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Five things to watch in Trump's first rally since FBI search

Former President Trump on Saturday will hold his first rally since the FBI searched his home in Florida.

Trump is ostensibly heading to Pennsylvania to help boost support for the teetering campaigns of Senate candidate Mehmet Oz and gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, both of whom he backed in primary races. 

But Trump is expected to unleash on President Biden, the Department of Justice and the FBI in a speech that will take place two days after Biden described Trump and his movement as an urgent threat to democracy.

Here are five things to watch:

How does Trump address the FBI search

Saturday’s event in Wilkes-Barre will be Trump’s first political rally since FBI agents searched his Mar-a-Lago estate on Aug. 8.

The former president has addressed the search at length on Truth Social, his fledgling social media platform, but he has yet to speak about it in front of throngs of energized supporters, where Trump tends to use his most bombastic and incendiary rhetoric.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) in filings has laid out how it spent months unsuccessfully trying to get sensitive government documents back from Trump after he left office, culminating in the August search. A redacted affidavit indicated that the government received 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago with dozens of documents marked “secret” or “top secret,” raising concerns that additional highly sensitive materials were still at the residence and prompting the search.

The legal battle over Trump’s retention of government materials is still playing out in court as his team seeks to draw out the government’s investigation.

But Trump on Saturday is likely to whip his supporters into a frenzy, railing against the politicization of the FBI and DOJ and arguing he is the victim of a political witch hunt intended to discourage him from running for president in 2024.

How does Trump respond to Biden warning he’s a threat to democracy

Trump will travel to just outside Biden’s hometown of Scranton two days after the president spoke in Philadelphia and described the former president’s political movement as a grave threat to American democracy.

“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said in Philadelphia on Thursday, clarifying on Friday he was not saying all Trump voters posed a threat to the country.

Biden highlighted Trump’s proclivity for casting doubt on election results, elevating conspiracy theories and attacking law enforcement, most recently over the search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. 

Trump is likely to hit back at Biden when he takes the stage on Saturday night, according to one official close to the former president, framing the president’s remarks as a divisive attack on millions of Trump voters.

“Someone should explain to Joe Biden, slowly but passionately, that MAGA means, as powerfully as mere words can get, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump posted on Truth Social after Biden’s speech. “If he doesn’t want to Make America Great Again, which through words, action, and thought, he doesn’t, then he certainly should not be representing the United States of America!”

The expected back-and-forth between Biden and Trump underscores the degree to which the White House is trying to make the midterms a referendum on the former president as he backs candidates like Oz and Mastriano, the latter of which has repeatedly cast doubt on the 2020 election results.

It also serves as a preview of a potential 2024 presidential race as Trump mulls another bid and Biden indicates he will seek re-election.

A Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday found Biden leading Trump by 6 percentage points in a hypothetical rematch of the 2020 election.

Trump looks to boost Oz and Mastriano

The primary purpose of Saturday’s rally is for Trump to boost the candidacies of Oz and Mastriano as polls show both trailing their Democratic rivals.

Oz in particular has struggled to gain traction since Trump’s endorsement helped propel him to victory in a competitive primary over David McCormick, who had the support of other Trump administration officials.

A FiveThirtyEight average of polls shows Democrat John Fetterman leading Oz by 8 percentage points, 48 to 40 and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report last week moved the race from “toss-up” to “lean Democrat.”

Fetterman has spent limited time on the campaign trail in recent weeks as he recovers from a stroke he suffered just before the primary, something the Oz campaign has seized on. But Oz has struggled to win over voters given his loose ties to Pennsylvania, and a boost from Trump could be critical to help close the gap.

Mastriano, meanwhile, has fully embraced Trump’s rhetoric about the 2020 election and other policies backed by the former president. Trump’s appearance on Saturday is certain to further solidify support for Mastriano among the base, but it remains to be seen if Mastriano can win over enough moderate voters to defeat Democratic rival Josh Shapiro.

A poll last week from Emerson College Polling shows Shapiro, the current attorney general, with a 47-44 lead over Mastriano with 6 percent of respondents undecided.

Trump kicks off his general election push

Trump was active in the primaries, endorsing candidates and joining them in person before primary days, but Saturday will mark the former president’s first general election rally of the 2022 midterm cycle.

Sources in Trump’s orbit indicated he is likely to travel to battleground states in the two months remaining before Election Day, particularly states with races involving his endorsed candidates that are likely to be competitive, like North Carolina, Michigan and Georgia.

Senate races in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, in particular, could help determine control of the Senate for the next two years, and each features candidates endorsed by Trump.

The former president remains very popular among Republicans, and GOP leaders will rely on him to help boost turnout.

One potential issue, however, is that Republicans have tended to underperform in elections where Trump himself is not on the ballot, such as the 2018 midterms and recent special House elections won by Democrats. Republicans hope that an active Trump in the next two months will lead to high turnout.

