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Source Article from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/joe-manchin-filibuster-painful-to-use.html

But accusations of underreporting nursing home deaths plagued the three-term governor beginning in the summer, and criticism, especially from Republicans, mounted. In February, after the first reports of misconduct, Democrats began to challenge Cuomo, moving this week to strip him of unilateral emergency powers granted during the pandemic.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/07/cuomo-resignation-calls-sexual-harassment/

Struggle with Drug Addiction?

This question underscores the role that drugs are likely to play in the case. We already know Mr. Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, and Mr. Chauvin’s defense is likely to argue that Mr. Floyd died of a drug overdose. Therefore, the defense will probably pay special attention to this question, and perhaps seek to strike any juror who admits to having struggled with drugs.

14. Would any of the experiences you noted above make it difficult for you to be fair and impartial? If so, why?

The jury system depends almost entirely on the honesty of potential jurors. But often, all jurors have to do to satisfy the judge is to say that they can be impartial. If lawyers don’t believe them but cannot convince a judge to strike them for cause, they can still use one of their peremptory strikes — the prosecution has 9, the defense has 15.

3. Under our system of justice, defendants are presumed innocent of the criminal charges against them. Would you have any difficulty following this principle of law?

Conversely, jurors who don’t want to serve have an easy out: They can simply say they don’t agree with the fundamental principles of the system, or that they don’t think they can be fair.

11. Do you want to serve as a juror in this case? ◻ Yes ◻ No ◻ Not Sure

12. Why do you feel that way about serving as a juror in this case?

This is a trick question. Anyone who answers “yes” will be suspected of having an agenda, especially if the reason involves justice, race, policing or basically anything other than simply “I’ve always wanted to serve on a jury.”

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/us/jury-george-floyd-derek-chauvin-trial.html

President Joe Biden on Sunday signed an executive order aimed at helping to ensure all Americans have the right to vote by increasing access to voter registration services and information.

Biden also called for Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law in 1965 following a violent protest in Selma, Alabama, that left some participants injured.

The late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who was one of the activists leading the march, suffered a fractured skull. Lewis passed away last year.

Biden’s executive order coincides with the 56th anniversary of that protest, known as Bloody Sunday.

“Today, on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I am signing an executive order to make it easier for eligible voters to register to vote and improve access to voting,” Biden said in prepared remarks.

“Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have that vote counted. If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote.”

Biden’s executive order is an “initial step,” according to the White House. The president plans to work with Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act, which eliminated discriminatory practices such as requiring literacy tests in order to vote.

“I also urge Congress to fully restore the Voting Rights Act, named in John Lewis’ honor,” Biden said.

In 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated a central plank of the act which required 9 states with a history of discrimination, mostly in the south, to receive federal approval to change their election laws.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/07/biden-calls-to-restore-voting-rights-act-signs-order-to-expand-access.html

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels said they attacked a major Saudi Arabian oil port on the Persian Gulf with drones and missiles on Sunday. Saudi authorities said the strike caused no casualties or damage.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said an assault “coming from the sea” had targeted petroleum tanks at the Ras Tanura port. It condemned what it called “repeated acts of sabotage and hostility” targeting energy supplies to the world.

“All indications point to Iran,” said an adviser to the Saudi royal court who said he was briefed on the matter. He said it wasn’t clear whether the origin was Iran or Iraq but that it hadn’t come from the direction of Yemen.

Iranian officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. An Iraqi official said he was unaware of any connection between his country and the attack.

In 2019, a drone and missile attack on the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry temporarily shut down half the kingdom’s crude production. At the time, the Houthis claimed responsibility, but the U.S. said the attack was launched from Iraq or Iran, which denied the accusations.

Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-backed-houthi-rebels-say-they-targeted-saudi-oil-port-11615157185

Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamSunday shows preview: Manchin makes the rounds after pivotal role in coronavirus relief debate Georgia DA investigating Trump taps racketeering expert for probe: report GOP votes in unison against COVID-19 relief bill MORE (R-S.C.) said in an interview that aired Sunday that he thinks former President TrumpDonald TrumpBiden to sign executive order aimed at increasing voting access Albany Times Union editorial board calls for Cuomo’s resignation Advocates warn restrictive voting bills could end Georgia’s record turnout MORE can make the GOP “bigger” and “stronger,” or he “could destroy it.”

