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Vatican Expels Members Of Rebel Catholic Group Over Unapproved Ordination; Killed By The Venezuelan Quakes Just Hours After Being Deported From U.S.; NY DA On Not Moving Forward With Weinstein Retrial; Trump Puts Himself At Center Of America's 250th Celebration; New York Prepares For Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce Wedding. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 02, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

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STEW LEONARD JR., PRESIDENT AND CEO, STEW LEONARD'S GROCERY STROES: Chicken, pork, even ground beef is only, you know, at the store now. Five bucks a pound.

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Another way to save Leonard says don't buy pre-cut fruits and vegetables. For example, a pre-cut watermelon can cost up to 20 percent more than buying it whole and cutting it yourself. For Consumer Watch, I'm Jenn Sullivan.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but here in New York it means having to carry a giant watermelon down the sidewalk. So to come here on CNN, reported then disappeared dozens of Venezuelans sent back to the country by the U.S., well, they are now missing after last week's deadly earthquakes that were that destroyed the hotel that we're staying in.

We'll hear from someone who made it out of line. Stay with us.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. The Vatican says that a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics had ordained four bishops without the pope's approval, that they are in schism with the wider church and they are now excommunicated.

Thousands attended the ordination in Switzerland on Wednesday, performed by The Society of St. Pius X. Well, the group has rejected reforms made by the Catholic Church in recent decades. Earlier this week, Pope Leo had warned that the ordinations would be a schismatic act and also a, quote, sin of extreme gravity.

Well, the search does continue for a group of Venezuelans who had just arrived back in the country after being deported from the United States the day of last week's massive earthquakes. Well, they were staying at a hotel in La Guaira, which collapsed in the disaster. Some did manage to escape, but others, well, they're still missing. CNN's contributor Stefano Pozzebon spoke with one woman who made it out alive.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): It's been a week since a double earthquake devastated Venezuela, but for Ninoaska Gutierrez, the pain feels very fresh.

NINOASKA GUTIERREZ, SURVIVED EARTHQUAKE AFTER BEING DEPORTED (through translator): My legs were straight, but I had a beam on top of me, trapping me. I couldn't feel my legs.

POZZEBON (voice-over): She said she escaped miraculously with just minor injuries, scrapes and bruises, slipping from under the rubble and walking for two miles before finding help. But this latest tragedy, part of an endless list of blows. She fled Venezuela's economic crisis in 2018 and had been living in Minnesota as an undocumented immigrant since 2024.

GUTIERREZ (through translator): This year, two U.S. citizens died for defending us. The U.S. administration really made a mess with the migrants.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Scared by the unrest in Minneapolis, she moved to Miami, where after an incident with her daughter, she was arrested, charged with a misdemeanor, and transferred to ICE custody.

GUTIERREZ (through translator): I was held for seven days in the worst conditions you can imagine. They treat us like animals.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Deported on June 24, she and other 145 migrants landed in Caracas just hours before the tremors began.

GUTIERREZ (through translator): They took our handcuff off. Thank God, because finally I was going to be free.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Gutierrez and the others were in this hotel when the walls began to shake, the floor crumbling under our feet.

POZZEBON: I mean, when you got out of there, what did you see?

GUTIERREZ (through translator): I couldn't believe it. I don't know if I was conscious or not. Everything was so fast. And I asked God, why did you allow this?

POZZEBON (voice-over): Venezuelan authorities are yet to say how many of the 146 deportees died in the earthquake. Many are still missing.

In a statement to CNN, ICE said that when an individual is no longer in ICE custody, the agency is no longer responsible for them. At home, Gutierrez is somehow trying to rebuild her life. She reconnected with her daughter, Oriana, a daughter she had not seen in four years. And in signs that life goes on despite the tragedy, her niece has just given birth to a healthy baby. Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

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SANDOVAL: And earlier, I had a chance to speak with Loyce Pace, the regional director for the Americas at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. And I asked her about the challenges that currently some of the groups there are facing as they try to get humanitarian supplies to Venezuela. Here's a portion of our conversation.

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LOYCE PACE, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR THE AMERICAS, IFRC: There have been some access challenges, although those seem to have improved a bit. The flow has improved. I think initially there were just a lot of people literally in the streets, sleeping outside, also gathering in the streets, worried about their loved ones. They remain, but I think they've come to understand that we are here to help.

I think, you know, as we move out of the search and rescue phase, I think that will be difficult for people to process. We will start to recover bodies, remains. We want to do so in a safe and dignified manner for everyone. And so I just, you know, need to pause and recognize the emotions around that, including for frontline workers.

