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Melania Trump acknowledges COVID-19's impact on America

26 August 2020
Dan Ackermann

First Lady Melania Trump said, "Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone," at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday from the recently renovated Rose Garden that she helped design.

What she's saying: To an audience of about 50 people, including Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the first lady noted, "It is in times like this that we will look back and tell our grandchildren that through kindness and compassion, strength and determination, we were able to restore the promise of our future."

  • "I have been moved by the way Americans have come together in such an unfamiliar and often frightening situation."
  • "I want to extend my gratitude to all of the health care professionals, frontline workers, and teachers, who stepped up in these difficult times."

Melania acknowledged that her husband is "not a traditional politician ... He doesn't just speak words. He demands action, and he gets results."

  • "No matter the amount of negative or false media headlines or attacks from the other side, Donald Trump has not and will not lose focus on you. He loves this country and he knows how to get things done."
"Growing up as a young child in Slovenia, which was under communist rule at the time, I always heard about an amazing place called America, a land that stood for freedom and opportunity. As I grew older, it became my goal to move to the United States and follow my dream of working in the fashion industry."

She also spoke on race, asking people "to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice and never make assumptions based on the color of a person's skin."

  • "We must remember that today we are all one community comprised of many races, religions and ethnicities. Our diverse and storied history is what makes our country strong, and yet we still have so much to learn from one another."

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.