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Senate Bill Calls For Series Of Hikes Reaching $25/HR. Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired June 29, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:32]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. The U.S. and Iran, they agreed to halt attacks on each other and return to the table for talks after a weekend of trading fire. And in Venezuela, rescue teams, they are holding on to hope of finding survivors as the death toll continues to grow from last week's earthquakes.

Plus, a U.S. Lawmaker is touting a plan to substantially raise a federal minimum wage in the United States as a solution to the financial problems that many Americans are facing. But here, why some experts are warning, not so fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Right, let's start in the Middle East where a Trump administration official says that the U.S. and Iran will, quote, "stand down for now" after both sides exchange strikes near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. And that official also saying that vessels can move freely through the strait. So far, though, there's been no word from Iran. Tensions flared in recent days as Iran and the U.S. exchanged fire and also renewed their threats, straining that truce in place.

But a senior U.S. official says the technical talks over the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran are still on track. And amid the latest escalation, Iran is saying that it targeted U.S. military sites in neighboring countries. A U.S. official says that drones and missiles launched by Iran were, quote, "shot down, intercepted or failed to reach their intended targets." Let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks who's following developments from Abu Dhabi.

So, Paula, does the U.S. and Iran essentially just move on with negotiations as if this didn't happen?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, it's not the first time we've seen this. To be fair, we have seen these flares in violence and then both sides pull back. But what we saw over few days was certainly the most serious escalation between the U.S. and Iran that we have seen since that memorandum of understanding was signed. Now, what we know at this point is U.S. officials are telling us that talks are back on track. They have said that they have pulled back.

We've yet to hear something definitive from Iran though. So what we heard from one U.S. official, I'll read part of the quote is, "Nothing has been cancelled. Talking about the talks. Technical talks regarding the implementation of the MoU are on track for the coming days as planned. And deconfliction channels are up and running after the Lake Lucerne summits." Talking about the summit that the U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance attended.

So they are saying that things are effectively back to where they were. What was the crucial sticking point over the past few days was the Strait of Hormuz. We saw on Thursday the U.S. said that an Iranian drone had targeted a vessel. Iran didn't claim responsibility, but it really sparked from there. And we are seeing that having a knock on effect to the number of vessels that are trying to get through the Strait of Hormuz at this point, that critical waterway.

We saw something like 124 since Thursday, according to Kepler with the official data there. But bear in mind pre-war, there was about 100 every single day. So we're still seeing some vessels trying to get through that waterway. But certainly the confidence has been shaken given what we've seen over recent days. Confidence as well in Tehran, given the increase in hostilities, in the spark in violence.

We did hear from a number of residents of Tehran. Let's listen to what they thought of what has been happening.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My belief is that they should never have halted. Even if there is a pause now. It is undoubtedly a political posture and we will soon see renewed attacks. The scale and levels are not predictable, but they will certainly continue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In my view, it should be firmer than before. It should be done in a way that teaches them a lesson so they do not allow themselves to come back and repeat the same actions.

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HANCOCKS: Now, the other key sticking point is Lebanon. And we have heard from an Iranian official saying that they believe that Israel should have a full withdrawal of all their military from southern Lebanon as part of this final deal between the U.S. and Iran. Israel has rejected that consistently. In fact, we saw on Friday that there was a trilateral agreement between Israel, Lebanon and the U.S. And in that agreement, Israel was only required to withdraw from two specific areas, from southern Lebanon.

Polo.

[04:05:22]

SANDOVAL: CNN's Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for that report. Let's go to South America now. The search for survivors, it is becoming more desperate in Venezuela four days after two powerful earthquakes shook that country. It's a scene of utter destruction in some areas with hundreds of buildings you see here collapsed and more heavily damaged. The death toll, it's now gone up to at least 1,450 people with thousands still missing. Among those killed are the wife and two children of Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo.

His brother in law telling CNN that nothing was left of their home in La Guaira, one of the hardest hit areas. CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon is there with more on those rescue efforts that continue this hour.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Rescue workers are digging their way through rubble and dust to locate survivors in La Guaira, trapped for days under a pile of collapsed homes. The port city is ground zero for the Venezuelan earthquake search and rescue operation. This elite rescue team from the U.S. believe they've heard a tap, tap from under the debris.

POZZEBON: They try to communicate with them with sound. And this is why this is truly a race against time. But it's a race against time that is happening in utter silence. Nobody dares to speak. Nobody dares to shout because a sound could mean a life saved.

There's an elevator too, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

POZZEBON: Next to the stairs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) upper stairs.

