POLITICO NIGHTLY: Cuomo’s pandemic record gets new diagnosis

BY RENUKA RAYASAM Presented by With help from Tyler Weyant STOP SPREADING THE NEWS — New revelations about Covid’s toll on New York nursing homes are a threat to the career of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In a leaked private conversation, one of Cuomo’s top aides admitted to hiding data because they feared a Trump administration investigation. New York Attorney General Tish James issued a report last month saying that the state was undercounting nursing homes deaths by only releasing information on the number of residents who died in nursing homes — not the number who died after being transferred to the hospital. The number of New York nursing homes deaths is closer to 15,000 , far larger than the 9,000 originally reported. Republicans in New York have called for Cuomo to step down, and Democrats say there should be an investigation. Nightly reached out to our Albany-based New York Playbook writer, Anna Gronewold, over Slack today to chat about where Cuomo goes from here. This conversation has been edited. How badly will this damage Cuomo’s political future? He will undoubtedly get primaried. The progressives are pretty fed up and have been for awhile. Certainly folks will try, and it will probably be a stronger attempt than Cynthia Nixon in 2018. To be fair, we have no reason to believe that Cuomo would not win. After a year of regular briefings and massive decisions, we can be certain his opponents from both right and left are building an arsenal to attack his managerial style. That could cut deeper than his past challenges. But it’s hard to think of Cuomo doing anything but politics. We have no indication he will not follow through on a bid for a fourth four-year term, something no other governor has accomplished except Rockefeller. Others, including Cuomo’s dad, have tried. He has broad support within the party and an enormous war chest. Not to get too introspective, but it’s been a wild year for Andrew Cuomo, and I wonder how much we might see a return, in some form, to the man portrayed here. How should these numbers change our view of New York’s handling on the pandemic? Certainly Cuomo and his people are correct that they’ve basically been building the plane as they were flying it, especially in the earlier days of the outbreak. But more recently a lack of collaboration with local leaders has led to an extremely clunky vaccine rollout compared to other states. And many of the aides making the final decisions in Cuomo’s office are brilliant individuals with years of experience in government, but they have little background in public health. Do you think there will be a federal investigation? Well if you look at it from Rep. Elise Stefanik’s point of view, most definitely. If you ask me, and most of the observers of this monthslong saga, it’s not necessarily the actions themselves, or the numbers, devastating as they may be. It’s the fact that rather than offering an explanation at the time, the Cuomo administration decided to ignore, deflect and downplay those who were asking about their data. An administration official told me a few weeks back that several top aides had urged the governor and his closest aides to just release the data before they were forced to. That, and so far a reticence to admit that some of the choices the administration made early on regarding how they handled outbreaks in nursing homes might have been mistakes, are really bad looks right now. Like the Bill Clinton dilemma — is the cover up worse than the crime? Though I wonder how it would have been received if he just came out with these devastating numbers? I wonder too, but “I’m sorry,” full stop, has never been Andrew Cuomo’s style. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Happy birthday to our fearless editor Chris Suellentrop!! He’s not old until he starts referring to himself in “years-young.” We won’t be publishing on Monday, Feb. 15. But we’ll be back and better than ever on Tuesday. Reach out at rrayasam@politico.com, or on Twitter at @renurayasam. A message from Energy for Progress: Meeting energy needs and tackling climate change isn’t either/or. We have to do both. Across the board, natural gas and oil companies are implementing advanced technologies to better manage their infrastructure. From preventing methane leaks to inspecting operations deep underwater, these technologies are helping streamline operations while keeping net imports at an all-time low. Let’s make even more progress together.   IMPEACHMENT SPEEDING TO A CLOSE — Day 4 of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial saw a swift argument from the defense team and senators' questions. Here’s a look at the latest from the Hill: — “Fight”: The defense team played more than nine minutes of footage showing Democrats using the word “fight,” attempting to rebut House impeachment managers’ charge that Trump incited the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The lengthy compilation of Democrats using the word — which contained many clips with little or no context — came after Trump attorney David Schoen accused impeachment managers of selectively editing Trump’s words. Some of the Democrats shown were senators serving as jurors at the impeachment trial, including New York’s Chuck Schumer, New Jersey’s Cory Booker, Massachusetts’s Elizabeth Warren, Georgia’s Raphael Warnock and New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand. The “fight” compilation followed several minutes after a reel of clips of Democrats calling for Trump to be impeached, dating back several years, and of Democrats using fiery political language. — “Clearly, there was no insurrection”: That’s what lead impeachment attorney Bruce Castor told senators during arguments today, a novel claim that contradicts the Justice Department and the broadly accepted version of events. Federal indictments against those who participated in the violence at the Capitol referred to the events as an “insurrection,” and Republican congressional leaders have