In Another About-Face, Trump Refuses to Condemn ‘Send Her Back’ Chant  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday demonstrated the limited influence of allies or advisers who try to steer him away from pre-election racial and cultural fights.  He walked back his disavowal of a racially loaded chant …

How Trump could lose by 5 million votes and still win in 2020  —  Analysis: The nation's two most populous states, California and Texas, are at the heart of Democrats' geography problem.  —  In the wake of President Donald Trump's tweets suggesting several nonwhite progressive congresswomen …

Mueller Hearings on Wednesday Present Make-or-Break Moment for Democrats  —  WASHINGTON — For more than two years, Democrats have hoped that Robert S. Mueller III would show the nation that President Trump is unfit for office — or at the very least, severely damage his re-election prospects.

Iran seizes British tanker in Strait of Hormuz; denies Trump's claim on drone downing  —  DUBAI — Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized at least one British tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to Iranian state media, setting up a new showdown with the West and demonstrating …

Sen. Rubio: Moon landing was America's defining moment |  Commentary  —  “For thousands of years now, it's been man's dream to walk on the moon,” said legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite as he watched Apollo 11 touch down on the lunar surface.  Teary-eyed and awestruck, Cronkite marveled that …

Judge halts Democrats' subpoenas of Trump Org docs in emoluments case  —  Washington (CNN)A federal judge Friday paused congressional Democrats' subpoenas of Trump Organization financial records, 10 days before the records were due in a lawsuit over whether President Donald Trump is violating the Constitution.

Polishing the Nationalist Brand in the Trump Era  —  Conservative thinkers are trying to bring intellectual coherence to the Trumpian moment under the banner of nationalism.  But can it be cleansed of its darker currents?  —  WASHINGTON — Ever since Donald J. Trump laid waste …

Why I Left Planned Parenthood  —  I believe abortion is about health care, not politics.  Many of my colleagues disagreed.  —  Dr. Wen is an emergency physician.  —  This week, I left my position as the president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood.

Twitter Suspends Angel Mom for Posting About Illegal Immigration  —  Angel Mom Mary Ann Mendoza, who heads the Angel Families organization, has been suspended from Twitter after posting about illegal immigration and raising awareness about the harms of sanctuary city policies.

Mueller witness George Nader charged with transporting 14-year-old boy for sex, child porn  —  KEY POINTS  — George Nader, who was a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, is charged in a new federal indictment with transporting a 14-year-old boy for sex, child pornography and carrying obscene materials.

Internal drug company emails show indifference to opioid epidemic  —  In May 2008, as the opioid epidemic was raging in America, a representative of the nation's largest manufacturer of opioid pain pills sent an email to a client at a wholesale drug distributor in Ohio.

Obama's Pro-Iran Echo Chamber Finds New Ally in Rand Paul  —  Paul strategizing with Iranian FM Zarif to pressure Trump into lifting sanctions  —  The Obama administration's pro-Iran “echo chamber” has found an unlikely ally in Republican senator Rand Paul, who recently engaged in shadow diplomacy …

Trump tells aides to look for big spending cuts in second term, sowing confusion about budget priorities  —  President Trump has instructed aides to prepare for sweeping budget cuts if he wins a second term in the White House, five people briefed on the discussions said …

No One Really Wants to ‘Send Her Back’  —  Don't exaggerate the significance of raucous chants.  —  The president can be very entertaining, but I don't pay much attention to political rallies, including his famously raucous ones.  —  For the faithful, the rallies are fun spectacles, like rock concerts or ball games.

Donald Trump's accusers: ‘The forgotten’ women of the #MeToo movement  —  Donald Trump's accusers say they feel forgotten  —  Watch CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper at 4 p.m. ET to see the full interviews.  —  (CNN)Each woman remembers without a shadow of a doubt exactly what they were wearing …

Racial Resentment Is Down Since 2016  —  Recent polling on race relations is pretty grim reading.  Ever since Ferguson, both blacks and whites have agreed that race relations in America are getting worse.  No matter how you ask the question, you get the same result.

Trump campaign and RNC spend more than $600,000 on law firm representing Hope Hicks  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee have paid more than $600,000 in legal fees to the law firm that represents Hope Hicks, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Trump Puts More GOP Money In His Own Pocket During Another Million-Dollar Golf Trip  —  An RNC fundraiser could put hundreds of thousands of dollars into his own business, while the getaway will bring his taxpayer-paid golf tab to $109.2 million.  —  WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump …

‘Ready to explode’: How a black boy's drifting raft triggered a deadly week of riots 100 years ago in Chicago  —  One hundred years ago, 7-year-old Juanita Mitchell should have been playing with other children in the streets during that summer's heat wave and getting to know her new home on Chicago's South Side.

Bernie Sanders defends staff compensation after complaints his campaign isn't paying $15 an hour  —  U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders defended his campaign's compensation package Friday after a Washington Post story highlighted concerns among staffers that they were not receiving the $15-an-hour wages Sanders champions on the campaign trail.

DNC raises $8.5 million in June  —  The Democratic National Committee raised $8.5 million in June, the month of the Democratic debates in Miami, $1.7 million more than during the previous month, new disclosures show.  —  The DNC spent almost as much money as it raised — $7.5 million …

The Army's Failure to Train and Equip Troops in Afghanistan  —  You're reading this week's At War newsletter.  Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday.  Email us at atwar@nytimes.com.  —  It was a strange thing, listening to Army Secretary Mark Esper's confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

U.S. spy chief creates a new head of election security for intelligence agencies  —  Dan Coats announced Friday he has appointed a career official, Shelby Pierson, to serve as the first intelligence community election threats executive.  —  ASPEN, Colo. — The nation's top spy has created …

Alan Dershowitz Cannot Stop Talking Accused of a slew of terrible things, the defense has no intention of resting.  —  One morning in July, days after his onetime client Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on sex-trafficking charges, the famed attorney Alan Dershowitz was reminiscing as he drove the winding roads of Martha's Vineyard.