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CNN Live Event/Special
CNN Headlines: Historic Heat Crashes July 4th Celebrations For Millions; Taylor Swift And Travis Kelce's Wedding Festivities Begin; Team USA Looking Ahead After Controversial Red Card. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired July 03, 2026 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: Well, tomorrow is the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, and we will see the glizzy guzzler himself, Joey Chestnut, defend his title on Coney Island. Contestants try to eat as many hot dogs as they can in 10 minutes. Chestnut has won 17 of the past 20 Nathan's contests. Yeah, why show up? So we'll see if he wins the mustard belt again.
It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.
A life-threatening heat wave scorching half the country heading into the big Fourth of July weekend. At least 20 spots up and down the east coast have already tied or broken daily temperature records, and the sweltering heat is set to last through the holiday weekend.
Also, new marine expeditionary units now operating in the Middle East. CENTCOM says it's part of a scheduled deployment. These units -- they typically include more than 2,000 Marines. And it comes amid a pause in peace talks between the U.S. and Iran ahead of the former supreme leader's funeral.
And could we possibly be just hours away from America's biggest wedding of the year? Don't tell my fiance that. Sources say Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are expected to tie the knot this evening at New York's famed Madison Square Garden. Details of the celebration remain tightly under wraps.
Also, now back to our top story this morning. The heat is on. CNN's Reed Benyon explains what Americans are facing this Fourth of July weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sucks today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's terrible.
REED BENYON, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): Residents in New York among millions of people on the east coast sweltering in brutal, relentless heat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's super hot. It's super hot in the house. Not happening -- um-um.
BENYON (voiceover): On Thursday, Central Park got hotter than it's been on that date in six decades. The mercury hit 100 degrees, tying the daily record high for that location set in 1966.
The intense heat also straining the power grid. According to Con Edison's outage map, more than 19,000 customers in New York City were without power Thursday evening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything almost melted. The fridge not working. More dark. It's so hot and people don't want to come in here.
BENYON (voiceover): Not all outages were heat related, but the loss of power left many without air conditioning at the worst possible time. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked residents to set their ACs to 78 degrees and unplug appliances to help save electricity.
The Department of Energy also taking action, ordering mid-Atlantic data centers to switch to backup generations instead of using electricity from the public grid.
There's also been a very real impact on safety in many areas, including Pennsylvania where police say upwards of 100 people were treated for heat-related injuries at an event in Berks County. Dozens were hospitalized.
In Philadelphia, officials declared a heat health emergency as that city hit a daily high 103 degrees Thursday, tying the record set in 1901. It's one of multiple cities in the region either canceling or altering July Fourth festivities due to the heat.
I'm Reed Benyon reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Thank you, Reed.
And for all of your weather needs from any location you can download the CNN weather app at cnn.com/cnnweather for up-to-date tracking on your forecast.
Well, a record number of Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home or more over this Fourth of July weekend. More than 72 million, according to AAA, in fact. And more than 85 percent are driving instead of flying even though gas prices have been at four- year highs due to the war with Iran.
The national average is nearing $3.84 a gallon. That is better than a month ago but much higher than last Fourth of July weekend. You can see that comparison.
Experts have some tips for how you can save money on gas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLINT HENDERSON, MANAGING EDITOR, THE POINTS GUY: Don't forget about stacking rewards when it comes to gas prices. You can join fuel rewards programs. Shop at big discount stores, like Costco. Walmart even has discounted gas So there's all kinds of ways to save on gasoline when you go for that big road trip.
Interesting -- we found in a survey with YouGov that American families are traveling this summer. They don't seem to be minding these higher prices for both gas and for tickets. So really interesting that the travel demand has remained really strong despite much higher prices this summer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Well, now to this. High praise coming from the White House for the National Guard units deployed in Washington, D.C. In a ceremony yesterday, Trump administration officials credited the guardsmen with helping reduce crime in the nation's capital, but those claims have been met with some opposition.
CNN's Tom Foreman explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Scores of National Guard troops arrayed in the suffocating heat of Washington, D.C. Top members of the Trump administration out to praise them, all framed by a cascading fountain. It looked like a movie moment.
And the White House's Stephen Miller took center stage to say the deployment of roughly 2,500 troops in the nation's capital since last August has produced a huge success.
