| | | | |  | | By Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman | Presented by |  | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | GOOD SUNDAY MORNING. ELECTION DAY is six months from today. Six months ago, Playbook noted that President DONALD TRUMP had flown to New York for a UFC fight with MARK MEADOWS, who was then a member of Congress, and KEVIN MCCARTHY. And, six months ago yesterday was the World Series parade for the world champion WASHINGTON NATIONALS. CROWDING THE MALL THEN was fun. Now it's stupid. ONE OF THE CHALLENGING ELEMENTS about the coronavirus is that defeating it relies, in part, on the intellect and behavior of the general public, and their willingness to follow directions. It doesn't matter one lick what President DONALD TRUMP or New York Gov. ANDREW CUOMO say if people are still crowding into parks in hotspots like New York and D.C. on warm spring days. DEFEATING IT ALSO requires a continued robust federal response. THE SENATE will reconvene Monday, with Democrats and Republicans at complete odds about what further the government should and could do to stem the economic fallout and help rid the world of the disease. The administration was also on the Sunday shows this morning suggesting that there might not even be anything more Congress could do. AND, SINCE WE PUT OUT PLAYBOOK YESTERDAY, Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL and Speaker NANCY PELOSI banded together to reject the administration's offer to send rapid tests to Capitol Hill for members of Congress returning to D.C. Politically savvy because Congress shouldn't get special treatment? Perhaps. Substantively unwise? Maybe, since we know the disease spreads quickly, and a breakout among lawmakers and their aides would be quite dangerous. CNN'S JAKE TAPPER spoke to LARRY KUDLOW on CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": TAPPER: "Do you think there's going to be a phase four stimulus bill? And, if so, should it include money for state and local governments?" KUDLOW : "There may well be additional legislation. There's kind of a pause period right now. You know, we have put up $3 trillion of direct federal budget assistance in one way or another. The Federal Reserve has actually put in as much as $4-$6, trillion. So it's a huge, huge package. "Let's see how it's doing as we gradually reopen the economy. We probably will have some ideas. And I want to say this, that regarding the states, as you know, the president has from time to time spoken about linking that to -- to sanctuary cities. I don't think anything's been decided yet." … TAPPER: "Right, but you talk about a pause, a moment of pause that we're in right now. The Fed chair, Jerome Powell, indicated this week that he believes Congress needs to pass additional measures providing direct fiscal support to Americans. I don't understand the reason for a pause. Why not take action aggressively now, considering how dire a situation so many Americans are in? KUDLOW: "Well, look, first of all, we have to execute the last package. And the numbers are very strong. These are the small business loans. As of, I guess, Friday, we have put up over $100 billion already just in a few days. That's, of course, on top of the prior $350 billion. "Look, Jake, 175 million Americans, 175 million Americans have received federal assistance in one form or another. That includes the direct checks, of course, and the unemployment compensation, and the small business assistance. "So, I guess what I would say to you, at this particular juncture, let's execute the continuation of what we have already done. Let's see what the results are. The outlook in the weeks and months ahead directly is not positive. As you have noted, the unemployment is very, very high, almost 30 million people. We are covering them with generous relief packages, just trying to stabilize things and get folks through this." SIR JOHN BELL told CHUCK TODD on NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS" that he anticipates "evidence that the vaccine has efficacy by the beginning of June." He also said that he anticipates a "seasonal coronavirus vaccine" going forward. DEBORAH BIRX on the protests in the Michigan statehouse to CHRIS WALLACE on "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" : "It's devastatingly worrisome to me personally because if they go home and infect their grandmother or their grandfather who has a comorbid condition and they have a serious or a very -- or an unfortunate outcome, they will feel guilty for the rest of our lives. So we need to protect each other at the same time we're voicing our discontent." SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO spoke to MARTHA RADDATZ on ABC'S "THIS WEEK": RADDATZ: " Do you think they intentionally released that virus or it was an accident in the lab? POMPEO: "You know, I don't have anything to say about that. I think there's a lot to know. But I can say this. We've done our best to try and answer all of those questions. We tried to get a team in there. The World Health Organization tried to get a team in there. And they have failed. No one's been allowed to go to this lab or any of the other laboratories -- there are many labs inside of China, Martha. This risk remains. "This is an ongoing challenge. We still need to get in there. We still don't have the virus samples we need. This is an ongoing threat, an ongoing pandemic. And the Chinese Communist Party continues to block access to the Western world, the world's best