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Trump Visits North Dakota for America 250 Events; Trump Shrugs Off Concerns He Made Billions in Office Last Year; Two in NYPD Custody After Scaling Empire State Building; Death Toll from Venezuela Earthquakes Rises to 2,295; Colorado AG Weiser Beats Sen. Bennet in Dem Primary for Governor 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 01, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: First flight: President Trump visiting North Dakota on the inaugural trip for the new Air Force One. A gift from Qatar that's been swamped in controversy since the beginning. The President expected to speak this hour. We'll be watching for his remarks.

Plus, win or go home, stay home, not really sure. But Team USA has enjoyed a terrific tournament on home soil during this World Cup. And now fans hope the squad can keep the dream alive with a win in the knockout round today. Potentially the first win since 2002.

And how old is too old when it comes to eating expired food in your fridge? California is taking an interesting approach, saying no sell by date, no problem. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Any moment now, President Trump is expected to begin speaking at the opening of the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. A short time ago, we saw the President make in America to 50 pit stop. A train stop actually, just before he was given a tour of the library, CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live in Medora, North Dakota, where the President will soon be stepping on that stage.

So, what else is on the agenda today, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, for all the modes of transportation that Donald Trump has taken over the years, certainly motorcades, certainly his own plane in Air Force One. It was the first time he was on a train sort of looking like the old whistle stop tours of years gone by. It was a very short ride, a -- effectively a photo op. But it certainly was that here in the badlands of North Dakota, as President Trump arrived then at the library, the brand-new library for Theodore Roosevelt, the country's 26th President who served in office at the country's 125 year marking.

So, of course, we are now 125 years on from that, as President Trump is really making his way to celebrate America to 50 and celebrating himself along the way. We are here in the badlands of North Dakota. He'll be speaking behind me here at the Medora musical site, a historic summer location here. But he will certainly be drawing some parallels to the Roosevelt

administration and also delivering what aides say is just a typical stump speech here. So, he is also talking right now, apparently at the library. Let's listen.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But I thought this would be a very, really inappropriate place to have it. And then it's very special. You're a very special man. There are very few people that have them. You know, I want to give one to myself, but they tell me and I'm allowed to. My son over here, by both of them. I said, fellas, I'd love to give one of them to me. What have I done to ...

ZELENY: So, what we're seeing right there is President Trump bringing the Medal of Honor that President Roosevelt to receive, the only president to receive that. There had been a replica in the museum that I just saw yesterday. But we're told that President Trump brought the original from the Library of Congress here to the new library and museum. So, certainly, a poignant moment there as several other artifacts from the Roosevelt time in office in his childhood in New York have also been brought here to the library.

So, a moment of history. There's no doubt we'll be hearing about a moment of present when the President takes the stage in just a few moments. Erica.

HILL: Yes. Absolutely, Jeff, appreciate it. Thank you. Boris.

SANCHEZ: President Trump's trip to honor America's 26th President is happening as Americans are now learning just how much money President Trump made during his first year back in office. Billions in profits. CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us at the White House.

So, Kristen, right before the President left for North Dakota, he shrugged off concerns about the money he'd made in office.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Boris. I want to take a look at this money because, as you said, it's billions. Billions with a B. One billion of that coming from these cryptocurrency ventures. So, let's look at what's in this financial disclosure. We're talking about $635 million in celebration coins deals. These are -- these crypto memes -- mean coins, then $526 million in crypto tokens, then $77 million, which is actually up in memberships and money coming in at Mar-a-Lago, his property. Then, you're looking at $4.7 million in royalties for Trump watches and less than a million dollars in gifts, Trump Bibles, et cetera, things that he has branded there.

Now, he specifically was asked about whether or not there are concerns or asked to respond to these concerns. He's profiting off this -- his position in office. He not only shrugged them off, he said he had nothing to do with it and then put it on something else. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I purposely -- I never speak to any of the people that run the money, but they're big institutions and they invest in whatever they invest.

[15:05:08]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But to critics you say -- to critics who say you're profiting off the presidency.

TRUMP: Well, you know why I'm profiting because the stock market's going up. Everybody's profiting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: It's unsurprising that's something we've heard President Trump say a lot. He is fixated on the stock market. But there is one thing I want to show you here which is the value of some of this crypto that has -- that he had had made so much of this money from. We have done an analysis and this is down this Trump value 98% from the all-time high. The reason that's significant it means that yes President Trump earned millions of dollars off of this but the other people who invested in it not so much.

