Joe Biden outlined his infrastructure plan in a speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The president described his proposal as a “once-in-a-generation investment in America”. “It’s big, yes. It’s bold, yes. And we can get it done,” Biden said. The plan calls for spending more than $2tn to improve the nation’s infrastructure, which the Biden administration has said will create jobs and help combat climate change. Biden will hold his first full cabinet meeting tomorrow, as part of his infrastructure pitch. A White House spokesperson said the president will be “discussing the role cabinet members will play in advocating for the American Jobs Plan”. Derek Chauvin’s trial continued in Minneapolis, where the former police officer is facing murder charges over the killing of George Floyd. One witness who testified about Floyd’s final moments, Charles McMillian, broke down crying as prosecutors played a clip of Floyd calling out for his mother as Chauvin kept a knee on his neck. Two US Capitol Police officers are suing Donald Trump over his role in the 6 January insurrection. The two USCP officers, James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, accused the former president of inciting the deadly insurrection, which resulted in physical and emotional injuries for the officers. A Democratic congressional candidate has withdrawn a challenge to the results of her House race. Democrat Rita Hart lost the race to Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks by six votes, but Hart insisted there were 22 ballots that should have been counted, which could have changed the outcome of the election. Georgia lawmakers have approved a bill to invalidate a Civil War-era citizen’s arrest law, in the aftermath of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. The state’s governor is expected to sign the bill into law, which would make Georgia the first state to mostly do away with a citizen’s arrest statute. The reforms enacted by the bill would still allow security officers, private investigators, and off-duty officers to detain someone they believe has committed a crime. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was chased and then gunned to death by three white men. His pursuers said they suspected him of robberies, and prosecutors cited citizen’s arrest when they initially didn’t charge the assailants. Civil rights advocates have celebrated the bill’s passage, and are pushing for similar reforms in other states. All 50 states have some form of citizen’s arrest statutes. Republicans have sided with Democrats in support of the law, but critics say state Republicans’ support for it serves to mask lawmakers’ recent moves to heavily restrict voting access and limit Black citizens’ ability to vote. Americans largely approve of Joe Biden’s handling of the pandemic, and his Covid-19 recovery plan – but are more divided on his handling of immigration and gun control, a new AP-NORC poll found. Biden’s overall job approval is at 61%, the survey found. Nearly three-quarters of the 1,166 adults surveyed approved of Biden’s handling of the pandemic response. About 60% approved of his healthcare policy and economic policy, and 42% of his immigration policy. Chauvin trial: cashier tells of guilt over role in events that led to George Floyd"s death The cashier who served George Floyd in a Minneapolis store immediately before his arrest and death last May told a court on Wednesday of the “disbelief and guilt” he felt for allowing Floyd to pay with a suspected fake $20 bill when he later saw the police kneeling on him. Testimony on the third day of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial continued in an atmosphere of tense emotions and harrowing evidence about Floyd’s death. The cashier, Christopher Martin, 19, said Floyd appeared to be high on drugs but was not threatening and was “very approachable, talkative”. Martin said he noticed Floyd because “he was a big man” and that they had a long conversation about sport. He did tell the court in Minneapolis, however, that he noticed the 46-year-old Black man’s speech was laboured. “It would appear that he was high,” he said. Martin worked at Cup Foods in south Minneapolis, where Floyd is alleged to have tried to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill, which led to his detention by Chauvin, who was later fired from his job and arrested. Chauvin, 45, who is white, has denied charges of second – and third – degree murder, and manslaughter, after he pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes on 25 May 2020, the Memorial Day holiday. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge. A mistake at a Baltimore facility ruined about 15m doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the New York Times reports. From the Times: The plant is run by Emergent BioSolutions, a manufacturing partner to both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Federal officials attributed the mistake to human error. The mixup has halted future shipments of Johnson & Johnson doses in the United States while the Food and Drug Administration investigates. Johnson & Johnson has moved to strengthen its control over Emergent BioSolutions’ work to avoid further quality lapses. The mistake is a major embarrassment for Johnson & Johnson, whose one-dose vaccine has been credited with speeding up the national immunization program. It does not affect Johnson & Johnson doses that are currently being delivered and used nationwide. All those doses were produced in the Netherlands, where operations have been fully approved by federal regulators. But all further shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – projected to total tens of millions of doses in the next month – were supposed to come from the massive Baltimore plant. Those shipments are now in question while the quality control issues are sorted out, according to people familiar with the matter. The doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine currently being administered are unaffected. And officials still expect that there will be enough doses to vaccinate all adults by May. