Tuesday, July 16, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the dispute between President Trump and four Democratic lawmakers, planned limits on asylum seekers, and protests in Puerto Rico.

By Chris Stanford

From left, Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar on Monday. Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times

Congresswomen fire back at president

Four Democratic lawmakers accused by President Trump of hating America responded on Monday by denouncing the president’s rhetoric and policies and saying he was pressing the agenda of white nationalists.

“He’s launching a blatantly racist attack on four duly elected members of the United States House of Representatives, all of whom are women of color,” said Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Somali refugee whom Mr. Trump falsely accused of praising Al Qaeda.

Asked whether he was concerned that his comments were racist, Mr. Trump said, “It doesn’t concern me, because many people agree with me. All I’m saying is if they want to leave, they can leave now.”

Go deeper: Mr. Trump’s telling the lawmakers to “go back” to their countries (three were born in the U.S., and the fourth is a naturalized citizen) was a painful reminder for those who have heard versions of the slur.

News analysis: Republicans’ muted response to Mr. Trump’s remarks illustrates both his grip on the party and their belief that an attack on progressivism should be central to the 2020 campaign, our chief Washington correspondent writes.

The Daily: In today’s episode, a Times reporter who covers Congress discusses the dispute.

Five Democrats stand out in fund-raising race

Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren more than tripled their fund-raising from the first quarter, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

They, along with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, raised a combined $96 million from individual donors in the second quarter. The numbers also highlight the financial challenges that lesser-known presidential candidates face.

Another angle: Of the $68 million raised in the second quarter by President Trump’s campaign committees, 35 percent came from small donors, defined as those who gave $200 or less. That’s a significant increase over the first three months of the year.

Border Patrol agents checked the papers of a Venezuelan family seeking asylum in the U.S. at a crossing in Laredo, Tex., last week. Luis Antonio Rojas for The New York Times

New limits planned for asylum seekers

In a move that would stop virtually all Central Americans who are fleeing persecution from entering the U.S., the Trump administration said on Monday that it would deny asylum to migrants who failed to apply for protections in at least one country they passed through.

President Trump argues that migrants are gaming the system by falsely claiming asylum and then failing to appear in court. The wait for a hearing can be years because of a backlog of more than 900,000 immigration cases.

Guatemala and Mexico have refused to go along with the plan, and the rule is expected to be immediately challenged.

Related: After anticipated raids over the weekend, lawyers for immigrants and advocacy groups reported relatively few arrests.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005. Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan, via Getty Images

The woman entangled with Jeffrey Epstein

Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of a British media baron, arrived in New York in the early 1990s and was soon on the rise with the help of her new boyfriend, Mr. Epstein.

With Mr. Epstein facing charges of the sexual exploitation of young women and girls, there are growing questions about his relationship with Ms. Maxwell. Their romance ended, but for more than a decade she helped manage Mr. Epstein’s homes, facilitate his social relationships and recruit masseuses, according to his former employees.

Yesterday: Prosecutors argued that Mr. Epstein should be denied bail, revealing that a safe in his mansion held “piles of cash,” diamonds and an expired passport from a foreign country with Mr. Epstein’s photograph and a fake name.

If you have 8 minutes, this is worth it

Is it time to play with spaceships again?

Mike McQuade

Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the mission that landed on the moon. The milestone comes as space travel has again entered the national conversation.

But over the past five decades we never really answered the question: Why do we want to go to space? One of our science writers offers some suggestions.

Here’s what else is happening

Protests in Puerto Rico: Police in riot gear used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse thousands of demonstrators who demanded the immediate resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. The protests followed the release of a private chat involving Mr. Rosselló that included many crude exchanges.

Trade war’s costs: Revenue that the U.S. has collected from tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods doesn’t cover the cost of the bailout for American farmers hurt by China’s retaliation, government figures show.

Flooding toll in Asia: Dozens of people were killed after torrential rains in India and Nepal, and officials in Bangladesh were braced for the floodwaters.

Agency’s top office move: The headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management will be moved to Grand Junction, Colo., one of the state’s senators said. The move would put officials closer to the lands they manage but farther from Washington policymakers.

Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times

Snapshot: Above, at a mural of Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles. After the rapper was gunned down in March, city leaders embraced him as a peacemaker, but he was also under investigation.

Emmy nominations: Expect to hear “Game of Thrones” when the nominations are announced at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. We’ll have live coverage.

Area 51 is no joke: The Air Force issued a warning after a Facebook event invited U.F.O. enthusiasts to swarm the secretive Nevada military site.

Late-night comedy: Seth Meyers noted that most of the congresswomen whom President Trump told to “go back” to their home countries are from the U.S.: “If you’re asking them to fix the totally broken, crime-infested governments of their home countries, they’re trying.”

What we’re reading: This article in The Washington Post Magazine. “Non-Florida man @loganhill33 reveals non-Florida man behind now-retired @_FloridaMan,” tweeted Ron Lieber, our Your Money columnist. “Great story.”

Now, a break from the news

Andrew Purcell for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Cook: Huli huli chicken, which originated in Hawaii, is bathed in a sweet ginger-garlic sauce. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)

Watch: Stream the movies discussed in The Times’s recent round table on the ’90s black film boom, and others from a golden age for black auteurs.

Listen: Beyoncé brings full gospel dynamics — and sets aside the original Broadway score — in her showpiece for the remake of “The Lion King.”

Look: Three artists and two curators met at The Times to compile a list of the 25 works that define the contemporary age.

Smarter Living: Sibling fights offer opportunities to help your children learn to hear each other and work on their own solutions. Instead of trying to referee, narrate what you experience like a sportscaster. For instance: “I’m hearing loud voices. One of you looks angry and one of you is laughing.” Listen, stay neutral and consider what might lie beneath the surface of the fight.

And we look at the apps, services and hardware that make it easy to save the things that inspire you.

And now for the Back Story on …

Bail, a way out of jail

The financier Jeffrey Epstein is to hear on Thursday whether he will be allowed out on bail while he awaits trial on charges of sex trafficking.

What exactly is bail? Since most countries don’t have it — and even many Americans don’t know its ins and outs — we looked back at an explanation that our chief legal correspondent, Adam Liptak, gave a few years ago.

Bail, he wrote, is a payment to the court — either in cash or through a pledge of personal assets — that is returned only if a defendant shows up for trial. It has roots in English common law.

An ad for a bail bond company in Alabama in 1992. Thomas S. England/The LIFE Images Collection, via Getty Images

By the early 1800s, private businesses (bail bond companies) were allowed to post bail in exchange for payments from defendants and were empowered to chase down any defendants who failed to appear (bounty hunting).

Commercial bail bond companies dominate the pretrial release systems of only two nations: the U.S. and the Philippines, a former U.S. territory.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Chris

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Andrea Kannapell, the briefings editor, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about President Trump and “the squad.”
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Bar food that can be messy to eat (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The Times is presenting its first Food Festival, Oct. 5-6 in New York.