POZZEBON: Now all of this is happening as the relatives of the people trapped inside and other survivors are staying here. They're waiting. They're watching. It's an excruciating wait for someone who has a seven-year-old son trapped beneath the ruble.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Ronald Pineda has not slept since Wednesday. He was out when the quakes hit. His son was with his grandmother at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

POZZEBON: Amen.

POZZEBON (voice-over): I will find my son today, he says. I know I will.

It's now or never for thousands of people who are still missing. Most earthquake survivors are rescued within 72 hours. These rescue workers say they will continue to dig until everyone is accounted for. The Venezuelan government estimates more than 12,000 people have been displaced. They all need a place to sleep and eat. POZZEBON: We've just arrived to a fast food. It's a fried chicken restaurant, but they've been turned into a community kitchen, basically. All of these people are now working in a train to bring out 1500 ready meals. It's fried chicken and fries, but that will fuel both displaced and volunteers that are trying to help.

POZZEBON (voice-over): At this restaurant, everyone lives in La Guaira. Everyone has lived through the double earthquake, but nobody wants to rest. It's the strength of a community who refuses to give up despite the reality.

By sunset, the search stopped. Ronald's son was found along with his grandmother under the rubble, the latest victim in a tragedy that's already taken more than 1400 lives. It will still take days to recover their remains, but the pain will stay forever. Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, La Guaira, Venezuela.

SANDOVAL: And earlier I spoke with Susana Arroyo Barrientos, with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. They're currently on the ground in Venezuela. Responding to the aftermath of the disaster. I asked her what the biggest, the greatest need is for crews on the ground. And here's what she told me.

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SUSANA ARROYO BARRANTES, REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, IFRC: There's a sense of collective grief and collective mourning. So definitely priority number one is psychosocial support, psychological first aid. People are still suffering from anguish, anxiety, panic attacks. So standing by their side at this moment and for the long road ahead is one of the priorities.

This is why we're prioritizing also the health care package as a whole. We are working hard to keep our field hospital that is in La Guaira, and we are expanding our services. And this is one of the top, as well as part of our emergency appeal for 50 million Swiss francs that we have launched this week. We know that there are a collective sense of solidarity.

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And we hope that we could get some support as well to expand our services here in La Guaira and accompany communities not only in health services, but also for instance, in other areas that where we are lacking a lot of support, like for instance, access to water, sanitation and hygiene, of course, otherwise it will become a tragedy on top of the tragedy.

SANDOVAL: Right. And I've spoken even moments after the earthquake, we've been hearing from people there on the ground and talking about just the unique nature of a tragedy like this, of this kind of natural disaster hitting a country like Venezuela that was already struggling before the earthquake here. So just -- can you speak to some of those unique challenges for your organization? Specifically what's -- because of Venezuela and its history of government mismanagement, corruption, even inflation has been -- has been an issue for the people there.

BARRANTES: Yes. Every time that we respond to a disaster in a complex context, of course, that previous or preexistent conditions of vulnerability increase the risk of the population to suffer in situations such as this one. For instance, in one of the -- some of the communities that we have been working these days, the water service -- have been -- has been interrupted for almost two years now and people were relying on specific distributions, patterns that were not enough to satisfy their needs. So of course now an earthquake on top of these realities increase the risk of these communities, increase the risk of the inequality, increase the risk of suffering from other illnesses.

Another challenge in a situation such as this one is the one related to logistics, as you well said, not only because the earthquakes damage or cause damage in the infrastructure, but also because there are so many help in our way. So we have a limited capacity in airports, for instance. So organizing all the efforts and channelizing all that solidarity in a way that arrives to the people as soon as possible, it's now a shared responsibility.

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SANDOVAL: Europe's deadly heat wave has shattered more records on Sunday. Lithuania logging its hottest day ever for June. Temperatures reaching 97 degrees Fahrenheit or 36 degrees Celsius in a southern town. The Czech Republic and Poland both hitting all time record highs as well. Thermometers reaching 106 degrees Fahrenheit or 41 degrees just north of Prague.

And a high of 104 degrees Fahrenheit was reached near Poland's eastern border with Germany. That's 40 degrees Celsius. And the heat is expected to continue heading east over the next couple of days. You see a lot of red on that map. CNN's Sebastian Shukla joining me now from Berlin.

Sebastian, tell us a bit about what Berlin officials are doing just to help people keep cool amid some of these record high temperatures.

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Polo. The mercury was rising very, very rapidly over the weekend. What we're seeing now is the inverse of that. It is becoming significantly cooler. And you can hopefully see behind me that those storm clouds appear to be gathering.

