The Hill’s Morning Report — Biden consoles Maui; Trump to surrender in Georgia

by Alexis Simendinger - 08/22/23 6:38 AM ET

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President Biden on Monday viewed Maui’s apocalyptic scenes in Lahaina, at one point gingerly touching the frame of a car left scorched by flames and now marked with a large “X” by searchers trying to locate signs of the missing.

As he has while visiting other disaster sites during his political life, Biden referred to the death of his first wife and infant daughter in an automobile accident, and the “hollow feeling you have in your chest like you’re being sucked into a black hole.” 

After an aerial tour of the devastation, an update from federal and local officials, a prayer with Native Hawaiians and an embrace for the governor, the president, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, delivered the message he hoped might resonate with grieving islanders, some of whom are critical that federal and state assistance since Aug. 8 has been too little or too slow.

“I also want all of you to know the country grieves with you, stands with you and will do everything possible to help you recover,” Biden said.

The New York Times: “The devastation is overwhelming”: Biden tours wildfire damage on Maui.

A reporter asked if Hawaii will have the help it needs. “It will, all the way through,” Biden pledged. Officials who gathered in Maui, including Gov. Josh Green (D), told the president that all the victims, now at least 114, may never be found and identified. An estimated 850 people are missing. The remains of just 27 people have officially been identified. 

The Associated Press: Maui confronts the challenge of finding those unaccounted for.

The president’s motorcade passed blocks of structures reduced to ash and twisted metal. A few people stood with signs that read “Trump won” and “F**k Biden,” and one held a handwritten sign, “Maui strong.” 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Monday that it has distributed more than $8.5 million to Maui, including $3.6 million for direct rental assistance. More than 1,000 federal officials are responding on the ground. The president said FEMA thus far has distributed 55,000 meals, 75,000 liters of water, 5,000 beds and 10,000 blankets.

To lead a long-term recovery effort for the administration, Biden named Robert Fenton, FEMA regional administrator for Region 9, to be the new chief federal response coordinator for Maui.

Property losses have been estimated at $6 billion. Close to 2,000 victims left homeless have been moved out of shelters and into hotels, according to FEMA. Maui is working to get the academic year back on track after the destruction of a handful of schools.

Following remarks to several hundred people gathered at the gym at the Lahaina Civic Center, Biden said he intended to remain to hear from residents. “If anyone would like to speak with me, I’ll stay around,” he said, preparing to go from table by table. “I just want you to know: We really care. Not a joke.”

▪ The Washington Post: Biden tours devastation on Maui.

▪ Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Bidens depart after spending nearly 6 hours with residents, first responders. 

▪ Honolulu Civil Beat: New prefab “quick assembly modular” homes are arriving on Maui.

👉 Morning Report’s Kristina Karisch is on leave. 

Related Articles

▪ The New York Times: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, in a bid to steady ties, will travel to Beijing and Shanghai Aug. 27-30 to meet with Chinese officials and U.S. business representatives, the department announced today.  

▪ Politico profiled and interviewed Vice President Harris. “There are so-called leaders who aren’t focused on tackling the issues or challenges this country is facing,” she said. “Instead, they focus on me because they don’t want people to focus on what the Biden-Harris administration has delivered.”

▪ The Washington Post: The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved an RSV vaccine for use in pregnancy to protect infants from severe illness. RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization in young children and kills thousands of seniors each year.

▪ The Hill: Americans should get out of Belarus immediately and not travel there, the State Department warned Monday. 

LEADING THE DAY

➤ POLITICS

© The Associated Press / John Locher | In Las Vegas in July, the image of former President Trump was propped outside a campaign event where he appeared.

Here are two numbers to contemplate ahead of Wednesday’s GOP presidential primary debate: 62 and 42. 

Sixty-two is the percent of likely GOP primary voters who said they backed former President Trump in the primary, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll completed Friday and released Sunday. Forty-two is the percent of GOP likely Iowa caucus goers who said Trump is their first choice compared with 14 rivals, which was a 23-point lead over Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the second choice, according to an NBC News/Des Moines Register poll (The Wall Street Journal).

The other numbers that come to mind are “four” (criminal indictments naming Trump), “zero” (the number of debates Trump seems willing to do before the party picks a nominee) and “441,” the long stretch of days until Nov. 5, 2024, Election Day.

