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Search and Rescue Efforts Underway in Venezuela Following Double Earthquakes that Jolted Caracas; NATO Chief Praises Trump Amidst Shaky Iran Ties; Mexico Ends World Cup Group Stage Undefeated, Booting Out Czechia in Group A. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 25, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York and this is "CNN Newsroom."

At this hour, overnight search and rescue efforts are underway in Venezuela after back-to-back earthquakes rocked the region.

What we know so far about that situation and President Trump praised by NATO's chief. We'll hear what the two discussed in a White House meeting ahead of NATO's summit.

Plus, Europe is facing a heat wave of epic proportions and it seems to be getting even hotter. How Londoners are handling these high temperatures.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: And we do want to begin with the breaking news out of Venezuela where the country's acting President says that at least 32 people are dead and at least 700 injured after two powerful back-to- back earthquakes hit the country's northern coast just hours ago. And those casualty figures, they are likely going to rise in the coming hours.

We're currently seeing some extensive damage in the capital of Caracas. First responders, security forces, all of them right now are deploying across the region desperately trying to find any survivors in the rubble.

A 7.2 magnitude quake struck near Venezuela's northern coast just after 6 p.m. local time. And less than a minute later, an even stronger quake, a 7.5, not far from the first one. And that second quake, it is the strongest to hit the country in more than a century, going back to 1900.

Homes and buildings, they collapse while others are badly damaged. President Delcy Rodriguez is declaring a nationwide state of emergency and one northern state a disaster zone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELCY RODRIGUEZ, ACTING VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have also suspended the metro and railway systems in order to facilitate both rescue operations and the recovery of vital infrastructure. I want to announce that there will be no classes for the remaining days of this week. There will also be a suspension of activities that are not considered essential services.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And Wednesday was a national holiday. The U.S. and other countries in the region, they are now sending rescue teams and humanitarian aid.

The quakes they sent terrified residents running out of their buildings. Well, the fear of aftershocks and further damage, that has led to many people sleeping out on the streets tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): 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)

SANDOVAL: CNN producer Mary Trini Mena is in Caracas with more of the aftermath of the quake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY TRINI MENA, CNN PRODUCER: I'm at the residential area of San Bernardino in the city of Caracas. This is the aftermath of the two powerful earthquakes that hit the capital of Caracas, of Venezuela, Caracas, and several areas of the country.

Here there are heavy machinery that search and rescue teams are using in order to locate possible survivors. Here in this residential area, one building collapsed.

This building had six floors and they are struggling since 6 p.m. when the first earthquake happened to looking for some of the, under those debris and rubble, looking for people alive. They were able to take some people to the hospital, but they have informed that sadly some people died during this event.

For CNN, Mary Trini Mena, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And residents across Caracas are speaking out about their fighting experiences when the earthquakes hit. CNN spoke earlier with journalist Tony Frangie Mawad in the Venezuelan capital. He said that he was leaving his building when the quake struck. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY FRANGIE MAWAD, JOURNALIST: The moment I got into the elevator, the elevator started to shake from side to side really strongly and go all the way down on a very quick pace. At first I thought it was just malfunctioning, but my friend was like, no, this is clearly a sort of earthquake. So we grabbed the long thing that the elevator has until it opened in the basement of the building and we managed to get out.

And there was no signal. Actually, I still, my Wi-Fi is working, but my carrier isn't working. So we went out into the gardens of the building and all the neighbors and my family started to come out.

[03:05:01]

And when we got some signal and some people managed to connect to some Wi-Fi, we started to see the first reports and messages about, you know, major damages in parts of the city.

In the northern side of the city where many of my friends live, the damage has been actually widespread and many buildings have collapsed. So I also know about the coast in La Guaida having major damages. That's a major city near Caracas where like tens of buildings have actually collapsed.

So at least not in my area, the damage is wide, but in areas near Caracas and in northern Caracas, there's report of many buildings, but we don't know yet how many casualties and injured people. So thankfully, all my friends and family are okay.

