Playbook PM: ‘A pandemic of the unvaccinated’

From: POLITICO Playbook - Friday Jul 16,2021 04:47 pm

Jul 16, 2021

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A BIG DC MEDIA MOVE: Variety’s Brian Steinberg got the scoop on Kasie Hunt’s departure from NBC: “CNN has snatched Kasie Hunt, the Capitol Hill correspondent long viewed as a rising star at NBC News, as part of an aggressive bid to push the WarnerMedia cable-news outlet into the new frontier of streaming video. …

“CNN is trying to hire dozens of people to help fuel its move into the streaming arena, and one person familiar with the matter said Hunt was offered an annual salary of between $1 million and $1.5 million that NBC News felt it simply could not match. This person suggested that Hunt could play a pivotal role in CNN’s streaming efforts, appearing online at moments of great national importance, such as during presidential elections.” In perhaps the key line of her departure announcement, Hunt (a POLITICO alum!) thanked fellow MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski for “always insisting that you should know your value.” Her full goodbye

KEEP YOUR BUNDLERS CLOSE — “Biden selects Jane Hartley as ambassador to U.K.,” by WaPo’s Tyler Pager and Anne Gearan: “President [JOE] BIDEN will nominate JANE HARTLEY, a former ambassador to France, to serve as ambassador to Britain, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

“Hartley, who was a major fundraiser for President BARACK OBAMA, was a significant fundraising ‘bundler’ for Biden’s campaign, though not in the upper echelon. People close to Biden were surprised by the pick given the president’s extensive list of close friends and longtime supporters, but they noted that Hartley supported Biden’s campaign before the Iowa caucuses and did not abandon the effort when he was struggling, as some other donors did.”

AND YOUR FORMER RIVALS CLOSER — “Biden and Sanders, once rivals, are now partners in power,” by AP’s Lisa Mascaro: “Talkers both, Joe Biden and BERNIE SANDERS stayed for an hour in the Oval Office, just two former rivals for the White House now acting as potential partners, negotiating a compromise both could live with.

“The centrist president listened as the liberal senator spoke. Sanders passionately made his case that Biden’s big infrastructure investment should go even bigger — and include his own longtime goal of dental, hearing and vision benefits for older Americans on Medicare. The president gave his full backing, according to a senior White House aide and another person familiar with the private session, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting.”

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Despite signs of progress and reopening in much of the U.S., the coronavirus is still looming over much of the nation. That was the message CDC Director ROCHELLE WALENSKY imparted at this morning’s Covid briefing : “This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” It’s also why the Biden administration is pushing harder than ever to reach the parts of the country that have ignored or resisted vaccines, as our colleagues Erin Banco and Dan Goldberg report.

From Erin and Dan: “Biden's Covid surge teams begin rolling out to a hostile heartland,”: “The Biden administration’s coronavirus surge teams have yet to materialize in several states across the Midwest and South where the highly contagious Delta variant is leading to a rapid rise in hospitalizations, according to four state health officials and two senior administration officials.

“The administration has sent a surge team of federal personnel and resources to Nevada, but multiple local health officials there said they aren’t sure if the federal aid — including help with Covid testing and door-to-door visits to promote vaccines — could help the state respond to the spread of Delta, or whether it would have an immediate and significant impact. Nor had the officials decided whether they need the assistance, which the White House says will differ in size and scope based on each state's needs.”

— “Covid Still Killing Americans Faster Than Guns, Cars and Flu Combined,” Bloomberg: “[F]or the month of June, coronavirus was responsible for 337 deaths a day. For comparison, the historic average deaths from gunshots, car crashes and complications from the flu add up to 306 a day.”

— “Canada could open to vaccinated U.S. tourists as soon as August, Trudeau says,” WaPo

— Meanwhile, the White House released a video this morning featuring OLIVIA RODRIGO and Dr. ANTHONY FAUCI reading tweets about themselves and promoting vaccines. The two talked about how excited they are to get back to concerts and Fauci told a story of his favorite concert — a Motown show featuring The Temptations and The Four Tops in New York City in the late 1950s. “I’m sorry, I’m a really old guy,” Fauci said with a laugh. Olivia also educated Fauci on what “Man Crush Monday” means. The 3:51 video

BIDEN TAKES AIM AT CHINA — “U.S. to Warn Businesses Over Rising Risks in Hong Kong Under China Crackdown,” by WSJ’s William Mauldin and Alex Leary: “The Biden administration is warning American businesses about the increasing risks of operating in Hong Kong as China’s tightening grip on the city causes business conditions to deteriorate.

