confusing, but each one of those marks represents where a fault line is. this is very seismically active, and the aftershocks that we have seen since this earthquake struck at just after 10:30 in the morning local time, well, now we are looking at the aftershocks across this region and there are little fault lines here. this did not happen along the great san andreas fault where we typically think of these big earthquakes in california taking place. this essentially was out in the desert. different story if this had happened in a highly populated area, just 150 miles away in los angeles, or even in the vicinity of bakersfield. we think of ridgecrest as being the epicenter. it wasn't. it was actually ten miles away on a naval air weapons facility, which is huge, but take a look at this. all of these orange dots, they represent some of the aftershocks.

where these red areas are, the red dots, those are the aftershocks that have occurred in the past hour. how many of those dots are on there, natalie? hundreds of them. >> i know. >> i counted about 17 4.0 magnitude aftershocks already. >> it's unreal. coming up in a few minutes, we'll talk with one of the people helping out a local official to talk more about what people are dealing with. karen, thank you, as always. well, coming up here, donald trump gets the crowd he always wanted on the national mall, but did he leave politics aside? that's coming up. plus, the census and citizenship. the trump administration's dwindling options for including a controversial question in the 2020 head it's count.

the united states is celebrating its 243rd birthday with fireworks displays from sea to shining sea. one of the most elaborate shows, the nation's capital, where this year president trump turned the festivities into a salute to the military. here's more about it from cnn's tom foreman in washington.

>> reporter: despite scotching temperatures earlier in the day and intermittent rain, a reasonable sized crowd showed up here to see the president as he came out to give this unusual address to the american public on independence day. and he focused generally on american exceptionalism, not only in the military, which was the theme of all of this, but in general as well. >> that same american spirit that emboldened our founders has kept us strong throughout our history. to this day, that spirit runs through the veins of every american patriot. it lives on in each and every one of you here today. it is the spirit daring and defines, excellence and adventure, courage and confidence, loyalty and love that built this country into the most exceptional nation in the history of the world and our nation is stronger today than it ever was before. it is its strongest now.

>> reporter: despite a lot of fears the president did not focus on partisan issues, but instead talked about americans as a whole, never really mentioning democrats or republicans and talking about as a group how americans can move forward. an important message, no doubt, on this fourth of july when his very actions in holding this rally caused a lot of division. tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> joining me now to talk about it is political analyst peter matheus. always good to have you with us. hi, peter. >> hi, natalie. good to be with you again. >> let's start with president trump crafting a july 4th celebration centered around the military. should guns and the military be celebrated in this way, in your opinion, in a country that was founded on ideals, not so much the military? >> in fact, i don't think it should be because the ideals are much more important in terms of today's commemoration. military's important when it comes to a certain war or defending the country, but these ideals are what america is about

and the declaration of independence that we celebrate says "we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." we have a problem with the trump economy. while there has been some growth, there has still been a huge gap between rich and poor. the growth in equality has also been growing and you have trade wars on the horizon. a lot of things need to be fixed. not to mention the country being divided due to trump's leader. >> well, before he spoke, the president's appearance on the mall drew criticism from democrats and members of the military, some of them, who accused him of using the troops and equipment as little more than political props. why do you think the president staged his celebration this way? >> i think that he thinks this will really keep his base of voters with him when it comes november the year after next --

next year, i should say. that's the thing he's looking at is the election, but he also somehow seems to take the superpatriotism to the extreme and covering up the problems we have in the nation. he should be working on immigration. look what happened on the border, natalie. kids torn from their parents and sitting in cages. that's not an ideal this country can project to the world when we're a country that believe in natural rights. she should go back to the american ideal of protecting natural rights and human rights. maybe using the military is a way to hide what's going on. >> a democrat who served in the military remarked, tanks aren't props, they're weapons of war. the president, of course, flanked by tanks when he spoke. however, he did deliver a message that was unifying, peter, not political. here's part of it. we are one people sharing one dream and one magnificent

destiny. was that encouraging? >> well, the words were beautiful and he stuck to the script. that's one reason he didn't get into problem. what are his actions? that's what should count. the script was beautiful today, but the actions have to be followed through, and that is to unite people, to settle these problems and not divide us along economic lines and ethnic and racial lines. the president needs to become a uniter in chief, not a divider in chief. it's a very important ideal for a nation of immigrants. i don't see this happening. it hasn't happened for 2 1/2 years. words can be beautiful. actions are more important, natalie. >> right. this country has been struggling to feel unified under this president. what else would you have liked to hear from him this day? >> i'd like to have heard from him about some of the economic problems we're facing and to say it's important to provide economic opportunity because the american dream cannot be

