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HIM TOO?… In an interview on Sunday, Christine Blasey Ford accused Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers in the early 1980s, saying a drunken Brett Kavanaugh had pinned her on a bed during a party, groped her, and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. HOLD UP… Now, Republicans and Democrats are calling for a delay on Thursday's planned Judiciary Committee vote on Kavanaugh's nomination. LOOK WHO’S TALKING, TOO… After previously earning Trump’s praise for declining to cut a deal, Paul Manafort on Friday agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller. Trump’s camp spent the weekend dubiously assuring the public that his cooperation does not involve the 2016 campaign. Did they not read the details? Or have they never seen Goodfellas? People who cut such plea deals don’t get to pick and choose what information they share -- they have to tell it all. THE ART OF THE DEAL… This latest flip has prompted the question: who will be next to cut a deal? Roger Stone perhaps? Stay tuned. SPEAKING OF FLIPPING… Ohio billionaire and GOP donor Les Wexner announced his departure from the Republican party after former President Barack Obama visited the Buckeye state. “I was struck by the genuineness of the man; his candor, humility and empathy for others,” Wexner said of Obama. “I just decided I’m no longer a Republican.” ONE STORM MISSES THE WHITE HOUSE… WNBA champions Seattle Storm have yet to receive an invitation from the White House, but the team’s star point guard Sue Bird has already preemptively declined. ANOTHER STORM TARGETS WHITE HOUSE… Adult film actress Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said he is very serious about a 2020 White House bid. WHEN HALFTIME FEELS LIKE OVERTIME… Buffalo Bills cornerback Vontae Davis abruptly retired at halftime during Sunday's 31-20 loss to the LA Chargers, saying in a statement that the reality had hit him: "I shouldn't be out there anymore." OH YES! SNL’s Michael Che and Colin Jost will host tonight’s 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, where Sandra Oh could make history again. The Killing Eve star already made history as the first woman of Asian descent to even be nominated for an Emmy in the Lead Actress in a Drama Series category. More than a third of the 101 acting nods announced in July went to ethnic minorities, compared to a quarter of the field in 2017. NEW TO THE BEAT DC? We intersect national politics, policy, and people of color. We said buh-bye to the flat, voiceless delivery of news and, instead, we have a conversation with you every morning. So in the words of 90’s R&B vocalist Tevin Campbell … can we talk? We’re two days into Hispanic Heritage Month, and we’re kicking it off with this...
- Citigroup names a new CFO. Read to the bottom!
- Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) wants to make school buses safer.
- “Deep fake” technology? Yeah, it’s a thing. And, members Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) want some answers.
- Warner Bros. names a new President of Global Brands and Experiences.
- Top CNBC Exec leaves for a new post.
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Beyoncé's mom Tina Lawson greeting GA gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) at the Black Women’s Agenda 41st Annual Symposium in DC over the weekend. | |  |
NM congressional candidate Deb Haaland (D) making calls to New Mexico voters to help elect Democrats this November. | |
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Stephanie Murphy and Carlos Curbelo Ring the Alarm on “Deep Fake” Technology
Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) may be part of different political parties, but they both want answers to the same question from the intelligence community: what are the threats posed by “deep fake” technology? Joined by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), they sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats asking agencies to assess the burgeoning technology, which creates realistic digital forgeries of videos or audio. Murphy’s office warns that the technology could be used by malicious actors to falsely portray people saying or doing things that never happened. In the letter, they wrote: “Forged videos, images or audio could be used to target individuals for blackmail or for other nefarious purposes. Of greater concern for national security, they could also be used by foreign or domestic actors to spread misinformation.” They go on to ask Coats to evaluate the threat, identify technologies the government or private sector could use to detect such forgeries, and to recommend actions Congress and the intelligence community could take. To punctuate the point, earlier this year BuzzFeed used Adobe After Effects and the AI face-swapping tool FakeApp to make a video of former President Barack Obama being “ventriloquized” by director Jordan Peele, having Obama say things like the Black Panther villain “Killmonger was right” and insulting Donald Trump. That minute-long video has been seen more than 4.8 million times since April. The lawmakers are giving Coats until December 14th to address their concerns. More here.
