Democracy Now!

Protesters Take to Minneapolis Streets After Police Kill 20-Year-Old Black Man Daunte Wright, Medical Examiner Reaffirms George Floyd Homicide Ruling, Caused by Derek Chauvin's Restraint, Black Army Lt. Sues After Virginia Police Attack, Pepper-Spray Him in Face Without Provocation, Maryland Passes Sweeping Police Reforms, Alabama Amazon Warehouse Organizers Lose Union Vote But Plan Legal Challenge, India Has World's 2nd-Highest COVID Caseload; WHO Blasts Vast Global Vaccine Inequality, Michigan Remains Major COVID Hot Spot But Refrains from Imposing New Lockdown, Death Toll Mounts in Burma as Military Fires on Demonstration, Killing Over 80 People, Iran Accuses Israel of "Nuclear Terrorism" over Sabotage at Natanz Nuclear Plant, Conservative Ex-Banker Defeats Leftist Economist in Ecuadorian Presidential Election, Peru Appears Headed to Runoff as Voters Cast Ballots in Deadliest Week of COVID-19 Pandemic, 16,000 Evacuated as Volcano Erupts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Biden Proposes $1.5 Trillion Federal Budget, White House Establishes Commission to Study Supreme Court Reforms, Texas Man Who Joined January 6 Capitol Riots Charged with Plot to Blow Up Data Center, Off-Duty Pentagon Police Officer Charged with Murdering Two in Maryland, Mark Colville Gets 21-Month Prison Term over Anti-Nuclear Action at Kings Bay Submarine Base, Ramsey Clark, Ex-Attorney General Who Became Fierce Opponent of U.S. Foreign Policy, Dies at 93, Standing Rock Sioux Historian LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, Who Led Fight Against Pipeline, Dies at 64

President Joe Biden has ordered a series of executive actions on gun control in the wake of mass shootings in Georgia, Colorado and elsewhere, calling gun violence in the U.S. an "epidemic" and an "international embarrassment." The most significant executive order aims to crack down on so-called ghost guns — easily assembled firearms bought over the internet without serial numbers, which account for about a third of guns recovered at crime scenes. Biden has also nominated gun control advocate David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but acknowledged this week that major new gun control measures, like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks, will require legislation from Congress. "We are calling on Congress to carry the torch here and pass additional laws to keep Americans safe and save American lives," says Brian Lemek, executive director of Brady PAC.

A new Amnesty International report lays out how the pandemic has significantly exacerbated inequality across the Americas over the past year. Over 1.3 million people have died in the region from COVID-19, making the Americas the hardest-hit area in the world. Women, refugees, migrants, underprotected health workers, Indigenous peoples, Black people and other groups historically excluded and neglected by governments have borne the brunt of the pandemic, according to the report, which also points out the rise in gender violence and lethal crackdown on human rights defenders. "It's not a surprise that the Americas has been the region worst hit by the pandemic," says Erika Guevara-Rosas, a human rights lawyer and Americas director for Amnesty International. "Growing inequality, corruption, violence, environmental degradation and impunity created a fertile ground for the Americas to become the epicenter."

Since last year, approximately 440 Cubans have died from COVID-19, giving Cuba one of the lowest death rates per capita in the world. Cuba is also developing five COVID-19 vaccines, including two which have entered stage 3 trials. Cuba has heavily invested in its medical and pharmaceutical system for decades, in part because of the six-decade U.S. embargo that has made it harder for Cuba to import equipment and raw materials from other countries. That investment, coupled with the country's free, universal healthcare system, has helped Cuba keep the virus under control and quickly develop vaccines against it, says Dr. Rolando Pérez Rodríguez, the director of science and innovation at BioCubaFarma, which oversees Cuba's medicine development. "We have long experience with these kinds of technologies," he says. We also speak with Reed Lindsay, journalist and founder of the independent, Cuba-focused media organization Belly of the Beast, who says U.S. sanctions on Cuba continue to cripple the country. "Cuba is going through an unbelievable economic crisis, and the sanctions have been absolutely devastating," says Lindsay.

Medical Expert Testifies George Floyd Died from Lack of Oxygen, Not Fentanyl, Ex-NFL Player with History of Concussions Kills 5 Before Turning Gun on Himself, President Biden Cracks Down on "Ghost Guns" and Calls on Congress to Ban Assault Rifles, Johnson & Johnson to Slash Deliveries of COVID-19 Vaccine After Factory Error, Pakistani PM Condemned as "Rape Apologist" After Blaming Sex Assaults on How Women Dress, Unionists Riot in Belfast as Brexit Stokes Northern Ireland Divisions , Britain's Prince Philip Has Died at Age 99, Allegations of Abuse, Sexual Assault in Texas Migrant Facility for Unaccompanied Children, Texas GOP Official Called for "Army" of Poll Watchers to Deploy in Communities of Color, New Mexico Bans Qualified Immunity for Police and Other Government Employees, "No" Votes Lead in AL Amazon Union Drive Amid Reports Amazon Unlawfully Installed Onsite Mailbox, Reese Erlich, Author and Reporter on U.S. Imperialism, Dies After Battle with Cancer, Antiwar Activists Block Entry to Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to Protest U.S. Drones

