By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; mallen@politico.com) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; dlippman@politico.com)
Good Monday morning, and happy Leap Day. Pretend this day is a bonus (they all are!), and do something fun for yourself (a splurge, a pamper). Then do a Secret Santa for someone else -- it’s more fun if you don’t tell!
BREAKING, via Nick Gass: “Trump [talking to Matt Lauer on ‘Today’ this morning] blamed CNN for providing a ‘lousy earpiece,’ in explaining his non-answer to [Jake Tapper yesterday] when asked to disavow the Ku Klux Klan and David Duke. ‘I’m sitting in a house in Florida with a very bad earpiece that they gave me, and you could hardly hear what he was saying. ... I disavowed David Duke and I disavowed him the day before at a major news conference ...
“I have a lousy earpiece that is provided by them ... I have no problem with disavowing groups, but I'd at least like to know who they are. It would be very unfair to disavow a group, Matt, if the group shouldn't be disavowed. I have to know who the groups are. ... I disavowed David Duke all weekend long, on Facebook, on Twitter and obviously, it’s never enough. Ridiculous.’ ... CNN did not immediately return request for comment on the interview claim.” http://politi.co/1XUXfN5
JOE SCARBOROUGH on “Morning Joe,” via Nick Gass: “It’s breathtaking. That is disqualifying right there. To say ... [y]ou don’t know about David Duke? ... I mean is he really so stupid that he thinks Southerners aren’t offended by the Ku Klux Klan and David Duke? Is he really so ignorant of Southern voters that he thinks this is the way to their heart — to go neutral, to play Switzerland when you’re talking about the Klan? ... And to say he doesn’t know enough information about the Klan to condemn them? Exactly what does Donald Trump expect to learn in the next 24 hours about the Klan?” http://politi.co/1QQ75k0
KKK INFECTS GOP – “Racial feud erupts as Republicans fight ‘unstoppable’ Trump,” by AP’s Steve Peoples in Atlanta and Bill Barrow in Leesburg, Va.: “Trump was asked ... on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ whether he rejected support from the former KKK Grand Dragon and other white supremacists ... ‘Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke. OK?’ Trump told host Jake Tapper. ‘I don’t know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists.’ ...
“Rubio [told] thousands of supporters [at Patrick Henry College in Loudoun County, Va.]: ‘We cannot be a party who refuses to condemn white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan ... Not only is that wrong, it makes him unelectable. How are we going to grow the party if we nominate someone who doesn’t repudiate the Ku Klux Klan?’ Trump was asked Friday by journalists how he felt about Duke’s support. He said he didn’t know anything about it and curtly said: ‘All right, I disavow, ok?’
“He hasn’t always claimed ignorance on Duke’s history. In 2000, he wrote a New York Times op-ed explaining why he abandoned the possibility of running for president on the Reform Party ticket. He wrote of an ‘underside’ and ‘fringe element’ of the party ... ‘I leave the Reform Party to David Duke, Pat Buchanan and Lenora Fulani. That is not company I wish to keep.’ ...
“The Duke debate seeped into the Democratic contest, as ... Sanders ... lashed out on Twitter: ‘America’s first black president cannot and will not be succeeded by a hatemonger who refuses to condemn the KKK.’ Hillary Clinton re-tweeted Sanders’ message. ... Trump mocked the Republican establishment and his flailing rivals. ‘It’s amazing what’s going on,’ he told [Chuck Todd on ‘Meet the Press’], calling his campaign a ‘movement.’” http://apne.ws/1QmWM4T
--@RealDonaldTrump: “THANK YOU ALABAMA! 32,000 supporters tonight. Get out & VOTE on Tuesday! WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
SUNDAY BEST – JAKE TAPPER: “Will you unequivocally condemn David Duke and say that you don’t want his vote or that of other white supremacists in this election?”
TRUMP: “Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke. OK? I don't know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know. I don’t know, did he endorse me or what’s going on, because, you know, I know nothing about David Duke. I know nothing about white supremacists. And so you're asking me a question that I'm supposed to be talking about people that I know nothing about.”
TOP TWEETS: @kevinroose: “I’m old enough to remember when the biggest scandal in the GOP was Mitt Romney having a car elevator” ... @AdamWollner: “Rubio mocks protester at Loudoun County rally: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, the valedictorian of Trump University!’” ... @BuzzFeedAndrew: “Much praise to @jaketapper who seems to be the best and most probing interviewer on cable this election” ... @RalstonReports: “Not even 7 AM, and I wake up to Trump pleading ignorance of KKK, admitting 2 hiring illegal aliens, praising Mussolini. Maybe I’m not awake?” ... @rupertmurdoch: “Both ‘establishment’ Republicans and Trump need to cool it and close ranks to fight real enemy. Trump, Rubio, Kasich could all win general.”
