“President Joe Biden plans to announce Tuesday that he is moving up his deadline for states to make all American adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by almost two weeks.
With all states having opened eligibility to the public or at least having announced when they plan to do so, Biden will announce that every adult in the country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19, according to an administration official, instead of Biden's original deadline of May 1.
Biden announced last week that 90% of adults will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine by April 19, as well as have a vaccination site within five miles of where they live. Biden said the number of pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy vaccination program was increasing from the current 17,000 locations to 40,000.
CNN has previously reported that all 50 states have announced when they plan to open vaccinations to everyone who is eligible, if they haven't done so already. Oregon, South Dakota, Nebraska, Hawaii and New Jersey all currently plan to open eligibility by May 1, so it remains to be seen how Biden's announcement changes those states' plans. Biden is expected to credit the governors' effort to meet his May 1 deadline for this change.” Read more at CNN
“The Minneapolis doctor who declared George Floyd dead testified today that it's more likely Floyd died of oxygen deprivation than a heart attack or drug overdose.
His testimony was followed by the Minneapolis police chief, who said Chauvin acted against his training and violated a ‘duty to care’ for anyone in custody, regardless of whether they're a suspect.
The big picture: Dr. Bradford Langenfeld and Chief Medaria Arradondo's testimonies push back against key aspects of the defense's case.
Langenfeld testified that Floyd didn’t show specific symptoms that would be common after a heart attack or signs of drug toxins in his system, Axios' Shawna Chen reports.
The county medical examiner ruled in 2020 that Floyd died of cardiac arrest.
Langenfeld said today the most common causes of the type of sudden cardiac arrest Floyd suffered are blood loss and oxygen deprivation, making asphyxia a likely contributor to Floyd's death.
Arradondo testified that Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck was ‘not de-escalation.’
He added that Floyd's repeated cries of distress — ‘I can't breathe’ — should have stopped Chauvin.
‘There is an initial reasonableness in trying to just get him under control in the first few seconds. But once there was no longer any resistance, and clearly when Mr. Floyd was no longer responsive, and even motionless, to continue to apply that level of force to a person proned-out, handcuffed behind their back. That, in no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy. It is not a part of our training.’
“Arkansas’ governor on Monday vetoed a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths, calling the legislation a ‘vast government overreach’ and a ‘product of the cultural war in America.’
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said that if signed into law, the bill would interfere with physicians and parents ‘as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people.’
The bill, which is part of a wave of similar legislation across the country, would have banned doctors from providing transgender minors with gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies and transition-related surgeries, and from referring them for such treatments. Republican lawmakers in at least 17 other states have introduced similar bans on medical treatments for transgender minors, despite opposition from major pediatric and psychiatric organizations.” Read more at Washington Post
“Virginia has become the first state in the South and the 12th state overall to ban ‘gay and trans panic’ as a defense for murder or manslaughter. The bill was introduced by the state’s only transgender lawmaker. Perpetrators of violent crimes sometimes argue that the victim's gender identity or sexuality provoked them to kill in a crime of passion -- a line of thought that LGBTQ advocates say excuses unacceptable actions and demeans LGBTQ lives.” Read more at CNN
“College sports fans are lauding Baylor on Tuesday morning – instead of previously undefeated Gonzaga – after the Bears claimed their first men's basketball national title by beating the Bulldogs, 86-70 , on Monday night in Indianapolis. Baylor (28-2) jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and, behind a suffocating defensive effort that saw Gonzaga held to a season-low in points scored, never looked back. The Bears were led by guards Jared Butler, MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell, who combined to score 56 of the team's 86 points. Gonzaga (31-1) was coming off a thrilling overtime win over UCLA in the national semifinal Saturday. But the Bulldogs looked flat from the start and never even held the lead in the title game. Gonzaga joins a group of teams that came close to matching Indiana's historic 32-0 season during the 1975-76 season, but ultimately fell short.” Read more at USA Today