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Tammy Duckworth Wants School Buses to Make Some Safety Modifications
On average, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that about 134 people die in school-vehicle-related crashes each year. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) wants to lower that number. She and Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) joined forces to introduce bicameral legislation that would implement safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board to make school buses safer by ensuring there are seatbelts at every seat and buses are equipped with safety measures like stability control and automatic braking systems. The School Bus Safety Act would create a grant program to help school districts modify school buses to meet these important safety modifications. One modification is including 3-point safety belts, which includes a seat belt across a lap as well as a shoulder harness to help protect passengers by restraining them in case of a collision. Another includes adding an automatic emergency braking system, which helps prevent accidents and crashes by detecting objects or vehicles ahead of the bus and braking automatically. “No parent should have to worry about the safety of their children when they get on a school bus each day, but school buses often lack seat belts and basic safety equipment,” Duckworth said. “I am introducing this legislation to prevent accidents, reduce the severity of accidents when they occur and implement other commonsense safety recommendations because nothing is more important than protecting our children.” More here.
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MN congressional candidate Ilhan Omar (D) meeting Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) last week. | |  |
NUL’s Marc Morial, Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights' Kristen Clarke, NAN's Rev. Al Sharpton, and NAACP's Derrick Johnson on Saturday at the CBCF's Annual Legislative Conference Dinner in DC. | |
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Hispanic Caucus Chair Turns Down White House Invite for Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration
Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) kicked off on Saturday, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM) has declined an invitation to today’s White House HHM celebration on the heels of Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric and policies against Latinx people -- the latest was him disputing the number of deaths in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria and the aftermath of the storm. The Congresswoman sent the president a letter detailing why attending the event would be hypocritical, and she gave it to 45 straight with no chaser. The lawmaker, who is also running for Governor of New Mexico, honed in on the administration’s decision to roll back DACA last year and the ongoing effort to end the legislation explaining that these efforts go against the very foundation of why HHM is celebrated. She called out the administration’s decision to end of Temporary Protected Status for groups like Hondurans and Salvadorans. And she addressed the zero-tolerance policy that tore families apart crossing the southern border. “No other policy that your administration has pursued was more heinous than tearing children away from their parents as they fled extreme violence from Central American countries,” Luján Grisham said. “Using your power to intentionally inflict trauma and fear on children violated common decency, betrayed our nation’s deepest held beliefs, and led to a national outcry condemning your actions.” Punctuating her absence from today’s celebration she said, “The hypocrisy of attending a reception that is supposed to honor their contributions and heritage after your administration has threatened their safety and uprooted their lives is glaring,” she wrote. So who is going?? Stay tuned. Read Luján Grisham’s full letter to the president here.
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Attorneys General Target Trump’s Communications
DC Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh are asking a court to order Donald Trump to hand over any communications with domestic or foreign government officials related to his Trump International Hotel in the nation’s capital. The requests were filed Friday in a U.S. District Court in Maryland, as part of discovery in the civil suit alleging Trump violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. The historic civil suit claims the president is profiting from foreign governments without congressional approval due to foreign officials staying in his hotel. The AGs are suing Trump as president and as an individual. This is the first emoluments case in American history to go to trial. More here.
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Mia Love Intros to Bill to Boost Congressional Oversight of Sanctions on State Sponsors of Terrorism
Congresswoman Mia Love (R-UT), the sole Black woman in the House Republican Caucus, has introduced a bill to give Congress better oversight into the financial services provided to state sponsors of terrorism and certain sanctioned persons. Love says Congress is currently limited in its ability to oversee the execution of sanctions on state sponsors of terrorism. The Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act would require the Treasury Secretary to submit, among other things, a semi-annual report to Congress that would include a copy of any license issued by the Secretary that authorizes a financial institution to provide financial services benefiting a state sponsor of terrorism like Iran, North Korea, Syria, Sudan, etc. The measure would also require a list of any foreign financial institutions that knowingly conducted a significant transaction for sanctioned human rights offenders. “Sharing this kind of information with Congress should be automatic, as licenses represent exemptions to our sanctions programs,” Love said. “Congressional oversight of sanctions is limited without visibility into the transactions Treasury is authorizing.” Even though U.S. banks are prohibited from doing business with a sanctioned person, banks in other countries can do so without penalty. Love’s bill would require a list of institutions engaged in such activity, and puts foreign banks on alert that Congress will be watching their dealings with human rights abusers and corrupt officials. More here.