One former Trump campaign adviser also noted that how the former president’s preferred candidates fare could be a major factor in how easily Trump is able to clear the GOP field ahead of a 2024 primary. If several of his candidates lose and his influence appears to be diminished, it could embolden other Republicans interested in seeking the presidency, the official reasoned.

Rally underscores Pennsylvania’s importance

The presence of both Trump and Biden in Pennsylvania within days of each other reinforces the political importance of the Keystone State.

Trump’s rally on Saturday is being sandwiched by two visits from Biden. The president was in Philadelphia on Thursday for his speech about democracy, and he will travel Monday to Pittsburgh to mark Labor Day. Trump may also return to the state for another rally for Oz and Mastriano before November’s elections.

Pennsylvania was pivotal in deciding the presidency in 2016 and 2020, it will be a potential turning point in control of the Senate in 2022 and it will likely be a fierce battleground in 2024.

Biden carried Pennsylvania by roughly 80,000 votes, but the state was a major target of attacks from Trump and his allies after it took days to finish counting votes and determine the winner.

Given the state’s rules about when it starts counting mail ballots and other forms of early voting, a close race could provide another opening for Trump and his supporters to levy baseless claims of fraud should his preferred candidates lose.

Source: TEST FEED1

Energy & Environment — McCarthy leaving, Podesta joining WH climate team 

Former Clinton aide John Podesta will join the White House climate team and current climate adviser Gina McCarthy will exit. Meanwhile, the G-7 has agreed to try to cap the price of Russian oil and fighting near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plan is causing concern.  

This is Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. 

Programming note: There will be no Overnight Energy & Environment on Monday in observance of Labor Day. We’ll be back on Tuesday. 

Podesta to oversee climate, clean energy enactment

White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy will depart from her role later this month and former Clinton aide John Podesta will join the climate team.  

McCarthy will leave her post on Sept. 16 and be replaced as National Climate Advisor by her deputy Ali Zaidi. 

Podesta will oversee the implementation of the climate and clean energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, the major climate legislation Biden recently signed.  

Some brief bios: Podesta was chief of staff to then-President Bill Clinton and later chaired Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. During the 2016 campaign, the website WikiLeaks posted emails that had been hacked from his account.   

Podesta, whose title will be senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation, is currently chair of the board of directors for the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.  

McCarthy’s appointment was announced prior to Biden’s inauguration, and she has been with the Biden administration since the start. She has helped guide the administration’s climate policy, including pushing for climate legislation. 

Her exit comes after President Biden signed a bill that invests nearly $370 billion in climate and energy spending across the finish line. That bill is expected to boost the deployment of clean energy and help bring the country closer to its climate targets.

Zaidi, who will take over for McCarthy is currently her second-in-command. Previously, he served in the

• Zaidi, who will take over for McCarthy, is currently her second-in-command. Previously, he served in the Obama administration, working in both the Energy Department and the White House. 
• McCarthy previously led the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration. In that role, she signed the first-ever standards to reduce planet-warming emissions from power plants, though this Clean Power Plan never took effect. 

Read more about the climate team shakeup here.  

RELATED: BIDEN NOMINATES REGULATION CHIEF 

President Biden on Friday announced plans to nominate environmental law expert Richard Revesz to lead the small but powerful White House office in charge of overseeing federal regulations.   

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which sits within the White House Office of Management and Budget, has been without a permanent occupant since Biden took office.   

 The White House said Friday that Biden intends to nominate Revesz, the dean emeritus of New York University’s law school, to serve as administrator of the OIRA, capping months of speculation about who the president would tap to serve in the role.   

The office, which reviews proposed and final executive branch regulations, is currently being headed by a career OIRA official, Dominic Mancini.   

Revesz must be confirmed by the Senate, where all Democrats will need to vote in favor of his nomination if Republicans are uniformly opposed to him.   

• If confirmed, Revesz will be a critical figure in advancing the president’s policies — particularly those in the environmental space. 
   
• The position will take on added importance if Democrats lose control of either the House or Senate in the November midterm elections, because in that case Biden will likely lean more heavily on regulations rather than legislation to accomplish his agenda in the next Congress. 

Read more here, from The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant.  

G7 agrees to cap Russian oil price 

The G7 agreed to a price cap on Russian oil Friday as Russia shut a major gas pipeline to Europe, citing maintenance issues, amid the already fraught European energy situation. 

The countries agreed that they would prohibit “services which enable maritime transportation,” like shipping, of oil from Russia if it’s sold at a price higher than the price cap — an attempt to curb Russian profits from the sale of the fuel. 

