Axios

LeBron James is launching a voting rights organization that aims to inspire African Americans to register to vote and go to the polls for the 2020 presidential election this November, the New York Times reports.

What he''s saying: “Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door,” James told the Times in a Wednesday phone interview.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to the chairs of the Joint Committee on the Library on Wednesday requesting that the panel remove 11 Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall collection.

The latest: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the vice chair of the Joint Committee on the Library, responded in a statement that she agrees that "these symbols of cruelty and bigotry" be "expediently" removed from the halls of the Capitol.

NASCAR said in a statement Wednesday that it will ban the display of the Confederate flag at all of its events and properties.

Why it matters: The move comes amid a renewed push to ban Confederate monuments and iconography in various U.S. institutions as protests against police brutality and racial inequality have swept across the country. President Trump said on Wednesday that he would "not even consider" changing the names of U.S. military bases named for Confederate generals.

The 2020 Iowa State Fair was called off during a board meeting on Wednesday in response to the threat of the coronavirus, the Des Moines Register reports.

Why it matters: This marks the first time the fair has been cancelled since World War II. The event has been scrapped five times in its 165-year history, per the Register. Fair events were still held amid the 1918 flu pandemic.

• The Iowa State Fair was originally scheduled to take place August 13-23.

Former national security adviser John Bolton's book will be published on June 23 over the objections of the White House, which claims even after a four-month prepublication review that the manuscript contains classified information, Bolton's lawyer said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Wednesday.

Why it matters: Bolton alleges in his book that President Trump tied the freezing of $391 million in security aid to Ukraine to demands for investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden — a core allegation in the impeachment of the president. Trump has strongly denied the claim.

President Trump's reelection campaign in a cease-and-desist letter to CNN's CEO Jeff Zucker on Wednesday requested the network publicly apologize for a poll that showed former Vice President Joe Biden with 14-point lead.

Why it matters: CNN's poll came as part of a recent wave of bad news for the president. Fallout over Trump's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide Black Lives Matter protests have resulted in a spike for Biden in the latest polls, including in swing states such as Michigan and Texas.

The 2020 election will bring more Russian-backed online disinformation campaigns aiming to exploit American protests over police brutality and systemic racism in order to foment division and distrust, experts predict.

Where it stands: There’s nothing new about Russia’s tactics — its intelligence agencies have been using disinformation to cynically aggravate U.S. racial tensions all the way back to the Cold War era. But we can’t resolve this problem with cyber countermeasures and informational defenses. It will require actually tackling the root problem of racial injustice itself.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters on Wednesday that he does not believe systemic racism exists in the U.S., despite historic discrimination against black Americans in the job market, the housing market and the disproportionate impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on racial minorities.

Driving the news: More than two weeks of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd's killing has prompted politicians and businesses to publicly denounce racism in the U.S. and call for policy changes to address structural inequalities.

President Trump tweeted Wednesday that he will "not even consider" renaming the 10 U.S. military bases that are named after Confederate leaders.

Why it matters: A spokesperson for Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said on Monday he's open to a "bipartisan discussion" about renaming the military bases and facilities that are named after Confederate leaders, including Fort Bragg and Fort Benning.

More than 1,250 former Department of Justice employees have signed a letter asking the department's inspector general to investigate Attorney General Bill Barr's role in police forcibly removing a group of mostly peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square last week.

Why it matters: Barr has acknowledged that he gave the order to extend the security perimeter around the White House, but has denied giving the tactical command to officers. He also claims there was "no correlation" between the decision and President Trump's subsequent visit to St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo op, and has accused the media of lying about the protesters being peaceful.

President Trump's approval rating has dropped from 49% to 39%, while his disapproval rating has shot up from 48% to 57%, according to the latest Gallup tracking poll out Wednesday.

Why it matters: It's the lowest net approval rating the president has recorded since October. The poll is Gallup's first since nationwide protests erupted in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that he believes the U.S. will "definitely" need another bipartisan stimulus package while appearing before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, Bloomberg reports.

The state of play: While House Democrats have passed their own $3.5 trillion version of the next stimulus package, Senate Republicans have stressed to the White House that the next round should be under $1 trillion — and don't think it's possible to pass such legislation until July or August.

