1A

Schools discuss reopening, and Congress discusses coronavirus aid. The world continues to search for answers in Beirut. And President Trump bans TikTok and WeChat.

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"What matters to me is to be honest and to be fair. I think it is absolutely clear that the president has numerous failings which has cost the country as a whole, dearly," Atlantic writer Ed Yong says. "Trump is central to this problem but not the only thing that matters."

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"The number of people who are dying is more than 1,000 a day," says Reid Wilson about the White House's claims of success on increased COVID tests. "Public opinion is not on the President's side no matter how much he talks about testing."

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"So much of our day-to-day lives are about defusing or deescalating situations with men that could turn violent or frightening," says Natasha Trethewey. "If I couldn't tell a story about my life and what it's led to, I could have been overtaken by despair."

We also talk about TikTok and what a Microsoft purchase of the app (or a nationwide ban of it) means for American users.

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If you're in a dangerous situation at home, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. They operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And if you feel unsafe to speak, you can reach out to them by texting LOVE IS to 22522.

"Housing and neighborhoods are really the fundamental way that we've segregated people," former HUD secretary Shaun Donovan says. "At the very time that we need to be moving the country forward [...] President Trump wants to take us back to a racist past."

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It's a tough time for Black Americans. How is Levar Burton protecting his heart? "I try to remind myself and others to keep our heads up. Unless our head is up. We cannot see the horizon. And it's the horizon that beckons us."

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Congress grills Big Tech and continues to quarrel over coronavirus aid. Thousands — not millions — participate in Hajj. And Hong Kong postpones elections.

We bring you all the national and global news you need on this edition of the News Roundup.

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"If you always come to activism with the same set of ideas, it's ahistorical. Things have changed since 1850. The use of the word 'hate' lets way too many people off the hook," says writer Zadie Smith.

We also talk about this week's Congressional hearing with four Big Tech CEOs.

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"The Postal Service has been doing vote by mail for generations," says Mark Dimondstein of the American Postal Workers Union. "We can continue to deliver for the people as long as we have the support."

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"We have many families in Arizona that don't even have access to electricity and it's our duty to provide access," says Beth Lewis of Save Our Schools. "But it's harder when we're being asked to spread that money to kids in private schools who come from affluent backgrounds"

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