Current Affairs Of Pakistan & World: Playbook PM: Why police reform is on life support

Playbook PM: Why police reform is on life support

Jun 23, 2020

By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

Presented by

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP made plain this morning that he was not kidding when he told a crowd in Oklahoma that he asked the government to slow testing.

-- "I DON'T KID, let me just tell you. Let me be clear," TRUMP said. He continued: "By having more tests we find more cases."

THE ADMINISTRATION maintains that they did not slow testing, and ANTHONY FAUCI -- speaking on Capitol Hill -- suggested he knows of no such pullback. FROM A SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL: "The president hasn't directed anyone to slow testing. We are on pace to conduct 27 million tests in the coming days."

NEW … DEMS TO MCCONNELL ON POLICE REFORM: THANKS, BUT NO THANKS … BURGESS EVERETT: "Top Democratic senators told Mitch McConnell on Tuesday that the Republicans' police reform bill is 'not salvageable,' the latest sign that the Senate is headed for deadlock on the issue.

"In a letter to the majority leader, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker demanded that McConnell bring 'meaningful legislation' to the floor and argued the GOP bill McConnell is bringing up on Wednesday is not enough. … Harris, Booker and Schumer said they need a bipartisan negotiation at the outset rather than simply taking up a partisan police bill -- and that even amendments can't save the legislation written by GOP Sen. Tim Scott." The letter

THIS IS A ROUGH PATCH for police reform. Here's what's going to go down: Senate Republicans are going to try to bring their bill to the floor, and Democrats will block it. Republicans are going to accuse Democrats of blocking consideration -- and there's truth to that. Democrats will say Republicans aren't sitting down to negotiate -- there's truth to that, as well.

MCCONNELL is the majority leader, so he sets the rules, and sets the contours of each debate. BUT … SCHUMER has power here and is exercising it. So this is a bit of a standoff.

WITH THE WHITE HOUSE mostly on the sidelines, the two sides will stay in their corners. Liberals will blame MCCONNELL for not negotiating, conservatives will blame SCHUMER for not even allowing a debate.

WHAT CAN UNLOCK THIS? If the president takes a forceful position and holds it for more than an hour, that may be dispositive -- but if past is precedent, this seems unlikely to happen. THE HOUSE will pass a bill Thursday, which could strengthen Democrats' hands, and instill new urgency in the GOP. Maybe primary victories change the overall calculus.

BUT FOR NOW, this has ended up in a familiar position: logjam. As MCCONNELL often says: We are where we are.

-- FROM BURGESS: Asked whether police reform is dead if Democrats block it Wednesday, Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) said it would be "certainly wounded." He said his party was unlikely to privately cut a deal with Democrats. "No. Why do we want to do this behind closed doors? Why can't we do it on the floor of the Senate where everyone in the world can see?"

TREASURY SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN is at the Senate GOP lunch today.

Good Tuesday afternoon.

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TRUMP CAMPAIGN MOVE -- White House spokesman HOGAN GIDLEY is moving to the Trump reelect, where he'll be national press secretary. More from Alex Isenstadt

WHO GOT PAID -- "Delivery Firm Got PPP Loan Even as Demand Rose During Pandemic," by WSJ's Ryan Tracy: "John Mercadante's e-commerce delivery business was burning cash, missing debt payments and struggling to raise capital, regulatory filings show, before two events brightened his company's fortunes. First the coronavirus pandemic hit, leading to increased delivery orders for his Transportation and Logistics Systems Inc. of Jupiter, Fla.

"And even as the business got busier, two of its subsidiaries qualified for forgivable loans totaling $3.4 million under the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program. The publicly traded company, known by its ticker symbol TLSS, hasn't been accused of impropriety. But its financial situation and those of other public companies that received PPP loans are expected to come under scrutiny as the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration determine whether PPP loans qualify for forgiveness." WSJ

THE CORONAVIRUS IMPACT -- "Lawmakers Ask Fed to Help Businesses Struggling to Make Mortgage Payments," by WSJ's Ben Eisen: "More than 100 members of Congress are calling on the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve to help struggling businesses pause debt payments in a key real-estate financing market.

"Many of the hotels, shopping malls and office buildings that borrow money in the roughly $550 billion market for commercial-mortgage-backed securities said they have been unable to negotiate debt reprieves during the coronavirus pandemic. … The bipartisan group of representatives, led by Rep. Van Taylor (R., Texas), expects to deliver a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday asking them to set up a lending facility to support these borrowers through the current stretch." WSJ

-- "Budgets put limits on social distancing options for schools," by AP's Mike Catalini and Michael Melia: "As schools consider how and when to reopen their buildings during the pandemic, many are finding themselves overwhelmed by the potential expenses that would come with operating under social distancing guidelines: protective equipment, staff for smaller classes and additional transportation to keep students spread out on bus rides. The burdens loom large in particular for urban, under-resourced districts that often have neither the space nor the budgets to accommodate new health protocols."

