Summary
- Joe Biden announced all US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11. “It’s time for American troops to come home,” the president said in a speech at the White House. “It’s time to end the forever war.” Biden said the troop drawdown will begin next month and be completed by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
- Barack Obama praised Biden’s troop withdrawal decision. “After nearly two decades of putting our troops in harm’s way, it is time to recognize that we have accomplished all that we can militarily, and that it’s time to bring our remaining troops home,” Obama said in a statement. Biden spoke to Obama and former president George W Bush yesterday about his decision on Afghanistan.
- The police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright will be charged with second-degree manslaughter. The announcement comes three days after Officer Kim Potter shot and killed Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop. Potter and the Brooklyn Center police chief, Tim Gannon, submitted their resignations yesterday.
- Derek Chauvin’s defense team called a forensic expert to testify that George Floyd died because of his heart condition and drug use. Experts called by prosecutors last week testified that Floyd only died because Chauvin kept his knee on the Black man’s neck for more than nine minutes.
- A new poll showed lingering coronavirus vaccine hesitancy among Americans, amid a “pause” in administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to six reports of blood clots among the more than 6 million people who have received the vaccine. A new poll from Monmouth University found that 21% of Americans say they will never get a coronavirus vaccine if they can avoid it.
- A bill to address hate crimes against Asian Americas advanced through the Senate - but faces potential roadblocks ahead. With a 92-6 vote, the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act passed a procedural vote, and will be up for final passage this week.
- The Senate confirmed Brenda Mallory to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Mallory, an environmental lawyer, will be the first Black woman to lead the CEQ. She will play a key role in implementing Joe Biden’s ambitious infrastructure goals of replacing lead plumbing lines, modernizing electrical grids and addressing environmental justice crises.
- The Biden administration is moving to reverse a Trump-era rule that defunded abortion providers. The rule banned health providers who received funding from Title X, the federal family planning program, from offering abortions or referring patients for abortions.
– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh
The Biden administration is moving to reverse a Trump-era rule that defunded abortion providers.
A Trump-era rule banned health providers who received funding from Title X, the federal family planning program, from offering abortions or referring patients for abortions. The rule, which has been widely condemned by health care associations, also required clinics that received federal Title X funding physically separate from facilities that provide abortions. As a result of the rule, Planned Parenthood pulled out of the
Department of Health and Human Services has proposed regulations to undo the rule, which the agency said has “undermined the public health of the population the program is meant to serve.
After a 30-day public comment period, HHS will be able to make its new regulations final.
California is poised for a catastrophic fire season. Experts say its plan isn’t nearly enough
Bracing for another year of severe, destructive fires, California’s governor on Tuesday approved a half-a-billion dollar emergency funding plan to prepare for the looming wildfire season. The state, which saw its worst fire season on record last year, is descending deep into a drought that portends even more megablazes this year.
But experts say that while the huge spending plan is a start, it isn’t nearly enough to avert the crisis ahead.
“We are in a very deep hole that we’re gonna have to dig ourselves out of,” said Chris Field, climate scientist at Stanford University.
Global heating has brought more frequent, extreme droughts and heat waves to California, drying out the landscape and fueling larger, more destructive fires in recent years. Last year, the state saw five of the six largest fires in state history, after a lack of rain and a heat wave dried out fire-fueling vegetation across the region’s wildlands. This year is tied for the third-driest year in state history – and the desiccated landscape is primed to burn. “We’re definitely looking at a serious challenge ahead,” Field said.
As the state heads into its dry, summer season, its reservoirs remain at about half capacity. The region is so dry that the chamise plants that cover the state’s chaparral landscape didn’t sprout or flower this year in some locations. Instead, the highly flammable vegetation has already started to dry out – transforming into kindling that could invite more destructive fires, earlier than usual.
Facing high odds of an intense fire season to come, Governor Gavin Newsom announced last week that state leaders would allocate $536m to hire more firefighters, improve forest management efforts, thin out fire-fueling vegetation and make homes more fire-resistant.
The state would have to adapt quickly to changing climate, and more fire, the governor said when he signed the proposal into law on Tuesday.
“This is a down payment, not the totality of our efforts,” he said at a press conference in Butte county, which has been devasted by recent fires – including 2018’s devastating Camp fire. “We’re investing a historic amount of money in preparation of this year’s fire season.”
Already this year, California has seen more than 1,160 fires burn 3,304 acres across the state. Over the past five years, an average of about 550 acres burned during the same time period.
Read more:
Warren Buffett, Amazon, Starbucks and others condemn voting restrictions in letter
Amazon, BlackRock, Google, Starbucks, billionaire investor Warren Buffett and hundreds of other companies published a letter on Wednesday condemning “discriminatory legislation” designed to hinder voting rights in the US.
The letter – the biggest statement yet from corporate America – follows weeks of heated debate over corporate opposition to a series of Republican-sponsored bills that critics charge will restrict voting rights in states across the US.
