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- The DNC has launched two hiring initiatives to attract diverse recruits.
- Anang Mittal returns as Creative Director in the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
- Meet CBS News’ new White House Correspondent.
- Federal judge mostly tosses out the administration’s lawsuit challenging California’s sanctuary policies.
- The Beat DC's Tiffany D. Cross co-hosts Keepin' It Real with Rev. Al Sharpton today at 1:20P on SiriusXM Ch. 126. Tune in!
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The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng visiting Corpus Christi, TX last month. | |  |
NBC’s Craig Melvin and his wife Lindsay Czarniak celebrating their son’s birthday in Connecticut during the weekend. | |
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Marco Rubio Previews Paid Family Leave Bill
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is introducing legislation this week that is likely to allow parents to draw from their Social Security benefits early, in what he is calling a "conservative solution," for paid family leave. Full details of the bill have yet to be disclosed. However, an aide to Rubio said it would be similar to an idea from the conservative Independent Women's Forum. Under the plan, the provision to draw from Social Security would be available to each spouse for up to 12 weeks, for a total of 24 weeks, for each child who has been born or adopted. In return, parents would defer their retirement benefits for the amount of time necessary to offset the cost of their parental benefits. In a video released Thursday, Rubio touts his efforts to expand the child tax credit and promises to make passing paid family leave a priority. Watch it here.
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Ted Lieu Wants Hearing on North Korea Amping Up Nuclear Missiles
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) is requesting a hearing on reports that the North Korean regime is stepping up its production of nuclear missiles. The president said on Monday that he is optimistic about his denuclearization agreement with North Korea after officials from the reclusive nation blasted talks with the Trump administration as “regrettable” and "gangster-like” over the weekend. Lieu sent a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) that was also signed by Congressman Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) and Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV). “We are very concerned by recent reports on efforts by the North Korean regime to expand production of nuclear fuel; to make improvements to missile facilities; and to deceive the United States during the course of ongoing negotiations,” the lawmakers wrote. “As the Committee of jurisdiction, we would be responsible for a potential winding down of sanctions on North Korea and for approving any other “sweeteners” agreed to as part of a comprehensive deal. It is vital to our continued oversight that the Committee hear from the Administration on these concerning revelations and their assessment of ongoing discussions.” North Korea, in a statement over the weekend, criticized what it saw as “unilateral” demands by the United States shortly after a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. More here.
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CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe getting ready to broadcast live from Guatemala last Thursday. | |  |
Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA) celebrating the Fourth of July at the Korean Friendship Bell in San Pedro, CA. | |
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Creative Director Returns to Senate Majority Leader’s Office
Anang Mittal has re-joined the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The 2012 American Public University System graduate will serve as the Senator’s Creative Director for the second time. He was previously a VP at Cavalry -- a full-service marketing and advertising agency-- a job he assumed after previously serving as Creative Director in the Senate. Before that he was a Deputy Director at FP1 Strategies, another marketing and advertising firm. He also worked for a year as a Production Coordinator for FreedomWorks. The bilingual politico spent time as a foreign language teacher and taught Hindi to foreign language students for Diplomatic Language Services. He started his new position on Monday. More about him here.
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Federal Trade Commissioner Taps Antitrust Critic to Join the Team
Democratic Federal Trade Commissioner Rohit Chopra has hired Lina Khan, a prominent critic of Amazon.com Inc.’s business practices. She joins as the agency prepares to increase antitrust scrutiny of technology firms. Khan, the Director of Legal Policy at Washington think tank Open Markets Institute, will work as a Legal Fellow for the next few months. A 2017 graduate of Yale Law School, Khan made her name with an academic paper called, "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox," which argued that the current U.S. approach to antitrust law hasn't kept pace with technology and fails to accurately measure the anti-competitive threat posed by companies like Amazon. While at Yale, Khan represented and litigated on behalf of homeowners through the Mortgage Foreclosure Litigation Clinic. Khan’s work has been published by the Yale Law Journal and the Harvard Law & Policy Review, as well as by the New Republic, Politico, Washington Monthly, and The Washington Post. Her antitrust work has been cited by Bloomberg, The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. She received a Bachelor's in political theory from Williams College. "Lina is sharp as a tack and works her fingers to the bone," Chopra said. "I have no doubt she will be a valuable member of the FTC team as we think about how to tackle the pressing issues that lie ahead." More here.
