News: Playbook PM: Has anyone seen Donald Trump?

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Playbook PM: Has anyone seen Donald Trump?

Nov 05, 2020

By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

IS ANYONE ELSE SURPRISED the president has not done a news conference or interview in the last 24 hours? As his campaign aides and lawyers fan across the country, President DONALD TRUMP has been uncharacteristically quiet. (Except on Twitter, of course.)

JOE BIDEN is expected to appear later. THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN BELIEVES they will have won the presidency by the end of the day. They believe they could win more than 300 electoral votes, which would be a pretty significant win.

WHAT BIDEN WORLD IS SAYING … JENNIFER PALMERI (@jmpalmieri): "Friends...when @jomalleydillon says they expect to see 'bounce' in the reporting of numbers in NV and AZ today - but that they will eventually win both states - that prob means Trump could pull ahead in the count in either or both states for a period of time. So flagging."

A SMALL BATCH OF VOTES came through in Nevada around noon, and BIDEN'S lead jumped to about 12,000 from roughly 7,000.

THE REASON THIS FEELS SO STRESSFUL TO DEMOCRATS is that the president of the United States and his team are doing things like this: WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE WHEN YOU'RE LOSING … @realDonaldTrump at 9:12 a.m.: "STOP THE COUNT!"

GREAT POINT … @peterbakernyt: "Is it really possible that the president of the United States is the only person who doesn't understand that stopping the count at this point would mean Biden wins?"

-- EMAILED STATEMENT FROM TRUMP, via the campaign at 12:28 p.m.: "IF YOU COUNT THE LEGAL VOTES, I EASILY WIN THE ELECTION! IF YOU COUNT THE ILLEGAL AND LATE VOTES, THEY CAN STEAL THE ELECTION FROM US!" THIS IS FALSE: The votes being counted are neither illegal or late.

AP LEDEALL, by JONATHAN LEMIRE, ZEKE MILLER, JILL COLVIN and ALEXANDRA JAFFE: "Two days after Election Day, neither candidate had amassed the votes needed to win the White House. But Biden's victories in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one battleground state away — any would do — from becoming president-elect. Trump, with 214 electoral votes, faced a much higher hurdle. To reach 270, he needed to claim all four remaining battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada."

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER IN ATLANTA! … Sen. DAVID PERDUE (R-Ga.) is now right around 50% -- remember, getting below 50% means a runoff. It increasingly looks like control of the Senate will come down to two Georgia runoffs in January.

-- REMINDER: The Masters begins next weekend in Augusta, Ga.

TRUMP'S APPEALS -- PHILLY INQUIRER: "Vote counting in Philly resumes after brief pause," by Jeremy Roebuck and Jonathan Lai: "Philadelphia elections officials have resumed the counting of remaining mail ballots after what a city spokesperson described as 'brief pause' after a court ordered Trump campaign canvassing monitors be granted closer access to the operations.

"Earlier Thursday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ordered that the Trump campaign observers had to be able to stand within six feet of any tables where counting is taking place in order to meaningfully monitor the process. The city has appealed the ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Its judges have not yet indicated whether they will consider the case."

-- ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: "Georgia judge dismisses Trump campaign case in Chatham ballot dispute," by Brad Schrade and Chris Joyner: "A pair of Republican election watchers who had raised concerns on Wednesday about the process testified in the video-conferenced hearing. They both testified about concerns about the process they observed involving a stack of 53 ballots, but offered no evidence that the ballots had come in after the deadline.

"After listening to testimony for more than a hour, including [details] outlining the procedures the Chatham County registrar's office uses to receive and track absentee ballots, Judge James F. Bass swiftly threw out the case." AJC

THE ONGOING COUNTS … CNN'S MANU RAJU (@mkraju): "Allegheny County in PA will not count any more ballots until tomorrow because of a court agreement over some 29,000 disputed ballots. The agreement stems from a legal challenge over misprinted ballots that had to be reissued to some voters, per @KateBolduan."

TRUTH BOMB from CHARLIE MAHTESIAN (@PoliticoCharlie): "Sooner or later, it had to come to this – a war on network decision desks. At the end of this scorched earth election cycle, everything will be burned down: the media, pollsters, election administrators, the CDC, DOJ, FBI, the courts. What else am I missing?"

Good Thursday afternoon.

EXCLUSIVE: "THE CIRCUS" & POLITICO TEAM UP TO PULL BACK THE CURTAIN ON THE MOST UNPRECEDENTED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN HISTORY: It's been the most unconventional and contentious election season of our lifetime. The approach taken by each candidate couldn't be more different, yet the stakes couldn't be higher as we cross the finish line. Join POLITICO's John Harris, Laura Barrón-López, Gabby Orr and Eugene Daniels in a conversation with John Heilemann, Alex Wagner, Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmieri of Showtime's "The Circus" tonight at 8 p.m. EST for an insiders' look at the Trump and Biden campaigns, behind-the-scenes details and nuggets from the trail, and the latest on where things stand and where they are heading. DON'T MISS THIS! REGISTER HERE.

REMINDER … 2 P.M. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS CALL …

-- DEPT. OF POKING THE BEAR … N.Y. GOP REP. ELISE STEFANIK: "You heard it here first. Nancy Pelosi is about to lose the Speaker's gavel because of the success of Republican women House candidates on Election Day. 'If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.' #EPAC is about to FIRE PELOSI."

