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Ukraine Says Russia Launched Nearly 500 Drones and 70+ Missiles; Rescuers Pull Man From Rubble Eight Days After Venezuela Earthquakes; Report Finds OpenAI in Talks to Give White House a Five Percent Stake in the Company Fast-moving Wildfires Scorch Thousands of Acres Across the West; Sources Say Rehearsal for Taylor SWIFT Wedding Tonight at MSG; USA Advances to Round of 16 Knocking Out Bosnia- Herzegovina. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 02, 2026 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- the legal issues here when it comes to retention of records. Does it concern you at all that what we've learned is some of these chats were set to expire in eight hours, others within a week? There is a law about preserving government records, communications.
REP. DON BACON, (R-NE) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: There are rules for the executive branch. The congressional legislative branch doesn't have the same rules. But for the executive branch, they have to live by the FOIA rules and be able to release conversations that they've had within the executive branch itself. So, yeah, they have to comply with the rules.
HILL: Yeah.
BACON: And I'll leave it at that. There is law that they have to comply to.
BACON: All right, we'll see if maybe Congress wants to move on that. I do want to, before I let you go, we came into this block of the show just before your interview talking about what happened in Ukraine overnight. When it comes to Russia, there were these new estimates about troop deaths that Russia has lost some 450,000 troops over the course of the war, Ukraine losing about a third of those troops.
We have, of course, a very important NATO meeting coming up next week. How long do you think Russia can continue this war?
BACON: Well, the data is Russia has lost about 1.4 million troops, and Ukraine has lost about 600,000, and that's wounded and killed in action. Russia is losing this war. They're losing the war on the front. They're losing the war in their economy. All they have is the ability to bomb cities.
They're trying to bomb Ukraine into submission and intimidate the civilians, and that's their only tactic at this point. And I have faulted this administration. I faulted the previous one for different reasons, but we should be standing much more clearly with Ukraine, helping them with air defenses and ballistic missile defenses and help them get through this.
You know, the history is being written whether we stand with freedom or with the dictator in Russia, and it's going to look bad in the 21st century history books if we don't do more to help Ukraine prevail. Ukraine's on the side of right, Russia's on the side of wrong, and I want America dearly to be on the right side of this.
And the presidents have had moral ambiguity or sort of ignored the whole thing. That will not look good in the history books.
HILL: Congressman Don Bacon, we are unfortunately out of time. I appreciate you joining us. Thank you.
BACON: Thank you.
HILL: Up next here, we'll take you to Venezuela. The miraculous rescue just this morning. Those details are next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:36:23]
HILL: An extraordinary story of survival out of Venezuela, rescuers pulled a man alive from the rubble today. So he had spent eight days trapped beneath the building that collapsed from the devastating twin earthquakes. Take a look at the moment he emerged. The cheers understandable, of course, crews erupting in applause celebrating one of the most dramatic rescues of this disaster. Amid the scenes of hope, there is sadly a growing death toll.
The official number now stands just shy of 2,300. Questions that remain (inaudible) about just how many may have actually perished (ph). My colleague, Isa Soares is in Venezuela and filed this report
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Venezuelans are still looking, desperately searching for their loved ones a week since back-to-back earthquakes rocked this country. At the main morgue in Caracas, I meet a shell-shocked Karelis.
KARELIS D'WUENTT, RELATIVES MISSING AFTER EARTHQUAKE (through translator): They are under the rubble and I haven't been able to identify him.
SOARES (voice-over): Her 22-year-old brother was pulled out alive from the ruins by his own friend, but he succumbed to his injuries last night. And there's more.
D'WUENTT (through translator): They are missing. My nephew, my cousins, my aunts,
SOARES (voice-over): She tells me a dozen family members are missing, three confirmed dead.
SOARES: The magnitude of loss has yet to be fully felt here in Venezuela as families drift from hopeful to disbelief. There's a real sense of bewilderment and now, face the very painful task of having to track down their bodies.
SOARES (voice-over): I make my way to see a forensic pathologist who has just returned from the makeshift morgue in the hard-hit area of La Guaira. We meet in the car and protect her identity for fear of retaliation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are seeing around 400 bodies every day. The bodies that have not been identified are being placed in refrigerators that are cargo trucks, they're containers.
SOARES: So the containers are all full now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Yes, they are all full.
SOARES (voice-over): Shocking but hardly surprising. Despite thousands missing, the official death toll is sitting at just over 2,000.
SOARES: Other numbers that we are getting from the government, are they trustworthy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): No, those numbers are not trustworthy.
SOARES (voice-over): A blunt take from a frontline worker seeing death up close.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: And our thanks again to Isa and her team for that report. I want to get you caught up on some of the other headlines we are following at this hour.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is reportedly discussing giving the White House a five percent stake in the company. The Financial Times reports the proposal would involve other American A.I. companies also giving the government sizable stakes. It's a move that comes as OpenAI and its fierce rival, Anthropic, which is the maker of Claude, both have their upcoming models delayed by government scrutiny. OpenAI and the White House did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.
