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Back-to-Back Deadly Earthquakes in Venezuela; Race to Rescue survivors in Venezuela; U.S. Has Highest Inflation in Three Years; Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) is Interviewed about Inflation and Housing Affordability; Twelve People Arrested in Drone Network. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 25, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: In New York.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: We are the biggest city in the country. We are used to big events. And we are incredibly excited for this one. We know it coincides with the Knicks finals run. We know it coincides with July 4th, America 250, Taylor Swift's wedding all happening at the same time. And we are so excited to welcome the world here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: So, that is where Mayor Mamdani was talking about safety measures in the city around the World Cup. Again, casually dropping Taylor's wedding.

I have reached out to Taylor's rep. No surprise here. No word back. They want to keep this as under wraps as possible. I know we're out of time, Sara. In the next hour, I'm going to tell you why it actually makes sense for them to get married at MSG.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I can tell you, a lot of people will be so freaking excited. And then there are the New Yorkers who will be like, why are all the streets closed down? And there will be problems.

Elizabeth Wagmeister, the two things can exist at the same time. Thank you so much for your great reporting.

WAGMEISTER: That's right.

SIDNER: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the breaking news that we're tracking this morning, the death toll is rising after back-to-back earthquakes hit Venezuela. Rescue teams, they are searching through rubble right now. They say they can hear survivors screaming for help. We've got an update on the death toll, which is rising.

Plus, inflation tops four percent for the first time in three years. What this now means for the U.S. economy.

And drones smuggling drugs, smuggling weapons, and more into American prisons. The crime ring allegedly uncovered and the arrests just announced.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, rescuers digging to reach survivors trapped in the rubble of two powerful back- to-back earthquakes in Venezuela. The toll this morning has jumped to more than 160 people killed, nearly 1,000 injured. Both of these numbers, the deaths and the injured, almost definitely likely to rise higher.

We are just getting new video into CNN showing the force of these earthquakes the moment they hit.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You can see the fear and just utter chaos there. People running for their lives as those buildings are just crumbling all around them.

The epicenter is located along Venezuela's northern coastal region. The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quake struck just 40 seconds apart. The second one was the strongest to hit the country in more than a century.

We're really only beginning to understand the scope of the damage. Communications are hard, particularly in the hardest hit regions. We have been getting these pictures back all morning long of crews trying to get through these buildings, which have just pancaked on top of themselves. An unknown number of people still trapped. Some of the survivors are sharing their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA ALEJANDRA, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): 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's 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)

BERMAN: Just listening to her, you can see, again, the fear in her. Venezuela's main airport -- Venezuela's main airport also appeared to

suffer damage. Video appears to show part of the terminal roof collapsing as people rush to safety. There, you're not going to see it. You're just going to have to take my word for it.

Allison Chinchar joins us now with much more on where this quake struck and the power there.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And also just how rare of an event this even was. So, the USGS is calling this a doublet, which basically means you had two earthquakes happen in a very short period of time and also in very close proximity to each other. Again, you had the 7.2 and the 7.5 here in this northern region of Venezuela.

Now, also what's interesting to note, even places like Caracas, which are not really that close to the epicenter, were -- had experienced very heavy shaking and very heavy damage. And the reason for that is because of this particular type and style of quake. That rupture propagated very quickly towards the city and kind of really pushing a lot of that shaking along with it. That energy produced a little bit stronger ground motion than you would have maybe say if it had propagated out in a different direction.

Also, the soil type matters here in Venezuela. And that deep sedimentary deposits that they have kind of amplified that shaking as well for Caracas specifically.

Now, one of the biggest concerns that Venezuela is going to have going forward are the aftershocks.

[09:05:04]

Here's the thing you have to understand. That 7.2 alone, the initial quake, likely triggered significant damage, meaning all of those buildings, the homes, structures were structurally compromised from that quake. Then you get the 7.5 on top of it, which ended up causing even more damage to those buildings. Now you've got aftershocks to worry about.

Typically with a 7.5, which is the main shock we've been talking about, you will have at least one aftershock of a 6.5 magnitude or higher. You'll have roughly ten at a 5.5 or higher, and maybe around 100 at 4.5 magnitude or higher. And a 4.5 may not sound all that strong. But when you've had the type of significant structural damage that these areas have had, even something as small as a 4.5 can cause additional significant damage. And so that is going to be very important.

Also, one of the other things that's really going to hinder some of the rescue efforts going on are the rain chances that are expected for the remainder of the day today. So that's going to be something else that they also have to keep a close eye on, especially knowing that the vast majority of the aftershocks really typically occur within about the first one to seven days after the main shock.

