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Trump On Hamas' Response To Gaza Ceasefire Proposal; Russia Pummels Kyiv In All-Night Attack; Liverpool Star Diogo Jota Dies At 28 In Car Crash In Spain; Trump Takes A Megabill Victory Lap At Iowa Rally. Stocks Finish on Upnote, Amidst Surprisingly Good Jobs Report Heat Wave Creates Fire Risk Conditions in Greece; Storm Brews Off U.S. Coast, Threatens July 4th Weekend; Trump Pledge: Build a "Garden of American Heroes"; Breaking Down Hot Dog Eating Strategy. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 04, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:24]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Could the end be in sight Israel's longest running war? Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's hope that they finally come to their senses.
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VAUSE: U.S. officials say it's now up to Hamas to accept their cease fire plan for Gaza.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds and hundreds of tributes laid out next to me outside Anfield.
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VAUSE: The sudden and tragic death of football's Diogo Jota, the Liverpool attacker killed in a fiery car crash along with his brother.
Also this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politics makes us all stupid. I'm just going to be an artist.
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VAUSE: And an artistic dilemma. Taking part in Donald Trump's National Garden of American Heroes while avoiding the political blowback.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Just moments ago as he arrived back in Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he's expecting Hamas to respond within 24 hours to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza. Israel has already accepted the proposal, which includes five hostage releases over 60 days as well as a surge of humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
Israeli forces would withdraw from most of the territory but would remain in the Philadelphi Corridor along the southern border with Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to discuss the proposal with Cabinet on Saturday before flying to Washington and a meeting with the U.S. President. The U.S. ambassador to Israel says the White House is hoping the cease fire is already a done deal, but he's still urging Hamas to agree to the plan.
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MIKE HUCKABEE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Let's hope that they finally come to their senses and that they recognize that it's time to let all the hostages go, all of them. Both Israel and the United States are on the same page when it comes to want to see all of this concluded and for the hostages to return to their families as well as for this conflict to end that has had so much suffering not only to the people of Israel, but also to the civilian population in Gaza.
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VAUSE: Both Israel and Hamas have rejected ceasefire proposals before. CNN's Jeremy Diamond explains why the latest plan could be more acceptable.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: A lot of the new things in here are aimed at bridging the gap with Hamas's demands, one of those being stronger assurances from the United States that they will keep Israel at the negotiating table to negotiate in good faith an end to the war, meaning that the United States is actually going to actively push for Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement to end the war either during this 60-day ceasefire or for those negotiations to continue. And for that ceasefire to be extended past those 60 days until the two sides reach a permanent cease fire.
We will have to see whether or not those assurances are strong enough for Hamas, which has insisted on an upfront guarantee for an end to the war thus far.
We're also learning that Israeli hostages will be released in five different phases over the course of that 60-day ceasefire. About half of the living hostages, half of the deceased hostages expected to be released over that 60-day period. That's different as well from what was presented about a month ago by the Americans, where there would only be two fatal of hostage releases over the course of the first week of those 60 days. Another change to address Hamas's concerns.
And then you have on the humanitarian aid front, Israel now committing to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza through the traditional humanitarian channels run by the United nations rather than through that controversial US And Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Now, what's important to note is that Hamas is now reviewing this latest proposal, which we've been told Israel has indeed accepted so far. If Hamas agrees to this, that will mean that there is a major framework agreement between these two parties. You will still need some days, most likely, of detailed proximity talks between Israel and Hamas to sort out the kind of final details about the implementation of this ceasefire, including, for example, the timetable for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza over the course of this deal.
But barring that, of course, a framework agreement between these two sides would be a major development and it would certainly open the pathway for a final agreement about a ceasefire for 60 days and one that could eventually be extended into a permanent one.
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[01:05:03]
VAUSE: Live now to Jerusalem. And Gershon Baskin, he's the Middle East director for the International Communities Organization, as well as a former hostage negotiator. Gershon, Shabbat Shalom. Good to have you with us.
GERSHON BASKIN, MIDDLE EAST DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES ORGANIZATION: Thank you.