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona – who as a former Nasa astronaut has the training to administer shots – is helping vaccinate patients in Tucson today. The US is making fast progress on vaccinations, with a third of residents having received at least one dose. Track the progress here. 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 outlined his infrastructure plan in a speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The president described his proposal as a “once-in-a-generation investment in America”. “It’s big, yes. It’s bold, yes. And we can get it done,” Biden said. The plan calls for spending more than $2tn to improve the nation’s infrastructure, which the Biden administration has said will create jobs and help combat climate change. Biden will hold his first full cabinet meeting tomorrow, as part of his infrastructure pitch. A White House spokesperson said the president will be “discussing the role cabinet members will play in advocating for the American Jobs Plan”. Derek Chauvin’s trial continued in Minneapolis, where the former police officer is facing murder charges over the killing of George Floyd. One witness who testified about Floyd’s final moments, Charles McMillian, broke down crying as prosecutors played a clip of Floyd calling out for his mother as Chauvin kept a knee on his neck. Two US Capitol Police officers are suing Donald Trump over his role in the 6 January insurrection. The two USCP officers, James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, accused the former president of inciting the deadly insurrection, which resulted in physical and emotional injuries for the officers. A Democratic congressional candidate has withdrawn a challenge to the results of her House race. Democrat Rita Hart lost the race to Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks by six votes, but Hart insisted there were 22 ballots that should have been counted, which could have changed the outcome of the election. Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned. Joe Biden said he hoped to work in a bipartisan fashion with congressional Republicans to get his infrastructure plan passed. “The divisions of the moment shouldn’t stop us from doing the right thing for the future,” the president said. Many Republicans have already signaled opposition to the plan, specifically Biden’s proposals to pay for the legislation by rolling back some of the tax cuts that Donald Trump signed into law. The president said he was “open to other ideas” on how to pay for the proposal, but he added, “So long as they do not impose any tax increase on people making less than $400,000.” Biden concluded his speech and walked away from the podium without taking any questions from reporters on the infrastructure plan. Joe Biden argued that now is the time to pass this $2tn package because “our infrastructure is crumbling”. The president said in Pittsburgh, “We have to move now because I’m convinced that, if we act now, people are going to look back in 50 years and say this is the moment when America won the future.” Biden also defended his proposals to raise corporate tax rates to help pay for the package, saying that large companies need to contribute more. The president specifically named Amazon as a company that is not paying its proper share of taxes. “I’m going to put an end to that,” Biden said. During his infrastructure speech, Joe Biden removed a piece of paper from his pocket to read off the US coronavirus death toll as of today. The paper also included the president’s private schedule, and it showed the president held an hour-long meeting on “national emissions” earlier today. Biden praises infrastructure plan as "once-in-a-generation investment in America" Joe Biden is now delivering remarks on his $2tn infrastructure proposal at a union hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The president noted he launched his campaign in Pittsburgh nearly two years ago, and now he has returned to explain how his administration will “rebuild the backbone of America”. Biden noted that nearly 500,000 Americans have now died of coronavirus, and millions of others lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. “Here’s the truth: we all will do better when we all do well,” Biden said. The president described his infrastructure proposal as a “once-in-a-generation investment in America” that will help the US build the most innovative economy in the world. “It’s big, yes. It’s bold, yes. And we can get it done,” Biden said. Joe Biden has arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he is already running about 10 minutes late to deliver his infrastructure speech. But that’s par for the course for this president, who rarely arrives anywhere on time. Iowa Democratic congressional candidate withdraws House challenge to results Rita Hart, the Democratic congressional candidate in Iowa who had filed a House challenge to the results of her race, has withdrawn that request. “After many conversations with people I trust about the future of this contest, I have made the decision to withdraw my contest before the House committee on administration,” Hart said in a statement. Hart added, “Despite our best efforts to have every vote counted, the reality is that the toxic campaign of political disinformation to attack this constitutional review of the closest congressional contest in 100 years has effectively silenced the voices of Iowans. It is a stain on our democracy that the truth has not prevailed and my hope for the future is a return to