scientists, to figure out exactly what happened. So I can't answer your question about that. Because the Chinese Communist Party has refused to cooperate with world health experts." | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are working to meet the needs of the healthcare system at this critical time. From family physicians to community clinics and large hospitals, we're providing resources to ensure those on the frontlines are protected and supported during this pandemic, and remain strong beyond it. | | | NARRATIVE SETTERS … -- WAPO: "34 days of pandemic: Inside Trump's desperate attempts to reopen America," by Phil Rucker, Josh Dawsey, Yasmeen Abutaleb, Bob Costa and Lena Sun: "A small team led by Kevin Hassett — a former chairman of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers with no background in infectious diseases — quietly built an econometric model to guide response operations. Many White House aides interpreted the analysis as predicting that the daily death count would peak in mid-April before dropping off substantially, and that there would be far fewer fatalities than initially foreseen, according to six people briefed on it. "Although Hassett denied that he ever projected the number of dead, other senior administration officials said his presentations characterized the count as lower than commonly forecast — and that it was embraced inside the West Wing by the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and other powerful aides helping to oversee the government's pandemic response. It affirmed their own skepticism about the severity of the virus and bolstered their case to shift the focus to the economy, which they firmly believed would determine whether Trump wins a second term. … "This story documenting Trump's month-long struggle to reopen America is based on interviews with 82 administration officials, outside advisers and experts with detailed knowledge of the White House's handling of the pandemic. Many of them spoke on the condition of anonymity to recount internal discussions or share candid assessments without risk of retribution. "Some of Trump's closest advisers rebutted on the record the suggestion that the pandemic response has been anything but successful. 'This is a historically new challenge, and we've really risen to the occasion,' Kushner said in an interview. 'When history looks back on this, they'll say, man, the federal government acted really quickly and creatively, they threw a lot at the problem and saved a lot of lives.'" BRUTAL: "Trump did outperform Biden in some areas [in internal party polling], such as being better at getting things done and better in handling a crisis. Still, on a question that historically has helped determine whether incumbents win reelection — whether the country is headed in the right direction — just 37 percent said they believed it was." RNC CHAIR RONNA MCDANIEL to MARTHA RADDATZ on ABC'S "THIS WEEK": MCDANIEL: "You know, I don't really rely on polling this far out, as you know … The polling is going to fluctuate, and we all know the polling today is not going to be what we see on November 3. And you know who knows that better than anybody, Hillary Clinton, the polling was historically inaccurate in the 2016 race. "What we have seen consistently, though, is voters approve of the president's handling of the economy heading into this pandemic, and they recognize that he's going to be the leader to restore the economy coming out of this. He did it once with seven million new jobs, record low unemployment, and they trust him as the leader who's going to get these jobs back and get our economy humming again as we come out of this crisis which he's leading us through." -- WITHER MIKE PENCE … PETER BAKER and MAGGIE HABERMAN on NYT, A11: "Pence's Virus Role Enhances His Profile While Showing Limits of His Influence": "In the most consequential mission of his career, Mr. Pence has tried to navigate the complexities of a mysterious disease and the vagaries of a mercurial president at the same time, steering the response to the most deadly pandemic in generations without getting caught up in the melodrama of the moment. Yet questions have lingered about how seriously he himself took the threat at first and what advice he gave the president in the days when it really mattered. … "Another governor, who asked not to be named, said Mr. Pence never betrays what he really thinks about the president's behavior. 'Multiple times, I say, 'But Mike, this is just crazy,' and sometimes there will be a little pause and I'm waiting for him to say, 'Yes, I know.'' But he never does. Instead, Mr. Pence says, 'I understand. Thank you for your input.'" BURGESS EVERETT: "Union drops $1 million to push Congress for state worker coronavirus relief": "The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is spending more than $1 million on a campaign urging Congress to supply more money to states and cities in its next relief package, according to a person familiar with the buy. The group may also increase the buy later." A MESSAGE FROM GEORGE W. BUSH: The 43rd president put out a 2:47 video, urging the country to come together. -- REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) -- the No. 3 House Republican -- sent it out to her GOP colleagues this morning with this message: "I hope everyone is doing well this Sunday morning. I wanted to share this video from President George W. Bush. As he says, 'We are not partisan combatants. We are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God. We rise or fall together, and we are determined to rise.'" -- THE PRESIDENT had this to say on Twitter: ".