Trump rips LeBron James' smarts hours before rally in Ohio  —  BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — Ahead of campaigning in Ohio on Saturday, President Donald Trump unleashed a withering attack on the state's favorite son, savaging LeBron James in a late-night tweet that derided the intelligence …

'The most bizarre thing I've ever been a part of': Trump panel found no voter fraud, ex-member says  —  Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, one of the 11 members of the commission formed by President Trump to investigate supposed voter fraud, issued a scathing rebuke of the disbanded panel on Friday …

Trump Will Have Blood on His Hands  —  His demonization of the news media won't fall on deaf ears.  —  The voice, if I had to guess, belongs to that of a white American male in late middle age.  The accent is faintly Southern, the manner taunting but relaxed.

Beyond the N.R.A.: Maria Butina's Peculiar Bid for Russian Influence  —  WASHINGTON — Twelve days after a young Russian gun-rights activist gained access to some of America's most prominent conservatives, at an elegant dinner near the Capitol, a Republican operative was eager to keep the momentum going.

Europe faces hottest day ever as temperatures soar to 48C  —  Europe is set to reach its hottest day ever as dangerous temperatures up to 48C are expected to hit Spain and Portugal this weekend.  —  The hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe was on 10 July 1977 when Athens in Greece reached 48C.

Axios AM  —  Subscribe  —  For the past month, Axios has been interviewing people who have been trusted with the nation's most sensitive secrets.  — The group includes seven former directors or deputy directors of the CIA, two former U.S. intelligence chiefs, a former Secretary of Homeland Security …

Paul Manafort Was Deep in Debt.  He Saw an Opportunity in Trump.  —  WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort's services did not come cheap.  His consulting work helped prop up foreign strongmen, who in turn kept him in $12,000 bespoke suits from Beverly Hills.  —  But by 2016, Mr. Manafort was broke.

Metro considering separate trains for white nationalists attending ‘Unite the Right’ rally  —  Metro is considering providing separate trains for participants of the “Unite the Right” white-nationalist rally Aug. 12, board chairman Jack Evans said Friday.  —  Evans said the move would be an effort …

Parkland Shooter Asked for Help, but Was Denied Before Shooting … A new report found Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz asked school officials for help months before he allegedly gunned down 14 fellow classmates and three adults—but the school district “did not follow through.”

The Newseum is selling ‘fake news’ shirts.  Journalists are not amused.  —  At the end of a week in which getting the White House to clarify whether it considers the news media “the enemy of the people” was a major story, Poynter made a revelation after visiting the Newseum's website.

Judge orders full restart of DACA program  —  A D.C.-based federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to restart in full the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.  —  The decision is the latest legal blow against President Donald Trump's decision to phase out the Obama-era program …

Scaled-back Senate recess creates a ‘coalition of the cranky’ in Congress  —  Democratic Sen. Patty Murray knew exactly what she would miss the most because of the Republican leadership's decision to eliminate much of the previously sacrosanct tradition of August recess.

Anarchy Breaks Out in Portland, With the Mayor's Blessing  —  A vicious mob targeted the ICE office and even a food cart.  The police followed orders to do nothing.  —  Portland, Ore.  —  Along the trolley tracks behind the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office …

‘Do you have to put our lives in danger?’  Watch Katy Tur's emotional lecture of Trump for attacking journalists  —  President Donald Trump received a harsh public scolding by MSNBC anchor Katy Tur for his continuing attacks on journalists.  —  The MSNBC anchor played a clip …

Obstruction of justice bombshell will explode before midterms  —  escalating his attacks against special counsel counsel Robert Mueller  —  , the Department of Justice, the FBI and the free press to a fever pitch in recent days?  —  The reason is that the odds are very high that Mueller …

Warren: Criminal justice system ‘racist’...'front to back'  —  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Potential Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren delivered what she called “the hard truth about our criminal justice system: It's racist ... I mean front to back.”

Trump Fans Are Suckers and QAnon Is Perfect for Them … Conspiracies are hard.  They're even harder when you're stupid.  —  They are, however, deeply compelling.  Some people need a single, grand unifying theory of why the world refuses to line up with their expectations.

Cory Booker: Things Are ‘Savagely Wrong’ In America  —  Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker bashed America during the progressive Netroots Nation conference on Friday.  —  WATCH:  —  “I'm a big believer that if America, if this country hasn't broken your heart, then you don't love her enough,” Booker said.

Kudlow: “Don't class warfare me” on trade  —  Listen To The Story  —  Marketplace  —  Larry Kudlow, who became President Trump's chief economic adviser in March, sits in an office on the second floor of the West Wing.  Kudlow is not a desk guy — he sits at a conference table with stacks …

Trump and Allies Seek End to Refugee Status for Millions of Palestinians  —  In internal emails, Jared Kushner advocated a “sincere effort to disrupt” the U.N.'s relief agency for Palestinians.  —  Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor …

The Children at the Trump Rallies  —  Is the media's only role to be “an enemy of the people”?  Times photographer Damon Winter seeks connection to his fellow Americans at a recent Trump rally in Pennsylvania.  —  Damon Winter is a staff photographer for the Opinion section.

Ex-astronaut slams Trump's ‘space force’ proposal: Let's deal with our current ‘cyber war’  —  Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly tore into President Trump  —  's “Space Force” proposal on Friday, saying the U.S. government should focus its efforts on “the cyber war” facing the country.