Graham, who has been considered an ally and defender of Trump since his election, told “Axios on HBO” that Trump encompasses a “bigger-than-life deal,” describing the former president as “sort of a cross between Jesse Helms, Ronald Reagan and P.T. Barnum.”

“He could make the Republican Party something that nobody else I know could make it,” the Republican senator said. “He could make it bigger. He could make it stronger. He could make it more diverse. And he also could destroy it.”

The South Carolina senator described the former president as having both a “dark side” and “some magic there.”

“What I’m trying to do is just harness the magic,” Graham said, noting that past Republican presidential nominees John McCainJohn Sidney McCainFormer Trump Defense chief Esper to join McCain Institute We need an independent 1/6 commission that the whole country can have confidence in GOP targets Manchin, Sinema, Kelly on Becerra MORE and Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyDemocratic centrists flex power on Biden legislation Ron Johnson grinds Senate to halt, irritating many Romney’s TRUST Act is a Trojan Horse to cut seniors’ benefits MORE weren’t successful in their runs like Trump was.

“I want us to continue the policies that I think will make America strong,” Graham told Axios’s Jonathan Swan. “I believe the best way for the Republican Party to do that is with Trump, not without Trump.”

Graham had publicly challenged Trump’s mental fitness to handle the presidency ahead of the 2016 election. But after Trump defeated Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonHillicon Valley: China implicated in Microsoft breach | White House adds Big Tech critic | QAnon unfazed after false prediction Jill Biden redefines role of first lady QAnon supporters unfazed after another false prediction MORE, Graham welcomed the former president.

Graham stood by Trump throughout most of his presidency, although he condemned Trump for his role in the Capitol riot in January, saying in a floor speech hours later that “enough is enough.” 

The senator’s comments come as the Republican Party is determining how much of a role the former president will play in the GOP after his one-term presidency. 

In his first major address since leaving office, Trump spoke to supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week in an effort to solidify his leadership role in the party and tease a potential 2024 presidential run

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/542038-graham-trump-can-make-gop-bigger-stronger-or-he-could-destroy-it

The United Nations-led conference in Turkey would include envoys from the United States, China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran and India “to discuss a unified approach to supporting peace in Afghanistan,” Mr. Blinken wrote.

The existence of the letter was reported after Zalmay Khalilzad, the American peace envoy, delivered an outline of U.S. policy options to Mr. Ghani’s government and Taliban negotiators last week. The proposals, intended to reinvigorate the stalled peace negotiations, included a road map for a future Afghan government with Taliban representation, a revised Afghan constitution using the current one as an “initial template” and terms for a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire.

The New York Times obtained a copy of the proposals, dated Feb. 28, which Afghan officials confirmed were delivered by Mr. Khalilzad last week.

Significantly, the proposals called for national elections after the establishment of a “transitional peace government of Afghanistan.” The Taliban have opposed elections, dismissing them as Western interference.

The proposals also include guaranteed rights for women and for religious and ethnic minorities, and protections for a free press. The Taliban violently suppressed women and minorities and did not permit independent news media when the group led Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Taliban negotiators have said they support women’s rights within the strictures of Islamic law — the same strictures the militants cited to ban women from schools and workplaces.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/world/asia/afghanistan-blinken-troop-withdrawal.html

Joe Biden will sign an executive order expanding voting rights on Sunday, the 56th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when police brutally attacked a voting rights march in Selma, Alabama.

Republicans have advanced more than 250 measures in state legislatures which aim to restrict voting, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Biden referenced those measures in remarks delivered remotely to a unity breakfast in Selma on Sunday, saying: “We cannot let them succeed.”

“If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide,” he said. “Let more people vote.”

House Democrats last week passed HR1, a bill that contains some of the most sweeping measures to expand voting rights since the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Amid the increasing efforts to restrict voting rights, there are increasing calls for Democrats to get around the 60-vote filibuster in the US Senate in order to pass the measure.

The US constitution gives the president little power over voting rights. The executive order Biden will sign will therefore implement relatively modest but potentially consequential changes.

The most significant will instruct federal agencies to offer voter registration opportunities if a state requests so, under a 1993 federal law.

Offering voter registration opportunities at agencies could boost registration rates among populations where it currently lags. Voter registration at the Indian Health Service, for example, could affect more than 1.9 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives, according to an estimate from the Brennan Center for Justice.

Offering registration at the Veterans Association could reach almost 20 million voters and doing the same at immigration offices could affect more than 760,000 each year.

