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GOP Sen. Steve Daines wins re-election in Montana, AP projects

04 November 2020
Dan Ackermann

Republican Sen. Steve Daines has defeated Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in Montana's race for the U.S. Senate, AP projects.

Why it matters: It's a major loss for Democrats in their efforts to flip the Senate blue. Polls consistently showed Bullock and Daines as neck-and-neck, with Cook Political Report rating the race as a toss up.

The big picture: The race between Daines and Bullock was the most expensive Senate competition in Montana's history, per the Missoula Current.

  • Bullock is a moderate Democrat whose bid for his party's presidential nomination floundered earlier this cycle. The governor was elected in 2012 and reaches his term limit this year.
  • Daines, however, is a steady Republican vote that sides consistently with President Trump. He was first elected to the Senate in 2014.
Data: AP; Chart: Naema Ahmed, Andrew Witherspoon, Danielle Alberti/Axios

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.