Trump confesses to Bob Woodward that he intentionally downplayed the severity of the virus for the last six months, the western United States is on fire because of climate change, and dueling advertising strategies tell us how the Trump and Biden campaigns see the race. Then Equis Research co-founder Carlos Odio talks to Jon about the Latino vote in Florida.

Show notes

Woodward’s Book

• WaPo: Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ and worse than the flu while intentionally misleading Americans
• CNN: ‘Play it down’: Trump admits to concealing the true threat of coronavirus in new Woodward book
• NPR: Trump Consistently Bends Reality, Sells His Narrative In Interviews For Woodward Book 
• AP: Woodward defends decision to withhold Trump’s virus comments
• The Guardian: Norwegian far-right MP nominates Donald Trump for Nobel peace prize 
• BBC: Trump Nobel Peace Prize nomination – what you need to know 
• WaPo: Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ and worse than the flu while intentionally misleading Americans 
• CNN: ‘Play it down’: Trump admits to concealing the true threat of coronavirus in new Woodward book
• WaPo: Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ and worse than the flu while intentionally misleading Americans 
• Axios: Woodward book: Trump slammed “my f—ing generals” as “a bunch of pu–ies” 
• Axios: Woodward book: Former intel chief Dan Coats believed “Putin had something on Trump” 
• NY Mag: The 5 Wildest Revelations in Bob Woodward’s New Trump Book 
• USA Today: Bob Woodward book takeaways: Trump admits ‘playing’ down COVID threat, secret nuclear program, Kim Jong Un letters 
• CNN: White House didn’t know Woodward excerpts were dropping today
• CNN: Trump irritated he wasn’t interviewed by Woodward for upcoming book (9/5/2018)
• CNN: White House and Trump campaign scramble to respond to Woodward revelations
• NYT: Trump acknowledges report that he played down the threat of the coronavirus, calling himself a ‘cheerleader.’
• Politico: Trump says comments in Woodward audio tape were meant to reduce panic
• Daily Beast: Kayleigh McEnany, Despite All Reality, Claims Trump ‘Never Downplayed’ Virus
• WaPo: Timeline: The 108 times Trump has downplayed the coronavirus threat 
• WaPo: There is no good explanation for Trump’s coronavirus comments to Bob Woodward 
• NYT: Biden, in Michigan, Pushes a Jobs Plan and Tears Into Trump’s Virus Response 
• NBC News: ‘Life and death betrayal’: Biden, Democrats shred Trump over Woodward book pandemic revelations 
• CNN: Biden slams Trump for concealing pandemic threat: ‘It was a life-and-death betrayal of the American people

