| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | ALASKA SHOCKER — Democrat MARY PELTOLA won Alaska's special election on Wednesday, making her "the first Alaska Native in Congress," the Anchorage Daily News' Iris Samuels reports , and the first person elected via the state's new ranked-choice voting system. "Peltola topped Republican former Gov. SARAH PALIN after ballots were tallied and after votes for third-place GOP candidate NICK BEGICH III were redistributed to his supporters' second choices. Peltola, a Yup'ik former state lawmaker who calls Bethel home, is now slated to be the first woman to hold Alaska's lone U.S. House seat." Peltola, Palin and Begich will face off again in November for a full term. — Interesting stat, via Cook Political Report's Dave Wasserman ( @Redistrict ): "The amount of land mass represented by House Democrats just went up by 104%."
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A man helps hand out cases of bottled water at a distribution site in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, Aug. 31. | Brad Vest/Getty Images | CRISIS IN MISSISSIPPI — While Washington chews on headlines about President JOE BIDEN's pre-midterm road blitz and former President DONALD TRUMP's legal jeopardy, an American city of more than 150,000 people is struggling to deliver clean drinking water to its residents. There's no clear end in sight to the crisis in Jackson, Miss. , which was sparked by record rainfall that flooded the Pearl River but is rooted in much more persistent issues of public disinvestment, political neglect and racial inequity. As with Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, as well as the water crisis in Flint, Mich., majority-Black communities are left bearing the brunt of the dysfunction — not just during a crisis, but for years before and after. On Wednesday, Biden called Jackson Mayor CHOKWE ANTAR LUMUMBA and offered help just hours after declaring a federal emergency, allowing agencies to surge resources into the stricken city. Our Hannah Northey reports that officials have "pinned Jackson's current water woes on a combination of flooding, shifting chemistry, long-standing infrastructure problems and staffing shortages, but they offered few details on when conditions would improve." Even before the flooding, the city was already under a boil-water notice after the state health department found issues in one of the city's water treatment plants. And as Hannah puts it, "Jackson's water system has repeatedly landed on the federal government's radar, from fault-finding inspections to consent decrees and as a focus of the Biden administration's environmental justice push." The situation has been compounded by apparent tensions between Lumumba, a Black Democrat, and the Mississippi state government headed by Gov. TATE REEVES, a white Republican. Each has held separate news conferences throughout the crisis, and Jackson's city council president told CNN on Wednesday night that he wasn't sure the two men had directly spoken. On the campaign trail, a spat erupted between Rep. MICHAEL GUEST , a white Republican who represents part of Jackson, and his Black Democratic challenger, SHUWASKI YOUNG, who noted on Twitter that Guest voted last year against the bipartisan infrastructure bill that included $55 billion for water systems. Guest, in turn, placed the blame squarely at the feet of local leaders, calling the crisis "another in a long list of issues that is a result of an ongoing stalemate at City Hall." ROBERT BULLARD, often called the "father of environmental justice," told Playbook that the crisis is an example of how climate change and years of disinvestment in majority-Black communities can turn a bad situation into a disaster. "That path of neglect oftentimes follows a pattern that emanates from racial redlining and a funding pattern that's equivalent to apartheid," said Bullard, a professor at Texas Southern University. "You have biased planning, biased policies, biased funding that will result in a disparate impact … on populations that have contributed least to the climate crisis." The Biden administration is viewing the Jackson crisis as an opportunity to promote what it has already done — including the infrastructure bill, the climate funding in the recent Inflation Reduction Act, and the White House's Justice40 Initiative, which aims to funnel at least 40 percent of certain federal investments into disadvantaged communities. The federal commitments stand to make a difference, said ERRICK SIMMONS, the mayor of Greenville, Miss. — another majority-Black city with significant infrastructure challenges. "I think what you see in Jackson is going to occur across the country," he told Playbook. "But there is hope." Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: FDA's delays mean nicotine-loaded flavored e-cigarettes are headed back to school.