“Today we confirm our joint political intention to [finalize] and implement a comprehensive prohibition of services which enable maritime transportation of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products globally – the provision of such services would only be allowed if the oil and petroleum products are purchased at or below a price (“the price cap”) determined by the broad coalition of countries adhering to and implementing the price cap,” the group said in a statement sent out by the U.S. Treasury Department Friday. 

The countries did not announce what the price cap would be, saying that this decision would come later. 

Russia’s response: A Kremlin official said in response to plans of the price cap on Friday that Russia would not sell to any countries that participated in the price cap, rejecting any non-market principles associated with the sale of its energy products, Reuters reported. 

• Russia is the third-largest oil producer in the world. Some countries, including the U.S., have already said they will not import Russian oil, but other countries including China and India have continued to provide a market for this oil. 
• The refusal to ship Russian oil not sold below a price cap attempts to cut into these continued profits, Treasury officials said. 

Countries like India and China, which have friendlier positions toward Russia than the West and have declined to condemn the country’s invasion of Ukraine in venues like the United Nations Security Council, could still purchase oil at or above the price set by the cap. 

• But a senior Treasury official said the cap, which is enforced through restrictions on shipping-related industries like marine insurance, is being designed in a way that will still make it more expensive for Russia to sell energy outside of the coalition of participating countries. 
• “If they choose to sell outside of the price cap coalition, it’s going to cost them more to sell because the services will be more expensive, and the countries they’re selling to will know that there’s a lower price out there that they can potentially get,” the official said.   

Analysts are skeptical: Energy market analysts doubt whether the price cap will have a significant effect on global energy prices since Russia has been able to continue selling its oil and gas despite waves of sanctions from the U.S. and Europe. 

“The truth is that Russia is already selling their oil despite all these sanctions,” Phil Flynn, energy analyst with the Price Futures Group, said in an interview with The Hill. “[The price cap] is actually raising the risk to Europe that Russia will cut off their supply, especially when they’re going to be most vulnerable.” 

Read more about the cap here, from Rachel and The Hill’s Tobias Burns. 

Shelling around nuclear plant sparks concerns

The world’s nuclear watchdog is visiting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine this week amid concerns sparked by shelling around the plant.   

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned last month that military action around the plant raised “very real risk of nuclear disaster.”  

• Experts say the effects of such a disaster could lead to radiation leakage that affects the local communities but would most likely not lead to a global catastrophe.   
• “The kind of shelling we’re seeing should not be a significant impact on the reactors. In the way that it’s being done now, which is, you know, occasional shelling,” said Jonathan Cobb, senior communication manager at the World Nuclear Association. 

The Zaporizhzhia plant — the largest nuclear plant in Europe — is directly on the front lines of the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.   

The IAEA’s visit comes days after Ukraine warned of “renewed shelling.” In a statement released Aug. 28, the IAEA said the shelling hit the area of the plant’s “two special buildings” which house facilities like water treatment plants, equipment repair shops and waste management facilities.   

All clear for now: All measurements of radioactivity at the site were within normal range, and there was “no indication of any hydrogen leakage.”    

• There have only been two major accidents related to nuclear reactors in history. The first was Chernobyl in 1986, when a reactor when out of control during a test, leading it to explode.   
• More recently, in March 2011, Japan was hit by a major earthquake followed by a tsunami that led to power loss at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The power led to the cooling systems failing in three reactors, causing the core to overheat.   

Fukushima, not Chernobyl. Experts say the worst-case scenario at Zaporizhzhia would look more like what happened in Fukushima rather than what happened in Chernobyl.    

Fighting between the Russians and Ukrainians could disrupt the cooling mechanism of the reactors, which could cause the core to overheat, leading it to melt — often referred to as a nuclear meltdown.   

But getting to a nuclear meltdown would take a major event, experts say, because the reactors themselves have six-feet-thick concrete containment vessels protecting them.   

• “At least in theory, if even if there was a direct hit, there would be at least some protection,” said Mitchel Wallerstein, a nonresident senior fellow at The Chicago Council.   
• The greatest concern in such a scenario is for the local population that lives around the area.   

The Ukrainian government has reportedly begun distributing potassium iodide pills, which help prevent inhaled or swallowed radioactive iodine from being absorbed by the thyroid — a gland located in the neck that makes hormones to help to regulate the many functions of the body, such as its metabolic rate. Exposure to radiation can increase the risk of developing thyroid cancer.   

Read more here from The Hill’s Jordan Williams. 

