Trump turns to virtual-only campaign events, after testing positive for COVID-19
02 October 2020
President Trump's previously scheduled campaign events will all be virtual or delayed as Election Day nears, after he and the first lady tested positive for the coronavirus, the campaign announced Friday.
Driving the news: A flurry of positive COVID-19 test results were released by the White House and surrounding politicians on Friday, after Trump and Melania Trump said they tested positive.
What they're saying: "All previously announced campaign events involving the President’s participation are in the process of being moved to virtual events or are being temporarily postponed," campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement.
- Events involving members of the Trump family will be postponed, Stepien added. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner tested negative on Friday, as the first lady said she was experiencing "mild symptoms."
- "All other campaign events will be considered on a case-by-case basis," he said.
Vice President Mike Pence, who has tested negative, will remain on the campaign trail, Stepien said. Pence's physician said he "does not need to quarantine" in a White House statement on Friday, and that the vice president "is not considered a close contact with any individuals who have tested positive for COVID," including Trump.
Of note: The campaign did not immediately respond to a request for details on how long Trump would only attend virtual events.
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.