Representative Ro Khanna, a deputy whip for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he believed that the coronavirus relief bill has enough votes in the House to pass.

Khanna acknowledged that there has been some “frustration” among caucus members over many progressive provisions of the bill, including the $15 minimum wage proposal, being stripped out or narrowed in the Senate bill.

New Day
(@NewDay)

The Covid-19 relief bill is “going to give every working class and middle class family a $3,000 check for every child that they have, that is an extraordinary policy,” Rep. @RoKhanna says as he is confident that the bill will pass in the House.https://t.co/8LuBtvxvoc pic.twitter.com/NHL5r6rM3s

March 8, 2021

“But overall, no one wants to play games with people’s lives. People are suffering,” Khanna said. “So I believe it will have the votes to pass.”

The House is expected to take up the bill tomorrow, and Democrats will move toward a quick passage. If the bill passes, Joe Biden could sign the legislation as early as tomorrow night.

Joe Biden has released a statement celebrating Pope Francis’ recent trip to Iraq, which marked the first-ever papal visit to the country.

“Pope Francis’ visit was a historic and welcome first for the country. It sent an important message, as Pope Francis said himself, that ‘fraternity is more durable than fratricide, that hope is more powerful than death, that peace more powerful than war,’” Biden said.

“I congratulate the Government and people of Iraq for the care and planning that went into organizing this monumental visit, and continue to admire Pope Francis for his commitment to promoting religious tolerance, the common bonds of our humanity, and interfaith understanding.”

During the trip, the pope visited churches destroyed by the Islamic State, and he urged the region’s Christians to forgive the injustices that drove them into exile.

Axios – Manchin’s next power play

Sonia Elks reports for Reuters on International Women’s Day that 90% of Americans think the United States could have its first woman president within a decade, according to a new poll.

A Gallup poll conducted in 74 countries showed Americans were the most likely to say they thought a woman could lead their nation by 2030. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016, but was denied the presidency by the Electoral College system that the US uses to choose the president.

Kamala Harris’s election as the first female vice president last year was a significant boost for efforts to boost women’s political representation and help young women see themselves in top jobs, according to campaigners.

“We all believe Harris is going to run for president again very, very soon,” said Sara Guillermo, executive director of California-based young women’s political leadership organisation IGNITE, describing Harris’s election as a “huge cultural shift”.

“That is really huge, not just for the little girls of the world but for the little boys, to be able to fully understand that both genders can serve in the highest leadership role,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a video call.

Harris, 56, is seen as an obvious contender for her party’s 2024 candidacy should Biden, 78, decide not to run.

With an eye on International Women’s Day, President Joe Biden is expected to sign two executive orders today which will set up a White House Gender Policy Council and will also attempt to address sexual violence in the education field. Jason Hoffman and Paul LeBlanc at CNN report:

“The full participation of all people, including women and girls, across all aspects of our society is essential to the economic well-being, health, and security of our country and of the world,” a senior administration official told CNN while outlining the executive orders on Sunday night.

The White House Gender Policy Council will be specifically tasked with combating systemic bias and discrimination, including sexual harassment. The council’s broad scope includes tackling a slate of challenges like the structural barriers to women’s participation in the labor force, wage and wealth gaps and the caregiving needs of American families.

Health care concerns, equal opportunity in leadership and promoting gender equality worldwide through diplomacy will also fall under the council’s purview.

The executive order will require the co-chairs of the council to submit to the President a government-wide strategy to address gender in policies, programs and budgets, and an annual report to measure progress on implementing the strategy, according to a fact sheet released by the White House. To prevent and respond to gender-based violence, there will be special assistants to the President and senior advisers on gender-based violence on the council staff.

Read more here: CNN – Biden to sign executive orders establishing Gender Policy Council and addressing sexual violence in education

21 women are being recognized today in the State department’s International Women of Courage Award, and first lady Dr. Jill Biden will be delivering remarks about them in a speech today, which the Associated Press has obtained in advance. She’s say:

Some of these women have spent their lives fighting for their cause. Others are just starting out on a journey they didn’t ask for. Some were called to service, and some couldn’t escape it. They are fighting for their own lives and for their children. They want to right the wrongs of our past, to build a brighter future for everyone. They aren’t immune to fear. No one is.

There are 14 living awardees from Belarus, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Venezuela, reports Darlene Superville. Seven women from Afghanistan are receiving posthumous honors.

In the remarks, Dr. Biden is expected to to say that the pandemic shows “how the things that connect us — our love for family and friends, our hope that we will be together soon — transcend language and distance.” She says that diplomacy, “at its best, is a recognition of this connection” and that the United States, under President Joe Biden’s leadership, will support women around the world.

