POLITICO NIGHTLY: How will it end?

By Renuka Rayasam

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With help from Myah Ward WHAT’S NEXT — After the protests and looting and police violence, how do we fix what’s been broken? We asked policymakers and thinkers for their thoughts on how to bring the civil unrest of the past week to an end. Here are their thoughts on what comes next. “I’m hopeful this ends with Americans coming together — just like we have done as we work to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and overcome unprecedented economic challenges. Justice needs to be served to all those who are breaking the law — from terrorist organizations like Antifa who are actively engaged in violence to the officers responsible for horrific police brutality.” — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) “Peaceful demonstrations are very important and constructive. It is important that the voices that are being lifted up through the demonstrations be heard by all of America and that we see concrete steps taken to bridge the gulf between police and communities of color. We must reckon with our history because it remains a present-day reality for far too many. Leaders at the local, state and federal level have to recognize the legitimacy of the concerns that are being raised and begin to address them. And the good news is that the solutions are there. There just needs to be the political will and the pressure from the American people to move forward. As for the rioting, the looting and arson, that is totally unacceptable. But this is one of those inflection points where I feel very confident we will come out the other side a better country. What I'm watching right now on my television, I don't think is going away anytime soon. And that's a good thing.” — Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, as told to Myah Ward “Given the presence of people who clearly exhibited all the signs of the folks we’ve seen exacerbating violence, there had to be action taken. These folks are professionals at what they’re doing. They know if they do not follow police orders, the police will move forward and clear them out, at which point they will get into this confrontation that will play on national television. It’s taking away from what we should be focused on, which is bringing the murderers of Mr. Floyd to justice. And dealing with this pervasive and long-standing sense in this country that the lives of African Americans are not valued at the same level as everyone else.” — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to reporters today “We hear that common refrain, ‘no justice, no peace,’ and that is a two-part equation. There needs to be justice in order for there to be peace. Until we have concrete measures that ensure accountability, until we see that there are real consequences for police misconduct, we are going to continue to see unrest.” — Democratic New York state Sen. Zellnor Myrie “I don't know when it’s going to end. I know that the cities are going to be in terrible shape and their public safety is going to be in terrible shape. You know, riots never end. The fallout from a riot never ends.” — Eugene O’Donnell, lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former New York City police officer “Well, it won't end. I’m just hoping that we have yet another opportunity to study how constant race has been in American history, and how it's been the key to advancing the promise of equal citizenship which is at the heart of America, but it's also been the key to when we've gotten blinded by it. The sad truth is that we've gone backwards in race relations or at least in racial politics as often as we've gone forward. Our fears and inhibitions in hostilities across the lines of black and white, have been a consistent stumbling block, and they're not going to go away until we're all more comfortable with interactions. So that we're as comfortable talking about race as we are about sports.” — Taylor Branch, author of America in the King Years, a three-volume history of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, as told to Myah Ward Welcome to POLITICO Nightly: Coronavirus Special Edition. Turns out King Ranch casserole is fueling Texans during the pandemic, though sadly not in our house where my husband has a casserole aversion. Reach out with tips: rrayasam@politico.com or on Twitter at @renurayasam.

A message from PhRMA: In the midst of coronavirus, PhRMA members are expanding efforts to help millions of Americans dealing with other diseases that need to be treated and may be struggling to afford their medicines. Our Medicine Assistance Tool was built to connect patients with resources that may help lower out-of-pocket costs.

Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen links arms with people protesting the death of George Floyd. | Getty Images

First In Nightly

PAST DUE — Months after Congress approved $175 billion in emergency aid to health providers, the Trump administration has yet to pay out the majority of the funds — nearly $100 billion — amid a series of setbacks and internal uncertainty over how best to distribute the money, health care reporter Adam Cancryn writes. At least 1,900 health centers across the country have temporarily closed already, with a growing number of providers furloughing staff to keep afloat. What federal aid has gone out has largely missed those that care primarily for the poorest and most vulnerable Americans. Republicans led by Sen. Chuck Grassley pressured health officials in private over the past few weeks, at one point threatening to go public with their criticisms if the administration failed to pick up the pace. “Lead Republicans on the committees of jurisdiction have been unglued at just the remarkable nature of the process,” a person familiar with the discussions told POLITICO. “It’s just incredibly frustrating.” The Trump administration has blamed much of the holdup on state health departments that have been slow to provide information critical to determining which providers should qualify for the next round of funding.   HAPPENING TOMORROW AT 1 p.m. EDT – "A WORLD TRANSFORMED” PART II: AN INTERVIEW WITH NORWAY PRIME MINISTER ERNA SOLBERG: Join Global Translations author Ryan Heath and Erna Solberg, prime minister of Norway, for a multifaceted discussion on how that nation is promoting a green recovery and opening markets, the need for more international cooperation, the role that gender plays in successful Covid-19 leadership, and the country’s bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council. REGISTER HERE.     Around the Nation TALKING TO THE NEWSROOM — Your host joins national political reporter Nolan McCaskill, video reporter Eugene Daniels and executive producer of video Brooke Minters for a personal conversation about how we’re handling multiple huge stories at once, whether it is Covid-19, the economic downturn or the nationwide protests. NOW REOPEN: RNC SWEEPSTAKES — North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper rejected the Republican Party’s plans for a full-fledged presidential nominating convention in Charlotte, telling GOP officials today the only way the event would move forward is with proper health protocols in place. “The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of Covid-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity," Cooper wrote in a letter to the Republican National Committee. The letter is a rebuke of the full-scale convention the RNC and Trump have been pushing for despite concerns about spread of the coronavirus, politics reporters Maya King and Alex Isenstadt write. In previous meetings with the Democratic-led state administration, GOP officials made clear the president’s desire for a 50,000-person convention without social distancing or mask-wearing measures and full-capacity hotels, restaurants and bars. RNC officials are considering Nashville and other locations as potential sites for the convention. Party officials are expected to make a trip to Nashville later this week, likely Thursday or Friday, according to a person familiar with the deliberations. Other locations in which Republicans are expressing interest include Las Vegas; Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla.; and Georgia. All of the prospective sites have directly expressed interest in hosting the convention, and party officials say it’s likely they will visit several of them in the coming days. On The Economy DOWN ON MAIN STREET — A $600 billion Federal Reserve loan program designed to offer a lifeline to tens of thousands of struggling U.S. companies is heading for trouble before it even gets under way, Zachary Warmbrodt and Victoria Guida write. Some potential borrowers complain that the “Main Street” lending program — so named because it's aimed at helping midsize companies hit hard by the coronavirus crisis — imposes interest rates that are too high and requires businesses to pay back loans too quickly. The Main Street program is supposed to fill a gap for companies that are too big for the government-backed small business loans but not large enough to warrant giant bailouts like the airlines. Targeted businesses — those with fewer than 15,000 employees or less than $5 billion in annual revenue — can receive four-year loans that they don’t have to start paying back for a year. The sheer length of time it has taken to start the program — two months — has already forced many firms to seek alternatives. That has left industries divided, with manufacturers eager to tap the loans but retailers wanting more, as many businesses face the prospect of extensive layoffs or even bankruptcy. “The general feeling among our members is too late and not enough,” said David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation. The warnings about the Main Street rescue echo those of the wildly popular Paycheck Protection Program, the small business lending effort that ran into a wall of problems after its chaotic launch in April, stirring up similar fears about whether federal assistance will get to the businesses that need it the most.     