VAUSE: So when it comes to past talks, as Jeremy Diamond was just reporting there, the major difference between Israel and Hamas has been how the war actually ends. With that in mind, here's the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I'm telling you, there will be no Hamas. There will be no Hamas stand. We are not going back to that. It's over. We will free all our hostages.
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VAUSE: So the Israelis want a temporary truce for return of the hostages, but no end to the war until Hamas is destroyed, as we just heard. So while Hamas has called for a permanent end to the fighting and full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
So how does this US Plan actually solve the that fundamental disagreement? And do you think it could work?
BASKIN: Well, this is the big question here. Has President Trump given guarantees to Hamas that once this process begins, it will, in fact, be the end of the war? Hamas has indicated overnight that they accept the proposal in Hamas language. It was also said that they have an agreement from the Americans that Israel will withdraw from all of Gaza.
And it was also said that President Trump himself will announce the agreement and guarantee it. And here I turn to President Trump and to the American side and say, if you finally got Israel to agree to ending the war, then why do we need these five phases of prisoner release for half the prisoners over 60 days? Why not bring them all out now, in a week, in two weeks, end the war? This is what's possible.
Hamas is ready to transfer all the hostages, the living and the dead bodies in one time over a short period of time, if in fact it leads to the end of the war. This is what's going to have to be confronted in the meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday, which is more important than the proximity talks that will be held on the details.
VAUSE: That's a very good point you make. So why the need for these negotiations if Hamas is ready to end it right now, if the Israelis are as well? We did hear from the head of the IDF last week who said the heavy toll on Iran from Israeli airstrikes could help achieve Israel's objectives in Gaza. And that comes amid reports that the Israeli military already believes Hamas is no longer a security threat to Israel.
But returning the hostages can only happen through negotiations. So, in other words, all that can be done by the military has already been done. And if Netanyahu wants the hostages home, this cease fire is the only option.
BASKIN: That's for sure. The army believes that everything that can be done by the army was already done months ago. This has taken so long because Prime Minister Netanyahu has refused to end the war. Perhaps the only impact of the war with Iran is that it gave Netanyahu the confidence that Israel's deterrence in the region has been built up by the Israeli victory or the Israeli claimed victory over Iran. Nothing changed on the ground in Gaza, except it's gotten worse. More people have been killed. The humanitarian aid situation is a disaster. It's a travesty what's happened with this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
So returning to a situation where relaid is getting in by the United Nations is an improvement. This is what Hamas wants. Dealing with Hamas politically in the future of Gaza is something that cannot be done by the military.
It has to be done politically and diplomatically. And it's mainly in the hands of the Palestinian people, their leadership, and the Arab countries who will join in to try and help to rebuild Gaza after this disaster.
VAUSE: In terms of the bigger picture here with the Abraham Accords, that's the normalization of diplomatic relations around the region for Israel. The U.S. has been looking to add more countries into that accord. The U.S. President spoke about those negotiations just a short time ago. This is what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: One of the things we talked about, the Abraham Accords, now that Iran has been taken out in terms of a nuclear threat and they have been completely taken out, at least for a very long time, I think a lot of people are going to be joining the Abraham Accords. You have four great countries already, but we're going to have a lot of people, I think, joining the Abraham Accord.
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VAUSE: Benjamin Netanyahu has also talked about this sweeping realignment of the region because of Israeli actions over the last 18 months or so. What are they actually speaking about here in the details and how realistic is this so called sweeping realignment?
BASKIN: Obviously we don't really know what President Trump is talking about, but if we assess the region, nothing is going to happen with regard to expanding the Abraham Accords, at least with regard to the Arab countries until there's a clear path toward a Palestinian state. And this is something that Netanyahu is not willing to do, not able to do.
So if we're going to have a realignment in the region, there will be a post-Netanyahu era realignment, probably a post-Mahmoud Abbas realignment as well. And there'll be a different situation in Gaza.
[01:10:00]
The two, three candidates that are possible in the region, the four candidates perhaps are looking at Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, maybe Oman, maybe Kuwait. But none of these Arab countries will join unless there's a patron Palestinian state. The Saudis. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made it very clear that without a Palestinian state, Saudi Arabia will not be normalizing relations with Israel.
