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Largest Ever Parade Of International Tall Ships Underway In NY Harbor; Mount Vernon Hosts Naturalization Ceremony And Fireworks For July 4th; VP Vance In New York For Tall Ships Parade & Naval Review. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired July 04, 2023 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:01:05]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. And Happy Fourth of July.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Let's take you to New York where one of the grandest maritime events in history is underway with flyovers and, of course, with sailing through the New York Harbor this Fourth of July holiday. Dozens of tall ships are cruising along as part of the international parade of sail.

Vice President J.D. Vance is there for the parade and a naval review.

CNN's Erica Hill, well, she's not only there, she's in it. She's on a Coast Guard cutter, the Eagle. And she's joining us again right now.

I'm so glad that we have a good signal to be able to be along the ride with you. And you've got a new guest.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We are, too.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HILL: We are too. I do have a new guest with us. And we switched up our shot a little bit because we just want to give you a little bit different vantage point here, Fred.

I'm joined here by Will Sofrin, who has a brand-new book out about the U.S. Coast Guard cutter, Eagle. So you wrote this incredible, very vivid history of the Eagle but from the perspective of the people on this ship. You spent three summers on this ship. Why did you want to tell this story?

WILL SOFRIN, AUTHOR, "USCG CUTTER EAGLE": I mean, I think the Coast Guard is a less understood service. The founding of it, for example, was originally the revenue cutter service. It was founded by Alexander Hamilton, at the time the continental navy had been disbanded, and there was a need for American troops. And so he wrote about it in "Federalist Paper Number 12".

But being here with the members of the Coast Guard over the last three summers has really helped me understand and appreciate this ideology, this great stoic Americanism that I just don't think the public has access to see.

HILL: So if you had to describe, then the Coast Guard and that ideology in one sentence, what would it be?

SOFRIN: Humble servants.

HILL: What has surprised you about some of those humble servants during your three summers on board the Eagle here?

SOFRIN: What surprises me is the kindness of the officers. They're very elegant. They're very well-educated, sophisticated. They understand how to speak softly. I think the Coast Guard seems to excel at a form of soft diplomacy for America.

HILL: And that is that actually is very much what this ship does. This is a this is a key part of the soft diplomacy of the United States.

SOFRIN: Yes. In many senses, I like to think of the Eagle as America's ambassador to the world. And there have been many situations where Eagle has sailed around the world.

She represented America at Australia's bicentenary. She also was sent to Leningrad before the Iron Curtain fell, and a time when you could not have sent a naval ship to Leningrad. And that created an opportunity for our military officials of both nations to collaborate, talk and discuss.

HILL: How did you end up writing this book? You were not in the Coast Guard. Did you ever think about being in the Coast Guard?

SOFRIN: I mean, now that I know what I know about the Coast Guard, I absolutely wish that I would have considered a career in the Coast Guard in an earlier age.

I was writing a book about experiential learning, and the Coast Guard just seemed like the perfect case study, because what happens is you have the academy where the cadets learn their knowledge, they acquire it, and Eagle is the perfect leadership laboratory platform for them to come out and practice applying that knowledge in real world situations.

HILL: Some of that knowledge that they have to apply is old world knowledge in many ways, right? So they're sailing on the Eagle. I mean, this is a tall sailing ship. It's not one of these modern vessels that is protecting the borders of the United States.

Why is that particular education so important for these cadets as they move on through the Coast Guard?

SOFRIN: Well, in order to know where were going, we have to know where we came from. And so Eagle is, I like to think sort of like an analog version of operating a modern ship.

[11:04:46] SOFRIN: So Eagle gives the cadets the fundamentals that are essential to commanding a modern ship.

HILL: This is not a bad place to spend your July 4th. What is it -- what is it like for you, having spent so much time on this ship? What is it like for you to be a part of this celebration with the Coast Guard today on-board Eagle.

SOFRIN: To be here is such an honor. It's such a privilege. It feels like a victory lap. I mean, I've been working and meeting with so many incredible servants of our country. And to have them invite me to be part of the celebration is truly an honor.

HILL: Last question for you. What does the Coast Guard mean as you look forward to Americas future, right? It's played such a key role in getting the United States to this point. What's next?