Ignoring deadlines set by courts and Congress, the FDA has allowed highly addictive flavored e-cigarettes to remain on store shelves — leaving kids at risk.
Learn what the FDA must do right now to stop Big Tobacco from luring kids into lifelong addiction. | | | | 
Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo | SPECIAL MASTER SHOWDOWN — Trump's legal team "enters today's federal court hearing in West Palm Beach with an overarching mission: delaying and complicating the Justice Department's review of documents the FBI seized from the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate last month," our Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney write in to Playbook. But so far, every time Trump ratchets up the confrontation with investigators, it's prompted a broader official disclosure of the evidence against him — something he might have avoided for months had he adopted a less acrimonious posture. Prosecutors are undoubtedly eager to use today's hearing to lock Trump's side into some factual claims that could limit options for his defense if he's ultimately charged in the Mar-a-Lago documents probe. Some of it will depend on the handling of the hearing by U.S. District Court Judge AILEEN CANNON, a Trump appointee who was confirmed to the court a week after his November 2020 defeat. Cannon could simply ask Trump's attorneys whether he ever took steps to declassify some of the highly sensitive documents investigators recovered at Mar-a-Lago. She might also ask Trump's legal team to reveal whether Trump ever sought to designate some of the records as his "personal" belongings — a claim the lawyers flicked at but didn't make explicit in Wednesday night's filing. Or she could inquire about the certification that Trump's lawyers delivered to DOJ on June 3, falsely attesting that all documents with classified markings had been returned to the government. The ostensible subject of the hearing — whether to appoint an outside party to redo DOJ's sifting of the documents — may turn out not to be too suspenseful. Cannon already indicated she's inclined to make such an appointment. The wrangling Thursday is likely to be over the scope of such a "special master" review and whether it will somehow wrap in executive privilege concerns Trump wants considered, but which the Justice Department says are largely irrelevant in this context. More intriguing is whether Cannon will force Trump's lawyers to contend with the more explosive aspects of DOJ's potential obstruction of justice case against him — which prosecutors laid out in some detail Tuesday but Trump's team all but ignored in its 18-page filing last night. Read the filing
| | | | A message from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:   | | | | | BIDEN'S THURSDAY
9 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief.
5:50 p.m.: Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN will depart the White House en route to Philadelphia, where they are scheduled to arrive at 6:50 p.m.
8 p.m.: The president will deliver a primetime address.
9:25 p.m.: The Bidens will depart Philadelphia to return to the White House, where they are scheduled to arrive at 10:30 p.m.
VP KAMALA HARRIS' THURSDAY:
11:40 a.m.: The VP will depart D.C. en route to Durham, N.C.
2 p.m.: Harris will tour the Durham Center for Senior Life, where she will deliver remarks on the IRA at 2:50 p.m.
6:05 p.m.: Harris will deliver remarks at a finance event at a private residence.
7:20 p.m.: Harris will depart Durham to return to D.C.
Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 2 p.m.
