GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to lead Republican delegation to southern border
09 March 2021
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will travel to Texas on Monday with roughly a dozen Republican members to assess the growing crisis at the southern border, his office confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: The visit comes as President Biden is under increased pressure to address the overwhelming flow of unaccompanied migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border. Recent data shows an average of 321 kids being referred to migrant shelters each day, as Axios first reported.
What we're hearing: McCarthy sent a letter to the president last Friday requesting a meeting with him to discuss the situation. A source familiar with the letter told Axios that McCarthy has yet to receive a response.
- "I feel compelled to express great concern with the manner in which your administration is approaching this crisis, but with hope that we can work together to solve it," McCarthy had written in the letter.
- Among those who will join him on the trip are Rep. John Katko of New York and Tony Gonzales of Texas.
The backdrop: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas led a visit to the border for Biden officials — including domestic policy adviser Susan Rice — on Saturday.
- The group went to a Border Patrol facility and a refugee resettlement facility, the White House said in a statement on Sunday, according to Reuters.
- Republicans from the Texas congressional delegation also plan to visit McAllen, Laredo and Eagle Pass, Texas, between March 29 and March 31, a source familiar with the plans tells Axios.
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.