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Presented by Climate Power: The unofficial guide to official Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Tara Palmeri | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | Good morning from the heart of the storm. On Saturday, I saw an exodus from the tip of Long Island. But I decided to stay. I’m writing to you from East Hampton, where I’m hunkered down for the tropical storm formerly known as Hurricane Henri. (It’s not so bad — strong winds and light rain, for now …) In his final act as governor of New York, ANDREW CUOMO is commandeering this storm. And he’s leaving his successor, KATHY HOCHUL, in the dark by not including her in his briefings. Cuomo, when asked about it Saturday: “I am governor today, and I am in charge.” “Henri is expected to make landfall around noon on Sunday, the outgoing governor said, and be a ‘26-hour event,’” Bill Mahoney writes from Albany. That should carry us close to the end of the Cuomo era — he’s scheduled to resign at 11:59 p.m. Monday. BIDEN’S STRUGGLE TO CONTROL THE NARRATIVE — Meanwhile in Washington, the Biden administration is facing a tough reality: Americans are not tuned out this August. Typically, it’s a slow month, Congress is out of town, and summer gets its last gasp before kids go back to school and the weather cools down. Absent any major news, it would be an opportunity to notch victories on the bipartisan infrastructure package and reconciliation bill. Then came the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan — and now, Americans plugged in and engaged. Instagram accounts you’d normally expect to be filled with end-of-summer poolside selfies are instead sharing heart-rending pictures of babies being cradled by U.S. troops in Kabul. For the White House, that’s a problem: People are tuned in right as President JOE BIDEN is struggling to control the narrative in Washington. The flattering comparisons to FDR have reverted to JIMMY CARTER. That Aug. 10 victory dance at the White House over BIF feels like a lifetime ago, and on the political front, the danger for the White House is that Afghanistan could completely overshadow what Congress will be toiling away at when they come back to session this week. (More on that in the coming days as we kick off Playbook’s policy-palooza. Get excited, people!) Instead, these are the kind of stories dominating the news: — Threats by Islamic State militants against Americans in Afghanistan have forced the U.S. military to find new ways for American evacuees to reach Kabul’s airport, per the AP. — A handful of Democratic lawmakers have considered calling for the resignation of national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN, per the NYT, hoping it “would help the president ‘reset the narrative.’” — Former British PM TONY BLAIR called Biden’s Afghanistan pullout “imbecilic” in a 2,700-word (!) post published Saturday on his institute’s website. “We didn’t need to do it. We chose to do it,” Blair wrote. “We did it in obedience to an imbecilic political slogan about ending ‘the forever wars,’ as if our engagement in 2021 was remotely comparable to our commitment 20 or even 10 years ago.” Blair’s full jeremiad It’s a bit of a surprise, seeing as Blair has previously praised Biden — the Telegraph notes that in January, he called him “the right man in the right place at the right time” — and both men have long been associated with the moderate wings of their parties. — Seven Afghans seeking to flee the Taliban were killed outside the airport in Kabul on Saturday, according to the British military. Kim Sengupta of the Independent was on the scene: “Then came a fourth death, another woman, also overcome by the crush of the crowd and heat. The bodies, wrapped, had been placed across the road for collection by the families. A young Hazara girl, around eight years old, lifted one of the shrouds and fainted; it was her mother. The girl, who had a hand missing, the result of an IED explosion, had asked me earlier to try and find her mother. ‘I feel very scared, I have no one,’ she had said.” Among those killed was a 2-year-old girl. “Your child could get trampled,” an Afghan and former interpreter for the U.S. military lamented to the NYT. “If the U.S. gives me the entire universe after I lose a child, it is worthless.” — The U.S. is enlisting commercial airlines to provide more than a dozen planes to help evacuate Kabul, as WSJ’s Gordon Lubold and Alison Sider scooped Saturday