Again, nothing else political career since 2009 has been based on preventing the emergence of a Palestinian state. So it's very difficult to imagine that he could be part of the process that's going to bring about the two state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel. Unless, of course, the pressure from President Trump on this issue is so strong on Netanyahu that he has no choice. But that doesn't seem likely either.
VAUSE: Gershon Baskin, we are lucky to have you with us, sir. Thank you for getting up early. We appreciate your time.
BASKIN: Thank you.
VAUSE: A surge in Russian airstrikes on Ukraine continued overnight with residential areas in the capital under an hours long attack.
Authorities warned residents in Kyiv to stay in shelters with strikes in more than a dozen locations for now. No word yet on casualties. Meanwhile, police say Russian drones killed at least two people and wounded 47 in central Ukraine. The attack damaged a military draft office in what Kyiv says was a deliberate attempt to disrupt recruitment efforts.
The attacks came a day after the U.S. announced a pause in weapons shipments, including air defense munitions. Ukraine's president has since announced a year-long deal with one U.S. defense contractor to supply hundreds of thousands of drones.
Just a short time ago, President Trump had an update on his efforts to win a cease fire in Ukraine.
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TRUMP: Speaking to President Zelenskyy tomorrow early in the morning. And yes, I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin because I don't think he's there. I don't think he's there.
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VAUSE: Earlier, Donald Trump said that he did not make any progress towards a ceasefire during that lengthy telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin. More details now from CNN's Matthew Chance.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's the sixth call that we know about that the two leaders have had. Nothing really substantial seems to have come out of it, except you get a sort of growing sense of the sort of quite courteous relationship between these two political leaders, President Trump of the United States and President Putin of Russia.
But according to the readout from the Kremlin, they said that the issue of ending the military campaign in Ukraine, Russia's military campaign there, was raised pretty quickly in the conversation, but that Vladimir Putin essentially pushed back on it and said, look, we're not going to do that until we've achieved our objectives, our goals, the root causes, as he calls them.
That's usually code in Russia for, you know, them ending any form of NATO expansion in the country and also taking over the areas that they've already formally annexed, although not yet completely control inside Ukraine.
Look, I mean, essentially there was pushback from the Kremlin to the White House, to President Trump about this idea of them bringing to an end in short order their conflicts in Ukraine and from the White House side doesn't seem to have been much in terms of consequences for that kind of defiance. That Kremlin defiance.
Trump has not, for instance, increased sanctions or he doesn't seem to have threatened Vladimir Putin with any consequences for his refusal to stage a ceasefire, for instance.
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VAUSE: Joining me now is Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He also served on the National Security Council for the Clinton White House. Thank you for being with us, sir.
CHARLES KUPCHAN, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Good to be with you.
VAUSE: So after this hour long conversation between Presidents Trump and Putin, Yuri Yushakov, a senior Kremlin aide, revealed some details of what Vladimir Putin actually had said. Listen to this.
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YURI USHAKOV, KREMLIN AIDE (through translator): Our president also said that Russia will seek to reach the goals it has set, that is the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current acute confrontation. And Russia will not back down from these goals.
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VAUSE: So in other words, what Moscow is saying, it isn't willing to concede much of anything which is directly at odds with the United States and comes without any sanctions or repercussions, it seems.
KUPCHAN: Well, the good news is that Trump is talking to Putin and if the war in Ukraine is going to end, it will take U.S.-Russia, dialogue and diplomacy. The bad news is this is the sixth call between Putin and Trump that we know about.
[01:15:03]
And no progress has been made in bringing this war to an end. In fact, the Russians have increased the scope of their bombing campaigns against Ukraine. And as you just heard from what Ushakov said, the Russians have shown no sign that they're negotiating in good faith. No sign that they are ready to compromise and back away from their effort to get at what they call the root causes of the war.
That means rolling back the post-Cold War settlement, pulling NATO forces back from the eastern front, getting Ukraine to recognize eastern part of the country as part of Russia. All that is a non- starter. And so we really haven't made any progress in the negotiations.
VAUSE: And this Putin-Trump conversation came as the U.S. Pauses weapon shipments to the Ukrainians. And here's President Trump explaining why.
