10 things you need to know today: June 19, 2020

1. Supreme Court rules Trump officials violated law in ending DACA

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration cannot immediately carry out its plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides protection against deportation for about 649,000 so-called DREAMers who immigrated to the U.S. as children. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. wrote in the majority opinion, joined by the court's four more liberal members, that President Trump's appeal of the program was "arbitrary and capricious." Former President Barack Obama, who established DACA in 2012, called Trump's 2017 decision to end the program "cruel." Roberts confirmed Trump has the authority to end the program if he provides a "reasoned explanation." Trump tweeted that the decision and another recent defeat made it appear that the court "doesn't like me."

The New York Times The Washington Post

2. Facebook pulls Trump campaign ads over symbol used by Nazis

Facebook on Thursday removed ads from President Trump's campaign because they contained an upside-down red triangle that closely resembled a symbol Nazis used to identify political prisoners in World War II concentration camps. "We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate," a Facebook spokesperson said. "Our policy prohibits using a banned hate group's symbol ... without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol." The ads appealed for donations and petition signatures to help fight anti-fascist activists, and the Trump campaign said the symbol is "widely used by antifa." It noted that there is a similar-looking emoji. The Anti-Defamation League said the symbol in the ads was "practically identical to that used by the Nazi regime to classify political prisoners in concentration camp."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

CNN The Washington Post

3. Juneteenth, marking end of slavery, in spotlight amid racial-injustice protests

Activists plan to mark Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States, with continuing protests against racial injustice on Friday. Support is rising for proposals in Congress to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, after more than two weeks of demonstrations against police brutality following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis police custody. Numerous major companies, including Twitter, Nike, and the NFL, have made June 19 a paid holiday for their employees for the first time. The celebration commemorates the day in 1865 when a Union general informed people still enslaved in Texas despite the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War that they were free.

The Washington Post USA Today

4. Jobless claims fall but remain above 1 million for 13th week

About 1.5 million people filed initial applications for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The figure exceeded economists' projections of 1.3 million new jobless claims, but marked the 11th consecutive week of declines since the job losses peaked in mid-March after widespread coronavirus lockdowns hit. Still it was the 13th straight week with jobless filings exceeding 1 million. Before the coronavirus crisis, the weekly record was 695,000, set in a 1982 recession. Claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for self-employed workers ineligible for standard unemployment benefits added 760,000 to the total. "It's a sustained hemorrhaging of jobs unlike anything we've seen," said Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.

The New York Times

5. California requires use of face masks to prevent COVID-19 infection

The California Department of Public Health on Thursday ordered everyone in the state to wear masks whenever they leave home to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. State health officials listed nearly a dozen situations when cloth face coverings are specifically required, including when someone is working in an office or riding public transportation. The move came after California reported its largest number of new cases in a single day. Ten other states also require masks, despite public opposition in some places. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said science has proven that face coverings work. "Simply put, we are seeing too many people with faces uncovered — putting at risk the real progress we have made in fighting the disease," Newsom said.

San Francisco Chronicle

6. State Department official resigns over Trump response on racial injustice

Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, submitted her resignation on Thursday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing disagreement with President Trump's response to racial injustice. Taylor, 30, was the youngest person and the first black woman to hold the job. "Moments of upheaval can change you, shift the trajectory of your life, and mold your character," she wrote in her resignation letter, which was obtained by The Washington Post. "The president's comments and actions surrounding racial injustice and black Americans cut sharply against my core values and convictions." Prior to joining the State Department, she was an aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and worked in the Trump White House as deputy director for nominations.

The Washington Post

7. Klobuchar urges Biden to pick a woman of color as running mate

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Thursday dropped out of contention to be presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate, saying that the historic upwelling of opposition to racism required a woman of color as the party's vice presidential candidate. "This is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket, and there are so many incredible qualified women," Klobuchar, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination, said in an interview on MSNBC. "If you want to heal this nation right now — my party, yes, but our nation — this is sure a hell of a way to do it." Klobuchar said that she had discussed her views with Biden, whose campaign made no immediate comment.

MSNBC Reuters

8. Biden widens lead over Trump in new Fox News poll

Former Vice President Joe Biden led President Trump by 12 percentage points in a Fox News poll released Thursday, widening his lead from eight points in the same poll last month. In the new poll, 50 percent of respondents said they would vote for Biden compared to 38 percent for Trump. Sixty-three percent of Biden supporters said fear of a Trump win drove their choice, while 31 percent cited enthusiasm for Biden. The opposite was true for Trump backers, with 62 percent saying they were motivated by enthusiasm for Trump and 33 percent cited fear of a Biden win. Biden held a 79-point lead among black voters. Trump was up by 41 points among white evangelical Christians, a demographic he won by 64 points in 2016.

Fox News

9. Twitter labels video retweeted by Trump 'manipulated media'

Twitter on Thursday labeled a post retweeted by President Trump as "manipulated media" that violated company policy. The video showed a doctored news clip with a fake, misspelled CNN banner or chyron that read, "Terrified todler runs from racist baby." The original video, which went viral in 2019, showed a black toddler and a white toddler running to each other and hugging. The video retweeted in Trump's feed showed only a part in which one of the children runs ahead of the other. The original clip is then shown, followed by the words: "America is not the problem. Fake News is." CNN's communications team responded: "CNN did cover this story — exactly as it happened ... We'll continue working with facts rather than tweeting fake videos that exploit innocent children. We invite you to do the same."

Reuters

10. Air Force investigates use of military aircraft to monitor protests

The Air Force announced Thursday that its inspector general is investigating whether military RC-26 surveillance planes were used to improperly monitor anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests in Minneapolis and Washington this month. The news came days after a top Pentagon intelligence policy official told Congress that military intelligence agencies hadn't spied on participants in the recent protests. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is an RC-26 pilot with the Wisconsin Air National Guard, and he told The New York Times he flew two night missions over Minneapolis this month, providing real-time video to authorities. The plane's camera is strong enough to capture a person's general image, but it can't be used for facial recognition or reading license plates.

The New York Times