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What We Know with Max Foster

FIFA Denies Belgium's Challenge To Balogun's Eligibility; Trump: I Asked FIFA Chief To Review USMNT Star's Suspension; Ukraine Key On Agenda At NATO Summit In Turkey; Fuel Shortage Triggers Tensions In Russia; Massive Crowds In Tehran For Ali Khamenei's Funeral; Hamas Says It Will Dissolve Its Government In Gaza; Charlie Kirk Assassination Suspect Appears In Court Today; Nationwide Blackout Across Cuba After Grid Collapses. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 06, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:31]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST: The Belgian backlash fails to convince FIFA.

I'm Christina McFarlane in for Max Foster. This is WHAT WE KNOW.

And we start with the controversy that has engulfed the most popular sporting event on the planet, the men's World Cup. Just a short time ago,

FIFA announced that it had denied Belgium's appeal to keep U.S. striker Folarin Balogun's out of tonight's round of 16 match.

Balogun was supposed to miss the match for a red card he got last week against Bosnia-Herzegovina. But after U.S. President Donald Trump made a

phone call to the FIFA president, FIFA's disciplinary committee made the extraordinary decision to lift Balogun's one-game suspension.

The international football community has expressed outrage at the appearance of corruption and cronyism.

As for the U.S. president, he says there's nothing wrong with him calling FIFA's Gianni Infantino and for asking for a review of Balogun's

suspension.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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. 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 feeling. I didn't tell him what to do. I can't tell him what to do. And I don't believe he made the decision. I think it was a

committee that made the decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Let's go to the White House for the latest in CNN's Alayna Treene, who is standing by.

So, Alayna, President Trump certainly isn't hiding the fact here that he personally reached out to Gianni Infantino to request a review of the

decision for this red card. I think what is more unclear is what was playing out behind the scenes for it to be overturned. What have you been

hearing on your end today?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Christina, I'd put it this way. For 24 days so far, the World Cup seemed to do something that is

very rare in America. It seemed to have nothing to do with President Donald Trump. Of course, now that is changing with the president inserting himself

very clearly into this entire controversy around that red card for America's most famous striker.

And now, there's questions, of course, about whether this interference really is messing with the integrity of the game and really the

organization overall.

I do want you to listen to what the president said about this because he not only said that the decision to issue a red card was horrible, he also

said that perhaps the referee needed to be looked into, raising a lot of questions. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: 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, because, number one, it wasn't a foul.

And I think the referee's call was horrible. And nobody talks about that. They talk about the red card like it's fine. This referee, who is a little

bit suspect, if you check his -- if you check his past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So a few things I want to make clear. One, the president was trying to argue this morning that he didn't tell FIFA's president Infantino

what to do, that he wouldn't have been able to do that. But part of the reason there are so many questions about a lot of this is because it's very

clear how close the relationship between Trump and Infantino is. The president and the president -- the President Donald Trump and the president

of FIFA, I should say, Infantino, have developed a close friendship over the years.

He's been in the Oval Office several times in recent months. I was actually in the Oval Office once when both of them were heaping praise on one

another. So again, calling into question whether or not this was actually a move that would be deemed appropriate on the international level. When you

look at really the decision, you know, the president called Infantino, he asked him to review it. They have. And now, Balogun is going to be able to

play in tonight's really big match against Belgium.

And I think, you know, there's no question that there were a lot of different interpretations of whether or not that red card was actually

warranted. But I think what the problem is now is that even if Trump and his interference here didn't have anything to do with the ultimate

decision, if it wasn't really decisive in what the organization decided to move forward with, it's still going to potentially taint what has been

pretty much like political hands-off type of tournament thus far.

[15:05:04]

So a lot of questions about what this could mean. And to your point, Christina, a lot of questions as well of some of the other conversations

happening behind closed doors that could be influencing what we are seeing with these players.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, I mean, such a big question around whether this sets a precedent now moving forward. We will wait and see.

Alayna Treene, appreciate it. Thank you.