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TRUMP: We're giving weapons, but we've given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons and we're working with them and trying to help them, but we haven't, you know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: That is not an accurate statement. Any drawdown of weapons from existing stockpiles have been restocked with new, more modern replacements. So is this weapons paused by the U.S. more of a negotiating tactic here?
KUPCHAN: Well, if it is a negotiating tactic, it's the wrong one. And that's because in many respects it undercuts Trump's effort to put coercive pressure on Putin. Putin is continuing to attack Ukraine and pursue expansive war aims because he thinks he can continue to take ground from Ukraine. And the fact is he can.
And so what Trump should be doing is saying to Putin, I'm going to increase economic sanctions, I'm going to increase the flow of weapons to Ukraine. We're going to stop you from your aggression against this country. That's not what he's saying. And what happened yesterday, the pause in the flow of weapons to Ukraine is directly at odds with Trump's efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
VAUSE: And when it comes to sanctions, New York Times is reporting the U.S. has imposed no new sanctions on Russia this year, unlike the previous administration which imposed thousands of so called maintenance sanctions targeting new schemes. Without continuous maintenance of restrictions, Russian workarounds actually can take hold.
So in other words, over time these sanctions become less effective, which seems to be the case here with Russia, which is why you need the new ones. So there does seem to be a picture emerging here that despite what the President may be saying publicly about not being happy with Russia. Privately, he seems unwilling to apply any real pressure on Russia while working to weaken Ukraine's position.
KUPCHAN: You got it right. I mean, basically, he has not yet said he's going to tighten sanctions. And we don't know the answer to the $6 billion question, which is when the $61 billion that Biden got out of Congress runs out, and it's going to run out this summer, is Trump going to go back to Congress and say, we need more money for Ukraine? If he doesn't, if he turns off the spigot, if there are no more U.S. weapons flowing to Ukraine, Ukraine is going to be in a very vulnerable position. And it makes it harder for Trump to get Putin to stop.
And so I don't think Trump gets it yet. I think he came into office thinking that he could pick up the phone, call his bro, Mr. Putin, and tell Vladimir to stop. Well, it's not working. Now, Trump needs to come around and understand that Trump will stop, excuse me, that Putin will stop when he is stopped. And that means giving Ukraine what it needs to defend itself.
VAUSE: The U.S. president does seem to be evolving, at least in his public statements, when it comes to Ukraine and Russia. At the NATO summit last week, you know, he talked favorably about Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president. He believed that the Russian president was misguided. He also believe that Russia could invade other countries as well, which is a very different position to what he had previously. But there does seem to be a lag between those public statements and
what is actually happening on the ground when it comes to this conflict. So when do these two things catch up with one another?
KUPCHAN: You know, you're right, John, to point out that Trump has moved. He's evolved. That was a pretty good NATO summit that took place in The Hague last week, and Trump actually came out and said something that everybody wanted him to say, but he hadn't said yet, which is, we're going to stand by NATO's commitment to collective defense. We're with you. We're not going to leave you in the lurch.
And that's what everybody wanted to hear. Lots of people are sleeping better at night in Europe because he said that, but he hasn't really put two and two together when it comes to ending this war.
[01:20:02]
And he really is going to have to turn up the heat on Putin both with more economic sanctions and with a request to Congress to spend more money to give weapons to Ukraine because just talking to the Russians isn't going to work. He's going to have to stop the Russians and that means more support to Ukraine, more pain on the Russian economy.
VAUSE: Yes. Charles, thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate your insights and your thoughts. Thank you.
KUPCHAN: Good to be with you.
VAUSE: Shock, heartbreak and disbelief. Football fans, current and former teammates, coaches, all are shocked by the sudden deaths of Liverpool star and Portuguese international player Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva.
The two, both in their 20s, died in a car accident Thursday in Spain. Police say their Lamborghini veered from the road, burst into flames. Liverpool Football Club released a statement saying the club was devastated by the unimaginable loss. From Liverpool to Lisbon and beyond, an outpouring of grief. Red supporters, many in tears, gathering at Anfield to leave flowers, scarves and flags outside the grounds.
In Switzerland, a moment of silence was observed before the women's Euromatch between Portugal and Spain.
