1. 'The science should not stand in the way'

At a press conference yesterday, White House Press Sec. Kayleigh McEnany emphasized that President Trump "has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open. And when he says open, he means open in full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school." And while she says the pandemic science is on his side, some educators aren't so sure. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, says the president's insistence is creating fear among both parents and educators. "You have to have a plan that embeds safety, and the resources to do this," she said. —The Guardian

• — Close the red zone. Despite the administration's push to reopen states and schools, an unpublished document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force recommends that 18 states in the coronavirus "red zone" should roll back reopening measures. The "red zone" is defined as regions with new cases above 100 per 100,000 population, and a test positivity rate above 10%. —CNN
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• — Kemp ups the ante. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta's City Council and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over the city's face mask requirement. "Public health experts overwhelmingly agree that wearing a face-covering helps slow the spread of this sometimes deadly virus," Bottoms said, adding, "It's a simple thing to do." —NPR
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• — Living in denial. Texas Republicans from eight different counties called an emergency meeting to censure Gov. Greg Abbott, also a Republican, for his order requiring face masks in public and other precautions to help the state combat its coronavirus outbreak. —The Hill

2. Hogan: How the president left us vulnerable

"It was jarring, the huge contrast between the experts' warnings and the president's public dismissals. Weren’t these the people the White House was consulting about the virus? What made the [National Governors Association] briefing even more chilling was its clear, factual tone. It was a harrowing warning of an imminent national threat, and we took it seriously—at least most of us did. It was enough to convince almost all the governors that this epidemic was going to be worse than most people realized." —The Washington Post

Ed. Note: Larry Hogan is the Republican governor of Maryland and the chair of the National Governors Association.

3. What's happening in Portland?

Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland, Ore., and detain protesters since at least July 14—while providing detainees with no explanation as to why they are being arrested. The frightening tactic is another escalation of federal officials' plan to "quell" protests against police brutality outside the federal courthouse and Multnomah Co. Justice Center in the city.

• — Federal officers have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests so far, while others have been arrested and released. One demonstrator was hospitalized with skull fractures after being shot in the face with "less lethal" munitions.
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• — Officers from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and Customs and Border Protection's BORTAC were sent to Portland to protect federal property, but they also appear to be detaining people who aren’t near federal property or engaging in any criminal activity. —Oregon Public Broadcasting

4. Ngoenha: End the war on legal immigration

"As the country is distracted by the piecemeal restrictions on immigrants wrapped in the veneer of pandemic precautions, the administration has been methodically dismantling our legal immigration system, and White House adviser Stephen Miller admitted as much in a call with supporters. All of these latest directives follow the executive branch pattern of using procedural strategies to continue to restrict legal immigration." —The Hill

Ed. Note: Erica Ngoenha is the director of presidential fellows and public affairs at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.

MORE: Judge agrees to extend deadline for releasing children from immigration custody —CNN

5. Twitter hack is an election wake-up call

The brazen hack of the Twitter accounts of high-profile politicians, businesspeople, and celebrities on Wednesday—and Twitter's chaotic response—has prompted serious concern among cybersecurity experts that social media sites can't adequately secure their operations, even as they become increasingly important sources of election news and information. With disinformation already a major worry, the Twitter hack means social media users should now be even more wary about what they read online. —CNET

• — The FBI has opened an investigation into the hacking, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered an investigation by the state's Department of Financial Services. Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, has asked the company to brief his committee staff on the breach by July 23. —NPR
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• — "What happened...should be a red flag in terms of the huge amounts of disinformation that are already rife in this election, and it's only going to get worse," said Meredith McGehee, executive director of Issue One, a non-profit focused on political reforms. "When you’re going after presidential candidates and the richest [people] in the world, it's a display of their vulnerability." —Bloomberg

MORE: UK 'almost certain' that Russia tried to interfere in 2019 election —Forbes

6. Weiss: China's self-defeating nationalism

"Policymakers seeking a more effective strategy for both competing and cooperating with China should recognize the limits of China's international appeal—as well as the dangers of the United States' own nationalist fervor. Whether in China or in the United States, nationalism is more likely to repel than attract—whether it comes in the form of wolf warrior diplomacy or 'America first' rhetoric." —Foreign Affairs

Ed. Note: Jessica Chen Weiss is an associate professor of government at Cornell University and the author of "Powerful Patriots: Nationalist Protest in China's Foreign Relations."

MORE: US weighs sweeping travel ban on Chinese Communist Party members —The New York Times

7. SCOTUS is no help in Florida

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to overturn a lower court's decision to keep hundreds of thousands of ex-felons in Florida from joining the state's voter rolls ahead of this year's elections. Critics of the decision say it means the state will continue to assess what amounts to a poll tax—against the expressed wishes of Florida voters.

• — Nearly 65% of Floridians approved Amendment 4 in 2018, allowing felons who had served their sentences to vote. Gov. Ron DeSantis urged the state's Republican-controlled legislature to pass a law requiring that they first pay off all court fees, fines, and restitution to victims before voting.
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• — The Supreme Court's punt sends the case to a federal appellate panel, which will hear arguments in full on Aug. 18, the same day as Florida’s primary election. —Tampa Bay Times

8. This week in Trump

Donald Trump's re-election campaign has been a boon for his businesses—even during the coronavirus pandemic. Federal Election Commission filings show that the Trump Victory political action committee paid more than $370,000 to Trump Hotels between March 12 and April 1. Additional payments made earlier in March, before the official pandemic declaration, bring the total for the reporting period past $400,000. —Newsweek

• — Mary Trump, the president's niece and author of the book "Too Much and Never Enough," told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow last night that she had witnessed her uncle use the N-word and anti-Semitic slurs. "Of course I did," she said. "And I don't think that should surprise anybody given how virulently racist he is today." —Business Insider

• — Trump campaign adviser Jenna Ellis recently appeared on the Russian government-funded TV network RT to bash American media as "propagandist activist media." She also accused Fox News of having an anti-Trump bias. —The Daily Beast

9. McKew: History over revisionism

"American history is as much about analyzing how we got things wrong and then doing better—and understanding that getting things wrong has to be about eventually getting them right—as it is about any foundational exceptionalism that sets us apart in history. I mention this because understanding history does not need to be a partisan pursuit. This nation is our shared project. It can only continue to be so if we share truths about the past and the present alike." —Stand Up Republic

Ed. Note: Molly McKew served as an adviser to then-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili from 2009 to 2013. She is an expert in information warfare, specializing in U.S.-Russia relations.

MORE: Pentagon bans Confederate flag in way to avoid Trump's wrath —Associated Press

10. An American Story: Volunteers help Latino community

Liz Villegas, a nonprofit worker and volunteer in Cache County, Utah, created a grassroots movement to help the predominantly Latino community that worked at a local meatpacking plant affected by the coronavirus.

• — Crescencio Lopez, a respected figure in the Latino community along with Villegas, orchestrated a decentralized network of donation drop-off locations throughout the county. Multiple churches joined the grassroots effort.

• — The nonprofit gathered and distributed food, cleaning, and household supplies for affected families. They have managed to create a web of volunteers and organizations that are ready to keep helping now, as case numbers continue to increase.
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• — "In such hard times," Villegas said, "we were able to see such beauty come out of it." —The Washington Post

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.