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One World with Zain Asher
Search and Rescue Efforts Ongoing Amid Rising Death Toll; Quake Death Toll Rises as Rescuers Race to Find Survivors; Iran Lashes Out at U.S.-Gulf Statement Criticizing Its Regional Role; Hundreds of Thousands of Haitians & Syrians in U.S. in Legal Limbo; Former Trump National Security Adviser Bolton Pleads Guilty; 1M+ Immigrants Face Uncertainty After Supreme Court TPS Ruling. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 26, 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]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Right, coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher, Bianna is off today. You are watching "One World". One
Venezuelan woman says the damage in her father's neighborhood resembles a war zone. There is an urgent search right now for survivors underway in
Venezuela, two days after two very powerful earthquakes jolted the country.
We know that the death toll is in the hundreds. It is, of course, rising. The nation's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez says that nearly 600 people
have been killed, thousands injured. It's unclear how many people are still trapped under the rubble. Rescuers are operating within a critical golden
window, basically the first 48 to 72 hours after a quake.
After that, the odds of survival drop very quickly. In the hard-hit Coastal State of La Guaira, over 100 buildings have collapsed. Global aid efforts
are ramping up. Rescue and relief teams are now on the ground from the U.S., El Salvador, Colombia, and other nations as well.
The back-to-back quakes were the most powerful to hit Venezuela in a century. CNN Contributor Stefano Pozzebon is following the crisis from
Bogota in neighboring Colombia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Chaos, confusion, and fear these were the scenes as not one but two earthquakes rocked Venezuela in a
matter of seconds. Massive buildings collapsed to the ground in the capital, Caracas. The country's main international airport was forced to
shut down after feeling the ripples and destruction of the tremors.
Acting President Delcy Rodriguez declared a state of emergency as search and rescue operations continue, looking for survivors. The 7.2 and 7.5
magnitude earthquakes hit at around 06:00 p.m. local on Wednesday. The epicenter was the country's northeastern coast.
Venezuelan authorities said they registered around 140 tremors throughout the country.
MARIA ALEJANDRA, VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: 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.
POZZEBON (voice-over): The Coastal State of La Guaira was hit the hardest. Three-story houses were flattened into piles of debris, and major highways
split in half. Many feeling aftershocks have taken shelter in outdoor squares and parks.
JOSE TERRAZA, VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: We slept here on the pavement and that bench, well, slept. Nobody could sleep last night, and nobody
wants to go back inside now.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Venezuelan authorities are calling it the worst natural disaster to hit the country in nearly three decades. This comes in
the midst of political and economic instability. The United States and neighboring countries have offered aid and supplies. The real cost of the
tragedy is still impossible to predict. Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Let's bring in Katie Susman, Deputy Regional Director for Latin America at the International Rescue Committee. I mean, I've been thinking a
lot about the people who are actually alive, but trapped beneath the rubble, and obviously they're in darkness, they might not have any access
to food or water.
And I think what is terrifying is that they have no idea at this point when you're trapped like that, no idea if you are ever going to be rescued, you
know that you're sort of shouting and screaming, but nobody can hear you. Just explain to us what that is actually like for both the people who are
trapped in the rubble right now, hoping to be rescued, but also their loved ones who are hoping and praying that their loved ones will be found.
KATIE SUSMAN, DEPUTY REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR LATAM AT THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Thank you. Yeah, I think that it's psychologically and
sort of emotionally that the biggest toll is being had on those that just don't know what's going to happen at this point.
And what we're tracking as the IRC is, you know, what's going to happen to those that are trapped under the rubble, but also what's going to happen to
them after they're reported to get out, and their families. What we're seeing is an incredible emotional and psychological impact on those that
are waiting to hear.
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ASHER: You know, when we sort of cover these earthquakes, you know, I mean, obviously we've all seen miracles, right, after several days, somebody
miraculously gets pulled out of the rubble, and that's what we're all hoping and praying for, but we are in this critical window right now.
Just explain to us, you know, in the sort of first 48 to 72 hours after a disaster like this, and obviously the chances and the odds of survival drop
rapidly for those who are trapped. Just explain that to our audience. Where are we within that window?
SUSMAN: I mean, I think sitting at almost the 48-hour mark, we're still anticipating large scale rescue efforts, and knowing that, as you say, with
time it becomes more and more difficult to access people and ensure that that they would actually still be alive.
