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Remembering Jimmy Carter's Legacy; Exciting World Cup Action Continues; Taylor Swift's Wedding Expected Today. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 03, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:31:49]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now: The couple who scaled the spire of the Empire State Building are out on court supervision after being arrested and arraigned for their death-defying stunt.

And we're learning some new details about how they pulled it off. Authorities say the pair hid in the observatory before it closed. Then, in the early dawn hours, they popped through a hatch, cut through locks, and ascended to the top of the spire. They're now facing felony charges of burglary, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief.

And, in Monaco, police say the main suspect in the bomb attack that wounded a Ukrainian businessman is a 39-year-old Ukrainian woman who disguised herself as a man. The bomb exploded at the entrance of a luxury apartment building, and investigators say its sophistication suggests that multiple people were involved.

And a scary moment for some performers for Fourth of July events here in D.C. when part of the stage fell while dancers were rehearsing. You can see some of them right here ducking out of the way. A spokesperson for Freedom 250 told CNN that everyone is safe and additional safeguards are now in place -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And today is reportedly the big day for pop superstar Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce. The two are widely expected to be getting married this evening at New York's Madison Square Garden following what's been described as a private rehearsal dinner at the facility last night.

Security and privacy protections around the Madison Square Garden are extremely high, offering fans little hope of catching any rogue glimpses of the couple or their expected 1,000 wedding guests.

Our Brynn Gingras is outside the Garden, is joining us right now.

What are you seeing, Brynn?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, as we're seeing it get closer to the hour when these 1,000 guests arrive, we're seeing more security measures really being put in place and more signs of a big party that's about to happen.

We're seeing barriers put up. We're actually across the street from where all this is happening, so that's why I'm sort of pointing this way. But we're seeing large barriers be put up. A giant, long tent with chandeliers hanging from it, one that cars could drive into should guests need to be dropped off without paparazzi photos being taken of them, that has been erected since this morning.

We're seeing a lot of streets being shut down around Madison Square Garden, cars that were parked on the side of the street being towed or pushed away by police officers. So there's a lot going on even several hours from the start of this event.

And what we're hearing is the reports are this event will begin around 4:30 or so this afternoon, with the wedding allegedly taking place around 5:30 or so on the arena floor of Madison Square Garden, which reports are has been transformed into a garden party.

And, of course, after that, as any good wedding would have, we suspect some dinner and dancing, which will go into the early morning hours. As you guys mentioned, 1,000 guests are expected to really just enter past likely -- we can't confirm for sure, but likely across the street.

Oh, I'm actually -- I'm actually now seeing a big drape being pushed across that tent. So that just gives you another clue that likely cars will be driving into this tent, being dropped off as this big curtain is pulled, and no one can see anything.

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So, anyway, these are the little clues that we have been looking at all throughout the morning to kind of piece together a picture of what an event this is going to be, with Swifties showing up trying to get pictures of all of this, of what some are calling America's royal couple getting ready, people happy for Taylor that she finally met her Prince Charming and now gets to marry him -- guys.

BLITZER: And our congratulations to the loving couple.

Our Brynn Gingras, you're going to be busy. Thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: And, as you know, Wolf, marriage isn't always just about love and romance. There are some practicalities and realities. Of course, this is a union of two pop star superstars with a combined estimated net worth of $2.7 billion. So, of course, that brings with it some special considerations.

Joining us now to discuss is James Sexton, a New York attorney specializing in divorce and family law, host of the "Better Call Sexton" podcast, and the author of two books, "How to Stay in Love and "If You're In My Office, It's Too Late." So, I want to talk about marriage here, not divorce. You obviously

know a lot about what could go wrong in marriage. But, in your view, what are the biggest challenges for a couple that's this high-profile like Kelce and Swift?

JAMES SEXTON, DIVORCE AND FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, every marriage has its challenges, as all of us know.

But the truth is, for a celebrity couple, there's a whole myriad of additional concerns. Your life is happening in public. If you go out without your wedding ring because you were doing deadlifts at the gym, get ready for football season, people are going to start to say, is there trouble in paradise for Travis and Taylor?

And everything you're doing is just under a microscope. These are two people who are used to being in the public eye. But the strains of day-to-day life between a couple, it doesn't matter if you're a millionaire, it doesn't matter if you're a billionaire, or if you're a garbage collector to millionaires and billionaires, the reality is, people struggle with the same relationship issues.

