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Presented by Facebook: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun and Garrett Ross | | | IT’S BEEN A BLEAK WEEK, so the pandemic getting worse at a slower rate than before qualifies as good news today. At this morning’s Covid-19 briefing, CDC Director ROCHELLE WALENSKY said the seven-day average of new cases is up 3% week over week — that’s down from a 12% growth rate just a few days ago. Perhaps the peak of the country’s Delta variant surge is in sight. — New: President JOE BIDEN told reporters in the Oval Office that he talked with ANTHONY FAUCI today about the prospect of giving vaccine booster shots after five months instead of eight. AND NOW, BACK TO THE TRAGEDY. Two major bits of news came out of the Pentagon’s press conference this morning: — Officials announced that Thursday’s attack at the Kabul airport was one suicide bombing (plus gunfire), not two as they’d previously stated. Maj. Gen. HANK TAYLOR: “We do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near the Baron hotel. It was one suicide bomber. We’re not sure how that report was provided incorrectly, but we do know it’s not any surprise.” — Pentagon press secretary JOHN KIRBY said “specific credible threats” remain on the ground and they “expect future attempts.” More than 5,000 U.S. troops are still working at the airport. NBC’s Peter Alexander reported that “President Biden’s national security team warned him today that ‘another terror attack in Kabul is likely, but that they are taking maximum force protection measures at the Kabul Airport,’ per a WH official.” THE LATEST EVACUATIONS — Despite the bombing, the White House announced that roughly 12,500 more people were evacuated from Kabul in the 24-hour period ending today at 3 a.m. EDT. The U.S. is also adding three more military bases in Virginia and New Mexico to the list of places that will house Afghan refugees, with capacity rising to 50,000 people, per the Pentagon. — “New urgency to airlift from Kabul after blasts kill dozens,” by AP’s Sayed Ziarmal Hashemi, Tameem Akhgar, Kathy Gannon and Cara Anna: “Two officials said 169 Afghans died, but a final count might take time amid confusion, with many bodies dismembered or not yet identified. … [T]he anxious crowds outside the city’s airport appeared as large as ever despite the risks. They are acutely aware that the window is closing to board a flight before the airlift ends and Western troops withdraw.” — The story of the day is this cinematic recounting of an operation by volunteer U.S. veterans to pluck hundreds of Afghans from danger and get them to safety under cover of night, via ABC’s James Gordon Meek: “[A]n all-volunteer group of American veterans of the Afghan war launched a final daring mission on Wednesday night dubbed the ‘Pineapple Express’ to shepherd hundreds of at-risk Afghan elite forces and their families to safety … Moving after nightfall in near-pitch black darkness and extremely dangerous conditions, the group said it worked unofficially in tandem with the United States military and U.S. embassy to move people, sometimes one person at a time, or in pairs … “There were wounded among the Pineapple Express travelers from the blast, and members of the group said they were assessing whether unaccounted-for Afghans they were helping had been killed. As of Thursday morning, the group said it had brought as many as 500 Afghan special operators, assets and enablers and their families into the airport in Kabul overnight.” ON THE HILL — Bloomberg’s @JenniferJJacobs: “Officials from State, Pentagon, Homeland Security will brief US senators on developments/actions in Afghanistan at 1p, per two sources.” Good Friday afternoon. Playbook PM will be off next week for a late-summer hiatus, but we’ll still be in your inboxes every morning. | | A message from Facebook: Internet regulations are as outdated as dial-up.
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- Reforming Section 230 | | | MORE ON AFGHANISTAN THE EVACUEES — “Some Afghan refugee children are arriving in the U.S. without family members,” by CBS’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez: “U.S. immigration authorities have designated at least 34 Afghan children as unaccompanied minors, sending some of them to HHS-overseen shelters for undocumented migrant youth. “HHS officials said some of the children who were designated as unaccompanied minors upon arrival were subsequently reunited with family members who had also been evacuated to the U.S. Some of them traveled with non-parental adult family members … But other Afghan children arrived in the U.S. without any family members and remain in the custody of HHS' Office of Refugee Resettlement.” GOING VIRAL — “Marine commander puts career on the line to demand accountability over Afghanistan withdrawal in viral video,” Task & Purpose … Watch it here THE LONG VIEW — “Amid Afghan Chaos, a C.I.A. Mission That Will Persist for Years,” by NYT’s Mark Mazzetti, Julian Barnes and Adam Goldman: “As the Afghanistan war wound down, the C.I.A. had expected to gradually shift its primary focus away from counterterrorism — a mission that transformed the agency over two decades into a paramilitary organization focused on manhunts and killing — toward traditional spycraft against powers like China and Russia. … “Like a black hole with its own gravitational pull, Afghanistan could draw the C.I.A. back into a complex counterterrorism mission for years to come. American officials are reworking plans to counter threats that could emerge