| | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by |  | | | SIREN … NYT: "As President Trump presses for states to reopen their economies, his administration is privately projecting a steady rise in the number of cases and deaths from coronavirus over the next several weeks, reaching about 3,000 daily deaths on June 1, according to an internal document obtained by The New York Times, nearly double from the current level of about 1,750." THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE said it cannot release any possible complaint about JOE BIDEN from TARA READE. POLITICO … Biden campaign response, via ABC's Johnny Verhovek HOUSE MINORITY LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY flew back to Washington on Sunday night -- with a mask -- and took up station in the Capitol, even though the House is out until at least next week. We interviewed him this morning for a Playbook virtual briefing. He made some news … -- HE SAID HE DISAGREES WITH MITCH MCONNELL AND NANCY PELOSI and wants rapid Covid-19 testing in the Capitol. "We are a mini-city here in Washington. It is your Capitol, it is your government. You want to make sure the government doesn't collapse or not be able to meet -- what does that say to the country, what does that say to the rest of the world? You want to make sure it's functioning. So I do not think it would be wrong to have one of the Abbott tests where you can have a quick response. Especially if there was some type of outbreak, you can quarantine those individuals, you can test the others, and you can have government keep working." -- HE SIGNALED HE HAD NOT DECIDED whether to appoint Republicans to PELOSI'S coronavirus cash oversight panel. "I'm going to make that decision this week, I'll announce it later this week." TREASURY SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN was on FOX BUSINESS with MARIA BARTIROMO: Will there be international travel this year? "Too hard to tell at this point, Maria. I hope down the road it is. But I'd say we are taking this -- our priority is opening up the domestic economy. Obviously, for businesspeople that do need to travel, there will be travel on a limited basis." -- W.H. WANTS TO ENCOURAGE TRAVEL: "The president's also looking about ways to stimulate travel. We want people to travel safely, to be able to visit places safely, so as the economy opens up, I think you'll see demand coming back." -- ZACH WARMBRODT: "Mnuchin on Monday signaled that he will not ease restrictions on how small businesses must use emergency government-backed loans issued to prevent layoffs, amid a lobbying push aimed at giving employers more flexibility." SWAMPY -- "Before pandemic, Trump's stockpile chief put focus on biodefense. An old client benefited," by WaPo's Jon Swaine, Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Aaron Davis: "After Robert Kadlec was confirmed as President Trump's top official for public health preparedness in 2017, he began pressing to increase government stocks of a smallpox vaccine. His office ultimately made a deal to buy up to $2.8 billion of the vaccine from a company that once paid Kadlec as a consultant, a connection he did not disclose on a Senate questionnaire when he was nominated. … "The 10-year contract is part of an effort by Kadlec to bolster the nation's stockpile of defenses against biological and chemical weapons, a focus he made a priority over preparing for a natural pandemic, an examination by The Washington Post found. … Kadlec scaled back a long-standing interagency process for spending billions of dollars on stockpile purchases, diminishing the role of government experts and restricting decision-making to himself and a small circle of advisers." WaPo Good Monday afternoon. | | A message from Google: Free tools and resources for small businesses from Google. To help them navigate uncertainty in the wake of COVID-19, Google is providing free tools and resources for small and medium-sized businesses—from help with remote work to $340 million in Google Ads credits for existing customers. Learn more. | | | TALKER … DAVID AXELROD and DAVID PLOUFFE in the NYT: "What Joe Biden Needs to Do to Beat Trump": "Adjusting to the new political realities is imperative for Mr. Biden, who ran his first campaign for office a half-century ago. In order to break through and be heard, he will have to up the tempo of his campaign, fully utilize his army of powerful surrogates and embrace a new suite of virtual, data-driven tools and creative tactics. "Online speeches from his basement won't cut it. Written pronouncements on this issue or that may have won attention during his many years in office, but will get little pickup now. Broadcast interviews are fine, but most valuable only if they generate a great and memorable line that becomes a widely shared and consumed video moment. … "Act like an insurgent, not an incumbent. … Prepare for an onslaught. … Expand your digital footprint. … Focus on content. … Deploy surrogates. … Plan for a virtual convention. … Organize, organize, organize. (But digitally.)" NEW: The Paid Family Leave for All campaign is up with a new video featuring several lawmakers, activists and actors, including Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kamala Harris (Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Cory Booker (N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Democratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Lauren Underwood (Ill.