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One World with Zain Asher

Venezuela Rocked by Its Strongest Earthquake in Century; Two Powerful Quakes Rattle Venezuela 40 Seconds Apart; Extreme Head Sends European Temps into Record Territory; Supreme Court Sides with Trump in Two Major Immigration Cases. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 25, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". One resident of Caracas describes the scene as like a horror movie

after surviving two back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the second was the most powerful one to hit the nation in a century. This video shows the utter chaos and a warning some may find it

disturbing. The quakes and aftershocks sending terrified residents to the streets. Venezuela's Acting President says at least 160 people have been

killed. That death toll is expected to rise.

ASHER: Dozens of buildings have collapsed. Massive rescue operation is underway. Survivors are sharing their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I did was throw myself on the floor to call on God. The walls cracked, the kitchen collapsed, the living room is about to

fall. One more movement and it will come down. Here, I'm going to stay here in the street. I have nothing else. At that moment, I only ran out with my

rosary, my phone, which I had on me, and my clothes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: The first 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit North Venezuela around 06:00 p.m. local time, followed just 40 seconds later, by a 7.5 one.

ASHER: Yeah, the U.S., Mexico, Qatar, and other nations are pledging support as the full scale of the devastation emerges. Journalist Triny Mena

is in Caracas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY TRINY MENA, JOURNALIST: Daylight in Caracas, and I want to show you one of the places most affected here in the capital of Venezuela, Los Palos

Grandes. Behind me, there was a building at 14 floor building that collapsed completely here. All the authorities have been working tirelessly

throughout the night to trying to find some survivors here in this area, located in the east of Caracas.

They are working along with the service rescues and services providers, and also with neighbors from the community that are helping in this work that

they are taking place today. Just a few minutes ago, the President In- charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, updated the number of people that have died during these events, 164 people.

I want to show you this building that is a twin building of the one that collapsed with the similar characteristic. This is still standing alongside

of the one that collapsed here in Los Palos Grandes, Caracas. So far authorities have informed that 164 people died in this area, and the most

affected is La Guaira State, where it was declared national tragedy.

Classes are suspended, but right now, what we are knowing is that the government is looking for resources, especially economic resources, to

battle, overcome this situation. These two massive earthquakes that hit Venezuela on Wednesday. Mary Triny Mena for CNN, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: So terrifying. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is standing by. But first, let's bring in Pau Mosquera in Madrid, Spain. We know that a

lot of expats there are living in Madrid and are so concerned about the impact on their families back home in Venezuela.

We heard President Trump pledge U.S. support, as Zain had noted, among other countries. What more are you learning about the devastation?

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, Bianna, I can tell you that it has certainly been a long and difficult night for many here in Spain,

because the country, it's home to the largest Venezuelan community in all of Europe, with around 700,000 people living in Spain.

And actually, many of them gathered this morning here behind me at the very entrance of the Venezuelan consulate in Madrid.

[11:05:00]

Most of them came because they already had an appointment for routine paperwork, but what we saw in the line is that many of them were sharing

conversations that were going around the same concern, their families, their relatives that are still in Venezuela. Many of them are still

anxiously waiting for any news, any details of their loved ones, because it has already been 16 hours since the powerful earthquake struck Caracas and

the Coastal State of La Guaira, and they have known nothing at all about their relatives.

I actually had the opportunity to speak to some of them, and that's what they had to talk to me. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY VALDERRAMA, VENEZUELAN LIVING IN MADRID: I do know about my mother. My grandparents are fine, they're OK, but the one person I haven't

been able to communicate with is my sister. It's hard not being able to do anything or get news about your family.

Your hands are tied when you're here. How do you get around or find out how they're doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOSQUERA: On the meantime, Zain, Bianna, they are still awaiting for any news and information that anyone can provide about their relative, but it's

also worth noting that the Venezuelan community here in Madrid, it's already calling on its fellow compatriots to gather this afternoon on a

prayer service that will take place at St. Helena Parish, which is just a few minutes from here, to pray for the victims of this earthquake, Zain,

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Right, Pau Mosquera, thank you.

ASHER: All right, CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar joining us live now from Atlanta. Just talk to us about how common it is, or rare, to have two

pretty huge earthquakes back-to-back, about a minute or so apart. And then the fact that even the epicenter was so far away from Caracas, its effects

were still felt there in the capital.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, so the first thing to point out is this is a very seismically active region of the world. It is not

uncommon for them to get earthquakes in this region, what made this event so uncommon is the fact that yes, we had two relatively large earthquakes

happen in such a short period of time, less than one minute apart.