A former judge appointed by District Judge Emmet Sullivan to review the Justice Department's motion to drop charges against Michael Flynn issued a scathing brief on Wednesday finding that Flynn committed perjury and accusing the DOJ of a "corrupt, politically motivated" dismissal.

The big picture: "The Government has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President," John Gleeson writes. "The facts of this case overcome the presumption of regularity. The Court should therefore deny the Government’s motion to dismiss, adjudicate any remaining motions, and then sentence the Defendant."

The Minneapolis Police Department is withdrawing from police union contract negotiations as a first step to reforming the agency, Chief Medaria Arradondo announced Wednesday.

The big picture: Arradondo said the contract needs to be restructured to provide transparency and “flexibility for true reform.” A thorough review will examine protocols for critical incidents, use of force, and disciplining officers.

Philonise Floyd urged Congress to take action to reform law enforcement in honor of his late brother George Floyd during his opening statement before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Why it matters: It's the first House hearing on policing reform since Floyd's death. Philonise Floyd's plea comes as momentum for police reform has grown in Congress, with Democrats and Republicans agreeing that changes are needed at the federal level to meet the moment and address nationwide protests.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday that President Trump's baseless tweet suggesting that an elderly protester injured by police in Buffalo, N.Y., "could be an ANTIFA provocateur" was just raising "questions that need to be asked."

Why it matters: McEnany's willingness to defend the president regarding the tweet hasn't been shared by others in the Republican Party — as most GOP senators refused to acknowledge it and Trump allies inside and outside the White House were left stunned.

Empowered by social media, college athletes are speaking out on social issues and driving the national conversation in ways their predecessors could only dream about.

Driving the news: It's not only superstars whose messages have been amplified. Just last week, a little-known Georgia Tech basketball player started a movement to make Election Day a universal off day for all 460,000 NCAA student athletes, and it's gaining momentum.

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey announced Tuesday that Juneteenth would become a holiday for both companies.

Why it matters: The day — June 19 — marks the end of slavery in the United States in 1865, when Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, and told slaves there that they were free and that the Civil War had ended.

My phone blew up yesterday with texts from White House aides, current and former, who seemed at their wits' end over President Trump's tweet that the 75-year-old Buffalo protester who was rushed to the hospital after being shoved by police last week "could be an ANTIFA provocateur."

Why it matters: They rarely register the president's tweets anymore — let alone complain about them. This one felt different.

Big or small, new or old, every business in America is witnessing a new reality — and a whole new set of unwritten workplace rules and unambiguous expectations.

Why it matters: Any CEO who ignores this bottom-up revolution will suffer public backlash, recruitment and retention challenges, and fits of internal turmoil.

Democrats are in a political bind. They want police reform, but as advocates of public sector unions, they've also been trying to help police unions — which have been some of the biggest obstacles to police reform.

Driving the news: The politics of police unions have gotten so difficult that House Democrats are shelving a bill, first introduced in 2019, that would strengthen the ability of police to unionize, Axios has learned.

A corrections officer was suspended and a FedEx worker fired on Tuesday after they were identified in a video mocking the killing of George Floyd as peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters marched past in the unincorporated community of Franklinville in Franklin Township, Gloucester County. 

The big picture: The footage emerged on social media Monday, the day before the funeral and burial of Floyd, whose death in policy custody sparked widespread Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. and around the world.

CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman stepped down on Tuesday following massive backlash against a tweet he made over the weekend that referenced George Floyd's killing.

Driving the news: Reebok, several top-tier athletes and multiple gyms across the country have since broke ties with CrossFit in response to Glassman's tweet and his comments in response to pressure to issue a statement in support of Black Lives Matter.

Former Vice President Joe Biden told "CBS Evening News" in an interview broadcast Tuesday night he "absolutely" believes there is "systemic racism" in law enforcement and also "across the board."

Details: In his interview with CBS' Norah O'Donnell, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee outlined how he would address systemic racism in the criminal justice system if he were elected, including having a national, public registry on police misconduct that would be reported to the Department of Justice.

Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday that homicides in the city jumped 250% in the first week of June — and the number of people shot rose by 56% compared to the previous week.

Details: The LAPD outlined in its statement posted to Twitter how gun violence has continued this week, in addition to the rise in homicides and shootings recorded through the week of May 31 to June 6. "The past 24 hours has seen four shootings, one of those resulting in a homicide."