“We Stand for Democracy,” the double-page, centrefold advertisement published in the New York Times and Washington Post, begins. “Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy and we call upon all Americans to take a nonpartisan stand for this basic and most fundamental right of all Americans,” the statement reads.
The statement was organized by two of the US’s most prominent Black executives, Kenneth Chenault, former chief executive of American Express, and Kenneth Frazier, the chief executive of Merck. Both executives have been prominent in opposition to restrictive voting laws and in leading a response from the business community.
The statement does not address specific election legislation in states but it is the clearest indication yet that US corporations are looking to present a united front despite calls from several senior Republicans, including the former president Donald Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell, to stay out of politics.
In an interview with the Times, Chenault said: “It should be clear that there is overwhelming support in corporate America for the principle of voting rights.” Frazier added that the statement was intended to be non-partisan.
“These are not political issues,” he said. “These are the issues that we were taught in civics.”
Read more:
The Senate confirmed Brenda Mallory to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
Mallory, an environmental lawyer, will be the first Black woman to lead the CEQ. She will play a key role in implementing Joe Biden’s ambitious infrastructure goals of replacing lead plumbing lines, modernizing electrical grids and addressing environmental justice crises. She will also have an active role in reinstating some of the environmental protections that Donald Trump rolled back.
Thank you to the U.S. Senate for the bipartisan support! Ready to get to work on behalf of the American people to confront climate change, pursue environmental justice, help conserve our nation’s lands and waters, and build a clean energy future.
— Brenda Mallory (@Brenda_Mallory) April 14, 2021
Local US mosques caught in pandemic crunch turn to online fundraisers
Lizzie Mulvey reports:
The building facade is deteriorating. The heating system is a fire hazard. When it rains outside, it also rains inside – a plastic container near the prayer area collects water. Masjid An-Noor, a mosque serving the Muslim community of Bridgeport, Connecticut, for over 30 years, is barely holding on – and it is part of a trend of mosques across America facing dire financial problems during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In April last year, as states across America went into lockdown, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was just beginning. The holy month is a time when mosques open their doors each night, welcoming members and guests for iftar – a communal meal to break the day’s fast. It’s also one of the most fruitful times of year for fundraising, particularly for local mosques, which cover the majority of expenses through individual donations.
But as in-person worship was put on hold, congregants could no longer share their nightly meal. And throughout the rest of 2020, families were barred from going to Friday prayers, or Jum’ah, another robust time for fundraising. And with unemployment rising, many Muslims families faced their own financial hardship. As a result, donations to mosques across the country declined dramatically – for some places of worship, annual funding fell by 40-60%.
Larger, regional mosques in the US, usually based in urban areas, are connected to large Muslim communities and a network of other mosques that provides financial security. Smaller neighborhood mosques, sometimes called mahallah mosques, in cities and suburban and rural areas, lack the same safety net. There is also little financial support offered by federal and state governments and many of them turn to GoFundMe efforts to survive – with mixed results.
“We are extremely in financial debt, we owe a lot of money to people,” said Atif Seyal, an executive committee member of the mosque in Connecticut, who helped organize a GoFundMe fundraiser for the mosque, which sought to raise $100,000 but has so far accrued only $12,200.
“We have a lot of children in the community and we want to teach them our religion,” said Seyal, explaining why it was important to him that the mosque continues to exist. The mosque also provides a service to people in the town of all ages, supporting “people in need, people who don’t have a job. When a family member passes we help them to get them buried in the proper way.”
According to Tariq Reqhman, the secretary general of the Islamic Circle of North America, a non-profit in Queens, New York, “99% of mosques in New York City have community support, and do not have grants or public or government funding. Everything comes from the community.”
Read more:
A bill to address hate crimes against Asian Americas advanced through the Senate - but faces potential roadblocks ahead.
With a 92-6 vote, the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act passed a procedural vote, and will be up for final passage this week. The bill, introduced by Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, would create a new justice department position to oversee the review of hate crimes related to the pandemic.
Six Republicans – Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama – voted against advancing the measure.
Republicans were generally unenthusiastic about the bill and had hoped to introduce nearly two dozen amendments to it.
Updated
‘Terrible days ahead’: Afghan women fear the return of the Taliban
Akhtar Mohammad Makoii (in Herat) and Michael Safi report:
Outside a college from which their mothers were banned, the women waited for friends finishing exams they fear will be some of the last they can take. “The Americans are leaving,” said Basireh Heydari, a Herat University student. “We have terrible days ahead with the Taliban. I’m worried they won’t let me leave the house, let alone what I’m doing now.”
The Biden administration’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by 11 September will bring an end to the US’s longest war. With Nato allies such as Germany already announcing on Wednesday that they will follow Washington’s lead and exit the country, Afghans fear an intensification of fighting between the national government and the Taliban, who were ousted by the US-led intervention two decades ago.