But now at this time, we are opening, you know, the WhatsApp groups or Instagram stories and people are posting a lot of friends and family that are missing, like their friends and their families that are missing and asking for information.

So it's actually becoming a sad hour for Venezuela. It's actually becoming a really sad moment. And I suspect that the next days are going to be really overwhelming for all Venezuelans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The NATO chief is praising President Donald Trump's leadership on Iran, even though the alliance stayed out of the war. Secretary General Mark Rutte met Trump in Washington on Wednesday.

They spoke ahead of the upcoming NATO summit that's scheduled to happen in Turkey, where some leaders fear that President Trump could announce a major shift in U.S. support for that alliance. Instead, Rutte focused on Iran's nuclear capabilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I really want to make clear how important it is what you are doing on Iran. This is, first of all, about the nuclear capability Iran was basically getting its hands on.

And it would have been a threat to the region. It would have been a threat to the whole world.

This is a country which is exporting chaos, it is exporting terrorism. And they were very near to getting their hands on the nuclear capabilities.

You have seen last week in the G7, all the leaders in the G7 applauding the fact that this nuclear capability has been degraded. This is extremely important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Moving up to that meeting, President Trump has railed against NATO allies for not joining the war against Iran. And he made it very clear that he's still not happy about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We were let down. We didn't need help on this at all.

We demolished them in literally the first week. But it would have been nice if they would have said, we'd like to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And it was a busy Wednesday night on Capitol Hill. Just one day after senators approved a resolution aimed at limiting U.S. military action against Iran, the Senate rejected a separate effort to advance a similar war powers measure.

President Trump celebrated that vote on social media late Wednesday and said that it put Iran, quote, "on notice." He had criticized the earlier vote, saying that it undermined his leverage in negotiations with Iran.

Well the U.S. Secretary of State is currently visiting the Middle East where he's assuring regional partners that the U.S. will not undermine its allies in the negotiations with Iran.

Right now, you see here Secretary Mark Rubio in Bahrain where he will be attending a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council before eventually wrapping up his trip. Rubio also visited Kuwait where he revealed that expert-level technical talks with Iran are likely to start on Tuesday.

But Rubio not meeting with a key regional ally, this man, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during his Middle East visit. And that's even though U.S.-mediated discussions between Israel and Lebanon are taking place in Washington this week.

Let's go now to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joining us from Hong Kong. Kristie, bring us up to speed on the negotiations and then also, of course, I know on a daily basis you're tracking the situation on the Strait of Hormuz. What's traffic looking like there today?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, traffic, there is a rebound in traffic there and that is affecting the price of oil. In fact, oil prices are falling as more and more ships transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, oil prices in the United States fell to their lowest level since the start of the war. We continue to monitor the price of oil, looking at two benchmarks.

The global benchmark, Brent Crude, as well as WTI or West Texas in the United States. And you can see that downward trend continuing. We're also keeping an eye on price of gasoline at the pump in the United States, which is sort of a lagging indicator. Price at the pump remains quite elevated, according to AAA, still at $3.92 a gallon.

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken notice of that. He does not like it. In fact, he is calling out big, well, name-checking Chevron, Exxon Mobil and accusing them of price gouging.

He's also ordered the Department of Justice to investigate the matter. I want to share with you a Truth Social post that the President shared. He said this, quote, "The big oil companies are not dropping their price at the pump, commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for oil," unquote.

But got to point out here, and let's say time and time again, gas prices at the pump are not in lockstep with the price of crude oil.

[03:10:05]

Now, we continue to follow the diplomatic front. You have America's top diplomat, Marco Rubio. He is in the Gulf region now, talking to key allies to bring them on board to get their buy-in on the U.S.-Iran MOU.

And there's still a number of factors that they need to work out. Top of mind is getting their buy-in, which is required for that $300 billion infrastructure fund, the rebuilding fund for Iran. So we're going to keep an eye on that very closely.

And then in regards to the Strait of Hormuz, an important development there, shipping traffic there has doubled in the last 24 hours. This is according to a CNN review of marine traffic data.