Another provision in the order requires the Department of Justice to provide people in federal custody – including those on probation – with voter registration information and “to the extent practicable and appropriate” to facilitate voting by mail.

States have widely different policies on when people with a felony conviction can vote and navigating such rules can be extremely difficult for people once they are released from prison.

Biden’s order also directs the attorney general to establish procedures to help formerly incarcerated people get identification they can use to vote.

The order also instructs the federal government to study how to improve voting access for people with disabilities and how each federal agency can improve voter registration opportunities.

It directs officials to come up with a plan to improve vote.gov, the federal website for voting information. Biden will also establish a Native American voting rights steering group and instruct the Office of Personnel Management and Department of Defense to study how to improve voting access for federal employees and the military as well as Americans overseas.

Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/07/biden-order-expanding-voting-rights-selma-bloody-sunday

In the final days leading up to the start of jury selection in the murder and manslaughter trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, officers responded to at least three shootings that killed one man and injured two others.

The homicide happened close to the scene of George Floyd’s death nearly a year ago, at the intersection of 38th and Chicago, now known as George Floyd Square.

A man in his 30s died at Hennepin County Medical Center after the shooting around 5:45 p.m. Saturday.

At 10:44 p.m., a man was injured in another shooting in Uptown in the area of Lagoon between Girard and Hennepin avenues. The man was taken to HCMC with non-life threatening injuries.

At 4:49 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a shooting in north Minneapolis in the 2700 block of Upton Avenue North. A man suffering from non-critical injuries was taken to North Memorial Medical Center. Police reported that the man was in a vehicle when he was shot.

Information on the Saturday evening homicide at George Floyd Square is limited and Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said he doesn’t anticipate any new information will be released Sunday.

Initial findings in the investigation are that the victim and suspect got into an argument when the suspect shot the victim. The suspect then fled the scene in a light colored Suburban that was struck by gunfire.

No arrests have been made in the three shootings, Elder said Sunday morning. He added that the shootings have no correlation to the upcoming Chauvin trial and that nice weather typically drives an uptick in crime.

Saturday’s homicide is likely the 12th homicide in Minneapolis so far this year. Elder said charges in Thursday’s fatal hit-and-run in north Minneapolis haven’t yet been filed, but if charged as a homicide, that would mark the city’s 11th homicide.

A 54-year-old man was arrested in connection to the crash that killed 49-year-old Jerry Lee Johnson, according to a media release Sunday from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Johnson was killed at 5:55 p.m. Thursday when he was struck near the intersection of 30th and Newtown Avenue North. The medical examiner stated the cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries.

The hit-and-run and three shootings remain under investigation.

Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751

Source Article from https://www.startribune.com/two-people-injured-one-killed-in-rash-of-weekend-shootings-in-minneapolis/600031467/

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday he will sign the state legislature’s bill to strip him of the emergency powers he wielded throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democratic governor, grappling with waves of criticism and calls for his resignation over dueling crises in his administration, also vowed he was “not going to be distracted” in the fight against Covid.

“I’m signing today the legislature’s emergency powers bill, and I’m going to implement it today,” Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters.

Cuomo said he would take that step with the “significant change” of allowing Empire State restaurants outside of New York City to increase indoor dining capacity to 75% from 50%.

“The numbers are down. When the numbers are down, we adjust the economic reopening valve,” Cuomo said.

The change will be implemented on March 19, according to the governor. But he cautioned that “if the numbers change, if something happens, if there’s a downturn, then obviously we will adjust.”

Cuomo is under fire amid a growing number of allegations of sexual harassment or inappropriate workplace conduct, as well as an ongoing scandal over his administration’s handling of Covid nursing home death data.

But Cuomo was defiant when peppered with questions about the allegations from multiple women, including two more who came forward Saturday.

“There are some legislators who suggest that I resign because of accusations,” Cuomo said. Some members of Cuomo’s own party, including state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, have called for him to step down.

“I was elected by the people of this state, I wasn’t elected by politicians. I’m not going to resign because of allegations,” he said.

“The premise of resigning because of allegations is actually anti-democratic,” Cuomo added. He called for people to let New York Attorney General Letitia James complete her independent probe of the harassment claims before drawing conclusions.

“Let the attorney general do her job. She’s very good, she’s very competent. And that will be due process, and then we’ll have the facts,” he said.