Now I think that our focus is also on really being able to ensure that those that are outside of the rubble, and that have experienced impact from
the earthquakes and trauma that we are able to attend to their basic needs and humanitarian situation at large in Venezuela. And we know that that's
going to be an urgent, momentary need, but also a longer-term recovery effort.
ASHER: For rescuers who are digging through the rubble. I mean, there are some parts where over 100 buildings collapsed. I mean, obviously, there
aren't enough rescuers who are going to be able to dig through the rubble all at the same time at the same speed. So, how do you even prioritize
where to begin and which buildings and which sort of piles of rubble to start with first, in order to maximize the potential of finding survivors.
SUSMAN: I mean, I can't necessarily speak to exactly how they prioritize sort of on the infrastructural piece, but I think in the larger
humanitarian response, we have got to prioritize first those areas that we know have been most affected, right? And we have seen an uptick in
international support.
And we are hoping that there will be more, because as you all have seen, there's just not enough capacity and human resources right now to go around
and what we're seeing is that with the support from the international community, we're going to be able to respond to the needs as well as to the
impact and the potential recovery efforts at this time.
ASHER: There are so many layers to this tragedy obviously there are people who have lost loved ones there are people who have caused trapped in the
rubble, but also just people who have lost their home. I mean, the psychological impact of just losing your home and losing absolutely
everything that belongs to you in one fell swoop.
Just like that, one minute it's here, the next minute it's completely gone, is really difficult to really wrap your head around if you've never
experienced anything like that? Talk to us about that psychological toll as well.
SUSMAN: Absolutely. Yeah. Unfortunately, Venezuela is, and the people of Venezuela are quite accustomed to the psychological toll of loss and grief,
and now it's the earthquake, and people are losing their homes. Before, it's been, you know, the ongoing crisis within Venezuela, and humanitarian
needs that exist.
And what we've seen is that isn't just a momentary need, right? The psychological impact of loss of your home, of your identity, of your
family, you know, these were sometimes the last things that people had left that really grounded them in their place. And so, I think we're going to be
responding as IRC with psychosocial support, psychological assistance that's really necessary in the moment, but also longer term in recovery.
ASHER: All right. Katie Susman of the International Rescue Committee. Thank you so much. We appreciate the work you're doing. Thank you. And for more
information about how you can help Venezuela earthquake victims, go to cnn.com/impact. There you'll find a whole list of various aid agencies and
websites where you can go to donate.
All right. The latest now on breaking news in Beijing, a small plane has crashed into the city's tallest building. Social media video from the scene
shows debris falling from the building. There's no word on injuries, but a CNN journalist saw people evacuating the building. CNN's Mike Valerio is in
Beijing with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, we just moved about two blocks away from the tallest building in Beijing, and if you look above the yellow
lettering, you can see a gash in the side of the building, that is where we believe, and video seems to show a small aircraft has hit the side of this
building.
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Again, this is the tallest building in Beijing, the Zhongguo Zun. At the CITIC Tower, one of the tallest buildings by roof height in the world.
Police have asked us to move little farther back from the scene, but there is calm here. So, right now, we're trying to assess how exactly this
happened, how exactly an aircraft diverted from its flight path.
But right now, the main streets in the central business district area surrounding the Zhongguo Zun are off limits. Police are asking people who
have taken out their cell phones not to take pictures, but there are plenty of images on social media of people who are hurt down below, and we're
trying to assess how exactly this could happen in the financial center of Beijing. Mike Valerio, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Interventionist, irresponsible and provocative. Iran is lashing out at a joint statement by the U.S. and Gulf Cooperation Council, warning that
safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed. Iran is also reiterating its claim to control the shipping in that critical
waterway, while calling America's military presence in the region a source of instability and division.
It comes one day after a U.S. official said Iran struck a vessel near the Oman coast, further highlighting the fragility of its interim peace deal
with the United States. Aside from who controls the Strait. Another major point of contention in the so-called Memorandum of Understanding is Iran's
demand that the war ends on all fronts, including Lebanon, that is, of course, the very first line in that MOU.
But the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has not stopped, according to Lebanese media. The IDF launched airstrikes in southern Lebanon today and
ordered further evacuations of the area. U.S.-mediated talks between both sides, meantime, have been extended for a fourth day.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live now in Tel Aviv. I mean, this does put the United States in a very difficult position. I mean, essentially, my
reading is that they have two choices, either they can somehow, hopefully, from their perspective, persuade Iran that the Lebanon issue should be
treated as completely separately, or they try to exert control over Israel to get the IDF out of southern Lebanon.
