Subject: FW: Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Thursday, September 13, 2018
From: "Kathy Chung" <[email-masked]>
To: "Ashley Blazer Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Jill Tracy Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Jimmy Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Valerie Biden Owens" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2018 09:59:09 -0400

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing

*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <[email-masked]>
*Sent:* Thursday, September 13, 2018 7:56 AM
*To:* [email-masked]
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, September 13, 2018

*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=000-d77&t=c>
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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=001-729&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, September 13, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• New Audiobook To Feature Biden Conversations On “American Promise” Tour.
<#S1>

• NPR: Biden IGTV Series “Latest Sign” He, Other Democrats Eyeing 2020 Race.
<#S2>

• Biden Drops From 1st To 3rd In CNN’s Rankings Of Potential 2020 Democrats.
<#S3>

• NBC: Potential 2020 Democratic Hopefuls Wooing African-Americans. <#S4>

• Biden Campaigns In Michigan For Gubernatorial Hopeful Whitmer. <#S5>

• Biden Backs Scanlon In PA5 Open-Seat Race. <#S6>

• Sneed: Biden Left $100 Tip At Chicago Restaurant. <#S7>

• Jill Biden Discusses Education Issues During Event At Loyola University.
<#S8>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump Hails Maria Response, Chides “Totally Incompetent” San Juan Mayor.
<#S9>

• FEMA Denies Using Disaster Relief Funds For Immigration Enforcement.
<#S10>

• Florence Downgraded To Category 2 But Still Poses Major Threat. <#S11>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Signs Order Authorizing Sanctions Against Foreign Meddling In
Elections. <#S12>

• Haley: Iran’s “Really Going To Start To Feel It” After Next Round Of
Sanctions. <#S13>

• White House Warns Iran Over Militia Groups’ Attacks In Iraq. <#S14>

• Pompeo Certifies Saudis, UAE Working To Avoid Civilian Harm In Yemen.
<#S15>

• WPost: 9/11 Anniversary Draws Attention To Length Of US Involvement In
Afghanistan. <#S16>

• Haley Defends Actions Against Palestinians, Hopes They’ll Return To
Negotiations. <#S17>

• Despite US Threat To Nix F-35 Sale, Turkey To Buy Russian Air Defense
System. <#S18>

• Putin Urges Duo Charged With UK Poisoning To Explain Themselves. <#S19>

• Mnuchin Invites Chinese Officials To Further Trade Talks In DC. <#S20>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• NYTimes: Response To Wall Street Collapse Was “Despised” But “Mostly
Correct.” <#S21>

• CBS Fires “60 Minutes” Executive Producer Amid Sexual Harassment Charges.
<#S22>

• Uninsured Rate Stayed At 8.8% In Trump’s First Year In Office. <#S23>

• Number Of Migrant Children In Detention At Record High. <#S24>

• GOP Senators Condemn Harassment Of Collins Over Kavanaugh. <#S25>

• USDA Announces Plans To Streamline Oil, Gas, Mineral Extraction
Regulations. <#S26>

• Rogers Says He Never Discussed Collusion With Trump Or White House
Officials. <#S27>

• Rhode Island Gov. Raimondo, Fung Win Their Respective Primaries. <#S28>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Report Calls For Congress To Increase Government Funding For Cancer
Research. <#S29>

• Medical Societies Urge CMS To Reconsider Medicare Advantage Step-Therapy
Policy. <#S30>

• Community-Based Cancer Clinics Combine To Form OneOncology Startup. <#S31>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S32>

• Washington Post. <#S33>
Biden in the News
New Audiobook To Feature Biden Conversations On “American Promise” Tour.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=002-1e8&t=c>
(9/12) reports, “An upcoming audiobook will feature former Vice President
Joe Biden talking about his late son Beau with such interviewers as Stephen
Colbert, Constance Wu and Aaron Sorkin. ‘Conversations With Joe’ will be
released Oct. 16 by Audible, the publisher and distributor owned by
Amazon.com. The recordings are taken from Biden’s ‘American Promise’ tour
from last year, when he was promoting his memoir ‘Promise Me, Dad.’ He
centered the book on his reflections on Beau Biden, who died in 2015 of
brain cancer.”
NPR: Biden IGTV Series “Latest Sign” He, Other Democrats Eyeing 2020 Race.

NPR’s Morning Edition
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=003-e2b&t=c>
(9/12, Detrow) reported, “Several Democrats considering 2020 presidential
bids have made some early moves to elevate their national profiles even
before the 2018 midterm elections. Former Vice President Joe Biden launched
a new series on Instagram TV today.” Biden was quoted as saying, “It’s no
secret that our immigration system is broken, and for years, there’s been a
heated debate waged about how to fix it.” NPR added, “And here’s why this
is getting attention. Even though the midterms are less than two months
away, it’s the latest sign that Biden and other possible Democratic
presidential candidates are already thinking about the next big election.”
Biden Drops From 1st To 3rd In CNN’s Rankings Of Potential 2020 Democrats.

Writing on the website of CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=004-846&t=c>
(9/13), political analysts Chris Cillizza and Harry Enten offer their
“monthly rankings of the 10 people most likely to wind up as the Democratic
nominee for president against Donald Trump in 2020.” Cillizza and Enten say
that former Vice President Joe Biden “has been knocked out of the top spot.
While Biden still leads in most hypothetical polling of the Democratic
field,” he “looks like a very odd fit for what Democratic voters seem to be
drawn to these days. He’s a white guy who was in the Senate for more than
four decades. He’s 75 and will be 77 on Election Day 2020.” Topping the new
list is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), followed by Sen. Kamala Harris
(D-CA), Biden, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), with Sen. Bernie Sanders
(I-VT) rounding out the top five.
NBC: Potential 2020 Democratic Hopefuls Wooing African-Americans.

On its website, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=005-e5c&t=c>
(9/13, Memoli) reports that when Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) visited “New
Orleans for a major gathering of liberal activists last month, she also
made sure to spend time at the city’s historically black college. One of
former Vice President Joe Biden’s few major fundraisers of the 2018 cycle”
benefits “a political action committee focused on black voter turnout.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), meanwhile, “has spent more time traveling through
the most impoverished areas of the Deep South than in Iowa or New
Hampshire.” Eyeing possible White House bids, adds NBC News, “some of the
party’s biggest names are waging an invisible primary battle for the
constituency that may prove decisive in the what will likely be a crowded
and prolonged 2020 nominating race – African Americans.”
Biden Campaigns In Michigan For Gubernatorial Hopeful Whitmer.

The Detroit News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=006-fa8&t=c>
(9/12, Fleming) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday
campaigned in Michigan for ex-state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) – who is
battling state Attorney General Bill Schuette (R-MI) in this fall’s race to
succeed term-limited Gov. Rick Snyder (R-MI) – “calling her a person of
character in one of the most important races in the country.” The News
says, “With his trademark smile, Biden greeted nearly every friendly face
at Leo’s Coney Island in Southfield, mugging for selfies and hugs, and
eager for conversation as he attracted rock star attention.” In a
broadcast, WWMT-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=007-9e9&t=c>
Grand Rapids (MI)'s News at 11PM (9/12) reported that Biden “says that
Whitmer has a key characteristic that people are looking for in this
election.” Biden was shown saying, “This election, more than any one I’ve
ever been engaged in – for Republicans and Democrats – are looking for
people of character, character – who understand that invisible moral fabric
that holds up this country: Decency, honor, honesty, telling the truth,
giving hate no safe harbor. The American people want to reestablish who we
are as a people.”

        Airing similar broadcasts stories were WEYI-TV[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=008-939&t=c>
Flint, MI (9/12), WMYD-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=009-131&t=c>
Detroit (9/12), and WJBK-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=00a-6bd&t=c>
Detroit (9/12).
Biden Backs Scanlon In PA5 Open-Seat Race.

The Radnor (PA) Patch
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=00b-24f&t=c>
(9/12, Bennett) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday
endorsed Mary Gay Scanlon’s (D-PA) bid in the redrawn PA5, where she is
battling Pearl Kim (R-PA) in the open-seat contest. In response to Biden’s
endorsement, Scanlon said in a statement, “Vice President Biden has shown
us throughout his career the type of leadership that represents the very
best of who we are as Americans: compassion, civility and courage. Progress
is only possible when we work together and I am honored to have received
his endorsement.”
Sneed: Biden Left $100 Tip At Chicago Restaurant.

Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=00c-2c1&t=c>
(9/13), Michael Sneed says that former Vice President Joe Biden, “Barack
Obama’s BFF, and wife, Jill, tiptoed from the swank Peninsula Hotel to dine
at Alex Dana’s nearby Rosebud on Rush for a late dinner Tuesday night. ...
Dana insisted on picking up the tab. ‘No!’ said Biden, who finally assented
– but insisted on leaving a tip. Biden, who carried no cash, also persisted
on being taken to a nearby ATM! That said, Biden was personally escorted to
the nearest cash machine and left a hefty tip. ... Sneed found out later
the tip was $100 smackers.”
Jill Biden Discusses Education Issues During Event At Loyola University.

The Loyola University (IL) Phoenix
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=00d-3c8&t=c>
(9/12, Norkol) reports that Dr. Jill Biden “had students and staff laughing
with her by the end of her appearance at [Loyola University’s] annual
Founders’ Dinner event Wednesday in Kasbeer Hall.” The event “aims to raise
scholarship funds for Loyola students, according to Dean of Students Will
Rodriguez, who introduced Biden.” During her appearance, Biden, “a
community college English professor with a doctorate in education,
emphasized the importance of higher education no matter the institution;
she touched on removing the stigma behind attending community colleges
before gaining a four-year degree.”
Leading the News
Trump Hails Maria Response, Chides “Totally Incompetent” San Juan Mayor.

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=00e-95f&t=c>
yesterday, “We got A Pluses for our recent hurricane work in Texas and
Florida (and did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico, even though an
inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent
Mayor of San Juan). We are ready for the big one that is coming!” Trump
went on to issue a number of warnings about Florence, tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=00f-083&t=c>,
“Hurricane Florence is looking even bigger than anticipated. It will be
arriving soon. FEMA, First Responders and Law Enforcement are supplied and
ready. Be safe!” He later added
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=010-8fa&t=c>,
“Hurricane Florence may now be dipping a bit south and hitting a portion of
the Great State of Georgia. Be ready, be prepared! ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=011-6a9&t=c>
It is imperative that everyone follow local evacuation orders. This storm
is extremely dangerous. Be SAFE!” Additionally, Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=012-612&t=c>
this morning, “We are completely ready for hurricane Florence, as the storm
gets even larger and more powerful. Be careful!”

        The media coverage focused on Trump’s comment about Hurricane
Maria, taking a decidedly skeptical view of his assessment. ABC World News
Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=013-649&t=c>
(9/12, story 6, 1:50, Vega) said, for example, that Trump “continues to
give himself rave reviews for his handling of Puerto Rico’s devastating
Hurricane Maria. ... The reality? Maria was the deadliest hurricane in
modern American history, killing nearly 3,000 people.” San Juan Mayor
Carmen Yulin Cruz was shown saying, “Oops, he did it again. Here he goes
again. He doesn’t understand that this isn’t about him. And about his ego.” NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=014-4de&t=c>
(9/12, story 8, 0:50, Welker) also reported “the mayor of San Juan lashed
out, calling” Trump’s “remarks despicable.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=015-049&t=c>
(9/12, Wagner) reports “Trump leveled a fresh attack Wednesday
against...Yulín Cruz,” and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=016-4d9&t=c>
(9/12, Cummings) that she told MSNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=017-51f&t=c>
(9/12, 10:26 a.m. EDT), “He doesn’t understand that this isn’t about him
and about his ego. ... This is about the inability of his administration,
that he directs, to ensure that the appropriate help got to Puerto Rico in
time.”