realized by anyone unless the economy is fair and shared prosperity exists for everyone, not just the top half of the country, which is mainly the situation with trump, the trump economy has helped the top 10% more than the rest of us. even his tax cuts, 85% went to the top 1%. i'd like to address that more honestly and say what he could do to fix that. it's extremely important for americans to know that he cares about all of us, not just a few at the top, especially his donors. >> well, there were donors into the crowd, for sure, and there were a lot of supporters of mr. trump. they were also protesters as well. did he -- was this mobilizing for his base and will we perhaps see this visual when we see the political ads for the next presidential election? >> absolutely. he thinks that by holding on to that base of 37%, which by the way, a number of americans who say they're going to vote for him. 37% is not enough to win but he

thinks he can do that like he did before with the electoral college. he needs to expand that base. look at these pictures, the fire and the violence directed because people are so upset and it's wrong that this happened, but, you know, he really needs to bring people together. his base won't be enough, natalie, for him to win again. if he thinks he can rely on that, he may have something else coming, actually. >> political analyst peter matheus, we always appreciate your insights. thank you. >> thank you, natalie. good to be here. the trump administration has until the coming day to explain how it plans to proceed with the 2020 census, but with the forms already being printed, their options for including a controversial citizenship question are limited. cnn's sara murray reports. >> reporter: so much for fourth of july festivities. instead, commerce and justice department officials are working, scrambling to fulfill president trump's demand to add a citizenship question to the census. so important for our country that the very simple and basic,

are you a citizen of the united states, question be allowed to asked in the 2020 census, trump tweeted. department of commerce and the department of justice are working very hard on this, even on the fourth of july. last week the supreme court blocked the citizenship question, at least for now, amid concerns about why the administration wanted to ask you it. >> you go through all this detail and you're not allowed to ask whether or not somebody is a citizen? >> reporter: the trump administration agreed tuesday to drop the question. government lawyers told a maryland judge printing had begun without the citizenship question. commerce secretary wilbur ross said the same. then trump changed his mind. tweeting in part "we are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question." the judge noticed. i don't know how many federal judges have twitter accounts, but i happen to be one of them and i follow the president, he said, in a hastily-arranged call, according to a transcript. justice department attorneys, one of whom was already on vacation, appeared blindsided.

the tweet this morning was the first i had heard of the president's position on this issue, one of the lawyers said. i am doing my absolute best to figure out what's going on. now the administration is weighing its options, including an executive order, which would be immediately challenged in court, a motion for the supreme court to reconsider its decision or a supplement to the census. sara murray, cnn, washington. for our international viewers, thanks for joining us. i'm natalie allen. african voices is just ahead for you. and for viewers in the u.s., the news continues in just a moment. i'll be right back. [♪]

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welcome back. i'm natalie allen. let's update you on our top news this hour. a state of emergency has been declared in the town of ridgecrest, california, following a 6.4 earthquake. this is the strongest to hit the region in a generation and was felt from los angeles to las vegas. no fatalities have been reported. many utilities were knocked out and damage is extensive, including several house fires. donald trump stuck to the script, leaving politics out of his independence day speech in washington. not even thunderstorms kept the crowds away. mr. trump honored the military in a ceremony featuring dramatic flyovers from each branch of the service. there's one. chicago police say at least 14 people were injured in the

s stampede as they left the fireworks show at the city's navy pier. there was evidently a fight and someone yelled "gun." there was a stabbing outside the security zone. three people were wounded. thursday's large earthquake in southern california has triggered hundreds of aftershocks and more are expected in the days ahead. damage in the community of ridgecrest has been extensive with downed power lines and ruptured water and gas pipes. joining us now on the phone to talk about it is jeremy kern with the san bernardino county fire department. mr. kern, thanks so much for talking with us. we know you're quite busy. now, want to begin with these aftershocks. there have been so many. are they continuing? >> yeah, at this point we have received several aftershocks. after the initial quake we did receive, we immediately deployed resources out to the region. that included our heavy rescue,

specialists, additional engine companies, ambulances and chief officers to help manage the incident. as those fighters started to ave live in the region, they started to experience several aftershocks as they started to deploy the resources to check for any damages throughout the community. >> i'm sure that's the quite unsettling. as you speak, we're looking at a house on fire. we know that many things happened to ridgecrest from this earthquake. can you highlight what's the impact there for us? >> so we cover the area which is basically the epicenter of the incident itself out in the community, a community fairly small of about 1,000 residents. our neighboring county, kern county, has ridgecrest, which experienced significant events throughout their community. for the area of corona, they experienced a lot of minor to major structural damage. cracked foundations, buildings or double wides slid off their jacks or the foundation