We were mentioning, of course, there's been widespread anger from the football community over this. I think that's putting it lightly. UEFA,

Europe's governing body for football, says the integrity of the game is at stake and that FIFA have crossed a red line. It's called FIFA's decision

unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.

Well, FIFA's president Gianni Infantino says there is nothing unusual about getting a phone call from President Donald Trump. Infantino says world

leaders call him all the time and that the decision to allow Balogun to play was made by an independent FIFA committee without any outside

influence or interference.

He said, "I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them.

And sometimes I disagree. What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them."

CNN's World Sports Coy Wire is at the site of the U.S.-Belgium match in Seattle, Washington, where all of this is building, Coy, in the hours

ahead.

And fair to say, I think, that Belgium are quite rightly outraged by what has gone on here, because they barely had time to react, really, did they,

to the news that Balogun might be back in the side tonight. And now they've had their appeal turned down by FIFA.

COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, when the news broke, Christina, less than 48 hours before kickoff that FIFA overturned Flo Balogun's red card

suspension, jaws dropped because that meant that America's hottest striker is back. This is the first time in the Men's World Cup history a suspension

like this has been overturned during the tournament under the current rules. The U.S. celebrating the decision.

Belgium, let's just say, that they're not exactly sending FIFA a thank you card. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAURICIO POCHETTINO, USA COACH: I think we celebrate all that decision. We were punished enough against Bosnia-Herzegovina to play with 10 men, 99.9

percent that we all agree that was an unfair red card.

RUDI GARCIA, BELGIUM COACH (through translator): 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 this mean for the U.S.? Folarin is a game changer. He's leading the US with three goals this World Cup. Suddenly, the

conversation isn't about Captain America, Christian Pulisic. It's about Captain Chaos. Balogun has become this nightmare that defenders just can't

wake up from their attack. It just hits another gear when he's on the pitch.

Now comes the next biggest mountain for the U.S. to climb. Americans are chasing just their third ever World Cup quarterfinal since 2002 is the

first -- first since 2002 and standing in the way is this Belgium squad, the magician Kevin De Bruyne, the 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 five to two back in March. Now they clearly have a big chip on their shoulders.

This Belgian squads base camp, Christina, has been right here in Seattle the entire tournament, so they have some experience.

But there is one thing they haven't experienced here yet. That's 70,000 Americans I've played in that stadium in my NFL days. It's one of the

loudest environments you could possibly imagine the U.S. are 7-0 there and the players told me they feed off the energy they've been getting

propelling them to these fast starts scoring first in every match.

We may see Seattle registering on the Richter scale tonight Monday Night Football footy style 4th of July weekend, 250th birthday, all of that, this

may end up being one of the most raucous environments American sports has ever seen.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, well, let's hope we can get back to the action on the pitch and stop talking about this, that this doesn't overshadow the

spectacle that is going to be taking place behind you in a couple of hours.

Coy, we appreciate it. Thank you.

Now, next up for Donald Trump is the NATO summit. And Ukraine will be high on the agenda at this week's meeting in Turkey, which gets underway on

Tuesday. The meeting comes amid ongoing friction between the alliance and U.S. President Donald Trump. Mr. Trump has been pressuring Europe to step

up defense spending. NATO chief Mark Rutte says it's time for allies to pull their own weight regarding Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: So as Ukraine continues to defend its sovereignty, allies and NATO partners must continue to ensure Ukraine gets

what it needs. And let me be clear, all allies need to pull their weight, so that our support to Ukraine continues to flow, because Ukraine's

security is so closely linked with our own.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: CNN's Nic Robertson has more from the Turkish capital, where Mr. Trump plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this

week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: President Zelenskyy really wants to be able to produce and get licensed for making Patriot

missiles, defensive missiles inside of Ukraine. It's not clear that it's going to get that, but there is a defense investment fund forum meeting

here tomorrow where there's expected to be a financial significant billions and billions, tens of billion dollars financial commitment to Ukraine to

support them this year, next year in the war against Russia.