from Afghanistan’s chaos … negotiating for new bases in Central Asian countries; determining how clandestine officers can run sources in the country without the military and diplomatic outposts that provided cover to spies for two decades; and figuring out from where the C.I.A. could launch drone strikes and other Afghanistan operations.” FEATURE OF THE DAY — “U.S. soldier loses 1 Afghan translator; fights to save another,” by AP’s Julie Watson and Andrea Rosa with a Bremen, Germany, dateline MEDIAWATCH — The Pulitzer Prize Board today announced a special citation “to honor the women and men of Afghanistan who have dedicated themselves at great personal risk to create and support journalism that has chronicled decades of life and war,” and said they’d commit $100,000 for those journalists’ emergency relief. The announcement | | | | 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. | | | | | POLITICS ROUNDUP A SCOOP OF BREYERS — This might be the best bit of incremental news for Democrats today: In a new interview with NYT’s Adam Liptak, Justice STEPHEN BREYER sounds more open to timing his retirement politically than he has before: “Breyer says he is struggling to decide when to retire from the Supreme Court and is taking account of a host of factors, including who will name his successor. ‘There are many things that go into a retirement decision,’ he said. … ‘I don’t think I’m going to stay there till I die — hope not,’ he said. … “The justice tried to sum up the factors that would go into his decision. ‘There are a lot of blurred things there, and there are many considerations,’ he said. ‘They form a whole. I’ll make a decision.’ … Justice Breyer said he was wary of efforts to increase the size of the court … Justice Breyer said the court should be deciding fewer emergency applications on its ‘shadow docket’ … [H]e was not eager to discuss retirement. … But he seemed at pains to make one thing clear: He is a realist.” AGAINST THE GRAIN — “GOP senator to Asheville business group: COVID-19 unvaccinated the problem, not immigrants,” by the Asheville Citizen Times’ Joel Burgess: “Sen. THOM TILLIS told a conservative local business group that anti-pandemic measures should focus on getting North Carolinians vaccinated, not on migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.” CENSUS DATA DIVE — “Latino city in Arizona grew, but census says it shrank,” by AP’s Astrid Galvan in Somerton, Ariz., and Mike Schneider: “The overwhelmingly Hispanic community has grown enough over the last decade that it’s also building a new elementary school. But the Census Bureau says Somerton actually lost 90 residents during … that time, putting its official population at 14,197 people, not the 20,000 that the mayor expected. … “[A] review by The Associated Press found that in many places, the share of the Hispanic and Black populations in the latest census figures fell below recent estimates and an annual Census Bureau survey, suggesting that some areas were overlooked. … For the share of the Black population, the trend was most visible in southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states … For the Hispanic population, it was most noticeable in New Mexico and Arizona.” MORE TROUBLE FOR WALKER — “Police report: Herschel Walker’s ex-girlfriend claimed he threatened her life,” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein: “The woman, MYKA DEAN, detailed the alleged threats made by [HERSCHEL] WALKER to authorities in the Texas city of Irving in a January 2012 police report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. … “Dean is the second woman who was involved romantically with Walker to accuse him of making violent threats. … In the report, Dean told authorities that Walker ‘lost it’ and flew into a fury when she told him she wanted to start dating other people. … ’He told her that he was going to come and sit outside her apartment and “blow her head off when she came outside,”’ according to the report. ‘He then told her that he was going to “blow his head off” after he killed her.’” | | | |   | | | THE SPENDING PACKAGE THE OUTSIDE JOCKEYING BEGINS — “Dentists, insurers aim to pare down Dems’ Medicare expansion,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein: “Congressional Democrats’ push to add dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare is running into resistance from powerful health industry lobbies … Progressives see expanding the popular entitlement as essential to fulfilling their campaign pledges and keeping Democratic control of the House and Senate. But the reforms threaten the bottom line of insurers who administer private Medicare plans and sell supplemental coverage for dental, vision and hearing services. “Groups like the American Dental Association, worried their members will be paid less in traditional Medicare than in private Medicare plans, are also pushing to limit the new benefits to the poorest Americans. Prospects for Medicare expansion are further complicated by a price tag that could exceed $350 billion over a decade and surpass the cost of other health priorities under discussion … House and Senate committees now assembling the package are weighing options like a longer phase-in of benefits, skimpier coverage with more cost-sharing or even means-testing that would restrict new benefits to only the poorest beneficiaries.” BEYOND THE BELTWAY ANTI-MASK RULES OVERRULED — “Florida judge rules against DeSantis in school mask fight,” by Andrew Atterbury: “A Florida judge on Friday ruled that the DeSantis administration can’t punish local