| | | | | |  | | By Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman | Presented by |  | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION begins tonight and … it doesn't feel anything like it has in the past. There are no throngs of delegates, party faithful, press and hangers-on streaming into Milwaukee, where Democrats were supposed to gather this week to officially pick their next leader. Instead, we're all still scattered across the country, stuck in our homes watching the whole bizarre spectacle on screens between 9 and 11 each night. IT'S ENOUGH to make us wonder: WILL THE BIDEN campaign get any convention bounce at all? Or will Americans go about their daily lives as normal -- or rather, as normally as anyone can right now -- and just ignore it this year? (Not that JOE BIDEN really needs much of a bounce. Most polls have him with a healthy lead.) SPEAKERS TONIGHT: Michelle Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), John Kasich, Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). -- BIDEN will attend a virtual fundraiser that will be pooled. ABC NEWS has nabbed the first interview with BIDEN and KAMALA HARRIS. DAVID MUIR is interviewing the duo, and it will air next Sunday in the 8 p.m. hour. NOTABLE: "60 Minutes" isn't getting the interview. THE HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP is bringing the chamber back into session Saturday for a rare weekend vote. Speaker NANCY PELOSI said in a letter sent Sunday evening that the House will try to pass a USPS reform bill -- right now, the leadership seems focused on a bill penned by New York Rep. CAROLYN MALONEY, chair of the Oversight Committee. THE LEGISLATION prohibits USPS from making changes to service, and reverts operations to where they were on Jan. 1. The bill AS OF NOW, there will be a USPS hearing Monday, Aug. 24. WEEKEND SESSIONS are rare -- they are even more rare in the summer, sandwiched in between the two party conventions. -- HOUSE DEMS HAVE AN 11:30 A.M. caucus call to discuss this all. -- THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION has privately said there's nothing to see here -- and the warnings from the USPS that they may not be able to deliver ballots is standard fare, plus the organization is losing money so it has to adjust service where necessary. BUT … THE PRESIDENT is saying the opposite, and linking all of this to mail-in voting. -- BOSTON GLOBE: "Mass. attorney general discusses possible lawsuit with other states to prevent cutbacks in U.S. postal operations," by Matthew Stout: "Massachusetts's top prosecutor is discussing a lawsuit with other state attorneys general to prevent the Trump administration from potentially further curtailing US Postal Service operations amid an expected rush of voting by mail in this fall's general election. "The litigation, which could be announced as early as this week, adds to the rush of measures state and federal officials are weighing as President Trump mounts repeated assaults on the expansion of voting by mail, claiming without evidence that it's a magnet for fraud and that it could de-legitimize the election. "Attorney General Maura Healey said Sunday she is in discussions with several other states' attorneys about 'all available' legal options after Louis DeJoy, the new postmaster general and a leading Republican donor, made a series of organizational changes within the Postal Service, stoking fears voters who submit ballots by mail could be disenfranchised this fall. "Prosecutors are discussing 'legal action to remedy what the Trump administration has done and to prevent them from further interfering with the operations of the Postal Service,' Healey said in a phone interview Sunday. 'Voting is happening now. This is a now issue.'" -- WAPO'S AMY GARDNER and SEUNG MIN KIM: "Thousands of voters have called government offices in recent days to ask whether it is still safe to mail their ballots, according to officials across the country. Attorneys general from at least six states are huddling to discuss possible lawsuits against the administration to block it from reducing mail service between now and the election, several told The Washington Post. "State leaders are scrambling to see whether they can change rules to give voters more options, and Democrats are planning a massive public education campaign to shore up trust in the vote and the Postal Service." WaPo THE POLITICS HERE go beyond mail-in ballots. Everyone gets mail, so many people are affected when the USPS cuts back on service -- in rural districts especially. WSJ EDITORIAL BOARD: "The Postal Service's Good Election Advice: This isn't sabotage. It's an attempt to avoid state election failure." Good Monday morning. | | A message from the American Investment Council: Whether your child is learning from home or returning to the classroom, private equity-backed companies are helping to create a safer and more accessible educational experience this fall. Back to school will look different this year, but we're in this together. | | | EYES EMOJI -- KASICH to CNN'S WOLF BLITZER on Sunday night at 6:43 p.m.: "You're going to have a prominent congressman come out and declare [support for BIDEN] -- let him do it, I think he's going to do it tomorrow." FRONTS: NYT … WSJ … N.Y. POST WAPO'S MICHAEL SCHERER ON HOW THE DEMS WILL TRY TO PULL IT OFF … "Unconventional Democratic convention will juggle hundreds of live feeds to re-create the feel of a party celebration": "Over four nights starting Monday, a behind-the-scenes crew of