Up First from NPR - Platner Pressured To Drop Out, NATO Summit In Turkey, US Out Of World Cup

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

Maine Democrat Graham Platner is facing growing calls to drop out of his Senate race after Politico published a former girlfriend's allegation of sexual assault, which he denies, in a blow to a party that saw the seat as key to retaking the Senate. NATO leaders are gathering in Turkey with President Trump among them, as he presses allies to spend more on their own defense while they look for reassurance that the U.S. still stands behind the alliance. And the U.S. men’s team’s World Cup run is over after a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16, capping Team USA's tournament full of promise and political controversy.Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Tina Kraja, Jason Breslow, Russell Lewis, Alice Woelfle, and Mohamed ElBardicyIt was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia DumasOur director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Eowyn Fain. Our technical director is Damian Herring.And our Supervising Senior Producer is Vince Pearson.(0:00) Introduction(01:51) Platner Pressured To Drop Out(05:54) NATO Summit In Turkey(09:34) US Out Of World CupSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Graham Platner faces calls to drop out of the Senate race in Maine. A woman he dated says the Democratic candidate raped her in 2021. Platner denies it but says he is considering his best path forward. What are his options? I'm Stevenske with A. Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. President Trump is in Turkey today, meeting with NATO allies he has spent years berating. He wants them spending more on their own defense as Russia's attacks on Ukraine-intensive. Europe wants to know if America still has their back.

And the U.S. is out of the World Cup after a blowout loss to Belgium in the round of 16 at Cap Team USA's tournament full of promise and political controversies. Stay with us. We've got news you need to start your day. Graham Platner is under pressure this morning to end his bid for the U.S. Senate. Yeah, the Democratic Party has been depending on Plattner to win a race considered vital to their hopes in the midterm elections. And on Monday, Politico-published allegations by a... a woman he dated. She also gave an interview to CNN and accused Plattner of raping her. Plattner denies this allegation, but posted a video saying he is assessing his next steps. Regardless of the

inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political reality, it will inflict. We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward. MPR political reporter Elena Moore has been tracking the latest developments and a warning to our listeners. This story contains descriptions of sexual assault. Elena, tell us about these serious allegations. Politico's story details an account made by a former girlfriend of Plattner, Jenny Rassacott, who alleges that in 2021 Plattner entered her home, intoxicated, and forced her to have sex with him, despite her repeatedly saying no. Here's part of how she described it in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.

He violated multiple layers of consent that night by coming into my home when I asked him not to, and by advancing on me when I told him not to. And NPR has not independently verified those claims, but Politico says it was able to corroborate the allegations by reviewing past messages sent between the accuser and her therapist and talking with individuals whom she confided in. Okay. What is Graham Platner's response? Well, in a statement to NPR, Plattner adamantly denied the allegations, calling them troubling, serious, and false. But, A, as we heard, he also said he would take time to think about what's next. It seems many Democrats, though, are unwilling to wait. What are people in the party saying?

Well, almost instantly after Politico's story published, we started to see a steady drumbeat of calls for Plater to end his bid for Senate that included calls from high-profile Democrats. Most notably, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said that the Senate Democrats campaign arm wouldn't spend in the main race if Plattner remains on the ballot. Not the first time, though, that Graham Platner has dealt with a scandal. What makes this one different? Well, he's faced other allegations about his behavior. towards women, but this is the first time a major news outlet is reporting an allegation of assault. And obviously, that's an extremely serious claim and one that follows several other pretty serious scandals. That includes, you know, back in May when Plattner's campaign confirmed

reporting that he had exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women towards the start of his marriage, as well as last fall when past online comments Plattner had made resurfaced, including some where he disparaged sexual assault victims. In his response to a lot of these controversies, Plattner has acknowledged he's not a perfect person. He's talked a lot about struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the military, and he's argued these are experiences many voters can relate to. Now to the politics of this, because that's what happens. What does this mean for Democrats?

Yeah, these allegations are a serious blow. Remember, this is a race Democrats have seen as key to taking back the Senate this fall. President Trump lost Maine in 2024 and party officials see incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins as vulnerable. Plus, despite all his controversies, Plattner was neck in neck with Collins in recent polling, lifted by an economic populist message that's been resonating with folks who want political change. Now, we heard Grant Plattner say that he is reassessing. What happens if he decides to drop out? Yeah, it's technical. Maine election law says that a general election candidate has to drop out on or before. the second Monday in July.