And the Israelis have said that that is at least for now not going to happen. So, just walk us through what choices the United States has at this
point in order to really ensure that this fragile ceasefire holds, Jeremy.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly seems highly unlikely that the Iranians are going to drop Lebanon as a kind of
central demand in this broader ceasefire agreement. We have now seen multiple times over the course of the previous ceasefire, and also this new
Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, that the Lebanese issue has become increasingly central to Iran's demands that a ceasefire be
enabled there, and also pressing for the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
That is part of why we have seen these diplomatic efforts intensify in Washington to bring some kind of agreement forward between the Israeli and
the Lebanese governments. One that would potentially include some kind of Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanese territory, and the Lebanese
military then coming in and taking over some of these areas that are deemed to be Hezbollah free.
But all of this is happening without the consent or agreement of Hezbollah, which has rejected the very premise of these negotiations, and has vowed to
continue its quote, unquote, resistance against Israel, so long as Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon. And as you said, Israeli officials have
vowed that they will not withdraw from southern Lebanon.
So, we will see what the outcome of those negotiations in Washington is. The Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed quite optimistic yesterday, but
it remains to be seen. But today we learned that Israel is going to quote, temporarily reduce some of its forces in Lebanon, withdrawing several
active fighting brigades from both Lebanese territory as well as the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the Israeli military.
The military says that this is part of an effort to sustain long-term operations, and there will be training for -- additional training for
troops also involved in this. We'll see whether or not there is a tie-in here to some kind of perhaps partial or symbolic withdrawal from Lebanese
territory meant to advance these discussions, something that we've been reporting on previously.
But meanwhile, strikes are continuing in Lebanon today from the Israeli side. And Israel is also still dealing with this new threat of fiber optic
drones from Hezbollah, which has proved tricky, and the Israeli military and private industry now scrambling to address that threat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (voice-over): A Hezbollah drone cruises undetected over southern Lebanon, propellers whirring until its target comes into view. A group of
six Israeli soldiers caught off guard in front of a tank. The feed cuts at the moment of impact, which killed a 19-year-old sergeant.
[11:15:00]
He is the first Israeli soldier to be killed by this type of drone, but not the last. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has deployed these cheap,
explosive-strapped first-person view drones to deadly effect. Dozens of videos from Hezbollah show they've struck tanks, air defense systems, and
unsuspecting troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
The Israeli military says Hezbollah's drones have killed at least 12 soldiers since the current conflict erupted in March, 1/3 of all
fatalities. The key to their lethality, a spool carrying miles of thin fiber optic cable that keeps these drones tethered to their pilot rather
than emitting easy to detect radio signals.
Ukraine has been combating these fiber optic drones for two years, but Ukrainian officials say their Israeli counterparts didn't heed their
warnings about the emerging threat. The Israeli military now scrambling to catch up, deploying mesh netting like this to protect troops operating in
or near Lebanon, and providing them with shotguns in fragmenting rounds to take out approaching drones.
The military is also enlisting the private sector to help track this new threat using acoustic, optical, and radar-based sensors.
SHAI KURIANSKI, CEO OF AIRWAYZ: So, what we're seeing here is a scenario when we want to protect this area when a drone is crossing the line, the
protective line, according to the policy, then the controller will get an alert, and we know that there is a threat coming.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Shai Kurianski's company, Airwayz, is among those springing into action to give Israeli troops advance warning of incoming
drone threats.
KURIANSKI: Something very small that you can hardly detect is coming toward you. It does not transmit anything. You must fuse the data from multiple
sensors to map the sky accurately. This is what our system does.
DIAMOND: So, do you feel a real sense of urgency to solve this problem?
KURIANSKI: It's our children out there in Lebanon that are getting those -- explosives, and we will not wait with that. Of course, it's urgent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (on camera): And Zain, despite the fact that there is technically a ceasefire in Lebanon, the threat of these drones still very present for
Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, and also the Israeli military continuing to conduct air strikes. We just learned from the Israeli
military that they carried out one strike today in southern Lebanon.
They say eliminated quote, seven Hezbollah terrorists, that's according to the Israeli military, Zain.
ASHER: Jeremy Diamond, live for us. Thank you. Right, Donald Trump's Former National Security Adviser today pleaded guilty to retaining national
security information. Just ahead, the punishment that John Bolton is facing. Plus, hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians in the United
States now face likely deportation.
We'll look at a supreme court ruling that affects them and people from 11 other countries.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
ASHER: Donald Trump's Former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, just pleaded guilty to one count of retaining national security information.
