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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

World Mourns After Liverpool Star Diogo Jota Dies In Spain; Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Takes Place Today; Storms Brew off Southeast Coast, Threatens July 4th Weekend. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired July 04, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

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CARDINAL ROBERT MCELROY, ARCHBISHOP OF WASHINGTON, D.C.: And so this is simply not only incompatible with Catholic teaching, it's inhumane and it's morally repugnant.

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: You know, some people say that those being deported have got criminal convictions and therefore it is legitimate to do this. What do you say?

MCELROY: The government has a right to deport people who have been convicted of serious crimes, especially violent crimes. And for that, I don't think Americans would have objections at all, and I certainly wouldn't. But this is not that. This is simply an effort to try to bring really a sense of terror to those who are undocumented.

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MJ LEE, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come, the death of 28-year-old Liverpool star Diogo Jota has stunned the soccer world. We have a live report ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:35:43]

LEE: Soccer fans across the globe are in mourning over the death of 28-year-old Liverpool and Portugal star Diogo Jota. He was killed Thursday in a car crash in Spain alongside his younger brother Andre Silva. A private family wake is currently underway in Portugal but a service that's open to the public will be held at the church later in the day.

Joining us now with more is CNN's Amanda Davies. Amanda, what more can you tell us?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, MJ. It's just over 24 hours since people were waking up to the tragic news of the death of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva.

And really, the shock and the tragedy, and the cruelty of this news reflected in the tributes and the condolences being paid from the sporting world and beyond -- the likes of the Portuguese president, the British prime minister, the head of World Football's governing -- World Football's governing body, FIFA. And the likes of Wimbledon players being reportedly able to break the all-white traditional dress code to wear black armbands in tribute.

We saw members of the European championship women's football team holding moments of silence ahead of their matches on Thursday -- Portugal against Spain, of course -- particularly poignant.

But those images reflected -- echoing what we saw around football clubs across Europe -- the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Bayern Munich with so many players who have played alongside or against Diogo Jota domestically or internationally.

He was a player with so many friends, family, and such a great heart that is being reflected in these tributes.

The Liverpool boss, Arne Slot, describing him as the essence of what a Liverpool player should be.

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DAVIES (voiceover): A champion taken far too soon. Diogo Jota was in the prime of his life. In the space of a month he'd won the Premier League with his club Liverpool, the Nations League with his country, Portugal, and married the love of his life, the mother of his three children. His last Instagram post just hours before his death, a video of the wedding he'd celebrated just 10 days before.

His tragic death confirmed by Spanish authorities. They say his car burst into flames after spinning off the road when a tire burst while overtaking. Inside, Jota and his 25-year-old brother, fellow footballer Andre Silva.

Jota's club, Liverpool, saying simply they're devastated by the news, describing it as "an unimaginable loss" and requesting privacy for his family, friends and teammates.

Jota arrived at Liverpool in 2020 quickly establishing himself as a key attacking player, so much so that his contract was extended two years later.

DIOGO JOTA, PORTUGUESE SOCCER PLAYER, KILLED IN CAR CRASH: I am now signing a new long-term deal. It's obviously from the club's perspective, a proof of belief in myself as a player.

DAVIES (voiceover): His credentials, though well-known, even before he arrived in Liverpool. A key player in Wolves promotion to the Premier League in 2017 after impressing in Spain with Atletico de Madrid and Puerto in Portugal, an amazing achievement for a small but talented youngster who first kicked a ball at the tiny club of Gondomar. They, too, devastated by the brothers' deaths. "We will cherish the memory of both of them forever, proud to have seen them grow as athletes and exemplary young men." Jota was proud of where he'd come from and for all he had already achieved. The Champions League was one he still very much wanted to win.

[05:40:05]

JOTA: That drive is in me, and I know it is in my teammates and in all of the staff. So we have everything to fight for those titles out there.

DAVIES (voiceover): Those teammates now with a huge hole in their dressing room without Anfield's beloved Portuguese number 20.

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DAVIES: And it's not just the footballing side of this story but the human side that makes it so tragic. It's Liverpool where he and his family have called home for the last five years. The club that really took him to their hearts.

Fans have been descending on Anfield to lay their tributes over the last 24 hours. Some really powerful images. The flags there flying at half mast and a book of condolences has been opened.