As people try to find a safe way to gather and travel during the pandemic, there is growing interest in documenting who has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. The World Health Organization has warned so-called vaccine passports may not be an effective way to reopen, and healthcare professionals argue vaccine certificates may further exacerbate vaccine inequality. New York is already testing a digital vaccine passport app made by IBM called the Excelsior Pass, while countries including the U.K. and Israel have issued their own versions of electronic vaccine certificates. The U.S. government has ruled out the introduction of mandatory vaccine passports at the federal level, but many private companies are now developing COVID-19 tracking systems. ACLU policy analyst Jay Stanley says smartphone-based vaccine passport apps "raise a lot of questions" around privacy, access and discrimination. "We have systems in place already for proving you've been vaccinated," he says. "Is that system so broken that we need to construct an entirely new electronic system?"

The Biden administration is facing criticism from human rights groups after it announced this week it will leave in place a Trump-era policy to allow military commanders to use landmines across the globe. A Pentagon spokesperson described landmines as a "vital tool in conventional warfare" and said restricting their use would put American lives at risk, despite Biden's campaign promise to promptly roll back Trump's policy. Jody Williams, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, says landmines were invented "in order to maim people" and have a devastating impact on children, women and the elderly around the world. "It is an indiscriminate weapon that has no place on this planet."

The United States and Iran are holding more indirect talks as part of a push to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, after former President Donald Trump pulled out of the accord nearly three years ago. The two countries agreed to set up two expert-level working groups along with other signatories of the 2015 deal, which is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. While Iran formally remains in the JCPOA, it has faced international criticism for increasing production of nuclear materials it says are for peaceful purposes. The United States has imposed some 1,600 different sanctions on Iran in a move that has also made it harder for Iranians to import food and medicine, a situation that became even more dire during the pandemic. The main hurdle to reviving the nuclear deal is doubt over the U.S. commitment to diplomacy, says Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University and former spokesperson for Iran on its nuclear negotiations with the European Union. "The U.S. needs to do some serious steps to revive the trust," Mousavian says.

Global Coronavirus Cases Surge, With Record Daily Infections in India, Turkey and Iran, Brazil's President Rejects Nationwide Lockdown Despite Record COVID-19 Death Toll, Countries Cut Back on AstraZeneca Vaccinations After Reports of Rare Blood Clots, U.S. COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Rise, Driven by Young People, Gaza Strip Locks Down Amid COVID Surge and Vaccine Shortage as Cases Plummet in Israel, U.S. Restores Financial Aid to U.N. Relief Agency for Palestine, Biden Names Gun Control Advocate to Lead Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Sen. Joe Manchin Doubles Down on Opposition to Weakening Filibuster, Expert Witness Says Derek Chauvin Used Excessive Force Against George Floyd, Trump Campaign Refunds Donations After Misleading Supporters into Recurring Payments, GA State Rep. Won't Face Charges for Knocking on Governor's Door as He Signed Voter Suppression Bill, Virginia to Legalize Recreational Marijuana Possession Beginning July 1, Amazon Overnight Workers in Chicago Walk Off Job to Protest Grueling 10+ Hour Overnight Shifts, 2021 Izzy Award Honors News Outlet Truthout, Journalists Liliana Segura and Tim Schwab

After a year of layoffs, cuts and austerity, the faculty and staff of four unions at Rutgers University have voted in support of an unusual and pioneering agreement to protect jobs and guarantee raises after the school declared a fiscal emergency as a result of the pandemic. A key part of the deal is an agreement by the professors to do "work share" and take a slight cut in hours for a few months in order to save the jobs of other lower-paid workers. "The historic nature of this agreement is that it encompasses all four unions," says Christine O'Connell, president of the union representing Rutgers administrators. "This agreement protects jobs." We also speak with Todd Wolfson, president of the Rutgers Union of graduate workers, faculty and postdocs, who says the unions' core demand was stopping further layoffs. "That core demand was met, and there's no layoffs through the calendar year and into next year."

As the first anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd approaches, we speak with author and journalist Victoria Law, who says despite the mass movement to fight systemic racism sparked by Floyd's death, persistent myths about policing, incarceration and the criminal justice system still hinder reform. "Why do we think prisons keep us safe? Obviously, Derek Chauvin wasn't afraid of being arrested or imprisoned when he killed George Floyd," says Law, who examines these issues in her new book, "'Prisons Make Us Safer': And 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration."

This week at the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, numerous members of the Minneapolis Police Department have taken the stand and testified that Chauvin violated policy by kneeling on Floyd's neck for nine-and-a-half minutes, and the emergency room doctor who tried to save Floyd's life said his chances of living would have been higher if CPR had been administered sooner. The trial is putting a spotlight on "the disproportionate killing of Black people by police" in the United States, says Marq Claxton, a retired New York Police Department detective who is now director of the Black Law Enforcement Alliance. He argues that until police officers are arrested, charged and convicted for such killings, "these tragedies will continue to occur."

