Politics Daily

The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Madame Director

The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel as CIA director.

By Elaine Godfrey
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)

Today in 5 Lines

  • On the first anniversary of the special counsel’s Russia probe, President Trump reiterated his claim that there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russians.

  • Trump told reporters that he was referring to MS-13 gang members when he called some undocumented immigrants “animals” on Wednesday.

  • The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel as CIA director. She’ll be the first woman to lead the agency.

  • Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted again, sending a plume of ash 30,000 feet into the sky. The explosion comes after two weeks of volcanic activity that has destroyed at least 26 homes on the Big Island.

  • Authorities said one teacher and one student were killed, and more than 40 others were injured, in a school-bus crash in New Jersey.

Today on The Atlantic

  • DIY Education: Some black parents are turning to homeschooling to protect their kids from the systemic racism embedded in America’s public education system. (Melinda D. Anderson)

  • It’s Too Late Now: “Throughout his career, Trump has coped with failure by brazenly misrepresenting failure as success,” writes David Frum. We can expect the administration to take a similar approach in its negotiations with North Korea.

  • What’s the GOP’s Midterm Strategy?: They’ll try to increase turnout among older, blue-collar white voters and hope that younger, more diverse voters don’t show up. (Ronald Brownstein)

  • The Rise of Older Mothers: Births have declined among almost all age groups of American women—except for those over the age of 40. (Olga Khazan)

Snapshot

Police stand near the wreckage of a school bus on Interstate 80 following an accident with a dump truck, which resulted in two deaths, in Mount Olive Township, New Jersey. Mike Segar / Reuters

What We’re Reading

The Story of Trump Moscow: A new report describes Donald Trump’s attempts to build a Moscow high-rise—“an effort that extended from spearfishing with a Russian developer on a private island to planning for a mid-campaign trip to Moscow for the presidential candidate himself.” (Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold, BuzzFeed)

An Open Secret: Bias against pregnant women and mothers is a major problem in American workplaces, writes Katherine Goldstein. Why aren’t more moms speaking up? (The New York Times)

It’s Not About Being Nice: The idea that liberals should stop using identity politics as a strategy is wrong, argues Osita Nwanevu. “Survey data suggests that identity politics as practiced by Democrats and the left has been quite successful and persuasive.” (Slate)

Reality Is Messy: The current conversation about the violence happening in Gaza has obscured 13 complicated, uncomfortable truths. (Yair Rosenberg, Tablet)

Visualized

‘Meet the 9.9 Percent’: Many Americans believe the country is split between the 1 percent, and the 99 percent. Here’s what it actually looks like. (Jackie Lay, The Atlantic)