Strait is not

reopened to its full capacity.

I'd remind you that, and when you look at the text of that memorandum of understanding that was signed just a couple weeks ago around the

president's last foreign trip, around the G7 Summit, one of the key lines in there is about the reopening free traffic in the Strait, and so that's

something that's been really bothering the president.

You can kind of see that in his comments in Turkey, when it was spilling over that anger into public view. The other thing I was told is that he was

really irked by the timing of the Iranian strikes on vessels in the Strait, because they came when he was at the NATO Summit, when he was meeting with

foreign leaders on the global stage.

Often, of course, the president likes to go to these international gatherings and have a victory to tout. This kind of took away from some of

that. The third thing I was told is that he's also been losing patience with the pace of negotiations between Washington and Tehran, specifically

this idea that Iran is slow walking U.S. negotiators when it comes to nuclear talks. So, all of this kind of creating a perfect storm around what

we are seeing play out on the ground.

As for what the fate, though, of this ceasefire is, you're right to mention that the president did say yesterday he believes that the ceasefire is

over, however, in a different breath, and in the same day, just a couple hours apart, he argued that he's not sure what the future looks like.

He was not willing to say that there would be an all-out return, or a return to all-out war with Iran, but he also said a lot of this is going to

be up to some of the negotiators, people like Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, the Vice President, those who have been engaging with the mediators and

Iranians directly what they want to decide here.

And I think all to say to break it down in my conversations with officials here in Washington, they really are unsure where the president's mind is

here? And what this means about the future goals of trying to get some sort of long-term peace agreement?

[11:05:00]

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, in addition to the kinetic strikes. We should note that, following the targeting and the hitting there of those ships passing

through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, the United States reinstated sanctions on Iran over the sale of their oil, as well escalating

from an economic standpoint too Alayna Treene, thank you, as always.

Well, there are at least 20 U.S. warships patrolling the waters across the Middle East. Among them is the USS Abraham Lincoln. Pamela Brown is on

board the aircraft carrier and filed this report a short time ago.

PAMELA BROWN, CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT & ANCHOR: The stakes are raised. They have been in this conflict, and engaged in some way for five

and a half months now, or been ready to jump back in to go to war. I can tell you today, given the fact that there were overnight strikes on Iran to

see loud -- taking on a new meaning.

I asked the Admiral, who oversees the ship, as well as the destroyers, if there is a heightened threat alert. He said, look, you know we are always

looking for threats, and he didn't necessarily say that there was a heightened threat alert, but I do think it is notable that you have the

destroyer here coming close to the ship in this moment of high intensity, right?

You had the ceasefire, things calm down. There was the funeral in Iran, where there was a pause in the negotiations, and these last few days have

really changed the calculus. And so, we'll have to wait and see if there will be more strikes.

We know that the two aircraft carriers are capable of that, as well as these destroyers that we know have been used since the beginning of the

war, with those Tomahawk missiles targeting land targets in Iran, but also that destroyer right there, among several others, it has intercepted

ballistic missiles and drones that were directly targeting the Abraham Lincoln.

This ship I'm on right now is considered a high-value target, and that destroyer right there -- that destroyer right there has intercepted

multiple threats from Iran, with Iran trying to hit this ship. Now, also, it's worth noting that part of Iran's military strategy has been this sort

of cost imbalance with these cheap drones and the military using more expensive ballistic missiles and other ways of taking it down.

I'm told that they're trying to evolve and use cheaper weapons, but it's a very active dynamic environment out here.

GOLODRYGA: Pamela Brown on the USS Abraham Lincoln there. Turning now to the war in Ukraine, where attacks on logistics and energy infrastructure in

Crimea are intensifying. Ukraine's military says that its drones hit a dozen more Russian tankers in the Sea of Azov overnight.

An official says the Russian vessels were used to supply fuel to Russia's military and transport oil and petrol. Ukraine says 36 vessels have now

been targeted in this sea and the Black Sea in four days. For so many years, a prime tourist destination, Crimea has been occupied by Russia

since 2014 and is now under a state of emergency.

