Friday, May 29, 2020

5:21 pm ET: Minneapolis Cop Charged With Murder in Death of George Floyd

The white Minneapolis police officer seen on video kneeling on George Floyd's neck was arrested on murder charges Friday and accused in court papers of ignoring another officer who was worried about the handcuffed black man who died after pleading that he could not breathe.

Derek Chauvin, 44, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the case, which sparked protests across the United States and fires and looting in Minneapolis. An attorney for Floyd’s family welcomed the arrest, but said he expected a more serious murder charge and wanted all the officers arrested. Read more...

— The Associated Press

3:17 pm ET: Canopy Growth Stock Plunges as Cannabis Giant Announces Earnings Miss

Canopy Growth stocks plunged almost 20 percent on Friday, erasing nearly all of its recent gains after the Canadian cannabis giant reported disappointing results in its fourth-quarter earnings report. The Smith Falls, Ontario-based cannabis producer reported a 76 percent jump in revenue for fiscal 2019, but quarterly results were less optimistic. Read more...

— Chloe Aiello

1:39 pm ET: Officer Arrested in Death of George Floyd

Minnesota authorities say the police officer who knelt on George Floyd, sparking three nights of protest, has been arrested. Read more...

— The Associated Press

1:28 pm ET: Questions on Reopening New York's Economy Baffle Businesses

Some upstate New York business owners who made plans to reopen Friday remain closed amid last-minute confusion over whether their region indeed has the OK to move forward. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said Thursday that data indicates his central New York county meets the state’s phase 2 reopening benchmarks. But he acknowledged he had yet to get the green light from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office. Cuomo said Thursday on public radio that the state would give data to experts to determine when regions could move forward. Read more... 

— The Associated Press

Pedestrians pass a barbershop that displays a sign advertising haircuts by appointment only, Tuesday, May 26, 2020, in New Rochelle, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

10:57 am ET: U.S. Consumer Spending Sinks by Record 13.6 Percent in Face of Virus

U.S. consumer spending plunged by a record-shattering 13.6% in April as the viral pandemic shuttered businesses, forced millions of layoffs and sent the economy into a deep recession.

Last month's spending decline was far worse than the revised 6.9% drop in March, which itself had set a record for the steepest one-month fall in records dating to 1959. Friday's Commerce Department figures reinforced evidence that the economy is gripped by the worst downturn in decades, with consumers unable or too anxious to spend much.

— The Associated Press

A woman walks into a closing Gordmans store, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in St. Charles, Mo. Stage Stores, which owns Gordmans, is closing all its stores and has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

8:10 am ET: Need2Know: Chaos in Minneapolis, Trump vs. Twitter & Marathon Cancelled

Get your news over easy every morning by listening to the Need 2 Know podcast (Stitcher, iTunes) and signing up for our morning newsletter.

POLICE PROTESTS SPREAD

CHAOS IN TWIN CITIES: For a third night in a row, protests over the police killing of George Floyd turned violent in the streets of Minneapolis. Demonstrators forced the police to abandon the city’s 3rd Precinct building as it was set on fire. Early this morning, a CNN reporter was arrested live on air even after identifying himself to police: WATCH

OFFICER IN FLOYD CASE: Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who was recorded kneeling on the neck of Floyd, was reportedly the target of at least a dozen police conduct complaints over his 19 years on the force. He, and three other officers, have been fired and the Justice Dept. has opened an investigation. NBC NEWS

TRUMP GETS INVOLVED: Twitter slapped a warning on a tweet from President Trump in which he suggested that looters would be shot. Twitter says the tweet violated its policy against glorifying violence. The president wrote that he would send in the military to Minneapolis if necessary, adding: “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” CNN

TRUMP VS. TWITTER: President Trump signed an executive order targeting social media companies by limiting the legal protections they’re given by law. That protection allows companies like Twitter and Facebook to avoid liability from content created by their users. The order does not have much practicality right now and it will certainly be challenged in court. It comes after Twitter added fact-check notices to some of the president’s tweets. Trump also said he’d delete his Twitter account “in a heartbeat” if he felt the media was fair to him. NPR

COVID-19 HOTSPOTS: Coronavirus infections and deaths continue to decrease in some areas of the country and increase in others, though the overall U.S. trend is now downward. It’s a different story in Latin America, where Brazil is now effectively the world’s epicenter. Cases are rising sharply in Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Colombia, too. NY TIMES

HEROICS AT HOME: Police say a soldier stationed at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas likely saved “countless” lives when he rammed his car into an active shooter who had begun firing on a busy bridge connecting Kansas and Missouri. Master Sgt. David Royer said he was driving home when the car in front of him stopped on the bridge and a man with a rifle got out and began shooting indiscriminately. Royer was able to disable the shooter before anyone was killed. One person was injured, and the shooter is in custody. KMBC

UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS: Another 2.1 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total jobs lost since the pandemic began to 41 million, or about one in four employed adults. One silver lining: the pace of new jobless claims is easing. But economists are now looking ahead to what happens when the $600 a week in extra unemployment benefits provided by the federal government to help cushion the blow is set to expire, two months from now. WSJ

MUSK GETS PAID: Elon Musk has earned the first tranch of his performance-based pay for being CEO of Tesla. Musk, who doesn’t draw a salary, has been awarded $775 million in Tesla shares as an award for the stock hitting certain milestones. AXIOS

BOSTON MARATHON CANCELLED: The Boston Marathon has been cancelled for the first time in its 124-year history. Organizers had pushed the race back from April to September, but now say it just isn’t feasible to run this year. A “virtual” marathon will be held in its place. BOSTON GLOBE

KRASINSKI DEFENDS SELLING 'SGN': Actor John Krasinski is defending himself against fans who called him a “sellout” for selling his hit YouTube series Some Good News to CBS. On a podcast hosted by his former Office co-star Rainn Wilson, Krasinski said doing the show “just wasn’t sustainable.” It’s not known how much CBS paid for rights to the show, but it comes as CBS News is laying off dozens of journalists, including veteran reporters that have been with the network for decades. MARKETWATCH

NEW MUSIC/TV FRIDAYS: Space Force, the big-budget Netflix series starring Steve Carell that spoofs real-life events, premieres today. Early reviews range from bad to very bad despite the A-list comedic cast, though John Malkovich is getting points for his performance. Lady Gaga’s highly anticipated sixth studio album Chromatica drops today, too. Gaga teamed up with K-pop supergroup BLACKPINK for the new single, Sour Candy, released ahead of today’s launch: LISTEN

LEFTOVERS: DRUG DELIVERY ROBOTS: CVS will begin delivering prescriptions via self-driving robots next month. In a partnership with robotics company Nuro, CVS will pilot the program in Houston first and customers will need to verify their identities when the vehicles arrive at their doorsteps. Nuro has also been testing pizza and grocery delivery in the city. AP

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