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CNN Live Event/Special
The Fourth In America. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired July 04, 2025 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:00:00]
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: The city of brotherly love, illuminating a knockout display of fireworks. Welcome back to CNN's the Fourth in America. I'm Dana Bash here with Boris Sanchez. And we are watching the skies all over the country, and it's not just the skies full of fireworks. We are going to have a lot more stars singing tonight, and you're going to be in for a lot of treats.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And now we're going to take you to a singer songwriter, really an unbelievable talent who puts his feelings on the page. His music is raw and it has captured the voices of Americans coast-to-coast on top of two Grammy nominations. Performing hits from his album, Stick Season, this is Noah Kahan.
(NOAH KAHAN LIVE PERFORMANCE)
[22:05:00]
[22:10:00]
SANCHEZ: What a star.
[22:15:00]
You could see the crowd hanging on --
BASH: I love that. That made me very happy, Boris.
SANCHEZ: That was great. Yes, that was Noah Kahan live on the JaM Cellar Stage in BottleRock, playing his hit singles, Stick Season, Dial drunk and Northern Attitude, all from his multi-platinum breaker album, Stick Season.
You could, of course, catch him this summer and fall as the headlines festival to cross Europe and here stateside.
BASH: Okay. We're going to go to Nashville now. And while we wait for one of the biggest shows of the night, we have a little something new. And you see right there John Berman. He's changed his clothes, but he hasn't changed his brain, which is the most important thing because he's wicked smart, as they say, where he's from. He is a celebrity Jeopardy champion, so he takes trivia very seriously. So, it's time for something that we are calling Burnin' Berman. SANCHEZ: So, here is the rundown. Dana and I are going to be doing a little pop quiz on American history because, of course, it is America's birthday, but there is a bit of a Nashville twist, a really spicy twist with each question that you get wrong, John. You have to set your mouth ablaze with some of Nashville's hottest wings. And the more mistakes you make, the hotter they get.
May the 4th be with you, my friend. Let's play with question one. John, what year was the Declaration of Independence signed? A softball to start, John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: 1776.
SANCHEZ: Got it. Boom, boom, boom, there it is. There it is, yes.
John, which U.S. Presidential Library is in a city named Independence? Which Presidential Library is in a city named Independence?
BERMAN: The Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri.
SANCHEZ: Correct.
BASH: I knew he would get that one.
SANCHEZ: That is impressive. I didn't know that one.
John, which founding father envisioned celebrating July 4th with fireworks?
BERMAN: Thomas Jefferson.
BASH: I thought you were going to get this one. Think closer to home, John, closer to home, like Boston.
BERMAN: John Adams? John Hancock?
SANCHEZ: Time.
BERMAN: Samuel.
BASH: No, John Adams. You got it. But you still have -- but you still have to eat the wing, John Adams.
SANCHEZ: You still got to eat the wing, yes. Let's see it.
BERMAN: All right. It goes mild, medium, hot, and then the last one is ring of fire, because it gets you on both ends.
All right, keep going.
SANCHEZ: That's very nice. Good to know. Good to know, John.
John, what year did July 4th actually become a federal holiday?
BERMAN: 1792.
SANCHEZ: Ow, no, boo, boo. Wrong.
BASH: No, wrong, wrong.
SANCHEZ: It wasn't until 1870. Eat the next wing.
BERMAN: All right, medium.
SANCHEZ: John, we got to go quickly. We got to stump you. We only got a couple questions up.
Which battle --
BERMAN: Go.
SANCHEZ: Good. Good. Okay. A battle during which war inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star-Spangled Banner.
BERMAN: 1812, Battle of 1812 near Fort McHenry in Baltimore. But I'm going to have a hot one.
SANCHEZ: You got it. You got it, John. One more.
BASH: Done, done, done, you got it.
SANCHEZ: One more. Which U.S president was born on the 4th of July?
BERMAN: Oh, I don't know. Franklin Pierce.
SANCHEZ: Calvin Coolidge. Eat that final wing. John. Before you drink the milk, eat the wing. Come on. Oh.
BERMAN: Ring of fire, ring of fire.
SANCHEZ: Oh
BASH: Oh God, here we go.
SANCHEZ: John Berman is such sport and a great dresser. Look at that.
BERMAN: Ring of fire.
SANCHEZ: Thank you so much.
BASH: Thank you, John.
SANCHEZ: So, we've got even more fantastic celebrations ahead. We'll take you to St. Louis where the skies around the magical arch are going to light up in dazzling colors as the party continues and heads west.
BASH: Plus, it's about to get hot here, so hot, Nelly and more A-list, musical performances, including The Fray are minutes away.
You're watching CNN's the Fourth in America.
[22:20:02] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Welcome back to CNN's Fourth in America. We are ready to stay up all night for this party. You're looking at pictures of the fireworks in Boston.
SANCHEZ: And Victor Blackwell and Sara Sidner are helping us do it. Let's head up to the West Coast. They are in beautiful San Diego, California. And I think they're on a boat.
Are you all ready?
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Are we ready? Don't we look ready?
SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: We stay ready.
BLACKWELL: Are you guys ready? I mean, we stay ready. Let me --
SIDNER: We stay ready.
BLACKWELL: I got to fix your S though. We got to keep the USA represented right.
SIDNER: The S is problematic today, but nothing else is because we're here for the Big Bay Boom. There's like a half a million people who watch this. They come out here, the San Diego Bay. I don't know why you wouldn't come. You all did not get the best assignment. We did.
BLACKWELL: It is the biggest firework show on the West Coast with a half million people, as you said, who are coming here. We've got shows from across the country when it moves west. We've got Houston, New Orleans, Las Vegas at The Sphere, we're taking you to Alaska and for the first time, Antarctica.