Fuel is in short supply, and power outages have become part of a daily life. Ukraine's escalated strikes are part of a carefully calculated

operation, as Nick Paton Walsh explains what Ukraine wants to accomplish here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERANTIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ukraine is hitting Russia hard, where it all began: occupied Crimea, taken

first in 2014 it is a peninsula, and that makes it very vulnerable to being cut off. There are two ways, in or out. First is the Kerch Bridge, which

Ukraine has been hitting for years, and it's now beset by queues of thousands of anxious Russians trying to get out.

Second is the land bridge through occupied Ukraine. Many saw this as a big strategic gain from Russia's invasion in 2022 a way to cheaply and

permanently connect Russia to this tourist mecca, the jewel of the Soviet past.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coast of the Crimean Peninsula, a national resort.

WALSH (voice-over): Ukraine's 2023 counter offensive tried to break through here, but failed, hitting huge Russian defenses. Now they're flying over

them, new mid-range Ukrainian drone capability striking the road along the land bridge and Crimea's air defenses, leaving it vulnerable, and then the

actual bridges to Crimea, and the Russian trains, and the roads.

Now they're hitting ordinary infrastructure, refineries, power stations, meaning power cuts in the cities. Queues at gas stations, thick black smoke

on the skyline, so yet more Russians are leaving. Zelenskyy recently claimed that Russia has had to prioritize air defenses in Crimea and around

Moscow as well.

[11:10:00]

Putin has recently accepted economic challenges and indeed gas shortages as Ukraine's drone strikes increasingly cause chaos in ordinary Russian life.

So, what's the goal here? Make Crimea hard to live in, a place without tourists, gas, power, affordable food, and the land bridge to it, already

itself a tough place to live in, seems less worth the cost.

And this is the wider point for Kyiv, seize on the growing questions inside Russia as to what the war is even for. If Crimea is effectively

uninhabitable, and the only gains they can claim are tiny bit of land, usually rubble, in the Donbas, turn Crimea from a jewel in Putin's crown to

leverage for Ukraine, perhaps in any future peace talks, or even into a damaging thorn in Putin's side. He tries to navigate growing dissent about

his war of choice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: To U.S. politics now, scandal plagued Progressive Democrat Graham Platner announced Wednesday night that he was dropping out of the

Maine Senate race. Platner's campaign fell apart earlier this week when an ex-girlfriend accused him of rape. He calls the allegation totally false.

His departure gives Democrats less than three weeks to find a candidate to take on Senator Susan Collins in the midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER, FORMER MAINE DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE: Now the ball is in the court of the Democratic establishment. My name might be on the

ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine, and on November 3rd it needs to belong to the people of Maine, and the next

Democratic Senator for Maine needs to belong to the people of Maine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: With more on all this, let's bring in CNN's Jeff Zeleny. And Jeff, that was a lengthy video that Platner posted, that screed where there

was a lot of anger, not much self-reflection, or even accountability, I would argue, in terms of what happened here and what led up to his

campaign's ultimate implosion. So, what happens next?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, it was pretty extraordinary for 11 minutes, Graham Platner went on talking about

how he denied the allegations, which, of course, is something his campaign has been saying? But he did not go on to sound contrite about the situation

that he has put Maine Democrats in at all.

He offered remarkable amounts of blame to the establishment, to the media, and others. And then, on the way out the door, he did not try to heal the

divide and talk about how Democrats should come together for the ultimate goal of defeating Susan Collins. He, in effect, poured gasoline on this

divide inside the Democratic Party, making it perhaps very difficult for whoever comes after him.

But that is now where the Maine Democratic Party finds itself. They have 18 days to find a new nominee. Sounds like a lot of time. It sounds easy, but

there are six candidates at least who have gotten in so far, and there may be more by then. The process is going to be about 600 Mainers, 600 Maine

voters.

Democrats will be coming together in some type of a mini convention, if you will, to certainly hear from the candidates and decide who the nominee

should be? But it's unclear after that just exactly how that will go? If it will be several rounds? If it will be after a debate? Some of the

candidates are saying there should be a televised debate between now and then.

One thing we do know is Maine law requires Democrats to put forward a new nominee by 05:00 p.m. on July 27th. So, who are some of these candidates?

Well, a lot of them come from the ranks of Democrats who ran for governor in the primary just last month and fell short there.

One is Nirav Shah, he just announced this morning. And he's not a household name outside of Maine, but in Maine he absolutely is. He was actually the

top vote getter in the Maine primary on the first round of voting. And he really came to prominence during the pandemic back in 2020, 2021.

He was the Head of the Maine Public Health Department and he gave these daily televised briefings that often-had music to them and often were kind

of funny. So, Nirav Shah is one of the top candidates. The Former Maine Senate President is also one of the top candidates. He's supported by

Bernie Sanders' group.

Troy Jackson is his name. Shenna Bellows is the Secretary of State. She's also thrown her hat into the ring. She also ran for governor. So, look,

Maine voters will decide who this is, but all the while Susan Collins, a Senate Republican running for her sixth term has been watching all of this.

And certainly, seeing the Democrats implode, but people will point out that she certainly has a tough race as well. So, if a Democrat can be picked,

Maine is still a very important Senate race. There's no doubt about it. Democrats really have a hard time winning control Senate without it. But

boy, a huge mess. And Graham Platner, yes, he's out of the race, but seemingly did not make it any easier for his party in doing so.

[11:15:00]

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, he's not leaving quietly, and it's so important to note that these red flags were there for many months, probably over a year now,

in terms of what happened with the vetting? What people chose not to focus on? A lot of questions remain for these strategists, and for those on his

team. Again, zero self-reflection in that video.

ZELENY: And most of those strategists are from outside of Maine. They probably will not be involved in this race going forward. That is one thing

that is fairly clear.

GOLODRYGA: Exactly, Jeff Zeleny in Washington for us. Thank you. You'll be following it all.

ZELENY: My pleasure.

GOLODRYGA: Well, a former Olympic canoeist has pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC last week.

David Hearn was indicted on one count of destruction of property of more than $1,000. His attorney called the government's evidence week.

All right coming up for us, welcome to the highly anticipated quarter finals. It was lonely yesterday without a game. They're back today. Details

ahead of today's France-Morocco match, and why this moment could feel like deja vu?

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GOLODRYGA: Well, nominations have opened for the Labour Party's next Leader and Prime Minister. Andy Burnham, who was the only declared candidate when

Labour MPs began voting today, says he nominated himself. Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned last month under increasing pressure from his own

party.

Now, if Burnham gets 322 nominations, he will face no other challengers. And to another UK election, Nigel Farage, Leader of the right-wing populist

party Reform UK, triggered an election for his own parliamentary seat this week when he resigned as a lawmaker. It was an attempt to address

allegations of undeclared financial donations. But rival parties have dubbed his actions a stunt and pulled out of the race. As for voters,

they're divided.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, he'll walk. It doesn't matter; he'll walk it. Yeah, this time I might actually vote for him, because if he's not broken any

rules, or he's just people trying to dig up dirt on him, then yeah, he's got a right to complain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't understand how he's ever got into politics for - - anyway? He does nothing for this town at all. You cannot even go and see it now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, Nigel Farage has resigned, which I just can't understand at all. And he's putting another by-election to get him back in

again. So, this is what I can't understand, and there's no one opposed him, sort of thing, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Well, one person will be opposing him. In fact, Farage's main opponent is this man, Count Binface, a comedian who wears a trash can. It

is hard to believe that there are only 10 days to go until the World Cup final.

[11:20:00]

This has been so fun to watch. In less than five hours, the first quarterfinals match gets underway in Boston. Today France will have to get

past Morocco, looking for history to repeat itself from four years ago, when they beat Morocco in the 2022 World Cup semifinals.

For the latest on the excitement in Boston, let's bring in Patrick Snell. Patrick, hopefully you got some rest yesterday, got to sleep early. It was

weird without any football to watch, but this is a big one today.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, Bianna. Yeah, what were we all doing yesterday for the first day in 27 days --

GOLODRYGA: We -- yes.

SNELL: Don't worry, I've plenty to keep myself busy. But it's an exciting day. We're down to the real business end of the tournament, this FIFA World

Cup. Just hours away now from the first quarter final in Boston. As you say, France taking on Morocco, but let's see the big picture. First of all,

let's see how they all stack up.