“There is no way I resign,” Cuomo added. “But I’m not going to be distracted by this, either … We have a lot of work to do.”

Asked about Biaggi in particular, Cuomo replied, “I have a news flash for you: There is politics in politics.”

“I have political differences with people,” Cuomo said, including with some Democrats and Biaggi. “But they don’t override the people’s will. They don’t override elections. They don’t get to hear an allegation and make a determination on the allegation,” he said.

CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/07/cuomo-to-sign-law-stripping-emergency-his-covid-powers.html

“Today’s decision opens old wounds, further expands the principle of legal inequality, and sends a clear signal of exclusion to the Muslim minority,” the Central Council of Muslims said in a statement, adding that it would challenge the decision in court.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56314173

WASHINGTON—Russian intelligence agencies have mounted a campaign to undermine confidence in Pfizer Inc.’s and other Western vaccines, using online publications that in recent months have questioned the vaccines’ development and safety, U.S. officials said.

An official with the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which monitors foreign disinformation efforts, identified four publications that he said have served as fronts for Russian intelligence.

The websites played up the vaccines’ risk of side effects, questioned their efficacy, and said the U.S. had rushed the Pfizer vaccine through the approval process, among other false or misleading claims.

Though the outlets’ readership is small, U.S. officials say they inject false narratives that can be amplified by other Russian and international media.

“We can say these outlets are directly linked to Russian intelligence services,” the Global Engagement Center official said of the sites behind the disinformation campaign. “They’re all foreign-owned, based outside of the United States. They vary a lot in their reach, their tone, their audience, but they’re all part of the Russian propaganda and disinformation ecosystem.”

Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-disinformation-campaign-aims-to-undermine-confidence-in-pfizer-other-covid-19-vaccines-u-s-officials-say-11615129200

Andrew Cuomo accuser Lindsey Boylan reacted quickly Saturday night after two more women came forward with sexual misconduct claims against New York’s Democrat governor.

“Resign you disgusting monster,” Boylan wrote on Twitter.

Boylan, 36, a former aide to Cuomo, was the first accuser to go public, writing an essay on the website Medium last month, in which she quoted Cuomo as saying to her, “Let’s play strip poker,” among other allegations. Boylan is running as a candidate to be borough president of Manhattan in New York City.

Next came claims by Charlotte Bennett, 25, another former Cuomo aide, and Anna Ruch, 33, a woman who had encountered Cuomo at a wedding in 2019.

NEW FORMER CUOMO AIDES ACCUSED DEM OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, REPORTEDLY INVITING ONE TO ‘DIMLY LIT HOTEL ROOM’

Then the two newest accusers came forward Saturday.

Karen Hinton, a former press aide to Cuomo, described being invited into Cuomo’s hotel room in 2000, when the Democrat was Bill Clinton’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Cuomo embraced her but she pulled away and left, she told The Washington Post.

Ana Liss, another former aide to Cuomo, claimed the governor touched her inappropriately and kissed her hand, and asked questions about her private life. The governor made her feel like “just a skirt,” she told The Wall Street Journal.

ANDREW CUOMO’S ACCUSERS: WOMEN WHO’VE MADE SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS AGAINST NY GOVERNOR

After Hinton and Liss shared their stories, Boylan tweeted messages of support.

“Thank you Karen Hinton for courageously sharing your story of how our boss, one of the most powerful men in the country, used his power to abuse you,” Boylan wrote. “I am sending you love. I am with you. We are with you.”

Then later: “I am very proud of Ana Liss. She is brave and she speaks for me too,” Boylan wrote.

“It’s extremely destructive that our boss, the governor of New York, treated us this way,” Boylan added.

In a statement issued by the governor regarding the first three allegations, he said: “At work sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny. I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good-natured way. … I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.”

On Saturday, spokespeople for the governor issued these statements regarding the claims by Hinton and Liss:

“This did not happen,” Cuomo spokesman Peter Ajemian said about Hinton’s claims. “Karen Hinton is a known antagonist of the Governor’s who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made up allegations from 21 years ago. All women have the right to come forward and tell their story — however, it’s also the responsibility of the press to consider self-motivation. This is reckless.”

Lindsey Boylan and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (Getty Images)

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In response to the Cuomo office’s denial, Hinton said “attacking the accuser is the classic playbook of powerful men trying to protect themselves.”