night. A nugget buried deep in the story: “A tent city is being erected” at New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, one of several U.S. bases Pentagon officials are looking at to receive Afghan refugees. You can expect Biden to address some of these issues today at 4 p.m. , when he’s scheduled to speak about Afghanistan and the ongoing airlift. But he’s already at a precarious moment in the polls: — “Biden’s job ratings decline amid Covid surge, Afghanistan withdrawal in NBC News poll”: “Biden’s overall job-approval rating has dipped below 50 percent among adults for the first time in his early presidency.” — “Biden job approval falls; handling of troop removal is negative but support for withdrawal remains — CBS News poll”: “Biden’s overall approval rating, which had been consistently net positive since he took office, has dropped eight points and now lands at an even 50-50 nationwide.” — “Polls show Biden’s approval rating sliding to new lows,” by Steve Shepard A few more Afghanistan reads: “Miscue After Miscue, U.S. Exit Plan Unravels,” NYT … “Afghan Ex-President Hamid Karzai Angles for National Role After Taliban Takeover,” WSJ … “‘It’s not our fight’ vs. ‘We owe them’: Americans debate what’s right in Afghanistan,” WaPo … “U.S. Banks and Money-Transfer Firms Tread Carefully in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan,” WSJ … “Europe fears Afghan refugee crisis after Taliban takeover,” AP … Latest: “Britain calls G7 meeting on Tuesday to discuss Afghan crisis,” Reuters Good Sunday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. | | | | A message from Climate Power: A clean energy future is well within reach. All it will take is making sure big corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share. The climate crisis is here, American workers are ready for millions of clean energy jobs, now it's just up to Congress to get it done. It's time to build back better. | | | PUT ON YOUR DANCING SCHUMER — On Saturday, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER managed to have some fun with CBS “Late Show” host STEPHEN COLBERT backstage at the New York City comeback concert in Central Park — defying one of the rules of his longtime staffers to never sing, dance or wear hats. With video NUMBER OF THE DAY — 703 days. That was the average processing time for a Special Immigrant Visa application — the type being used for many Afghan allies of the U.S. — as of July, according to the Migration Policy Institute. We were curious if that time frame has sped up given the new urgency in Afghanistan, so we asked the State Department. A spokesperson tells Playbook that the process has “dramatically accelerated” in recent months — as of early August “we were processing more than 800 visas per week,” they said — but that “because of our focus on executing one of the biggest airlifts in history, we cannot give an exact picture of processing times.” SIX INTERESTING THINGS WE READ: — The political environment is moving in favor of the GOP, writes CNN’s Harry Enten: “When you look at the first 17 special elections this year (through early April), the Republican overperformance over [DONALD] TRUMP was just a point. Examining the last 17 special elections, the overperformance has been 7 points. When you splice the data even further, Republicans have been outperforming the 2020 baseline by double-digits since the beginning of July.” — After encouraging his supporters to get vaccinated, Trump was booed at a rally in Alabama on Saturday night, Newsweek reports. — Meanwhile, Trump’s will-he-or-won’t-he presence looms over the GOP’s would-be 2024 field. Ben Jacobs has a good piece on the dynamic for New York magazine. — What happened to JACK MA, the Chinese tech billionaire once revered as a Bezos-esque figure? Per the WSJ, he ran afoul of Chinese President XI JINPING by behaving “too much like an American entrepreneur” and not keeping pace with Beijing’s changing view of tech — which was “once seen as a useful prod for China to catch up with the West, [but] has been recast as a threat to the ruling Communist Party.” — PHIL VALENTINE, a conservative radio host and “outspoken vaccine skeptic,” has died from Covid-19. “I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, ‘Go get vaccinated,’” his brother told The Tennessean. “‘Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories.’” — What can Afghan refugees expect of life in the U.S.? In a guest essay for POLITICO Magazine , Putsata Reang, whose