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Iranian Drone Hits Cargo Ship; Journalist Mariana Atencio is Interviewed about the Venezuelan Earthquake; Darializa Avila Chevalier Becoming the New AOC; Vice President Vance Comments on Watergate. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 26, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

WILL LEITCH, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": They can't compete on the world stage if they are not a favorite like a Spain or a France or an England, but they are good and they are getting better. Those are fun teams to root for. We always think of ourselves as Rocky Balboa, but usually we're not.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Right. Yes.

LEITCH: In the closest there we are. Like, this is the closest you kind of get for that. We are this -- the closest as a U.S. national team will ever get to being Hoosiers. So, that's a fun team to kind of get excited and cheer.

CORNISH: Good reference. Will Leitch, thank you so much.

LEITCH: Thank you.

CORNISH: Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to follow up on what's going on with the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. accusing Iran of attacking a vessel and pausing U.N. efforts to evacuate ships.

Plus, why did J.D. Vance downplay the impact of Watergate?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:10]

CORNISH: Developing this morning, a ship has struck the Strait of Hormuz. A ship has been struck in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. is pointing the finger at Iran, saying one of their drones hit the cargo ship. It's the first strike since the U.S. and Iran agreed to work towards a peace deal.

Now, the incident happened as shipping traffic was just starting to pick up. Just days after the U.S. lifted sanctions on Iranian oil, allowing Tehran to sell oil in dollars for the first time in decades.

So, we're bringing in CNN's Paula Hancocks.

Paula, as I said, consequential day, the lifting of sanctions. And then at the same time, you've got this strike occurring in the Strait of Hormuz. Can you talk about what that means for the ability of these negotiations to go on if there's still threats to the ships from passing through?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Audie, it had been going so well in the Strait of Hormuz this week. With this latest strike, there were no casualties. There's no environmental damage. But the hit to confidence in the shipping industry is pretty significant.

There was an evacuation that was underway by the U.N., by the international maritime organization to try and get the vessels and more than 11,000 seafarers who had been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the start of the war out into the open waters. Now that had begun.

We saw on Wednesday some 70 vessels managed to transit through the Strait of Hormuz. But now that there has been this strike, that is all on hold. The U.N. saying they're halting this evacuation. They said the safety of the seafarers is the most important. They need more clarity.

Now, Iran hasn't claimed responsibility at this point for this strike on the vessel, which the U.S. says was done by an Iranian drone. But what we heard just hours before this strike happened was the Revolutionary Guard in Iran saying that they couldn't guarantee safe passage for any vessel that wasn't using their route through the Strait of Hormuz. They want vessels to be going along the northern part of the Strait of Hormuz, so they have to go through Tehran, they have to fill in the forms that Tehran gives them, rather than the southern part, which is hugging the coast of Oman, which, understandably, most vessels are going through.

So, this really throws into doubt now the U.S. president's claim that the Strait of Hormuz is open and that it is free. And it really brings a halt to what we had seen earlier in this week with the Strait of Hormuz seeing a number of vessels coming through. The oil price dipping because of that. And, of course, gas prices as well dipping slightly.

Now, what we've heard from the U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, he's just been in this region. He was meeting some of the gulf nations who were really hardest hit by Iran in their retaliation during the war. And he has said that no country on earth should be able to claim responsibility over an international waterway. But that does appear to be exactly what Iran wants to do.

It says that it's in talks with Oman, which is on the other side of the water. But Oman's foreign minister says that they support international law. They support a toll-free system. So, at this point, Tehran is really out on its own when it is saying that it wants vessels to use its route.

And of course, there is the issue of mines in the Strait of Hormuz as well. Presumably why no vessels are wanting to go through the center of this waterway. But it does throw into doubt the talks that have been ongoing. We heard from Secretary Rubio as well that that he's given a statement with the gulf nations here really widening the remit, also pointing out they have to deal with Iran's missiles and its use of proxies.

Audie.

CORNISH: OK, that's Paula Hancocks from Abu Dhabi.

Thank you.

I want to turn to this. The U.S. forces being sent to Venezuela as the nation deals with the aftermath of two devastating earthquakes. The death toll climbed to more than 230 people. It is still expected to rise. The country's health minister saying more than 4,300 people are injured. Rescue efforts ongoing, with hundreds of people trapped under rubble or missing.

And Venezuelans are not only reeling from the physical destruction of their country. Critics say there's also a vacuum of authority in the country with the burden of rescue and relief efforts falling on civil organizations and schools and local churches and families.

Joining me now, Mariana Atencio. She's a Venezuelan journalist, author and speaker.

Thank you so much for being with us. I'm so sorry it's under these circumstances because I know you have friends and family still in Venezuela. What have you heard from them?

