Another high-profile Republican just endorsed Biden
19 August 2020
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Joe Biden for president and will appear at the Democratic Convention Tuesday evening, NBC first reported.
Why it matters: Powell is the highest profile Republican to cross party lines, throwing his support behind Biden and adding his name to a growing list of GOP voices who are encouraging voters to support the former vice president over President Trump.
- Powell served under President George W. Bush.
What they’re saying: “The values I learned growing up in the South Bronx and serving in uniform were the same values that Joe Biden‘s parents instilled in him,” Powell said in a video released by the DNC.
- “Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family,” he added.
- “For Joe Biden, that doesn’t need teaching — it comes from the experience he shares with millions of military families.“
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.