Book will plumb Biden-Obama relationship
12 December 2020
As his first book, New York Magazine national correspondent Gabriel Debenedetti is writing a book for Henry Holt & Co. on the "long, winding arc of the close, complex relationship between Joe Biden and Barack Obama."
What they're saying: I'm toldthat the book, which doesn't have a publication date, "will take a long view of the unprecedented relationship between the two presidents, looking at how the true, intricate stories of their intertwined careers — from the Senate to the White House, to the Trump era and back — goes far deeper than the popular bromance narrative."
Gabe tells me: "I've been covering Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and the Democrats for years, and the two presidents' thoroughly consequential relationship has always fascinated me — but never more than it did in the final weeks of the general election, and now during the transition."
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.