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July 4th Celebrated Amid Dangerous Heat Wave on East Coast; U.S. Officials Say They Attempted to Warn Iran of Fears That Israel Would Assassinate Mediators; How Much Will My 4th of July Celebration Cost. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 03, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, holiday heat wave. Scorching temperatures settle in for the weekend. How the record-breaking heat is already disrupting celebrations for America's 250.

Plus, doubling down, how President Trump is defending the multi- billion dollar profits his family has made on cryptocurrency since retaking office.

And soaring cookout costs. Why this year's 4th of July cookout could cost you a lot more.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And travel rush. Millions of Americans are packing up for what could be a record-breaking holiday weekend. What you need to know to beat the chaos.

And America is turning 250. The historic celebrations underway from Mount Rushmore to the nation's capital, and what this pivotal moment means for our great nation's future.

And here comes the bride. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce reportedly set to tie the knot tonight. The new details we're learning about their big day.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

On this long holiday weekend, the 4th is overshadowed by towering triple digits. Temperatures are expected to pass 100 degrees across much of the Northeast. Millions of Americans will celebrate our country's 250th birthday outdoors with a record-setting heat, making the events not just miserable but potentially downright dangerous. Cities from Atlanta to Philadelphia and Detroit to D.C. are canceling or adjusting their events out of safety concerns.

The blistering temps are also causing a major strain on the power grid. At least 19,000 homes and businesses lost power in and around New York City just yesterday. The mayor is asking residents to conserve electricity by bumping thermostats up to 78 degrees. The Energy Department has ordered energy-guzzling data centers in the Mid- Atlantic states to use their backup power supplies.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is joining us right now. How serious, Allison, will all these conditions be?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, I think the serious lies in the fact that you're seeing some of these events already be canceled. We know the temperatures are going to be at extreme levels, which means things like heat exhaustion and heatstroke are more likely. And, again, we're not just talking one or two cities, you're talking entire regions that are going to be impacted from this heat.

This is the current feels like temperature, so that's the air temperature combined with the humidity, 93 in Boston, 97 in New York, 90 or 98 in Allentown, 103 in Philadelphia. It feels like it is 104 in Atlantic City, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., and those numbers are only going to go up from here. It's why you have all of these areas under the heat alerts.

This is not only for today, but for a lot of them it extends well into Saturday and even into Sunday because the heat is not just a one-day thing. Many of these cities, it's already been hot the last few days, and it will continue through the holiday weekend. 103 and 102, those are the high temperatures. The temperatures, not the heat index, the temperatures for a place like Washington, D.C., New York, and Raleigh also expected to reach triple digits.

For many of these, that is going to be record-breaking, Philadelphia, DC, New York, just to name a few. But there are dozens of locations that have the potential to break records, not just today, but even tomorrow as well. We've been talking a lot about the high temperatures, but the low temperatures are also a concern because they're not going to drop below 80 for some cities. And in addition to that, you also have the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms this weekend, too.

BLITZER: Allison Chinchar, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Happening now, a record 72 million people are expected to travel over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. According to AAA, most people are hitting the roads. Just over 61 million people are driving at least 50 miles this week. That's despite gas prices reaching four-year highs. Wherever you're driving, AAA says the best time to get there is before 10:00 A.M. tomorrow. And millions of Americans are also flying for the holiday, but the heat may take a toll on air travel.

[10:05:05]

So, let's go live now to CNN's Ryan Young at Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport. Ryan, how are things moving at the world's busiest airport?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the world's busiest airport is actually moving so smoothly. When we look at the security lines, it almost will blow you away in terms of how low the numbers are in terms of the wait times here. As we take a turn here, people are checking in, people are moving through pretty quickly. But look at the security line, checkpoint lines here. You got two, one, and two. If you have a wait time, that's under three minutes. Are you really complaining at this point? But as we walk this direction, we've been talking to many travelers who say, look, they can't wait to kick this summer off. They're excited about going wherever they're going.

And I'm just going to show you this main security checkpoint here. That's really not a wait. You talk about the 60 million people hitting the roads, that's obviously one of those things you want to do early because you don't want to be on the road when it gets to heavy traffic a little later in the afternoon.

One of the things people have been advising is make sure you also check your tire pressure as well, especially with this hot temperatures out there. You want to make sure everything with your car is running smoothly.

But on top of all that, there's been a lot of excitement, especially in World Cup cities just around not only America 250 traveling and the World Cup. Take a listen to some of the passengers that we talked to before they hit the roads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SMOLTZ, FORMER MLB PITCHER: Well, the timing couldn't be better, right? I mean, everything about sports is -- it's my life. I lived it. I get to broadcast now, and getting to watch the U.S. soccer team is the timing's perfect, and hopefully they can keep going.

