| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Approximately 5.9 million people across 11 Florida counties remain under mandatory evacuation orders ahead of Hurricane Milton. | Mike Carlson/AP | As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida’s west coast, Tampa Bay residents are on “the razor’s edge of a nightmare scenario," the Tampa Bay Times’ Tony Marrero writes, even as officials in Washington and Florida rush to pull together resources. Latest on the ground … As heavy rains fall across south Florida, Gov. RON DeSANTIS urged Floridians this morning to prepare for a “major impact to the west coast,” of the state.
- 5.9 million people across 11 Florida counties remain under mandatory evacuation orders.
- At this point, the best option for many residents “might be to leave to a local shelter where there is still plenty of capacity, [DeSantis] said,” per the Tampa Bay Times. “About 31,000 people are currently sheltering at 149 locations across the state, with capacity for well over 200,000 people, officials said.”
- “Officials warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, with first responders not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm,” AP’s Terry Spencer and Haven Daley report.
- Even so, the state is readying the largest search-and-rescue mobilization in the state’s history, including 6,000 Florida National Guard members and 3,000 members of the National Guard from other states on the ground to address the disaster.
- The looming hurricane is spawning multiple tornadoes throughout the state ahead of landfall, and a “tornado watch has been issued for parts of Florida until 9 p.m. including Osceola and Polk counties in Central Florida,” The Orlando Sentinel's Richard Tribou reports.
On the campaign trail … Two pro-Harris and pro-Trump PACs have placed new TV ad buys on the Weather Channel for the next week. And in Washington … With emergency response resources already stretched in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Washington is scrambling to address the dire funding situation ahead of Milton. Although last month’s short term spending bill authorized $20 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund, lawmakers declined to pass any additional aid for the agency. Though FEMA should have enough to meet the immediate needs of Helene and Milton’s victims in the short term, WaPo’s Jacob Bogage and Maxine Joselow report that the agency could run out of funds for its public assistance program, which “reimburses state and local governments for the costs of debris cleanup, first responders and other needs.” Meanwhile, the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program for homeowners and renters “could run out of money in the coming weeks” unless Congress intervenes. On Capitol Hill, some members are already mapping out their plans to address the National Flood Insurance Program, as the toll from the two hurricanes will “likely exhaust the program’s nearly $5 billion in funds and force it to tap $9.9 billion in Treasury borrowing authority,” Eleanor Mueller reports — though some on the Hill believe “Milton could push the NFIP to the edge of what it can borrow from Treasury, potentially forcing Congress to raise its borrowing cap or to pursue some kind of alternative funding to ensure that claims are paid.” Meanwhile, President JOE BIDEN urged Congress to “step up” to provide aid in an interview with The Grio’s April Ryan: “[B]y the end of the day, there is going to be a need to invest billions of dollars to resurrect these towns.” Biden also said he is concerned about the spread of “misinformation” about the government’s response in the wake of both storms. “There’s a lot of folks out there spreading lies about what we are not doing, that things are not going well,” Biden said. “That we are not responding — when in fact we’ve been completely responsive, and we’ve been ahead of the game.” Related reads: “Florida Rep. says MTG needs her ‘head examined’ after weather posts,” by Andrew Howard … “The race to save IV fluid ahead of Milton,” by Chelsea Cirruzzo and Ben Leonard GOOD TIME TO OWN A TV STATION IN PA — As DONALD TRUMP takes the stage later today for a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, NYT’s Shane Goldmacher tallies the cumulative cost of the campaign in the Keystone State: The KAMALA HARRIS and Trump campaigns and their allies have poured a total of $350 million in political ad money into the area, a whopping “$142 million more than the next closest state and more than Michigan and Wisconsin combined.” Meanwhile, the Harris campaign is leaning on Sen. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Penn.) to woo rural voters away from Trump, WaPo’s Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell write: “Fetterman has been candid about Trump’s strength in Pennsylvania, not because he thinks Harris will lose, but because he wants to encourage Democrats to work the state as hard as they can to beat the former president … ‘It’s not that I’m scared or I’m worried,’ he said. ‘It makes me committed.’” AFTERNOON WATCH — In case you missed this morning’s edition of the Playbook Daily Briefing, you can now watch it on YouTube! Check out Rachael and Eugene breaking down Harris’ PR blitz. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | A message from United for Democracy: Banning IVF, abortion, and many types of contraception. Creating a national pregnancy registry. Criminalizing porn. Making you pay more for healthcare and housing. Sound like a nightmare? No - it's Project 2025. And if Trump is elected, it will be the MAGA movement's dream that the corrupt Supreme Court justices made come true. But we can vote to stop them – learn more at Project2025.wtf. | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held their first call in almost two months this afternoon. | Susan Walsh/AP | 1. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Biden and Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU held their first call in almost two months this afternoon, as Israel continues to expand its ground operation in Lebanon, AP’s Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Tia Goldenberg report: “Netanyahu’s office, mean[while], confirmed that the prime minister had recently spoken with former President Donald Trump. The Republican, who is [in] the midst of a close White House race against Harris, called Netanyahu last week and ‘congratulated him on the intense and determined operations that Israel carried out against Hezbollah,’ according to Netanyahu’s office.” 