10 things you need to know today: June 8, 2020

1. Minneapolis City Council majority pledges to dismantle police department

Nine out of 13 members of the Minneapolis City Council announced during a Sunday rally that they intend to dismantle the city's police department, diverting funds to a new public safety system. In a statement, the council members said that "decades of police reform efforts have proved that the Minneapolis Police Department cannot be reformed, and will never be accountable for its actions." They said they would therefore "begin the process of ending the Minneapolis Police Department." The announcement came nearly two weeks after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said that the police department must make changes, although he does not support eliminating it.

Star Tribune

2. Colin Powell says Trump has 'drifted away' from Constitution

Former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday said he would support former Vice President Joe Biden in the November presidential election, saying President Trump is a chronic liar who has "drifted away" from the Constitution. Powell was the latest former military general to criticize Trump's attempts to stamp out nationwide protests with force. Powell, who served as former President George W. Bush's top diplomat, said on CNN's State of the Union that he was "proud" of fellow former military leaders who had made similar remarks since Trump threatened to send troops to cities and states that failed to "dominate" people participating in unrest over police brutality against African Americans. Trump responded via Twitter, calling Powell "a real stiff."

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CNN The Washington Post

3. NYC starts to reopen 100 days after its 1st coronavirus case

New York City is scheduled to start gradually reopening its economy on Monday, 100 days after it confirmed its first case of coronavirus. The city has been the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States. More than 205,000 infections have been recorded in the city, as well as nearly 22,000 deaths. The first phase of New York City's reopening will let about 400,000 workers return to construction, manufacturing, and retail jobs. Just weeks ago, the city's hospitals were overwhelmed and as many as 800 people died of COVID-19 in a single day. During the first phase of reopening, many stores will offer curbside and in-store pickup to help customers and employees minimize their risk of infection.

The New York Times

4. Biden cracks 50 percent mark in polls

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who last week collected the last of the 1,991 delegates needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination, has received, on average, the support of 51 percent of the respondents in live polls conducted over the last week. The Democrats' last nominee, Hillary Clinton, led President Trump in June before the 2016 election, but she had just 42 percent support. In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday, Biden led Trump 49 percent to 42 percent. Biden over the weekend framed the campaign as "a battle for the soul of this nation," saying in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "It's long past time for our nation to deal with systemic racism, including its contributions to growing economic inequality."

CNN Los Angeles Times

5. Romney becomes 1st GOP senator to join anti-racism protests

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Sunday joined an anti-racism protest in Washington, D.C., becoming the first Republican senator known to have participated in the demonstrations against excessive force against African Americans that have followed the death of George Floyd. Romney marched alongside evangelicals protesting injustice and racism, The Washington Post reported Sunday. In an interview, Romney said he wanted to find "a way to end violence and brutality, and to make sure that people understand that black lives matter." He also tweeted two photos from the protest, with the caption "Black Lives Matter." Organizers said they did not know Romney was going to participate.

The Washington Post

6. New Zealand has no known coronavirus cases

New Zealand's health ministry announced Monday that the country has no active cases of COVID-19. This is the first time there have been no known cases of the coronavirus in New Zealand since Feb. 28. Shaun Hendy, leader of the Te Pūnaha Matatini scientific body advising the government in the pandemic, credited the country's early lockdown and some of the world's toughest anti-coronavirus measures, saying this "arrested the virus before it was widespread amongst essential service workers." The government also conducted widespread testing. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the government would lift most restrictions and move to the lowest alert level, but keep its border closed.

Axios

7. Tropical Storm Cristobal makes U.S. landfall

Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall in southeast Louisiana on Sunday, hitting the state's coast with 3 to 5 feet of flooding from the mouth of the Mississippi River into Mississippi. Cristobal, the earliest third-named storm ever in an Atlantic hurricane season, forced evacuations and caused numerous deaths in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico before crossing the Gulf of Mexico and reaching the United States Gulf Coast. The storm hit with winds as high as 60 miles per hour offshore, and up to 45 mph over land. The storm pushed inland early Monday and was expected to head to Arkansas and Missouri later Monday and Tuesday, before its remnants reach Wisconsin late Tuesday and Canada on Wednesday.

The New York Times

8. Anti-racism demonstrations continue across the U.S. and overseas

Major demonstrations against racism and police brutality continued Sunday in the United States and around the world. It was the 13th straight day of protests following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed and handcuffed African-American man, by a white Minneapolis police officer. On Saturday, tens of thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial and near the White House for what was considered Washington, D.C.'s biggest protest to date. Police departments around the U.S. showed less aggressive responses to the demonstrations than on many previous days, in several cases showing solidarity with the protesters. In Bristol, England, protesters threw a statue of slave trader Edward Colston into the city's harbor.

CNBC The Associated Press

9. Optimism about reopening lifts Wall Street

U.S. stock index futures made solid gains early Monday, putting Wall Street in a position to continue last week's surge on optimism over the economy's reopening after coronavirus lockdowns. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up by 0.5 percent several hours before the opening bell. Futures for the broader S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent, while those of the tech-heavy Nasdaq were flat. The Nasdaq rose by 3.4 percent last week, reaching record levels for the first time since Feb. 19. The Dow closed the week up by 6.8 percent and the S&P 500 gained 4.9 percent after the Labor Department released unexpectedly strong jobs numbers, although neither has made it back to the record levels they reached in February before U.S. coronavirus cases spiked.

CNBC

10. NYT editorial page editor resigns after backlash over Cotton op-ed

The New York Times' editorial page editor, James Bennet, resigned Sunday after a backlash over an op-ed piece by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) advocating stamping out anti-racism protests using federal troops. Times journalists spoke out against the article, saying it could endanger black employees. Some called in sick last Thursday to protest. At a virtual staff meeting on Friday, Bennet apologized for the piece, which the paper has disowned, and said it should not have been published. Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger told a Times reporter that he and Bennet had "concluded that James would not be able to lead the team through the next leg of change that is required."

The Associated Press The New York Times