Main Stories

 Here's what the payroll tax deferral action means for you
 Analysis: How much longer until the US economy is back to normal?
This new index shows we have a long way to go
 Trump to travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday
 Top intelligence office informs congressional committees it'll no longer
brief on election security
 Opinion: America's elections are at risk. Here's what the Carter Center
is doing about it
 Top US general tells Congress the military won't play a role in the 2020
election
 More than 1 million Illinois voters have requested mail-in ballots
 Suspect barricades himself in a home after shooting 2 officers who were
responding to a call in St. Louis
 'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman dies at 43
 The crazy-but-true story of a WWII fighter pilot who said his artificial
legs saved his life
 The city where tourism reckons with slavery and racism
 Must-watch videos of the week
 QAnon is conspiratorial, dangerous, and growing. And we're talking
about it all wrong.
 Doctors find possible case of Covid-19 reinfection in US
 Coronavirus outbreaks identified at 4 sororities at Kansas State
University
 Kids can carry coronavirus in respiratory tract for weeks, study suggests
 Europe's fight against Covid-19 shifts from hospitals to the streets
 Are these fast, cheap coronavirus tests the game-changer everyone is
waiting for?
 Married Delta pilots retire early after decades of service
 Trump's risky college football play
 Los Angeles teacher flees home after receiving death threats for
wearing 'I can't breathe' T-shirt
 An 8th-grade social studies assignment is pulled after criticism from a
police group and Texas governor
 Migrants on a Banksy-funded rescue boat have been transferred to
another vessel after request for 'immediate assistance'
 As Trump seeks reelection, a chapter closes on the religious right's
Falwell era
 Jerry Falwell Jr. to receive $10.5 million in compensation for resigning
from Liberty University
 2 Russian aircraft make 'unsafe' intercept of US Air Force B-52 bomber
 French magazine portrays Black politician as a slave
 A couple received a note shaming them for their unpainted house, but
now hundreds have donated to help them
 US Marshals find 39 missing children in Georgia during 'Operation Not
Forgotten'
 Video shows forceful arrest of Black man stopped while jogging in San
Antonio
 Jacob Blake's uncle slams police union's claims of what happened
leading up to the shooting
 Facebook CEO admits 'operational mistake' in failure to remove
Kenosha militia page
 Kenosha shooting suspect called a friend to say he 'killed somebody,'
police say, and then shot two others
 When kids witness police violence, the trauma doesn't end when the
gun is holstered
 Former officer in George Floyd killing asks judge to dismiss charges
against him
 NBA All-Star Cliff Robinson dies at 53
 Fighting for social justice is in the WNBA's DNA
 The world's most expensive sheep has just been purchased for
$490,000
 Japanese company is first to successfully test a flying car with a driver
 Lawyer labels Manchester United star's kidnap claims as 'fiction'
 Trump's message discipline vanishes a day after convention
 Trump is the president of the loud minority, not silent majority
 Trump campaign seeks post-convention bounce after rough stretch
 Fresh off convention, Trump launches baseless attack on Kamala Harris
 Donald Trump's answer on what he would do in a 2nd term is literally
unintelligible
 Fire set at Portland police union building as protests continue
 As Laura heads east, hundreds of thousands are left behind with no
power ahead of hot weekend
 Hurricanes, fires, floods and locusts: Science says climate change is
here but the RNC refuses to believe
 Hurricane Laura was strong enough to reverse the flow of Mississippi
River water
 Pentagon backs awarding Medal of Honor to Alwyn Cashe, who died
saving fellow soldiers in Iraq
 Belarus revokes accreditation for 15 journalists working for foreign
media
 Anderson Cooper Full Circle
'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman dies at 43
Updated 10:44 AM ET, Sat August 29, 2020

(CNN) - Actor Chadwick Boseman, who brought the movie "Black Panther" to
life with his charismatic intensity and regal performance, has died.

Boseman has battled colon cancer since 2016 and died at home with his
family and wife by his side, according to a statement posted on his Twitter
account. He was 43.

"A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you so many
of the films you have come to love so much," the statement said.

"From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and
chemotherapy."