SANCHEZ: Yes Kristen Holmes live for us at the White House thank you.

Still to come two people in custody after scaling the Empire State Building. The latest we're learning about that stunt straight ahead.

Plus, Venezuela is reeling after being hit with back-to-back massive earthquakes. CNN is on the ground with the recovery efforts.

And later, a major shakeup for student loans that will create higher payments for some borrowers and stricter limits for others. That and much more coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:10:35]

HILL: We now know the identity of one of the climbers who scaled to the very top of the Empire State Building just a couple of hours ago. Angela Nikolau who posted this Instagram video of her view from some 1,400 feet up atop the Empire State Building. She's by the way now in police custody with another person. Their name has not been confirmed at this point.

The two figures though dressed in all black, of course, climbed the skyscraper and while they were up there they unfurled a banner that read: "when the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace." The unidentified climbers as they were climbing down then well he appeared to propose to Nikolau before the pair was reached by officers from the NYPD's emergency services unit who then detained them. CNN's Mark Morales is following all these developments for us.

And we are learning a little bit more about the couple. They're rather prolific online, Mark.

MARK MORALES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTER: Yes. This is not the first time they've climbed buildings like this. If you go through her social media page you'll see that the couple has sort of made a career out of this. They climb up these structures, they go to really tall places, places where you or I, I bet, would never even want to dream of climbing up to. But, you -- if you go through her page you'll see her that she's like lying down on these like tight -- tight little spires that just overlook the city.

And if you see right behind me you'll see the Empire State Building and that's one of the highest profile buildings you have in the city so anytime anything happens over there you know that law enforcement is going to really zero in on it because of what's going on because of the high terror threat environment that we're in right now.

So, you could imagine that when two people were seen climbing and scaling up to the top of that that was a very big deal. Law enforcement sent their -- basically what they're calling their -- their Navy SEALs of the NYPD, their emergency service unit members. They went up climbed up to the spire and a handful of them went up and took them -- take -- took them into custody.

Now, again, we've talked we've mentioned before that they're no stranger to this. They've had a Netflix documentary where they just sort of talked about exactly these kind of feats, climbing up to tall buildings where they're not supposed to be and take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA NIKOLAU: As an artist we need to express yourself. Now, we were more than just daredevils. Now, we were telling a story. A love story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORALES: So, they're in custody right now charges have not dropped yet. However, I think we can all expect that they're not going to be light. NYPD is going to want to set an example here. Because, remember, this is going to have to be a deterrent. If somebody climbs up in a place where they're not supposed to be and there's -- they get off with a slap on the wrist, that won't -- that'll serve as sort of a -- a way for people to -- or a way people to want to do that again. So, that's what they're going to want to put a hold on and investigators are now going to go through to make sure how they actually got up there.

HILL: Yes, absolutely, still a lot of questions and it will be interesting as you point out, Mark, to see just how serious those charges are. Mark thanks.

CNN meantime is in Venezuela with the very latest for you on this crisis following those back-to-back earthquakes just a week ago. We're going to be joined by a search-and-rescue expert who is on the ground there in one of the hardest hit areas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:40]

SANCHEZ: Breaking news out of Venezuela, the death toll from the powerful earthquakes has now climbed to 2,295. A top official confirming that new number just a short time ago. It has been one week since the devastating back-to-back earthquake struck. Thousands more people are still feared dead as hope of finding survivors buried in the rubble is fading. U. S. search and rescue teams are among international crews in a desperate multinational effort to find any remaining survivors.

You're looking here at video from Fairfax County, Virginia Urban Search and Rescue. And our next guest, John Morrison, is a spokesperson for that team. He's right now in Venezuela in the hardest hit area of La Guaira.

John, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

Help us understand some of the operations that your team has carried out in the last 24 hours.

JOHN MORRISON, SPOKESPERSON, FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA URBAN SEARCH & RESCUE: In the last 24 hours, we've really been focused on some of the larger buildings that have collapsed. Many of the rescuers -- or rescues towards the top of the collapsed buildings have already been made. So now we're really focused on those that are deeply entombed within the structure of these large high rises that collapsed down into just a few -- a few feet.

SANCHEZ: We understand that the best-case scenario in in building collapses are for there to be voids that form around materials so that survivors can have some shot of being sheltered not only from debris but also from the elements.

[15:20:12]

Are you finding that there are voids in the buildings that you were seeing or -- or have they collapsed in what's known as a pancake form? Essentially when all the floors just collapse on top of the other flatly.