And look at how close they were together, too. Now you have a 7.2 that happened first, then a 7.5. Now I would like to point out that technically,

on paper, when you look at those, the magnitude difference is only 0.3. So, it doesn't sound maybe like the second one was that much stronger, but this

is an exponential chart, so it's a little bit different.

It actually means that the second quake was two times as big, so double this size and nearly three times as strong. So, again, just because it

looks like it's 0.3 and it's not that much of a difference. This actually was much more significant than it appears, just when you look at the

numbers.

The other thing to note, too, are the aftershocks, because this is really what's going to be the biggest concern going forward for a lot of these

areas. Now, when you have the main quake that has a magnitude of 7.5 typically you have at least one aftershock that is a magnitude 6.5 or

larger, 10 that are 5.5 magnitude or larger, and at least 100 of them that are 4.5 magnitude or higher.

This is important because a 4.5 may not sound like it's very strong to you, but after you have had a 7.2 and a 7.5, a lot of the buildings and a lot of

the homes in this area are now structurally compromised, so it doesn't take much. Even a 4.5 or a 5.5 could bring more buildings down, simply because

they are not what they were prior to the earthquake.

Another thing they are going to have to keep a close eye on is the weather, because unfortunately we do have storms in the forecast in the next, not

just today, but in the coming days, and that is really going to hinder a lot of the rescue operations that are ongoing, not just near the epicenter,

but in a lot of the other surrounding towns and communities that are also experiencing such devastation with some buildings and damage and things

like that.

Especially when you note that the vast majority of the aftershocks occur within the first one to seven days, especially the stronger aftershocks, so

knowing that you're likely going to have some of those showers to contend with, is a big concern. These were also very shallow earthquakes, which is

what likely impacted and caused a lot of that damage to be much more significant than had these been much deeper earthquakes.

ASHER: All right, Allison Chinchar live for us. Thank you for that.

GOLODRYGA: Well, as Europe swelters in dangerously high temperatures, one of the world's largest climate summits is currently underway in London. The

London Climate Action Week is taking place as temperatures in the UK soar to new records for June.

Climate scientists directly link the intensity of this heat wave to the burning of fossil fuels.

ASHER: Yeah, elsewhere in Europe, France endured its hottest day since records began Tuesday, bringing a grim toll. This week alone, there have

been at least 42 deaths from drowning as people try to escape the heat.

GOLODRYGA: CNN Saskya Vandoorne joins us now from Paris.

[11:10:00]

Any relief today, Saskya, even by one degree, I mean we just feel for you, for everyone there having to endure days on end without any help, even in

the evening hours, as people sleep, sweltering heat continues. How does it feel today?

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF: Bianna, it feels suffocating, and it seems that nowhere in France is escaping this punishing heat wave. More

than three quarters of the country is in the red alert zone, that is the highest alert for heat waves, meaning that there is danger to life.

And that is what Emmanuel Macron was just saying, that this is a health emergency, especially for the elderly and for young children. Hospitals are

under strain as they try and deal with the influx of patients. So how are people coping? Well, I'm here at the Canal Saint Martin in Paris.

Usually, you're not allowed to swim here, but as you can see, authorities have opened up these swimming spots to try and help people cool off.

There's also a lifeguard as officials is urging people not to dive into rivers and not to swim in unauthorized swimming spots.

Now to speak about how Parisians are beating the heat. I'm also joined by Sasha (ph) here. Sasha (ph), how are you surviving?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am surviving. I'm surviving. These past few days have been tough, very, very hot, but I'm surviving. I'm really looking

forward to Sunday, when it's going to be a little less hot, but I'm fine. I'm fine.

VANDOORNE: Is it the most intense heat wave you've ever known?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. I actually grew up in Hong Kong, where it's very, very hot, 90 percent humidity, but I've actually never felt this

hot. So, yes, absolutely. Yeah.

VANDOORNE: And a lot of buildings here, of course, don't have AC, unlike in Hong Kong, that is the subject of a big debate over here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

VANDOORNE: In France, some are saying that there should be AC in all these households, whereas others believe that, you know, it's an indulgence, and

we should be thinking about the planet. What's your take?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I absolutely think we should think about the planet. However, I think that I know this heat will be worse and worse in these few

years, and I'm definitely thinking about the elderlies or vulnerable people, small children, and I think that it is a necessity for these few

years.

So, I think if we use it in a controlled way for these types of people, and I think it's necessary. Yeah.

VANDOORNE: You're saying it's not a long-term solution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

VANDOORNE: Well, thank you so much, Sasha (ph). Back to you, Zain and Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right, try to stay cool. I know that's a hard thing to do.

ASHER: Jump in, Saskya, just go for a dip yourself. You know you're tempted to. I'm tempted to --

VANDOORNE: -- You know me too well.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you, Saskya. Stay cool.

ASHER: All right. The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with Donald Trump in two major immigration cases.