SOFRIN: What I love about the Coast Guard is its ability to chart into -- to delve into unchartered water. The Coast Guard is so good into venturing into areas that we don't know what comes next.

HILL: Well, it's great to have you here.

SOFRIN: Thank you.

HILL: You're also the only board -- I have to -- I have to call him out for this. You're the only person on board the ship who's allowed to walk around in flip flops, so you must have really won them over because he's breaking all the rules and we're all -- we're all a little bit jealous.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Yes, well, that says he is so at ease. And so that says a lot. But I understand the envy.

All right. Erica Hill, thank you so much.

All right. Joining us now to discuss more, our expert panel is with us. Retired Rear Admiral Eric Jones, he is superintendent at Cal Poly Maritime Academy. We also have retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander and U.S. naval historian Tom Cutler. And CNN's presidential historian Tim Naftali is also back with us.

Good morning. Happy Fourth to all of you.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Happy Fourth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Fredricka. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Hey, Tim, you first. You know, I'm wondering, does a parade like this kind of rejuvenate or reignite an interest on, you know, a life on the, you know, a salty life on the high seas?

NAFTALI: You know, thank you for asking me, but I'm humbled by being with the rear admiral.

And let me put it this way. I think one of the best ways to understand the water is through sailing. And sailing really brings you a real -- not only a sense obviously of wind, but of propulsion. And it's a great introduction to certainly a naval career, but to a career or a life on the water.

So I can't imagine a better way to embrace boating, yachting, sailing than learning -- learning how to put up -- how to put up a sail and a spinnaker.

So this -- this celebration of sail is a celebration of nations. And it's a celebration of life on the water. And it is absolutely remarkable and humbling to see so many countries join with us to celebrate our semi-quincentennial.

WHITFIELD: And Rear Admiral Jones, I mean, you do know firsthand, you know, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Eagle is the lead tall ship here today. You have actually commanded that ship. It was built in Germany 1936, acquired by the United States in 1946.

So, I mean, tell us more about this kind of cooperation between countries with respect to this ship and what it symbolizes, in your view.

REAR ADM. ERIC C. JONES (RET.), U.S. COAST GUARD: Well, thank you for that wonderful question and for having me today.

Yes, Eagle is America's tall ship and gets to be an ambassador with the community of tall ships and sail training around the world. To have these cadets not only learn about the ocean and going to sea on, on a ship that has to be handled manually as Capt. Davenport talked about earlier.

But then to share those experiences with cadets and midshipmen from Navies and Coast Guards around the world is really a unique opportunity. And for the chance for the United States to be able to host such a gathering all the way from New Orleans to Boston is really, you know, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And those cadets, the twin sisters that we met earlier, they will take those stories with them for the rest of their lives. And who knows, one of them may be the captain of Eagle someday.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, those twins have really made an impression, right? And you're right. They might make an even deeper impression later on.

Lieutenant Commander Cutler, I mean, we've got so many ships there, and they all have a story. The American ship, the Alyssa, it was actually built in Scotland as a merchant ship in 1877, 148 years ago, and was restored a couple of times.

[11:09:43]

WHITFIELD: I mean, what is involved in keeping these ships with such history in good condition to be able to be a part of this parade?

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER TOM CUTLER (RET.), U.S. NAVY: Well, there's a great deal of maintenance on a ship like this. And what complicates it even further is the fact that they are so old that a lot of the equipment on there, you just can't get it from Amazon. You have to go out and find craftsmen who can reproduce the parts and so forth.

I think the Eagle, for example, I think she goes into some kind of maintenance period at least twice a year in order to keep things maintained. So it's quite an ordeal to keep these ships going.

WHITFIELD: And I imagine quite the ordeal to have named these ships, Lieutenant Commander. I mean, some of the U.S. ships, their names, including the Angelique, the When-and-If and Tabor Boy. How do these ships get these names?

CUTLER: Well, I think that depends on the nation. I mean, in our -- in the U.S. Navy, the Secretary of the Navy decides what the names of the ships are.

I think there's a lot of different ways. It depends. If the ship's built by a company, the company can sometimes name the ship.

And again, I think different nations probably have different -- different ways of coming up -- coming up with those names.