“Workers continue to pump millions of gallons of wastewater from the Piney Point reservoir into the Tampa Bay ecosystem , a move that could avoid disaster at the reservoir but could have harmful effects like red tide and fish kills in nearby waters. The pumping continues as a drone equipped with thermal imaging equipment identified a possible ‘second breach’ in the containment pond Monday. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection later said that news reports of a possible second breach – which were based on the comments of two Manatee County officials – were ‘unsubstantiated.’ As of Monday afternoon, the worst-case scenario – a total collapse of the earthen berm that would cause floodwater to inundate nearby properties – had been avoided, but the possible identification of additional weakness in the wall could be a concern. Still, more than 300 homes and multiple businesses in the area have been evacuated.” Read more at USA Today
“The Senate parliamentarian, the person who interprets the rules and procedures of the body, has ruled that Democrats may amend the budget resolution they used for their Covid-19 relief bill. This is a key ruling for Democrats, because it could give them a way to pass President Joe Biden’s infrastructure legislation without Republican support in the same way they got that big Covid-19 plan through. The infrastructure plan is the next big White House priority, but it’s gained quick pushback from Republicans who have argued it's too expensive and includes overly partisan programs. This bill also encompasses far more than bridge repairs and repaved highways -- for instance, it also includes $400 billion to revolutionize home health care for the elderly and disabled.” Read more at CNN
“Major League Baseball is expected to announce Tuesday that this year's All-Star Game will be moved to Coors Field in Denver, home of the Colorado Rockies. Officials in Colorado began lobbying MLB for the event once Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the game was being moved out of Atlanta because of the voting laws passed in Georgia that potentially can restrict voting access for people of color.
⚖ In response to MLB's move and other corporations' responses to the new Georgia voting laws, some GOP lawmakers are calling for boycotts of the brands. An April 3 letter addressed to Kevin Perry, president of the Georgia Beverage Association, from members of the Georgia House Republican Caucus requested the removal of all Coca-Cola products from an office suite . Eight GOP legislators signed off on the memo.” Read more at USA Today
“Republicans’ standing as the party of corporate America appears to be under threat after Mitch McConnell, the minority leader in the Senate, told chief executives critical of voting restrictions to ‘stay out of politics.’
Last week Coca-Cola, Delta and dozens of other companies condemned a new election law in Georgia while Major League Baseball announced it would move the All-Star Game from the state in protest.
‘I found it completely discouraging to find a bunch of corporate CEOs getting in the middle of politics,’ McConnell told a press conference in his home state of Kentucky on Monday. ‘My advice to the corporate CEOs of America is to stay out of politics. Don’t pick sides in these big fights.’
He warned companies against giving into advocacy campaigns. ‘It’s jaw-dropping to see powerful American institutions not just permit themselves to be bullied, but join in the bullying themselves,’ he said.
McConnell also issued a written statement that claimed Georgia’s new law has been portrayed unfairly and bemoaned ‘a coordinated campaign by powerful and wealthy people to mislead and bully the American people.’
Railing against the ‘Outrage-Industrial Complex,’ the senator went on: ‘Americans do not need or want big business to amplify disinformation or react to every manufactured controversy with frantic leftwing signaling.’” Read more at The Guardian
“When executives from Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines spoke out against Georgia’s new voting law as unduly restrictive last week, it seemed to signal a new activism springing from corporate America.
But if leaders of the nation's most prominent companies are going to reject lawmakers who support restrictive voting measures, they will have to abruptly reverse course.
