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Wake Up To Politics - September 6, 2019

I'm Gabe Fleisher, reporting live from WUTP World HQ in my bedroom. It’s Friday, September 6, 2019. 60 days until Election Day 2019. 150 days until the 2020 Iowa caucuses. 424 days until Election Day 2020. Have comments, questions, suggestions, or tips? Email me at gabe@wakeuptopolitics.com.

Friday Roundup

2020 Central: "Howard Shultz, the former Starbucks CEO who had been weighing an independent presidential bid, announced Friday that he will not run for president. 'My belief in the need to reform our two-party system has not wavered, but I have concluded that an independent campaign for the White House is not how I can best serve our country at this time,' Schultz said in statement." (NBC News)

--- "Four states are poised to cancel their 2020 GOP presidential primaries and caucuses, a move that would cut off oxygen to Donald Trump’s long-shot primary challengers. Republican parties in South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas are expected to finalize the cancellations in meetings this weekend, according to three GOP officials who are familiar with the plans." (Politico)

--- "Trumpworld Anxiety Grows Over a Rising Elizabeth Warren" (The Daily Beast)

The Trump Administration: "President Trump met with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin at the White House on Thursday to discuss a policy response to mass shootings that have killed dozens of people over the past several weeks, three people familiar with the matter said."

"The 30-minute private meeting, which included several White House staffers, touched on a range of possible gun-related policy issues including background checks, the people said. Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) have long urged legislation expanding background checks for gun sales. Their bill failed to pass the Senate in 2013." (Wall Street Journal)

--- "The Trump administration released a sweeping plan Thursday that could remake the U.S. housing market, starting with ending more than a decade of government control of two massive companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that back half of the nation’s mortgages." (The Washington Post)

--- "President Trump is strongly considering a plan to revoke California’s legal authority to set state tailpipe pollution standards that are stricter than federal regulations, according to three people familiar with the matter." (The New York Times)

--- "The architect of the Trump administration’s delayed Mideast peace plan is leaving the White House in the face of widespread skepticism about the viability of the as-yet unseen proposal and questions about whether the vision for a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will ever be released."

"Jason Greenblatt, a long-time lawyer for the Trump Organization who became the president’s special envoy for international negotiations, announced his departure Thursday, saying he would return to the private sector in the coming weeks and spend more time with his family in New Jersey." (The Associated Press)

--- "He posted nine tweets and five maps about Alabama and the big storm. He defended a doctored hurricane map that had been altered with a black Sharpie to include the state. And he had his White House release a 225-word statement defending his erroneous warnings that Alabama was 'going to get a piece' of the storm."

"As Hurricane Dorian battered the Carolinas with torrential rain and wind Thursday, President Trump remained fixated on sunny Alabama — a state he falsely claimed was in the storm’s crosshairs long after it was in the clear. For a fourth straight day, Trump’s White House sought to clean up the president’s mistaken warnings to Alabama from Sunday, seeking to defend Trump’s tweets by releasing statements, disseminating alternative hurricane maps and attacking the media." (The Washington Post)

Race for the Senate: "Kansas Senator Jerry Moran says he wouldn’t be surprised if Secretary of State Mike Pompeo decided to run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Pat Roberts. Top Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are urging Pompeo to get into the race." (Fox 4 Kansas City)

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Today at the White House

--- Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence have any public events scheduled.

Today on the trail

The bulk of the Democratic presidential field descends on New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary state, ahead of the state party convention this weekend, which 19 candidates will address.

--- Former Vice President Joe Biden campaigns in New Hampshire, holding town halls in Laconia at 1 p.m. and New Castle at 4:45 p.m.

--- Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) participates in an event at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, at 7 p.m.

--- Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) visits New Hampshire, holding a meet and greet with union workers in Concord at 10 a.m., a meet and greet with veterans in Newmarket at 12:30 p.m., and a town hall on voting rights in Dover at 6 p.m.

--- Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) travels to New Hampshire, holding a town hall in Londonderry at 3:15 p.m. and participating in a local Democratic banquet in Portsmouth at 6:30 p.m.

--- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) participates in a forum on the economy at Manchester Community College in Manchester, New Hampshire, at 1:30 p.m.

--- Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) holds a town hall at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire, at 5:30 p.m.

--- Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) holds a town hall on reproductive freedom in Manchester, New Hampshire, at 5:45 p.m.

--- Former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer holds a town hall at the University of New Hampshire in Durham at 7 p.m.

Corrections

--- Thursday's newsletter misstated Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard's home state. She is a congresswoman from Hawaii.

*All times Eastern