THE HOUSE and THE SENATE are out. | | | | | | IT'S ALL HAPPENING IN LONDON THIS WEEK. Who will be the next U.K. Prime Minister? You'll find all the updates in POLITICO's daily newsletter about what's driving the day in Westminster. Subscribe to London Playbook today for free. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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A woman cools off with water from a hydrant in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Aug. 31, as excessive-heat warnings expand across California. | Jae C. Hong/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | ALL POLITICS
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Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo | SCOTT SPEAKS — NRSC Chair RICK SCOTT sits down for an interview with our colleague Burgess Everett as the Florida Republican faces heat within his own party for some GOP Senate candidates' recent struggles. "Despite the many questions about his tactics, Scott is unapologetic," Burgess writes. What Scott told Burgess: "Sen. McConnell and I clearly have a strategic disagreement here … We have great candidates. … He wants to do the same thing I want to do: I want to get a majority. And I think it's important that we're all cheerleaders for our candidates. … If you trash talk our candidates … you hurt our chances of winning, and you hurt our candidates' ability to raise money. … I know they're good candidates, because I've been talking to them and they're working their butts off." — Related read: "Rick Scott's Shadow Presidential Campaign Is Frustrating His Fellow Republicans," by The New Republic's Daniel Strauss: "The head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee seems a lot more focused on getting himself elected in 2024 than he is on helping Mitch McConnell take back the Senate." — And speaking of Masters: "Peter Thiel rebuffs Mitch McConnell over Senate rescue in Arizona," by WaPo's Isaac Stanley-Becker, Hannah Knowles and Isaac Arnsdorf HOW IT'S PLAYING — A handful of state legislative seats around the country could make the difference in whether abortion is legal or illegal for millions of people — like in North Carolina, where five Democratic women are campaigning to prevent Republicans getting a veto-proof supermajority in the state legislature that could bypass the governor, Elena Schneider reports this morning. — Related read: "Michigan elections panel deadlocks, leaving abortion rights proposal off ballot," by the Detroit Free Press' Clara Hendrickson THE DEBATE DEBATE — One of the latest topics that is front and center in the Pennsylvania Senate race is the will-they-won't-they over a potential debate, with JOHN FETTERMAN declining to debate MEHMET OZ, citing his continuing recovery following his stroke, WaPo's Michael Scherer, Colby Itkowitz and Lenny Bernstein write. Here's how the Fetterman campaign sees it: "We are working to figure out what a fair debate would look like with the lingering impacts of the auditory processing in mind," Fetterman campaign strategist REBECCA KATZ said. "To be absolutely clear, the occasional issues he is having with auditory processing have no bearing on his ability to do the job as senator. John is healthy and fully capable of showing up and doing the work." Holly Otterbein and Natalie Allison previously reported on Fetterman's reluctance to debate MAR-A-LAGO FALLOUT HOLDING PATTERN — DOJ officials are "likely to wait until after the November election to announce any charges against Donald Trump, if they determine he broke laws" stemming from the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago, Bloomberg's Chris Strohm reports, citing sources familiar. "Under long-standing department policy, prosecutors are barred from taking investigative steps or filing charges for the purpose of affecting an election or helping a candidate or party, traditionally 60 days before an election. This year, that would be by Sept. 10." — Related read: "Garland's perilous path to prosecuting Trump," by Josh Gerstein: "The attorney general has multiple hurdles to overcome if he really wants to bring a criminal case against the former president." THE NEXT FOCUS — Meanwhile, two of Trump's lead lawyers in the case, EVAN CORCORAN and CHRISTINA BOBB , are "likely to become witnesses or targets" in DOJ's investigation, legal specialists told NYT's Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman. HMM — "Days before Mar-a-Lago subpoena, Trump lawyer claimed she scoured Trump's office, closets and drawers," by Kyle Cheney: "The filing submitted to the New York AG's office raises key questions in relation to the separate Mar-a-Lago probe, chiefly, whether [lawyer ALINA HABBA] ended up handling any of the documents that DOJ later discovered at Trump's club; and, if so, whether she has the clearance to have done so." FUN ONE — "A New York City Rug Expert Weighs In On Mar-a-Lago's Flooring," Talking Points Memo CONGRESS FOR YOUR RADAR — TIM HYSOM, the chief of staff to Rep. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-Mass.), has departed the congressman's office for another one following a spat with Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.), our colleague Nicholas Wu writes. Auchincloss, in a statement, confirmed Hysom's departure and added: "I appreciate Tim's service in my office and wish him all the best in his new endeavor." Greene had accused Hysom of defacing posters outside her office and even took to the House floor to denounce the aide . Hysom has worked for Auchincloss since the freshman took office, according to Legistorm. More from WPRI's Ted Nesi THE WHITE HOUSE PRIMETIME PREVIEW — "In his Thursday address, White House officials said, Biden will hark back to the 2017 white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, which he says brought him out of political retirement to challenge Trump. He'll argue that the country faces a similar crossroads in the coming months," AP's Zeke Miller and Chris Megerian writes. VEEP FILES — The VP's office is bringing on MEGAN JONES, a longtime top hand to former Senate Majority Leader HARRY REID's famed Nevada political operation as the state becomes a key inflection point in the battle for Congress, Chris Cadelago and Sam Stein scooped. "In the role, likely to last a few months, Jones is expected to help with political planning, outreach and coordination" as Harris begins to ramp up her presence in battleground states before the midterms.