So that's what President Zelenskyy will be looking for. President Trump is going to be coming in here looking for something else. He's going to be

looking to make sure that his NATO European partners that has been leaning on for a long time to up their defense spending 5 percent of GDP is what is

required by agreement last year of the Hague declaration from the Hague leaders summit of 5 percent GDP by 2035.

So President Trump's going to be looking to see who's doing that, who isn't doing it. And I think it's very interesting to see how he deals with

countries like Spain that aren't stepping up and haven't so far made a commitment to getting to that level of spending over the next nine years.

And I think there's anxiety here. When President Trump walks into a NATO summit these days, there's worry. It was only a few months ago that he

wanted to take annex Greenland, which is part of Denmark, which is a NATO allies country. And then on top of that, President Trump's been frustrated

with the way his NATO allies have not, in his opinion, stepped up sufficiently during epic fury, the US-Iran war. He wanted more support. So,

all of that is in the mix here. President Zelenskyy will be very focused on what he needs. President Trump undoubtedly very clear and determined to get

what he wants out of it as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Ukraine says it has struck Russia's largest oil refinery deep in Siberia. The strike on the Omsk refinery comes amid a major fuel crisis

in Russia as Ukraine ramps up drone attacks on energy sites.

CNN's Clare Sebastian reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two women screaming at each other over a spot in line at a Moscow gas station. Scenes

like these are becoming more common as intensifying Ukrainian drone attacks have caused fuel shortages and panic buying.

CNN's analysis has found that at least 50 of Russia's regions, well over half, are now officially reporting supply problems. Unofficial reports

coming from almost everywhere else. Lines outside gas stations forming from Moscow to Siberia. And here in the southern Krasnodar region, a video

emerged showing two women berating a man for filling up a gas canister. Authorities have banned this in multiple regions to prevent stockpiling.

Other Russians are coping with humor, turning hours-long waits into makeshift tailgate parties, joking that the best place for a date night is

waiting for a fuel tanker to arrive, and that Russia's most expensive perfume is now gasoline.

Well, this is getting so much attention that even Putin had to address this warning that Ukraine's attacks are not just about causing physical damage,

but about what he calls an information operation.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In order to, at minimum, create uncertainty for us, or even better, to lead to a schism in

Russian society.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): All this could add to Russia's economic pain. Higher fuel prices mean higher inflation, but there is no evidence yet that

it's going to convince Putin to stop the war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Hundreds of thousands of mourners are lining the streets of Tehran as the coffin of Iran's late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, makes its

way through the city. The funeral procession route, packed to capacity, is a sea of flags. The Ayatollah was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike

early in the war on Iran. His son Mojtaba, the current supreme leader, has not made a public appearance.

Our Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran for the funeral. CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but we maintain full editorial

control of our reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Millions of Iranians taking to the streets as the procession commemorating

the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made its way through Tehran for hours. The crowds surrounding the to the streets as the procession

commemorating the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made its way through Tehran for hours. The crowds surrounding the trailer transformed

into a giant hearse.

PLEITGEN: This is as close as we're going to get to the casket of the supreme leader and his family members who were killed in a U.S. airstrike.

As you can see, the people here are very extremely angry. What they're chanting right now is "Death to America", for the killing of the supreme

leader, both against the United States, as well as President Donald Trump.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): While some Iranians oppose their government, the leadership says it's managed to mobilize an unprecedented number of people,

many carrying posters bearing the likeness of the late supreme leader, along with a simple message: Iran has a score to settle with America and

with Israel.

"We've come here for the revenge of the blood of our leader, and we will not put this aside for one second," this woman says.

And he says, "The objective for being here is to take revenge against Trump and Netanyahu."

Absent from the funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who so far has not appeared in

public, communicating only via written statements since taking the reins.

But the people on Tehran's streets insist their new leader is in charge, their country stronger than before and ready for another military

confrontation with the U.S. should negotiations fail.

"Our message to Trump is, do not repeat your mistake," this man says.

