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Bernie: I'll even work with conservatives to stop Trump

18 August 2020
Dan Ackermann

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Monday night he will "work with progressives, moderates, and yes, with conservatives, to preserve this nation" while appealing to voters during the Democratic National Convention.

The big picture: Sanders may be the best positioned to turn out progressives and young voters who see Biden as too much a part of the establishment or the old guard.

What he's saying: Sanders appealed to his own supporters saying they've moved the debate in the country and their movement continues, but "all the progress we have made will be in jeopardy" if Trump is re-elected.

  • "This election is about preserving our democracy," Sanders says. "The unthinkable has become normal" under Trump, and "authoritarianism has taken root."

Between the lines: Four years ago, Sanders' endorsement of Hillary Clinton failed to convince his supporters that he meant it. Tonight, Sanders tried to explain the stakes in stark terms and suggested that many of his ideas have already prevailed in the party.

  • "This election is the most important in the history of this country," Sander said, from Burlington, Vermont. "If Donald Trump is reelected, all of the progress we have made will be in jeopardy.
  • "The future of our democracy is at stake," he said.

Of note: Sanders acknowledged the differences that he and Biden had on several issues, including health care. But Sanders seemed willing to settle for incremental change, given the risks he said that a second term from President Trump posed.

  • "Joe Biden will end the hate and division Trump has created," Biden said.

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.