WHITFIELD: All right. Everyone, stand by, if you don't mind. We're going to continue to watch the ships, and we're going to have you back to talk more about what we're seeing out there on the New York Harbor.

Meantime, this day is also very significant for some very appreciative and lucky people. Around 800,000 people becoming naturalized U.S. citizens every year.

And today, to mark Americas 250th birthday, there are events being held at Mount Vernon, the home of America's first president, George Washington, including a special citizenship ceremony taking place there today.

CNN senior correspondent Donie O'Sullivan is at Mount Vernon for us. So tell us what's happening. I mean, this is very special, very poignant. And take us there.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Yes, Happy Fourth of July. We are here at George Washingtons house in Mount Vernon.

As you mentioned, in the past hour, about 150 people became brand new Americans at a naturalization ceremony that was held here on the lawn. We spoke to lots of folks from dozens of countries, from all over the world.

You know, always the naturalization process, becoming an American citizen is always such a special and emotional moment, but particularly in -- particularly emotional for many people here today, not only on America's 250th birthday, but also here, of course, in Mount Vernon.

And I do have somebody I want to chat to right now who's a volunteer at Mount Vernon, Larry Porter.

LARRY PORTER, MOUNT VERNON VOLUNTEER: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: Larry, very nice to meet you.

Porter: Nice to meet you.

O'SULLIVAN: just tell us a little bit about -- So you volunteer here?

PORTER: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: Not just on July 4th.

PORTER: Right.

O'SULLIVAN: All throughout the year.

PORTER: All throughout the year.

O'SULLIVAN: What -- why did you do it? And what's so important about this place?

PORTER: Well. It became part of my retirement gig, what to do after I retired.

I grew up in Boston. I had this love of history. I didn't do anything history-wise in my career, but I fell in love with it when I came back here to Washington, D.C.

And I find it a great way to help people. Some people come here only once in their life, and they're experiencing this beautiful mansion for their very first time, learning about Washington.

And I love teaching people about the mansion and Washington and all the people who lived here. So it's just a fun thing to do.

O'SULLIVAN: And you watched that naturalization ceremony with me today. I mean, just seeing that, how does -- how do you feel as an American watching that?

PORTER: Oh, it's one of my -- I volunteer here all the time for the event. We help escort them here to the chairs. And I just love talking to them and where are they from. What's a little bit of their story.

It's just -- it's a great -- they're great stories and it's a great tradition that we have and hope we will continue to have.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

And I mean, for people who come here, you give tours, you help educate people as they come. Why should people come here? And also just tell us, what's your favorite thing about Mount Vernon?

PORTER: Well, Mount Vernon, this is the first -- the Mount Vernon Ladies bought this from Washington's heirs. This became the first historic preservation society in the United States. So seeing what people lived like back then, not only the general, but

all of our outhouses, how the enslaved people worked here and lived here. It's just -- it's fun to show people. And the fact that when I tell them to like, walk through the beautiful upper garden, they're walking in -- in the same footsteps as George -- General Washington and Lady Washington did before, after dinner with their guests, that type of thing.

O'SULLIVAN: And this, this is the house, right?

PORTER: This is the house. Yes. Yes, this is the house as he finished it late -- and late during the revolutionary war.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

PORTER: And they just finished a major renovation of it. It's fantastic to go in and watch.

O'SULLIVAN: And you reassure me that this is -- this is cooling your uniform here today.

PORTER: Yes. Because, you know, you sweat with the shirt and the breeches and the stockings. And so the sweat ultimately cools you off.

O'SULLIVAN: Ok.

[11:14:47]

PORTER: So, well, you never see farmers, for example, in shorts or t- shirts right, they're in long sleeves. They rely on that sweat to cool.

O'SULLIVAN: That's true.

PORTER: So.

O'SULLIVAN: Well, at least one of us isn't sweating, Larry. Thank you so much for your time.

Fred, we'll hand it back to you. It's very, very, very warm here.

(CROSSTALK)

O'SULLIVAN: But we'll talk to that later.

WHITFIELD: It looks like it's hot. I'm glad you have that fan. That's another way to stay cool. Hydrate, hydrate, Donie O'Sullivan.

O'SULLIVAN: This is absolutely essential. Yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it is. And I like that it's an American flag, very nice.