ON TAP NEXT WEEK

Wednesday 

• The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on bills related to preventing new regulations for livestock and motor sports, and that would create a grant program for mitigating impacts of wildfire smoke 
• The Senate EPW Committee will also hold a confirmation hearing on nominees for the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Texas’ heat index could reach 125 degrees over the next 30 years, study finds (The Texas Tribune) 
• What makes this California heat wave exceptional (SFGate) 
• Scientists detect second ‘vast’ methane leak at Pemex oil field in Mexico (Reuters) 
• Tire Pollution Will Get Worse As Heavy EVs Hit the Road (Jalopnik) 
• Hurricane-free August was extremely rare. Don’t relax yet, experts say. (NOLA.com) 

😂 Lighter click: Kerry’s got jokes

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Energy & Environment page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you next week.  

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Health Care — White House makes new push to fund health battles

Now that the pumpkin-spiced latté has returned, you can take your love of fall even further with these pumpkin-shaped Dutch ovens that Twitter has fallen in love with. 

Today in health, we’ll look at the White House requesting billions in new funding to respond to both the coronavirus and monkeypox, with “difficult decisions” looming if more resources aren’t available.

Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. For The Hill, we’re Peter Sullivan, Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Subscribe here.

A note from the authors: It is Peter’s last day on this newsletter. He says thanks for reading and Nate and Joseph will carry on well!

Biden asks for billions in COVID, monkeypox funding

There’s a new twist in the ongoing fight for COVID-19 funding.  

The White House is set to request $22.4 billion in funding for the COVID-19 response effort and $3.9 billion for the monkeypox response effort in the form of emergency funding from Congress, senior administration officials announced on Friday. 

The updated request for COVID-19 funding is to meet immediate short-term domestic needs, including testing, research and development of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics, according to the White House. It also would support the global response to COVID-19 and help to prepare for future variants. 

“Without additional funding, we will have to make more difficult decisions,” a senior administration official said on Friday. 

Consequences already:  

• The federal government on Friday suspended the program for free COVID-19 tests to be sent to Americans. Officials argued that a lack of funding has prevented them from adequately replenishing national stockpiles of at-home tests.
• Officials said on Friday that while there are some tests available in the stockpile, there is not enough funding to get through a surge in the fall.
• Vaccines will be free into 2023, but the timeline for commercialization of vaccines going forward has had to be accelerated without funding. 

The request to fight monkeypox is to help ensure ready access to vaccinations, testing, treatment and operational support. It also includes $600 million to help combat the spread globally. 

Read more here.  

VA to offer abortion access in limited circumstances

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) on Friday said that it will provide access to abortions to pregnant veterans in limited circumstances. 

In a statement, the department said it submitted an interim final rule in the federal register to allow it to provide access to abortion counseling, as well as the procedure itself for people who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest, or if carrying a pregnancy to term endangers the life of the mother. 

• VA Secretary Denis McDonough called the move a “patient safety decision.” 
• “Pregnant Veterans and VA beneficiaries deserve to have access to world-class reproductive care when they need it most. That’s what our nation owes them, and that’s what we at VA will deliver,” he added. 

A departure from current rules: In its interim final rule, the VA notes that current regulations don’t allow the agency’s Civilian Health and Medical Program (CHAMPVA) program to cover the procedure unless the life of the pregnant person is endangered.

Coverage for abortions for pregnancies resulting from rape and incest is also excluded from CHAMPV, as is abortion counseling.   

The move would cover veterans and benefits under CHAMPVA program, the VA said. The department added that its employees may provide the service regardless of state restrictions as long as they are working within the scope of federal employment. 

Read more here. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT POLIO AS IT RESURFACES 

This year, polio cases have been detected in New York state, London and Jerusalem.

Spread mostly through contact with an infected person’s feces, vaccination is protective against illness, paralysis and death from the polio virus. 

In July, the case in Rockland County in New York was in an otherwise healthy young adult who was unvaccinated but had a confirmed case of poliomyelitis resulting in paralysis in the leg. The county also found the virus in wastewater samples from June.

Symptoms: Most people who are infected will not have visible symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One out of four people may have flu-like symptoms, like sore throat, fever and fatigue. An even smaller number of people may have neurological symptoms because the virus can travel into the spinal cord, including meningitis (infection of covering of spinal cord and/or brain) or paralysis. 

Importance of vaccines: “The best way to keep adults and children polio-free is through safe and effective immunization – New Yorkers’ greatest protection against the worst outcomes of polio, including permanent paralysis and even death,” says New York State Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett. In New York City, there are some pockets where vaccination coverage is under 70 percent in children ages 6 months to 5 years old. 

Read more here.  

DRIED MUSHROOMS RECALLED IN 15 STATES OVER SALMONELLA

An Asian food importer based in Maryland is recalling some of its dried mushrooms due to a potential salmonella contamination.   

Thai Phat Wholesalers is stopping the sale of four types of its “Three Coins Dried Mushrooms” in 15 states: Virginia, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee.   

The specialty retailer issued a recall for the mushrooms on Friday after a routine test from the Maryland Department of Health detected bacteria in some packages.   