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DNC Launches Two Hiring Initiatives to Attract Diverse Recruits
DNC Chief Tom Pérez has announced two new initiatives to hire and train organizers for the 2018 midterm elections. The first initiative, called the DNC Talent Bank, will allow anyone interested in working on a campaign to submit their resume and fill out a questionnaire to be matched with an appropriate campaign. The other initiative is two “Organize to Win” day-long training sessions that will give attendees insights into campaign strategy. The first will be in Minneapolis on July 14th and a second will be in Salt Lake City on July 21st. A DNC aide said the events will also push to hire as many diverse recruits as possible. More here.
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Congressman Will Hurd (R-TX) celebrating the Fourth of July in Brackettville, TX last week. | |  |
Power’s Omari Hardwick and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Sunday hanging out in the other big rich town, DC. | |
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CBS News Names New White House Correspondent
CBS News has named Weijia Jiang as their new White House Correspondent. She made her debut in her new role Monday night during the network’s coverage of the president’s Supreme Court announcement. Jiang joined CBS News in 2015 as a correspondent for Newspath, the Network’s 24-hour television news gathering service for CBS stations and broadcasters around the world. During that time, she reported on both the Barack Obama and Trump administrations. During a press gaggle on the White House Lawn in June, Donald Trump called Jiang "obnoxious" and told her to be "quiet" multiple times for asking follow-up questions about North Korean nuclear disarmament. Before coming to CBS News, Jiang was a General Assignment Reporter and fill-in anchor at WCBS-TV in New York. Previously, Jiang worked at WJZ-TV in Baltimore and WBOC-TV in Salisbury, MD where she was honored with an Edward R. Murrow award and an Associated Press award for feature reporting. The 2005 graduate of William and Mary went on to earn her Master’s in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University in 2006, while simultaneously working for WBRE-TV in Scranton, PA as a DC-based reporter. She began her career at the age of 13 as a student reporter and anchor for ChannelOne News in Los Angeles. Born in Xiamen, China, she was raised in West Virginia, where she immigrated with her parents when she was two years old. “I am honored and excited to fill this role for CBS News,” Jiang added. “It comes with a great responsibility that I am reminded of daily, as news out of Washington continues to break at an exceptional pace.” More here.
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Bloomberg Nabs Bobby Ghosh
Bobby Ghosh is joining Bloomberg Opinion as an Editor, where he’ll focus on the Middle East and the Islamic world. He will also write columns and commission articles from outside writers. Ghosh most recently served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hindustan Times. He was previously Managing Editor of the business news website Quartz, a Global News Analyst at CNN, and also served as TIME Magazine's World Editor. During his tenure at TIME, Ghosh held several senior roles, became the longest-serving print journalist based in Iraq up until his departure in 2007, and was the first immigrant to be named World Editor in TIME's more than 80 years. He also worked for TIME Asia and TIME Europe and has covered subjects as varied as technology, football, business and social trends. His TIME article related to the magazine’s cover "Is America Islamophobic?" mildly titled "Does America Have a Muslim Problem?" garnered a lot of attention when the building of a mosque near Ground Zero led the news. Additionally, Bobby has made appearances on CBS’ Face the Nation, Charlie Rose, BBC World News America, Good Morning America, and Hardball among others. He started his career as a journalist with Deccan Chronicle, a popular English daily, in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. More here.
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Journo Says He Was Targeted by ICE for His Work Highlighting Police Misconduct
Memphis Spanish-language reporter Manuel Durán won a stay of deportation in May, but still faces months more in immigration detention while his appeal is pending. He was doing an internet broadcast of an immigration-related protest outside a criminal justice center on April 3rd when Memphis police arrested him. Durán was charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of a highway or passageway. Prosecutors soon dropped the charges, but ICE agents were waiting outside the jail to arrest and transport Durán to a detention center in Louisiana, where he still remains. The 42-year-old firmly believes that he was targeted by ICE and the Memphis Police Department for his work on local police shootings, police misconduct incidents, the local police department’s relationship with ICE, and other stories that have cast the entities in a negative light. In one instance, Durán published a video interview with a woman whose friend was arrested by Memphis Police and transferred to ICE custody despite promises from Mayor Jim Strickland that the city was not cooperating with ICE. Durán received text messages from the Memphis Police Department demanding he take the video down, and he refused. Durán left El Salvador more than a decade ago following death threats for his reporting on its law enforcement and judicial system. In 2007, he received an order of removal after missing an immigration hearing, but Durán says he never received a notice of that hearing. ICE and the Memphis Police Department have denied the claims that he was targeted because of his work, but the allegations come after an NPR report earlier this year stated that at least 20 immigrant activists were arrested, and possibly targeted, on immigration charges. More here.