@PeteHegseth 'Oh bye [sic] the way, I appreciate the message from former President Bush, but where was he during Impeachment calling for putting partisanship aside." @foxandfriends He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!" THAT'S KIND OF THE POINT OF THE VIDEO, right? HAPPENING TOMORROW … PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW with House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-Calif.) Register here SPOTTED: A mask-wearing Justice Elena Kagen picking up dinner at Seven Reasons on 14th Street Saturday night. WEEK AHEAD … THE PRESIDENT is going to Arizona Tuesday. TV TONIGHT: PRESIDENT TRUMP has a FOX NEWS town hall from 7-9 p.m. at the Lincoln Memorial. BRET BAIER and MARTHA MACCALLUM are hosting. … CNN is airing "The Pandemic & The President," hosted by JAKE TAPPER at 10 p.m. WAPO: "Trump campaign divided over how to attack Biden amid worries over troubling poll numbers," by Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey: "Several political advisers, including White House senior aide Kellyanne Conway, have warned his allies against relentlessly mocking the 77-year-old Biden's mental acuity because the president has already lost ground with senior citizens, people familiar with the matter said. "Senior Democratic and Republican strategists, in private conversations, are in full agreement about the stakes of the discussions now taking place at the White House and in campaign conference calls. If President Trump and his political machine don't find a way to drive up Biden's unpopularity with voters, they argue, the president will have little shot at winning a second term. "'We have to introduce people to a different Joe Biden,' a Trump campaign adviser said. 'One of the reasons we won in 2016 is because so many people hated Hillary Clinton. I'm not sure people hate Biden that much.'" -- ALEX THOMPSON: "The Biden campaign faces a mind-boggling challenge: How to make Joe go viral" AP/WASHINGTON: "Reade: 'I didn't use sexual harassment' in Biden complaint," by Alexandra Jaffe, Don Thompson and Stephen Braun: "Tara Reade … says she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment. "'I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable,' Reade said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. 'I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault.' "Reade told the AP twice that she did not use the phrase 'sexual harassment' in filing the complaint, but at other points in the interview said that was the behavior she believed she was describing. She said: 'I talked about sexual harassment, retaliation. The main word I used – and I know I didn't use sexual harassment — I used 'uncomfortable.' And I remember 'retaliation.'' "Reade described the report after the AP discovered additional transcripts and notes from its interviews with Reade last year in which she says she 'chickened out' after going to the Senate personnel office. The AP interviewed Reade in 2019 after she accused Biden of uncomfortable and inappropriate touching. She did not raise allegations of sexual assault against Biden until this year, around the time he became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. … [R]eade is suggesting that even if the report surfaces, it would not corroborate her assault allegations because she chose not to detail them at the time." NYT, A1, with a News Analysis bug: "The Allegation Is Against Joe Biden, but the Burden Is on Women," by Jessica Bennett and Lisa Lerer: "After three years of calling on elected officials, journalists and corporations to 'believe women,' the movement faces a case where the truth seems especially difficult, if not impossible, to establish. National news outlets, including The New York Times, have investigated Ms. Reade's allegation, and this past week, two additional women came forward to corroborate parts of her story. Yet there is no formal organization tasked with examining Ms. Reade's claim. No eyewitnesses to the encounter. And with nearly three decades passed, memories of staff members from that time have grown hazy. "The debate over how to assess claims about decades-old behavior is not new, but it rarely takes place in the context of a high-stakes presidential race -- in this case a heated and viciously personal contest, in the midst of a pandemic, in which discussion of sexual misconduct is likely to be a constant backdrop. If liberal Democratic voters abandon Mr. Biden, it may strengthen the re-election chances of President Trump, who himself has been accused of sexual assault at least a dozen times -- though he is rarely asked about it." | | | |   | | | -- NYT'S MAUREEN DOWD on JOE BIDEN and TARA READE: "Joe Says It Ain't So: With partisan goggles, we plunge back into the muck." TAPPER spoke with Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER on CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION" about BIDEN: TAPPER: "I want to turn now to former Vice President Joe Biden, who denied on Friday an allegation made by a former Senate staffer of his, Tara Reade, who says that he sexually assaulted her in the early '90s. You have said that you believe Vice President Biden. "I want to compare that to 2018, when you said you believed Dr. Christine Blasey Ford after she accused now Justice Brett Kavanaugh of assault. Kavanaugh also, like Biden, categorically denied that accusation. And