2020 Sunday Trail Markers: Trump, Democratic challengers to attend same forum
Here's what you need to know in politics this week...
- Trump, Democratic rivals to speak at criminal justice reform event
- Warren to announce plan to pay for "Medicare for All"
- The inside scoop on Ben & Jerry's support for Bernie Sanders
- GOP congressman: U.S. deal with Turkey resembles "terms of surrender"
- This week's schedule
TRUMP, DEMOCRATIC RIVALS TO SPEAK AT CRIMINAL JUSTICE FORUM
Via CBS News Associate Campaign Producer Eleanor Watson and CBS News Campaign Reporters LaCrai Mitchell and Tim Perry: President Trump will travel to South Carolina on Friday to participate in a criminal justice forum where Democratic presidential candidates will also be speaking. The forum is hosted by the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center and Benedict College—a historically black college in Columbia—from Friday to Sunday.
Mr. Trump's attendance at the event was first reported by The State.
The forum will focus on Criminal Justice Reform After the First Step Act, which the Trump administration signed into law in 2018. Mr. Trump is expected to speak on Friday, and the Democratic candidates will speak on Saturday and Sunday. The act is one of the bipartisan accomplishments of this administration. All of the senators running for president voted for the bill.
The First Step Act is an effort to reduce the number of prisoners while maintaining public safety. The law requires programming to prepare and test prisoners on their readiness for life post-prison. The act also changes the penalties for some federal offenses and increases funding for grant programs.
Mr. Trump in his rallies has pointed to criminal justice reform as one of his accomplishments, but the Democratic candidates on the trail have pushed for further efforts to curtail mass incarceration.
Senator Cory Booker, who is one of the candidates participating in the forum, told reporters on Saturday that he commends Mr. Trump for deciding to attend.
"This is an important urgent conversation, there should continue to be people from both sides of the political aisle all over the political spectrum, engaged in substantive conversation about how do we end a system of mass incarceration, how do we end a criminal justice system that has woefully too little justice," Booker said after meeting with voters in Hartsville, South Carolina.
At the forum, former Vice President Joe Biden will likely face further criticism for his tough on crime record as a senator and his role in the 1994 Crime Bill that provided money for more prisons. And Senator Kamala Harris, who made her name as a no-nonsense prosecutor, is likely to face questions about her record as well.
WARREN TO ANNOUNCE PLAN TO PAY FOR "MEDICARE FOR ALL"
Via CBS News Campaign Reporter Zak Hudak: Senator Elizabeth Warren said Sunday that she will release a plan to pay for Medicare for All in the coming weeks.
The senator has come under fire for not answering whether she would raise middle class taxes to pay for Senator Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All plan, which she has embraced and supported. Speaking to a crowd a slightly under 500 people, Warren said, "Over the next few weeks to put out a plan that talks about specifically, the cost of Medicare for All, and specifically, how we pay for it." No voter brought up the issue, but Warren said she wanted to address it. She went on to promise that she "will not sign a bill into law that does not reduce the cost of health care for middle class families."
Asked about the announcement of the payment plan, Warren said, "Nothing's changed. I've been working for a long time on this question about what the cost will be and how to pay for it." She refused again to say whether middle class taxes would go up, but she said "you'll be able to look at it" in the plan.
THE INSIDE SCOOP ON BEN & JERRY'S SUPPORT FOR BERNIE
Via CBS News Campaign Reporter Nicole Sganga: Long before political reporters scribbled explainers on "democratic socialism," Bernie Sanders had two men in his corner: Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.
Most Americans have never seen them, but they know them: "Ben & Jerry" ice cream pints have lined freezer aisles in supermarkets across the country for decades, though their enterprise was just a couple of years old when they met Sanders in 1981. That was back when Cohen and Greenfield scooped flavors out of a renovated Vermont gas station, when Sanders' "political revolution" mostly occupied downtown Burlington, and everyone had more hair.
On Saturday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 30-year old progressive firebrand, endorsed Sanders' presidential bid in Queensbridge Park. The candidate's list of endorsements for his 2020 presidential bid is growing, and Cohen and Greenfield are sticking with him.
GOP'S WILL HURD SAYS DEAL WITH TURKEY LOOKS LIKE "SURRENDER"
Via CBSNews.com reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez: Outgoing Texas Republican Congressman Will Hurd expressed concern about the White House-brokered temporary ceasefire in northern Syria, saying it resembles a surrender to the Turkish government and U.S. adversaries entangled in the country's protracted civil war.
"I still haven't seen all the details but what I'm learning, it looks more like terms of surrender than a peace deal," Hurd said on "Face the Nation" Sunday. "And unfortunately, our enemies and our adversaries — like Iran, Russia, Turkey — they're playing chess and unfortunately, this administration is playing checkers."
Facing growing criticism from Democrats and Republicans in Congress, an American delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brokered an agreement on Thursday with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who pledged to halt his invasion of northern Syria for five days to afford Kurdish fighters the opportunity to abandon territory reclaimed during the fight against ISIS.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL THIS WEEK
10/21 – Booker in NH, Bullock in IA, Gabbard in IA, Harris in IA, Sestak in NH, Warren in IA, Williamson in IA, Yang in DC
10/22 – Biden in PA, Buttigieg in NV, Harris in IA, Sestak in NH, Warren in IA, Williamson in IA, Yang in NH
10/23 – O'Rourke in IA, Biden in IA, Booker in DC, Buttigieg in NV, Harris in IA, Sestak in NH, Yang in NH
10/24 – Biden in IA, Buttigieg in NH, Castro in IA, Gabbard in IA, Sanders in IA, Sestak in NH, Warren in NH, Yang in NH
10/25 – Bennet in NH, O'Rourke in IA, Buttigieg in NH & SC, Delaney in SC, Sanders in IA, Steyer in NH, Trump in SC, Warren in NH
10/26 – Biden in SC, Booker in SC, Buttigieg in SC, Castro in NV, Harris in SC, Sanders in SC, Yang in NV
10/27 – Biden in SC & NC, Buttigieg in SC, Sanders in MI