themselves. some chimneys separating from the structures of homes out there as well as losing power. they also did experience several issues with roads being blocked, cracked asphalt from the major thr thoroughfares from in and out of the community. none of it limited access. we were able to get around those obstacles and worked with california highway patrol as well as caltrans to make sure that was corrected immediately. >> you mentioned the power outages. it's some 100 degrees fahrenheit so we certainly hope the people that don't have power will see it restored. given the size of the quake, are you surprised there weren't serious injuries? they seemed very fortunate that way. >> that is correct. considering this is one of more most northern eastern portions of our county, we cover roughly 19,000 square miles, and this being the further point from the bulk of our resources that we serve here in the county.

just the logistics and the time delay of getting resources out there. we did have firefighters in the community initially on scene. they did the initial damage assessments for any immediate hazards. that being gas leaks or structure fires or even immediate calls for medical service related to the incident. so we're about an hour and a half, two hours away from our larger rescue task force and those structure specialists to get out to that area. so that's the biggest issue we had is the logistics and actually getting our resources out there. we depend on our cooperators, our neighboring agencies. even with ridgecrest who was handling their calls for service due to the quake, it was definitely one of our challenges that we did come across. >> yeah, what are the concerns moving forward? we know there will be many more aftershocks. what are you concerned about for the people there? >> so at this point there is some power being restored to the community. we did have power at the local fire station out there which did have a generator, so a lot of the community members, it's a very tight community, they will

come to the fire station for their needs, charge their electrical devices and phones. communicate with loved ones and they can get out of the elements as well. the concern being the aftershocks. obviously with mother nature there is nothing you can predict. you can't say when or if something is going to happen, but as the days go on in working with the different agencies that are going to monitor that, those are our concerns, additional aftershocks which could cause a potential hazard. we recommend people just become informed. they stay connected with what is going on with the incident itself and also making sure their supplies are ready to go or if they need to leave the community they're able to do that. >> also, jeremy, i've heard many people that went through this describe just the severity of this earthquake. that they had never been through anything like this before. are you hearing those kinds of stories? >> yes, it is. and this was felt all throughout the county that we serve all the way down to our inland empire, the valley community as well as

up in the high desert. it is an event that everyone really forgets about. we try to remember that every single year when we train during the great shake out, we talk about the preparedness, what to do during the incident, the quake itself and immediately after to maintain your safety for you, yourself, and your family members. it's a reminder we live in southern california or california all over and we do have these hazards and people need to keep that first and foremost on their mind and be prepared that it will happen and they can handle the emergencies they do come across. >> and just to reiterate, you brought in extra emergency personnel or at the ready in case there is another major one, which some seismologists say could happen in the next week. >> correct. and we do have staff, heavy rescued with specialized firefighters who are trained, structure specialists. they're able to assess buildings. these firefighters who went out into the communities did those secondary searches to make sure that the buildings are in tact and those that were not, they were red tagged and the

community members were informed. these firefighters are specifically trained, they train all year round, they're part of a regional task force that can be deployed for just this exact reason. we have our federal teams, the fema task force which can go all over the country and two other countries. local firefighters with specialized firefighters for these specific events if something happens in l.a. county or orange county, kern county we rely on our neighbors and partners to bring these firefighters in to help us when we're in need. and in turn, when there is an emergency in their county and their cities, we'll send our firefighters to them for take care of them as well. >> yeah, that's the good part of these tragedies, to see that the help that is there and the comradery between all of these teams, and we appreciate them so much. and i know the people there do as well. jeremy kern with the san bernardino county fire department, thanks so much. we appreciate your time, sir. >> thank you. have a good night. >> thank you. well, we are hearing of new allegations against u.s. customs

and border patrol agents. cnn has obtained emails that detail how an agent allegedly attempted to humiliate a migrant at a detention center. the emails were written by another agent who saw the incident. our nick valencia has the story. he's in el paso, texas. >> reporter: a customs and border protection says this incident happened in march here in el paso as a processing center. they say they witnessed a border patrol agent that forced a honduran migrant to hold a sign that translated to "i like men." paraded around in front of other migrants in an attempt according to the witness to embarrass him and humiliate him. according to the witness, there were two senior border patrol agents that did not to stop the incident. customs and border protection agent raised these concerns to supervisors within the agency. the witness says no action was taken and we did take these very

