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LeBron James Leaving the Los Angeles Lakers; Justices Reject Trump's Effort to End Birthright Citizenship; Supreme Court Rules States May Ban Trans Athletes in Girl Sports; 1,900+ Dead and 10,000 Wounded After Twin Quakes Rock Venezuela. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 30, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:40]

ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Last day of the term for the Supreme Court, ending with major opinions, including one that is a clear defeat for the Trump administration, the other win for conservatives. We're going to take a closer look at the cases and the consequences.

A former aide to Bill Clinton testifying to the committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein. A source tells CNN, Doug Band is now walking back a claim that the former president visited Epstein Island.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And taking his talents to TBD, LeBron Le done with the L.A. Lakers. So where is the king going next? We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

We start this hour with Breaking News. The Supreme Court ending its latest term with a loss for President Trump. In a 6-3 decision, the justices struck down President Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship. The majority instead reaffirming the 14th Amendment's guaranty that children born on U.S. soil are U.S. citizens.

Just a short time ago, President Trump reacted on social media calling the ruling, quote, "too bad for our country," adding that Congress should now take action. We're joined now by CNN's Paula Reid. Paula, obviously a loss for Trump. It doesn't seem like it's going to deter him from testing the limits of executive power, though.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not. I mean, this is something that he's been doing since he first came into office in his first term. He and his advisers are constantly sort of working through this theory called the unitary executive theory, which means that the executive has really the maximum amount of power.

This is something a lot of conservatives have been supportive of for quite some time. And he has really had a lot of success in convincing at least a majority of justices in a lot of cases to grant him more power. We saw it just yesterday. They granted him sweeping new powers to be able to fire federal officials, overturning our understanding really for the past 90 years of who he can and cannot fire.

We've seen this with presidential immunity. We've seen this with nationwide injunctions. Again and again, he and his lawyers have gone to the Supreme Court on, in some cases, long-shot attempts to really expand what he can and cannot do. And overwhelmingly, they have been successful.

But birthright citizenship, I mean, even his own lawyer said this is probably a bridge too far, but that was behind the scenes and they had to go argue it. Everybody has a boss.

SANCHEZ: At least three of the conservative justices agreed with the president and Kavanaugh, at least, though he agreed with the opinion generally, he sort of laid a path for Congress to potentially act on this. Separately, the White House did score some wins today, perhaps most notably on the issue of states banning transgender athletes from women's sports. You've said that this is one of the biggest cases.

REID: Yeah, because this is the case I'm going to be asked about when I go visit, you know, my friends, their parents will ask how work is going. They're going to ask about this case because these larger questions that we're asking about the rights of transgender Americans, this is something that we've seen really, or especially over the last decade, a lot of these issues coming to the surface and eventually some of them winding up at the Supreme Court. And this is the latest in a series of setbacks for transgender Americans.

But this specific question when it comes to whether transgender athletes should be able to participate in girls' sports, this is a big question that a lot of people feel really strongly about. And again, over half of states have laws that are similar to the one the Supreme Court upheld today, the ones in West Virginia and Idaho. And they argue that they want to create a level playing field.

But there are constitutional questions to be had. But here, the Supreme Court is saying these bans are not unconstitutional. But there are so many big cases, so many things happening, as is the case with every Supreme Court term. But this is the case again. I think when I go see my friends, their relatives, this is what they're going to ask me about because there are a lot of feelings around these issues.

SANCHEZ: A huge culture war issue at that.

REID: I hate that phrase, but yes.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

(CROSSTALK)

REID: That's what the experts call it, yes. Could you tell I was trying not to say it? Because they're just fighting for their rights.

SANCHEZ: We'll find a (inaudible) for sure.

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Right. Yeah. Well, it's not you. Other people refer to it and that is true. But I think that this is something people have a lot of feelings about. SANCHEZ: Yeah.

REID: You go back to Eric Holder, sort of transgender bathrooms, the fight over that. These are the things that people ask me about. Even though I cover all the cases, this is the kind of thing that people are really interested in.

SANCHEZ: We'll see how states react. Paula Reid, thank you so much. Erica?

HILL: Joining us now is Ken Cuccinelli. He's the former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security under President Trump, now a Senior Fellow at the Center for Renewing America. I know ending birthright citizenship has been a major focus for you since your days in the Virginia State Senate. So first, I'd just like to hear your reaction to the Supreme Court's decision today.

KEN CUCCINELLI, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP: Oh, I was definitely very sad for my country. I think this is a tragic decision and it leaves us exposed really to the invaders, we call, illegal aliens from all over the world, every direction, and their predations on this country.

