Deadly Earthquake
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It's Friday, March 28th. Here's what's happening right now on CNN This Morning. The whole building collapsed. The search for survivors underway right now after a deadly earthquake in Southeast Asia powerful enough to wreck high-rise buildings hundreds of miles away. Plus... This will be a painful period for HHS.

10,000 workers fired in a major overhaul of America's health agencies. Can the government save billions without impacting programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the CDC? And then... We don't want it. We don't want it in our country. Go back and do it in your country.

Foreign nationals studying in America snatched off the streets by federal agents. Has the immigration crackdown reached a new level? And a flood of trouble in southern Texas. Drivers rescued from fast rising waters and the danger isn't over yet. It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast, but you are looking at Bangkok in Thailand. Emergency crews there looking for survivors amid the destruction of a major earthquake. Good

Good morning everybody. I'm Adi Cornish. I want to thank you for joining us today. We are following breaking news out of Southeast Asia where a deadly earthquake has hit Myanmar and collapsed buildings as far as Thailand. That's hundreds of miles away. When one building went down in Bangkok, people ran for their lives.

Dozens of other high-rise buildings there were also damaged. At least one person in Bangkok has died. At least 50 more so far reported injured. People are actually believed to be trapped in the rubble of a building. This was a 7.7 magnitude quake. CNN spoke to one witness about how the disaster unfolded. Earthquakes are not common in Bangkok or in Thailand. A lot of confused people, a lot of panic, I think.

especially when seeing the building coming down. People got out their cars immediately on the expressway, just came to a standstill. There was a lot of fear, a lot of panic because people don't know what's going to happen.

So the epicenter of the quake hit Myanmar where at least three people are reported dead. I want you to stay with CNN throughout the day because we're going to continue to track this story. Now I want to turn to some domestic news because states are bracing for impact as the Department of Health and Human Services prepares to fire 10,000 workers. It's a disaster. It's public health malpractice on the part of RFK Jr. and the DOGE team.

It's going to cause loss of life in our state and in Kansas and in Texas and wherever else disease spreads. It's outrageous. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the layoffs will also include a sweeping reorganization. That includes the creation of a, quote, administration for a healthy America. And another 10,000 workers have actually already voluntarily left the workforce. The department claims the changes will save almost $2 billion a year.

The entire federal workforce is downsizing now, so this will be a painful period for HHS as we downsize from 82,000 full-time employees to around 62,000. While the secretary acknowledged some pain for people who are impacted, budget officials in the White House, they're taking a victory lap.

No, it's fantastic. I talked with Secretary Kennedy about an hour ago and he is really excited about what they've unveiled today, the extent to which they've reordered the department, the number of people that they're able to let go and be able to find efficiencies at HHS. And so it's really exciting what you're seeing across. We've had a lot of cabinet meetings.

joining me now to talk about this elliott williams cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor rob bluey president and executive editor at the daily signal and sungman kim cnn political analyst and white house reporter for the associated press i want to thank you all for joining me here i'm going to kick it off with rob in the group chat people talk so much about elon musk and we will too but um russell vote is so much the architect of the idea of reorganizing the government

And he always speaks about it in glowing, cheerful terms. Right? But you heard RFK Jr. saying it differently. There's going to be some pain. So which is it? Which do you think the American people are going to hear? Probably a little bit of both, depending on what side of the political aisle you're on, Audie. I mean, let's face it, there are those who I think want to see people treated compassionately. Anytime somebody's losing their job, you don't necessarily want to be in a situation where you're cheering that on. At the same time, I think that

path we're on is unsustainable. We all talk about the massive deficit and debt that our country is facing, so to do nothing is also not an option. - Okay, Donna Shalala, actually, she's a former HHS secretary in Democratic administration. She wrote an op-ed about the change. She calls this a silly new bureaucracy.