If Plattner were to do that, Maine Democrats would have until the 27th to select a replacement. If that happens, A, it's currently unclear who that would be. That is NPR political reporter. Elena Moore. Alina, thanks. Thanks, A.

NATO leaders are gathering in Turkey's capital, Ankara, today, for the start of the annual summit of the Alliance's 32 member states with President Trump, among those going to be there. Yeah, the war in Ukraine continues. The U.S. led war with Iran.

is not resolved, and NATO leaders hope to project unity while confronting some of the alliance's biggest challenges in decades. MPR. Sadil al-Sholchi is in Ankara, joins us now. So what's its sake at this summit? What are leaders going to try to accomplish? Well, just like Steve mentioned, the opening days about demonstrating unity and credibility. But it also comes at a time when the U.S. is planning to shrink its presence in Europe. It says it wants to focus its resources elsewhere. The administration just announced a six-month Pentagon review of U.S. forces in Europe. So this week, the main issues will include increasing defense spending, investing in military capabilities, and there's going to be a focus on sustaining support for Ukraine to keep deterring

Russia. Allies are also expected to discuss their commitment to spend 5% of GDP on defense and broader security needs. That's a major increase from NATO's previous target. NATO Secretary General has said there will be announcements on tens of billions in new military contracts. Now, President Trump has argued for some time that NATO allies rely too heavily on the U.S. And he's warned that the U.S. support can't be taken for granted. So this summit is also an opportunity for European allies to show that they're stepping up. The wars in Ukraine and Iran, how are they shaping or influencing NATO's priorities? Well, the leaders are meeting as Russia attacked Keev, again,

this week, killing at least 22 people, according to Ukrainian officials. So Russia's invasion of Ukraine has brought NATO back to its original mission. Collective defense against a major military threat in Europe. Allies see supporting Ukraine, not just as helping Kiev defend itself, but as strengthening Europe's own security by weakening Russia's military capabilities. Now, the U.S. Israeli war with Iran is also hanging over the summit. There's a fragile ceasefire. It's holding, with both sides are meant to meet again soon to Ireland.

out the final terms of a deal, but the situation on the ground continues to be unstable. Just this morning, a tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz. Again, President Trump says that Europe isn't doing enough to help him at this war. Allies have been reluctant to take part in efforts to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz or provide military support to the U.S. I mentioned that all of this is in Ankara. That's the capital of Turkey. Why Ankara as the venue at this moment?

So let's remember Turkey has the alliance's second largest military. It controls access to the Black Sea through the Turkish Straits and has acted as a mediator in major conflicts across the Middle East. It's also been involved in ceasefire talks in Iran, for example. Also, Turkey's defense industry is growing. So this summit is really President Erdogan's chance to present Turkey as an indispensable NATO ally, especially after years of being at odds with many European countries because of Turkey's human rights record. NATO now sees that they too need Turkey, not only to help with the wars in Ukraine and Iran, but also to manage the relationship with President Trump.

Trump has praised Erdogan. He's a strong man. He's admired many times. And even said last week he wouldn't even have come to the NATO summit if it wasn't for Erdogan. So NATO is muting its criticisms of Erdogan's authoritarian rule. Detering Russia, making NATO stronger is just more important today. That's NPR's Hediel Al-Shalchi in Ankara. Thank you very much.

You're welcome. The U.S. men's national soccer team's World Cup is over. Wasn't even close. The Americans lost to Belgium 4 to 1 in the round of 16, ending a run that inspired a new generation of fans and filled stadiums for the rare World Cup here at home. Right before the end, they also became the center of controversy. NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan was at the game in Seattle. Becky, a big broad question here, but what happened?

