German Chancellor Angela Merkel does not plan to accept President Trump's invitation to attend an in-person G7 summit in Washington, D.C. at the end of June, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: Deborah Birx, the lead White House coronavirus task force coordinator, told reporters last week that D.C., Maryland and Virginia have the highest percentage of coronavirus cases in the U.S.
The Trump administration has requested the Defense Department keep active-duty military policeunits on alert should Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz request support as Minneapolis enters its fifth day of protests over the police killing of George Floyd, according to multiplereports.
Why it matters: This "rare" step from the military follows days of violence and protests spreading across the country AP writes. Walz said the administration's offer "has happened before," The Washington Post writes. “They’re not talking about mobilizing the entire United States Army,” the governor said. “We’re probably talking about in the neighborhood of several hundred” soldiers.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced on Saturday he is activating the full National Guard to respond to street violence in Minneapolis that broke out during protests of a police encounter that left a black man, George Floyd, dead.
Why it matters: This is the first time the state has activated the full National Guard since World War II. " The Minnesota National Guard told Axios in an email that up to 10,000 soldiers and airmen would be deployed after all activations and processing are complete.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has ordered 350 National Guard to Lousiville, following two nights of protests against the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor in her home.
Why it matters: Louisville was among the cities to erupt in protest after George Floyd died during an encounter with Minneapolis police, which was a bitter reminder of Louisville's own unresolved extrajudicial killing in March. The officers involved in Taylor's death have been placed on administrative leave but have not been formally charged, according to The New York Times. The FBI announced May 21 it would investigate the Kentucky shooting, per The New York Times.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, without notice, removed specifics on choirs in its guidelines for houses of worship to reopen, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: The CDC's original long-form guidance for businesses to reopen included detailed guidance for churches and other religious institutions, which the White House requested be taken out, according to AP.
New York City will reopen on June 8, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters on Saturday.
Why it matters: The city was the original epicenter of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. and has reported the most infections and deaths in the country, per Johns Hopkins data.
The photos of protests around the country following the death of George Floyd during an encounter with Minneapolis police are hauntingly familiar. We’ve seen them many times before, going back decades.
Why it matters: "What is also unmistakable in the bitter protests in Minneapolis and around the country is the sense that the state is either complicit or incapable of effecting substantive change," Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton University writes in the New York Times. The images that follow make all too clear how little has changed since the modern Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s.
President Trump tweeted Saturday that "the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons" would have greeted protestors at the White House had they breached the area's fence on Friday night.
What's happening: Demonstrators protesting the killing of George Floyd gathered around the White House on Friday, as police cracked down on similar protests across the country.
The fury over George Floyd's killing is erupting as the U.S. faces a looming wave of business bankruptcies, likely home evictions and a virus pandemic that will all disproportionately hit African Americans.
Why it matters: What these seemingly disparate issues share in common is that they emanate from systemic abuses that calls to action and promised reforms have yet to meaningfully address.
Seven years after the launch of the Black Lives Matter movement, it's still rare for police officers to be charged in the deaths of African Americans — and even more rare for an officer to go to jail.
The big picture: The Minneapolis police officer who was captured on video kneeling on George Floyd's neck has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter — which is already a step beyond the consequences other police officers have faced. But it's no guarantee that he will face jail time.
A 19-year-old man was killed on Friday night after shots were fired into a crowd of demonstrators in downtown Detroit who were protesting the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, per AP.
Details: The teenager was injured when shots were fired from an SUV about 11:30 p.m. and later died in hospital, reports MDN reports, which noted police were still looking for a suspect. Police said officers were not involved in the shooting, according to AP.
The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's liberal justices, to reject a challenge to California's pandemic restrictions on worship services.
Why it matters: This is a setback for those seeking to speed the reopening of houses of worship, including President Trump.
President Trump moved to protect regulations issued by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that restrict federal student loan forgiveness in a veto issued Friday night.
The big picture: Several veterans' groups have argued that the rules, which make it more difficult for student borrowers to prove that a college defrauded them, will harm former service members cheated by for-profit colleges, the New York Times reports.
Facebook did not remove President Trump's threat to send the National Guard to Minneapolis because the company's policy on inciting violence allows discussion on state use of force, CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained in a post on Friday.
The big picture: Zuckerberg's statement comes on the heels of leaked internal criticism from Facebook employees over how the company handled Trump's posts about the Minneapolis protests and his unsubstantiated claims on mail-in ballots — both of which Twitter has now taken action on.
