Good Morning DC!
Friday is the happiest day in Washington DC since President Biden promised us it would be a news dump day.
Yesterday, I spoke in a distinguished panel at London City University alongside Inderjeet Parmar, Stephen Semler, and Jane Singer about the legacy of Trump and the first 100 days of Joe Biden. It was a refreshing experience to exchange views with academics who, unlike the members of the DC media, are not politically zealous and are ready to look at the deep-seated issues America is facing post-Trump.
The audience was welcoming and asking deep questions, wanting to understand things. Quite a novelty in the last five years I have experienced as the White House Correspondent. What I am getting at is that normalcy matters, critical conversations matter, journalistic values matter, and being able to be fair-minded and not speak in the hyperbole of Biden’s presidency, matters.
To echo Elizabeth Wurtzel: “I don’t say the same things everyone else is saying, and then keep saying them repeatedly, redundantly, over and over again, on and on, on TV.”
I say what I want to say. I cannot be bossed around. How’s that for independent kick-ass journalism?
Now let’s look at the news of the day, shall we?
Yesterday, before boarding Marine One at The Ellipse President Biden stopped and picked up a dandelion from the ground and handed it to Jill. As the first couple shows, old-fashioned romance never goes out of style.
In Georgia, President Biden and the First Lady spent about 45min with the Carters at their home in Plains.
How did the visit come about? President Biden spoke to President Carter the night before the inauguration. Since the Carters were not able to attend, they agreed to connect after the inauguration. Since the Bidens were in Georgia, they decided to stop by and say hello.
Biden said that it was great to see Jimmy Carter. “We sat and talked about the old days…His health has gotten better.”
President Biden and Senator Capito spoke by phone, Good Morning DC has learned. “They had a warm, friendly conversation and continued their dialogue about infrastructure and jobs, reiterating their willingness to negotiate,” said a White House official. Capito and Biden will most likely meet next week at the White House.
Rudy Guliani is back in the headlines.
In an exclusive interview with TODAY show co-anchor Craig Melvin at the White House on Thursday, President Joe Biden said that he was not briefed about the search warrants executed at Rudy Giuliani’s apartment and office.
“I made a pledge,” Biden said. “I would not interfere in any way — order or try to stop any investigation the Justice Department had in their way. I learned about that last night when the rest of the world learned about it.”
Will Giuliani flip on Trump? Michael Cohen thinks so. “He’s been involved in some very, very shady stuff and now it’s all gonna come out,” Cohen said during a CNN appearance.
“Rudy’s been shady for a long time,” Cohen said.
“Rudy’s an idiot, he drinks too much and he acts in an erratic manner,” Cohen said. “Who knows what’s on those telephones and computers?”
America, get the popcorn!
Liz Cheney is on the Twitter apology tour after being criticized by the Republicans for getting too cozy with President Joe Biden.
“I disagree strongly w/@JoeBiden policies, but when the President reaches out to greet me in the chamber of the US House of Representatives, I will always respond in a civil, respectful & dignified way,” said Cheney. “We’re different political parties. We’re not sworn enemies. We’re Americans.”
Amid the covid-19 crisis in India, Priyanka Chopra made a public call for support and donations.
“#TogetherForIndia….”, she twitted. “Thank you all for your support and donations. Your contributions are going to make a tangible difference in this fight against the vicious spread of Covid 19 in India. There is so much left to do and we hope that this momentum we have built will continue.”
Supplies worth over $100 million are getting delivered by the US to India, and flights “will continue into next week,” Ned Price confirmed on behalf of the State Department.
President Biden spoke to Prime Minister Modi in recent days. Secretary Blinken has engaged with his foreign minister counterpart, Jaishankar, several times as well. Secretary Kerry was in India not all that long ago to discuss climate. Secretary Austin, the Secretary of Defense, was in India too.
Clearly, India-U.S. relations are on the up and up despite the fact that PM Modi had a bromance with the “former guy”.
In the meantime, the first case of the Covid-19 Indian variant has been detected in France.
Laura K. Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, spoke at the Atlantic Council panel and said that the US is “determined to impose costs for Russia’s destabilizing behavior” around the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
What will Biden do today?
At 10:00 AM, the President will get the President’s Daily Brief in the Oval Office.
At 12:05 PM, the President and the First Lady will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
At 2:30 PM, the President will deliver remarks at an event marking Amtrak’s 50th Anniversary as part of the Getting America Back on Track Tour at the William H. Gray III 30th Street Station.
At 3:40 PM the President will depart Philadelphia, Pennsylvania en route to Wilmington, Delaware, where he will remain over the weekend.
At 11:00 AM ET, the White House COVID-19 Response Team will hold a press briefing to provide updates on the COVID-19 response effort.
What will Jill Biden do today?
At 10:30 AM ET, the First Lady will participate in tree planting at the White House by the National Park Service.
The First Lady will be joined by members of the National Park Service and White House Executive Residence staff:
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Kym Hall, National Capital Area Director, National Park Service
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John Stanwich, National Park Service Liaison to the White House
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Katie Hinson, Deputy Chief Usher, The White House
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Dale Haney, Grounds Superintendent, The White House
Heads up:
President Biden will welcome the Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in to the White House on May 21, 2021.
And that’s a wrap for this Friday morning, April 30, 2021. Thank you for waking up with me. Good Morning DC will be back on Monday to bring you the latest first.
CBS/YouGov POLL
The CBS/YouGov poll released before Wednesday’s address showed Biden’s approval at 58 percent with 42 percent disapproval, roughly the same as Morning Consult’s most recent poll (57 approval and 39 percent disapproval).
Morning Consult also reports that 67 percent say Biden’s handling the pandemic is going very well or somewhat well, while CBS/YouGov reports that he drew 58 percent approval for his infrastructure plan, 57 percent for his handling of the economy and 55 percent for race relations.
By 77 percent to 23 percent, Americans approve of his withdrawal from Afghanistan.
CNN 2021 SOTU Reaction Poll HOWEVER….
BIDEN VS TRUMP
