Tuesday morning news - April 6, 2021

Yellen pitches global corporate tax floor » Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Biden administration is working to convince other countries to raise corporate taxes, or at least the tax floor on corporations.

YELLEN: We’re working with G-20 nations to agree to a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom. 

President Biden is planning on trillions in new spending and wants to pay for it, in part, by raising corporate taxes. He has proposed hiking the corporate rate from 21 to 28 percent.

Analysts say that could drive some companies to leave the United States and relocate to a country with a lower rate. So the administration wants a global minimum rate to help bar the doors.

The tax hike would partially undo the Trump administration’s cut from 35 percent. According to the Tax Foundation, that reduction in 2017 took the U.S. corporate tax rate from the highest among the 37 advanced economies to now the 13th highest.

Texas Gov. sits out first pitch in protest of MLB political statement » Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is hitting back at Major League Baseball over its foray into politics in Georgia. WORLD’s Paul Butler reports.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: Just hours before the Texas Rangers played their first home game of the year in Arlington, Abbott announced he would not throw the ceremonial first pitch as planned.

The Republican governor said that in response to MLB’s decision to move this year’s All-Star game out of the Atlanta area in protest of Georgia’s new election law. The league’s Commissioner Rob Manfred called the move—quote—“the best way to demonstrate our values.”

The law installs new rules, including certain restrictions on voting by mail. Republicans say it’s about making future elections more secure. Democrats say it infringes on voting rights and makes it more difficult for minorities to vote.

Gov. Abbott says it’s not Major League Baseball’s place to take sides in that debate. In a statement, he said, “It is shameful that America’s pastime is not only being influenced by partisan” politics, “but also perpetuating false political narratives.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

Minneapolis police chief testifies that Chauvin violated policy » The trial of former Minneapolis police officers Derek Chauvin resumed on Monday. The jury heard from the city’s chief of police, Medaria Arradondo.

He testified that Chauvin violated departmental policy by pinning his knee on George Floyd’s neck and holding it there long after Floyd stopped resisting.

ARRADONDO: That by no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy. It is not part of our training, and it certainly is not part of our ethics or our values. 

Arradondo, the city’s first Black chief, fired Chauvin and three other officers the day after Floyd’s death last May, and in June called it “murder.”

Chauvin’s defense attorney Eric Nelson argued that Chauvin did follow policy and that drugs in Floyds system may have caused his death. Nelson is heard here questioning Dr. Bradford Lengenfeld, the ER physician that declared Floyd dead.

NELSON: And there are many things that cause hypoxia that would still be considered asphyxiation, agreed?
LENGENFELD: Correct.
NELSON: Drug use, certain drugs, can cause hypoxia, agreed?
LENGENFELD: Yes. 

But Arredondo testified that the pressure Chauvin applied to Floyd’s neck did not appear to be light to moderate, as called for under the department’s neck-restraint policy. And also said Chauvin failed in his duty to render first aid before the ambulance arrived and violated policy requiring officers to de-escalate tense situations and minimize use of force.

Arkansas governor vetoes protections for minors » Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed a bill on Monday that would have blocked irreversible transgender procedures on minors. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has that story.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: The bill could have made Hutchinson’s state the first to safeguard children from the life-altering effects of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex change surgeries. But instead he vetoed the legislation on Monday.

He said he would have signed the bill if it prohibited only transgender surgery on minors. But he said it went too far to interfere with the relationship between physicians and parents. He also did not like that it would not have made exceptions for children already receiving hormone treatments.

But Arkansas is one of few states in which the legislature can override the governor’s veto with a simple majority. So the bill could still become law.

The governor did recently approve laws protecting women’s sports from transgender participation and preserving doctors’ rights to conscientiously object to certain treatments.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

Baylor Bears win men’s college basketball championship » The Baylor Bears are men’s college basketball champions.

AUDIO: complete college basketball’s greatest rebound and rebuild with a championship!

Baylor knocked off undefeated Gonzaga last night 86-to-70.

Point guard Jared Butler scored 22 points for the Bears.

After running to a 19-point lead early, Baylor never let Gonzaga get any closer than nine. Butler made four 3-pointers and added seven assists, and was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player.

With that win, the Bears bring the program’s first ever national title back home to Waco, Texas.

 (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) Baylor head coach Scott Drew gets a hug from guard Mark Vital at the end of the championship game against Gonzaga in the men’s Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 5, 2021, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.