Wake Up To Politics - August 30, 2019
I'm Gabe Fleisher, reporting live from WUTP World HQ in my bedroom. It’s Friday, August 30, 2019. 157 days until the 2020 Iowa caucuses. 431 days until Election Day 2020. Have comments, questions, suggestions, or tips? Email me at gabe@wakeuptopolitics.com.
Friday Roundup
2020 Central: Joe Biden has told a moving story on the campaign trail about a heroic Navy captain he met in Afghanistan as vice president who refused to be awarded the Silver Star. "Except almost every detail in the story appears to be incorrect," The Washington Post reports. "Based on interviews with more than a dozen U.S. troops, their commanders and Biden campaign officials, it appears as though the former vice president has jumbled elements of at least three actual events into one story of bravery, compassion and regret that never happened." The Post adds: "In the space of three minutes, Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony."
In a Thursday interview with the Charleston Post and Courier, the Democratic presidential frontrunner insisted that the "essence" of the story was true despite the slew of false details.
--- "Warren lovefest ending as 2020 competitors fear her rise" (Politico)
--- "Beto O’Rourke has chucked the presidential playbook. Will it save his campaign?" (Los Angeles Times)
Inside the White House: President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he was canceling a planned trip to Poland this weekend so he could monitor Hurricane Dorian as it heads toward expected landfall in Florida. Vice President Mike Pence will make the trip in his stead, Trump said; the president had been scheduled to participate in a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the beginning of World War II.
--- "President Trump’s personal assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, whose office sits in front of the Oval Office and who has served as the president’s gatekeeper since Day 1 of his administration, resigned on Thursday, two people familiar with her exit said."
"Ms. Westerhout’s abrupt and unexpected departure came after Mr. Trump learned on Thursday that she had indiscreetly shared details about his family and the Oval Office operations she was part of at a recent off-the-record dinner with reporters staying at hotels near Bedminster, N.J., during the president’s working vacation, according to one of the people, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss White House personnel issues." (The New York Times)
Immigration: "Migrant children detained at the border continue to sleep in cold cells without proper clothing or adequate food, a top Democratic lawmaker said on Thursday, accusing the Department of Homeland Security of blocking members of Congress from visiting the facilities."
"Parents were not provided enough diapers for their children, toddlers were fed 'burritos rather than age-appropriate foods' and one child was told by an immigration agent to eat food off the floor, according to interviews that House Democrats conducted with detainees during earlier visits." (The New York Times)
--- "Due to a change in policy by the Trump administration, hundreds of immigrant children receiving medical care in the U.S. are facing possible deportation. The children are in the country legally and many suffer from serious diseases, including cancer." (CBS News)
--- "The Trump Administration Wants To Start DNA Testing Undocumented Immigrants In Government Custody" (BuzzFeed News)
Investigations: "Former FBI Director James Comey violated FBI policies in his handling of memos documenting private conversations with President Donald Trump, the Justice Department’s inspector general said Thursday."
"The watchdog office said Comey broke bureau rules by giving one memo containing unclassified information to a friend with instructions to share the contents with a reporter. Comey also failed to return his memos to the FBI after he was dismissed in May 2017, retaining copies of some of them in a safe at home, and shared them with his personal lawyers without permission from the FBI, the report said." (Associated Press)
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Today at the White House
At 11:30 a.m., President Trump receives his daily intelligence briefing. At 12:30 p.m., he has lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The president will then depart for Camp David, where he will spend the weekend.
Today on the trail
--- Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT) launches his "State House to the White House" tour in Iowa today, holding a town hall in Decorah at 2 p.m., touring a "tarriff-proof" farm in Calmar that relies solely on local and regional markets to sell its goods at 4:30 p.m., ad hosting a meet and greet in Osage at 7 p.m.
--- Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro visits South Carolina, holding a breakfast meet and greet in Beaufort at 9:30 a.m. and participating at an event at the College of Charleston at 5 p.m.
--- Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) hosts a town hall in Atlanta, Georgia, at 7 p.m.
--- Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) travels to Virginia, holding meet and greets in Bland at 10:30 a.m. and Roanoke at 1:15 p.m., as well as a town hall at Virgina Tech in Blackburg at 4:15 p.m.
--- Former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) holds an event on health care in Riceville, Iowa, at 6 p.m.
--- Spiritual author Marianne Williamson holds an event in Taylors, South Carolina, at 6:30 p.m.
*All times Eastern