State legislators across the country who have pushed for new voting restrictions, and also seized on former president Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, have reaped more than $50 million in corporate donations in recent years, according to a new report by Public Citizen, a Washington-based government watchdog group.” Read more at Boston Globe
“The Biden administration will participate in multilateral negotiations Tuesday over the fate of the Iran nuclear deal. American and Iranian negotiators will not hold direct talks, but both countries will have diplomats in Austria for the meetings. They will be facilitated by a top European Union official and other parties to the 2015 agreement. Under the Obama-era deal, Iran agreed to cap its nuclear enrichment, among other steps, in exchange for international sanctions relief. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran. Subsequently, Iran breached the deal's limits on nuclear enrichment. Back in the U.S., progressives seek a speedy return to the deal, arguing that any further delay is dangerous. Republicans and some hawkish Democrats want Biden to hold out for a broader deal that not only curbs Iran's nuclear program but also limits its ballistic missile program, its support for terrorist groups, and other malign activities.” Read more at USA Today
“Gayle Smith, who helped lead the Obama administration’s response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, will coordinate U.S. efforts to distribute Covid vaccine doses to poorer countries.” Read more at New York Times
“A near-capacity crowd of 38,238 filled Globe Life Field outside Dallas to watch the Texas Rangers lose 6-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays, ‘marking the largest publicly documented attendance at an event during the COVID-19 pandemic,’ the Dallas Morning News reports.” [Axios]
Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images
“Roger Janke, who allegedly threw rocks at an Asian woman and her 6-year-old son in the Los Angeles area was charged with a hate crime Monday, the latest in a string of attacks targeting Asian Americans.” Read more at USA Today
“Walgreens has been administering the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine a week after federal guidelines say it is ideally delivered, but the chain will change its policy to come into line with the government's recommendations. Federal guidance is three weeks.” Read more at USA Today
“All adults and children in England will now have access to two Covid-19 tests a week, as the central government looks to lift the country’s monthslong lockdown and prepare it for future outbreaks.” Read more at Associated Press / Jill Lawless
“A website run by North Korea's sports ministry said the nation will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics this summer because of the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the nation's Olympic Committee say they are prioritizing the protection of athletes from the ‘world public health crisis caused by COVID-19.’ South Korea’s Unification Ministry on Tuesday expressed regret over the North's decision.” Read more at USA Today
“New Zealand agreed to open a quarantine-free travel corridor with Australia on April 19, a major boost for the ailing tourism sector.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Worry, exhaustion, constantly changing safety rules and long hours of wearing PPE are just a few things America’s health-care workers cite as the hardest parts of going to work on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
Their work has saved countless lives but also taken a personal toll: 62 percent say worry or stress related to covid-19 has had a negative effect on their mental health. A 55 percent majority feel ‘burned out’ going to work. Nearly half of all health-care workers say worry or stress has caused them to have trouble sleeping or to sleep too much.
A nationwide Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll asked more than 1,300 front-line health-care workers to describe the hardest part of working during the pandemic in their own words.
Topping the list were fears of infection for themselves, their family members orpatients, mentioned by 21 percent of health-care workers.” Read more at Washington Post
WTOP: “Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announces relaxation of more COVID-19 safety rules in Washington D.C., effective May 1.” [The Hill]
The Associated Press: “Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) tests positive for COVID-19.” [The Hill]
“Democrats offered new details on their plans for raising corporate taxes. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for a global minimum rate to deter tax avoidance, while top Senate Democrats released a plan to raise taxes on multinational corporations.” Read more at New York Times
“New York State lawmakers are nearing a deal to raise taxes on residents who are paid more than $1 million a year.” Read more at New York Times
“The identity of Q, the supposed top-secret government operative and prophet of the extremist ideology QAnon, has for years been a fiercely debated mystery. But a possible slip-up in a new documentary suggests the answer was always the most obvious one: Ron Watkins, the longtime administrator of the message board 8kun, the conspiratorial movement’s online home.
Most major QAnon researchers have long speculated that Watkins had written many of the false and cryptic posts alleging that former president Donald Trump was waging war against an elite international cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Watkins has long denied his involvement, saying he was merely a neutral backroom operator of the site and never a participant.
