The Golden Report

JUST IN: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring a veterans tax break bill to the floor for a vote on or close to Veterans Day, the latest component of the President’s proposed American Jobs Act to be considered in a piece-meal approach. In doing so, Reid is all but daring Republicans to vote against a popular tax break on a symbolic holiday. Today, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes to cut off debate on a transportation and infrastructure bill, one day after President Obama went to Washington’s Key Bridge to urge its passage.

TOP STORY: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou appeared to walk back today on his proposal earlier this week to put the EU-brokered financial rescue package for his country up for a vote by popular referendum. Tomorrow, Papandreou faces a vote of no confidence in the Greek Parliament and it is not clear if he and his ruling political party will survive the vote. This comes as leaders of the G-20 nations are meeting this week in Cannes, France to discuss the proposal and its effects, should it pass or fail.

TOMORROW MORNING: The Labor Department releases its monthly employment report which will show the jobs situation for the month of October. Bloomberg is predicting that 95,000 jobs were added last month and the unemployment rate is expected to be unchanged at 9.1%. The numbers are released at 8:30am EST.

WALL STREET:

• DOW up 208
• NASDAQ up 58
• S&P 500 up 23

STILL IN THE DARK: As of this hour, 318,212 customers in Connecticut remain without power after Saturday’s historic and unusual snow storm. Tonight, the Connecticut National Guard has been dispatched to some areas of the hard-hit Farmington Valley. Many school districts have been closed for the entire week. Connecticut Light & Power, the state’s primary utility company, predicts that all customers will have power restored by Sunday night.

TOP POLITICAL STORY: the developing scandal over allegations of sexual harassment by Republican frontrunner Herman Cain. The story has taken a number of new developments: with now three accusers coming forward, at least one asking permission from the National Restaurant Association to go public with her story and an accusation by the Cain campaign that a staffer with the Rick Perry campaign reportedly leaked this story to POLITICO. In an interview with CNN tonight, Perry strongly denied that, saying, “You know, I don’t know how to tell it any other way except we knew nothing about it.”

SO FAR, Cain is holding his own against a growing media firestorm. But as each day goes by, more and more details are coming out that, when compared against Cain’s prior statements, and the statements that he has made this week, don’t appear to add up. The biggest unknown right now is what kind of damage this story may have in the eyes of Cain’s supporters. However, his campaign reported this week that they have been raising on average of $1 million a day, a sign that Cain’s base of support may not be weakened- but rather emboldened- by this controversy. And with Rick Perry being drawn into the story, the Romney campaign is having a very good week. Although their candidate is not attracting any media attention, he also isn’t attracting any scrutiny while his chief obstacle (at the moment) for frontrunner status is fighting hard to get his campaign back on track.

THE NEXT DEBATE is Wednesday night in Rochester, Michigan. Its focus is slated to be jobs and the economy, although it is hard to see at this point how the Cain scandal could not be brought up.

RASMUSSEN POLL out today:

• Cain 26%
• Romney 23%
• Gingrich 14%
• Perry 8%
• Paul 7%
• Bachmann 2%
• Huntsman 2%
• Santorum 1%

QUINNIPIAC POLL out Wednesday:

• Cain 30%
• Romney 23%
• Gingrich 10%
• Perry 8%
• Paul 7%
• Bachmann 4%
• Huntsman 2%
• Santorum 1%

FINALLY..SERIOUSLY…”Siri” the voice activated network on Apple’s new iPhone 4S, encountered a major glitch today resulting in its first outage. According to TechCrunch, which is compiling some of the best tweets from users experiencing the problem, “When you try to use Siri on the iPhone 4S right now, the usually perky virtual assistant just responds: “Sorry, I am having trouble connecting to the network” and does nothing.”

Tuesday November 01, 2011

TOP STORY: Bank of America today reversed its previous decision and said that it will not go forward with a planned $5 monthly fee on debit cards. After public outcry- extending to the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in New York and around the county- and an online petition that acquired over 300,000 signatories- the Bank bowed to criticism. Initially, Bank of America blamed the need for the bank fee on the Dodd Frank financial regulatory reform legislation, passed last year, and a signature achievement of President Obama’s first term. Today, the Bank said that a changing industry environment prompted it to reverse course.

STATEMENT FROM BANK OF AMERICA: “We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee,” said David Darnell, co-chief operating officer. “Our customers’ voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so.”