Now, with this particular one, again, when you talk about the frequency, we typically only get earthquakes that fall between a seven and a 7.9. Roughly about 15 of those in a year. We got two of them within 40 seconds. These were also incredibly shallow earthquakes. Again, we deem something shallow is anything less than 70 kilometers deep. These were roughly about 10 to 20 kilometers deep. So, that also adds to the damage factor that this area experienced.

BERMAN: And these aftershocks can be so terrifying for people who may not be able to live in their homes, maybe seeking temporary shelter. They really, really do cause even increased fear.

Allison Chinchar, thank you very much.

Want to go to Stefano Pozzebon, live in Colombia, next door to Venezuela, who has been speaking with people monitoring the situation inside that devastated country.

What are you learning, Stefano?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, John, unfortunately, everything that we are learning from Venezuela is nothing short of frightening. And to add to what Allison was telling you, let's talk about how Caracas, the city itself, was built.

Caracas sits at the bottom of a deep Andean valley. And because of that, most of the people that are talking -- we're talking about seven million residents in the greater Caracas urban area live around hills and especially in high-rise building. Like a high-rise building is the last place you want to be during an earthquake.

This is, for example, what one of the residents, one of the survivors we were able to speak with in the immediate aftermath of those two earthquakes told our team down in Caracas.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I felt like a roar coming from the ground, because on the fourth floor I heard a roar and the walls were moving. And I felt as if I were in water. Something like when a boat is in the water and it's rocking.

What I did was throw myself on the floor to call on God. The walls cracked, the kitchen collapsed, the living room wall is about to fall. One more movement and it will come down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: I mean, floors that turned -- I felt like drowning into water. Entire buildings collapsing and turned into rubble. The Venezuelan government have told, both in statements to the press, but also privately to us here in Bogota, that the area most affected is the state of La Guaira, John. That is a state that is sandwiched between Caracas itself, the main capital, and the coast. Once again, we're talking about hills. We're talking about a mountainous area where the population has built houses and houses on top of the hills and on the slopes of -- the early slopes of the mountains. That means that perhaps the damage can be even further because of how the buildings collapsed, one on top of each other.

John.

BERMAN: And we just haven't heard from many people from La Guaira right now. No real sense maybe of just how bad it is, even as we've seen buildings simply destroyed there.

Stefano Pozzebon, monitoring this for us, thank you very much. Please keep us posted.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: We're also watching breaking news this morning on the U.S. economy. New data in showing that inflation rose again last month. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge now at the highest level in three years.

CNN's David Goldman is joining us now.

What more are you seeing with this?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, well, 4.1 percent. That is the highest in three years. You don't want to see a number that high.

But I'm going to -- I'm going to do something unusual. I'm going to say, ignore that, right?

BOLDUAN: OK.

GOLDMAN: This is --

BOLDUAN: Ignore the news.

GOLDMAN: Ignore the news. This is old news, right, because this happened in May.

BOLDUAN: Right.

GOLDMAN: And what has happened since May? Well, oil prices have fallen precipitously. We're now down below the levels that we were at when the war started. The number that I want you to focus on, however, is the core number. They cut out all those volatile numbers, like food and energy, and that one rose more than expected.

[09:10:05]

BOLDUAN: OK.

GOLDMAN: That's the concern, because if you even get rid of all of those high energy prices, inflation is still rising. And that is going to be really tricky for the Fed to figure out how to get rid of.

BOLDUAN: Yes. GOLDMAN: Now, Kevin Warsh, who President Trump nominated for the Fed chair, he might have to raise rates. That's not what President Trump hired him to do. So, we're in a sticky situation for sure.

BOLDUAN: For sure. The next meeting is next -- end of next month?

GOLDMAN: Yes, every six weeks.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Yes. All right, let's see what happens.

GOLDMAN: We'll find out.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, David. Thank you so much.

GOLDMAN: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Congressman Marlin Stutzman, a Republican from Indiana.

Congressman, good to see you this morning.

We just got that new report, the PCE, Personal Consumption Expenditure, 4.1 percent, the highest level inflation in three years. How close is that to what you would like to see?

REP. MARLIN STUTZMAN (R-IN): Well, you never want to see inflation at those high numbers, John. And -- but, of course, I'll tell you, the economy is still strong. The fundamentals of the economy are strong, especially now that we're going to see gas prices come down. I think you're going to probably see a bit more of this.

