Playbook PM: Biden catches Covid: Here's what you should know

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Jul 21, 2022 View in browser   By Eugene Daniels and Garrett Ross Presented by After years of dodging Covid, even as it bounced around his senior staff and vice president, President JOE BIDEN tested positive for Covid-19 this morning. His last negative test was on Tuesday. — From the White House physician: In a memo, Dr. KEVIN O'CONNOR noted that Biden started experiencing symptoms on Wednesday evening, including a runny nose "and fatigue, with an occasional dry cough." "The president is fully vaccinated and twice-boosted, so I anticipate that he will respond favorably, as most maximally protected patients do," he wrote. Read the full letter — The White House announcement: Biden has begun taking Paxlovid, according to a statement issued by press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE this morning. "Consistent with White House protocol for positive Covid cases, which goes above and beyond CDC guidance, he will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative. Once he tests negative, he will return to in-person work. Out of an abundance of transparency, the White House will provide a daily update on the President's status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation." Read the full statement — Who's testing negative: First lady JILL BIDEN tested negative this morning and is considered a close contact. Her spokesperson MICHAEL LAROSA says "she is following CDC guidance when it comes to masking and distancing, and keeping her schedule in Michigan and Georgia today." VP KAMALA HARRIS tested negative this morning and last saw Biden in person on Tuesday, according to her press secretary KIRSTEN ALLEN. Allen added that Harris "will remain masked following the advice of the WH medical team" during her trip to North Carolina today. — Where Biden was supposed to be instead: Biden was originally scheduled to travel to Pennsylvania today to talk about crime and attend a DNC fundraiser. The White House announced that all of Biden's travel will be halted for at least the next five days. White House Covid coordinator ASHISH JHA will join Jean-Pierre at today's briefing. SOME INFORMAL CONTRACT TRACING — While it's unclear where or when he caught the virus, Biden has been out and about without a mask quite a bit this week. — On Wednesday: Biden traveled to Massachusetts on Air Force One with Sens. ELIZABETH WARREN and ED MARKEY, Reps. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS and BILL KEATING, climate adviser GINA MCCARTHY, BRUCE REED, ANNIE TOMASINI, VINAY REDDY, STEPHEN GOEPFERT, CURTIS REID, TRAVIS DREDD and Jean-Pierre. On the ground, Biden interacted with climate envoy JOHN KERRY, Massachusetts A.G. MAURA HEALEY and nine other state and local officials ( see the full list ). During a brief stop in Rhode Island, he also greeted Gov. DAN MCKEE, Sen. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE and Warwick, R.I., Mayor FRANK PICOZZI. Markey, Warren and Kerry walk with Biden in Somerset, Mass., on Wednesday. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo McKee, Whitehouse and Picozzi greet Biden in Warwick, R.I., on Wednesday. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Biden speaks with reporters at Andrews Air Force Base on Wednesday. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo — On Tuesday: Biden and the first lady met with Ukrainian first lady OLENA ZELENSKA at the White House. Biden also received the President's Daily Brief alongside Harris. Zelenska greets the Bidens at the White House on Tuesday. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo — On Monday: Biden had nothing on his public schedule. — On Sunday: Biden returned from his Middle East trip. On Twitter, which always reacts to breaking news with level-headed sobriety, "President Harris" was trending on Twitter about 20 minutes after the White House announced Biden's test result, our colleague Lara Korte noted . FWIW, former press secretary and incoming MSNBC host JEN PSAKI made her first appearance on the network earlier today to discuss Biden's diagnosis. "What they need to do over the next couple of days is show him working and show him still active and serving as president and I'm certain they'll likely do that," she said. HMM — HuffPost's @igorbobic : "relatedly, one might think Senate Dems would start masking again if they want to have all 50 votes available to pass a health care bill anytime soon." SINCE YOU WERE WONDERING — "How does Biden's case of Covid-19 compare to Trump's?" by Daniel Payne: "Here are four reasons Biden's case isn't like Trump's." Good Thursday afternoon.   A message from Amazon: DID YOU KNOW?—Amazon will invest more than $1.2 billion by 2025 on free education and technical training to help hourly employees advance their careers. "Being able to have the chance to learn new skills and grow my career in a more specialized and higher-earning role feels like a life-changing opportunity," said Vanessa, a robotics apprentice for Amazon in Florida. Through the apprenticeship, Vanessa can earn up to 40% more.   