GOLODRYGA: Now the court ruled that the president can end temporary protected status for foreign nationals from countries like Haiti and Syria.

Those people are in the United States after enduring war and natural disasters. In a separate case, the justices decided that the Trump

Administration can turn back asylum seekers at the border before they enter the U.S.

Previously, the government was required to process a migrant who arrived at a port entry and was fleeing persecution in their country. Ankush Khardori

is a Former Federal Prosecutor, and he joins us now from Washington. Ankush, thank you so much for joining us. So, as it relates to asylum

seekers here at the U.S. border, the Ninth Circuit said that someone who presents herself or himself at the border has quote, arrived, no matter

which side of the line they stood on.

The majority is now saying of the Supreme Court that you have to physically cross that border line. Is this a faithful reading in your view of the word

arrives?

ANKUSH KHARDORI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I do not think that it is. And in fact, we're still going through these opinions, but I think if you read

the opinion, it's a very tortured reading of the relevant statutes, and I think the dissent effectively rebuts that reading.

I mean, look, the upshot of this is that it effectively allows the U.S. government to entirely ignore its domestic and international legal

obligations to process asylum seekers. So, it's another incident in which I think the Republican appointees on the Supreme Court have given a massive

policy victory to a Republican President.

ASHER: I do want to talk about temporary protected status, because that was another case that came down, just in terms of we cover Haiti a lot on this

program. We've talked a lot about some of the key issues there in Port-au- Prince, from food insecurity to gang violence.

[11:15:00]

And a lot of people who have sought asylum under temporary protected status feels as though if they're sent back to Haiti, they simply will not

survive. Many people have said that. Just explain to us, for those people who now face deportation, what options do they have? Do they have any

options in terms of trying to remain in this country?

KHARDORI: I think, unfortunately, their options are extremely limited at this point. I mean, this case was not asking for that much at the moment.

It was just asking for these people to allow them to stay in the country while their claims are still proceeding, right? Because there are claims

that the administration did not follow the legal process required to terminate this temporary protected status.

So, these people are now exposed to the harshest machinery of our immigration enforcement I've seen in my lifetime. And this could be really,

really ugly and really, really sad. I, you know, this decision is not surprising to me, because of the composition of the majority of Republican

appointees in the sort of position of Republican voters these days, but it is shocking, and it is shameful, and I think this is immoral.

Candidly, I think you know we promised these people legal status here, and now we're just, you know, just yanking the rug out from under them, they're

going to be placed in mortal danger if they have to go back to some of these countries under some of these circumstances, and I just cannot fathom

how anyone could put their name to an opinion like this.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, there's the moral question of it all, and there's just the effort of trying to find these people now, and what that process will look

like in the short and interim term about how they would go back to their homes and their home countries. Ankush Khardori, thank you so much for your

time.

And still to come for us, Republican lawmakers hit a road bump on their message of affordability. Details ahead on why President Trump wants to

hold off on signing this new housing bill.

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ASHER: Right in Washington, a new controversy is brewing over the so-called SAVE America Act, a controversial bill that critics warn would prevent

millions of Americans from voting. The version that passed in the House, and February focused on adding strict ID and proof of citizenship

requirements for voters.

GOLODRYGA: Though it is not expected to get the approval of the Senate. President Trump is now demanding Congress pass the SAVE America Act before

signing a separate bipartisan housing bill. The attention now turns to House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is expected to speak with Trump this

afternoon about a way to move forward.

ASHER: Let's discuss all of this with CNN's Alayna Treene live for us from the White House. So, this puts Johnson in a difficult position. He said to

me with President Trump, but also on Capitol Hill, we had the news of that dramatic sort of blowout between Senator Bill Cassidy and President Trump.

I mean, there's a lot for you to get through on both fronts, but just walk us through what happened there as well.

[11:20:00]

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, I think it's so remarkable about what we are really seeing play out between both ends of

Pennsylvania Avenue is that any administration like this one, and particularly throughout the past year and a half, you have really seen

Republicans do everything they can to show their fealty to Donald Trump.

But we're starting to see that really shift, particularly as we're now just months away from the November midterm elections, we saw that yesterday, of

course. During this lunch, we heard that the president, when he went to meet with Senate Republicans, really berated a number of Republicans in the

room, including Senator Bill Cassidy, one of the people who had voted with a war power resolution to rebuke really the president on that and limit his

powers.

On Tuesday night, I should note they ended up the Senate bringing that vote back up again yesterday and reversing it. Cassidy actually changing his

vote on that after receiving a briefing from the Vice President, Steve Witkoff. But that was just one of the things that I think is causing a lot

of tension.