ASHLEY CALDWELL, TAKING A CRUISE FOR 4TH OF JULY: We have outfits for our cruise. We are watching on, what day? Monday and then Friday.

YOUNG: Yes. Oh, so you believe Friday?

CALDWELL: Yes, Friday, all the way.

YOUNG: I love it. I love it.

CALDWELL: Friday's happening.

YOUNG: Look, soccer fever has hit a lot of this country right now, especially with our boys doing so well with Team USA. But as we've been talking to people who've been traveling, one of the things they've been focusing on is just the improved security wait times, especially at larger airports. As we've checked throughout the country, we've seen really lower wait times than normal on a holiday weekend like this. In fact, the big impact for most people have been, they've been walking over to us and saying, hey, we've never seen a holiday weekend with such a low terms of security line.

But on top of that, the travelers are here, they're going out, and you think about the record numbers they had at TSA just yesterday, with over 3 million people going through the checkpoints, you understand this is going to be a busy holiday weekend, and people are trying to have a good time. So, back to you.

BROWN: As they should. All right, Ryan Young, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And still ahead, scathing allegations. House Democrats accusing Trump-linked fundraisers of fraud, claiming donor money meant for America's 250th celebration was secretly diverted.

BROWN: And your July 4th celebrations are going to cost a little bit more this year. CNN's David Goldman will make it make sense.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Pam, if you think that these hotdog and hamburger prices are expensive, these fireworks prices will blow your mind. I've got more coming up.

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[10:10:00]

BLITZER: All right. There's breaking news. Two U.S. officials now say they attempted to warn Iran of fears they had that Israel would try to assassinate mediators, Iranian mediators, during talks this spring.

BROWN: All right. Let's go live now to CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak. Kevin, what more can you tell us about these new details?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, and this was all taking place during those very delicate negotiations before the MOU with Iran was put into place last month as the U.S. and Iran were trying to get together around a negotiating table to hammer out some of the terms of that deal. The U.S. feared that Israel would try and kill two of the top Iranian mediators, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who's the speaker of the Iranian parliament, and Abbas Araghchi, who is the foreign minister, and that the U.S. actually tried to warn Iran through intermediaries that this was potentially going to take place.

Now, there's no indications as of now that there was specific intelligence about a specific threat towards those two mediators. But nonetheless, the U.S. feared that Israel could attempt to come in and take action that would fully stymie some of these negotiations to try and bring the war to an end.

Now, we did reach out to the Israeli embassy in Washington, and they declined to comment, the White House also not commenting on this at the moment.

But still, I think it underscores just how divergent the U.S. felt that its aims in this war had become with Israel over the course of this conflict. You know, at the beginning back in February, it did seem that the U.S. and Israel were fairly aligned in their objectives for the war, but it became clear to American officials, as the war progressed, that those aims were getting further and further apart.

And we did see Israel, at the onset of this conflict, carry out assassinations of senior Iranian leaders, including the supreme leader, but also some more lower level officials that the U.S. had been working to open negotiations with.

And so I think this all just underscores just how fragile the Americans felt these discussions were as they proceeded back in the spring, but also how fragile they still are as they work to get to this next phase of negotiations with Iran.

[10:15:00]

BLITZER: Kevin, it's also interesting that President Trump is now doubling down and defending his major windfall after the president's financial disclosure statement showed he made billions, yes, billions of dollars through cryptocurrency holdings, royalty payments, and property investments just last year. What more is he saying?

LIPTAK: Yes, and this is interesting. The president is defending that windfall in an interview with CNBC. A lot of what he's saying differs somewhat from how he was defending it earlier this week. Remember back then, he said that this was a product of the rising stock markets even though the bulk of the president's revenues came from those crypto ventures that made him a lot of money but then plummeted in value.

The president is also acknowledging that it is his sons who now manage a lot of these ventures, even though he says he doesn't discuss that with them directly. The president is also bemoaning some of the scrutiny that his sons have come under for their own money-making ventures that seem to intersect with certain administration policies. Listen to what he said on that particular point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, I feel badly in a way for my kids, because every time my kids do, if they invest in a stock or if they go and do a build -- anything they do, because the presidency is so powerful, so big, everything, if they buy a cupcake company, well, the energy to make the cupcakes is, you know, sort of like, how's my energy policy? So therefore you have a kind of like almost anything they do, if they want to buy a truck, if they want to buy -- you know, if they buy an energy efficient truck, they have inside information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, to be clear here, the president's sons are not selling cupcakes. Among the ventures they've been linked to are a drone company with Pentagon contracts, a tungsten mine in Kazakhstan that could benefit from a deal the administration struck back in November.