2. CIA IN HOT WATER: The CIA has conducted an internal survey to examine sexual harassment within the agency after numerous allegations have been quietly playing out in courts over the past year, CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis scoops. “Two cases have resulted in convictions of misdemeanor assault in Virginia,” Lillis writes, while a “stream of female whistleblowers has gone to Capitol Hill recently to testify behind closed doors to congressional oversight committees about other allegations of sexual assault and harassment.” The internal survey found that “28% of respondents said they experienced at least one instance of a sexually hostile work environment while employed at CIA, while 9% indicated at least one instance had occurred in the last 12 months.” 3. WHAT’S THE HOLD UP?: The Trump campaign is dragging its feet on beginning the formal process allowing for a smooth transition of power, NYT’s Ken Bensinger reports. The campaign has missed two major deadlines to sign required federal documents, and has failed to file an ethics plan for his prospective administration. While Trump’s transition team says he’s still “negotiating” with the administration over the terms of the agreements, the Times reports that delay “allows him to circumvent fund-raising rules that put limits on private contributions to the transition effort, as well as ethics rules meant to avoid possible conflicts of interest for the incoming administration.” 4. ATTACK ADS: Senate Democrats are accusing their GOP counterparts of sidestepping campaign finance rules about advertising, creating “attack ads” that are misclassified as fundraising ads that allow them to “get around limits to how much committees can contribute,” Axios’ Stephen Neukam and Stef Kight report. “Republicans argue that the tactic is allowed, and that Democrats including HILLARY CLINTON and Kamala Harris have used similar strategies. … They also point to a 2007 FEC opinion that said advertising with fundraising asks must be paid for by joint fundraising committees.” 5. IN THE BEGINNING: “Trump has long blasted China's trade practices. His 'God Bless the USA' Bibles were printed there,” by AP’s Richard Lardner and Dake Kang: “[A] printing company in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou shipped close to 120,000 of the Bibles to the United States between early February and late March. … The Trump Bible’s connection to China, which has not been previously reported, reveals a deep divide between the former president’s harsh anti-China rhetoric and his rush to cash in while campaigning.” 6. ANTITRUST THE PROCESS: “US Weighs Google Breakup in Historic Big Tech Antitrust Case,” by Bloomberg’s Leah Nylen: “The Justice Department ‘is considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features,’ the agency said. … Antitrust enforcers said Google gained scale and data benefits from its illegal distribution agreements with other tech companies that made its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers.” 7. DEMOCRACY DIGEST: In a striking shift in favor of the GOP, recent polls show that for the first time in more than three decades, more voters are self-identifying as Republicans than Democrats, WSJ’s Aaron Zitner reports. But the boost in party affiliation doesn’t necessarily translate to success at the polls, as Democrats will surely attest.
| | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Eric Trump says the Trump Organization is interested in building a luxury hotel in Jerusalem. IN MEMORIAM — “Longtime Senator Tim Johnson dead at 77,” by KELO-TV’s Dan Jorgensen: “He had more than 30 years of public service in state and federal government and remains the last Democrat to serve in statewide office for South Dakota. Johnson never lost an election as a candidate and won one of South Dakota’s most memorable elections by defeating Republican John Thune by more than 500 votes in 2002. … During his tenure in Congress, Johnson supported many infrastructure projects that delivered clean drinking water to communities all across South Dakota and other states.” — “Roger K. Lewis, architect who explored the capital with wry eye, dies at 83,” by WaPo’s Brian Murphy: “Mr. Lewis’s Shaping the City column appeared in The Post on varying schedules until 2022, bringing readers his musings and insights on areas such as architectural criticism, city planning, housing prices and historic preservation. … At times, he poked fun at the pomposity of his profession, bemoaned suburban sprawl, and found satirical fodder in the ebb and flow of Washington’s cityscape.” WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Benjamin Hall, State correspondent for Fox News, and Alicia Hall, recently welcomed Sage Scarlett Jennifer Hall. She came in at 5 lbs and 15 oz and joins big sisters Honor, Iris and Hero. More from People Magazine 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | | | A message from United for Democracy: Project 2025 is a policy blueprint created by the far-right Heritage Foundation meant to gut America’s system of checks and balances. Their goal? Take control of the government… and our lives.
If MAGA extremists win this fall, they will pursue Project 2025 policies like banning IVF and setting up a national abortion and pregnancy registry to force states to report abortion data. While raising taxes on middle-class Americans, they’ll also remove many environmental protections so companies can pollute our air, soil, and water with known cancer-causing toxic chemicals.
You think the Courts will save us?! LOL. The six MAGA Supreme Court Justices are already implementing some of Project 2025’s worst ideas.
In fact, they already deemed a president immune from all criminal acts they deem “official,” and stripped women of their reproductive freedom.
Learn more at Project2025.wtf, before it’s too late.
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