Boy, ain't that the question to ask me? I mean, geez, so much had been made of this past four-year cycle for the U.S. men. They had this promising young team back in 22. You might remember that should have had these past four years to improve and mature. They had all these guys who were getting experience on top-flight clubs in Europe. They had the name brand coach, Maricio Poitititino. They had the home field advantages you mentioned. And yet somehow all of that amounted to just another exit at exactly the same stage

as their previous three World Cup appearances, a loss in the round of, 16 and for the third time in a row at the hands of a European opponent. Obviously, watching this game last night, Belgium was just quite clearly the better team. They took advantage of all these countless U.S. turnovers, defensive mistakes. They just won easily. And so after the game, all of the U.S. players were just so glum. It's hard to choose which one to play for you. But here is goalkeeper Matt Freeze.

This moment hurts. This moment hurts more. It stings more than probably any other moment in my life. but I know that this is a step along a longer journey. It's a painful step, but it is a step regardless. All right, so that's the game, Becky. Let's talk about the red card, the Follarin-Balligan red card, and whether he should have been on the pitch or not,

if your team USA, maybe you think, oh, it was too harsh of a call. He should have been right where he was playing with us. And then if you're Belgium, you're thinking, well, wait a second. It's the world against us, and maybe that inspired them. What do you think, factored it to the way we? saw that play out. You know, all I'll say A is that it's just not every day that FIFA decides to delay, as you're talking about, the suspension, the automatic suspension of one game for a player

who gets a red card. It's certainly not every day that the president of the United States decides to make a phone call to the head of FIFA to ask for a review of said red card as President Trump did last week. I mean, this was just quite the hubbub around this game that had blown up over the past couple days. The U.S. players, they said afterward that they hadn't let this whole thing get to them, that they weren't affected by all the noise.

But the vibe shift I thought around the U.S. team was profound. There was so much excitement, A, you might remember about them before all of this. But then this weekend came this FIFA decision to allow balligan to play despite the red card. That was already so unusual, so unexpected. Then, of course, the news about Trump calling Johnny Infantino, the president of FIFA directly, to ask for this review. And I think for many U.S. fans, at least, the whole thing suddenly carried with it a bit of a stench, even if the red card had, as you say, felt bogus to begin with. But, you know, I think for me it was hard to wonder if, you know, all of the above had gotten to the team.

And certainly Belgium was energized by it. It really just kind of turns the whole script on its head. And now if your team USA, are you wondering, well, how good are we really? I mean, I guess we're back at square one. I think that's exactly right. I mean, I don't see how they escaped feeling like they have ended this exact in the same place they started from. And I think, too, it's tough to compare them with another host country in this tournament. Mexico who had their own round of 16 loss in these last few days, fought tooth and nailed till the end in this battle with England in this game.

And it is just by contrast, the Americans just didn't really have any fight at all in this game. And so, you know, what's next for them? It's hard to say. their coach, Pochitino has been tight-lipped about whether he plans to leave or stay. I think nobody would really be surprised if he left. And boy, it's just a really long four-year wait until the next World Cup for these guys. And you're right. Mexico fought until the very last second against England. That last goal that Belgium scored against the U.S., that was the U.S. just giving up.

Absolutely given up, yeah. Okay, World Cup not over yet. What's still left to come? Yeah, well, we're on the brink of the quarterfinals. There is still one sort of final quarter-final that hasn't been saying. yet. But the other three are in place. Those are going to be France versus Morocco, Norway, versus England, and Spain versus Belgium. Personally, I'm very eager to see how Norway does. I think they're the sort of Cinderella that is left in this tournament. This is their first World Cup

appearance since the 1990s. And of course, I think maybe as you know, they have this thrilling, terrifying, funny striker all of the above in Erling Holland, who is incredible to watch he has seven goals so far in this World Cup and counting. That's Musty TV. I will certainly be tuning in. Yeah, the Viking King. Can't wait to see more of him. NPR's Becky Sullivan in Seattle. Becky, thanks.

You're welcome. And that's up first for Tuesday, July 7th. I mean, Martinez. And I'm Steve Inscape. Today's up first was edited by Tina Crier, Jason Breslo, Russell Lewis, Alice Wolfley, and Mohamed El Bardisi. It was produced by Ziat Batch and Neo-Dumas.

Our director is Christopher Thomas, who's putting up with us yet another day. We get engineering support from Aowen Fain, and our technical director is Damian Herring. Our supervising senior producer is Vince Pearson. Join us again tomorrow. Damian, well, I assume. Right? Yeah, okay.