The FBI says some of the ransom notes sent to news outlets in the wake of the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie earlier this year were illegitimate extortion attempts, but the FBI also revealing there are notes that may be legitimate and those are still being looked at. This latest development comes, of course, as the investigation is now in its fifth month. Nancy Guthrie vanished from her home in Arizona in the early morning hours of February 1st without her phone or any essential medications. Her disappearance fueling an investigative frenzy as many tried to help locate her and that investigation, of course, is still ongoing.
[13:40:00] Dozens of wildfires are raging across the Western United States, burning homes, forcing a number of evacuations. In fact, officials are also now restricting fireworks in a number of areas, also cautioning residents about the fire risks ahead of the July 4th holiday weekend.
In Colorado, the Aspen Acres Fire has now burned more than 47,000 acres near Pueblo. It is one of at least eight fires burning right now in that state. Dangerous fire weather conditions are expected to continue through the rest of the week.
Coming up here, an iconic sports and music venue, so, of course, it's perfect for an intimate wedding, is it not? How would you turn Madison Square Garden into a wedding day dream? Well, we have a celebrity wedding planner with us for some clues, stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:45:31]
HILL: Countdown to the kickoff is on for what is expected to be Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding festivities in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Sources telling CNN the rehearsal dinner scheduled to take place there this evening. The main event, though, of course, is scheduled for tomorrow.
If you're envisioning some sort of a mid-court ceremony, stadium seating, the jumbotron, well, I mean, they're all still in the facility, right? But let's be honest, you don't really see them as part of the wedding, do you? There is likely a massive makeover happening inside MSG at this hour. All week long, our CNN cameras have captured semi-trucks delivering packed crates, items shrouded in plastic sheets. More sheeting went up.
I learned from my colleague, Brynn Gingras, to make sure that we couldn't see what was being delivered at one point. Some branches, though, lush foliage, they managed to peek out. So just what would it take to transform one of the most well-known arenas into a romantic wedding site for a pop superstar and a Super Bowl champ? Joining me now is celebrity wedding planner, David Tutera.
OK, so first question, David, if one of your clients came to you and said, I have the perfect idea, I want to get married at MSG, your reaction would have been?
DAVID TUTERA, CELEBRITY WEDDING PLANNER: Oh, my God.
(LAUGH)
HILL: Same, same.
TUTERA: OMG.
(LAUGH)
HILL: But for them, from a --
TUTERA: Yeah. I would be very concerned.
HILL: You would be concerned. I know you would make it happen, though. I have faith in you. There are a lot of reasons it makes sense, right?
TUTERA: Thank you.
HILL: The security, the privacy, but can you just walk me through what would actually go into transforming this space that we're used to seeing, you know, on TV at a Knicks game, a Rangers game, or maybe at a concert in person?
TUTERA: You know, I've actually had the wonderful experience of being able to do an event in that space a long time ago for a very, very big, special client, which I can't reveal. But what you can do in that space is pretty much anything that you want to create. And I've been thinking about this over the past week. What do you do in that space is you actually need to turn it into something completely different.
And that's obviously what I think they're wanting to do, and that's really special because they should feel like they're in the woods. They should feel like they're in this beautiful experience that makes you feel emotional, exciting, one-of-a-kind moment that never will happen again when it's revealed.
So I would love to see them doing this wonderful installation of trees everywhere in this space and creating an environment that makes you feel like you're part of their wedding, not just seeing and being there, but being part of their energy.
HILL: I like this image that you paint, right, of creating this special world within MSG that looks, of course, nothing like an arena, but maybe that you are outside at some special location. You know, I touched on a little bit the security and the privacy. Can you walk us through, having planned this very secretive event that you won't let us in on all the details, but how important is that for a couple like Travis and Taylor and for their guests to make sure that they can maintain, you know, what is so special about this moment by keeping out the paparazzi, by keeping out all those prying eyes and keeping the details under wraps?
TUTERA: Hard to do that, I will tell you that, but it can be executed. I've done it many times with other celebrities. You have to have a plan. You have to actually do two plans. The first version of it, the second version of it, and how everybody moves forward without there being chaos. Because we want this to be emotional. We want this to be special.
We want this to be a once-in-a-lifetime moment that one person creates this for this particular couple, and you will never see it ever again. But we do need to make sure we're safe with security, but we also want to make sure that we're doing the right thing in the right space and creating that moment, that energy, that visual, that wonderful magical moment that they'll enjoy for the entire time.
HILL: Who do you think is dressing the bride and groom? TUTERA: That's a great question. I'm not going to be the person that's going to leak that.
