06 September 2020
The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg told CNN's "Reliable Sources" on Sunday that he expects "more confirmation and new pieces of information" to come out in the coming days and weeks that will corroborate his story about alleged incendiary comments President Trump made about the military.
The big picture: Reporters from the AP, Washington Post and Fox News are among those who have confirmed aspects of Goldberg's story, which has been vehemently denied by the White House. The story alleges, among other things, that Trump attacked the intelligence of soldiers who died in war, calling them "suckers" and "losers."
What he's saying: Goldberg addressed his use of anonymous sources, which has come under criticism from the president and others who believe that officials should not be allowed to launch bombshell allegations under the cloak of anonymity, especially in the midst of an election campaign.
- "I felt confident publishing it because I had multiple sources with firsthand knowledge of the president's views and comments," Goldberg said. "That's the only reason to publish anything."
- "The formula is simple. What you do is you have to say, does the public's right to know or need to know a particular piece of information outweigh the morally complicated and ambiguous qualities of anonymous sourcing," he continued.
- "Most of us, most of the time, don't rely on anonymous sourcing for most things because there are difficulties there. But in this climate, with information that we judge the voters to need, we are going to use anonymous sources because we think the public has a right to know. Especially when you have four or five or six sources, primary sources, corroborating sources, telling you the same thing."
Go deeper: Trump slams Fox News reporter who confirmed parts of Atlantic story
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.