Ahead here on CNN, U.S. President Donald Trump celebrating a major victory when he told supporters in Iowa about the passage of his so called One Big Beautiful Bill.
And later, a look at the artists competing for a chance to have their statues included in the president's Garden of American Heroes.
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VAUSE: In the day ahead, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign his massive domestic policy bill into law after it was narrowly passed by Congress during a marathon session. In the end, only two House Republicans voted against the so called One Big Beautiful Bill, which extends the Trump 2017 tax cuts while also slashing government spending which will leave millions of Americans without health care.
Democrats and some Republicans rallied against adding trillions of dollars to the federal deficit. But in the end, only one Republican was opposed to the cuts in Medicaid. In Iowa Thursday night, President Trump said he hates the Democrats because they hate their country.
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TRUMP: There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill to make America great again. With this bill, every major promise I made to the people of Iowa in 2024 became a promise kept.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More details now from CNN's Michael Yoshida reporting in from Washington.
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MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A deeply divided House passing the Senate's version of President Trump's mega bill.
STEVE SCALISE, U.S. HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Nobody said it would be easy. But you know what? We didn't come here to do easy things. We came here to do big things.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): A group of hardline GOP members who had threatened to block the sweeping tax and spending cuts legislation eventually falling in line for following an intense campaign from the White House and Republican Party leaders.
The president reportedly promising fiscal hardliners concerned about trillions being added to the national deficit that certain provisions for green energy tax credits would be phased out.
LISA MCCLAIN, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: What those holdouts were doing was exactly what were all doing. We are advocating for our district.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): Democrats denouncing the bill. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaking for hours, delaying a final vote.
HAKEEM JEFFRIES, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT LEADER: I'm going to take my time and ensure that the American people fully understand how damaging this bill will be to their quality of life.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): The multi trillion dollar legislation would unlock tax cuts and funding boosts for national security, partly paid for by the largest cut to the federal safety net in decades. Tax breaks and changes to the tax code could benefit corporate America, manufacturers and high income Americans, while low income Americans could be worse off due to the bill's historic cuts to Medicaid and food stamps.
A ripple effect could also hit the health care system, especially rural hospitals. And roughly $3.4 trillion is also projected to be added to the deficit over the next decade. In Washington, Michael Yoshida reporting.
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VAUSE: The budget was passed under a method called reconciliation. I asked Natasha Sarin, president of the Yale Budget Lab, to explain how that works and what it all means for the national debt.
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NARASHA SARIN, ECONOMIST: So reconciliation is a very particular kind of policy tool. It is meant to allow lawmakers to make changes that reflect things relating to budgets and have a deficit impact. But importantly, they can't have a deficit impact over anything longer than the 10-year horizon.
Lawmakers decided to sort of abandon norms with respect to how they were making choices about the extent to which they could ultimately have a deficit impact. Because instead of sort of owning the fact that what they're doing here is spending 3 trillion plus dollars on the extension of expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as well as a host of new tax cuts, things like no tax on tips or no tax on overtime, lawmakers instead said let's pretend that those costs don't really exist and let's instead adopt something with technical sounding name. It's called a current policy baseline.
But what it essentially is magic math. It says that, oh, because those tax cuts are slated to expire, we don't actually have to pay for their extension. The equivalent thing is like if you're living in a house and you're paying rent, you say, well, because I'm already living here, I don't have to pay rent anymore.
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VAUSE: Well, U.S. Stocks finished out a shortened holiday trading week on a major upswing. In a moment, what's driving the rally on Wall Street, as well as a fall in unemployment?
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VAUSE: Just days away from President Trump's July 9th deadline and new trade deals with dozens of countries hoping to avoid the worst of his reciprocal tariffs. The U.S. president says he'll likely send letters Friday informing trading partners what they're going to pay to do business with the United States.
The president has only made deals with three nations since hitting a 90-day pause back in April. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said about 100 countries could continue to face a 10 percent minimum tariff rate once the deadline has passed.
Meantime, the latest economic data shows the U.S. added more jobs than expected last month. The financial news is helping shape the nationwide perception of the economy and is sending stocks soaring as Matt Egan reports.