This is significant. This is the highest level of traffic since the start of the war in late February.

We're also learning from the U.N. Shipping Agency, the International Maritime Organization, or IMO, that they have launched a new initiative to evacuate hundreds of ships and thousands of seafarers who are still stranded in the Gulf.

In fact, according to the IMO, there is a significant backlog of about 500 to 600 ships still stuck in the Gulf. The number of seafarers still stranded in the region is about 11,000.

So very important data points to share with you and our audience this day, Polo, especially this day, which is the International Day of the Seafarer. Back to you.

SANDOVAL: Kristie Lu Stout with that live reporting. Thank you so much, Kristie.

All right, now to Russia's war in Ukraine, which has been stepping up strikes deep inside Russia-controlled Crimea. It's now targeting field depots, pipelines, and also supply routes that keep Russia's war machine running.

And the attacks are sparking what officials call the worst fuel crisis there since Russia seized the peninsula in 2014. Russia installed leaders. They have reportedly halted civilian fuel sales as shortages worsen.

Ukraine says that the strikes are aimed at weakening Russia's logistics as the war grinds on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russian leadership is now pulling more air defense assets to Moscow, Valdai, and Putin's bridge across the Kerch Strait at the expense of air defense elsewhere. They are protecting their power, the source of this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Meanwhile, Poland is hosting the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference. We'll have an update from that coming up in our next hour.

And coming up in this hour, how commuters in London are being impacted as a major heat wave shatters temperature records throughout the UK and other parts of Europe.

Plus the first case of the Ebola virus in the current outbreak has been reported outside of Africa. We'll discuss the latest developments with a global health expert after the break.

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[03:15:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (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 superintendent with the baby and all the neighbors coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Just heard from one emotional survivor there after a pair of powerful back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela have killed at least 32 people and left 700 injured. And that is according to acting President, Delcy Rodriguez, who declared a state of emergency. As for the casualties, sadly they are expected to rise.

Quakes on the country's northern coast, they've collapsed homes and buildings, including in the capital of Caracas. Hundreds of rescuers and security forces are deployed throughout the region hoping to free some of those people trapped beneath the rubble.

The first case of the Ebola virus outside of Africa in the current outbreak has been reported in France. French health ministry says that the patient tested positive after returning from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And that person has not been publicly identified and is said to be in stable condition.

But the World Health Organization says that at least 277 deaths from the virus have been confirmed in the DRC. Two people in Uganda have died as well. And health officials are now saying that trials for two antiviral treatments are expected to begin next week. They say that other response efforts have increased since the start of the outbreak.

But contact tracing, that continues to lag.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Despite the good progress we have made, we still face major challenges. And the outbreak is continuing to outpace the response.

There are now 1094 confirmed cases with 277 deaths. The outbreak is continuing to move fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: With me now is Dr. Peter Piot. He's a microbiologist who co- discovered the Ebola virus in 1976. He's a professor of global health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr. Piot, it's so good to see you again.

PETER PIOT, PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL HEALTH, LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE: Good to see you again.

SANDOVAL: You just heard that report a little while ago, that first reported Ebola case outside of Africa. We understand it's an Ebola response worker who returned to France. I vaguely remember the last time I had the pleasure of speaking to you, you referred to Ebola as a disease of compassion, meaning that caregivers are usually the first to be affected and it seems that that's likely the case here.

So bearing that in mind, doctor, are you at all surprised by this development in France? [03:20:00]

PIOT: Well, as I said before, and when you look at every single Ebola outbreak, it's those who care for patients either at home or in the hospital who are the most affected. Like in West Africa, there were 1100 healthcare workers, nurses, doctors, lab workers who died.

So, yes, that means that we need to do everything we can in the first place to protect those who care. Because otherwise, you know, it's already bad enough with the spread of Ebola, then we can, one, not care for patients with Ebola, but also not care for women who come to deliver, someone who has an accident, a child with malaria, and so on. So the actual deaths surrounding this Ebola outbreak are far bigger than the cases killed by Ebola virus itself.