        On CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=018-292&t=c>
(9/12, 9:40 p.m. EDT), Chris Cuomo said, “Trump can say it. He can say it
again. He can demand it. He can wave his fists when he says it. And it is
never true. Calling the recovery and response to Puerto Rican unsung
success is only half right. It is unsung because it is not a success.
Millions are now in the path of Florence” and “are looking to their
President for reassurance that he has everything in order. And when they
hear what’s going on with Puerto Rico, it’s hard to have his credibility be
not held in check.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=019-985&t=c>
(9/12, Dawsey) reports on what it sees as “a frequent tactic of the
president – elevate a widely perceived failure or mistake and defend it as
a great triumph while attacking his critics.” Sam Nunberg, “a former aide
describing Trump’s mind-set,” tells the Post, “You just never give an inch
or admit any mistake in public.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=01a-ab8&t=c>
(9/12, Cadelago, Restuccia) also says that “from the moment Trump ascended
to the nation’s highest office, the former reality TV boardroom brawler has
made a habit of rewriting history, challenging the public to ignore what
people plainly see with their own eyes – often on television, where Trump
is watching it, too.” Former Trump Organization executive Barbara Res tells
Politico, “If he doesn’t like the reality, he changes it. ... He’s able to
take a reality and modify it and convince himself of that modified
reality.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=01b-309&t=c>
(9/12, Choi, Goldberg) also reports “Trump has been aggressive this week in
warning Americans in Florence’s path to take the proper precautions,” but
“he has spent almost as much time claiming he hasn’t gotten enough credit
for his response to Hurricane Maria last September, despite the fact that
thousands of Puerto Ricans died in the storm’s aftermath.” While Trump’s
tweet spoke of “A Pluses for our recent hurricane work,” Politico says,
“Puerto Ricans themselves would grade him differently.” Politico adds that
“Puerto Rican officials are also hitting back at Trump, renewing feuds that
escalated last year even as the island was trying to provide shelter, water
and healthcare for millions of people impacted by the storm.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=01c-ee1&t=c>
(9/12, Nixon, Davis, Glanz) describes the Administration’s response to
Hurricane Maria last year as “sluggish and chaotic” and says the
Administration on Wednesday “girded...for a test of its ability to do
better as Hurricane Florence continued to bear down on the Carolina coast.”
The Daily Beast
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=01d-1d9&t=c>
(9/12, Beast) reports, “The president was derided” for his comments about
Maria, and CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=01e-2f2&t=c>
(9/12, Collinson) that he is “stoking new outrage over his refusal to
accept any blame for the relief effort following Puerto Rico’s monster
storm last year.” Trump’s “refusal to ever admit a mistake and to hype his
own perceived achievements struck a jarring note, even as he tried to
project a smoother response to the potentially historic hurricane bearing
down on the Carolinas.”

        NPR
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=01f-1b9&t=c>
(9/12, Keith) said that “for Trump, celebrating success in Puerto Rico in
the face of dire realities on the ground is nothing new,” as “when it comes
to disasters, he often takes on the role of cheerleader, boosting first
responders, marveling at the incredible size of the storms/fires or touting
his own performance rather than the more traditionally presidential somber
offers of sympathy or resolve.” NPR added that “on a visit to the island
last October to survey damage, he bragged about the then-relatively low
death rate, even as hospitals struggled to keep the power on and the FEMA
response was only just ramping up.”

        Yesterday morning, on ABC’s Good Morning America[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=020-472&t=c>
(9/12), George Stephanopoulos said Trump was “facing backlash,” and Cecilia
Vega went on to report that the President’s “eyebrow-raising
comments...reignited a controversy over the White House’s response to the
island disaster.” According to Vega, “Critics blasted the President’s
response from the beginning.” After showing a clip of Trump calling the
federal response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as “an incredible,
unsung success,” Joe Scarborough noted on MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=021-328&t=c>
(9/12) that it has been estimated that 3000 Americans died as a result of
that storm, and “electricity and clean water was so hard to find for so
long.” Scarborough added, “There’s a United States senator that is saying
to the good people of South Carolina and North Carolina right now that if
that is the President of the United States’ idea of how you respond to a
hurricane, get in your cars and leave. [Sen.] Chris Murphy says, ‘I mean
this seriously, not as a political dig, if you’re...considering riding it
out, your president just said that a hurricane response where 3,000 died is
his measure of success. Get out of there.’”

        The New York Daily News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=022-de4&t=c>
(9/12, Slattery) highlights “Trump’s remarks on Tuesday – in which he
called the government’s response to Maria ‘an incredible, unsung success,’”
and says they brought “a rebuke from Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, who
has refrained from criticizing Trump directly.” Rosselló said in a
statement, “The historical relationship between Puerto Rico and Washington
is unfair and un-American. ... It is certainly not a successful
relationship.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=023-076&t=c>
(9/12, Axelrod) notes Cruz on Tuesday “sent out several tweets criticizing”
Trump, saying, “Trump simply does not get it. Thus his neglect towards
Puerto Rico cost about 3,000 lives. Unfortunately, it seems he will never
get it.” Cruz also wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=024-8f4&t=c>,
“Success? Federal response according to Trump in Puerto Rico a success? If
he thinks the death of 3,000 people [is] a success God help us all.”

        The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=025-341&t=c>
(9/12, Bonn), meanwhile, quotes “Democratic strategist Estuardo Rodriguez”
as saying “the federal response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico shows
‘irresponsibility across the board.’” Said Rodriguez, “In Puerto Rico, they
were cut off three months ago until a court stepped in to let them and
force [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] to continue the
FEMA-subsidized housing program.” Along those lines, Rolling Stone
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=026-0ea&t=c>
(9/12, Goodell) reports that “Puerto Rico has not recovered. In fact, it’s
arguably as close to collapse as it has ever been.” While “the power is on
and the roads are open...if you look closely, the entire island is held
together with duct tape and baling wire.”

        On CNN’s The Lead
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=027-cf4&t=c>
(9/12, 4:44 p.m. EDT), Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) was asked to respond to
Trump’s comments on the Administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in
Puerto Rico. Sasse said, “I didn’t see him make those comments. But
obviously, Congress needs to do a better job of doing oversight of FEMA
across time to see how we respond to these kinds of disasters. And
obviously our thoughts are with a lot of the hard working folks in FEMA and
in governors’ offices across the coastal states that are worried right now.
But I don’t think Puerto Rico was some great success. I think we need to do
more oversight to look at how FEMA can get better over time and hopefully
perform this weekend.”

        Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=028-a26&t=c>
(9/12) that “Trump’s response to the tragedy in Puerto Rico has been to
congratulate himself for his amazingly fantastic relief efforts,” while
“the Republican majority in Congress has assisted Trump’s fiction by
suppressing an investigation. ... If it is true that those who don’t learn
from history are doomed to repeat it, we are up a creek in a flash flood.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=029-523&t=c>
(9/12) editorializes that “among the most troubling of the many untruths
advanced by President Trump is his repeated insistence that the federal
government did a good...job responding to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.”
His “comments about Puerto Rico – and his silence when the Puerto Rican
government raised its official death toll from 64 to 2,975 – show a clear
double standard that is not lost on Puerto Ricans.”

        *FEMA’s Long: Puerto Rico Must Be Better Prepared For Future
Storms. *Appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=02a-904&t=c>
(9/12), FEMA Director Long was asked about Trump’s recent comments on the
federal response to Maria. Long said, “The effort into Puerto Rico was a
huge effort by the federal government. The problem is that FEMA was the
only responder going in and we were the first responder – and that’s not
the way that disaster response and recovery works. What you’re seeing set
up now for Florence is that you have strong state government capabilities,
you have strong local capabilities and emergency response. And recovery is
a team sport. It’s a whole community effort.” Long added, “So the other
thing is that we need to shift the narrative about Puerto Rico to, ‘what
are we going to do with the $50 billion that FEMA will provide Puerto Rico
over the next couple of years? And billions more from other federal
government agencies? Puerto Rico has never had a better opportunity than
now to become more resilient and economically viable. ... We faced a
crumbling infrastructure – it was rotten and decayed – and FEMA can’t help
that.” Long also appeared on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=02b-06e&t=c>
(9/12) to discuss the ongoing preparations for Hurricane Florence.

        *New Photos Show Millions Of Water Bottles Meant For Maria Victims
Left On Tarmac. *CBS News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=02c-8bc&t=c>
(9/12, News) reported on its website that “the federal government’s
response to Hurricane Maria is under fresh scrutiny over photos showing
what appear to be millions of water bottles meant for victims still sitting
on a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, more than one year after the storm.” The
Puerto Rican government “has placed much of the blame for mismanagement of
resources on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).” A “senior
FEMA official” told CBS News’ David Begnaud that “if [FEMA] put that water
on that runway there will be hell to pay. ... If we did that, we’re going
to fess up to it.” CBS added, “The photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who
works with the United Forces of Rapid Action agency of the Puerto Rican
Police.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=02d-729&t=c>
(9/12, Lapin) says, “It is unclear where the breakdown that caused the
bottles to never be distributed was caused,” and notes that “celebrity chef
José Andrés, who brought a crew of volunteers to help feed victims of Maria
in the wake of the storm, called for an ‘official independent
investigation’ into what happened to the stash of drinking water.”

        CNN’s Situation Room
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=02e-09c&t=c>
(9/12, 5:42 p.m. EDT, Weir) reported, “There were two statements put out,
one by FEMA saying, ‘Look, it’s just our job to get the resources to the
island, to the state, and it’s up to the locals to distribute it.’ The
Puerto Rican government put out a statement that said basically, ‘They sent
us too much, too late. That we have an extra 20,000 pallets of water. That
we will be returning.’ That’s not the case. I mean, we know people who have
– we saw – met a woman yesterday who every day has to go down into town and
carry up this cistern in the back of her truck to field her animals,
herself and her baby. So there is still plenty of need. But that disconnect
is still so vivid a year after.” Newsweek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=02f-ee1&t=c>
(9/12, Moritz-Rabson) recalls that “last month, The New York Times reported
that the National Guard failed to distribute 10 trailers of food, water and
other supplies donated after the hurricane.”

        *Poll Finds Puerto Ricans Blame Both Trump, Their Governor For
Response To Maria. *Under the headline, “Residents See A Failure At All
Levels Of Government,” the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=030-004&t=c>
(9/12, Clement, Zezima, Guskin) reports that in a new Washington
Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll, “Puerto Ricans sharply rebuke President
Trump, along with the federal and local governments, for last year’s
response to Hurricane Maria, a devastating storm that created an enduring
humanitarian crisis.” According to the Post, “Eighty percent of Puerto
Ricans rate Trump’s response to Maria negatively, an assessment that
contradicts the president’s claim two weeks ago that ‘most of the people in
Puerto Rico appreciate what we’ve done.’” Meanwhile, “more than 7 in 10
residents give negative marks to the Puerto Rican government’s efforts,
while two-thirds criticize the response” of Rosselló.

        On CNN’s New Day
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=031-ca6&t=c>
(9/12), meanwhile, Alysin Camerota reported that the federal response to
Hurricane Maria is considered an “abject failure” by Puerto Ricans, who
“felt the federal government was not in place, was not prepared, did not
help them, did not provide all the medication, food, electricity and all
the things they needed,” which “allowed 3,000 people to die there.”
FEMA Denies Using Disaster Relief Funds For Immigration Enforcement.

On ABC’s Good Morning America
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=032-f91&t=c>
(9/12), George Stephanopoulos said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) was “releasing
documents showing $10 million was recently transferred from FEMA to
immigration control.” Cecilia Vega reported that Merkley claims the money
“was diverted from FEMA to ICE to be used towards this zero tolerance
policy separating migrant children from their parents.” Merkley
appeared on CNN’s
New Day
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=033-b1b&t=c>
(9/12) to elaborate on his allegations. Likewise, on CBS This Morning[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=034-7f2&t=c>
(9/12), John Dickerson reported that “the Trump Administration took money
away from FEMA and other federal agencies, apparently to pay for
immigration detention centers.” Jeff Pegues went on to report that “there
have been questions about whether FEMA’s resources are stretched thin as it
responds to hurricanes and that’s why that nearly $10 million is getting a
lot of attention this morning.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=035-4ba&t=c>
(9/12, Long) says the Administration has “pushed back” against Merkley’s
claim which DHS “quickly branded” as “a sorry attempt to push a false
agenda.’” DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton is quoted as saying, “Under no
circumstances was any disaster relief funding transferred from FEMA to
immigration enforcement efforts. This is a sorry attempt to push a false
agenda at a time when the administration is focused on assisting millions
on the East Coast facing a catastrophic disaster.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=036-491&t=c>
(9/12, Nixon) reports that DHS “said funds taken from FEMA’s accounts
amounted to less than one percent of the agency’s operational accounts and
was taken from money to pay for employee travel expenses, training, basic
purchase cards and office supplies, among other things. FEMA’s funding for
disaster response is in a separate, $25 billion account, the agency said.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=037-d2e&t=c>
(9/12, King, Hayes) reports Jeff Byard, FEMA’s associate administrator for
response and recovery, “said the agency is well positioned to respond to
Hurricane Florence.” Byard told reporters Wednesday, “We have plenty of
resources to respond. We have plenty of resources to recover. ... That has
not impacted our situation whatsoever.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=038-24f&t=c>
(9/12, Miller, Dinan) reports that as Byard “attempted Wednesday to warn
people in the path of Hurricane Florence,” he “had to shoot down reporters’
questions about” Merkley’s claim. Byard “said the important issue was that
the hurricane would be a ‘Mike Tyson punch to the Carolina coast’ and
people had to heed evacuation orders,” but reporters were more focused on
Merkley’s allegation.

        The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=039-cc7&t=c>
(9/12, Giaritelli) reports FEMA spokeswoman Jenny Burke “slammed” Merkley
Wednesday, writing in a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=03a-b98&t=c>,
“After calling @SenJeffMerkley staff to inform them of the facts
surrounding @FEMA budget we were told ‘It’s a TV hit, you take it where you
can’ – regardless of the facts?”