Bolton entered the plea in federal court a short time ago. He's agreed to pay a fine of more than $2 million. He could also be sentenced to prison.
Bolton was national security adviser during Trump's first term. Since then, he's been one of the president's most vocal critics. CNN Crime and Justice
Correspondent, Katelyn Polantz is outside federal court. Katelyn, as I understand it, you were actually inside the courtroom. What's the latest?
What happened?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it was 90 minutes of Bolton in court, and he has pleaded guilty, and he also says he
is sorry about it for retaining classified information in a way that was unsecured, so insecure in his personal email that an Iranian hacker was
able to get into it and access secrets of the United States government after Bolton left his term in the Trump White House.
Now this does date back to when Bolton was the national security adviser for Donald Trump in the first term from 2018 to 2019. He served for about a
year. And during that time, when he was in meetings with the NSA, the CIA, the U.S. military, with foreign leaders, when he was getting intelligence
briefings, when he was getting intelligence documents, he was making notes about it, meticulous notes.
This is a meticulous man. He's very punctual, he takes a lot of notes, he's a very paper-oriented guy, and he was emailing those books himself to his
wife and to his daughter, and then he was keeping printouts in his home, including after he no longer had a secure facility in his house to have
classified information in it.
So ultimately Bolton was charged with 18 criminal counts, but his plea agreement, it is one criminal charge he is admitting to. It's that he
contained that information, he kept that information with him in that unsecured way. Type of information that would be about foreign leaders,
possible U.S. attacks on foreign soil, adversaries attack plans against the United States top secret information, that's what he is agreeing, saying
that he is guilty of.
Now Bolton wasn't sentenced today, that's to come at a later date. There are some terms already in place about what the judge is going to be willing
to do, or could do in this plea agreement. What those include is Bolton's going to pay a $2.5 million fine, essentially representative of his
earnings.
He got a $1 million, $1.5 million book advance after he left the Trump Administration in 2019 ended up publishing a tell-all memoir. He made money
on that. He's agreeing to pay. He's also going to help the U.S. government with remediation of -- national security spillage a stuff gets out.
And there is going to be a question about whether the Justice Department advocates for him to serve time in prison, and whether the Justice
Department is willing to get that, and the judge is willing to sentence him to prison time. Back to you.
ASHER: All right, Katelyn Polantz, live for us there. Thank you so much. Right at this hour, hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. are
facing an uncertain future. It comes after a supreme court ruling Thursday that allows the Trump Administration to strip temporary protected status
for Haitians and Syrians in the U.S.
That status allows people from countries affected by war or natural disasters to stay legally in the United States. The course decision could
also affect people from 11 other countries. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is live for us in Washington. Priscilla, we could be talking about a million people
essentially stripped of their deportation, protection, be forced to leave, lose their work permits.
I mean, this is traumatic, just psychologically traumatic for a lot of the people, especially those living under temporary protected status in the
United States, specifically, obviously, Haitian and Syrian immigrants.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this, as you point out, has major implications for more than a million people in the United States, but
not only for them individually, also for the industries that they work in, because they were allowed to legally work in the United States.
So, this supreme court decision was about Haitians and Syrians. 350,000 Haitians who were beneficiaries of the so-called temporary protected
status, and 6000 Syrians.
[11:25:00]
However, what this decision also did is essentially say that the lower courts had no business deciding the issue of the administration's
termination of these designations in the first place, and what has happened over the last year or so, was that the administration was trying to
terminate 13 countries' designations.
So, there were 17 when Former President Joe Biden left office, then the administration moved to terminate 13 of those. That means that the
nationals of those countries, they include, of course, Haiti, Syria, Venezuela, Honduras, Afghanistan and others you see them out there while
they were protected from deportation and allowed to legally work in the United States.
Now, given this decision, those protections will be stripped from them, and they will no longer be able to work legally in the United States. Now, this
won't happen immediately. Some of this is going to take some months to unfold, but it absolutely has ramifications in their day-to-day lives.
Now, we were hearing from attorneys yesterday who were telling those who are beneficiaries of this program to find attorneys and other pathways to
remain in the United States. I've talked to TPS beneficiaries myself, some of whom have already applied for asylum previously and are working through
the immigration system, but that all takes time.
And so certainly there are industries like the nursing homes and health care who are bracing for the loss of a number in their workforce who had
been in the United States under this form of humanitarian relief. Now, Trump officials and Republicans have consistently criticized temporary
protected status. They say that the temporary part of this was betrayed and it became a sort of permanent solution for some of these countries.
