DON GONYEA, HOST:
America is celebrating its 250th birthday today in the middle of a massive heat wave. Temperatures in Washington, D.C., topped 100 degrees, but that didn't stop people from lining up to attend events on the National Mall. NPR correspondent Geoff Brumfiel was there, and he joins me now to discuss the heat and the celebrations in the nation's capital. Hello, Geoff.
GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE: Hi, Don.
GONYEA: So just start by telling me a little bit more about what it's been like in D.C. today.
BRUMFIEL: It's been hot. It's been hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. I can't say it enough. It's unrelenting sun, sweltering humidity. It caused planners to actually call off the Fourth of July parade scheduled for this morning. But when we got to the mall, thousands of people were already there lining up for blocks. They were there for the Great American State Fair, and many were going to attend another event later this evening that's likely to draw even bigger crowds. Trump's going to speak, and there'll be a massive fireworks show.
GONYEA: Were organizers prepared to handle the heat and these crowds?
BRUMFIEL: You know, they seemed to be. I mean, we saw pallets of water around the mall. It was being handed out for free. I also popped into a medical station briefly. It didn't seem overwhelmed or anything. But I cannot emphasize, Don, this heat is incredible. And as you know, there's not a lot of shade out there on the mall. Yesterday, D.C. Emergency Services treated 45 people at the state fair and transported 16 to the hospital. I imagine by the end of the day, it could be worse.
GONYEA: What did they tell you about why they were subjecting themselves to the heat?
BRUMFIEL: You know, people don't want to miss America's birthday. Christie Morris was visiting from Southern Ohio. She said the heat wasn't really bothering her so far.
CHRISTIE MORRIS: Well, there's lots of water stations. We've been able to get water wherever we need to get water. We stopped at a Starbucks and cooled off on the walk here. So it's been OK, and everybody's been so friendly. We've met people from Germany, Seattle, Colorado. There's people here from all over the country.
BRUMFIEL: She was there with her best friend Shirley Jenkins, and Jenkins said they were planning on staying out for the whole day.
SHIRLEY JENKINS: We're going to be here for Trump's speech, too, 'cause if we're going to sweat, we're going to sweat for Trump.
BRUMFIEL: But Trump's not scheduled to speak until 9:45 tonight, and even then, temperatures are still going to be in the high 80s, so...
GONYEA: Well, they sound like they're into it. So...
BRUMFIEL: Oh, yeah.
GONYEA: So what do we know about what the president might say during tonight's speech?
BRUMFIEL: We haven't seen the speech, but yesterday, Trump gave a speech in front of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota that seemed like it could be a preview. He talked about how great America is, how many things have been invented by Americans, but like a lot of Trump speeches, this one also had a dark tone to it. He spent actually a lot of time talking about communism.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It's death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil.
BRUMFIEL: He said communism needed to be defeated. One could argue America did that in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall, but I think he seemed to be talking about more his political opponents. That wasn't the only political part of the speech. He also called on Senate Republicans to end the filibuster so they could push through his voter ID law.
GONYEA: And just quickly, Geoff, the Fourth of July in D.C. isn't complete without fireworks. I gather this one tonight will be big and then some.
BRUMFIEL: Yeah, this is going to be huge - 850,000 fireworks for a roughly 40-minute show, according to the Washington Post. That's absolutely massive compared to, as you know, the quite extensive fireworks D.C. has on every fourth of July. According to the post, it could cause air quality issues, actually. Air quality was already very unhealthy, and people with respiratory issues may need to stay inside or wear masks.
But, you know, Christie Morris - she told me that she was still up for it. Her son is on the USS Nimitz in New York City. He's standing watch, and if he can do it, she texted me, we can do it. She's holding up great, looking forward to the show.
GONYEA: All right, that's NPR's Geoff Brumfiel. Thanks, Geoff.
BRUMFIEL: All right. Thanks, Don. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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