In response to Liss’ account, Cuomo spokesperson Richard Azzopardi told The Wall Street Journal: “Reporters and photographers have covered the governor for 14 years watching him kiss men and women and posing for pictures. At the public open-house mansion reception, there are hundreds of people, and he poses for hundreds of pictures. That’s what people in politics do.”

Fox News’ Brie Stimson and Morgan Phillips contributed to this story.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-accuser-lindsey-boylan-reacts-to-newest-allegations-resign-you-disgusting-monster

An exhausted Senate narrowly approved a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Saturday as President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies notched a victory they called crucial for hoisting the country out of the pandemic and economic doldrums.

After laboring all night on a mountain of amendments — nearly all from Republicans and rejected — bleary-eyed senators approved the sprawling package on a 50-49 party-line vote. That sets up final congressional approval by the House next week so lawmakers can whisk it to Biden for his signature.

Biden said Saturday that the plan means $1,400 checks to individuals would be sent out this month.

Under the Senate bill, individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and married couples earning less than $150,000 will receive $1,400 per person, including children. That will get money to about 90% of households.

Under the Senate version, that amount would be gradually reduced until it reaches zero for people earning $80,000 and couples making $160,000. Those ceilings were higher in the House version.

The huge measure — its cost is nearly one-tenth the size of the entire U.S. economy — is Biden’s biggest early priority. It stands as his formula for addressing the deadly virus and a limping economy, twin crises that have afflicted the country for a year.

“This nation has suffered too much for much too long,” Biden told reporters at the White House after the vote. “And everything in this package is designed to relieve the suffering and to meet the most urgent needs of the nation, and put us in a better position to prevail.”

Saturday’s vote was also a crucial political moment for Biden and Democrats, who need nothing short of party unanimity in a 50-50 Senate they run with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote. They hold a slim 10-vote House edge.

Not one Republican backed the bill in the Senate or when it initially passed the House, underscoring the barbed partisan environment that’s characterized the early days of Biden’s presidency.

CNN contributed.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to sign an executive order directing federal agencies to take a series of steps to promote voting access, a move that comes as congressional Democrats press for a sweeping voting and elections bill to counter efforts to restrict voting access.

Biden will announce the order during a recorded address on the 56th commemoration of “Bloody Sunday,” the 1965 incident in which some 600 civil rights activists were viciously beaten by state troopers as they tried to march for voting rights in Selma, Alabama.

“Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have it counted,” Biden says in a script of his recorded remarks to Sunday’s Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast.

Biden’s order includes several modest provisions. It directs federal agencies to expand access to voter registration and election information, calls on the heads of federal agencies to come up with plans to give federal employees time off to vote or volunteer as nonpartisan poll workers, and proscribes an overhaul of the government’s Vote.gov website, according to an administration official who briefed reporters.

Democrats are attempting to solidify support for House Resolution 1, which touches on virtually every aspect of the electoral process. It was approved Wednesday on a near party-line vote, 220-210.

The voting-rights bill includes provisions to restrict partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, strike down hurdles to voting and bring transparency to a murky campaign finance system that allows wealthy donors to anonymously bankroll political causes.

Democrats say the bill will help stifle voter suppression attempts, while Republicans have cast the bill as unwanted federal interference in states’ authority to conduct their own elections.

The bill’s fate is far from certain in the closely divided Senate. Conservative groups have mounted a $5 million pressure campaign to try persuade moderate Senate Democrats to oppose rule changes needed to pass the measure.

With his executive order, Biden is looking to turn the spotlight on the issue and is using the somber commemoration of Bloody Sunday to make the case that much is at stake.

Bloody Sunday proved to be a conscious-shocking turning point in the civil rights movement that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Similarly, Biden is hoping the Jan. 6 sacking of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Donald Trump mob will prove to be a clarion call for Congress to take action to improve voter protections.

“In 2020 — with our very democracy on the line — even in the midst of a pandemic – more Americans voted than ever before,” Biden says in the script. “Yet instead of celebrating this powerful demonstration of voting — we saw an unprecedented insurrection on our Capitol and a brutal attack on our democracy on January 6th. A never-before-seen effort to ignore, undermine and undo the will of the people.”

Biden’s remarks also pay tribute to the late civil-rights giants Rev. C.T. Vivian, Rev. Joseph Lowery and Rep. John Lewis. All played critical roles in the 1965 organizing efforts in Selma and all died in within the last year.

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