The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Biden to tour Ida’s northeast wrath; AG warns Texas on abortion law

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Total U.S. coronavirus deaths each morning this week: Monday, 648,472; Tuesday, 649,003.

President Biden today will visit parts of New Jersey and New York City pummeled last week when the remnants of Hurricane Ida surprised East Coast states with flash flooding, high winds and tornadoes that together killed at least 27 people in the Garden State and 13 in the Big Apple (The Associated Press). 

 

Biden on Friday toured Ida’s devastation in Louisiana (pictured above) (The Hill). New Orleans isn’t expected to see its electricity restored until Wednesday (The Associated Press) and officials last week warned people returning to the Big Easy to be prepared to exist like survivalists with scarce power, water and food and hours-long waits for gasoline.   

 

At least 50 people were killed in six Northeastern states as record rainfall Wednesday overwhelmed rivers, highways, public transportation and drainage systems. Tornadoes in New Jersey exploded houses (below) and touched down with 125 mph winds to mow through one Maryland county. In New York City, people within minutes were trapped in fast-filling basement apartments, drowned inside cars, and swept away as they scrambled to escape. 

 

 

 

 

On Monday, the president approved major disaster declarations that unlocked federal aid for people in six New Jersey counties and five New York counties. The president will return to New York City on Saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) on Monday said the federal government’s declaration will allow people in his state to receive assistance, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. Even residents who did not have insurance coverage will be eligible for money to repair their homes. The aid can also cover legal services, unemployment assistance and crisis counseling. 

 

Murphy announced a $10 million fund available immediately to businesses across the state dealing with flooding. Grants of up to $5,000 will be available starting next week (CBS New York).

 

Murphy specifically urged affected residents and business owners in Gloucester, Hunterdon, Bergen, Middlesex, Passaic and Somerset counties to begin their application process on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website. “We also urge residents outside of the six counties to register their information at nj.gov/ida so that we can be ready to get dollars into the hands of additional New Jerseyans as soon as we are able,” he added (ABC 6).

 

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) estimated that her state sustained at least $50 million in damages from Ida’s wrath (The New York Times). She launched the site ny.gov/ida to help New Yorkers find assistance. She also directed $378 million in previously awarded hazard mitigation funds provided by FEMA to help bolster the state’s infrastructure against the hazards of “extreme weather.”

 

Biden, governors and mayors working to help those in affected communities last week expressed both surprise at the hurricane’s deadly impact 1,000 miles from where the storm made landfall — and certainty that such destruction is bound to recur because of greenhouse gases and a rapidly warming planet. 

 

In a nation experiencing extreme heat, drought, wildfires and unpredictable storms, the debate has moved beyond causation to mitigation and prevention, including major investments in infrastructure and curbs on human activities that contribute to climate change. 

 

The New York Times: No one living in one Queens, N.Y., block was spared in the Ida-created flood.

 

Reuters: Flash floods threaten U.S. Southern states already deluged by Hurricane Ida as thunderstorms and slow-moving rain follow.

 

 

 

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LEADING THE DAY

ABORTION POLITICS: The Justice Department on Monday said it will investigate and prosecute violence aimed at anyone who seeks an abortion or violence affecting individuals who provide “reproductive health services” in Texas at a time when federal officials are exploring options to challenge a state law that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest.

 

Attorney General Merrick Garland — grasping for an executive branch tool in the wake of a ruling by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority — said the department will act under a federal law known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act as a backstop to protect the rights of Texas women under Roe v. Wade. 

 

Federal prosecutors are weighing options to challenge a restrictive Texas law that impacts women’s access to abortion and empowers unrelated parties to bring lawsuits against those deemed to have provided or assisted an abortion that occurs after six weeks, a time when many women are unaware they are pregnant. Garland said the Justice Department is poised to act “in order to protect the constitutional rights of women and other persons, including access to an abortion.” 

 

The federal law under Garland’s jurisdiction, commonly known as the FACE Act of 1994, prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services. The law also prohibits damage to property at abortion clinics and other reproductive health centers (The Associated Press). The law authorizes the attorney general under the special litigation section of the Civil Rights Division to seek injunctive relief, statutory or compensatory damages and civil penalties against individuals who violate the FACE Act. 

