Today’s newsletter highlights include:
- Gov. Brian Kemp says Georgia is overpreparing for Hurricane Milton.
- Julia Roberts had a high school reunion while campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia.
- A federal judge was skeptical about extending Georgia’s voter registration deadline.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr wants to read TikTok’s texts.
Carr and attorneys general from 21 other states say they have “good reason to believe” the popular social media platform is breaking consumer protection laws that “have fueled the ongoing crisis in the mental health of children and teens.”
A judge in Tennessee ordered TikTok to hand over text messages from the company’s executives and chats among employees on the communication app Lark. But Carr and the other attorneys general say TikTok has not complied.
Specifically, they say TikTok allows employees to destroy messages on Lark — messages the prosecutors say “bear directly on whether TikTok’s public statements about these design and algorithmic decisions were accurate and complete.”
Social media companies, once the darlings of the public sphere, have since drawn the ire of elected officials who are concerned about how they are impacting kids’ health. In September, Carr signed a letter with 41 other attorneys general calling for a surgeon general’s warning on social media platforms, similar to the one you see on cigarette packages.
“When it comes to social media, we’re working to protect our children from content that could prove harmful to their physical or mental health,” Carr said. “We’re committed to conducting a thorough investigation of TikTok’s practices so we can ensure the rule of law is upheld and our kids are kept safe.”
Michael Hughes, a spokesperson for TikTok, said the company strongly disagrees with these claims, “many of which we believe are inaccurate and misleading.” He said the company proactively removes suspected underage users and has safety features such as default screen time limits and privacy by default for minors under 16.
“We’ve endeavored to work with the Attorneys General for over two years, and it is incredibly disappointing they have taken this step rather than work with us on constructive solutions to industry-wide challenges,” he said.
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Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
GOOD MORNING! The presidential election is in 26 days. Campaigning will likely take a backseat this week to Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida late last night to devastating effect. Follow the AJC’s storm coverage.
Here are three things to know for today:
- The Florida Department of Health is threatening to charge local TV stations for airing campaign ads to overturn the state’s abortion law, CNN reports.
- A judge ruled Wednesday that Democrats can’t force Gov. Brian Kemp to investigate the State Election Board, the AJC’s Mark Niesse reports.
- Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has booked $31 million in ads in Georgia over the next three weeks. That’s $7.1 million more than former President Donald Trump and his supporters, according to an analysis by the AJC’s Phoebe Quinton.
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BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY. Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday his approach is to “overprepare” for Hurricane Milton, the third major storm to threaten Georgia in the last two months.
Tropical Storm Debby dumped more than a foot of rain in some coastal areas in August and Hurricane Helene lashed Savannah with 75 mph winds a week ago, killing nearly three dozen people in the state.
Georgia missed the brunt of Hurricane Milton as the storm passed across Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. But state officials expect Milton could produce storm surge and strong winds along the Georgia coast throughout the day.
Milton made landfall between Tampa and Fort Myers, Florida, on Wednesday with winds of over 100 miles per hour. The storm cut power for more than 3 million people and badly damaged the roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Kemp toured the Chatham Emergency Management Agency’s operations center on Wednesday as coastal Georgia officials kept a wary eye on the storm. The AJC’s Adam Van Brimmer was there, too. He said Kemp encouraged Georgians to seek out first responders and power company workers and “pat them on the back” for their work in the recovery efforts from Debby, Helene and Milton.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
WHITE HOUSE LOBBYING. Gov. Brian Kemp pulled back the curtain Wednesday on his post-Hurricane Helene discussions with Biden administration officials that ultimately led to federal major disaster declarations for dozens of Georgia counties.
Initially, only 11 Georgia counties made the list of those approved for assistance. Kemp recounted conversations he had with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in which he said it was “sending the signal that if you aren’t one of those 11 counties, they weren’t paying attention to you,” the AJC’s Adam Van Brimmer reported.
The governor wasn’t the only one sending that message. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and other senior Democrats pressed the White House to add more counties to the list. While FEMA often updates their designations as assessments are completed, many leaders worried that Georgians would consider the initial list a snub.
Kemp said his message prompted a follow-up call with President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, whom he told the inaction was creating a “political problem” for the administration.
“They immediately got on that; they understood that and added counties,” Kemp said. “They were very receptive to our lobbying.”
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. As Julia Roberts began wrapping up her remarks in support of Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, she saw someone in the audience holding up the Oscar winner’s senior photo from Campbell High School.
The Smyrna native was back in Cobb County when she asked if there were any Campbell Panthers in the room, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports. The high school has switched mascots in the years since Roberts graduated in the 1980s.