echoed that characterization. Castor’s comments come even after the Trump team asserted that the evidence of pre-planning by heavily militarized elements of the rioters suggests that the violence was well-orchestrated, rather than an organic reaction to Trump’s speech earlier that morning. — Who’s voting how: As the Trump defense made its argument today, Republicans privately estimated between five and 10 of their senators are seriously weighing conviction. There’s no official whip count, and the matter is not being discussed at party meetings, leaving many in the 50-member conference to only guess at their colleague’s inclinations, Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine write. — From the hearts: Biden said this morning he was “anxious to see” how Republican senators would vote in Trump’s second impeachment trial, but that he had no plans to speak personally with the GOP lawmakers. The remarks from Biden came this morning, just after he and first lady Jill Biden took an unannounced walk to the North Lawn of the White House, where the first lady’s office had assembled a surprise Valentine’s Day display overnight. Watch Day 4 in 180 seconds.   JOIN TUESDAY - PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH ASSISTANT HOUSE SPEAKER KATHERINE CLARK: How are House Democrats helping move the Biden administration agenda forward, including a Covid-19 vaccine rollout economic recovery plan? Join Playbook co-author Rachael Bade for a live conversation with Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) on the most pressing legislative priorities and her approach to getting things done. REGISTER HERE.     FIRST IN NIGHTLY GROWING LIKE WEED — Marijuana legalization advocates have their eyes on the final frontiers of full prohibition. Only two states — Nebraska and Idaho — have never passed any sort of medical marijuana law. There are now movements afoot in both states — as well as several others with very restrictive programs — to change that as soon as this year, Mona Zhang and Ximena Bustillo write. If the medical marijuana campaigns prevail in those last remaining holdouts, the U.S. could reach a dubious distinction: Cannabis policies in every single state would be in violation of federal law. That’s certain to further ratchet up pressure on Congress and the White House to loosen federal marijuana restrictions, and it could fuel the push to make recreational cannabis legal everywhere. “There are very few things that many Americans agree on,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for legalization advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project. Medical cannabis is one of them. A pair of polls in 2019 showed support for medical marijuana surpassing 90 percent.       DEAR NIGHTLY COLD PIZZA — Renu picked one of your questions about navigating the pandemic and answered it below. My wife worked in a pizza parlor. Against CDC guidelines, quite a few people working there refused to mask and social distance. She brought it up to management. She was told it was a hoax, and if she didn’t like it, she could work somewhere else. Fearing dying from Covid, she quit. Can she get unemployment? — Daniel, feeling crusty Sigh, it boggles my mind that there are so many people out there who don’t take the pandemic seriously or worse, people, like your wife’s former colleagues, who believe it’s a grand conspiracy. Unfortunately, your wife is not alone. Many states rushed to reopen businesses without following proper CDC guidelines on workplace safety. To be fair, it can be hard and expensive to put in place such safety measures, and lots of workplaces were left to their own devices. But some employers, like this pizza parlor, are also just callous. As a result, there are lots of people across the country worried about Covid-unsafe working conditions. Technically, most states do allow people to get unemployment assistance if they refuse work or quit because of unsafe working conditions, Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at progressive think tank The Century Foundation and an expert on unemployment insurance, told Nightly. But, for the most part, people in your wife’s position have usually been denied aid. Still, your wife should apply for unemployment insurance. It might be a long shot, but she should try. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in January ordering the Labor Department to clarify rules on this very topic. Biden said workers shouldn’t have to choose between paying their bills and keeping their families safe from Covid. It will take some time for the DOL to write and implement these rules, but the statement is at least one sign that your wife is in the right here. Until then, Andrew said, the likelihood of your wife getting compensated depends on her making a strong case and the state you are in. He said if your wife were his client he would specifically ask: Did she document what she did before she quit? Did she ask the manager to more strictly enforce masks or put her in a safer role? What was their response? Can you document, with a doctor’s note, any reason that she might be at particular risk for Covid? Your wife has a better chance of getting assistance if you’re in a state with a mask mandate, for example, and management is flouting that rule. Or if the state is recommending that workplaces follow CDC guidance. Some states, like North Carolina, are issuing their own specific guidance on Covid-unsafe conditions. “It is always worth it to fight,” Andrew said. “Be prepared to file an appeal. No lawyer required.” (Also h/t to Eleanor Mueller and Rebecca Rainey for pointing me in the right direction for how to answer this question.) WHAT'D I MISS? — Biden to begin admitting migrants forced by Trump to wait in Mexico: As part of the new administration’s efforts to overhaul the immigration system, the Department of Homeland Security, starting next Friday, will begin the first phase of a program to gradually let in migrants with active cases under the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy. — WH