[05:35:00]
STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: It is the largest, fastest, steepest reduction in violent crime that has been achieved in any city anywhere in this country since the recording of crime data has existed.
FOREMAN: That's an overstatement according to some analysts who say although crime has dropped it was already plummeting before the troops arrived, and violent crime has been little affected.
Hanging over the event was the sound of protesters who have long considered the guard deployment a kind of occupation by team Trump. The Secretary of Defense had his own take.
PETE HEGSETH, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It's the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude, of people who are so blinded by ideology they can't see law and order and common sense in front of them.
FOREMAN: Also featured a moment of silence for two West Virginia guard members hit in an armed attack last year while they patrolled the city. Twenty-four-year-old Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was critically injured. Twenty-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed. The alleged gunman has pled not guilty. And for now, the National Guard patrols in D.C. are marching on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: A new report from House Democrats claims that donors were duped when they made contributions to America's 250th birthday party thinking they were donating to the bipartisan America's 250 when Trump-backed Freedom 250 was actually getting the money, according to confidential, unnamed sources. Now, if true, the report says that is fraud.
Freedom 250, which is largely overseen by top Trump aides, is hosting the president's Great American State Fair on the National Mall and has other events planned this summer.
A representative for Freedom 250 dismisses the claims, calling it politically driven -- while America 250 says it welcomes all groups to join the celebrations. The White House has not commented.
New details now on a deadly skydiving plane crash last month in Missouri. The National Transportation Safety Board says that there are no signs of engine trouble in the accident that killed 12 people shortly after takeoff. The plane came down nose first in a field near the airport just an hour south of Kansas City and it caught fire. The investigation into what did go wrong continues.
Turning now to new details in that risking and dangerous stunt atop one of New York's tallest skyscrapers. The daredevil couple left court Thursday on supervised released after scaling to the top of the antenna of the Empire State Building.
We are now learning how they were able to access the area nearly 1,500 feet above the ground. A source tells CNN that the pair went in as visitors the day before and hid inside the iconic landmark after closing.
CNN's John Miller has what security footage shows the couple doing and how they were able to evade security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN MILLER, CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: It's kind of interesting and it clearly involves a lot of planning and preoperational surveillance. I would guess that they came there a number of times before Wednesday so that they could study the layout, look at what doors are locked, and where they could hide.
But they -- as you said, they came in there with tickets on Tuesday. They hid before the place closed at -- you know, between 11:00 and 12:00 midnight, and they stayed there. But when they did video canvas inside to see if they could track that, suddenly, at 5:04 a.m. a hatch pops up that leads to that 102nd floor. Apparently, they hid in a maintenance room prior to that. And then there are cables that block that stairway because someone else had tried a stunt like this before, so they put this elaborate set of metal cables there.
But you see them take tools out. He loosens the brackets on the side so there's enough slack. She slips through. He's through. And then they cut two locks on a door that leads up to this -- to this spire. And, you know, they waited until noon when they knew they would get, you know, maximum news coverage, and then they did this with their banner, which said, you know, "When love -- when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." That was their message of love.
The police department's message was one of less than love because they charged them with criminal trespass for staying after the place was closed, burglary for breaking through the cables and the locks, possession of burglars' tools for having the equipment to do that, and reckless endangerment for putting people in danger who had to go up there after them and the risk that they would have posed to people on the ground had they fallen.
[05:40:00]
Their Netflix documentary, "SKYWALKERS: A LOVE STORY" -- you know, I love the quotes from it. She says, "Love is like height. The fear never goes away. You just get better at managing it." But her other line in the documentary's trailer is "Security always has a blind spot."
I think the presumption is that they monetized their social media. They're in it for the clicks. That's not unusual. I think they would probably like to see a sequel to the documentary that takes that love story to its heights -- no pun intended -- and its close with a proposal. And I think they pretty much understood they probably wouldn't go to jail, at least right away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Elsewhere in New York City, if sources are right, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's big day is just hours away at Madison Square Garden.
CNN's Brynn Gingras shares what we know about the closely-guarded celebration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Star-studded guests arriving at Madison Square Garden through a private tent-covered entrance ready to celebrate Taylor Swift's latest era, bride.
