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CNN Live Event/Special
We Had Lady Wilson, Chance The Rapper, Trombone Shorty, So Many Great Performances Down Here, Ending With This Incredible Fireworks Display. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired July 04, 2026 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(KANE BROWN PERFORMING "WOMAN")
(KANE BROWN PERFORMING "I CAN FEEL IT")
[22:05:00]
(KANE BROWN PERFORMING "I CAN FEEL IT")
(KANE BROWN PERFORMING "BURY ME IN GEORGIA")
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And we are back in Boston. Lainey Wilson just sent over this hat for me, which I'm very excited. Right?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: So nice. Right?
COOPER: Yeah. I love it.
BROWN: You had to get here.
COOPER: Not sure I can pull it off, but I like it. Let's get right to the Pops and the "1812 Overture".
(BOSTON POPS PERFORMING "1812 OVERTURE")
[22:10:00]
(BOSTON POPS PERFORMING "1812 OVERTURE")
[22:15:00]
(BOSTON POPS PERFORMING "1812 OVERTURE")
(BOSTON POPS PERFORMING "SUMMON THE HEROES")
[22:20:00]
(BOSTON POPS PERFORMING "SUMMON THE HEROES")
(BOSTON POPS PERFORMING "I'M SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON")
[22:25:00]
(BOSTON POPS PERFORMING "I'M SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON")
[22:30:00]
(BOSTON POPS PERFORMING "I'M SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON")
COOPER: Wow. That was awesome.
BROWN: Spectacular.
COOPER: That was incredible.
BROWN: Wow.
COOPER: Fireworks in Boston did not disappoint.
BROWN: No. It was a tough act to follow after New York.
COOPER: Yes.
BROWN: So, I wondered, but it did not disappoint. And to start with that drone show, before the revolutionary team --
COOPER: The drone show was awesome.
BROWN: -- drone show, it was so cool over the Charles River.
COOPER: Yeah. I mean, I've seen those -- like, videos of them before --
BROWN: Yeah.
COOPER: -- but I have -- not so close. It was so --
BROWN: That's so close. I know. And the way that they weaved it into the theme tonight, and then to see these amazing fireworks, there it is --
COOPER: Yeah.
BROWN: -- there is another drone show right there, just really outstanding. And you would hope that there would be a fireworks display like that in a city so rich with history on America's 250th birthday, and they sure did deliver. Didn't they?
COOPER: And the Boston Pops were so awesome tonight.
BROWN: Yeah.
COOPER: Keith Lockhart is the conductor. He is beloved in this town and did such an incredible job, and Lainey Wilson performing, Chance the Rapper.
BROWN: The Lady gave you a hat. Let's show our viewers --
COOPER: Yes.
BROWN: -- a little gift here for Anderson from Lady. Not sure if it fits, I don't know. I think you can pull it off.
COOPER: I don't think I can pull it off.
BROWN: That's all right.
COOPER: I'll grow into it, maybe.
BROWN: It's the gesture of it. Right?
COOPER: Maybe one day I can pull it off.
BROWN: Or one of your kids.
COOPER: Yes.
BROWN: We had Lady Wilson, Chance the Rapper, Trombone Shorty, so many great performances down here --
COOPER: Trombone Shorty, yeah.
BROWN: -- ending with this incredible fireworks display. D.C. is next, and the big question is, will it be able to top what we've seen here tonight in New York?
COOPER: I mean, they --
BROWN: They're saying they will.
COOPER: Yeah. I mean, they are -- they plan to try to set a world record for fireworks display tonight in Washington, D.C. I think it's going to take place, they told, like, after 11 o'clock.
BROWN: Yeah.
COOPER: The president is going to be speaking first, obviously, and then the fireworks display is going to go off. So, that's a very cool projection --
BROWN: Yeah.
COOPER: -- onto the Washington Monument. Yeah. It's been a great night here in Boston, and it's been a great night celebrating with you all.