-- "How Much Covid-19 Cost Those Businesses That Stayed Open," by WSJ's Inti Pacheco: "A food distributor has paid $20 million for testing and plexiglass. T-Mobile US Inc. has spent $50 million on extra cleaning and safety gear. Walmart Inc. and three other big retail chains have put more than $3 billion into higher salaries, benefits and other Covid-19 measures.

"Staying open during the pandemic wasn't cheap. Big companies say they spent anywhere from hundreds of thousands to almost a billion dollars in Covid-19-related costs. Some say they expect the costs to keep rising in coming quarters, even as they face uncertain demand from consumers. … The disclosures provide an initial picture of the costs of doing business during a pandemic and resulting restrictions. Most companies haven't broken out the added expenses." WSJ

GO BEYOND OUR BORDERS FROM YOUR HOME: The coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate parts of the world, and a vaccine remains out of reach. Our Global Translations newsletter, presented by Bank of America, focuses on impactful global news, trends and decisions layered with critical contextual analysis from the world's sharpest minds. From how the world is reckoning with systemic racism to how different countries are combating the latest Covid-19 spikes, Global Translations offers a unique perspective that you won't find anywhere else. SUBSCRIBE HERE.

BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- "Over 700 cash-strapped cities halt plans to repair roads, water systems or make other key investments," by WaPo's Tony Romm: "The decision to suspend or terminate some of these long-planned purchases, upgrades and repairs threatens to worsen municipal services and harm local businesses, according to the National League of Cities, which deduced from a new survey released Tuesday that more federal aid is necessary to ensure that local financial woes do not imperil the country's economic recovery. …

"Cities had already predicted they would need about $500 billion from Washington to help cover the massive, unanticipated declines in tax revenue and other costs incurred from the pandemic, which has shuttered businesses and left millions of Americans out of work. But federal lawmakers have been unwilling to authorize such a cash infusion, forcing many cities to take drastic steps to balance their budgets for fiscal 2021, which for many governments begins on July 1." WaPo

-- NYT: "Virus Cases Grow, but Some Police Officers Shed Masks," by Dionne Searcey, Lucy Tompkins and Robert Chiarito: "When America first reported an alarming wave of coronavirus cases this year, police departments across the country swiftly raised alarm about a lack of masks and other equipment that would protect officers as they went about their essential jobs. …

"But in Chicago as well as in other cities across the nation, police officers have been seen doing their jobs in recent weeks without masks, even in places where officials have mandated they wear them and even in situations such as crowded protests over racial injustice and police abuse, in which social distancing is nearly impossible. Sightings of officers without masks have come amid an uptick of virus cases in the South and the West in the weeks since many areas began reopening." NYT

SWING STATE IMPACT -- "Coronavirus Job and Death Toll Is Widespread in Michigan: 'We are Talking About a Very Deep Hole,'" by WSJ's John McCormick: "The impact of both the pandemic and the economic downturn that followed lockdowns is widespread in Michigan, a Wall Street Journal analysis of unemployment and death data in more than 3,100 U.S. counties shows.

"Almost a quarter of Michigan's counties are among the top 20% nationally for both increase in unemployment from a year earlier and deaths per 1,000 residents linked to Covid-19. Only Massachusetts and New Jersey saw a greater proportion of counties in both categories." WSJ

DEEP DIVE -- "A low-flying 'show of force,'" by WaPo's Alex Horton, Andrew Ba Tran, Aaron Steckelberg and John Muyskens: "It was June 1, nearly three hours after federal police in riot gear charged largely peaceful demonstrators as they gathered near the White House to protest after the killing of George Floyd. … The Washington Post reconstructed the movements of the two D.C. Army National Guard helicopters that parked nearly still in the air over protesters in Chinatown that night, using flight-tracking data, images and videos. …

"On the streets, the maneuvers created wind speeds equivalent to a tropical storm, according to calculations by aerospace engineers who reviewed The Post's data. … The maneuvers — which did not appear to result in reported injuries — were a surreal coda to a day of demonstrations in Washington following the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis that stunned human rights groups, military law experts and former pilots, who described them as a show of force more commonly used to disperse civilians in war zones." WaPo

JOIN TOMORROW 1 p.m. EDT - THE SPEED OF SCIENCE POST-COVID-19: What does the future of science in a post-Covid-19 world look like? What lessons can we learn to accelerate medical research outside of the coronavirus? How can newly developed drugs and vaccines be distributed equitably? What can we do to minimize misinformation from flawed or inaccurate scientific studies published during a public health emergency? Join Patrick Steel, CEO of POLITICO, and Alexander Hardy, CEO of Genentech, for this critical and timely discussion. REGISTER HERE.