U.S. Moves Up Vaccine Eligibility for Adults as Global Access Inequities Plague Poorer Nations, Minneapolis Police Trainer Says Derek Chauvin Kneeling on Floyd's Neck Was Not Authorized Technique, Arkansas Becomes First State to Criminalize Gender-Affirming Treatment for Trans Youth, Tishaura Jones Elected as First Black Woman Mayor of St. Louis, Florida Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings Dies at Age 84, Democrats Can Use Reconciliation to Pass More Budget Bills with Simple Majority, U.S and Iran Say Early Talks on Relaunching Nuclear Deal "Constructive", U.N. Warns One-Third of Population of Democratic Republic of the Congo Facing Acute Hunger, Amnesty USA Calls on Biden to End U.S. Landmines Policy, Join International Ban, Israeli Soldiers Shoot Dead West Bank Man, Palestinian Mayor Says Case May Be Brought to ICC, Yemeni American Activists on Hunger Strike to Call for End of U.S.-Backed, Saudi-Led War on Yemen, Multiple Personnel Suspended, Under Investigation at Fort Sill After Sexual Assault Allegation, NYT: Matt Gaetz Sought Blanket Pardons from Former President Trump, CO2 Surpasses 420 Parts Per Million for First Time, Proposed NY Budget Includes $2 Billion for First-Ever Excluded Workers Fund

We speak with economist Darrick Hamilton, founding director of the Institute on Race and Political Economy at The New School, about how U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is calling for a minimum global corporate income tax to help pay for President Joe Biden's proposed $2.25 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan, aimed in part at combating the climate crisis and addressing racial inequities in housing and transportation. The plan includes over $650 billion for roads, bridges, railways and ports; $650 billion to expand broadband, retrofit homes and upgrade water systems and the electrical grid; $400 billion for "home- or community-based care" for the elderly and people with disabilities; and $300 billion for domestic manufacturing. "The good news is the conception of infrastructure has been expanded to include human infrastructure, as well as addressing the environment, beyond just traditional bridges and roads," says Hamilton, but he adds the bill is still too small to properly address the economic problems facing the United States. "The scale of the problem and the size of the bill is incongruent."

We look at pandemic profiteering in the medical system as a new report by Kaiser Health News reveals some of the nation's richest hospitals recorded hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus over the past year after accepting federal healthcare bailout grants. This comes as hospitals in New York have sued thousands of patients during the pandemic, and Northwell — which is run by a close ally of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo — has faced intense criticism for practices like billing patients at its Lenox Hill Hospital over $3,000 for COVID tests — more than 30 times the typical cost. "There's a lot of talk in our healthcare system about putting patients first, … but this is not doing that," says Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York and co-founder of the Health Care for All New York campaign. "Suing patients ruins their lives." We also discuss how Biden's CARES Act made 3.7 million more people eligible for the Affordable Care Act's premium subsidies.

More than a year into the pandemic and the economic crisis it generated, many workers continue to be excluded from receiving any government relief. These excluded workers include undocumented people — many of them in essential services — and people recently released from prison. Hundreds of essential workers across New York are leading marches and hunger strikes to demand lawmakers support a $3.5 billion fund that would be the first of its kind in the United States to provide pandemic relief funding to those excluded from the current system. Governor Andrew Cuomo is now in final negotiations with legislators on a budget bill that was due last month, which could issue payments to up to 275,000 people. "I truly believe that this is the job of government," says Marcela Mitaynes, a New York assemblymember who is joining excluded workers in their hunger strike to push for pandemic relief and has called for a wealth tax to fund it. "We're supposed to provide for our people. And this is a moment where we need to step up."

Minneapolis Police Chief Condemns Derek Chauvin's Use of Force on George Floyd, Montana Governor Who Ended Mask Mandate in February Tests Positive for Coronavirus, 38,000 Texas Rangers Fans Pack Home Opener, Widely Flouting Mask Requirement, Florida Expands COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility to 16+ as Racial Disparities in Vaccinations Persist, Saudi Arabia to Reopen Mecca Holy Site to "Immunized" Pilgrims, Haiti Has Yet to Receive a Single Vaccine Dose for Its 11 Million People, Biden Administration Lifts Trump-Era Sanctions on International Criminal Court Officials, Benjamin Netanyahu Gets First Shot at Forming New Israeli Government as Corruption Trial Opens, Sen. Manchin Won't Back White House Bid to Partially Roll Back Trump-Era Corporate Tax Breaks, Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson Vetoes Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth, Virginia Bans So-Called Gay and Trans Panic Defense in Murder and Manslaughter Trials, Prisoners in St. Louis Jail Hold Uprising to Demand End to Cash Bail, Court Dates

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 53 years ago, on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 39. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor, organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice, and was a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We air an excerpt of his "Beyond Vietnam" speech, delivered at New York's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, a year to the day before he was assassinated, in which Dr. King called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today" and urged support for "a genuine revolution of values" that centers collective liberation and revolt against oppressive systems. "Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism and militarism," King said.