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Asian American Journos Running Unopposed for Leadership Posts
WaPo’s Michelle Ye Hee Lee is running unopposed to become national President of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). Lee covers money and influence in national politics and has also been a reporter on WaPo’s Fact Checker column. Prior to joining the Post in 2014, Lee was a government accountability reporter at the Arizona Republic. Also running uncontested are VP candidate Pia Sarkar, who oversees coverage of autos, airlines, and energy as an Editor at The Associated Press; and VP of Finance candidate Ted Han, a leader in development and strategy for journalism products. Voting begins Wednesday, July 18th and continues until Friday, August 10th. The voting will coincide with the organization's annual conference in Houston for its annual convention from August 8th to 11th. AAJA has about 1,400 members. More here.
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CNN political commentator Angela Rye, Collective PAC’s Stephanie Brown, Airbnb’s Janaye Ingram, Planned Parenthood's Kristi Henderson, and BET’s Janina Lundy at #EssenceFest in New Orleans over the weekend. | |  |
Congressman Jimmy Gómez (D-CA) on Saturday hiking in the Grand Canyon. | |
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Admin Lawsuit Against California Sanctuary Policies Mostly Tossed Out
U.S. District Judge John Méndez on Monday tossed out key parts of the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging California’s sanctuary policies, a major strike to the Justice Department's efforts to crack down on states or jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Méndez ruled against the DOJ’s lawsuit challenging three state laws: Senate Bill 54, which limits cooperation between local and state law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement; Assembly Bill 103, which lets the California Attorney General review and report on immigrant detention facilities; and a part of Assembly Bill 405 which requires employers to inform workers before handing over their employment records to federal authorities, ruling that the laws were “permissible exercises of California’s sovereign power.” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said: “Today’s decision is a victory for our State’s ability to safeguard the privacy, safety, and constitutional rights of all our people. ... Though the Trump Administration may continue to attack a state like California and its ability to make its own laws, we will continue to protect our constitutional authority to protect our residents and the rule of law.” However, Méndez ruled that the Trump administration’s case against another provision of AB 450 -- one that makes employers risk a fine for failing to keep federal agents out of their workplaces without a warrant -- can go forward. More here.
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Migrant Pregnant Women Say They Were Abused and Denied Medical Treatment While in ICE and CBP Custody
Five women told BuzzFeed News that they were ignored by ICE agents while miscarrying and described both agency’s contracted jailers as unwilling to respond to medical emergencies. In interviews and written affidavits, women who’ve been in ICE detention and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody while pregnant recounted incidents of physical abuse from CBP officers who knew they were dealing with a pregnant woman. Those descriptions were backed by interviews with five legal aid workers, four medical workers, and two advocates who work with ICE detainees. The incidents were not limited to a single detention center. Three medical workers and five legal aid workers who spoke to BuzzFeed News all said they had seen -- and some had documented -- cases of pregnant women not receiving or being denied medical care in more than six different detention centers in California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Women reported being shackled around the stomach while being transported between facilities and having been physically and psychologically mistreated. ICE was previously under an Obama administration–era directive not to detain pregnant women except in extreme circumstances or in relatively rare cases of expedited deportation. Donald Trump’s new ICE directive says that pregnant women can be detained as long as they have not yet reached their third trimester but says ICE is responsible for “ensuring pregnant detainees receive appropriate medical care including effectuating transfers to facilities that are able to provide appropriate medical treatment.” But according to news reports, that’s not happening. More here.
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Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) visiting the University of Florida extension campus on Friday to learn about their current research projects. | |  |
Journalist and Dr. Oz contributor Mara Schiavocampo and fashion icon Dapper Dan backstage at #EssenceFest in New Orleans during the weekend. | |
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Oprah Heads to South Africa to Keynote Global Citizens
A host of celebrities will be heading to South Africa in December to be a part of the first Global Citizen Festival, a free and ticketless concert that rallies celebs, politicians, and global leaders to end extreme poverty by 2030. The concert, which will be held at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, hence this year’s festival theme, “Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100.” Delivering the keynote address is Oprah Winfrey, who will be joined by Gayle King, Naomi Campbell, Bob Geldof, Tyler Perry, and Forest Whitaker. “Nelson Mandela's life story is a testament to the power of the human spirit and one man's ability to change the world by standing up for what he believed in,” said Winfrey. “It is one of the great honors of my life to have spent so much time with him, and I look forward to celebrating his courageous life.” Artists Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Ed Sheeran, and Pharrell Williams, among others, are also scheduled to perform. More here.
