Democrats plan "chaos presidency" events around RNC
21 August 2020
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) will host daily events next week focused on different crises they say President Trump's "chaos has created or made worse," featuring high-profile Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Why it matters: These events will serve as Democrats' counter-programming around the Republican National Convention, which starts Monday.
What we're hearing: The Biden campaign and the DNC are increasingly leaning into "chaos" as an argument against Trump.
- Several speakers, including Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and Kamala Harris used that word during their remarks at the Democrats' own convention this week.
Details: Democrats said they'll offer a video press briefing during each day of the RNC, anchored by specific themes and surrogates:
- On Monday, Rep. Val Demings of Florida will talk about families in crisis dealing with everything from childcare to seniors and Social Security.
- On Tuesday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey are addressing the economy.
- On Wednesday, Speaker Pelosi will talk about health care.
- On Thursday, Pete Buttigieg will discuss challenges facing the country.
Between the lines: Democrats aren't looking to Biden to be the central voice of their counter-programming in the way that Trump was during the DNC, tweeting or doing cable news call-in interviews.
- The DNC War Room, which acts as their Trump research department, will release digital and TV ads in battleground states focused on similar themes.
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.