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Eric Swalwell (Calif.) and Cheri Bustos (Ill.). Other cameos: Sophia Bush, Tony Goldwyn, Bradley Whitford, Tom Colicchio, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, Debra Messing and more. Watch TRANSITIONS -- Laura Dove is now director of transportation policy at Ford. She previously was secretary for the majority in the Senate. … Tim Noelker is now general counsel at the Peace Corps. He previously was general counsel and White House liaison at the Corporation for National and Community Service. ICYMI … NYT: "J. Crew Files for Bankruptcy in Virus's First Big Retail Casualty" THE PIVOT ... NANCY COOK: "Trump team plots tax cuts and regulatory suspensions to boost a coronavirus recovery": "The Trump White House is preparing a proposal for tax and regulatory changes to boost the economy that it tentatively plans to release at the end of this week … Promoting a future economic boom carries its own political risks for the president, as the U.S. coronavirus death toll soars above 60,000 people — with no vaccine expected in the coming months of reopening. … "White House aides have also seriously discussed expanding the business-expense deduction or allowing businesses to write off new investment such as equipment costs. They've looked at creating a new tax credit to incentivize companies to return manufacturing to the U.S. … For individual taxpayers, aides have discussed sending an additional stimulus check … They're also weighing whether to extend the deadline to file taxes until this fall. … [Officials] are exploring ways to accelerate the completion of regulatory cutbacks already in the pipeline." POLITICO WHAT'S ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND -- @realDonaldTrump at 10:24 a.m.: "Interesting? By Congress not wanting the special 5 minute testing apparatus, they are saying that they are not 'essential'. In any event, we have great testing capacity, and have performed 6.5 million tests, which is more than every country in the world, combined!" -- PLENTY OF ESSENTIAL workers don't get tests. TESTING LATEST -- "FDA enacts stricter rules for antibody tests after congressional investigation," by David Lim: "The Food and Drug Administration is walking back a widely criticized policy that allowed more than 100 coronavirus antibody tests onto the market without agency review. "Manufacturers of antibody tests must now apply for emergency use authorization within 10 business days after their products hit the market, under a policy announced Monday. If a test does not meet the FDA's specificity and sensitivity criteria, its manufacturer must suspend distribution. … A senior FDA official told POLITICO the policy change was not a direct result of pressure from Congress." | | | | POLITICO Magazine Justice Reform: The Decarceration Issue, presented by Verizon: Over the past decade, the long-standing challenge of criminal-justice reform has emerged under the spotlight with a new twist: Both Republicans and Democrats are on board. But if both parties want to lower the incarceration rate, why are our jail and prison populations still so high? The latest series from POLITICO Magazine works to answer this important question and take a deeper look into what it will take to make progress in the policy and politics of justice reform. READ THE FULL ISSUE. | | | | | THE VACCINE RACE -- "China's Coronavirus Vaccine Drive Empowers a Troubled Industry," by NYT's Sui-Lee Wee: "China wants to beat the world in the race to find a coronavirus vaccine — and, by some measures, it is doing just that. … But China's leaders have empowered a vaccine industry that has long been mired in quality problems and scandals. … "Finding a vaccine isn't enough. China's companies must also win over the trust of the public, who might be more inclined to choose a foreign-made vaccine over a Chinese one. … China's vaccine drive has put Beijing's considerable strengths and glaring weaknesses on display." NYT WHERE CRISIS MEETS COLLAPSE -- "Historic financial decline hits doctors, dentists and hospitals — despite covid-19 — threatening overall economy," by WaPo's Todd Frankel and Tony Romm: "Even as the novel coronavirus pandemic draws attention and resources to the nation's doctors and hospitals, the health-care industry is suffering a historic collapse in business that is emerging as one of the most powerful forces hurting the U.S. economy and a threat to a potential recovery." WaPo HOW THE PPP SHOOK OUT -- "Small Businesses Were at a Breaking Point. Small Banks Came to the Rescue," by WSJ's Peter Rudegeair, Orla McCaffrey and Liz Hoffman: "After years of watching big banks gobble up deposits using their slick digital apps and sprawling branch networks, community banks are flipping the script and demonstrating the value of ties to local businesses. "Banks with under $10 billion in assets approved about 60% of loans in the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program … [C]ommunity bankers worked out of home offices and lightly trafficked branches to process loans immediately." WSJ HIGH (SEAS) HOPES FOR A LIVING -- "Carnival cruise line says it will sail again Aug. 1, a week after coronavirus no-sail order due to expire," by CNBC's William Feuer: "Carnival Cruise Line, which is owned by Carnival Corp., said it advised travel agents on Monday that eight of its ships will return to service on Aug. 1. Three of its ships will set sail from Galveston, Texas, the company said, and three others will sail from Miami. The company said two of its ships will sail from Port Canaveral, Florida." THE IMPACT -- "The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis," by WaPo's William Wan: "Federal agencies and experts warn that a historic wave of mental health problems is approaching: depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide. Just as the initial coronavirus outbreak caught hospitals unprepared, the country's mental health system — vastly underfunded, fragmented and difficult to access before the pandemic — is even less prepared to handle this coming surge. … "Nearly