The Rundown: Thousands Pays Their Respects

Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to George Floyd at a viewing Monday in Houston, where he grew up and lived most of his life. Among those who went to the Fountain of Praise church, where Floyd's body was in an open, gold-colored casket, were the families of other black victims in high-profile killings by police and others, including Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin. Also attending was Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who said, "George Floyd is going to change the arc of the future of the United States. . . . His life will be a living legacy about the way that America and Texas responds to this tragedy." Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden met with Floyd's family before the viewing. An attorney for Floyd's family, Ben Crump, said of the former vice president, "He listened, he heard their pain and shared in their woe. That compassion meant the world to this grieving family." Biden is also providing a video message for Floyd's funeral, which is being held today, followed by his burial.

Bail Kept at $1 Million for Chauvin: A judge on Monday kept bail at $1 million in a hearing for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes and is charged with second-degree murder in his death. The 44-year-old Chauvin said little during the hearing, in which he appeared on closed-circuit TV from prison, and didn't enter a plea, something that usually comes later in the process. The hearing was over the judge's decision to raise Chauvin's bail from $500,000 to $1 million when a second-degree murder charge was added against him last week. The previous high count had been third-degree murder.

➤DEMOCRATS PROPOSE 'TRANSFORMATIVE' POLICE OVERHAUL: After two weeks of nationwide protests in the wake of George Floyd's death, Congressional Democrats yesterday proposed a sweeping police overhaul that takes on both procedures and accountability, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying, "We cannot settle for anything less than transformative structural change." Before introducing the proposal, the Democrats held a moment of silence at Emancipation Hall in the Capitol, reading Floyd's name and those of others killed in police encounters, and knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time a Minneapolis officer had his knee on Floyd's neck. Among the items in the Justice in Policing Act, it would; limit legal protections for police, including making it easier to prosecute for "reckless" misconduct and to bring damage claims in lawsuits; ban the use of choke holds; create a national database of excessive-force incidents; and limit the transfer of military equipment to police. Passing the legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate appears unlikely, but Republicans have suggested less extensive changes for policing could be possible.

The proposal comes amid calls from activists on the left to "defund the police," with those on the far end of the argument wanting to disband police departments altogether. President Trump, who met with law enforcement officials yesterday, tweeted that Democrats have, quote, "gone CRAZY!" But Democratic leaders said their proposal doesn't eliminate police, but instead sets up new standards and oversight, and a spokesman for Joe Biden, Andrew Bates, said the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, quote, "does not believe that police should be defunded." Biden's criminal justice campaign agenda includes providing more money for training, quote, "that is needed to avert tragic, unjustifiable deaths," and Bates said, "Biden supports the urgent need for reform -- including funding for public schools, summer programs, and mental health and substance abuse treatment separate from funding for policing -- so that officers can focus on the job of policing."

➤ECONOMISTS: U.S. ENTERED RECESSION IN FEBRUARY: The U.S. economy entered a recession in February as the coronavirus pandemic began to affect the country, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which determines when recessions begin and end. The economists said that employment, income and spending peaked in February and then fell sharply due to the coronavirus shutdowns across the country, with the recession ending the longest expansion on record, nearly 11 full years of economic growth.

➤U.S., PRINCE ANDREW'S ATTORNEYS TRADE ACCUSATIONS OVER EPSTEIN PROBE: Federal prosecutors in the U.S. and attorneys for Britain's Prince Andrew traded accusations yesterday over who was to blame for Andrew not cooperating in the U.S. government's sex trafficking probe of the late Jeffrey Epstein. 

Andrew’s attorneys claimed that he'd offered three times this year to speak with U.S. investigators after being assured that he, quote, "is not and has never been a 'target' of their criminal investigations into Epstein." The attorneys said, "Unfortunately, the DOJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own confidentiality rules and claiming that the Duke has offered zero cooperation." The U.S. attorney in Manhattan said soon after that Andrew has tried to, quote, "falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate" even as he repeatedly declined to schedule an interview. Attorney General William Barr told Fox News yesterday that prosecutors are not seeking to extradite Andrew. 

One of Epstein's victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, claims Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew, which the prince has denied. In a Netflix docu-series on Epstein that come out last month, a former Epstein employee claimed he saw Andrew, quote, "grinding" on a topless girl on Epstein's private island.

➤ARMY TO CONSIDER RENAMING BASES NAMED FOR CONFEDERATE LEADERS: The U.S. Army said it will consider renaming bases named for Confederate leaders, with Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy saying he's, quote, "open" to the idea, Politico reported yesterday (June 8th). That's a reversal from the Army's previous stance. Defense Secretary Mark Esper was also reported to support considering the idea. Politico cited an Army spokesperson as saying the recent protests over the killing of George Floyd drove McCarthy's changing position on the issue. There are 10 Army bases and facilities that are named after Confederate leaders. All are in Southern states except for New York's Fort Hamilton, where two streets are named after Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

➤MLB MAKES NEW OFFER TO PLAYERS OF 76-GAME SEASON: As MLB continues to try to reach an agreement with players on a coronavirus-delayed season that would have opening day around the Fourth of July, the league has made a new proposal of a 76-game regular season, expanding the playoffs from 10 teams to as many as 16, and having players earn about 75 percent of their prorated salaries. Players have been refusing any pay cuts beyond the prorated salaries they agreed to in March.

MLB proposed an 82-game schedule on May 26th with a sliding salary scale under which star players would lose more than 77 percent of their salary this year, and rookies would lose about 53 percent. The union countered five days late with a 114-game proposal at prorated pay.

➤NBA AIMING TO START PLAYOFFS ON AUGUST 8TH: Once their coronavirus-suspended season resumes, the NBA is aiming to begin its playoffs on August 18th, with September 30th as the first day of the NBA Finals, according to a report by The Athletic. The league's Board of Governors approved a plan last week to resume the season on July 31st with a 22-team format under which teams will play an eight-game slate of games that will help determine playoff seeding. There could then be a play-in tournament for the final spot in the Eastern and Western Conferences for the postseason.