Monday morning news: July 6, 2026

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Netanyahu to meet with Trump amid tensions » Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit the White House once again in the coming days amid some friction with President Trump. The two leaders are at odds over Israel's military strikes in Lebanon.

But Netanyahu said Sunday:

NETANYAHU: 99% of the time we see eye to eye, but as in any family, in any close friendship, there are sometimes differences of opinion, and we discuss them openly, I can tell you in a free spirit, and usually we resolve them too.

As the U.S. pushes to seal a peace deal with Iran, Trump has publicly bristled at Israel's ongoing attacks in Lebanon—reportedly telling Netanyahu to stop.

Iranian leaders are threatening to walk away from negotiations unless Israel halts its strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

But Netanyahu said whatever happens with the peace talks, one thing is certain:

NETANYAHU: Deal or no deal, as long as I'm prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.

Iran Khamenei funeral » Meantime, those negotiations between the U.S. and Iran went quiet over the weekend. They paused for the funeral of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Hundreds of thousands filled the streets of Tehran, many chanting "death to America" and demanding revenge for the February airstrike that killed him. His sons and Iran's top officials marched with them.

And a religious poet worked the crowd:

RASSOULI: [Speaking Farsi]

Some there called for the deaths of President Trump and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu.

But one man was notably absent from the funeral: Iran's new supreme leader—Khamenei's own son Mojtaba—who still has not been seen, believed in hiding after being wounded in the same strike that killed his father.

SOUND: [July 4 flyover]

July 4th weekend festivities lookback » American fighter jets roaring over the nation’s capital. As the Blue Angels performed a flyover, marking America’s 250th birthday. Just one part of a massive celebration over the weekend.

One woman said she traveled from Arizona to take part:

WOMAN: I thought it was  amazing. We've been planning this trip for two years now, and we waited in the hot, hot, hot, and then we hid in the museum, and then we stood in the rain, and it was worth every minute! It was great!

Hundreds of thousands packed the National Mall to enjoy live music and witness a record-shattering fireworks display, more than 850,000 bursts from 10 sites.

President Trump also marked the milestone:

TRUMP: At 250 years old, we may be the oldest constitutional republic on Earth, but our country is just getting started, because the best is yet to come.

From New York to Boston, cities marked the day with parades, cookouts and fireworks.

And in Philadelphia—the birthplace of independence—officials buried a time capsule, filled with items from all 50 states. Park superintendent Steve Sims:

STEVE SIMS: The time capsule we bury today is more than an artifact. It is a message carried forward through time. It reflects a nation still striving, still debating, still building, still expanding the meaning of its founding ideals.

The capsule will not be opened until America's 500th birthday 2276.

Pastor released in China » A prominent Chinese pastor is free—and back with his family in the United States—after President Trump pressed his case with Beijing.

Ezra Jin Mingri leads the underground Zion Church, one of China's largest. The communist government locked him up along with 17 other leaders last October in a sweeping crackdown. 

Now, less than two months after Trump raised his case with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Jin has landed in Los Angeles. Chinese officials said he was freed as a goodwill gesture around the Fourth of July, but at least eight fellow Zion Church members remain behind bars.

Box office » At the weekend box office, the Minions are back:

CLIP (Minions & Monsters): You wrote a monster movie? / Si. /What are you going to use for your monster? / Ah...uhhh. / Ah ha!

The latest animated Minions movie debuted with an estimated $36 million dollars. That was good enough for first place, but still short of early expectations.

Toy Story 5 finished second, earning another $31 million or so. It has now topped three-quarters of a billion dollars globally.

I'm Kent Covington.

And straight ahead: We’ll have a look at the last of the big recent Supreme Court decisions on Legal Docket. And later, rediscovering a founding father on the World History Book.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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