POLITICO PLAYBOOK: What the VP saw at the border – POLITICO – POLITICO

DRIVING THE DAY

THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION in Milwaukee begins a year from today. (h/t Steven Shepard)

A BREAK-GLASS SCENARIO TO THINK ABOUT … There are just 8 DAYS left this month when the House and Senate are both in session. Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN and Speaker NANCY PELOSI have both said that the debt limit needs to be lifted this month before everyone gets out of town. …

… NOW, both sides want to strike a budget deal that would lift spending caps for the next fiscal year. They would then attach a debt limit hike to that. BUT … If they can’t get a spending deal, there’s another bill both chambers want to pass before August: the 9/11 first-responders bill. Attach a debt limit increase to that and it would be quite tough to vote against it. (h/t PK)

— PELOSI and MNUCHIN spoke yesterday for 20 minutes in a conversation that started at 1:52 p.m. A Pelosi aide said they are likely to speak this weekend.

A DAY FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS … WAPO’S JOSH DAWSEY in McAllen, Texas, and COLBY ITKOWITZ in Washington: “‘This is tough stuff’: At Texas detention facility, Pence sees hundreds of migrants crammed with no beds”: “When Vice President Pence visited a migrant detention center here Friday, he saw nearly 400 men crammed behind caged fences with not enough room for them all to lie down on the concrete ground. There were no mats or pillows for those who found the space to rest. A stench from body odor hung stale in the air.

“When reporters toured the facility before Pence, the men screamed that they’d been held there 40 days, some longer. They said they were hungry and wanted to brush their teeth. It was sweltering hot, but the only water was outside the fences and they needed to ask permission from the Border Patrol agents to drink.

“Pence appeared to scrunch his nose when entering the facility, stayed for a moment and left. A few minutes earlier, from a bird’s eye room called ‘The Bubble,’ he’d seen 382 men packed into cells, peering against the windows to get a view of him. Some appeared shirtless. … ‘I was not surprised by what I saw,’ Pence said later at a news conference. ‘I knew we’d see a system that was overwhelmed.’ He added: ‘This is tough stuff.’” WaPo … Read Josh’s pool report, which is not easy to read

SARAH FERRIS and HEATHER CAYGLE: “House Dems pick party unity over ICE fight”: “House Democratic leaders are likely to duck what could be their best chance to force President Donald Trump to fix squalid conditions at the border, out of fear of stirring up further infighting in the caucus.

“Democrats are pushing to relieve congested detention facilities for migrants and demand accountability from the White House. But a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security — which could be used to spur action at the border — is deeply contentious and the party is wrestling with whether it’s worth a vote.

“Democrats fear a fight over funding DHS and immigration will only worsen tensions that roiled the caucus during last month’s debate over humanitarian aid at the border. And it could put some liberals into a nearly impossible corner, effectively forcing them to vote to approve money to agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement they want to abolish.” POLITICO

— HMM – “This framed photo of Tomi Lahren hangs in U.S. Border Patrol headquarters,” by Quartz’s Zoë Schlanger and Justin Rohrlich

BOB COSTA (@costareports): “President Trump, days after a federal appeals court sided with him on an emoluments-related case, has retweeted an advertisement for his golf course in Scotland. It urges viewers to ‘visit TrumpGolf.com today to book your ultimate links tour.’”

OUCH … MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL: “President Trump in Milwaukee says farmers are ‘over the hump’ as dairy farms continue to close in Wisconsin,” by Molly Beck and Mary Spicuzza: “President Donald Trump raised $3 million in Wisconsin cash on Friday touring Milwaukee to promote a new trade deal he says will help rebuild the country’s wounded manufacturing and agriculture industry.

“But in doing so, the president downplayed the suffocation felt by Wisconsin dairy farmers because of Trump’s own tariffs.

“‘These are great American patriots … the farmers (said) no, it’s not like things are perfect but we’re with our president,’ Trump told a crowd at Derco Aerospace on Milwaukee’s northwest side. ‘Some of the farmers are doing well … We’re over the hump. We’re doing really well.’

