memeorandum: Newest U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan Mirrors Past Plans for Retreat (New York Times)

Giuliani says experts think ‘someone messed’ with Cohen tape — Rudy Giuliani explains that they need to hear the raw version of the Trump, Cohen tape that's been released. Fox News' Ellison Barber reports from Berkeley heights, New Jersey. — President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy …

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

GOP Rep. Issa: 'Nobody's Going to be Surprised' If Trump Lied About Russia Meeting — Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) appeared on Fox News for an interview with Neil Cavuto Saturday, and trashed former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen as a “turncoat,” before downplaying the potential that President Donald Trump lied …

Discussion: Breitbart

John Bowden / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker: 'Nobody's going to be surprised' if Trump approved Russia meeting

Discussion: Breitbart

Brent D. Griffiths / Politico:
Giuliani: Cohen and Trump's legal teams have severed ties

Discussion: Political Wire and Mediaite

Tara Palmeri / ABC News:
Joint defense with Cohen over, experts hired to analyze Trump-Cohen tape: Giuliani

Discussion: The Week, HuffPost, CNBC and Mediaite

Associated Press:

‘Koch brothers’ rebrand underway, still a conservative force — The conservative Koch brothers are no more — even if they remain a political powerhouse. — The Democrats' super villains for much of the last decade have quietly launched a rebranding effort that may vanquish the “Koch brothers” moniker from American politics.

Maggie Severns / Politico:

Trump tariffs assailed at Koch network gathering — COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Top officials from the powerful Koch network warned President Donald Trump's tariffs — and his divisive governing style — stand to create “long-term damage” to the country as donors assembled here to kick off their twice-yearly confab Saturday.

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

EndPlay / WSB-TV:

Rep. John Lewis hospitalized after falling ill on plane — ATLANTA - Channel 2 Action News has learned that Rep. John Lewis has been hospitalized at a metro area hospital. — Sources confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that Lewis was hospitalized after becoming ill on a flight heading back to Atlanta on Saturday.

Discussion: ABC News

Mallory Moench / NBC News:

U.S. citizen's family was denied visas under Trump's travel ban. Then he died by suicide. — Salem was one of thousands of Yemeni-Americans separated from non-U.S. citizen family members by Trump's travel ban. — In the early morning hours of July 18, Mahmood Salem told his family …

Discussion: HuffPost

Dan Gainor / Fox News:

Media continue attacking Trump despite his week of accomplishments and strong economic growth — If Ronald Reagan was the “Teflon president,” Donald Trump must be the Incredible Hulk president. The more the left and the media attack him, the stronger he gets. — This past week was a great example.

Discussion: RedState, Refinery29 and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Barrett / The Newport Daily News:

Trump supporters, opponents clash at Spicer book signing | VIDEO — WARNING: This video contains strong language. — MIDDLETOWN — Supporters and opponents of President Donald Trump verbally clashed inside and outside Barnes & Noble on Friday evening during a book signing …

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Wire

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and Splinter

Matt Kwong / CBC News:

In a divided U.S., therapists treating anxiety are hearing the same name over and over: Donald Trump — ‘Trump Anxiety Disorder’ may not be an official diagnosis, but therapists know the symptoms — “Is he gonna blow us all up?” — So inquired one of Elisabeth LaMotte's patients recently …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

Discussion: twitchy.com

New York Times:

Newest U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan Mirrors Past Plans for Retreat — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is urging American-backed Afghan troops to retreat from sparsely populated areas of the country, officials said, all but ensuring the Taliban will remain in control of vast stretches of the country.

Discussion: Political Wire

Discussion: Raw Story

Philip Jankowski / mystatesman:

City report on Confederate monuments raises idea of renaming Austin — Highlights — Renaming of seven streets worthy of immediate action, report states, but renaming Austin not a simple matter. — In discussion of possible changes, report also asks, 'What's next and where do we stop?'

Discussion: Townhall, The Hill, Althouse and Front Page Magazine

Scott Bland / Politico:

Liberal secret-money network hammers House GOP — Nonprofits connected by a Washington-based hub have spent millions of dollars on TV ads on health care and taxes in key House districts. — A network of secret-money nonprofit groups has spent millions of dollars attacking swing-seat House Republicans …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Matthew Hennessey / New York Post:

Wall Street finally taught Zuckerberg the lesson he deserved — This week Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally got the whack across the nose that many had hoped Congress would give him back in April. — The social-media giant's stock price took a spectacular nose dive Thursday …

Jeff Maysh / The Daily Beast:

How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole Millions … On August 3, 2001, a McDonald's film crew arrived in the bustling beach town of Westerly, Rhode Island. They carried their cameras and a giant cashier's check to a row of townhouses, and knocked on the door of Michael Hoover.

Lori Rozsa / Washington Post:

Immigrant girl hides in auto shop after escaping attendants from Florida detention facility — The 15-year-old Honduran girl couldn't take it anymore. She had been held in the Florida detention facility for three weeks, and it felt like a prison. — So when she saw an opportunity …

New York Times:

He Was Dow's ‘Dioxin Lawyer.’ Now He's Trump's Choice to Run the Superfund Program. — The lawyer nominated to run the Superfund toxic cleanup program is steeped in the complexities of restoring polluted rivers and chemical dumps. He spent more than a decade on one of the nation's most extensive cleanups …

Discussion: Political Wire

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

New Hampshire, 94 Percent White, Asks: How Do You Diversify a Whole State? — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Catalina Celentano used to hold training sessions for hospital workers in Lynn, Mass., to familiarize them with the cultures of patients from Cambodia, Russia and the Dominican Republic.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Wendy Siegelman:

‘US Person 2’ in the case of alleged Russian agent Maria Butina is George O'Neill—his daughter interned for Dana Rohrabacher and helped with an anti-Magnitsky event — New research reveals another link between alleged Russian agent Maria Butina and Pro-Russia congressman Dana Rohrabacher.

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Our socialist president — For three months in 1917, Leon Trotsky lived in the Bronx, just south of the congressional district where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently defeated a 10-term incumbent in a Democratic primary. Because she calls herself a democratic socialist, the word “socialism” …

Discussion: Raw Story