SANDOVAL: What do you think is key, not just to keep some of those healthcare workers safe and protected as best as possible, but also to prevent any potential spread like in this similar case. We know it's impossible to completely prevent that altogether. But to minimize the risk, what do you think could be done to minimize that?

PIOT: Well, first of all, of course, protect the healthcare workers and those who are courageous to work in this epidemic control. That's the first thing, that's the best.

But secondly, when they go outside the epidemic area, you know, we need to make sure that they're well tracked, that there is, you know, their symptoms, etc., are checked and all that. So we need a tracking system that is effective both in terms of where they come from and on arrival.

SANDOVAL: The numbers that we just discussed, too, Doctor, the DRC reporting more than 1000 Ebola cases now, confirmed since May, 267 dead. What do you make of the rate at which this is spreading in West Africa? Do you still see this evolving as a worst-case scenario?

PIOT: Yes, I think so. First of all, going back to the previous question, I still believe that the risk for a global epidemic is extremely low. But the risk is extremely high for the region, particularly in Ituri and then also Kivu in eastern Congo, because it's the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak that we've ever seen.

And that's really not because of the virus or the medical problem, but, you know, this is about a combination of late detection in a war zone. And combine that with extreme mistrust and lack of trust of the community in whatever the government is doing, the fact also that you cannot bury your loved ones, as is, you know, the culture in many countries. That is what the biggest challenge is.

And I'm concerned that we're, you know, going for something that may last at least one year and probably even longer. Let's not forget that in the 2018 epidemic in the same area, that lasted for two years. And there was not that, you know, war going on to this extent.

So we have the good tools. Let's not forget that. We know what to do and Ebola is not that transmissible, but it's more than a medical problem.

SANDOVAL: That's such important information for folks around the world to be aware of. And finally, as we mentioned, trials for two antivirals should be starting next week. Do you think that this should be renewing hopes that we will see a breakthrough in developments and then perhaps even a vaccine for this particular strain, Doctor?

PIOT: Yes, I'm very optimistic about the, you know, treatment because that can also, the trials will start soon. And also because there's so many cases, we should know very soon. It's also a credit to African science, you know, because some of these came out of Africa.

On the vaccine front, that's going to take much longer. The trials can start, but by the time the vaccine is available for people, that's probably not going to be this year.

However, we need to work on it now, not only for this outbreak, but also there will be others. There's no doubt about that.

SANDOVAL: Dr. Peter Piot, thank you so much for your time, for your decades of work, and certainly we're thinking about all those frontline workers right now that are trying to contain that outbreak. Thank you for your time.

PIOT: Thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Well, Europe is sweltering in the grips of a relentless heat dome right now. Now the U.K. breaking its record for the hottest June temperature for the third time in a day, reaching nearly 97 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday.

[03:25:09]

Now France and Spain, they are also reporting record temperatures. Officials in the U.K., they've issued red extreme heat warnings for today, with temperatures forecast to soar even higher. CNN's Clare Sebastian has more on how the success of heat is impacting transportation in the City of London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is one of London's biggest rail hubs, Victoria Station, and you only have to look at the departure boards inside the station to see just how much the transport network is being affected by the weather. We've seen trains delayed, some even canceled.

There's a critical express train that runs from here to one of London's biggest airports, Gatwick Airport, and as of the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday, it is currently not running. So passengers have been advised not to travel unless absolutely necessary, but of course some people have to, and we've been speaking to some of those about how they've had to adapt.

UNKNOWN: Going back to Worthing, my little boy's had to be off school because he's been sick with heat exhaustion. UNKNOWN: I've been traveling through London and it's so hot. I Uber to

the train station even though it's a 15-minute walk. It's been a nightmare.

SEBASTIAN: This isn't just a railway station, this is also a bus station, and conditions on these buses, many of which are not air- conditioned, have been getting pretty difficult.

UNKNOWN: We're not prepared for this, not at all. It's like 35 degrees. The A.C.'s not working.

