1. Portland protesters rebuffed

The nation's attention remains fixed on Portland, Ore., where camouflage-clad Department of Homeland Security agents have reportedly been detaining citizens protesting police brutality and systemic racism without cause and placing them in unmarked vehicles. Yesterday, the state's efforts to push back on the tactics met with resistance in federal court. "We are asking the court to declare it unconstitutional to use police-state tactics," Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum argued at the outset of the 90-minute hearing. But U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman wasn’t having it, and would not issue a temporary restraining order, as the state requested. —Politico

• — On the case. The heavy-handed tactics by the DHS in Portland have drawn scrutiny from Congress. Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, is demanding information from acting Homeland Security Sec. Chad Wolf about the department’s reported expansion of its authorities to surveil protesters who threaten "monuments, memorials, and statues." —Defense One

• — It was terrible, but... Attorney General Bill Barr acknowledged yesterday that the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers was "terrible." He went on to criticize the "extreme reaction" to Floyd’s death, which he said led to the demonizing of law enforcement officers and calls to defund police departments. —The Hill
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• — Why not unanimously? Amid a broader national movement to eliminate symbols of racism and oppression, the House voted 305-113 yesterday to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol building. The bill requires states to reclaim and replace statues that depict Americans who defended the Confederacy, slavery, or white supremacy. —Axios

2. Hart: How powerful is the president?

"We are not living in ordinary political times. Great temptations are offered to a president faced with defeat to declare a national emergency, for dangers at home or abroad capable of manufacture, and thus have unchecked access to dozens of extreme powers unknown to our founders or our Constitution. Some dismiss such concerns as improbable. But much that has transpired in the past three and a half years has seemed improbable, until it happened." —The New York Times

Ed. Note: Gary Hart is a former U.S. senator from Colorado and a former Democratic presidential candidate.

3. Trump's rose-colored coronavirus

In another rosy assessment, again presented at a news briefing with no public health experts, President Trump painted a wishful view yesterday of the pandemic, in which existing treatments can almost cure patients, all schools can safely reopen this fall, and the country's soaring cases are confined to a handful of states. The alarming reality is that the number of daily deaths yesterday reached 1,100 for the first time since May 29, and the U.S. has recorded more new cases of coronavirus in the past two weeks than in the entire month of June. —The Washington Post

• — The coronavirus capital. California had some of the nation's earliest cases of COVID-19 and its earliest victories in the fight against it. Now, the state has more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other state, surpassing New York yesterday with more than 409,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. —Los Angeles Times

• — Closer and closer. Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin announced today that the White House and Senate Republicans have reached a "fundamental agreement" on the next phase of coronavirus response legislation. Next stop? Negotiations with Democrats, who support major changes to key portions of the proposal. —CBS News
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• — No mask, no service. Trump's maskless appearance in the lobby of his Washington, D.C., hotel this week to greet North Carolina congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn (also maskless) prompted an inspection from the city's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration to ensure the business was following Mayor Muriel Bowser's mask order. —The Daily Beast

MORE: America's backwards coronavirus strategy —The Economist

4. Republicans nab a familiar witness

George Kent, a State Dept. official who testified as an impeachment witness against President Trump, is expected to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Ron Johnson, for an interview as soon as Friday. The committee is investigating former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter’s role at the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

• — Kent, one of the few impeachment witnesses who was not purged from government, told lawmakers last year that Trump's then-personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani conducted a "campaign of lies" about the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, that led to her early recall from Kyiv.
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• — He also testified that he had raised concerns in 2015 about the appearance of a conflict of interest stemming from Hunter Biden's position at Burisma. Asked whether there was any truth to Trump's theory that Joe Biden was trying to protect his son's interests in his execution of U.S. policy in Ukraine, Kent replied, "None whatsoever." —Politico

MORE: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Republican Sen Ron Johnson's Burisma probe [video] —MSNBC

5. Cocchiarella: Saving social media

"Theoretically, social media could provide useful tools for having conversations with diverse viewpoints, as opposed to spreading outrage-inducing disinformation within echo chambers. Reforming social media to bring out the better angels of our nature is worth considering in this time of divisiveness over pandemics and unrest, not just to help fix our politics, but also for the sake of our social and psychological well-being." —MinnPost

Ed. Note: Christopher Cocchiarella is a developer specializing in technical communication and user experience.

