AP News in Brief at 6:09 p.m. EDT

Floyd's brother pleads for peace, Trump takes combative tone

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — George Floyd’s brother pleaded for peace in the streets Monday, saying destruction is “not going to bring my brother back at all,” while President Donald Trump berated most of the nation’s governors as “weak” for not cracking down harder on the lawlessness that has convulsed cities from coast to coast.

The competing messages — one conciliatory, one bellicose — came as the U.S. braced for another round of violence at a time when the country is already buckling because of the coronavirus outbreak and the Depression-level unemployment it has caused.

“We are a country that is scared. We are a country that is angry,” said Sam Page, county executive in St. Louis County, Missouri, where the city of Ferguson has been synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement since the 2014 death of Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, in a clash with a white officer. “And we are a country that is holding out for the promise of justice for all.”

In Minneapolis, Floyd’s brother, Terrence, made an emotional plea at the site where Floyd was pinned to the pavement by an officer who put his knee on the handcuffed black man's neck until he stopped breathing.

“Let’s switch it up, y’all. Let’s switch it up. Do this peacefully, please," Terrence Floyd said.

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The Latest: Medical examiner lists Floyd’s death as homicide

The Latest on the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck:

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A medical examiner in Minnesota has classified George Floyd’s death as a homicide, and says Floyd’s heart stopped while he was being restrained by police and had his neck suppressed.

The report Monday listed as “other significant conditions” that Floyd suffered from heart disease and hypertension, had fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use.

A Minneapolis police officer has been charged with third-degree murder in Floyd’s death, and three other officers were fired.

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Trump slams governors as 'weak,' urges crackdown on protests

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday derided many governors as “weak” and demanded tougher crackdowns on burning and stealing among some demonstrations in the aftermath of violent protests in dozens of American cities.

Trump spoke to governors on a video teleconference that also included law enforcement and national security officials, telling the state leaders they “have to get much tougher."

“Most of you are weak,” Trump said. “You have to arrest people.”

The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. The demonstrations turned violent in several cities, with people trashing stores, smashing and burning police cars and igniting fires in historic Lafayette Park across from the White House.

The president urged the governors to deploy the National Guard, which he credited for helping calm the situation Sunday night in Minneapolis. He demanded that similarly tough measures be taken in cities that also experienced violence, including New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

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On the spot where George Floyd died, his brother urges calm

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Chants of “What's his name? George Floyd!” filled the air Monday as a large crowd gathered at the spot where the black man who became the latest symbol of racial injustice in America lay dying as a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck.

Wearing a face mask with George’s Floyd's image on it, his brother Terrence Floyd dropped to his knees at the storefront that has been turned into a memorial covered with flowers and signs. As he kneeled silently, many who were around him joined him on the ground.

The memorial site was a space of calm compared to the devastation left in the wake of fires and violence that paralyzed the city for days last week before it spread nationwide.

“I understand y’all are upset. I doubt y’all are half as upset as I am,” said Terrence Floyd, who flew in from Houston, where the brothers grew up. “What are y’all doing? ... That’s not going to bring my brother back at all.”

George Floyd, 46, died last week after he was arrested in Minneapolis, accused of using a forged $20 bill to pay for goods at a grocery store. The white officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with murder.

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Sobering US nursing home death report as lockdowns ease

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least a quarter of the COVID-19 deaths in the United States were among nursing home residents, a new report said, a disclosure that came as coronavirus restrictions eased Monday even as U.S. protests against police brutality sparked fears of new outbreaks.

The Florida Keys welcomed visitors for the first time in two months, the Colosseum opened its ancient doors in Rome, ferries restarted in Bangladesh and golfers played in Greece. But as tourist destinations worldwide reopened for business, new rules were in place to guard against the virus’ spread.

“Bring facial coverings, gloves, hand sanitizer, reef-safe sunscreen and personal essential medicines. If you’re feeling unwell, please stay home,” the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, which includes the tourist-dependent Keys, said on its website.

Electronic signs warned travelers to two of the world’s largest casinos about COVID-19 on the first day they partially reopened over Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s objections. “Avoid Large Crowds, Don’t Gamble With COVID,” flashed the signs near Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun as cars — many with Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York license plates — passed by.

Meanwhile, the scope of the devastation in the nation's nursing homes became clearer in a report prepared for U.S. governors that said nearly 26,000 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19 — a number that is partial and likely to go higher.

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'Hate just hides': Biden vows to take on systematic racism

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden vowed to address institutional racism in his first 100 days in office as he sought to elevate his voice Monday in the exploding national debate over racism and police brutality.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee offered emotional support and promised bold action during an in-person discussion with black leaders in Delaware and a subsequent virtual meeting with big-city mayors who are grappling with racial tensions and frustrated by a lack of federal support.

