2020 Daily Trail Markers: Trump campaign schedules next rally to be outdoors
President Trump will hold his next campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Saturday, July 11 — and this time, the rally will be outdoors. The trip also marks the president's first campaign rally in a political battleground state and second mega-event since his hiatus from the trail due to the coronavirus pandemic. The president's reelection campaign announced Sunday that the rally will take place at Portsmouth International Airport at 8 p.m. ET. According to a statement released by the Trump campaign, the outdoor event will feature "ample access to hand sanitizer" and all attendees "will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear." Trump campaign officials tell CBS News campaign reporter Nicole Sganga that all attendees will also be required to pass a temperature check upon entry. Though the event will technically take place on federal land at the former site of Pease Air Force Base, the Trump campaign has coordinated with Governor Chris Sununu's office and state officials ahead of Saturday's event.
There have been over 5,800 confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Hampshire, and more than 380 deaths, according to the state's Department of Public Health. Nearly two-thirds of New Hampshire residents disapprove of Mr. Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a University of New Hampshire survey released last month. In a survey of New Hampshire voters released last month, Mr. Trump trails Joe Biden. The presumptive Democratic nominee led the GOP incumbent 49% to 42% among registered voters, according to the Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll. Mr. Trump last visited the Granite State on February 10, which was the eve of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, for a crowded indoor rally in downtown Manchester. But it was in 2011 that then-real estate mogul Donald Trump first dropped into Portsmouth International Airport in a Trump-emblazoned black helicopter to explore a GOP primary bid, after pushing false rumors that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
The upcoming rally, just a few short miles from the Maine border, is expected to also draw supporters from the neighboring state. In 2016, Mr. Trump won Maine's 2nd congressional district, making him the first Republican to score Maine electoral votes since George H. W. Bush in 1988. The Republican mayor of the Democratic-leaning city of Portsmouth, Rick Becksted, said he learned of the rally Sunday evening while watching the news and receiving email inquiries.
FROM THE CANDIDATES
JOE BIDEN
Joe Biden continues to chart a rhetorical contrast on Mr. Trump's declared "war" on cancel culture and the debate over racial equality in the country, CBS News campaign reporter Bo Erickson reports. The Biden campaign said it was clear after Friday's presidential address at Mount Rushmore that the "divisive president … doesn't give a damn about anything but his own gain." In his Independence Day message, Biden cited notes of history on slavery and the Civil War as examples of work still needed to fulfill the country's founding promise "that all men [and women] are created equal." The former vice president didn't appear anywhere publicly for the Fourth of July as his focus has been hyper cognizant on social distancing guidelines from both federal officials and officials in his home state of Delaware. Monday was another day without public appearances for Biden but his campaign announced their senior Florida ground game team, adding to the handful of battleground states where the Democrats have a physical staffing presence.
VEEPSTAKES
ELIZABETH WARREN
Senator Elizabeth Warren is asking the country's largest food and beverage processors and farm operators to disclose what they're doing to protect their workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CBS News campaign reporter Zak Hudak. In a letter to companies including Coca-Cola and Kraft Heinz sent last week and released Monday, Warren along with Senators Jeff Merkley and Cory Booker wrote that failing to take substantial virus protection measures could have impacts beyond the health of their workers. "Outbreaks in your facilities could threaten the broader food supply chain by further exacerbating existing labor shortages and reducing plant processing capacity," they wrote. "Given the increasing consolidation of your industry, both producers and consumers could be left with limited alternatives, negatively affecting market opportunities for farmers and creating potential shortages for consumers." In June, Warren and Booker had raised similar concerns about worker safety at meatpacking plants.
KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Monday on Twitter that she has tested positive for COVID-19. Bottoms later said in an interview on MSNBC that the news came as a shock to her, as she had only experienced mild allergy-like symptoms. "This is startling for me because we've been so very careful. But certainly we are not immune." Bottoms said in the interview and added, "This is just a lesson to everyone. That you have to take every single symptom seriously as I see this growing list of symptoms. We can't assume that it's seasonal allergies. We can't assume that a mild cough, I get a seasonal allergies. We all need to be tested." CBS News campaign reporter Tim Perry reports that members of Bottoms' team have begun contact tracing measures. The mayor recently met with the family members of Secoriea Turner, a young girl who was murdered in Atlanta over the weekend. Bottoms will quarantine in her home for the next two weeks.
