New Charges for Floyd’s Death, NBA Season Restart & Sesame Street Town Hall

(+ Healing the Racial Divide)

All the news you need in less than 10 min:

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Story Summaries

All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want perusing the latest happenings...

MN Officer Charges
Minnesota’s Attorney General upgraded charges against the fired officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes. Derek Chauvin is now charged with second-degree murder. That means prosecutors will have to prove he intended to kill Floyd. It also means Chauvin faces up to 50 years in prison, instead of 35. Also, Attorney General Keith Ellison charged the three other former officers who were there with “aiding and abetting murder.” They were all arrested and taken to jail.
Read More: Minneapolis Star Tribune, NY Times, WSJ

Floyd Memorial Service
George Floyd’s family is working with activists on several memorial services. The first will be held this afternoon in Minneapolis. Al Sharpton will deliver Floyd’s eulogy. A second will take place Saturday in North Carolina, where Floyd was born. Next week, his funeral will be in Houston, Texas, where Floyd lived the majority of his life. Champion boxer Floyd Mayweather has agreed to pay for the funeral.
Read More: AP, ABC News

Protests in 50 States, Other Countries
Nationwide protests aren’t letting up. So far this week, USA Today says there have been protests in at least 430 cities and towns in all 50 states. Rallies have also been growing around the world. In London, thousands of people came together to protest racial injustice. Earlier this week, about 20,000 people gathered in Paris. Other protests were held in Copenhagen, Milan, Berlin, even as far away as New Zealand.
Read More: USA Today, ABC News, NY Times

Washington, D.C. Show of Force
Military police and law enforcement officers from several federal agencies have been patrolling Washington, D.C. A senior defense official told the AP at least 2,200 guard members were on the streets. At the same time, an FBI plane, Army surveillance plane, and police helicopters were watching protesters from the air. President Trump has been talking about “dominating” the capital city all week.
Read More: AP, WaPo

Esper Opposes Using Active-Duty Troops
Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters he doesn’t want to use military forces for law enforcement. He said active-duty troops should only be used in the most urgent and dire of circumstances and that’s not what’s happening now. The Pentagon was reportedly going to send active-duty soldiers home today. Then, Esper went into a meeting at the White House and by the time he was out, the decision was reversed. 1,300 Army troops will stay in Washington, D.C. for at least another 24 hours.
Read More: AP, CBS News, CNN

Mattis Denounces Trump
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis denounced President Trump’s response to protests. The Atlantic published a statement from Mattis that said “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people.” He went onto say that Trump “tries to divide us.” The retired Marine general resigned over policy differences two years ago. President Trump reacted on Twitter by calling Mattis “the world’s most overrated general.”
Read More: The Atlantic, Reuters, LA Times, Tweet

Former Presidents Discuss Protests
Every living former U.S. president has expressed sadness over the death of George Floyd and support for the people protesting injustice. President Obama spoke directly to young black people at a virtual town hall yesterday. He told them to “feel hopeful even as you may feel angry” because he sees change coming. Jimmy Carter wrote, “our hearts are with the victims’ families and all who feel hopeless in the face of pervasive racial discrimination.” George W. Bush said, “it is time for America to examine our tragic failures, and as we do, we will also see some of our redeeming strengths.” Meanwhile, President Bill Clinton offered some harsh reality. He said “no one deserves to die the way George Floyd did. The truth is, if you’re white in America, the chances are you won’t.”
President Obama Town Hall: NY Times, USA Today, Obama Statement, Obama Town Hall
President Bush Statement: WaPo, Reuters, Bush Statement
President Carter Statement: FOX News, ABC News, Carter Statement
President Clinton Statement: NBC News, Clinton Statement

Casinos Reopen & Hospitalizations Drop
Nevada casinos have been given the green light to reopen. They are introducing temperature checks, hand-washing stations, and plexiglass dividers at casino tables. Casinos are reportedly also capping capacity at 50%. The hope is reopening doesn’t trigger a spike in new infections. Right now, Axios reports 22 states are seeing a drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations. Only five have reported an increase.
NV Casinos Reopen: NPR, ABC News, Business Insider
COVID Hospitalizations Falling: Axios

NBA Plans to Restart Season
Today, the NBA is expected to get the go-ahead to resume its season. The league’s board of governors is reportedly ready to sign off on teams playing all remaining games, but not at regular arenas. Instead, they’ll be at Walt Disney World near Orlando. The theme park has a big sports complex that could host practice and games. Still, fans won’t be allowed in the stands for now. The target restart date is July 31.
Read More: The Athletic, NBC Sports, ESPN

Snapchat Stops Promoting Trump
Snapchat will no longer promote President Trump. It says it doesn’t want to “amplify voices that incite racial violence and injustice.” That means you’ll no longer see Trump on Snapchat’s “discover” feature, which spotlights celebrities and news organizations. The president’s campaign team responded in a statement, saying social media companies are trying to “rig the 2020 election.”
Read More: CNN,  The Verge, Trump Campaign Statement

SpaceX’s Latest Launch
SpaceX just launched its second rocket of the week. Last night’s didn’t carry humans into space, like the historic flight on Saturday. Instead, it reportedly took a batch of 60 satellites into orbit. SpaceX plans to eventually have 12,000 of them in space to provide internet service to more areas on Earth.
Read More: The Verge, TechCrunch

Sesame Street Town Hall
Sesame Street and CNN are teaming up to help families talk to children about race, turmoil, and acceptance. CNN’s Van Jones and Erica Hill are leading an hour-long town hall. They’re getting help from some Sesame Street favorites like Big Bird and Elmo. The special will address topics like racism and protests. It will also remind kids to embrace diversity and be more empathetic and understanding. “Coming Together: Standing up to Racism” airs this Saturday at 10 a.m.
Read More: CNN, EW, AJC

Thing to Know Thursday: race relations

Read more: Brookings, APA, LA Times

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