We're yet to see that flash of lightning or the crack of thunder. But what the intention or hope at least, is that that will splinter this heat dome that has been hanging over the German capital and all parts of Eastern Europe over the weekend and will signal the end of this chronic heat wave that we've been experiencing over the last week or so, particularly the weekend here as that heat dome has moved from Western Europe to eastern Central Europe and now eastern parts too.

And one of the ways that the German authorities decided that they should help the people here was that in central Berlin, Potsdamer Platz, just around the corner from our bureau here. The police deployed water cannon and it became something of a water festival out there with people just standing under the water getting sprayed, taking relief from the incredibly intense heat. And it was so hot that Germany actually saw three consecutive days of record breaking heat levels. We had on Friday in Saarbrucken on the French border, 41.3 degrees Celsius, which is just 106 Fahrenheit, just 106 Fahrenheit.

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The following day, 41.5 degrees just west of the German capital. And then 41.7 degrees, 107 degrees Fahrenheit on the German border with Poland. That gives a representation of how that heat, I think, has swept slowly from west to east across the city.

And as you said, we saw a hunt. We've seen multiple days of broken records across Europe. Czech Republic, 41.9 percent, Poland, 41.9 degrees centigrade, 40.5 in Poland and 40 in Austria. Some of those record breaking across the board historical levels of heat, some of them just for June in particular.

And as the WHO chief has said, Europe is the warmest and fastest warming continent on the planet. The fear is that we could see higher temperatures as we go deeper into the summer, Polo.

SANDOVAL: And in the face of those temperatures just absolutely incredible to see some video just now of participants in an Ironman triathlon event in Frankfurt. Just pretty brave. Sebastian Shukla, thank you so much for that live report from Berlin.

Millions of Americans will be experiencing temperatures that feel like they are pretty much hitting triple digits this week. The eastern U.S. will see it its most widespread heat wave of the summer so far. CNN meteorologist Alison Chinchar with your forecast.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: As many European countries finally get a relief from the heat that has been plaguing them for a week, the U.S. is headed in the opposite direction. Here, the temperatures will actually be going back up, especially in the eastern half of the country as we head Monday, Tuesday and especially Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for places like the Northeast and the Mid Atlantic, that's when they're going to see those temperatures really peaking. We take a look at the map here again. Chicago, for example, the average this time of year is 84 degrees. They will spend the next three days in the 90s, same thing for St. Louis, getting awfully close to triple digits here.

Washington, D.C., New York and Boston also going to start to see their temperatures jumping rapidly in the coming days. Take D.C. for example, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, all three of those days into the triple digits with Saturday maybe, possibly also hitting those triple digits. The key thing here is that a lot of folks are headed to Washington, D.C. for July 4th celebrations. They're going to be dealing with those temperatures at about 10 to 15 degrees above where they normally would be. And even other cities like New York, for example, also looking at temperatures reaching triple digits for Thursday and Friday. And while we do see the temperatures dropping back in time for July 4th, it's still going to be at least 10 degrees above where they normally would be this time of year.

SANDOVAL: A U.S. Senator is proposing a series of big hikes in the U.S. federal minimum wage. So how much and could it actually work? When we return we speak to someone who says doing that could actually have unintended negative consequences.

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SANDOVAL: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy is currently calling for the federal minimum wage to be more than tripled. A Democrat last week introduced a bill that would raise the hourly minimum wage over a number of years from $7.25 to $25. Murphy says that this -- that his party actually needs to get more aggressive about addressing issues of affordability and that this is a way.

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SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Twenty-five dollars is just the minimum wage you need to pay your bills in this country. And in the most affluent, most powerful country in the world, if you work full time, you should be able to pay your bills. And by the way, we can afford it. It's not like we can't pay a $25 minimum wage. We just choose not to because we've become OK with dozens and dozens of people in this country making hundreds of billions of dollars.

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SANDOVAL: The federal minimum wage, it has not gone up since 2009.

With me now is Michael Saltsman. He's a -- he is the executive director of the Employment Policies Institute. It's a nonprofit research organization.

Michael, it's great to have you with us.

MICHAEL SALTSMAN, EXEC. DIR., EMPLOYMENT POLICIES INSTITUTE: Hey, thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: So Michael, you've previously written that rather than potentially improve life for struggling Americans, that a possible minimum wage hike of at least $25 per the legislation that may actually have the opposite effect. I'm curious, what has the research showed you so far?

SALTSMAN: Well, I think it's shown a couple of things. You know, it's interesting. We surveyed earlier this year American economists on various minimum wage levels, 96 percent said they were opposed to a minimum wage in the range of $25 an hour. And they listed several reasons.

