| | | | | |  | | By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun | Presented by Amazon | NEW: SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL this morning at a Senate Leadership Fund fundraising breakfast at the Willard Hotel, on the Supreme Court choice: "I'm confident it will be a pick everyone will be proud of." -- IN THE WHITE HOUSE, there is a notable amount of deference to MCCONNELL on the Supreme Court process. An announcement is expected Saturday. IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT DRIVES BIDEN WORLD CRAZY, it's the idea that JOE BIDEN and KAMALA HARRIS are hiding out from the press. THE PEOPLE WHO TRAVEL WITH THE CANDIDATES -- the embeds and correspondents -- are the press corps' eyes and ears on the campaigns, and they said earlier this week they are getting a raw deal from the candidates, particularly HARRIS. NBC'S @deepa_shivaram: "A reminder that it has been 42 days since Harris was tapped as the VP pick. There are 42 days until election day. The senator has not once formally taken questions from the press." CBS' @edokeefe: "Doesn't speak to the traveling press pool, doesn't do local interviews when traveling nor interviews beyond the friendliest of national, niche outlets. Her debate with @Mike_Pence, who frequently sits for interviews, is in 15 days." BIDEN did gaggle this morning. He said he'd start ramping up his debate preparation. Full transcript here, via Daniel Strauss of the Guardian. Warning: not much news ASKED ABOUT HARRIS talking to the press, the BIDEN TEAM pointed out a 56-second video in which she described how she plans to earn the Hispanic vote. The clip -- HARRIS did Univision on Friday. On Monday she spoke to APRIL RYAN and appeared on RUSS PARR'S morning show. The campaign says she's done 14 total interviews since Sept. 10 -- 11 local and three national. -- BIDEN has done 16 local interviews in 14 days and the CNN JAKE TAPPER interview. DEMS FRET ABOUT 87-YEAR-OLD FEINSTEIN … JOHN BRESNAHAN and MARIANNE LEVINE: "Democrats worry Feinstein can't handle Supreme Court battle": "As the Senate prepares for yet another brutal Supreme Court nomination fight, one particularly sensitive issue is creating apprehension among Democrats: what to do with 87-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. "Feinstein, the oldest member of the Senate, is widely respected by senators in both parties, but she has noticeably slowed in recent years. Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic senators and aides show widespread concern over whether the California Democrat is capable of leading the aggressive effort Democrats need against whoever President Donald Trump picks to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. … "In an interview, Feinstein pushed back hard against suggestions she could no longer effectively serve as ranking member of the Judiciary panel or is incapable of handling the upcoming nomination fight. 'I'm really surprised and taken aback by this. Because I try to be very careful and I'm puzzled by it,' Feinstein told POLITICO. 'My attendance is good, I do the homework, I try to ask hard questions. I stand up for what I believe in.'" | | A message from Amazon: Retail is a thriving, competitive, and highly-fragmented market where both buyers and small sellers have more choices than ever before. At Amazon, we welcome this competition. It sharpens our focus, feeds our creativity, and fuels our drive to innovate for customers. Learn more. | | | INSIDE THE HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE -- THIS MORNING was the last House GOP political meeting before the election. House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY shared some polling on his recently rolled-out GOP governing agenda, and made the case that it moves swing voters. MCCARTHY offered to match lawmakers who were behind on dues up to $50,000, and STEVE SCALISE (R-La.) gave a $1 million check to the NRCC -- part of a match that will bring in $2 million. NRCC CHAIR TOM EMMER (R-Minn.) said he raised $2.6 million for the NRCC and is going to give $500,000 from his reelection account. SCALISE praised EMMER: "I love the plates he's breaking," SCALISE said. ALSO IN THE HOUSE GOP MEETING THIS MORNING: RONNY JACKSON, the former W.H. doc who is running for Congress in Texas. He got a round of applause, but didn't speak. SEN. JOHN THUNE, the No. 2 Senate R from South Dakota, said the Senate could leave at the end of the week if they pass the stopgap funding bill. They'd come back for the Supreme Court confirmation process. -- SENATE APPROPRIATIONS CHAIR RICHARD SHELBY (R-Ala.) said the Senate could take up the continuing resolution Thursday. The sooner the better, SHELBY said. PAGING MARK MEADOWS -- HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER STENY HOYER told reporters he would be pushing hard over the next 10 days for a Covid deal. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP will hold a news conference at 6 p.m. Good Wednesday afternoon. The White House said TRUMP will pay his respects to the late RUTH BADER GINSBURG at the Supreme Court on Thursday. More from Caitlin Oprysko NEW MONMOUTH POLL … "Poll shows close races for president and Senate seats in Georgia" CLICKER: WASHINGTON LIFE has put ASHLEY BRONCZEK on the front cover. WaPo's Roxanne Roberts on July 1: "The virus didn't stop a Washington socialite from throwing a backyard soiree. Then the tests came back positive." SIREN … THE ATLANTIC'S BARTON GELLMAN: "The Election That Could Break America": "There is a cohort of close observers of our presidential elections, scholars and lawyers and political strategists, who find themselves in the uneasy position of intelligence analysts in the months before 9/11. As November 3 approaches, their screens are blinking red, alight