“Hate just hides. It doesn’t go away, and when you have somebody in power who breathes oxygen into the hate under the rocks, it comes out from under the rocks,” Biden told more than a dozen African American leaders gathered at a church in downtown Wilmington, his face mask lowered around his chin as he spoke.

Without offering specifics, he promised to “deal with institutional racism” and set up a police oversight body in his first 100 days in office, if elected. The former vice president also said he'd be releasing an economic plan focused on education, housing and “access to capital" and investments, especially for minority Americans, later this month.

“I really do believe that the blinders have been taken off. I think this tidal wave is moving,” Biden told the mayors of Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and St. Paul, Minnesota. “I realize we’ve got to do something big, we can do it, and everyone will benefit from it.”

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Tropical storm kills 17 in El Salvador and Guatemala

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Rains from Tropical Storm Amanda left at least 17 dead and seven missing while causing extensive damage across El Salvador and Guatemala that pushed thousands of people into shelters amid the coronavirus pandemic.

EL Salvador Interior Minister Mario Durán said Monday some 7,000 people were scattered across 154 shelters. He said a quarter of the rain that the country normally receives in a year fell in 70 hours.

That set off landslides and flooding, especially in the western part of the country. A day earlier officials had said at least 900 homes had been damaged.

President Nayib Bukele visited one of the most affected communities on the outskirts of San Salvador. Some 50 families lost their homes and Bukele said the government would give them $10,000 to rebuild.

One whose home was damaged was María Torres. “We’ve never experienced this,” she said. “The rain was so strong and suddenly the water entered the homes and we just saw how they fell.”

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Judge: Justice Dept. reversal in Flynn case 'unusual'

WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge on Monday defended his decision not to quickly approve the Justice Department's request to dismiss its own criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying that the department's reversal in the case was unusual and he wanted to carefully consider the request before ruling on it.

The brief from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan offers the most detailed explanation for his refusal to immediately sign off on the department's decision to drop its case against Flynn, who pleaded guilty as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. It raises the prospect for a drawn-out clash between two branches of government over whether a judge can be forced to unwind a guilty plea at the Justice Department's behest.

Flynn’s attorneys have urged the Washington-based federal appeals court to order Sullivan to grant the department’s request. But Sullivan laid out in detail his reasons for his concern as he urged the appeals court to stay out of the case until he has a chance to study the dismissal request, which he said he may ultimately grant.

“The question before this Court is whether it should short-circuit this process, forbid even a limited inquiry into the government’s motion, and order that motion granted,” lawyers for Sullivan wrote. "The answer is no.”

Flynn admitted lying to the FBI about having discussed sanctions during the presidential transition with the then-Russian ambassador, a topic recently released transcripts of the call show the men talked about in detail. But the Justice Department said last month that the FBI should never have interviewed Flynn in the first place and that the communication he had with the ambassador was entirely appropriate.

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LA has seen racial uprisings, many not shocked by new round

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When violent protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man pinned down by a white Minneapolis officer, reached Los Angeles, people of color expressed heartbreak but not necessarily surprise — they had seen it nearly 30 years ago during the Rodney King riots.

On April 29, 1992, thousands in the city's largely minority south side took to the streets after an all-white jury acquitted four white police officers of attacking King, a black driver, after a traffic stop. The outcome outraged a community that watched video of King being beaten with police batons, shot with stun guns and stomped on.

By the time order was restored, rioting had spread across much of LA for five days, leaving more than 60 people dead, over 2,300 injured and $1 billion in property damage. Smoke enveloped the city after hundreds of buildings burned to the ground.

The losses are far higher than in protests over Floyd's killing that have swept the nation for days, devolving into people setting buildings and police cars on fire, smashing their way into stores and hurling rocks and bottles at officers. Police have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and thousands of arrests, many of them in LA.

Kerman Maddox was a young radio reporter who lived just a block from one of the flashpoints in the 1992 riots.

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SpaceX captures the flag, beating Boeing in cosmic contest

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first astronauts launched by SpaceX declared victory Monday in NASA’s cosmic capture-the-flag game.

They quickly claimed the prize left behind at the International Space Station nearly a decade ago by the last crew to launch from the U.S.

“Congratulations, SpaceX, you got the flag,” NASA astronaut Doug Hurley said a day after arriving at the space station.

Hurley showed off the small U.S. flag during a news conference and again in a linkup with SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

"You can bet we will take it with us when we depart back to Earth,” said Hurley, floating alongside Dragon crewmate Bob Behnken.