And I'm saying that because this is a reorg, right? And most people in the world, in the country who hear about layoffs and hear reorg knows I'm getting canned, right? That in the business world, that's how that is perceived. Right. And I guess the question is, how much faith do we have that these cuts, the arbitrary 10,000 people were done with care? And I don't think that the last

two months have been any indication that there has actually been specific care given to who's being cut, how, when, where, and what actual impact to the government. Now, it's shrinking the size of government, and that's certainly a goal that many people have, but there's a degree

We have to acknowledge there's been a degree of sloppiness with how Doge and the administration have gone about this. - Yeah, okay, I don't wanna stay on this too long, but Seungmin, I wanna come to you because the rubber meets the road when it starts closing rural offices, when it starts closing the point of access for everyday people.

but what are your sense of the politics around this? Right, well the overall goal of just government efficiency in general, I don't think anyone actually opposes that, but it's how it's executed and how it affects ordinary Americans, voters, where really, where you really start to see the impact and how it's going to hurt, if it is going to hurt politically. So you have

We have thousands of jobs being cut at agencies that oversee the safety of food and medication, thousands overseeing public health. What is the actual impact? When you start to see these cuts down the line, do we get information about the latest outbreak in a prompt fashion?

timely information about the safety of food. I'm actually watching, there's only about 300 jobs, relatively speaking, that are being cut at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but HHS said those jobs are focused on people who troubleshoot problems for Medicare beneficiaries. - Oh, so literally customer service. - Right, basically, right.

So let me stay with that. I want to stay with this for a second because Elon Musk finally came out with Doge members to talk about what they're doing. I'm going to take a little sound of this for a second. I want people to hear their voices. But Rob, you made the point that it's about time.

Yes, absolutely. I mean, and I hope that Elon does this on CNN and other networks because frankly, they need to be-- Yeah, yeah, but because it's necessary because it's not going over well. Right. Well, to your earlier question, I think the American people see a lot of chaos and Elliot spoke to that.

explaining that and trying to let them understand that they're going through a process of trying to eliminate duplication in some cases, including at HHS, where they say there shouldn't be 40 different communication offices. Let's streamline some of those services. Okay, stay with that thought because here's something that one of the members of the Doge team said about the future he sees for government services. We really believe that the government can have an Apple store-like experience, beautifully designed, great user experience, modern systems.

OK, Apple stores. That's what you're going to get. Is that what you think we're really going to get? I think it's going to take some time. I mean, these are massive changes. I mean, they also spoke in that interview about the Social Security retirement system in this cave in Pennsylvania that houses all the paper records. They want to digitize all of that. So, I mean, that's not going to happen overnight. But we know that's not easy. Elliot, what do you hear when you hear in this conversation about, I mean, I feel like tech people are always promising opportunities.

utopian and more ideal vision and then a lot of us are stuck in AI chatbots trying to get basic services. My Medicare from the Genius Bar does sound pretty awesome. It does.

But after all of these months of, quite frankly, untruths or misinformation that have come from Elon Musk's own ex-account, I just wonder how much can you trust the things you're hearing? After statements of celebrity-funded trips to Ukraine and 50 million condoms being brought to... And this is me sitting here right now. Right, so the things that have been fact-checked as incorrect. $30 million in the New York Times, luxury hotels for illegal aliens. These were all debunked, and I just...

When these folks, or I think Elon Musk in particular, look at the camera and tell you that you're doing something, they are doing something. Can you believe them? But to your point, Rob, if we're getting rid of paper or making things more efficient, all for it. Everybody should be all for it.

But I just don't know if they've done themselves a ton of favors with whether the public should actually regard the things they say as credible. Yeah, and obviously, if you are now explaining, not that you're losing, but very clearly, you need to make these Doge guys wear ties and explain what they're doing. So my group chat is going to stay here with us. We've got a lot to talk about today. There's, of course, also some breaking news going on with that earthquake in Southeast Asia.

But coming up on CNN this morning, we're going to say don't delete those texts. A federal judge orders the Trump administration to preserve the group chat that set off this week's scandal. Plus, a suspect is in custody. Ahead, details on the man charged with arson after a fire at a Tesla facility in Las Vegas. And of course, the breaking news this morning, that earthquake striking Southeast Asia. Multiple people have been killed. More are still trapped. We're actually going to get some live details ahead.

I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast, Terms of Service, genetic testing can teach us a lot about ourselves and help us understand the story of where we came from. But they also come with privacy questions about where we're sending our DNA when we take these tests. What did you learn when you got the results back?

