President Joe Biden on Wednesday formally unveiled his $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan. In a speech in Pittsburgh, the President explained that he wanted to rebuild the U.S. economy from “the bottom up.” He also explained the types of infrastructure that needs fixing, and how only those making over $400,000 a year would be taxed to pay for the plan.  The American Jobs Plan as Biden is calling it, includes $174 billion investment over 10 years to incentivize the purchasing of electric cars, as well as $100 billion investment in improving broadband internet access. Immediately Republicans expressed opposition to the plan even though most aspects of it are popular with the American people. Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain said on Thursday that the President wants to work with the GOP on passage of the bill, “if it’s at all possible.” But Biden faces opposition from Democrats too. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said much more than $2 trillion is needed to fix the crisis of climate change. 

Unemployment claims rose once more last week as per the latest Labor Department figures revealing on-going uncertainty about the nation’s economic outlook in the midst of a pandemic that is still not on its way out. More than 714,000 people filed for jobless benefits, a bit higher than the week before. Meanwhile new research shows that American food banks distributed far more food aid to Americans last year than the year before, revealing the scale of suffering. Low income children were badly affected given that many relied on school-based food assistance before the pandemic. Elderly Americans were also among the worst impacted. Cruelly, some of the wealthiest private hospitals in the nation became even richer during the pandemic as they qualified for government-backed pandemic loans even as smaller, struggling health clinics shuttered. There have been more than 30 million documented cases of COVID-19 infections in the U.S. since the pandemic began and the official death toll stands at 553,000.

As Covid infections tick back up in the U.S. President Biden on Thursday revealed a new network of community leaders tasked with convincing Americans to get vaccinated. The COVID-19 Community Corps is inviting people to apply to join them ...

FEATURING JULES GILL PETERSON – Arkansas state Senators on Monday passed a bill to ban access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee recently signed a bill banning transgender kids from playing sports in schools. The Alabama legislature advanced a bill outlawing hormone treatments for transgender youth. These are just a few of the disturbing efforts by GOP-dominated state legislatures to target trans youth. In the past 3 months there has been a record-breaking increase in such legislation with more than 80 bills being introduced—the largest number of transphobic bills in the history of the nation. 

Jules Gill Peterson, Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and is the author of the award-winning book “Histories of the Transgender Child.”

FEATURING IMRAN AHMED – As a new surge of COVID-19 infections emerges in the United States, the frantic race to vaccinate as many Americans as fast as possible is running into problems of more than just supply and distribution. Anti-vaccine misinformation continues to spread around the nation and a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Anti-Vax Watch has identified that a mere 12 people who are leading anti-vax advocates are responsible for the majority of disinformation. The report dubs them the Disinformation Dozen and points out how many of them remain active on social media spreading dangerous lies that are contributing to vaccine hesitancy.  

Download the report ‘The Disinformation Dozen,’ HERE. 

Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which released the report called The Disinformation Dozen in partnership with the Anti-Vax Watch. 

Day 3 of the Derek Chauvin trial in Minnesota brought more eyewitnesses from the prosecution’s side onto the stand who described their view of George Floyd’s last moments. Among them was 19-year old Christopher Martin who worked at Cup Foods, the convenience store outside where Floyd was accosted by police. Martin, who was the one who called the police after Floyd used a counterfeit bill, said he regretted it and told jurors, “I was standing there on the curb, and I was just like, ‘They’re not going to help him. This is what we have to deal with.’” Forty five-year old Christopher Belfrey who was a customer at Cup Foods was also called in. The first witness of the day was Genevieve Hansen, a firefighter and emergency medical technician who testified on Tuesday but was called back on Wednesday for a few minutes. Hansen had stumbled onto the scene of Floyd’s arrest by accident while off duty. Her testimony on Tuesday was lengthy and compelling. Here is Hansen describing how she offered the officers help with treating Floyd. Chauvin’s attorneys attempted to paint Hansen as emotional but her responses (here, here, and here) appeared to boost the prosecution instead. Later the judge scolded Ms. Hansen saying he would decide when her answer was complete and that she was not to argue with the lawyers. 