For example, Haiti was first designated in 2010 after the earthquake, and that relief was extended over the years, also for different reasons of
country conditions, but that has been a criticism by the administration. However, there are advocates, attorneys, and even the Republican Governor
of Ohio, where there is a considerable number of Haitians who are now raising alarm over what this is going to mean again for those who are here
in the country.
Who may have to go back home to places that are still reeling from natural disasters and political upheaval, but also again for local economies who
depended on this workforce.
ASHER: Right, Priscilla Alvarez, live for us. Thank you. Right, coming up, devastation and perseverance. We'll have the latest from Venezuela as
various countries deploy rescue teams in search of earthquake survivors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ASHER: Right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching for you today. This hour, rescue
teams racing to find survivors. Here are some of the latest images out of Venezuela after two powerful earthquakes tore through northern parts of the
country.
Officials say more than 500 people have been killed and thousands injured. Foreign aid is pouring in from several countries. The Netherlands has
issued its first ever red alert for heat, with temperatures expected to top 40 degrees Celsius. Europe is sweltering under a heat dome, threatening
lives, disrupting power supplies, and closing schools.
A number of heat records have been broken, sometimes only a day after they were set. And Iran is reiterating its claim to control the Strait of Hormuz
and warning it can't guarantee the safety of ships passing through that vital waterway. It comes one day after the U.N. paused efforts to evacuate
ships in the strait, after a U.S. official accused Tehran of striking a cargo vessel off the Coast of Oman.
Donald Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, just pleaded guilty to one count of retaining national security information. Bolton
entered the plea in federal court a short time ago. He's agreed to pay a fine of more than $2 million and he could also be sentenced to prison as
well.
Right, returning now to the devastating scenes out of Venezuela, the death toll is rising after Wednesday's twin quakes. Authorities now say at least
589 people are dead, and thousands are injured. Right now, rescuers are in what's called the Golden Windows, the window in which they really have to
find survivors.
That window lasts up to about 72 hours after an earthquake, and after that point in time, the likelihood of finding survivors shrinks rapidly.
Earlier, Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez announced the militarization of La Guaira State, which appears to be the most affected
area.
Amid the chaos, many are bracing for more aftershocks. According to the President of the National Assembly, Venezuela has felt more than 100
aftershocks since Wednesday. Many Venezuelans have nowhere to go after their homes were flattened in Caracas.
The government says it has now set up a center where those in need can get food, water, and medicine. Bill Weir explains why there is a common thread
among the collapsed buildings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Venezuela reels from two devastating earthquakes, the rush to rescue survivors is facing a
significant challenge because of the way many buildings collapsed. CNN reviewed dozens of videos of the destruction and noted a deadly pattern
common after major earthquakes.
Many of those residential towers suffered what's called a pancake collapse when a building falls into itself with each floor stacking atop the one
below.
NECATI CATBAS, CIVIL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA: What happens is the first story collapses, and then the others,
others, others, and then people are stuck in the in the floors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are walking in Los Palos Grande.
WEIR (voice-over): CNN was on scene in Caracas after this 15-story residential building crumbled. If you look at a photo of that same building
from before the quake, each story was around 10 feet tall. Now the space between each floor is compressed into just a couple of feet.
That's why pancake collapses are so dangerous. The weight of debris weighing down on each floor doesn't leave survivors as many gaps or air
pockets as a building that falls to one side, and a pancake collapse makes rescue all the more complicated. Any movement could bring more heavy debris
crashing down.
CATBAS: Search and rescue, is a very important and very specialized operation in these cases, because you don't want to put your search and
rescue mission people in harm's way.
WEIR (voice-over): Search and rescue teams are beginning to dig into the building, while nearby families of those trapped inside wait, hoping
against hope their loved ones will soon be pulled from that debris, but the scale of the damage is overwhelming, and it comes at a time when Venezuela
remains in deep political and financial crisis. Bill Weir, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, still to come, no relief today for millions of Europeans as the heat dome stays put over the continent. Plus, the latest on the
World Cup as the group stage matches continue with a shock result for Team USA.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:35:00]
ASHER: Right, huge parts of Europe are currently sweltering under a heat dough, and many countries have seen heat records tumble like dominoes.
CNN's Anna Stewart reports from London, where temperatures have reached above 36 degrees Celsius.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It feels pretty much too hot to do anything here in the UK, let alone work. It's one thing if you work in
an air-conditioned office and know what everyone does. Join me on a sweaty trip around town. Let's see who is roasting the most.