Climate Change

• NY Mag: We’re Getting Far Too Used to Living in Hell
• CNN: California’s wildfires show how climate change is making forced evacuations and power shut offs the norm
• CNN: Hundreds of thousands of acres are burning in Oregon, California and Washington, and weather conditions are no help
• NYT: The ‘Straightforward’ Link Between Climate and California’s Fires 
• The Guardian: Climate crisis could displace 1.2bn people by 2050, report warns 
• CNN: US report warns climate change could create economic chaos 
• NYT: Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change 
• Yale Climate Connections: Climate change is causing more rapid intensification of Atlantic hurricanes 
• Inside Climate News: After Two Nights of Speeches, Activists Ask: Hey, What About Climate Change?
• EDF: How we underestimate the costs of climate change, and why it matters now 
• The Guardian- Opinion: Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as the coronavirus
• Grist: Major news networks devoted less than 4 hours to climate change in 2019. Total.
• NYT: I Need You to Care That Our Country Is on Fire 
• CJR: The media are complacent while the world burns (04/22/2019) 
• The Guardian: Why are the US news media so bad at covering climate change?(04/22/2019) 
• Remarks by President Trump on Environmental Accomplishments for the People of Florida 
• CNN: Trump touts ‘environmental accomplishments’ after dismantling key protections
• Palm Beach Post: PBC Dems ahead of Jupiter visit: Trump’s environmental record is a mess 
• NYT: The ‘Great Environmentalist’ President 
• NYT: Trump, Calling Himself ‘the No. 1 Environmental President,’ Green Washes His Record 
• Aljazeera: Trump’s EPA chief: Climate change efforts hurt the poor 
• Inside Climate News: President Donald Trump’s Climate Change Record Has Been a Boon for Oil Companies, and a Threat to the Planet 
• CNN: Hurricanes, fires, floods and locusts: Science says climate change is here but the RNC refuses to believe 
• WaPo- Analysis: Trump and the RNC ignore the biggest crisis of all 
• LA Times: Climate crisis or ‘hoax’: Where Trump and Biden stand on environmental policy
• The Nation: The Sitting President has No Climate Plan. Why Isn’t That Headline News?
• THE BIDEN PLAN TO BUILD A MODERN, SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND AN EQUITABLE CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE
• Reuters: U.S. utilities say Biden plan to cut CO2 hinges on breakthroughs 
• WaPo- Opinion: Joe Biden gives a big, bold, normal speech on climate change 
• The Guardian: Joe Biden unveils aggressive $2tn climate and jobs plan
• WaPo: Biden, in new climate plan, embraces more aggressive steps 
• WaPo: Biden campaign pulls out all the stops to woo young voters
• The Guardian- Opinion: Joe Biden’s bold climate policies would leave Australia behind
• NYT: ‘Climate Donors’ Flock to Biden to Counter Trump’s Fossil Fuel Money 
• The Intercept: On Climate Policy, Biden’s Advisers Reveal More Than His Proposals Do 
• New Yorker: What Joe Biden’s Climate Plan Really Signals
• Aljazeera: Is the coronavirus pandemic a chance to tackle climate change?
• The Nation: These Big City Mayors Want Green Stimulus Spending to Counter Covid-19
• New Yorker: The Coronavirus, Climate Change, And the End of Seasons As We Know Them
• Inside Climate News: States Are Doing What Big Government Won’t to Stop Climate Change, and Want Stimulus Funds to Help
• BBC: UN report: Covid crisis does little to slow climate change
• The Atlantic: The Empty Space Where Normal Once Lived
• WaPo: What the coronavirus can teach us about fighting climate change 
• Climate Power 2020: New Polling: A Debate Over Fracking and Climate Boosts Joe Biden in Pennsylvania 
• Climate Power 2020: Polling Deck: Fighting Back Against Climate Attacks in 2020
• Pew Research: [POLL] Two-Thirds of Americans Think Government Should Do More on Climate

Ad Wars

• CNN: These four charts show Trump’s and Biden’s battleground advertising strategy
• CNBC – Pro-Trump super PAC America First Action kicks off $22 million ad blitz in swing states
• AP: Trump goes mostly dark in TV advertising fight with Biden
• NYT: How Trump’s Billion Dollar Campaign Lost Its Cash Advantage 
• Slate: Trump Has Reportedly Already Blown Through Nearly a Billion Dollars of His Campaign Cash
• Axios: Where the Trump campaign’s money went
• Bloomberg – Trump Weighs Putting Up to $100 Million of His Cash Into Race 
• Axios: Biden campaign out-raised Trump by over $150 million in August
• CNN: Joe Biden is burying Donald Trump in ads
• Dallas Morning News – Former Dallas Cowboys running back Herschel Walker cuts radio ad for Trump, saying ‘he’s my president’ 
• LAT – New Trump ads stoke racial bias among white people in Minnesota and Wisconsin
• NYT: Amid New Wave of Polls, Biden and Trump Intensify Clash on Unrest
• Bloomberg – Trump and Biden Spending on Facebook Ads Roughly Equal 
• Recode: Right-wing media thrives on Facebook. Whether it rules is more complicated. 
• Guardian – Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook won’t remove anti-vaccine posts despite Covid concerns 
• Axios: What Mark Zuckerberg wishes he’d done differently 
• Politico: Trump’s lost summer: Focused on Fox News, not on battleground states
• Politico: Trump running out of time to turn around 2020 campaign – The presidential race is still leaning toward Joe Biden, while the battle for control of the Senate is a toss up.
• Politico: Suburban women hold balance of power in ‘swingiest of the swing states’ 
• Politico: Trump accelerates Arizona’s swing state evolution
• Politico: The Dems’ swing state stretch 
• Politico: There are promising signs everywhere. Yet Florida Dems remain ‘terrified.’
• Philadelphia Inquirer – Biden outspent Trump $10 million to zero on TV in Pennsylvania last month 
• Business Insider: The Trump campaign spent $400,000 on largely pointless TV ads in DC just so the president and his allies would see them, report says