6. Democracy tested worldwide

On Aug. 5, Sri Lankans will go to the polls to take part in parliamentary elections that have been delayed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic. It's a critical vote. Since Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president last November, he has ruled as an authoritarian populist, ushering in repressive and undemocratic policies. If the Rajapaksa-backed coalition is able to secure a majority of seats in parliament and retain the prime ministership, there will be no significant check on Gotabaya’s rule. —World Politics Review

• — Poland. What’s next for Poland after a narrow win by President Andrzej Duda and the right-wing populist Law and Justice party in the country’s election earlier this month? Duda’s government plans to push for greater influence over the judiciary and the press—efforts that critics say are undermining Poland’s democracy. —World Politics Review

• — Tibet. While the eyes of the world have been focused on Hong Kong, the Beijing-controlled legislature in the Tibet Autonomous Region approved a law similar to Hong Kong’s national security law—with the potential to erase the Tibetan people as a distinct minority in China, with a unique culture and its own political demands. —World Politics Review
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• — Turkey. The Turkish parliament is considering legislation that would tighten the government's grip on social media, by forcing social media companies to establish a formal presence or assign a representative in Turkey who would be accountable to Turkish authorities or face fines and bandwidth reductions. Critics fear it will lead to greater censorship. —WBNG

7. Miller & Sokolsky: What is Pompeo doing?

"A secretary of state who talks about grounding American diplomacy in our founding principles while directly attacking freedom of speech at home and cavorting with the likes of Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's repressive monarch in waiting, strains credibility beyond the breaking point." —CNN

Ed. Note: Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky are senior fellows at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former members of the U.S. State Department.

MORE: Mitt Romney questions Trump getting 'cozy' with dictators, direction of GOP —Deseret News

8. Preparing for an election 'nightmare'

While Republicans are focused on combating efforts to expand vote-by-mail, Democrats are mounting their most extensive voter protection effort ever. They're preparing for what former Vice President Joe Biden called a "nightmare scenario," in which President Trump is leading the in-person vote count in battleground states on election night but complains the contest is being stolen from him in ensuing days as mail-in ballots are counted.

• — Coordinating with Biden's presidential campaign, Democrats are preparing for legal battles over absentee ballots, potential voting recounts, and the possibility that Trump supporters will seek to intimidate voters at the polls.

• — The party has hired voter protection directors to lead operations in 19 key states and has filed a record number of lawsuits ahead of the election trying to make voting easier. Thousands of election monitors and lawyers will be mobilized across the country on Election Day. —Reuters

9. Shively: I'm a teacher, and I'm scared

"For Trump and Education Sec. Betsy DeVos, who have little to no experience in our public schools, to preach to career educators about the benefits of children being in school, is not only unnecessary but downright insulting. Of course, our kids need to be in school! And teachers want to be there with them. For most of us, it is not only a profession but a calling. However, it needs to be done safely. With the status quo as it is, that cannot be done in most of the country. And we need to stop pretending that it can." —USA Today

Ed. Note: Nancy Shively is a special education teacher and lifelong Republican (now independent) who lives near Tulsa, Okla.

10. An American Story: 'Rosie the Riveter' masks

Mae Krier, 94, of Levittown, Pa., is a real-life Rosie the Riveter, one of about 5 million civilian women who served in the defense industry and elsewhere in the commercial sector during World War II, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

• — For many years, Krier has paid tribute to her beloved Rosie the Riveters by making red bandannas with white polka dots—a style shown in J. Howard Miller's iconic Rosie the Riveter "We Can Do It!" poster for Westinghouse Electric. Since the war against the novel coronavirus started, Krier shifted her energy from making Rosie bandannas to Rosie face masks, cut from the same cotton cloth.
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  — Krier makes the masks as gifts for people who request them—including teachers, who said they will gladly wear the masks in the classroom and explain to students the history of their forefathers.

• — "That's what I'm really looking for," Krier said. "I want our legacy to stay alive. … In a short while, we will be just a place in a history book." —The Washington Post

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