1. Not a moment too soon

As the novel coronavirus continues to spread unabated throughout the U.S., the world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine study is getting underway today. The first of 30,000 volunteers will receive either a real shot or a placebo version, and scientists will closely track which group experiences more infections. There's no guarantee that the experimental vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., will really protect. But it's just one of several candidates in the accelerated global race to find a safe, effective vaccination. —Associated Press

• — Back with a vengeance. The U.S. isn't the only place seeing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. After taking early and decisive action—and reducing cases to near zero—Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia have all reported new highs for daily infections, showing how difficult it can be to keep the coronavirus at bay. —The Wall Street Journal
   
• — Bill would reduce unemployment benefits. Senate Republicans will present a proposal today, as part of a broader $1 trillion coronavirus relief bill, that would cut weekly emergency unemployment benefits from $600 to $200 until states can bring a more complicated program online. —The Washington Post
   
• — Corona strikes the inner circle. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien has tested positive for COVID-19 and is quarantining with "mild symptoms." O'Brien is the highest-ranking Trump Administration official known to have tested positive. He was last seen publicly with Trump on July 10. —CNN

2. Nichols: The death of expertise, literally

"On the same day that America hit a grisly new record, President Trump went on television to explain both that he must cancel his cherished plans for a political convention while insisting that children be sent back to school in the coming weeks. Millions of Americans nodded along with him, secure in the knowledge that scientists are quacks and that no one understands viruses like Donald Trump." —USA Today

Ed. Note: Tom Nichols is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College and is the author of "The Death of Expertise."

MORE: Sinclair pulls show where Fauci conspiracy theory is aired —Associated Press

3. More cities join Portland in protesting

Tear gas-tinged standoffs in downtown Portland, Ore., between protesters and federal agents continued over the weekend, with marchers expressing outrage at the specter of heavily armed, unidentified federal officers on community streets, as well as sustained indignation over police brutality and racism. A string of fresh demonstrations also broke out in other cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Louisville, Ky., Richmond, Va., and Austin, Tex. —Los Angeles Times

• — Tell us what you really think. Last night, President Trump tweeted that the Portland protesters are "anarchists who hate our Country," and he accused the "Wall of Moms," who formed a human chain to defend other protesters last week, of being a "scam." He also criticized media outlets for not covering the violence that has occurred during protests. —The Daily Beast

• — Knock knock, who's there? It's a group called ShutDownDC, which organized a protest outside the Alexandria, Va., home of acting Homeland Security Sec. Chad Wolf. The group considers Wolf responsible for unidentified federal agents detaining protesters and using chemical deterrents like pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds. —WTOP News
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• — Read the room, Tom. Sen. Tom Cotton referred to slavery as a "necessary evil" in arguing against use of The New York Times' "1619 Project" in the classroom. Though he believes the U.S. history of slavery should be taught in schools, Cotton introduced a bill last week that would cut funding to any school that adopts a curriculum based on the special issue of the Times' magazine. —The Daily Beast

MORE: Lawyer: Feds must provide papers from white nationalist case —The Mercury News

4. Vincent: DHS should return to its mission

"Congress should take another look—now 18 years after creating the Department of Homeland Security—to ensure the department is combatting international terrorism, as was the original intent, and not chilling free speech, sowing chaos, and serving as a national militia." —Business Insider

Ed. Note: Peter Vincent is a national security and counterterrorism expert who served in the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

MORE: The lead federal agency responding to protesters in Portland employs thousands of private contractors —Medium

5. ICYMI: Quick takes from the weekend

If you were too busy with summer activities this weekend to check on the news, good for you. Here's a roundup of stories you may have missed...

• — Final crossing for a hero. Yesterday, the body of the late Rep. John Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the last time in a horse-drawn caisson. He was met on the other side by family members and Alabama state troopers, a reminder of how much America has changed since Lewis was beaten on the bridge over 50 years ago. —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• — Good medicine for bad polls. Facing an uphill re-election battle and criticism over his handling of the coronavirus, President Trump on Friday evening signed four executive orders aimed at lowering the prices Americans pay for prescription drugs. —Reuters
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• — Dem Party HQ set alight. A fire that destroyed part of the Arizona and Maricopa Co. Democratic Party headquarters was an act of arson, investigators have determined after reviewing surveillance video and combing the wreckage. Nobody was hurt. —Associated Press