“We will make the choice to lead, to be bold and to lift up the women and girls everywhere who light our way,” Biden will say. “For 15 years, we have honored women around the world who have made the extraordinary choice to fight for something bigger than themselves.”

“Today, we recommit to being worthy of that courage, to understanding that our lives are tied together in immeasurable and powerful ways and to choosing, every day, to honor that connection,” she says. “We will stand with you as we build a brighter future for us all.”

We have this today from Eli Hager for The Marshall Project, on how the racial inequality in US youth detention is wider than ever:

White youths were being released from juvenile detention centers at a far higher rate than their Black peers during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, and more people of color are now being detained for longer than they were before the crisis, according to data gathered by a leading children’s philanthropic group.

So many kids were freed from jail last year that by late summer, fewer children were incarcerated than at any point since at least the 1980s. But many youth facilities are increasingly holding almost entirely Black and Latino populations of teens, according to interviews with more than a dozen juvenile justice officials and attorneys in seven states.

Though the racial inequality in youth detention has long been stark, it’s wider than ever, they say. Experts point to several possible explanations, including bias from judges and other officials, and young people of color being detained for more serious offenses and having fewer resources and alternatives to incarceration in their communities.

“It’s fitting that in 2020, the year that juxtaposed Covid and racial justice protests, we saw this shrinking of the system – but also a resistance to doing so for young Black people,” said Patricia Soung, a juvenile attorney and former director of youth justice policy for the Children’s Defense Fund in California.

By May 2020, detention centers were releasing white youths at a 17% higher rate than Black youths, according to a monthly survey of juvenile justice agencies in more than 30 states conducted by the Annie E Casey Foundation.

And in the months since, while the number of white youths has remained historically low, the number of Black and Latino youths has risen slightly, said Tom Woods, a senior associate and juvenile justice data analyst for the Casey Foundation.

The racial gap in detention is worsening even though teens, including those of color, were arrested less often in 2020, data shows. Police have generally taken a more hands-off approach due to the virus and, because classes have gone virtual, young people have interacted less with school-based officers.

Read more of Eli Hager’s report here: Racial inequality in US youth detention wider than ever, experts say

pic.twitter.com/fMSMAAgJ84

March 8, 2021

The process of the trial for the killing of George Floyd will start with jury selection. It could be a lengthy process, writes Amy Forliti of the Associated Press. Twelve Hennepin County residents will be picked after an extensive grilling about their views on police and the justice system.

Derek Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death. Picking a jury is expected to take at least three weeks, as prosecutors and defense attorneys try to weed out people who may be biased against them.

“You don’t want jurors who are completely blank slates, because that would mean they’re not in tune at all with the world,” Susan Gaertner, a former prosecutor, said. “But what you want is jurors who can set aside opinions that have formed prior to walking into the courtroom and give both sides a fair hearing.”

Floyd was killed last year after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. His death sparked Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis and beyond, and led to a nationwide reckoning on race. Chauvin and three other officers were fired; the others face an August trial on aiding and abetting charges.

Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, argued that pretrial publicity of the case and the subsequent violent unrest in Minneapolis would make it impossible to find an impartial jury in Hennepin County. But Judge Peter Cahill said last year that moving the trial probably wouldn’t cure the problem of a potentially tainted jury pool because “no corner of the State of Minnesota” has been shielded from pretrial publicity.

The potential jurors were sent questionnaires to determine how much they have heard about the case and whether they’ve formed any opinions. Besides biographical and demographic information, jurors were asked about prior contacts with police, whether they have protested against police brutality and whether they believe the justice system is fair. Some of the questions get very specific, such as how often a potential juror has watched the bystander video of Floyd’s arrest, or whether they carried a sign at a protest and what that sign said.

Unlike typical jury selection proceedings, this jury pool will be questioned one by one instead of in a group. The judge, defense attorney and prosecutors will all get to ask questions. The defense can object to up to 15 potential jurors without giving a reason; prosecutors can block up to nine with no reason given. Both sides can also argue to dismiss an unlimited number of jurors “for cause,” meaning they must provide a reason why they believe that juror shouldn’t serve.

Even if a juror says they have had a negative interaction with the police, or a negative opinion about Black Lives Matter, the key will be trying to find out whether they can put those past experiences or opinions aside and be fair.

Opening arguments are not expected until 29 March at the earliest.

Darryl Fears and Jared Goyette are covering the developments in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the Washington Post, and here’s how they reported yesterday’s silent protest in Minneapolis.

A Sunday afternoon march drew a few thousand people to the Hennepin County Government Center, which these days is encircled by concrete barriers and multiple layers of security fencing. Prince’s “Purple Rain” blared over loudspeakers there, but as the crowd began walking, they did so in silence. They carried a white wooden coffin. Helicopters buzzed overhead.