And there's really no nexus between people's net worth and their ability to navigate the challenges of marriage.

BROWN: And you're a big advocate for prenuptial agreements. Some people say, look, that's not romantic or suggest the marriage is doomed to fail before it begins if they have a prenup.

But how important is it in this case for a couple with these kinds of assets?

SEXTON: Well, I got to correct you. Every single marriage has a prenup. The question is, is it one that's written by the state legislature of the state in which you reside, or is it one that's written by these two people that claim to love each other more than the other eight billion options?

Because there are going to be a rule set governing your marriage, whoever you are. So the truth is, whatever your political spectrum is, left, right, or the disgruntled middle, at some point in the last 15 years, you have looked at the government and said, I don't really like where they're going with things.

So do you want a future government to write your prenup, or do you and your partner want to write your prenup? In a situation like this one, look, this is a couple that Taylor's worth approximately $2.1 billion, Travis between $70 million and $100 million between both his football career and the podcast deals that he has.

But the reality is, they're both going to be fine no matter what. They could both give away half of their net worth, and they'd both be very well off. But these are two people that have every right and reason to figure out a structure.

And a structure for a high net worth couple isn't that much different in a prenuptial agreement than it would be for anybody else, a cop and a teacher. Create tranches, yours, mine, and ours. And, really, every aspect of marriage is like that anyway. There's things that are yours, there are things that are mine, and there's things that are ours.

And that's all you're doing with the prenup, is you're essentially getting rid of the concepts of transmutation, commingling, where you have to worry about marital assets and separate property assets. Both of you understand how you're classifying your assets, and it's your relationship and your rule set.

BROWN: Are you saying that the everyday American should also get their own detailed, curated prenup?

SEXTON: Absolutely.

Look. I'm a big believer in the democratization of prenups. We all know love is grand, but divorce is at least a couple hundred grand.

And so the truth is, with the marriage rate going up and the divorce rate hovering somewhere around 47 to 56 percent, depending on which studies you look at, you can make an argument that marriage is an inherently negligent activity.

I mean, the law defines negligence as any behavior that ignores a substantial and unjustifiable risk of serious harm. So you could argue that it's more likely than not that your marriage could end in divorce. So why wouldn't you put those protections in place?

Just because you have a seat belt doesn't mean that you're afraid of who's driving the car. It doesn't mean you don't have faith in that driver. Just because you have life insurance, it doesn't mean that you believe you're going to die imminently.

We have to be a little bit pragmatic. And I don't believe that pragmatism and being romantic are at odds with each other. In fact, there's something really beautiful about two people having a conversation before they get married about what are we afraid of? What do we owe each other? What if this doesn't end -- because every marriage ends.

It ends in death or divorce. So what if this marriage doesn't end in death? I mean, it's a strange thing to say that we hope that their marriage ends in death. But that's what you're saying when you get married, until death do us part. So, if it goes the other way, how can we love each other and protect each other?

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Because everybody knows you can't feel loved if you don't feel safe, and prenups are about making you and your partner feel safe.

BROWN: All right, you make quite an argument there.

I want to ask you about something else, moving on from the prenup.

SEXTON: I get paid to argue, so it's kind of the gig.

BROWN: What's that? Yes, exactly.

SEXTON: I said I get paid to argue, so it's kind of the gig, yes.

BROWN: You're an attorney. That's your whole thing, to be persuasive.

SEXTON: That's it.

BROWN: All right, so prenup aside, let's talk about the NDAs here.

TMZ is reporting that the wedding guests are being asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement, NDA, promising to reveal nothing about the celebration. TMZ also says there are no financial repercussions if they do, if they violate it.

So what do you think about that? What's the motivation for them to behave?

SEXTON: Well, look. I mean, every contract has to have some consideration, and I think the consideration in this contract is, you wouldn't be invited if you didn't sign the NDA.

It's not uncommon for people in the orbit of high net worth figures and celebrities to have to sign NDAs. Dog walkers, nannies sign NDAs for people at this level of celebrity. And, really, it's just about protecting the integrity of the event and making sure that everybody feels safe and comfortable.

Look, a wedding, whether you're holding it at Madison Square Garden or outside the courthouse at 60 Centre Street, really, what you're doing is you're celebrating two people being in love. And the last thing you want those two people to have to worry about is their privacy being invaded or video coming up of a celebrity doing the chicken dance at a wedding.