The person that they initially thought was my biological father was not. That's really a lot. Definitely. Follow CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts. For those of you just waking up, it's 15 minutes past the hour. I want to give you your morning roundup, some of the stories you need to know to get your day going.

Another federal court is ruling against the Trump administration's effort to ban transgender troops from the military. A judge in Seattle this time put the ban on hold for now, saying the government showed no evidence that having transgender troops has an adverse effect on the military. The Trump administration already appealing an earlier ruling against that policy.

And Las Vegas police arrested a suspect accused of firing shots at Teslas at a center and setting them on fire with a Molotov cocktail. The FBI says he was later taken into federal custody to face a possible arson charge. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that attacks on Tesla properties are nothing short of domestic terrorism.

And the Prime Minister of Canada says things will never be the same between Canada and the U.S. after the Trump administration's tariff threats. The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over. What exactly the United States does next is unclear.

The two leaders are expected to speak by phone in the coming days. And King Charles is home recovering after a brief hospital visit for his cancer treatment. He was experiencing side effects, so he canceled his schedule for today. The King and Queen Camilla are expected to visit Italy next month. And you gotta see this. Two seconds left. Giddy for the win! Goal! Oh my God!

The Bulls taking down the Lakers on a buzzer beater from half court by Josh Giddey. Chicago had trailed by 18 points in the second half. LA won the night before on a buzzer beater, so now they're just the fifth team in the NBA to win and lose on a buzzer beater on consecutive days. That's a very specific record.

Still coming up this morning, even if you haven't seen Meghan Markle's new show, you may have seen the online backlash. So we're going to break down the why behind the vitriol on your timeline. Plus, the latest on heavy rain in Texas that led to water rescues and even more dangerous weather is actually on the way. And we're still keeping an eye on Bangkok in Thailand. Emergency crews there looking for survivors amid the destruction of a major destruction from a major earthquake.

All right, let me go off script for a second because I have gotten pitched this story so many times. It's about the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. Her latest move is the launch of her own lifestyle brand. It's a real delight in being able to be a present parent. And it's a luxury sometimes because we all have to work. We all have a lot of stuff to do. But when you can take a minute to just-- Saturday morning. Yeah. All right, so honestly, on first blush, everything about this feels straight from Celebrity Playbook 101.

But a lot of those ventures actually kind of fizzle out. So why is Markle facing this like wave of criticism? Because there's skepticism of her products, accusations of inauthenticity, and honestly, I can't escape it even when I want to. So I'm going to unpack all of this with one of my faves. Lisa Raspers France enters the chat. Lisa, good morning. Good morning, Adi.

Okay, so when the Netflix show first aired, everyone made fun of the Netflix show. Obviously when her first attempt at a brand, American Riviera Orchard, I think, launched and fizzled, people made fun of that. Is there something particular about the latest wave of Markle vitriol?

Well, yeah, I think there is something particular. This very hit or miss, right, Audie, when it comes to trying to do this. Because on one hand, celebrities launch these lifestyle brands because they have a built-in audience, right? They have a built-in social media audience and they have built-in fan base. So that feels like it makes it a little bit easier. But you also have to hit the sweet spot of giving people what they want or at least what they think they want, right? So for every...

Rihanna and Kylie Jenner making billions of dollars selling makeup. You have a Blake Lively and a Tyra Banks who weren't as successful in that space. So the thing with Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, I guess we should call her, you know, go by that instead. Yeah, I mean, she'll tell

you. Right, exactly. But let me follow up on this because lifestyle brands, I mean, I grew up with Martha Stewart and so did all of these influencers, frankly. She is the birth of the industry and it's always been an industry populated by women and women celebrities. Gwyneth Paltrow, I think for millennials, is the de facto and