SEBASTIAN: With temperatures like these set to go on for a couple more days, with all of this disruption sending a ripple effect through the economy, it's a real wake-up call for this city and its decades-old transport system that simply wasn't built for these temperatures.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, at Victoria Station in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: We also want to share some of this video that shows the moment a wildfire closes in on a cabin in southwest Utah. Believe it or not, this is the middle of the day, actually, and the property owner says that he does not know if his structures are still intact after losing the camera feed that you're watching here.

Well he did tell CNN that many of his neighbors have already lost their homes. The fire is one of several that are currently burning across Utah. It forced evacuations and threatened homes, and the state is grappling with dangerous fire weather as well as extreme drought.

Stay with us when we return with an update on the situation in Venezuela. After the break, the country left ruling after two powerful back-to-back earthquakes just hours ago.

U.S. President Trump opens the Great American State Fair. We'll take you to Washington to hear from people who are already celebrating America's 250th.

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[03:30:00]

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SANDOVAL: And welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York and these are today's top stories.

The NATO chief is praising U.S. President Donald Trump despite his criticism of the alliance over the war in Iran. They met at the White House on Wednesday ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey next month. Some leaders believe that Trump may announce a major shift in U.S. support for the alliance at that summit.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Bahrain where he will be attending a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council before wrapping up his three-day trip to the Persian Gulf. Rubio has also visited the UAE and Kuwait where he revealed that expert-level technical talks with Iran are likely to start next Tuesday.

And at least 32 people are dead and more than 700 injured in Venezuela after powerful back-to-back earthquakes struck near Caracas on Wednesday. A number of buildings you see here in the capital have already collapsed and rescue workers are searching for survivors. Teams say that they can hear people calling for help from beneath the rubble, the acting President has declared a state of emergency.

With me now is Christopher Sabatini, he's the director of the Latin America program at Chatham House. He joins me now from London. Good morning, Christopher. Thank you so much for being with us.

CHRISTOPHER SABATINI, DIRECTOR, LATIN AMERICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Good morning, Polo.

SANDOVAL: So, as we're closely tracking these efforts to save survivors who are trapped beneath the rubble, I'm interested in hearing from you about what you think Venezuela's capacity is to handle a disaster of this magnitude right now.

SABATINI: This is a very difficult time for Venezuela. First of all, there's been 10 years of infrastructural decay and collapse, largely because of misspent funds, corruption, lack of investment. We're seeing the electrical grid is really in tatters right now.

We already saw some bids to recover, but that's not going to happen in time. Venezuela relies in large part on hydroelectric power in the Guti Dam, but that has, because of droughts, has really stretched very thin.

The bridges, roads, hospitals, and schools have really been in a collapsed state right now, and this only worsens it. And, obviously, because of the lack of repair, we're seeing the extensiveness of the damage.

What we're not seeing, also, by the way, is Caracas is built in the mountains, and up the sides of the mountains are built many of the favelas where a lot of the poor live. I can guarantee those who are very poorly maintained and poorly constructed, we're probably going to see a lot more disaster there.

[03:35:01]

But last is the issue of this government. It is an interim government, it is very fractious, it is not very popular. There are already pressures to liberalize, already pressures to open up the books and demonstrate how much defaulted debt it has.

It was just estimated this week that instead of $170 billion worth of defaulted debt, it may have $70 billion more. So, $240 billion of defaulted debt, 200 percent of its GDP.

How it's going to clear that debt, how it's going to track the investment, how it's going to track, also, long-term help to rebuild the country beyond the humanitarian aid that's beginning to pour in, it's going to be a very difficult challenge economically, politically, and even in terms of logistics.

SANDOVAL: Yes, so clearly these series of earthquakes would likely compound so many issues that the Venezuelan people there have been dealing with. And then, of course, there is the potential for damage to their oil refinery infrastructure.

Just bear in mind that it's still early. There's still initial damage assessments that are being done, so we don't know to what extent that was damaged. But how would that impact this country's ability to essentially slowly get back on its feet?

SABATINI: It's a good question.

