| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by |  | | | BEHIND THE SCENES … PELOSI VS. BIRX … During Thursday night's closed meeting in NANCY PELOSI'S office suite, THE SPEAKER let loose on someone she doesn't seem to care for: coronavirus task force coordinator DEBORAH BIRX. -- PELOSI SAID to Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN and White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS: "Deborah Birx is the worst. Wow, what horrible hands you're in." She accused BIRX of spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, while praising ANTHONY FAUCI, who she said "came to his senses, and is now a hero." -- REFERRING to the special-edition Topps cards of FAUCI, PELOSI added: "They've sold more baseball cards of him than anyone in history." -- MEADOWS shot back: "That's because he throws a wicked curveball. He's really dedicated to no one catching anything." THIS MORNING … MEADOWS, in the White House briefing room, said Republicans have made four offers to Democrats, and they have made no offers in exchange. PELOSI, in the Capitol: "We're not" on the "path" to a Covid relief bill. … PELOSI on Republicans: "We don't have shared values. That's just the way it is." PELOSI SUGGESTED it's not her decision whether employees and lawmakers in the Capitol get tested -- it's up to the attending physician's office. SCOOPLET: CHECK OUT THE ELEVATORS in the NIH building where FAUCI works. They've turned into a shrine to FAUCI. Photos here WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE -- "White House willing to cut a stimulus deal without 'liability shield,' breaking with McConnell," by WaPo's Jeff Stein and Erica Werner: "The White House is willing to cut a deal with Democrats that leaves out Senate Republican legislation aimed at protecting employers, hospitals and schools from coronavirus-related lawsuits, according to two people with knowledge of internal White House planning. "The White House wants and is pushing for the 'liability shield' as a top priority but would be willing to sign off on a deal that lacks the legal protections … The dealmaking flexibility conflicts with the ultimatum McConnell has given Democrats." WaPo CBS: "House cancels August recess until coronavirus bill is passed," by Grace Segers KAYLEIGH MCENANY, in the briefing room: "The president still supports General Tata." More from Lara Seligman Happy Friday afternoon. AFTERNOON READ -- "When the Culture Wars Hit Fort Wayne," by Charlie Savage in Fort Wayne, Ind., for POLITICO Magazine: "A quiet Indiana city declared a holiday to celebrate its founder. In the age of Trump, nothing is ever that simple." | | | | A message from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: Congress addressed the affordability of Covid-19 testing and treatment. Cancer care needs the same. It's time to reduce out-of-pocket costs and ensure cost-sharing assistance benefits cancer patients. Congress: cancer patients need you to act quickly to remove hurdles to quality care. | | | PELOSI, via the Hill pool: "Q: Are you more or less encouraged about the integrity of the elections after the briefing? Pelosi: What I'm concerned about is that the American people should be better informed. That's what the chairmen of the Intelligence Committee, the ranking member on the Senate side -- whatever they call that, vice chair. Leader Schumer and I wrote to them and said tell the truth to the American people, and for some reason they are withholding it. That's what I'm concerned about." FOR YOUR RADAR … KYLE CHENEY: "Engel subpoenas State Dept. for Biden documents given to Senate Republicans": "Engel indicated he subpoenaed the documents because the department had ignored his initial request to share copies of any material being provided to the Senate. Democrats view the Senate GOP investigation, led by Sen. Ron Johnson's Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, as an effort to smear Biden on false corruption allegations related to his diplomacy in Ukraine." POLITICO HUNT FOR A VACCINE -- "Sanofi and GSK land $2.1 billion deal with U.S. for Covid-19 vaccine development and 100 million doses," by Stat's Matthew Herper: "As with other vaccines in development, the Sanofi-GSK vaccine, if effective, may require two doses. The U.S. will have the option to procure up to 500 million doses; the companies say they are gearing up to be able to make 1 billion doses annually. "The Sanofi-GSK vaccine is starting trials behind vaccines of other companies with whom Operation Warp Speed is working … However, it is the only vaccine of the group based on technologies used in approved vaccines." Stat AMERICAN FIASCO -- "Contact Tracing Is Failing in Many States. Here's Why," by NYT's Jennifer Steinhauer and Abby Goodnough: "[T]he virus's pervasiveness and major lags in testing have rendered the system almost pointless. In some regions, large swaths of the population have refused to participate or cannot even be located, further hampering health care workers. … "Tracking those exposed is so far behind the virus raging in most places that many public health officials believe the money and personnel involved would be better spent on other resources, like increasing test sites, helping schools prepare for reopening and educating the public about mask wearing. Some public health experts now believe that, at the very least, testing and contact tracing need to be scaled back in places with major outbreaks. In some places, they say the effort may never succeed." NYT MUCK READ -- "House Democrats find administration overspent for ventilators by as much as $500 million," by NBC's Heidi Przybyla: "[I]nternal emails and documents obtained by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee suggest that the Trump administration failed to enforce an existing contract with a major medical manufacturer, delayed negotiations for more than a month and subsequently overpaid as much as $500 million for tens of thousands of the devices — a costly error at a time when officials from some of the biggest states were warning of shortages." NBC … The report -- NBC: "Diplomats plead with State Department not to rush return to offices," by Josh Lederman and Abigail Williams: "More than 500 State Department employees are privately pleading with the Trump administration to pull back its decision to send up to 80 percent of its staff members in Washington back to work in person after an employee who works near Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's office tested positive for the coronavirus this week. "In a letter to State Department leaders obtained by NBC News, the staffers assert that the department didn't follow its own guidelines for when it's safe and feasible to return to the office. … The employees are urging the Trump administration to return the State Department