Meghan Markle and Gwyneth Paltrow appeared in Paltrow's Instagram stories, y'all, and it became a whole thing. Why? It became a whole thing because the Internet had decided that Gwyneth Paltrow was trying to shade the Duchess of Sussex. And so I

guess she decided she was gonna troll the trolls and what she did is while she was doing one of those answer sessions where people ask her questions and then she answers them one of the questions that came over was like what do you have to say about this beef and she's like with Meghan Markle she's like I have no idea what this is do you know what they're talking

about and she turns to Meghan Markle who's sitting there eating some deliciousness in her kitchen and she's like mmm and so it was a really cute way to number one not allow the internet to pit two famous women in a lifestyle space against each other but also to remind folks that we're both very very rich thank you very much

Okay. I want to ask one more thing, which is, you know, Harry and Meghan, so to speak, exited the British media ecosystem to embrace the U.S. one, which is basically the attention economy and playing on your celebrity status. Are people just over it? Like, is some of this just the exposure fatigue?

I think it is about several things. I think it's about race when it comes to Meghan Markle. I think it's about class. People are just very bitter. They view her as the person that snatched Harry away from the royal family, which to me I think is incredibly unfair because if you followed Harry's story, you could tell he was not going to be a regular royal. And he's been very outspoken about wanting to protect Meghan.

his wife but a lot of people feel like when it comes to the duchess of sussex it very much has to do with not wanting to see a woman of color enjoy the soft life i mean here she is going to her bees to collect her own honey and while we expect that from a martha stewart people don't necessarily want to see that from the duchess of sussex and it's been interesting to watch black women in particular the 92 percent those who say that they supported and voted

for Kamala Harris say, you know what? We are going to support her. So they're pulling out their La Crusade. I'm sure I pronounced that incorrectly. And they are hosting parties and they are saying they're arranging fruit, making pies. OK, I don't have the time, but I like you, Lisa France, giving me that energy this morning. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Straight ahead on CNN this morning, we're also going to talk about the wildfires that are affecting western North Carolina. Why one firefighter is calling conditions on the ground an absolute travesty. Plus, we're going to have new details on that earthquake that is causing destruction across Southeast Asia. This is a live look at Bangkok, where Thai authorities are on a search for survivors in this rubble. ♪

A startup that sparked a social revolution and became a cautionary tale that changed history. The new CNN original series, Twitter Breaking the Bird, Sunday at 10 on CNN. I want to promise you now that we're going to do more with less. No American is going to be left behind. It's public health malpractice on the part of RFK Jr. and the Doge team.

RFK Jr. says he can save the government almost $2 billion a year with a move he admits is painful. Good morning, everyone. I'm Adi Cornish. I want to thank you for waking up with me here on CNN this morning. It's half past the hour and here's what's happening right now.

Rescue efforts underway across Southeast Asia following a major earthquake. Multiple deaths have now been confirmed. Many people are still missing, including an untold number who may be trapped under collapsed buildings.

Some of the 10,000 workers being laid off at Health and Human Services could start learning their fates as soon as today. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the layoffs are painful but needed. Democrats warn it could mean cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs.

Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha are departing this hour for Greenland. This is a contentious visit as President Trump keeps up his talk about annexing the island. It was supposed to be a cultural visit for the second lady with her plans to attend a dog sled race canceled.

But the mushers are out, replaced by a stop at a U.S. Space Force outpost, far from any expected protests. The vice president plans to criticize Greenland's Danish government while he's there. A White House official says he decided to join his wife after watching all the outrage over her trip. Here's how he explained it. There was so much excitement around Usha's visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided that I didn't want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I'm going to join her.

Okay, back to the group chat. Now, I'm not going to front. I want to see a Space Force outpost, too. That sounds good. But, Rob, I heard you laughing a bit when you heard him explain that he wanted to join the fun. So is this a person who needs to get out of town because of the signal chat foobar?

or is this going over there to do his tough talk with our friends and allies? What are you looking at? Sure. Well, Donald Trump has talked about Greenland now for months, so I don't think this has just popped up out of the blue. I think it's clearly a strategic interest of his because he's worried about the influence of Russia and China in that region.

particularly for the shipping lanes in the Arctic, but also for the minerals and the natural resources in Greenland. He does not want those adversaries to necessarily take advantage of Greenland at the expense of the United States. All those things sound good, but Greenland has a government. We're talking about it like it doesn't. Well, hold on. Jim Sciutto actually spoke to a Danish parliament member about Trump's push to annex Greenland. Can you envision a scenario where U.S. and Danish forces

somehow come face to face over Greenland? I certainly hope not. But that's up to the American government. We're not going to back down. We're not going to hand over Greenland, regardless of what type of pressure is applied to us. OK, Seungmin and Rob, you can jump in here, but how far