        The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=03b-ebf&t=c>
(9/12, Athey) reports that during an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell
Reports
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=03c-3a4&t=c>
(9/12) Wednesday, FEMA Administrator Long “knocked down multiple misleading
or false media narratives.” Among them, Mitchell “referenced Sen. Jeff
Merkley’s claim that FEMA re-appropriated money from hurricane response to
ICE detentions.” Long said, “Right now, that money has nothing to do with
what you see behind me. ... It does not pay for this response, it is not
coming out of the disaster relief fund, it has no impact on our efforts to
be prepared in Florence. ... Unfortunately, we have a congressman that is
playing politics on the back of Florence. There’s no story there.”
Florence Downgraded To Category 2 But Still Poses Major Threat.

Hurricane Florence receives extensive coverage including the lead on all
three network news broadcasts Wednesday night and heavy print reporting
this morning. Much of the reporting focuses on landfall projections as well
as preparations and efforts to evacuate communities likely to be impacted.

        Jeff Zeleny said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=03d-c9f&t=c>
(9/12, 8:18 p.m. EDT) that “the President is paying very close attention to
the very specifics of what’s going on on the ground. Handling this almost
like he’s a governor or a mayor, talking to senators, talking to other
local officials. But at the same time, he’s also still kind of caught in
that moment of Puerto Rico, caught in that moment of Hurricane Maria,
saying again, you know, that there were no lessons to be learned. That
everything was done successfully. But he didn’t mention it tonight when he
spoke in the East Room of the White House. He was talking again about
urging local officials and, you know, actual citizens, many, of course, his
supporters, to follow the instructions of their local and state officials
and get out of that storm zone. Then at the same time, though, he said,
we’re already getting a lot of accolades about this.”

        In his opening monologue on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=03e-b06&t=c>
(9/12, 9:00 p.m. EDT), Sean Hannity said, “Trump Derangement Syndrome, out
of control. If your dog bites, if the bee stings, the baby cries and you’re
feeling sad, it’s all President Trump’s fault. If he literally cures cancer
they will never give him credit in the media. Now according to the
editorial board of [the Washington Post], Hurricane Florence is also
President Trump’s fault.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=03f-760&t=c>
(9/12, Samenow) says Florence “will be, in all likelihood, the most intense
storm to strike the region in at least 25 years, since Hugo.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=040-e3e&t=c>
(9/12, Stanglin, Bacon) reports that the storm “was downgraded to Category
2 late Wednesday night but remained a clear danger to the East Coast with
‘life-threatening’ storm surge and rainfall in the forecast. As expected,
Florence has slowed on its approach to North Carolina and South Carolina,
where it’s expected to make landfall late Thursday or early Friday,
bombarding communities with torrential rain, high winds and deadly storm
surge until Saturday.”

        NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=041-503&t=c>
(9/12, lead story, 1:00, Holt) reported in its lead story that by early
Thursday, “the first tropical storm forced winds will begin kicking up” on
the North Carolina Coast ahead of the Hurricane. NBC added that there is
growing “anxiety and uncertainty...as what is being called the storm of a
lifetime for this region changes directions and speed essentially widening
the number of places threatened with a direct hit.” ABC World News
Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=042-ddb&t=c>
(9/12, lead story, 4:25, Muir) reported in its lead story that the storm
track has shifted to the south slightly, “meaning communities in South
Carolina are now preparing for a possible direct hit, as well. And Georgia
now in the threat zone, this stretches all the way north up to Maryland.
And here is the other major concern. They expect Florence to slow down and
grow wider and sit here right off the coast.” The CBS Evening News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=043-f97&t=c>
(9/12, lead story, 2:35, Glor) reported, “Florence is bearing down with
such strength, forecasters say she may literally reshape the Carolina
coastline.”

        NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=044-5e2&t=c>
(9/12, story 4, 1:50, Holt) reported that “the greatest threat to life from
a hurricane is the storm surge.” NBC (Sanders) added that “the storm surge
combined with high tide may cause the ocean to swell as high as 13 feet,
over running beaches and potentially traveling miles inland.” In a separate
story, the CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=045-8e9&t=c>
(9/12, story 4, 1:50, Glor) reported that the threat “extends far inland.”
Fayetteville, North Carolina “is two hours from the ocean, but it is still
expecting as much as 20 inches of rain.” The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=046-78e&t=c>
(9/12, Jarvie) reports, “From President Trump on down, officials used
drastic language to describe the storm’s power.” At a news conference
Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) “implored coastal residents to flee while
they still could.” Cooper said, “The time to prepare is almost over. ...
Disaster is at the doorstep.” Similarly, Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) warned,
“The thing to do is get away from the storm – you gotta get away from
what’s coming. ... At some point, the rescuers will not be able to rescue
you.”

        Miguel Almaguer said on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=047-5b9&t=c>
(9/12, story 2, 2:10, Holt) that officials are warning people to evacuate
now “while you can still make it out. Come Friday, this entire beach front
could be under several feet of water and so could communities up and down
the Atlantic.” Almaguer added, “With nearly two million heeding evacuation
orders, streams of cars are pouring inland while a flood of first
responders are making their way towards danger. Two nuclear power plants
prepared to shutter if hurricane forced winds blast in.” Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=048-5be&t=c>
(9/12, Harder) says that although “the probability is very low, the risk of
a storm-fueled accident at a nuclear plant could be devastating and
threaten the health of tens of thousands of people living nearby.”

        ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=049-91d&t=c>
(9/12, story 2, 2:05, Osunsami) reported, “Fire trucks with loudspeakers
are rolling through neighborhoods near Charleston that they worry could be
flooded for days. We heard a story over and over again today. Families like
the Lees who had decided to stay are suddenly leaving town.” ABC added,
“Duke Energy says three million customers could be out of power for weeks.”
Gio Benitez reported on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=04a-c22&t=c>
(9/12, story 5, 1:35, Muir) that North Carolina’s Outer Banks are “a ghost
town. ... Tens of thousands who were here just days ago, leaving as
Florence bears down.” However, in another story on NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=04b-fb9&t=c>
(9/12, story 5, 1:50, Holt), Lester Holt spoke with a North Carolina family
who are choosing not to evacuate, citing financial reasons.

        *USMC General Defends Decision Not To Evacuate Camp Lejeune.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=04c-743&t=c>
(9/12, Lamothe) reports that Brig. Gen. Julian D. Alford, the officer in
charge of Camp Lejeune, N.C. “has decided not to issue mandatory evacuation
orders as Hurricane Florence bears down, fraying nerves as local officials
in the surrounding area warn citizens to leave or face potentially deadly
consequences.” In statement’s posted on the base’s Facebook page, Alford
argued “that the installation has buildings sturdy enough to weather the
storm, along with ample supplies, equipment and a good indication of where
flooding and storm surge are possible.”

        *Nursing Homes Evacuating Ahead Of Florence. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=04d-46b&t=c>
(9/12, Jervis) reports on preparations by hospitals and nursing homes for
the storm. In North Carolina, “about 10 of the state’s nursing homes
located in coastal and eastern counties...began evacuating as early as
Monday. In South Carolina, nursing home officials took the rare step of
evacuating all 32 nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in the
state’s coastal region.” North Carolina’s “seven trauma hospitals have been
in daily conference calls with state emergency officials since Monday to
make sure disaster plans are in place and supplies staged for the storm,
said Bill Gentry, who heads the executive master’s program at the
Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.” In addition, health officials have “upgraded
their communication system and disaster plans since Hurricane Matthew
battered the state two years ago.”

        Reporting from South Carolina, Gabe Gutierrez said on NBC Nightly
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=04e-c61&t=c>
(9/12, story 3, 1:35, Holt) that ambulances are scrambling to evacuate the
sick and elderly from hospitals and nursing homes. Gutierrez added that
“the Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public health
emergency. South Carolina’s governor says more than 300,000 people have
already evacuated.”

        *Hotels Waiving Fees, Offering Special Rates For Florence. *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=04f-b67&t=c>
(9/12, Trejos) reports that hotels outside Florence’s path are beginning to
fill up with evacuees. Many hotels “are preparing for the storm and waiving
fees for canceling reservations and guests traveling with pets.” In
addition, some are offering special rates.

        *WSJournal A1: Florence Having An Effect Even Before Making
Landfall. *A front-page story in the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=050-8e9&t=c>
(9/12, Ailworth, McWhirter) says that even before Florence makes landfall,
the storm is having an impact, forcing the closure of ports, the
cancellation of flights and rail service, and the closure of many
businesses along the Southeast coast.

        *Florence Headed Toward Vulnerable Republican Districts. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=051-bd5&t=c>
(9/12, Wasson) reports that voters “have a history of punishing lawmakers
who fumble disaster responses.” Hurricane Florence is heading for the
southeast US Coast where “at least a half-dozen Republican-held House
districts [are] in play in November’s midterm elections.” Bloomberg News
adds that in North Carolina, “vulnerable” Republicans Ted Budd, George
Holding and Richard Hudson “represent districts directly in the storm’s
path. The South Carolina coastal district represented by Mark Sanford could
also see wide-spread destruction.” Bloomberg News says that if the storm
turns south, “as the latest projections suggest, look for major effects in
the districts of vulnerable Georgia Republicans Karen Handel and Rob
Woodall.” Bloomberg News adds, “First term coastal Virginian Republican
Scott Taylor is facing a strong challenge from Democrat Elaine Luria and
farther inland Tea Party darling Dave Brat is facing a competitive
challenge from Abigail Spanberger.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=052-305&t=c>
(9/12, Pogrund) reports that Florence’s destruction and the subsequent
recovery “could prove a key factor in the race for North Carolina’s 9th
Congressional District,” which is a Democratic target this year. Robeson
County “was one of the only majority-minority counties in the country to
vote for President Trump in 2016, weeks after it was hit by Hurricane
Matthew. In the storm’s wake, Trump had pledged a donation to storm relief,
though the campaign did not provide details or proof of the gift.” Democrat
Dan McCready is seeking to beat Mark Harris, a former pastor who defeated
the incumbent in the Republican primary in May. Both candidates have
targeted the native American Lumbee people “with direct appeals, giving
them fresh hope for full federal recognition, a move that has been denied
since they first applied in 1888.”

        *EPA Assessing Some, Not All Superfund Sites In Florence’s Path. *
McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=053-23b&t=c>
(9/12, Leavenworth) reports that the EPA “is assessing the vulnerability of
at least nine toxic waste sites in the path of Hurricane Florence.”
However, the review “does not immediately include dozens of other Superfund
sites in the Carolinas that potentially could be flooded by the storm’s
fluctuating path.” The nine sites “were apparently chosen because they sit
close to the coast and could potentially release toxins following a
damaging storm surge. But Florence is also expected to cause flooding deep
inland in South Carolina, Georgia and other states,” which “could extend to
neighborhoods, industrial areas and Superfund sites that have never flooded
before.”

        *Northern Hemisphere Seeing Uptick In Hurricanes, Typhoons.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=054-246&t=c>
(9/12, Cappucci) says the Northern Hemisphere “is facing an onslaught of
hurricanes and typhoons, seemingly overnight.” Florence “has company in the
Atlantic. Helene is a Category 1 west of Cabo Verde, boasting 90 mph winds.
... Isaac is also out there spinning around.” There are “two additional
systems in the Atlantic. A disturbance posted just offshore of the Yucatan
Peninsula is likely to become a tropical depression by the weekend. ... An
additional wave of low pressure several hundred miles southwest of the
Azores may also develop tropical or subtropical characteristics in the next
couple of days, but it remains no immediate threat to any land. If the
other two systems in the Atlantic develop into tropical storms, there could
be five cyclones simultaneously. That’s only ever happened once – between
Sept. 10 and 12, 1971.”

        *Meteorologist Blames Climate Change For Florence’s Strength. *In
an op-ed for the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=055-7d6&t=c>
(9/12), Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist and contributing writer for Grist,
writes that “Hurricane Florence is a storm made worse by climate change.”
Holthaus writes, “A warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor – producing
heavier downpours and providing more energy to hurricanes, boosting their
destructive potential. We already have evidence of these trends from around
the world. This is no longer just a theory.” Holthaus concludes, “We have
entered the heart of climate change’s period of consequences” and it is “a
time for courageous action.”
Foreign Policy
Trump Signs Order Authorizing Sanctions Against Foreign Meddling In
Elections.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=056-9c6&t=c>
(9/12, Riechmann) reports President Trump signed an executive order
yesterday “authorizing sanctions against foreigners who meddle in U.S.
elections, acting amid criticism that he has not taken election security
seriously enough.” National Security Adviser Bolton is quoted as saying,
“We felt it was important to demonstrate the President has taken command of
this issue, that it’s something he cares deeply about – that the integrity
of our elections and our constitutional process are a high priority to
him.” The AP says the order signed by Trump “calls for sanctioning any
individual, company or country that interferes with campaign
infrastructure, such as voter registration databases, voting machines and
equipment used for tabulating or transmitting results. It also authorizes
sanctions for engaging in covert, fraudulent or deceptive activities, such
as distributing disinformation or propaganda, to influence or undermine
confidence in US elections.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=057-fb7&t=c>
(9/12, Shesgreen) calls it “a sweeping executive order” that “comes less
than two months before the 2018 midterm elections, and just weeks after Dan
Coats, Trump’s director of national intelligence, warned of a ‘pervasive
messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States’
before Americans go to the polls in November.” Coats said yesterday, “We
are doing everything we possibly can, first of all to prevent any
interference with our election, and then to do a full assessment after the
election.” CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=058-e96&t=c>
(9/12, Bennett) reports the order “does not mention Russia by name even as
Trump continues to be unnerved by the Justice Department’s probe of 2016
Russian meddling, led by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller.” The New York
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=059-0b6&t=c>
(9/12, Steinbuch) notes Coats “said the order will apply not just to Russia
but to others, including China, North Korea and Iran,” saying, “We have
seen signs of (meddling) not just Russia, but from China…from Iran and even
North Korea. ... We’re taking nothing for granted here.”

