22 June 2021
White House officials are heading to Capitol Hill Tuesday for a briefing on the status and details of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure proposal — another sign that President Biden is serious about finding a compromise with Republican senators.
Driving the news: Biden's core negotiating team — including Louisa Terrell, the White House’s legislative affairs director, Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president and Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council — are scheduled to meet with senators, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) indicated Monday evening that he and the so-called "Group of 20" were in contact with the White House about a variety of meetings and would try to advance the talks before the Senate leaves at the end of the week for their July 4 recess.
- White House officials have indicated that Biden is encouraged by the talks, but stress that how to pay for the package remains a key sticking point.
- If Tuesday's meeting goes well, Biden is inclined to meet with the senators to try and advance the talks. He hosted Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) separately at the White House on Monday.
The big picture: Senate negotiators for the bipartisan infrastructure bill are trying to create momentum for a "too-big-to-fail" package by adding an equal number of Democratic and Republican co-sponsors.
- The president told Manchin and Sinema on Monday that "he was encouraged by what has taken shape but that he still has questions about the policy, as well as the means for financing the bipartisan group’s proposal," according to a White House official.
- Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said, "We are making significant progress but it’s not over until it's over."
The other side: Progressives remain leery and are aiming for much more spending, potentially in multiple packages.
- "Make no mistake: I'm not voting for some bipartisan deal until I see every other part of the infrastructure package, and know that, in total, we have what we need," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told Axios.
- "We're not going to have an infrastructure package that, when the train leaves the station, child care is left on the platform, along with clean energy" and other priorities."
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.