Is the administration willing to go? How far would the American people be willing to go? Because I wasn't talking about Greenland before this. - Right, right. I mean, it's a fairly aggressive trip that we're seeing from the vice president today. And it's unfortunate for the second lady. I mean, if I were the second lady, I'd be kind of annoyed 'cause I also wanna see a Doug's-led race.

that it's not these kind of fun, frou-frou cultural trips that a lot of presidential spouses do. I mean-- But these trips are always diplomatic expeditions. Right? They're frou-frou, but there's a point. And diplomatic, very choreographed. And the fact that he's going to a Space Force base with the message that that sort of image projects

And also look at the vice president's previous trips abroad when he went to Europe back in February. He is not afraid to take a tough tone with our allies. So I'm expecting to see a lot of that. - If anything, when you send him, you're sending the message that you're about to hear some language.

the enforcer, basically. No, absolutely. And what gives us any reason to believe that the president is not serious about annexing Greenland? What gives us any reason to believe that the president's not serious about annexing Canada as the country's 51st state? I mean, we can giggle and mock these things as not serious exercises, but

But no, I actually think-- - That's why I played that. Jim asking that question is serious, right? - The only point I was gonna make is if you go back to his joint address to Congress, he did say that it was ultimately the self-determination of Greenland. So he would, you may not believe him, Elliot. - No, I don't, but so we've now reached the imperial era of American, I mean literally this is what we're talking about here when we are speaking about our allies in the manner of, well, I don't know, man. It's up to them if they want their own independence.

foolish and we're talking about moving into other countries. We're going to come back to this. I'm glad you guys were fired up, though. This is very, very informative. I want to turn to President Trump's immigration agenda. That's entering a new phase, arresting legal migrants. OK, so this is a video of Rumeysa Ozturk.

PhD student at Tufts in Massachusetts. She was arrested outside her apartment on Tuesday. What you're looking at are plainclothes immigration officers. They surround her. Some of those officers are wearing masks. It's actually only after she was restrained that they show their badges. She was later driven away in an unmarked car. The Homeland Security Department alleges that she has supported Hamas, although they did not provide evidence or details.

Her arrest, just one piece of a broader effort to deport some foreign nationals studying at American schools. Data from ICE shows border deportations, they aren't actually keeping pace with Biden administration era. The arrests inside the U.S., of course, are up sharply, 600 percent higher than any time during the Biden administration's final year.

We're bringing in immigration attorney David Leopold. He was an advisor to the Biden-Harris transition team on immigration matters. So first, let's talk about this idea of going after people who have legal residency. What are you seeing in the arrest of these students? Well, I think the country is learning a lesson, and that's that immigration status in the United States, whether the person has a green card

whether the person is visiting or whether the person is a student, can be very tenuous. There's tremendous authority within the executive branch. The court has deferred to the executive branch. The question really is, what are the enforcement priorities? Who are we going after? Why are these individuals being--

And some of these students and their attorneys are saying in this case it's because they spoke out, right, against the war in Gaza. I want to let you hear Secretary of State Marco Rubio because he actually says hundreds of student visas have already been revoked. Here's why.

Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa. You're saying it could be more than 300 visas? Sure, I hope. I mean, at some point I hope we run out because we've gotten rid of all of them. Why would any country in the world allow people to come and disrupt? We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses. And if we've given you a visa and then you decide to do that, we're going to take it away.

David, I think citizenship here and everywhere is conditional, right? Some of those conditionals are more stringent than others. What do you make of this argument, though, that do First Amendment sort of protections no longer apply simply because you are not a citizen, right, have that particular designation?

Yeah, you know, look, the immigration statute itself is extremely complicated. So let me explain the way this is working. There's Section 237A4C. All right. That's very technical. But what that section says is that people that there are foreign policy grounds for move people. You cannot remove somebody on mere speech. That's the general rule.

