Senate rejects first Ted Cruz objection to Electoral College certification
07 January 2021
The Senate on Wednesday voted down Sen. Ted Cruz's first objection to Arizona in the Electoral College certification process.
Why it matters: More than a dozen senators said before Wednesday’s mob violence in the U.S. Capitol that they’d object, but only six ended up voting yea. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Cruz in objecting.
The big picture: The House and Senate went into an extended recess on Wednesday after a "March for Trump" mob invaded the Capitol building, prompting mass evacuations of lawmakers, staff and members of the press.
- Both chambers have now reconvened and are continuing the certification process.
- States are certified in alphabetical order — with Arizona being the first battleground brought to the floor.
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.