As Iran lays its longtime supreme leader to rest, his message of confrontation with the U.S. endures, even as Washington and Tehran attempt

to negotiate an agreement for a lasting peace.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Hamas says it's complying with a key requirement of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, announcing it will dissolve its government so a U.S.-

backed group of Palestinian technocrats can take charge. It's meant to pressure Israel to move forward with its own commitments under the truth,

including an end to the attacks in Gaza. The Hamas statement made no mention of disarmament, another key ceasefire demand.

Well, CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following the latest from Jerusalem. And last hour, he explained how the Hamas announcement may affect Gaza's 2 million

people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's certainly not going to change anything on the ground in Gaza in the immediate term. You

know, whether or not it can kind of unlock some additional progress in the behind-the-scenes negotiations that have been happening with the Board of

Peace and Israel on the other side remains to be seen. But it seems that Hamas's primary aim with this move today to dissolve its government in Gaza

is to highlight its compliance with at least one part of this ceasefire agreement and to try and shift the onus back on Israel.

And that's because of what Hamas is not saying today. Hamas is not saying that they are prepared or taking steps to disarm and to demilitarize the

entirety of the Gaza Strip, which is exactly what President Trump's 20- point plan says Hamas must do. That has been the primary focus of so many of the back-and-forth negotiations, many of which have taken place in the

Egyptian capital of Cairo over the course of the last several months.

Hamas has said that it will not disarm until Israel begins to first comply with its obligations in the first phase of this ceasefire agreement. That

includes the entry of some 600 trucks of humanitarian aid and commercial trucks per day, as well as ceasing fire in Gaza. And indeed, what we have

seen in the Gaza Strip has been near-daily Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, as well as entry of aid that hasn't hit that 600 mark on most days in Gaza,

according to the most recent data we've seen over the course of the last few months.

The Israelis dispute that, insisting that they have allowed for 600 trucks per day into Gaza, but have declined to provide their data on those

numbers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: In the United States, the suspect in the assassination of U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk is in court today. These are live

pictures from inside the courtroom in Utah. Twenty-three-year-old Tyler Robinson is appearing for the start of what's expected to be a multi-day

hearing in Utah, with prosecutors giving a preview of the evidence in their case. Kirk's parents, widow and friend Donald Trump Jr., were among those

watching on in the courtroom today. Kirk was fatally shot last September while appearing at a college campus in Utah.

CNN's Nick Watt joins us now from Utah.

So, Nick, just talk us through as we look at these images of what's been happening in court today and how long we expect this process to be.

[15:20:01]

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this, Christina, is the preliminary hearing. We're told it's going to last all week. And basically, this is for

the judge to hear some evidence and decide whether there is enough evidence to take this case to a full trial.

So it looks like a trial, witnesses, cross-examination, but it's not a trial. It's to find out whether there should be a trial. Interestingly,

Donald Trump Jr. is here. Of course, Charlie Kirk and the president were close allies. Erika Kirk here as well, you mentioned, Charlie Kirk's widow,

very emotional, had to leave the courtroom when somebody was describing just the sound of the bullet that killed her husband.

We heard that witness, who was a campus cop, we heard him talking about climbing up onto the roof where he thought the shot had come from and

seeing what he describes as a sniper's pad or a sniper's nest. There was gravel on the roof. He said he could see indentations where somebody's

elbows, somebody's knees, and somebody's feet had been lying in a prone position, presumably the shooter. He also says he found a screwdriver on

that roof, which prosecutors claim has DNA evidence on it.

But one of the key pieces that prosecutors are going to bring here is a tape deposition with Tyler Robinson's roommate/romantic partner. There was

messaging between them before, during the situation, and after, that the prosecution basically claims is tantamount to a confession.

Now, the defense, they are questioning everything. Every single photo the prosecution wants to put in. The defense objects. How do we know when this

was taken? How do we know who took it? That's going to be the line. That's going to be all week, pretty much.