The only exception, and this is what we appear to be saying, is where the Secretary of State, here Marco Rubio, makes a determination that the individual's presence, it can be mere presence, it can be activities, somehow potentially could create adverse foreign policy consequences. Now, when that law was enacted,

the Congress in their reports said this is only to be used sparingly and it's only to be used. It's not to be used just if somebody disagrees with the government, it's only to be used sparingly. So I guess the question for the Secretary of State is, is it being used sparingly? Are these unusual circumstances? He, the Secretary of State, by law is supposed to give a reasonable determination

It'd be very interesting to read that and to see what it said. And that is also supposed to be provided to the members of, to the chairman of the relevant congressional committees. And there are going to be obviously and are underway legal challenges. Immigration attorney David Leopold, thank you for this.

I want to turn to those signal chats heard around the world. The order now is to save them, the Trump administration being told by a federal judge. It's the same judge involved in the fight over those deportation flights. Now he's overseeing a new lawsuit filed by advocates who are concerned that those messages about the military strike in Yemen could be auto-deleted. But Attorney General Pam Bondi seems to have an issue with this judge even being involved, Judge Boasberg.

He shouldn't be on any of these cases. He cannot be objective. He's made that crystal clear. These judges across the country, and again, they think they have authority, but it's going to be short-lived because these cases are going to get to the Supreme Court very fast.

- The plan cannot be announced more directly than that, Elliot. Can you talk about this? - No, I think it's absolutely to get the matter up to the Supreme Court, but also to undermine faith in the judiciary. The President and the Attorney General have been going after federal judges on a number of matters. - Do you think any judge would make them happy?

One that ruled in their favor. Can I ask you that? Would any judge escape this kind of attack if they ruled against the Trump administration? Well, probably not. I mean, the situation is, though, we live in a world where, depending on which president appointed the judges now, in every story, it's either an Obama-appointed judge or a Biden or Trump and Bush. Judges don't like that, by the way. Judges don't like that. That's my point. Because they should be...

in a position where they're ruling on what the Constitution says, what the law says, and strictly interpreting that. And I think that this is where the Trump administration has an issue with some of these judges who believe that they've gone beyond their authority. - Yeah, what's remarkable though is that over the past several months,

with remarkable consistency, judges have been ruling against the Trump administration. Even Trump appointed judges because of how aggressively and quite frankly, how sloppily the Trump administration has moved with a lot of these actions that are getting challenged, at least on an emergency basis. - Yeah, and we're hearing very spicy comments from the judges

themselves because in many cases you have lawyers coming to court who can't answer their questions. Right, right, right. I mean, there's going to be, there is legal fallout, there is political fallout. I mean, I'm actually watching more the reaction from Capitol Hill. Obviously this is going to play out in the courts, but Senate Republicans this week were really just kind of a

a guest, I would say. - Senate, not House. - Yeah, not House. - Senate Republicans is where you saw. - Which has generally been the divide between Senate and House Republicans. But just look at Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The fact that he is joining with Democrats to request an IG investigation.

This is a man who is not happy. This is a man who put his neck out there to get Pete Hegseth confirmed, and now this controversy is unfolding on his watch. I want you guys to stay with me, and I also want to talk to you because if you're just joining us, we're following breaking news this morning. That earthquake overnight, people may still be trapped in the rubble. This is in Southeast Asia. We're going to bring you the latest in a live report.

Also, Elon Musk just hours ago on TV with his Doge team. What we're learning about them, that's just ahead. And of course, more from the group chat after this. Breaking news this morning, a massive earthquake rocks Myanmar so strong it collapsed buildings in Thailand hundreds of miles away.

So this was a building that had been under construction. It was taken down by the quake, sending people running for cover in the city. Now, this was a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. Authorities in Bangkok say at least one person has died in the destruction. That's confirmed. The epicenter of the quake was reported in Myanmar and has been felt.

as far away as China. Joining us now with the latest CNN senior international correspondent Hanako Montgomery speaking to us from Osaka. Hanako, as we said, we heard confirmation of one death, but what more are you learning about the impact on Myanmar specifically?

