This week on "Sunday Morning" (July 5)
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. (Download it here.)
Hosted by Jane Pauley
WATCH THE FULL JULY 5 EPISODE!
U.S.: America celebrates its enduring but fragile democracy (Video)
This weekend, our nation's 250th birthday was marked with parades, fireworks, and commemorations of all shapes and sizes, from sea to shining sea. Correspondent Lee Cowan explores the many ways in which, despite its differences, the United States remains united in its celebration of the ideals of America.
COVER STORY: The battle over Stars and Stripes | Watch Video
Stars and Stripes, the newspaper for the American military, is part of the Department of Defense, but has long taken pride in its editorial independence. Under the Trump administration, however, the Pentagon's chief spokesman has vowed to rid the paper of "woke distractions," and the deputy secretary of defense has imposed restrictions on what it can publish (including banning news stories by the Associated Press). CBS News national defense correspondent David Martin reports on fears that a source of independent news for the military could be turned into what the paper's former ombudsman (who was fired after writing a column critical of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth) calls "a public affairs propaganda machine."
WEB EXTRA: Steve Kroft on reporting for Stars and Stripes in Vietnam (Video)
In this web exclusive, former "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft talks with CBS News national security correspondent David Martin about his start in journalism as a reporter for Stars and Stripes, the Pentagon's newspaper for members of the military, and how his early days covering the war in Vietnam influenced his career at CBS.
For more info:
- Stars and Stripes
- Images courtesy of Stars and Stripes; All Rights Reserved.
ALMANAC: July 5 (Video)
"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.
THESE UNITED STATES: Revolutionary writer Thomas Paine (Video)
In 1776, Thomas Paine, an English-born writer shaped by the anti-monarchism movement, wrote "Common Sense," a 47-page pamphlet that changed history, by inspiring American colonists to turn their rebellion against their king into an outright revolution. Correspondent Holly Williams visits the English town of Lewes that helped shaped a future Founding Father and separatist.
For more info:
- "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine (Project Gutenberg)
- Paul Myles, Thomas Paine Historical Association
- "The Rise of Thomas Paine and the Case of the Officers of Excise" by Paul Myles (Thomas Paine Society UK), in Trade Paperback and eBook formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
- Historic Bull House, Lewes, England
- The White Hart, Lewes, England
HEADLINES: The Wedding of the Century: Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce's "mixed marriage" (Video)
Pop superstar Taylor Swift and pro footballer Travis Kelce have tied the knot. Correspondent Mo Rocca talks with Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield about the unlikely couple, whose relationship evolved against a backdrop of Swift's songs about romance, heartbreak and marriage. Rocca also talks with Marilyn Monroe biographer Michelle Morgan about another famous union of a media celebrity with a sports legend.
For more info:
- Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone
- "Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music" by Rob Sheffield (Dey Street Books), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
- Michelle Morgan on Instagram
- "The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch, and the Birth of an Unlikely Feminist" by Michelle Morgan (Running Press Adult), in eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
PASSAGE: In memoriam (Video)
"Sunday Morning" remembers some of the notable figures who left us recently, including Victor Willis, frontman of the group The Village People.
MUSIC: Reclaiming the lost art of listening to music | Watch Video
Digital music gave us the technology, and the freedom, to listen to whatever we want, whenever we want. But more and more people are going back to older, analog ways of listening. Correspondent Conor Knighton checks out the Shibuya HiFi bar in Seattle, where curated listening sessions regularly sell out. He also meets artist and engineer Devon Turnbull, whose company, Ojas, designs high-end speakers and listening rooms for public and private spaces.
For more info:
- Shibuya HiFi, Seattle | HiFi Schedule
- Tracks & Tales international guide to listening spaces
- ESP HiFi, Denver
- in between days, St. Petersburg, Fla.
- noma hi-fi, Edina, Minn.
- XO HiFi, Kansas City, Mo. (Instagram)
- Devon Turnbull (Ojas)
- Exhibition: "HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3" by multi-disciplinary artist Devon Turnbull, at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City (through July 19)
- Exhibition: "Art of Noise," at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City (through Aug. 16)
HARTMAN: Interviewing WWII veterans, the "moral compass of our society" (Video)
Over the past 10 years, Rishi Sharma has conducted video interviews with more than 3,000 World War II veterans – members of the "Greatest Generation" who answered the call to defend freedom – to preserve their stories of sacrifice and their lessons of liberty. Steve Hartman reports.
For more info:
SUNDAY PROFILE: J.K. Simmons: A real character | Watch Video
J.K. Simmons, the Oscar-winning star of "Whiplash," relishes being a character actor. He talks with correspondent Tracy Smith about his role as a mob leader in the new MGM+ series "The Westies," and recalls the difficult early days of his career – and how an unexpected kindness from an actor friend helped him when he needed it most.