As you can imagine, it gets pretty hot in a dry cleaner. We put the thermometer right by the ironing station. It hit 36 degrees centigrade,
that is around 97 degrees Fahrenheit. It is hot, but I think we can find somewhere hotter.
STEWART (voice-over): Restaurants are struggling at the Hoppers Restaurant in Soho. The kitchen is between 46 and 48 degrees centigrade. That's
roughly 110 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Tam, the general manager, spent the morning on the roof fixing the air conditioning unit.
TAMLIN ARMSTRONG, GM HOPPERS RESTAURANT: This is my second T-shirt today, so it's a lot of sweat, but yeah, should be good.
STEWART: How hot does it get in the kitchen? Because there's somewhere that's much harder to control.
ARMSTRONG: So yeah, I mean, kitchens all year round are hot, but this particular time of year is increasing in temperature, so we have put added
fans in there.
STEWART: Pretty hot.
SIJESH PARAMESWARAN, HEAD CHEF HOPPERS RESTAURANT: Yeah, very hot.
STEWART: Very, very hot.
STEWART (voice-over): This pizzeria is also pretty hot, with the front of house describing the pizza oven as the gates of hell.
ZOLILE NYANGWA, FRONT OF HOUSE BREADSTALL: The fridges over there, we have loads of drinks in them, none of them are cold, so it's just a really big
uphill battle, like we're constantly rotating things from different fridges to make sure that things can all get cold, customers get cold drinks, and
then we're constantly circulating fans in one spot, fans in another spot, because we want everybody to at least feel a breeze.
We don't want people to like pass out due to heat exhaustion or anything.
STEWART (voice-over): And there are workplaces that may be even hotter than the kitchens.
STEWART: Well, this is probably one of the hottest places you could work, a construction site. Workers here have told us it is unbearably hot, really
dusty. We weren't actually allowed in by management to put my thermometer up there, so I haven't got a reading, but if you take a look, you can see
all the tarpaulin, that's where the workers are.
[11:40:00]
When the sun hit that, it must have created something of a furnace.
STEWART (voice-over): The UK is simply not built for this sort of heat, and some are feeling it more than others.
STEWART: So, how hot is just too hot to work? Well, here in the UK, legally, there is no upper limit in terms of temperature. Employers do have
to provide, and I'll quote, a reasonable temperature in the workplace, but what does reasonable really mean? There's also a fun plot twist here.
Legislation shows that employees have to provide thermometers for their employees, so you can monitor just how hot you are in the workplace, but
you may not be able to do anything about it. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, still to come, pushing forward, no matter the obstacles. Details ahead on the major Pride events taking place this month, and why
there has been some drama. Drama involving the World Cup.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, to the World Cup, where there are six more games coming up on Friday, local time, two each in the groups I, H and G. Group I will
kick things off with matches between Norway and France in Boston. Then Group H will close out Friday, the round of 32 or the first knockout round
will begin on Sunday.
Yesterday saw three more groups finalized in Group E. Ecuador pulled off an upset, beating four-time champion Germany 2-1. That means Ecuador came from
behind to secure a spot in the next round. On the other side of the group, Australia and Paraguay tied at nil-nil.
The Socceroos are moving ahead. Paraguay is in for a good chance to advance out of the third-place finishes. Unfortunately, there is no clean sweep for
the U.S. as they head into the knockout stage with World Cup yesterday saw shock results between the U.S. and Turkey with a 3-2 win for Turkey.
Let's go straight to CNN's Andy Scholes was actually at the game last night. I bet that was so much fun.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.
ASHER: Joins us live now from Santa Monica. So, the U.S. knew they were already going into the knockout round, so they didn't have to win, but the
fact that they lost is, listen, it is a wake-up call, because this is a World Cup where anything can happen, as we're learning.
SCHOLES: Yeah. And Zain, sometimes something like this would be good for you, but still I don't think it was the ideal way U.S. fans wanted to end
the group stage.
[11:45:00]
It's still been a great success so far in this World Cup for Team USA, all of their fans came to this game hoping to see a clean sweep in the group,
and you know, you would have never known there were no stakes in this match against Turkey, based on just the atmosphere at the stadium in Southern
California.
I mean, it was just electric. All the fans were hoping to see the U.S., for the first time ever, win all three of their group stage games, but it was
not meant to be, but since they had already won the group heading into the match, Coach Mauricio Pochettino made lots of changes.