with warnings that the political system does not know how to absorb. They see the obvious signs that we all see, but they also know subtle things that most of us do not. Something dangerous has hove into view, and the nation is lurching into its path. … "Close students of election law and procedure are warning that conditions are ripe for a constitutional crisis that would leave the nation without an authoritative result. We have no fail-safe against that calamity. … The worst case, however, is not that Trump rejects the election outcome. The worst case is that he uses his power to prevent a decisive outcome against him." HEADS UP -- "Kentucky attorney general to announce Breonna Taylor decision this afternoon," by the Louisville Courier Journal's Phillip Bailey YIKES … WAPO'S GREG MILLER: "Allegations of racism have marked Trump's presidency and become key issue as election nears": "In unguarded moments with senior aides, President Trump has maintained that Black Americans have mainly themselves to blame in their struggle for equality, hindered more by lack of initiative than societal impediments, according to current and former U.S. officials. "After phone calls with Jewish lawmakers, Trump has muttered that Jews 'are only in it for themselves' and 'stick together' in an ethnic allegiance that exceeds other loyalties, officials said. "Trump's private musings about Hispanics match the vitriol he has displayed in public, and his antipathy to Africa is so ingrained that when first lady Melania Trump planned a 2018 trip to that continent he railed that he 'could never understand why she would want to go there.'" WaPo | | | | JOIN OUR THURSDAY TOWN HALL - CONFRONTING INEQUALITY IN AMERICA: The current wave of protests have surfaced long simmering racial inequalities in a pronounced way, making it harder for Americans to ignore. On Thursday, POLITICO Live will convene scholars, activists and public officials for a virtual town hall focused on education inequality and the policies and measures needed to overcome disparities that persist in how Black and minority students are educated. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | THE BOLTON SAGA -- "White House Accused of Intervening to Keep Bolton's Book From Becoming Public," by NYT's Mike Schmidt and Charlie Savage: "White House aides improperly intervened to falsely assert that a manuscript by the former national security adviser John R. Bolton contained classified information in an attempt to prevent its contents from becoming public, a lawyer for the career official overseeing the book's prepublication review said in a letter filed in court on Wednesday. "At one point, the aides halted a request from Mr. Bolton to review his account of President Trump's dealings with Ukraine so he could release that section of the memoir during the impeachment trial, according to the lengthy account of the White House review written by Kenneth L. Wainstein, a lawyer for the official, Ellen Knight." NYT … The letter ANDREW DESIDERIO and KYLE CHENEY: "GOP senators' anti-Biden report repackages old claims": "For a year, Senate Republicans have teased a bombshell investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden that could rock the former vice president's campaign for the White House. "But an interim report, issued by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) less than six weeks before the presidential election and released publicly on Wednesday, is largely a compilation of previously public information — some of it rehashed anew by witnesses who already testified during the House's impeachment inquiry last year — as well as news articles and strongly worded insinuations with little evidence to back them up." The report HOW ABOUT SOME GOOD NEWS? … "Feared covid-19 outbreaks in schools yet to arrive, early data shows," by WaPo's Laura Meckler and Valerie Strauss: "[S]o far, public health experts have found little evidence that the disease is spreading inside buildings, and the rates of infection are far below what is found in the surrounding communities. "This early evidence, experts say, suggests that opening school may not be as risky as many have feared and could guide administrators as they charter the rest of what is already an unprecedented school year." THE TIME 100 is out today. Honorees include: ANTHONY FAUCI, by Jimmy Kimmel … KAMALA HARRIS, by Ayanna Pressley … JOHN ROBERTS, by Anthony Kennedy … DONALD TRUMP, by Brian Bennett … JOE BIDEN, by Jim Clyburn … NANCY PELOSI, by Hakeem Jeffries … WILLIAM BARR, by Tessa Berenson … MARY KAY HENRY, by Bishop William Barber II … YOUSEF AL OTAIBA, by Vivienne Walt … JEROME POWELL, by Timothy Geithner … GEN. CHARLES Q. BROWN JR., by Heather Wilson … IBRAM X. KENDI, by Al Sharpton … JULIE K. BROWN, by Ronan Farrow … CHASE STRANGIO, by Laverne Cox … ALICIA GARZA, PATRISSE CULLORS and OPAL TOMETI, by Sybrina Fulton … ADY BARKAN, by Elizabeth Warren … DAVID HILL, by Sharice Davids DEBATE PREP -- "Trump falls into the trap he set for Biden," by Gabby Orr and Nancy Cook: "White House allies, Republican donors and some of Trump's closest advisers worry that a recent, frenzied push by his top lieutenants to portray Biden as a seasoned debater — with the goal of raising expectations for the Democratic presidential nominee — is too late and too disingenuous to have an impact when the two meet on the debate stage next Tuesday. "They worry Trump has set a trap for himself by incessantly attacking Biden's age and mental acumen." POLITICO THE NEW YORKER'S BENJAMIN WALLACE-WELLS: "Can the Democrats Win Back Pennsylvania?": "Six weeks from the end, the Biden campaign in Pennsylvania has some of the quality of a light at the end of the tunnel, which, even as it draws near, makes it hard to clearly see." | | | | JOIN US FOR