We get an update on how the Ethiopian government has announced Eritrean forces are withdrawing from the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, where harrowing witness accounts have emerged of Eritrean soldiers killing Tigrayan men and boys and rape being used as weapon of war by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers. Eritrea entered the Tigray region to support Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's military offensive in November targeting the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The true death toll from the conflict remains unknown, but researchers recently identified almost 2,000 people killed in 150 massacres by warring factions. CNN senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir, who just returned from reporting on the region, says what started as a "competition for power" has descended into ethnic cleansing. "Many people believe that it is now genocidal, that what is a political intent to destroy is becoming now an intent to destroy, in whole or part, a people," says Elbagir.

We look at the urgent push to ensure equal access to COVID-19 vaccines for all nations, rich and poor, and growing calls for Big Pharma to waive their patent rights, as COVID-19 cases soar in India and the Modi government has suspended exports of coronavirus vaccines to many of the world's poorest countries that depend on AstraZeneca vaccines it produces. "These are not India's vaccines," says Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project, which campaigns for equitable access to medicines. "The number of vaccine doses that have gone out to a third of humanity — 91 poor countries — is 18 million doses, or just enough to cover about 1% of the populations of these countries if they've even got vaccines, which some have not," Prabhala notes. Leena Menghaney, an Indian lawyer who heads Médecins Sans Frontières's access campaign in India, links the supply shortage to Oxford University's decision to sign an exclusive deal with the Serum Institute in India rather than contracting several manufacturers to produce the vaccine. "The monopoly is going to cost us," Menghaney says.

India Hits 100,000 Daily COVID Cases; More Nations Enter Lockdown; Pope Calls for Vaccine Equality, U.S. Vaccinations Pick Up Speed, But Health Experts Say Country Is Still at Risk for New Wave, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Killed After Man Rams Car into Security Checkpoint, Veteran Minneapolis Police Officer Calls Chauvin Kneeling on Floyd's Neck "Totally Unnecessary", U.S. and Iran Holding Talks Via Nuclear Deal Signatories in Attempt to Revive 2015 Accord, Jordan Arrests Ex-Crown Prince, Other Top Figures Accused of Plotting Coup Against King, Demonstrations Continue Against New U.K. Bill That Would Empower Police to Suppress Protests, Five Civilians Killed in Mogadishu Suicide Bombing, 22 Indian Police Officers Killed After Battle with Maoist Fighters, Massive Flooding Kills at Least 100, Submerges Thousands of Homes in Indonesia, Florida Wastewater Pond on Brink of Catastrophic Collapse, Texas Police Officers Fired for Killing Black Man Jailed for Marijuana Possession, Chicago Protests Erupt over Police Killing of 13-Year-Old Adam Toledo, MLB Moves All-Star Game from Atlanta to Protest Georgia Voter Suppression Law, Steelworkers Begin Second Week of Strike over Unfair Labor Practices at Allegheny Technologies

As the number of COVID-19 cases surges in Brazil, the country is also facing a major crisis on the political front. The heads of Brazil's Army, Navy and Air Force all quit in an unprecedented move, a day after far-right President Jair Bolsonaro ousted his defense minister as part of a broader Cabinet shake-up. The developments have alarmed many in Brazil who believe Bolsonaro, who is a former Army captain, will install ultra-loyalists to the military posts to consolidate his power ahead of next year's election, when he is expected to be challenged by former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro is trying to "show his authority" as his popularity dwindles, says Celso Amorim, former Brazilian foreign minister. "As he becomes smaller in terms of support … he becomes more dangerous."

Protesters in Portland, Oregon, took to the streets for more than three straight months following the police killing of George Floyd. In July, former President Donald Trump threatened to jail protesters for 10 years for damaging federal buildings in Portland. But months later he praised right-wing insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol. Trump's actions were "absolutely abhorrent," says Oregon Governor Kate Brown. "We are continuing to work to hold federal officials accountable."

As Republican lawmakers across the U.S. move to make it harder for voters to cast ballots by mail, we look at Oregon's long history of vote-by-mail. Oregon, where 92% of residents are now registered to vote, was the first state in the country to institute voting by mail and to establish automatic voter registration in an effort to "ensure access to this very fundamental right," says Oregon's Democratic Governor Kate Brown, who is also the national chair of Vote from Home. The nationwide crackdown on voting rights is taking place because "Republicans don't want to hear voices" of Black, Brown, Indigenous people and women, Brown says. "We have to hold these legislators who voted for these racist policies … accountable."

