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August 20, 2021
Presented by Wells Fargo
At Wells Fargo, we cover more rural markets than many large banks, and nearly 30% of our branches are in low- or moderate-income census tracts. What we say, we do. See how.
 PRESENTED BY BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN  THE TOP Good Friday morning. In addition to the “Downs” we’ve already picked, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) also deserves to be down. He released a statement that seemed to side with the person who allegedly threatened to blow up the Capitol on Thursday. PRESENTED BY FACEBOOK Internet regulations are as outdated as dial-up. The internet has changed a lot in the last 25 years. That’s why Facebook supports updated internet regulations to address today’s toughest challenges, including: – Combating foreign election interference THE OTHER END OF PENNSYLVANIA What is the White House thinking on Afghanistan?  To put it mildly, the White House seems a bit frustrated over the public reaction to the crisis in Afghanistan. As you all know, President Joe Biden said on ABC Thursday that there was no way to get out of Afghanistan without some chaos. We don’t entirely remember that being a talking point when Biden was selling a withdrawal from Afghanistan, but hey, that was July. The White House announced that Biden will deliver remarks at 1 p.m. “on the evacuation of American citizens and their families, SIV applicants and their families, and vulnerable Afghans.” It’s unclear whether Biden will take questions from the press corps, something he’s avoided since the crisis started, beyond that single ABC interview. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is scheduled to leave on a Southeast Asia trip late tonight, will attend the event in the East Room as well. We did some reporting yesterday with our White House sources, and here’s how they see the situation from a political standpoint: → White House officials believe they have most Americans out of Afghanistan already. There were 11,000 Americans registered with the U.S. embassy in Kabul before the Ghani government collapsed. But the administration believes that some may have left the country before the Taliban takeover without telling the embassy. Furthermore, other American passport holders may stay; indeed, some Americans were there the last time the Taliban controlled the country from 1996 to 2001. The Biden administration believes that the vast majority of the remaining evacuees will be Afghans. → The White House said this early Friday morning, via the pool: “On August 19, the U.S. evacuated approximately 3,000 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport on 16 C-17 flights. Nearly 350 U.S. citizens were evacuated. Additional evacuees include family members of U.S. citizens, SIV applicants and their families, and vulnerable Afghans. We have evacuated approximately 9,000 people since August 14. Since the end of July, we have evacuated approximately 14,000 people. Additionally, in the last 24 hours, the U.S. military facilitated the departure of 11 charter flights. The passengers on those charter flights are not included in the totals above.” → Senior aides believe the political attacks will shift from “the Biden administration isn’t getting enough Afghans out” to “Biden let too many Afghans in.” → One angle that’s not getting enough attention is the fear among administration officials that the Taliban could launch a large-scale attack against the thousands of Afghans waiting to get into the airport. Taliban roadblocks and security checkpoints are already hindering some who are trying to leave, according to media reports from inside the airport. → The White House doesn’t seem particularly hot on the idea of launching a military operation to retake Bagram air base. It’s more than an hour drive from Kabul, and they believe it would serve little purpose in aiding the evacuation. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT x CONGRESS Pentagon seeks to reprogram $400M to cover costs for Afghan refugees The evacuation of thousands of Americans and Afghan refugees from the Kabul airport — and the military operation to protect the evacuation — is going to be very costly, probably running into billions of dollars by the time it’s done. The Defense Department formally submitted a request to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees Thursday to “reprogram” $400 million to pay for the transport and housing of Afghan refugees. This comes on top of the $1.1 billion-plus already approved by Congress in the recent Capitol security spending package for the “Special Immigrant Visa” program. And there were additional “reprogramming actions” inside DOD prior to this latest request, Hill sources told us. “The Committee has received and is in the process of reviewing the reprogramming request from the Department,” said Monica Matoush, Democratic spokesperson for the House Armed Services Committee, in a statement Thursday night. Matoush added: “Chairman [Adam] Smith has been following the developments in Afghanistan very closely and continues to believe that our current focus must be the rapid evacuation of U.S. personnel, Afghan nationals that have supported the military, as well as their families, and other Afghan nationals that may be in danger due to their work on humanitarian or human rights issues. The Committee will keep this priority in mind as the reprogramming request is evaluated." The Pentagon may reprogram or transfer funds from one appropriation account to another in order to deal with unforeseen or emergency situations, although certain transfers require congressional approval. Congress is required to be alerted of the transfers. It’s also worth noting this funding only covers up until Sept. 30, which is the end of the fiscal year. Congress will have to pass legislation to keep federal agencies open beyond that date, although that could get caught up in a bitter partisan fight over raising the debt limit. → Also: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley will hold a classified briefing for all members of the House Tuesday morning