GREECE: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou gave conflicting signs today on whether or not he will move forward with a referendum on the European Union’s bailout package that was initially brokered last week- and that will be the subject of EU and G-20 meetings later this week. Yesterday, the Prime Minister said that he would go forward with the planned national referendum- which is unlikely to succeed given large public resentment and ongoing protests in the streets of Athens. According to the BBC, Papandreou said that he “has a clear mandate” to hold the referendum. However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy today said that the announcement “surprised all of Europe.” As a result of the uncertainty, worldwide financial markets have been lower over the past two days.

UPDATE: The Associated Press reports tonight that Greece’s Cabinet has concluded a marathon meeting and decided to back the Prime Minister in his call for a national referendum on the European bailout package.

• DOW down 297
• NASDAQ down 77
• S&P 500 down 35

QUOTABLE: “This brings all of the concerns about Europe back to the front burner,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. “If this ends up turning into a financial catastrophe in Europe, then no one will escape it,” in an article tonight published in the Washington Post

SUPERCOMMITTEE: The Joint Congressional Committee on Deficit Reduction today held its latest public hearing- potentially the last time the committee will open its doors to the public and the media before a November 23rd deadline to report back a proposal to reduce the national deficit by at least $1.2 trillion.

“We are now entering the critical final phase of this process,” said Committee co-chairwoman Patty Murray today. Today’s news were reports that the Supercommittee may be considering reforms of Social Security in its proposal- previously the “third rail” of politics was thought to be outside of the committee’s consideration. Media reports have gone back and forth in recent weeks as to how successful the Supercommittee might be, but today there are several reports, encouraged by a speech House Speaker John Boehner gave last night, that the Committee may still “go large”- maybe picking up where the President and the Speaker left off in their negotiations over the summer.

612,000 : that’s the number of residents in Connecticut who are without power tonight, three days after an unusual October snow storm dumped over two feet of snow in some places. Connecticut Light and Power, the primary utility company in the state, has still not given estimated restoration times for over half of the towns in the state and has only improved the number of outages by 200,000 in the past three days, prompting outrage by the State’s governor and other elected officials. Of the remaining power outages from the weekend storm, Connecticut has more than any other state. The utility says it still may be until Sunday night- a full week after the storm- until all customers have power restored. Many school districts have gone ahead and canceled all classes for the balance of the week- the second time they have had to do so this year (the first week of school was delayed from many jurisdictions because of power outages stemming from damage caused by Hurricane Irene).

MICHAEL JACKSON TRIAL: In the manslaughter trial of Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician who faces charges of giving the pop start a lethal dose of the anaesthetic drug propofol in his home before he died in 2009, the defense today called its final witness and announced that Murray will not take the stand in his own defense. The defense could rests its case by the end of the week.

MINIBUS: The Senate today passed a “minibus” bill that funds give cabinet agencies for the fiscal year that began on September 30th. The minibus procedure might be the way forward for the remaining annual appropriations bills- mandatory legislation that funds the government- as House Republicans (especially Tea Party members) object to a single large-scale appropriations bill, which in recent years has become a favored procedure for Congresses under both Republican and Democratic control. The vote on today’s bill, funding the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and NASA and the FBI, at a cost of $182 billion, was 69-30, a rare bi-partisan vote in the Senate.

FROM PLAYBOOK: Readers of the EVENING REPORT know that we find our inspiration from the daily newsletter produced by POLITICO Chief White House Correspondent Mike Allen. We like to think of ourselves as an early version of Playbook [indeed, in this morning’s edition, Allen used a quote from Alexander Burn’s story on Herman Cain that we also used in last evening’s REPORT]. But tonight, we give full credit to Allen and pull a fascinating segment from this morning’s PLAYBOOK. Today, the White House welcomed local news reporters from around the country to The White House- giving them extraordinary access for local network affiliates and brief interviews with President Obama. We found it interesting- and thought our readers would like it as well.

“LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE” TAKES LOCAL ANCHORS BEHIND SCENES: Anchors from nine local TV stations will spend today at the White House, meeting top officials and getting brief individual interviews with President Obama before broadcasting sweeps-month evening newscasts from the South Lawn. It’s a 21st-century update to the old “radio row,” which let talk-show hosts to broadcast from the White House, with West Wing officials going from microphone to microphone during drive-time shows. The White House is building risers on the South Lawn for the evening newscasts, which are being spread out by time zones - three from the East, two from Central, one from Mountain and two from Pacific. Each station will run cable from the riser to its network’s fiber line in the Rose Garden. Each anchor will get to ask Jay Carney a question during the briefing; have lunch with David Plouffe; interview a White House staffer from the station’s home market; get an on-camera tour with a White House curator; and tour the kitchen garden with Assistant Chef Sam Kass.

