Week In The News: DNC, Colleges And Coronavirus, USPS And More

A historic Democratic convention. Furor over the postal service. And universities thrown off course by COVID-19. It’s our weekly news roundup.

Elizabeth Landers, Washington correspondent for Vice News. (@ElizLanders)

Laura Barrón-López, national political reporter at Politico. (@lbarronlopez)

Karen Travers, White House correspondent for ABC News. (@karentravers)

Politico: "Democratic convention takes 'earth-shattering' turn with its focus on race" — "B-L-M block letters sat propped behind Elizabeth Warren in a Massachusetts classroom."

New York Times: "Barack Obama Dials the Volume Down and the Urgency Up" — "Barack Obama ignited his political career at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, where he linked his story, of growing up as a biracial 'skinny kid with a funny name,' to America’s."

Associated Press: "Trump rule on transgender health blocked at the 11th hour" — "A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Monday from enforcing a new regulation that would roll back health care protections for transgender people."

New York Times: "Highlights From the Democratic National Convention: Night 1" — "On the first night of their first virtual convention, Democrats made their case for Joseph R. Biden Jr. with a mix of recorded programming and notable speakers delivering live remarks."

NBC News: "10 highlights from the DNC Night 2: Food, song, emotional moments, biting attacks" — "Former presidents, ex-secretaries of state and a New York elevator operator provided some of the high points of Tuesday's second night of the Democratic National Convention — but it was Jill Biden who stole the show."

NPR: "Steve Bannon Charged With Misusing Donations For Trump's Border Wall" — "Steve Bannon, President Trump's former political adviser, has been arrested alongside three other people in connection with an online fundraising scheme that federal prosecutors in New York say is responsible for defrauding hundreds of thousands of people."

USA Today: "USPS head has no plans to replace sorting machines or reverse other Postal Service changes, Pelosi says" — "The head of the U.S. Postal Service has no plans to reverse changes to infrastructure that lawmakers feared could disrupt mail-in voting in November, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said."

Politico: "Republicans quietly push mail-in voting despite Trump claims" — "President Donald Trump may rail against mail-in ballots in public, but state and local Republicans are quietly telling Americans that’s exactly how they should vote."

Washington Post: "Here’s why the Postal Service wanted to remove hundreds of mail sorting machines" — "This week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy pulled back on a host of cost-saving measures at the U.S. Postal Service after a public outcry over delivery delays and the potential to upset mail-in voting come November."

NPR: "UNC Experience Should Be A Lesson To Other Universities, Says Faculty Chair" — "The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill made it one week into the fall semester before scrapping plans for in-person instruction."

Washington Post: "The college covid-19 mess: It was all so predictable" — "This week, some universities that decided to reopen campuses during the covid-19 pandemic realized it wasn’t going to work within days of welcoming students back to campus."

Vox: "The Senate Intelligence Committee’s new Russia report, explained" — "The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the final installment of its years-long investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election on Tuesday, and its report is a strong, bipartisan pushback against the common claim that there was 'nothing there.'"

Axios: "Mueller prosecutor says there are new revelations in Senate Russia report" — "Andrew Weissmann, one of the lead prosecutors on special counsel Robert Mueller's team and the architect of the case against Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, said there is 'definitely new information' in the final volume of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on 2016 Russian interference released Tuesday."

Washington Post: "Trump’s 2016 campaign chair was a ‘grave counterintelligence threat,’ had repeated contact with Russian intelligence, Senate panel finds" — "President Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman posed a 'grave counterintelligence threat' due to his interaction with people close to the Kremlin, according to a bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday that found extensive contacts between key campaign advisers and officials affiliated with Moscow’s government and intelligence services."