Playbook PM: Biden faces 3 big questions on Afghanistan

From: POLITICO Playbook - Friday Aug 20,2021 04:52 pm

Aug 20, 2021

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By Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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HAPPENING SOON: President JOE BIDEN will speak about the situation in Afghanistan at 1 p.m.

Three big questions hang over today’s Afghanistan coverage:

1) How many Americans are still awaiting evacuation in Afghanistan? The White House still can’t say. Asked directly by CNN this morning, WH comms director KATE BEDINGFIELD did not have a specific answer, but said that outreach is ongoing to try to get a more accurate picture. More from Quint Forgey

2) Why isn’t the U.S. being as aggressive on the ground as our European allies are in evacuating their own citizens? “Earlier this week, an elite team of French police officers entered the capital’s Green Zone, where French nationals and vulnerable Afghans were sheltering on the grounds of the country’s embassy. They transported the people to Kabul airport for evacuation, the police confirmed,” report WaPo’s Katerina Ang, Jennifer Hassan, Erin Cunningham and Andrew Jeong . “There have also been reports of British paratroopers leaving the airport to rescue British nationals and local allies, although it isn’t immediately clear whether these efforts continued after the Taliban takeover. Germany has announced it will bring in two helicopters on Saturday to access hard-to-reach people in need of evacuation in Kabul. Critics of the Biden administration have asked why the more numerous U.S. forces have not followed suit.” (Indeed, the U.S. effort has not expanded beyond the Kabul airport, and State Dept. spokesperson NED PRICE told reporters on Thursday that “we don’t have the resources to go beyond the airport compound.”)

3) Are attempts to control crowds at Kabul’s airport contributing to the chaos? WSJ’s Saeed Shah reports on the confusing scene at Hamid Karzai International Airport , where military personnel are firing guns into the air and using tear gas to disperse crowds. “It was unclear whether the soldiers were American; Afghan, British and other Western troops are also stationed at the airport,” Shah writes.

— CNN’s @clarissaward: “Soldiers by the runway at Kabul airport tell me that there are 10,000 people here processed and ready to go… but nowhere to fly them to because Qatar is refusing to accept more Afghans because they’ve reached capacity. ‘It’s abysmal… someone needs to step up.’”

— NBC’s Courtney Kube reports that no flights have taken off out of Kabul airport in at least eight hours.

Look for Biden to address these topics in this speech. Meanwhile, the spiraling situation is the talk of other world leaders, too: German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL and Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN discussed the crisis during Merkel’s Kremlin visit today, according to the AP.

INSIGHT FROM NEW JOBLESS NUMBERS — “State cutoffs of jobless benefits had little effect on unemployment,” by Eleanor Mueller: “Only eight of the 26 states that ended federal jobless benefits early saw a statistically significant drop in unemployment in July, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Friday. Nine states and the District of Columbia that did not end the benefits also saw statistically significant drops in unemployment, muddying the waters as economists, policymakers and labor advocates are searching for any indication of the ramifications of some governors' decision to cut off emergency unemployment insurance before its Sept. 6 expiration date.”

— Related reading: “Cutting off jobless benefits early may have hurt state economies,” by NYT’s Ben Casselman: “When states began cutting off federal unemployment benefits this summer, their governors argued that the move would push people to return to work. New research suggests that ending the benefits did indeed lead some people to get jobs, but that far more people did not, leaving them — and perhaps also their states’ economies — worse off.”

Good Friday afternoon.

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PANDEMIC

AS THE DELTA VARIANT SPREADS …

… DHS is extending restrictions on non-essential travel at U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico through Sept. 21, CNN reports.

… “anxiety in the United States over Covid-19 is at its highest level since winter,” per a new AP-NORC poll that shows a 20-point jump since June in the percentage of Americans who say they are “‘extremely’ or ‘very’ worried about themselves or their family becoming infected with the virus.”

… efforts to vaccinate the under-18 crowd are progressing very slowly, writes NYT’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg: “Only 33% of 12- to 15-year-olds and 43% of 16- and 17-year-olds are fully vaccinated, according to federal data, compared with 62% of adults.” But, the average daily number of 12-15-year-olds being vaccinated is trending up.

… some scientists question the data behind the Biden administration’s decision on booster shots, reports WaPo.

