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Back-to-Back Quakes in Venezuela Kill Dozens, Collapse Buildings; GOP Senators Change Course, Deliver Win for Trump on Iran War Powers; Appeals Court Rejects DOJ's Demand for Michigan Voter Rolls. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 25, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with breaking news. Back-to-back deadly earthquakes devastate Venezuela. One was the most powerful to hit there in a century. The death toll skyrocketing in the last 30 minutes. Rescues are underway as we speak. We have a live report.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The rebuke and attempted un-rebuke. After the blowup at lunch between Trump and Republicans over the president's war on Iran, Senate Republicans tried to make amends by undoing the war powers vote they had just approved. Lots of new details coming in.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And it could be the most anticipated July 4th celebration on Earth, and it has nothing to do with America's birthday. All the signs that point to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in a wedding bash just up the street from here at Madison Square Garden.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: Breaking this morning, rescuers are racing right now to reach survivors in the rubble after two powerful back-to-back earthquakes rocked Venezuela. And just in, the death toll is rapidly on the rise. At least 164 people are dead, more than 900 injured, according to the country's acting president.

We are getting images of the moment the quake struck, terrifying families fleeing into the streets.

Wow, just look at how it is moving the car back and forth. The epicenter's located along Venezuela's northern coastal region. The 7.2 and then 7.5 magnitude quakes struck less than a minute apart, the second one, the strongest to hit the country in more than a century.

The damage, catastrophic, and it's widespread. Buildings collapsing, an untold number of people trapped in debris. A witness describes the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA ALEJANDRA, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: I was here when I managed to get dressed. He helped me, and all the walls were cracked. We managed to open the door however we could. There was a cloud of smoke that wouldn't let us see, and when we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie. We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with a baby, and all the neighbors coming down, but from that building, I only saw that one family got out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Venezuela's main airport also suffered major damage. Take a look at this video. It appears to show part of a terminal roof collapsing as people ran for safety.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon tracking all of this from Bogota, Colombia. I understand you could feel this earthquake in Bogota as well. What's the latest here in Venezuela?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, unfortunately, Sara, the latest news is what you just said, the death toll rising rapidly overnight to 164 killed, at least 164 killed, according to the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and almost 1,000 people wounded. However, we do unfortunately expect that death toll to keep growing and growing as first responders and emergency services will make their way through the rubble and more people will be pronounced dead.

Yes, we did hear and feel -- we did feel the earthquake here in Bogota. The Colombian capital is almost 1,000 miles away from Caracas, and we sit, by the way, on top of the Andean mountain range, and yet even here at more than 10,000 feet above sea level, the quake was felt. You can only imagine the impact on the infrastructure of Venezuela.

For the survivors that our team was able to speak with overnight, it has been really living through a horror movie. Take a listen to one of them, for example.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTHA ANEZ, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: I leaned out onto the balcony screaming, we're trapped. We need help. Please, someone come. We didn't realize there were two aftershocks back-to-back. We thought it had lasted a minute, maybe a minute and a half, but it felt endless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:05:00]

POZZEBON: Now, Sara, I want to bring you two pieces of information for a little bit of context. The first one is that the second shake, the second quake, 7.5, I was -- we were speaking with a quake expert in a seismologist overnight, and they were telling us that, for example, a 7.5 earthquake is almost as -- double as powerful as the 7.2 in the foreshock.

Like because of the scale, the Richter scale work, it means that the second one was almost double as powerful as the first one. And that is when you had people on the street already trying to take shelter from the first shake, and then the second one, 40 seconds later, hitting with double the magnitude.

And the second thing that I want to point you to is the state of the infrastructure in Venezuela. It's a country that is still reeling from a dramatic economic collapse under Delcy Rodriguez's predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, who's now in New York serving sentencing. This is a country that is not prepared to deal with a natural emergency of this magnitude. And this is why so many countries are preparing aid to dribble into the country, because of how devastating this double earthquake can be for the local population. Sara?

SIDNER: Stefano, I just want to clear something up. You said that this happened within a second of each other. So, are we talking two separate quakes, or is this a foreshock and then the actual big quake?

POZZEBON: I'm not an expert enough to understand that. When we spoke with the seismologist, he just pointed out that the second shake was double the force -- double the impact of the previous one.

One thing, for example, that we heard from Venezuelan authorities right now is that they had reported more than 30 aftershakes straight after and in the following hours from that immediate impact at around 6:00 P.M. local time.

I was speaking, for example, with colleagues, producers and journalists who were on the streets in Caracas to bring you that content that you're seeing now on the screen, and they told us that they keep feeling the ground, the earth shaking under their feet, even though they were already out trying to work as journalists, as we try to do in this moment. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. It's terrifyingly normal to have all those aftershocks after such a big quake.

Stefano Pozzebon, thank you for your reporting there from Bogota for us. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Right. So, overnight, there was a Senate reversal, or at least attempted reversal, rejecting a measure that it had approved just a day before to limit President Trump's ability to continue his war against Iran. How and why matters here.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy first voted to rein in the president, then changed his vote to deliver a win for the president. This is hours after getting into a shouting match with President Trump over this very thing.