CONGRESS PELOSI TALKS TAIWAN — Asked about the reports that she is planning to travel to Taiwan, Speaker NANCY PELOSI said she never discusses her travel plans due to security concerns, but offered that "it's important for us to show support for Taiwan." Responding to Biden's comment on Wednesday that the military advised against the trip, Pelosi said she hadn't heard the remarks herself, but that she thought "what the president was saying was that maybe the military was afraid our plane would get shot down, or something like that, by the Chinese." HOUSE PASSES CONTRACEPTION PROTECTION — The House voted 228-195 to pass a bill that would "ensure a federal right to contraception," our colleagues Anthony Adragna and Jordain Carney report for Congress Minutes . All House Democrats supported the measure. The eight Republican "yes" votes: NANCY MACE (S.C.), FRED UPTON (Mich.), JOHN KATKO (N.Y.), BRIAN FITZPATRICK (Pa.), ADAM KINZINGER (Ill.), MARÍA SALAZAR (Fla.), LIZ CHENEY (Wyo.) and ANTHONY GONZALEZ (Ohio). You don't see this on the House floor every day: "Mace arrived at the vote with a sign added to the back of her jacket that read, 'My state is banning exceptions. Protect contraception.'" What's next: "The legislation faces uphill odds in the Senate, where 10 Republican votes would be needed to overcome a filibuster and Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER has not promised to take up the legislation." THE WHITE HOUSE NEW JOHN HARRIS COLUMN — "Why Trump Wins More Loyalty Than Biden" JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH AT THE BANNON TRIAL — Lawyers for STEVE BANNON this morning said they "will not call any witnesses in his defense, arguing that prosecutors had failed to show their client was guilty of contempt of Congress for his alleged refusal to provide testimony or documents to the Jan. 6 committee," WaPo's Devlin Barrett and Spencer Hsu report . THE SECRET SERVICE SAGA — The DHS inspector general has "directed the Secret Service to stop its internal investigations into what happened to text messages related to January 6 that may have been deleted," CNN's Whitney Wild and Jeremy Herb reports . "The inspector general wrote that the Secret Service should stop investigating the matter because it could interfere with the inspector general's own investigation into what happened to the agency's text messages."   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today .     THE ECONOMY JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMP BACK UP — Unemployment claims rose to "the highest level in more than eight months in what may be a sign that the labor market is weakening," AP's Matt Ott reports . The details: "Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 16 rose by 7,000 to 251,000, up from the previous week's 244,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's the most since Nov. 13, 2021 when 265,000 Americans applied for benefits. … The four-week average for claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 4,500 from the previous week, to 240,500." SOMETHING TO WATCH — "Heat Wave Sends Natural-Gas Prices Soaring," by WSJ's Ryan Dezember: "Natural-gas futures have jumped 48% this month — including 10% on Wednesday — to $8.007 per million British thermal units." WHAT THEY'RE READING ON WALL STREET — "Wall Street's most talked about recession indicator is sounding its loudest alarm in two decades, intensifying concerns among investors that the U.S. economy is heading toward a slowdown," NYT's Joe Rennison writes . "That indicator is called the yield curve, and it's a way of showing how interest rates on various U.S. government bonds compare, notably three-month bills, and two-year and 10-year Treasury notes. … An inversion has preceded every U.S. recession for the past half century, so it's seen as a harbinger of economic doom. And it's happening now." ALL POLITICS CALENDAR CONUNDRUM — As Democrats sort out their new presidential nominating calendar, HuffPost's Kevin Robillard writes that the DNC committee is "running into a very stubborn and very white sticking point: What to do about New Hampshire." Officials in the state, "led by Sen. JEANNE SHAHEEN, have argued that downgrading the Granite State's primary status would hurt them politically." The reality: "A survey conducted by Data for Progress, a progressive polling organization, challenges Shaheen's assertion. The poll of 903 likely voters in the state, conducted in late June and early July, found nearly two-thirds of the electorate either wouldn't blame anyone or wouldn't know who to blame if the state lost its status. An additional 21% would blame the Democratic and Republican National Committees." CASH DASH — "McMorrow announces $1M fundraising haul across four funds," by the Detroit News' Beth LeBlanc   INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY .     WAR IN UKRAINE — "Ukraine Faces Shortfall in Weapons as It Gears Up for First Major Counteroffensive," by WSJ's Vivian Salama: "Western weapons have helped Ukraine claw back territory in the south, but Kyiv will need greater range and numbers of arms to succeed. 'We've lost so many tanks.'" PLAYBOOKERS OUT AND ABOUT — The Beer Institute hosted its Beer Champion Awards reception Wednesday night at Art and Soul, honoring Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and Al Lawson (D-Fla.). SPOTTED: Reps. Mike Carey (R-Ohio), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Susan Haney, Mary Jane Saunders, Danelle Kosmal, Bill Young, Alex Davidson, Annie Starke Lange, Jeff Guittard, Dan Keniry, Will Kinzel, Jim Ryan and David Morgenstern. — Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) hosted a party at the American Legion on Capitol Hill on Tuesday evening. SPOTTED: Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Jesús García (D-Ill.