| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by |  | | | NEW … THE PRESIDENT plans to hold a roundtable this afternoon with people who have been "positively impacted by law enforcement." PARTICIPANTS are scheduled to include: Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Democrat who has endorsed the president for reelection; William Kimbro, the deputy sheriff of Berkeley County, S.C.; Corey Reece, the deputy sheriff of Palm Beach County, Fla.; and family members of people saved from everything ranging from asphyxiation to kidnapping. The event is around 2 p.m. VEEPSTAKES -- "Why Joe Biden Has His Eye on Karen Bass," by The Atlantic's Isaac Dovere: "Now, much to Bass's—and pretty much everyone else's—surprise, Biden's team is taking her seriously as a potential vice-presidential running mate. … He's the leader of the party now. Will he decide its future by anointing a successor, or pick someone, like Bass, who's less likely to run for president? … "Bass came up as a community organizer in Los Angeles and worked as a physician assistant in emergency rooms during the AIDS crisis. She was at the infamous intersection of Florence and Normandie as the sun set in 1992 during the Watts riots, and almost got hit by bricks. For the past month, she's been shepherding a policing-reform bill through the House without losing a single progressive or moderate vote." Atlantic -- ABC: "Before VP whispers, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms' rise propelled by controversial figure," by Lucien Bruggeman: "Bottoms' reputation locally has been shaped in part by close political ties to her predecessor, Kasim Reed, who left office in 2018 under the shadow of a federal corruption investigation. That relationship helped propel Bottoms to city hall in 2017, according to several current and former city office-holders, but many of those officials now say it could also jeopardize her bid to join Biden on the Democratic ticket. … Bottoms has not been linked to the federal probe." ABC TALKER … SCOTT GOTTLIEB in the WSJ: "Schools Can Open Safely This Fall: Staggered schedules and other precautions would help reduce children's low but real risk from Covid." YES, IT'S THAT MICK MULVANEY: "Any stimulus should be directed at the root cause of our recession: dealing with Covid. I know it isn't popular to talk about in some Republican circles, but we still have a testing problem in this country. My son was tested recently; we had to wait 5 to 7 days for results. My daughter wanted to get tested before visiting her grandparents, but was told she didn't qualify. That is simply inexcusable at this point in the pandemic." CNBC ICYMI … DALLAS MORNING NEWS: "Joe Biden builds 5-point lead over Donald Trump in red Texas as some voters sour on handling of virus" Good Monday afternoon. Press secretary KAYLEIGH MCENANY is briefing at 1 p.m. NANCY COOK: "Mark Meadows finds it's not so easy being chief" | | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®: The National Association of REALTORS'® 1.4 million members are proud to follow a Code of Ethics that sets a higher standard for fairness in housing than any law. Backed by a culture of accountability, it extends to our work on Capitol Hill, where we advocate for meaningful change. Learn More. | | | STATE OF THE NATION -- "Workers are pushed to the brink as they continue to wait for delayed unemployment payments," by WaPo's Eli Rosenberg: "Four months into the worst recession since the Great Depression, tens of thousands of workers … across the country have filed for jobless claims but have yet to receive payments. Many are now in dire financial straits. … "A flood of new jobless applications — about 50 million — has overwhelmed state unemployment offices over the past four months. The agencies themselves are hampered by years of neglect. They rely on reduced staffs and badly outdated technology after years of budget cuts, often at the behest of business groups and Republican legislatures. Issues with fraud and user confusion over the new rules and filing process have further bogged down the process." WaPo STAFFING UP -- "Trump's reelection operation hires 1,500 field staffers," by AP's Zeke Miller: "Trump Victory, the joint field effort of the two organizations, announced Monday the hiring of an additional 300 staffers set to hit 20 target states by Wednesday in the largest field operation ever mounted by a Republican. … "Republicans are quick to note that their staffer count in the field is more than double that of Biden, whose goal was 600 field staffers by the end of June. Additionally, the RNC staffers have been on the ground for years in some cases." AP NYT'S ASTEAD HERNDON: "George Soros's Foundation Pours $220 Million Into Racial Equality Push" TWO BIG NEW YORKER READS … -- SHEELAH KOLHATKAR goes deep on STEVEN MNUCHIN: "The High-Finance Mogul in Charge of Our Economic Recovery": "Straight-backed and inscrutable, with a pale complexion and ink-black hair, Mnuchin speaks with a breezy, imperious tone while managing to appear ill at ease in almost any situation. He is often described by those who have worked with him as a pragmatist whose interest lies in searching out opportunities, brokering deals, and reaping the rewards. … "To some degree, he has the power to determine which industries and which companies will survive the crisis, which groups of Americans will get through it with relatively little long-term economic damage, and how equitable the recovery will be. … When