Participants are from Portland, Ore. (KGW, NBC, Tracy Barr); Phoenix (KSAZ, Fox, John Hook); Denver (KUSA, NBC, Adele Arakawa); Minneapolis (WCCO, CBS, Amelia Santaniello); Houston (KTRK, ABC, Dave Ward); Omaha (KETV, ABC, Rob McCartney); Tampa (WTVT, Fox, Mark Wilson); Hampton Roads (WAVY, NBC, Tom Schaad); and Philadelphia (WPVI, ABC, Brian Taff). A 10th participant will be Nikole Killion, representing Hearst stations, including WMUR in Manchester, N.H.

The ringmaster is Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest , who said the mission is “to increase interest and raise the profile of the president’s efforts to strengthen the economy and create jobs in local communities across the country, and explain to Americans how their communities will benefit from the president’s agenda. … The highlight of the day will be an opportunity to briefly interview the President from the Cabinet Room about the American Jobs Act … The anchors will also interview Cabinet secretaries … about how the bipartisan proposals included in the president’s American Jobs Act would create jobs in their community and put money in the pocket of every single American worker and small business owner.”

FINALLY: Google announced a redesigned look for GMail today, highlighting on its blog the new features, including: “streamlined conversation, elastic density, new customized themes in high definition, smarter navigation, and better search. As Erick Schonfeld reviews on TechCrunch today, “Messages aren’t as bunched up as before and easier to read. Adding a social element, Google is adding profile pictures beside each message, and the labels pop out more. The density of the text also adjusts depending on your screen size and resolution, making it easier on the eyes. The new design is in line with some of the changes Google just made to Google Reader in terms of spacing and overall feel.” Check it out!

BREAKING- POLITICO top story ”Exclusive—Two Women Accuse Herman Cain of Inappropriate Behavior”: 

“During Herman Cain’s tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group, multiple sources confirm to POLITICO.”

“The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures.”

Cain was asked about the allegations after an interview on CBS’s Face The Nation this morning. 

“Have you ever been accused, sir, in your life of harassment by a woman?” a POLITICO reporter asked.

“He breathed audibly, glared at the reporter and stayed silent for several seconds. After the question was repeated three times, he responded by asking the reporter, “Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?”

INSTANT ANALYSIS: Herman Cain is currently the Republican presidential frontrunner- but is running on a makeshift campaign that has never before competed on the national stage. Watch to see how much traction this story gets, now that POLITICO has decided to run with it after 10 days of reporting. Then watch to see how the Cain campaign responds- and how fellow Republican campaigns handle the story. This could be the beginning of the end of the Cain surge- or it could just be a below-the-fold story that he is able to weather (much like the increased scrutiny of his 9-9-9 plan in October)

HAPPENING TONIGHT: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is holding a dinner at Gracie Mansion with key senators and business and labor leaders, who are brainstorming a strategy to urge the Congressional Supercommittee to “go big” and consider a “grand bargain” in its final report 24 days from tomorrow. According to a National Journal report on Friday, the dinner includes Senators Michael Bennet, Mark Warner and Bob Corker. Only 10-20 people are expected at the dinner. As the House returns this week, and the Supercommittee holds its next public hearing, attention will turn to the panel’s final weeks of negotiations.

TOPPING THE WEEKEND: Last night, the Des Monies Register released their latest 2012 caucus poll. This vaunted survey is a tradition in Iowa politics and is usually an accurate bellwether of where the race stands. Last night’s results continued a trend from other national surveys last week- showing businessman Herman Cain continuing to post impressive leads. Cain is in a statistical (the margin of error was +/- 4.9%) dead heat with Mitt Romney. That is an impressive showing for Romney, who has gone back and forth for months about how many resources to commit to Iowa. (He has made just three visits to Iowa this year). With these results, Romney has little choice but to make a showing- the poll indicates he can win. Finally, the poll shows the weakness that Rick Perry is having connecting with voters. The conventional wisdom is that Perry is challenging Romney for the nomination- but this survey is just the latest to indicate that is really not the case.