“In an advisory to be issued Friday, the Biden administration warns businesses and individuals working for them that they are subject to a restrictive national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong a year ago. The advisory cites the risks of electronic surveillance without warrants and of having to surrender corporate and customer data to the government, according to an administration official.”

MUST-READ ON THE HUNTER PROSECUTION — “Hunter Biden’s prosecutor rejected moves that would have revealed probe earlier,” by Ben Schreckinger: “Last summer, federal officials in Delaware investigating HUNTER BIDEN faced a dilemma. The probe had reached a point where prosecutors could have sought search warrants and issued a flurry of grand jury subpoenas. Some officials involved in the case wanted to do just that. Others urged caution. They advised Delaware’s U.S. Attorney, DAVID WEISS, to avoid taking any actions that could alert the public to the existence of the case in the middle of a presidential election.

“‘To his credit, he listened,’ said a person involved in the discussions, reported here for the first time. Weiss decided to wait, averting the possibility that the investigation would become a months-long campaign issue. … Weiss declined to comment. But as the 65-year-old U.S. attorney navigates this hazardous terrain, interviews with members of Delaware’s small legal community and an examination of his career reveal two salient qualities.”

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

GAETZ-GATE — “Matt Gaetz's campaign paid $25K to a Manhattan criminal defense lawyer who represented Jeffrey Epstein, new records show,” by Insider’s Robin Bravender: “Florida GOP Rep. MATT GAETZ'S congressional campaign paid $25,000 in June for ‘legal consulting’ fees to a Manhattan criminal defense attorney, new campaign finance records show. Gaetz's latest filing shows that he paid the sum to attorney MARC FERNICH, who lists among his ‘notable clients’ the accused child sex trafficker JEFFREY EPSTEIN, Mexican drug kingpin JOAQUIN ‘EL CHAPO’ GUZMAN LOERA, and convicted crime family boss JOHN ‘JUNIOR’ GOTTI.”

WATER WALKBACK — “Trump showerhead rule to increase water flow being dropped,” by AP’s Matthew Daly: “So much for Donald Trump’s quest for ‘perfect’ hair. President Joe Biden’s administration is reversing a Trump-era rule approved after the former president complained he wasn’t getting wet enough because of limits on water flow from showerheads.

“Now, with a new president in office, the Energy Department is going back to a standard adopted in 2013, saying it provides plenty of water for a good soak and a thorough clean. The rule change will have little practical effect, since nearly all commercially made showerheads comply with the 2013 rule — the pet peeve of the former president notwithstanding.”

2022 WATCH — “Chris Sununu takes aim at Maggie Hassan as he flirts with New Hampshire Senate bid,” by Washington Examiner’s David Drucker: “‘What’s the case for her?’ Gov. CHRIS SUNUNU responded dismissively when the Republican was asked to lay out his case against Sen. MAGGIE HASSAN, the incumbent Democrat he may challenge in midterm elections next year.

“Sununu, the GOP’s coveted 46-year-old recruit, is undecided about mounting a 2022 bid after three successful gubernatorial campaigns in just four years (New Hampshire still limits its chief executive to two-year terms.) But gradually, Sununu is dipping his toes into the national political waters and feeling out a race against Hassan, suggesting however much the governor might legitimately ‘hate’ Washington, waging the potentially decisive battle for control of an evenly divided Senate intrigues him.”

POLICING IN AMERICA — “Some Police Push Back on Bail Reform, Citing Wave of Killings,” by WSJ’s Joe Barrett in Chicago: “Proponents of bail reform, a plank of a broader progressive criminal-justice platform, hope to reduce prison populations and allow suspects who can’t afford cash bail to be released. Advocates say that the number of crimes committed by these suspects is too small to account for the rise in crime. Police officers and other critics say the project has made the streets less safe.

“In the last three months of 2020, homicides rose 32.2% in cities with a population of at least one million, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report. The trend appears to have continued in the first quarter: Murders were up 29% in 63 of the 70 cities that are part of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a group representing police leaders in the nation’s largest cities.”