serious allegations to customs and border protection. they said they've handed them over to the office of professional development and sometimes in inquiries disciplinary action is taken without public knowledge. we're learning this news as we're also obtaining a new memo from customs and border protection written by assistant commissioner of the office of professional development matthew klein that shows that customs and border protection leaders knew about a closed facebook group where their agency employees were posting inappropriate content. that memo dates back to february of 2018. here's what it says. recently the agency was made aware of a private facebook group page that only a specific group of cbp employees could access on which inappropriate and offensive posts were made. the bottom line is the agency may bring discipline against an employee who posted offensive messages where there was a nexus to the workplace. it's not clear which facebook group this memo is addressing or why it is sent out in the first place. it is clear this is yet another

stunning allegation against an agency that is already suffering from public perception problems. nick valencia, cnn, el paso, texas. tensions are rising between iran and the uk after british marines stormed an iranian tanker near gentlemibraltar. they say the grace one, which it's called, was carrying oil to syria and they say that's a violation of u.n. sanctions. cnn's nick paton walsh explains why it was even near gibraltar when it was seized. >> reporter: it's a really remarkable journey as to how the "grace one" ended up in the custody of british royal marines off the case of gibraltar. it seems according to shipping experts to have started its journey in early april on the iranian coast, possibly in an oil re -- it was too heavily loaded and the 300,000 tons to

pass through that particular channel. it journeyed all around the continent of africa, a startling route that took it into the gibraltar straits where the uk royal commandos seemed to have intercepted it. there is an interesting development in this in that the spanish foreign minister said that actual interception occurred because of a request from the united states. the u.s. hasn't commented directly yet at this point, but now we are in a situation where the iranian media is using words like taken hostage and the british are saying they intercepted it because it seemed to be en route to syria where it may have been about to deliver this oil, possibly fuel oil to a refinery that would violate eu sanctions against the syrian regime for their atrocities in the countries north. on top of that, too, the iranian government has stepped forward and said this was an iranian tanker. registered in panama but seems to be carrying some kind of iranian oil. that potentially could be in violation of u.s. sanctions against iran. so a lot going on here but

really escalation yet again because the very surprising journey taken by the "grace 1" supertanker. a period of time ten days ago people had breathed a sigh of relief that president donald trump wasn't going to launch a military strike against iran because of a downing of a u.s. drone after the standoff over tankers in the strait of hormuz. once again, we're talking about escalatory rhetoric. nick paton walsh, cnn, london. well, it wasn't just protesters in the united states making fun of donald trump's military-themed fourth of july. moscow also chimed in about it. and we'll take you there live to see what that's about. i've never been in one of these before, even though geico has been- ohhh. ooh ohh here we go, here we go. you got cut off there, what were you saying? oooo. oh no no. maybe that geico has been proudly serving the military for over 75 years?

is that what you wanted to say? mhmmm. i have to say, you seemed a lot chattier on tv. geico. proudly serving the military for over 75 years. you ok back there, buddy? super emma just about sleeps in her cape. but when we realized she was battling sensitive skin, we switched to tide pods free & gentle. it's gentle on her skin, and dermatologist recommended. tide free and gentle. safe for skin with psoriasis, and eczema. you can go first. audible reintroduced this whole world to me. so many great stories from amazing people. it makes me want to be better. to be able to connect with the people's stories that i'm listening to. that's inspiration. it's on during my commute, it's on all the time. doing the dishes. working out. while i'm in the car. at bed time. an audible listener is someone that wants to broaden their mind. people who are tired of listening to the radio, or music. to hear her speak those words. it was incredible. it was unbelievable. with audible originals,

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it wasn't bad enough that protesters in the united states were poking fun at donald trump for his show of military muscle on independence day, russia got into the act before the event even started.

