POLITICO Playbook: A new message on testing

Apr 19, 2020

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DRIVING THE DAY

PREVIEW ... WHILE THE ADMINISTRATION is boasting about the uptick in testing, there's another line of thinking bouncing around some corners of the administration: Everybody is talking about testing, but its only part -- and perhaps not the key part -- of getting back to normal.

-- FROM A SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: "This is one of the few times when money won't solve a problem. Testing is everyone's request, demand and solution, but it misses the real issue. Testing may help give confidence to return to work, but the use of masks, hand sanitizers, and social distancing will truly be more effective unless we plan to test every person every day.

"THE $25 BILLION proposed to be given to federal agencies will only fund a lethargic bureaucratic process that had already failed to provide the testing innovation comparable to the private sector. Any funding will have to allow federal agencies to invest in manufacturing, procurement and research without cumbersome regulations. Money without a Manhattan project 'no rules apply' type of approach will not only fail but will give a false sense of security. The debate over how to fund innovation must have new answers and not the same old playbook

"$25 BILLION will need to be given to HHS/NIH and FDA with the ability to expedite approval, purchase the best equipment, provide financial resources for a manufacturing surge with non traditional supply chains. Agencies are built to fix problems in years not weeks. They must be empowered to partner with the private sector and give purchase guarantees in an uncertain market built for speed."

AS WE WROTE YESTERDAY, Congress and the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION are close to a deal to refill the small-business lending PPP. This dominated much of the chatter this morning on the Sunday shows.

BUT FIRST ... SENATE AND HOUSE DEMOCRATS have been pushing hard in negotiations for $150 billion in funds for state and local governments to pair with the hundreds of billions the administration wants in small business lending. But THE WHITE HOUSE and TRUMP ADMINISTRATION have been holding out because, in part, they believe if Congress keeps cutting checks for state and local governments, they will be disincentivized to open up their economies.

-- WSJ ED BOARD: "Hold Firm on PPP, Mr. Trump"

MEAT ON THE BONE: STEVEN MNUCHIN told JAKE TAPPER on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" that there will be $300 billion for the PPP, $50 billion for EIDL, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for testing. MNUCHIN to TAPPER: "I think we're making a lot of progress."

CHUCK SCHUMER lightly spikes the football, to TAPPER: "And, as you heard, many of the things we have asked for on the banking side, on the testing side, on the hospital side, they're going along with. So we feel pretty good. We still have a few more issues to deal with."

NANCY PELOSI ON THE SUNDAY SHOWS ... ABC'S "THIS WEEK" ... GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: "How close are you to getting that package done? I know you've been talking to Secretary Mnuchin." PELOSI : "Yes. Yes, we're close. Again, we have common ground. Our CARES 1 package was something that we worked together in a bipartisan way, springing from that and making it more effective and stronger so that more people are benefiting from it and protected by it. I think we're very close to agreement.

THERE'S A LOT OF HAPPY TALK about when this can come to a vote. MNUCHIN told TAPPER he was "hopeful that we can reach an agreement, that the Senate can pass this tomorrow, and that the House can take it up on Tuesday, and, Wednesday, we'd be back up and running."

-- IF WE WERE BETTING MEN AND WOMEN, we'd say mid to late week is the best bet. Remember, there are all sorts of hijinx that can happen in the House and Senate.

NANCY PELOSI on "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" ... CHRIS WALLACE: " A couple of questions I want to get in. Just this week, you called President Trump a weak person, a poor leader. Now, I understand that he goes after you. So this is fully a two-way street." ...

PELOSI : "Well, I'll tell you why it came to that. I was very prayerful on Easter. It was one of the first days I didn't have to be working every minute. And I could reflect and be prayerful. And what I decided was that the president's made many mistakes.

"OK, let's have an after-action review of that. But if he continues to put forth proposals that were not science-based, continuing his, you know, what'd he say, it's a hoax. It's magically going to go away. OK, put that aside but to -- to proceed with policies which were not science-based, which are not evidence-based and to blame others -- blame anybody. Blame the governors, blame me, blame the World Health Organization.

"Leaders -- leaders take responsibility. So I said he's a weak leader. He doesn't take responsibility. He places blames -- blame on others. And that might have been OK before but we cannot continue down a path that is, again I'll come back to science, science, science, evidence, data on how we should go forward."

VP MIKE PENCE spoke to CHUCK TODD on NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS" ... PENCE: "We believe today as Dr. Birx has said, as Dr. Fauci and others have said, is that there is a sufficient capacity of testing across the country today for any state in America to go to a phase one level, which contemplates testing people that have symptoms of the coronavirus and also doing the kind of monitoring of vulnerable populations in our cities, in our nursing homes that we ought to be watching very carefully for outbreaks of the coronavirus.