So then the judge will decide whether there is enough to go to a trial. Listen, this case has captivated America. I mean, 3,000 people, for a

start, were there at that event when Charlie Kirk was speaking. He, of course, hugely popular amongst certain sections of mainly younger

Americans, but well-known across this country.

There was a bunch of surveillance video. There's a lot of evidence here that the prosecution has, some of which they're going to put forward,

hoping that the judge will say, yep, let's take this to trial -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And as you're speaking, Nick, we can see them pointing out here on a large map, presumably the area where Charlie Kirk was

situated when he was killed.

We'll continue to follow it, Nick. Appreciate that. Thank you.

All right, still to come, Cuba's electoral grid has collapsed once again. We'll take a look at why it's getting harder for the country to keep the

lights on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:44]

MACFARLANE: Welcome back.

There's a nationwide blackout across Cuba from the collapse of the energy grid. It's a problem the country is familiar with after suffering from two

previous blackouts back in March.

As CNN's Patrick Oppmann explains, the energy supply issues are getting worse in Cuba.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: I'm just driving into Havana right now, and the power grid in Cuba has collapsed unexpectedly. There's

no cause for it given, but, of course, we've been dealing with worsening and worsening blackouts over the last several days in the neighborhood. I

live in Havana.

There's absolutely no power over the entire weekend, and so people now are suffering terribly because your food spoils. It's hot. There's a lot of

mosquitoes at this time of year.

And unlike previously, where lucky people who have generators, now there's no fuel for those generators because the U.S. has been impeding any

shipments of fuel to Cuba for months now, pressuring this island to open up politically and economically to make concessions the kind of government has

never wanted to make to the United States.

But this is just a symbol of the increased pressure and how it is breaking down this country on a day-to-day basis. And the concern now is, as the

times passed, when the national grid falls, essentially they have to bring it up town by town, city by city, and that is a process that in the best of

times, it can take days, sometimes up to a week. Now, how are they going to do that? How long will people have to go without any power?

Most people here don't have solar panels. They don't have the batteries because they're way too expensive for Cubans to have. And if they do have

generators and then you're just not finding the kind of fuel you need to run them for any amount of time these days. So, while there are still cars

on the road and certain places will have emergency generators, the vast majority of this island, you know, nearly 10 million people, is without

power for the hours and most likely days to come.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Dramatic pictures from China where a typhoon has caused widespread flooding. Heavy rain has flooded streets, downed trees, and

damaged rice farms. The flooding has also trapped many people in remote areas. Crews have been sent to rescue those trapped by the flood waters.

And still to come, two presidents who are no stranger to controversy. Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino find themselves under fire again on the

biggest stage in sport.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:31:40]

MACFARLANE: Now it appears Folarin Balogun will play for Team USA later today in a World Cup match against Belgium. FIFA has denied Belgium's

appeal of the decision to reinstate the US striker for tonight's match. The entire football world had thought Balogun would miss the contest after he

earned a red card in the round of 32 match last week. But then U.S. President Donald Trump asked FIFA's president Gianni Infantino to take

another look. And FIFA decided to rescind Balogun's one-game suspension.

Well, both Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino have, of course, weathered corruption scandals during their respective presidencies. Now, however,

they are facing one together.

The two presidents have had a longstanding bromance. In fact, they will jointly present the World Cup winners with the trophy later this month. And

the U.S. President was glowing earlier about how his FIFA counterpart had handled the tournament so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I spoke to Gianni, who's highly respected, who's produced the most successful World Cup in history by, they say, four times. This isn't just a

success. I actually said, Gianni, we've got all these games. Each one is turning out to be a Super Bowl.

This man is a smart, tough man, Gianni Infantino. He's a smart, tough man. And his stock has gone through the roof because the job he's done has been

great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Infantino has worked overtime to cultivate this relationship, most famously with his decision to award Mr. Trump with a FIFA Peace Prize

last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA PRESIDENT: And you definitely deserve the first FIFA Peace Prize for your action, for what you have to take in your way.