        UN Ambassador Haley said on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=05a-e25&t=c>
(9/12) that the executive order is a “great shot across the bow to anyone
who wants to mess with our midterm elections. ... The President is saying
if you do it, you will pay.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=05b-c2b&t=c>
(9/12, Miller) says “the sanctions would be triggered by attacks on
election systems, political parties or distribution of propaganda.”
The Washington
Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=05c-7a7&t=c>
(9/12, Smits) indicates “the intelligence community will have 45 days after
each election to assess whether any foreign actors meddled.” The
intelligence “agencies will then send their findings to the Department of
Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, which will have another 45
days to decide whether the US should impose sanctions on the foreign
entities in question. Following those reports, the Treasury and State
Departments can decide on appropriate and additional sanctions to impose.”

        However, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=05d-22a&t=c>
(9/12, Mason, Holland) says the order “met immediate criticism from both
Republican and Democratic lawmakers as too little, too late.” Sens. Marco
Rubio (R-FL) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) released a joint statement
reading, “Today’s announcement by the administration recognizes the threat,
but does not go far enough to address it.” Senate Intelligence Vice
Chairman Mark Warner added, “While the administration has yet to share the
full text, an executive order that inevitably leaves the President broad
discretion to decide whether to impose tough sanctions against those who
attack our democracy is insufficient.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=05e-94f&t=c>
(9/12, Sonmez) reports the order “appears to be an effort to stave off
bipartisan legislation that would mandate tough federal action.” Along
similar lines, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=05f-d86&t=c>
(9/12, Geller) calls the order “the latest element of the Trump
administration’s concerted effort to appear serious about combating digital
meddling, even as Trump himself continues to muddy the waters about the
nature of Moscow’s involvement in the 2016 campaign.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=060-a1c&t=c>
(9/12, Barnes, Fandos) reports “senators from both parties have been
advocating the passage of punishing new sanctions authorities for weeks,
and the process appeared to be gaining some momentum,” though “it was
unclear on Wednesday whether an executive order signed by President Trump
might have derailed those efforts.” The Times adds “at least one senior
Republican,” Senate Majority Whip Cornyn, “held out the possibility that
the chamber could still advance its own alternative but said it would be
difficult to do so before November’s midterm elections.” Said Cornyn, “It
certainly does not foreclose congressional action. ... But as you know, it
is harder to pass legislation than it is for the President to sign an
executive order.”

        *Clapper, Hayden: US Election System “Better Defended” Under Trump.
*The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=061-1a4&t=c>
(9/12, Blake) reports, “Trump’s administration is better suited than Barack
Obama’s to protect the US election process against foreign interference,
former intelligence officials Michael Hayden and James Clapper said
Tuesday.” Hayden said, “I actually think we are better defended under the
Trump administration than we were under the Obama administration, and it’s
simply because of a natural progression of the institutions of American
government.” Clapper “concurred, albeit while crediting Mr. Obama for
authorizing the release of an unclassified intelligence community
assessment involving the 2016 race days before his presidency ended the
following January.”
Haley: Iran’s “Really Going To Start To Feel It” After Next Round Of
Sanctions.

UN Ambassador Haley said on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=062-22f&t=c>
(9/12) that Iran is “creating proxy wars all over the Middle East,” and
with the nuclear deal “we were funneling a lot of money to let them
continue” to do that, but “now...we cut them off.” She noted that the US
reimposed sanctions against Iran in August, and that on Nov. 5 “we are
going to hit their oil, we’re going to hit their foreign banks, and they’re
really going to start to feel it.” She added, “I think at the end of the
day what you’re seeing is nothing is going to fix Iran until Iran fixes
itself.”

        *Kerry Says He Has Talked To Iranian Officials. *The Washington
Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=063-3b8&t=c>
(9/12, Kredo) reports former Secretary of State John Kerry, in an interview
with radio host Hugh Hewitt, said that he talked with Iranian former
Minister Javad Zarif at international forums. Kerry said he told Zarif,
“You guys need to recognize the world does not appreciate what’s happening
with missiles, what’s happening with Hezbollah, what’s happening with
Yemen.” Kerry also said he sought “to elicit from him [Zarif] what Iran
might be willing to do to change the dynamic of the Middle East for the
better.” The Free Beacon casts this as Kerry “conducting rogue diplomacy,”
going “behind the Trump administration’s back,” and “conducting sensitive
diplomacy without the current administration’s authorization” as part of
“behind-the-scenes attempts to...ensure that Iran continues receiving
billions in cash windfalls.”

        Rich Edson reported on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=064-94c&t=c>
(9/12) that Kerry says he still speaks with European and Iranian diplomats.
Fox showed Kerry saying, “We have conversations with people about the state
of affairs in the world in order to understand them. We don’t negotiate, we
are not involved in interfering with policy.” Kerry’s comments come amid
“suspicion...that the Europeans and Iranians are trying to wait out this
Administration, betting a Democratic president will rejoin the nuclear
agreement.” In the meantime, Edson said that “with the US out of the
nuclear agreement, Iran’s nuclear chief now warns his country is ready to
enrich more nuclear material.” In response, Israeli Intelligence Minister
Yisrael Katz “issued his own warning.” Fox showed Katz saying that if Iran
develops “a nuclear program against their commitments, then the answer will
be a military one.”

        *Parliament Speaker Says Iran Has Under 4,000 Active Centrifuges. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=065-103&t=c>
(9/12, Dehghanpisheh) reports Iran’s parliament speaker Ali Larijani said
Tehran “has between 3,000 and 4,000 active centrifuges, still within the
limit allowed under the nuclear deal with world powers.” The “rare
announcement of specific data on the nuclear program, reported by the
Tasnim news agency, came days after Iran’s nuclear chief said it had
completed a facility to build advanced centrifuges.” The nuclear deal
“allows the Islamic Republic to operate up to 5,060 first-generation
centrifuges for 10 years at its Natanz plant and 1,044 first-generation
centrifuges at its underground Fordow enrichment plant.” Larijani said,
“The number of active centrifuges has been reduced after the nuclear deal.”
The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=066-8ff&t=c>
(9/12, Shih) reports Larijani “signaled this week that Tehran remains
committed to the accord as he made the rare disclosure that Iran operates
between 3,000 and 4,000 active centrifuges, which is below the limit of
6,104 permitted under the 2015 agreement.”

        *Israeli Minister Says Iran Will Face “Military” Response If It
Advances Nuclear Program. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=067-71a&t=c>
(9/12) reports Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz says if Iran
“chooses to continue pursuing a nuclear program it will face a ‘military’
answer.” Katz made the statement in response to Iranian nuclear chief Ali
Akbar Salehi’s “warning that the Islamic Republic’s program stands ready to
build advanced centrifuges and further enrich uranium.”

        *Former Iranian Vice President Gets Prison Term For “Threatening
National Security.” *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=068-517&t=c>
(9/12, Dehghanpisheh) reports that according to the Tasnim news agency,
former Iranian vice president Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie “was sentenced to six
and a half years in prison on Wednesday for threatening national security
and other charges.” Tasnim says Rahim Mashaie, who was appointed by former
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was “sentenced to five years for threatening
national security, one year for spreading propaganda against the Islamic
Republic and six months for insulting judiciary officials.” In addition, a
“top press aide to Ahmadinejad, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, also received a
sentence of four years for threatening national security as part of the
same case.”
White House Warns Iran Over Militia Groups’ Attacks In Iraq.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=069-9d8&t=c>
(9/12, Landler) reports, “Signal[ing] a new phase in its confrontation with
Iran” and “underscor[ing] Mr. Trump’s determination to raise pressure on
the Iranian leadership,” the White House “blamed Shia militia groups” for
rocket strikes near American diplomatic facilities in Baghdad and Basra and
said, “Iran did not act to stop these attacks by its proxies in Iraq, which
it has supported with funding, training and weapons.” However, while the
President “boasted that his decision to abandon the nuclear deal, and
reimpose sanctions on Iran, had already forced the Iranian leadership to
curb its behavior in the region,” the new statement “suggests the threat
from Iran has swelled rather than subsided.” The Administration also is
facing challenges “as it tries to shift the focus from the” nuclear
agreement it pulled out of “to Iran’s destabilizing actions in Iraq, Syria,
Yemen and Lebanon.”

        *Car Bomb Kills Six In Iraq. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=06a-55c&t=c>
(9/12) reports Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said a car bomb exploded
outside a restaurant north of Baghdad. Health Ministry spokesman Saif
al-Badr said that six people died and 42 were wounded. No group has claimed
responsibility.

        *Haley To Syria, Russia, Iran On Chemical Weapons Use: Don’t Test
Us. *UN Ambassador Haley was asked on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=06b-ed3&t=c>
(9/12) if the US will take military action again if “another red line is
crossed” in Syria. Haley replied, “Well what we told the Syrians, Russians,
and Iranians is twice we have warned you not to use chemical weapons, twice
President Trump has acted. Don’t test us again because I think the odds are
very much against them.”
Pompeo Certifies Saudis, UAE Working To Avoid Civilian Harm In Yemen.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=06c-896&t=c>
(9/12, Landay) reports Secretary of State Pompeo said in a statement he
advised that “the governments of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are
undertaking demonstrable actions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians
and civilian infrastructure resulting from military operations of these
governments” in Yemen. However, “he provided no details of the measures
taken by Saudi Arabia and the UAE that underpinned his decision.” Without
Pompeo’s certification to Congress, “U.S. tanker aircraft would have been
restricted in the refueling of Saudi-led coalition aircraft conducting
strikes against Houthi rebels backed by Iran.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=06d-4d6&t=c>
(9/12, Ryan) reports Defense Secretary Mattis, in a separate statement,
said the gulf partners were “making every effort to reduce the risk of
civilian casualties and collateral damage to civilian infrastructure
resulting from their military operations to end the civil war in Yemen.”
However, “Democratic lawmakers blasted” the Administration’s move, “saying
a new U.S. endorsement overlooked attacks on civilians and other actions
that have deepened a humanitarian crisis.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=06e-5ea&t=c>
(9/12, Hubbard) reports Pompeo’s certification occurred “despite attacks
that have killed dozens of civilians at a time,” bombing “weddings,
funerals, factories and other civilian infrastructure, often with munitions
acquired from the United States.” Both he current and former
administrations have “had to choose between supporting close Gulf allies
who have spent many billions of dollars on American weapons and holding
them accountable for waging war in a way that rights groups and others say
has caused egregious harm to civilians.”
WPost: 9/11 Anniversary Draws Attention To Length Of US Involvement In
Afghanistan.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=06f-de3&t=c>
(9/12, Horton) points out that Americans born on September 12, 2001, a day
after the 9/11 attacks, now “can enlist, at age 17, and begin a path to
serve in the seemingly endless war launched in response to those attacks.”
The Post adds, “That is a mind-bending prospect; troops were once partially
motivated to enlist because of the attacks. Now, 17 years later, the
unfinished war grows further from the events that created it.”

        *SIGAR: USAID Afghan Female Empowerment Program May Not Have Helped
Anyone. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=070-065&t=c>
(9/13, Nordland) reports the Special Inspector General for Afghan
Reconstruction found that a United States Agency for International
Development aid project, “Promote,” which sought to empower Afghani women,
“has been a failure and a waste of taxpayers’ money.” After three years,
the program, which was intended to “to help 75,000 Afghan women get jobs,
promotions, apprenticeships and internships,” saw 55 women promoted to
better jobs, “but the report said it was unclear whether the program could
even be credited for those promotions.” SIGAR head John L. Sopko said, “We
can’t find any good data that they’re helping any women.” He called the
program “a classic example of hubris and mendacity.”