decency and civility.” Results showed Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks had won the Iowa race by six votes, but Hart insisted there were 22 ballots that should have been counted, which could have changed the outcome of the election. After House Democratic leaders said they would review Hart’s challenge, Republicans quickly accused them of trying to overturn the results of a fair election. Those allegations rankled Democrats, who spent months criticizing Donald Trump for launching several dozen legal challenges in an attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s victories in key swing states. Hart’s announcement will likely come as a relief to many House Democrats, some of whom had already said they believed Miller-Meeks should remain in the seat. Karine Jean-Pierre, the principal deputy White House press secretary, confirmed that Joe Biden will hold his first cabinet meeting tomorrow. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Pittsburgh, Jean-Pierre said the president will “convene his first full cabinet meeting just a day after rolling out his American Jobs Plan, which will be a key topic of discussion”. Jean-Pierre added, “The focus of the meeting will be working together to continue implementing and communicating about the American Rescue Plan and how it continues to deliver for working families, discussing the role cabinet members will play in advocating for the American Jobs Plan and ensuring we accelerate our federal Covid-19 response.” The meeting will be held in the East Room, rather than the Cabinet Room, in order to better facilitate social distancing. Biden is scheduled to deliver his speech outlining his infrastructure proposal in Pittsburgh in about 20 minutes. France"s schools to close for three weeks amid coronavirus surge France’s schools are to close for at least three weeks and travel within the country will be banned for a month after Easter in an attempt to curb a dramatic surge in Covid-19 cases that threatens to overwhelm hospitals, Emmanuel Macron has said. In a televised address to the nation, the French president said the government had waited “until the last moment” to impose further restrictions, winning the country “precious weeks of freedom”, but that “we now have to make one more big effort”. Macron in January rejected scientific advice to impose a strict lockdown, instead ordering an evening and night-time curfew but keeping schools and shops open in a “third way” intended to limit repercussions on the economy and mental health. The government this month also shut non-essential shops and limited movement in Paris and 20 other hard-hit areas, measures criticised by many health professionals as insufficient to counter the more contagious UK variant driving France’s third wave. But with daily infections doubling to 40,000 since February and more than 5,000 Covid patients in intensive care – the highest since October – tougher restrictions became inevitable, with many experts saying only a full lockdown would be enough. Macron said the rapid spread of the more contagious variant meant restrictions already in place in 20 départements would be extended throughout the country from Saturday, with most shops closed, people barred from travelling more than 10km from their homes and working from home to be the rule. Inter-regional travel will be banned from 5 April, to allow Easter journeys that were already planned, he said, but he added: “We must limit all contact as much as we can, including family gatherings. We know now: these are where the virus spreads.” Charles McMillian, who tried to speak to George Floyd as officers arrested him, just broke down crying on the witness stand at Derek Chauvin’s trial. McMillian became emotional after prosecutors played footage of Floyd calling out for his mother as Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck. One prosecutor approached the witness stand to give McMillian a bottle of water, and the court then took a short break. The infrastructure plan that Joe Biden will announce on Wednesday is set to crystalize the US president’s vision of how to combat the climate crisis – hefty government intervention to retool America’s creaking systems, festooned with plenty of green, preferably union, jobs. Biden opened his White House term with a cavalcade of executive actions to begin the gargantuan task of shifting the US to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and the new $2tn package, known as the American jobs plan, is the first indication of the scale of spending that will be required to reshape day-to-day life in order to avert disastrous climate change. As well as huge investments in crumbling roads and bridges, the Biden plan takes aim at the emissions created by transport, currently the country’s largest source of planet-heating gases. There’s $80bn for Amtrak and freight rail, $85bn for public transit, $174bn to promote electric vehicles through various incentives, the electrification of school buses and 500,000 new plug-in recharging stations within the next decade. The federal government’s vehicle fleet will also be electrified. “There’s a lot to like in this plan, it’s excellent in almost every way,” said Julio Friedmann, who was a climate and energy adviser in Barack Obama’s administration and is now an energy researcher at Columbia University. “This is a generational commitment and it can only be applauded. The $2tn is half the price tag of World War Two, it exceeds the scale of the New Deal, it’s wildly larger than the Marshall Plan – and appropriately so. This is the hardest thing we’ve ever done. People generally don’t understand how much construction and reduction is required.” But even the administration’s allies concede further, longer-term spurs to remodel the economy and alter behavior will be required on top of this plan.