And unfortunately, the majority of the Supreme Court looked at the same common law that many of the rest of us looked at and they came to different conclusions today about what makes an American citizen or not.

[14:05:00]

And it's just being born here was their conclusion, unless you're basically an ambassador was the focus of the exception on the -- on the chief justice's part. And that's obviously very sad today. Obviously, the women's rights cases, you all were talking about them as transgender cases, those are really about protecting women in sports and in bathrooms and everywhere else. Those were wins, but you know, I would note that it's all -- I hear a lot on the left, people say this supreme court is in this president's pocket or -- and that's a reason to pack the court for example.

Well, he lost on birthright citizenship, a central case to his agenda today, he lost an election case yesterday. He lost on tariffs earlier in this Supreme Court. So I will say that while there were some good wins in this term, birthright citizenship was a major loss, and President Trump did not run the table here with the Supreme Court. So the rationale I think that others are offering on the far left for packing the court is really undone by this loss today and yesterday's in the election case.

HILL: So looking specifically at what did happen today, you mentioned Chief Justice Roberts, he noted when it came to birthright citizenship that parents who are unlawfully or temporarily in the country that those people are still subject to the legal authority and the laws of the United States and he argued that, therefore, their U.S. born children would satisfy the elements of the clause. So I'm curious if you agree, if in fact that anyone on U.S. soil, even if they came into the country illegally, is still subject to the legal authority and laws of the country while in the United States?

CUCCINELLI: Yeah, that is certainly true. The only people for whom that might not be true is, again, ambassadors for example, but everyone is subject to that. But what that does is, it makes the second portion of the critical sentence in the 14th Amendment subject to the jurisdiction of -- it makes it what's called by lawyers, surplusage. It adds nothing to the meaning of the citizenship definition there in the 14th Amendment.

And that surplusage has a history that we argued indicates, yes, the jurisdiction you described is one form of it, but there is a different element, political jurisdiction that involves allegiance and the chief justice talked about allegiance as part of the common law history and that's certainly true. But what it means is that the family, in this case, at least the mother has a legal allegiance to the United States. People who are fugitives here because they are here illegally do not have that allegiance and are not under that political jurisdiction and in that way, the chief justice parted ways with the common law as he saw it.

So this is unfortunate. I think that the effort by Senator Paul now to amend to the Constitution is going to become very important, but that's a tough road to hoe as we all know.

HILL: So that was my next question for you. It is a tough road to hoe. The president said, of course, we'll work to correct it in Congress were his words in a Truth Social post. And speaker Johnson --

CUCCINELLI: Right.

HILL: -- acknowledged that, but that it is a rough road ahead. Do you think there is any chance that there is some sort of a constitutional amendment given how many votes it would require?

CUCCINELLI: So I think something like that would have to come from the states. I think that -- what the Congress can do is implement the change that Justice Kavanaugh mentioned in his opinion to Section 1401, if memory serves, of the INA where Congress can accept out those who are illegally present in the United States. But that still wouldn't deal with, for example, birth tourism which is a full-blown industry in this country where they invite people in. They get tourist visas, give birth, their child is an American citizen under this ruling, which is what they're taking advantage of.

In California, 42 percent of the people taking advantage of that are from China, our premier global competitor, I'll put it in friendly terms, on earth today. And they're taking strategic advantage of the weakness apparently now, according to the Supreme Court, in our Constitution, not just our laws. And so fixing that is very important for strategic national sovereignty purposes.

HILL: I would point out the numbers on birth tourism are not clear at this point, not that there aren't concerns about it, but also important to note when you talk about potentially --

(CROSSTALK) CUCCINELLI: No, you can muddy it up all you like, they are raising (ph) an entire industry that is taking full advantage of it and made a lot of money of it.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: -- a constitutional amendment that the American people, in terms of polling -- the American people in terms of polling do overwhelmingly support birthright citizenship as it stands now.

Ken Cuccinelli, we appreciate you taking the time to join us. Thank you.

[14:10:00]

CUCCINELLI: Boy, you are a left-wing hack.

HILL: Wow, it's unfortunate that you felt the need to say that. I appreciate you coming on to answer fair questions.

