President Obama, US Trade Representative Mike Froman (l) and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during a meeting with leaders from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
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Trade rep says TPP will pass soon –> Ryan Rainey for Morning Consult: “US Trade Representative Michael Froman on Tuesday said he’s confident that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be approved by Congress if it’s brought up for a vote. ‘It’s really up to the congressional leadership to decide to bring it forward,’ Froman said in an interview on CNBC. ‘If they bring it forward, I think we can get the votes there.’ He said lawmakers are increasingly recognizing industry support for the 12-nation deal, and that he’s noticed ‘a lot of support for this agreement.'”
Voter suppression noise –> ProPublica is tracking access to the vote on its “Electionland” website. Yesterday, Jessica Huseman noted that Trump supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, are standing outside an early voting location, yelling things through bullhorns like “How many Syrian refugees, Muslim refugees, are you taking into your home?”
Meanwhile, Politico reports that neo-Nazi and KKK leaders are planning to intimidate voters of color, but keep in mind that pronouncements like this are often wildly exaggerated by the alt-right: “Neo-Nazi leader Andrew Anglin plans to muster thousands of poll-watchers across all 50 states. His partners at the alt-right website ‘the Right Stuff’ are touting plans to set up hidden cameras at polling places in Philadelphia and hand out liquor and marijuana in the city’s ‘ghetto’ on Election Day to induce residents to stay home. The National Socialist Movement, various factions of the Ku Klux Klan and the white nationalist American Freedom Party all are deploying members to watch polls, either ‘informally’ or, they say, through the Trump campaign.”
The truth about the AT&T/Time Warner merger –> Harvard Law Professor — and Moyers & Company guest — Susan Crawford at Backchannel: “Why do companies merge? Presumably, in order to get ahead in a competitive marketplace. So here’s the unavoidable truth about the AT&T/Time Warner (TWX) megadeal: First, it’s not aimed at strengthening AT&T’s ability to compete in its current business — because the company faces no real competition. It’s quite happy in its current situation. Second, by entering into the business of originating as well as distributing content, AT&T’s incentive to favor that content over internet sources is hugely increased. The deal doesn’t make sense unless AT&T messes with video coming across its wires and wireless connections that might compete with the pay TV offerings (HBO and other TWX channels) and other high-capacity services that AT&T wants to sell.”
Iraqi forces enter Mosul –> Tim Arango and Falih Hassan for The New York Times: “Facing Islamic State artillery, snipers and suicide attacks, Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces breached Mosul’s city limits on Tuesday, officers said, the first time government forces have entered the city in more than two years. The advance from the east was a breakthrough in efforts over a span of more than two weeks to reclaim Mosul from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. But a great deal of fighting remains: Even as the counterterrorism forces try to push toward the center of the city, Iraq’s second largest, Iraqi Army soldiers are approaching from the south.”
About those Russia storiess –> A number of stories were rushed out Monday following Harry Reid’s letter accusing James Comey of sitting on news that the agency is investigating ties between Donald Trump and Russia. But the team at The Intercept writes that even though it is possible that Trump businesses are using an email server to communicate with a Russian bank — as Slate’s Franklin Foer suggested — it also could be that the email server was simply sending spam for Trump’s hotels.
But Emily Tamkin and Elias Groll at Foreign Policy magazine write, “With just a week to go before the Nov. 8 vote, one of the biggest questions is not whether, but how much, Putin’s Russia has inserted itself into America’s electoral discourse. In that sense, Russia has already deeply influenced — and is still influencing — the election, regardless of the ultimate outcome.”
Tales of the wild and weird –> Talking Points Memo’s Lauren Fox looks at seven of the most interesting down-ballot races, including Republican Darrell Issa’s bid for re-election to the House. Since the 2010 tea party revolt helped the GOP win a large majority in the House, Issa has made a name for himself leading congressional investigation after investigation, but is now tacking hard to the center and embracing Obama as his Democratic challenger gains ground.
Elected officials jumps into deplorable basket –> “A since-deleted tweet sent from Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller’s account on Tuesday used an obscene term to describe Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee,” Patrick Svitek reports for The Texas Tribune. But, after initially claiming he was hacked, the outspoken Trump supporter is now blaming his staff: “I said, ‘Why don’t y’all just do some retweets?'” Miller told the Tribune. “They didn’t notice it had a derogatory term in it and they tweeted it out.” Yup, tall tales are still a Texas tradition…
Morning Reads was compiled by John Light and edited by Michael Winship. See a story that you think should be included in Morning Reads? Tell us in the comments!
We produce this news digest every weekday. You can to receive these updates as an email newsletter each morning.