POLITICO'S AI SUMMIT - WHAT'S NEXT FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?: Artificial intelligence is changing the world we live in, and the coronavirus pandemic has served as a testing ground for AI's potential. But challenges remain. Join POLITICO on October 15 for our 3rd AI Summit, where we will virtually convene policymakers, federal officials, technologists, private-sector executives, scientists and advocates to explore the future of AI as the world tries to recover from the pandemic and as the U.S. deals with social unrest and a presidential election. Register here. | | | | | VALLEY TALK -- "DOJ to Seek Congressional Curbs on Immunity for Internet Companies," by WSJ's Ryan Tracy and Brent Kendall: "The Justice Department will submit a proposal to Congress on Wednesday to curb longstanding legal protections for internet companies such as Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Twitter Inc. and force them to shoulder more responsibility for managing content on their sites, a senior department official said. "The proposal advances two main goals the Trump administration and the department outlined in June: encouraging online platforms to actively address illicit conduct and manage content on their sites in fair and consistent ways. The department refined its proposal in the intervening months based on feedback from market participants and other stakeholders such as victims' rights groups. As a result of that process, the department made some changes, including clarifying that internet companies would have immunity when they take down material that promotes violent extremism or self-harm, the official said." WSJ -- RECODE'S TEDDY SCHLEIFER: "LinkedIn's billionaire founder built a big-money machine to oust Trump. So why do some Democrats hate him?": "Every few months, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman sends an invitation to some of the other billionaires who make up the Democratic Party's big-money machine: He'd like to add you to his political network. Soon after, advisers to dozens of the party's megadonors pile into rooms in Washington, DC, or Palo Alto, California — or, these days, on Zoom — for closed-door, Chatham House Rule sessions for some of the party's most powerful fundraisers. … "To win this fall, Hoffman is personally spending as much as $100 million, which is as much as almost any other individual American. But Hoffman is also the hub of a new Silicon Valley big-money network: His aides privately boast that he has raised hundreds of millions more to oust Trump … [But] Hoffman's team thought the Democratic Party was fundamentally broken and in need of well-financed disruption. So he and the donors in his orbit began pushing the envelope and funding risky and unorthodox projects, making mistakes and enemies along the way." RACIAL RECKONING -- "As the U.S. Grows More Diverse, Most Police Departments Haven't Kept Up," by NYT's Lauren Leatherby and Richard Oppel Jr.: "Amid a national outcry over the lack of diversity in institutions across the United States, new federal data show that rank-and-file officers in hundreds of police departments are considerably more white than the communities they serve. "Of 467 local police departments with at least 100 officers that reported data for both 2007 and 2016, more than two-thirds became whiter relative to their communities between those years, according to a New York Times analysis of the data." NYT -- CASEY MICHEL in POLITICO MAGAZINE: "The Portland Problem That Democrats Can't Solve": "[W]ith only six weeks remaining until the election, the current conflict has reached new levels of violence, and anyone paying attention can see that things are getting worse. That roiling unrest is presenting an unprecedented challenge for local officials who are struggling to contain the violence — as well as for national Democratic leadership that is struggling to figure out an effective response to an intensely local crisis that has broader political implications, all while the president hectors them as weak and incapable. … "Portland's homegrown clash of extremists on both sides has become so entrenched it is creating a gravitational pull on others from around the country. … And that expansion has led to escalation, especially when it comes to the weapons now being used." POLITICO Magazine THE NEW COLD WAR -- "U.S. Drops Case Against Chinese Scientist at UVA," by WSJ's Kate O'Keeffe and Aruna Viswanatha: "Prosecutors abruptly moved to drop criminal charges against a visiting Chinese scientist at the University of Virginia who had been arrested last month on allegations of stealing trade secrets from his professor, after the university acknowledged the scientist was authorized to access some of the material." DEMS LAYING OUT THEIR 2021 DREAMS … "Pelosi unveils Watergate-style anti-corruption reforms — tailored for the Trump era," by Kyle Cheney: "The measure, a 158-page Democratic wish list that includes curbs on pardons for close associates of the president, a requirement for campaigns to publicly report many foreign contacts and a requirement for courts to prioritize congressional subpoenas, is House leaders' version of an antidote to what they see as weaknesses in democratic government exposed by President Donald Trump." POLITICO … The bill STAFFING UP -- "Biden campaign hires ex-DNC official as NM state director," by the Albuquerque Journal's Dan Boyd TRANSITION -- Donna Hrinak is now SVP of corporate affairs at Royal Caribbean Group. She previously was president for Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean at Boeing and is a State Department alum. | | | | A message from Amazon:   Helping small businesses. Learn how Amazon is helping small businesses grow. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
