memeorandum: I'm ready to call our sister in the movement for justice Madam Vice President Kamala Harris (CNN)

12:05 AM ET, August 2, 2020

Top Items:

GOP: Renomination of Trump to be held in private — WASHINGTON (AP) — The vote to renominate President Donald Trump is set to be conducted in private later this month, without members of the press present, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Convention, citing the coronavirus.

Discussion: Axios

Frank E. Lockwood / Arkansas Online:

Reporters won't see Trump nomination — WASHINGTON — When Republicans renominate Donald Trump for president in Charlotte, N.C., on Aug. 24, journalists won't be on hand to witness it, a convention spokesperson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this week. — Reporters also will be kept …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Hill and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

GOP convention in Charlotte closed to press, portions will be livestreamed — (CNN)The dramatically scaled-down Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, will be closed to the press, a convention spokesperson and Republican official familiar with the plans tell CNN.

Discussion: Raw Story

Stuart Emmrich / Vogue:

Is Sarah Cooper the Reason Donald Trump Wants to Ban TikTok? — Donald Trump abruptly announced on Friday that he plans to ban TikTok from the United States, telling reporters traveling with him on Air Force One that he could issue an executive order as early as Saturday to shut down the Chinese-owned video app.

Discussion: Twitchy, Redstate, The Hill, Vanity Fair, The Week, Mediaite, ABC News, NBC News and TheGrio, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft and Bytedance Put TikTok Talks on Hold After Trump Signals Opposition

Discussion: TechCrunch, Bloomberg, TheBlaze, The Verge, The Gateway Pundit, Slate and Vox, more at Techmeme »

Dan Primack / Axios:
Trump has TikTok deal “on his desk”

Discussion: New York Times, Rolling Stone and Scripting News

Jacob Knutson / Axios:
Black Lives Matter co-founder says Biden should pick a Black woman as VP

Discussion: San Francisco Chronicle, One America News Network, CANNONFIRE and The Guardian

Reuters:
Exclusive: TikTok's Chinese owner offers to forego stake to clinch U.S. deal - sources

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, New York Times and Rolling Stone, more at Techmeme »

Arizona Republic:

Rep. Raúl Grijalva tests positive for COVID-19, is symptom-free — Rep. Raúl Grijalva has tested positive for COVID-19 after a week in Washington, D.C., that included a hearing with Rep. Louie Gohmert, who also tested positive in recent days. — Grijalva, D-Ariz. …

Discussion: Congressman Raul Grijalva, Daily Kos, Mediaite, MyNorthwest.com, Slate, The Hill, Just The News, New York Post, Balloon Juice and Eschaton

12news.com: Arizona Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva tests positive for coronavirus

Lauren Egan / NBC News:
Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona tests positive for coronavirus

Discussion: One America News Network and The Week

New York Times:

After Plummeting, the Virus Soars Back in the Midwest — States like Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin are riding a frustrating seesaw during the pandemic, with new coronavirus cases rising again after apparent progress. — CHICAGO — First, the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast …

Discussion: Common Dreams

Courier-Journal:

Cuban community plans rally at NuLu restaurant in response to Black Lives Matter demands — Members of Louisville's Cuban community plan to gather Sunday in support of a NuLu restaurant owner who says he was threatened by Black Lives Matter protesters during a recent demonstration.

Isabel Vincent / New York Post:
Protesters burn Bible, American flag as tensions rise in Portland

Discussion: The Daily Caller and KOIN-TV

Mike Miller / Redstate:
What Better Way to ‘Honor’ Christian George Floyd Than by Firing Up a Good Old-Fashioned Bible-Burning in Portland?

Discussion: Breitbart, The Federalist and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Kyle Swenson / Washington Post:

Ten bucks left, no place to go: How the pandemic and a broken unemployment system are upending people's lives — He had five days to move out of the house in Brightwood Park, and now Daniel Vought stood looking at the plastic crates stacked in the living room holding his things. T-shirts.