I asked Mnuchin what he planned to do in response to the recent surge in cases, he gave only the vaguest answers, although he was clear that he would under no circumstances recommend shutting down the entire economy again." New Yorker -- JANE MAYER: "How Trump Is Helping Tycoons Exploit the Pandemic: The secretive titan behind one of America's largest poultry companies, who is also one of the President's top donors, is ruthlessly leveraging the coronavirus crisis—and his vast fortune—to strip workers of protections." MILESTONE ALERT … WAPO FACT CHECKER: "President Trump has made more than 20,000 false or misleading claims," by Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly | | | | HAPPENING TOMORROW 9 a.m. EDT - A PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH AUSTIN MAYOR STEVE ADLER : As coronavirus cases continue to spike in Texas, the city of Austin is preparing to turn the downtown convention center into a field hospital. Join Playbook authors Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman for a virtual interview with Austin Mayor Steve Adler that will reveal how he's navigating the rapid jump in the number of cases, how cities are working with state and local governments during the pandemic, and how a city known for its restaurants, bars and concerts is planning for what's to come. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- "Pandemic upends Trump's plans to shrink health care safety net," by Rachel Roubein: "President Donald Trump has moved forcefully to push unprecedented limits on government health assistance for the poor, trying to follow through on conservatives' long-held goals for reshaping the health care safety net. That ambition has slammed into a brick wall amid the coronavirus — with the help of Republican states wary of cutting back health coverage for their poorest residents during a pandemic. "Voters in even the reddest parts of the country are approving or weighing Medicaid expansions as the coronavirus tears through communities and historic levels of unemployment leave workers without health coverage. And Republican governors aren't lining up for Trump's two major moves to restrict Medicaid: work requirements for many adults and block grants to states instead of open-ended funding." POLITICO -- WAPO: "A crisis in campus care," by Jenn Abelson, Nicole Dungca, Meryl Kornfield and Andrew Ba Tran: "Student health centers are akin to the Wild West of medical care. There are no national regulations, and most are not licensed by states. Only about 220 campus medical clinics of the thousands nationwide are accredited by outside health organizations as meeting best practices, according to a Post analysis. In one case, Georgetown University stated on its website that its student health center was accredited but removed the claim after being asked about it by reporters. ... "University leaders are publicly lobbying for federal protections from coronavirus-related lawsuits when they reopen, arguing that costly litigation would take away from already scarce resources needed to support students. College health officials, meanwhile, are privately discussing insufficient stockpiles of personal protective equipment, inadequate access to coronavirus testing on campus and a short supply of rooms to quarantine students, according to interviews, emails and presentations reviewed by The Post." WaPo -- THE UPSHOT: "Choke Point for U.S. Coronavirus Response: The Fax Machine," by NYT's Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz: "As hard as the United States works to control coronavirus, it keeps running into problems caused by its fragmented health system, a jumble of old and new technology, and data standards that don't meet epidemiologists' needs. … "Health departments track the virus's spread with a distinctly American patchwork: a reporting system in which some test results arrive via smooth data feeds but others come by phone, email, physical mail or fax, a technology retained because it complies with digital privacy standards for health information. These reports often come in duplicate, go to the wrong health department, or are missing crucial information such as a patient's phone number or address." AHEAD OF PHASE FOUR … WAPO: "State, local governments wrestle over quickly dwindling coronavirus aid, complicating talks on next federal bill: Local leaders say their states are hoarding the limited, hard-to-use cash, prompting Democrats to call for more aid — and Republicans to reaffirm their opposition," by Tony Romm and Erica Werner SWAMP READ -- "Inside the White House, a Gun Industry Lobbyist Delivers for His Former Patrons," by NYT's Michael LaForgia and Ken Vogel: "Michael B. Williams spent nearly two years helping to run a trade group focused on expanding sales of firearm silencers by American manufacturers. But try as he might, he could not achieve one of the industry's main goals: overturning a ban on sales to private foreign buyers enacted by the State Department to protect American troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere. "Then Mr. Williams joined the Trump administration. As a White House lawyer, he pushed to overturn the prohibition, raising the issue with influential administration officials and creating pressure within the State Department, according to current and former government officials. On Friday, the State Department lifted the ban, and a longtime industry goal was realized. The change paved the way for as much as $250 million