I was able to have conversations with some of those search and rescue teams today, recognizing that there are still people under the rubble who perhaps can't be saved because of the status of some of those structures, because of the time we have to save them before they fall victim to this tragedy. And so that's quite hard, too. And then there are all the other issues that come up. It's not just about shelter, which is critically important.

It's the fact that people perhaps have lost their jobs. I mean, the airport, the international airport remains closed. And a lot of people affected live close by, work at places like the airport. Also, a place that was affected is a major tourist area.

Again, those hotels have gone away. And so what are people doing to sustain themselves? That's another challenge I think we'll face even the longer term.

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SANDOVAL: A New York district attorney is revealing more about his decision to stop pursuing an unresolved rape charge against Harvey Weinstein. The former Hollywood mogul is currently in prison, convicted of sexual assault crimes in New York and in California. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister spoke with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg in this exclusive interview.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told me that not moving forward with a fourth trial against Harvey Weinstein has nothing to do with him in his office believing Jessica Mann. He says that she is a credible witness, that they do believe her, but ultimately it came down to her and what she wanted to do. Take a look.

ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN, NEW YORK DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The letter is like, sobering and heartbreaking, and it grabs you. I thought it was great to hear her in her own voice. You know, so much of this process is lawyers talking, a judge talking. We hear from jurors, we hear from witnesses, and to have her unfiltered speak.

So I thought that was important. And yes, the decision on whether to do the skin was. She was at the center of it. All of our practice, we're focused on the survivor, the survivor's trauma, the process for the survivor.

Jessica Mann has testified three times at trial, twice at grand jury. Very, very challenging. And that's an understatement. And so, yes, she was at the center of this decision.

WAGMEISTER: Now for Harvey Weinstein, he has always denied all accusations of sexual abuse against him. And last week when Bragg's office announced that they would be dropping this rape charge, here is what Weinstein's spokesperson told me. They said in part, quote, Harvey is relieved by today's outcome. We believe that this is the result that should have been reached from the outset had the grand jury been presented with the full scope of the emails, text messages and other private communications there.

They're talking about some of the evidence between Harvey Weinstein and Jessica Mann. So Harvey saying that this case should have never been brought against them. Now Harvey Weinstein will go for resentencing. Prosecutors are asking for 20 years. Back to you.

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SANDOVAL: Elizabeth Wagmeister reporting there. And we are just days away from July 4th, and President Trump is getting out to celebrate America 250. But is he putting himself at the center of the celebration?

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SANDOVAL: And welcome back. We want to share with you some of this video of President Trump's so called Great American State Fair. It's happening on the National Mall where sparse crowds were seen yesterday ahead of the July 4th holiday. This is just one of several events that the President has planned for America's 250th anniversary.

And as Jeff Zeleny reports, the President is making sure that he remains at the center of the celebrations.

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JEFF ZELENY, CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He flew on his new plane and for the first time as president, he rode on a train. Donald Trump is making a splash heading into Independence Day, a celebration of America's 250th anniversary and himself.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: On July 4th, it's going to be approximately 107 degrees out and I'm going to go and I'm going to make a really long speech just to show that I can do anything.

ZELENY (voice-over): He visited the Badlands of North Dakota today. His motorcade escorted by Rough Riders on horseback. He toured the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, seeing tributes to the 26th President and offering himself one.

TRUMP: It's a part of the country that I love and I think they love me because I have the all-time record in presidential voting.

ZELENY (voice-over): This year long grand celebration of America has often felt like more of a presidential vanity project, placing the Trump imprint far beyond the normal trappings of the office. While the president has long wrapped himself in the flag, quite literally during this memorable moment at a conservative gathering in his first term, America 250 has taken things to a new Trumpian high.

He commandeered planning for the celebrations, bypassing the bipartisan America 250 organization enacted by Congress a decade ago in favor of Freedom 250, a separate group he and his allies control. His renovation projects have spouted up across Washington and his face now adorns many government buildings.

At this moment of American history, Trump is placing himself at the center of it all, to the delight of his admirers like Tiffany Bulgreen, who came from Fargo to see him today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Best president in the world of our time and what he stood up for and what he's done for this country and what he's been up against. I mean, the man is incredible.

ZELENY (voice-over): From a UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House. To a visit Friday to Mount Rushmore, reprising a stop he made in 2020.

TRUMP: There could be no better place to celebrate America's independence.

ZELENY (voice-over): Trump's handling of a semi quincentennial is a far cry from the Nation's bicentennial in 1976, when President Gerald Ford took pains to remove partisan politics from an American celebration. In his autobiography, "A Time to Heal," Ford wrote, rarely in the history of the world had so many people turned out so spontaneously to express the love they felt for their country.