family escaped the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and who taught aspiring female journalists in Afghanistan in 2008, writes about what Afghan refugees who are fortunate enough to leave might experience in the U.S.: “[If] their experience turns out like mine, what will follow them out of their burning country is survivor’s guilt and the kind of trauma that will live not only in their minds and hearts, but in their bodies. They will need to make a new life in a country where some will welcome them with open arms and others will treat them as outsiders.” Take a few minutes to read the whole piece. It’s worth it. SUNDAY BEST … — Sullivan on whether the U.S. will need to send more troops to Afghanistan, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “At the moment, we believe we have sufficient forces on the ground, but every single day, the president asks his military commanders, including those at the airport and those at the Pentagon, whether they need additional resources, additional troops. So far, the answer has been ‘no,’ but he will ask again today.” — Sullivan on how many Americans are still awaiting evacuation, on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “We cannot give you a precise number, but we believe that it is several thousand.” — Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN on the latest evacuations, on “Fox News Sunday”: “In less than 24 hours, about 8,000 people, on about 60 flights, [were] evacuated from Kabul airport.” — Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN on reports of the Taliban not letting people get to the Kabul airport to evacuate, on ABC’s “This Week”: “As we learn about those incidents, we certainly go back and engage the Taliban leadership and press home to them that our expectation is that they allow our people with the appropriate credentials to get through the checkpoints.” — Sen. BEN SASSE (R-Neb.) on the Biden administration’s handling of Afghanistan, on “Fox News Sunday”: “They’re still in spin mode … They need to go faster. We have a national security crisis. It’s ongoing. We have a lot of Americans in harm’s way. We have a lot of people we made promises to beyond the wire at the airport, and you heard the president say just shameful falsehood after shameful falsehood this week.” | | | | A message from Climate Power:   Americans want a clean energy future, good paying jobs and to solve the climate crisis. And they want big corporations to pay their fair share. | | | BIDEN’S SUNDAY: — 11 a.m.: Biden met with his national security team on Afghanistan in the Situation Room. — 4 p.m.: Biden will provide an update from the Roosevelt Room about the Hurricane Henri response and the Afghanistan evacuation effort. VP KAMALA HARRIS’ SUNDAY/MONDAY — The VP is in Singapore. — 10 p.m. EDT: Harris will take part in an arrival ceremony with Singaporean PM LEE HSIEN LOONG, followed by an orchid ceremony, a courtesy call with President HALIMAH YACOB, and a bilateral meeting with Lee. — 12:50 a.m.: EDT: Harris and Lee will hold a press conference. — 4 a.m. EDT: Harris will arrive at Changi Naval Base and get a briefing from Singaporean defense officials. — 4:50 a.m. EDT: Harris will tour the USS Tulsa and then deliver remarks to troops aboard the ship. | | | | INTRODUCING OTTAWA PLAYBOOK : Join the growing community of Politicos — from lawmakers and leaders to pollsters, staffers, strategists and lobbyists — working to shape Canada’s future. Every day, our reporting team pulls back the curtain to shed light on what’s really driving the agenda on Parliament Hill, the true players who are shaping politics and policy across Canada, and the impact it all has on the world. Don’t miss out on your daily look inside Canadian politics and power. Subscribe to Ottawa Playbook today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: A family of Afghan evacuees arrives at Dulles airport Saturday. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo | PANDEMIC KEEP HOPE ALIVE — “Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and Wife Hospitalized After Testing Positive for COVID-19,” NBC Chicago THESE ARE THE TIMES WE LIVE IN, PART I — The FDA has had enough. On Saturday, the agency shared an article headlined “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19” on its official Twitter account with the commentary: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” THESE ARE THE TIMES WE LIVE IN, PART II — “Parents get coached on how to escape mask and vaccine rules,” by AP’s Gillian Flaccus, Janie Har and Sara Cline THE STEP BACK — “Four weeks in July: Inside the Biden administration’s struggle to contain the delta surge,” by WaPo’s Annie Linskey, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Tyler Pager POLICY CORNER YELLEN FOR JAY — “Janet Yellen to Back Jerome Powell Reappointment for Fed Chair,” by Bloomberg’s Saleha Mohsin and Jennifer Jacobs: “U.S. Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN has told senior White House advisers that she supports reappointing JEROME POWELL as Federal Reserve chair, according to people familiar with the matter. “President Joe Biden hasn’t yet made a decision, the people said, adding that he’s likely to do so around Labor Day. … The White House has been looking more widely for possible candidates for the position, according to people familiar with the matter. A team of advisers has been examining the public speeches and comments of candidates to consider, paying special attention to views on the labor market, they said.” INFLATION WATCH — “Sky-high prices, non-existent discounts on cars will be new normal for years,” by Detroit Free Press’ Jamie LaReau CONGRESS EYES TOWARD SCOTUS — “As Democrats Renew Voting Rights Push, Offsetting Roberts Court Is Top of Mind,” by NYT’s Carl Hulse: “Democrats are scaling back the broader bill to unite their party for coming votes. The Lewis measure already has the backing of all 50 senators who caucus with Democratic leadership, including Senator JOE MANCHIN III of West Virginia, the sole Democrat who did not endorse the For the People Act. He has also enlisted the support of a lone Republican, Senator LISA MURKOWSKI of Alaska, far from the minimum of 10 Republicans needed to overcome a filibuster. … “Democratic officials involved in drafting the John Lewis act say it was carefully written to withstand constitutional scrutiny from the six conservatives on the court. But given the record of the court, and particularly that of the chief justice, satisfying the justices could prove difficult even if Democrats were to somehow get the measure to President Biden’s desk.” SHIFTING POLITICS OF THE C.B.C. — “The Congressional Black Caucus: Powerful, Diverse and Newly Complicated,” by NYT’s Astead Herndon: “The newcomers, shaped by the Black Lives Matter movement rather than the civil rights era, urge Democrats to go on the offensive regarding race and policing, pushing an affirmative message about how to overhaul public safety. They seek a bolder strategy on voting rights and greater investment in the recruitment and support of Black candidates. … “In interviews, more than 20 people close to the C.B.C. — including several members, their senior aides and other Democrats who have worked with the group — described the shifting dynamics of the leading organization of Black power players in Washington. The caucus is a firm part of the Democratic establishment, close to House leadership and the relationship-driven world of political consulting and campaigns. However, unlike other groups tied to party leaders, the caucus is perhaps the country’s most public coalition of civil rights stalwarts, ostensibly responsible for ensuring that an insider game shaped by whiteness can work for Black people.” | | | | A message from Climate Power:   The climate crisis is here, American workers are ready, now it's up to Congress. | | | POLITICS ROUNDUP QUITE THE CAST — “Inside Al Sharpton’s wild campaign to draft Biden into Delaware’s tortured court drama,” by Chris Cadelago: “The case involves jilted lovers, the separation of a nearly $1 billion company, cameos from the likes of ALAN DERSHOWITZ and RUDY GIULIANI and, if [AL] SHARPTON has his way, an intervention from Delaware’s favorite son. And should the bending of Biden’s ear prove successful, it would resemble one of the most audacious quasi-lobbying efforts in recent memory. “The Sharpton-narrated TV ad is ostensibly about the Chancery court’s lack of diversity. That is Sharpton’s sole focus in the spot, anyway. But the group paying to air the ad, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, was formed by distressed employees of the massive translation services company TransPerfect, which years ago was forced into a sale by Chancellor ANDRE BOUCHARD, who recently retired from the court. Sharpton, in an interview with POLITICO, stressed he was not paid to shoot the ad specifically. But he acknowledged receiving speaking fees from the Citizens group when he