So, hopefully, is going to be a great party, but everyone's going to feel safe to let their hair down and have a good time.

BROWN: All right, James Sexton, great to have you on. Thank you so much.

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BROWN: And a quick programming note for you. Our Elizabeth Wagmeister will be right outside Madison Square Garden later to break down all the details of the expected wedding. It's a special CNN All Access event, "Love Story: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce." It airs at 1:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.com/Watch or on the CNN app -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're taking a closer a live look right now at Boston, where it's already 90 degrees, and it'll get up to a 101 later today, before cooling down to 96 for those Fourth of July festivities tomorrow.

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[10:46:15] BROWN: Happening now: Final preparations are under way for the culmination of celebrations marking America's 250th anniversary this Fourth of July weekend.

Towns and cities nationwide are hosting festivities commemorating this historic milestone. And CNN, of course, will be covering many of them across the country. I will be with Anderson Cooper in Boston tomorrow night. We have a lot planned over the weekend.

Joining us now to discuss is Jason Carter. He's the chair of the Carter Center Board of Trustees and the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.

BLITZER: Jason, it's Wolf. Let me start with you.

This year also marks, as you well know, the 50th anniversary of your grandfather's presidency. How is the Carter Center reflecting on this historic moment? And how does your grandfather's legacy play into it?

JASON CARTER, GRANDSON OF JIMMY JASON CARTER: Yes.

So, I mean, first of all, the Fourth of July is this wonderful holiday where we celebrate not the existence of America, but the idea of America, right? That's what happened on the Fourth of July. And then, 50 years ago, when my grandfather was running for president, we were in this moment in American history where people were frustrated country and down on the country.

And we were coming off of a scandalous, deeply divided time. And my grandfather really spent his moment in political history celebrating these ideals of America. And that's what the Carter Center is going to do.

It brought people together in 1976, and that's what we have been doing over the last several years to try to make sure we're focusing on those fundamental ideals that we celebrate on the Fourth of July about equality, about all people being created in the image of God, as we say in my religion, and about the things that bring us together as a country.

So we're thrilled. And it's a great honor to be here talking about it with you.

BROWN: Yes.

And as you nodded to, President Carter was actually sworn in right around the U.S. bicentennial. How, in your view, has the country and our democracy changed since then? And what has remained constant?

JASON CARTER: Yes, it's interesting.

I mean, 1976, in some ways, as the bicentennial 50 years ago, was a marker in American history. My grandfather, arguably, was the first president ever elected with a multiracial national coalition., right? So, I mean, some of the aspects of our democracy are new, right? He changed the face of the federal judiciary, for example, the federal

work force in many ways, by bringing African-Americans into the political system in a totally different and new way. And so we have been a multiracial democracy for much shorter of a period of time.

But you look now at where we are, some of those issues, we're still confronting and dealing with. But over the last 50 years, we have made enormous progress. I think we have gone back and forth. We're at a point now of polarization, but we have been at those points before.

And I think those ideals that drove my grandfather and that can unite us on this great holiday are the kind that are going to keep us pushing forward.

BLITZER: As you will recall, Jason, I had a chance to interview your grandfather, former President Jimmy Carter, in his beloved Plains, Georgia, home back in 2019.

I want to play a little bit of what he told me about his vision for the country at that time. Listen to this.

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JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just hope that the entire world can resubmit -- recommit themselves to universal peace. So, if we would just do this, the world would be a better place.

BLITZER: Do you see that happening right now in our country?

JIMMY CARTER: Not right now, but I think, in the future.

Our country has always had the ability to overcome serious problems, like slavery and discrimination against women and discrimination against African-Americans. And the serious problems that we have faced in the past, we have always been able eventually, after long periods of time, to make our self-corrections.

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And I have confidence that the United States will still have that ability in the future to correct its own mistakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And, Jason, that was, what, almost seven years ago.

How do you suspect your grandfather would feel today?

JASON CARTER: I love that. I mean, I think that's who he was.

That's what he believed, and I think that's what we all should still believe, right? America has always had the ability to correct its mistakes. This 250 years has not been a straight line of expanding freedom and promoting democracy, but it's been a long line where it ends up that way, right? I think the way that one of his heroes, Martin Luther King, said it

is, is that arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice. And that's certainly been the 250 years of American history. And my grandfather's faith in the ideals of America and the people of America from then, I think he lived it out for his whole 100 years.