But for all the success, Jota never forgot his roots. And it's at his hometown in Gondomar where a private wake is being held this morning for both he and his brother Andre Silva, with a funeral set to take place on Saturday.

LEE: Amanda Davies, thank you for that.

And we'll be right back.

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[05:45:35]

LEE: Welcome back. I'm MJ Lee. Here are some of the stories we're watching today.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign his sweeping domestic policy bill into law today. It passed the House after Republican leaders convinced several holdouts to change their votes. The measure extends the 2017 Trump tax cuts and slashes spending for food assistance and Medicaid.

Ukraine says Russia launched a record number of attack drones overnight. Ukraine's Air Force says Russia launched nearly 540 drones, plus 11 ballistic and cruise missiles in the early hours of Friday. The mayor of Kyiv says at least 23 people were wounded. U.S. President Donald Trump is set to speak with Ukraine's president in the coming hours.

And President Trump is hinting once again that he could give undocumented farmworkers in the U.S. a pass. At a rally in Iowa the president said he still wants criminals, murderers, and drug dealers deported but that farmers should be able to vouch for their workers.

And preparations are underway for a time-honored July Fourth tradition in New York City. That's the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, and this year it features the return of a 16-time winner.

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GEORGE SHEA, HOST, NATHAN'S FAMOUS 4TH OF JULY HOT DOG EATING CONTEST: The Nathan's famous hot dog eating champion of the world, Joey Chestnut.

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LEE: Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, who you see here at the weigh-in for the competition, holds a world record in the stomach-churning event. He has a carefully developed method for wolfing down those dogs.

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JOEY CHESTNUT, HOT DOG EAT CHAMP: 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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LEE: Another staple of the competition is the host that you saw just a moment ago. That's George Shea with his trademark straw hat, suit, and tie. Shea took over the competition in 1991 and helped turn the homespun event into a spectacle known worldwide.

And George Shea joins me live now from New York. George, good morning to you. I'm so grateful that you woke up early to join us. This is sort of like the morning of the Super Bowl for you.

Given that not everyone's an expert on competitive eating, walk us through quickly the rules of the contest.

SHEA: Um, well, it is -- it is -- it is our Christmas and our Super Bowl so I would have been up anyway. Thank you for having me.

The rules are simple. It's a 10-minute all-you-can-eat eating contest and the eaters have to finish all of the hot dog and bun. They can dunk it, but they can't dunk it for half an hour and let the bun dissolve. And there can be no interaction with other eaters. And at the conclusion of the contest they have to step away from their plates and let the judges do their thing.

But it's very, very straightforward. Ten minutes, all you can eat.

LEE: And it's just plain hot dogs, plain buns. You can't add any fixings, and it sounds like you can have some water. SHEA: You can have whatever you'd like to drink -- yeah, non-

alcoholic. And then you can if you -- if you choose add condiments but no one would do that because when you're -- when you're talking about eating 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes there's no time to be spreading mustard on these dogs. They -- there -- it truly is an assembly line of trying to get the food efficiently into your mouth. So generally, no condiments but the rules allow it.

LEE: OK, and can anything get you disqualified mid-competition? Like, for example, if you can't hold down your hot dogs, what happens?

SHEA: Well, that is referred to as contrary to swallowing. That would be an immediate DQ. And any sort of interaction with another eater or their food would also be an immediate DQ.

[05:50:00]

LEE: OK. And you were at that weigh-in even yesterday. How are these contestants chosen? What are the qualifications?

SHEA: So they come from all over the world and all over the United States. If you're coming from England or if you're coming from Australia or Brazil, you can represent the country of you are the top eater there. If you're in the United States -- if you're an American eater you have to qualify at one of our events, and we do events all over the -- all over the place.

So I was in a qualifying event in Washington, D.C. recently and the male eater ate 33, and one of the young female eaters consumed eight. So it -- but, you know, the issue is that there are hundreds of people trying to get into this contest going to these qualifiers.

LEE: OK. And George, how do most of these people prepare for the big day? We heard Joey Chestnut there talking about doing a cleanse afterwards. I'm just fascinated by, like, how you even get your stomach to be ready to have that many hot dogs in it.

