Poll shows Biden leading Trump in critical battleground states Wisconsin and Pennsylvania
09 August 2020
Joe Biden leads President Trump 48% to 42% in Wisconsin and 49% to 43% in Pennsylvania, according to the latest CBS/YouGov Battleground Tracker poll.
Why it matters: Trump's surprise wins in the two states, where many voters broke his way after deciding the week before the election, helped propel him to an Electoral College victory over Hillary Clinton. Trump won Wisconsin with 47% of the vote and Pennsylvania with 48% in 2016, according to the New York Times.
By the numbers: In both states, 47% of voters view Biden as better equipped to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. 37% of voters in Pennsylvania say Trump would better handle the pandemic, while only 32% of voters in Wisconsin said the same.
The big picture: 85 days from Election Day, the warning signs are flashing bright red for Trump's re-election prospects as voters look poised to reject his handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Anything can happen — but right now, every measurable trend is going against Trump.
What to watch: Nearly half of the voters who said they would pick Biden over Trump responded that Biden's choice for vice president could push them one way or another.
Methodology: The surveys were conducted for CBS News by YouGov. The margin of error in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania is +/- 3.7. 1,009 registered voters were surveyed in Wisconsin and 1,225 were surveyed in Pennsylvania.
Go deeper: The blue wave threatening to crush Trump's re-election hopes
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.