And I think the least we can do is continue that on.

BLITZER: As you know, Jason, elections are under scrutiny in Georgia, where you live.

Sources telling us the FBI has just ramped up its investigation into the 2020 election in the state, dedicating more than -- more personnel to what an internal memo refers to as a priority. What's your reaction to this election news?

JASON CARTER: I mean, my reaction is the same as it's been since 2020. That election has been scrutinized. That election has been litigated. All of the evidence has been looked at, and everyone has determined that there is no fraud.

And I think that, right now, the goal of this is to promote outrage among the president's supporters and outrage among his enemies. And so I think we all need to just realize that the people of Georgia are done talking about this, and that, if your goal is outrage, this is a weekend where we're all going to get together and put that outrage aside and call ourselves Americans and celebrate what we have in common.

BLITZER: Jason Carter, thanks so much for joining us, and have a happy Fourth.

BROWN: Happy Fourth.

JASON CARTER: Likewise. Thank you. Happy Fourth of July.

BLITZER: And if you would prefer to celebrate the Fourth with air conditioning, tune into CNN. The fun starts tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern, as Dave Chappelle, Henry Winkler, Cardi B, and Mary J. Blige join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for Independence Day eve.

And then Anderson is back tomorrow alongside Pamela for "The Fourth in America" starting at noon Eastern.

BROWN: Thanks for that emphasis, Wolf.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Always, always got to promote, right?

BLITZER: You don't promote yourself, nobody else will either.

BROWN: No one else will. That's right.

All right, here's what's coming up all new at the top of the hour. The major honor being awarded to Pope Leo on the eve of America's

birthday, plus the former Olympian facing a federal charge for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool, and the daring space mission to save a $250 million telescope from plummeting down to Earth -- that's all new next hour.

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BLITZER: World Cup drama, as Portugal survives a late scare against Croatia, the Croatians with a dramatic late equalizer, until, until it was called offsides.

BROWN: All right, let's go live now to CNN's Carolyn Manno with the very latest -- Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

Well, this match was billed as a final meeting between two of the game's legends, with one advancing to the Round of 16 and one likely playing in their final World Cup game.

But this late drama that you mentioned left us all wanting more, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric facing each other. The former longtime Real Madrid teammates defined an era of modern football, but Ronaldo scored the first World Cup knockout goal of his career in the 68th minute.

This equalizer penalty kick sent Portugal fans into a frenzy. Portugal then put themselves in position to win the match with a goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time. But the moment that you mentioned happened in the match's final seconds, Croatia seemingly pulling off the impossible, scoring what looked like a late goal to tie it, until it was ruled offsides and overturned.

There's actually, Wolf and Pam, a chip inside the ball that can detect whether even the slightest contact with a player was made. And, after review, FIFA said that was the case for Croatia's Igor Matanovic, who got just the faintest of touches on the ball to rule it outside.

Disappointment from Modric and a big sigh of relief for Ronaldo, the latter changing into the late Diogo Jota's jersey afterwards, today marking exactly one year since he and his brother were tragically killed in a car accident in Western Spain.

Elsewhere in the tournament, a big moment for Switzerland. Their 2-0 win over Algeria in the Round of 32 marked a major breakthrough for the team. This was the first time the Swiss national team has secured its place in the Round of 16, the win ending in 88-year wait for a World Cup knockout stage win. That dates all the way back to the 1930s.

Portugal's win that we mentioned a second ago setting up a blockbuster meeting with Spain in the Round of 16, Spain looking clinical in a 3-0 win over Austria. Mikel Oyarzabal opening the scoring in the 36th minute, brilliantly timed run, precise finish there, to start what would be a phenomenal day for him.

Spain would double their lead in the second half. Pedro Porro would deliver a header on the world stage to earn his first ever senior international goal for Spain. And then Oyarzabal capping off his efforts, one more goal in the 89th minute to seal this win. It marked Spain's first win in a men's World Cup knockout match in 16 years, snapping a drought that ends back to their World Cup win back in 2010.

And a lot to look forward to today, Pam and Wolf. You have got Argentina, the defending champs, facing Cape Verde, the tiny country of debutants who have surprised everybody as a Cinderella.