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Supreme Court Declines To Halt Daily $800 Fine For Ex-Fox News Reporter Refusing To Divulge Sources; Questions Mount Over Venezuela's Official Death Toll; West Nile Virus Gets Strong And Early Start; Pope Leo Highlights Immigrants At Liberty Medal Ceremony. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 03, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

GLYNIS MCCANTS, NUMEROLOGIST: Any children?

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: I have two boys, 19 and 16.

MCCANTS: So how about this? You have a 6 in your soul, which means those boys fulfill your soul. They have made you feel complete.

How true is that?

HILL: Yes, it is.

MCCANTS: And that's your soul number, right? And that's why I'm saying, in the case of Travis and Taylor, they have that number 6.

He has actually 3 of them. I'm going to make this joke because there's 6 numbers. He's 666.

So I'm like, devil or angel, you decide. You know, he can be both, right? If you watch him in football, you know that, right?

There's times he's had a temper, but he's also very charming. But that's where it's coming from. And then another thing, yes.

One quick thing about you, Erica, that number 8 quality. You love good things. Like when somebody gives you something, you can't wait to give back.

It's fun for you to watch someone light up because you gave them the perfect gift. That's a part of you, too.

HILL: That is true. Glynis, this has been so fun. Thank you. I love this, and I think if Travis and Taylor are paying attention, they would love what you had to say as well. Thanks for being with us.

MCCANTS: Thank you.

HILL: A reporter we're learning is now under court order to pay an $800 fine. $800 a day for refusing to reveal a confidential source. We're going to dig into that decision, take a look at the possible ramifications, which could extend far beyond this one reporter. That's next. [14:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: The Associated Press is reporting. The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a former Fox News reporter who's under court order to pay a daily fine of $800. That fine because she refuses to reveal a confidential source. Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge wrote a series of stories in 2017 about a Chinese-American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged.

That series raised questions about whether the scientist was helping China get information about U.S. service members. Herridge has been held in civil contempt as part of a lawsuit filed by the scientist against the U.S. government, claiming that it violated the Federal Privacy Act.

I want to discuss the ramifications of this decision by the high court. Bradley Moss is a national security attorney and joins us now. So walk us through what not only the Supreme Court, the impact of the Supreme Court's decision here, but what it means in a broader sense.

BRADLEY MOSS, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY: Yes, so the Supreme Court's more or less put Catherine Herridge in a very difficult position. So to give everyone just a real quick 30,000-foot view, despite what you may have seen on TV or in documentaries over the years, there is nothing in the First Amendment and there's nothing in federal law that protects a reporter from being compelled to disclose the identity of their source, whether it's by, you know, subpoena from the government or if it's, in this case, from a private litigant trying to gather the information. There is something from a Supreme Court case in the 70s called Branzburg that brought up the idea of a qualified privilege, but it's not absolute, and it absolutely can be overcome, and at least according to the trial courts here, in this case, has been overcome in the sense that the private litigant is entitled to demand the information.

So now Catherine Herridge is stuck. She has this source that she's trying to protect, as any journalist reporter would try to do. The private litigant only wants to get the name of the identity of this leaker, the accused leaker, because that's the way to prove their case against the government in this civil action, and the government's certainly in no mood to expose itself to additional civil liability by helping to identify that leaker. So no one is in a great situation.

Catherine Herridge is facing these 800-day, you know, fines on this. She's not facing jail time, but she certainly could face a hefty financial penalty, and the Supreme Court said not our problem.

HILL: Any additional avenues for appeal for her?

MOSS: Not really. What it's going to go back down to, it's going to get sent back down to the lower court. Almost certainly someone's going to try to find an alternative mechanism here to avoid, one, bankrupting Catherine Herridge, but two, unnecessarily exposing the identity of the source. You would think in a nicer world that there would be some type of agreement or settlement here to determine whether or not this person got the information from this scientist's Privacy Act-protected file or if they got it from something else, because that's all that comes up from a liability standpoint. No one really knows how it's going to play out for certain. It's going to be up to the court.

HILL: That's really something, $800 a day. Brad, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Venezuela's government is facing increasingly harsh questions about its earthquake response and also the official death toll. Acting President Delcy Rodriguez says nearly 2,600 lives have been lost after those back-to-back earthquakes last week. But initial estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey put the number of victims in the tens of thousands. One forensic pathologist telling CNN the makeshift morgue where she works has been processing around 400 bodies a day.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon joining us now from Caracas. So what more can you tell us about the situation today in Venezuela, Stefano?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the situation is that more than nine days since that earthquake, the operations are still going, clearly at least here in the city center of Caracas. We're not talking about a search and rescue anymore, unfortunately. This is a demolition of the rubble left behind by that terrible twin earthquake.

