The first article says:
There's no reason to assume that the Z28 wouldn't be offered with both transmissions, and only a fool would dial back the power.
The 2nd article says:
The Z28 is likely to only be available with a six speed manual transmission, unless GM can piggyback some of the car's certification on work already done for the CTS-V to get the automatic into the range at low cost.
If they only end up offering it in a auto, that will be the biggest fail of the year.