3 Things To Know Today

1 Minneapolis Asks For National Guard Support As Protests Turn Violent

As protests erupt across the country, demonstrations are turning more violent in Minnesota. People have taken to the streets in Minneapolis, and while most were peaceful throughout the day, they’ve taken a turn. The protests are being driven by the outrage over the death of a Black man in police custody. 46-year-old George Floyd was taken into custody over a bad check, and died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nine-minutes. He lost consciousness after four. The four officers involved in that arrest have been fired. The growing outrage has seen people protesting across the country and what was initially peaceful, has devolved with people throwing objects at police, looting stores and in Minneapolis, a number of businesses were set on fire. Police in a number of instances have responded with tear gas, as officials have asked the National Guard to step in and restore order. The FBI and Justice Department are investigating the death of a black man who died in police custody. President Trump said he wants the federal investigation of the case to be expedited.

2 American Death Toll From COVID-19 Surpasses 100k

More than 100-thousand people in this country have died from the coronavirus pandemic. Johns Hopkins University researchers say nearly one-point-seven million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19. Still, nearly 392-thousand have recovered. Globally, the numbers are just over five-point-five-million people infected by the virus – with more than 355-thousand dead. Worldwide, more than two-point-three million have recovered. As part of considering where we are and where we want to go, Dr. Anthony Fauci is begging people to wear their masks in public. In his mind, those that do will help the country return to normal more quickly. "I want to protect myself and protect others,” he explains. “And also because I want to make it be a symbol for people to see that that's the kind of thing you should be doing.” On a related note, a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic says he is blown away by the growth of telemedicine during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Matthew Faiman [[FAY-man]] calls the growth from five-thousand virtual visits a month earlier this year to 200-thousand last month "staggering." Now that things are reopening, Faiman believes the new balance between in-person and virtual care could be 50-50 or 70-30.

3 History Will Have To Wait For SpaceX

The first attempt by a private company to launch men into space will have to wait a few more days. SpaceX scrubbed yesterday’s scheduled launch of two NASA astronauts because of weather. They will try again Saturday afternoon.If successful, the launch will allow the U.S. to send astronauts to the International Space Station from U.S. soil, something it hasn't done since 2011. The U.S. has been paying Russia since the Space Shuttle program ended. Once they liftoff, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are scheduled to stay at the space station for at least one month before concluding their mission by showing SpaceX can return them safely to Earth. With President Trump and Vice President Pence in attendance, officials waited until about 15 minutes before the launch time to scrub the flight. There had been a tornado warning near Kennedy Space Center earlier in the day.


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