The Global Fight THE LOG IN EUROPE’S EYE — Protests have flared up across the world in response to George Floyd’s killing. But, as Brussels-based law student and activist Yassine Boubout writes , the solidarity and hashtags ring hollow when Europeans are not standing up to police brutality and racism in their home countries. “Many of the same policymakers who for years pushed for the militarization of our police forces and the criminalization of victims,” Boubout writes, “are now jumping at the chance to condemn a particularly egregious example of police violence — because it happened somewhere else.” China sees an opening — The outpouring of anger in the U.S. over the killing of George Floyd has been a gift for Beijing. In social media, in broadcast and in print, Beijing propaganda authorities have seized on demonstrations across the U.S. to drive home a point it often seeks to make: Washington adheres to a “double standard” and lacks the moral high ground to criticize Chinese actions that impinge on its own people’s human and civil rights. The timing is highly convenient and a useful distraction for Beijing, editorial director for China David Wertime writes. China is working overtime both to convince mainlanders that Hong Kong is a willing recipient of a forthcoming national security law, and to redirect from a coronavirus lockdown that left the economy reeling and unemployment spiking. Trudeau’s loud silence — It wasn’t what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that went viral this afternoon, but what he didn’t say — and how long he didn’t say it. When asked for his thoughts on Trump's stated plans to mobilize every available federal force, “civilian and military,” to end protests across the U.S., Trudeau paused 20 seconds before answering. When he spoke, Trudeau stopped short of directly criticizing Trump but expressed “horror and consternation,” Andy Blatchford reports from Ottawa. Trudeau then turned to racism and systemic discrimination in Canada. (The prime minister, during last year’s election, faced his own race scandal, after photos of him in brownface surfaced from early in his career.) Czech yourself — The Czech Republic has color-coded Europe based on Covid-19 infection rates, Ryan Heath emails us: Starting June 15, Czechs can travel to green- and orange-colored countries as they normally would. If Czechs travel to red countries, which include the U.K. and Sweden, they will have to quarantine and take a coronavirus test when they return. Nightly Number 1 The number of voters who used New Jersey’s online voting app in last month’s municipal elections. The state, after paying $89,000 for the app, has decided not to use the technology for its July 7 primary. (h/t Matt Friedman) Shop owners survey the damage to their store after widespread unrest in Philadelphia. | Getty Images Ask The Audience With so many crises gripping the nation, what worries you the most right now and why? Is it coronavirus, the economy, racial injustice, policing, protests, the 2020 election or something else? Please write us and we’ll include some answers in our Friday edition.   HAPPENING TOMORROW AT 4 p.m. EDT – WOMEN AND COVID-19, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS IN CRISIS. The social and economic burden from the pandemic has hit women especially hard. Join Women Rule editorial director Anna Palmer for a virtual interview with Teresa Carlson, vice president of Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services, who will describe how businesses are rapidly pivoting online for survival, how the public sector is adapting to the crisis, and what AWS is doing to help other organizations on the frontlines of Covid-19. REGISTER HERE.     Parting Words NIXON’S NOT THE ONE — The pundits are right: 2020 is shaping up a lot like 1968. But a closer look at the history tells us it’s not Donald Trump and the Republicans who stand to benefit from the unrest, writes Joshua Zeitz in POLITICO Magazine. Richard Nixon, in the turmoil of 1968, won the presidency on an explicit “law and order” platform. Nixon’s message wasn’t just about urban riots. It was about kicking out a party that appeared to have lost control of all the levers of a prosperous, functional society. What the journalist Walter Lippmann said in 1968 — “the world has never been more disorderly within memory of living man” — might credibly be said today. The difference? Today, the person calling for “law and order” is the one who failed to instill it. Like Lyndon Johnson before him, Trump is the head of the party in power — the party that has failed to provide peace, prosperity and social order. He campaigns like Nixon and George Wallace, but in reality, Trump is LBJ: a man who has lost control of the machine.   A message from PhRMA: In these unprecedented times, many Americans may find it harder to afford their medicines this month. PhRMA member companies are dedicated to helping patients access resources when they need them most. Our Medicine Assistance Tool was built to connect patients with resources that may help lower out-of-pocket costs.   Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam

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