With his role as King T'Challa in the boundary-breaking film "Black Panther,"
he became a global icon and an inspiring symbol of Black power. That role
was the "honor of (Boseman's) career," the statement said.

He graduated from Howard University

A South Carolina native, Boseman graduated in 2000 from Howard University,

a historically Black college in Washington, DC. While there, he also attended
the British American Drama Academy at Oxford in 1998.

"It is with profound sadness that we mourn the loss of alumnus Chadwick
Boseman who passed away this evening. His incredible talent will forever be
immortalized through his characters and through his own personal journey
from student to superhero! Rest in Power, Chadwick!" University President
Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a statement.

Boseman's breakout performance came in 2013 when he played Jackie

Robinson in the film "42." Boseman's passing was announced the day Major
League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson Day, an annual commemoration
delayed by several months due to the pandemic.

"His transcendent performance in '42' will stand the test of time and serve as a
powerful vehicle to tell Jackie's story to audiences for generations to come,"
Major League Baseball tweeted Friday about the actor.
Boseman made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in 2016 as
T'Challa/Black Panther in "Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther then got
his own stand-alone movie that released in 2018, which broke box office
records. Marvel Studios president had previously announced the second
movie of the "Black Panther" saga would debut in theaters in May 2022.

The actor starred in other films, including playing James Brown in "Get On
Up" and Thurgood Marshall in "Marshall."

Boseman returned to his alma mater in 2018 to give the commencement

speech. He told the graduates about his early days acting on soap operas,
saying he was fired from an unnamed production after he questioned what he
felt was its stereotypical portrayal of Black characters.

"The struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose,"
he said at the time.

He concluded with his iconic "Wakanda Forever" salute.

'A superhero to many'

Boseman "brought history to life" with his roles, Martin Luther King III said.

"As Black Panther, he was also a superhero to many," he wrote on Twitter.

"And despite his 4 year long battle with cancer, he kept fighting and he kept
inspiring. He will be missed."

The NAACP also paid tribute to the actor, saying Boseman showed "us how to
conquer adversity with grace."

"For showing us how to 'Say it Loud!' For (showing) us how to walk as a King,
without losing the common touch. For showing us just how powerful we are,"
their Instagram statement said. "Thank you #ChadwickBoseman."

Sen. Kamala Harris, who also attended Howard, said she was heartbroken
over Boseman's death.

"My friend and fellow Bison Chadwick Boseman was brilliant, kind, learned,
and humble," she tweeted. "He left too early but his life made a difference.
Sending my sincere condolences to his family."
Actor Mark Ruffalo, who starred aside Boseman in the Marvel movies as the
Hulk, said the death adds to the growing list of tragedies in 2020.

"What a man, and what an immense talent," Ruffalo tweeted. "Brother, you
were one of the all time greats and your greatness was only beginning. Lord
love ya. Rest in power, King."
2 Russian aircraft make 'unsafe' intercept of US Air
Force B-52 bomber
Updated 1:44 PM ET, Sat August 29, 2020

(CNN) - Two Russian aircraft made an "unsafe, unprofessional" intercept of a

US Air Force B-52 bomber on Friday over the Black Sea and in international
waters, according to a statement from US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces
Africa Public Affairs.

The Russia pilots crossed within 100 feet of the nose of the B-52 multiple
times and also caused turbulence to the B-52 restricting its ability to
maneuver, according to the statement.

"Actions like these increase the potential for midair collisions, are
unnecessary, and inconsistent with good airmanship and international flight
rules," said Gen. Jeff Harrigian, US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa
commander, in the statement.

"While the Russian aircraft were operating in international airspace, they

jeopardized the safety of flight of the aircraft involved. We expect them to
operate within international standards set to ensure safety and prevent
accidents," he said.

US B-52's flew over 30 NATO countries on Friday "to demonstrate NATO

solidarity, enhance readiness and provide training opportunities aimed at
enhancing interoperability for all participating aircrews from the U.S. and
NATO allies," according to a statement from US European Command.

The demonstration of American military capability came amid ongoing

tensions with Russia and lingering questions about the Trump administration's
commitment to the alliance following a recent decision to reduce US troop
levels in Europe.

The US commitment to NATO has been called into question following

President Donald Trump's repeated criticism of member countries for not
meeting the recommended alliance target of 2% of GDP on defense.

