00:00We are live this morning from 7 o'clock to 11 o'clock a.m. as we watch events from
00:04New York to Philadelphia to Washington and all across the United States of America on the semi-sesquicentennial.
00:09I'm sorry, what was that? One more time?
00:10Semi-sesquicentennial, 250th, historic anniversary for these United States of America.
00:16That's right, and we're going to be tracking it all here on The Intrepid.
00:19We are awaiting the International Naval Review and the Parade of Tall Ships.
00:23That's going to be happening right behind us.
00:25We will try to wow you with our recently learned maritime knowledge.
00:29Although David Gurra was coming up with some random maritime facts yesterday that I was finding intellectually intimidating.
00:34But we're going to move on from that.
00:35There will also be an aerial review over the Hudson led by the Blue Angels.
00:39You've seen them before.
00:40That's right. They're based in my hometown of Colorado Springs. They're pretty awesome.
00:44And then over the next few hours, we're going to hear from influential voices from across the spectrum, from across
00:49history, business, and politics,
00:51including documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, the CEO of the USO.
00:56We've got the president of the Intrepid Museum and the CEO of Pyrotechnica.
00:59That's the company hoping, weather-holding, to put on the largest firework show in American history tonight in Washington, D
01:06.C.
01:07Yes, weather has been a huge issue here, humidity, a concern when you're doing a firework show like the one
01:10they have planned.
01:11We're also going to hear from David Rubenstein and Maryland Governor Wes Moore,
01:14scheduled to speak on patriotism in Annapolis a little bit later today.
01:17And moments ago here in New York, the famed Times Square Ball made its final drop of the day, usually,
01:23of course, reserved for New Year's Eve.
01:24It was lowered eight times beginning Friday morning to mark midnight in every U.S. time zone.
01:31There was also a spectacular firework show over Mount Rushmore last night after a hailstorm.
01:37President Trump was in attendance.
01:40That's ahead of tonight's events on the National Mall we were just mentioning.
01:43If the weather holds, they've already called off a couple of those events today.
01:46There was supposed to be a parade due to the extreme heat they're experiencing in Washington.
01:50Dramatic heat across this country.
01:52Regular viewers wondering, where is Lisa Mateo?
01:54She's in the field this morning, live from Coney Island for us, all morning long.
01:58And Jeff Mason is live at the White House.
02:01And, Jeff, let's start with what Christina just mentioned a moment ago.
02:03There was supposed to be this big parade in Washington, D.C. today.
02:06It has been canceled because of heat, these extreme temperatures.
02:09That, indeed, has been the story of many of these Washington-based events.
02:12Get us up to speed, Jeff, if you would.
02:14Happy to, David.
02:15Good morning and happy 4th to everyone.
02:17Yeah, it's hot here.
02:18It's hot there, too, I can tell, and hot on the East Coast generally.
02:21So that is absolutely having a little bit of a dampening effect on celebrations in the nation's capital.
02:27As a White House correspondent, I can also tell you President Donald Trump will be looking closely at the size
02:32of the crowd
02:33and wanting to discuss that and wanting to call it a really, you know, the historically large crowd.
02:39We'll see.
02:40There may be some people who decide not to show up tonight because of the heat and because of the
02:45heat, the dangers of the heat.
02:47And as you say, as a result of that, a few things canceled in Washington today that are part of
02:52that 250 celebration.
02:54But the fireworks are still on and the president is still intending to give a speech tonight.
02:59In fact, he quipped a little earlier this week that he planned to give a long one just to prove
03:03that he could despite the heat.
03:05So be prepared.
03:07President Trump is not going to stay in the air conditioning.
03:09He is going to head out to the mall this evening to make remarks.
03:15And, Jeff, talk to us a little bit.
03:16Lisa, we know you're standing by in the heat.
03:18We're going to go to you in just a sec.
03:19But I do want to recap some of the things we heard from the president last night because it wasn't
03:24your typical 4th of July presidential speech.
03:27You know, usually they go to a naturalization ceremony.
03:30It's usually done during the day.
03:31And then they kind of go away and just let people, like, celebrate the fireworks.
03:35And you don't usually see presidents in the evening.
03:37Also, the fireworks have been pushed back pretty late until 11 p.m.
03:41Is this to give the president time to make these remarks?
03:43And do we know what he's going to say?
03:45So two sets of remarks within two days.
03:48Last night he gave remarks at Mount Rushmore, as you were referencing, and they also had fireworks there.
03:53Despite a drought and some pretty legitimate concerns about fire and heat in South Dakota as well,
04:01although apparently last night I saw it was about 65 degrees, which sounds pretty pleasant compared to what it is
04:07here,
04:07the president hitting on themes that are not necessarily related to 4th of July.
04:13Christina, talking about basically some campaign themes for this fall, saying that the threat of communism,
04:20we're talking about the threat of communism, which is a topic he's brought up repeatedly in the last week
04:25after some Democratic socialists won their primaries.
04:29And also deliberately or specifically referencing the midterms and saying that the Republicans shouldn't win the midterms
04:36and need to work hard at that.
04:38So that's a long way of saying he got political, and he may get political again tonight.
04:46Jeff, you mentioned the comments that he made about communism during that speech last night.
04:50Let's just take a listen to what the president had to say.
04:52There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country
04:59who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success.
05:05These are not mere political disagreements like differences over taxes or regulations.
05:11Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty.
05:15It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or even 9
05:24-11.
05:25We're not going to let this happen to us.
05:28Believe me, we're not letting it happen.
05:30You can be loyal to Karl Marx, or you can be loyal to America.
05:36You can be a communist, or you can be a patriot.
05:39You cannot be both.
05:43Comments here from the president, Christine.
05:45Indeed, he's spending a lot of time in the Dakotas over these last few days.
05:48He was there for the opening of the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library as well.
05:51That's right.
05:52You know who's not in a Dakota?
05:53No.
05:53And that is our own Lisa Mateo.
05:55She is out in Coney Island.
05:57Lisa, we've seen, I mean, we were here very early.
05:59Our crews were here very early with a big storm sweep in last night.
06:02Big props to our team who got this desk back up and running after it was a little bit decimated
06:06by the wind.
06:07But we have seen some people out on the water again this morning, some people looking like they're getting ready
06:12on the ships around us.
06:13What are you seeing in Coney Island?
06:14Are people already out ready to celebrate this holiday?
06:19People are already out, guys.
06:21If you see right behind me, we are here at Nathan's.
06:24This is the center for hot dogs.
06:26I mean, what screams Fourth of July more than hot dogs, right?
06:29This is where they have their annual hot dog eating contest.
06:32But people have been lining up before 6 a.m.
06:35They've been on the boardwalk as well.
06:37So people are out now enjoying the weather before it changes a little bit later on.
06:41But this is the place on Coney Island.
06:44Nathan's has been a staple since 1916.
06:47And this is where the world's top competitive eaters come every year on this day to scouge down in 10
06:54minutes as many hot dogs as they can eat.
06:57We will keep on top of it but also get more into how Nathan's goes beyond Coney Island,
07:02how it's really just a part of American food culture.
07:06So stick around, guys.
07:07We'll bring you more of that coming up later this hour.
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