BROWN: It really has. It's cooled off here, which is so nice. And things are back in action in D.C. after a pause due to the weather there, and there is going to be so much more history ahead here live on CNN. You are just moments away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: The celebrations are back on track here in the nation's capital. President Trump is here in the mall. You see them there -- him there, right behind where we are. He is joined by the First Lady, Melania Trump, and members of his Cabinet, including the Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin. We saw Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier, and member -- other members of the Trump family. It looks like some of his grandchildren, Boris.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yeah. The president expected to speak at 11:00 p.m. tonight. It's going to be a shortened show based on what we were expecting previously. We understand that the orchestra said to play a song. Then Lee Greenwood will perform the song that is played at Trump rallies, that has been played at Trump rallies going back to 2016 -- 2015, "God Bless the U.S.A." Greenwood is set to introduce the president. And then, according to our sources at the White House, President Trump will deliver a speech unlike any he has ever delivered before. I believe that's the acting Attorney General --
BASH: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- Todd Blanche, right there in --
BASH: Tiffany Trump.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, in rose, salmon-type coat. But yeah, President Trump apparently going to deliver a speech unlike any we've ever heard, something very unique, and then we get a B-1 flyover. Remember, the flyovers had to stop in D.C. because --
BASH: Yeah.
SANCHEZ: -- of the weather and the lightning, but we're going to get a B-1 flyover, and then 38 to 40 minutes of fireworks, going for a record that is set to shatter expectations here in D.C.
BASH: And this is -- this set up, I don't know if we can show that area where the president and his family and members of his Cabinet are, you can see it there. There is the -- that sort of double decker there. So, they're just waiting in that VIP area, and below them are members of the public --
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
BASH: -- who have come back in. That's where the seating area is, sort of adjacent to the stage that he will take, and it's taking a while, understandably --
SANCHEZ: Of course.
BASH: -- for everybody to file back in. The evacuation was like almost two hours --
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
BASH: -- and the evacuation was because of weather and concern about thunderstorms. And so, it was the president who said, as you mentioned, that he still wanted the show to go on in a very truncated fashion. He is still going to speak. We'll see how long that is. But the D.C. fireworks, which are usually much earlier in the night, before the other two major East Coast cities, those are not happening until he is done talking.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, a 12,000 percent increase in the amount of fireworks over what we saw last year, as you look at this view of the National Mall. The Washington Monument lit up with different projections that we've seen throughout the night. It looks amazing.
But we want to take you to Florida right now, and a performance from Josh Groban before things get underway here in D.C.
(JOSH GROBAN PERFORMING "BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER")
[22:40:00]
(JOSH GROBAN PERFORMING "BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER")
(JOSH GROBAN PERFORMING "SKYFALL")
[22:45:00]
(JOSH GROBAN PERFORMING "SKYFALL")
SANCHEZ: Some incredible sights out of Nashville. Look at that.
BASH: Gorgeous.
SANCHEZ: All set to the sounds of Josh Groban with an incredible performance of "Skyfall." And we are now just moments away from one of the most exciting events this evening here in D.C. We're going for a world record for the largest fireworks display ever.
BASH: As the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, so many other tributes to America's greatest leaders are bathed in red, white, and blue. Do not miss the tribute to 250 years. Coming up, you see people filing back in after the delay, because of the weather, but it's going to get started very soon. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Welcome back to CNN's special coverage, "The Fourth in America." President Trump is now here on the National Mall. We just saw him in a tented area ahead of his speech, which we expect to start just minutes from now.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. And after President Trump speaks, we're going to get a B-1 flyover that immediately kicks off in an attempt to set a world record for the largest fireworks show ever. We were speaking to the owner of the company that is putting on this show earlier today, Stephan Vital, and he was telling us that this has been an effort that's taken months, that they've sort of programmed out all the esthetics using computers, that it's going to be about 40 minutes long, 850,000 different fireworks throughout the nation's capital. That show is going to be spectacular, just as this one in Nashville. It just looks incredible. Fireworks still there going off, where we had Andy Scholes earlier, who rode a mechanical bull. Not sure we're going to have a mechanical bull here in D.C., but it's going to be a show, nonetheless.