a year in possible new overseas sales for companies that Mr. Williams had championed as general counsel of the American Suppressor Association." NYT | | | | TRANSLATING GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH : For the next three months, our Global Translations newsletter, sponsored by Bank of America, will feature a spotlight focus on global public health. This week, Ryan Heath examines mounting criticism of the World Health Organization, and what Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is doing to fight back. Stay on top of emerging global news and trends that you might otherwise miss. Subscribe to our Global Translations newsletter today. | | | | | RACIAL RECKONING -- "Confederate Symbolism in the Military Stretches Far Beyond Flags, Base Names," by WSJ's Michael Gordon: "Pentagon officials signaled last week that Defense Secretary Mark Esper may ban the display of Confederate flags on military bases to show that the armed services are serious about confronting a long history of racial discrimination. But the move would address a fraction of the Confederate symbols that are embedded within the armed forces. "From National Guard battle streamers to the names of ships and streets on military bases, tributes to the Confederacy are common. While many are decades old, some have turned up in more recent U.S. wars, including patches worn by National Guard soldiers in Afghanistan that commemorate an Alabama regiment that fought against Union forces in the Civil War." WSJ -- TURMOIL AT THE CDC … "CDC Employees Call Out Agency's 'Toxic Culture Of Racial Aggressions,'" by NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin and Pien Huang: "More than 1,000 current employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have signed a letter calling for the federal agency to address 'ongoing and recurring acts of racism and discrimination' against Black employees, NPR has learned." NPR BACKSTORY -- "How Russia Built a Channel to the Taliban, Once an Enemy," by NYT's Mujib Mashal and Michael Schwirtz in Kabul, Afghanistan: "In interviews, Afghan and American officials and foreign diplomats with years of experience in Kabul say that what began as a diplomatic channel between Russia and the Taliban just under a decade ago has more recently blossomed into a mutually beneficial alliance that has allowed the Kremlin to reassert its influence in the region. "The shift coincided with increasing hostility between the United States and Russia over Syria's civil war and other conflicts, analysts say, as well as Russia's frustration with rising instability in Afghanistan and the slow pace of the U.S. pullout. ... Russia's covert efforts, officials and analysts say, are aimed at harassing and embarrassing the United States as the troops leave rather than profoundly changing the course of the conflict." NYT WHAT BILL RICHARDSON'S UP TO -- "Ex-U.S. diplomat Richardson to urge Maduro to free Americans," by AP's Joshua Goodman in Miami: "Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson plans to travel this week to Venezuela … Richardson didn't say on whose behalf he was traveling to Caracas or what day he would meet with Maduro, who was recently indicted on U.S. drug trafficking charges. … "While Richardson's visit is a private mission, he coordinated with the State Department and has kept U.S. officials briefed of his plans … The face-to-face diplomacy stands in contrast to U.S. policy of 'maximum pressure.'" AP BOOK CLUB -- "Sanders' adviser Chuck Rocha pens 'road map' to reaching Latinos," by Laura Barrón-López: "A former senior adviser to Bernie Sanders' failed presidential bid has a forthcoming book detailing the campaign's strategy to win over Latino voters — and his own excruciating decision to turn down an offer to run the campaign. … "The book, titled 'Tío Bernie: The Inside Story of How Bernie Sanders Brought Latinos Into The Political Revolution,' which will be released Aug. 19, describes Rocha's journey into politics, his experience advising Sanders and his work to diversify one of the top Democratic presidential campaigns." $19.99 on Amazon -- AP: "Former Mueller prosecutor writing book on investigation," by Hillel Italie in New York: "Random House announced Monday that Andrew Weissmann's 'Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation' will be published Sept. 29." AP … $30 on Amazon SPOTTED: Stephen Miller getting carryout from Centrolina on Sunday night. TRANSITION -- The Department of Defense has named Michael Kratsios acting undersecretary for research and engineering. He currently is chief technology officer of the United States. ENGAGED -- Allyson Marcus, Northeast political director at the DCCC, and Daniel Weaver, a technical architect at WaPo, got engaged recently at their home in Park View. Pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Jacob Wood, strategic comms adviser at the Millennium Challenge Corporation and a Trump White House alum, and Brenda Planitkow Wood, manager of board relations at the Public Affairs Council, welcomed their second child, Hendrick "Hank" Andrew Wood, on Saturday. Pic -- Katie Rosborough, who leads North America policy comms at Twitter, and Jon Rosborough, a director at Statler Nagle, welcomed James William Rosborough at Sibley Hospital on Thursday. Pic | | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®:   Look for the R to know you have an ally in the fight for fair housing. 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