Still to come here, remarkable stories of survival are coming out of Venezuela after the earthquakes. We're going to take a look at the timeline of hope for more rescues. Also, this oppressive, dangerous heat for millions. Right as they are preparing to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, a number of areas will be dealing with the hottest weather they have seen in a decade. We'll take a closer look on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:00]

SANCHEZ: Nearly a full week after Venezuela's double quake, rescuers are still saving lives, pulling some of the smallest survivors from the rubble in the last day or so, including a toddler, a 12-year-old boy, even a puppy. These moments, however, are rare, as the full scope of the catastrophe is still unclear.

The death toll has now risen to more than 1,900 people, 10,000 are injured, and countless families are in agony over missing loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRELLA HERRERA, FAMILY MEMBERS MISSING AFTER QUAKES (through translator): It's maddening because in the same way that I feel desperate. I walk, I stay hydrated, I wonder how must they be if they're still alive. They must be desperate to get out of there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has reported on and treated earthquake victims in Haiti and Nepal. He joins us now live from Atlanta.

Sanjay, walk us through what we've learned about how long people can survive in the aftermath of a catastrophe like this. DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's not an exact science, Boris. I will tell you that the greatest likelihood of survival is within the first day. I mean, most rescues happen within the first 24 hours, to give context, about 90 percent. So that just gives you a little bit of perspective. World Trade Center, for example, after that building collapsed, the longest standing survivor was 27 hours.

But, you know, there's obviously all sorts of different factors that play into this. One of the things that I learned from being on the ground with rescue workers in Haiti, Nepal, and other places around the world, something they refer to as sort of the rule of fours. The idea that you can go four minutes without air, you can go four days without water, 100 hours or so, four weeks without food.

But when it comes to sort of the day two onward, again, 90 percent of the rescues occurring within that first day, day two onward, the sort of average time to rescue at that point is about seven days, 6.8 days to be more precise. So we're sort of at that stage. You know, we hear these remarkable stories sometimes.

There was a woman in Bangladesh, Boris, that I reported on years ago. She survived for 16 days after a building collapse. So there's always those stories, and I think that's what still provides a lot of hope for people.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. The idea, especially in a situation like this, is that you hope for voids in the rubble where people --

GUPTA: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: -- can survive. What do we know about voids in the structures in Venezuela?

GUPTA: Well, you know, we looked at a lot of video. There's been a lot of video collected of these building collapses. And there are several different types of way that a building might collapse. One of the ones that you're hoping doesn't happen, but unfortunately has happened a lot in Venezuela, is something known as a pancake collapse.

So you think about that, that's sort of literally falling down one floor on top of the other, and you have something that looks like a stack of pancakes at the end. And that, unfortunately, Boris, is sort of the worst possible thing for potential voids. I will tell you, again, we saw that in Haiti as well. This was back in 2010.

But there were people that were found several days later who were still able to find a void. They were actually sort of trapped inside a kitchen, so they had access to food and water in that kitchen despite the fact that it had been a pancake collapse. So it can happen.

And as you know, Boris, a woman was rescued in Venezuela, I think 86 hours after the earthquake, 60-year-old woman. She said she felt like she had been reborn after that. There had been babies that had been pulled out of the rubble. So it can happen, but it's increasingly rare, obviously, as time goes on. SANCHEZ: Yeah, that's why rescue teams are racing against the clock. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, very much appreciate the expertise.

GUPTA: You got it, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still to come, the major announcement sending shockwaves through the sports world, LeBron James leaving the Lakers, the 41-year-old not retiring though. What we're learning about where he may be headed, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:23:47]

HILL: So LeBron James is moving on from the Los Angeles Lakers. This one's paying attention. ESPN reports James told the team he's leaving, entering free agency.

SANCHEZ: Joining us now, ESPN Senior NBA Insider, Shams Charania, who broke this story. Shams, thanks so much for being with us. Why is LeBron leaving the Lakers? How much of this has to do with Luka Doncic?

SHAMS CHARANIA, ESPN SENIOR NBA INSIDER: Boris, the Lakers have gone through different transformations in the last year or so, right, and part of that was getting Luka Doncic. But my understanding is, after eight years there with the Lakers, they won the championship in 2020, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. LeBron just felt that the time had come for both sides to move on.

My understanding is he just felt he can find his happiness and life elsewhere out of the Lakers, and that's the decision he came to today. So it was twofold. One, it's deciding to play basketball next season. He's already played 23 NBA seasons. Next year would be an unprecedented, historic 24th year. Once again, he would be playing.

It's not clear whether that would be it or he would even play a 25th season potentially, but he came to the decision that he will be playing another year. All indications led that way.

