Tuesday morning news - June 9, 2020

Democrats unveil police oversight bill » Democrats proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures Monday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “We cannot settle for anything less than transformative structural change.”

PELOSI: This moment of national anguish is being transformed into a movement of national action. 

The Justice in Policing Act proposes numerous changes. Among them limiting legal protections for police, creating a national database of excessive-force incidents, and banning police use of choke holds. But the bill stops well short of calls by some to try and defund police departments across the country. 

Before unveiling the package, House and Senate Democrats knelt in silence for nearly 9 minutes in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall. They also read the names of people killed during police interactions, including George Floyd.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said leaders must reflect on the last three words of the Pledge of Allegiance. 

SCHUMER: Today, as we stand in silence rather than in spoken pledge, let us reflect on those words, justice for all, and what we need to do to make those words actually true. 

Also on Monday, the man charged with murder in Floyd’s death made his first court appearance by video link from a maximum security prison. A judge conditionally set Derek Chauvin’s bail at $1 million. 

Cristobal pushes northward, remains severe weather threat » AUDIO: [Cristobal rain]

Tropical Storm Cristobal weakened into a depression on Monday, but it’s still drenching a wide swath of the United States as it moves further inland.  

John Cangialosi is with the National Hurricane Center.

CANGIALOSI: Something like 2 to 4 inches of rain, maybe some spots up to 6 inches, all the way up to Canada. So you could almost draw a straight north line from Louisiana and Mississippi all the way through Minnesota and Wisconsin and then into Central Canada we’ll see those rain values. 

And forecasters now say it could soon renew its strength by merging with another system. Greg Carbin with the National Weather Service said a very strong storm system sweeping out from the Rocky Mountains is expected to collide with Cristobal in a matter of hours. Chicago could see wind gusts approaching 50 miles per hour tonight. 

Cristobal made landfall on Sunday. It sent waves crashing over Mississippi beaches, flooded pockets of the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Alabama and spawned a tornado in Florida.

New York City partially reopens » New York City is open for business—at least partially. 

CUOMO: New York is back! New York is back! Let’s get to work!

Governor Andrew Cuomo heard there speaking to New York subway riders.

After months of coronavirus shutdowns, stores deemed nonessential were cleared to reopen on Monday, but only for delivery and curbside pickup. Customers cannot yet browse inside. 

Construction, manufacturing and wholesalers also got the green light. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday…

DEBLASIO: This is the first day of the reopening, and it was achieved by New Yorkers’ hard work. This is clearly the hardest place in America to get to this moment. 

But he also warned the city against letting its guard down and jeopardizing its hard-won progress. He told New Yorkers, “Let’s hold onto it. Let’s build on it.”

New Zealand declares it has “eliminated transmission” of coronavirus » And in New Zealand, the government is lifting almost all remaining coronavirus restrictions. Retail, restaurants, and public events can resume without restriction. 

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said “today there are no active cases in New Zealand.” She said over the past 17 days, health officials tested 40,000 people with zero positive tests. 

ADERN: We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now. But elimination is not a point in time. It is a sustained effort. We almost certainly will see cases here again. 

For now, the border remains shut to all but citizens and residents, with limited exceptions. And everyone who does enter has to go into quarantine.

Meantime, in India, the government is easing restrictions in the capital of New Delhi, but not because the virus has been contained there. Rather, the government says the country will have to learn to live with the virus for now, rather than devastating the economy. 

World bank: COVID-19 biggest shock to global economy since WWII » India’s economic concerns are, of course, well founded. The World Bank said Monday that the COVID-19 crisis will result in the largest shock to the global economy in more than 70 years. It expects the pandemic will push millions into extreme poverty.

In an updated report, the World Bank projected that global economic activity will shrink by 5.2 percent this year. That would be the deepest recession since the end of World War II.

Nevertheless, back in New York, stocks closed higher Monday… 

AUDIO: [Sound of NYSE bell]

Traders are feeling more optimistic about the reopening U.S. economy. 

New employment numbers on Friday showed a surprising jump in May hiring—suggesting the worst of the downturn may be behind us.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Patrons wearing protective masks wait to enter a Chase bank location, Monday, June 8, 2020, in the Flushing section of the Queens borough of New York. 

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