Controversy Over America's 250th Anniversary Planning

Good morning Venezuela is hit with its biggest earthquake in more than a century Democrats and Republicans finally unite behind a plan to tackle housing, the President Trump abruptly refuses to sign it And America's big birthday is almost here. But how much is the White House controlling the celebrations? His administration broadly says he has a vision of what the American people want, and he's going to make it happen and nobody else is It's Thursday, june twenty fifth. I'm Gathian Reesnik in First Met to Basu. This is Apple News today Back to back earthquakes struck Venezuela last night, causing widespread devastation in major population areas The first quake hit with a seven point two magnitude at around six PM local time, striking about twelve miles from the capital Caracas The second came less than a minute later, a seven point five magnitude That's the sound of a major airport in Lag Guirea, beginning to rock as parts of the ceiling crumbled And CNN translated the account from one survivor, Maria Alejandra, after she escaped her building 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. We had to climb over the rubble at everything. the building superintendent with a baby and older neighbors coming down But from that building, I only saw that one family come out The BBC reached journalist Mary Mina, who was in Caracas, surrounded by rubble The buildings didn't collapse, but also they have an extensive damage so they are forced to remain outside of their home because it's too It's too risky for them to be inside of their home right now. The city of Caracasi is populated by large buildings and most of them are in mountain hills. So it's quite difficult the geography of the city As of this morning, the government says there have been at least one hundred and sixty four deaths and nearly a thousand injured There are fears that number will rise significantly There are specific concerns about the state of La Guirea, described as a disaster zone by the acting presresident Delsea Rodriguez At around one AM local time last night, she addressed the nation Eestamo Jeste Mento, de Clareando, Elestado de Merczia, Talcomolo contempla, noestra Citucio Rodriguez declared a state of emergency and called for unity in the country Airports have closed, metro lines are down, and non essential activity has been canceled. President Trump said the U. S. quote stood ready, willing, and able to help. And Secretary of State Marca Rubio said that search and rescue teams were being deployed to the country immediately Other countries like India and nearby Brazil have also offered their support Lloyis Pace from the International Federation of the Red Cross explained to the BBC what would be needed in the days and weeks ahead this's not just about raising funds that's critically important, but it's about getting people the supplies that they need on the ground and also just people We're surging staff, we're surging personnel To the degree that they can be helpful to the volunteers and staff already there Search and rescue teams have been working through the night, and many people are setting up tents, fearing the potential aftershocks that could still hit their homes You can find more of the latest updates in the Apple News app The stage was quite literally set for President Trump to sign a major housing bill that's been touted as a huge success by Democrats and Republicans, and that was passed with bipartisan support In fact, Trump's own press secretary described it as one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American history But about an hour and a half before he was scheduled to sign the bill at the Capitol The Pident abruptly called it off Which was a total shock. No one knew that would happen. He had signaled he would support it. Mary Claire Galoniic is a congressional reporter for the Associated Press who gave us the GOP's reaction from Capitol Hill. And it's something that they want him to support because they think it will be good for them in an election year. Trump said he'd only support the bill if his party backed plans to pass new voter ID requirements first That's despite Senate Republicans saying many times before that the votes were not there for it The decision to not sign the housing bill was so abrupt that one reporter said he had to actually inform a house member at the event that it wasn't happening And Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the primary authors of the bill, reacted to the news in real time during a CNBC interview H any idea This just doesn't make any sense O than whatever it is he wants to do, it's a complete indifference to the cost squeeze on American families and to genuine efforts do something about it. You know, he could be over here tryrying to claim a victory lap. And instead, he's saying, no, no, he doesn't want anything to do with it. Trump later held a lunch with senators where they'd expected to be pressed on the voter ID bill. Instead Jelank told us the conversation quickly turned to an Iran war powress resolution. which some Republicans helped pass for the first time on Tuesday Bill Cassidy of Louisiana actually stood up and defended his vote And that's not something we've seen a lot from Republicans, you know, directly pushing back on Trump face to face. Cassidy told reporters after that that he lost his temper a bit as things escalated He said someone sort of told him to sit down. I think Trump told him to sit down as well. And he did try to de escalate a little bit, But it sounds like at one point, Trump called him a lunatic after he was confronting him. The president offered a different version of events to reporters after leaving I think we had a really great meeting And we're very proud of the party We like our leader, we like everybody Really in the room, I don't like a few people, but that's okay. I think you know who they are The fate of these two bills remain somewhat murky. Technically speaking, Trump has ten days to veto the housing bill, otherwise it automatically becomes law Jelanic said it's not totally clear what Trump will do next And some in his own party were left scratching their