Swift and Travis Kelce's rehearsal event reportedly happening in the theater section of MSG with about 100 guests. The artist, known for her record-smashing "Red" album, appears to have ditched the traditional red carpet. Instead, guests will walk a carpet of lavender haze.
Friday is the main event, a source tells CNN. There will be cocktail hour at 4:30 and the wedding is expected to take place on the arena floor at 5:30, with a reception to follow lasting into the morning hours. The New York Times reports it will be a black tie affair and no phones or cameras are allowed inside. Five hundred vehicles are expected to drop off about 1,000 wedding
guests inside the world's most famous arena on Friday, all out of view of the public eye.
STEVE NICKS, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Nice to see you.
GINGRAS (voiceover): Stevie Nicks and Tim McGraw are expected to perform, according to published reports, and possibly Ed Sheeran, which Swift hinted to during a past interview.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he singing at your wedding?
TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Oh! I mean, it would be hard to keep him from it.
GINGRAS (voiceover): Preparations for the two-day bash continue as workers plan to transform the iconic venue into what reportedly will be a garden wonderland echoing the NFL's star enchanting proposal setting.
Security is ramping up in Midtown with barricades set up on many streets surrounding the iconic venue.
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK CITY: When it comes to the event at MSG, what I can say is that there's been application filed for a large event. We are fully prepared. There isn't anything to share beyond that.
GINGRAS (voiceover): And Swifties are already gathering nearby.
SMITTY KOVACH, NEW YORK SWIFTIE: I love the bride era for her. I'm so excited. I want to just have a lot of fun. I just hope she gets to enjoy the more simple parts of life after all the chaos dies down because she deserves it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Next up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, what is the top travel destination in the U.S. this year? It may surprise you. And get this -- no, it's not Orlando.
And out of control wildfires. They sweep across the south of France. Why firefighters are having a tough time putting out the flames.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:47:30]
SMITH: Let's go around the globe starting in Ukraine. The country's capital is observing a day of mourning to honor the victims of a massive Russian attack. Rescue efforts are underway for a second straight day as crews sift through the rubble of buildings that took direct hits. Ukrainian officials say at least 30 people have been confirmed dead and more than 90 others wounded from the strikes.
And protests are intensifying in Albania over a private island luxury report project. The plans are back by President Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The proposal also calls for creating a protected natural area along the coast across from the island, but conservationists are concerned about the threats to the wildlife and delicate ecosystems. People against the project have been gathering outside Parliament. They clashed with police yesterday causing injuries on both sides.
And along France's Mediterranean coast 2,000 firefighters are battling severe wildfires being fanned by strong winds. Authorities say that more than 21,000 acres have been burned in France so far this season. The region has been grappling with parched conditions following the recent heat wave in Europe.
Turning now to the World Cup and America's historic win, which is still being overshadowed by a controversial red card, but it could provide maybe a little extra motivation for a talented Team USA squad.
CNN's sports anchor Coy Wire has more as the team looks ahead to a showdown with Belgium.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: So much drama, pure cinema here in the Bay Area. The last time the World Cup was hosted in America in '94, the U.S. lost in a famous knockout round match against eventual champs Brazil right here in Stanford Stadium. This time in the Bay in this World Cup knockout, the U.S. got the job done despite a controversial red card.
The fans, wearing stars and stripes, were flying high hours before kickoff. And once again, the U.S. came out breathing fire. Breakout star Flo Balogun lit the fuse early bearing the opener. But then came the plot twist. Balogun given a red card. So there were 30 nerve- racking minutes of 10 versus 11, but Malik Tillman uncorked a laser from 20 meters out after a yellow card and hit the back of the net like it had a boarding pass.
The U.S. win 2-mil -- first World Cup knockout win since 2002. Only their second ever. America marching on to the Round of 16.
[05:50:05]
I asked the always softspoken Tillman how he felt when he scored that goal.
MALIK TILLMAN, USA MIDFIELDER: For me, I'm a -- I'm a different type of person on the pitch. Of course, maybe you know it. You don't really see my emotions. But then if you score a goal like this -- I mean, I think also you guys saw my emotions. And then that's a great feeling and, of course, a very proud moment for me.