        *Death Toll In Afghan Suicide Bombing Rises. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=071-031&t=c>
(9/12, Salahuddin) reports Afghan authorities announced that a bombing at a
rally in eastern Nangahar province against local police commander Bilal
Shahhas had its death toll rise to 68. A provincial official said that a
delegation from Kabul is moving to investigate the attack, “with a focus on
the motive and whether there is a connection to” Shah, “who has been
accused of severe abuses, including torture, abductions and killings.” No
group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Haley Defends Actions Against Palestinians, Hopes They’ll Return To
Negotiations.

UN Ambassador Haley was asked on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=072-5d5&t=c>
(9/12) if the Administration still hopes “that by doing the hard stick
approach with the Palestinians that they are somehow going to turn around?”
Haley, referring to the Palestinian leadership, added, “All they’ve done is
having their hand out asking for money, badmouth the United States, not
come to the table on the peace deal. Why would we have a PLO office? Why
would we continue to fund the Palestinians?” She stressed that “this isn’t
going to stop our work on the peace deal,” adding that “it’s totally up to
the Palestinians at this point. If the leadership came to the table,
automatically you’re going to have a peace plan. ... We will continue to
hope they see the error of what they’ve done and come back to the table and
we will welcome them when they do.”

        *NYTimes: Oslo Accords Were Good For Israel, Did Little For
Palestinians. *In an analysis, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=073-7ce&t=c>
(9/12, Halbfinger, Kershner) reports that 25 years after the signing of the
Oslo peace accords, the “process is moribund, having produced neither a
peace agreement nor a Palestinian state.” Israel gained greatly from the
accords, including improved security, reduced costs, and postponing
withdrawing from the West Bank. In contrast, the Palestinians only gained
the Palestinian Authority, which “has grown increasingly autocratic and has
been plagued by accusations of corruption.” Additionally, the “Palestinian
security forces, and leadership, [are seen] as collaborators in the eyes of
many Palestinians who see little gain from having helped Israel protect
itself.” The Times calls the accords “a bitter trap” for Palestinians. Many
analysts say the Palestinians made a number of mistakes in their
negotiation of accords, “but there is also much for the Palestinians to rue
in their own decisions and actions,” including how “Palestinian violence
crippled the peace process and led to other lasting setbacks.”

        *Haley: US No Longer Giving Money To “Those That Go Against Us.” *UN
Ambassador Haley was asked on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=074-999&t=c>
(9/12) what the “main message” will be when President Trump gives a speech
at the UN Assembly next week. Haley said “we are no longer going to give
money to people who are against the US, or do anything that would be
anti-US. We are now going to strategically work with our friends and no
longer be handouts for those that go against us.”
Despite US Threat To Nix F-35 Sale, Turkey To Buy Russian Air Defense
System.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=075-8cb&t=c>
(9/12, Deyoung) reports on “the latest, and perhaps most serious, cloud
looming over the increasingly tense relationship between the United States
and Turkey”: Turkey, despite US threats to cancel the sale of F-35 fighter
jets to the country, is moving to purchase the Russian S-400 air defense
system. US law requires “sanctions against anyone making a ‘significant’
deal with the Russian defense industry.” However, Turkish PresidentRecep
Tayyip Erdoğan finds “tests of political strength between Ankara and
Washington...useful distractions from a nose-diving economy.” And Russia is
“eager to undermine NATO unity and spread its global influence as it is to
expand its weapons sales.” The Post predicts that if the conflict is not
resolved, “it will make dealing with every other controversy – including
Syria and the imprisonment of each other’s nationals – far more difficult.”

        The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=076-519&t=c>
(9/12, Muñoz) reports that the S-400 “may be Russia’s most successful
military export since the Kalashnikov – at least at driving a wedge between
the U.S. and some key allies.” The US law mandating sanctions “may have
unintentionally given Russia a diplomatic opening to outmaneuver the U.S.
through its weapon sales.” Russia has been “aggressive marketing” the S-400
to US allies, and a State Department official said, “When you buy any
nation’s defense equipment, you are not just buying the equipment; you are
also building a relationship. The same is true for Russia.” The Times adds,
“foreign militaries have flocked to the Russian-built weapon” due to its
“ability to launch missiles farther and higher than the American-made
Patriot and THAAD systems” and its “performance in the Russian mission
supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad.”
Putin Urges Duo Charged With UK Poisoning To Explain Themselves.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=077-668&t=c>
(9/12, Vasilyeva) reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin said “that
Russian authorities know the identities of the two men accused by Britain
of carrying out a nerve agent attack on a former spy, but he added that
they are civilians and there is ‘nothing criminal’ about them.” According
to the AP, “Initially, Russian officials said they had no idea who the men
were and questioned the authenticity of some of security-camera photos and
video released by Scotland Yard showing them in London and Salisbury, where
the poisoning took place.” The AP says Putin now does not “dispute the
British evidence,” although he “insisted the men were innocent.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=078-b3c&t=c>
(9/12, Higgins) reports that Putin “said he would like the men, who Britain
says are Russian military intelligence officers, to come forward to tell
their story.” The Times says Putin’s stance “amount[s] to an abrupt shift
from Russia’s previous position that it had no idea who the two suspects
named by Britain were, and that they may have been invented to blacken
Russia’s name.” According to the Times, “Putin’s remarks, clearly intended
to project candor and transparency, suggested that the Kremlin had decided
to recalibrate its response to a poisoning case that has roiled relations
between Moscow and the West.”
Mnuchin Invites Chinese Officials To Further Trade Talks In DC.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=079-e23&t=c>
(9/12, Mohsin, Jacobs) reports that the Trump Administration “has proposed
another round of trade talks with Beijing.” According to Bloomberg News,
senior officials led by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin “recently extended the
invitation to counterparts in China” to meet in Washington. Bloomberg News
says that last week, NEC Director Kudlow “complained that the Chinese have
offered few concessions, and he underscored the president’s willingness to
hold firm, despite Trump’s personal friendship with Chinese President Xi
Jinping.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=07a-101&t=c>
(9/12, Holland) reports, “A meeting among cabinet-level officials could
ease market worries over the escalating tariff war that threatens to engulf
all trade between” the US and China. The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=07b-52c&t=c>
(9/13, Wei, Schlesinger) reports that while China has vowed to retaliate
against proposed additional US tariffs, it also has backed off on threats
against US businesses in the country and sought to gain the support of US
companies to oppose the tariffs. However, China hasn’t shown a willingness
to address the issues raised by the US, including ending subsidies to
state-owned companies and other structural changes.

        *Rubio Seeks To Block Export Of Equipment Used To Persecute Chinese
Muslims. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=07c-ac3&t=c>
(9/12, Bodeen) reports Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)
“are urging the extension of tougher American export restrictions to
prevent sales of equipment that could be used in China’s massive security
clampdown targeting the Xinjiang region’s native Muslim population.”
According to the AP, Rubio and Smith “want foreign entities, including
businesses, research institutions, government and private organizations,
and individuals seen as profiting from the clampdown added to a watch
list.” The AP says “dozens of Chinese companies are already on the “Entity
List,” though none with an explicit, direct link to the oppression in
Xinjiang. The U.S. has long maintained restrictions on the export of crime
control and detection equipment to China.”

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=07d-b62&t=c>
(9/12) reports that on Tuesday, the State Department “expressed deep
concern over China’s ‘worsening crackdown’ on minority Muslims in the
Xinjiang region, as the Trump administration considered sanctions against
Chinese senior officials and companies linked to allegations of human
rights abuses.” According to Reuters, “Discussions have gained momentum
within the U.S. government over possible economic penalties in response to
reports of mass detentions of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims, which has
prompted a growing international outcry.”

        *Equifax Suspected Chinese Spies Stole Business Information. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=07e-e10&t=c>
(9/12, Viswanatha, O'Keeffe) reports that people familiar with the matter
say that two years before Equifax revealed it had been hacked, it believed
that former employees took thousands of pages of confidential business
information with them to jobs in China. The company reported its suspicions
to the FBI and CIA, but the FBI investigation stalled. While the FBI wanted
a criminal case, the company, concerned about legal exposure and possible
securities law disclosures, reduced its cooperation with law enforcement.

        *China’s Sovereign-Wealth Fund Interested In Buying HNA’s Deutsche
Bank Shares. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=07f-394&t=c>
(9/12, Xie, Steinberg, Strasburg) reports people familiar with the matter
say that China’s sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp. and Chinese
state-owned financial institutions have expressed interest in buying
Deutsche Bank AG shares from Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co., which the
Journal previously reported is planning to sell the entirety of its 7.6
percent stake in the bank as part of a plan to reduce its global footprint.

        *Canada Reportedly Doesn’t Feel Bound By October 1 US Deadline For
NAFTA Talks. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=080-fcc&t=c>
(9/12, Ljunggren, Barrera) reports that Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia
Freeland “plans to return to Washington for more talks on NAFTA on Thursday
but plenty of work remains before the two sides can strike a trade deal.”
According to Reuters, “although the United States wants to agree on the
text of a new deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement by Oct. 1,
the source reiterated Canada’s position that it would take as long as
needed.” The source is quoted as saying, “We don’t feel there’s any
tremendous pressure to get it done in the immediate short term.”

        *Business Groups Launch Anti-Tariff Effort Aimed At Trump’s Base. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=081-e9b&t=c>
(9/12, Tankersley) reports that business groups, “which have so far been
unable to stop President Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs, are mounting
a last-ditch effort to convince the president that his trade policies are
hurting his political base.” A “multimillion-dollar campaign” called
Tariffs Hurt the Heartland is “highlighting the damage the tariffs are
bringing to companies and workers in states with large numbers of Trump
supporters.” The campaign includes television spots, online advertising,
and rallies in key congressional districts.

        *LATimes Analysis: US Firms Feeling Impact Of Tariffs. *The Los
Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=082-59d&t=c>
(9/12, Lee) reports in an analysis that “tariffs imposed by the Trump
administration and retaliation by U.S. trading partners have begun to cause
significant pain for a large and growing swath of U.S. businesses at home
and abroad.” Businesses “from a broad range of industries...report that
they are feeling the effects of higher prices or supply disruptions and
putting new projects and investments on ice.”

        *Ryan Urges Wisconsin Farmers And Businesses To “Be Patient” About
Tariffs. *The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=083-59f&t=c>
(9/12, Gilbert) reports that House Speaker Ryan said Wednesday that
Wisconsin farmers and businesses “that are dealing with the fallout” from
President Trump’s tariffs “should be patient because ‘there is a plan and a
strategy’ with a ‘good landing point.’” During a question-and-answer
session in Washington, Ryan said, “I’m not a fan of tariffs. Everybody
knows that. ... But if it results in good agreements with our allies and a
unified, developed-world front to go get China to play by the rules, then
that’s a pretty darn good outcome. I would simply say, ‘Be patient for
that.’”

        *Fed Beige Book: Tariffs Increasing Input Costs For
Manufacturers. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=084-23c&t=c>
(9/12, Torres) reports that a Federal Reserve Beige Book survey released
Wednesday says the US economy “is expanding at a moderate pace with tight
labor market conditions and rising input costs partly due to trade
disruptions.” The report said in part, “Tariffs were reported to be
contributing to rising input costs, mainly for manufacturers.”
Domestic Policy
NYTimes: Response To Wall Street Collapse Was “Despised” But “Mostly
Correct.”

As part of a series of stories marking the 10th anniversary of the week
that “Wall Street imploded,” Neil Irwin writes in the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=085-8a9&t=c>
(9/12), “It’s hard to overstate how deeply Americans despised their
government’s response to the global financial crisis. ... But for all that
anger, the engineers of the American crisis response got the economics
mostly correct.” Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, New York Fed President Tim
Geithner, and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson “succeeded in their immediate
goal, to preserve the financial system. But they – or, more precisely, they
and their political leaders at the time – also left fissures that threaten
to undermine the system they sought to preserve.”

        In the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=086-21a&t=c>
(9/12), Greg Ip looks back at then-President Bush’s role in handling the
crisis, while Robert Samuelson writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=087-7e6&t=c>
(9/12), “The crisis surprised almost everyone. ... It was a close call and
required extreme measures (zero interest rates, and hundreds of billions of
dollars to rescue fragile banks and financial institutions). Next time we
may not be so lucky.”

        *Mulvaney: “Banks That Were Too Big To Fail Are Bigger Now Than
They Were Before” 2008. *Appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=088-2d6&t=c>
(9/12), OMB and CFPB Director Mulvaney said, “Supposedly we’re going to try
to prevent the next crisis, but what we’ve got now is a situation where
banks are bigger. They’re more concentrated. New bank formation is down
dramatically since Dodd-Frank was passed. I think we’ve gone from six banks
over $250 billion to nine banks. The banks that were too big to fail are
bigger now than they were before.”

        *North Las Vegas Housing Market Has Recovered. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=089-be9&t=c>
(9/12, Goldstein, Gebeloff, Mantle, Ruby) runs a feature on the booming
housing market in North Las Vegas, Nevada, where the market’s collapse a
decade ago “helped spark the global financial crisis. ... Nearly one in
three homes went into foreclosure,” but now, “the economy is growing,
companies are hiring, and the housing market is hot.” However, the Times
writes, the resurgence has priced many out of the housing market.

