Tuesday morning news - April 13, 2021

Biden huddles with lawmakers about new spending proposal » President Biden met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the White House on Monday, as he steps up his push for a new multi-trillion-dollar spending bill.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the president is sincerely listening to Republican ideas about the plan.

PSAKI: You don’t use the president’s time multiple times over, including two bipartisan infrastructure meetings he’s already had or the meeting today if he did now want to authentically hear from the members attending about their ideas … 

But many Republicans say they’re concerned that White House meetings with GOP lawmakers are purely “window dressing.” Democrats have already signaled a willingness to again use the reconciliation process to pass a bill without any bipartisan votes.

Republicans continue to raise concerns that the proposal spends too much and strays widely from its purported purpose as a infrastructure plan. And Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy says President Biden’s plans to raise corporate taxes to partially pay for it is a nonstarter for Republicans.

KENNEDY: Any person who has even a casual relationship with the discipline of economics knows that corporations don’t pay taxes. People do. Workers pay them in lower wages. Investors pay them in lower returns. We pay them in higher prices. 

Monday’s meeting did not include and Republican leaders or moderate senators like Republicans Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski or Democrat Joe Manchin, who has also voiced concerns about the bill.

Police: Minnesota officer meant to draw Taser, not handgun » The police chief of a Minneapolis suburb said Monday that a police officer who fatally shot a black man during a traffic stop may have unintentionally used lethal force.

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon told reporters,

GANNON: As I watched the video and listen to the officer’s commands, it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their taser, but instead  shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet. This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officer’s reaction in distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in a tragic death of Mr. Wright.

The shooting occurred as police were trying to arrest 20-year-old Daunte Wright on an outstanding warrant on Sunday.

The officer who fired the fatal round was heard on her body cam footage repeatedly shouting “I’ll Tase you!”

AUDIO: I’ll tase you!

Footage showed her drawing her weapon after the man broke free from police and got back behind the wheel of his car.

The shooting sparked violent protests in a metro area already on edge because of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s death.

Judge denies defense request to sequester jury in Chauvin trial » Meantime, the judge presiding over the Chauvin trial refused a defense request on Monday to immediately sequester the jury.

Defense attorney Eric Nelson made his case for the sequestration in the wake of the Daunte Wright incident.

NELSON: The problem is that the emotional response that that case creates sets the stage for a jury to say I’m not going to vote not guilty because I’m concerned about the outcome. 

But Judge Peter Cahill said he will not sequester the jury until next Monday, when he anticipates closing arguments will begin. He also denied a defense request to question jurors about what they might have seen about the Daunte Wright case.

In the wake of Sunday’s shooting, hundreds of protesters broke into about 20 businesses, jumped on police cars and hurled rocks and other objects at officers in Brooklyn Center. The town is located just 10 miles from the Minneapolis courthouse.

Ukraine’s outreach unanswered as Russia masses troops along border » Ukraine’s leader has asked for a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Russian troop buildup along the Ukrainian border as tensions rise. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown reports.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The Ukrainian government says President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is trying to open a dialogue with Putin. But so far, no response.

The concentration of Russian troops along the frontier comes amid a surge of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine. Russia-baсked separatists and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a conflict in the region since Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 20-14.

More than 14,000 people have died in fighting in eastern Ukraine and efforts to broker a political settlement have stalled.

Western officials are sounding alarms about an increasing number of cease-fire violations in the area. Ukraine has reported military casualties daily over the past week.

Russia has reportedly amassed more than 40,000 troops at its border with eastern Ukraine and 42,000 more in Crimea.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Iran blames Israel for sabotage at Natanz nuclear site » Iran blamed Israel on Monday for an attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but Israeli media widely reported that the country had orchestrated a devastating cyberattack on the nuclear facility.

The nature of the attack and the extent of the damage at Natanz remains unclear. But a former Iranian official said the assault set off a fire.

The attack came as the Biden administration steps up efforts to negotiate reentry into the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran.

(Patrick Semansky/Associated Press) President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with lawmakers to discuss the American Jobs Plan in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, April 12, 2021, in Washington.

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