One of which is, is that it would accelerate the replacement of minimum wage jobs with automation, AI driven technology. But the other one that I very germane right now is the economist said that it would make the affordability crisis worse as employers, especially employers with low profit margins, are forced to raise prices to continue to pay the bills and so leading to even higher costs for consumers who are already worried about it.

So back to your first point, Michael, then potentially it could perhaps encourage some companies out there, some employers out there to may consider reductions in staffing as you point out, maybe even consider other options. Yes, that's right. You know so -- you know, the U.S. has a long history of experimentation with raising the minimum wage and the states have been especially aggressive. And I think probably the best warning sign for what, you know, Senator Murphy has proposed is what California did with creating a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers a few years ago. Since that point, you know, California has seen price increases for fast food of up to 14 percent and has also lost to somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 fast food jobs.

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Number of businesses have closed. And you know, I think that if anything else should be a big red blinking light that says let's hit pause before we consider this on a national level.

SANDOVAL: And what would you make of the argument? Obviously times are tough right now. It seems that prices really haven't gone back to pre- pandemic prices -- levels, I should say, what would you make of the argument that, you know, A, minimum wage hike of at least $25 could perhaps offer some immediate relief, especially to some struggling Americans? I mean, could the immediate benefits outweigh any long term inflation impact?

SALTSMAN: You know, I think when it comes to addressing affordability, very much like poverty too. I think if we all agree that these are problems that need to be addressed, then the question needs to be like what is the evidence say is the best way to accomplish it? And the reason historically that minimum wages haven't been great at reducing poverty is that instead of giving a boost in their total take home pay, they lose hours at work or they lose their job, so they end up with less. And I think similarly with affordability, if what a higher minimum wage does is force an employer that might already have a profit margin of two or 3 percent to raise the price of a burger or a soda even further, then we're really not solving the problem that we're trying to. And in fact we might be making it worse.

SANDOVAL: Are there any other examples that you've seen too, Michael, in, you know, states that have pursued increases in minimum wage and just hasn't played out the way perhaps legislators and even residents had hoped for?

SALTSMAN: Yes, actually here in Washington D.C. the -- several years ago, voters approved a pretty substantial increase in the minimum wage for full service restaurant workers. And it was -- it was a frankly so disastrous. Consumers hated it, workers hated it, that last year the D.C. council rolled it back after they held a hearing about it. And for six hours workers showed up and testified how they were losing income. Small restaurant operators testified how they had to close down or they were considering shutting.

So I think the trend right now really has been as cities explore minimum wages that are pretty unprecedented, that they're actually reconsidering the wisdom of them after a lot of the warned about consequences have actually come to pass.

SANDOVAL: So if not a hike then I'm curious in your view, what do you think legislators in Washington should be looking at to try to address this affordability crisis?

SALTSMAN: You know, when it comes to specifically helping workers out who earn at or near the minimum wage, we're supportive of policies like the earned income tax credit. It operates very much like a wage increase, but through the instead of through a mandate on employers much more targeted to reduce poverty. I mean, we actually asked economists, what is the best way to boost pay and reduce poverty for those workers? Only 26 percent said raising the minimum wage, while about 60 percent said policies like the earned income tax credit. So I would start there if that is the specific issue that policymakers are trying to address.

SANDOVAL: That's interesting. That's some great insight. Important to have all this perspective as legislators continue to debate this. Michael Saltzman, thank you so much for your expertise. Really appreciate your time.

SALTSMAN: Thanks for having me on.

SANDOVAL: Tragedy now in France after a skydiving plane crashed in the Northeast. The plane went down shortly after takeoff, narrowly missing a housing development in a nearby town. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne with more.

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF: Eleven people have been killed after a skydiving plane crashed on Sunday in the northeastern French town of Tomblaine according to local authorities. The aircraft belonged to a local skydiving club and was carrying a pilot and 10 skydivers, five students and five instructors. The five students appeared to be independent nurses, according to the president of the Independent Nurses Association.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but the regional prefect told BFMTV that the aircraft appeared to suffer damage before plunging almost vertically to the ground. The crash occurred in a built up area near a shopping center and there were many witnesses at the scene, including the relatives of the victims.

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YVES SEGUY, PREFECT, DEPARTMENT OF MEURTHE-ET-MOSELLE (through translator): The plane, which was carrying 11 people, crashed suddenly in the immediate vicinity of the airfield. There are 11 victims at this time. There are no bystanders among the casualties. Together with all stakeholders, emergency services and all the elected officials around me, our thoughts are with the victims and with their loved one.

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VANDOORNE: Investigation has been opened as officials work to determine exactly what caused the crash.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.