Trump directed the Pentagon to substantially cut the number of US troops in

Germany, returning many of them back to the US, a move that Trump said
was due to Berlin's failure to spend 2% of its GDP on defense.
Are these fast, cheap coronavirus tests the game-
changer everyone is waiting for?
Updated 9:05 PM ET, Fri August 28, 2020

(CNN) - Move over, slowpoke coronavirus tests that take a week or more to
return a result -- there's a new generation of rapid tests coming to town --
some are already here -- and they're poised to transform the landscape. They
are the antigen tests, but are they really all they're cracked up to be?

The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization

to another antigen test this week, bringing the total to four.

Compared to the most commonly used type of coronavirus test in the country
-- molecular diagnostic tests, also called PCR tests -- antigen tests don't need
complicated chemicals, viral transport media or RNA extraction kits. They
don't necessarily require appointments at specialized labs, highly trained
technicians, or certain machines. And they can provide an answer in minutes,
rather than hours or days.

Problems with any one of these critical PCR test components have led to
bottlenecks for the entire process since the start of the pandemic, frustrating
patients, doctors and public health experts alike.

Antigen tests work a little differently. "The PCR molecular tests actually test
for the virus' genetic material and the antigen test is testing for one of the viral
proteins, so a piece of the virus," said Dr. Jonathan Quick, managing director
for pandemic response, preparedness and prevention at the Rockefeller
Foundation.

Because of that, they're not as reliable as traditional PCR tests. According to

the CDC, "Antigen tests are more likely to miss an active coronavirus infection
compared to molecular tests."

Dr. Robert Murphy, a professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern

University and the executive director of the Institute for Global Health, is a fan.

"The antigen tests are not PCR and can never be as sensitive as one of
those, however, they are much faster -- approximately 15 minutes -- and don't
require the PCR supply-chain of reagents which is also problematic. The cost
is lower because the test is much more simple," he explained.
And unlike the first three antigen tests approved, the newest antigen test to
join their growing ranks, BinaxNOW, is "the first COVID-19 diagnostic test that
a health care provider can perform without an analyzer, meaning that test
results can be read directly from the testing card," according to the FDA.

Abbott, the manufacturer of the test, said in a news release the new test
returns a result in 10 minutes. It's about the size of a credit card and will cost
around $5. The company said it's planning to ship tens of millions of tests in
September, ramping to 50 million tests a month at the beginning of October.

That's a big jump from our current testing capacity. According to data from the
COVID Tracking Project, the U.S. conducted a little over 4.7 million tests last
week. While that might sound like a lot, that still adds up to fewer than 20
million tests a month, and it's far less than the million-plus tests per day some
public health experts say we should be doing.

'A disruptive innovation'

When antigen tests finally arrive in great enough numbers on US shores --

which should happen within the next three months, according to the experts --
it could be a turning point in the pandemic for the country, a step on the road
back to normalcy.

"Before people go back to work, before they go back to school, before they go
to an event, they're going to be able to test themselves," said Murphy. "The
tests are going to be cheap. You could do it every day... And it's going to be a
game changer."

Quick, who literally wrote the book on ending epidemics, says the PCR test
will always have a role as a highly accurate diagnostic test, but the antigen
test will be used as a screening test for asymptomatic people. He called
antigen tests a "paradigm shift" and "disruptive innovation."

"We estimate that we need about 5 million tests a week for the continuing lab-
based diagnostic [test] and about 25 million a week for asymptomatic
surveillance testing. And so it's the antigen test, because they are a low cost,
fast, and some of the recent ones highly accurate and convenient. So that
combination really is what we need to get the scale we need, and the
turnaround," he said.

A question of accuracy
While the antigen tests are not as accurate as the PCR tests, they are getting
much better. "There are four on the market as of today," said Murphy, noting
that they range in sensitivity -- their ability to identify true positive cases --
between 84% and almost 98% of the time, with three of the four hovering
around a respectable 97%.

But to some, giving quick results more than makes up for any shortfall in
sensitivity.