“Trump said the new trade agreement would help Wisconsin dairy farmers by providing access to Canada’s market, painting an optimistic picture of the Wisconsin industry’s future — which is losing almost two dairy farms a day. Nearly 700 Wisconsin farms were shut down last year by owners used to enduring a brutal workload and hard times, calling it quits in a downturn now headed into its fifth year. In 2018, for the third straight year, Wisconsin led the nation in farm bankruptcies.” MJS

Good Saturday morning. THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 last night in Philly.

WHAT A WORLD! … Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ’S (D-N.Y.) chief of staff — Saikat Chakrabarti — isn’t like a normal Hill staffer. He tweets frequently, discussing his views of everything from the Democratic leadership to the presidential contest. He recently participated in a large scale Washington Post Magazine profile (read that here). House Democrats are sick of it.

LAST NIGHT, the House Democratic Caucus account took a shot at Chakrabarti, using Ocasio Cortez’s words about NANCY PELOSI as a rubric. Chakrabarti tweeted a few weeks ago that Rep. SHARICE DAVIDS (D-Kan.) was enabling “a racist system” in D.C. Here’s what the House Dems had to say about that: “Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color? Her name is Congresswoman Davids, not Sharice. She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue. Keep her name out of your mouth”. Check out the tweet here

THE WHITE HOUSE took issue with what we wrote yesterday about health care: that the president was going to make health care a priority this Congress, and we believe he’s been relatively silent on the topic.

THE WHITE HOUSE’s Judd Deere sent us an email with a litany of what the White House considered achievements. We called in our top expert — POLITICO’s Executive Editor for Health Care Joanne Kenen — to take a look at their claims.

Her dispatch … IN WASHINGTON and the political world, “health care” is short-hand for addressing cost and coverage writ large — with accompanying fights about the role of government in achieving those ends. Trump promised a “terrific” health care plan, and that has not materialized (to the relief of Capitol Hill Republicans who are still nursing repeal and replace battle wounds). The jury is still out on whether Congress and the White House will be able to make drugs — particularly expensive breakthrough drugs — more affordable. The White House says prescription drug prices have declined for the first time in 46 years, but by more commonly accepted measures, drug prices are going up, though more slowly. A fact check on drug cost claims

BUT ON “HEALTH” more broadly defined, Trump has bipartisan support for several big initiatives. The country is more focused on opioids, and more government money is going to treatment, though most people believe more needs to be done. Trump surprised many with an ambitious State of the Union call for eradicating new HIV infections in the US within a decade. Just this week, HHS announced a big plan to address kidney disease and dialysis which is far more widespread (and expensive and debilitating) than many imagine. (Democrats would also respond that these goals would be achieved more easily if Trump strengthened Obamacare instead of trying to get a court to toss it, and pushed hold-out states to expand Medicaid.)

TRUMP DOES DESERVE SOME CREDIT for bipartisan efforts. His administration has spoken with the speaker about lowering drug prices — but it’s far from clear they can come to an agreement. Legislation to end surprise medical billing is moving on the Hill, though passage isn’t certain. On surprise bills, the fight is less Democrat vs. Republican than among the various health care industries about who should pick up how much of the tab.

ACOSTA’S REPLACEMENT — “Trump’s acting Labor secretary pick feared by unions,” by Ian Kullgren: “Patrick Pizzella, tapped by President Donald Trump on Friday to step in as acting Labor secretary, is a polarizing figure beloved by conservatives for his pro-business views and disliked by unions and Democrats for a history of opposing worker protections. … Pizzella’s ascendance to the top of the agency tasked with enforcing labor protections is something unions have long feared. He worked alongside disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to shield the Northern Mariana Islands from federal labor laws in the 1990s, and generally has favored easing workplace regulations.” POLITICO