Activists are demanding accountability from Georgia-based companies in opposing a law that heavily restricts voting rights in the state, which many are calling the worst voter suppression legislation since the Jim Crow era. While some companies, including Coca-Cola and Delta, have weighed in on the Republican-backed crackdown on voting rights, Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, says voicing opposition is not enough. "We're calling for a repeal of this voter suppression law, and we're asking these companies to divest future support that they've given," Albright says. "Stand by the words that you said in the midst of the summer of protest about Black Lives Matter when you had all these glowing statements about racial justice and racial equity. If you said it back in the summer, now is the time for you to actually put some actions behind it."

Ex-Supervisor Says Derek Chauvin's Fatal Restraint of George Floyd Violated Use-of-Force Policies , Texas Senate Passes Republican-Led Voter Suppression Bill, Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium to Open at Full Capacity Despite Surging Coronavirus Cases, U.N. Warns Burma Headed for Civil War as Military Junta Continues Brutal Crackdown, At Least 51 Dead, Dozens More Injured in Taiwan Train Crash , Arizona ICE Jail Violated Prisoners' Rights and Failed to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak, Biden Holds First Cabinet Meeting as Debate over Infrastructure Plan Continues, Unemployment Claims Rise as Pandemic Recovery Remains Uneven , Ex-U.S. Intelligence Analyst Daniel Hale Pleads Guilty to Leaking Documents About U.S. Drone Program, New Mexico Poised to Legalize Marijuana, Virginia Gov. Pushes to Expedite Legalization, Virginia Supreme Court OKs Removal of Confederate Statues in Charlottesville, Lawmakers Say Rep. Matt Gaetz Showed Nude Photos and Videos on the House Floor, LGBTQ Students Sue Education Dept. for Discrimination at Federally Funded Colleges

Brazil now accounts for about a quarter of all COVID-19 daily deaths worldwide, more than any other country, and its overall death toll of more than 310,000 is surpassed only by the United States. Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faces intense pressure to abandon his opposition to vaccinations, lockdowns and mask-wearing. Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, professor of neurobiology at Duke University and former coordinator of the largest scientific COVID-19 task force in Brazil, says Bolsonaro "has played on the side of the virus" by opposing any efforts to control the outbreak. "Since the beginning, he downplayed the severity of the pandemic."

After the third dramatic day in the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, we speak with Mel Reeves, who has been following the case as community editor at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, the oldest Black-owned newspaper in the state. Reeves discusses the testimony heard so far, and juror selection, and says more is at stake than just what happened to George Floyd. "It is political. The system of policing is on trial," says Reeves. "You can see now how the police operate when they run into Black people." We also speak with Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, who says the defense is following a familiar strategy of blaming the victim. "This is what they do in trial after trial, is work to put the community and work to put the victim on trial, to make the victim someone who deserved to be killed." Robinson also describes the influence of police unions on preventing police accountability.

Jurors in Minneapolis heard another series of dramatic testimonies during the third day of the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd. A teenage clerk named Christopher Martin at the Minneapolis convenience store outside which Floyd was killed told jurors during questioning that he felt guilty for reporting the fake $20 bill to his manager, who called the police on George Floyd. Jurors also heard a recording of Charles McMillian, who witnessed George Floyd's death last year, approaching Chauvin to say, "I don't respect what you did," as Floyd's body was being loaded into an ambulance. We air dramatic excerpts from witness testimony on the third day of the murder trial in Minneapolis.

Witness in Derek Chauvin Murder Trial Breaks Down After Viewing Footage of George Floyd's Killing, Four Killed as Gunman Opens Fire on Office Complex in Orange County, California, Biden Defends Infrastructure Plan as Progressives Push for $10 Trillion to Fight Climate Crisis, Wisconsin Supreme Court Voids Governor's Mask Mandate as COVID-19 Cases Rise Across U.S., Brazil's Cemeteries Hold Nighttime Funerals as COVID-19 Deaths Reach New Highs, Yemen Receives First COVID-19 Vaccine Shipments as Doctors Report Surge in Cases, Global Deforestation Increased by 12% in 2020 with Amazon Most Severely Affected, U.S. Court Sentences Tony Hernández, Brother of Honduran President, to Life for Drug Trafficking, Hong Kong Court Convicts 7 Prominent Pro-Democracy Activists, BBC China Correspondent Leaves Beijing for Taiwan After Mounting Threats and Intimidation, Authorities Charge Man with Smuggling in Fatal SoCal Crash That Killed 13 Migrants, Pentagon Reverses Trump Ban on Transgender Military Members, Microsoft Gets $22 Billion Pentagon Contract to Produce Augmented Reality Headsets for Soldiers, New York Ends Solitary Confinement Lasting More Than 15 Days, Virginia Passes Voting Rights Act Amid Nationwide Republican Crackdown on Ballot Access, Black Execs Call on Co.'s to Oppose Voter Suppression; Delta & Coca-Cola CEOs Finally Condemn GA Law, Texas Court to Review Case of Black Mother Sentenced to 5 Years for Filling Out Provisional Ballot

We get an update on political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Sundiata Acoli, who contracted COVID-19 but have yet to be released. Acoli is a former member of the Black Panther Party who is now 84 years old and has been in prison in New Jersey for nearly half a century, even though he has been eligible for parole for almost three decades. He was denied parole again in February. His crime involved the killing of a state trooper. Last year, he contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized, and he reportedly has early-stage dementia. We speak with his longtime advocate, Soffiyah Elijah with Alliance of Families for Justice, about whether he will live long enough to appear before the parole board again, and what could happen when his case is reviewed later this year by New Jersey's Supreme Court.