        *Household Income Rises To Record Level. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=08a-d22&t=c>
(9/12, Davidson) reports “Americans’ incomes are rising, and a declining
share of households are mired in poverty” in “a sign that the healthy
economy is lifting Americans across the financial spectrum.” USA Today adds
“median US household income rose 1.8 percent to an all-time high of
$61,372, the Census Bureau said Wednesday, as the West and Midwest notched
the strongest gains.” The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=08b-86d&t=c>
(9/12, Lehman) says “the increase in median household income is likely tied
to shifts in the median earnings of American workers.” The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=08c-279&t=c>
(9/12, Adamy) and Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=08d-af1&t=c>
(9/12, Rodriguez), among other news outlets, run similar stories. To the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=08e-720&t=c>
(9/12, Appelbaum, Pear), “a decade after the financial crisis, American
families are finally climbing out of the deep trough created by the Great
Recession,” though “the gains have not been equally felt and the numbers
revealed a sharp divergence between the wealthiest Americans and everyone
else.”
CBS Fires “60 Minutes” Executive Producer Amid Sexual Harassment Charges.

The CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=08f-9bf&t=c>
(9/12, story 5, 3:40, Glor) reported CBS News yesterday “fired Jeff Fager,
the executive producer of 60 Minutes, who had spent 36 year at the
network.” CBS noted that “in less than a year now, three of the most
powerful men in broadcasting, Fager, CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves
and CBS This Morning cohost Charlie Rose, all accused of sexual misconduct,
have either been fired or resigned.” CBS (Duncan) went on the report that
“this July, six female former CBS employees told the New Yorker ‘Fager
would touch employees in ways that made them uncomfortable after drinking
at office parties.’ Nineteen current and former employees said Fager
‘allowed harassment in the division,’” and “on Sunday, the New Yorker
reported a new accuser said she felt compelled to speak” and “said that he
groped her at a work party.”

        NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=090-aca&t=c>
(9/12, story 11, 1:30, Gosk) reported that “in a statement, the president
of CBS News writes in part, ‘This action today is not directly related to
the allegations surfaced in press reports. He violated company policy.’”
Fager said in his own statement, “The company’s decision had nothing to do
with the false allegations in the New Yorker. Instead, they terminated my
contract early because I sent a text message to one of our own CBS
reporters demanding that she be fair in covering the story. My language was
harsh and despite the fact that journalists receive harsh demands for
fairness all the time, CBS did not like it. One such note should not result
in termination after 36 years, but it did.” ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=091-041&t=c>
(9/12, story 8, 0:25, Muir) also said the firing took place “because of a
text sent to a reporter.”

        It was, says the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=092-bc5&t=c>
(9/12, Battaglio) reports, “the latest blow to a company that has been
roiled by claims of sexual misconduct at the highest levels.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=093-776&t=c>
(9/12, Calderone, Schwartz) indicates “the continued reckoning from the
#MeToo movement has demonstrated that even TV news titans can be abruptly
dethroned,” and the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=094-c53&t=c>
(9/12, Izadi) that “CBS had been under intense scrutiny for several weeks
following the first New Yorker article,” and that “outside law firms were
brought in to conduct investigations.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=095-181&t=c>
(9/12, Koblin), AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=096-3ec&t=c>
(9/12, Bauder), USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=097-150&t=c>
(9/12, Keveney), Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=098-c8a&t=c>
(9/12, Li) and Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=099-bc6&t=c>
(9/12, Hagey), among other news outlets, also report the story.
Uninsured Rate Stayed At 8.8% In Trump’s First Year In Office.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=09a-87a&t=c>
(9/12, Roubein) reports “the rate of uninsured Americans held firm at 8.8
percent last year despite the GOP’s repeated efforts to undercut Obamacare,
according to new Census Bureau data.” Politico adds “the new numbers, which
represent the first full year of government data under the Trump
administration, shows the uninsured rate leveled off, even as President
Donald Trump attacked the law and Congress mounted unsuccessful attempts to
repeal it last year.” To the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=09b-b28&t=c>
(9/12, Stein), meanwhile, “the finding suggests America’s recent success in
lowering its uninsured population has plateaued, with potential
implications for policymaking and the fate of the US health care system.”

        *Washington State Approves 13.8% ACA Rate Increase. *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=09c-001&t=c>
(9/12, King) reports “Washington state’s insurance regulator approved an
average 13.8 percent increase for Obamacare plans for 2019, bashing the
Trump administration for the hike.” The Examiner adds that “the state’s
insurance commissioner said that the individual market, which is used by
people who don’t get insurance through their jobs and includes Obamacare’s
insurance exchanges, is still very vulnerable.”

        *More Than 4,300 Arkansans Lose Medicaid For Failing To Meet New
Requirements. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=09d-3d3&t=c>
(9/12, Goldstein) reports that more than 4,300 Arkansas residents “have
been dropped from Medicaid because they failed to meet new requirements,
the first Americans to lose the safety-net health insurance under rules
compelling recipients to work or prepare for a job to keep their coverage.”
That number is nearly one in five of those “who became subject to the
requirements late this spring.” Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) said he was
unhappy with the number, but said that “1,000 people in the overall program
have found employment” and that the requirement is “‘a proper balance of
those values that we hold important,’ including work and personal
responsibility.”

        *Azar Predicts “Some Fairly Large, Disruptive” Changes To How Drugs
Are Priced. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=09e-c56&t=c>
(9/12, Koons, Edney) reports that HHS Secretary Azar said yesterday the
Trump Administration is “looking to make ‘disruptive’ changes to US drug
pricing to bring down costs for patients.” Azar said there will be “some
fairly large, disruptive changing of the rules of the road.” Azar added,
“Pharma companies set their price. ... They may be doing so within an
economic system that has various incentives, and my job is to change the
system. ... I am not blaming pharmacy-benefit managers for the position we
are in around drug pricing or the dynamic of rebates. The pharmacy-benefit
managers do an incredible job negotiating discounts, rebates in our system.
In fact, a major part of the President’s plan is that we’re further
empowering pharmacy-benefit managers.”
Number Of Migrant Children In Detention At Record High.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=09f-9b4&t=c>
(9/12, Dickerson) reports, “Even though hundreds of children separated from
their families after crossing the border have been released under court
order, the overall number of detained migrant children has exploded to the
highest ever recorded.” There were 12,800 migrant children being held in
federally contracted shelters this month, up from 2,400 in May 2017.

        *Foreign Aid Money Going To Mexico To Pay For Deportations. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a0-bc6&t=c>
(9/12, Harris, Davis) reports that, as “part of a broader push by the Trump
administration to redirect billions in foreign assistance to other
priorities,” the Administration informed Congress that $20 million in
foreign assistance funds will be transferred from the State Department to
the Department of Homeland Security, then sent to Mexico to help pay for
the deportation of “as many as 17,000 people who are in that country
illegally.” DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman “said the program was intended to
help relieve immigration flows at the United States border with Mexico.”
The Times adds that the Administration, “long...frustrated that Congress
provides billions for foreign aid while refusing to fund its immigration
priorities,” already has redirected “hundreds of millions of dollars meant
to help stabilize Syria and support Palestinian schools and hospitals.”
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) said, “I want answers about why the State
Department thinks it can ignore Congress and dump more cash into
deportation efforts.”

        *Mexican Foreign Minister Traveling To DC. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a1-1c8&t=c>
(9/12, Graham) reports Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray’s ministry
said he, in Reuters’ words, “is traveling to Washington to discuss
bilateral issues, security and immigration with White House officials” and
DHS Secretary Nielsen.

        *Illegal Immigration At Southern Border Surges To Record Levels. *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a2-f05&t=c>
(9/12, Dinan) reports that “illegal immigration across the southwest border
surged last month as President Trump’s zero tolerance effort crumbled and
smugglers and migrant families rushed to take advantage of renewed
‘catch-and-release’ loopholes.” The Times adds “border officials
acknowledged a ‘crisis’ as the number of families reached record levels,
topping even the worst days of the Obama administration.” The Times says
that “with a month still to go in this fiscal year the Border Patrol has
already caught more than 90,000 ‘family units’ of parents and children
traveling together, higher than the approximately 77,700 nabbed in 2016.”
The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a3-9fa&t=c>
(9/12, Miroff) indicates “migration numbers typically rebound in August
after a summer lull.” The Post adds that “overall, the number of foreigners
apprehended or deemed ‘inadmissible’ at border crossings rose to 46,560 in
August, up from 39,953 in July.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a4-f38&t=c>
(9/12, Gomez) says, on the other hand, that the “sharp increase comes
despite the implementation of Trump administration’s ‘zero tolerance’
immigration enforcement policy that led to criminal prosecutions of all
illegal border-crossers.” That policy “remains in effect, but a federal
judge ordered the administration to stop separating families in June, and
is still overseeing a team of government and ACLU-led attorneys to reunite
those families.” Says the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a5-04b&t=c>
(9/12, Nixon, Heisler), “Despite the dangers, the migrants continue to
come.”

        *Reuters: Administration’s Refugee Program Dropped Bipartisan
Policies. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a6-ba7&t=c>
(9/12, Torbati, Mohammed) reports that, according to more than 20 current
and former US officials, “the Trump administration has abandoned policies
established over decades and embraced by Republican and Democratic
administrations alike,” as, “driven by a small core of top administration
officials,” procedural changes, “made largely out of public view,” cut
overall admissions and almost ended “entry for some of the world’s most
persecuted people.” The government “instituted opaque and complicated new
security vetting procedures that have bogged down admissions,” many of the
officials said, as well as cut the officials conducting refugee interviews
by nearly two-thirds. Additionally, officials say that the Administration
“rejected internal findings that refugees could be admitted safely and with
little expense” and “two senior staff members who questioned the
administration’s policies were removed from their positions.” As a result,
the percentage of those admitted “who are Muslim is now a third what it was
two years ago; the percentage who are Europeans has tripled.”
GOP Senators Condemn Harassment Of Collins Over Kavanaugh.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a7-7bb&t=c>
(9/12, Samuels) reports that Republican senators on Wednesday condemned
harassing calls to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) urging her to vote against
Supreme Court Justice-designate Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation. In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a8-e15&t=c>
Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) cast blame on the “far Left” for the
“harassment campaign” against Collins, calling it “truly shameful” and an
example of “the desperation of the radicals to try to stop” Kavanaugh’s
confirmation. Senate Majority Whip Cornyn said in a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0a9-dee&t=c>
that Collins had been subject to “false, nasty, vulgar, personal, uncivil
verbal abuse.” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) “called on Democrats to condemn the
messages directed at Collins,” writing in a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0aa-4f8&t=c>,
“Every Democrat should be condemning these antics in Maine – attempting to
bribe Senator Collins to vote against Judge Kavanaugh and threatening
sexual violence against staffers if she votes for him is absolutely
disgusting.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0ab-daf&t=c>
(9/12, Cummings) says Kavanaugh opponents have identified Collins and Sen.
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) as potential votes against the nominee. Collins
“seems to have become the focus of the stop-Kavanaugh movement,” and her
office “has reported receiving threatening calls and letters as well as
more than 3,000 wire coat hangers in grim a reference to the unsafe,
illegal abortions that abortion-rights defenders say would follow the end
of Roe v. Wade.” In addition, “a controversial crowdfunding campaign has
raised more than $1.1 million to give to a future Collins opponent if she
votes to confirm Kavanaugh.”

        In his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0ac-ba8&t=c>
(9/12) column, E.J. Dionne says an “issue of hypocrisy that incites
aversion to Kavanaugh” is that GOP presidential candidates “promise
(usually indirectly, but, in Trump’s case, directly) they will nominate
justices who would challenge Roe v. Wade and, more generally, toe a
conservative line,” but when they are nominated, “these would-be justices
pretend not to hold the views they hold. And when skeptics point out their
obvious evasions, defenders denounce these objections as purely partisan.”
Dionne argues, “The affable Collins is now confronting the backlash to this
long history of doublespeak.”

        *Judicial Watch Files Ethics Complaint Over Booker Document
Release. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0ad-cab&t=c>
(9/12, Swoyer) reports that the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch
has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate Sen. Cory Booker
(D-NJ) “after he released confidential documents during Supreme Court
nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing last week.” Booker
last week released documents provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee by
President George W. Bush’s presidential library “on condition they be
limited to senators’ eyes.” Judicial Watch says the release was a violation
of Senate rules prohibiting the disclosure of “secret or confidential
business or proceedings.” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said,
“Senator Booker, in an absurd invocation of ‘Spartacus,’ explicitly invited
his expulsion from the Senate in his egregious violation of the rules and
contempt for the rule of law and the Constitution. ... Will the Senate
assert the rule of law in the Booker case or allow mob rule to be the new
standard?”