about 400 with operation centers in New York, Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Wilmington, Del., plans to broadcast to the nation hundreds of live video feeds from living rooms, national monuments and stages around the country, according to interviews with three people involved in planning the event. "That includes dozens of speakers who have been mailed video-production kits, with basic equipment such as microphones, lighting and advanced routers, so they can produce and transmit their own shots. Other homebound delegates will be dialed in to quick feeds of the live speeches, so their real-time reactions can be broadcast to the country as if they were in the same room as the speakers. "In two-hour nightly chunks, only one hour of which the broadcast networks have vowed to air, the live footage will be mixed in real time with a roughly equal share of prerecorded performances, mini-documentaries and speeches. Artists such as Billie Eilish, Prince Royce and the band formerly known as the Dixie Chicks — now simply the Chicks — have already filed video of their acts. Voters picked to excite key demographic targets — a Florida paramedic who emigrated from Mexico City and a former Trump voter from Pennsylvania, for example — have also cut video testimonials." NEW: POLITICO is launching "Minutes," a platform anchored by Ryan Heath that borrows the best of blogs and newsletters and serves readers news and analysis in a different and stripped-down way. It will be a guide to what's going on at the conventions and why it matters. It will also serve as a way to highlight POLITICO reporting during both conventions and a great platform for scoops, especially those that may not fit a full story. The first edition … Sign up PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP will be on "Fox and Friends" during the 8 a.m. hour. NEW POLL … BIDEN WITH A 9-POINT LEAD … "Biden Leads Trump, 50% to 41%, in Poll Ahead of Party Conventions," by WSJ's John McCormick: "President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden start their nominating conventions this month with Mr. Trump struggling to reach a level of job approval that would make re-election more likely and his challenger drawing soft support that could present turnout challenges, the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows. "Less than three months before November's election, 50% of registered voters nationally say they would vote for Mr. Biden if the election were held now, while 41% back Mr. Trump. That is essentially unchanged from Mr. Biden's 11-point lead a month ago and is similar to his advantage much of this year. "Mr. Biden, however, is failing to generate widespread enthusiasm, the poll finds. For the past year he has been viewed more negatively than positively among the broader electorate — as has been the president — although Mr. Biden's positive rating increased 5 percentage points between July and August to reach 39%." -- STEVEN SHEPARD: "A spate of new polling conducted just before the back-to-back Democratic and Republican conventions, which kick off on Monday, shows that Biden's advantage remains significant, though there are signs the race has tightened slightly from earlier in the summer. "While Biden's lead has shrunk modestly, Trump has not yet closed the gap enough to markedly improve his underdog odds of winning reelection. Any advantage he holds on the states that make up an Electoral College majority — which allowed him to win the presidency four years ago despite receiving 2.9 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton — is insufficient to overcome his current deficit." RealClearPolitics average: Biden +7.5 WAPO'S DAVE WEIGEL'S dissection of the geography of Wisconsin in today's Trailer. | | | | A message from the American Investment Council:   Private equity-backed companies are providing digital textbooks and software to support remote learning and partnering with individual schools to help them safely reopen. Learn more. | | | NYT, A1: "Trump's Policies Are a Boon to the Super Rich. So Where Are All the Seven-Figure Checks?" by Glenn Thrush, Rebecca Ruiz and Karen Yourish: "Mr. Trump is hardly lacking for cash; he has received huge numbers of small donations online from a fervent grass-roots base, and he raised a jaw-dropping $165 million in July for his campaign and the two fund-raising committees that he shares with the Republican National Committee. The Trump Victory fund, one of those committees, has also collected respectable sums through donations that cannot exceed $580,600 — as opposed to super PACs, which are vessels for unlimited contributions. "But the president's sagging popularity, driven by his erratic and divisive behavior during the coronavirus crisis, has prompted some of the wealthiest Republicans -- the heavy artillery of modern politics — to delay, divert or diminish their giving, just as Joseph R. Biden Jr. has begun to tap a rich vein of Wall Street and Silicon Valley support, party operatives and donors said in interviews. "Thus far, only six of the top 38 donors to Trump-related super PACs in 2016 and 2018 have contributed to America First for the president's re-election, according to a New York Times analysis of federal campaign finance data." -- BUT, BUT, BUT: "Sheldon Adelson makes nice with Trump," by Axios' Jonathan Swan: "'I just want to say that I just spoke to the Adelsons,' [Adelson adviser Andy] Abboud announced to the room. 