"But we believe if working with the governors, as we'll continue to partner with them, that we can activate labs around the country and that states today, if the governor so chooses, have sufficient testing to be able to move into the testing contemplated in phase one."

MORE MNUCHIN ... TAPPER: "But do you think it will be months or years before the economy is back to the strong position it was before the pandemic?" MNUCHIN: "I think it will be months.

"I definitely don't think it will be years. We are going to conquer this virus. We are going to have terrific breakthroughs, I know, both not just on the testing, but on the medical front. We begin to have virals. I think there's things that are being developed for vaccines, which will take a little bit longer. But one of the things we heard is, people want testing. People also will react very positively that they know, if they get this disease, there will be medical treatments available as well."

KING ABDULLAH said on CBS' "FACE THE NATION" that Jordan would be sending doctors and nurses abroad in the next several weeks to be of assistance

IF YOU READ ONE THING ... NYT'S DONALD MCNEIL: "The Coronavirus in America: The Year Ahead"

A message from Humana:

When Humana member Gwen M. — who is blind and has no family nearby — started running out of her medication and food, Humana helped her get prescriptions and healthy meals delivered right to her door. See how we're supporting members during this health crisis.

Good Sunday morning.

JAKE TAPPER asked SCHUMER about AOC her comments during our Playbook interview. TAPPER: "Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week did not rule out a possible 2022 primary run against you. Are you confident you could beat her?"

SCHUMER: "Look, throughout my career, I have done my job. I'm totally focused on this COVID. We are the epicenter. And I have found, throughout my career, you do your job well, everything else works out OK."

WAPO: "U.S. sent millions of face masks to China early this year, ignoring pandemic warning signs," by Juliet Eilperin, Jeff Stein, Desmond Butler and Tom Hamburger: "U.S. manufacturers shipped millions of dollars' worth of face masks and other protective medical equipment to China in January and February with encouragement from the federal government, a Washington Post review of economic data and internal government documents has found. The move underscores the Trump administration's failure to recognize and prepare for the growing pandemic threat.

"In those two months, the value of protective masks and related items exported from the United States to China grew more than 1,000 percent compared with the same time last year — from $1.4 million to about $17.6 million, according to a Post analysis of customs categories which, according to research by Public Citizen, contain key PPE. Similarly, shipments of ventilators and protective garments jumped by triple digits."

MARIANNE LEVINE and BURGESS EVERETT: "New partisan battle lines emerge over testing": "Democrats are pushing for a federal, centralized approach that would nationalize the distribution of millions of coronavirus tests to get people back to work and school, aiming to make it a hallmark of the next congressional response to the disease.

"But plenty of Republicans say testing should be handled by states and the private sector. ... Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in an interview that he recommended that the administration focus on the distribution of tests that produce rapid results. Pence also told senators that, by the end of the month, the administration expects the production of 20 million antibody tests a month, Cruz recalled.

"'They have mobilized enormous resources and have been vigorous and aggressive, but with a response to any crisis of course there are things that could have been done better,' Cruz said. 'It's not where it needs to be yet and so when I spoke with the president [Thursday] I urged him to do even more on testing.'"

WSJ'S BRODY MULLINS and TED MANN: "Restaurants vs. Insurers Shapes Up as Main Event In D.C. Lobbying Fight": "Restaurants and their allies are lobbying President Trump and Congress to press insurance companies to cover 'business interruption' claims stemming from the coronavirus, even where restaurants have policies that exclude losses from pandemics. Restaurants and some U.S. lawmakers say the business-shutdown orders in states and cities should constitute business interruptions under their existing policies.

"Insurers are pushing back hard with the help of some Republican senators and conservative groups, saying retroactive changes to coverage policies and threats of lawsuits from restaurants could undermine the nation's insurance system."

AP'S JULIE PACE: "Tradition-bound Washington adjusts to life in a pandemic"

L.A. TIMES: "U.S. factories in Mexico are still open. As the coronavirus spreads, workers are dying," by Kate Linthicum in Mexico City, Wendy Fry in Tijuana and Gabriela Minjares in Juarez: "Throughout March, even as business and manufacturing slowed to a halt across much of the world in an effort to contain the new coronavirus, work in foreign-owned factories in northern Mexico carried on as usual.

"Hundreds of thousands of workers continued to toil side by side in Juarez, Tijuana and other border cities, churning out electronics, medical equipment and auto parts.

Meanwhile, the virus was spreading. At a plant owned by Michigan-based Lear Corp. that makes textiles for automobile seats, workers began turning up at the on-site infirmary about a month ago with fevers and coughs.