heads about the choice to walk away. Republican senators are saying today it doesn't really make sense for him to oppose this. What they want to do is show voters that they're concerned with affordability and trying to do things to help it. and this housing bill was overwhelmingly popular It passed in the Senate with eighty five votes. And the public seems to want it too In a poll earlier this year, eighty nine percent of Americans said they'd like to see legislation addressing housing affordability The celebrations for the country's two hundred fiftieth anniversary have begun There's already controversy over who's planning the party There are two groups. One is called America two hundred fifty. It was created by Congress a decade ago with one hundred fifty million dollars budget and a bipartisan organizing committee The other is called Freedom two hundred fifty, and it's chaired by President Trump And Notice reporter Anna Kramer told us, The White House has been quietly rerouting tens of millions of dollars that were supposed to go to Congress's party planners and instead giving that money to the president's group America two hundred fifty has received only twenty five million dollars out of that one hundred fifty million dollars pot And they're really struggling financially. They don't want to admit it publicly, but I read some of their reports to Congress. and right now, they're asking Congress to cover a one hundred million dollars shortfall that they're dealing with And then at least sixty eight million dollars from that pot of one hundred fifty million has so far gone to Freedom two hundred fifty Kramer told us the two groups are going down very different paths. All of the events that the president is directly involved in come from Freedom two hundred fifty. So the UFC fight for his birthday at the White House was a Freedom two hundred fifty event be Prayer Day on the National Mall, which featured, I believe, a number of folks from his administration, was a Freedom twoo fififty event Critics say it all amounts to a misuse of public funds, which had been appropriated for nonpartisan events. Some artists even pulled out of the G American State Fair that began last night on the National Mall after discovering Trump's personal involvement The Trump run group maintains their nonpartisan The anniversary was always going to be an important second term moment In his campaign, Trump promised to hold the most spectacular birthday party for America And last night he marked the opening of the fair. There has never been anything like the United States of America. and together we are making it. Bger and better and stronger far more exceptional ever before Meanwhile, the group created by Congress, America two hundred fifty, is planning a nationwide event called America's Block Party, around july fourth, with various events and concerts, including a benefit show in L.A on Independence Day, featuring Chris Stapleton and the smmashing pumpkins But if you're hoping to figure out which event is backed by who Kramer warns, it's not simple. Nothing that's being planned is labeled in a way that's straightforward either. So it's kind of hard for an average person to know whether the thing they're participating in is America two hundred fifty, Freedom two hundred fifty, somebody else There's a lot of confusion around who is in charge of what and who's paying for what and whether something is supposed to be political or whether it's really trying to be like non partisan celebration of American history. Politics aside, Kramer says that both planning commissions are urging Americans to celebrate the occasion however they see fit. One thing that organizers across the board at every organization and also at the state and local level would say is that if you can focus on celebrating the two hundred fiftieth anniversary in whatever way that means to you and maybe try to take the politics out of it for you personally I think there are a lot of folks who would love to see the American people do that and hope that maybe some of the discord that's happening here in Washington, DC doesn't necessarily trickle down to make every celebration discord it. Here are a few other stories we're following today back conservative businessman and lawyer will be the next president of Colombia Albullardo dell la Espria, a millionaire who is new to politics, was declared the winner yesterday of a close runoff election this past Sunday where he beat his opponent by one percentage point He defeated a progressive candidate who would have effectively continued some of the policies of the current left wing president, Gustavo Petro Stilllla Esppera's win is yet another in a string of victories across Central and South America, where voters have turned to firebrand outsiders to help solve their country's difficult issues And finally, if you've been hit by World Cup fever, you might envy the life of these two men Kevin Aakoto and Austin Franklin are getting paid fifty thousand dollars to watch every single one of the one hundred and four World Cup games That's after winning a competition with Fox One They spoke to a local Fox affiliate about their experience so far. My personal favorite has been the Brazil Match because they've kind of adopted me into their culture and we probably had close to a thousand people outside and just cheering. and the excitement was just contagious Now there is a catch. They're not doing this from the comfort of their homes. The broadcaster has set them up in a glass cubicle in Times Square Thousands of passing tourists can watch them Well Watch. With up to six games a day, Kevin and Austin said that they have landed a dream job. dream for them, but for shy people who don't love soccer, may be a nightmare You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the newews app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next GQ prorofiles EJ Lgasi. It son of the celebrity chef Emal Agassei, and it explores how he escaped the Nepo Baby label by earning two Michelin stars on his own If you're listening the podcast app, you can follow Apple News Plus narrative to find that story, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow