1 Trump Says He Would Be "Comfortable" Sending Son and Grandchildren Back To School
President Trump, pushing for schools across the country to reopen in the fall, said during yesterday's coronavirus briefing that he would be comfortable sending his son and grandchildren back to school in the fall. He was asked if he would be comfortable with sending his 10 grandchildren and 14-year-old son Barron to school. He added that his administration has a national strategy to help schools reopen in the fall but “ultimately it’s up to the governors.” He said that there are “great statistics” regarding young people and safety during the coronavirus pandemic. He mentioned that children "don't transmit very easily," and that his administration was studying whether kids transmitted the virus easily and would report back next week. Soon after the briefing, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx appeared on Fox News and was asked whether what Trump said about kids was true. She noted that while one South Korean study suggested it was, more research was needed.
2 President Trump Announces 'Surge' of Federal Agents in Cities
President Trump opened his remarks describing "bloodshed" across American cities before announcing the expansion of "Operation Legend," saying he has "no choice" but to "surge" federal law enforcement into American cities to fight violent crime. It was reported that at least 63 people were shot in Chicago, nine of them under 18 over the weekend. "Today I am announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime,” President Trump said. The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), U.S. Marshals Service, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would all send agents to Chicago. Chicago's mayor said she wasn't interested in his help, citing the events in Portland. "We don't need federal agents without any insignia taking people off the streets and holding them, I think, unlawfully," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
3 House Votes 305-133 to Remove Confederate Statues
The House has approved a bill to remove statues of Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders from the US Capitol, as well as a bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision that declared African Americans couldn't be citizens. Besides Taney, the bill would direct the Architect of the Capitol to identify and eventually remove from Statuary Hall at least 10 statues honoring Confederate officials, including Lee, the commanding general of the Confederate Army, and Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president. Three statues honoring white supremacists—including former US Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina—would be immediately removed. The House approved the bill 305-113, sending it to the Republican-controlled Senate, where prospects are uncertain. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said it was appropriate that the bill would replace Taney's bust with another Maryland native, the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.