 

The department in the past has worked with U.S. attorneys and state attorneys general by providing technical assistance and conducting joint FACE prosecutions. Officials have been in contact with U.S. attorneys in Texas and the FBI field offices in the state to discuss enforcing the federal provisions, according to the AP. 

 

The Guardian: Some pregnant women in Texas eye clinics in Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico to end pregnancies as the Texas law takes effect.

 

The Associated Press: Some GOP-led states see the Texas law as a model to restrict abortions.

 

The Hill: The city council of Portland, Ore., plans to vote on Wednesday on a proposal that would ban doing business with Texas because of its restrictive abortion law.

 

 

 

 

*****

 

CONGRESS: As some states look to Washington for help, including from Biden’s ambitious $3.5 trillion spending plan, The Hill’s Jordain Carney describes “a nightmare September” ahead when lawmakers reconvene in a few weeks.

 

The high-wire to-do list, packed with nearly impossible deadlines and more than a few lawmaker disputes, could drag on for many months and challenge Democrats’ gossamer hold on unity. The measure, still being drafted in the House, is not a slam-dunk to get to Biden’s desk and could shrink in size and scope. The president needs the votes of every Democrat in the Senate and just about the same in the House — a high hurdle.

 

Carney ticks off some challenges ahead for Democrats: a procedural tether created by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) linking votes on a bipartisan infrastructure bill by Sept. 27 (favored by moderates) and $3.5 trillion in spending and tax changes over a decade (embraced by progressives); the end of the fiscal year in a few weeks; and risks of a U.S. default if a cap on the nation’s borrowing authority isn’t raised. Democrats also vowed to revive a doomed voting rights fight and are expected to wrestle with lingering fallout from the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan last month.

 

The New York Times: From cradle to grave, Democrats in Congress move to expand the social safety net.

 

> Some Democratic lawmakers back additional funding legislatively that would boost global COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing, arguing that the Biden administration needs to do more to fight the pandemic worldwide. A report that the administration has spent only a small fraction of funding already provided for worldwide vaccine manufacturing raised concerns (The Hill).

 

> Congress put in place enhanced jobless benefits worth an additional $600 per week and later $300 per week on top of state benefits during the pandemic. On Monday, those federal benefits expired, impacting an estimated 7.5 million Americans despite the continuation of the public health crisis. Many Americans have found themselves unable to recover from the pandemic’s devastating blow. Congress, the White House and state governments all appear disinclined to intervene anew (The New York Times).

 

“I’m predicting a silent type of pain,” said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank who has studied unemployment insurance benefits. “If past periods have been an indicator, many will be caught in a spiral that will lead to a downward quality of life” (The Washington Post).

 

The Associated Press: Jobless Americans who continue to struggle to find new employment, child care or available transportation during the pandemic will have few options following the expiration of benefits.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

AFGHANISTAN: Four U.S. citizens left Afghanistan by land on Monday in the first negotiated exit by Americans since the U.S. military withdrawal from Kabul on Aug. 31. The Americans were met by U.S. diplomats, but the U.S. government did not reveal which national border the evacuees crossed, noting the Taliban did not interfere. 

 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken (seen below) is in Doha, Qatar, but is not expected to meet with Taliban representatives there. A State Department spokesman said the United States would continue to engage with the Islamist group “to ensure our messaging with them is clear” (France24). Following a meeting with Qatari officials today in Doha, Blinken said the Taliban renewed a pledge to let Afghans “freely depart” (AFP). The Taliban said “they will let people with travel documents freely depart,” Blinken told a news conference in Doha.

 

The Taliban said at a Monday news conference that the announcement of a new Afghan government would happen soon. Also on Monday, Taliban fighters declared they seized Panjshir province, the final holdout of resistance forces in Afghanistan, cementing the group’s total control (The Washington Post).

 

The Wall Street Journal: What does Biden want to talk about in September? Not Afghanistan. 