| | | | A message from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:   | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH THE GEORGIA INVESTIGATION — JOHN EASTMAN , the Trump lawyer who helped architect the plan to influence the 2020 election results, appeared before the grand jury in Fulton County that is investigating Trump's efforts in Georgia, Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu report. Lawyers representing Eastman "indicated in a statement that Eastman pleaded the Fifth and asserted attorney-client privilege 'where appropriate.'" POLICY CORNER INFRASTRUCTURE YEAR — Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG is pushing to make infrastructure a winning issue for Dems in the midterms — that is, if only his own presidential ambitions don't trip him up, writes Adam Wren . "Buttigieg, 40, is the youngest Cabinet member and arguably the best-known as a result of his own presidential campaign in 2020. His party's success in November—and his own future ambitions for higher office—depend, in part, on him selling the sweeping infrastructure package." THE LOAN LURCH — "'Inherently unfair': GOP attacks student debt relief as Dems celebrate," by Jackie Padilla, Michael Stratford and Lara Priluck IMMIGRATION FILES — "Border Patrol agents slam Karine Jean-Pierre's 'ignorant' claim that illegal immigrants not 'walking' across," Fox News AMERICA AND THE WORLD PULLOUT FALLOUT — "The wrong plane out of Afghanistan," by WaPo's Abigail Hauslohner in Shëngjin, Albania: "Evacuees who fled Afghanistan a year ago, expecting to resettle in the U.S., remain in Albania and in limbo." HEADS UP — "U.N. Says China May Have Committed 'Crimes Against Humanity' in Xinjiang," NYT THE PANDEMIC NEWS YOU CAN USE — "Coronavirus boosters targeting omicron get FDA blessing for fall push," WaPo. What's next: Pending approval by the CDC today, the next round of booster shots could become available starting next week. THE VACCINATION PUZZLE — Ten weeks after the FDA and CDC opened the door for children under age 5 to receive Covid vaccines, the national drive to get the youngest children protected is off to an underwhelming start, as a mix of parental hesitance, limited opportunities unique logistical challenges have slowed the flow of shots to a mere trickle, Tucker Doherty reports.
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| MONKEYPOX LATEST — Biden officials tell POLITICO that the administration is weighing whether to save monkeypox doses for a potential smallpox outbreak instead, Erin Banco and Adam Cancryn report this morning. The delicate balance: "The administration must secure enough doses for future spikes in monkeypox infections while replenishing its stockpile for a potential smallpox outbreak. Too few doses earmarked for the monkeypox response could set the administration back further in its fight to contain the outbreak if cases increase." — "Pain, Fear, Stigma: What People Who Survived Monkeypox Want You to Know," NYT
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO 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. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Michael Saylor is being sued over tax fraud in D.C., per the WSJ. Mehmet Oz helped revive a passenger on a plane from Louisville to Philadelphia over the weekend. Jon Tester joined the BeReal trend. Bezz Believe and Forgiato Blow are big in the "MAGA Rap" scene, apparently. SPOTTED at a book party for Chris Stirewalt's "Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back," ( $26.10 ) hosted by Michael Meehan at the Army Navy Country Club on Tuesday night: Sue Hensley, Alex and Caitlin Conant, Mark Irion, Daniel Halper, Ceci Connolly, David Chalian, Anu Rangappa, Matt Continetti, Eliana Johnson, Bill Sammon, Cherie Grzech, Juan Williams, Tim Carney, Sophia Cai, Brian Jones, Mike Dubke and Amy Dacey. SPOTTED at a Welcome to Fall cocktail reception hosted by Janet Donovan, Ben Elmore and Mark Smith on Wednesday night at Cafe Milano, where DJ Seyhan played a playlist straight out of St. Tropez and Ibiza: Pat Harrison, Angie Gates, Marie and Ed Royce, Adrian Fenty, Bill Press, David Adler, Kathy O'Hearn, Kevin Cirilli, Matt Glassman, Richard Scully, Tamara and Joel Buchwald, Larry Pressler, Diane and Roland Flamini, Christiano Terry, Steve