Well, first of all, we don't know the damage, as you say, to the oil sector. It looks like the epicenter was close to Lake Maracaibo, which is a major oil-producing part of the country. But really, the oil sector was just getting going, and it was really the only sector right now that was really beginning to generate investment, the oil and gas sectors.

So, even if it's unaffected, the questions about the aftermath, the immediate demand on infrastructure and investment just to rebuild the economy and provide assistance is really going to slow down the oil investment, and that was really going to be the key driver of this country's recovery.

As limited as it would be, there are already questions that I've raised and others have raised about the ability of the oil sector to provide mass, broad-based economic development and job growth. I think that's going to be even on hold, and so the other sectors of the economy, even besides the oil, are going to be dramatically affected.

You know, looking at a bright side here, one possibility is this will provide an opportunity for the interim government and the opposition to come together in a show of unity to try to rebuild the country, and out of that can come perhaps a much more stable, peaceful path for transition over the medium and long term.

SANDOVAL: Yes, we certainly hope for that. And then finally, we've seen this re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Venezuela for several months now, since the start of the year, really.

Do you think that that will likely help increase the level of assistance? I mean, President Trump almost immediately posting on Truth Social that he was sending a rapid response team down to Venezuela to help.

SABATINI: Yes, that will help. And the truth is, this has been Donald Trump's claim that Venezuela is his model, a success story. He's very invested in this.

But what will happen or need to happen are several things. The first of all is there needs to be some lifting of the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela. There's a number of companies in the government that are sanctioned, that will have to happen.

But also the U.S. government doesn't have the U.S. Agency for International Development anymore to provide humanitarian assistance. That will have to come through other forms, probably even through the U.S. Southern Command. And just one little footnote here, U.S. Southern Command was going to be the lead pressure point on the Cuban regime while Cubans are suffering from this oil blockade.

What will happen now to poor, long-suffering Cubans is unclear because basically much of Donald Trump's rapid response will have to come through many of the mechanisms that he would have needed to rebuild Cuba if there were any meaningful transition in Cuba. So he's dealing with two crises right now. And I think because he basically owns the interim government of President Delcy Rodriguez, he's going to have to invest heavily in this, and this will distract him.

SANDOVAL: These are all the geopolitics that are important to keep in mind, Christopher Sabatini. But for now, though, of course, the attention remains focused on some of those live pictures we were showing our viewers, which is those heaps of rubble as the Cubans are desperately trying to get as many survivors.

Christopher, thank you so much for your time, as always, and your analysis.

SABATINI: Thank you very much, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Alright, Let's take you to Washington now, where President Trump insists that his party is unified despite a shouting match with Republican senators behind closed doors.

The President abruptly canceling the signing ceremony for a landmark bipartisan housing bill on Wednesday, where he's demanding the Senate approve his election reforms known as the Save America Act. But party leaders say they don't have the votes.

The President also clashed with Senator Bill Cassidy over new limits on his war powers in Iran. One source says that he called Cassidy, quote, "a lunatic."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): The President didn't want to hear my question, interrupted me. I didn't care to be interrupted, I felt like I was trying to get answers for the American people.

And I'm not going to be bullied when I'm trying to get answers for the American people. And so it escalated from there. At some point, it de- escalated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:40:04]

SANDOVAL: Cassidy said later that he received a thorough briefing on Iran from Vice President J.D. Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Well, the Great American State Fair, it is now underway as part of the nation's 250th anniversary celebration. President Trump held a rally on Wednesday, kicking off that event, which runs through July the 10th. During his remarks, he praised the nation's progress since taking back the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have the greatest economy in history. And now we are going to blow that away. We're doing better, much better than even the first term.

America's 250th year is set for an economic boom, the lights of which no nation has ever seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Donie O'Sullivan spoke to some of the people in the audience. All the fun of the fair.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: All the fun in the fair.

UNKNOWN: I'm very excited. I have come all the way from Honolulu, Hawaii.

O'SULLIVAN: This is the Great American State Fair.

UNKNOWN: We're going to see the President, and we're really excited. This is a great day.