But in the Sunday finale for the HBO series ‘Q: Into the Storm,’ filmmaker Cullen Hoback points to what he argues is a key piece of evidence that Watkins had lied about his role in the more than 4,000 messages Q had posted since 2017.
In a final scene, after Watkins talked about how he had shared baseless claims about voter fraud after Trump’s loss in the 2020 elections, he told Hoback: ‘It was basically three years of intelligence training, teaching normies how to do intelligence work. It was basically what I was doing anonymously before, but never as Q.’
To Hoback, it was an inadvertent admission that Watkins had actually been Q, crafting secret communiques and shaping the movement for ‘normies,’ or normal people, to consume. But in the scene, Watkins smiled and cleared his throat, seeking to correct — or further muddy — the record: ‘Never as Q. I promise. I am not Q.’
QAnon reshaped Trump’s party and radicalized believers. The Capitol siege may just be the start.
The evidence is circumstantial, and no proof affirms Watkins’s role. Watkins, for his part, messaged his 150,000 subscribers on the chat service Telegram late Sunday, ‘Friendly reminder: I am not Q. Have a good weekend.’
But the revelation has reinvigorated debate about the clues of Watkins’s role in one of the biggest conspiracy-theory movements of the Internet age. QAnon has incited violence and criminal acts, and the FBI has designated it a domestic terrorism threat.” Read more at Washington Post
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law paving the way for him to run for two more presidential terms, potentially extending his rule until 2036. The provisions of this new law were decided last year in a landmark referendum on Russia’s constitution. In addition to renewed term limits, the referendum included votes on a range of other amendments, including a provision that defined marriage strictly as a "union of a man and a woman." Putin, who turns 69 this year, is currently serving his fourth presidential term, which is set to end in 2024. He was in power from 2000 to 2008, and resumed office in 2012.” Read more at CNN
“Health at risk | Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is in a prison infirmary with a respiratory infection after reporting a severe cough and fever, according to the Izvestia newspaper. The Kremlin critic has also lost 13 kilograms (29 pounds) since starting a hunger strike last week to demand outside medical treatment for acute back and leg pains, his lawyer said. Russian officials say he’s getting adequate care.” Read more at Bloomberg
The Supreme Court on Monday said Google did not violate copyright law when it developed its Android mobile operating system using code from Oracle, a much-anticipated ruling in the tech world that saves Google billions of dollars in potential damages.
The court ruled 6 to 2 for Google in the case, which has major implications for the software industry. It was argued before Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court and she did not take part in the decision.
“We assume, for argument’s sake, that the material was copyrightable,” Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the majority. “But we hold that the copying here at issue nonetheless constituted a fair use. Hence, Google’s copying did not violate the copyright law.”
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.
Oracle had alleged in the decade-old case that Google infringed on copyrights related to using roughly 11,500 lines of code from the Java programming platform to develop Android. Oracle, which acquired Java in 2010 when it bought Sun Microsystems, sought $9 billion in damages, arguing that Google used the code without its permission.” Read more at Washington Post
“Former President Donald Trump had about 89 million followers on Twitter before the platform suspended his account earlier this year, but the Supreme Court signaled Monday it isn't interested in how he got along –or didn't–with some of them.
The justices dismissed as moot a high-profile case about whether Trump was on solid legal ground when he blocked several of his critics on his once-favorite social media website, wiping away a federal appeals court ruling that found Trump's actions violatedthe First Amendment.
Both sides in the suit had agreed the case is moot since Trump is no longer president and no longer has access to Twitter. The company permanently suspended his account in January following the riot at the U.S. Capitol that took place following a rally the then-president held near the White House.” Read more at USA Today
“Harvey Weinstein, the former film industry titan now serving a decades-long prison sentence for sexual assault, has appealed his year-old conviction, arguing that a juror allegedly withheld that she wrote a novel involving ‘sexual predation of older men.’