And just like you said yesterday, Erica, Delcy Rodriguez, who is the acting president of Venezuela, she took over when the United States removed Nicolas Maduro from power on January 3rd.

[14:40:00]

Delcy Rodriguez yesterday gave a press conference where for the first time since the crisis began, since the earthquake on June 24th, she faced questions by the press over the management and her performance as a head of state amidst this incredible natural disaster.

First, she answered a question from me, from CNN, asking her an updated death toll. She did tell us that at this moment they have recovered 2,595 identified bodies. She did mention the fact that a lot of people are still registered as missing and pointed out that, of course, the protocol is for everyone to be recognized and identified before being pronounced dead.

At the same time, she faced, of course, a lot of questions about the delay and the chaotic response that the state apparatus came up with in the immediate aftermath of this crisis. Here is what she told us in response to those questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELCY RODRIGUEZ, ACTING PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): Our officials were deployed immediately. You can count the hours between the quakes and when we signed the emergency decree. There were 4,000 officials out in the first 24 hours, 10,000 officials the following day. Now there are 19,000 officials in La Guaira alone, despite how complicated it is for us to move personnel around with the airport out of use.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: And I think, Erica, the last part of that answer is key, despite how complicated it is. I think that we can do a separation between the operations from the government, with Delcy Rodriguez telling us, for example, that she signed an emergency decree mobilizing structural officers and resources less than three hours after that earthquake hit, and the actual functioning of the state. Venezuela is a country where the state has been eaten away by a dramatic economic collapse over the last 10 to 15 years.

The state apparatus, the public machinery, is not capable of handling this emergency. And this is why, for example, in the last few days, we have seen heavy machinery on the side of the road and unable to move because they are running out of gasoline. We have seen soldiers sitting idly next to rubble and debris because nobody is giving them orders.

It's the state and the machine that is hard to put into gear. And this is, I think, how Delcy addressed those questions last night -- Erika.

HILL: All right, Stefano, really appreciate it, and so good to have you on the ground there.

Well, the West Nile virus is showing signs of a surge, a surge that has not been seen in decades. After the break, what you need to know about the new warning from the CDC.

[14:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: The CDC is sounding the alarm about West Nile virus. The mosquito-borne disease is off to its earliest start in more than two decades, and that's a trend that could signal a severe season ahead. So far, 48 cases have been reported as of June 30, according to the CDC, and nearly 80 percent of those are the most serious form of the illness, a neuroinvasive form of it.

Twenty-three states, by the way, have reported West Nile activity. That's the most this early in a decade. So health officials are urging people to be smart here.

Use insect repellent, eliminate standing water, and take other important steps to reduce your exposure to mosquitoes. Also, all of these, of course, important as folks are gathering to celebrate the 4th.

Joining me now, Dr. Peter Hotez. He's dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Hotez, it's nice to see you. It's been a minute. As we look at the West Nile virus, why we're seeing this rise, why is it so early this year? DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yes, I mean, usually it's later in the summer, early in the fall. So when you see this many cases and severe cases as early as June, that usually suggests it's going to be a rough year for West Nile. When I say rough year, what happens is this virus tends to go in kind of three-year cycles.

So, for instance, the last peak of West Nile was in 2023. And guess what? Three years later, it's 2026.

So that, in some ways, is not too surprising. What we're seeing is that if you look at where the cases are appearing, you can almost visualize an upside-down letter T, with the stalk of the T hitting the Great Plains, South Dakota, North Dakota, and then the bottom of the T going through Texas in the middle, and then Arizona to one side, and then Louisiana, Mississippi on the other side. So from my point of view, those are probably the big risk areas right now.

HILL: What about the fact that 80 percent of these cases are the most serious? Does that tell you something about the virus? Is it mutating in some way?

HOTEZ: No. I think what happens is many of the cases are without symptoms at all, so they're not getting diagnosed. And then around 20 percent of the cases will have fever, headache, sometimes a rash.

And in some cases, they don't get medical attention, so that if you're sick enough to warrant medical attention, that's when you get diagnosed with West Nile virus. And the thing that you worry about more than anything else is around 1 percent of patients will develop encephalitis or meningitis, meaning neurologic symptoms, and that's a really severe illness. And particularly in individuals my age, you know, over the age of 65, those are the ones that seem to be at greatest risk for encephalitis, as well as immunocompromised people, people with underlying conditions such as diabetes or hypertension.