• So far, no one has gotten sick from eating any of the “Three Coins Dried Mushrooms” but Thai Phat is urging people to not purchase the product or return them for a full refund.
• Most people who become infected with salmonella will suffer from stomach cramps, fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and recover within a week, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Read more here. 

WHO: Monkeypox drop proves outbreak can be stopped

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that the recent decline in monkeypox cases that has been observed in North America and Europe is evidence that the current outbreak can be stopped or eliminated outright.

Tedros made note of how monkeypox has quickly gone from being a little-known virus that was often only discussed within the context of countries where it is endemic. 

Historic numbers: With over 50,000 cases and 16 deaths due to monkeypox confirmed this year, Tedros said the number of cases has already exceeded the number of reported infections in the years since monkeypox was first identified in 1958. 

“It’s encouraging to see that in some countries in Europe and North America we now see a sustained decline in cases, demonstrating the effectiveness of public health interventions and community engagement to track infections and prevent transmission,” said Tedros. 

• According to information from the European Union, reported monkeypox cases have seen a continued decline since peaking in mid-July. The current number of reported cases in EU countries now reflect the levels that were observed in the early parts of the outbreak.
• Throughout the monkeypox outbreak, the U.S. has tended to follow the epidemiological trends observed in Europe. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has indicated a slight decline in reported cases in recent weeks. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said last week that she was “cautiously optimistic,” though the rate of increase is uneven across the country. 

“These signs confirm what we have said consistently since the beginning: that with the right measures, this is an outbreak that can be stopped,” Tedros said. “And in regions that do not have animal-to-human transmission, this is a virus that can be eliminated.” 

Read more here. 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Study raises concerns about the effectiveness of the monkeypox vaccine (Stat) 
• There’s no bad time to get a new COVID booster if you’re eligible, CDC director says (NPR) 
• Biden administration is preparing for the end of free COVID-19 vaccines as funds run dry (CBS News) 

STATE BY STATE

• 2 residents of California assisted living facilities die after separate accidental poisoning incidents (NBC News) 
• Pa.’s Health Department is distributing free potassium iodide tablets to residents (WFMZ-TV) 
• New Mexico to build $10 million abortion clinic near Texas border (Midland Reporter-Telegram) 

OP-ED IN THE HILL

As overdose crisis rages, we must prioritize saving lives with harm reduction  

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Health Care page for the latest news and coverage.

Programming note: This newsletter will pick up again on Tuesday after the holiday weekend. See you next week!

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Source: TEST FEED1

Parler app available again in Google Play Store

The social media platform Parler is available again for users to download from the Google Play store a year and a half after the app was removed, the company said Friday. 

Parler, which boasts its limited content moderation measures, was banned from the app store since January 2021 over a lack of moderation on posts that were deemed to incite violence around the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. 

“While away from Google Play, we have worked diligently to build a more feature-rich and dynamic user experience. Now is a perfect time to join Parler and rediscover the non-partisan platform where we enable people to speak freely,” Parler’s chief technology officer Sam Lipoff said in a tweeted statement. 

Google’s decision to allow Parler back into its store comes after the app reportedly made changes that allow users to block and report others and to actively monitor content for issues like violent speech, Axios reported. 

“As we’ve long stated, apps are able to appear on Google Play provided they comply with Play’s developer policies,” a Google spokesperson told Axios.

The Hill reached out to Google for comment. 

Parler grew in popularity after the 2020 election, attracting a right-wing audience that griped about content moderation measures on mainstream sites like Twitter and Facebook. 

Apple let Parler back in its app store last May. 

Former President Trump’s alternative social media platform Truth Social is facing a similar issue with access to the Google Play store. 

The Truth Social app is not available in the store. A Google spokesperson told The Hill earlier this week that the platform lacks the “effective” content moderation needed to meet the Play store’s terms of service.

Source: TEST FEED1

Hillary Clinton tells CBS News she has ‘no regrets’ staying in marriage

Hillary Clinton says she has “no regrets” about choosing to stay in her marriage to former President Bill Clinton. 

The 42nd president’s affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky in the 1990s ignited a media firestorm and launched the already heavily scrutinized Clinton marriage back into the spotlight.

Asked about previous comments she’s made that choosing to stay wedded to her husband was the “gutsiest” thing she’s ever done, Clinton told CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell the decision rocked her personal life.

“I guess I was surprised that you said that staying in your marriage was gutsier than running for president,” O’Donnell, the anchor of “CBS Evening News,” said to Clinton in a preview clip from an interview airing Friday and obtained exclusively by ITK.

“Well, it was, in terms of my private life, it was really hard. And as you know, everybody had an opinion about it. People who I never met had very strong opinions about it,” the former secretary of State replied.