THE UNEMPLOYMENT PICTURE -- "751,000 seek U.S. jobless benefits as virus hobbles economy," by AP's Paul Wiseman: "The number of Americans [newly] seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 751,000, a still-historically high level that shows that many employers keep cutting jobs in the face of the accelerating pandemic. … Thursday's report from the Labor Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive traditional unemployment benefits declined to 7.3 million. …

"Last week, nearly 363,000 people applied for jobless aid under a new program that extended eligibility for the first time to self-employed and gig workers, up slightly from 359,000 the previous week. That figure isn't adjusted for seasonal trends, so it's reported separately. All told, the Labor Department said 21.5 million people are receiving some form of unemployment benefits, though the figure may be inflated by double-counting by states." AP

HUNT FOR A VACCINE -- "Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Efforts to Feature App Tracking of Vulnerable Groups," by WSJ's Peter Loftus: "Government health officials and drugmakers plan to roll out extra tools to detect whether Covid-19 vaccines cause any serious side effects once the shots are cleared for widespread use, aiming to fill gaps in existing safeguards given the expected speed and scope of the rollout.

"The measures include surveys tracked through a smartphone app developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and special monitoring for groups including pregnant women and the elderly, according to health officials and company executives involved in the plans. … The CDC plans to send daily texts to people who get vaccinated, steering them to web surveys to self-report chills and other potential symptoms following vaccination. ... The surveys will be sent out daily for the first week post-vaccination, then weekly for six weeks." WSJ

PAYING FOR COVID -- "A New Item on Your Medical Bill: The 'Covid' Fee," by The Upshot's Sarah Kliff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg: "The coronavirus pandemic has made the practice of health care more costly as providers must wear protective gear and sanitize equipment more often, even as they face declining revenue. Two groups of providers have been particularly hard hit. Dentists have lost billions since patients began postponing nonurgent dental care this spring. And assisted living facilities, grappling with lower overall demand, have also been forced to admit fewer residents to help stop the spread of infection.

"To address this financial shortfall, some health providers are turning directly to patients. Surprise 'Covid' and 'PPE' fees have turned up across the country, in bills examined by The New York Times. Some of these fees — when millions of Americans are reeling after losing jobs and the health insurance that came with it — have drawn the attention of state attorneys general who say that charging patients directly can take advantage of vulnerable consumers or violate health insurance contracts and consumer protection laws. The new charges range from a couple of dollars to nearly $1,000." NYT

IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC … WAPO: "Management company owned by Jared Kushner files to evict hundreds of families as moratoriums expire," by Jonathan O'Connell, Aaron Gregg and Anu Narayanswamy: "Westminster Management, an apartment company owned in part by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, has submitted hundreds of eviction filings in court against tenants with past due rent during the pandemic, according to interviews with more than a dozen tenants and a review of hundreds of the company's filings. A state eviction moratorium currently bars Maryland courts from removing tenants from their homes, and a federal moratorium offers renters additional protection.

"But like other landlords around the country, Westminster has been sending letters to tenants threatening legal fees and then filing eviction notices in court ― a first legal step toward removing tenants. Those notices are now piling up in local courthouses as part of a national backlog of tens of thousands of cases that experts warn could lead to a surge in displaced renters across the country as eviction bans expire and courts resume processing cases. Many of the Westminster tenants facing eviction live on low or middle incomes in modest apartments in the Baltimore area, according to tenants."

KEEP UP WITH THE PEOPLE AND POLITICS DRIVING GLOBAL HEALTH IN GLOBAL PULSE: This year has revealed just how pivotal it is to keep up with the politics and policy driving global health. Our Global Pulse newsletter connects leaders, policymakers, and advocates to the people and politics making an impact on our global health. Join the conversation and subscribe today.

BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- "Republicans Hold Off Democratic Bid to Flip State Legislatures," by WSJ's Christine Mai-Duc: "Democrats have come up short in their bid to flip control of several state legislative chambers this year and gain power in a coming round of redistricting. As of late Wednesday, Republicans had flipped control of two chambers, the New Hampshire state House and Senate, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures.

"Arizona's state Senate and House were too close to call. Of the 98 partisan chambers, Republicans will control at least 59 next year. (Nebraska has a nonpartisan, unicameral Legislature.) Republicans will control both legislative chambers in 24 of the 36 states in which legislatures draw district lines for U.S. Congress, the state legislature itself, or both, according to the conference." WSJ

MARKING MILESTONES -- "In blue and red states, milestone wins for LGBTQ candidates," by AP's David Crary: "Across the nation, LGBTQ candidates achieved milestone victories in Tuesday's election, including the first transgender person elected to a state Senate, and the first openly gay Black men to win seats in Congress.

"The landmark wins came not in only blue but also red states such as Tennessee, where Republican Eddie Mannis, who is gay, and Democrat Torrey Harris, who identifies as bisexual, won seats in the state House to become the first openly LGBTQ members of that legislature. According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which recruits and supports LGBTQ candidates, that leaves only Alaska, Louisiana and Mississippi as states that have never elected an LGBTQ legislator." AP

MEDIAWATCH -- "New York Times Hits 7 Million Subscribers as Digital Revenue Rises," by NYT's Edmund Lee: "In the three-month period ending in September, for the first time, the revenue from digital subscribers was greater than the money the company brought in from print subscribers, The Times said Thursday as part of its third-quarter financial report."

-- Jane Arraf is joining the NYT as Baghdad bureau chief. She previously was NPR's Cairo and Iraq correspondent. The announcement

TRANSITION -- Destinee Easton is now state press secretary for Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). She previously was senior associate for comms at KO Public Affairs.

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