Show an ad over header. AMP  

Nancy Pelosi slams Trump for ignoring science: "I yearn for other Republican presidents"

16 July 2020
 Dan Ackermann

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on President Trump Thursday to exercise "the full power" of the Defense Production Act to meet coronavirus equipment needs and accused him of engaging in a "massive dereliction of duty" by ignoring science during the pandemic.

What she's saying: "I yearn for other Republican presidents," Pelosi said at a press conference. "We may have disagreed on many points but at least we had shared commitment to the governance of our country."

The big picture: Congress is prepping for a bitter battle over the next coronavirus stimulus package, which comes amid a surge in infections in 37 states over the past week. The $600-per-week supplemental unemployment insurance (UI) benefit included in the CARES Act passed in March is set to expire at the end of July.

  • Pelosi, who has already led the passage of House Democrats' $3 trillion stimulus bill, said that she is in favor of extending the $600 UI benefit, but added: "The whole package will depend on what we do also through direct payments, which are so essential."
  • Pelosi did not say whether she has been in contact with anyone in the Trump administration for negotiations. President Trump said earlier this month that he supports another round of direct payments, but signaled that he and other Republicans would not support the extension of UI benefits.
  • Recess schedules in the House and Senate leave the chambers in need of striking a deal between July 20-31. However, Pelosi said earlier this week that the House would "absolutely" skip August recess to reach a deal.

The bottom line: "Because we are Americans, we're going to beat this. But we have to beat it scientifically, and in order to do that you have to believe in science, and you have to believe in governance," Pelosi said.

Go deeper: More than 32 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

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.