You obtained an incredible way to all this count, Mr. President, of my support, on the support of the entire football community or soccer

community to help you make peace and make the world prosper all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Some critics now think the relationship has become too cozy. Even the former FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, who Infantino replaced after

a corruption scandal, said today, football must never become a playground for political power. Make of that what you will.

So what we don't know is, have Presidents Trump and Infantino gone too far?

Joining me now is Seth Vertelney, a soccer editor at "USA Today". He's in Seattle tonight for the game.

Thank you so much for joining us, Seth.

You wrote today in your article for USA Today that FIFA's decision to allow Balogun back for the USA team stinks, I think was the quote. So just begin

by giving us your reaction to all of this.

SETH VERTELNEY, SOCCER EDITOR, USA TODAY: Yeah, I mean, it's hard to put aside your feelings that something has been tainted here. You know, Gianni

Infantino comes out and says that FIFA's process is independent. The disciplinary committee works independently, but it's -- it's hard to really

see that happening.

And I also think that it's hard for us to imagine that there wasn't some kind of influence going on between Trump and Infantino and the big thing

here is that the appearance is now there, whether or not there was influence or not.

We know that Trump spoke to Infantino after this red card. We know there was a lobbying effort going on behind the scenes. And we know that

something like this, something like the red card being reversed in the way that it was at the last minute, is very abnormal. And so it does seem like

this whole process has been sullied. And it's tough to see, just as a soccer fan.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. Well, and I was going to ask, as a sports journalist, but also as a soccer fan, as an American, I mean, how you feel about what

this has done to your team, because The reality is, even if the USA team play well or don't play well tonight, you know, maybe if they go through,

maybe if Balogun, goodness, you know, maybe you might even score. I think what is going to happen now, there's always going to be this cloud hanging

over the team for the rest of the tournament, this kind of asterisk, really, as to their performance.

VERTELNEY: Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's going to be really hard for this story to go away, especially if the U.S. wins, especially if Balogun

plays well or scores. I think every time you see a call going against the U.S. for the rest of this tournament, you're going to see, I'm sure on

social media, jokes pop up, "Oh, I'm sure Trump's just going to call Infantino and get that rescinded."

It's really unfortunate because this team hasn't needed this kind of help. They've had a great World Cup on their own. You know, they've won three

games so far at this tournament, which is the most they've ever won at a World Cup. They haven't really required any help. And even with Balogun

out, I think they would have had a pretty good chance to beat this Belgium team tonight anyway. But of course, now everything has been tainted by

what's happened over the past 24 hours or so.

MACFARLANE: And I mean, if you're Mauricio Pochettino, what do you do in this instance? Because there have been some suggestions today that perhaps,

you know, he shouldn't opt to play Balogun out of some sort of national valor or something. But we know he has been very vocal in saying, you know,

he's praised the decision to overturn the ban on the basis that the red card was unfair. But given the storm around this player, how do you like,

how should he? Should he be thinking differently about how he feels Balogun tonight?

VERTELNEY: As much as I disagree with the decision to reinstate Balogun, I also don't think Pochettino is under any obligation to bench one of his

team's best players in one of the U.S. men's national team's biggest games ever. From Pochettino's perspective, if FIFA is telling him that his player

is eligible, then he has to play him.

You know, Pochettino is being paid $6 million a year basically to take the US as far as they can go in this tournament. And from his perspective, how

can you go to your bosses at U.S. soccer? How can you go to the fan base? How can you go to your players after this game if you leave one of your

best players on the bench when he's available? And so I don't think Pochettino's under any kind of obligation, nor should he be expected to do

anything other than play his best players and try to win the game tonight.

Yeah, that's a fair point. So, look, I just wonder, you know, looking ahead, because we've been -- there's been a lot of talk about this today,

is, you know, like, what are the chances that FIFA now loses control of this World Cup? I mean, because of the precedent that's been set here, do

you expect, you know, this might actually open the door to more appeals in football to cut suspensions, you know, even where red cards were justified

under the rules? What do you think we're going to see?