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Latino Victory Fund's Mayra Macias and Cristóbal Alex with Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and FL gubernatorial candidate Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) on Thursday at the CHCI gala in DC. | |  |
Former DNC Chairwoman Leah Daughtry and MA congressional candidate Ayanna Pressley (D) at the For Colored Girls book pre-launch in DC this weekend. | |
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Comedy Central Names VP of Social Impact
Erika Soto Lamb will take on the role of Comedy Central’s VP of Social Impact Strategy. Based in NYC, in this newly created role Lamb will lead a portfolio of multiplatform social change initiatives aimed at empowering Comedy Central’s audiences to have an impact on the challenges facing them today. The Texas native will work closely with the network’s president and his senior team to lead the strategic direction of all Comedy Central social impact efforts, including identifying pro-social opportunities in culture and developing campaigns to address emerging social issues relevant to Comedy Central’s audience; integrating pro-social resources into existing content and shows; and cultivating and managing partnerships with a network of nonprofits, foundations, government agencies, and corporate partners. “I’m excited to join the Comedy Central team and look forward to developing campaigns that make comedy constructive and leverage laughter to create positive social change,” said Soto Lamb. “Using the power of comedy for good – I’m so here for that.” Prior to joining Comedy Central, the 37-year-old was the National Director of Strategic Communications for Democrats for Education Reform. Prior to that, she was the founding Chief Communications officer at Everytown for Gun Safety, where, in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting, she helped build the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country. She was also a VP at the global PR firm Ketchum and also served as a Director at the public affairs firm The Raben Group. The 2002 Stanford grad, who also has a Master's from Columbia, began her career focusing on media relations and message development for political campaigns for candidates and issues, as well as for public and private sector clients. More here.
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Warner Bros. Names New President of Global Brands and Experiences
Pam Lifford has been named President of Warner Bros Global Brands & Experiences, a new business that will align strategies and increase consumer engagement across the company’s key brands and franchise. Lifford, who joined the studio in 2016 as President of its Consumer Products division, is charged with developing all-new fan-engagement opportunities as well as working to align the current fan-focused activities of consumer products, themed entertainment, and DC. She’ll also collaborate with all divisions of the studio and coordinate with WarnerMedia sister companies HBO and Turner. Warner Bros. said in her first year at the studio, Lifford increased overall business by 47% and has continued a consistent growth trajectory through her second and current year. “This is an incredible opportunity for us to super-serve our fans across a variety of platforms and venues throughout their lifetimes,” said Lifford, the highest-ranking Black woman at WB, reporting directly to the studio’s CEO. “I’m thrilled to take on this challenge and look forward to working with my colleagues across the Studio to make this new business a great success.” Prior to coming to Warner Bros., she spent 12 years at Disney. She previously held posts at Quiksilver, Road Runner Sports, and Nike. More here.
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Top CNBC Exec Leaves Network for New Post
Nikhil Deogun, Editor-In-Chief and SVP of Business News at CNBC, is departing the network after eight years to assume the role of CEO of the Americas for the Brunswick Group, a corporate-relations consulting business. Managing the firm’s U.S. business, Deogun will advise clients both in the U.S. and worldwide on financial, commercial, M&A, and political issues. Brunswick has about 300 staffers in the Americas, including Brazil. Deogun joined CNBC from The Wall Street Journal, where he held a number of senior positions, leaving after ascending to Deputy Managing Editor. Prior to this, the native of India served as the paper’s Editor of the Media and Marketing group, Editor of the money and investing section, and Deputy Bureau Chief in DC. He started working at WSJ in 1994 as a Reporter covering M&A and corporate finance. Deogun attended the Doon School in India. The 1991 Muskingum College graduate earned his Master's from the University of Missouri's School of Journalism in 1993. He begins in his new role on October 1st. More here.
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Univisión’s Jorge Ramos on Thursday at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Gala, where he received the Medallion of Excellence, in DC. | |  |
#MeToo Founder Tarana Burke, The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, actress Tiffany Haddish, and comedian Roy Wood Jr. at the annual Diamond Ball in NYC. | |
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Ted Cruz Agrees to Debate Dem Challenger
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)has agreed to participate in three debates with his Democratic challenger, Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), in one of the country’s most watched Senate races. The debate schedule kicks of this Friday at Southern Methodist University in Dallas with a debate focused on domestic policy issues. The two candidates will come together again on Sunday, September 30th, at the University of Houston for a town hall with an expected audience of at least 250. The final one will take place on October 16th in San Antonio and will be a moderated debate that is supposed to feature a mix of foreign and domestic policy questions. News of the debates come as Cruz’s campaign is being criticized for what some call a misleading mailer meant to look like official county summons. Hundreds of thousands of the mailers seeking donations were sent in brown envelopes read “SUMMONS ENCLOSED- OPEN IMMEDIATELY” in large black letters, and have a return address of “official county summons.” The letter inside the envelope is a donation form for the Cruz campaign. There is some fear that certain voters may be confused by the mailer and think that they are required by law to pay a fee. According to a CBS Dallas / Dixie Strategies poll of all likely voters in Texas, 46% of respondents said they would vote for Cruz while 42% said they would vote for O'Rourke. With Cruz leading O'Rourke in the polls by only 4 points, the result is a statistical tie -- within the margin of error of 4.3%. More here.