He let some of the bench players get a chance to get some big-time minutes for Team USA. So, it was mainly the U.S. backups playing in this one, but
Christian Pulisic did make his return. He came in in the 58th minute after missing the second half against Paraguay, and the win over Australia with
that injured left calf.
Captain America looked great in the game. All the fans, they really wanted to see him score a goal badly, had some near misses, but never ended up
finding the back of the net. Looked like we were heading towards a tie all the way to the end, but then at the 98th minute on the very last kick of
the game, Turkey was able to score to win it.
The entire stadium was just stunned. It went really quiet inside, so the U.S. ended up losing their group stage finale, three to two, but the team
says they won't lose any momentum with that result.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN BERHALTER, 1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST IN 3-2 LOSS: I think you saw the second half, how we came out, and nothing to deserve more. I like 18, us in
one moment, you know, we slept in the last second meeting, and you know, I think we're proud of polls put in, you know, I think the guys, you know,
did well, and you know, we fought, and you know, unfortunately, not to get a result, but we'll be ready for sure.
BRENDEN AARONSON, USA MIDFIELDER: You can always take these things as fuel, you know, having that moment in on the last one where they score, it's
tough, you know, we wanted to walk away with, you know, no loss in the group stage, but you know, we got to take it as it was still a fantastic
group stage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Yeah, and that last second Turkey goalie kind of dampened the mood for all of the fans as they were leaving Los Angeles stadium last night,
but the fans still very optimistic about the team as they head into the knockout rounds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's weird to think that we lost, but it didn't really mean anything, and we're still going through first place in our brackets, I
mean, this experience was phenomenal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, I think today they showed that even their second string could come in, compete against a world-class team. We're so excited
for the next round. I think we're going to beat maybe Bosnia, Herzegovina. We're going to play hard. We're going to crush them. It's going to be
awesome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Yes, about the way the U.S. again wanted to end the group stages, Zain, but they already knew heading into the match that they had a date
with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday up the coast here in California, in Santa Clara, that's going to be in the round of 32 and now things get
serious for Team USA, you know, the team and the fans, Zain, they've talked, they think this is a special group, and they can make a very deep
run in this tournament.
We'll wait and see, but now you know there, you can't have any of those last-second Turkey goals like we had last night -- moving forward to get a
way.
ASHER: No, no -- Always makes my heart flutter, so nerve-wracking. Andy Scholes, live for us there. Thank you so much.
SCHOLES: Yeah.
ASHER: All right, Seattle is pushing forward with its Pride month celebrations, despite objective, objections rather from two teams on the
pitch last year. Local organizers, separate from FIFA, made plans for a Pride-themed match to take place on June 26 today. Egypt and Iran were then
drawn to play each other on that date.
Both football associations have objected to any Pride celebrations around the match. Organizers have said the plans are set to move forward. As Pride
month wraps up here in the U.S. We want to take a moment to highlight the importance of visibility. The Stonewall Inn is considered the birthplace of
the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
It was a site of a 1969 police raid that sparked protests as the bar's patrons fought back. Those riots led to the first gay Pride march in 1970.
Though its legacy still faces legal battles five decades on. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration removed the Stonewall National Monuments
Pride flag.
The removal came from the Department of Interior's guidance, which sought to restrict what kind of flags can be flown at national park sites. In
April, the administration agreed to a court settlement, allowing the Pride flag to once again fly high. My next guest is celebrating the 10-year
anniversary of his LGBTQ+ organization.
Native Son Founder and CEO, Emil Wilbekin joins us live now from New York. Mill, first and foremost, congratulations on that 10-year anniversary, but
it comes out at an interesting time here in the U.S. when it -- when you're thinking about gay rights in this country and some of the rollbacks we're
seeing.
You started this organization 10 years ago, so that is literally when Donald Trump was elected. Just talk to us about what the last 10 years have
been like from a political perspective, especially when you compare this administration, or Trump's rather first administration, to what we're
seeing happen in the second administration.
[11:50:00]
EMIL WILBEKIN, FOUNDER & CEO OF NATIVE SON: Well, you know, Zain, it's so interesting, right, that we started in 2016 the year Trump was elected, and
it was a scary time. It was also a call to action for us that this organization, Native Son, which is based off of James Baldwin's Notes of a
Native Son, had a real place and time to really fight back against what was about to happen to us.