We're down to just eight teams now at this World Cup, as we go to that pilot and the graphic of the quarter finals. There we go, France, Morocco,

we've got Spain, Belgium on the left-hand side, as I look at it of the draw, and then you've got Norway, England on Saturday, Argentina,

Switzerland on Saturday as well.

Argentina hoping to make it back-to-back titles. But Morocco what a story line they were four years ago when they got to the Semifinals, becoming the

first African nation to achieve that, and what a historic accomplishment that was? On that occasion, they lost to guess who, today's opponent,

France.

So, while it's being officially denied that this is a revenge mission, you can be sure that this is very much a motivating factor. I will say, though,

they're up against a stacked French team, four of superstars like Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue to name just but three off the top

of my head.

France also looking to make it a third straight World Cup final, which is itself utterly remarkable as they look to add to their triumphs of 1998

when they hosted on home soil and 2018 when they triumphed in Russia. But again, they're up against opponents who really do believe in themselves.

Let's hear now from Morocco's Head Coach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMED OUAHBI, MOROCCO COACH: When people say the tournament has already been a success for us, my answer remains the same. You can only draw

conclusions at the end of it all. I will never be satisfied with something when I think we could have achieved more.

We aren't going to listen to the people telling us you've already done it brilliantly. It's no big deal if we lose. France are the favorites or

anything like that. We want to win, and we're going to do everything we can to win, and that's that.

DIDIER DESCHAMPS, FRANCE COACH: Morocco, for those who are not familiar with them, already stepped up. We met them four years ago in Doha in the

Semifinals. They also made it to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, so they are among the very best teams with very good players. They are not

here by accident.

It is a matchup between two teams that like to have the ball, that like to attack, that like to score goals. You will need to perform very well

tomorrow, because this Morocco team has very high quality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: All right certainly, an emotional occasion for Deschamps, his last World Cup in charge of France, that much we do know. He's stepping down.

But look at these scenes here from these are Morocco fans from Boston, this from Wednesday evening. And they are just having one big party, even ahead

of kickoff.

Imagine Bianna, what it's going to be like if they do go on to get the win? But as I say, it's going to be really, really tough. More history is at

stake for the national team of Morocco. They really are hoping to build on their triumph, as I say, from four years ago.

But it's going to be tough, because you've got the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Harland, who's involved in that game for Norway against England.

They're both on seven goals for this tournament, hoping to win the golden boot for the tournament's top scorer there one behind, you know who that

would be, Lionel Messi, who is on eight currently. Back to you.

GOLODRYGA: And Messi, what, playing Sunday, you said?

SNELL: They're on Saturday, Argentina in action on Saturday.

GOLODRYGA: Saturday.

SNELL: Yes, they're taking on Switzerland, a really good point around the Swiss. They're through to their second ever quarterfinal appearance. So,

the Swiss, since the first time since the 1950s. So, the Swiss hoping to make their own special piece of history. Well, as we look in on the draw.

And of course, my nation, and let me indulge just for a few seconds, please. My country, England, haven't won this tournament since 1966 led by

superstar striker Harry Kane. England hoping to try and put an end to six decades of drought. Won't be easy, though I will say against the

Norwegians, led by a certain Erling Harland, as well. So, we'll see how that pans out. Back to you.

GOLODRYGA: Kane, Mbappe, Holland, all of the -- and Messi big weekend for these superstar teams and players. Patrick Snell, thank you.

[11:25:00]

Well, Dutch Artist Vim T. Schippers is known for his uniquely outrageous sculptures and installations. So, it's no surprise a Rotterdam Museum's

tribute to the artist is equally as unique and outrageous, the peanut butter floor. Before he died last month at the age of 83 he and the museum

collaborated on the installation, including his meticulous instructions on how to execute it.

Peanut Butter must be easily spreadable. The spread can be in any shape, but there must be no chunks. I'm sure he'd be very proud of the final

product. All right, do stay with CNN. There's more "One World" in about 30 minutes time, but "CNN Creators" coming up next.

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