Violence against civilians, especially women and children, has surged over the past year, according to UN statistics released on Wednesday, and Taliban control of the country is greater than at any point in the past two decades. The benefits of an ongoing foreign military presence in the country are unclear.
But a return to hardline Islamist rule could mean the rollback of one of the intervention’s least disputed achievements – the lifting of a Taliban prohibition of female education.
Read more:
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Joe Biden announced all US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11. “It’s time for American troops to come home,” the president said in a speech at the White House. “It’s time to end the forever war.” Biden said the troop drawdown will begin next month and be completed by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
- Barack Obama praised Biden’s troop withdrawal decision. “After nearly two decades of putting our troops in harm’s way, it is time to recognize that we have accomplished all that we can militarily, and that it’s time to bring our remaining troops home,” Obama said in a statement. Biden spoke to Obama and former president George W Bush yesterday about his decision on Afghanistan.
- The police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright will be charged with second-degree manslaughter. The announcement comes three days after Officer Kim Potter shot and killed Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop. Potter and the Brooklyn Center police chief, Tim Gannon, submitted their resignations yesterday.
- Derek Chauvin’s defense team called a forensic expert to testify that George Floyd died because of his heart condition and drug use. Experts called by prosecutors last week testified that Floyd only died because Chauvin kept his knee on the Black man’s neck for more than nine minutes.
- A new poll showed lingering coronavirus vaccine hesitancy among Americans, amid a “pause” in administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to six reports of blood clots among the more than 6 million people who have received the vaccine. A new poll from Monmouth University found that 21% of Americans say they will never get a coronavirus vaccine if they can avoid it.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Chauvin trial: defense claims bad heart and drug use killed Floyd
A leading forensic pathologist has told the Derek Chauvin trial that George Floyd was killed by his heart condition and drug use.
Dr David Fowler, testifying for the defence, also introduced the idea that vehicle exhaust may have played a part in Floyd’s death by raising the amount of carbon monoxide in his blood and affecting his heart.
Fowler, Maryland’s former chief medical examiner who trained in South Africa during the apartheid era, said the combination of cardiac disease, methamphetamine use and carbon monoxide killed the 46-year-old Black man while Chauvin, who is white, was arresting him last May in Minneapolis.
“All of those combined to cause Mr Floyd’s death,” he said.
Fowler is a controversial witness. He is being sued by the family of a Black teenager, Anton Black, killed by the Maryland police in 2018 after being held face down by three police officers.
Fowler certified that Anton Black died from natural causes, with his bipolar disorder a contributing factor.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has accused Fowler of “creating false narratives about what kills Black people in police encounters”.
Last week, medical experts testified for the prosecution that Floyd died because the way that Chauvin and the other police officers pinned him to the ground in the prone position caused brain damage and heart failure.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham criticized Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan, saying he was “heartbroken” over the announcement.
“I beg you, President Biden, re-evaluate this,” Graham said at a press conference.
The South Carolina senator cited one study indicating a withdrawal of American troops will lead to a new threat to the US homeland within three years.
“With all due respect, President Biden. you have not ended the war -- you have extended it,” Graham said.
The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh in London and Julian Borger in Washington report:
Addressing the world from the White House, Joe Biden said 2,500 US troops plus a further 7,000 from “Nato allies” including 750 from the UK would gradually leave the country starting on 1 May. “The plan has long been in together, out together,” he added.
“We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan, hoping to create ideal conditions for the withdrawal and expecting a different result,” Biden said in his late afternoon speech.
The plan was debated at a Nato summit in Brussels earlier on Wednesday. Member states did not oppose the plans for a full withdrawal once the US has made its intentions clear earlier this week, partly because they cannot guarantee the security of their own forces without the presence of the US.
Minutes after Biden’s confirmation of the withdrawal plan, all Nato members, including the UK, put out a joint statement, confirming they would join in with an “orderly, coordinated, and deliberate” removal of troops alongside the US.
The alliance said that it had achieved a goal to “prevent terrorists from using Afghanistan as a safe haven to attack us” but acknowledged also there was no good reason to stay on. “There is no military solution to the challenges Afghanistan faces,” Nato members said.
Biden visits Arlington National Cemetery after announcing Afghanistan troop withdrawal
Joe Biden just paid a visit to Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where servicemembers who died fighting in America’s recent wars, including the war in Afghanistan, are buried.
The president laid a wreath in honor of those lost troops. He noted it is now difficult for him to visit a cemetery and not think of his late son Beau, who fought in Iraq and later died of brain cancer.
“Look at them all,” Biden said of the rows of headstones before him.
REPORTER: Was it a hard decision to make, sir?