Through the last 10 years, it's we made it right, and we are going to make it again, but I think about the importance of protecting black queer folks,
and especially LGBTQ folks and trans folks, right now it is critical, you know, I think about you asked me about what we've gone through.
We've gone through COVID, right? And while COVID could have been devastating for our community, for Native Son, it was great because we
tripled the size of the organization, just going live every day on social media, checking in with folks, taking care of folks talking about the
issues at hand, health care, how to survive during the pandemic.
So that was super important. And then we still have to push, right? The rollbacks are happening strong, but again, Pride was started as a protest.
So, this is actually a time for us to motivate to be focused on community, taking care of each other, but also standing up for our rights and pushing
back.
ASHER: When you think about some of these rollbacks, it's not just the fact that the administration has made certain rollbacks, but it's also what
always strikes me is the way that some of them have been done. You think about June being Pride Month.
WILBEKIN: Yeah.
ASHER: The administration instead has labeled June Title X Month.
WILBEKIN: Right.
ASHER: As a way to sort of investigate, you know, schools for transgender participation in athletics. So, what you're seeing is not just rollbacks,
it's the way that the rollbacks are being announced.
WILBEKIN: Right.
ASHER: It almost seems like the administration wants to send a strong message specifically to the LGBTQ community. When you are in a situation
where your very identity is being politicized.
WILBEKIN: Yes.
ASHER: Talk to us about how unsettling that is, just on a personal level for yourself.
WILBEKIN: Yes, so personally for me, it's tough, right? I'm being attacked from my blackness and my queerness, and it is actually forcing me to push
harder, fight harder, and show up. One of the things that so many people said about the Native Son Awards 10th anniversary was that it felt like a
safe space.
It felt like joy, and what we've seen, right? We look at historically like the work of Bayard Rustin, who was Martin Luther King Jr. right hand, who
was the architect of the March on Washington. We, as black people, we, as LGBTQ+ people, always have to fight, and so this, in many ways, is not new.
It reminds us of what our purpose is.
ASHER: So, what can allies do? So, members, you know, people who are not members of the LGBTQ community, what should we be doing at a time like
this? The reason why I ask, because I remember there was one point during the pandemic when Black Lives Matter was heating up.
And I remember in the suburbs where I live, I was on my way somewhere in the car, and I saw a Black Lives Matter protest, but the protesters were
all white.
WILBEKIN: Yes.
ASHER: The Black Lives Matter protest, but the protesters were all white. We've all seen that, and I remember being so touched by that.
WILBEKIN: Yes.
ASHER: I had to sort of sit with it for a minute, because it's sort of easy to protest the issues that affect you and your family. It takes a whole
level of empathy to go out there to protest an issue that does not affect you at all, but it affects your neighbor, and that is enough for you.
It affects your co-worker, and that is enough for you. That really touched me.
WILBEKIN: Yes.
ASHER: And so, for people who are members of the LGBTQ community, what should those people be doing at a time like this as we're seeing these
sorts of rollbacks?
WILBEKIN: I think people, to your point, is the empathy, it's compassion. People have to show up and support, right? And support can look a lot of
different ways. It can be financial support to organizations. Our organization is a non-profit. There are a lot of non-profits doing great
work.
The other part is, how do you show up and how do you treat people? And I'll give you a very great example. I'm a member of First Corinthian Baptist
Church in Harlem, and one of the things that we did during Pride is host events that are specifically focused on the LGBTQ+ community in a
Progressive Baptist Church in Harlem.
This is huge. This shifts the narrative.
[11:55:00]
This offers opportunities for allies to come in and engage with LGBTQ+ community, but it also normalizes right, our lives, our existence, right,
that we love each other, that we have partnerships in marriage and children, and that we are citizens just like they are. So, I think the
allyship comes in showing up and also being vocal and not being afraid to protect your neighbor.
ASHER: Yeah, allyship is so important. I mean, whenever you've seen change in the United States, whether it's segregation, ending slavery, civil
rights, the whole society has to work together.
WILBEKIN: That's right.
ASHER: And everybody's black, white, everybody has to come together.
WILBEKIN: Everybody, yeah.
ASHER: If it's just black people fighting for black issues or LGBTQ people fighting for gay rights, it doesn't have the same effect.
WILBEKIN: Yeah.
ASHER: Everybody needs to work together in order for there to be change. That is what American modern history has shown us. Emil Wilbekin, live for
us. Thank you so much, appreciate it.
WILBEKIN: Thank you, Zain.
ASHER: All right, still to come here on CNN. I'll have much more "One World" after the short break. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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