A man in the front row said he was a Panther.
“You’re a Panther?” she said before gasping. “Karthik Ramaswamy!”
As it turns out, Roberts and Ramaswamy were in homeroom together.
“Can you believe that?” she said. “This many years later, I just looked at your face and said the words ‘Karthik Ramaswamy.’”
Ramaswamy, a doctor who now lives in Johns Creek, said he didn’t plan to make himself known to Roberts, but said he “thought it would be fun” to see her.
“It was just delightful to see her,” he said. “She looks the same. She is the same. I’ve always said, she’s the same nice person that she has always been.”
Roberts heads back out on the Georgia trail for Harris today.
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DEADLINE DRAMA. It looks unlikely that a federal judge will extend Georgia’s voter registration deadline because of damage from Hurricane Helene.
The deadline to register to vote was Monday. But three civil rights groups asked a judge to extend that deadline because of the hurricane.
U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross on Wednesday was skeptical of their request, the AJC’s David Wickert reported. But she scheduled another hearing for today to hear more testimony before deciding.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
POLL WATCH. Former President Donald Trump has pledged to deport millions of immigrants who are living in the country illegally. A new poll of swing state voters, including Georgia, shows it might not be a popular strategy.
Overall, 57% of voters in Georgia said they favored a path to citizenship for immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for years without legal permission and have not committed a serious crime. Just 30% said they preferred a mass deportation program. The poll’s confidence interval was 4.5 percentage points.
The poll was conducted by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland. It’s a little different than a traditional poll. People responded to questions online after sitting through a “policymaking simulation” where they are given briefings and arguments for and against each policy.
In this case, voters were told the U.S. has about 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status. It said the path to citizenship would require immigrants to pay a penalty and any taxes they owe. It said the mass deportation program would cost $100 billion or more and would require building large facilities to detain people.
The poll included voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Georgia was the only swing state to have bipartisan support for building more border walls.
Immigration remains a top issue in the presidential race. Trump has blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for a record number of migrants crossing the border, which peaked in December 2023. Harris credits the Biden administration with dramatically stemming that flow since then by adopting tough anti-asylum measures.
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LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia‚” Augusta Mayor Garnett L. Johnson talks about long term recovery from Helene. The AJC’s Mark Niesse joins the show to make sense of all the lawsuits related to the State Election Board. And you’ll hear from Brandon Hutchison, the executive vice president and general manager of Atlanta Motor Speedway, which has opened its campgrounds to people evacuating from Hurricane Milton.
You can listen live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 or follow “Politically Georgia” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes are uploaded by noon each day, just in time to have lunch with us. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297.
On Wednesday’s show, former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan discussed his latest AJC column on the politicization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Also, former Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and outgoing DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond joined the show.
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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. Here’s what’s happening today:
- Second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s campaign jaunt in Georgia continues with a fundraiser in Newnan. He will also speak at an Atlanta Pride kickoff event and rallies in Clayton County and Athens. Oscar winner Julia Roberts will accompany him.
- Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in a town hall hosted by Univision in Las Vegas then travel to Phoenix for a campaign rally.
- Former President Donald Trump will speak at the Economic Club of Detroit.
- Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance — Trump’s running mate — will speak at a town hall in Greensboro, North Carolina.
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Credit: ArLuther Lee
Credit: ArLuther Lee
KNOW YOUR STUFF. What are Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump proposing to do about housing? The AJC’s Matt Reynolds has the answers, part of the AJC’s Know Your Stuff series.
Harris’ plan:
- 3 million new homes in her first term
- $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers.
Trump’s plan:
- Building more single-family homes, but not multifamily housing in the suburbs.
- Says he will slash inflation with no specifics as to how he would do that.
- Vows to cut regulations to halve the cost of building a home.
What the experts say:
- Taylor Shelton, a housing expert and associate professor in the Department of Geosciences at Georgia State University, said he would like to have seen more protections for renters. He wants to see a federal tenants’ Bill of Rights passed to make it harder for landlords to mistreat and evict tenants.
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HELENE RELIEF. The Georgia State Society of Washington, an organization supporting Georgians living in the nation’s capital, has partnered with similar organizations from other states for a fundraiser this evening to help those affected by Hurricane Helene.
The South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida state societies of Washington, D.C., as well as the Tennessee Business Forum, are also co-hosting the event.
Organizers said they raised nearly $400,000 ahead of the event from corporate sponsors and donors. They were hoping to raise more from last- minute donations with the request for attendees to contribute at least $25.
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AS ALWAYS, send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