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) April 14, 2021
BIDEN: No it wasn’t. … It was absolutely clear … we went for two reasons: Get rid of bin Laden and to end the safe haven. … I never thought we were there to somehow unify … Afghanistan. It’s never been done. pic.twitter.com/gVHixStVdi
Asked by a reporter whether it was a difficult decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, Biden said it was not.
“To me, it was absolutely clear,” Biden said. “We went for two reasons: get rid of bin Laden and to end the safe haven. I never thought we were there to somehow unify … Afghanistan. It’s never been done.”
Joe Biden spoke with Barack Obama and George W Bush yesterday about his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, the White House press secretary said.
“While we are not going to read out private conversations, he values their opinions and wanted them both to hear directly from him about his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan,” Jen Psaki said on Twitter.
@potus spoke with both President Bush and @BarackObama during separate calls yesterday. While we are not going to read out private conversations, he values their opinions and wanted them both to hear directly from him about his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) April 14, 2021
Biden mentioned his phone call with Bush in his speech formally announcing the troop withdrawal. The president did not mention his separate conversation with Obama, although Psaki has previously said the two men speak often.
Biden said that, despite their policy differences, he and Bush are “absolutely united in our respect and support” for the troops who have served in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.
Biden says he spoke with former President Bush about plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and they were "absolutely united" in respect for Americans who served there
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 14, 2021
"Less one 1 percent of Americans serve in our armed forces. The remaining 99 percent — we owe them." pic.twitter.com/4N9BqoFtT8
It’s worth noting that Barack Obama and Joe Biden have not always seen eye to eye on the war in Afghanistan.
Biden opposed then-President Obama’s decision in 2009 to approve a troop surge to Afghanistan, a point that he repeatedly brought up on the campaign trail last year.
However, Biden also opposed launching the raid that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden, which Obama approved.
Obama applauds Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan
Barack Obama has released a statement praising Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11.
“President Biden has made the right decision in completing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan,” the former president said.
After nearly two decades in Afghanistan, it’s time to recognize that we have accomplished all that we can militarily, and bring our remaining troops home. I support @POTUS’s bold leadership in building our nation at home and restoring our standing around the world. pic.twitter.com/BrDzASXD3G
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 14, 2021
Obama acknowledged there will be “very difficult challenges and further hardship ahead in Afghanistan,” and he urged the US to remain involved in diplomatic efforts to ensure the human rights of Afghan people.
“But after nearly two decades of putting our troops in harm’s way, it is time to recognize that we have accomplished all that we can militarily, and that it’s time to bring our remaining troops home,” Obama said.
“I support President Biden’s bold leadership in building our nation at home and restoring our standing around the world.”
The White house has released a readout of Joe Biden’s call with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani earlier today.
“They discussed their continued commitment to a strong bilateral partnership following the departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and affirmed shared respect and gratitude for the sacrifices made by American forces, alongside NATO allies and operational partners, as well as by the Afghan people and Afghan service members over the past two decades,” the White House said.
“President Biden emphasized that the United States will continue to support the Afghan people, including through continued development, humanitarian, and security assistance. President Biden and President Ghani reaffirmed their shared conviction that every effort should be made to achieve a political settlement so that the Afghan people can live in peace.”
Ghani said earlier today that he “respects” Biden’s decision to withdraw US troops, promising to help ensure a “smooth transition” as the drawdown begins.
“Afghanistan’s proud security and defense forces are fully capable of defending its people and country, which they have been doing all along, and for which the Afghan nation will forever remain grateful,” Ghani said on Twitter.
'It’s time to end the forever war,' Biden says of Afghanistan
Joe Biden offered assurances that the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan would be handled very carefully over the next several months.
“We will not conduct a hasty rush to the exit. We’ll do it responsibly, deliberately and safely,” the president said. “And we’ll do it in full coordination with our allies and partners.”
BREAKING: President Biden announces U.S. will begin its final withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan on May 1.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 14, 2021
"We will not conduct a hasty rush to the exit. We'll do it responsibly, deliberately and safely." https://t.co/qp2ZY191EH pic.twitter.com/Crd9zV1yjq
Explaining his decision to withdraw all US troops, Biden noted there are servicemembers currently deployed in Afghanistan who were not alive when the September 11 attacks occurred.
Some servicemembers even have parents who served in the same war that they are now fighting, the president said.
“The war in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multi-generational undertaking,” Biden said. “It’s time to end the forever war.”
The president has now concluded his prepared remarks. He is next scheduled to visit Arlington National Cemetery to pay his respects to some of the servicemembers who died in Afghanistan.
Joe Biden argued the original reasons for the deployment of US troops to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks no longer apply.
“We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago. That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021,” the president said.
Biden added, “We’ll be much more formidable to our adversaries and competitors in the long term if we fight the battles of the next 20 years, not the last 20.”
The president acknowledged some people disagreed with his decision to withdraw all US troops because, despite the widespread desire to end the war, there were lingering doubts that now was the right time to leave.