The ex-first lady, who tied the knot with her husband in 1975, sat down with O’Donnell and daughter Chelsea Clinton to promote the pair’s forthcoming Apple TV+ docuseries, “Gutsy.”

“And it took a lot of, honestly, prayer, and thoughtfulness, and talking to people I totally trusted, to really think through — because it was all being done in public,” Clinton, 74, said. 

“So it made it even more painful and difficult,” Clinton continued. 

“But I have no regrets,” she said.

More of the interview with Clinton is poised to air Friday on “CBS Evening News,” as well as on “CBS Sunday Morning” and on O’Donnell’s new streaming show, “Person to Person,” on Tuesday.

Source: TEST FEED1

Defense & National Security — VA to allow abortions in certain cases

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) announced that it will provide access to abortions for certain veterans and beneficiaries “regardless of state restrictions.” 

We’ll share the details of that decision, plus we’ll pull back the curtain on the Ukrainian military commanders holding the front line in the country’s south and the east. Also, we’ll examine the new information about the volume of documents former President Trump stored in his personal office at Mar-a-Lago, then we’ll look at how the U.S. military is responding to the deadly floods in Pakistan. 

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

VA will provide abortions in limited circumstances

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) on Friday said that it will provide access to abortions to pregnant veterans in limited circumstances. 

In a statement, the department said it submitted an interim final rule in the federal register to allow it to provide access to abortion counseling, as well as the procedure itself for people who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest, or if carrying a pregnancy to term endangers the life of the mother. 

When will it happen?: The department said the services would be authorized immediately after the final rule is published, and it will be made available for public comment for 30 days following publication. 

The VA’s reasoning: VA Secretary Denis McDonough called the move a “patient safety decision.” 

“Pregnant Veterans and VA beneficiaries deserve to have access to world-class reproductive care when they need it most. That’s what our nation owes them, and that’s what we at VA will deliver,” he added. 

Background: The move comes as trigger bans on abortion take effect across the country weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — the 1973 ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. 

The changes: In its interim final rule, the VA notes that current regulations don’t allow the agency’s Civilian Health and Medical Program (CHAMPVA) program to cover the procedure unless the life of the pregnant person is endangered. 

Coverage for abortions for pregnancies resulting from rape and incest is also excluded from CHAMPV, as is abortion counseling.   

The move would cover veterans and benefits under CHAMPVA program, the VA said. The department added that its employees may provide the service regardless of state restrictions as long as they are working within the scope of federal employment. 

Read the full story here 

WAR IN UKRAINE

Three nights with volunteers supplying the frontlines 

Dispatch from The Hill’s Laura Kelly: 

It’s nearly 9 p.m. when the Ukrainian commander who calls himself “The Greek” brings our group to a makeshift workshop in the east of Ukraine, where soldiers are tinkering with improvised explosive devices.  

The apparent head of the workshop, an engineer in his life before the war, welcomes us into a room that’s been repurposed from its original, civilian use — its exact description withheld for security purposes — but it looks distinctly like an arts and crafts center of death. 

Materials for mixing explosives and their components, grenades and fuses with English-language descriptions, are all neatly organized on bookshelves and in see-through plastic containers that one would find in a kitchen or classroom. 

Holding the line: The engineer is keen to talk to Jonas Öhman, the founder of the Blue/Yellow nongovernmental organization that, since 2014, has provided nonlethal support to Ukraine’s front-line troops — part of a volunteer force that has mushroomed since Russia’s invasion in February to keep Ukrainian forces fed, clothed, supplied and sane.  

I traveled with Öhman, along with his colleague and driver, Gabrielius Merzinskis, over the course of three days — between Aug. 19 and 21 — visiting with Ukrainian military commanders holding the front line in the south and the east. 

Read the full story here 

Also from The Hill: 

• Why the world is worried about a nuclear disaster in Ukraine 
• White House asks Congress for $13.7B in Ukraine-related funding 

Unsealed inventory details Mar-a-Lago recovery

Justice Department records unsealed on Friday offer new details about the volume of documents former President Trump stored in his personal office at Mar-a-Lago, as well as other items seized during the search of his Florida home. 

The filing underscores just how many presidential records Trump was storing at his home and offers a breakdown of the more than 100 classified documents the Department of Justice (DOJ) says it recovered from Mar-a-Lago. 

What was found: FBI agents found 43 empty folders with classified banners in Trump’s personal office as well as another 28 empty folders that were labeled “return to staff secretary/military aide,” according to the inventory. 

The records were unsealed Friday by order of a federal judge who is reviewing a request from Trump to appoint a third-party special master to review the evidence seized, including a motion to block the FBI’s investigation during that review. 

What we know now: The inventory offers few new details about the classified materials themselves stored at Mar-a-Lago, but it does shed light on the extent classified materials were intermixed with Trump’s personal belongings. 