Hi, Adi. Yes, as you mentioned, we know that there have been a few people injured in Thailand, which is really quite extraordinary given, of course, the fact that the earthquake was very, very powerful, so powerful that it was felt in neighboring Thailand and also parts of China. But specifically in Myanmar, according to Reuters, we know that at least three people have died

because of this powerful tremor. And of course, information that goes in and out of Myanmar is quite limited, given the fact that a civil war has been raging in the country for more than four years now. But there is a lot of fear that there could potentially be a lot more people injured and potentially killed because of this latest natural disaster. Now, Adi, also important to note is that Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in the world.

and does not actually have the proper infrastructure or the economic means really to make sure that all these buildings are up to standard regulation and can withstand such a powerful tremor. And specifically because of this epicenter, because of where it was located in the city of Mandalay, which is the historic and religious capital of the country, there is a lot of reports now that some of these temples, historic temples that have been in the country for hundreds if not thousands of years have

collapsed. We're seeing social media videos of residents taking shelter, seeing all these temples collapse, their homes also entirely flattened. In fact, some of the residents that we've spoken to have said that they were scared to death and felt like they were hiding underneath tables for what felt like

several minutes just unsure if they could get to safety in time. Now also important to note here, Adi, is that the military junta has declared an emergency situation in parts of the country and have dispatched the fire brigade to locate any remaining survivors and those who might need any additional assistance. Now in terms of Bangkok, the city located in Thailand, which also felt the

the tremor. The governor has confirmed that at least three people have been killed and several dozen more also injured, and an unknown number remains missing. Some train lines in Bangkok have also been suspended because there is fear that there could be a lot more damage to the city and also, of course, debris falling from high-rise buildings

potentially hurting and killing several of the residents and the visitors there in Bangkok. Now, Adi, as we get more information, we'll be updating you just about the extent of damage and potentially the very high death toll that could be emerging from this latest earthquake. Adi.

That's Hanako Montgomery reporting from Osaka. It is 6:52 here on the East Coast. Here are a few more headlines, things you need to know to get your day going as you're walking out the door. Hundreds of people in the Carolinas have been asked to evacuate their homes as large fires burn. In some areas, they're still trying to recover from Hurricane Helene. There's rain in the forecast this weekend, not enough to put out the fires.

The woman convicted of killing Tejano music legend Selena was denied parole. Yolanda Saldivar is serving a life sentence in Texas for shooting the singer at a motel back in 1995. Her case will not be eligible for review again until 2030. And widespread flooding across southern Texas. Authorities have done a number of water rescues. Some areas could see nearly a foot of rain.

And look at this flooding inside a hospital in McAllen, Texas. They had issues with their storm drain. All that pushed the water inside. President Trump signed an executive order that prevents some federal workers from taking part in collective bargaining. It affects federal employees and national security positions. A union which represents federal workers says this order could impact more than 1 million government employees.

Elon Musk, along with some high-ranking members of Doge, sat down to talk about their efforts. Here's what Musk had to say about his proposed ideas for cuts to Social Security. What we're doing will help their benefits. Legitimate people, as a result of the work of Doge, will receive more Social Security, not less. I want to emphasize that. As a result of the work of Doge, legitimate recipients of Social Security will receive more money, not less money.

All right. I want to emphasize that point and let the record show that I said this and it will be proven not to be true.

Absent from this interview, Amy Gleason, the person the White House claims is the acting administrator of Doge. I got the group chat back. Rob, earlier you were saying that like, A, they needed to do this. He was sitting there flanked by some of his Doge employees and their ties showing that they're adults, not a bunch of kids, IT people running around. But now we're talking Social Security.

Should he still be talking about Social Security? Do Republicans want Elon Musk talking about it?

I think it's important. President Trump has, for the past decade, talked about how he is not going to touch Social Security. So that is a big promise that the president has made to the American people. And I think it's important for Elon Musk to reinforce it. And if he's not reinforcing it, then you're left in a situation where Americans probably are raising questions about whether some of these cuts and making government run more efficiently are going to impact their benefits. He's saying no. And hold him accountable, by the way, you saw in that clip. Well, part of the reason why

there have been questions is because of Elon Musk himself, where he's got a bent-off message from what the president wants in terms of Social Security, which is not touching. And I mean, he said it. Let me finish your point here for you. Elon Musk previously said this about Social Security. Social Security is the biggest policy scheme of all time.