It is entirely possible that the GOP primary is over before it starts, a view Trump imparts to his supporters on social media. The former president, according to the CBS News poll, leads the GOP field among voters who say they place top importance on a presidential candidate who is “honest and trustworthy.” Nothing about Trump’s legal woes appears to worry his base, other than a belief that federal and state prosecutors are politically motivated against him. 

▪ The Hill: Here are the presidential candidates who have the most to gain from Trump’s debate absence. 

▪ The New York Times: A stage of eight takes shape for a Trump-less first GOP debate.

There is no precedent in contemporary politics quite like the 2024 primary season. But here’s a clue about why Trump views debating as a risk: A majority of Republican caucus goers in Iowa — 52 percent — told pollsters their minds are not made up, and they could be persuaded to support another candidate. Trump’s political instincts have always been to play to the audience he’s already persuaded, not to the doubters and detractors.

What has some Republican senators rattled is a fear that Trump would be a weak candidate in the general election, with less-than-auspicious odds of defeating Biden, at least under today’s known circumstances, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports. The prospect that Trump could be a two-time loser sends shudders through some Republican senators who worry about a second Biden term as well as the down-ballot baggage that might land on GOP candidates next year.

The Hill’s Niall Stanage in The Memo explores what Trump believes he gains and what he could potentially lose by skipping Wednesday’s Milwaukee debate and instead posting an interview conducted by Tucker Carlson. 

Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller says everyone should “assume” Trump won’t participate in any future debates — unless he changes his mind (Newsmax and The Hill).

👉 The New York Times sorted through a collection of policies advocated by the GOP presidential candidates.

Trump will surrender in Georgia to face charges on Thursday (The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal). A judge set a $200,000 bond for the former president on Monday in the Georgia criminal case that accuses the former president and 18 others of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. 

Trump’s lawyers were present at the Fulton County courthouse to negotiate the terms of the bond. The consent bond order bars Trump from intimidating witnesses and from communicating with any of the co-defendants about the case, either directly or indirectly (Reuters and The Hill). 

John Eastman, the lawyer and author of the so-called “coup memo” who faces nine criminal counts in Fulton County, had his bond set at $100,000 on Monday. Co-defendant Scott Hall, a Georgia bail bondsman and Fulton County Republican poll watcher charged with seven counts, had his bond set at $10,000. None of the 19 defendants had turned themselves in by Monday afternoon. They have until noon on Friday to do so.

▪ The Hill: Threats of bodily harm against public officials — and prosecutions of those who make such threats — are each on the rise. 

▪ Roll Call: Hispanic Republicans compete to oust Democrats in diverse districts.

▪ The New York Times: Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Monday summoned lawmakers to Nashville for a special session on public safety, which could include consideration of a limited version of a law he supports that would temporarily restrict an individual’s access to firearms. A majority in his party oppose it. 

➤ CONGRESS

It’s not too soon to worry about a possible government shutdown next month. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have signaled their shared desire to move a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open amid deep disagreements among Republicans and between the two chambers over spending. 

Reuters: Washington’s fourth government shutdown in a decade is possible this fall.

McCarthy, once again, faces opposition from his right flank, as evidenced Monday by a Freedom Caucus statement opposing any “clean” stopgap measure that doesn’t have language about border security, curbing Justice Department funding and ending what conservatives say are “woke” policies inside the Pentagon (The Hill).

The House has 11 appropriations bills to clear by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, and only 12 legislative days on the calendar before current funding runs out. It’s a problem, alright. And hanging in the balance are the fate of the White House request for $24 billion in additional aid for Ukraine, plus Republicans’ reputation for chaotic brinkmanship more than consistent governance. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says there is no bigger priority for Congress than backing Ukraine. Some conservatives in the House counter that the U.S. priority is to spend less, lower deficits and focus on domestic needs. In July, 70 House Republicans voted for an amendment to the national defense authorization measure that would have barred future U.S. security assistance to Ukraine (The Hill).

“The majority of Republicans still voted to support Ukraine, and that’s very significant I think,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told The Washington Post in July, calling the defeated amendment “irresponsible.”  

The Hill: Five House lawmakers to watch in the battle over government funding.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ STATE WATCH

© The Associated Press / Mark J. Terrill | Palm Desert, Calif., on Sunday during Tropical Storm Hilary.
 

🌧️ In California, Tropical Storm Hilary, a freak summer occurrence in the Golden State, doused communities from the coast to the desert, delivering levels of rainfall between Sunday and Monday that would customarily be expected in a year. By Monday, the downgraded storm had placed 16 million people from Southern California northward to Idaho under flood watches. Power outages, shuttered schools, flight cancellations and postponed sporting events resulted. 

CNN’s storm tracker is HERE as Hilary entered Nevada. Death Valley National Park gained a river. Video HERE.

The Associated Press: What’s left of storm Hilary pushed into the Silver State. Remnants were expected to linger at least through this morning. 

⚠️ Wildfire risks have increased not only in Hawaii, but in the upper Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Northwest and the Gulf Coast (The Hill). “We’re starting to see fires happen in more and more places that seem surprising to us — because our expectations are based on previous decades,” explained Philip Higuera, a fire ecologist at the University of Montana. 

The Associated Press: Two people have been killed and thousands of residents are under evacuation orders as six wildfires tear through Washington State. Biden spoke with Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Monday to say he authorized federal Fire Management Assistance Grants to support firefighting efforts in the state. 

OPINION

■ America’s export of gun violence is a bipartisan outrage, by Michael R. Bloomberg, editorial board, Bloomberg Opinion.

■ The 2024 election could challenge American democracy itself, by former Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), opinion contributor, The Hill.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will convene for a pro forma session at 2 p.m. Lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 11. 

The Senate is out until Sept. 5 and will hold a pro forma session at 2 p.m. 

The president has resumed vacationing with relatives in Lake Tahoe, Nev. He has no public events on his schedule.

The vice president is in Washington and has no public events.  

ELSEWHERE

➤  INTERNATIONAL

© The Associated Press / How Hwee Young | Chinese President Xi Jinping with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018 in Beijing.

Today begins the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, a group of five countries with emerging economies that will gather for the 15th time through Thursday. Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, will be joined by leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and China’s President Xi Jinping. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be there in person because South Africa, a member of the International Criminal Court, would have been obliged to arrest him (The Economist and The Associated Press). Putin will appear by remote hookup and be represented during the gathering by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

This week’s summit could be a “defining moment” for a group once imagined as a potential rival to the Group of Seven industrialized nations, according to reports. This year’s meeting, with 69 invitees, is set to focus on reducing global reliance on the U.S. dollar (CBS News).

Xi wants to strengthen the group’s sway, and China’s influence, by adding new members. The Economist suggests 18 countries, including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Mexico, are realistic candidates for BRICS membership. 

Any move toward the inclusion of the world’s second-biggest oil producer in an economic bloc with Russia and China would clearly draw attention from the United States and its allies amid a recent move by Beijing to exert some influence in the Persian Gulf.

“If Saudi Arabia were to enter BRICS, it will bring extraordinary importance to this grouping,” Talmiz Ahmad, India’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told The Associated Press.

Biden may meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit to be held in India next month, Axios reports. Before the 2024 campaign shifts into higher gear, the White House is trying to propel ongoing talks with the Saudi government about a mega-deal that could include U.S. security guarantees for Riyadh, as well as a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Any such deal would require congressional approval.

China’s leader this week is making his second trip abroad this year at a time when his country appears to be under economic stress. China is entering an era of slower growth, made worse by unfavorable demographics and a widening divide with the U.S. and its allies, which is jeopardizing foreign investment and trade, according to economists. It could be the dimming of a long expansionary era (The Wall Street Journal).

THE CLOSER

© The Associated Press / Planet Labs PBC via AP | Satellite imagery on Aug. 15 showed China constructing a mysterious airstrip on disputed Triton Island in the South China Sea.

And finally … Let’s pause to ponder the mysterious Triton Island. Where is it? The South China Sea. Whose island is it? Good question. Vietnam claims it, and so does Taiwan. Suddenly this month the uninhabited sandspit has a 656-yard military airstrip on it, according to satellite imagery (The Associated Press). Who built the airstrip? China, but of course. It’s not saying why.

On Monday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry called on “relevant parties” to exercise restraint and avoid unilateral actions that would increase tensions. Speaking to Taiwan News, a spokesman said the South China Sea Islands, including the Paracel Islands, are Taiwan’s territory, and that “the Republic of China’s [Taiwan’s] rights over land and related waters in the area cannot be questioned.” 

The Independent: Satellite images show China is building an airstrip on disputed Trident Island claimed by Vietnam.

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