Robert Jemison

The areas that appear to be the hardest hit are coastal areas.

Venezuela's Caribbean coast, which is a densely populated area, one of the poorest areas of the country.

So a lot of substandard housing, a lot of informal housing.

And the images that we are seeing show widespread devastation.

So it's important to keep that in mind that the official estimates that we're going to be seeing in the next few days or weeks may not be an accurate reflection of reality or even of the numbers that the government has internally.

You know, by the end of the day on Wednesday, it was almost challenging to even remember how the day had begun.

We started with Republicans arriving on Capitol Hill optimistic.

They expected to spend the day, probably the rest of the week, in a good bit of their recess over the Fourth of July holiday, touting a major housing bill that they believed would strengthen their message on affordability as they make the turn into midterm campaign season.

By lunch, Republicans were being castigated by President Trump.

He blasted them for failing to pass his preferred voting legislation.

And he was extremely upset that the two chambers, both controlled by Republicans, allowed a war powers resolution to be approved, an overt rebuke of his handling of the war in Iran.

Everything that followed that lunch was an exercise in appeasement.

Republican leaders spent the rest of the day searching for a way to undo what Trump had seen as political damage.

The day began with Republicans hoping to show voters something that they had accomplished, but it ended with them shifting to prove something just to Donald Trump.

A clear reminder of who controls and sets the agenda for the Republican Party.