[22:25:02]
Listen, if you all are sweltering in Washington, it's negative 32 Fahrenheit in Antarctica for their parade. A whole lot to show when the show moves west.
SIDNER: And it's only about, what, 68 degrees, it's very hard.
BLACKWELL: Clear sky out here, you can't beat it. We're aboard the beautiful red, white, and blue Patriot here. You can see the full boats, a big party here.
SIDNER: And we have friends, family, people that just showed up and decided to jump on the boat.
BLACKWELL: And flair.
SIDNER: And flair, friends, family, and flair, always.
BLACKWELL: You need two pieces of flair to get off of this boat, right? And we checked every person who has a (INAUDIBLE).
SIDNER: 100 percent true.
We are going to do something for you, because last year I jumped on a Sea-Doo like a crazy animal. This time, we're going to show you what speed really looks like.
BLACKWELL: All right. Listen, we need put these --
SIDNER: We have been told we are not allowed to go as fast as this bad boy can go until we are strapped in. Hold on.
BLACKWELL: And they didn't even (INAUDIBLE) twice. Hold on.
SIDNER: Hold on. I'm strapping in.
BLACKWELL: All right. We're going back to you in D.C. and --
SIDNER: We're heading back to in D.C.
BLACKWELL: We see here on the Patriot.
SIDNER: Rev it up. Rev it up. Let's go. Ready for the G-forces people.
SANCHEZ: You got to be careful.
BLACKWELL: Hold onto your headbands.
BASH: See how much speed this boat can get. That's a good looking boat.
SANCHEZ: That is a very nice boat, very patriotic, as are Victor and Sara. I'm really excited to see them and I wonder what kind of fireworks they're going to have in that car.
BASH: I was just going to ask that question. Well, you know what? Stay tuned. We'll find out.
SANCHEZ: You're going to have to stay tuned to watch. We are feeling fantastic right now, and it's about to get even better because Nelly is about to hit the stage. Let's go to Kansas City. This is presented by (INAUDIBLE).
(NELLY LIVE PERFORMANCE)
[22:30:00]
(NELLY PERFORMING "DILEMMA")
NELLY, SINGER: You know what? Hold on. This day act like they know what's going on. I'm a switch it up. I need y'all to follow along.
(NELLY PERFORMING "DILEMMA")
(NELLY PERFORMING "RIDE WIT ME")
NELLY: Put your hands in the air one more time.
[22:35:00]
(NELLY PERFORMING "JUST A DREAM")
NELLY: Okay, Kansas. I need your (inaudible) one more for me.
(NELLY PERFORMING "JUST A DREAM")
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: An incredible performance from Nelly, and I could get behind the message on his T-shirt, tacos, and tequila. Not very Fourth of July, but still, I think.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Oh, yes.
SANCHEZ: Good message overall. Yes.
BASH: Okay.
SANCHEZ: The Grammy award winning rapper is just starting the U.S. leg of his Where the Party At world Tour. Really, an exciting moment there for him. We're going to keep watching. I think we have got some fireworks we're watching in Boston. We're also going to watch Nashville as well where fireworks just started for one of the most spectacular fireworks spectacles in the country.
BASH: Plus, Dierks Bentley, Lainey Wilson, The Fray, Jeremiah, the Counting Crows, they're all on deck. You don't want to go anywhere. Stay with us.
[22:40:00]
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SANCHEZ: You're looking at incredible pictures of a massive fireworks show in Nashville, the music city. Let's go there with our good friend, John Berman, fresh off eating some very spicy wings, John.
BERMAN: Yes. Fireworks in the sky. Fireworks in my belly right now from those wings. I got to say, the sky is just bedazzled right now, like my shirt, like my fine bedazzled Nashville shirt here. Forty thousand pounds of fireworks, 200 miles of wire they have here, eight pyrotechnicians in a steel bunker setting this all off, and you can understand why.
They like to say this is the biggest, longest fireworks show in the country, New York be damned. Hundreds of thousands of people here as far as the eye can see, and they've been loving every second of this night.
And now I want to bring you on stage here in Nashville, my new good friend, multi-platinum country star, Dierks Bentley.
DIERKS BENTLEY, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Are we doing some living tonight, y'all?
[22:45:00]
(DIERKS BENTLEY PERFORMING "LIVING")
BENTLEY: If you're living tonight, Nashville, get those arms up one time.
(DIERKS BENTLEY PERFORMING "LIVING")
BENTLEY: You need plenty of water down there? All right. Y'all, what a amazing time to -- what an amazing time to be alive. We're so excited to be your host tonight down here at the Fourth of July show in Nashville, Tennessee. What an amazing spot to celebrate the fourth, y'all.
This song is all about faith, love, and freedom. I see those American flags all around the building tonight. Switch to that big one right there. Happy Fourth of July Nashville.
[22:50:00]
(DIERKS BENTLEY PERFORMING "I HOLD ON")
BENTLEY: We're in Nashville, Tennessee. I know we got some good singers out there. I can hear you, Nashville. Come on.
(DIERKS BENTLEY PERFORMING "LIVING")
BASH: That's Dierks Bentley from Nashville's Let Freedom Sing Music City, July 4. He's on his Broken Branches tour right now.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Performing now from the Summerfest Festival, Grammy winning country superstar Lainey Wilson with her single Whirlwind.
[22:55:00]
(LAINEY WILSON PERFORMING "WHIRLWIND")
SANCHEZ: That was awesome. You can catch the U.S. leg of Lainey's World Tour Whirlwind when it kicks off next month. We'll have more from her in just a bit.
BASH: And a little taste of Texas for you. The fireworks over Houston tonight. The music and the fun will continue in cities all across the country, plus everyone knows we're all in over our heads for The Fray.
They're coming up and much, much more. You're watching CNN's The Fourth in America.
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