BASH: Yeah. I don't think we can take too many other surprises here in Washington. But from coast to coast, this is a real celebration, 250 years of the United States of America.
So, we're going to go to the left coast. Elex Michaelson and Cari Champion are right by where the fireworks will be set off in San Diego.
CARI CHAMPION, HOST: Thank you, guys, for having us. You know what? There is a competition happening. Will we have better fireworks than they have on that coast?
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: No.
CHAMPION: No.
MICHAELSON: We will not. But we will have better weather than they're having in Washington.
CHAMPION: That is true.
MICHAELSON: Welcome to San Diego, which is the home of the Big Bay Boom --
CHAMPION: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: -- which is the largest fireworks show in the West Coast year after year, and just like we're seeing at shows across the country this year, they're making it bigger than ever. And so, that's supposed to happen around midnight Eastern, 9 o'clock right here in Southern California.
CHAMPION: You are -- you've had a lot of time here in San Diego. I know you used to work here. But I'll say this, I have had an opportunity to see the fireworks, and it is something to see, not necessarily as wonderful as what we'll see in the nation's capital, but it says this, to your point, it never rains in Southern California, which is why we got the good gig. We get the opportunity to hang out. We have the opportunity to bring you everything from the West Coast, which, in my opinion, might be the best coast tonight.
MICHAELSON: Yeah. I mean, just look how beautiful this shot is right now, that we were just showing you of -- as we look at the fireworks in Nashville that are happening.
[22:55:00]
CHAMPION: Beautiful.
MICHAELSON: Here in San Diego, we're having sunset. We are along the bay here where there also are ships that have been in place and jet skis in place and others getting ready to see the fireworks. Families are lining up all along the waterway. There is four different barges in place here for a spectacular show, and it's going to be a lot of fun, and a reminder that the entire country is celebrating tonight.
CHAMPION: I know. Dana and Boris, we really know that you all had a bit of a problem with the weather. We miss you. We wish you were here with us. But you guys have a front row seat or something that is going to be historic tonight. So, we'll send it back to you.
BASH: We definitely do, and there is no question that you are right. San Diego has the best weather by far. But we're going to have the best fireworks. Elex, you're right. I mean, you're right to not even dip your toe into that competition.
MICHAELSON: It's not even close.
CHAMPION: It's not even close.
SANCHEZ: He was on the beach earlier today in shorts. Compare that to us having to run into an R.V. as there was rain and lightning here in D.C.
BASH: Yeah.
SANCHEZ: You guys take the cake on that one. Now, walk us through what you've got on this desk. Is that a troll Uncle Sam? What are these trinkets (ph)?
MICHAELSON: Yes. We have a troll Uncle Sam. We've got some beads.
CHAMPION: Wait.
MICHAELSON: We're doing whatever we can.
CHAMPION: Elex brought all of these on his own. We must dress up, and we must have a good time. So, these are -- or you going to put them on slowly but surely?
MICHAELSON: Why not.
CHAMPION: We had candy here to give out to the people who were walking by. You are a bowl of laughter. I don't know if anybody --
MICHAELSON: Well, earlier, Boris, on the air, said, we don't want to know what I had to do to earn these beads. So --
CHAMPION: Well, what did you do? Can you tell us? Or --
SANCHEZ: We don't want to know. We want to know, but we don't want you to unnecessarily --
MICHAELSON: We got to say that.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. You don't have to confess that on the air. We'll keep our curiosity off air.
MICHAELSON: Yes. SANCHEZ: Cari and Elex, thank you both so much. We look forward to seeing more from San Diego tonight.
Let's listen now, though, to a performance from Charlie Puth. He is singing his hit "Changes".
(CHARLIE PUTH PERFORMING "CHANGES")