By then, National Guard vehicles were rolling into the Twin Cities area, delivering the first of more than 3,000 troops expected to be on patrol during what some are calling the biggest trial in Minnesota history.

Another crowd is anticipated outside the Government Center early Monday, when jury selection is set to start. Opening arguments aren’t expected until the end of the month.

“There’s never been a trial of this magnitude before in these parts,” columnist Rubén Rosario wrote Sunday in the St Paul Pioneer Press. “Unprecedented. Historic. Momentous. Pick an adjective.”

As part of the demonstration yesterday, there was a long roll-call of the dead:

Civil rights attorney and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong read from a 45-foot scroll with more than 400 names of Minnesotans who organizers say have died at the hands of police over the past two decades.

Brandyn Tulloch was struck by how long it took to read. “You just sit and think, ‘Is it always going to be this way?’ When will the police killings end, and when will any of those families ever get justice?” he said.

He isn’t optimistic that Chauvin will be convicted, and he said he doesn’t think that would bring justice anyway. “I feel like it is all eyes on Minneapolis, all eyes on Minnesota. . . . This is because the state is on trial. The system is on trial, and it’s about time they’re held accountable.”

Read more here: Washington Post – A silent march and symbolic coffin on the eve of the trial in George Floyd’s killing

Amudalat Ajasa and Jackie Renzetti report for us from Minneapolis this morning:

Minneapolis and its adjacent “twin city” St Paul, followed by cities and towns all across the United States and overseas burst into civil rights protest last May, where millions demanded radical change after a video went viral showing a cop kneeling on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds as he begged, in vain, for his life.

The since-fired officer, Derek Chauvin, who is white, is charged with second degree murder and second degree manslaughter and has been in hiding while out on bail.

Three other, also now-ex, officers charged with aiding and abetting stand trial together in August.

“I feel kind of scared that we won’t see [what] we want to see. And we’ll be in the streets, like we were the whole summer,” said Zarieah Graves, an activist in Minneapolis.

If the officers are acquitted, or convicted but lightly punished “we are going to be upset,” Graves added.

When Floyd, 46, a father from Houston who moved to Minneapolis for work, was killed his name joined that of Jamar Clark, Philando Castile and many others less well known.

More than 200 people have suffered police-involved deaths in Minnesota in the last 20 years, a database compiled by the Minneapolis Star Tribune calculated. While only 7% of Minnesotans are Black they accounted for 26% of those deaths.

“That’s what people need to know is that there are hundreds of George Floyds out there in the state of Minnesota alone, that people just don’t seem to know anything about,” Toshira Garraway told the Guardian.

Garraway started the activist group Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence when Justin Teigen, her fiancé and the father of her child, ended up suffocated in a recycling truck after he fled from a police stop in St Paul in 2009 and was pursued, with the authorities and the family disagreeing over how he came to meet his death.

But only one Minnesota police officer has been convicted of murder – Mohamed Noor, who shot dead Australian life coach Justine Damond after she called police saying she had witnessed an assault in 2017. Damond was white and Noor is Somali American.

“Why is it that only the white woman got true justice?” Garraway asked.

Read more here: George Floyd killing – Minneapolis on edge again as historic trial set to begin

the most significant police trials in US history begins today as the former officer who killed George Floyd stands trial. The since-fired officer, Derek Chauvin, who is white, is charged with second degree murder and second degree manslaughter, and has been in hiding while out on bail.

Yesterday members of Floyd’s family took part in a silent march through downtown Minneapolis, carrying a symbolic empty casket.

Andrew Cuomo suffered a major blow on Sunday in his attempt to stay as governor of New York. The majority leader of the state senate and the speaker of the assembly, two of the most powerful Democrats in New York, said it was time for Cuomo to go. He is facing accusations of sexual harassment and a scandal over Covid deaths in nursing homes.

President Joe Biden will be visiting the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center that is administering Covid vaccines. He’ll be accompanied by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough.

At least 58.9 million adults have now received at least one vaccine shot in the US.

Yesterday one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington – Jim Clyburn – issued a frank warning to members of his own party, saying they need to find a way to pass major voting rights legislation or they will lose control of Congress.

It is International Women’s Day today, and president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris will be joined by defense secretary Lloyd J Austin III at 4.20pm (2120 GMT) to make remarks marking the occasion.

Jen Psaki’s 11.30am press briefing will also feature the same theme, and she will be joined by co-chairs of the gender policy council Julissa Reynoso and Jennifer Klein. There’s a coronavirus press briefing at 11am as well.