aims to close Guantanamo: Press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration had launched a process with the National Security Council to examine steps for shutting down the facility. She said it is “certainly our goal and our intention” to close the controversial prison, which was a priority for former President Barack Obama that he failed to fulfill. — CDC releases full reopening guidelines: Face masks and social distancing of at least six feet should be prioritized for teachers and students in K-12 schools as they reopen, the CDC emphasized as it released a new operational strategy for schools alongside new guidance from the Education Department. — Top Trump aide mulls Congress run: The former chief of staff of the Trump administration’s health department is exploring a bid for the U.S. House seat of the late Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas), who died earlier this week after being diagnosed with Covid-19, six people familiar with the situation told POLITICO. EXCERPTS: The former chief of staff of the Trump administration's health department is exploring a bid for the U.S. House seat of the late Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas), who died earlier this week after being diagnosed with Covid-19, six people familiar with the situation told POLITICO. Brian Harrison in recent days has spoken with potential donors, one person familiar with the discussions said, and told friends that he’s considering mounting a campaign. But if he opts in, it would mark a quick return to politics after a tenure as one of ex-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s most trusted aides. Harrison’s campaign would also represent an early test of the voter appetite for candidates with direct ties to the Trump, in the wake of his shaky Covid response and attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election. Harrison during his stint at HHS played a central role in shaping the department’s policy priorities, and was charged with steering its day-to-day coronavirus response during the earliest days of the pandemic.   TRACK THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: President Biden's cabinet is getting confirmed, bringing change to agencies and departments across the Executive Branch. From the West Wing to Foggy Bottom, track the first 100 days of the Biden administration with Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter that chronicles the policies, people, and emerging power centers of the new administration. Subscribe today.     PALACE INTRIGUE THE STORY THAT TOOK OVER YOUR TWITTER THIS A.M. — Nikki Haley is no stranger to political tightropes. During her time in the Trump administration, she enjoyed the MAGA glow while avoiding Trump’s brash brand of politics. In the latest POLITICO Dispatch, Tim Alberta reports on Haley’s position, post-insurrection, becoming less and less tenable — especially as a 2024 presidential contender. Listen to the latest POLITICO Dispatch podcast THE GLOBAL FIGHT FRANCE’S ONE SHOT — The coronavirus vaccine should be stretched out for people who have already had Covid-19, France’s top health authority announced today. Since December, those who had already been infected were advised to wait three months after recovery before getting offered a first dose. But in today’s statement from the Haute Autorité de Santé, that interval was extended to up to six months. The HAS also recommended that they need only one dose, rather than two. The latest immunological research suggests that people have natural protection after Covid-19 for almost up to six months, HAS explained. PUNCHLINES ON A SERIOUS NOTE — In the Weekend Wrap, before he gets to the jokes, Matt Wuerker talks about the line between providing escape and making light of the events of Jan. 6. He then takes us through the best in satire and cartoons on the impeachment trial. NIGHTLY NUMBER 15 The number of doses being proposed in talks with the FDA for each vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, up from the current 10. Doing so could alleviate limits on the final step of vaccine production , filling vials, the company said. “Beyond the amount of drug product available, one potential capacity constraint is how many vials can be filled in a given period of time,” a Moderna spokesperson said. PARTING WORDS YOU MUST BE KIDDING — Health care editor at large Joanne Kenen emails Nightly: OK, CDC. We know you tried. But pantyhose? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tried to help us out this week, giving us new advice about what masks to rely on and how to make them nice and snug. (Look up “Mask Fitters” — a whole new thing, with both store-bought and DIY options) Like many of us, I have a whole stack of masks by now — hand-sewn by a friend, bought online, purchased from a Romanian seamstress on Etsy. Cloth. Surgical. A couple of KN94s — which I worry might be expired or fake. Some are too stretchy. Some are too big. One is just way too pink. None fit as securely as I’d like, no matter how I knot them, yank them or slide those beady doodads around. One solution, the CDC offered, is to wear a band of a nylon stocking on your face to hold the mask in place. Never mind the fact that one of the joys of WFH is we don’t have to think about nylon stockings. Masks have been politicized and ridiculed enough. Not sure that turning us into Bank Robber Nation is gonna fix it. A message from Energy for Progress: Meeting energy needs and tackling climate change isn’t either/or. We have to do both. The future of technology is here — and it’s enabling natural gas and oil companies to operate faster, more safely, and more accurately than ever before. New technology makes it possible for energy companies to improve worker safety, protect the environment, and explore new solutions to better position the industry to meet the nation’s energy needs. Let’s make even more progress together.   Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Myah Ward @myahward   FOLLOW US

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