US News Roundup: FBI investigates reported July 4 lynching attempt in Indiana; Wearing masks is primary tool for economic growth and more

"While monetary and fiscal policy have a key role to play, the primary economic policy from here is broad mask wearing and good execution of these health care protocols; if we do that well, we'll grow faster." U.S. civil rights groups protest 'out-of-touch' Justice Department police commission Prominent U.S. civil rights groups are refusing to appear before a Justice Department law enforcement commission set up to recommend ways to increase respect for police and reduce crime, calling it out of touch with public anger over policing.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. sets one-day record with more than 60,500 COVID cases; Americans divided

More than 60,500 new COVID-19 infections were reported across the United States on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, setting a one-day record as weary Americans were told to take new precautions and the pandemic becomes increasingly politicized. The total represents a slight rise from Wednesday, when there were 60,000 new cases, and marks the largest one-day increase by any country since the pandemic emerged in China last year.

Wearing masks is primary tool for economic growth: Fed's Kaplan

The key to ensuring a faster U.S. economic recovery is wearing masks and slowing the spread of the coronavirus, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan said on Friday. "How the virus proceeds and what the incidence is is going to be directly related to how fast we grow," Kaplan told Fox Business Network in an interview. "While monetary and fiscal policy have a key role to play, the primary economic policy from here is broad mask wearing and good execution of these health care protocols; if we do that well, we'll grow faster."

U.S. civil rights groups protest 'out-of-touch' Justice Department police commission

Prominent U.S. civil rights groups are refusing to appear before a Justice Department law enforcement commission set up to recommend ways to increase respect for police and reduce crime, calling it out of touch with public anger over policing. The Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice was established in January, before the latest wave of mass protests over police use of force against Black Americans set off by the May killing of George Floyd.

Tropical storm Fay strengthens slightly off eastern U.S. coast

Tropical storm Fay has slightly strengthened offshore the Delmarva peninsula and the storm's center is projected to move inland over the mid-Atlantic or the northeast United States late Friday or on Saturday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The sixth named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is about 65 miles (105 km) south-southeast of Ocean City, Maryland, packing maximum sustained winds of 50 miles (85 km) per hour, the Miami-based weather forecaster said.

Facing crises and falling polls, Trump to hold rally in battleground New Hampshire

Faced with sliding poll numbers and multiple national crises, President Donald Trump is set to hold his latest rally on Saturday in New Hampshire, a state he narrowly lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 and hopes to flip this year. The rally will take place at an airport hangar in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as coronavirus cases surge across the country and public health and state officials advise against large gatherings.

U.S. military needs to take 'hard look' at Confederacy symbols, base names, top general says

The top U.S. general said on Thursday that the military had to take a "hard look" at symbols of the Confederacy, including the names of bases, and said he had recommended a commission to look at the issue even as President Donald Trump has ruled out renaming military bases that are named for Confederate leaders. Despite Americans more conscious about race issues following the death of African American George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, Trump has favored keeping the names of 10 military bases from Virginia to Texas that are named for Confederate military leaders.

'Epic failure': U.S. election officials warn of November chaos due to budget crunch

A Michigan town wants machines to speed up counting of absentee ballots. In Ohio, officials want to equip polling places so voters and poll workers feel safe from the coronavirus. Georgia officials, rattled by a chaotic election last month, want to send voters forms so they can request absentee ballots more easily. In all three cases, the money is not there to make it happen, say local officials responsible for running elections in the states - any one of which could determine who wins the Nov. 3 presidential election.

FBI investigates reported July 4 lynching attempt in Indiana

The FBI is investigating a hate-crime report lodged by a Black civil rights activist in Indiana who said he was assaulted by several white men threatening to lynch him before a group of bystanders and friends intervened to stop the attack. The federal inquiry into the July 4 confrontation at Lake Monroe, near Bloomington, Indiana, was confirmed to Reuters on Thursday by FBI and U.S. Justice Department officials in Washington and Indianapolis.

U.S. Supreme Court defied Trump at key moments in blockbuster term

The conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court, with Chief Justice Roberts leading the way, has distinctly staked out its independence from President Donald Trump by delivering a series of setbacks to him and his administration in pivotal cases. The court ended its nine-month term on Thursday by rejecting Trump's sweeping assertions of presidential immunity in a ruling that paves the way for a New York prosecutor to obtain the president's financial records, which he has sought to conceal. The court also rejected Trump's broad arguments for preventing Congress from obtaining similar records and sent the matter back to lower courts for further consideration.

Special Report: How the Trump administration secured a secret supply of execution drugs

If the Trump administration carries out the first federal execution since 2003 on Monday, as scheduled, it will mark the culmination of a three-year campaign to line up a secret supply chain to make and test lethal-injection drugs, a Reuters investigation has found. Intent on enforcing the death penalty, President Donald Trump's Department of Justice had started building the network of contractors it would need by May 2017, federal procurement records show. Since then, it has pursued a new drug protocol that could survive legal challenges through firms whose identities it has fought to keep hidden. Without the secrecy, the government has argued in court filings, its ability to procure the drugs would be "severely impaired" because the companies are not willing to supply or test execution drugs if they are publicly identified.