[06:40:02]

MARIANA ATENCIO, JOURNALIST: Audie, these have been the most harrowing few days for Venezuelans. On the ground, local organizations estimate the number of missing could climb to 40,000 people. I'm seeing images of children that are left completely orphaned. And you stated it, there is a power vacuum in Venezuela right now. The worst hit areas of La Guaira. There's -- that's the coastal area. There's no heavy machinery. Neighbors are digging their own family members out of the rubble by hand. Hospitals are overwhelmed. They're treating the wounded in the streets because this earthquake is hitting a country that had nothing left to absorb it. And we're talking about a health system that's collapsed after years of crisis.

CORNISH: You know, it's such a moment to be talking about this because here in the U.S. the Venezuelan asylum seekers who are already here, they've had their status terminated. We talked about that earlier, happening to Syrians and Haitians and others. But the U.S. now has a very peculiar relationship with Venezuela. Is there any sign of it now that the country is suffering?

ATENCIO: So Rubio said the response will be big, fast, effective. President Trump called Venezuela our new and great friends. They've, of course, pledged $150 million in aid.

But at the same time, I can speak for a diaspora of nearly eight million people, being sent back doesn't mean being sent back home right now. It means going back to rubble. So, it is ironic that the same week that Venezuela becomes a disaster zone, the U.S. is closing the door, TPS, for roughly 300,000 Venezuelans already terminated.

And that is what TPS is created for, Audie, temporary protected status. I mean, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus even made the same point in a letter to Rubio and Trump saying, the removals to a country in the midst of a disaster zone like this are untenable.

And I'll bring up one more point in terms of the relationship with the U.S., which I think is critically important. And it's also this idea of, you are pledging all of this aid. This new regime, or new and great friends, need to be held accountable for how they administer that aid, but also for who they are locking up inside of Venezuela. There's around 500 to 600 innocent political prisoners that they are still holding behind bars. Those people, in the midst of this disaster, should be released to their families immediately.

CORNISH: Just one other thing. Delcy Rodriguez, we're talking about a vacuum. There is interim leadership. Leadership who had even been there under Maduro. Is the sense right now that they have an inability to or they are not capable of dealing with this moment?

ATENCIO: We can't really call this a government, Audie. This is -- this is a regime that has operated for years as a cartel that has been laundering money, stealing from Venezuelans, and has plundered our oil industry and our health system. So, this does not function like a regular government.

This is a very big test for Delcy Rodriguez. But on the ground, what you are seeing are churches, our neighbors really just rising up to this moment, regular people, because the government has really an inability to respond to a crisis of this scale. So, it remains to be seen how they will mount a response and how they will administer the aid. But already I'm hearing very worrying reports of them saying that the aid should not be administered by opposition figures on the ground. And this is a moment when Venezuela needs to come together as a nation to be able to overcome this incredible test.

CORNISH: OK, that's journalist Mariana Atencio.

Thank you.

And if you are watching right now, and you want to know how you can help with the victims for the Venezuelan earthquake, I want you to go to cnn.com/impact. You can also just text the word "quake" to 707070.

And next on CNN THIS MORNING, there's a new progressive voice rising. And Darializa Chevalier wins big in New York. Why some are saying she's the next AOC.

Plus, Vice President Vance drawing criticism after saying the Watergate scandal would have been a blip in today's news cycle.

And in the next hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, a Boeing 777 flies close to the ground in Texas. The FAA investigation now underway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:49:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): I think it's a disaster for Democrats. I mean they took out very progressive Democratic members in favor of socialists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Does the right have a new boogeyman? Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier, fresh off her big win Tuesday, now looking to the general. But DAC's comments about deportation, borders, prisons and past tweets are making her a target for not only the right but those in her party. One centrist Democrat put it like this, "if AOC was this Tea Party's Ted Cruz, yes, DAC is this Tea Party's MTG." I know it's a lot. "It's less substance and more about a sense that this person is unhinged and indefensible."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTE (D-NY): I feel like it's deja vu all over again. There was so much fear around that when I was elected.

[06:50:03]

And none of it bore out to be true. Voters vote for what is happening in their community and what's on their ballot. And I think that any candidate of any party that's running their own race has the responsibility to run their race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK. Group chat is back.

I wanted to talk about this analogy because we're mentioning these names, Ted Cruz or AOC or MTG. Like, once you get into office, you have to deal with the realities of being in office and your positions change from when you are -- not your positions change, your tone and tenor can change depending.

Lulu, what do you see in the way people have been talking about this particular candidate this week? Does it, like AOC says, feel familiar?

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It feels familiar. It wasn't a hot minute after she was elected that the right was just -- like you could -- they could not contain their joy. This is an absolute gift, in their view, to them.