“When will it be the right moment to leave?” Biden asked. “One more year? Two more years? Ten more years?”
Joe Biden said he spoke to former president George W Bush yesterday about his decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September.
Despite their policy differences, Biden said he and Bush are “absolutely united in our respect and support” for the service members who have been deployed to Afghanistan over the past 20 years.
The president said the drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan will begin in May and wrap up by September 11, which will mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Updated
'It’s time for American troops to come home,' Biden says in Afghanistan speech
Joe Biden is now delivering a speech on his plan to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan in the Treaty Room of the White House.
Biden said his many visits to Afghanistan over the past two decades, including as vice-president to Barack Obama, had convinced him that “only the Afghans have the right and responsibility to lead their country”.
It is time to end America’s longest war.
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 14, 2021
It is time for American troops to come home from Afghanistan.
The president noted the US originally deployed troops to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, to ensure the country could not again be used as a launchpad to attack America.
“We did that. We accomplished that objective,” Biden said.
It has now been ten years since Osama Bin Laden was killed, the president noted, and the terrorist threat has evolved greatly in the decade since his death.
“Since then, our reasons for remaining in Afghanistan have become increasingly unclear,” Biden said. “It’s time for American troops to come home.”
Updated
Harris says she will soon visit Mexico and Guatemala
Kamala Harris said she will soon make her first trip to the Northern Triangle since Joe Biden put her in charge of stemming the flow of migrants attempting to enter the US.
“Our focus is to deal with the root causes, and I am looking forward to traveling, hopefully as my first trip, to the Northern Triangle, stopping in Mexico and then going to Guatemala,” the vice-president said at a virtual roundtable with experts on the region.
“We have plans in the works to go to Guatemala, as soon as possible,” Harris added.
The news comes three weeks after the president announced he was asking Harris to take the lead on addressing the root causes driving immigration to the US.
Biden held a similar responsibility as vice-president to Barack Obama, and Harris emphasized the problems facing Central America will not be solved overnight.
“We are all very clear the work that we have the potential to do in the Northern Triangle will not evidence itself overnight by any stretch. We are looking at issues that have been a long time in the making,” the vice-president said today.
“And so the focus that we are bringing to our work in the Northern Triangle is really about assessing and figuring out what we might do to encourage economic development.”
Republicans have criticized Biden for his handling of the situation at the US-Mexican border, which last month reported the highest number of migrants taken into custody at any point in the past 15 years.
CIA chief voices risks of Afghanistan troop withdrawal
As Joe Biden prepares to make a speech announcing that all US troops will be pulled out of Afghanistan by September 11 this year, the director of the CIA has spoken up in a congressional hearing.
Reuters reports:
Washington’s ability to collect intelligence and act on threats will diminish when U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, CIA Director William Burns said on Wednesday ahead of an expected announcement of a pullout by President Joe Biden.
Burns’ testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee underscored a key risk inherent in Biden’s decision to pull remaining U.S. forces out, given the enduring presence of al Qaeda and Islamic State militants in the country.
“When the time comes for the U.S. military to withdraw, the U.S. government’s ability to collect and act on threats will diminish. That’s simply a fact,” he told the committee, adding that the United States would however retain “a suite of capabilities”.
U.S. officials on Tuesday said that Biden on Wednesday would announce that all remaining U.S. troops would leave Afghanistan before Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks on the United States that triggered the U.S.-led invasion.
The Biden administration will keep “intelligence and military capabilities” in the region to deal with any emerging threats, though al Qaeda “does not currently possess” the capability for attacks on the U.S. homeland, a senior adminstration official said.
But Burns’ warning reflected some experts’ concerns that the departure of U.S. forces will leave U.S. intelligence officers with significantly less security, constraining their ability to to collect timely information on the ground.
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Joe Biden will soon deliver a speech outlining his plan to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11. According to excerpts of the speech released by the White House, the president will say, “After consulting closely with our Allies and partners, with our military leaders and intelligence professionals, with our diplomats and development experts, and with Congress and the Vice President, I have concluded that: It is time to end America’s longest war. It is time for American troops to come home.”
- A new poll showed lingering coronavirus vaccine hesitancy among Americans, amid a “pause” in administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to six reports of blood clots among the more than 6 million people who have received the vaccine. A new poll from Monmouth University found that 21% of Americans say they will never get a coronavirus vaccine if they can avoid it.
- The police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright will be charged with second-degree manslaughter. The announcement comes three days after Officer Kim Potter shot and killed Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop. Potter and the Brooklyn Center police chief, Tim Gannon, submitted their resignations yesterday.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Afghan president says he 'respects' Biden's decision to withdraw all US troops
The president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, said he spoke to Joe Biden today about the US president’s decision to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by September.
“The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan respects the U.S. decision and we will work with our U.S. partners to ensure a smooth transition,” Ghani said on Twitter.