VERTELNEY: Yeah, it's hard to know where this is going to go, but, you know, I think it's fair to say that genie's out of the bottle a little bit

here because there is a process in place to review these things, and now we are completely outside of this process. We're kind of in uncharted

territory here. You know, Balogun was awarded a red card after this incident happened on the field. They did a VAR review.

[15:40:02]

And that is how things are supposed to be done. Whether or not you agree with that decision is kind of irrelevant right now because they've gone

back and just sort of changed the rules. In hindsight, you know, it strikes me because one of the things that fans don't like about VAR is that it re-

referees decisions that happened on the field already.

And I think what happened here is you re-refereed a decision that was re- refereed. To review and rescind a VAR decision just strikes me as really problematic. And yeah, it does open the door. I think every decision for

the rest of this tournament, and who knows how much longer after, could be subject to this kind of scrutiny. If this one can be overturned 24 hours

before the game, why can't any other be overturned?

MACFARLANE: Yeah, it does feel like this has been re-refereed to death by now. Let's hope it's the end of it. Seth, I know you're off to the game

tonight. Enjoy it. And it'll be very interesting to see how the crowd participate with that match. Appreciate your thoughts tonight. Thank you.

VERTELNEY: Thanks for having me.

MACFARLANE: Now, it's the final moments of trade on Wall Street, and stocks have been breaking records after a long weekend. The Dow crossed

53,000 for the first time since early in the session before coming back down.

This is our Business Breakout.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs. The layoffs, which affect about 2 percent of the company's workforce, include major cuts to the Xbox division. Games

consoles have been suffering from a global shortage of memory chips, with Microsoft's Xbox CEO saying the division was in need of a reset.

EasyJet says it's reached an agreement with a U.S. investment firm over a takeover offer. Castle Lake has made several bids for the low-cost airline

and now has until August 3rd to make a formal offer. SpaceX will donate 2 million shares in the company to President Trump's new investment account

plan aimed at American children. The deal means shares worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars will be donated. The company's president says

the gift is specifically for children living in areas with below-average household incomes.

And these Trump accounts officially went live on the 4th of July, and Donald Trump marked the occasion by remotely ringing the opening bell at

the New York Stock Exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ring the bell, Mr. President.

(BELL RINGS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: So the accounts are savings and investments for children, some of whom will get $1,000 from the government to start with.

David Goldman from CNN Business is in New York.

So David, just walk us through how all of this is meant to work and who qualifies for these accounts.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, if you are an American baby, the free money machine is open and it's about $1,000 that you are

eligible for if you apply and you know it's not that difficult to do. All you have to do is be born before 2026. So well, you have to be born after

2025.

Now this means that you know through 2028 you might have to get this extended, but if you are a U.S. citizen and you have a valid Social

Security number, you are eligible. And all you can do is get $1,000 and then you're done.

But if you want to contribute, you can put in $5,000 a year tax free and you can put it in pretty much anything you want, including S&P 500 index

fund, something plain and vanilla. That'll get the job done.

Now, if you want to take the money out, you need to use it for either a first home or retirement or crucially, because when you are 18, you can

take it out, college. And if you don't use it for one of those things, you do get a pretty significant penalty, about 10 percent, and you can't take

it out until you are 18.

Now, what happens? Well, if you just left it there and you assume a 10 percent return, which has been, you know, pretty conservative for the S&P

500 over the past 10 years, you walk away at 18 with almost $5,500, but if you do max out those contributions, well, it gets a lot bigger than that.

Almost a quarter million dollars by the time you are 18 and you can use it for college or buying a home, you can leave it there and let it grow

through your retirement. It really does give you a leg up.

[15:45:00]

So I think a lot of people want to know, well, how do I get one? Well, if you have a child that is eligible, you need to fill out Form 4547, very,

very subtle, or go to trumpaccounts.gov. Of course, everything with this administration is branded, but the free money machine is open, and parents

should take advantage of this if they want to get this for their children.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, everything is branded in this day and age, isn't it? But that's a decent amount of money, I believe, that one, you know, if you're

quick on it, you could stand to benefit from. So David, appreciate it. Thank you.