And this is something that is a challenge. We're trying to, you know, balance two different things at once. Unemployment rates are at a very low numbers, which is good. I see a lot of growth in Indiana, in northeast Indiana, where manufacturing is coming back. And so, there's going to have to be some sort of a tempering of, of course, the inflation numbers. We don't want to see costs continue to sky, you know, to move up higher than what they currently are. But I think it's just a sign of a strong economy.

BERMAN: I will note that when you strip away energy and food prices, core PCE also basically at a three year high, 3.4 percent, as high as it's been since October 23.

And you're saying the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Those are words that I heard from John McCain during the crash in 2007, 2008. Those are the types of words we heard from the end of the Biden administration, when GDP, doing great, unemployment, doing great, but people were feeling it in the prices.

So, are you telling people that they're not feeling what they think they're feeling?

STUTZMAN: Yes. No. No, absolutely not. I mean there's definitely a pinch, whether it's at the pump or whether it's at the grocery store. But I -- you know, what I hear from business owners back home is that while they're -- you know, dealt with the tariff situation, they're also seeing more orders. There's more building going on than most, you know, I don't want to say ever before, but there's just a lot of building that's happening in the Midwest. There is a pinch, but at -- I think what a lot of people are finding is that their jobs are safe. There are actually companies looking to hire more people. There's several things going on right now. So, I think that, you know, while we see some cost of food maybe going up, we're seeing in some areas though where it is coming down. And I think gas prices will be coming down dramatically after President Trump gets this deal, you know, really in a good spot with the Iranians.

BERMAN: Again, just to be clear, core PCE, which strips out energy and food also at a near three-year high.

One concern for prices is housing, obviously. In both chambers of Congress, the House and the Senate, passed this bipartisan housing bill. The Republican Study Committee put out a statement after quoting a number of members of Congress, members of the Republican Study Committee, praising it. Let me read you one. "Millions of Americans who will now have the opportunity to afford a house and I are proud to see the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act headed to the president's desk for his signature. For too long corporate home buyers and burdensome government regulations, like those corrected in my Streamlining Rural Housing Act, have artificially inflated housing prices. This legislation which overwhelmingly passed the House will put the American dream back within reach of soon-to-be homeowners."

Do you know who wrote that or said that?

STUTZMAN: Yes. No. And I -- this is a good bill. We've seen strong, bipartisan support for the 21st Century Housing Act, in both the House and the Senate. It took us some time, but it has some high priorities. For myself, I've got a streamlining bill in there that keeps HUD and USDA on the same page so that way we can get homes built faster. It also has a high priority for President Trump.

Now, you know, I know President Trump didn't sign the bill into law yesterday, but it -- you know, Trump is a strong negotiator and he sees this as an opportunity to show the Senate that he has a high priority in the SAVE America Act as well, and that he wants both bills to pass. And so, he's put a pause on it to make sure that he drives that point home with the Senate, that they need to find a way to get the Senate -- the SAVE America Act passed.

So, I think ultimately it will become law.

BERMAN: Would you --

STUTZMAN: It's a high priority for the president. And it's a high priority for Republicans.

BERMAN: You say it's a high priority for the president.

[09:15:01] Would you call the legislation important? Would you call it major legislation?

STUTZMAN: Oh, I would. I mean, I would say it's major legislation. But I know that, to the president --

BERMAN: OK.

STUTZMAN: And to us as Republicans, we want to be sure that the SAVE America Act passes as well.

BERMAN: Congressman --

STUTZMAN: So, we can do two things at once here.

BERMAN: You call it major legislation. The president says otherwise. He says, "the Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren centric housing bill, which is of minor importance compared to lower interest rates and even FISA, pales in comparison to the SAVE America Act."

How pleased are you with how he views the importance of it?

STUTZMAN: Well, again, you know, the president is -- he's a multitasker and he does several things at once. And he knows that interest rates, of course, do make a difference with housing. We've seen the inflation numbers skyrocket during the Biden years. Inflation went up, interest rates went up. And so, President Trump has -- is doing multiple things here to try to get things back in line.

And, you know, while he is, you know, I think he's showing his frustration that -- with the Senate that the SAVE America Act didn't pass. And also the Senate voted on the war powers act. He made some good progress last night, having conversations with Senator Cassidy and even Senator Paul, who voted present after having a conversation with the president and his team at the White House, shows that he can move the needle when he has these conversations. And I think the president's simply saying, look, this isn't important for me today because I want the SAVE America Act passed as well, and we need to find a way to do that, whether it's through reconciliation or whether the Senate Republicans decide to move past the zombie filibuster.

