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Week In The News: Death Of George Floyd, Minneapolis Protests, Coronavirus Death Toll

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People hold up their fists after protesting near the spot where George Floyd died while in custody of the Minneapolis Police, on May 26, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)
People hold up their fists after protesting near the spot where George Floyd died while in custody of the Minneapolis Police, on May 26, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)

American COVID-19 deaths surpass 100,000. And protests erupt over the death of George Floyd. Our weekly roundtable digs into the week’s news.

Guests

Kimberly Atkins, senior news correspondent for WBUR. (@KimberlyEAtkins)

Eugene Scott, political reporter for the Washington Post covering identity politics. (@Eugene_Scott)

Anita Kumar, White House correspondent and associate editor at Politico. (@anitakumar01)

From The Reading List

Washington Post: "Did coronavirus lay bare inequalities? Not to those who were monitoring them before." — "Perhaps one of the biggest stories to come out of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic downturn is that of the inequalities that exist in America."

Politico: "Trump tries on MAGA 2.0 for a pandemic era" — "With an economic crisis gripping the nation, President Donald Trump is reprising his 2016 slogan, with a twist: Make America Great Again, Again."

Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Rubber bullets, chemical irritant, water bottles in air as thousands march to protest George Floyd's death" — "Community anger over the death of George Floyd boiled over Tuesday night in Minneapolis, as protesters and officers clashed, lobbing projectiles and tear gas."

Washington Post: "There’s not much upside for Biden in attacking black voters who don’t support him" — "Former vice president questioning the blackness of any black American who chooses to vote for President Trump is unlikely to persuade them to vote for him — and could hurt him with other black voters."

Politico: "Trump expected to broaden foreign worker bans" — "President Donald Trump is expected to extend and expand restrictions on foreign workers coming into the United States during the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to appease a frustrated political base as Americans try to return to work."

Associated Press: "41 million have lost jobs since virus hit, but layoffs slow" — "Roughly 2.1 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a sign that companies are still slashing jobs in the face of a deep recession even as more businesses reopen and rehire some laid-off employees."

New York Times: "At Cape Canaveral, Trump’s Search for a Heroic Narrative Is Thwarted" — "For President Trump, it was a chance to rewrite the story line from tragedy to triumph. Even as the United States reached the grim milestone on Wednesday of 100,000 dead from the coronavirus pandemic, he would help mark the nation’s trailblazing return to human spaceflight from American soil."

The 19th: "‘This invokes a history of terror’: Central Park incident between white woman and black man is part of a fraught legacy" — "When Amy Cooper called the police on a black man who asked her to leash her dog in New York City’s Central Park over the Memorial Day holiday, the incident became the latest chapter in the fraught legacy of a gendered and racial dynamic dating back to slavery in America, one that persists in the nation’s imagination today."

New York Times: "Trump Prepares Order to Limit Social Media Companies’ Protections" — "The Trump administration is preparing an executive order intended to curtail the legal protections that shield social media companies from liability for what gets posted on their platforms, two senior administration officials said early Thursday."

Washington Post: "Police chiefs react with disgust to Minneapolis death, try to reassure their own cities" — "Police chiefs across the United States, many of whom have been pushing their officers to de-escalate tense situations and decrease their use of force, responded with disgust Wednesday to the death of George Floyd after an encounter with Minneapolis officers and moved to reassure their communities that they would not tolerate such brutality."

WBUR: "Warren, Mnuchin Spar Over Coronavirus Funding Oversight During Senate Hearing" — "Sen. Elizabeth Warren pressed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about his department’s oversight of companies that receive coronavirus-related federal funding, leading to sharp exchanges during a virtual Senate hearing Tuesday."

New York Times: "Biden’s Testing Strategy Sets Up a Clear Contrast With Trump on the Coronavirus" — "Joseph R. Biden Jr. has proposed harnessing the broad powers of the federal government to step up coronavirus testing, with a public-private board overseeing test manufacturing and distribution, federal safety regulators enforcing testing at work and at least 100,000 contact tracers tracking down people exposed to the virus."

This program aired on May 29, 2020.

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