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Mike Honda, William Lacy Clay and Greg Casar. SPOTTED at Mick Mulvaney's birthday party on Wednesday at Mission in DuPont: Emma Doyle, Jeff Freeland, Michael Williams, Johnny Slemrod, AJ Sugarman, Natalie McIntyre, Dan Hanlon and Jacob Wood. Pic MEDIA MOVES — Following Pete Williams' retirement from NBC at the end of the month, Ken Dilanian will be elevated to justice and intelligence correspondent, Kelly O'Donnell will temporarily lead Supreme Court coverage and Julia Ainsley will be elevated to homeland security correspondent. TRANSITIONS — Kara Hauck is now corporate comms manager at Lowe's Companies, Inc. She most recently was associate director for executive affairs at March of Dimes. … Michael Williams and Meg Baglien are joining Forbes Tate Partners. Williams will be senior VP and previously was legislative director for Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.). Baglien will be VP of public affairs and previously was at Optimist Inc. WEDDING — Camille Stewart, global head of product security strategy at Google and a Marcia Fudge and Obama DHS alum, and Jassum Gloster, strategist at HP, recently got married in a ceremony in Costa Rica. They met at mutual friends' wedding in Kenya and got engaged on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Amy Lightbourn, a comms consultant for the NYC Department of Education, and James Lightbourn, SVP for corporate finance at Arctic Securities, on July 5 welcomed Linnea Amy Lightbourn, who joins big brother Landon. Pics by Melissa Wilson ... Another pic   A message from Amazon: Vanessa advanced her career through the Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship Program, just one of Amazon's career advancement offerings.     Follow us on Twitter Rachael Bade @rachaelmbade Eugene Daniels @EugeneDaniels2 Ryan Lizza @RyanLizza Eli Okun @eliokun Garrett Ross @garrett_ross   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters Follow us

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California Today: The return of mask mandates

Readers tell us how they feel.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story July 21, 2022 By Soumya Karlamangla California Today, Writer It's Thursday. You told us how you feel about mask rules returning. Plus, monarch butterflies, which often winter in California, are listed as endangered. People watching The Shins perform during the Just Like Heaven music festival in Pasadena in May.Etienne Laurent/EPA, via Shutterstock As you're probably well aware, the latest Covid surge has reignited a debate about mandatory masking in California. The University of California, Irvine, and the San Diego Unified School District reinstated indoor mask requirements on Monday, the same day that Bay Area Rapid Transit lifted its mandate. Health officers across the country seem reluctant to hand down any new orders, but officials in Los Angeles County, home to about a quarter of Californians, are planning for an indoor mask mandate to take effect later this month. The science is clear: Wearing a mask reduces your exposure to the coronavirus, as my colleagues Tara Parker-Pope and Knvul Sheikh have explained. But the evidence is shakier on whether mandating that people wear masks is an effective strategy. That distinction has led to a lot of disagreement about what California officials should do during yet another coronavirus wave. And over the past few days, hundreds of you have weighed in. We have heard from teachers who welcome the return of masks and parents who dread it, from people who have caught the coronavirus multiple times and those who are still avoiding it as best they can. Here's a sampling, edited for length and clarity: "I followed the rules for over a year, but I'm done. I want to smile at people again. I want to be understood when I speak. I want to see other people smile and understand what they say." — Linda Ledgerwood, Walnut Creek Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT "I realize that everyone is over the pandemic, nobody enjoys wearing a mask, but shouldn't we do what we can to protect ourselves and others? My workplace has required masks throughout the pandemic. We are small and cannot afford to have any cases, let alone an outbreak. We have had cases of Covid within our work force, but not one case of workplace transmission. If that doesn't prove that masking is an effective way to stop the spread, I don't know what does." — Jennifer Spindler, Crestline "I work in a grocery store. Almost none of my fellow crew — and we are mostly nonwhite and working class — wear masks. We are dreading the return of the mandate, which will mean considerable discomfort while on the job. It's ineffective and cruel, and punishes the very people — low-wage workers — whom the public health director pretends to want to protect. I've had Covid three times. My co-workers have all had it. We fear the mask mandates and fights over masks more than we do the darn virus!" — Hugo Schwyzer, Hawthorne "Mask mandates should be reinstated whenever there is a surge. Think of it like an umbrella: If it's raining, we use it; if not, we don't. Don't blame the meteorologist." — David Lewis, San Francisco Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT "I have been extremely frustrated with the general population of Stanislaus County, where I live, from the beginning of