SHEA: Well, I will say this. First of all, Major League Eating, which is the world governing body that I belong to, does not promote any home training or any preparation like that. What we suggest and do that the eaters sort of train by going to other events, and there are many of those.

But I do think that from what I've heard from Joey and the others, they do want to have the feeling of fullness and they -- and they do practice so that they get that ability to test their capacity. And then they absolutely slow down the day before the contest.

I think it would be a mistake, obviously, for someone to fast for a week prior because then your stomach would shrink and that would not be where you want to be. But I do think probably that almost all of these eaters are not eating last night. They're not eating this morning obviously.

And -- but what it really comes down to -- and this is very true -- some people have greater natural capacity -- LEE: Um-hum.

SHEA: -- and then it really -- so you have to build on that. But it really comes down to your -- sort of, your hand speed and how you manage the food, and then your ability to sort of push through at the end when everybody is sort of overwhelmed.

LEE: OK. So it's a mix of, like, science and strategy.

Last question for you. Joey Chestnut, who again, is the 16-time champion. He couldn't compete last year. He does want to make a big comeback this year.

Your predictions?

SHEA: So I was asked this last night on a gambling program, and I had to be very, very careful. The over-under odds out in Vegas are 71. To me, that seems honestly a little low. I think he's going to come back really seeking a dominant statement.

I think the only thing that would slow him down are the variables he doesn't control. When were the hot dogs cooked? Did they come out to the table early? Are they a little harder to eat than others? You know what I'm saying? So all of those things will come into play.

If I had to guess, a dominant statement from Joey Chestnut in the mid- 70s.

LEE: All right, George Shea. I'll be thinking about this interview. Thank you so much.

SHEA: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

LEE: And we'll be right back.

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[05:57:40]

LEE: New York and D.C. will get some near perfect weather for the holiday weekend. But in parts of the Southeast there's a tropical system that's threatening to spoil the fun.

CNN's Derek Van Dam has more.

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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Parades, picnics, barbecues, and fireworks. Does it get much more Fourth of July than that? But let's add in at least going to the beach as part of your options weekend. We have something that could maybe put a hamper on your outdoor plans, especially if you're located across the Southeast.

Take note of that swirling mass of shower and thunderstorm activity. We're watching that for a potential tropical mischief. More on that in just a moment. But let's head to the Gulf Coast where the water temperatures are like bathwater. We're talking upwards of 84 to 86 degrees from the beaches near Galveston all the way to Destin. The good news out of this forecast, we should generally stay dry.

But it's a different story across the Florida Peninsula with this kind of tropical entity meandering nearby. This could bring some heftier rain showers across the Florida Peninsula, so that could impact your outdoor plans in Tampa, Jacksonville, to Miami.

But more of a concern here is across the Carolinas. Check this out. Myrtle Beach, Charleston, and even as far south as Savannah, depending on how this system develops in the coming days -- that will certainly bring the potential here for heavy rain, strong, gusty winds, and the potential for rip currents as well. So be careful along these beaches.

The further north we travel along the Eastern Seaboard conditions settle down and we look prime. In fact, optimal for places like Atlantic City as well as Virginia Beach.

Now, we know that Mother Nature has had its own fireworks display here in the past couple of days across the Northeast, but we will settle things down for the big show -- the Fourth of July fireworks displays along the East Coast. At least from D.C. to New York and Boston it should stay dry. Maybe a few showers and thunderstorms popping up across the Midwest.

But here's a detailed outlook for your fireworks forecast. Here is New York City, the Big Apple. You can see a dry looking outlook for one of the most beautiful fireworks displays in my humble opinion. D.C. looking good as well. So maybe you can watch that on CNN later tonight. But the good news is these two locations should stay dry.

Now, this Southeast tropical entity that I talked about -- well, it's all thanks to a trailing cold front that's kind of stalled out over this region. And depending on exactly how the winds develop around this area of lower pressure we could start to see that counterclockwise spin. If we get enough of that this could maybe potentially work its way into a depression or a weak tropical storm.

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So we'll monitor this closely for the beaches of the Carolinas. A rip current risk certainly a threat, not to mention the potential for strong, gusty winds and brief heavy downpours.

Back to you.

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LEE: And thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm MJ Lee in Washington. And a Happy Fourth of July to everyone here in the U.S. And "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.