"Nurses diagnosed them as having allergies or colds, gave them painkillers and told them to get back to work, according to two employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give interviews.

"By late March, it became clear that the Juarez factory was the center of a major COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 13 employees at the factory have died from the disease, according to Mexican health officials."

A message from Humana:

Humana is taking unprecedented action — waiving member medical costs for coronavirus testing and treatment — to support members like Gwen. Learn More

BLAME CHINA ... NYT'S JONATHAN MARTIN and MAGGIE HABERMAN: "A Key G.O.P. Strategy: Blame China. But Trump Goes Off Message.": "With the death toll from the pandemic already surpassing 34,000 Americans and unemployment soaring to levels not seen since the Great Depression, Republicans increasingly believe that elevating China as an archenemy culpable for the spread of the virus, and harnessing America's growing animosity toward Beijing, may be the best way to salvage a difficult election."

WAPO: "Trump campaign concludes there is more to be gained by attacking Biden than trying to promote president's pandemic response," by Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey, Annie Linskey and Toluse Olorunnipa: "President Trump's campaign is preparing to launch a broad effort aimed at linking Joe Biden to China, after concluding that it would be more politically effective than defending or promoting Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic. ...

"The shift represents a remarkable acknowledgment by aides to a self-described a 'wartime president,' leading during what might have been a rally-around-the-flag moment, to effectively decide it is better to go on the attack than focus on his own achievements. Campaign polling found more than three-quarters of voters blamed China for the coronavirus outbreak, underscoring the potential benefits of tying the presumptive Democratic nominee to Beijing. ...

"[Kellyanne] Conway ... has emerged as a critic of the campaign team's decision to focus on China. And some who have seen newly produced anti-Biden ads — which largely feature footage of the former vice president making comments about China and a potential travel ban — have derided them as weak.

"As of Friday afternoon, Trump had not given the final green light to the ads, officials said, and the president sometimes vacillates on his position toward China. 'Any campaign ads should show the commander in chief, the wartime president, signing $2 trillion in relief for Americans, deploying the USNS Comfort, working with Democratic governors and G-7 leaders, standing from the podium flanked by Drs. Fauci and Birx, mobilizing the private sector,' Conway said in an interview."

EEK ... NYT: "C.D.C. Labs Were Contaminated, Delaying Coronavirus Testing, Officials Say," by Sheila Kaplan: "Sloppy laboratory practices at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention caused contamination that rendered the nation's first coronavirus tests ineffective, federal officials confirmed on Saturday.

"Two of the three C.D.C. laboratories in Atlanta that created the coronavirus test kits violated their own manufacturing standards, resulting in the agency sending tests that did not work to nearly all of the 100 state and local public health labs, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

WHAT AMERICA IS READING ... THE NATION'S FRONT PAGES: Arizona Republic: "ICE agents in Arizona paid for sex acts" ... San Jose Mercury News: "Wealthy town is testing all residents" ... Tampa Bay Times: "Defiant pastor takes views to extremes" ... Palm Beach Post: "Golfers pushing to reopen courses" ...

... Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Profile rises as Atlanta mayor mentioned for VP" ... Boston Globe: "Recession won't spare state as before" ... Grand Rapids Press: "WHY DID IT GET SO BAD HERE?"

THE PRESIDENT'S SUNDAY: Nothing on the president's schedule. The coronavirus task force will brief at 5 p.m.

JOIN MONDAY - CAN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY RECOVER FROM COVID-19? Restaurant doors are shut and millions of their employees have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic. Join Playbook co-authors Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman on Monday at 9 a.m. EDT for a virtual discussion with David Chang, founder of Momofuku Restaurant Group on what Washington can do to help the industry. What do restaurant owners and workers need to recover from this swift and devastating blow? Join the discussion. Have a question? Tweet it to @POLITICOLive using #AskPOLITICO. REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE.

PLAYBOOK READS

Orthodox Easter

PHOTO DU JOUR: A boy holds a candle as he attends a religious procession celebrating Orthodox Easter in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday. | Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/AP Photo

WSJ: "Bets Against the Stock Market Rise to Highest Level in Years," by Karen Langley: "Bets against the SPDR S&P 500 Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund tracking the broad index, rose to $68.1 billion last week, the highest level in data going back to January 2016, according to financial analytics company S3 Partners. That was up from $41.7 billion at the beginning of 2020 and $41.2 billion a year ago."