half of Americans report the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. A federal emergency hotline for people in emotional distress registered an 891 percent increase in March compared with the same time last year. Calls and messages to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's hotline grew 338 percent in March from a month earlier, before state lockdowns began." WaPo BALLOT BULLETIN -- "Unexpected outcome in Wisconsin: Tens of thousands of ballots that arrived after Election Day were counted, thanks to court decisions," by WaPo's Amy Gardner, Dan Simmons and Robert Barnes: "The surprising outcome after warnings that many Wisconsinites would be disenfranchised amid the pandemic was the result of a largely unexamined aspect of the [Supreme Court's] decision that temporarily changed which ballots were counted. Because of the order, election officials for the first time tallied absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day, rather than just those received by then … "Democrats think they have secured a game-changing precedent from the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 order. In the past week alone, lawsuits bankrolled by Democratic committees have been filed in four states seeking similar postmark rules and citing the Wisconsin opinion to bolster their argument. … Republicans, meanwhile, say they are prepared to spend millions of dollars to oppose these efforts." WaPo | | | | LET'S TAKE CARE OF ONE ANOTHER: Families in the DMV have been cursed by layoffs, dealing with school cancellations and worrying about heightened health risks. Our neighbors need us now more than ever. You can help. From grab-and-go dinners for kids to boxes of groceries for seniors, your support will help provide tens of millions of meals for people in the greater D.C. community who need it the most during these turbulent times. No one should go hungry during this pandemic. Together, we can make sure no one will. Please support the Capital Area Food Bank's Covid-19 response today. | | | | | FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS ... BLOOMBERG'S GREG STOHR: "Thomas Speaks as Supreme Court Holds First-Ever Phone Argument": "Justice Clarence Thomas asked his first questions in more than a year as the U.S. Supreme Court held a historic telephone argument with an unprecedented live broadcast. … The session, being held by phone because of the coronavirus outbreak, included a few minor hiccups. Roberts had to call on Justice Sonia Sotomayor twice when it was her turn to question Ross. … Later, Justice Stephen Breyer's audio was distorted." CONVENTIONAL WISDOM -- "Both Parties Wonder: How Much Do Conventions Even Matter Anymore?" by NYT's Adam Nagourney and Matt Flegenheimer: "For all the organizing, money, time and energy poured into a four-day extravaganza of parties, speeches, forums, lobbying and networking, there is a strong argument that they have become among the less consequential events on the political calendar. … "The events can provide a lift in the polls, but there is no shortage of convention nominees, John McCain and Michael S. Dukakis among them, who can attest to just how ephemeral that boost is. … As the drama has slipped away, so have the television networks, systematically cutting back on the hours of prime-time coverage devoted to events that have become little more than scripted advertisements." NYT BACK IN ACTION -- "North Korean Leader's Return to Public Eye Affirms Status Quo in Talks," by WSJ's Timothy Martin and Andrew Jeong in Seoul, South Korea: "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's appearance in state media, after a near three-week absence set off rumors about his health, reaffirms a status quo that is unlikely to shake up stalled denuclearization talks with the U.S. or change the regime's pattern of weapons testing. "Mr. Kim's attendance at an event on Friday, seemingly healthy and in charge, ended speculation of a leadership shake-up that could reorient Pyongyang's approach to nuclear talks or provocation. With Kim still leading the country, close North Korea watchers anticipate an uneventful year for denuclearization talks ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November." WSJ MEDIAWATCH -- "Fake News Kingpin Is Back to Cash In On 2020's Hellscape," by The Daily Beast's Adam Rawnsley and Hanna Trudo: "One of the Macedonian fake news kingpins who drove conservative outrage clicks for cash in 2016 is back and cashing in on the coronavirus and 2020 controversy. "Unfortunately, American media outlets and readers seem none the wiser, as at least one outlet associated with him fooled organisations like Fox News and The Washington Post into believing it was a local ABC affiliate." Daily Beast IN MEMORIAM -- "Gil Schwartz Dies: Former CBS Chief Communications Officer Was 68," by Deadline's Nellie Andreeva: "Schwartz retired as Senior EVP and Chief Communications Officer of CBS Corporation, in November 2018 following nearly 40 years at CBS, Viacom and Westinghouse Broadcasting. He oversaw the public relations, media relations, and also the corporate and internal communications functions during CBS' rise to become America's most-watched network. … "Schwartz secretly (at first) moonlighted for many years as a columnist and author, using Stanley Bing as his pen name." Deadline WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Sara Hart, VP for global government affairs at Citi, and Peter Hart, global director of financial planning, analysis and reporting at APCO, welcomed David Vandeveer Hart on April 24. Pic | | | | A message from Google:   To help SMBs stay connected with consumers, Google is providing $340 million in Google Ads credits to existing SMB customers. 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