GOLDMAN: Thank you.

MACFARLANE: Okay, still to come, London gets ready for Harry's return, and it's not Harry Kane or Harry Styles we're talking about. It's the Duke of

Sussex, along with big questions about where he's planning to stay.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back.

After years of family tension, no visit back to the United Kingdom from Prince Harry comes without intrigue. And this week, things seem especially

uncertain. While his schedule is more or less set, some details, including where the Duke of Sussex will actually be staying, seems to be very much up

in the air.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE (voice-over): Prince Harry is due in London this week. Where he'll sleep is another question.

His team said Monday a room at Buckingham Palace, courtesy of the king. But within hours, the palace begged to differ, a royal source telling CNN that

Harry missed the deadline to confirm, and by the time a request came in for him, the staff had already been stood down.

To add to the drama, Tuesday brings a verdict in Harry's privacy case against the Daily Mail's publisher, and concerns were raised about him

staying at a royal residence while that ruling is pending.

[15:50:00]

His team isn't having any of it. Harry, they say, accepted once his own security had finally been sorted, and the palace, they note, had known

about that judgment since Thursday. Quote, "It is therefore unclear why, having formally accepted the accommodation offer, it is now being withdrawn

at the last moment.

But that's not all. Duchess Meghan and the couple's children were meant to travel, too. That trip's off for now, but British authorities confirm

there'll be no publicly funded security for the family. Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet haven't set foot in Britain together since 2022, and this

was supposed to be the trip that changed that. That is, until the perennial security battle reared its head.

The fight goes back to 2020, when Harry and Meghan first stepped back from royal duties. A memoir, a Netflix series, and a public rift with his

brother, Prince William, all followed. Then, in 2024, came his father's cancer diagnosis. Harry kept fighting anyway and lost his case in the court

of appeal.

Still, he told the BBC last year he'd loved reconciliation. In September, the two sat down for tea in London, a rare hour that looked, for a moment,

like a start. Buckingham Palace, for now, isn't saying any more.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Spain versus Portugal, a century-old rivalry, facing the ultimate test at the men's World Cup. As we speak, it is goalless at

halftime. Today's winner will face off with either Team USA or Belgium in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Let's get more from World Sports' Don Riddell, who's been following proceedings, and it appears to have been a pretty tense first half, Don.

Has either side had the edge here?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: I would say Spain have had the better of the action, but actually Portugal have had the better chance. Nuno Mendes

clattering the crossbar just a few minutes before halftime. So as you say, Christina, it is goalless at halftime. It is a fascinating encounter. It's

very, very entertaining.

And there's so much at stake. Obviously, the winner goes through to the quarterfinals, USA or Belgium next. The loser goes home. This could be

Cristiano Ronaldo's final game in a major international tournament. He said in a press conference yesterday that this would be it. Of course, he will

be hoping that it doesn't end today.

He'll have good memories of playing Spain. Arguably, his best World Cup performance actually came when Portugal played Spain back in 2018, and he

scored a hat trick in a three all draw.

[15:55:05]

So, he'll be hoping that he has that kind of game so far but Ronaldo hasn't done too much just yet. Spain I think will be frustrated at this point

because they have had quite a few chances they've had a lot of the ball they've not been able to put it into the back of the net but they have not

yet conceded either and I believe they're the only team left in the tournament now yet to concede a goal. So it's all to play for really

exciting 45 minutes ahead and of course, if we're still tied, we could have extra time and penalties.

And, you know, wouldn't that just be another amazing game that we've seen at the World Cup so far? It's been very, very entertaining.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, it does feel like we've had an awful lot of extra time and penalties this World Cup, but we welcome it. We love the drama,

especially with these two sides going up against each other. So we'll wait to see what the second-half brings, Don. Appreciate it. Thank you.

RIDDELL: Right.

MACFARLANE: And that is it for us and WHAT WE KNOW. I'm Christina MacFarlane, and stay with CNN. We have more news coming up after the break.

END

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