the Covid crisis. There is so much resistance to wearing a simple mask; it makes me very sad. I have a disability, and a good number of my friends and loved ones do, too. I have had people yell at me that I am taking away THEIR right of choice when I ask them to mask up around me, but they don't seem to understand or care that by being so one-sided in their thought process, they could be taking away my right to life. Where has the pride in doing something for the common good gone?" — Robin Dickinson, Hughson "I am about to become a grandmother. I am in favor of the mask mandate because it means that I will be able to spend time with my grandchild with far less apprehension about infecting him with the virus before he is old enough to get the vaccine. I've learned to smile with my eyes. And, until this surge slows, that's what I will continue to do, with or without the mandate. Honestly, it's such a small ask." — Sonya Sones, Santa Monica For more: Check Covid case counts where you live. Your latest Covid questions, answered. How the Novavax vaccine works. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT The New York Times If you read one story, make it this Where abortion is on the ballot. Subscribe Today We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times with this special offer. Butterflies at the Monarch Grove Sanctuary last year.Nic Coury/Associated Press The rest of the news Monarch butterflies: The International Union for Conservation of Nature placed both Western monarchs, often spotted in California, and Eastern monarchs on its endangered species list. But scientists say the public can give the insects a boost. Keeping the hippie dream alive: DoubleBlind, a California media company, is trying to revive the psychedelic spirit for a new generation. CalPERS loss: The California Public Employees' Retirement System announced its first annual investment loss since the Great Recession, reporting a preliminary drop of 6.1 percent for the fiscal year, The Sacramento Bee reports. A quiet fire season: California's fire season has been relatively tame, despite fears that this year could be one of the state's worst, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. Fee: California could soon add a fee of up to 10 cents to wine and liquor bottles, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Fraud: A man in Southern California who tried to obtain $27 million in unemployment benefits by falsely claiming his business was affected by the pandemic was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, The Associated Press reports. Bruce's Beach: Los Angeles County officials presented the deed to an oceanfront property to the heirs of a Black couple who built a beach resort for African Americans there a century ago, The Associated Press reports. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA Douglas firs: This 500-year-old tree in California has a story to tell. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA London Breed: San Francisco's mayor beat progressives to get the job by focusing on being tough on crime and addressing homelessness. But the limits of her ability to translate rhetoric into concrete change are beginning to show, Politico reports. School board: A member of the San Francisco school board is under fire for saying that "lack of parental encouragement" is part of the reason Black and Latino students are unable to focus on or care about school, The San Francisco Standard reports. Bobbi Lin for The New York Times What we're eating No-cook recipes for a heat wave. Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times Where we're traveling This small, verdant city, nestled in the mountains of Ventura County, has a famous attraction that's not to be missed. What we're reading The new novel "The Pink Hotel" sets a honeymooning couple in a fancy Beverly Hills establishment during a summer of unrest in Los Angeles. Tell us As water restrictions take their toll on Southern California, tell us: What's going on with your lawn? Are you trying to keep your grass green? Or did the drought prompt you to rip out your grass? Let us know at CAtoday@nytimes.com. Please include your name and location. Lucy Yu was certain that a bookstore "focused on Asian American and immigrant stories" was just what Chinatown needed.Jeenah Moon for The New York Times And, before you go, some good news In a surprising and welcome revival after an early pandemic slump, more than 300 new independent bookstores have sprouted across the United States in the past couple of years. And many of the new shops are run by nonwhite booksellers, a major shift in an industry that has long lacked diversity. Among them is the The Salt Eaters Bookshop, a store in Inglewood that specializes in books by and about Black women, girls and nonbinary people. Allison Hill, the chief executive of the American Booksellers Association, a trade organization for independent bookstores, told The New York Times that the bookstore resurgence is "kind of shocking when you think about what dire straits the stores were in in 2020." "We saw a rally like we've never seen before," Hill said. Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Soumya P.S. Here's today's Mini Crossword, and a clue: Opposite of tight (five letters). Isabella Grullón Paz and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for California Today from The New York Times. To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018