        *Democrats Submit Record 1,278 Questions For Kavanaugh. *In what
Republicans cast as an “attempt to delay” Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Senate
Democrats have submitted a record 1,278 written questions to the nominee,
the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0ae-3ee&t=c>
(9/12, Swoyer) reports. That is “four times more than the number asked of
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Mr. Trump’s first high court pick, last year,” and
it is “more than the combined total for every justice in U.S. history,”
said Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley. The Times adds, “Of the
1,287 questions submitted, the GOP asked just nine total – eight from Mr.
Grassley and one from Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona.”

        *Warren Warns Of “Back-Alley Abortions” If Kavanaugh Is Confirmed. *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0af-04b&t=c>
(9/12, Ernst) reports that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) warned of a return
to “back-alley abortions” if Kavanaugh is confirmed. While Kavanaugh has
said that Roe v. Wade set an “important precedent” in 1973 before being
“reaffirmed many times,” Warren “isn’t letting up on her ‘#StopKavanaugh’
activism.” In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b0-702&t=c>
Wednesday, Warren wrote, “We cannot go back to the time of back-alley
abortions. But that could happen if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the
Supreme Court and helps overturn Roe v. Wade. We must #StopKavanaugh – the
lives and futures of countless American women are at stake.”

        *Kavanaugh Details Nationals Season Tickets Purchases. *The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b1-740&t=c>
(9/12, Kim) reports that Kavanaugh on Wednesday “described in detail how he
regularly bought Washington Nationals tickets and split the cost with
friends – purchases the White House has said led Kavanaugh to accrue tens
of thousands of dollars in credit card debt.” Kavanaugh’s friends have
repaid him ...according to the White House, and the issue did not surface
during his two days of public questioning before the Senate Judiciary
Committee.” The issue arose in written follow-up questions submitted by
members of the committee, and Kavanaugh submitted his answers in writing
late Wednesday.”

        *Planned Parenthood Picks Outspoken Trump Critic As New President. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b2-a60&t=c>
(9/12, Zernike) reports “Planned Parenthood, under fire from conservatives
in Washington and state capitols, chose Leana Wen, an emergency room doctor
whose family fled China when she was a child, as its next president
Wednesday, picking a woman who won praise for her steadying hand as
Baltimore’s health commissioner during the city’s convulsive protests in
2015.” Wen has “pushed back aggressively on the Trump administration’s cuts
to health care.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b3-a81&t=c>
(9/12, Ollstein) calls Wen “an outspoken critic of the Trump
administration” as well as “an assertive health leader in her city and
beyond who has repeatedly challenged the Trump administration’s women’s
health policies in court.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b4-f9b&t=c>
(9/12, Crary)notes that “with Wen’s encouragement, Baltimore sued the Trump
administration for cutting funds for teen pregnancy prevention.” A federal
judge “subsequently ordered the restoration of $5 million in grant funding
to two Baltimore-based prevention programs.”
USDA Announces Plans To Streamline Oil, Gas, Mineral Extraction Regulations.

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b5-69a&t=c>
(9/12, Green) reports that the USDA on Wednesday submitted an advance
notice of proposed rule-making indicating that it intends “to submit a rule
that would make it easier to explore oil and gas drilling, as well as
mineral mining, in National Forests.” The proposed rule would “streamline”
the “procedural requirements for oil and gas leasing and extraction from
the 154 national forests and 20 grasslands managed by the Forest Service.”
The rule notice reads, “It is in the national interest to promote clean and
safe development of our Nation’s vast energy resources, while at the same
time avoiding regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy
production, constrain economic growth, and prevent job creation.” On
Wednesday, the USDA also submitted an “advance rule notice on mineral
extraction in Forest Service land that aims to make it easier to process
requests to mine key minerals including gold, zinc and uranium.”

        *Trumka: Labor Doesn’t Want To Sacrifice Jobs In Climate Change
Fight. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b6-740&t=c>
(9/12, White) reports that in comments during an international audience of
union officials, AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka said the organization is ready
to help with climate change, but not if well-paying jobs are sacrificed. He
said, “We’re willing to sacrifice, but we will not bear the cost of climate
policy alone.” Commenting on the transition from fossil fuels, he added,
“This is not easy for us. For millions of workers in the United States, our
livelihoods, our families, our communities, sometimes our whole way of
life, are at stake.” However, Trumka vowed that labor is “100 percent
commitment to fighting climate change,” pointing to the resolution passed
by AFL-CIO last year “supporting the transition to renewable energy.”
Rogers Says He Never Discussed Collusion With Trump Or White House
Officials.

CBS News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b7-e4b&t=c>
(9/12, Gazis) reports on its website that that former NSA Director Adm.
Mike Rogers, speaking at a George Mason University event, “said in rare
public remarks on Tuesday that, contrary to media reports, he ‘never had a
discussion’ about collusion with President Trump or other White House
officials.” Rogers said, “I’ve never had a discussion with collusion with
the President of the United States. I’ve never been directed to do
anything, coerced – any time I had a discussion I felt I was able to say,
‘Hey, here’s my view on that,’ I’m very comfortable.”

        *Burr Has Seen “No Hard Evidence Of Collusion” So Far. *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b8-aae&t=c>
(9/12, Muñoz) reports that Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr told
Fox News on Wednesday, “We have no hard evidence of collusion. Now, we’re
not over. That leaves the opportunity of finding something that we don’t
have today.”

        *Papadopoulos Says He Is Willing To Testify Before Congress. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0b9-44c&t=c>
(9/12, Cheney) reports that former Trump campaign foreign policy aide
George Papadopoulos “says he’s willing to testify before Congress.”
Papadopoulos, “who was sentenced Friday to two weeks in jail for lying to
the FBI,” told Politico, “I don’t have an issue as long as my lawyers are
fine.” The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0ba-914&t=c>
(9/12, Ross) also reports on Papadopoulos’ comments.

        *WPost: Manafort Facing “Intense Pressure” To Cooperate With
Prosecutors. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0bb-675&t=c>
(9/12, Barrett, Hamburger) reports, “As President Trump’s former campaign
chairman Paul Manafort discusses a possible plea deal, he may finally
succumb to the intense pressure brought by prosecutors to cooperate.” His
“behavior has led some law enforcement officials to suspect he is secretly
counting on a pardon” from the President.

        *BuzzFeed Discloses Financial Transactions That Followed Trump
Tower Meeting. *In a 2,800-word report, BuzzFeed News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0bc-02f&t=c>
(9/12, Cormier, Leopold) says that documents it has reviewed “reveal a
previously undisclosed aspect” of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting that
has been “a flashpoint for allegations of collusion”: a “complex web of
financial transactions among some of the planners and participants who
moved money from Russia and Switzerland to the British Virgin Islands,
Bangkok, and a small office park in New Jersey.” BuzzFeed details the
transactions between real estate developer Aras Agalarov and other parties
that followed the meeting.

        *Wray Says “Real America” Knows What FBI Is Doing. *The CBS Evening
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0bd-6f1&t=c>
(9/12, story 7, 0:30, Glor) briefly previewed FBI Director Wray’s Thursday
morning appearance on CBS This Morning, where Norah O’Donnell asks him,
“Why do you think there are some questions about the reputation of the
FBI?” Wray: “Well, I think sometimes watching the news, and certainly
trolling the Internet, you would think that the FBI has only had two
investigations over the last three years. But I will tell you, when you get
out into real America, people know differently.”

        *GOP Senators Fear Only Sitting Senator Could Be Confirmed As
Sessions Replacement. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0be-7e4&t=c>
(9/12, Everett, Johnson) reports, “Senate Republicans are in a jam” when it
comes to a possible replacement for Attorney General Sessions, suspecting
“that perhaps only a sitting senator could win confirmation as Sessions’
successor – that is, someone they could trust not to interfere with special
counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. But no one from their ranks” –
including Senate Majority Whip Cornyn and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and
Mike Lee (R-UT) – “seems to want the job.” Politico writes, “Some senators
even suggest Trump might have to nominate a Democrat to have any hope of
getting a new attorney general confirmed.”

        *Flake Slams Trump For “Relentlessly Slandering” Sessions.
*The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0bf-f02&t=c>
(9/12) reports that Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) criticized Trump’s attacks on
Sessions, saying Wednesday “from the Senate floor that Trump has been
‘relentlessly slandering’ Sessions. He warned that Trump seems headed for
‘some future assault’ on the justice system, perhaps by firing” Sessions or
Mueller.

        *CNN Poll: 47% Back Impeaching Trump, Removing Him From
Office. *On CNN’s
New Day
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c0-f92&t=c>
(9/12), John Berman drew attention to a new CNN poll showing that “voters’
impressions of Robert Mueller have improved over time – it was 41 percent
in June, 47 percent in August, 50 percent now approve of the job that
Robert Mueller is doing.” The Daily Beast’s John Avlon said, “What’s
significant...is the whole point of the Trump team’s legal strategy has
been to influence the court of opinion, to run down Mueller for months and
to presumably have Trump benefit from that. It does not seem to have
worked.” Berman noted that when asked if President Trump should be
“‘impeached and removed from office’...47 percent said yes, 48 percent said
no. Forty-seven percent is a lot of people who like to see the President
impeached. ... The polling this week is all very, very poor for the
President.”

        *Gallup/Knight Foundation Poll Shows Steep Decline In Trust In
Media. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c1-36d&t=c>
(9/12, Harper) reports, “A major poll from Gallup and the Knight Foundation
confirms that Americans don’t trust the press. ... ‘Most U.S. adults,
including more than 9 in 10 Republicans, say they personally have lost
trust in the news media in recent years. At the same time, 69 percent of
those who have lost trust say that trust can be restored,’ the analysis
says, noting that the biggest criticisms were lack of accuracy and bias.
‘Sixty-nine percent of U.S. adults in the current survey say their trust in
the news media has decreased in the past decade.’’”

        *Schiff: House Intelligence Panel Would Probe Trump Organization If
He Becomes Chair. *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c2-ca5&t=c>
(9/12, Lim) reports that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is poised to become
chairman of the House Intelligence Committee if Democrats win House control
this year, said in a Wednesday interview that he “intends to probe whether
Russians used the Trump Organization to hide or funnel dirty money” if
given the gavel. He told The Hill, “There was one issue we were not allowed
to look at and the Senate hasn’t been either that concerns me a great deal
and that is the issue of whether Russians were laundering money through the
Trump Organization and [if] that is the leverage they have over the
President. Someone needs to determine whether those allegations are true or
they are not.”

        *Stormy Daniels To Publish Memoir On October 2. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c3-0b1&t=c>
(9/12, Lucey) reports that Stormy Daniels announced yesterday that she is
publishing a memoir on October 2 titled “Full Disclosure.” According
to the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c4-bea&t=c>
(9/12, Viebeck), Daniels “said the book will highlight her history,
experiences and interests outside the Trump maelstrom. But asked how much
she had yet to disclose about their alleged affair, she said: ‘There’s a
lot in the book.’” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c5-d24&t=c>
(9/12, Ferguson) notes “Daniels made the announcement on The View,” and USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c6-a86&t=c>
(9/12, Kelly) says that her attorney Michael Avenatti also appeared on the
show. Said Avenatti, “It’s going to be a long three weeks until the book
comes out for Donald Trump.” Avenatti also told the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c7-a7f&t=c>
(9/12, Alter), “When people read this book, they are going to have newfound
respect for the human being and the woman who is known as Stormy Daniels.
... I think they will be very moved by her story.”
Rhode Island Gov. Raimondo, Fung Win Their Respective Primaries.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c8-499&t=c>
(9/12, Burns, Seelye) reports that Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) on Wednesday
staved off a primary challenge from “liberal” ex-Secretary of State Matthew
Brown (D), “reasserting herself as the party’s leader in a state where she
has battled criticism from activists on the left and intransigence from
old-guard lawmakers in her own camp.” In the general election, Raimondo
will face off against Cranston Mayor Allen Fung (R), who on Wednesday won
the GOP primary. The contest will be a rematch; Raimondo defeated Fung in
2014. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0c9-40a&t=c>
(9/12, Smith) reports, “Despite speculation stoked by Brown and others that
the race might be close amid a lack of polling, Raimondo beat Brown
handily.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0ca-960&t=c>
(9/12, Shepard) reports, “A poll in late July, conducted by an in-state
firm for WPRI-TV and Roger Williams University showed Raimondo with just a
2-point lead over Fung, 39 percent to 37 percent. Back in 2014, Raimondo,
then the state treasurer, defeated Fung, 41 percent to 36 percent, with
Moderate Party candidate Bob Healey garnering 21 percent of the vote.”

        *Florida Governor’s Race: Two Polls Show Gillum Leading DeSantis
47%-43%. *TC Palm (FL)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0cb-e63&t=c>
(9/12) reports that a Florida Chamber of Commerce poll of 514 Florida
likely voters, taken Sept. 6-9, shows Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D)
leading Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) 47%-43% in this fall’s race to succeed
term-limited Gov. Rick Scott (R). Florida Politics
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0cc-c88&t=c>
(9/12, Gancarski) reported, “The performance of ‘change agent’ Gillum is
remarkable, given 48 percent of voters believe Florida is on the ‘right
track,’ well above the 36 percent who thinks Florida is heading in the
wrong direction.”