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "U.S. and Poland work to finalize defense deal ahead of Duda visit," by Lara Seligman: "U.S. and Polish officials are working to finalize a defense cooperation agreement ahead of Polish President Andrzej Duda's visit to the White House on Wednesday, as questions swirl about a potential deployment of thousands of additional U.S. troops to Polish soil.

"Officials are focused on finalizing the legal details of the defense agreement President Donald Trump and Duda announced last year, a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday. Since then, the two countries inaugurated a new divisional headquarters in Poland, headed by a U.S. general, and have made progress establishing a combat training center there, the official said. When the final agreement is signed, the U.S. Air Force plans to rotate an MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance drone squadron into Poland and establish an aerial port there, the official said." POLITICO

DEBATABLE -- MARC CAPUTO in Miami: "Miami mayor says presidential debate may not have audience": "Miami Mayor Francis Suarez says he would welcome the presidential debate moving to his city in October, but he has doubts about whether it can be held with an audience because of coronavirus. The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Tuesday that it would move the Oct. 15 debate to Miami after the University of Michigan canceled it, citing safety concerns.

"But the Miami area has been a coronavirus hotspot for months in Florida, and Suarez — who had contracted coronavirus in March — isn't so sure about having a large debate move to his city. Coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in Miami-Dade County have been increasing ever since joining the state's Phase 2 reopening on June 5, giving Suarez and other leaders pause." POLITICO

INSIDE THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN -- "Biden campaign restricts contacts with foreign officials," by Halley Toosi: "Joe Biden's presidential campaign is severely restricting its staffers' and volunteers' contacts with foreign officials to avoid even the perception of outside interference with this year's election -- a move it attributes to a 'poisonous environment' created by President Donald Trump.

"The decision, though made last year, was shared with POLITICO this week as a new book due out from former national security adviser John Bolton alleges that Trump asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help ensure his reelection. It could be a tough policy to enforce given that the Biden campaign's foreign policy apparatus has expanded to more than 1,000 people, and that foreign governments are increasingly eager to establish connections with the campaign." POLITICO

CASH DASH -- "How Joe Biden Is Catching Up to the Trump Money 'Juggernaut,'" by NYT's Shane Goldmacher: "Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will hold his first event of the 2020 campaign with former President Barack Obama on Tuesday, and more than 120,000 people have already paid to attend, according to the Biden campaign, raising more than $4 million.

"The joint appearance will be the biggest grass-roots fund-raiser of the cycle for the Democratic Party, serving not just as a coming-out party for the former running mates but also as something of a punctuation mark on Mr. Biden's arrival as a financial force in his own right. … Mr. Biden's online fund-raising so far this month has already surpassed May's $34.4 million total, according to people familiar with the matter. Now, some party officials see $100 million as an achievable goal for June." NYT

CLIMATE FILES -- "Amazon to Launch $2 Billion Venture Capital Fund to Invest in Clean Energy," by WSJ's Dana Mattioli: "The new fund, which will be called The Climate Pledge Fund, will invest in companies across a number of industries, including transportation, energy generation, battery storage, manufacturing and food and agriculture, according to the company. The aim is to help Amazon and other companies reach a goal of "net zero" carbon emissions by 2040."

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION -- "The Kennedy Center Cancels Most Performances for the Rest of 2020," by Washingtonian's Rosa Cartagena: "'As a result of these necessary cancelations and postponements, the Kennedy Center expects to lose an estimated $45.7 million in ticket sales and other earned income during the 2020-2021 season,' the organization wrote in a press release. The Kennedy Center has been closed since March 13. …

"The Kennedy Center Honors will be postponed to March 7, 2021 and will be aired on CBS at a later date (to be announced). The Mark Twain award ceremony will be moved to June 20, 2021 and will air on PBS afterwards, with the date TBA, too." Washingtonian

NSC ARRIVAL LOUNGE -- Paul Bresson is now director for strategic comms at the NSC. He previously was unit chief in the FBI's office of public affairs.

A message from PhRMA:

America's biopharmaceutical companies will continue working day and night until they beat coronavirus. Because science is how we get back to normal. More.