The Sports World Stands Against Kenosha Police Shooting; Laura Slams Louisiana; Pence At The RNC

Plus, Billie Eilish’s Tiny Desk (Home) concert. by Korva Coleman, Jill Hudson and Suzette Lohmeyer First Up [Athletes protest Jacob Blake image]( Wisconsin. Ashley Landis/AP Here's what we're following today. Hurricane Laura is destroying buildings, sparking flash floods and bringing a "catastrophic" storm surge to southwestern Louisiana Thursday morning, [remaining a fearsome hurricane]( more than seven hours after making landfall. A fourth night of demonstrations was held in Kenosha, Wis., following the police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer, [identified as Rusten Sheskey](. The protests have spread to several sports leagues — the NBA, WNBA, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer — where some games were canceled Wednesday after [players declined to play to show their solidarity]( with Blake, who remains hospitalized after being partially paralyzed during the shooting. On Tuesday, police arrested and accused 17-year-old Illinois resident Kyle Rittenhouse as the gunman who shot three protesters in Kenosha, killing two. Authorities say Rittenhouse has been charged with first-degree homicide; he is believed to be a [part of a vigilante gun group]( whose aim is to quell citizen unrest. As racial justice protests continue across the country after the shootings in Wisconsin, Vice President Mike Pence touted Trump as a president who stands up for "our heritage” at Wednesday’s Republican National Convention. Pence also evoked a dark image of a dangerous, lawless America under a Biden administration, accusing the former vice president of seeking to cut funding from U.S. police forces, a position that Biden has vehemently denied. Here is how the administration’s “[law and order message has shifted]( and [three major takeaways]( from Wednesday night’s convention. For more RNC coverage, follow [NPR’s live blog](. A white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand last year was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison without parole. The sentence marks the [first time New Zealand has imprisoned someone]( without the possibility of release. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Listen [Flooding image]( Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images Millions of people rely on real estate websites when they're hoping to buy or rent a home. But those sites haven't shown buyers if the house is likely to flood while they're living there — until now. Realtor.com is the first site to disclose information about a home's flood risk, and how climate change could increase that risk in the coming decades. Should they all do that? [Click here to listen]( or [read the story](. As the nation navigates its most consequential racial justice movement in a half a century, people have responded to the calls for action to remedy the country's racist past and present by protesting in the streets or doing something as simple as reading a book about race. But a new NPR/Ipsos poll finds that these people remain a minority. [Listen here]( or [read the story](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Our Nation Now [Our Nation Now image]( Adria Malcolm for NPR 2020 has been brutal. The relentless spread of COVID-19 across the U.S., the ensuing economic crisis and the reckoning around social injustice has made it a year like none other. NPR set out to find out how these cataclysmic events have affected American families and how they might shape the upcoming presidential election. Morning Edition’s David Greene met five families from across the political spectrum and asked them one simple question: [What's been keeping you up at night?]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Before You Go [TikTok CEO image]( Damian Dovarganes/AP - [TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer is stepping down]( three months after taking the job at the hugely popular short-form video app. - [Billie Eilish plays NPR’s Tiny Desk]( at what looks like the actual Tiny Desk! How did she do it? - The new documentary Class Action Park is about the species of giddy nostalgia that involves [laughing off what you barely survived](. - The hugely popular fantasy battle game Fortnite is releasing its latest version on Thursday, but [gamers hoping to play the new season]( on iPhones, iPads or Mac computers will be locked out. --------------------------------------------------------------- Follow [The New Normal]( on Instagram! What do you think of today's email? 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