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UNEXPECTED ALLIES — “Odd Couple Unites in Action Against Big Tech,” by WSJ’s Tripp Mickle: “KEN PAXTON is an outspoken Texan and Christian conservative who has become a legal champion of the right. DINA SRINIVASAN is a Bay Area-based independent whose scrutiny of big business has made her a rising star for the left.

“Despite differing worldviews, they have united against a common enemy: Big Tech. The duo are key players in an antitrust lawsuit filed last year on behalf of a group of states against Google, which claims that the Alphabet Inc. subsidiary uses its control over ad exchanges to favor its own businesses and to levy fees on websites that rely on it for revenue. The case, in spite of turmoil in Mr. Paxton’s office, remains a key part of a wave of bipartisan actions against technology giants that has sparked comparisons to the trustbusting era of Theodore Roosevelt.”

CLIMATE FILES — “Building Solar Farms May Not Build the Middle Class,” by NYT’s Noam Scheiber: “The Green New Deal, first introduced in 2019, sought to ‘create millions of good, high-wage jobs.’ … But on its current trajectory, the green economy is shaping up to look less like the industrial workplace that lifted workers into the middle class in the 20th century than something more akin to an Amazon warehouse or a fleet of Uber drivers: grueling work schedules, few unions, middling wages and limited benefits.”

— “The Amazon rainforest is the world’s carbon sink. Parts of it now release more carbon than can be absorbed,” by WaPo’s Rachel Pannett

— “China Opened a National Carbon Market. Here’s Why it Matters,” by NYT’s Chris Buckley

IN MEMORIAM — “Reuters journalist killed covering clash between Afghan forces, Taliban,” Reuters: “Reuters journalist DANISH SIDDIQUI was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said.

“Afghan special forces had been fighting to retake the main market area of Spin Boldak when Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed in what they described as Taliban crossfire, the official told Reuters. Siddiqui had been embedded as a journalist since earlier this week with Afghan special forces based in the southern province of Kandahar and had been reporting on fighting between Afghan commandos and Taliban fighters.”

AFTERNOON READ — “The Last Commander,” by James Kitfield for POLITICO Mag: “The irony, in a war full of them, is that a commander almost uniquely qualified to fight it was instead ordered to walk America off the battlefield for good. And as helicopters and cargo planes rapidly moved U.S. troops and equipment out of bases in Afghanistan, SCOTT MILLER has been charged with finding answers to the difficult questions the rapid American withdrawal has raised. …

“‘Those questions weigh on you, and it’s not just me,’ Miller said in an interview shortly before departing Afghanistan earlier this week. ‘There are a lot of other people in this “last rotation” in Afghanistan that have served here on multiple deployments, and we all have relationships with the Afghan people … And even as we’re leaving, with the risk to the Afghan people and nation on the rise, I’ve been struck by how gracious they are towards us as we depart.’”

RACIST BENEFACTOR DIES — “William Regnery II, Reclusive Millionaire Who Financed American Fascists, Dead At 80,” by HuffPost’s Christopher Mathias: “WILLIAM H. REGNERY II, a racist, reclusive multimillionaire who used his inherited fortune to finance vile white supremacist groups in the hopes of one day forming an American whites-only ethnostate, died earlier this month, his family and associates confirmed. He was 80 years old. Regnery, whose family amassed riches from its right-wing publishing empire, died on July 2 in Florida after a ‘long battle with cancer,’ his cousin Alfred, the former head of Regnery Publishing, confirmed to HuffPost.”

JOINING THE TEAM — Sean McMinn will be POLITICO’s new editor of data and graphics. He previously was a data editor on NPR’s investigations team.

SPOTTED: Tom Nides and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) at Cafe Milano on Thursday night. … Tom Nides, James Rosen and Ken Weinstein having breakfast at the Four Seasons this morning. H.P. Goldfield was also elsewhere at the restaurant.

TRANSITIONS — Freddy Mitchell is now VP for U.S. government relations at MetLife. He most recently was VP for congressional relations and political affairs at the American Bankers Association. … Asana Creative Strategy has rebranded as Woolf Strategy, and added Stefan Davis as graphic designer.

BONUS BIRTHDAY: Brooke Starr of Rep. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) office

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