• CAIN 23% 
• ROMNEY 22%
• PAUL 12%
• BACHMANN 8%
• GINGRICH 7%
• PERRY 7%
• SANTORUM 5%
• HUNTSMAN 1%

TOP TALKER TOMORROW- Washington Post- ”Hillary’s War: Clinton credited with key role in success of NATO airstrikes, Libyan rebels” it includes reporting chronicling the US decision to intervene in Libya beginning in March. A selection:

“In Washington and in Europe, the word “stalemate” began to creep into opinion columns as lawmakers, skeptical of U.S. policy in Libya, began threatening to block funds for military operations there. Meanwhile, a cash crunch also loomed for the rebels, who were unable to sell oil and were legally blocked from tapping into Gaddafi’s overseas bank accounts. By early July, they had run out of money for weapons, food and other critical supplies.”

“Clinton, ignoring the advice of the State Department’s lawyers, convinced Obama to grant full diplomatic recognition to the rebels, a move that allowed the Libyans access to billions of dollars from Gaddafi’s frozen accounts. At a meeting in Istanbul on July 15, she pressed 30 other Western and Arab governments to make the same declaration.”

WINTER STORM AFTERMATH: A rare October snowstorm brought over 2 feet of snow to some areas of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts over the weekend and caused extensive damage to the region’s power infrastructure. Connecticut Light and Power- the primary utility company in the state- reported the most number of outages at one time in the company’s history- at one point surpassing 884,000 customers. 

Tonight, roughly 750,000 customers remain without power- and it could be a week before some of the hardest hit areas have power restored. This storm comes just weeks after Hurricane Irene brought damage to the same region. Both events are historic and extremely rare- a tropical system and an October heavy snow storm. Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy joined Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in declaring a State of Emergency on Saturday and requested federal assistance.

In Coventry, Connecticut, local officials are advising residents to postpone Halloween trick-or-treating until FRIDAY due to unsafe road conditions and concern of the danger from downed trees and power lines. The Governor said today that decisions on Halloween activities will be left to municipalities on a case by case basis.

AT THE BOX OFFICE this weekend

1. Puss In Boots- $34 million
2. Paranormal Activity 3- $18.5 million
3. In Time- $12 million

THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD:

Monday- meets with Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tuesday & Wednesday- meetings at the White House
Thursday & Friday- in Cannes, France for the G-20 Summit
Friday- returns to the White House

ABOUT THE G-20: The G-20 was established in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and has held yearly meetings since its formation in 1999. This year, the Group of 20 industrialized nations will again deal with a serious financial crisis- in Europe- that threatens to outrank both the 1997 and 2008 crises. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, full meetings with heads of states of the member nations began- and were held semi-annually for two years (2009 & 2010) and will be held annually beginning this year.

19 countries and a representative of the European Union make up the G-20. They are:

1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Brazil
4. Canada
5. China
6. European Union
7. France
8. Germany
9. India
10. Indonesia
11. Italy
12. Japan
13. Mexico
14. Russia
15. Saudi Arabia
16. South Africa
17. Republic of Korea
18. Turkey
19. United Kingdom
20. United States of America

RECENT G-20 SUMMITS:

2010- Seoul, South Korea & Toronto, Canada
2009- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US & London, UK
2008- Washington, DC, US

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR IN THE WEEK AHEAD:

1/ The Cain Story. How will POLITICO’s reporting this Sunday night of sexual harassment allegations against the Republican presidential frontrunner effect the state of the race? The first indication of staying power will be if other news organizations pick up on POLITICO’s reporting where it left off. There are still more questions than there are answers as to exactly how serious these allegations are, or how credible the sources are.

2/ The Supercommittee. As the calendar turns to November, all eyes in Washington will be on the Joint Congressional Committee on Deficit Reduction- a panel of 12 members of Congress that has the potential to be one of the largest political stories of the year- or one of the biggest let-downs. Watch the Committee’s latest public hearing this week for any indication as to if they are close to consensus. Also, continue to watch for any leaks from a panel that has been remarkably tight-lipped to date.

3/ Jobs and the Economy. Friday brings the latest employment report as the Labor Department offers a snapshot of the October employment picture. That will drive the end of the week on Wall Street. In the mean time, watch to see if the markets continue their gains from this past week and month. External events- the European debt negotiations, the G-20 Summit, and the Supercommittee negotiations, will also continue to drive the markets.