LEGAL MATTERS
SUPREME DECISIONS
The Supreme Court on Monday said states can require presidential electors to cast their votes for their party's candidate that won the state's popular vote, upholding state laws that punish so-called "faithless electors" who break their pledge and vote for a candidate other than the one who won the state's popular vote. CBS News digital reporter Melissa Quinn says the high court was unanimous in its ruling that the laws at issue in a pair of disputes from Washington and Colorado are constitutional. The decision from the Supreme Court comes just months ahead of the November general election, when voters will head to the polls to elect a president and vice president. "The Constitution's text and the nation's history both support allowing a state to enforce an elector's pledge to support his party's nominee — and the state voters' choice — for president," Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor took no part in the decision of the dispute involving faithless electors in Colorado. The justices heard arguments in the disputes, the last of its term, via teleconference, as the court was forced to alter the format of arguments because of the coronavirus pandemic.
STATE-BY-STATE
NEVADA
The Nevada State Democratic Party marked the launch of their coordinated campaign with "virtual ice cream socials" across the state over the weekend, with "more than two dozen new field organizers" hired in the past month as they race to ramp up their operation ahead of the general election, reports CBS News campaign reporter Alex Tin. Biden's team in Nevada has also brought on another new top aide, Elizabeth Warren campaign alum Kevin Liao, to serve as their Nevada communications director. "We've built up a strong field program across 2016 and 2018 and, this year, we're taking nothing for granted," Shelby Wiltz, head of the state party's coordinated campaign, said in a statement.
GOVERNOR'S MANSION
UTAH
In Utah's Republican gubernatorial primary, Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox has beaten former Governor and U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman. The race was June 30, but due to the close initial margin and counting of mail ballots, the Associated Press called the race Monday afternoon. Cox captured 36.4% of the vote, while Huntsman had 34.6%. Cox is the favorite against Democrat law Professor Chris Harrison in November, since there hasn't been a Democratic governor since 1985.
CONGRESSIONAL COVERAGE
IN THE HOUSE
NEW JERSEY
Originally slated for June 2 but postponed due to coronavirus, 12 House districts and one Senate seat will be on the ballot Tuesday in New Jersey. Some of the races to watch include a Kennedy, a progressive challenger to a Democrat incumbent, and a heated Republican primary for a targeted seat. CBS News political unit broadcast associate Aaron Navarro has more below on some of the races to watch.
New Jersey's 2nd
Amy Kennedy and political science professor Brigid Callahan Harrison are leading the Democratic primary to challenge Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who notably switched parties during the impeachment process. Kennedy, an educator and wife of former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, has the endorsements of Governor Phil Murphy and the Atlantic County Democratic Party, where one-third of voters reside. Harrison originally filed to primary Van Drew the week he voted against impeachment, and has been backed by six county chairs as well as Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker. Another candidate in the running is Will Cunningham, a former congressional staffer who ran against Van Drew in the 2018 primary.
New Jersey's 3rd
Democrat freshman Andy Kim is among the top targets for national Republicans, as Mr. Trump won this district by 6 points in 2016 before Kim narrowly flipped it in the midterms. In his district is a competitive GOP primary between engineer & lawyer David Richter and Kate Gibbs, a former elected official in Burlington County. Richter has loaned his campaign more money, but Gibbs has gotten support from outside groups such as the Defending Main Street PAC.
New Jersey's 5th
Congressman Josh Gottheimer is facing a challenge from the left with local Councilwoman Arati Kreibich. Kreibich has recently been backed by progressive stalwarts like Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Senator Bernie Sanders. Gottheimer, who is in his second term, has the backing of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Representatives Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey. Gottheimer is currently co-chair of the House Problem Solvers Caucus, and Kreibich's campaign has looked to tie Gottheimer's focus on bipartisanship to the Republican party and Wall Street. Internal Gottheimer polls have him with a safe lead (62% to 21%), while Kreibich's internal polling shows her within a two-point margin after respondents were given more information about her platform and messaging. Both campaigns are prepared for results to come in later than Tuesday night due to the influx of mail-in ballots.
AND IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
CBS News campaign reporters Musadiq Bidar and Nicole Sganga join CBSN to talk about their reporting in California and Maine for CBS News COVID Chronicles. Watch here.