Weinstein’s attorneys requested a new trial on several grounds in a brief filed Monday but zeroed in on Juror No. 11. They wrote that a Manhattan judge’s refusal to excuse the juror after learning about the book raised a conflict of interest, deprived the filmmaker of his right to a fair trial and was so problematic that a new trial must be granted.
Weinstein, 69, was found guilty early last year and was sentenced to 23 years in prisonfor sexually assaulting two women several years before his arrest. Those and other alleged victims contacted law enforcement after news organizations published investigations of Weinstein’s alleged misconduct over decades, prompting the start of the #MeToo movement.” Read more at Washington Post
“The federal government won't mandate vaccine passports for travelers or businesses post-pandemic, Anthony Fauci told the Politico Dispatch podcast.” Read more at Axios
“Top Louisiana State University officials conspired to cover up football coach Les Miles’ sexual harassment, then engaged in a years-long retaliation against the employee who reported it, the employee alleged in a series of federal and state lawsuits expected to be filed this week.
Sharon Lewis, LSU’s associate athletic director of football recruiting, named several senior officials who she claims tormented her, discriminated based on sex and race, underpaid her and contributed to LSU’s systemic failure to protect students and hold perpetrators accountable for gendered violence and harassment.
Attorneys for Lewis said they plan to file a federal Title IX lawsuit, a state whistleblower lawsuit, an Equal Employment Opportunity grievance and a civil lawsuit under the federal RICO statute, which is used to dismantle organized crime rings.
Defendants in the lawsuits include Executive Deputy Athletic Director Verge Ausberry and Senior Associate Athletic Director Miriam Segar – the only two LSU officials disciplined last month in connection with the school’s years-long, widespread mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations.
Those failures were detailed in a report by the law firm Husch Blackwell, which LSU hired to review its handling of such claims in response to reporting by USA TODAY.
Last month, LSU suspended Ausberry and Segar without pay for 30 days and 21 days, respectively – punishments decried by women state lawmakers and students as too lenient. Segar returned to work last week, and Ausberry returned Monday….
A 19-year veteran of the football staff and former LSU track champion, Lewis said she has stayed in her position because she loves the school and wants to create paths for other women in football. She said she continues to endure abuse from colleagues, who have tried to push her out.” Read more at USA Today
“‘Beautiful Things’ (Gallery Books, 255 pp.), the memoir written by Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, was released Tuesday. As our David Oliver explained, Hunter Biden has seen some ugly things. His alcohol and drug addiction sent him spiraling for years and led him to cook his own crack cocaine. In the book, he admitted that he ‘was smoking crack every 15 minutes.’ His candid chronicle of his binges and relationship with his brother Beau's widow, Hallie Biden, will likely shock and rattle readers. But Hunter Biden also outlined some of the beautiful things in his life, including the love he shares with his father and brother Beau, who died of glioblastoma in 2015. Hunter Biden also found love again with new wife Melissa, whom he credits for getting him back on the path to sobriety. ‘Where's Hunter?’ was a rallying cry from former President Donald Trump to try to smear Joe Biden. ‘I'm not going anywhere,’ Hunter Biden writes.” Read more at USA Today
“Lives Lived: Robert Mundell’s insights on the global economy earned him a Nobel Prize. But he may be best remembered as the intellectual father of the euro and of what became known as Reaganomics. He died at 88.” Read more at New York Times
“A baseball bat used by Lou Gehrig at the twilight of his legendary career with the New York Yankees sold for $715,120 over the weekend, the company that auctioned it said on Sunday.
The bat — a 34-inch, 36-ounce Bill Dickey model Louisville Slugger — was used by Gehrig in 1938, his final full season as a key cog in the early dynasties of the Yankees franchise, according to SCP Auctions.
It may have been used by Gehrig in a World Series sweep of the Chicago Cubs that year and the next spring, said the company, which indicated that it had received 26 bids for the bat before online bidding ended on Saturday.” Read more at New York Times