2020 …

MAYOR DE BLASIO HIRES HIS SON … “Can Dante de Blasio Save His Father’s Presidential Campaign?” by NYT’s Jeffery C. Mays: “Dante … is joining the de Blasio presidential campaign as a paid policy analyst. … Dante, who graduated from Yale in May with a political science degree, is scheduled to make his campaign debut in Iowa Saturday, appearing with his father at public events such as barbecues and parades, interacting with voters and possibly introducing his father at some functions. In addition to helping to write a campaign platform, Dante, a championship debater, will also help his father prepare for debates.” NYT

— NYT’S JONATHAN MARTIN and SYDNEY EMBER: “Why Sanders Wanted His Meeting With a Rabbi Kept Secret”: “When Senator Bernie Sanders brought his presidential campaign to Pittsburgh earlier this year, he quietly added a poignant stop to his schedule: a visit to the Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 congregants were killed in an anti-Semitic shooting last fall.

“But his appearance also came with explicit instructions to his campaign aides, according to two Democrats familiar with the conversation: They were not to tell the news media about his conversation with the rabbi there. Some aides dissented, believing there was a graceful way to disclose the visit. But Mr. Sanders, the only Jewish candidate among the leading Democratic contenders, did not want the visit to be perceived as a publicity grab.” NYT

— “AP Exclusive: New election systems use vulnerable software,” by Tami Abdollah: “An Associated Press analysis has found that like many counties in Pennsylvania, the vast majority of 10,000 election jurisdictions nationwide use Windows 7 or an older operating system to create ballots, program voting machines, tally votes and report counts. That’s significant because Windows 7 reaches its ‘end of life’ on Jan. 14, meaning Microsoft stops providing technical support and producing ‘patches’ to fix software vulnerabilities, which hackers can exploit. In a statement to the AP, Microsoft said Friday it would offer continued Windows 7 security updates for a fee through 2023.” AP

THE PRESIDENT’S SATURDAY … PRESIDENT TRUMP has no public events scheduled.

PLAYBOOK READS

GOOD READ — “OxyContin Made The Sacklers Rich. Now It’s Tearing Them Apart: A rash of lawsuits, which accuse its Purdue Pharma of helping fuel the addiction crisis, has exacerbated longstanding divisions,” by WSJ’s Jared S. Hopkins: “Jacqueline Sackler was fed up. HBO’s John Oliver had just used his TV show to pillory her family, the clan that owns Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. In a nearly 15-minute Sunday-night segment, he joined a long line of people who blamed the Sacklers in part for the nation’s opioid crisis. When the show was over, Ms. Sackler, who is married to a son of a company co-founder, emailed her in-laws, lawyers and advisers.

“‘This situation is destroying our work, our friendships, our reputation and our ability to function in society,’ she wrote. ‘And worse, it dooms my children. How is my son supposed to apply to high school in September?’ … At one meeting years ago, according to a person who was present, Mortimer [Sackler] tried to punch [brother] Raymond but, missing him, hit a company attorney in between.” WSJ

NYT: “Jeffrey Epstein Taught at Dalton. His Behavior Was Noticed,” by Mike Baker and Amy Julia Harris

— “The pressure on a prosecutor: How Epstein’s wealth and power steered Acosta toward lenient deal,” by WaPo’s Marc Fisher, Devlin Barrett and Kimberly Kindy: “In 2007, responsibility for removing Epstein from his bubble of wealth and impunity sat with Alexander Acosta, the soft-spoken top federal prosecutor in South Florida, still in his 30s, fairly new to the position, eager to make an impression and, according to friends, find his way back to a top administration job in Washington.

“Conchita Sarnoff, author of ‘TrafficKing,’ a book on the Epstein case, said Acosta told her a few years after Epstein’s dream team of prominent defense lawyers persuaded him to sign a non-prosecution deal ending the federal pursuit that ‘he felt incapable of going up against those eight powerful attorneys. He felt his career was at stake.’” WaPo

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Exclusive: Pentagon races to track U.S. rare earths output amid China trade dispute,” by Reuters’ Ernest Scheyder: “The Pentagon is rapidly assessing the United States’ rare earths capability in a race to secure stable supply of the specialized material amid the country’s trade conflict with China, which controls the rare earths industry, according to a government document seen by Reuters.

