you can see the washington monument, a focal point of independence day celebrations in washington, d.c. but it s closed so people who are coming down here need to know you won t be able to go to the top and look down on the city, at least this year. a lot for first responders and other law enforcement authorities to keep safe here. later today, this evening at the west front of the capital we ll have the annual televised fourth of july celebration and then the big fireworks celebration around 9:00 eastern time. authorities are most concerned about vehicular traffic coming close to crowds. that, of course, because of current terroristic trends, if you will, so they put miles and miles, in fact 30,000 feet of chain link fencing and bike racks to keep traffic away from the crowds. a lot to be worried about. also the weather, concerns about the possibility however slight
years past. they ve put that up to the heat here but it s an odd scene in the sense that mcallen has been so much in the news with detainees here, migrants coming across the border and the broader issue of the immigration crisis in america, having this celebration here, celebrating america s independence it s a bit odd standing here with this is stark backdrop to the immigration crisis ongoing here. nick valencia, appreciate it my friend, thank you. security ramping up in the capital ahead of the fourth of july festivities. joe johns joins us now from the national mall with a look. happy fourth. happy fourth to you erica. right around now, 11:45 eastern time, the independence day parade gets kicked off in washington, d.c.
citizens where the president took part in a naturalization ceremony for members of the military, and homeland secretary janet napolitano swore them in, and tonight there will be a celebration on the north lawn at the white house. and no power. that is the extremely uncomfortable position that people find themselves in after weekend storms knocked out power from il toile the nation s capital, and the most outages five days after the storms hit, west virginia. 5,000 homes are without air conditioning in the middle of a brutal heat wave. cnn s brian todd is there. fredricka, temperatures are spiking here in west virginia where it is to get up to 95, and well on the way to that right now. power is out for roughly one quarter to a third of the customers in west virginia, but some people in the more rural areas won t get it until the weekend and a key reason for that is right behind me, and this scene played out all throughout west virginia and downed trees are a huge problem f