 

HuffPost: Biden flipped his underpromise/overdeliver script on Afghanistan, with disastrous results.

 

The New York Times: Americans stretch across political divides to welcome Afghan refugees.

 

The New York Times: CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, 41, looks back over the Afghanistan war.

 

 

 

The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@digital-staging.thehill.com and aweaver@digital-staging.thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE! 

OPINION

Texas, abortion and the tyranny of the shadow docket, by Elliot Mincberg, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/3yOOV9s

 

Police don’t deserve an impenetrable legal shield, by Ramesh Ponnuru, columnist, Bloomberg Opinion. https://bloom.bg/3DQzKAn

A MESSAGE FROM FACEBOOK

Why Facebook supports the Honest Ads Act

 

Advertising means something different than it did 25 years ago — the last time comprehensive internet regulations were passed.

 

At Facebook, we’ve already implemented the Ad Library and a 5-step verification process for political advertisers. See why we support passing the Honest Ads Act.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will meet at 10 a.m. for a pro forma session. The full House will not convene until Sept. 20.

 

The Senate meets at 1 p.m. for a pro forma session. Senators are expected back in Washington on Sept. 13.

 

The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 8:30 a.m. He will travel to Manville, N.J., for a tour at 11:40 a.m., to be followed with a similar tour at 4 p.m. in Queens, N.Y., each focused on damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which blew through the Northeast last week. Biden will return to the White House at 7 p.m.

 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Doha, Qatar, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week is meeting with counterparts in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia (The Associated Press). Today, Blinken and Austin meet with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah in Doha. The secretaries held a joint press availability with their counterparts in Doha. Blinken and Austin tour a Doha in-processing center for evacuees. The secretaries meet with the U.S. military and interagency team there. Blinken will visit a Qatari compound in Doha this afternoon. Blinken and Austin will meet with personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Doha and U.S. diplomatic personnel who worked in Afghanistan. Blinken will have dinner with the Qatari deputy prime minister.

 

Guantanamo Bay: U.S. pretrial hearings resume today for five detainees accused of plotting and executing the Sept. 11 terror attacks, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The last in-person hearing in the case occurred in February 2020 (CNN). 

  

Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://digital-staging.thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. ET at Rising on YouTube.

ELSEWHERE

➔ CORONAVIRUS: Lockhart Independent School District south of Austin, Texas, began requiring masks as schools resume instruction this week — the latest district to reject Republican Gov. Greg Abbott‘s ban on coronavirus mandates. Nearly 800 students are in COVID-19 quarantine following 204 active cases of confirmed infections, the majority among students (NBC News). 

 

➔ STATE WATCH: In Texas, the governor today will sign an election integrity bill after battling with Democrats over the controversial legislation. Abbott is seeking reelection to a third term in 2022 and is widely seen as a potential GOP presidential contender in 2024 (Fox News).

 

➔ INTERNATIONAL: Great Britain plans to further extend post-Brexit trade grace periods with Northern Ireland, Brexit minister David Frost said on Monday, in a move designed to give London and Brussels more time for talks (Reuters). … U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in an address to lawmakers today, will propose to raise taxes to pay for expanded social programs (Reuters). … German Ambassador to China Jan Hecker died suddenly at age 54 weeks after assuming his post, Germany announced Monday (CNN). … In France, 20 men will go on trial on Wednesday in a Paris courthouse accused of waging an Islamic State group attack in the city in 2015, killing 130 people (The Associated Press).

THE CLOSER

And finally … We’re rooting for the success of NASA’s Perseverance rover, so here’s an update from Mars: On Sept. 2, the intrepid dynamo drilled a nice hole into a Martian rock in ​​Jezero Crater, but the exceedingly picky rover team on Earth wanted better images to make sure the sample was safely in a tube that will one day be retrieved for study. Thus, new images with better lighting managed to confirm that the rover did, in fact, successfully collect what it was assigned to get from the red planet. It’s the first core sample to be stowed on the rover, which, let’s face it, is nothing if not patient (CNN).