Tonight, I had a call with President Biden in which we discussed the U.S. decision to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by early September. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan respects the U.S. decision and we will work with our U.S. partners to ensure a smooth transition.
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) April 14, 2021
Ghani pledged that his country will “continue to work with our US/NATO partners in the ongoing peace efforts”.
Ghani added, “Afghanistan’s proud security and defense forces are fully capable of defending its people and country, which they have been doing all along, and for which the Afghan nation will forever remain grateful.”
Biden is scheduled to deliver a speech on the troop withdrawal plan in about an hour at the White House.
Joe Biden was provided with “a clear-eyed assessment” from his senior advisers about the US military’s best path forward in Afghanistan, Jen Psaki told reporters.
The White House press secretary noted the president asked for a review that was not “sugarcoated” and ultimately made the decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September.
Psaki said the terrorist threat in Afghanistan “has evolved” over the past 20 years, adding that the US will be monitoring any potential resurgence of Al-Qaida as troop levels are drawn down.
Asked whether there was unanimous agreement among Biden’s national security advisers on a complete troop withdrawal, Psaki dodged, saying, “I will leave it to them to speak to their viewpoints.”
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing with reporters.
Psaki said Joe Biden is “excited” to address Congress on April 28, after the president accepted House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation yesterday.
The press secretary would not provide details on who will be invited to attend the address, which may have to be limited because of the coronavirus pandemic, saying those decisions would be left to Pelosi’s office.
Psaki said Biden will use the speech as an opportunity to lay out the priorities of his Build Back Better economic agenda.
Police officer who killed Daunte Wright charged with manslaughter - reports
The Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright on Sunday will be charged with second-degree manslaughter, according to The New York Times and several other reports. Pete Orput, the Washington County, Minnesota prosecutor, told The Times that a criminal complaint would be filed later Wednesday.
Kim Potter, who has since resigned from the police department in this Minneapolis suburb, shot Wright during a traffic stop, spurring three nights of protests.
The department’s police chief, Tim Gannon, has claimed that Potter meant to fire her Taser; he has also resigned.
The killing of Wright has further stoked tensions in Minneapolis, which is preparing for an outcome in former police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.
Chauvin is on trial for second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, in the death of George Floyd, who was Black.
Follow the Guardian’s live blog for the latest updates from Minnesota:
The new poll from Monmouth University also shows more than half of Americans approve of Joe Biden’s job performance so far.
According to the Monmouth survey, 54% of Americans approve of the new president’s job performance, and 41% disapprove.
Biden receives higher marks when respondents are specifically asked about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his $1.9tn relief bill.
While 31% say the president has done a poor job responding to the pandemic, 62% say he has done a good job. That’s up from 57% in March.
And almost two-thirds of Americans, 63%, support the coronavirus relief bill, while 34% oppose it, which is consistent with other polls taken since Biden signed the legislation last month.
New US poll shows lingering vaccine hesitancy amid concerns about J&J pause
Roughly 1 in 5 Americans remain unwilling to get a coronavirus vaccine, according to a new poll from Monmouth University.
The survey found that 21% of Americans say they will never get a coronavirus vaccine if they can avoid it. That number is virtually unchanged from the 24% of respondents who said the same in January and March.
Vaccine hesitancy is particularly high among Republicans. While 5% of Democrats say they will try to avoid getting a vaccine, 43% of Republicans are currently unwilling to receive a vaccine. Among independents, 22% say they want to avoid vaccination.
The new poll comes a day after the Food and Drug Administration announced a “pause” in administering the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine because of six reports of blood clots among the more than 6 million people who have received the vaccine. (The survey was taken before the pause was announced.)
Some health experts have expressed concern that the J&J pause may intensify vaccine hesitancy among Americans who already feel nervous about the safety of the vaccines.
But at the White House coronavirus briefing moments ago, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention argued the pause shows the FDA is taking every possible precaution to guarantee the vaccines’ safety.
“This demonstrates the safety systems we have in place are working,” Dr Rochelle Walensky said.
Updated
More than 75 million Americans are already fully vaccinated, Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic response coordinator, noted during the briefing.
The seven-day average of vaccinations is now 3.3 million shots a day, up from an average of 3 million shots a day last week.
Zients said state and local officials are working to reschedule those who expected to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to ensure the pace of vaccinations does not fall steeply in the wake of the J&J pause.
We continue to make progress in our work to vaccinate as many adults in this country as we can. Our current 7-day daily average now stands at 3.3 million shots administered per day, up from 3 million at our last update. pic.twitter.com/cXHbO2Ve6H
— White House COVID-19 Response Team (@WHCOVIDResponse) April 14, 2021
Despite the encouraging news about vaccination rates, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to increase as well.
The US is now recording an average of 67,530 new coronavirus cases a day, Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.