• A brief filed by the government just before midnight Tuesday indicated they found three classified records within Trump’s very own desk.
• But the Friday inventory details in broad strokes the others that were found within his office: three documents marked confidential, 17 documents marked secret and seven documents marked top-secret. 

Their location in Trump’s office could be significant to the Justice Department’s investigation, particularly after it alleged earlier this week that items were “likely concealed and removed.” 

Read that story here 

US sending team to Pakistan amid deadly floods 

The U.S. military is sending a team to Pakistan to figure out what support the Pentagon could provide amid deadly floods that have covered more than one-third of the country, the Defense Department announced Friday.   

U.S. Central Command will send the team to Islamabad to determine how the Pentagon can help the U.S. Agency for International Development as part of Washington’s response to the crisis, the command’s top spokesperson, Col. Joe Buccino, said in a statement. 

Devastation: Floods that began in mid-June have ravaged Pakistan, and satellite images this week showed more than one-third of the country under water. 

The flooding has killed more than 1,100 people — at least 400 of them children — affected more than 33 million people and destroyed millions of acres of crops and hundreds of thousands of livestock, setting the country up for a major food shortage and humanitarian crisis.  

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called the floods “the worst in the country’s history,” estimating that the disaster has caused more than $10 billion in damages. 

Read that story here 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• White House defends presence of Marines at Biden speech 
• READ: Full inventory of documents seized in Trump search 
• Biden to host summit with Pacific island nations this month 
• Barr defends DOJ in Trump investigation: ‘They probably have pretty good evidence’ 
• UN report finds possible ‘crimes against humanity’ in China’s Xinjiang 

That’s it for today! Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you next week!

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Jane Fonda announces non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis

Jane Fonda says she refuses to let a cancer diagnosis “interfere” with her climate and political activism.

The “Grace and Frankie” actor shared with her nearly 2 million Instagram followers on Friday that she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and has begun chemotherapy treatment.

“This is a very treatable cancer,” Fonda, 84, said.

“I’m also lucky because I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments. I realize, and it’s painful, that I am privileged in this,” Fonda said.

“Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don’t have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right,” the performer said.

Fonda said her chemotherapy would continue for six months while telling fans she is “handling the treatments quite well and, believe me, I will not let any of this interfere with my climate activism.”

Fonda launched her eponymous climate-focused PAC earlier this year. She was arrested multiple times while leading her “Fire Drill Fridays” climate change protests in Washington in 2019.

“We’re living through the most consequential time in human history because what we do or don’t do right now will determine what kind of future there will be and I will not allow cancer to keep me from doing all I can, using every tool in my toolbox,” Fonda said in her Instagram post.

“The midterms are looming,” Fonda said of the November elections, “and they are beyond consequential so you can count on me to be right there together with you as we grow our army of climate champions.”

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Biden to nominate environmental law expert to lead powerful regulations office

President Biden on Friday announced plans to nominate environmental law expert Richard Revesz to lead the small but powerful White House office in charge of overseeing federal regulations.  

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which sits within the White House Office of Management and Budget, has been without a permanent occupant since Biden took office.  

The White House said Friday that Biden intends to nominate Revesz, the dean emeritus of New York University’s law school, to serve as administrator of OIRA, capping months of speculation about who the president would tap to serve in the role.  

Revesz has extensive experience in environmental law and policy, having written several books on the topic. He served as dean of the NYU law school between 2002 and 2013 and also founded the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU.  

The office, which reviews proposed and final executive branch regulations, is currently being headed by a career OIRA official, Dominic Mancini.  

Revesz will need to be confirmed by the Senate, where all Democrats will need to vote in favor of his nomination if Republicans are uniformly opposed to him.  

If confirmed, Revesz will be a critical figure in advancing the president’s policies and particularly those in the environmental space.  

The position will take on added importance if Democrats lose control of either the House or Senate in the November midterm elections, because in that case Biden will likely lean more heavily on regulations rather than legislation to accomplish his agenda in the next Congress.

Source: TEST FEED1

Mark Kelly votes like a California liberal — not an Arizonan

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) likes to pretend he’s a moderate everyman in a black t-shirt who aligns with Arizona voters. But his partisan record tells a different story. Since he was elected, Kelly has voted with Joe Biden 94 percent of the time — and Arizonans have paid the price. 

Voters in the Grand Canyon State see through Kelly’s masquerade. On Election Day, they’ll reject his radical agenda.  

Arizona has some of the worst inflation in the country, with prices skyrocketing for everything from kitchen staples to back-to-school supplies. Residents are on track to pay nearly $10,000 more in added costs annually. That’s over $800 per month. In fact, Maricopa and Pinal Counties have had the worst inflation of any tracked metro area in the continental U.S., with prices spiking 12 percent. It’s no wonder voters say inflation and the economy are their top issues going into the election. 