The other is, of course, what you mentioned, the SAVE Act, the president's sweeping federal elections bill that he wants to get done before these

midterm elections. That's something that we've heard leaders in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is one of them, who have said we just do

not have the votes for this, this cannot pass.

And despite that, the president is saying, I don't care. I need you to find the votes. I actually spoke with the president about this on Tuesday, when

I traveled with him to Pennsylvania. I asked him about, you know, Thune says there just aren't the votes here, and he said, I don't care, he needs

to step up and be a leader.

So that's something that's really been causing a lot of issues and a lot of infighting at a time when the party recognizes they need to have a unified

message. To get back to House Speaker Mike Johnson, the president, is meeting with him today at 02:00 p.m. Johnson's problem is that there are

some hardliners, kind of an opposite problem.

There are hardliners in the House who are saying they will not pass any legislation on the House floor until the SAVE Act is passed by the Senate.

Again, something that people are saying is just not possible at this point, so that's put Johnson at this point in a box as well.

We're told he's coming to speak to Trump to try to figure out a path forward here. He's actually let lawmakers go home a day early because this

is something that they recognize they're just not going to be able to solve before next week, or really unclear when, perhaps in the not in the next

couple weeks, Zain, Bianna.

ASHER: Alayna Treene live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, some big names will take the field at the World Cup today.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, matches from groups D, E, and F, I think people know the countries more than the group letters. They include Ivory Coast, Germany,

the Netherlands, and Japan, the United States, and Australia.

ASHER: Don Riddell joins us live now. So, Don the Scottish team, the Scottish fans, I should say, the Tartan Army, they are known for their

legendary partying. Just walk, I mean, they are -- they've got sort of a nail biter of just a few moments, because they have to figure out whether

or not Scotland can actually make it to the knockout stages.

Walk us through that bruising match with Brazil that we saw yesterday.

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, the Scots haven't done themselves any favors, and as you are correctly saying they are now hanging by a thread.

Yeah, didn't do themselves any favors. Brazil didn't show them any mercy in Miami last night, and the Brazilians beat them three-nil, which is kind of

a very familiar result when these two sides run into each other at the World Cup.

Scotland have never beaten Brazil. They didn't get anywhere close last night. Vinicius Junior got a couple of goals, Matheus Cunha got the other

Neymar came on at the end of the game as well, to some big cheers from the Brazil fans. And it means Scotland now have to wait and see.

They are hoping they can squeak through as one of the third-place teams, but they're going to have to wait until the other groups play out to find

out if they can stick around or not. Meanwhile, really big result for South Africa last night, beating South Korea, they haven't had the most

convincing of tournaments, Bafana Bafana.

So, they surprised a lot of people with this performance and this result last night, but it means they now finished second in their group, and they

now progress to the knockout stage for the first time ever. They're going to be playing Canada in the first of the knockout games in the round of 32

in Los Angeles on Sunday.

So, an absolutely fabulous performance and result from the South African team. Storyline that I think is also really cool and worth mentioning.

Mexico having a fabulous World Cup, they won all three of their group games. They beat the Czech Republic last night, and because they had

already won the group, they were already guaranteed to finish in top spot.

Their coach should put the 40-year-old goalkeeper, Memo Ochoa, on for what may well be kind of his swan song, but alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano

Ronaldo.

[11:25:00]

He has now featured in six World Cup tournaments. He hasn't played in all of them, but he's been in the squad for now six World Cup tournaments, and

it was really cool to see him get on and play the game last night.

GOLODRYGA: And Don, big game tonight -- I know my -- watching.

ASHER: United States --

RIDDELL: Yeah.

GOLODRYGA: United States, Christian Pulisic, I think, has been given the all clear to play, so they're expected to beat Turkey, no.

RIDDELL: Well, here's the thing, they don't have to. They've won the group, they're already kind of like set for the knockout stage, which is a great

position for the American team to be in. It also means the coach can rest some of the players who are on yellow cards, because he doesn't want to get

any of them suspended.

So that's a really good idea. So, Fuller and Belligan, for example, Chris Richards, they're on yellow cards, they're not going to be playing. Pulisic

certainly wants to play. We will see if Mauricio Pochettino risks him or not, because he doesn't have to play him. But should they beat Turkey?

Certainly, the way this tournament is going, Turkey have been really disappointing. They're already eliminated. They've lost their first two

games. So, there's really nothing at stake for either team. Perhaps a good opportunity for the Americans to give some other players a bit of a run out

and try to win the game, keep the momentum going, but it doesn't matter either way.

ASHER: Save the energy, I guess.

GOLODRYGA: We still want to win.

RIDDELL: Right.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Don Riddell, thank you so much. And do stay with CNN. There's more "One World" in about 30 minutes time, but CNN "Creators" is

coming up next.

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