BERMAN: Yes or no, do you want him to sign it?

STUTZMAN: Yes, I do. And I think he will eventually. But I also want to see the SAVE America Act passed as well.

BERMAN: Congressman Marlin Stutzman from Indiana, we always appreciate you waking up and coming on. Good to see you this morning. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, drugs, weapons and escape tools, all delivered by drone to prisons. New details on a federal bust of a criminal group investigators are saying were operating out of a former daycare. Also, crews rescue a man trapped in a flood control ditch with water,

you can see there, rushing all around him. The video coming in of the dramatic rescue there.

And Snoop is trading in gin and juice for popsicles, or might he put them together? Where can you find the Snoop, d (ph), oh, double g's (ph), new frozen treats?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:41]

SIDNER: This morning, a wave of arrests, all tied to a sophisticated drone operation. The Justice Department says this is one of the drones, that you see behind me there, used to deliver drugs, weapons, cell phones, even escape tools to federal prisons. Authorities say the operation was done out of a former daycare in Macon, Georgia, and that the covert mission delivering the contraband to ten federal prisons across eight states were done, as you might imagine, in the dark of night.

CNNs Ryan Young, following all of this.

Ryan, this is -- this is wild. Let's just be honest. When you think about the stuff that they were trying to get in or getting in. But you've reported on some of these shenanigans before, if that's what we can call these things.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it sounds wild. And I remember talking to Kate just last hour. One of the things that I should have highlighted before is, people are actually 3-D printing parts of drones so they can drop the payload. We even learned that somebody ordered crab legs at one of the prisons to have food dropped off. I mean, they're not giving up the things that they had on the outside. And a lot of times it's all focused on getting those cell phones in.

You see this big drone right here. They can drop up to 40 pounds worth of contraband into some of these prisons. And what worries them, obviously, is could be -- it could be weapons. It could be drugs. We've even seen them use fake stuffed cats and they take out the stuffing and stuff the drugs or whatever contraband they're trying to get into the prisons onto the -- drop to the ground. And, of course, a lot of this is happening at night.

Now, in this particular operation, 12 people were arrested. They believed to do over 38 different drone runs. They used drone technology to sort of track back where they were flying to.

But you have to think about this. They had a place called The Lab, which that was the old daycare that they had turned into this sophisticated operation where they were outfitting these drones and then flying them over the prisons to drop these drops at night.

Take a listen to the state attorney's office talk about these charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL KEYES, U.S. ATTORNEY, MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA: Thirty-eight drops at ten federal prisons. This is the largest charge on an organization doing this kind of activity in the history of the United States. And it's over several years. So, it is widespread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes. So, they've been tracking this for quite some time. You got to think about it, drugs, cell phones, weapons, escape tools. Of course, cigarettes sometimes too. But all this happening mostly at night.

Now, we've seen video of them tracking the drones back after they make their runs. Now, prisons and jails are both trying to figure out how to create some sort of electric dome over their facilities to make sure these drones can't fly in. But right now, technology is moving so fast, you understand why this is such a big worry.

This is, of course, the largest arrest right now. So, you got to give federal authorities some sort of credit for cracking down on this. But look at all the states that are involved in this. You got to realize, some of these drops probably got past them. And at this point, they're trying to track down the rest of this investigation as they work for this.

But, Sara, they're taking this pretty seriously.

SIDNER: Yes.

YOUNG: In fact, some people could face life in prison because of these drops -- drone drops.

SIDNER: Wow. Yes, I mean, it is really serious, and the feds should be given credit for being able to crack this.

The one thing that I'm sorry is funny is, whoever ordered the crab legs, like, I get it, but, that's insane.

YOUNG: Right. It's better than jail food, right?

SIDNER: I mean, much.

Ryan Young, thank you so much.

[09:25:01]

Great reporting from you this morning.

John.

BERMAN: All right, a pilot suffers a medical emergency mid-flight. What we are learning about the landing and this flight that one passenger called really horrifying. I'm sure it was.

And then all the clues that point to where and when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are getting married, here in this neighborhood next week. Our reporter Elizabeth Wagmeister just said she's got reporting on why they're doing it. I know I want to hear.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A shakeup underway at the Pentagon. Multiple sources tell CNN the -- that General Christopher Donahue is expected to retire as soon as next week. He is currently the top U.S. Army commander in Europe.

[09:30:00]

And also these sources telling CNN that there has been tension between the Defense Secretary's office and Donahue's command for some time. The four-star general has served in Iraq, Syria.