CHRIS RICHARDS, USA DEFENDER: I think it's a proud moment and it's a moment that we can get a lot of confidence from. We've kept two clean sheets in the last four games, and I think before then we didn't quite have the best record when it came to clean sheets. Again, it gives us a lot of confidence going to the next round. WIRE: Now, the next mountain to climb just got steeper for the U.S. Belgium in Seattle on Monday in the Round of 16 without their star Balogun, suspended after that red card.
American fans floating on cloud nine over the win, but when we caught up with some of them on the way out, they were clear that they were livid about that red card -- listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The refs were probably being paid off. It was absolutely ridiculous. That red card was horrendous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll miss Balogun. I mean, his energy is just like peak. I mean, you saw it today. We heard it today. When he's out on the pitch and he's just -- he's got the ball, people are just electric. So yeah, we're going to miss him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very disappointed about the red card that happened. Number 20 is a great player we're going to be missing out on but we're ready for you.
WIRE: Now it wasn't just those fans we caught up with on the way out of the stadium. Check out the reaction online. Chiefs star Patrick Mahommes saying, "Man what..." Knicks NBA champ Josh Hart asking, "Bro, that's a red card?" NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki saying, "That's not a red!!!"
If sports are an emotional rollercoaster this one skipped the brakes. American fans saw joy, panic, relief, anger -- still, euphoria. America's World Cup dreams still very much alive and full steam ahead to Seattle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Thank you, Coy.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, a hospital lockdown. How one threatening phone call led police to shut down this entire facility.
And decked out in red, white, and blue, this group is about to take D.C. and Philly by storm. Meet America's Dancing Grannies. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:56:38]
SMITH: In today's Money Express, new data shows the number one destination Americans are heading for the Fourth of July, and the answer may surprise you.
Maribel Aber has more. Hey, Maribel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, MONEY MATTERS: The stock market is closed in observance of Independence Day. This year marks the 250th birthday of the United States. The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4th in 1776. That document announced the nation was free from British rule.
Now, Americans typically celebrate with fireworks, gatherings, and cookouts. Many also take trips and AAA projects more than 72 million people will travel at least 50 miles, mostly by car. And the most popular destination this year is Seattle due to its port that launches cruises to Alaska. Orlando, Florida comes in at number two.
Now markets will reopen to a relatively quiet economic news week Monday. The wholesale inventory report is due Wednesday, and existing home sales data comes out Thursday.
I'm Maribel Aber at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Let's get a check on some of the other stories making news across the country.
We start in Mississippi. The latest on a triple homicide investigation taking place there as police announce the fourth arrest in last weekend's shooting that killed a 2-year-old child, his mother, and his aunt. Officers have not named the latest suspect but say the person faces a capital murder charge. The three other suspects have also been charged. Police have not identified a motive but say that the shooting was targeted.
Let's take you now to Houston. That's where an 18-wheeler overturned onto a car and then the car caught on fire. Two people died in this accident -- the truck driver and driver of that car. Authorities haven't said what caused the accident, but it shut down parts of a major highway for hours.
And up north in Wisconsin a hospital staff member got a call warning that two men were on the way to open fire inside the building. This all played out in Rice Lake, Wisconsin on Thursday. And officers -- they rushed to the scene. They locked down the hospital.
And during that response, police uncovered similar threats at other locations. They said that it appeared to be a swatting call. So a swatting call essentially is a false report meant to trigger large police response. Now, fortunately here, no one was hurt but the investigation is ongoing and we'll bring you any updates in that situation and that investigation.
All right, get your glitter, your pompoms, your sparkly visors ready. There is a fun addition to the Fourth of July fun in Philadelphia and in D.C. This group that you're seeing here -- they're known as Milwaukee's Dancing Grannies. They're going to march in two Independence Day parades. Now, the two-parade routes total about five miles and one today, plus one tomorrow. Now they say that they want to show people that retirement isn't the end; it's the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
U.S. Marine Corps performing silent drill in Times Square.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:00:00]
SMITH: In New York, crowds in Times Square have gotten an awesome display from the Marine's silent drill platoon. The 24 Marines carried out their trademark rifle routine in perfect sync and without verbal commands wowing the crowd.
This is all part of the celebrations for America's 250th birthday. We have a lot that we'll continue to track over the coming days in that celebration, of course.
That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.