MORRISON: Yes, there's a whole mixture of collapse types that we're seeing here, whether it's pancake collapses or lean to or soft story collapses. There are void spaces in all these structures. And what we're doing with now is working with heavy equipment operators that are locally here with some of our heavy riggers to de layer parts of the structure to remove some of the top layers so that we can get into those void spaces quicker to get into those victims that may be deeply entombed.

SANCHEZ: Well, what have you heard from Venezuelans there on the ground? How are they feeling about the recovery effort as it stands now?

MORRISON: You know, we -- we've been working hand in hand with the local firefighters here in Venezuela. They have been fantastic. The -- the people when we are working on these sites are offering us food and water even though we bring our own because we don't want to be a burden on the country. It's been an overwhelmingly positive feeling when we make a rescue. Those -- those -- everybody sort of, you know, high fives and celebrates for just a few minutes and then it's back to work right after that.

SANCHEZ: Well, what is the biggest need on the ground right now that you've found? What did survivors there need most?

MORRISON: You know, logistics is certainly a challenge in any disaster and I think certainly in this case. You know, there are -- there are buildings that have fallen across roadways and -- and knocked out some of the infrastructure. So, moving around is fairly difficult. We've been able to make it work, and the Venezuelans seem to be able to -- to route traffic around. It just -- there's a lot of people in a -- in a fairly small, condensed area. So, logistics is always a challenge.

SANCHEZ: There -- there have been concerns given relations between the United States and Venezuela over the last few years about how the government in Caracas might handle a response coming from the United States. In your experience, it doesn't sound like there's been any hindrance or -- or that politics have in no way gotten in the way of your work. As far as we're concerned on the ground, making these rescues, we've been interfacing with the local firefighters and paramedics here in La Guaria on the north of -- the north coast of -- of Venezuela. They've been fantastic working with us.

You know, by the time we got here, they've -- they've sort of their tools and training have brought them to the limits of their capacity, and we're able to come in and rescue those that are deeply entombed, and they're right there with us. So, when we're working on the ground on these structures, you know, if we need a box moved or -- or some equipment brought up from our equipment cache, they are right there with us handing things up.

And, you know, we may not necessarily speak the same language. We do have Spanish translators with us and members of our team that speak Spanish. But when you're there for the victim, everything just seems to come together.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And -- and no doubt those efforts are greatly appreciated. How long do you expect your team will be on the ground?

MORRISON: You know, we expect a 10-to-14-day deployment typically, but it really varies. You know, it's -- it's up to the Venezuelans. When our capacity is no longer needed, they'll -- they'll tell us. We were in Nepal for up to 21 days because of a massive aftershock that happened about eight- or nine-days in. So, we're -- we're ready and here as long as the rescue phase is continuing.

SANCHEZ: John Morrison with Fairfax County Urban Search & Rescue. Thank you so much for joining us and also for the work that you're doing.

MORRISON: Thank you for having me on.

SANCHEZ: Of course. So, are Democrats moving too far to the left? Results from one state's primaries now have some asking that question within the Democratic Party. We'll talk about the future after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:30]

HILL: Some surprise results in the Colorado Democratic primary are leaving -- are actually spawning some big questions about where the party itself is headed. So last night, a Democratic socialist unseated a congresswoman who's been serving longer than actually this young woman has been alive. Twenty-nine-year-old Melat Kiros beating 30-year incumbent Diana Degette by a double-digit margin.

In the governor's race, sitting senator Michael Bennet lost the Democratic Party's primary to state Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Joining us now is the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, Shad Murib.

It's great to have you with us this afternoon.

So, you tweeted, I saw, last night: "This is what a diverse and strong Democratic Party looks like. And we're united toward victory this November."

What do you see as the overarching message to the country from Colorado Democrats?

SHAD MURIB, CHAIR, COLORADO DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, look, thank you for having me here. The Democratic Party last night made its voice heard. And this is a party that not only nominates someone like Melat Kiros, who's energizing young people in this Democratic socialist wing of the party, but also John Hickenlooper, who's a tried and trusted leader who many would classify as a moderate to continue in the U.S. Senate. This is the sign of a healthy, diverse party that's not afraid to have this type of difficult conversation in public and be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

HILL: In terms of this being a healthy, diverse party, there are a lot of questions in this moment about who and what the Democratic Party stands for. Melat Kiros last night telling supporters we're taking back our party and our country. What do you think she means by that for people who are not in Colorado?

[15:30:02]

MURIB: Well, I think she brings a lot of the concerns that you hear when you go knock on doors and talk to voters. The cost of living ...