A New York judge has ordered the state to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all incarcerated people, saying that officials "irrationally distinguished between incarcerated people and people living in every other type of adult congregate facility, at great risk to incarcerated people's lives during this pandemic." Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of the Alliance of Families for Justice, says advocates have been pushing the state "since the beginning of the pandemic to prioritize the health and safety of incarcerated people," but those efforts were met with silence. "It's unfortunate that it took court intervention in order to make the state do what it's supposed to do," says Elijah. She also addresses calls for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to sign a bill passed by lawmakers called the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act, that would end the excessive use of solitary confinement.

On Trans Day of Visibility, we look at the wave of anti-trans laws being enacted across the U.S., with dozens more anti-trans bills making their way through state legislatures. The Arkansas Senate has approved one of the most harmful bans on access to healthcare for transgender youth by prohibiting the use of gender-affirming care, including hormones and puberty blockers. Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi have enacted new laws aimed at banning trans athletes from joining sports teams, and in South Dakota, two executive orders bar trans women and girls from playing school sports. "We are truly witnessing an escalation of attacks on trans people unlike anything I've ever seen in government," says Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice with the ACLU's LGBT & HIV Project. We also speak with journalist and activist Raquel Willis, who says higher visibility for trans people is not enough. "We can't just rest on some of the social strides that we've made," says Willis. "We also need to be using that action to change our material realities and protect our rights."

More than 500 people have been killed in Burma during protests against the February 1 military coup that toppled Burma's democratically elected civilian government. At least 141 people were killed over the weekend alone, when soldiers opened fire on civilians demonstrating against military rule in dozens of cities and towns across the country. Children were among the dead, including a 5-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, according to Amnesty International. Burmese troops also fired on a funeral service for a 20-year-old student protester. "We wake up to more bad news every morning, more deaths," says Aron Aung, a Burmese student studying at the New York Institute of Technology, who also describes how women are helping lead the resistance.

Eyewitnesses Give Chilling Testimony of Police Killing of George Floyd, Brazil in Crisis as COVID Deaths Soar & Military Chiefs Quit in Protest, U.S. COVID Deaths Top 550,000; Florida Undercounted Thousands of Deaths, Bloomberg Employees Got Special Access to Vaccines at NYU Hospitals, China Delivers 100,000 COVID Vaccines to Palestine, White House Unveils $2 Trillion Jobs & Infrastructure Plan, Two Police Deputies Indicted in Texas for Killing Javier Ambler After Traffic Stop, Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump as GOP Welcomes Oath Keepers Founder in Texas, Man Arrested for Viciously Attacking Filipino Woman in NYC Hate Crime, U.N. Accuses France of Killing 19 Civilians in Bombing of Wedding Party, Children Videotaped Crying in Overpacked CPB Jail in Donna, Texas, Washington State Lawmakers Vote to Ban For-Profit Prisons, New York Legislature Votes to Legalize Recreational Marijuana, GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz Faces DOJ Probe for Sex Trafficking over Relationship with Teen, Watergate Burglar G. Gordon Liddy, 90, Dies, Black Panther Activist "Chip" Fitzgerald Dies After 51 Years in Prison

We speak with Salvadoran American journalist Roberto Lovato about how decades of U.S. military intervention in Central America have contributed to the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border. Some 18,000 unaccompanied migrant children are now in U.S. custody, according to the latest figures, and more than 5,700 are in Customs and Border Protection facilities, which are not equipped to care for children. This comes as a record number of asylum seekers are arriving at the southern border, fleeing extreme poverty, violence and climate change in their home countries. "You have the ongoing epidemic of U.S. policy and the crisis, that is not of migration as much as it's the crisis of capitalism, backed by the kind of militarism and militarized policing that you see not just in the United States, but in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, on and on," Lovato says. "The border is the ultimate machete of memory. It cuts up our memory so that we forget 30 years of genocide, mass murder, U.S.-sponsored militarism and policing, failed economic policies."

As the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin continues, we speak with Minneapolis civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong, who says prosecutors in the case clearly established that "the actions of Derek Chauvin played the most critical role in cutting off the air supply of George Floyd," leading to his death, while the defense appears to be resorting to a strategy of victim-blaming. "I was really dismayed to see them try to deflect blame to bystanders and to blame George Floyd himself for his own death," says Armstrong, a former president of the Minneapolis NAACP.

The trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin has begun in Minneapolis, where Chauvin is charged with second- and third-degree murder, as well as manslaughter, for killing George Floyd in May 2020 by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes. The death of Floyd, who was a 46-year-old Black man and father originally from Houston, Texas, sparked international protests calling for racial justice. We air excerpts from the first day of the trial, including opening statements from special prosecutor Jerry Blackwell and Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, and dramatic witness testimony from the Minneapolis 911 dispatcher, Jena Scurry, who alerted a police supervisor after seeing live surveillance footage showing officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for an extended period of time, and Donald Williams, a mixed martial artist, who described seeing Derek Chauvin using what he called a "blood choke" on Floyd.

First Witnesses Testify in Murder Trial of Ex-Cop Derek Chauvin, Who Killed George Floyd, Civil Rights Groups File Second Legal Challenge to Georgia Voter Suppression Bill, WHO Says COVID-19 Pandemic Likely Began in Animal Hosts, Rather Than Laboratory Escape, CDC Director Warns of "Impending Doom" as Coronavirus Cases Rise Across U.S., CDC Extends Federal Eviction Moratorium to June 30, Wealthiest 1% of Americans Account for One-Third of Unpaid Taxes to IRS, Protests Erupt in Mexico Demanding Justice for Salvadoran Refugee Killed by Police, Suez Canal Reopens After Salvage Teams Clear Stuck Container Ship, 60 Child Asylum Seekers Test Positive for COVID-19 in San Diego Convention Center, Arkansas Anti-Trans Bill Would Deny Gender-Affirming Healthcare to Minors, "He Towered Over Me": 10th Woman Accuses New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of Sexual Misconduct, Ghislaine Maxwell Charged with Sex Trafficking 14-Year-Old Girl, Indigenous Activists Criminally Charged in South Dakota over Keystone XL Pipeline Resistance

As opening statements begin in Minneapolis for the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, we speak with UCLA historian and author Robin D.G. Kelley, who says a guilty verdict alone would not represent justice for George Floyd. "The real victory would be to end policing as we know it, to end qualified immunity, to end the conditions that enabled Derek Chauvin to take George Floyd's life and his colleagues to kind of stand there and watch," says Kelley.

As thousands of Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, decide whether to form the company's first union, historian Robin D.G. Kelley says it could be a watershed moment for labor organizing in the United States. "This is definitely the most significant labor struggle of the 21st century, no doubt," he says. "The South has been the epicenter of the country's most radical democratic movements, which is why it's completely unsurprising that Bessemer, Alabama, would be the place where you'd have a renewed labor movement."

A Suez Canal service firm now says the huge container ship blocking the canal has been refloated and is on the move. The 200,000-ton ship, the Ever Given, got stuck on March 23, blocking one of the world's most important trade routes, which is used for about 12% of all global trade. The impact of the canal shutdown has raised new questions about global trade practices, including the reliance on massive cargo ships, the conditions of workers on the vessels, and environmental degradation. "As years have gone by, the ships have gotten bigger and bigger and bigger," says Laleh Khalili, professor of international politics at Queen Mary University of London. She notes that it was an earlier closure of the canal, during the Suez Crisis in the 1950s, that led shipping companies to build ever larger "megaships" like the Ever Given.

Opening Statements Begin in Trial of Ex-Cop Derek Chauvin for Killing George Floyd, Burmese Forces Kill Over 100 People in Deadliest Day of Post-Coup Crackdown, More States Open Up Vaccine Eligibility as Cases Rise in More Than Half of U.S. States, Mexico Revises COVID Death Toll by 60%, Chile and Brazil Confront Massive Surges, WHO Warns Coronavirus on the Rise in African Countries as Vaccinations Remain Lowest in World, Suicide Bombing Attacks Catholic Church Mass in Indonesia, Dozens Killed in Attacks in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province, Iran and China Sign 25-Year, $400 Billion Strategic Deal, 9-Year-Old Girl Dies Crossing Rio Grande into U.S., Historic Vote on Whether to Unionize Alabama Amazon Warehouse Wraps Up Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders Pushes to Lower Medicare Eligibility Age from 65 to 55, Tennessee GOP Gov. Bill Lee Signs Anti-Trans Bill Targeting Student Athletes, Minnesota Supreme Court Reverses Rape Conviction Because Survivor Had Been Drinking, Yale University Psychiatrist Terminated over Tweet About Trump Lawyer Alan Dershowitz, House Bill Would Shield USPS from Cuts Favored by Trump-Appointed Postmaster General, Dominion Voting Systems Sues Fox News for $1.6 Billion over Lies About 2020 Election, New York's Excluded Workers Complete Hunger Strike to Demand Pandemic Relief

Evanston, Illinois, has become the first city in the United States to make reparations available to its Black residents for past discrimination and the lingering effects of slavery. The Chicago suburb's City Council voted 8 to 1 to distribute $400,000 to eligible Black households, with qualifying residents receiving $25,000 for home repairs or down payments on property. The program is being funded through donations and revenue from a 3% tax on the sale of recreational marijuana, and the city has pledged to distribute $10 million over 10 years. "There's no way to express how significant this is," says Danny Glover, an actor and activist who is a member of the National African American Reparations Commission. "Imagine how that resonates beyond Evanston, Illinois. Imagine the kind of discourse that happens, the discussions in community by ordinary citizens about reparations." We also speak with Robin Rue Simmons, a member of the Evanston City Council and reparations advocate, and Dino Robinson, a historian and executive director of the Shorefront Legacy Center, the only community archive for Black history on Chicago's suburban North Shore.