Wilford Brimley Dead / TMZ.com:

Wilford Brimley, Face of Quaker Oats & Diabetes Campaigns, Dead at 85 — Wilford Brimley — an iconic actor who was the face of Quaker Oats for years, as well as a spokesperson for diabetes education — has died ... a rep tells TMZ. — We're told Brimley passed away Saturday morning at his home in Utah.

Hugh Hewitt / Washington Post:

The case for Trump will come down to his record. It's a strong one. — President Trump's record of accomplishments is easy to compile. — Most significantly, he has brought the existential threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party into the sunlight. No more nice words.

Daniel Goldman / Washington Post:

Barr would fire Barr if he were any other Justice Department lawyer — The attorney general avoids one thing central to all prosecution: Evidence. He favors ‘common sense’ and what ‘I think’ to support the president's unfounded assertions. — When Attorney General William P. Barr testified …

Washington Post: Barr may try to spin his ‘investigation’ before the election. Don't believe him.

Politico:
Barr Makes It Official—He's Trump's New “Fixer”

Discussion: Raw Story

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Kelly Loeffler takes BLM criticism to host with white supremacist ties — U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler granted an interview to a TV pundit associated with white supremacy and Nazism.The interview aired on One America News Network on Thursday and Loeffler promoted it heavily on her Facebook …

Discussion: Raw Story

Evan Semones / Politico:

‘Wrong!’: Trump slams Fauci over testimony on Covid-19 surge — President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday, forcefully rejecting the nation's top infectious disease expert's testimony on why the U.S. has experienced a renewed surge in coronavirus cases. — “Wrong!”

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Deadline and Political Wire

Alexander S. Vindman / Washington Post:

Coming forward ended my career. I still believe doing what's right matters. — Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (Ret.), a career U.S. Army officer, served on the National Security Council as the director for Eastern European, Caucasus and Russian affairs, as the Russia political-military affairs officer …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Politico, The Moderate Voice, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, Alternet.org, The Guardian and The Week

USA Today: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman retires, cites ‘bullying’ by Trump after impeachment testimony

Jon Brown / The Daily Wire:

DC Mayor Exempts John Lewis Funeral Attendees From City's Quarantine Restrictions — Lawmakers who attended the funeral of late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) in Atlanta earlier this week are exempt from Washington, D.C.'s, self-quarantine restrictions, according to District Mayor Muriel Bowser's office.

Discussion: Redstate, The Gateway Pundit, Just The News and Liberty Unyielding

CNN:

I'm ready to call our sister in the movement for justice Madam Vice President Kamala Harris — What Joe Biden says he's looking for in his VP pick — Ben Crump is a civil rights attorney and founder of the national law firm Ben Crump Law, based in Tallahassee, Florida.

Discussion: The Hill

Washington Post:

Trump's campaign in crisis as aides attempt August reset before time runs out — Signs that President Trump's reelection bid is in crisis grew steadily this past week, one of the most tumultuous moments of a presidency increasingly operating with an air of desperation as it tries to avoid political disaster in November.

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Times

Kate Bennett / CNN:

Private school attended by Barron Trump prohibited from in-person learning until October as President pushes openings — (CNN)As President Donald Trump continues to demand a return to in-person classes for schools around the country despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic …

Discussion: WTOP

Eliza Shapiro / New York Times:

A School Reopens, and the Coronavirus Creeps In — As more schools abandon plans for in-person classes, one that opened in Indiana this week had to quarantine students within hours. — One of the first school districts in the country to reopen its doors during the coronavirus pandemic …

Discussion: The Guardian and Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:

Alienated by Trump, Suburban Voters Sour on G.O.P. in Battle for the House — House Republicans are on the defensive in suburban strongholds as voters reject President Trump's handling of the coronavirus and calls for racial justice. — BALLWIN, Mo. — For Heather Vaughn …

Discussion: Raw Story

Shane Harris / Washington Post:

DHS official whose office compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists and protesters has been removed from his job — A senior Department of Homeland Security official whose office compiled “intelligence reports” about journalists and protesters in Portland, Ore., has been removed from his job …