All right. Thank you so much there from Mount Vernon.

And of course, join CNN for America's 250th birthday with the biggest fireworks and stars. CNN's "FOURTH IN AMERICA, CELEBRATING 250" begins at noon eastern, right here on CNN and on the CNN app.

All right. It's an unfortunate forecast for millions of Americans hoping to spend this Fourth of July, celebrating with friends and neighbors outside. And they may want to reconsider some of that. Extreme heat and the threat of strong thunderstorms is abound, next.

Plus, the marriage era has arrived for Taylor Swift. We have the details on her star-studded wedding to Travis Kelce.

[11:15:53]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back and Happy Fourth of July.

Helping to celebrate the nation's 250th, Vice President J.D. Vance right now speaking at the New York Harbor. He's on board the docked USS Kearsarge. This is how his speech began moments ago.

(LIVE EVENT)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hurrah. Semper fi. And happy birthday to all the sailors and the marines and all the service members of this incredible ship.

Please, please, ladies and gentlemen, take a seat.

You know, I know it's 100 degrees out here, but my speechwriters wrote me a nice nine-hour address, so it's going to be a long day -- a long day.

But let me start by saying, first of all, thank you for being here on this incredibly historic occasion.

I have to give a shout out to Admiral Caudle and of course, Acting Secretary Cal, two great Americans. Thank you for your leadership and for everything you've done to prepare us for this incredible celebration today.

And also, of course, got to give thank you, but also special greetings from the president of the United States for reviving this incredibly proud naval tradition as we celebrate 250 years of American daring and 250 years of American naval excellence.

Today -- today, we celebrate 250 years of America facing the future without fear. We celebrate 250 years of proving what a free people can achieve by the providence of our Almighty Creator.

I want to welcome the incredible sailors who are with us today -- all the Marines, the Coasties, and countless others from all of our forces who serve our nation and do so proudly.

And I especially want to thank and welcome our Wounded Warriors and Gold Star families, many of New York's finest police officers and bravest firefighters, and of course, we have a number of local leaders from across this tri-state area. I'm honored to welcome the dozens of navy chiefs and other guests from

other countries around the world who represent the vessels joining us in today's review. And to the Americans who are watching back home, we have over 50 countries from all over the world who chose to send fighters or naval vessels here to honor our country.

And we say from the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful for our friends, grateful for our allies on this special anniversary.

It is a very American thing to ring in 250 years of American history by parading our Naval and Air Force might for the world to see. But I can't help but consider that 250 years ago, the waters of New York Harbor looked very, very different.

While the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to ratify the Declaration of Independence, General Washington was right here in Manhattan, peering out on this beautiful land and beautiful sea. His attention was fixed on the horizon, watching for sails of the most powerful Navy on earth.

One week before, the British had begun landing troops on Staten Island, and they had landed 32,000 in just over six weeks. One colonist still in the city recounted, it seemed as if all of London was afloat and heading to the new nation. War was coming and everyone knew it.

By July of 1776, 80 percent of New York's population had emptied out in anticipation of the coming violence.

[11:24:49]

VANCE: And that brings us back to our great General Washington. He knew the battles to come would be bruising and would demand much of his men. But they needed to know, through hot summers and cold winters, exactly what they were being asked to fight for.

And so just a few days after the Declaration of Independence was signed, George Washington read aloud the words of the incredible Declaration.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. And among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Even today, 250 years to the day later, these words command a tremendous power over us as Americans. For 250 years, they have stirred our hearts and they've reminded us of who we are as a people.

But to Washington's soldiers, to the people to whom they were first read, think about this, they were entirely new. What has become standard American parlance, they had never heard those words before.

And I think it's something striking to reflect on that in 2026 the Declaration was written with the assumption that its audience would immediately grasp its words, though they had never heard it, they would know exactly what it meant.

It wasn't written for historians. It wasn't written for academics. It wasn't written for the generations to come. It was written for the people of this fledgling country.

It was written for the soldiers who would fight to turn those words into a new system of government.

As a document, it does not handhold its readers, its citizenship at a very hard level. It does not pause to explain who this Creator is. It doesn't explain what the equality of men means. It doesn't try to go into details about the consent of the governed. It simply declares these truths to be self-evident.