to Phase I, in which offices can be staffed only up to 40 percent, and to make it clear to all offices and international missions that everyone who's been cleared to telework can continue to do so 'without retribution' until local schools have reopened." NBC | | | | BECOME A CHINA WATCHER: Across the globe, America's allies are pushing back hard on Beijing as evidence of human rights abuses against Uighurs pile up. How should the U.S. and its allies approach the China challenge? Join the conversation and gain expert insight from informed and influential voices in government, business, law, tech, and academia. China Watcher is as much of a platform as it is a newsletter. Subscribe today. | | | | | VEEPSTAKES -- The chatter around Rep. KAREN BASS (D-Calif.) suddenly reached a fever pitch today, with both extra scrutiny and new support. -- THIS WON'T PLAY IN MIAMI! … "Karen Bass, a Potential Biden VP Pick, Explains Her History With Cuba," by The Atlantic's Isaac Dovere: "She is reliably liberal, she chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, and she shares a history of family loss with Biden. But she's also the only person on Biden's list who spent part of the 1970s working construction in Fidel Castro's Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade, a group that has organized annual trips to Cuba for young, leftist Americans for half a century. "The Biden campaign knows about Bass's history with the Brigade, which began as a joint venture of the Castro government and Students for a Democratic Society, the leftist, antiwar organization that gave birth to the Weather Underground terrorist group. She told Biden's vetting committee weeks ago that this was probably going to come up. So far, it hasn't been a deal breaker—in fact, her potential to drive up African-American votes might help in Florida among voters who traditionally haven't been paid as much attention in the state." Atlantic -- CNN: "Joe Biden narrows down his VP list, with Karen Bass emerging as one of several key contenders," by MJ Lee, Jeff Zeleny and Jasmine Wright: "California Rep. Karen Bass, the 66-year-old chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, has gained real traction … California Sen. Kamala Harris and Susan Rice, Barack Obama's former national security adviser, are also believed to be among the most serious contenders. … "Biden's team has yet to tell any of the women they've considered in earnest for the vice presidential role that they are officially out of the running, people familiar with the process said, with one source saying 11 women are still formally being considered." CNN -- SACRAMENTO BEE EDITORIAL BOARD: "Biden will likely pick Kamala Harris for VP. Here's why Karen Bass is a better choice" … AP'S KATHLEEN RONAYNE in Sacramento: "'Building bridges': How Bass became a leading VP contender" … WAPO'S JOSE DEL REAL: "Rep. Karen Bass fought for Blacks and Latinos in South Los Angeles. Now, she's on Biden's VP shortlist" ICYMI ... BEYOND THE BELTWAY: "State Democrats mount big comeback in 2020," by Elena Schneider, David Siders and Zach Montellaro: "Once ignored, underfunded and often written off, Democratic state party organizations are harvesting record-setting cash heading into the 2020 election, reasserting their roles inside the Democratic infrastructure after suffering for years in competition with super PACs and campaigns. "Across 15 possible battleground states, nearly every Democratic state party group is hitting higher quarterly fundraising totals or holding more cash on hand in their federal accounts than they did at this point during the 2016 presidential campaign, and a majority of them did both, according to a POLITICO analysis of Federal Election Commission filings and in interviews with party officials. Many of these state parties — responsible for field operations and coordinating a ticket-wide campaign — are seeing three, four or five times the amount of cash they did before." | | | | DON'T MISS - POLITICO'S NEW "FUTURE PULSE" NEWSLETTER: The coronavirus rapidly accelerated the onset of telemedicine, but after an initial boom, the wave of virtual visits is quickly fading. What does the future look like? From Congress and the White House, to state legislatures and Silicon Valley, Future Pulse spotlights the politics, policies, and technologies driving long-term change on the most personal issue for voters: Our health. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | ACROSS THE POND ... NYT'S MARK LANDLER in London: "U.K. Officials' New Trump Dilemma: What if He Loses?": "In Paris and Berlin, a Trump defeat would be welcomed as an unalloyed relief … But in London, where [Boris] Johnson's government just left the European Union, it is more complicated. … If Mr. Biden wins in November, Britain would face a president who opposed Brexit, would look out for the interests of Ireland in a post-Brexit Europe, and would have little motive to prioritize an Anglo-American trade deal. … "The risk for Britain, several experts said, is not a sudden rupture but a gradual slide into irrelevance." 2024 WATCH … WSJ'S GABRIEL RUBIN: "Florida Sen. Rick Scott lines up support to chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2022 midterms—a plum post that would put him in close contact with top Republican donors and finance chairs around the country as he mulls a potential presidential run in 2024. Scott has discussed the post with his Republican colleagues." SCOTUS WATCH -- "Supreme Court Secrecy Breach Sheds Light on Internal Dynamics," by Bloomberg's Greg Stohr: "The U.S. Supreme Court this week witnessed an extraordinary breach of its rules of confidentiality, as a series of CNN stories exposed some of the justices' internal deliberations during their just-completed term. … "The revelations are likely to send a chill through a court that is normally among the most leak-proof institutions in Washington. [Joan] Biskupic's stories included information known to only a handful of people -- the nine justices, their law clerks and office assistants and perhaps the justices' spouses and closest outside confidants." Bloomberg TRANSITIONS -- Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence announced this morning that he's retiring. Washington Examiner scoop Thursday night … Carolina Hurley is now special assistant to the president and associate director of comms for economic initiatives at the White House. She previously was specialty media director at the White House. WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- David Helfenbein, associate director of Finsbury in New York City and a Hillary Clinton alum, and Leigh Helfenbein welcomed Dylan Spencer Helfenbein on Wednesday afternoon. She came in at 6 lbs, 10 oz. Pic … Another pic | | | |   | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