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MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: U.S. stocks zooming into record territory on this holiday shortened session. Both the benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gaining about 1 percent to close at record highs. The Dow is less than 200 points away from an all-time high of its own.
And Fear & Greed, the CNN gauge of market sentiment flipping into extreme greed mode for the first time in more than a year. It's been quite a turnaround from extreme fear just a few months ago.
Investors are clearly relieved at the better-than-expected June jobs report. It showed that the economy added 147,000 jobs during the month of June. That easily beat expectations. The unemployment rate was supposed to go up. It didn't. It went down to 4.1 percent.
All of this paints the picture of a surprisingly resilient job market. Despite all that uncertainty caused by the trade war, every time forecasters expect a real slowdown it doesn't happen and this job market just continues to chug along.
Now, we should note, though, that beneath those positive headlines there were some other trends that bear watching notably the fact that job growth was not widespread. It was really concentrated in three areas -- leisure and hospitality, healthcare, and state and local government jobs, in particular education jobs.
Some sectors did lose jobs including manufacturing which lost 7,000 jobs for the second month in a row. That's, of course, the exact opposite of what the administration wants with its high tariffs. Also the federal government lost jobs as well.
The black unemployment rate surged to nearly 7 percent. That's the highest level in three years.
And lastly, we've got to keep an eye on the supply of workers because we did see that the number of people who are looking for work that fell in June and that did help drive the unemployment rate lower.
Morgan Stanley says that this is early evidence that the immigration crackdown from the administration is, quote, "having a chilling effect" on the workforce.
The bottom line here is, yes, this job market continues to defy expectations. And it does look resilient. But there are some concerning trends just beneath the surface that bear watching.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Matt Egan, thank you very much.
Now heavy rainfall is coming to the southeastern U.S. this weekend. In a moment, forecasts for an increased likelihood of a tropical storm. That story and more in a moment.
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VAUSE: Europe's heat wave is creating a high fire risk in some parts in Greece. Fire crews battled the flames just outside the capital, Athens. Some residents were forced to evacuate their homes.
CNN's Pau Mosquera has more now on the impact this heat wave is having across the continent.
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PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After a few days of intense heat, much of Europe continues to experience relentless high temperatures. That's the case, for example, of Spain, where much of the center, south and east of the country has been on Thursday under heat warnings as the Spanish National Weather Service said that they were predicting, or at least forecasting, that the thermometer would climb above the 36 degrees Celsius.
Even in some locations of the community of Madrid, they were expecting the thermometer to get as high as 39 degrees Celsius. That's why we have seen many families deciding to spend the day near the public fountains, enjoying the jets of water to try to stay fresh.
But this situation is not exclusive to Spain, as at least a dozen European countries have also been on Thursday under heat warnings. And in the case of some points and locations of Austria, Serbia and Bosnia, they even were under red warnings, meaning there were risks for those most vulnerable.
Also, we know that on Thursday it was expected a cold mass of air to enter by the northwest of the country and to start cooling down the situation in many different cities.
But it seems like Spain is not going to really benefit from this cold mass of air, because in cities like the capital in Madrid is still expected to see how the temperatures are going to get as high as 30 or 35 degrees Celsius over the weekend.
Pau Mosquera, CNN -- Madrid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:44:49]
VAUSE: So far, a relatively quiet start for this year's hurricane season in the U.S. But now a tropical storm brewing off Florida's coast is bringing the chance of some tropical turbulence just in time for the July 4th holiday weekend.
Here's CNNs Derek Van Dam.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So you think the Atlantic 2025 hurricane season is off to a slow start? Well, to be honest, it's all about perspective.
If we go back a year ago, we already had Hurricane Beryl which ended up being the earliest forming Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record.
Now this season, we've already had an A name and a B name -- remember Andrea and Barry? They came and they went very low impact storms. And we have the potential for Chantal going forward across the southeast coast.
But really we have a lot of the hurricane season ahead of us. This is kind of the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. You can see that peaks really in the middle of September, where we anticipate the most tropical storm and hurricane activity.
We're still here -- look at that. Very, very slow. And that's what we would expect this time of year. But it ramps up quickly and it all has to do with the ocean's water temperatures, right.