But Kelly has only made matters worse. He cast the deciding vote for Biden’s wasteful spending spree that fueled inflation. He helped Biden spend nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money sending stimulus checks to criminals in prison — including the Boston Marathon Bomber. He voted for Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which will only raise taxes on families during a recession and hire 87,000 new IRS agents, increasing audits on the middle class. All of this heaps additional pressure on hardworking Arizonans.

Voters are getting sticker shock at the gas pump too, thanks to Kelly rubber-stamping Biden’s war on American energy production. Kelly voted to shut down the Keystone XL pipeline four times. He supported a ban on fracking three times. He blocked new energy production on federal lands. And he opposed an effort to stop Biden’s irresponsible scheme to ship oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to foreign countries, including China. As a result, gas prices in Arizona are roughly $4.00 per gallon. Basic tasks like driving to work now cost a small fortune.

Arizonans are also less safe thanks to the Biden-Kelly border crisis. Democrats’ open-borders agenda has made the situation the worst in modern history. Fentanyl seizures doubled last year, meaning even more drugs are making it through undetected. Smugglers now appear to be targeting children with candy-like fentanyl pills — weeks before Halloween. At least 53 murderers, 66 terrorism suspects and 283 sex offenders have entered the country through gaps in our border since October. Meanwhile, Arizona families in border towns are dealing with the “worst criminal activity” they’ve ever seen. 

But Kelly refuses to do the bare minimum. He voted to defund border wall construction three times. He refused to renew Title 42, the last bastion of President Trump’s border policy that immediately deported illegal immigrants. He declined to hire additional Border Patrol agents despite funding “sanctuary cities” and giving illegal immigrants with social security numbers taxpayer-paid stimulus checks. And he broke his promise to make the Biden administration pay for the Arizona National Guard troops Governor Ducey deployed to the border.

As the 50th vote in a split Senate, Kelly could have shielded Arizona from Biden’s destructive wish list. Instead, he’s ratified almost every Biden policy that’s come his way. That might resonate in deep blue California. But in Arizona, it simply exposes just how out-of-touch Kelly really is. 

Voters want a senator who is truly an independent voice, and they’re finding it in Republican Blake Masters. As a successful businessman, political outsider, and father of three, Masters is running to ensure that families from Tuba City to Sierra Vista can thrive. Not only will he stand up to the radical Left’s destructive policies, but he’ll also go on offense to fix the economy, bring down costs, secure the border, reverse failing schools and stop rising crime. These are the issues that will win the day.

Mark Kelly loves to talk about his time with NASA. But the only space analogies Arizonans care about are the skyrocketing prices they’re paying at the grocery store and the astronomical surge of illegal immigrants pouring over our southern border. Kelly is a blue-state senator trapped in a battleground state. This November, Arizona voters will hold him accountable.

Ronna McDaniel is chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. 

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WHO: Declining monkeypox cases prove outbreak can be stopped or even eliminated

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that the recent decline in monkeypox cases that has been observed in North America and Europe is evidence that the current outbreak can be stopped or eliminated outright.

Tedros made note of how monkeypox has quickly grown in prominence from being a little-known virus that was often only discussed within the context of countries where it is endemic.

With over 50,000 cases and 16 deaths due to monkeypox confirmed this year, Tedros said the number of cases has already exceeded the number of reported infections in the years since monkeypox was first identified in 1958.

“It’s encouraging to see that in some countries in Europe and North America we now see a sustained decline in cases, demonstrating the effectiveness of public health interventions and community engagement to track infections and prevent transmission,” said Tedros.

According to information from the European Union, reported monkeypox cases have seen a continued decline since peaking in mid-July. The current number of reported cases in EU countries now reflects the levels that were observed in the early parts of the outbreak.

Throughout the monkeypox outbreak, the U.S. has tended to follow the epidemiological trends observed in Europe. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has indicated a slight decline in reported cases in recent weeks. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said last week that she was “cautiously optimistic,” though the rate of decrease is uneven across the country.

“These signs confirm what we have said consistently since the beginning: that with the right measures, this is an outbreak that can be stopped,” Tedros said. “And in regions that do not have animal-to-human transmission, this is a virus that can be eliminated.”

Health officials in the U.S. have attributed this recent decline to a combination of early vaccination efforts as well as a change in behavior among men who have sex with men (MSM), the demographic most affected by the current outbreak. A CDC survey found that about half of men who have sex with men have reduced their number of sexual encounters and partners due to the outbreak.

Tedros commented on Friday that the MSM community is “highly resilient,” as evidenced by its decades-long collaboration with the WHO to fight the spread of HIV.

“These communities are highly resilient, and are often health literate, well-organized and proactive in managing sexual health,” he said. “We learn from working with you.”

Source: TEST FEED1