250 years later, it's worth asking. Self-evident to whom? The Declaration proclaims truths the founders believed to all mankind. Yes, but it says those truths in language intended to be familiar specifically to the American nation that it was authored to, authored by and authored for.

It was, as Jefferson put it later in his own life, an expression of the American mind, a document whose purpose wasn't quote, "To find out new principles or new arguments, but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, the common sense of the American people.

That people had been generations in the making. 1776 was not an accident. The patriots of that era understood themselves to be heirs to an older civilization who would carry it forward.

Now they shared with Great Britain the same language, the same God, the same system of common law. They even read many of the same books and observed many of the same customs. They shared the same understanding of justice and public life.

George Washington's boyhood offers a small but revealing example. When he was 13 years old, he copied down more than 100 entries from a tiny little book called "The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior".

It was not an American work, but it was first published in London more than a century before George Washington was born.

Yet the America that formed Washington demanded qualities that no book, no manual could teach. Before General Washington commanded an army, he spent his 20s surveying America's wild interior, saving up money, learning self-reliance on a continent that rewarded initiative more than pedigree. Didn't care if you were a nobleman, it cared what you could do.

Now, our society at the time reinforced the habits Washington learned in the wilderness. Frontier life rewarded resourcefulness. While America's colonial assemblies taught citizens to govern their own affairs, it taught citizens to be self-governing human beings.

Churches at the time, especially those who were touched by the great awakening, reminded congregants that no earthly hierarchy outweighed the equal dignity of every human soul before its Creator. [11:29:48]

VANCE: All of that came together. And so it was no surprise that when Washington's soldiers first heard the Declaration 250 years ago, they understood precisely what it meant. They understood the meaning that was conveyed. It was seismic, but it was their birthright as citizens of this new republic.

The words might have been new, but they expressed a feeling, something that already lived in the heart of every single American Patriot. And I believe those words still live in the heart of every single American patriot Today.

And for seven long years, they fought for that birthright. It wasn't easy. On some days it was hotter even than it was today, as hard as that is to believe. Many suffered and died for that dream and died for those principles.

But by the grace of almighty God, they secured for us a free, a proud, and an independent republic that endures, and doesn't just endure but thrives to this very day.

As Washington traded in the uniform for the presidency, he remained preoccupied with the physical land that had shaped him. He imagined wagons crossing mountains, paths out of the Alleghenies and the Appalachians, and canals connecting the Potomac and the Ohio River to its western valleys.

Our first president would not live long enough to see that vision of a continent connected. He would not live to see it to completion.

But the rivers he surveyed in his youth carried on westward without him. They carried settlers, and new riches, and cities waiting to be built.

And eventually they carried a 13-year-old boy by the name of James Buchanan Eads. In the fall of 1833, Eads and his family, like many Americans, moved west to the nation's growing frontier, the land of opportunity.

And as their steamboat approached Saint Louis, its boiler exploded, throwing him into the turbulent waters of the Mississippi. The family lost everything, every earthly possession and the river nearly killed Young Eads.

From that moment on, he vowed not to be a slave to that mighty river, but to make it his own. He received no formal education. But to support his family, he sold apples on the Saint Louis riverfront, captivated by the bustle and frontier of boomtown Saint Louis.

At 16, he took a job on the water, and not long after, he conceived of an idea that most engineers at the time, they thought it was crazy. They thought it was insane.

You know, sunken ships and other treasures lay scattered along the bottom of the Mississippi. No business in the world existed to salvage them, to take that buried treasure on the bottom of the Mighty Mississippi and bring it to work for people.

Unlike the more peaceful streams out east, the river's strong currents and turbid waters, most insisted that ordinary diving in the Mighty Mississippi was impossible.

You could not do what Eads proposed that we do. But he disagreed, and so he did what every American does when they're told they can't do something. He went out and did it anyway, and he did it himself.

He bought a 40-gallon whiskey barrel, fixed it to a diving bell, and climbed in and down he went, all by himself.

The riverbed was pitch black. The current pulling his feet every which way. Sand swirled around him like a dense snowstorm, he later recalled.

But he located his target, a large hunk of lead tied on the cable and came back to the surface.