So what are we looking at now? We've got this stalled out frontal boundary across the southeastern U.S. and depending on how it interacts with the upper levels and the lower-level winds, this could start to see some counterclockwise rotation off the coast of the Carolinas this weekend.
So we need to monitor this area, this swirling mass of showers and thunderstorms for potential tropical development. There's certainly enough warm water within this area. We're talking about temperatures ranging from 2 to 4 degrees above normal, especially where you see this darker shading of orange.
We look towards the Gulf, 1 to 2 degrees above normal. Remember when you start talking above average water temperatures, that's like jet fuel for developing thunderstorms.
And it's interesting to note when you look climatologically for the month of July, these are the areas that we typically see tropical storm development. Named tropical systems right off the coast of the Carolinas into the southeastern U.S., as well as the Gulf and even parts of the eastern Caribbean as well.
So we look for these locations to previous seasons to see where we would likely experience tropical development.
Now, we do still have a very, very bullish season ahead of us according to many outlooks. You can see the average season is roughly 14 named storms, but NOAA has come out with anywhere from 13 to 19. So we're waiting towards an above average season according to their predictions. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Derek, thank you.
Now in New York, the Fourth of July, synonymous with the biggest competitive eating contest in the United States. It's truly disgusting.
Coming up, an expert breaks down the strategy that has helped winners of the Nathan's hot dog eating contest.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am announcing the creation of a new monument to the giants of our past. I am signing an executive order to establish the National Guard of American Heroes, a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live.
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VAUSE: That was five years ago, President Trump speaking at Mount Rushmore. And buried inside that Big, Beautiful Bill was $40 million in funding for that Garden of Heroes. Now, though, it seems meeting the deadline this time next year, the nation's 250th anniversary celebration seems kind of doubtful.
Still, some artists are keen to be part of Trump's Garden of American Heroes. But as CNN Sunlen Serfaty reports, others are giving the whole thing a pass.
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JOHN BELARDO, FIGURATIVE SCULPTOR: This is an unfired clay maquette, or I call it a bozzetto which is the Italian term for a small model.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Artist John Belardo hopes to be chosen by the White House to turn this eight-inch model into an eight- foot statue.
BELARDO: It's a very strong base-down triangle, a lot of movement going up in this direction.
SERFATY: He's one of the many artists vying to create statues for the National Garden of American Heroes, Trump's personal project, meant to debut at the nation's big 250th anniversary celebration next July.
BELARDO: I'm hoping for is Herman Melville, which, of course, was the author of "Moby Dick". SERFATY: But there are layers of uncertainty around the logistics of
the project and whether it will come together. And misgivings about the president who has commissioned it, all turning the project into a controversial brew of art and politics.
What about those artists and some in the art community who are sitting this out because they say I do not want anything to do with it because it's related to President Trump?
BELARDO: Well, this is going to be sound even more controversial but politics makes us all stupid.
I'm just going to be an artist, you know. And I'm not trying to get involved in politics.
SEFATY: While it's the talk of the art scene, there are questions over the ability to deliver statues in time without sacrificing quality.
MICAH SPRINGUT, FOUNDER, MONUMENTAL LABS: I think it'd be great if our government wanted to fund the arts fully, and wanted to bring about an American renaissance.
SERFATY: Micah Springut runs this marble fabricator just outside of the Bronx in New York, where some of the statues could be made.
250 statues -- is that achievable in one year?
SPRINGUT: Oh, no. Absolutely not. That's -- not in America. You can maybe get some of this stuff done in China really quickly. Maybe not such a high quality.
SERFATY: There are major challenges to a project like this. The cost, the timeline, and even artists being able to get their hands on materials like this. That's why Springut is already lining up the material now.
SPRINGUT: There's no time to actually go source the block from the mountains in Italy. So they're going to have to come to our workshop, see what we have and pick from there.
SERFATY: They're going to say, ok, I want this, I want this, I want this.
SPRINGUT: Yes. Right. Right.
SERFATY: There's no time to get it from abroad.
SPRINGUT: There's no time. You'd wait two months for that to happen. You'd be -- you'd miss the deadline.
SERFATY: Others in the art world are sitting this out for now.