She has positions that are wildly out of the mainstream. I mean, let's be honest about this.

CORNISH: Yes. And just to be clear. So, here's "The New York Post" tying her -- or tying just sort of Democratic socialists to Hochul, who's generally not a person I think of in that way. We're bringing in Marxism. We're going all the way. Socialism's not good enough.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean they're basically saying that they're going to target this. I mean -- what --

CORNISH: But that makes sense too.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, I mean the Democratic socialist project, and this is by their own admission, is that they do want a civil war with the Democratic Party. They think the Democratic Party has lost its way and they want to overtake it. And they think that it has not been forceful enough in pushing a very progressive agenda. That is different in some ways than making --

CORNISH: Well, then --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Darializa the sort of poster child of this.

CORNISH: Well, then let me play one thing for you, because James Carville has always got to enter the chat.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: He does.

CORNISH: Here he is, what he has to say

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: This Chevalier lady, I don't -- they should not seat her in the caucus.

All of these people hate Democrats. Why do they want to run as a Democrat? Start your own movement. If it's such a powerful, sweeping movement that's got momentum everywhere, then go ahead and be at the head of it. Don't use the Democratic Party to advance it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Rob, I got to ask you, because I've asked Republicans all week who may have deja vu from MAGA and Tea Party, does that work to just be like, y'all go somewhere else? I mean Donald Trump's president now.

ROB BLUEY, PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "THE DAILY SIGNAL": Donald Trump is president. You have the House Freedom Caucus, which is a group that exerted its power, right? When you have these narrow margins. I mean, Hakeem Jeffries, right now, is probably looking at a big headache if he were to become speaker next year because he's going to have a large number of now Democratic socialists who would be able to hijack the floor and really set an agenda.

And if you look at that party's platform, not party, but I mean if you look at the Democratic socialist platform, I mean they have quite radical ideas, which I agree are out of step with not only independent and mainstream voters, but probably the Democratic Party as large.

CORNISH: We'll at least, while you're talking, put up this "New York Times" polling piece. They were asked, should Democratic Party be -- move more to the center or to the left? And I have to admit, I wasn't surprised about the Republican thoughts on that. But the independent thoughts, 77 percent, at least of these people polled, saying more to the center. And even Democrats, it's 44 percent to the center.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. That's right.

CORNISH: And this is the split. The most enthusiastic and loudest in the primaries aren't maybe necessarily the people who are polled or who will be appearing in the general.

WILLIAMS: Yes. Nothing is shocking about those numbers here, partly because, of course, people in the center want a bigger center. It's a common American theme.

Now, it's interesting that I think both of you had mentioned both the Tea Party and MAGA, and there are echoes of that here. There's a party in the wilderness. People -- there's discontent in the country. And folks from the outside just want to push their party in their direction. That's exactly what happened both times and led to Donald Trump to some extent. You know, now, I -- does this lead to a Democratic socialist president? I think perhaps that's unlikely right now.

CORNISH: Yes.

WILLIAMS: But I -- but --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But I also --

WILLIAMS: We've seen these kinds of movements before.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I also just want to say that turnout was extremely low in these elections that brought these Democratic socialists out.

CORNISH: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This was a very, very marginal election where very few people came out to vote. And the people who came out to vote were the most motivated young people who are very far left.

CORNISH: Right. But I still care about it because lots of people look to New York for political playbooks. Things they do sometimes gets exported to other campaigns around the country.

BLUEY: And Mayor Mamdani --

CORNISH: Wait one second. I'm still talking about 2028.

BLUEY: OK.

CORNISH: I want to come to this thing about J.D. Vance, because he's still been on tour with his book. He's making some claims now about Richard Nixon, the 37th president. The vice president was promoting at the New York presidential -- the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California.

[06:55:04]

This was Thursday. And he was talking all about his admiration for Nixon, who, of course, is best known for resigning in disgrace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story. Like, the idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy. And by the way, if you look at the story of how the deep state took down Richard Nixon, it's not all that different from what the same groups of people, the same institutions, tried to do to Donald Trump in the first Trump administration. There is a parallel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

There's a couple of Republicans, I mean maybe not still alive, but who might quibble with being called the deep state? Fundamentally, Nixon went down because of a bipartisan conversation about what happened, no?

BLUEY: Sure. Well, I -- yes. So, I say a couple of things on this. Number one, let's remember historically that Richard Nixon greatly expanded government. And conservatives were no fan of Richard Nixon for the creation of the EPA and other government agencies. So, I think we do need to put that in the historical context.

CORNISH: Yes. But this one is. Vance has comment -- has mimicked Nixon in talking about certain ideas.

