Though former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd nearly a year ago, Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said there is much more work to be done to increase police accountability.
Smith, whose hometown is Minneapolis, told Cheddar that people have to continue organizing and bringing grassroots movements to the forefront so this isolated and rare conviction of a police officer can become a more commonplace reality.
“I think a lot of people in Minnesota and probably around the country were feeling a sense of great relief, that in this most egregious murder that we all saw play out on our video screens, that there was accountability," she said. "But we know that the work ahead to really address these challenges and to fight to make sure that there is true equal justice in this country is a long road ahead of us, and we’ve got to get on it.”
Smith is encouraging her Senate colleagues to support the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which the House passed in March, though it is expected to hit a few roadblocks, particularly when it comes to altering qualified immunity for police officers. Such a change would make it easier for citizens to bring civil lawsuits against officers for police misconduct.
The bill would also eliminate several problematic policing tactics used by various departments nationwide, including no-knock warrants, like the one obtained by police in the lead-up to the killing of Breonna Taylor, and chokeholds, a restraint technique already banned by the NYPD before it was used on Eric Garner. It would also provide an easier path for the Justice Department to investigate patterns of misconduct.
“I believe that addressing qualified immunity is what it’s going to take to change the culture in police departments and to change the ways in which we then hold police departments and law enforcement accountable for excessive use of force,” Smith noted.
“I’m not naive. This is going to be difficult to get support for, but you can see some little inklings among some of my Republican colleagues who are willing to take a look at this," she said. "I want to thank and commend Senator Tim Scott who has shown a real interest in trying to address this because he himself as United States Senator and a Black man has experienced this kind of disproportionate effect of law enforcement on him personally.”
Drastically different from the Democrats’ reform bill, Scott (R-S.C.) introduced his own police reform bill, which includes incentives for cities to end the use of chokeholds but stops short of completely banning them. Smith said she is willing to negotiate and believes some bipartisan progress can be made since more GOP members may be recognizing that changes in American policing are necessary.
“The thing we cannot do is to take steps that are not that meaningful, that aren’t going to result in real change, declare victory, and then reduce the pressure to really change these systems that result in such disproportionate impact on Black and Brown people and all people of color,” she added.
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.