'They are 110% behind the president. And that's going to become apparent shortly.'" STEPHANIE MURRAY in Boston: "Markey throws shade at Kennedy family in Senate primary brawl": "Sen. Ed Markey is going where few Massachusetts Democrats have dared to go before. He's not only attacking his challenger, Rep. Joe Kennedy III, he's throwing shade at the Kennedy family, the state's equivalent of political royalty. "In an ever more contentious battle between a septuagenarian senator and the scion of one of the nation's best-known dynasties, Markey is calling out specific Kennedy family members by name, needling the wealth and privilege that attaches to the family name, and even drawing from the Kennedy myth in his bid to fend off his youthful challenger. "At one time, that approach might have been a career-killer in Massachusetts Democratic politics. Yet Markey has employed it successfully to help narrow a double-digit polling gap with the primary just over two weeks away." POLITICO TRUMP'S MONDAY -- The president will leave the White House at 10:15 a.m. en route to Minneapolis. He will arrive at MSP at 12:20 p.m. CDT. Trump will travel to Mankato, Minn., and give a speech on jobs and the economy at 2 p.m. He will leave for Oshkosh, Wis., at 3:20 p.m. Trump will deliver another speech on jobs and the economy at 4:30 p.m. Afterward, he will return to Washington, arriving at the White House at 9:15 p.m. | | | | HAPPENING TOMORROW 1:30 p.m. EDT – A SPECIAL CONVENTION PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI SPONSORED BY AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS: A global pandemic. An economic crisis. Stalled negotiations on the latest Covid relief package. And a historic election amidst it all. Join POLITICO Playbook Co-authors Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman as the 2020 Democratic National Convention kicks off for a virtual interview with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get a behind-the-scenes look at what is happening on and off the stage. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO DU JOUR: Pro-democracy students raise three fingers, a symbol of resistance salute, on Sunday, Aug, 16, during a rally in Bangkok, Thailand, where they are demanding new elections, amending the constitution and an end to intimidation of critics. | Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo | THE CORONAVIRUS IS RAGING … 5.4 MILLION Americans have tested positive for Covid-19. … 170,052 AMERICANS have died. -- WSJ: "Covid-19 Deaths Skew Younger Among Minorities," by Paul Overberg and Jon Kamp: "Covid-19 is known to be particularly risky for the elderly. For many minorities, the disease is killing them in the prime of their lives. "Among people in the U.S. who died between their mid-40s and mid-70s since the pandemic began, the virus is responsible for about 9% of deaths. For Latino people who died in that age range, the virus has killed nearly 25%, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of death-certificate data collected by federal authorities. "The data show how deaths from the coronavirus are skewing younger for many minorities, a stark disparity that offers a clear picture of the pandemic's outsize impact on vulnerable populations. This is especially the case for Latino people, in part because their high representation in jobs ranging from health aides to meatpacking have made it harder for some of them to dodge the virus, and because many have poorer access to care, according to public-health experts." -- WAPO: "'A national crisis': As coronavirus forces many schools online this fall, millions of disconnected students are being left behind," by Moriah Balingit: "Before the pandemic, it was called 'the homework gap,' because of the growing number of teachers who assigned homework that required Internet access. Now, as the pandemic forces many schools to switch to remote learning, disconnected students will miss more than homework. They'll miss all of school." -- LAT: "L.A. schools announce massive COVID-19 testing, tracing initiative for all students and staff," by Howard Blume and Laura Newberry: "The Los Angeles Unified School District announced Sunday that it is launching an ambitious coronavirus testing and contact tracing program for all students, staff and their families — aiming to create a path to safely reopening campuses in the nation's second-largest school district. "If the plan unfolds as described, it could be one of the most detailed to date for an American school district, involving nearly 500,000 students and 75,000 staff members. It appears to be the most sizable, at least until the larger New York City school system clarifies how it will manage testing and contact tracing. "The L.A. testing program is not an immediate prelude to reopening campuses. No date has yet been set, and plans for offering distance learning will proceed as the school year formally begins this week." -- NANCY COOK: "Trump elevates Scott Atlas, a doctor with a rosier coronavirus outlook" | | | | A message from the American Investment Council:   Learn how private equity-backed companies are helping make learning safer and more accessible this school year. | | | BIG IN WELLINGTON -- "New Coronavirus Outbreak Prompts New Zealand to Postpone Election," by WSJ's Stephen Wright: "New Zealand delayed a national election by about a month after a coronavirus outbreak in its largest city of Auckland put a third of voters into lockdown. The election, which was expected to be dominated by debate over the government's response to the pandemic, will now be held on Oct. 17, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday." WSJ -- AP: "The outbreak in the nation's largest city has grown to 58 infections." BELARUS UPDATE -- "Belarus Protests Eclipse Rally in Defense of Defiant Leader," by NYT's Ivan Nechepurenko and Andrew Higgins in Minsk: "Minutes after President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus vowed to stand firm against protesters he reviled as 'rats,' 'trash' and 'bandits,' antigovernment demonstrators staged their biggest protest yet on Sunday to oppose a fraud-tainted presidential election a week earlier. "Tens of thousands of protesters — some estimates put their number at well over 200,000 — turned out in the center of Minsk, the capital, dwarfing a rally of Mr. Lukashenko's supporters earlier in the day. It appeared to be the largest protest in the history of Belarus, a former Soviet republic that Mr. Lukashenko has led since 1994." NYT BUSINESS BURST -- "Home Depot Braced for Covid Pain—Then Americans Remodeled," by WSJ's Sarah Nassauer: "Americans, stuck at home without much to do, started painting, building, fixing and decorating. Government stimulus checks buoyed long-delayed home improvements, as did less money spent on restaurants and summer travel. "Daily foot traffic to Home Depot stores since April has been running at least 35% above last year's, according to Unacast Inc., which tracks location data from 25 million cellphones on any given day. In 26 states, traffic doubled following a surge in late May." WSJ MEDIAWATCH -- BEN SMITH'S NYT COLUMN: "The Week Old Hollywood Finally, Actually Died" | | | | INTRODUCING POLITICO MINUTES: An unprecedented campaign season, demands an unconventional approach to news coverage. POLITICO Minutes is a new, interactive content experience that reveals the top takeaways you need to know in an easy-to-digest, swipeable format delivered straight to your inbox. Get a breakdown of what's been learned so far, why it matters, and what to watch for going forward. Sign up for POLITICO Minutes, launching at the 2020 Conventions. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com. THE BRYCE HARLOW FOUNDATION announced its 2020-21 fellowship class. The fellows STAFFING UP -- Melissa Schwartz is joining the Biden campaign as senior adviser to Jill Biden. She most recently was COO at the Bromwich Group, and is a DOJ, Interior and Barbara Mikulski alum. WEEKEND WEDDING -- Pete Davis, director of the Democracy Policy Network and author of the forthcoming book "Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in the Age of Infinite Browsing," and Lark Turner, who just finished a fellowship at Gupta Wessler and is clerking on the Fourth Circuit, got married Saturday. They eloped at a public park during a torrential downpour in Richmond, Va., after spring wedding plans were foiled by Covid-19. They were introduced by their older siblings before starting at Harvard Law School in 2015. Pic … Another pic BIRTHWEEK (was Thursday): LA Times' Margot Roosevelt turned 7-0 BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Philip de Vellis, partner and co-founder of Beacon Media. A trend he thinks doesn't get enough attention: "While I strongly support expanding vote by mail, many people don't realize the effect that has on insurgent candidates. With Election Day lasting weeks, it makes it very expensive for challengers and favors incumbents with large war chests. Now, it's virtually impossible for a 'dark horse' candidate to achieve an upset at the end." Playbook Q&A BIRTHDAYS: Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) is 8-0 … Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) is 57 … former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), chair of the American Action Network and senior counsel at Hogan Lovells, is 71 … Alexis Williams … Ron Bonjean, partner at Rokk Solutions (h/ts Sara Bonjean and Tim Burger) … Sonali Dohale … Jamie Smith, senior adviser at WestExec Advisors … Jamie Gillespie of the White House leg affairs office is 28 … Savannah Holsten of VP Mike Pence's office is 25 (h/t Kelly Laco) … Carl Sceusa, CEO of Revv … Daniel Penchina … Elyse Cohen of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation … Sabrina Schaeffer of the White House Writers Group … Mike Buczkiewicz, senior supervising producer at "Morning Joe" … David Kusnet (h/t Jon Haber) … Matt Mittenthal of BuzzFeed News comms … Caroline Boothe, member services director for House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) … … Brittany Shepherd … Jessica Gail … Michael Bekesha … HuffPost's Elise Foley … Tyler Nickerson … Nick Hawatmeh … Andrea Christianson … Will Ricciardella … Sam Haass … Robyn Garnett … Diane Shust … Kevin Mack … Louisa Terrell … CNN's Augusta Anthony (h/t Eric Levenson) … Dave McCormick, CEO of Bridgewater Associates … Ali Deckard … Larry Ellison is 76 … Leah Nelson of Sunshine Sachs … Derek McGinty … Glen Caplin, SVP of comms at Madison Square Garden … Aaron Kinnari … Carlee Griffeth … Alyson Chadwick … Eric Stark … Monica Fernandez … Eric Moskowitz … Margie Glick … Yousef Saba … Kensey Johnson … Suzy Loftus … Alan Bowser … Maegan Carberry … Mary Lou Foy … Lisa Stickan … Michael Kraft … former Chinese President Jiang Zemin is 94 … Mark Molaro … Darren Rigger, partner at Dynamic SRG … Andrew Pratt … Kevin Lillard … Amanda Matti | | A message from the American Investment Council: Private equity-backed companies are helping make learning safer and more accessible this fall.
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