MARILYN SMITH, CINCINNATI, OHIO: I remember as a kid celebrating 1976 and the Bicentennial. And here I am all these years later, probably dressed as stupid as I was back then. But I'm very proud of the United States no matter who the President is. I love the country.

O'SULLIVAN: Ostensibly, this is a celebration of America's 250th birthday. But like all things here in Washington, D.C., President Trump has made it about himself.

Trump is kicking it all off with a campaign-style rally. One that he says is the rally to end all rallies.

EDWARD X. YOUNG, OCEAN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY: Today will be my 116th Trump rally. A Trump rally, it's the greatest show on earth.

O'SULLIVAN: Now, there was supposed to be a whole slate of musical artists playing at this fair over the next few weeks, but many of them pulled out because they said it was too political an event.

ZACK, HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: You know, I mean, the artists who pulled out, you know, they have the right to make their own choice. We're allowed to make our own decisions, you know, but we can also get along as far as that.

O'SULLIVAN: Instead, Trump favorite Leigh Greenwood will be performing, and Alexis Wilkins. She's the girlfriend of the FBI director, Kash Patel.

Leigh Greenwood is performing tonight, and so is Kash Patel's girlfriend, who's a country singer, so.

SMITH: Oh, no. Country music? Well, I think the army band is in the choirs. I'm sure they're going to be really good.

O'SULLIVAN: You're looking forward to that.

All of this is happening with a backdrop of a split in MAGA about Israel, Iran, and the economy.

SUZETTE, ALABAMA: I'm never happy with war, I will say. However, I have chosen to trust that the administration knows things I don't know, and I can only hope that it's over soon.

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SANDOVAL: Talk about another exciting day of triumphs and defeats at the FIFA Men's World Cup on Wednesday.

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UNKNOWN: Mexico will be back here in Azteca on Tuesday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: This was a huge moment as Memo Ochoa, heading back on the field and then being hoisted up by his teammates after Mexico's victory. The team completing a perfect group stage, winning all three games in Group A with a 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic. There he is.

Also in Group A, a stunning upset as South Africa defeated South Korea 1-0. South Africa sitting second in the group now, with South Korea knocked down to third.

And a shutout in Group C with Brazil beating Scotland 3-0 to take the top spot in that group, Scotland now sits in third place, but there's still hope for them.

And while Brazil advances to the World Cup knockout rounds after trashing Scotland, the Tartan army now faces an anxious wait to see if their campaign will continue. Here's CNN's Elizabeth Perez with more.

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ELIZABETH PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A sea of yellow jerseys along with a large number of kilts and bagpipes filled the Miami Stadium for the third and final Group C match between Brazil and Scotland. In the lead-up to the match, all eyes were on Carlo Ancelotti and the possibility of him starting Neymar.

However, the game ultimately became a breakout performance for Vinicius Jr. He scored two goals, an early strike in the seven minutes and a header during the first half stoppage time, giving Brazil a lead that reflected their dominance on the pitch. De Canarinha's third goal came in the second half, courtesy of Mateus Cunha, following a fine combination play involving Bruno Guimaraes.

Scotland tried and tried to narrow the deficit in the second half, but found an impenetrable wall in Alisson Becker. It was Cunha who left the pitch in the 75 minutes to make a way for Brazilian national team star Neymar, who finally made his return to action.

[03:45:02]

His arrival sent De Canarinha's fans into a frenzy, though he was unable to inflict any damage on the opposition. The match ended 3-0 in Brazil's favor.

With the victory, they qualified as group winners and will now face the runner-up of group F in Houston.

Reporting from Miami Gardens, I'm Elizabeth Perez.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And there's another full day of matches set to begin later today. Showdowns from groups D, E, and F, they will be played across the U.S. Those matches include faceoffs between Japan and Sweden in Dallas; Turkey facing U.S. in L.A.; and Paraguay and Australia in San Francisco. You see the rest of the list there.

Stay with us on CNN. We're going to have much more in a moment.

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[03:50:00]

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SANDOVAL: Let's go live to Bahrain now and listen to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking at the Gulf Cooperation Council.