traveled to Delaware.” HEAD-SCRATCHER — “How Trump-hating California got a slate of recall candidates who supported Trump,” by L.A. Times’ Julia Wick HOW WE GOT HERE — “Turmoil Was Brewing at Time’s Up Long Before Cuomo,” by NYT’s Jodi Kantor, Arya Sundaram, Melena Ryzik and Cara Buckley BEYOND THE BELTWAY CENSUS DEEP DIVE — “Inside the Diverse and Growing Asian Population in the U.S.,” by NYT’s Robert Gebeloff, Denise Lu and Miriam Jordan: “The number of people who identify as Asian in the United States nearly tripled in the past three decades, and Asians are now the fastest-growing of the nation’s four largest racial and ethnic groups, according to recently released census numbers. “But in addition to the uptick, the Asian population has become geographically diverse with wide variations in income, citizenship status and political preference, according to a New York Times analysis of census data.” TRUMP CARDS OK THEN — “Roger Stone plans to sue ABC News for $25 million over Jan. 6 articles,” by Salon’s Zachary Petrizzo | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | SPOTTED: Jeff Bezos at Tail Up Goat. … Jake Tapper at the Dave Matthews Band concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion. ENGAGED — Sahil Jain, a foreign service officer with the State Department, and Christine Dickason, who works on Emily Tisch Sussman’s “Your Political Playlist” podcast and is an Obama alum, got engaged Saturday at the Inn at Little Washington. The two met in D.C. Pic WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Ginger Luckey eloped Saturday in a surprisingly low-key wedding on Catalina Island. The ceremony was officiated and deejayed by former Rand Paul staffer Sergio Gor. Per Vanity Fair, Raheem Kassam and Natalie Winters were among the few politicos in attendance. Pic — Lauren Gillis, senior policy adviser to U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and Alex Tureman, CEO of Bondi Partners, got married Friday night at the Sun Room in D.C., with Lauren’s aunt serving as the officiant. The two met while working together in the Australian Embassy. Pic … Another pic … SPOTTED: Aaron Woolf, Helen Milby, Noam Lee, Andy Beilein, Maggie McNamara Cooper and Scott Cooper, Amy Pfaeler, Katie Orlowsky, Sean Dugan, Brendan Dowling, Justin Troiano and Kevin Walling. BIRTHWEEK (was Saturday): Carli Kientzle of the White House HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NBC’s Steve Kornacki … The Hill’s Alex Gangitano … Finsbury Glover Hering’s Jennifer Loven … Ken Farnaso of Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) office … National Review’s Rich Lowry ... Brittany Baker ... Thomas Midanek ... POLITICO’s Rishika Dugyala, Michael Cadenhead and Alysha Kurani … NewsGuard’s Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz … Tom Edsall … Facebook’s Jen Nedeau Helm and Sabrina Siddiqui … Luke Russert … Bill Miller of the American Gaming Association … Natalie Apsell … Nick Mildebrath of Convergence Targeted Communications … Axios’ Gigi Sukin and Stef Kight … AP’s Nebi Qena … former Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Thad McCotter (R-Mich.) and Bud Cramer (D-Ala.) … Chris Lapetina … Bill Cortese ... Sward Tondoneh … Bill Turenne Jr. … CBS’ Nancy Chen ... AnnaMaria Di Pietro … Selena Strandberg … Katie Gordon … Matthew Barnes … Claire Stein-Ross … Mother Jones’ Pema Levy ... Jordan Goldes ... Rob Borden … Alyssa Palisi ... Brystol English ... Hailey Arends … Ryan Patmintra … Paul Singer … Steve Kroft … Scooter Libby Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross. | | | | A message from Climate Power: The climate crisis is here, American workers are ready to get to work in clean energy jobs, and it's time for Congress to make sure that we build back better.
We can get it done by making sure big corporations and the ultra wealthy pay their fair share, without costing everyday Americans a penny more in taxes.
Investing in clean energy jobs will not only create millions of jobs in cities, suburbs, and rural communities across America -- 75 percent of which won't require a college degree -- it will also save Americans millions of dollars by lowering electricity bills.
Already, builders, roofers, painters, engineers and electricians, autoworkers, accountants, administrators, researchers and teachers across the country are working hard at clean energy jobs -- working to create a cleaner, safer, more just and prosperous America.
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