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Latino Victory PAC Launches Effort to Draft Rubén Gallego for Senate
Latino Victory, a PAC supporting Latino candidates, is launching an effort to recruit Congressman Rubén Gallego (D-AZ) to run in 2020 for the Senate seat formerly occupied by the late John McCain. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) was appointed to replace McCain earlier this month, but Kyl says he has no plans to run in the 2020 special election. Gallego is a first-generation American of Colombian and Mexican descent. After graduating from Harvard, Gallego joined the Marines and deployed to Iraq. Before becoming a public official, the 38-year-old worked for Strategies 360 as Director of Latino and New Media operations. He also worked for Riester, one of the largest public relations firms in Arizona, and for a Phoenix Councilman. Latino Victory President Cristóbal Alex told Politico this week, "It is time that Arizona is represented by a Latino in the U.S. Senate." The move may be timely as Arizona is experiencing significant demographic shifts. The Grand Canyon state is one of nine where people of color make up 40% to 50% of the population. During the last census in 2010, nearly 30% of the state’s population was Latino. Gallego has served in the House since 2015. More here.
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NY Makes History with Attorney General Candidate
NYC Public Advocate Letitia James won the Democratic nomination for State Attorney General Thursday. She will be the first Black woman to hold statewide office if she wins in the November general election. Democrats outnumber Republicans in New York state by a margin of more than two to one. Hence, she’s a favorite to win against the Republican candidate, Keith Wofford -- the first African American Republican candidate -- for Attorney General, who ran unopposed. The progressive candidate, who had the backing of establishment Democrats, won with more than 40% of the vote. “This campaign was never really about me or any of the candidates who ran,” the Brooklyn native said in her victory speech. “It was about the people, but mostly it was about that man in the White House who can’t go a day without threatening our fundamental rights, can't go a day without threatening the rights of immigrants, can't go a day without dividing us." The 1989 Howard Law School graduate, who earned her Master's from Columbia and completed her undergraduate studies at CUNY, pledged to target the NRA, the White House, and state corruption if she emerges victorious. More here.
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D&P; Creative Strategies’ Catherine Pino, CNN commentator Angela Rye, and D&P;’s Ingrid Duran on Sunday at a tech and media brunch in DC. | |  |
Trans activist Gia Gunn on Saturday at the Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner in DC. | |
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WaPo’s Hayley Tsukayama to Join EFF
Hayley Tsukayama is leaving The Washington Post to join the Electronic Frontier Foundation as a Legislative Activist. In her new role, she’ll focus on state legislation and work to support bills that protect people’s privacy, free expression, and innovation. For nearly eight years, Tsukayama served as Technology Reporter at WaPo, where she covered policy, gadgets, controversy, and trends. The Minnesota native has also served as a Resource Center Research Assistant for Investigative Reporters and Editors Resource Center and a Reporter at the Columbia Missourian. The 2008 Vassar College graduate, who went on to earn a Master’s from the University of Missouri at Columbia, is fluent in English and conversational in Japanese. More here.
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Newsrooms Mum on Diversity Numbers
The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) announced last week that it will delay releasing the results of the 2018 Newsroom Employment Diversity Survey. Why? Because very few outlets participated. Only 234 out of nearly 1,700 newspapers and digital media outlets submitted data for this year's survey. The resulting response rate of less than 14% means that data collected thus far could not be interpreted as representative of the contemporary media landscape. ASNE said they will continue to collect data for another 30 days until October 12th. A coalition of minority journalists organizations including -- the National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, Native American Journalists Association, and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association -- expressed their concern by the lack of participation. Collectively representing 8,420 journalists of color, the coalition says, “One of the first steps toward improving diversity is acknowledging shortcomings and putting diversity initiatives into practice to benefit the company, customers and all stakeholders.” The purpose of the ASNE diversity survey, launched in 1978, is to document employment trends in U.S. print and online publications and help newsrooms reflect the growing diversity of their audiences. The survey measures progress toward ASNE's goal of having the percentage of people of color working in newsrooms nationwide equal to that of people of color and the underrepresented in the nation's population by 2025. More here.