        Meanwhile, Spectrum News 13 (FL)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0cd-63c&t=c>
(9/11) reported on its website that a SurveyUSA poll of 634 Florida likely
voters shows Gillum leading DeSantis 47%-43%; 9% were undecided. The report
didn’t indicate when the poll, which was commissioned by Spectrum News 13,
was in the field.

        *Poll Also Shows Scott Leading Nelson 46%-44% In Senate Race. *The
SurveyUSA poll also shows term-limited Gov. Rick Scott (R) leading Sen.
Bill Nelson (D) 46%-44% in this fall’s Senate race; 7% were undecided.

        *Arizona Senate Race: McSally Has Slim Lead In Four Polls; Sinema
Has Narrow Edge In One. *In an online article, Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0ce-5a7&t=c>
(9/12, Blanton) reported that a Fox News poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0cf-fdd&t=c>
of 710 Arizona likely voters, taken Sept. 8-11, shows Rep. Martha McSally
(R) leading Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) 47%-44% in the race to succeed retiring
Sen. Jeff Flake (R). According to the poll, “about one quarter of voters
(24 percent) say they could change their mind before voting.” On its
website, KTAR-FM
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d0-7d7&t=c>
Glendale, AZ (9/12) reported that an OH Predictive Insights/ABC15 poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d1-82e&t=c>
of 597 Arizona likely voters, taken Sept. 5-6, shows McSally leading Sinema
49%-46%. However, a Data Orbital poll of 550 Arizona likely voters, taken
Sept. 4-6, shows Sinema leading McSally 46%-42%. The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d2-425&t=c>
(9/12, Axelrod) reported on the results of the OH Predictive Insights poll,
saying that Sinema “had led by 6 points in the poll earlier this
year.” The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d3-8c0&t=c>
(9/12, Dinan) reports on the results of the OH Predictive Insights poll and
adds, “A Gravis Marketing poll released over the weekend also found Ms.
McSally with a 49-48 lead. “

        *Fox Senate Polls: Donnelly, Heitkamp Trailing; McCaskill Leading;
Blackburn Tops Bredesen. *On its website, Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d4-971&t=c>
(9/12, Blanton) reported on its new round of polls in Senate battleground
states. The Fox News poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d5-1d4&t=c>
of 677 Indiana likely voters, taken Sept. 8-11, shows businessman Mike
Braun (R) leading Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) 45%-43%, with Libertarian Lucy
Brenton drawing 3% and 8% undecided. The Fox News poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d6-a17&t=c>
of 701 North Dakota likely voters, taken Sept. 8-11, shows Rep. Kevin
Cramer (R) leading Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) 48%-44% in this fall’s Senate
race; 8% were undecided. The Fox News poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d7-52c&t=c>
of 675 Missouri likely voters, taken Sept. 8-11, shows Sen. Claire
McCaskill (D) leading state Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) 44%-41%; 6%
backed other candidates and 8% were undecided. And the Fox News poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d8-a87&t=c>
of 686 Tennessee likely voters, taken Sept. 8-11, shows Rep. Marsha
Blackburn (R) leading ex-Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) 47%-44% in this fall’s race
to succeed retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R); 8% were undecided.

        *Ohio Poll: Sen. Brown Leading Renacci 47%-31%; 22% Undecided. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0d9-0ba&t=c>
(9/12, Staff) reported that a Politico/AARP/Morning Consult poll of 1,592
Ohio voters, taken Sept. 2-11, shows Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) leading Rep.
Jim Renacci (R) 47%-31% in this fall’s Senate race; 22% were undecided.

        *Poll Also Shows DeWine Leading Cordray 39%-38% In Governor’s Race;
23% Undecided. *The Politico/AARP/Morning Consult poll also shows state
Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) leading ex-federal consumer watchdog
agency chief Richard Cordray (D) 39%-38% in this fall’s race to succeed
term-limited Gov. John Kasich (R); 23% were undecided.

        *Minnesota Senate Poll: Smith Leading Housely 48%-39%. *On its
website, KSTP-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0da-f4b&t=c>
Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN (9/12) reported that a KTSP/SurveyUSA poll of 574
Minnesota likely voters, taken Sept. 6-8, shows appointed Sen. Tina Smith
(D) leading state Sen. Karen Housley (R) 48%-39% in this fall’s special
election to fill out the remaining term of ex-Sen. Al Franken (D); 11% were
undecided.

        *WPost: “Raw Tensions Over Race And Gender Shape Midterms.” *Under
the headline “Raw Tensions Over Race And Gender Shape Midterms, Reflecting
Schism In Trump Era,” the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0db-aeb&t=c>
(9/12, Sullivan, Blake) reports, “Raw tensions over race, gender and
personal identity are shaping battleground contests from Upstate New York
to the Deep South, reflecting the marked schism in the country during the
Trump era and the increasingly stark demographic divide between the two
political parties.” The Post says that “Democrats have set or essentially
matched records for the number of female, black and LGBT nominees,” while
“Republicans’ diversity statistics have either remained static or declined
in each category, leading to a heavily white, male slate of nominees.
Republicans are aggressively trying to cast Democratic candidates as scary,
threatening figures with unfamiliar values.”

        *Report: Minority Voting Rights Protections Falling. *The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0dc-736&t=c>
(9/12, Wines) reports that according to the Federal Commission on Civil
Rights, “Federal actions to enforce voting rights for minorities have
declined sharply since the Supreme Court struck down the core of the 1965
Voting Rights Act five years ago.” In a 498-page report, the Commission
“strongly urges Congress to break a partisan deadlock and expand the
protections of the Voting Rights Act for minorities, to restore some of the
enforcement powers nullified by the Supreme Court, or both.” In one
example, the report found that the Justice Department hasn’t filed any suit
since 2008 “to require polling places to accommodate the disabled,” despite
surveys indicating “that as many as six out of 10 polling places across the
country present barriers to disabled people.”
Cancer Research
Report Calls For Congress To Increase Government Funding For Cancer
Research.

ABC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0dd-532&t=c>
(9/12, Ahuja) reports on its website, “Cancer-related deaths in the U.S.
fell by 26 percent in the 14 years since 2001, according to an annual
report released...by the American Association for Cancer Research.” But,
despite “advances, the AACR’s report showcases a harrowing truth about
cancer care: not everyone benefits equally.” HealthDay
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0de-78c&t=c>
(9/12, Reinberg) reports that “government-funded research is helping
scientists find new ways to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat
cancer...reported” the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The
AACR “report calls for Congress to increase funding to the U.S. National
Institutes of Health...the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s cancer prevention and control programs.” In particular, “it
urges Congress to add at least $2 billion in funding to the NIH in 2019,
for a total of at least $39.1 billion.”

        Medscape
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0df-724&t=c>
(9/12, Nelson) reports, “Research supported largely by federal investments
in the National Institutes of Health...and National Cancer Institute...is
altering the trajectory of cancer, the report notes, by driving advances in
public health and improvements in patient care across the entire cancer
care continuum.”
Medical Societies Urge CMS To Reconsider Medicare Advantage Step-Therapy
Policy.

Cancer Therapy Advisor
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e0-60a&t=c>
(9/12, Furlow) reports that “the American Medical Association (AMA),
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society for
Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and
90 other medical societies cosigned a letter” earlier this month “calling
on the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider its
decision to allow Medicare Advantage plans to use ‘step therapy’ or ‘fail
first’ cost-control programs for Part B drugs.” The article adds that “just
before the policy was announced, Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary Alex Azar. ..met with ASCO officials and others.” Azar
“acknowledged that there exists limited drug interchangeability in oncology
and said he did not expect to see step therapy be a significant issue for
patients with cancer, according to ASCO Vice President of Clinical Affairs
Stephen Grubbs, MD, FASCO.”
Community-Based Cancer Clinics Combine To Form OneOncology Startup.

Modern Healthcare
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e1-5f4&t=c>
(9/12, Kacik) reports Tennessee Oncology, New York Cancer & Blood
Specialists, and West Cancer Center “combined their 225 cancer physicians,
60 locations and 158,000 patients to create Nashville-based OneOncology.”
General Atlantic “offered $200 million” to help the startup “off the
ground” and Flatiron Health “provided the software.” Community-based
settings, in contrast to large hospitals, can “cut costs by about 60%, said
OneOncology CEO Tracy Bahl.”

        *General Atlantic Invests $200 Million In OneOncology Startup.
*The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e2-e1b&t=c>
(9/12, Evans) reports General Atlantic will invest $200 million in
OneOncology, a startup which intends to provide affordable solutions for
independent practices to help them compete with the cancer technology and
diagnostic tools at larger hospitals. Additionally, the startup would take
over administrative work for clinics and assist them with difficulties they
face in operations management and technology platforms.
Editorials/Op-Eds
New York Times.

*“Tickets From Poverty To A Better Future.”* The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e3-83a&t=c>
(9/12) in an editorial argues that Congress needs to include funding for
the Housing Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act in the conference bill,
because the measure to provide housing vouchers to families in need
represents a “rare” bipartisan consensus “that helping poor families escape
poor neighborhoods was one path to making poor children’s futures
brighter.”

        *“Make Voting Easier In New York.” *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e4-005&t=c>
(9/12) in an editorial urges changes to New York State electoral laws to
combat state election boards that “are rife with incompetence.” Changes the
Times recommends include automatic voter registration when people “interact
with a state agency like the Department of Motor Vehicles,” enabling
registration on the same day as voting, and allowing voters to change their
parties closer to elections.

        *“What You Need to Know To Vote in New York’s Primary.” *In an
editorial, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e5-33d&t=c>
(9/12, Board) lists its endorsements in the New York Democratic primary and
the logic behind them. They include Andrew Cuomo for governor, who “has
shown the ability to govern but needs pressure from those reformers to do
the right thing”; Jumaane Williams for lieutenant governor, as he “has
shown that he can be a real leader and has pledged to use the office as a
bully pulpit to push for progress on affordable housing, the subways and
criminal justice reform”; and Zephyr Teachout for attorney general, as she
“wrote the book on fighting political corruption and could be the last line
of defense against an antidemocratic president, a federal government
indifferent to environmental and consumer protection and a state government
in which ethics can seem a mere inconvenience.” The Times also encourages
voters to choose candidates who will approve congestion pricing to fix the
subway, “commit to strong rent regulations” to keep housing affordable, and
fix state politics.

        *Professor Examines Challenge Of Sentencing White-Collar
Defendants. *In an op-ed for the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e6-460&t=c>
(9/12), Wayne State University law professor Peter J. Henning writes, “A
challenge every federal judge faces is deciding the appropriate punishment
for a white-collar defendant,” weighing how much to “take into account the
background of these defendants who may not have previously run afoul of the
law and are unlikely to commit additional crimes.” Judges “must consider
the seriousness of the crime and the need to deter criminal conduct,
protect the public and avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among similar
defendants,” but they “do not have complete autonomy to decide what the
sentence is.” According to Henning, the sentencing of former Trump campaign
chairman Paul Manafort “will highlight how prosecutors often focus on
victims other than the government in seeking a prison term,” and “whether
we see that in future sentences for those caught up in the special
counsel’s investigation bears watching to see if judges will give mild
sentences to first-time offenders.”
Washington Post.

*“Trump Says He Did Great After Maria. In A Survey, Puerto Ricans Say
Otherwise.”* The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e7-9dd&t=c>
(9/12) editorializes that “among the most troubling of the many untruths
advanced by President Trump is his repeated insistence that the federal
government did a good...job responding to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.”
His “comments about Puerto Rico – and his silence when the Puerto Rican
government raised its official death toll from 64 to 2,975 – show a clear
double standard that is not lost on Puerto Ricans.”

        *“Time Is Running Out, Pope Francis.” *In an editorial, the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e8-cb9&t=c>
(9/12) argues that “the Vatican, and Pope Francis, have failed to meet the
challenge” of appropriately addressing the church sex abuse scandal, but
that the latest reports from Pennsylvania, along with Washington Archbishop
Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s comments that he will ask the Pope “to accept his
resignation,” provide Pope Francis with “a new opportunity to act
decisively” and work “to disprove” speculation “that the church is beyond
reform.”

        *“Silicon Valley Needs To Work With The Military On AI. Here’s
Why.” *In an editorial the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018091301biden&r=email-1774&l=0e9-fdf&t=c>
(9/12, Board) argues that Silicon Valley tech companies and the US military
should collaborate to develop artificial intelligence via the Department of
Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is spending $2 billion
over the next five years on AI. The Post argues that tech companies should
want to partner with the military for patriotic reasons as well as because
“they know better than most in government the potential these technologies
have to help and to harm, and they can leverage that knowledge to maximize
the former and minimize the latter.”

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