… Jacksonville, Fla., has emerged as the latest “hot zone,” report AP’s Kelli Kennedy and Cody Jackson . There are at least 500 Covid patients in Baptist Health’s five hospitals across Jacksonville — “more than twice the number they had at the peak of Florida’s July 2020 surge, and the onslaught isn’t letting up.”

… the U.S. sees a diplomatic opening as more Asian countries decline China’s vaccine, NYT’s Sui-Lee Wee and Steven Lee Myers write.

… the rollout of Pfizer’s vaccine “hinges on two employees working on opposite ends of the world,” per WSJ’s Jared Hopkins.

WHITE HOUSE

VEEP ABROAD — VP KAMALA HARRIS is embarking on a trip to Southeast Asia, on which she is expected to refocus the administration on combating China, WSJ’s Feliz Solomon and Tarini Parti write . “Ms. Harris departs on Friday for Singapore and Vietnam, visits that will be the culmination of months of diplomatic outreach to the region, underscoring a shift in priorities away from the war on terror and toward containment of competing powers. During her trip, Ms. Harris is expected to focus on global health, economic partnerships and security in the region, according to senior administration officials.”

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.

THE ECONOMY

MEET THE NEW BOSS — “AFL-CIO names Shuler as first female president,” by Eleanor Mueller: “The AFL-CIO’s executive council voted Friday as expected to appoint LIZ SHULER as the federation’s president following the unexpected death of RICHARD TRUMKA. Shuler is the organization’s first female president, a historic moment for organized labor in the U.S. She will serve as the nation’s top union official until summer 2022, when the AFL-CIO’s 50-plus affiliates can gather for their annual convention to vote on a permanent successor. …

“Shuler’s first job in labor was as an organizer for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in 1993. She eventually worked her way up to become a lobbyist for IBEW and, later, executive assistant to its president, before Trumka named her his running mate in 2009.”

DOLLAR STRETCHING — “With prices creeping up, more Americans are turning to dollar stores,” by WaPo’s Abha Bhattarai: “A growing number of Americans are relying on dollar stores for everyday needs, especially groceries, as the coronavirus pandemic drags into its 18th month. Chains such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree are reporting blockbuster sales and profits, and proliferating so quickly that some U.S. cities want to limit their growth. …

“Analysts say the explosive rise of dollar stores is yet another example of how the pandemic has reshaped the economy and widened the gulf between the wealthiest and poorest Americans. Rising grocery prices — inflation is up 5.4 percent from last year — coupled with disproportionately high job losses among low-income workers have left many of the most vulnerable Americans in even worse shape.”

CONGRESS

YIKES — “A potential Pelosi successor, Rep. Katherine Clark, failed to properly disclose stock trades worth as much as $285,000,” by Insider’s Dave Levinthal

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POLICY CORNER

IMMIGRATION FILES — “DOJ considering options after court rejects appeal on Trump-era immigration policy,” by Maeve Sheehey: “The Department of Justice said Friday that it is weighing its options after a federal court refused to pause an order requiring the Biden administration to reinstate an immigration policy that forces asylum seekers arriving at the nation's southern border to await approval in Mexico. …

“U.S. District Judge MATTHEW KACSMARYK, a Trump appointee, ordered last week that the Biden administration reinstate the policy by Friday, a ruling the Department of Justice appealed. That appeal was rejected unanimously on Thursday by a three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, a move that could force the Biden administration to seek relief from the Supreme Court.”

DIRE SITUATION — “U.S. says food aid runs out this week in Ethiopia’s Tigray,” by AP’s Cara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya: “The United States is warning that food aid will run out this week for millions of hungry people under a blockade imposed by Ethiopia’s government on the embattled Tigray region.

“SAMANTHA POWER, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said in a statement late Thursday that less than 7% of the needed food aid has been reaching the Tigray region of some 6 million people, and USAID and other aid groups ‘have depleted their stores of food items warehoused in Tigray’ after nine months of war.”

PLAYBOOKERS

SPOTTED: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) outside a Vineyard Vines in Nantucket on Thursday. Someone walked by the group and said to Scott, “I’m from Florida, you’re a disgrace. You Trump-loving idiot,” according to a tipster. The group shrugged and carried on with their conversation. Pic

TRANSITION — Jeff Pickering is now director of AEI’s Initiative on Faith & Public Life. He most recently was director of public relations at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

BONUS BIRTHDAY: Heather Samuelson of the National Domestic Workers Alliance

A message from Climate Power: