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75 years after Hiroshima, survivors fear their stories will fade: The Morning Rundown

Facebook takes down video Trump posts to his page over misinformation fears and Lebanon mourns as rescue operations continue.
Image: Beirut explosion damage
People walk near the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area on Thursday.Aziz Taher / Reuters

Facebook removes a video post from President Donald Trump's page, Lebanon searches for more survivors of the Beirut explosion, and 75 years after Hiroshima, victims fear its lessons will die with them.

Here's what we're watching this morning.


75 years after Hiroshima, survivors fight to be heard before it's too late

Regular nosebleeds, three bouts with cancer and blinding cataracts.

It’s been 75 years since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima — marking the end of World War II and the dawn of the nuclear age — but survivors like Masaaki Takano still live with the consequences.

For decades Takano quietly lived with his ailments. He was not recognized as a “hibakusha” — a survivor of the bombing — because he was not within the immediate radius of the blast. Last week, a Japanese court finally acknowledged that he and 83 other plaintiffs had been exposed to dangerous radiation.

The awesome and terrifying destructive power unleashed by the bomb still haunts the world in the form of vast stockpiles of nuclear weapons. And as the aging survivors die, many fear their stories will fade from the world’s memory.


Facebook removes Trump post over coronavirus misinformation

Facebook removed a video post from President Donald Trump's personal page Wednesday that included a segment from a Fox News interview in which he falsely said children are "almost immune" to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Twitter also removed the video from its platform on Wednesday night after it was tweeted by the Trump campaign, saying the video was “in violation of the Twitter Rules on COVID-19 misinformation.”

In the interview, which aired Wednesday morning, Trump said children should return to school because they are "almost immune" or "virtually immune" to the disease. While they are less vulnerable, children can, in fact, transmit the disease to others, and some children have died from it.

Meanwhile, a group of 19 state attorneys general and the attorney general of Washington, D.C., are asking Facebook to do much more to limit hate speech and help the victims of harassment, including by offering live assistance through something like a Facebook helpline.


Lebanon mourns as rescue operations, clean-ups continue

Rescuers continued searching for survivors on Thursday as French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the Lebanese capital following Tuesday's warehouse explosion. At least 137 people were killed and 5,000 injured in the blast at the port.

In one of the more dramatic scenes of the explosion that was caught on video, a bride in a long white gown and veil stood smiling and posing for her wedding video. Then came a deafening roar, and a powerful shockwave nearly blew her off her feet.

Israa Seblani, a 29-year-old doctor working in the United States, helped to check on the injured nearby, before fleeing central Beirut’s Saifi square to safety.

What happened during the explosion here — there is no word to explain ... I was shocked, I was wondering what happened, am I going to die? How am I going to die?”


Startups learn to adapt quickly as the coronavirus pandemic hammers small business

Melanie Masarin had worked for the better part of a year to ready the launch of her nonalcoholic beverage company, Ghia, in the middle of March.

Then, just a few days before her drinks were set to be for sale in restaurants, COVID-19 lockdowns shuttered bars and eateries across the U.S. Before selling its first beverage, the company had to shift to a direct-to-consumer model, including creating an online store.

Startups are known for needing to expect the unexpected and shift quickly, but the coronavirus pandemic has meant the tumultuous experience of entrepreneurship now involves trying to figure out how to operate in a business environment that can shift on a weekly basis.

That can also mean a sliver of opportunity for founders who are able to embrace the situation.

Here are other coronavirus developments:


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Plus


THINK about it

Nearly 30 years after the Cold War, the risk of a nuclear weapon's being used is higher than at any other time since the U.S. and the Soviets came to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, writes Ernest Moniz, former U.S. secretary of energy, in an opinion piece.


Live BETTER

Black skin is often left out of medical textbooks and clinical teaching, leading to misdiagnosis, delayed care and worse. These people want to change that.


TODAY All DayWatch Al Roker and 50 chefs from around the country as they attempt a new Guinness World Record for the most sandwiches consecutively assembled live. With Al hosting, each chef will share a recipe for an original sandwich. The competition will kick-off live at 8:30 a.m. on TODAY, and continue on TODAY All Day.


Shopping

What can Amazon Echo do? What's the difference between Alexa and Echo, Plus and Show? Here's how to choose the best of these smart home gadgets.


One fun thing

Robots are hospitals' newest medical assistants.

These mechanical wonders are being used to deliver PPE and COVID-19 tests, count inventory and help keep down the risk of infection.

"She's become a member of our frontline care team rather quickly," said Dr. Stefanie Beavers, Dallas' Medical City Heart and Spine Hospitals surgical and procedural services director, of the hospital's robot.

And it's not only in hospitals that robots are being used to help essential workers. In grocery stores, they are being used to scan the shelves and take inventory. And one company is testing a drone that could one day bring vaccines to health care centers.


Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown.

I’m filling in for Petra Cahill while she’s taking a break. If you have any comments — likes, dislikes — send me an email at: rachel.elbaum@nbcuni.com

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Thanks, Rachel