Biden picks Denis McDonough as secretary of Veterans Affairs
10 December 2020
President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday announced he will nominate Denis McDonough — who served as chief of staff for former President Barack Obama — to serve as secretary of Veterans Affairs.
The big picture: McDonough is the latest former Obama team member Biden has picked for his cabinet and follows his selection of Susan Rice to head the Domestic Policy Council. She previously served as national security adviser and UN ambassador during Obama's presidency.
- Biden also nominated former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as his secretary of Agriculture, a position he held during Obama's administration.
What he's saying: "McDonough knows the ins and outs of government, and if confirmed, he will pull every lever to deliver results for veterans and their families," Biden's press release says.
Worth noting: Prior to McDonough's position as Obama's chief of staff from 2013 to 2017, he was Obama’s deputy national security adviser, "including during the Navy SEAL raid in 2011 that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden," AP writes.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.