Holiday Weekend Politics, Iran Mourns Supreme Leader, US Vs Belgium World Cup Drama
7/6/202615 min
America celebrated its 250th birthday against a backdrop of deep division, with white nationalists marching in Washington DC, counter protesters filling the Mall, and President Trump delivering a speech attacking Democrats as communists.
Huge crowds are marching through Tehran for the funeral of Iran's former supreme leader as U.S.-Iran talks sit frozen until the mourning ends, while Israel's prime minister heads to Washington to talk with President Trump about Iran and the shaky ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza.
And the U.S. faces Belgium tonight in the World Cup, but the bigger story is off the field, after President Trump called FIFA's president about a red card and the American player's suspension was suddenly lifted.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Kelsey Snell, Tina Kraja, Russell Lewis, Mohamed ElBardicy and Lindsay Totty.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ben Abrams.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott and Eowyn Fain. Our technical director is Damian Herring.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:55) Holiday Weekend Politics
(06:47) Iran Mourns Supreme Leader
(10:27) US Vs Belgium World Cup Drama
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMichel Martin· Host0:00
[gentle music] What could be more American than dueling points of view?
Steve Inskeep· Host0:05
President Trump marked Independence Day by talking about communists. New York's mayor gave his speech among naturalized citizens and spoke of immigrant contributions to America.
Michel Martin· Host0:14
I'm Michelle Martin, that's Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. Coming up, Israel wants to know where it fits into a US agreement with Iran. Our colleague in Tel Aviv reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been seeking a meeting with President Trump.
Steve Inskeep· Host0:30
Also, the US plays Belgium tonight in the World Cup with all of their top players available. Team USA's top scorer in the tournament received a red card, which would've meant his suspension tonight, and then FIFA, the soccer authority, suspended the suspension. Was there political interference? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.
Speaker 30:51
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