NPR News: 06-26-2026 12AM EDT

Steve Futterman0:00

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Giles Snyder· Host0:16

Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. The State Department says it's mobilizing one hundred fifty million dollars in aid for Venezuela following the devastating back-to-back earthquakes. US also sending rescue teams to help dig through the rubble, as NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports.

Michelle Kellerman0:36

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he set up a task force at the State Department and has sent search and rescue teams from California and Virginia to help find survivors of the earthquakes in Venezuela.

Marco Rubio· Soundbite0:47

That's their most immediate need right now is search and rescue efforts. They have a much of collapsed buildings, and so they'll need a lot of help in terms of digging through that. Uh, the airport there is badly damaged, so we'll have to rely on the Department of War to deploy assets there.

Michelle Kellerman1:01

Rubio, who dismantled the lead US aid agency last year, announced fifty million dollars for private aid groups on the ground in Venezuela and another one hundred million dollars to be distributed through a UN fund. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Washington.

Giles Snyder· Host1:17

The death toll in Venezuela is rising. The country's health minister now says some two hundred thirty-five people were killed and another forty-three hundred were injured. House Speaker Mike Johnson was at the White House Thursday