MELISSA WALKER, CAROLINA BRONZE SCULPTURE: They just really haven't thought this through.
SERFATY: Melissa Walker works at a bronze foundry in North Carolina. WALKER: I'm afraid in less than a year's time, it's going to be a
giant field and nothing much will be done. They haven't even picked a site yet and they still have so much work to do to get the site ready to put sculpture in.
SERFATY: At least one place, South Dakota, is lobbying for the project.
TRUMP: We're picking the final sites now. It's between various states that want it very badly.
SERFATY: Drawing up this flashy proposal for a 40-acre patch of land in the shadow of Mount Rushmore. Unlike four U.S. presidents, Trump envisions an eclectic mix of historical and modern figures.
TRUMP: We're going to pick the greatest people that this country has ever known.
SERFATY: Like Kobe Bryant, Amelia Earhart, Walt Disney, Muhammad Ali, Christopher Columbus, Alex Trebek, Sally Ride, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Whitney Houston, Steve Jobs and Shirley Temple among others.
You're making this as something you see that will outlast President Trump -- outlast this moment of controversy.
BELARDO: It's not who commissioned it. It's not even about me who made it. It's about the subject matter. It's about the ideals that we're trying to connect to.
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VAUSE: Preparations are underway for a time-honored July 4th tradition in New York City. The official weigh in for the Nathan's hot dog eating contest took place at Hudson Yards Thursday. And this year saw the return of 16-time winner Joey Jaws Chestnut. Joey Jaws Chestnut.
He shared details of his technique to try and outeat the current champ and earn back that mustard belt.
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JOEY JAWS CHESTNUT, HOT DOG EATING CHAMPION: I do a practice once a week and before every practice, there's a cleanse period where there's no solid food and the practice is like a full-on contest.
And then afterwards there's recovery. And it takes me days to get back to my normal weight. And then once I get back to my normal weight, then I do my cleanse. And then I do the practice again. So I call it the cycle.
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VAUSE: Yes. Professional gluttony is not easy. And a few years ago, at the July 4th contest, Chestnut set the world record for hot dog eating -- 76 in all. And yes, that includes the bun.
CNN's Harry Enten reports on what it takes to be a big winner in the world of competitive eating.
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GEORGE SHEA, CO-FOUNDER, MAJOR LEAGUE EATING: If I were picking the absolute best physique for a competitive eater, I would say your height -- six-two, maybe six-three, big shoulders, big frame, but not tight abs. You don't want to be ripped. You want expansion.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA ANALYST: Oh. Well then I'm in perfect condition.
If you're in my physical shape, then George Shea, the co-founder of Major League Eating, has the sport for you.
Shea has been the host of Nathan's famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest since 1991. He walked us through the techniques used by the most prominent competitive eaters.
SHEA: Kobayashi obviously had his own technique of separating out the hot dog from the bun, dunking it in water. And then obviously --
ENTEN: Joey Chestnut has a completely different technique.
SHEA: It's actually a science. Joey is the best at it. He crunches it up in a ball after he's dunked it, and then just drops it down his gully.
ENTEN: He's referring to the OGs of the hot dog eating contest -- Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi.
SHEA: Kobayashi would never beat Joey in the long run because his frame is too small. Joey is a big guy, six feet-one big, so he has that advantage.
But on top of that, he's done this for so long and he has sort of trained.
ENTEN: So how do folks feel about the annual hot dog eating contest?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joey Chestnut, I'm coming for you.
ENTEN: What do you think of the idea of trying to shove as many hot dogs down in a set period amount of time?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's hilarious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they're crazy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I love it. I love it.
ENTEN: If you wanted to in a ten-minute period of time, how many hot dogs do you think that you could put down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably about four.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1,000.
ENTEN: 1,000 -- that seems like a heck of a lot of hot dogs in ten minutes.
How about you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably like 40.
ENTEN: So the other thing that you do when you're out in Coney Island is to ride the nearly 100-year-old Cyclone like I did earlier.
Let's take a listen to how I did.
Yahweh, my friend Yahweh. Yahweh.
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VAUSE: Happy July 4th.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues next with Kim Brunhuber after a very short break.
See you next week. Have a good weekend.
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