2020 Sunday Trail Markers: What to know about this week's big FEC filings
Here's what you need to know in politics this week...
- President Trump is abroad, and Joe Biden is attacking
- Moneyball: Here comes the 2nd quarter filings
- De Blasio: Medicare for All must cover sex reassignment
- The Democrats' data shift
- This week's schedule
THE WATER'S EDGE
Via Bo Erickson: Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign accused President Trump of "coddling" dictators in his meetings with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while overseas.
"President Trump's coddling of dictators at the expense of American national security and interests is one of the most dangerous ways he's diminishing us on the world stage and subverting our values as a nation," Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to CBS News.
The president held a last-minute meeting with Kim in the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea on Sunday, becoming the first sitting president to set foot on North Korean soil. His meeting with Kim came after the G20 summit in Japan, where he met with Putin and Erdogan.
Read the full story here.
MONEYBALL: HERE COME THE 2ND QUARTER FILINGS
Via Sarah Ewall-Wice: Sunday is the final day before the FEC's second quarter closes, and presidential candidates are making last-ditch efforts to raise funds before midnight. For some presidential hopefuls, this will be their first quarterly filing since launching their campaigns; for others, the filing will indicate whether they've been able to maintain or build momentum since the first quarter of 2019.
Nearly every candidate has been blasting out fundraising emails and social media posts throughout the weekend in order to raise cash. And one thing clearly on the minds of a number of campaigns is the 130,000 donors needed to qualify for the Democratic debate in September.
Last week, the first round of debates gave several Democratic presidential candidates a boost towards their second quarter fundraising goals. Kamala Harris, in particular, raised over $2 million online and brought in 30,000 new donors in the 24 hours after her debate performance. Cory Booker, Julian Castro and Jay Inslee also touted increases in donations after the debates.
By CBS News' count, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke have all surpassed the 130,000 donor mark. On Friday, Andrew Yang announced he met the qualification as well. Meanwhile, Booker, Amy Klobuchar, John Hickenlooper and Julian Castro have all sent out fundraising emails this week alone saying how they are still working towards the goal.
Meanwhile, some candidates -- including Sanders and Warren -- are noting that they're not attending big-dollar fundraisers ahead of the quarter closing. That's in contrast with candidates like Biden, who spent Friday and Saturday at fundraisers on the West Coast. According to the pool, tickets for the events cost as much as $2800 per person to attend. Buttigieg, Booker and Harris have also attended big-dollar events in recent weeks.
Some candidates are likely to release their cash totals in the coming days, but every presidential hopeful has a July 15th FEC filing deadline. At that time, we'll all find out who has raked in big bucks -- and who is going to have to start pinching pennies heading into the late summer and early fall.
DE BLASIO: MEDICARE FOR ALL MUST COVER SEX REASSIGNMENT
Via Zak Hudak: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the New York Pride March on Sunday that Medicare for All should cover sex reassignment surgery. "We have to respect everyone's medical needs," he said. It's a commitment that sets de Blasio apart on the Democratic primary hot bottom issue of single-payer healthcare.
The mayor also said that as president he would restore benefits to veterans forced to leave the military because of their sexual orientation.
THE DEMOCRATS DATA SHIFT
Via Eleanor Watson: At the Democratic National Committee's Executive Committee meeting in Pittsburgh over the weekend, Chief Technology Officer Nell Thomas and Deputy Chief Technology Officer Kat Atwater told members they are in a sprint to transfer the DNC's data warehouse from the previous system -- called Vertica -- to Google BigQuery by mid-July. Thomas said that Google BigQuery will be able to support thousands of campaigns without going down, which was a problem in previous cycles.
ON THE TRAIL THIS WEEK
7/1 – Castro in Texas; Bill de Blasio in Illinois; John Delaney in Iowa.
7/2 – Buttigieg in Illinois; Warren in Nevada.
7/3 – Biden in Iowa; Booker in Nevada; Buttigieg in Iowa; Kirsten Gillibrand in New Hampshire; Harris in Iowa; Sanders in Iowa; Warren in Nevada.
7/4 – O'Rourke in Iowa; Biden in Iowa; Booker in Nevada; Buttigieg in Iowa; Gillibrand in New Hampshire; Harris in Iowa; Sanders in Iowa.
7/5 – Biden in Texas, Booker in Nevada; Castro in Texas, Gillibrand in New Hampshire; Harris in Iowa & Texas; Inslee in Texas; Klobuchar in Texas; O'Rourke in Texas; Sanders in Texas; Warren in Texas.
7/6 – Biden in South Carolina; Gillibrand in New Hampshire.
7/7 – Biden in South Carolina; Gillibrand in New Hampshire.