Eads went on to become one of the nation's greatest civil engineers. He built the very first bridge spanning the Mississippi River south of its confluence with the Missouri, an impressive feat for a man who'd never built a bridge before.

The people who told him, you can't build the most difficult bridge because you've never built a bridge before. He said, yes, I can, because I'm an American and I'm going to do it myself.

It was the first on the planet, that bridge to be made of steel, and residents of Saint Louis still use that bridge to this very day nearly 200 years later. That is American ingenuity and American greatness.

WHITFIELD: All right. Vice president J.D. Vance there speaking with the backdrop of the sail for 250, the parade of tall ships right there on the Hudson Harbor there in New York.

[11:34:49]

WHITFIELD: We're going to continue our live coverage of Fourth of July celebrations right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back and Happy Fourth.

One of the grandest maritime events in history is underway right now, sailing through the New York Harbor.

Vice President J.D. Vance just attended and spoke with the parade taking place in the background. And earlier the Blue Angels with the U.S. Navy did various flyovers. And dozens of tall ships, all the while from 20 countries there setting sail.

[11:39:50]

WHITFIELD: CNN's Erica Hill is in the harbor on the U.S. Coast Guard Eagle. What's happening now?

HILL: Yes. And we are joined by Jo-Ann Burdian, who is commander of the Atlantic area, which is a pretty big, important job.

Vice Admiral, it's great to have you here. You are also -- this is such a wild full circle moment for you. You're a graduate of the academy. You are a native New Yorker. You are sailing on the Eagle today.

You have been on this ship for a number of momentous moments. What does it mean for you today?

VICE ADMIRAL JO-ANN BURDIAN, USCGC EAGLE: It's incredibly meaningful for me, personally and professionally. You know, we've spoken about this.

So, I sailed Eagle in 1994 into France for the 50th commemoration of D-Day. The next time I sailed was as a junior officer sailing into New York in the summer of 2002 for the first Fleet Week after 9/11. And to be able to come back here for the senior officer as a senior officer in Atlantic area, as a three-star, as the, you know, as the commander of Coast Guard forces from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf, like it just is deeply meaningful to me. And it feels like a tremendous gift.

HILL: You also have, I think, two of your kids on board today. That's -- that's got to be a moment for you to be able to share this with them, for them to see.

I'm sure they know how much a part of your life this is, but to see it all in action, that's such an important message.

BURDIAN: It really is. It's not a new message for them. Like every other service member today and every single day we serve with our families, whether, you know, that's kids like mine or whether it's friends, family, loved ones, whoever makes you whole also sacrifices so that we can volunteer to wear the cloth of our nation and enable the freedom we're celebrating today.

HILL: We are just about out of time. But I know one thing you pointed out to me I think is so important. We have seen thousands of people lining the Hudson this morning. They are there and they are safe because of what the Coast Guard does every day.

BURDIAN: Absolutely. In addition to the thousand Coast Guardsmen who live and serve in New York city every single day, we've redeployed hundreds more -- vessels, aircraft, operators, intel professionals -- to make sure that we can celebrate this extraordinary moment for our nation safely.

HILL: Vice Admiral, really appreciate you taking the time to join us.

BURDIAN: Thank you.

HILL: I know you're busy today. Thank you.

BURDIAN: Thank you.

HILL: We'll send it back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Erica Hill, Vice Admiral Burdian, thanks to both of you, appreciate it, right there on the Coast Guard Cutter, Eagle.

We're going to continue our live coverage this Fourth of July. And the many celebrations taking place coast to coast. You're looking at Arlington right outside Dallas, Texas.

We're back in a moment.

[11:42:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: What a site it has been all morning long, and we're so glad you've been celebrating Americas 250th birthday with us.

This morning, we are admiring the tall ships taking center stage in New York Harbor.

We want to bring our panel back to us, experts on so many levels, to help us understand what it is we're seeing, the symbolism of these incredible ships and the history they all represent.

So I wonder to each of you, gentleman, this question, and then we'll go one at a time. You know, what does this parade of ships remind people or even underscore about America on this 250th. Rear Admiral, you first.

JONES: Thank you, Fred. Well, I think the biggest message out there is the U.S. is a maritime nation. And being able to see these ships and these young cadets and midshipmen out here training, hopefully inspires the next generation, seventh and eighth graders, to look into the possibility of a maritime career, whether it's at one of the federal service academies or one of the state maritime academies.