WEB EXTRA: Watch an extended interview with J.K. Simmons (Video)
To watch a trailer for "The Westies" click on the video player below:
For more info:
- "The Westies" debuts July 12 on MGM+
- "Heart of the Beast" opens in theaters Sept. 25
- "The Brink of War" opens in theaters Aug. 14
- Thanks to Joe Allen Restaurant, New York City
COMMENTARY: Fire up the grill for a yearly ritual: Communing over BBQ skills (or lack thereof) | Watch Video
Do you have the "right stuff" when it comes to barbecuing? Lots of people believe they do, and they're more than happy to share their wisdom with you, even if unsolicited. Correspondent Luke Burbank is not one of those people.
TV: "Little House on the Prairie": The beloved books are back on screen | Watch Video
Laura Ingalls Wilder's semi-autobiographical "Little House on the Prairie" series, which inspired a classic 1970s TV show, is returning to screens this summer in a new adaptation of Wilder's beloved books. Correspondent Faith Salie talks with stars Alice Halsey, Skywalker Hughes, Crosby Fitzgerald and Luke Bracey; writer-showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine; and executive producer Joy Gorman Wettels, about myth-making and pioneers in the American West.
To watch a trailer for "Little House on the Prairie," click on the video player below:
For more info:
- "Little House on the Prairie" premieres July 9 on Netflix
U.S.: What would George Washington think of America today? (Video)
Mount Vernon, the home of our nation's first president, is the most-visited historic house in the U.S. But what do Americans visiting Mount Vernon – on the occasion of our country's 250th anniversary – think about what George Washington represents? And today, would the Founding Father recognize the nation he helped create? "Sunday Morning" national correspondent Robert Costa reports.
For more info:
See also:
- George Washington's final years ("Sunday Morning")
- The truth about George Washington ("Sunday Morning")
NATURE: Bison on Catalina Island (Extended Video)
We leave you this Sunday among bison grazing on California's Catalina Island. Videographer: Russell Nickerson.
WEB EXCLUSIVES:
MARATHON: Happy 100th birthday Mel Brooks! (YouTube Video)
The writer-director behind such classics as "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles" turns 100 years young on Sunday, June 28. Celebrate Mel Brooks' comic genius with these "Sunday Morning" stories:
- A profile of Brooks and his love affair with wife Anne Bancroft (2019)
- Judd Apatow on creating a documentary about his idol Mel Brooks (2026)
- Gene Wilder, star of Brooks' "The Producers," "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles" (2005)
- Brooks' long-time straight man Carl Reiner (2015)
- Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks on surviving COVID lockdowns (2020)
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The bikini, from top to bottom (YouTube Video)
On July 5, 1946, the bikini made its debut. Named after an A-bomb test in the Pacific's Bikini Atoll, and popularized by French actress Brigitte Bardot, the bikini would conquer beaches, fashion shoots, pin-ups and movies. Serena Altschul talked with model Kelly Killoren Bensimon, author of "The Bikini Book," and with designer Malia Mills, about the revealing history of the two-piece. (Originally broadcast July 2, 2006.)
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Charles Kuralt on the Fourth of July (YouTube Video)
In 1990 the "Sunday Morning" host headlined a CBS special primetime broadcast, "On the Fourth of July with Charles Kuralt," remembering the many ways in which our nation marks its birthday. Enjoy this excerpt (rebroadcast on "Sunday Morning" July 1, 2007) marking Independence Day celebrations – parades and tubing down lazy rivers, axe throws and greased pig contests – from sea to shining sea.
MARATHON: These United States (YouTube Video)
As our nation marks its first 250 years, "Sunday Morning" examines some of the most remarkable and unique historical, technological and cultural elements of the American experience.
- Lady Liberty
- The Louisiana Purchase
- Yellowstone National Park
- Coney Island
- Woody Guthrie's music of America
- Tobacco, America's first cash crop
- The rise of union power
- The Golden Gate Bridge
- A history of the Constitution
- Brown v. Board of Education
- Bright Ideas: Thomas Edison
- The White House
- Ken Burns on America's continuing revolution
- Raising the flag
- Walter Issacson on the greatest sentence ever written
- Thanksgiving
- The New Year's Eve ball drop
- Voice of the civil rights movement
- On the record: The gramophone
- George Washington and climate change
- Hollywood: The Dream Factory
- An ode to baseball
- The Marshall Plan
- Broadway's George M. Cohan
GALLERY: Summer music highlights of 2026
Summer is the time to enjoy live music, indoors and out. Scroll through our gallery of some of 2026's leading musical acts, featuring images by CBS News photojournalist Jake Barlow and photographers Ed Spinelli and Kirstine Walton.
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison.
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