Average coronavirus hospitalizations are now up to 5,462 a day, representing an increase of about 7% from a week earlier.
Health experts have consistently urged Americans to remain vigilant about limiting the spread of the virus as vaccinations ramp up.
J&J pause demonstrates vaccine safety systems are working, CDC director says
Members of the White House coronavirus response team addressed the newly announced “pause” in administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine during today’s briefing.
Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic response coordinator, said Americans should be reassured that the Food and Drug Administration is taking every possible precaution to guarantee the safety of the vaccines.
Zients emphasized the Biden administration would continue to work to “strengthen the public’s trust in government and increase their confidence in vaccines”.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, echoed Zients’ confidence in the FDA and its decision to pause administering the J&J vaccine.
“This demonstrates the safety systems we have in place are working,” Walensky said.
The CDC director also stressed that the reports of blood clots among people who received the J&J vaccine are “extremely rare. Walensky added her agency is working “rapidly” to determine whether there is a causal relationship between these blood clots and the vaccine.
The White House coronavirus response team is now holding a briefing to provide an update on vaccine distribution and coronavirus case numbers.
The briefing comes one day after the Food and Drug Administration announced a “pause” in administering the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine because of six reports of blood clots among the more than 6 million people who have received the vaccine.
Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic response coordinator, emphasized the announcement would not have a significant impact on the US vaccination strategy because J&J shots currently make up only about 5% of all administered vaccine doses.
Zients said the Biden administration has “more than enough supply” of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to meet the president’s goal of administering 200 million vaccine doses by his 100th day in office, which will occur later this month.
As court broke for lunch on the 12th day of the Derek Chauvin murder trial yesterday, the grounds of Hennepin county government center filled with grieving families.
In a poignant news conference, distraught relatives of Daunte Wright and George Floyd took turns talking about the parallels between the two cases of fatal police violence and the grief they were experiencing in the aftermath. Snow fell and wind whipped the microphones.
“The world is traumatized, watching another African American man being slain. Every day I wake up, I never thought that this world could be in so much disorder like it is now,” said Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, who testified in court on Monday. “Minneapolis, you all can’t sweep this under the rug any more. We’re here and we will fight for justice for this family, just like we’ll fight for justice for our brother.”
The snow is pounding down as Ben Crump talks about the Daunte Wright case and the shared grief the Floyd and Wright family feel. pic.twitter.com/L0LJS03ivS
— Oliver Laughland (@oliverlaughland) April 13, 2021
The civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, now representing both families, was incredulous.
“It is unbelievable, something I cannot fathom, that in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a suburb 10 miles from where the Chauvin trial regarding George Floyd was taking place, that a police officer would shoot and kill another unarmed black man,” Crump said.
He continued: “If ever there was a time where nobody in America should be killed by police, it was during this pinnacle trial of Derek Chauvin, what I believe is one of the most impactful civil rights, police excessive use of force cases in the history of America.”
Updated
Chauvin trial: defense calls forensic pathologist as expert witness
Testimony in the Derek Chauvin trial has resumed in Minneapolis, where the former police officer faces murder charges over the killing of George Floyd.
Chauvin’s defense lawyer, Eric Nelson, has called Dr David Fowler to testify as an expert witness. Fowler, who retired from his role as Maryland’s top medical examiner in 2019, is a veteran forensic pathologist.
Nelson is expected to call several medical witnesses for the defense in an attempt to show that Floyd died to his drug use and heart problems.
Prosecutors have argued that Floyd died because of Chauvin’s use-of-force, not drugs or health conditions, and they called several of their own expert witnesses to support that theory.
The Guardian’s trial live blog will have all the latest updates from Minneapolis. Follow along here:
Lawmakers of both parties have criticized Joe Biden’s plan to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan, with some accusing the president of abandoning America’s commitment to the Afghan people.
In his speech this afternoon, Biden will emphasize that America’s work in Afghanistan will continue, even as US troops depart.
“We will keep providing assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. Along with our partners, we are training and equipping nearly 300,000 personnel. And they continue to fight valiantly on behalf of their country and defend the Afghan people, at great cost,” the president will say.
“We will support peace talks between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, facilitated by the United Nations.”
Biden will add, “Rather than return to war with the Taliban, we have to focus on the challenges that will determine our standing and reach today and into the years to come.”
'It is time to end America’s longest war,' Biden will say in Afghanistan speech
The September 11 attacks cannot justify American troops’ continued presence in Afghanistan, Joe Biden will say in his speech this afternoon.
The White House has just released excerpts of the president’s speech, in which he will announce a September 11 deadline to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan.
“We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different result,” Biden is expected to say.
“I am now the fourth American president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth.”
The president will emphasize that America’s “diplomatic and humanitarian work” will continue in Afghanistan, even as the country’s military efforts will come to a close.
Biden will pledge to support the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, as well as provide assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.