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CHCI Chair Congressman Joaquín Castro (D-TX) on Thursday with Comcast’s Juan Otero at the CHCI dinner in DC. | |  |
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) on Saturday at the Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner in DC. | |
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Citigroup Names New CFO
Mark Mason will assume the role of Citigroup’s Chief Financial Officer when the current CFO, John Gerspach, retires next year. Mason currently serves as the finance chief of Citigroup’s Institutional Clients Group, the side of the bank that includes investment banking and trading. The 47-year-old has held a variety of jobs at Citigroup in recent years. In 2017, the bank put him in charge of the company’s annual stress test submitted to the Federal Reserve. He previously ran the Private Bank, which caters to ultra-wealthy individuals, and Citi Holdings. Mason was also a deputy to Citigroup’s current CEO Michael Corbat when he was at the helm of Citi Holdings. The Queens native is a 1991 graduate of Howard University and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1995. He will assume the role of CFO in March of next year. More here.
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| FOMO Today, 5:30P: The Creative Artists Agency hosts "Cocktails and Conversation," featuring Valerie Jarrett. Sofitel Lafayette Square, 806 15th Street, N.W., DC. Invite only.
Today - Friday, September 21st: The Tri-Caucus Staff Associations host “Securing the Dream,” a week for honoring an developing congressional staff of color. Daily events will be held on Capitol Hill. DC. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, September 19th: "The Political LEAP: The Role of Women in 2018" a women empowerment luncheon focused on the role of women in politics, featuring Symone Sanders and Alencia Johnson. The Hamilton, 600 14th Street, N.W., DC. Click here for more information.
Thursday, September 20th, 7P: PEN America hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist José Antonio Vargas in conversation with Latino USA’s María Hinojosa for the launch of Vargas’ new book, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen. The Great Hall, The Cooper Union, 7 East 7th Street, NYC. Click here for more information.
Thursday, September 20th: The She the People Summit, a national gathering of women of color transforming U.S. politics. Guest speakers include Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, Women’s March co-organizer Linda Sarsour, and Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza, among others. The Julia Morgan Ballroom, 465 California Street, San Francisco, CA. Click here for more information.
Tuesday, September 25th - Wednesday, September 26th: National Action Network’s Annual Legislative and Policy Conference. Capitol Hill, DC. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, September 26th, 6P: The Constitutional Accountability Center hosts “CAC@10: A Decade of Progress, A Charge for the Future.” Honorees include former Attorney GeneralLoretta Lynch, Chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Shirley Higuchi, and Brittany Packnett, Co-Founder of Campaign Zero. Mayer Brown, 1999 K St N.W., DC. Click here for more information.
Friday, September 28th, 6P: MALDEF's 50th Anniversary San Antonio Gala featuring special guests, Antonia Hernández and Vilma Martínez, past MALDEF Presidents and General Counsels, and honoring former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, among others. The Westin Riverwalk, 420 W Market Street, San Antonio, TX. Click here for more information.
Monday, October 1st, 8:30A: The Marshall Project hosts, "What's The Story? Criminal Justice and Narrative Change." The convening will feature Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in conversation with Grover Norquist. Moderated by Bill Keller, Editor of The Marshall Project, and featuring an introduction by Weldon Angelos. The Google Space, 25 Massachusetts Ave, N.W., DC. Click here for more.
Monday, October 1st, 7:30P: Los Angeles Times Ideas Exchange hosts a conversation with DeRay Mckesson. DeRay will be joined by special guests for a live, no-holds-barred talk about inclusion, community, and progress designed to empower a new generation of leaders. The Theater at Ace Hotel. Los Angeles, CA. Click here for more information.
Tuesday, October 2nd: The Indian American Impact Project hosts Women Who Impact, an evening celebrating the Indian American women advocates, influencers, and power brokers. Featuring Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), DNC CEO Seema Nanda, and others. Covington & Burling LLP, 850 10th Street N.W., DC. Click here for more information.
Thursday, October 4th: Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC hosts their 22nd annual American Courage Awards reception. JW Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., DC. Click here for more information.
Thursday, October 11th, 6P: The Muslim Public Affairs Council hosts the 2018 Empowering Voices Awards. Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., DC. Click here for more information.
Sunday, October 21st - Friday, October 26th: National Congress of American Indians’ 75th Annual Convention & Marketplace, “Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future.” Hyatt Regency Denver, 650 15th St., Denver, CO. Click here for more information.
Sunday, October 28th - Tuesday, October 30th: The Atlantic, The Aspen Institute, and Bloomberg Philanthropies' CityLab 2018, convene a summit to address the most urgent urban issues of our time. Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, 1114 Washington Blvd, Detroit, MI. Click here for more information.
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