(LAUGH)
[13:50:00]
HILL: Multiple -- oh, does that mean you know something?
TUTERA: I know too much.
HILL: You know too much?
TUTERA: No, no, I didn't say that. Maybe I slipped for a moment.
HILL: Maybe you did.
(LAUGH)
HILL: Maybe we'll talk offline. How many costume changes are we thinking? How many dresses?
TUTERA: I think she'll have four dresses.
HILL: Four dresses. OK, and here's what I want to know. When you are Taylor Swift, who is the entertainer at your wedding? Is there a band, a D.J., a singer? Are there multiple of all options? I mean, this is going to be a party for the ages.
TUTERA: Absolutely, I agree. Yes. And they do need to do an amazing person, that I do not know, but that I would love to find out. Probably I can figure it out. But at this present moment, I think it should be something over the top, over the top, because she is over the top at this present moment. Taking that space of the arena, come on, we've got to make sure -- this has to be beautiful.
HILL: They've been very generous. I think it's something like $26 million in charity donations ahead of the wedding --
TUTERA: Yeah.
HILL: -- benefiting a lot of areas in New York City, also in Cleveland, of course, and Los Angeles across the country, Kansas City as well. When do you think we will see any images? I mean, do you think -- I would imagine they will release something because they know there's a high interest level. It is obviously going to be controlled.
TUTERA: Yes.
HILL: But how quickly do you think we would get an image?
TUTERA: I would say we're very close to it, quite frankly.
HILL: OK.
TUTERA: I would give it maybe a couple of days to a week. HILL: Couple of days to a week, OK. And just again, if you want to like chat offline, we can have a secure chat. You feel free to share all the details you have, my friend, about that dress that you don't know anything about. I look forward to the conversation.
(LAUGH)
TUTERA: OK.
(LAUGH)
HILL: Thank you so much. Appreciate you joining us, David.
TUTERA: I appreciate that. Thank you.
(LAUGH)
HILL: It's great to talk to you. Still ahead here, a big win for Team USA at the World Cup. The team, though, moving ahead without one of its stars for the next match after a rather controversial red card. Was it actually the right call? Can it be overturned? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:57:10]
HILL: Team USA delivering the best World Cup gift America can ask for ahead of its 250th birthday, a huge win against Bosnia and Herzegovina last night. The first in a knockout round since 2002, which means of course, the U.S. now advances to the Round of 16.
Up next, Belgium. That match Monday night in Seattle, 8 Eastern. You probably already set a reminder in your phone.
There is a little bit of a cloud though over last night's victory. The refs dealing star USA striker, Folarin Balogun a red card, a controversial call that got him tossed from the pitch and has him, of course, out for Monday's match. CNN Sports Anchor, Coy Wire joining us now with more and a look ahead to Monday.
So in terms of the red card, it's actually still being questioned, I guess. I mean, I know it's a blow for the next match. Walk us through, Coy, what happened?
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, yes. Drama, pure cinema.
(LAUGH)
WIRE: Erica, the last time the World Cup was hosted in America in '94, the U.S. lost in a famous knockout round match against eventual champs Brazil, right here in Stanford Stadium. This time, though, in the Bay Area, in this World Cup knockout, the U.S. got the job done. Despite this controversial red card. The U.S. team came out breathing fire with breakout, Flo Balogun, lighting the fuse with the opening goal. Fans in there went bonkers. But then came the plot twist, Balogun given a red card later on after a collision and he's booted from the game.
The U.S. would go on to win 2-0 just their second knockout whenever. But Balogun will now be suspended for their next match. No appeal. FIFA pointed us to Article 66.4 of its disciplinary code. Automatic one match suspension for red cards, decisions by the referee on the field are final. Fans floating on cloud nine over this wind, but made it very clear to us, they are livid about that red card. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The refs were probably being paid off. It was absolutely ridiculous. That red card was horrendous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll miss Balogun. I mean, his energy is just like peak. I mean, you saw it today. We heard it today when he's out on the pitch and he's just -- he's got the ball. People are just electric. So yeah, we're going to miss him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very disappointed about the red card that happened. Number 20 is a great player we're going to be missing out on, but we're ready for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: All right. It wasn't just the folks at the game. Check out some of the reaction online. Chiefs star, Patrick Mahomes saying, "Man, what?"
Knicks NBA champ, Josh Hart asking, "Bro, that's a red card?"
NBA legend, Dirk Nowitzki saying, "That's not a red card."
WIRE: The next mountain to climb just got steeper, Erica. Belgium in Seattle on Monday in the Round of 16 without Balogun. Seattle has been Belgium's base camp. This entire tourney is sports and emotional roller coaster. This one skipped the brakes.
American fans saw joy, panic, relief and anger. Still euphoria. America's World Cup dreams still very much alive and they are full --