Blasey Ford, to be honest, she did not have the contemporaneous accounts of her view of what happened that Tara Reade does. "You have spoken movingly about how you're a survivor -- survivor of assault yourself. Why do you believe Biden, and not Kavanaugh? Are they not both entitled to the same presumption of innocence, regardless of their political views? WHITMER: "You know, Jake, as a survivor and as a feminist, I will say this. We need to give people an opportunity to tell their story. But then we have a duty to vet it. And just because you're a survivor doesn't mean that every claim is equal. It means we give them the ability to make their case, and the other side as well, and then to make a judgment that is informed. "I have read a lot about this current allegation. I know Joe Biden, and I have watched his defense. And there's not a pattern that goes into this. And I think that, for these reasons, I'm very comfortable that Joe Biden is who he says he is. He's -- and you know what? And that's all I'm going to say about it. I really resent the fact that, every time a case comes up, all of us survivors have to weigh in. It is reopening wounds. And it is -- take us at our word, ask us for our opinion, and let's move on." LOOK AT THAT … BUSINESS INSIDER: "Monty Bennett, Trump donor and largest recipient of PPP funds, will return money," by Tom LoBianco: "The hotel conglomerate run by a major campaign donor to President Donald Trump, Monty Bennett, announced Saturday it would return all the money it received through the Paycheck Protection Program. … "Bennett's decision came two hours after Democratic nominee Joe Biden blasted Bennett, tweeting, "Monty Bennett should return the tens of millions of dollars he received, and we should give it to the small businesses that need it." "Bennett runs a conglomerate of 128 hotels, which received, collectively, more than $58 million through the PPP. Business Insider broke the news on April 23 that he won the money after contributing significantly to Trump's re-election and spent $50,000 to hire two of the president's fundraisers to lobby the administration for bailout money." -- THE REAL WORLD … BOSTON GLOBE: "Community banks have been working deep into the night to get loans for their local businesses," by Shirley Leung: "It's 4 a.m. Tuesday, and Charlie O'Brien at Adams Community Bank, Shena Kelly at Coastal Heritage Bank, and Quincy Miller at Eastern Bank, are up trying to get loans approved. "So much for banker's hours. These lenders haven't become night owls by choice. Instead, they have figured out that to outwit the US government's achingly slow system that provides 'emergency' loans to small businesses, they're better off working in the middle of the night. Kelly, a commercial portfolio manager at Coastal Heritage in Weymouth, pulled an 18-hour day Monday, but she couldn't sleep knowing she had 30 more loans to process. Her customers, she said, are like family. After finishing up at midnight, she was back at it a few hours later." BURGESS EVERETT and JAMES ARKIN: "Democrats leave Doug Jones hanging — for now": "There's a glaring omission as Democrats lay down millions of dollars to try and win control of the Senate: Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones. "The two leading Senate Democratic campaign groups reserved nearly $100 million for the fall in half a dozen states with Republican incumbents. But so far they have put down nothing to protect their most vulnerable incumbent and aren't yet formally committing to spend big dollars for him. "Jones said the cavalry will come eventually. 'I don't think they have to do that right now. I don't even have an opponent yet. I don't think that they're going to leave us out at all,' Jones said in an interview. 'We feel very good about where we are in this race. There's no question about that.'" THE PRESIDENT'S SUNDAY: THE PRESIDENT is scheduled to leave Camp David at 1 p.m. for the White House. He'll arrive around 1:35 p.m. At 6:50 p.m., he'll leave for the Lincoln Memorial for "America Together: Returning to Work," on Fox. | | | | MONDAY - A VIRTUAL PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH HOUSE GOP LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY: How is the minority party in the House planning to navigate the next steps in the response to the coronavirus pandemic? In an election year, is it possible to avoid the anticipated partisan battles over additional relief measures and other legislative priories? Join Playbook co-authors Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT for a virtual discussion with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) about his efforts to try to get the House to return to Washington, what's next for economic relief legislation, and how mail-in voting could impact the 2020 election. Have questions? Submit yours by tweeting it to @POLITICOLive using #AskPOLITICO. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO DU JOUR: A woman lies in Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy said early reports of behavior at New Jersey's just-reopened parks and golf courses were "so far so good." | Seth Wenig/AP Photo | NEW … EVAN OSNOS in the NEW YORKER: "How Greenwich Republicans Learned to Love Trump" NEW: OSNOS -- who won the National Book Award for his book about China -- has a new book out in the fall of 2021 called "Wildland: The Making of America's Fury." Here's how the book is being described by FSG, which is publishing it: IIn Wildland, Osnos returns from a decade abroad to three places he has lived in the United States -- Greenwich, Connecticut; Clarksburg, West Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois -- and takes the measure of how much they, and the country, have changed. A deeply reported account of individual lives, and an analysis of sweeping historical forces, this is the story of a crucible, a period in which Americans lost the moral confidence to see themselves as larger than the sum of their parts." THE SUN (U.K.): "BORIS' COVID HELL: Boris Johnson reveals doctors prepared to announce his death as he battled coronavirus" | | | |   | | | WSJ: "Maryland Cancels Big Coronavirus-Mask Order," by Brody Mullins and Susan Pulliam: "The state of Maryland has canceled a large order of coronavirus supplies from a politically connected company and asked state law-enforcement officials to investigate the matter, Maryland officials said. "Procurement officials with the state said they took action after waiting for more than 30 days for $12.5 million worth of masks and ventilators the state ordered from Blue Flame Medical LLC, a company launched a few weeks ago by a one-time fundraiser for the Republican party. "The former fundraiser, Mike Gula, sent a letter to Maryland officials showing that the state's order for roughly 1.5 million N95 masks was seized by government officials in China, where they were manufactured, according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Gula switched to a new supplier and plans to deliver the masks shortly, along with a separate $4 million order for more than 100 ventilators to the state, according to a Blue Flame Medical official." | | | | NEW THIS WEEK – "THE LONG GAME," PRESENTED BY MORGAN STANLEY: Our latest newsletter is designed for executives, investors, policymakers and activists who are changing the conversation around how our society grows and thrives in the future as well as the present. Engage with the best minds and sharpest insights from the worlds of finance, technology, energy, agriculture and government around our biggest challenges, from pandemics to plastics, from climate change to land use, from inequality to the future of work. Searching for a nuanced look at these issues and solutions? Subscribe to "The Long Game" today. | | | | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com. DOJ ARRIVAL LOUNGE -- Rebecca Sears Holdenried will be outreach coordinator for DOJ's Office of Justice Programs in the Office of the Assistant A.G. She previously was external relations director at the Alliance Defending Freedom. WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Caragh Fisher O'Connor, publicity director for ABC's "This Week" and "Good Morning America," and Jeff O'Connor, who works for Enterprise sales, welcomed Charlotte Byrne O'Connor on Tuesday, April 28. Pic … Another pic BIRTHDAYS: Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) is 77 … Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is 71 … Willie Geist, host of NBC's "Sunday Today" and co-host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," is 45 … Marisol Garibay, chief comms officer at the CFPB ... Ben Ginsberg, partner at Jones Day ... former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy … Scott Kamins, president of Kamins Consulting, is 45 … Vince Harris, founder and CEO of Harris Media … former Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) is 59 … Sonya Newenhouse … POLITICO's Matt Friedman, Anna Stubbs, David Nicks and Julia Busby ... Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association ... Stephen Krupin, managing director and director of executive comms of SKDKnickerbocker ... Holly Turner ... Greg Clugston ... Linda Kenyon ... Katie Farrar ... Meredith Slesinger of Amtrak ... Irene Rosenfeld is 67 ... Mikhail Prokhorov is 55 … Rob Astorino is 53 … Stephen Labaton, EVP at Booz Allen Hamilton … Andy Miga … … FEC Chair Caroline Hunter … Brendan McPhillips, former Iowa state director for Pete Buttigieg's campaign, celebrating in Philly with Gritty videos and his two leading ladies, Jane Slusser and Zuzu (h/t Geoff Burgan) … Democratic strategist Max Burns … Democracy Works co-founder and executive director Seth Flaxman … Michael Blume of the American Forest and Paper Association … Chris Bodenner … Andrew Nagorski … Chelsea Thomas of the App Association … Ben Crair … Susan Steinmetz … Ella Yates, member services and coalitions director for the House Judiciary Republicans (h/t Frank Leach) … Julia Convertini, legislative assistant for Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.) … Lindsey Kolb, digital director at DDC Public Affairs, is 26 … Caitlin Peruccio … Sam Azzarelli of Firehouse Strategies … Roy Temple, partner at GPS Impact … Tim Mulvey … Rob Jones, founder and CEO of Alliance Group … Stephanie Logan … Melissa Wideman … Paul Kangas … Steele Burrow … Jason Killian Meath is 51 … Mickey Munley … Matt Gustavson … Brenna Marron | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are providing critical resources to doctors and hospitals, helping to keep caregivers protected and answering the call to serve on the frontlines. From family physicians to community clinics and large hospitals, we're helping to make sure communities and clinicians across America are protected during this pandemic, and remain strong beyond it. Learn more about how we're supporting our healthcare 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 political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