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Politicos Head to New Orleans for Netroots
Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA)and Cory Booker (D-NJ), former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, and Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, and New Mexico congressional candidate Debra Halaand (D) will be among the lineup speaking at the Netroots Nation conference in New Orleans next month. The August 2nd-4th conference will primarily focus on the impacts of recent waves of progressive platforms and movements on the Democratic party and whether their influence will be felt in contested midterm elections and in the 2020 presidential race. More here.
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| FOMO Today: UnidosUS’ 2018 Annual Conference. Speakers include Ilia Calderón, Co-Anchor of Noticiero Univisión, Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino, among others. Walter E. Washington Convention Center, DC. Click here to register.
Wednesday, July 11th, 8A: The Hill Latino's Entrepreneurship and The American Dream Forum. The forum will feature conversations with Congressmen Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), as well as Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR), about Hispanic small business ownership trends. The Newseum. Knight Broadcast Studio. 3rd Floor. 555 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., DC. Click here to register.
Saturday, July 14 - Wednesday, July 18th: NAACP’s 109th Annual Convention. Henry B. González Convention Center. San Antonio, TX. Click here for more information.
Monday, July 16th - Friday, July 20th: Inaugural Black Women’s Congressional Alliance Week. A series of events that will help Black women navigate Capitol Hill, compete for senior roles, build brands, sharpen political skills, and more. Click here for more information.
Tuesday, July 17th - Wednesday, July 18th: The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) 2018 National Women’s Conference. Phoenix. Click here for more information.
Tuesday, July 17th - Saturday, July 21st: The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) 2018 National Convention and Expo. Phoenix. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, July 18th 8:30A: The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State and CA Secretary of State and DASS Chair Alex Padilla will host a breakfast and discussion of the 2018 elections. The Raben Group. 1341 G St NW. Washington, DC. To RSVP and for sponsorship information, email Patricia Brooks at Patricia.brooks@hklaw.com. Wednesday, July 18th 5:30P: Join the first Latina Speaker of the House in Colorado and the U.S, Crisanta Duran, for a conversation about the 2018 election. 40 Ivy Street SE. Washington DC. Suggested Contributions: $250 to Host / $50 to Attend. RSVP to DuranForColorado@gmail.com.
Wednesday, July 18th - Saturday, 21st: NAHJ International Training Conference and Career Fair. InterContinental Miami Hotel. 100 Chopin Plaza, Miami, FL. Click here for more information.
Thursday, July 19th, 8:30A: DNC African American Leadership Summit and IWillVote Gala with Chair Tom Pérez. Special guests include Stacey Abrams, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), New York Assemblyman & DNC Vice Chair Michael Blake, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Eric Holder, and more. Address upon RSVP. Atlanta. Click here to RSVP.
Friday, July 20 - Sunday, July 22nd: The 2nd Annual Black Campaign School, hosted by The Collective. Atlanta, GA. Click here for information.
Wednesday, August 1st - Sunday, August 5th: NABJ Annual Convention & Career Fair. Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. 400 Renaissance Drive, Detroit, MI. Click here for more information.
Monday, August 6th - Saturday, August 11th: 16th Annual Run&Shoot Filmworks Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, August 8th - Saturday, August, 11th: AAJA National Convention. Marriott Marquis Houston. 1777 Walker St., Houston, TX. Click here for more information.
Friday, August 17th - Sunday, August 19th: Martha’s Vineyard celebrates Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s (D-CA) 20 years of service. Special guests include House Assistant Minority Leader Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Cedric Richmond (D-LA), and more. Harbor View Hotel, 131 North Water Street Edgartown, MA. Kelley House, 23 Kelley Street Edgartown, MA. Click here for more information.
Tuesday, September 11th - Wednesday, September 12th: CHCI's Annual Leadership Conference. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., DC. Click here for more information.
Thursday, September 13th: CHCI's 41st Annual Anniversary Awards Gala. Marriott Marquis Washington, DC. 901 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., DC. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, September 12th - Saturday, September 16th: Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 48th Annual Legislative Conference. Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Click here for more information.
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