As workers in Bessemer, Alabama, continue to vote on whether to establish the first unionized Amazon warehouse in the United States, we speak with actor and activist Danny Glover, who recently joined organizers on the ground to push for a yes vote. "This election is a statement," says Glover, one of the most high-profile supporters of the closely watched union drive. Nearly 6,000 workers, most of them Black, have until March 29 to return their ballots. If workers successfully unionize, it could be a watershed moment for the U.S. labor movement, setting off a wave of union drives at Amazon facilities across the country. "Once unions are there, once workers have representation on all levels, once they have a seat at the bargaining table, it's another kind of expression and a new relationship," says Glover.

Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp has signed a sweeping elections bill that civil rights groups are blasting as the worst voter suppression legislation since the Jim Crow era. The bill grants broad power to state officials to take control of election management from local and county election boards. It also adds new voter ID requirements, severely limits mail-in ballot drop boxes, rejects ballots cast in the wrong precinct and allows conservative activists to challenge the eligibility of an unlimited number of voters. Since the 2020 election, Republican state lawmakers have introduced over 250 bills in 43 states to limit voter access. The elections bill is "extremely egregious" in its restriction of voting rights, says journalist Anoa Changa. "They're continuing to put processes in place that reinforce these narratives that … have long existed within the Republican toolkit to help get their base fearful in terms of what might come in terms of Black voters and other voters of color."

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Signs Sweeping Bill to Suppress African American Vote , Georgia Lawmaker Arrested on Felony Charges for Knocking on Governor's Office Door in Protest, President Biden Says U.S. Unlikely to Honor May 1 Afghanistan Withdrawal Deadline, U.S. COVID-19 Cases Rise as Biden Doubles Vaccine Goal to 200 Million Shots in 100 Days, Mexico's Official COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 200,000; True Toll Could Be 50% Higher , ISIS-Linked Prisoners in Syria Face Conditions That Amount to Torture, Says Human Rights Watch , Netanyahu Fails to Clinch Israeli Election as Extreme-Right Party Gains Seats, Suez Canal Blockage Disrupts Global Trade, Could Take Weeks to Clear , Biden Says U.S. Will Respond to Escalation from North Korea After Ballistic Missile Test, Sen. Warren Takes Treasury Sec. Yellen to Task over BlackRock's Lack of Gov't Oversight, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Facilitated Access to COVID Testing for Family Members, NY Takes Major Step Toward Legalizing Recreational Marijuana, NYC Set to Enact Law Diminishing Liability Protections for Police Officers, USC Settles for Over $1 Billion with 700+ Women Who Accused University Doctor of Sexual Assault , Los Angeles Police Arrest Protesters, Reporters as They Evict Echo Park Encampment , Republican AGs Sue Biden Administration over Oil and Gas Leasing Moratorium, Water Protectors Arrested as Indigenous Leaders Continue Struggle Against Enbridge Line 3

As the world's worst humanitarian crisis enters its seventh year in Yemen, we look at the toll of the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led air war. A new report by the Yemen Data Project summarizing the impact of air raids over the past six years finds the bombing campaign has killed almost 1,500 civilians every year on average, a quarter of them children. Journalist Iona Craig, who heads up the Yemen Data Project, says there have been almost 23,000 air raids since the war began in 2015. "We're still seeing mass civilian casualty events," says Craig. "We're still seeing a large number of airstrikes on residential areas and, of course, on civilian infrastructure, which has been absolutely decimated over the last six years of the conflict."

We get an update on a massive fire at the world's largest refugee camp: the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The fire killed at least 15 people and displaced 45,000 this week, with hundreds possibly still missing. Bangladeshi authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, which destroyed about 17,000 shelters as the blaze ripped through the crowded camp, leaving behind scenes of utter destruction and despair as people were separated from their loved ones. Nearly a million Rohingya refugees live in southern Bangladesh, often in squalid and dangerous conditions, after fleeing a brutal military crackdown in Burma in 2017. Tun Khin, Rohingya activist and president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, says it is a "very, very tragic moment for the Rohingya people."

Nearly one in five people facing charges related to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol had some connection to the military, including at least two active-duty troops, prompting Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to order a 60-day stand-down across the services to address extremism. Ahead of the first deadline on April 6, the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing Wednesday on extremism in the U.S. military. We speak with one of the experts who testified. "People who are connected with the military are prime targets for extremists," says Lecia Brooks, chief of staff at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Despite the decades of inaction, she says, "the conversation is moving forward" in Washington, as lawmakers are finally speaking openly about white supremacy and white nationalism.