Spiegel Stuff: The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by AT&T - Biden to address Afghanistan collapse | Newsom on the brink in California | White House upset with Senate confirmation pace | Cardinal Burke on a ventilator

Presented by AT&T

NEWS THIS MORNING

Via The Hill’s Brett Samuels, President Biden will head back to the White House this afternoon to address the nation on the weekend’s stunning catastrophe in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s rapid takeover and the Afghan government’s shocking collapse took Biden administration insiders aback as the U.S. military raced to evacuate civilians from Kabul’s airport.

CentCom Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie reached a deal with senior Taliban officials in Doha to facilitate evacuations from Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported Monday morning. The American flag has been lowered at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. About 3,500 Embassy personnel were still waiting to be evacuated as of Monday morning.

A sampling of Congressional reaction:

-- Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.): “The Trump/Biden calamity unfolding in Afghanistan began with the Trump administration negotiating with terrorists and pretending they were partners for peace, and is ending with American surrender as Biden abandons the country to our terrorist enemies.”

-- Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), an Afghanistan veteran: “To say that today is anything short of a disaster would be dishonest. Worse, it was avoidable.”

-- Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.): “While President Joe Biden cowers at Camp David, the Taliban are humiliating America. The retreat from Afghanistan is our worst foreign-policy disaster in a generation.”

-- House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.): “It is abundantly clear that the Taliban’s advance was ultimately inevitable, at least without a commitment to surge tens of thousands of U.S. troops for an unknown span of time. That is a commitment the American public has made clear it does not support.”

Hard to recall a story that was moving as fast as this one is. Stay with TheHill.com for the latest.

It’s Monday. I’m Reid Wilson, filling in for Cate today with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to rwilson@thehill.com.

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IN THE STATES

Newsom on the brink:

Via The Hill’s Tal Axelrod, a slim majority of California voters oppose the recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). A CBS News poll released over the weekend shows 48 percent support booting Newsom, while 52 percent say they’ll vote no. No big shock, Republicans are way more motivated to show up to vote than are Democrats – which is why Newsom’s campaign is an all-GOTV effort, all the time.

Newsom’s approval rating stands at 57 percent, which is about triple what Gov. Gray Davis’s (D) was in 2003. Conservative radio host Larry Elder (R) leads the field of potential replacements at 23 percent. YouTube star Kevin Paffrath (D), the only Democrat CBS included in the test match, stood at 13 percent. No one else comes close to double digits.

Galaxy brain: Newsom has all the advantages Davis didn’t have in 2003 – a more Democratic electorate, better approval ratings and no energy scandal (although the delta variant isn’t doing him any favors). The fact that he’s only narrowly surviving is proof that recalls are tough to win.

TEXAS COURT UPHOLDS MASK MANDATE BAN

The Texas Supreme Court on Sunday upheld Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) order barring local jurisdictions from implementing mask mandates in the midst of a delta variant surge that’s starting to rival the winter apex. Lower courts had allowed Texas’s four largest counties — all run by Democrats — to implement their own mandates, but the high court kicked those rulings to the curb.

Speaking of Supreme Courts …:

Watch this strategic turn Democrats are embracing: After Chief Justice John Roberts barred federal courts from getting involved in partisan gerrymandering cases, Democrats are increasingly looking to state Supreme Courts as a line of defense in redistricting cases. Our colleague Tal Axelrod chatted with the chief Democratic legal tactician, Marc Elias, to get a window into what may be the party’s last bastion of hope in a redistricting process that definitely favors the GOP.

IN CONGRESS

The BIB-reconciliation two-step:

Via The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is floating a procedural move to advance the bipartisan infrastructure bill (can we call it the BIB?) that would pair it with the budget resolution setting up a reconciliation package. The nine House Democratic moderates holding things up said in a statement Sunday they still aren’t mollified.

Headaches on holds:

Via The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant, Brett Samuels and Laura Kelly, the White House is growing increasingly frustrated with the snail’s pace the Senate is on confirming nominees. The Senate has confirmed 144 of Biden’s 442 nominees so far, a pace that lags far behind his recent predecessors.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) last week blocked speedy confirmation of dozens of State Department officials before the Senate bolted for its August recess. Cruz is unhappy with the administration’s approval of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany.

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LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

Cardinal Burke on a ventilator:

Cardinal Raymond Burke, perhaps the most prominent American conservative in the Vatican hierarchy, is on a ventilator days after being diagnosed with Covid-19. Burke, 73, is being treated in his home state of Wisconsin.

CASE NUMBERS:

Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 36,697,292

U.S. death toll: 621,716

Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y

VACCINATION NUMBERS:

Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 356 million shots have been given.

Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 722,251 doses administered in the last week, a pace that’s rising quickly from summer lows.

For context: The U.S. population is roughly 331 million.

Breakdown of the numbers: https://bloom.bg/3iVTPLH

NOTABLE TWEETS:

A good thought:

ON TAP:

The House will meet Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. for a pro forma session. Members are out of town until Aug. 23. The Senate on Tuesday will convene for a pro forma session at 9:30 a.m. Senators are expected back in Washington Sept. 13.

WHAT TO WATCH:

3:45 p.m. EDT: President Biden will deliver remarks on Afghanistan from the White House. https://bit.ly/3iP98ag

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...:

Today is National Rum Day and National Bratwurst Day.