Rochlin and Christina Sevilla, Rebecca Cooper, Anita McBride and Kevni Chaffee. STAFFING UP — The Department of Interior has added Perrin Cooke as oversight counsel for the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs; Courtney Fogwell as senior adviser to the assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks; Jim Guthrie as senior adviser for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Chloe Leaverton as special assistant for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Celeste Zumwalt as briefing book coordinator in the Office of the Secretary. The announcement WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Aditi Somani has joined the Treasury Department's Office of the Counselor for Racial Equity. She previously was special assistant for oval office operations at the White House. TRANSITIONS — Taylor Dabney is joining the RNC as creative director. She previously was senior graphic designer at the Heritage Foundation. … Lindsay Reusser is now scheduler for Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.). She most recently was scheduler for Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.). … Liz Shrum is now chief comms officer for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. She previously ran her own consulting firm LJSMedia and is a NAM and POLITICO alum. … Megan Lamberth is joining the Air Force's Studies and Analysis office as analysis integration adviser. She previously was an associate fellow with the CNAS Technology and National Security Program. WEEKEND WEDDING — Dipka Bhambhani, senior advisor to ExxonMobil's public and government affairs team and a senior Forbes contributor, and John Hesse II, executive search consultant at Ivan Adler Associates, general counsel and chief revenue officer for DFM Data Corp. and managing partner at government relations firm JWH II, LLC, got married on Saturday in a traditional Hindu ceremony at the ISKON temple in Potomac, Md., with an evening reception later at the Intercontinental on The Wharf in D.C. The two met while Dipka was living in New York and wanted to meet with John about opportunities in Washington. Pic by Jack Hartzman/Ricardo Reyes … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Brianna Puccini Duff, who works in global comms and public affairs at Google and an alum of Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and Larry Duff, senior manager of corporate strategy at Mars, on Sunday welcomed Braden Leon Duff. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) … Xochitl Hinojosa of Bully Pulpit Interactive … Yolanda Caraway … Sue Hensley of the American Trucking Associations … Commerce's Susie Feliz … Tim Truman of the Foreign Agricultural Service … C-SPAN's Craig Caplan … Connie Haddeland … Chris Fleming of Red Horse Strategies … John Jones … CNN's Chandelis Duster and Jessica Estepa … NBC's Janelle Rodriguez and Priscilla Thompson … POLITICO's Kate Davidson and Tess Holcom … Libby Liu … RNC's Lindsay Wigo … BGR's Jonathan Mantz … Wayne Crews … Hone Strategies' Anjan Mukherjee … Lauren Blair Bianchi of the Consumer Bankers Association … former Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) … Puck News' Tara Palmeri … David Natonski … Courtney Dorning … Hallie Beasley of the Herald Group … Dee Dee Myers Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine. Correction: Due to a data interpretation error, Wednesday's Playbook misstated the level of support for Biden's student debt cancellation plan in the new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. It is 48% of voters.
| | | | A message from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: FDA delays leave flavored e-cigarettes on the market — putting kids at risk.
Big Tobacco continues to lure kids with flavored e-cigarettes, hooking them with massive doses of nicotine. These addictive products can impact kids' brain development, learning, and ability to focus in school.
The courts and Congress have ordered the FDA to act, but repeated delays mean flavored e-cigarettes are still widely available. To protect kids, the FDA must eliminate all flavored e-cigarettes now.
Learn more about what the FDA must do to prevent youth addiction. | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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