I just got off of our ship traveling from Fiji to Honolulu. So, I hope they take a message that there are great opportunities and wonderful careers if you look to the water.

WHITFIELD: Beautiful.

And Retired Lieutenant Commander Tom Cutler, to you.

CUTLER: Yes, I think it's important to realize that the -- what we have here is a gathering of international -- many nations -- coming together. And I think that its that's always a good thing.

And also, if you look back at -- we had another one of these in 2000 and it was another gathering and everybody was very optimistic at the time. And of course, shortly after that, we had 9/11.

This time, we're hoping that this will -- we won't have a repeat performance that we can look forward to much better times in the future and hope that this international gathering will represent that.

WHITFIELD: And presidential historian, Tim Naftali, what are your thoughts?

NAFTALI: 50 years ago Gerald Ford gave a speech at Operation: Sail, and he said that our history, our revolution, was guided by the fixed star of freedom. We are joined by countries that have been inspired by the first revolution, the first successful attempt at self- determination, which is something we achieved 250 years ago.

So we are with friends of liberty and freedom today on the waters outside New York.

WHITFIELD: Beautifully said, gentlemen. thanks to all of you for being with us during this hour.

And earlier this morning, you, Tim, joining us an hour earlier. Rear Admiral Eric Jones, Lieutenant Commander Tom Cutler, Tim Naftali, thank you, gentlemen, and Happy Fourth.

NAFTALI: Happy Fourth to you.

JONES: Happy Fourth to you.

CUTLER: And you.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

[11:48:16]

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WHITFIELD: Take a look at this. This is another way of appreciating 250 years of this country. Earlier this morning, a time capsule with items from all 50 states and five territories was buried in Philadelphia.

And inside that precious capsule, a lineup card from a Phillies baseball game and letters from governors across the country. The capsule is designed to last another 250 years and be opened on America's 500th birthday.

All right. And for more on just how intense the heat is, I mean, everyone is in sweltering conditions. Allison Chinchar back with us.

I mean, it's really inescapable, especially along the East Coast.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right. And again, as we mentioned earlier, some people this is day three of dealing with this extreme heat. It's not just a one-and-done kind of scenario.

These are the current air temperatures. So not the heat index, but the actual air temperature. It is 90 in Raleigh, 95 in D.C., 91 in New York, 88 in Boston. But we know it's going to feel even higher than that when you factor in the humidity. Every single one of these black dots you see here on the map represents a place that could either tie or break a record high temperature today.

Keep in mind some of those dots were also there yesterday and the day before that, because these temperatures are just going to continue to rise.

101 for the high expected today in Raleigh. Same thing in D.C., 96 in New York. Again, we are still expected to see another round of high temperatures tomorrow. But then a lot of folks really finally start to dive back down and the temperatures getting at least a little bit cooler.

The humidity, the heat is also fueling some showers and thunderstorms. We expect a lot of these to start to slide in late this afternoon across the northeast, mid-Atlantic, and even into areas of the Ohio Valley.

This means tonight, again, you can see them sliding through D.C., Philadelphia, New York, even Boston as we head through the evening hours.

[11:54:44]

CHINCHAR: This is not going to be a washout, but you are going to have some pop ups here and there throughout some of these activities that could have some lightning, that could have some damaging winds. So that is going to be a big concern.

Really, anywhere you see the green, the yellow or the orange areas on the map, you have the potential for those strong to severe thunderstorms. So even areas of the Central Plains, the Mississippi Valley region, but definitely pointing out these orange areas that does include the D.C. Metro area where you have that highest threat of these severe storms.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And in some of those cases, that kind of, you know, precipitation only means it's going to feel even muggier, more humid. So it feels like it's even worse.

All right. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

And stay right here on CNN as our special coverage begins in just a few minutes. Even more special than what it's been this morning,

CNN's "FOURTH IN AMERICA CELEBRATING 250", begins at noon eastern on CNN. And you can also watch wherever your plans take you today by streaming it on the CNN app.

Thank you so much for spending part of your holiday with us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Have a safe and festive Fourth of July.

[11:55:46]

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