What A Day

Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, yesterday, and now faces up to 40 years in prison. The verdict represented a rare moment of accountability in a country where law enforcement officers who kill rarely get convicted. We discuss the verdict, along with reactions from elected officials, activists, and Floyd’s family in Minneapolis.  And in hea...

President Biden held bipartisan meetings yesterday to find some middle ground for his massive infrastructure bill. On the left, AOC and Bernie Sanders introduced their own version of the bill with a larger commitment to public housing. But passing any infrastructure bill will likely require budget reconciliation as long as the filibuster remains in place.  The union that sought to represent Amazon...

It was another tragic weekend in the midst of our national epidemic of gun violence, with mass shootings taking place in Wisconsin, Texas, Nebraska, and Ohio. That was after the shooting last week at a FedEx warehouse in Indiana, which many have called to investigate as a hate crime against Sikhs. We discuss the shootings, as well as what’s happening in Minnesota in relation to the police killings...

Only a handful of blood-clotting cases have been reported among recipients of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, but it's predominantly women who have developed these rare symptoms. To answer questions about the “one dose fits all” mode of medical research that can occasionally lead to these kinds of outcomes, we spoke to Rosemary Morgan, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pub...

A CDC committee voted yesterday to keep the pause going on the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, at least until it meets again. Temporarily stopping use of the vaccine makes sense, but the move also has immediate impacts on the underserved populations that had been relying on the vaccine for protection. Now-former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter will be charged with second-deg...

Federal health officials recommended a pause on giving out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, yesterday, after they reported that six women experienced rare blood clots. Nearly 7 million people have received the J&J vaccine so far, so the incidents are extremely rare, but all 50 states suspended the vaccine’s use or advised a pause. Today, President Biden is expected to announce that he will w...

A police officer shot and killed 20-year-old unarmed Black man Daunte Wright in a Minneapolis suburb this Sunday, just a few miles from where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder of George Floyd. We discuss the details of the killing, plus the reactions from leaders and residents of the city. The CDC’s director Dr. Rochelle Walesnky said that vaccines won’t so...

Most adults in America can soon sign up for a vaccine, but we're faced with a new set of COVID-related questions on vaccine passports, virus variants, and more. To give us some answers, we're joined by epidemiologist, physician, and former Detroit health commissioner Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. Plus, Michigan has become the center of America's latest COVID surge with an average of over 7,300 new daily cas...

It's been over two months since the military first seized control of Myanmar. The coup was met with a massive protest movement in the streets, in workplaces, and on the internet. As a response, the military has become increasingly violent in its crackdown, killing over 500 people and jailing thousands more. We spoke to Aye Min Thant, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has been reporting on th...

The CDC is continuing to warn about new, more infectious variants of the coronavirus in the US, and is tracking potential spread in daycare centers and youth sports. Meanwhile, Brazil is grappling with its own new variant that has caused infections and deaths to reach new highs this week. Republicans in Kentucky joined together with the Democratic Governor to expand voting rights in the state — bu...

Senate Democrats got the green light to pass more bills with a simple majority vote. On Monday, the Senate’s parliamentarian ruled that the Dems can pass more budget reconciliation bills this year — the same process they used for the relief bill. We explain what this means. President Biden wants states to make all adults eligible for vaccines by April 19th. The new date is two weeks sooner than hi...

The Biden administration is trying to get corporations to pay their fair share of taxes in order to fund a new jobs and infrastructure package. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for a global minimum corporate tax rate. We explain. Clinical trials of a low-cost COVID vaccine are beginning in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam. The vaccine is produced in a less expensive, more tra...

The MLB is officially moving the All-Star Game out of Georgia after Republicans in the state passed a restrictive voting law. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp insinuated the move amounts to so-called “cancel culture.” And in Texas, big businesses are starting to speak out against a similar voter suppression law there before it’s on the books. The CDC released new guidance for vaccinated Americans on ho...

As Biden works to sell his infrastructure plan, we take a look at the money he’s proposing for high-speed internet and what it could do to address equity issues in education. 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had to be tossed out after a factory mix-up in Baltimore. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball is back and the Texas Rangers have announced no plans to cap attendance … even t...

Journalists got a tour this week of a detention facility in Texas housing migrants — the first time the media have gotten access to one since Biden took office. They reported that 4,000 people, including children, were packed into a space designed for only 250. Companies like Coca-Cola and Delta finally spoke out about Georgia’s new voter suppression law. We discuss the statements, whether they ca...

President Biden is in Pittsburgh, today, to unveil a new infrastructure plan that would invest trillions in the country’s roads, bridges, affordable housing, broadband, and manufacturing industry. We explain how Biden might fund the bill and how earmarks might come into play.  Today is the Trans Day of Visibility, and it comes at a moment when the human rights of trans kids and adults are under at...

Florida is following Georgia’s lead by moving forward on a bill that makes it harder to vote. It’s part of a broader and coordinated effort to roll back voting rights in states across the country, backed by groups like The Heritage Foundation. We explain that, and listen to leaked audio that reveals how Republican donors are trying to message against federal voting rights legislation. Yesterday br...

The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is set to begin today with opening statements. We explain what to expect and highlight new police reform efforts in cities across the country, including a pandemic decriminalization program in Baltimore that could become permanent. Covid-19 cases are starting to rise again driven by increasing infection rates in places like New York, New...

In the new Crooked podcast Takeline, hosts Jason Concepcion and Renee Montgomery discuss the recent viral tweet by an Oregon Ducks women’s basketball player, highlighting the unequal support in women’s sports by the NCAA. They are also joined by senior writer for The Athletic Chantel Jennings, who provides more context regarding the treatment of female college athletes and coaches. Subscribe now a...

Biden held the first press conference of his presidency, yesterday, discussing the state of the nation’s vaccination effort, his views on the filibuster, and more. States are opening up vaccine eligibility, but there's an early pattern emerging of Black and Hispanic people getting smaller shares of vaccinations.  The LAPD evicted an unhoused community that had set up tents in the Echo Park neighbo...

In light of the Georgia shooter's claim that his attack was intended to "eliminate" "temptations," activists have talked about the killings in the context of violence targeted at Asian migrant sex workers, an often dehumanized and stigmatized community of AAPI women. We spoke with Yves Tong Nguyen, an organizer with Red Canary Song, a grassroots collective of Asian and migrant sex workers and mass...

Boulder police have identified a suspect in Monday’s deadly shooting in Colorado, which killed 10 people. President Biden addressed the nation and called on Congress to not wait "another minute" before working to act gun control laws, including a ban on assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines.  An independent oversight board accused Astrazeneca of choosing data that was “most favorable” i...

The AstraZeneca vaccine was shown to completely prevent serious cases of COVID in a US clinical trial. We dig into the efficacy data on it, and what it means for the US and global vaccination campaigns. The House held a hearing on D.C. statehood yesterday. DC has 700,000 residents and a large Black population, but no direct representation in Congress... House democrats want to change that, but the...

Thousands gathered in Georgia and other cities across the country for #StopAsianHate protests over the weekend, calling for solidarity and an end to hatred as well as stricter gun control laws. As we reflect on the horrors of the shootings, we discuss the victims and who they were.  Coronavirus cases in the US have plateaued around 50,000 to 60,000 a day. Miami Beach had to declare a state of emer...

European countries including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain will resume using the AstraZeneca vaccine as early as today or next week. This comes the European Medicines Agency found no increased risk of blood clots among millions of vaccinations. The Biden administration announced plans to do "vaccine diplomacy" by sending millions of AstraZeneca doses to Canada and Mexico. It's still not clear...