school districts for passing mask mandates, notching a win for parents who fought back against the Republican governor over his hands-off Covid-19 policies.” ON THE CUSP OF PASSAGE — “Texas House advances new voting restrictions as Democratic hopes of killing the legislation wane,” Texas Tribune: “After months of drama and political resistance, the curtain lowered Thursday on Democratic attempts to stave off a far-reaching rewrite of the state’s voting laws coveted by Republicans seeking to retain their hold on power in a changing Texas. … The House is expected to give the bill final approval on Friday.” RECALL ME MAYBE — “What California’s Recall Election Says About America,” by The Atlantic’s Isaac Dovere: “[Gov. GAVIN] NEWSOM told me he feels as though he’s fighting not only for his own political existence, but for California’s future and for the entire Democratic agenda. He’s been obsessing over right-wing TV, wondering about the future of democracy, and he says he’s staying up late agonizing over COVID-19 deaths. He has watched Fox News pounce on his 10-year-old son for not wearing a mask. He overheard his 11-year-old daughter tell her brother, ‘You’re going to lose the recall for Daddy.’ … “When I met with Newsom, he was taking the polls seriously. … [I]f this recall fails, Newsom acknowledged, another will probably follow, and more after that if he goes on to win another term next year. If he hangs on, he told me, he’ll consider changing the law in order to make recalls harder, and have the reform take effect for governors who succeed him.” FOR YOUR (LITERAL) RADAR — “Hurricane Ida expected to be Cat 3 at landfall; watches issued for New Orleans, Louisiana coast,” The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate | | | | Be a Policy Pro. POLITICO Pro has a free policy resource center filled with our best practices on building relationships with state and federal representatives, demonstrating ROI, and influencing policy through digital storytelling. Read our free guides today . | | | | | THE ECONOMY INFLATION WATCH — “Motor vehicles restrain U.S. consumer spending; monthly inflation slows,” Reuters: “[The data bolstered] views that economic growth will moderate in the third quarter amid a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. But the slowdown in spending will probably not be as sharp as currently anticipated, with the report from the Commerce Department on Friday showing Americans boosting savings. Inflation also appears to have peaked, which could preserve households’ purchasing power. … “The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, gained 0.3% in July after advancing 0.5% in June. In the 12 months through July, the so-called core PCE price index rose 3.6% after a similar increase in June. The core PCE price index is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure for its flexible 2% target.” POWELL TEA LEAVES — “Fed chief signals supports for the economy could begin to be pulled back this year, if recovery stays strongly on track,” WaPo: “Federal Reserve Chair JEROME H. POWELL offered his clearest signal yet that the Fed could soon start scaling back its support … ‘My view is that the “substantial further progress” test has been met for inflation,’ Powell said in the remarks. ‘There has also been clear progress toward maximum employment.’” TRUMP CARDS THE INVESTIGATIONS — “‘Perfect storm’ blocks Trump-era FEC probes,” by Axios’ Lachlan Markay: “Legitimate cases are being dismissed. And critics say the Federal Election Commission's inability to crack down on many bad actors has undercut the threat of enforcement, and turned campaign financing into the Wild West. … The FEC is clearing out a backlog of Trump-related cases. One of them, officially tossed last month, shows how the nation’s top political money regulator has been hobbled.” AFTERNOON READ — “‘It Nearly Killed Me’: Michael Caputo’s Life After Years Fighting for Trump,” by Michael Kruse in McAllen, Texas, where [MICHAEL] CAPUTO was helping care for migrants this summer: “In the fall of 2020, Caputo all but disappeared, going home to the Buffalo suburb of East Aurora, New York, essentially to try not to die. But then … he lived. And in the almost six months since he was deemed cancer-free … Caputo in his convalescence has been grappling with what to do with what he sees as a second chance. “In speeches to GOP grassroots groups, he has advocated for Covid vaccines … He’s struggled with what to make of the malevolent events of January 6. He’s worked to decipher a transformative dream he had on what might have been his deathbed. … Last week, in addition to a return to jobs in the public relations and insurance industries, he started course work toward a master’s degree in theology. … It turns out, though, his is not a tidy, road-to-Damascus type of transformation, and it’s not a redemption story, either. Caputo insists it is not — that he doesn’t need to be redeemed — because he’s done nothing for which he must atone.” PLAYBOOKERS STAFFING UP — The White House announced it’s tapping John Porcari as port envoy to the White House Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force at DOT. He most recently was managing partner at 3P Enterprises and was deputy Transportation secretary in the Obama administration. BIRTHWEEK (was Wednesday): Former Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) turned 7-0 | | | | Sponsored Survey SHARE YOUR OPINION: Please take a short, 3-question survey about one of our advertising partners. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