cnn's sam kiley is live in moscow with more about it. it's not -- yeah, as we said, it's bad enough they're making fun of it here. what's up in moscow, sam? >> well, natalie, this is a country that's, let's face it, has got a tradition of giving very good parade. the may day parades for decades have been displayed of russian military might with the demonstrations of icbms, of very heavy firepower marched into red square, so there's a degree of tongue in cheek and outride contempt, really, for the efforts of the united states over the last 24 hours. with the tv presenters, particularly on the "60 minutes" program, which airs twice a day for an hour each day, discussion program here, that is often seen as something of a mouthpiece of certainly the prevailing ideas within the russian

establishment. this is what one of their hosts said of the parade. >> translator: trump is of course learning from putin, but he of course doesn't quite hit the mark. at our parade on red square, we have not only tanks but icbms, too. >> intercontinental ballistic missiles. that's what they like to see paraded through the streets of moscow, if you're going to have a proper parade, but there is i think also a serious side to this, which is the perpetual goading of the russian establishment of the united states. which sits very awkwardly with the very clearly and obviously warm relationship that we saw repeatedly -- repeated again at the g20 meetings between the presidents of the two country. so i think really this parade has been seen as a bit of a squib in russia and cause for some wry commentary. natalie? >> i'm sure the united states would not apologize to moscow that they feel that the parade

was inferior, since the u.s. typically celebrates the ideals of democracy over military parades. all right. sam kiley for us there in moscow. sam, we thank you. well, with three world cup victories, the u.s. women's soccer team may be well accustomed to winning, but that doesn't mean a fourth championship title would mean any less. up next, team usa's hopes and dreams in their own words. we call it the mother standard of care. it's something we take personally, and believe in passionately. it's the idea that if our mothers were diagnosed with cancer, how would we want them to be treated? that's exactly how we care for you. with answers and actions. to hear your concerns, quiet your fears, lift your spirits. with teams of cancer experts and specialists, delivering advanced treatment options and compassionate support every step of the way.

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the countdown is on to the women's world cup final on sunday and it's going to be a tough one. the reigning european champion, netherlands, will face three-time world cup winners, team usa. some of the team's stars spoke with cnn about what a fourth victory would mean to them. >> to add a fourth star to the cross would be huge. there's a lot of sacrifices that come with our careers, and i think for me just the journey of everything and all the challenges, i feel like it's just to put all that hard work

and grind, i think it one mean a lot to me. >> adding the third start meant a lot more to me than i thought, and to add a fourth, to be a part of that rich history that will live forever would be incredible. >> to be able to kind of add our little mark on history and have our star up there would be very special. >> just being able to add to this history, this historical organization would be just incredible. >> i never thought that i would get to play in three world cups, and to be able to say that i already have one of the stars is kind of amazing, but to say you have two out of four, i mean, that's -- that's really something and i've dedicated so much to this -- to this team and it would be an honor to be able to kind of end this career by, you know, stitching on that fourth star. >> it seems like such a small thing to have, like, a fourth star just put up on your jersey, but just having that tiny star

would mean so much to each and every one of us because of the amount of work and dedication that we've put towards this team and this sport. >> we'll see if they get that star. more sports now for women. turning to wimbledon. serena williams survived a tough match in the second round at the all-england club. the seven-time champ got off to a rough start, dropping the first set two games to six, but she rallied back against her 18-year-old challenger. she took the next two sets to come out on top. her quest for an eighth wimbledon title continues on saturday. her sister didn't fare as well, though. the 15-year-old wonder of wimbledon, cori "coco" gauff after stunning former champion

venus williams in the first round and winning another stunning match in the second. a rooster in western france has run afoul of his neighbors whose feathers are a little ruffled by his early morning crowing. apparently the city folk visit their country home only a few times a year and maurice wakes them up with crowing and such, so they've taken his owner to court, accusing the rooster of noise pollution. some supporters are trying to save maurice. more than 120,000 have signed a petition. some even brought their own roosters to court on thursday. here is the plaintiff's attorney. >> translator: my clients just want peace and tranquility. this is a secondary residence. they are retired. they want to be able to sleep until a normal time in the morning and they would like the rooster in question closed in at night, as it's daylight usually that triggers the rooster's crow. >> translator: it's a disgrace that rural people have to go to court because of people who come

from elsewhere. people from the city are welcome in the countryside but only if they respect it as it is, that's all. we're not asking anymore than that. when guy to town, do i ask for the traffic lights and cars to be removed? >> well, fun fact, the rooster is one of the national symbols of france. a verdict in this case is not expected until september. we will follow up for you. well, americans celebrated the fourth holiday with a bang in cities across the country lit up beneath huge firework displays. here's a sample. thank you for joining us. i'm natalie allen. always connect with me any time on twitter. "early start" is next. we're the slowskys.

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aftershocks are likely for weeks after the worst earthquake in southern california in 20 years. and it's deadline day for the justice department. will they try to add a citizenship question to the census. welcome to "early start." i'm michelle kosinski. >> welcome to friday. i'm dave briggs. let's start with a look at the fireworks on i