It's one thing to say that on Fox. It's another thing to say that on Joe Rogan, which is where that clip is from. Yeah, I mean, he was talking, I mean, there's another quote in another interview back in February. He talked about entitlement programs in general, and he said, quote, the big one to eliminate. Of course, that's going to cause worries among voters, especially among seniors who rely on these paychecks, which is why he has to go out there and sort of play cleanup duty like we've seen in others.

respects. You know, it's interesting. We one of my buddies on the show was saying, you know, in my group chats, we're talking about whether or not when we're going to retire, are we going to be able to take Social Security? Should we start like it is affecting people's decision making. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also recently made some controversial comments about Social Security. I really want to play these. I've been thinking about them.

Your mama would call you. She would call you and guess what you would do? You'd write her a check. But what about the mother who doesn't have someone that they can call to put money in that bank account for a month? You insensitive lug. How dare you? I want to do some context there because what Ludnick actually said was that, you know, his mother-in-law wouldn't complain if she didn't have her Social Security in the same way, but that the people who do are frauds.

who want to abuse the system. And you saw the outrage there, obviously that's MSNBC, but how do you process where this rubber meets the road for voters? - It's all about where the rubber meets the road because of the fact that if Doge is serious about cutting a trillion dollars out of our debt, our spending or whatever else,

the conversation that needs to be had is, well, what happens with Social Security and defense spending? And people are right to ask the questions and be concerned about what's going to happen to the money they might receive. Now, maybe you can find that in the kinds of overlapping and inefficiencies that we were talking about earlier in the program. Maybe there'll be an Apple Genius Bar for Social Security. Maybe there's a Genius Bar for Social Security. Do you want that?

That's where we're headed. I want to talk to you guys about the things you are paying attention to today and in the next few days, what you are keeping an eye on. Sungmin? I'm keeping both my eyes on the upcoming special elections for open seats in the House, which are next Tuesday. And the reason I'm watching that is, first of all, I mean, one seat, which is the former Matt Gaetz seat, will be fine.

but was offered out by a republican are getting really worried about the other c which is the c_b_k_ by mike waltz now the national security uh... advisor that's supposed to be a republican district and it is more competitive than republicans would certainly like and i don't know matters

because the narrow or the margin in the house is just so narrow we just saw elise stefanik right and her um gig being pulled from the u.n because poor silly stephanie exactly farewell she did she did but they said you can't leave which to me is a very weird message if you're saying we have a mandate these are seats we can hold on to it sounds like you don't think you have

the ability to hold on to these seats. Rob? I'm from upstate New York. So, yeah, you know, this is exact territory. Right, it is. She doesn't represent Utica, New York. But yes, this and the Wisconsin Supreme Court elections. These are going to be barometers that will

the media and other people in this country will look to to see if... What does this mean going forward? Yeah, we should mention Wisconsin rates on track to be the most expensive on record. Elliot? So there have been a few high-profile executive orders targeting individual law firms based on people that work for Biden or took positions adverse to Trump. Really interesting piece in Puck in the last day or so about

well, what if the Trump administration were to next go after investment banks or systemically important financial institutions for some of their work, whether it had been for donating to Democrats or interests adverse to Trump or whatever? What impact could that have on the economy? And it's just an interesting story to keep an eye on.

because it's not just about these lefty law firms. - Yeah. - You know, there's other industries that might be-- - Shout out to Puck Newsletters for that and also people, we've been keeping an eye on all of these things in fact 'cause it's one thing for something to happen to Venezuelan gang members, it's another thing to happen to white shoe law firms. These are constituencies that don't have a lot of outcry. It's whether those same systems will be used against one of us if we get on the wrong side of the administration. I think that's why people are watching so closely, we don't know the answer to that.

I want all of you to stick with us here at CNN. We're going to have more headlines, especially in the news about that earthquake. In the meantime, thank you for waking up with me. I'm Adi Cornish, and CNN News Central starts right now.

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