[14:50:00]

So if you're one of those individuals, especially if you're older, my recommendation is that if you're walking around at times when the Culex mosquito is biting the most, that tends to be early in the morning before sunrise or in the evening, if you're doing an evening barbecue. You want to take precautions.

So, for instance, in my neighborhood, when I take a walk in the morning, because Houston, Texas, is an area at risk, we already have three cases. What I do is I, even though my neighbors sometimes are amused by it, I'll wear a baseball hat and a long sleeve hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants, even though it's already hot. And then I'll put insect repellent, in my case, DEET, on the dorsal surface of my hands and around my neck, because I don't want to get West Nile encephalitis.

HILL: You mentioned that and we had noted insect repellent as well, right, covering up as much of your skin as you can. You mentioned DEET specifically. Is that what you need to make sure that you repel this, or is just sort of regular insect repellent OK?

HOTEZ: Well, first of all, you want to keep exposed areas covered as much as you can. And so that means, you know, long sleeves, loose fitting long sleeve shirts and long pants if you're in the evening hours or in the morning. Then on the exposed areas, DEET is one of the so-called EPA, Environmental Protection Agency approved insect repellents.

There's another one, Picaridin. They also list oil of eucalyptus. DEET and Picaridin tend to be two of the most effective ones.

And you can even use DEET and Picaridin on kids. But talk to your pediatrician about it first.

HILL: Dr. Peter Hotez, appreciate it. Thank you.

HOTEZ: Thank you.

HILL: The first American Pope honored on the eve of Independence Day his message about the key to the future of the nation. That's next.

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: In Philadelphia today, a big honor for the first American born Pope, Pope Leo, appearing virtually to accept the Liberty Medal from Philadelphia's National Constitution Center. And he took that opportunity to praise the nation of his birth and especially its history of welcoming immigrants.

CNN's Danny Freeman joins me now from Philadelphia. So what more did we hear in the pontiff's message today?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Erica, it was an incredible moment for Philadelphia to see the pope, Pope Leo, be honored. And specifically, as you noted, give a live speech to the nation in this city on the eve of America's 250th birthday. The folks here thinking that he was a shoo-in to get the Liberty Medal on this birthday, being the first American pope.

And the Liberty Medal honors, quote, "Individuals and organizations of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe." Again, they felt that he was the perfect person in this moment to deliver that speech and accept that award. And also, I'll note, Erica, he is an undergrad alum of Villanova University, which is not too far away from here.

So when you asked what he spoke about, he spoke for a little bit of time. He spoke positively about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and really reflected on the founder's ideals, of course, on the eve of our nation's birthday. But then, as you noted, Erica, he also spoke about immigration and really praised America's history of welcoming immigrants into this country.

I want you to take a listen to what he had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV: As the country opened its doors to successive waves of immigrants, enabling them and their children to play their part in shaping the future of the nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: You can hear there, Erica, clearly a pointed message against celebrating America's history with immigrants as part of its population, certainly in the political climate that we're in here stateside. Now, one of the things I'll note, Erica, about the ceremony is that the Pope actually wore that medal that had a Liberty Bell on it and the words Philadelphia as well, right next to the Pope's pectoral cross. And Christopher Lamb, our Vatican correspondent, he noted that that is just a symbol of how important this ceremony and this anniversary really clearly meant to the pontiff -- Erica.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. I do also want to ask you, because obviously Philadelphia really important when we talk about the history of this country as we prepare to celebrate 250 years. But Philly actually canceled its Independence Day parade because of the extreme temperatures.

Any other impact on things that are planned throughout the weekend?

FREEMAN: Yes, that's the thing I really should have started with, Erica, that the Pope celebration went off even despite the oppressive heat, because we really have been feeling it here in Philadelphia. Certainly over the past 48 hours. And it's going to continue into tomorrow.

As you noted, our big parade, the parade that was going to feature many people from all over the country and go right past me. That had to be canceled this morning because of that extreme heat out of an abundance of caution. There was a Queen Latifah concert that was supposed to happen right here last night. That was also canceled last night as well.

As far as we know right now, the Idina Menzel concert with the Philly Pops is still on. But again, city officials are watching the temperature like hawks because, you know, I'll just say in this visitor center where we are. Just a few moments ago, there was someone who clearly was dealing with heat exhaustion and had to be taken away in an ambulance.

People are really, really conscious of how impactful this heat is for me. Erica, I have my tiny little fan here. Not really doing much.

Not going to lie. Not really doing much. But we're trying. We're trying out here.

HILL: Just move it a little bit closer, a little closer to your face. There you go. Well, I'll wrap up this live shot so you can go back into the cooling center along with your crew. Danny, thank you.