Leid Stories

1.  President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. Name a key issue he will discuss and explain why he will discuss it. Or, what major issue will he avoid discussing, and why?

2.  Describe the context of the president's speech --  i.e, issues and events that are likely shaping his speech tonight.

3. What will be the main purposes of the speech? 

4. What will be Biden's most persuasive points?

1. What is your sense of where we are, and where we're headed, as a nation? What shapes your view?

2. The fatal April 20 police 

shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio, is being investigated. But parts of the tragedy made public are telling a story the Black community must reckon with.

1.  What is your sense of where we are, and where we're headed, as a nation?

2.  President Biden has won high praise and gratitude over the weekend for publicly validating that the mass killings of more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I was a "genocide."

Would he say the same of European nations' prolonged campaigns of ethnic cleansing all over the world? Or, U.S. military campaigns against indigenous peoples to take their lands and expand empire?

3.  The fatal April 20 police shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio, is being investigated. But pieces of the tragedy made public are telling a story the Black community must reckon with.

It's "Free Your Mind Friday" on Leid Stories. The regular program is suspended so we can host a freewheeling open forum featuring listeners' takes on topical issues and events about which they have a considered opinion. They choose their topic, and we are free to agree or disagree, or comment.

Three Cops Facing Trial As Chauvin's Help7ers In Murder of George Floyd. When Does Police Reform Begin?

Minneapolis prosecutors,  having won convictions against 19-year police veteran Derek Chauvin on murder and manslaughter charges in the killing of George Floyd, are bracing  for a followup showdown in August.

That's when three other officers--Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng--go on trial for aiding and abetting Chauvin's murder and manslaughter of Floyd, prosecutors say. 

But when does police reform begin?  

The Derek Chauvin Trial: It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

Disgraced Minneapolis ex-cop Derek Chauvin looked stunned and utterly defeated yesterday, when a jury made short work of deciding his culpability in the brutal torture-death of George Floyd on May 25 last year.

The jury, after deliberating for just over 10 hours, announced it had reached unanimous verdicts on three counts they were asked to consider against Chauvin, and found him guilty of all of them.

Chauvin was handcuffed and removed from court to be held until sentencing. 

The jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, punishable by up to 40 years in prison; third-degree murder, punishable by up to 25 years; and second-degree manslaughter, for which he could serve up to 10 years and/or be fined $20,000.

Meanwhile, Leid Stories picks up from where yesterday's discussion left off -- major questions about the death of George Floyd that have not yet hit the radar.

What's At Stake In Derek Chauvin's Trial?

It's the empaneled jury's second full day of deliberations in the trial of Minnesota ex-cop Derek Chauvin, charged with killing George Floyd, 46, in a violent, botched arrest on May 25 last year.

Leid Stories "jurors" continue to react to media coverage of the trial and their own sense of its possible outcome, when the jury announces its decision on second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter charges against Chauvin.

Closing arguments by both prosecution and defense lawyers in the Derek Chauvin case begin their closing arguments today.

Prosecutors will try to persuade jurors that Chauvin went afoul of police training and departmental rules as the leader of a squad of officers who attempted to arrest Floyd for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy a pack of cigarettes at a convenience store.

When Floyd at first resisted

arrest, Chovin pinned Floyd to the ground and knelt on his neck for about nine and a half minutes, cutting off blood flow to Floyd's brain and other vital organs. Floyd died before he reached a hospital.

Chauvin's lawyers argued in court that Floyd's use of drugs and a deteriorated state of health because of drug use were the principal causes of his death.

Leid Stories "jurors" will discuss how they would likely vote on Chauvin, based on what they have learned about the case.

It's another edition of "Free Your Mind Friday" on Leid Stories. 

On Fridays we switch from our regular program format and become an open forum featuring listeners' views on issues that matter, especially to them.

Opinions to the contrary are welcome.

Have something important to say? Call 888-874-4888 and say it on air!

• Kim Potter resigns as cop, charged with killing of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, just outside of Minneapolis.

• House votes 25-19 to approve bill to grant Washington, D.C. statehood. 

• Does pause in production of J&J's coronavirus vaccine to probe reported blood clot complaints in some patients validate suspicions that vaccine development was rushed to corner the market?

• The House voted 25-17 yesterday to create a commission to study the issue of reparations. No Republicans were among its 176 cosponsors, unanimously voting against the measure, HR40. What is their message? 

Leid Stories listeners to these and other news headlines.