It's all a distant cry from how presidents have handled all of this in the past. We are a long way from Jimmy Carter selling his peanut farm before coming into office. It's also somewhat different from how President Trump himself handled it during his first term when the Trump companies said that they wouldn't engage in foreign deals.

President Trump has said that n- he didn't get enough credit for that and that, in fact, no one cares about any of this. Wolf?

BROWN: All right. Kevin, I want to ask you about something else, this new report out this morning from House Democrats that allege a Trump- backed organizer of America's 250th birthday event may have duped donors. What more are you learning, and how is the White House responding to this?

LIPTAK: Right. And this is a report from Democrats in Congress. They're essentially alleging wire fraud, saying that some donors who were trying to donate to the bipartisan America 250 Commission, which was created a decade ago, had in fact transferred money by wire to the Freedom 250 organization, which is the group that was founded when Trump came into office and has been stocked with Trump allies and are organizing a number of the events that we're seeing this weekend, including the state fair, including the president's events tomorrow.

Now, the Democrats on this committee did not specify who exactly they claim had been defrauded, and a spokesman for the Freedom 250 organization called this report categorically false and said that it was nothing more than a partisan smear from politicians.

But it still, I think, underscores just how much some of this has become politicized as we now enter into this seminal anniversary for the United States. We do expect President Trump to be celebrating later today at Mount Rushmore. He'll be delivering those remarks tomorrow night before this fireworks display. But it just, I think, goes to show how political all of this has in fact become.

BROWN: All right. Kevin Liptak live for us from the White House, thanks so much, Kevin.

BLITZER: And just ahead, federal charges for the daredevils that scaled one of New York City's tallest skyscrapers. We have new details about how they pulled off the death-defying stunt.

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[10:20:00]

BROWN: Happening now, millions of Americans across the country are celebrating the 4th of July this weekend, but it's going to cost a little bit more.

BLITZER: CNN Senior Business Reporter David Goldman is joining us right now to help us make it make sense.

David, today's question, how much will our 4th of July celebrations wind up costing?

GOLDMAN: You know, I want to know the answer to this question because I am really, really excited to celebrate America's 250th. This country's done so much for me and my family. I'd love to give back and celebrate. And so I wanted to share this menu that I built for my big barbecue. We're going to have a huge celebration. We got the hotdogs. We've got soda. We've got chips and rolls. I am really, really excited about this.

Although, I just remembered we did a segment a couple weeks ago about rising grocery prices. I want to take a look and see what this is going to cost me, and oh, no, check this out, 5.2 percent for pickles? That's the increase from last year? And these beef prices, beef prices are up 12 percent over the past year. This is going to cost me a lot of money.

Okay, I think I'm going to switch my plans. You saw in the tease I had some help from my neighbors Stephanie, and Peyton, and Satchel, and Scout (ph).

[10:25:02]

Thank you so much for helping me light those fireworks. We'll have a fireworks celebration. Let's see what fireworks are going to cost me, right, the tariffs, I forgot all about this, 22 percent for professional fireworks and 25 percent for consumers. That's going to lift those prices. Let's see what a big professional fireworks show costs. $1,000 a minute.

Okay, you know what? That is going to be a little bit too rich for my blood. Forget all of that. I am going on a road trip. I just saw your segment about how 60 million people are going to hit the roads. All right, let's see what that's going to cost me.

All right, good news, okay, right. So, gas prices have been falling for many, many weeks now, and we're now lower than we were a week ago. Wait a minute, but we're still higher than we were a year ago. Let's check that out. Right, okay, so gas is going to cost me 21 percent more this July 4th than last July 4th.

You know what? I think we're going to end this the way it seems like we end all of these segments. We're going to go drinking. All right, so beer, all right, not too bad. Inflation is at 4.2 percent, and so, you know, 2.9 percent, that's not so bad. And, Pam, I know you are from Kentucky. Maybe we'll check out bourbon prices. oh, good, down 0.2 percent. I got some right here. We are going to go drinking. As my friend Toby Keith says, you know what? Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses.

Happy birthday, America. I am so excited to celebrate with all of you.

BROWN: I wish you would come to set and bring that bourbon bottle here, David Goldman.

GOLDMAN: I'll be right there.

BLITZER: We're looking forward to next year being with you and having those hot dogs and hamburgers, and a little beer maybe at the same time.

BROWN: And bourbon.

GOLDMAN: Sounds good.

BROWN: All right. David Goldman, thank you.

BLITZER: Have a happy 4th.

GOLDMAN: Happy 4th to both of you.

BLITZER: And to our viewers, if you want to see David make it make sense, email or send a selfie video of your question to makeitmakesense@cnn.com.

And coming up, what organizers are not telling us about a very dangerous incident on a dance stage at the Freedom 250 rehearsals right here in Washington, D.C.

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