Biden makes final push for infrastructure deal as Senate advances plan
07 August 2021
President Biden on Saturday gave a final push for the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package as the Senate reconvened to advance the measure.
Driving the news: The Senate on Saturday broke the filibuster, clearing the 60-vote threshold to advance the plan for final passage, after which it will head to the House. It is not clear when the final vote will take place.
What he's saying: "The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal ... will create good-paying, union jobs repairing our roads and bridges, replacing lead pipes, and building energy transmission lines," Biden said. "We can’t afford not to do it."
- "We can’t just build back to the way things were before COVID-19, we have to build back better. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and my Build Back Better plan will grow our economy, and create an average of 2 million good-paying jobs every year over the next decade," he added.
Go deeper: Senate readies for final infrastructure vote
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.