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MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: -- for all of the cooperation and all of the help that we were given and all the things we were able to do together. We now enter a new phase and one that we hope will lead to peace. It's what we all desire.

It's what we all desire is for this region to be a place where people are focused on making money, not bombs, not weapons, where they're focused on improving the economic lives of their people, not on how to attack other countries.

This is what we want for the region. Frankly, this is what we want for the world. But we understand there are challenges to that.

In that vein and in that context, the United States, with the help of some gathered around this table here today, are going to pursue the opportunity to enter into constructive dialogue and hopefully agreements with Iran. And we hope it leads to a very positive outcome. That is our hope, that is what we are open to, that's what we are prepared.

Particularly if Iran makes the decision that instead of being a revolutionary movement that seeks to export its ideology into other countries, they're now interested in being a nation-state that focuses on the well-being of their own people. This is what they want for their future. The United States is prepared, alongside with all of you, to work to make that possible, despite our differences from the past.

If they choose a different route, then of course this will not lead to a positive outcome. But let's be hopeful that it does, but also realistic. In that context, it's important to point to a couple of things that are a priority to us.

For while we want a deal, we don't want a deal at any price. We want a deal that's good, we want a deal that's real, we want a deal that's verifiable, and we want a deal that's adhered to. And it is important that any agreements that are reached, both in the process of negotiation and in the aftermath, be adhered to and followed.

But there are certain things that for us are important to point out now that will never be acceptable.

The first is the Straits of Hormuz are international waters. International waterways do not belong to any nation state. This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos.

If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this would spread throughout the world, like a contagion. If in fact there is now a -- straits that one country, or two countries, or any countries decide they want to charge money for its use, what is going to stop every country in the world near a waterway from imposing the same?

And then we're going to have chaos. So, that is unacceptable. You can call it a toll, you can call it a fee.

Whatever you want to call it, it's a game of semantics. The reality of it is that no country on earth has a right to charge for the use of international waterways. And that will never be an acceptable condition of any deal, the President's been fundamentally clear about that.

The second is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which is at the core purpose of why this all started in the first place. And so any deal that we enter into has to be one that guarantees that that's not the case. And that puts in place verifiable steps that can be taken.

With these two things in mind, I just want to be clear, the United States remains open. And we want this to work. And we're prepared for it to work, and we're going to do everything we can to it and we're hopeful that it will work.

And it will require the help and cooperation of every country represented here today to make sure that not only if a deal happens that it's a good one, but also that it is adhered to.

And the message that I come with is that we want to ensure that in any decisions that are made throughout this negotiating process, the interests of our partners and our allies in the region are always taken into account that there is no part of this deal that's undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability, or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region.

And that is at the core of my visit here today, is to thank you for all the help you've given us. Thank you for your friendship, thank you for your cooperation, thank you for this alliance. Not just in the defense realm, but also in the economic realm.

But also to reassure everyone publicly that the United States, while committed to this process, wants to make, will make sure that none of the agreements that are made, none of the things that are agreed to, will in any way be counter to the interests of any of the nations represented here today, because you are our partners and our allies.

And we want that to continue. And partners and allies don't undermine one another. And so thank you for the opportunity to have this forum. You touched on a bunch of other topics that I'm sure we'll discuss as well.

[03:55:08]

The progress in Syria, the talks between the Lebanese and Israeli governments that are ongoing even today in Washington, which we hope will reach some positive outcomes.

There are many other things we can talk about in the economic realm as well, but I appreciate very much you extending me this opportunity to meet with all of you collectively and express the President of the United States' commitment to all of you, that we are open for peace, but a peace that is enduring, that is real, and that in no way undermines our security, our prosperity, and the security of our people.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED ENDS)

SANDOVAL: Just heard from Secretary Marco Rubio in Bahrain, emphasizing that the U.S. does not want a deal at any price. The two critical non-negotiables, that is, the country charging the use of the Strait of Hormuz is not a condition and also guarantees on Iran's nuclear program.

More coverage in a moment.

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