"If you wait a week [for your result], you almost might as well not have
bothered to do it, because you've infected all these people. It kind of defeats
the whole purpose of having the test done. Whereas if you could pick up 80%
of the people in 15 minutes, and just keep testing and testing, that will have a
bigger public health effect than some really super test that takes one or two
weeks to get the results back," said Murphy.

Said Quick, "The first thing you want to do in any pandemic is to find the sick.
The other thing you want to do is to keep the rest of the health system open.
And when you don't have a fast test to separate who's got the virus and who
doesn't, that's when you actually get transmission in health facilities."

He said he's "a little bit dumbfounded" that it has taken the country this long to
get these rapid tests, which are in widespread use in countries like South
Korea and India. "These recent tests have been game changers. And so we're
seeing the power and the potential of innovation," he said, adding that part of
pandemic preparation is having these tools ready "to go on the marching
path."

Other experts aren't convinced the tradeoff between accuracy and speed is
worth it.

"I'm very concerned about the hype over the last 24 hours about a new test
from Abbott. It's come out that this particular test is cheap, it's quick and it's
effective. Let me just be really clear about this: I would not want to use this
test on someone with clinical disease," Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of
Minnesota, said on CNN Friday.

Osterholm compares it to the rapid flu test, which "achieves about 50 to 70%
positivity among those with influenza" and which he doesn't recommend
using. "I see no reason why this is going to be different. So, this new heralded
testing is a little bit smoke and mirrors," he said. He also notes that only 102
people were sampled in the material Abbot submitted to the FDA to get the
EUA.

Osterholm said he's concerned that the country will also see "a big drop in the
number of positives" if the test only picks up 50-70% of cases, creating a false
rate of infection. "So even that is a challenge this week in how it is being
touted in the public," he said.

Ramping up testing

The White House announced a $760 million deal Thursday to buy 150 million
tests from Abbott, which it said will "be potentially deployed to schools and to
assist with serving other special needs populations, according to an HHS
statement.

And just over a week ago, the US Department of Health and Human Services
announced it was invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) -- a Cold war-
era law that gives the president the emergency authority to direct private
companies to prioritize orders from the federal government -- to get fast
coronavirus tests from two other suppliers, Becton Dickinson and Quidel, to
roughly 14,000 certified nursing home in the US.

In the upcoming months, expect to see many more antigen tests joining the
current ones. "They're coming and there's dozens of them," said Murphy. He's
part of an initiative at the National Institutes of Health called Rapid
Acceleration of Diagnostics or RADx. At the end of July, the NIH announced
that it had invested nearly $250 million in seven companies for new Covid-19
testing technologies through RADx.

"It's about ramping up all the tests... And that's just the first seven of dozens.
And so, we expect the testing capacity to increase radically by the end of the
year... It's kind of like Operation Warp Speed with the vaccines. It's going like
gangbusters," he said.

'Don't use the test to get complacent'

The impending tsunami of cheaper, faster and more readily available tests
comes just as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly
updated its Covid-19 testing guidelines to say asymptomatic people may not
need a test, even if they've been exposed to the virus.
And testing has been trending down a bit. The rolling daily average actually
dropped to 611,382 on August 23 from its peak of approximately 822,000
tests on July 29, according to the COVID Tracking project.

The change to the CDC guidelines was quickly denounced by public health
experts, who say more, not less, testing is needed.

"As some of you know, the CDC posted on its website recommendations on
quarantine, and on testing, that are frankly not scientifically supportable, and
this was done apparently at the behest of people in Washington," former CDC
director Dr. Tom Frieden said during a Thursday news briefing.

He called the changes "dangerous."

Quick agreed that surveillance testing is of utmost importance, and antigen

testing as at the forefront of that effort. "It's absolutely vital because what it'll
do is let us identify those who are carrying the virus -- about 20% are
asymptomatic, 30, 40, 50 even in some cases -- so we can get them out of
circulation, we can trace their contacts," he said.

Yet despite Quick's enthusiasm about antigen testing, he has one big caveat:
"What's really important is that people don't use the test to get complacent,
because the tests aren't going to do anything to change the virus," he said.
"And so the personal protective habits need to keep up, in terms of masks and
handwashing and distancing and avoiding crowded indoor places."

In other words, we may still have miles to go before we reach the land of
normalcy.