NYT MEDIA EQUATION COLUMN ... BEN SMITH: "Trump Has Begun His Corona Campaign. We Don't Have to Play Along.": "What Mr. Trump can do, it turns out, is host rolling, raucous, two-plus-hour daily television variety shows to keep his connection with the faithful and, incidentally, to variously entertain and appall the rest of the homebound American public. He can rally gun owners in Virginia as well as angry suburbanites in Michigan. He can attack the news media to make sure its paying attention.

"This is it -- the corona campaign. The most effective form of direct presidential communication since Franklin Roosevelt's fireside chats. Mr. Trump wanted to start a radio show, my colleague Elaina Plott reported, but really, television was the medium that made him and the one he knows and loves. Get used to it, because given its power, he's not going to stop in November, win or lose. He'll most likely broadcast on his favorite medium until the day he dies.

"So how do we, citizens and — to stick to my particular beat here at The Times -- journalists, handle this? We keep it in perspective. The briefings are important; Mr. Trump is important. But the big story — of this year, of this decade — is the coronavirus. That isn't a story about Mr. Trump, and there's no reason to cover it that way.

MAGGIE SEVERNS and DANIEL LIPPMAN: "Trump team's use of big insurer to dispense recovery funds comes under scrutiny"

WIRED ... GARRETT M. GRAFF: "25 Years After Oklahoma City, Domestic Terrorism Is on the Rise: In an exclusive interview with WIRED, FBI director Christopher Wray discusses a scourge that 'moves at the speed of social media.'"

OUR NEIGHBORS NEED YOUR HELP: Layoffs, school closures, and health fears. Everyone is struggling, and our neighbors need our help now more than ever. From grab-and-go dinners for kids to boxes of groceries for seniors, you can help provide critical support for people in the greater D.C. community who need it most. No one should go hungry during this pandemic. Together, we can make sure no one has to. Please support the Capital Area Food Bank's COVID-19 response today.

PLAYBOOKERS

Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.

EPA ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Diana Leo is now senior adviser in EPA's office of international and tribal affairs. She previously was the executive director of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid at USAID and also was USAID's White House liaison.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Kara Saleeby, director of policy and advocacy at Malaria No More, and Ramsey Saleeby, associate general counsel at the Association for Corporate Counsel, welcomed William Ramsey Saleeby on April 11. He joins big sister Sophia.

-- Lauren Huston, a law student and former Senate Commerce press secretary, and John Huston, senior adviser to the assistant Education secretary for postsecondary education, welcomed Clark Edward Huston on March 9. Pic

BIRTHDAYS: Alleigh Roday, founder of Hickory Strategies (h/t husband Zack, who's making a chocolate cake and scones) ... NBC's Sheinelle Jones is 42 ... Martha Newton, deputy undersecretary for international affairs at DOL ... Joanne Ochsman ... Chad Pittman ... Claire Murray ... Mark Rusthoven ... James Littlefair ... CNN's Emily Kuhn ... Jon Dominic Garcia ... conservative consultant Jim Kelly ... POLITICO's Kareem Payne ... Seth Solomonow ... Jonathan Levy, SVP of business development at EVgo ... Sarah Flaim ... Louis Agnello ... Jonathan Battaglia of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ... Ally Schmeiser ... Bloomberg's Felix Gillette ... Peter Tarnoff ... Lori Yates ...

... Katie Delzell, finance director at the Scalise Leadership Fund, is 29 ... Courtney Sieloff, CEO of Asana Creative Strategy (h/t Phil Perry) ... Caitlin Hayden, SVP for comms at BAE Systems (h/t Ben Chang) ... Tory Brown ... Paul Blest ... Stateline's Sophie Quinton ... Ron Pearson ... Ron Kaufman, senior adviser in the public policy and regulation practice at Dentons ... Linden Zakula ... Laura Lee Burkett ... Ryan Nabil ... Vic Beck of Northrop Grumman corporate comms ... Bob Kocher ... Anya van Wagtendonk ... POLITICO Europe's Kritasha Gupta ... Russ Ferguson ... Luke Swarthout ... Jamie Bennett ... AARP's Mary Liz Burns ... Peter Giangreco ... Staci Appel (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ...William Carter ... Orde Kittrie ... Libby Wuller is 25

A message from Humana:

Humana is committed to delivering #BetterHealth for our members during the coronavirus crisis, and working to connect people to the resources they need.

For example, when Gwen M. — who is blind and has no family nearby — started running out of her medication and food, Humana helped her get prescriptions and healthy meals delivered right to her door.

At Humana, we're experts at helping our members achieve #BetterHealth and recognize our unique role in supporting them during this unprecedented time. From waiving member medical costs for testing and treatment related to coronavirus to expanding access to telehealth, Humana is committed to doing all that we can to protect our members' health.

See how we're supporting our members.