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House progressives have a message for President Biden ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin: talking is good.

Driving the news: Fifteen members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are writing to Biden on Wednesday to encourage him to work with Putin on a range of issues, from arms control to climate change, Axios has learned.

  • “In these talks, we hope that you will prioritize ways that the United States and Russia can work together to reduce tensions in areas of dispute and cooperate on areas of global importance,” wrote Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the CPC chairperson, and 14 others.
  • “The U.S. and Russia combined hold more than 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads. We believe that armed conflict between Russia and the United States would be a catastrophe for both countries, for Europe, our allies, and for the world.”

Why it matters: The Democratic Party, including many of its progressive members, spent the Trump years arguing for a more assertive approach toward Russia.

  • They criticized Donald Trump for not dealing with President Putin more harshly, amid allegations the former president had been co-opted by his counterpart.
  • The CPC letter indicates some Democrats want to revert to a foreign policy that seeks to engage — and not antagonize — Russia.

Flashback: During the 2012 campaign, President Obama mocked his opponent, now-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), for arguing that Russia posed a serious threat to America.

  • He said the “1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back.”
  • During Trump’s presidency, many Democrats, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, apologized to Romney.

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.