The impact of this attempted redo appears to be little, but it is a remarkable turnaround and raises new questions now about where the Senate is headed next and what does all of this mean for the House's legislative agenda.

Alayna Treene is at the White House with the very latest. Because -- I bring up the House's legislative agenda, Alayna, because this is, was not the only thing that the president was upset about when he went into that Senate lunch yesterday. ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was truly, Kate, such a remarkable day on Capitol Hill, and one you really don't see in this era of Republicans so eager to show fealty to Donald Trump.

I actually want to borrow The New York Times lead today on this from my friend, Michael Gold, because I think it sums it up perfectly. They wrote, the confrontation came over lunch, the cleanup began after dinner. That is what we saw.

I do want to start with the news, which is what you mentioned at the top here, the reversal on the War Powers Resolution. As you mentioned, it came just hours after the president clashed angrily with Senate Republicans behind closed doors in this lunch, specifically with Senator Bill Cassidy.

But later in the day, in a 50 to 47 vote, one senator voted present, they defeated that War Powers Resolution that they had just passed the day before on Tuesday.

Now, I should note, this is a largely symbolic measure, or move, I should say. It didn't really change much of the crux of the original legislation, but it unmistakably is a sign to try and mollify the president, who, again, was really clashing and berating members earlier in the day.

But to get back to that, first, yesterday, we knew the president was going to the Hill for lunch with Senate Republicans. Right before he did, he kind of snatched defeat from the jaws of victory for Republicans and his White House alike. He said that he was not going to move forward with a bill signing on a very popular and bipartisan housing bill, one that his own team here at the White House had been celebrating that same day, including we also saw the House speaker, Mike Johnson, touting it earlier in the day as well.

Then he spent the day, as I mentioned, berating Senate Republicans, largely over that War Powers Resolution where they kind of rebuked him on Tuesday.

[07:10:06]

And specifically at one point, we were told that it devolved into a shouting match with Senator Bill Cassidy. At one point during that lunch, the president called the senator a, quote, lunatic. So, that just shows how I think tense things are currently in Congress.

I will note, Cassidy was one of the people who did ultimately change his vote to go for this War Powers Resolution vote, changing it yesterday. He said that that was after receiving a briefing from the vice president and Steve Witkoff. We heard similar things from Rand Paul, another person who changed his vote, arguing that he said, since the hostilities seem to be over, the president gave me consideration to his negotiating position, I will do so. So, we'll see where things go from now, but this is not the end, I think, of the infighting, Kate, among Republicans on the Hill.

BOLDUAN: I would say that is a decent prediction. It's good to see you, Alayna. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: A whole lot of berating going on there.

BOLDUAN: Berating.

BERMAN: All right. We are standing by this morning for what could be a colossal Supreme Court decision on mail-in voting that could restrict which votes are counted, easy for me to say.

The huge federal law enforcement effort to identify and catch the person seen on video putting a hand in the beleaguered Reflecting Pool.

And then the world rejoices, a live Dolly Parton appearance after dealing with health challenges, all the latest on where she went and the fringe she was wearing.

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[07:15:00]

BERMAN: This morning, a federal appeals court rejected a Justice Department demand for voter data. Michigan is one of 30 states the Justice Department sued for refusing to turn over the unredacted voter rolls. Confidential voter data could include Social Security numbers and driver's license I.D. numbers.

But this is part, really, of a battle going on now in every branch of government over how and when and where people vote, including a decision as soon as today from the Supreme Court that could radically alter mail-in voting.

With us now is CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. We got a lot to cover. Let's start at the highest level here. What does the Constitution say about voting?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Always a good idea to start with the Constitution itself. This is one of the areas where the Constitution is blessedly clear. Article 1, Section 4, the Elections Clause, tells us that the states get to choose the time, place, and manner of holding elections. But Congress, the U.S. Congress, also can pass laws that would override what the states did. That's going to come into play later today at the Supreme Court.

Notably absent from this list, the executive branch or the president.

BERMAN: 100 percent absent from that. So, what does that mean for all the executive action of various kinds that the president is trying to take?

HONIG: Well, President Trump has tried to exercise various types of his authority to influence elections, such as having the DOJ go out and ask these 30-some states for their voter rolls and other information. And, generally, those efforts have been rejected by the courts, including in that Court of Appeals decision yesterday, because, essentially, the courts are finding you are not articulating any sort of reason why you need to do this, any sort of valid reason, or the reasons you are articulating are shifting and inconsistent. So, generally speaking, those efforts have been rejected.

But Trump is trying to use other ways to influence the election. He's given executive orders to the Postal Service, to DHS, to try to monitor rolls. Again, they've had very limited success in courts, but he's trying.

BERMAN: He's trying, but, by and large, all because of the Constitution there will ultimately likely block all that.

Different story for Congressional action, the so-called Save America Act, which would require, you know, proof of citizenship at registering, voter I.D. at voting, and also restrict some in mail-in voting. Why, if Congress were to pass that, would that be allowable?

