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| THE BIG STORY
Can Joe Biden meet this moment?
There's a presidential election in five months, and the country is in the middle of two connected crises: a mass pandemic that led to a disastrous economic plunge, and rolling daily street protests over racism and police brutality. Can the presumptive Democratic nominee capture the momentum of the protests?
“This is a make or break moment for Joe Biden," said Aimee Allison, the founder of She The People, a political network of women of color. "He can rise to the level of leadership and meet the moment and truly be an alternative to Trump and inspire and build trust and inspiration in this moment,”
“He can’t dismiss how younger people, and not just young black people who largely didn’t vote for him in the primary — he doesn’t have those voters on lock — for younger voters in general, a majority of whom are people of color, this is an important critical issue,” she added. “There’s an opportunity for him to talk about this and set a new standard and new intention for this country that’s in this moment.” Ben Kothe / BuzzFeed News; Getty Images
STAYING ON TOP OF THIS
Testing gets put on hold
There's plenty of concern that the nationwide protests that have erupted over the last week could cause a spike in new infections. But the protests, and government responses to them, are playing another significant role in the coronavirus crisis: testing sites are being temporarily shut down or scaled back.
Cities, a county and an entire state have all closed state-run testing sites in recent days, citing safety concerns. It's a particularly risky thing to do, especially at a moment when new infections could be quietly on the rise.
“Data is our eyes and ears in this pandemic. Without having it, we are operating blindly,” said John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, Berkeley. “We’ve seen the consequences of operating blindly early in this pandemic." Idaho Statesman / Getty Images HELP US KEEP QUALITY NEWS FREE FOR ALL
SNAPSHOTS
Thousands of people turned out for memorial services for George Floyd yesterday. "He did not die of common health conditions," said Rev. Al Sharpton. "He died of a common American criminal justice malfunction."
Gabrielle Union has filed a discrimination complaint against NBC and the producers of America's Got Talent. The complaint came one day after NBC released a statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Two police officers in Buffalo, New York have been suspended without pay after footage emerged of an elderly man being shoved to the ground, where he lay bleeding from the head. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also called the incident "wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful."
Since the Ferguson protests of 2014, US police departments have received more than $850 million of military equipment. Much of that gear is being put to use today. Police prepare to confront demonstrators in Minneapolis on May 30. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) IT'S NEWS O'CLOCK
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