[14:25:00]

And now today, he makes a decision that no matter what, I'm going to be leaving the Lakers. And so, why today is the -- as (ph) the day -- NBA free agency starts at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. That means that after 6 p.m. Eastern Time, LeBron James is wide open, available on the open market in NBA free agency, and he will not be going back to the Lakers.

And sources told me that it is a happiness-led decision for LeBron James. That's what he's going to seek at his next home. It's not going to be a money-driven decision.

HILL: How important is that that he says it's not going to be a money-driven decision because he's not exactly going to be cheap to pick up. CHARANIA: Definitely very critical for teams that are interested, right? Because any team that's going to be bringing LeBron James in, you want to have a chance to build your roster. You want to have a chance to compete for a championship because that's part of what makes LeBron James happy, is having a group of guys in a unit and a chance every year to go compete.

That's what he thrives on. And there were things along the way in L.A. that you could see the tea leaves. They trade Anthony Davis in the middle of night. LeBron James had no idea that that was coming. That happens. And you see the shift that's taken place with this Lakers organization.

They go out and trade for Luka Doncic and they made no bones about it. Luka was the face of the Lakers franchise the moment they acquired him. And that meant LeBron James' spot as the face was being overtaken, being usurped right from under him.

He had no idea that that was happening. So that happens. And then, even in this free agency process, right? It was Austin Reaves on the pecking order, then LeBron James, and then Rui Hachimura. Well, Austin Reaves gets taken care of last week on a max deal, $185 million. My understanding is the Lakers expressed they wanted LeBron James back but never made an offer in free agency. And so, you cobble all that together and what's taken place the last couple of years with the roster there, LeBron James feels that he can get better elsewhere.

SANCHEZ: You know where he might be able to get better and where he seemed really happy in the past, one place that makes me really happy --

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: And where Boris would be really happy, yeah.

SANCHEZ: -- is Miami. There are rumors that he might, you know, take his talents to South Beach against, Shams. How likely is that? Are the Warriors perhaps more likely, or a return home to Cleveland?

CHARANIA: Boris, a dozen of the NBA's contending teams, whether you're a high-end championship contender, a contender for a high-end playoff berth, home court advantage, whatever it is, you're going to express interest in LeBron James. So I expect tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Rich Paul, LeBron James' agent's phone will be flooded with about at least a dozen serious calls.

But from there, you're going to have to whittle it down. And when I talk to teams around the league, there's a few that really stand out. The Miami Heat are definitely one of them. And I do expect the Heat to have a level of interest. You have Giannis Antetokounmpo there, Bam Adebayo there. You have history with LeBron James there, a warm weather, the market of Miami where LeBron James has already won two championships. That will obviously come calling.

There will be the Cleveland Cavaliers, homecoming for LeBron James potentially. We know he won one in 2016, a historic championship in Cleveland. But that could be really a curtain -- full curtain, full- circle ending potentially for LeBron James.

But the one team that has been making overtures the last few years and inroads this week is the Golden State Warriors and Draymond Green opting out of his $27.7 million salary to potentially take a pay cut to give the Warriors the flexibility to go out and acquire LeBron James in free agency. But even more than that, try to go make a trade for Anthony Davis with the Wizards.

Is there a package deal opportunity here where you can form Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, LeBron James, Anthony Davis? And that is been formulated as a grand plan for the Warriors in the last week. A lot has to come into fruition for that all to take place. And only time will tell.

But I would expect those three teams, when I talk to teams around the league, those franchises will be looked at as the forefront, but (inaudible), a San Antonio, like there is all these different mechanizations I think that would develop out of the woodworks as well.

HILL: All right. So it's anybody's guess. But again, Boris polling for the Heat. I have another really important question. What about Bronny?

CHARANIA: Bronny's contract got guaranteed on Monday. And so he is still on the roster right now. I mean he's got a guaranteed roster spot, so there -- he's on the roster.

SANCHEZ: Fascinating. We could see father and son going head to head. There was a rumor a long time ago that LeBron left Miami in part because Pat Riley took away some cookies on the team play. I'm telling him right now, LeBron, if you are watching, the entire city of Miami will get you whatever cookies you want, bro.

HILL: Boris will start baking it for you.

SANCHEZ: Chocolate chip, oreos, cookies for everybody.

HILL: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: Shams Charania, I hope you can get that message to LeBron. You could see more of Shams on SportsCenter when free agency kicks off --

HILL: Thank you, Shams.

SANCHEZ: -- at 6 p.m. Eastern on ESPN's "NBA Today Free Agency Special" tonight from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on ESPN. Thanks so much, Shams.