Trump has taken the opposite approach, making himself the star of the show. Yet as the weekend finale approaches, the modest attendance at the Great American State Fair is sparking anxiety inside the White house.

TRUMP: Then, on July 4th, we will have the greatest show of all on the National Mall. Your favorite president will be speaking, so please show up.

ZELENY (voice-over): The president's words offered a telling window into one of his biggest fears. A small crowd.

TRUMP: Because if we have two empty seats, you know what's going to happen. The fake news is going to say he didn't fill out the arena.

ZELENY (voice-over): Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Medora, North Dakota.

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SANDOVAL: And in just a matter of hours, the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding festivities. They are expected to kick off right here in New York. We have some fresh details for you as America's royal couple prepares to go down the aisle in the world's most famous arena.

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SANDOVAL: Excitement is building here in New York ahead of the expected wedding celebrations of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Sources are revealing some new details about the festivities as well as this elaborate effort to keep everything under wraps. Here's CNN's Brynn Gingras with more.

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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Easter eggs keep dropping all across New York City.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel so excited.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are expected to tie the knot in Madison Square Garden with a rehearsal planned for Thursday, a source tells CNN. It's being held in the theater section of MSG. Roughly 100 people are expected to attend and then Friday, the main event. A source tells CNN the wedding is expected to take place on the arena floor at 5:30, with the party lasting into the morning hours.

Preparations for the two day event underway as workers, this one spotted wearing a Swift carpenter's T shirt, the night to transform the iconic venue into what reportedly will be a garden wonderland. Tarps have been put up at MSG's loading dock. Trucks are being parked in precarious ways. A tent is expected to be erected soon and sources tell CNN 500 vehicles are expected to drop off wedding guests inside the world's most famous arena, all out of the view of the public eye.

GINGRAS: What are we so excited about for Taylor?

GRACE KILEA "SWIFTIE": I want to see what it's going to look like on the inside. Like I've never pictured a wedding being MSG ever because there's no natural lighting and stuff. So I'm very curious of what it's going to look like, how they're going to decorate. I'm sure it's very over the top. Budget's unlimited.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So. Hi, how are you?

GINGRAS (voice-over): Stevie Nicks expected to perform according to published reports, in front of roughly a thousand guests. Among them we know will be San Francisco 49ers star and Kelce friend George Kittle.

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GEROGE KITTLE, TIGHT END, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: Yes, we'll be there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did. Yes.

KITTLE: I'll be there. I'm wearing a blue suit so that's all I got. I'm half expecting there just to be a jumbo jet on a Runway and they put us on a plane somewhere.

GINGRAS (voice-over): The New York Times reports it will be a black tie affair and no phones or cameras are allowed inside. Appears Taylor may already be in town. Her private plane arrived at a nearby airport, Wednesday. The future Mrs. Kelce's big day is happening in the midst of New York City's summer madness.

The World Cup, the Knicks recent championship win, a heat wave and, oh, celebrations for America turning 250. Security is expected to ramp up in Midtown.

JESSICA TISCH, COMMISSIONER, NYPD: The NYPD will of course have a detail in place, but I am not going to go into more specifics on that.

GINGRAS (voice-over): As for the Swifties, no doubt they will continue looking for clues, many of them already gathering outside MSG.

CATHERINE MCGETRICK, "SWIFTIE": If I was having the biggest wedding of the century, I would do the same. I want to pack as many of my close quarters cool famous friends in as possible. Why not have everybody in the most famous arena? Hello.

GINGRAS: And if you're wondering why someone who can literally get married anywhere in the world chose Madison Square Garden as the likely venue, well, it is infamously secure. There are no windows in this building, as I mentioned. There are underground tunnels and garages where we're learning guests will be going in and out of. So they are undetected by the paparazzi.

And we are also learning now that the police may shut down the streets around Madison Square Garden for the next two days while these events are happening. Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

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SANDOVAL: And we'll leave you with this. A prehistoric giant that's heading to the auction block for Sotheby's Geek Week in New York. A nearly 40 foot skeleton of Tyrannosaurus Rex named Gus is expected to fetch up to $30 million. It's one of the most complete specimens ever discovered.

It was found in South Dakota's Hell Creek formation and dates back about 67 million years. Experts are saying that its size, its preservation and its completeness one of the most significant X Rex, I should say T. Rex finds ever recovered. You'll find me at Geek Week, not the wedding.

Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. We leave you with CNN Headlight Express. It starts after a moment.

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