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The Democratic National Committee is hiring campaign veterans for its communications team as Democrats work to sell the American people on the party and the president's agenda.

Why it matters: They won the White House, retained the House and regained the Senate by slim majorities during the 2020 election, and they'll need to overcome history to maintain their lead in both chambers of Congress during the midterms.

  • The hires also reflect the leadership of the party's new chair, Jaime Harrison, as he begins his tenure.

Details:

  • Ammar Moussa, who worked for Kamala Harris' presidential campaign and Jon Ossof's Senate campaign, has been hired as rapid response director.
  • Adonna Biel, a veteran of Joe Biden's presidential campaign, has been named deputy rapid response director.
  • Lucas Acosta, coalitions director and senior spokesperson at the Human Rights Coalition, will be the coalitions director and senior spokesperson.
  • Brooke Goren, regional press secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will act as states communications director.
  • Hyma Moore, southern regional communications director for the Biden-Harris campaign, will be regional press secretary.
  • Daniel Wessel, the DNC's deputy war room director throughout the 2020 cycle,has been promoted to deputy communications director.
  • Cassidy Geoghegan, the party’s battleground press secretary covering Southern states, will now serve as deputy states communications director.
  • Allyson Bayless, a press assistant in the DNC war room, will be a communications associate.
  • Darcy Palder, a recent graduate of Georgetown University, will serve as press assistant.

By the numbers: The DNC recently announced it raised $48.2 million during Q1. The Republican National Committee raised $44.4 million during the same period.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly 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.