at 10:30 on Capitol Hill. PRESENTED BY FACEBOOK  BREAKTHROUGH NATION Three vaccinated senators test positive for Covid For perhaps the first time in his life, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is a trendsetter. Weeks after the South Carolina Republican announced the Senate’s first breakthrough Covid case, Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Angus King (I-Maine) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) all announced they had tested positive for the virus on Thursday. There have also been multiple Covid cases among Senate staffers, some of whom were involved in the bipartisan infrastructure negotiations, according to multiple sources. But their offices have been reluctant to discuss the situation publicly. All four senators were fully vaccinated. Senators began receiving the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in mid-December, roughly eight months ago. This week, the Biden administration announced that it would begin offering booster shots in September to Americans who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. King released a statement saying that he was tested Thursday morning after he “began feeling mildly feverish” and came back positive. “While I am not feeling great, I’m definitely feeling much better than I would have without the vaccine,” King said. “I am taking this diagnosis very seriously, quarantining myself at home and telling the few people I’ve been in contact with to get tested in order to limit any further spread.” King’s statement came just hours after Wicker disclosed he’d tested positive as well. "Senator Wicker tested positive this morning for the COVID-19 virus after immediately seeking a test due to mild symptoms,” the Mississippi Republican’s office said in a statement. "Senator Wicker is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, is in good health, and is being treated by his Tupelo-based physician. He is isolating, and everyone with whom Senator Wicker has come in close contact recently has been notified." Wicker, in turn, was followed by Hickenlooper, who announced he tested positive after experiencing mild symptoms. “I’m feeling much better and will continue to isolate at the direction of the Congressional Attending Physician,” he said in a statement Thursday. The Senate is not in session this week. The chamber is scheduled to return on Sept. 13. The increase in breakthrough cases mirrors data from Israel, where the heavily vaccinated population is experiencing an uptick in cases. Studies have shown the vaccines wane in efficacy over time. MOMENTS 10 a.m.: President Joe Biden will get his intelligence briefing. 10:45 a.m.: Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with “their national security team to hear intelligence, security, and diplomatic updates on the evolving situation in Afghanistan.” 1 p.m.: Biden will speak about the “evacuation of American citizens and their families, SIV applicants and their families, and vulnerable Afghans.” 2:05 p.m.: Biden will leave Fort McNair for Wilmington, where he’ll arrive at 3 p.m. 9:15 p.m.: Harris will leave D.C. for Singapore. PRESENTED BY FACEBOOK  CLIP FILE NYT → “Sluggish Visa Process Strands Thousands of Afghans Who Worked for U.S.,” by Lara Jakes, Annie Karni and Ken Vogel → News Analysis: “Trump’s Deal With the Taliban Draws Fire From His Former Allies,” by Michael Crowley: “‘Our secretary of state signed a surrender agreement with the Taliban,’ Mr. Trump’s second national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said of Mr. Pompeo during a podcast interview with the journalist Bari Weiss on Wednesday. ‘This collapse goes back to the capitulation agreement of 2020. The Taliban didn’t defeat us. We defeated ourselves.’ “And in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, former Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said that, while President Biden ‘owns’ the ultimate outcome in Afghanistan, Mr. Trump had earlier ‘undermined’ the agreement through his barely disguised impatience to exit the country with little apparent regard for the consequences. That included an October 2020 declaration by Mr. Trump that he wanted the 5,000 American troops then in Afghanistan home by Christmas.” → “How News Organizations Got Afghan Colleagues Out of Kabul,” by Michael Grynbaum, Tiffany Hsu and Katie Robertson → “Hunted by the Taliban, U.S.-Allied Afghan Forces Are in Hiding,” by Matthew Rosenberg WaPo → “Chaos persists at Kabul airport, imperiling Afghanistan evacuation effort,” by Ezzatullah Mehrdad in Kabul, Dan Lamothe in D.C. and Kareem Fahim in Istanbul → “White House orders for a speedy military withdrawal put pressure on beleaguered Afghans as the Taliban surged,” by Greg Jaffe and Dan Lamothe → “U.S. officials reviewing possibility Moderna vaccine is linked to higher risk of uncommon side effect than previously thought,” by Tyler Pager and Laurie McGinley → “Boebert pushed to loosen drilling rules. She failed to disclose her husband’s income from energy consulting,” by Isaac Stanley-Becker WSJ → “Internal State Department Cable Warned of Kabul Collapse,” by Vivian Salama → “Putin Rejected Role for U.S. Forces Near Afghanistan at Summit With Biden,” by Michael Gordon AP → “Harris’ Asia trip carries new urgency after Afghan collapse,” by Alexandra Jaffe Politico → “‘It all comes down to strong-arming’: How Apple takes on state legislatures,” by Emily Birnbaum PRESENTED BY FACEBOOK Why Facebook supports reforming Section 230 The internet has changed a lot in the last 25 years—the last time comprehensive internet regulations were passed. There are more ways to share than ever before—and more challenges, too. That’s why we support updating internet regulations—including reforming Section 230, to set standards for the way larger tech companies enforce rules about content. Learn more about the steps we’ve taken and why we support updated internet regulations next.  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At Wells Fargo, we cover more rural markets than many large banks, and nearly 30% of our branches are in low- or moderate-income census tracts. What we say, we do. See how.