Also testifying off camera on Tuesday was Darnella Frazier, the teenager whose videotape of the entire incident helped the world see Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck as he died. Frazier, who was clearly traumatized at seeing a man who looked like her own family members die in front of her eyes described the guilt she lives with. Frazier’s 9-year old cousin was with her when Floyd died and also testified on Tuesday. Meanwhile Chauvin’s defense team is attempting to portray the situation as one where police officers including Chauvin, were distracted by the numerous witnesses who watched what was happening and who grew increasingly vocal as Floyd’s life seeped out of him. But Frazier testified that Chauvin gave the crowd a “cold” and “heartless” stare as they yelled at him and that, “he didn’t care. It seemed as if he didn’t care what we were saying.” Outside the courtroom in Minneapolis where the trial is taking place, the Washington Post describes how, “National Guard troops, clad in desert camo and carrying assault rifles, walk beside Humvees near the concrete barriers,

FEATURING KRITHIKA SANTHANAM AND CC LUCE – Los Angeles Police last week dismantled a large encampment of unhoused people in the Echo Park area in a violent symbol of the city’s battle over poverty and homelessness. Hundreds of LAPD officers dressed in riot gear showed up as local area residents and activists faced off against them. All told police arrested hundreds of people including journalists and legal observers after declaring “unlawful assemblies,” and dismantled the encampment that had grown during the past year. The dismantling of the temporary living spaces went against the CDC’s own guidelines to conform to COVID-19 precautions. City Council member Mitch O’Farrell, who represents the Echo Park area, released a statement later saying that more than 120 people who had been living in the park had been moved into housing programs. 

Krithika Santhanam, Movement Lawyer & Mass Protest Defense Coordinator at National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles; CC Luce, a former resident of the Echo Park encampment, an organizer with Lotus Collective who also co-organizes with Streetwatch LA. 

FEATURING BRENDAN O’CONNOR – There are many post-mortems of Donald Trump’s presidency, arguably the worst 4 years in modern American history. Among them is a new book by writer Brendan O’Connor that distinctly makes the links between the resurgent white supremacist movement backing Trump and a fiscal conservatism fueled by billionaire elites. At the same time a resurgent left rooted in movements outside the Democratic Party is taking hold and is a critical piece of the historical backdrop to Trump and Trumpism.  

Brendan O’Connor,  journalist and writer in New York. He has written for The Baffler, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His new book is called Blood Red Lines: How Nativism Fuels the Right. 

** This segment was originally broadcast on February 16, 2021.

A surge in Covid-19 cases in the United States is being fueled by new variants of the virus as states race to vaccinate as many Americans as fast as possible. Cases of infection have now risen to a nationwide average of 65,000 a day, a nearly 19% increase from just 2 weeks ago. If the past year is any indication this increase is most likely to give way to a massive new surge of cases. States like California and most recently New York are dramatically expanding access and ending strict eligibility rules. In fact, a judge just ruled that the state of New York must offer vaccines to all incarcerated people immediately as well. The race between vaccines and variants is particularly important as a new survey of epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists shows that a majority are predicting one year or less before variants catch up to the vaccine and render them less effective or even ineffective. 

While he has yet to waive the vaccine patents of American manufacturers in order for the rest of the world to catch up to the U.S. on vaccinations, President Joe Biden on Monday announced that by April 19th up to 90% of Americans could be eligible for the vaccines. He also begged states that had removed all safety precautions to reinstate mask mandates saying, “Please, this is not politics — reinstate the mandate…The failure to take this virus seriously is precisely what got us into this mess in the first place.” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, in the middle of prepared remarks, went off script in making an emotional plea.

In other news, a 65-year old Asian American woman was brutalized in broad daylight out of the blue in New York City on Monday in what appears to be another clear cut case of anti-Asian hate. The incident took place in midtown Manhattan and was captured on a surveillance camera from inside the lobby of a luxury apartment building where security guards witnessed the whole incident and refused to intervene. The suspect is at-large and the guards have been suspended. The victim has been hospitalized and is being treated for serious injuries. The attacker reportedly yelled anti-Asian racist slurs at her while kicking her. The New York Police Department is now investigating it as a hate crime. 