“After consulting closely with our Allies and partners, with our military leaders and intelligence professionals, with our diplomats and development experts, and with Congress and the Vice President, I have concluded that: It is time to end America’s longest war. It is time for American troops to come home,” Biden will say.
“We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago. That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021.”
Convicted financier Bernie Madoff dies at 82
The AP reports:
Bernie Madoff, the financier who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, has died in a federal prison, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Madoff died at the Federal medical center in Butner, North Carolina, apparently from natural causes, the person said.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Last year, Madoff’s lawyers filed court papers to try to get the 82-year-old released from prison in the Covid-19 pandemic, saying he had suffered from end-stage renal disease and other chronic medical conditions.
The request was denied.
Madoff admitted swindling thousands of clients out of billions of dollars in investments over decades.
A court-appointed trustee has recovered more than $13bn of an estimated $17.5bn that investors put into Madoff’s business. At the time of his arrest, fake account statements were telling clients they had holdings worth $60bn.
All senators to receive classified briefing on Biden's troop withdrawal plan
All senators will receive a classified briefing today from Biden administration officials on the president’s plan to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer confirmed the briefing in an interview with CNN this morning, saying it will allow all senators’ questions about the strategy to be answered.
The Democratic leader emphasized the importance of keeping September 11 as a hard deadline to withdraw troops, rather than “kicking the can down the road,” and Schumer said administration officials have agreed with him on that.
Democratic @SenSchumer says the Biden administration "has agreed to a classified briefing for all senators" on the President's plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
— New Day (@NewDay) April 14, 2021
"I think President Biden has come up with a careful and thought-out plan," he addedhttps://t.co/YE1EgxsOA7 pic.twitter.com/oBcj2kGga6
CNN anchor John Berman noted Schumer was critical of Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan, even calling it an “incoherent policy”.
“I think President Biden has come up with a careful and thought-out plan,” Schumer said. “The president doesn’t want endless wars. I don’t want endless wars. And neither do the American people.”
Schumer added, “It’s refreshing to have a thought-out plan with a set timetable, instead of the president waking up one morning, getting out of bed, saying what just pops into his head and then having the generals have to walk it back.”
Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11 has sparked some criticism within his own party.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the foreign relations committee, said yesterday she was “very disappointed” by the decision.
“Although this decision was made in coordination with our allies, the U.S. has sacrificed too much to bring stability to Afghanistan to leave without verifiable assurances of a secure future,” the New Hampshire senator said in a statement. “It undermines our commitment to the Afghan people, particularly Afghan women.”
I’m very disappointed in @POTUS' decision to set a Sept. deadline to walk away from Afghanistan. Although this decision was made in coordination w/our allies, the U.S. has sacrificed too much to bring stability to Afghanistan to leave w/o verifiable assurances of a secure future. https://t.co/OfHx3cmJX1
— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (@SenatorShaheen) April 13, 2021
Republicans were much more direct with their criticism of the troop withdrawal decision, with Senator Lindsey Graham calling the strategy “dumber than dirt and devilishly dangerous”.
If reports are accurate that President Biden is withdrawing all forces from Afghanistan by September of this year, it is a disaster in the making.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 13, 2021
A full withdrawal from #Afghanistan is so irresponsible, it makes the Biden Administration policies at the border look sound. pic.twitter.com/TjtGV7dCTY
It’s worth noting Graham previously expressed some support for Donald Trump’s decision to draw down US troops in Afghanistan, although the senator has consistently said he would still want there to be some American presence in the country.
Amid peace talks with the Taliban last year, Graham, a close Trump ally, said he would “support any reasonable effort to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan”.
He added, “However, any peace agreement must be sustainable, honorable and include protections for the American homeland against international terrorist organisations that are alive and well in Afghanistan.”
Biden to announce deadline for US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
Joe Biden will deliver a speech this afternoon laying out the US military’s path forward in Afghanistan.
The president is expected to announce he will withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11 of this year, which will mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The news means Biden will miss the May 1 withdrawal deadline established by the Trump administration, although the drawdown of troops is expected to begin in May.
As of now, about 2,500 US troops remain in Afghanistan, as well as 7,000 other foreign troops from the Nato coalition, most of whom will also leave the country by September.
“We will remain in lockstep with them as we undergo this operation,” a senior Biden administration official said yesterday. “We went in together, adjusted together and now we will prepare to leave together.”
The withdrawal decision has received some criticism from lawmakers in both parties, with several saying the troops’ departure will leave Afghan people, particularly women, vulnerable to human rights abuses.
Speaking about a potential troop withdrawal last year, Biden said he would not bear responsibility for the repercussions of the US withdrawal on Afghan people.
Biden said at the time, “The responsibility I have is to protect America’s national self-interests and not put our women and men in harm’s way to try to solve every single problem in the world by use of force.”