HONIG: Yes. If Congress were to pass the Save America Act, then it would almost certainly be constitutional because, again, going back to Article 1, it says the states can do what they want, but if Congress comes in and says, well, you have to have proof of who the person is, right, a photo I.D. You have to have some sort of registration beforehand. Congress can almost certainly do that.

Now, it will be challenged. Challengers would say, well, that puts a burden on certain people. That disadvantages certain groups. But the way the law has evolved, the courts are only going to strike something down if it has a discriminatory intent, which is almost impossible to show.

So, if there's some sudden change on Capitol Hill, and Congress passes this law, it almost certainly would be constitutional.

BERMAN: Finally, the Supreme Court could rule as soon as today on mail-in voting. A fight over whether ballots received -- postmarked before Election Day but received after should be counted.

HONIG: Perfect example of the Constitution in action. So, about 30 states have laws like that one that say, As long as your mail-in ballot is postmarked by Election Day, it can still be counted X number of days if it's received after Election Day. Mississippi is the state at issue here. Five days, other states have more or less time. Fine, up to the states, but, remember, unless Congress comes in and legislates.

And the counterargument is, well, when Congress created Election Day, the first -- the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, that meant that everything ends on that day, and therefore you cannot count those ballots if they arrive after.

I think that's going to be the winning argument, having listened to the oral argument in the court, but there's your Constitution in action.

BERMAN: It could change the way things are done in places like Oregon, California, Alaska, other places, Nevada. Stand by for that. Elie Honig, great to see you. Thank you.

HONIG: Thanks. 10:00 A.M., decision is coming.

BERMAN: Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, fellows.

Meth, weapons, and drones, details on a huge multi-state bust of contraband being flown into federal prisons.

And a major change at the Department of Defense this morning. Why a highly respected four-star general is stepping down.

Those stories and more ahead.

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, firefighters in Southwestern Utah are racing now to contain a fire that has nearly doubled in size. It is one of several fires burning across the state. It just really exploded to cover 61,000 acres. This makes this the most destructive wildfire in the state's history. That's according to Utah's governor right now.

There's also Ring camera footage that has come in capturing the moment that flames engulf the Eagle Point Ski Resort. The resort's owner says that the fire caused what they describe as significant damage. It seems like they're all dealing with it in real time right now too.

CNN's Allison Chinchar has much more on this. Allison, what are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right, so unfortunately, conditions are going to get worse before they get better, but then they're going to get worse all over again. This behind me looks like it should be on Mars.

[07:25:01]

It's not. It's actually a photo from the state park in Utah, and it's not far from where that fire is ongoing. Here you can see this video. This is from Bryce Canyon National Park. Again, that's in the southern portion of the State of Utah. There you can see the fire into the distance and just those large plumes of smoke.

Now, we have two larger fires across the State of Utah. The Cottonwood, that's the one on the south side, 0 percent containment, over 60,000 acres burned. And then the Iron Fire, which is much closer to Salt Lake City, that one has about 37,000 acres burned and is only about 17 percent contained.

Now, we are going to see the winds begin to uptick later on this afternoon. That's going to be a concern. The one bit of good news, this is going to come with a chance for rain. The problem is, today is it. After today, we don't really have much of a chance for rain, and Friday, the winds go up even more. So, it's not only stronger winds, but much drier conditions. And then we head into Saturday, and while the winds diminish at least a little bit, they are still there and could progress any of those fires further out than they already are.

So, the main concern today is really going to be these dry thunderstorms. You can see a large portion of the State of Utah, as well as some of the surrounding states, are going to be dealing with this. Essentially, what this means is you get the gusty winds from a thunderstorm. You get the lightning potential from a thunderstorm, but you don't really get the relief in the form of rain, which would in turn help put out some of these fires.

We do have the chance for rain today. Again, as you can see, as we go into the afternoon, more of them start to fire up there. See, this is exactly what we need. You would need that rain to help the firefighting crews out. You hope you don't get the lightning to go with it, and you just simply get the rain.

The concern, though, is, however, once we get through late this evening, and especially into Friday, those rain chances all go away. So, we just, in reality, do not have the ability to have multiple days of rain, which is actually what this area needs.

Here's a look -- again, this is the look at Friday. You'll notice now we have that purple color on the map that we do not have for today. That is the extreme category. That is level three out of three, the highest possible category you can get in terms of a fire threat.

Notice it's also not just for Utah. We also have portions of Northern Arizona that are also going to be there because of the intense winds, because of the low humidity, so certainly something we're going to have to keep an eye out for the remainder of the week.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. Allison, thank you very much for that. Sarah?

SIDNER: All right. Thanks so much, Kate.

Rescue crews in Venezuela racing to find survivors at this very moment after a massive and deadly earthquakes there. New video and information coming in by the minute. We will bring you all the details ahead.

And a flu outbreak at Texas Air Force base getting worse. It's as we're learning, the Air Force asked weeks ago to reinstate mandatory flu shots.

Those stories and more ahead.

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[07:30:00]