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd continues in its second day of arguments and testimony. Mr. Chauvin’s lawyers are attempting to claim that Floyd died because he had narcotics in his bloodstream. The group

FEATURING ME ME KHANT – Myanmar’s military junta has killed more than a hundred people including children in a fresh crackdown over the weekend aimed at the pro-democracy movement that has relentlessly opposed a coup that began in February. It was the worse wave of violence so far. 

The United Nations says that it received reports of killings at more than 40 locations in Myanmar and issued a statement saying, “This violence is compounding the illegitimacy of the coup & the culpability of its leaders.” The United States has now suspended a trade deal with Myanmar in response to the violence.

Solidarity protests with Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement were held in cities across the U.S. over the weekend. 

Me Me Khant, activist and poet from Myanmar who is currently pursuing a masters degree in international policy at Stanford University. She is also a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. 

FEATURING HENRY GIROUX – The Republican Party has gotten more and more emboldened in its embrace of anti-democratic and authoritarian ideals as it attempts to cling to power by any means necessary. The recent anti-voter law in Georgia, aimed squarely at Black voters, is yet more evidence of this dangerous trend. Tens of millions of Americans identify with the GOP’s ideology and tactics, presenting perhaps the greatest challenge to American democracy in decades. 

Henry Giroux, holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department and is the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. His books include Dangerous Thinking in the Age of the New Authoritarianism, American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism, and The Terror of the Unforeseen. He writes for Truthout and is also on their Board of Directors. His new piece in Truthout is called Threat of Authoritarianism Is No Longer on the Horizon: It’s Arrived in the GOP. 

Opening arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin opened on Monday as the prosecution presented opening arguments and brought in witnesses to make the case that the police officer murdered George Floyd. The 12 jurors who will decide whether or not to hold Chauvin accountable were seated at the start of the trial and shown the entire video of Floyd’s last moments of life as Officer Chauvin held him face down on the street with his body weight pressing down on his knee as it wedged over Floyd’s neck. Floyd said “I can’t breathe” 27 times before dying. Jena Scurry, a witness brought by the prosecution, explained how she, as a 9-11 dispatcher, watched police officers on a surveillance camera and became increasingly concerned. The Washington Post expressed the significance of the case saying, “The jurors are charged with deciding one of the highest-profile cases in recent memory, set to begin Monday in a downtown courtroom a few miles from where Floyd was filmed facedown on a Minneapolis street. Their decision will reverberate across the country, setting off renewed debates about race, policing and accountability.” The night before the trial, Floyd’s family members and others held a vigil at a church in Minneapolis at which activist Al Sharpton and attorney Benjamin Crump spoke.

In other news thousands of people marched in cities across the U.S. over the weekend for “Stop Asian Hate” rallies. In Los Angeles, home to a very significant Asian American population, people gathered in Koreatown and marched down Olympic Boulevard chanting and drumming. The rallies drew attention to the recent mass shootings in Atlanta, Georgia where a white gunman is suspected of killing 6 Asian women and two others at three different spas. 

In other news, President Joe Biden plans to roll out two infrastructure spending bills this week with the first one focusing on green energy and the second one on child care and healthcare. Senator Bernie Sanders, chair of the powerful Budget Committee, plans to push through his healthcare agenda through the second bill. Politico reports that Sanders is, “urging Democrats to force Medicare to enter into negotiations with drug companies and use that revenue to pay for a huge expansion” of Medicare that involves lowering the eligibility age from 65 to 55 and expanding it to include dental and vision coverage. Sanders wrote an op-ed in The Guardian on Monday called, “The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let’s fix it.” In it, he explained the importance of raising the minimum wage, making it easier for workers to join unions, and enacting fairer taxation among other things. 

President Biden will give an address at the White House on Monday updating his adminis...