• — Reagan Foundation just says no. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute has asked the Republican National Committee to cease fundraising for Trump's re-election campaign with a commemorative coin featuring the likeness of the former president with an image of Trump. —TIME
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• — Rose Garden facelift. First Lady Melania Trump has announced a plan to renovate the White House Rose Garden, which includes electrical upgrades, a new walkway, and new flowers and shrubs. "Our country has seen difficult times before, but the White House and the Rose Garden have always stood as a symbol of our strength, resilience, and continuity," she said. —The New York Times

6. Kempe: Perilous new territory for the US and China

"[T]he U.S. and China, after four decades of wishful collaboration, are now locked in a contest that could define our times. It isn't a struggle, as the hyperbole would have it, over 'world domination,' which no country has ever achieved. But it could have significant impact on 'world determination,' influencing whether democracy or autocracy, whether market capitalism or state capitalism, are the flavors of the future." —CNBC

Ed. Note: Frederick Kempe is an author and the president and CEO of the Atlantic Council.

MORE: Flag lowered at US consulate in Chengdu as China takes control —The Guardian

7. Anti-Putin protesters march again

Continuing a two-week wave of protests that has challenged the Kremlin, thousands of people marched this weekend across Russia's southeastern city of Khabarovsk, on the border with China, to protest the disputed arrest of the regional governor on murder charges. Sergei Furgal, a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, has been in a Moscow jail since his arrest on July 9, and Putin has named an acting successor. Protesters say the charges against Furgal are unsubstantiated and are demanding he stand trial at home. —Al Jazeera

• — China. A Singaporean man has pleaded guilty in the U.S. to working as an agent of China. Jun Wei Yeo was charged with using his political consultancy in America as a front to collect information for Chinese intelligence, U.S. officials say. —BBC News

• — North Korea. Kim Jong-un called an emergency meeting yesterday after an individual suspected of having COVID-19 illegally crossed the border from South Korea. If confirmed, it would be the first case of the disease acknowledged by the North Korean government. —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

MORE: Russian oil grab in Libya fuels US-Kremlin tensions in Mideast —The Wall Street Journal

8. An election beset by potential problems

A bipartisan group of political operatives, former government and military officials, and academics convened online last month for a disturbing exercise in the fragility of American democracy. They gamed out possible results of the November election, concluding that a close election is likely to be contested, and there are few guardrails to stop a constitutional crisis, particularly if President Trump flexes the considerable tools at his disposal to give himself an advantage. "He doesn't have to win the election," said historian Nils Gilman. "He just has to create a plausible narrative that he didn't lose." —The Boston Globe

• — The cash-strained U.S. Postal Service faces a November election that will likely necessitate an unprecedented increase in vote-by-mail ballots—and a White House in no hurry to help it deliver. "[T]here's a White House agenda to privatize and sell off the public Postal Service," says Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union. "They want to separate the service from the people and then degrade it to the point where people aren't going to like it anymore." —Fortune

• — The U.S.'s top counterintelligence official warns that foreign adversaries are targeting the November election by launching influence campaigns in social and traditional media, targeting election infrastructure, and attempting to compromise the private communications of political officials. "At this time, we're primarily concerned with China, Russia, and Iran, although other nation-states and non-state actors could also do harm," Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said. —CBS News

9. BG Ed Board: A new Voting Rights Act

"[A]s the nation mourns [Rep. John Lewis'] death and celebrates his contributions to society, one powerful way to honor his life is for Congress to pass a new Voting Rights Act to secure and enforce the right to vote for every American citizen, no matter their race, class, or creed." —The Boston Globe

10. An American Story: 1,800 paintings for 1,800 workers

Artist Michael Gittes of Los Angeles, Calif., filled a truck with 1,800 paintings of flowers he had completed since the start of the pandemic and shipped them to Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., which was hit exceptionally hard by COVID-19, as a token of his appreciation and love for the essential workers.

• — "It was the height of the crisis in New York, and I'd been talking to my fiancee about what a wild idea it is that people could be loved by so many and not necessarily be aware of it, so we came up with the idea to give paintings to a hospital that was especially affected by COVID," said Gittes.
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  — On July 13, Gittes's paintings were unloaded and handed out to every employee at the hospital—from custodians and cafeteria workers to security guards, nurses, doctors, and chief executives—nobody was forgotten.

• — Tracy Green, the hospital's chief financial officer said, "Perseverance got us through and then comes a package—a piece of art in a sturdy wooden frame, simple and beautiful, as acknowledgment of their sacrifice." —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.