BLUEY: Absolutely.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And so, who are these (INAUDIBLE) here?

BLUEY: Nixon is making a resurgence.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Like, I'm so sorry we're trying to bring back Nixon now?

BLUEY: Well, but Bill Clinton did as well. I mean he's --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, do we have to like -- do we have to -- do we have to revisit what he actually did? Do you -- I mean I feel like reading David Axelrod street (ph). Just to review, he authorized the break-in of the DNC to install bugging equipment. He then enlisted the CIA to mislead the FBI. Then the entire operation was paid for by a slush fund controlled by the White House.

CORNISH: However, we are now Nixon maxing. And if you check out the Nixon Foundation Instagram page, which is very hip these days.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: There is a lot of capital c content kind of rewriting his story. And actually, one of the top popular comments from one of the viewers is, Watergate was a lie, you know what I mean, with a bunch of heart, likes and -- WILLIAMS: With the heart eyes thing.

CORNISH: Yes. But so --

WILLIAMS: Yes, I just don't know if celebrating Richard Nixon is the burn that folks think it is. And just to the points that Lulu was making before, simply on account of his universally accepted misdeeds, he ultimately had to leave the presidency because his party turned on him, regardless of, you know, the merits of anything (ph). Yes.

CORNISH: So, to that point, Vance said something that I think is absolutely true, which is, in this day and age, that would be a blip in the news cycle.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: If you think of the kinds of things we have been reporting on for the last six, eight, ten years, the break in is looking smaller and smaller compared to a --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What does that say about our current political moment. I mean this is -- my bigger problem with what J.D. Vance actually said is that it actually reflects quite poorly, perhaps, on his administration.

BLUEY: Well, I think you have to go back even further. I mean Bill Clinton having sex in the Oval Office. Your own colleague, Jake Tapper, reporting about the cover-up of Joe Biden's mental acuity. I mean, so it's not just Donald Trump. I think we need to broaden the --

CORNISH: Yes. So, you would agree. The -- it wouldn't have been the crisis it is now, mainly because we have crazy things going on.

BLUEY: That's right. Sure.

CORNISH: You can name all the presidents you want. That's great.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: All comers accepted. Also and it feels as though the moral sort of outcry that marked the Watergate era, that era of politics is done.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: The Supreme Court's like, don't worry about it. The executive can be more powerful. The Congress are like, you want to do --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Trump has gotten billions of dollars while in office. So has his family.

CORNISH: I haven't seen an oversight hearing in weeks.

WILLIAMS: Right.

CORNISH: It's just one of those things where Washington itself doesn't behave this way anymore.

WILLIAMS: I think few people are going to defend Bill Clinton and his conduct. I think we can universally agree with that. You know, Richard Nixon --

CORNISH: At least there were hearings.

WILLIAMS: Richard Nixon had a documented history of anti-Semitic comments in sort of -- to people that he thought were trusted. He spied on his allies. He cheapened the American political system. Regardless of anything he did, you know, as a successful politician, we ought not be celebrating Richard Nixon here.

CORNISH: OK. Elliot, not Nixon maxing. Got it.

WILLIAMS: Well, yes, look --

CORNISH: Not in your group chat.

WILLIAMS: But I will say this, look, that the '70s with big hair is back. We got a World Cup. Gas is expensive. Nixon is back. Let's go back to '74.

CORNISH: OK. I'm sure the administration is glad it's not Carter.

WILLIAMS: Glad it's not Carter (ph).

CORNISH: Rob, you haven't been here in a while. What's in your group chat?

BLUEY: Sure. Well, the Great American State Fair is taking place on the National Mall. And the U.S. State Department has just announced that they're giving a limited number of U.S. passports to celebrate America 250. And if you want one, it has Donald Trump's picture inside.

CORNISH: OK. And you -- and for you?

WILLIAMS: McDonalds has brought back the apple -- the fried apple pie.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: Oh, man, that is American.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes.

WILLIAMS: Because, you know what? And, you know -- and get -- it is American. You know what, back to the '70s being back. I feel like, as a child of the '70s, every kid needs to celebrate burning the hell out of your mouth on that cardboard, too sweet, overly spicy apple pie. It's when you --

[07:00:06]

CORNISH: You mean the delicate pastry that --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I love that.

WILLIAMS: And it's fun.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It is delicious.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: Wow.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And I am thrilled that it's back. I'm going to leave here --

BLUEY: Sounds like we're going to --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And go shovel 15 in my mouth.

WILLIAMS: Yes. No, no, quick, to bring it all back, it's actually fried, not baked now, but (INAUDIBLE) now.

CORNISH: OK. Brought to you by McDonald's. Thank you guys in the group chat. Thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. Headlines now.