Trump to Woodward: "Nothing more could have been done" on coronavirus
14 September 2020
Journalist Bob Woodward opened up to CBS' News' "60 Minutes" in an interview airing Sunday of the moment in August when President Trump told him, "nothing more could have been done" on the coronavirus.
Driving the news: Trump made the comments, recorded by Woodward and broadcast by CBS, to the "Rage" author during one of their final interviews as the death toll from COVID-19 was surging. "Does he remember what he told me, back in February, about it's more deadly than the flu?" Woodward repeated after the audio clip played.
- "I mean it almost took my breath away, that there was such certainty, when he was absolutely wrong about the issue that defines the position of this country right now."
Go deeper: Trump told Bob Woodward he intentionally played down coronavirus threat
Editor's note: This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.
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.