“The push comes weeks after China threatened to curb exports to the United States of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used to build fighter jets, tanks and a range of consumer electronics. The Pentagon wants miners to describe plans to develop U.S. rare earths mines and processing facilities, and asked manufacturers to detail their needs for the minerals, according to the document, which is dated June 27.” Reuters

STAT DU JOUR – Robert Muggah in the FT: “More than 2.5m Latin Americans have been murdered since 2000. Today, Latin America’s homicide rate is three times the global average and rising. The region registers close to 40 per cent of the world’s murders despite being home to only 9 per cent of the global population. According to Lapop, one in four Latin Americans was assaulted and robbed in the past year.” FT

CLICKER – “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker – 12 keepers

GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from Great Barrington, Mass.:

— “The Great Race to Rule Streaming TV,” by Jonah Weiner in the N.Y. Times Magazine: “In their rush to match Netflix, competitors like HBO, Hulu and Amazon are ordering a slew of content — ushering out the age of ‘prestige TV’ and ushering in an age of anything goes.” NYT Magazine

— “New Workers of the World,” by Vauhini Vara in Bloomberg Businessweek: “A yearlong project to capture the voices of workers facing unprecedented global change.” Bloomberg Businessweek

— “Rainforest on Fire,” by Alexander Zaitchik in The Intercept in partnership with the Pulitzer Center: “On the front lines of Bolsonaro’s war on the Amazon, Brazil’s forest communities Fight against climate catastrophe.” The Intercept (h/t Longform.org)

— “Road-Tripping with the Amazon Nomads,” by The Verge’s Josh Dzieza: “To stock Amazon’s shelves, merchants travel the backroads of America in search of rare soap and coveted toys.” The Verge (h/t Longform.org)

— “They Were Children When They Were Kidnapped By ISIS and Forced to Fight. What Happens Now That They’re Home?” by Kimberly Dozier in TIME. TIME

— “‘I Did Not Die. I Did Not Go to Heaven,’” by Ruth Graham in Slate – per TheBrowser.com’s description: “‘The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven’ sold a million copies and started ‘a boomlet of “heaven tourism” stories in Christian publishing.’ Then the boy recanted, claiming his father concocted the story and that ‘he has never even read the full contents,’ sparking another publicity frenzy. But the father still truly believes the book, and blames the change of story on his estranged wife. The boy’s brother sides with the dad. The journalist is never allowed to speak with the boy, now a man, alone.” Slate

— “The Moon Is a Hazardous Place to Live,” by Shannon Hall in the NYT: “If we get back to the lunar surface, astronauts will have to contend with much more than perilous rocket flights and the vacuum of space.” NYT

— “Catching desires,” by Bence Nanay in Aeon Magazine: “That drink, that cigarette, that dance: wanting things is highly contagious. Can you be immunised against the infection?” Aeon (h/t TheBrowser.com)

— “Protecting Pleasure: Inside the Fight for Safe Cannabis for All,” by Katie MacBride in Playboy: “Tainted grow operations are growing, but an unlikely group is doing whatever they can to stop it.” Playboy

— “‘You’ll miss me when I’m gone’: the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch,” by Sanam Maher in The Guardian — TheBrowser.com’s description: “On ‘Pakistan’s first celebrity-by-social media, Qandeel Baloch,’ famous for her viral video ‘How I’m looking?’ and for rejecting conservative norms around sexualised content. Baloch was murdered by her brother for bringing ‘dishonour to his family.’ (Her distraught parents seem to disagree: ‘It was her life’).” The Guardian

PLAYBOOKERS

SPOTTED: Anthony Weiner at a Le Pain Quotidien in New York City. Pic

SPOTTED at the National Italian American Foundation’s annual dinner honoring the Italian American Congressional Delegation on Thursday night: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), John Larson (D-Conn.), Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) and Thomas Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Rick Lazio, Connie Morella, Mike Ferguson, Jim Messina, Bill Palatucci, Maria Cino, Kraig Siracuse, Jeff Paravano, Tim McBride, Tom Quadmann, Lauren Amendolara McDermott, Anita McBride, John Calvelli and Frank Giordano.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Amanda Hunter, research and communications director at the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, is 4-0. An interesting book she’s reading: “I just started reading ‘Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny’ by Kate Manne. She is brilliant and has a really smart take on the power dynamics around gender.” Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Joe Lockhart is 6-0. He’s celebrating with a party at their house in Maine (h/t wife Giovanna) … Tony Kornheiser is 71 … Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips … Anne Schroeder … Antoinette Rangel … Aneesh Chopra … Eric Cromartie … Jill Pike, VP for comms at Vox Media … Bret Swanson … Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) is 68 … Kirk Wagar, co-chairman for Asia at Mercury and former U.S. ambassador and chief of mission to Singapore … WaPo’s Josh Dawsey is 29 … Curtis Isakson … Will Dempster … Sarah Persitz is 34 … Celia Fischer … Ilona Cohen, chief legal officer at Aledade and an Obama alum …

… WaPo’s Devlin Barrett is 46 … Alex Vogel … Mike Hais … Molly Hogan … Julie Eddy Rokala, SVP at Cassidy & Associates … Grace Van Cleave (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Heather Larrison … Gabby Seay … Christina Roof … Rebecca Gaghen … Jon McClellan … Microsoft’s Kate Frischmann … Jennifer Goodman … Keith Ashdown … Dennis Craig II … Nick Newburger … Kerry Lynch of Camron PR … Patricia Brooks … Cindy Hoffman … Todd Zwillich … Cara Ann Mathis … Emma Rodriguez … Jen Howard … Michelle Gaps … Casey Katims … Brent Appel … Dan Smith … Elizabeth Bagley … Steve Crawford … Hank Kruse.

THE SHOWS, by @MattMackowiak, filing from Phoenix:

— NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) … Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) … Megan Rapinoe. Panel: Tim Alberta, Carlos Curbelo, Hallie Jackson and Claire McCaskill

— CNN’s “State of the Union”: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services acting director Ken Cuccinelli … NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. Panel: Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), Scott Jennings, Andrew Gillum and Amanda Carpenter

— ABC’s “This Week”: Tom Steyer … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Panel: Chris Christie, Rahm Emanuel, Rachael Bade and Alexi McCammond.

— CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Acting Director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan … Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) … Jeh Johnson … NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine … Douglas Brinkley. Panel: Ben Domenech, Paula Reid, Toluse Olorunnipa and Kelsey Snell

— “Fox News Sunday”: Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.). Panel: Jason Chaffetz, Jane Harman, Josh Holmes and Juan Williams

— CNN’s “Inside Politics”: Jeff Zeleny, Lisa Lerer, Seung Min Kim and Michael Bender (guest host: Phil Mattingly)

— Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) … Jimmy Lai … Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas)

— Fox News’ “MediaBuzz”: Mollie Hemingway… Susan Ferrechio … Jessica Tarlov … Mara Liasson … Carley Shimkus

— CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”: Ernest Moniz … David Miliband … Thomas Friedman … Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju

— CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: Jane Coaston, Samantha Vinograd and Robby Soave … Renee DiResta and Oliver Darcy … Katie Rogers … Julie Anderson, Mark Katches and Alex Harris

— Univision’s “Al Punto”: Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) … Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) … Conchita Sarnoff … Carlos Loret De Mola … Emmanuel (guest host: Felix De Bedout)

— C-SPAN: “The Communicators”: Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), questioned by Craig Timberg … “Newsmakers”: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, questioned by Christian Davenport and Jeff Foust … “Q&A”: Corey Pegues (“Once a Cop: The Street, the Law, Two Worlds, One Man”)

— MSNBC’s “Kasie DC”: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) … Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) … Amy McGrath … Scott Taylor … Matt Gorman … Ashley Parker … Yamiche Alcindor … John Harwood … Ken Dilanian … Leigh Ann Caldwell

— Washington Times’ “Mack on Politics” weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify or Stitcher or listen at MackOnPoliticsPodcast.com): Joe Trippi.

• Anna Palmer @apalmerdc
• Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
• Daniel Lippman @dlippman

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