SO THERE! N.Y. TIMES Quotation of the Day -- MEG WHITMAN, the Hewlett-Packard C.E.O. and former supporter of Chris Christie for president: “Donald Trump is unfit to be president. He is a dishonest demagogue who plays to our worst fears.”
TRUMP TRAIN -- “Sen. Jeff Sessions [R-Ala.] endorses Trump,” by Eli Stokols: “When Sessions took the stage [in Madison, Ala.], he was effusive in praising the GOP front-runner. ‘I told Donald Trump this isn’t a campaign, this is a movement” ... ‘I hate to say it, I'm becoming mainstream,’ joked Trump. ‘I’m getting all these endorsements.’” http://politi.co/1WRRsXn
--@QuinHillyer: “I am literally having trouble not being sick to my stomach at Jeff Sessions’ endorsement of Trump. This, on the day Trump retweeted Il duce!” ... @brithume replies: “Longtime conservative journalist from Alabama feels betrayed by home state Sen. Sessions. Hard to blame him.”
--“Cruz’s U.S. territories consultant backs Trump,” by Katie Glueck: “Dennis Lennox, a Michigan-based GOP operative who spent several weeks organizing the U.S. territories for Cruz, including Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands, said he is supporting Trump because he sees him as more electable.” http://politi.co/1QmtF1o
RUBIO STRATEGERY – “Rubio’s suburban play for second place: The senator doesn’t have to win outright on Super Tuesday to stay in the game,” by Eli Stokols in Kennesaw, Ga., and Anna Palmer in Purcellville, Va.: “With polls showing Trump likely to win Georgia and Virginia overall, Rubio’s Super Tuesday survival strategy centers on targeting these suburban and exurban congressional districts to reach the educated 30- and 40-somethings whose practical, economic conservatism aligns with the Florida senator’s own aspirational brand. ... ‘You need 1,237 delegates to win. And as long as we are picking up delegates, we’re in the fight,’ said Todd Harris, Rubio’s senior adviser. Rubio employed a similar suburban strategy in South Carolina to some success.” http://politi.co/1LpPSvp
TED CRUZ got testy with Chris Wallace for tough questioning on “Fox News Sunday.” (“Dirty tricks” question at 7:45.) Video http://bit.ly/1WRS0ww
GLENN THRUSH “OFF MESSAGE” podcast: Obama Foundation and Uber board member David Plouffe says Hillary Clinton has a 98% chance of being the Democratic nominee and warns her to stick with her team and the plan. Plouffe says efforts to coalesce around one alternative to Trump are too late—“It needed to happen two, three weeks ago”— and that the nomination is completely in Trump’s control: “If he can land the plane, he wins.” http://apple.co/1KRm0m0 ... Story http://politi.co/1oIWkmG ... Subscribe on iTunes. http://apple.co/1KRm0m0
CLINTON STRATEGERY -- “Clinton allies preparing for Trump nomination, fall campaign,” by AP’s Ken Thomas in D.C. and Lisa Lerer in Columbia, S.C.: “Among the likely options: Questioning Trump’s qualifications and temperament to be president, scrutinizing his business practices and bankruptcy filings, and re-airing his inflammatory statements about women and minorities.” http://apne.ws/24wgLnR
TOP TALKER – WashPost A1, at fold, “For Jeb Bush’s right-hand adman, end of a lucrative era,” by Matea Gold: “Murphy rejected speculation in news reports and on Twitter that he made millions from Right to Rise. His total compensation was capped, he said, ending up in the ‘middle six figures.’ ... Overall, less than 5 percent of the $81 million that the group spent on TV and digital ads — or less than $4 million — went to commissions for an ad-buying company and the firms run by the super PAC’s two media strategists, Murphy and Larry McCarthy.” http://wapo.st/1QmsuPv
BLAKE ZEFF for Politico New York, “Bloomberg 2016 rationale decaying by the day”: “[H]is ability to affect the campaign is very real. ... He’s a proud anti-populist running in the year of the populist, with no publicly evident charisma or political party, plus unappealing poll numbers and impossible-looking electoral college math.” http://politi.co/1TMk06F
WASHINGTON, INC. – “Under diversity pressure, tech courts minority groups in D.C.,” by Tony Romm: “Some of Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies are quietly funneling money to minority groups in Washington, including those affiliated with black and Hispanic lawmakers ... The donations, known as ‘honorary expenses,’ fund events like dinners and cocktail receptions where members of Congress and federal regulators are the guests of honor. The leader of the pack is Google ... Apple chipped in $1.2 million for an awards gala for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and Uber wrote a $10,000 check to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.” http://politi.co/1XUVak9
JOINING POLITICO: Christyn Lansing, press secretary to Sen. Rob Portman and a graduate of Miami University, starts tomorrow in a new Politico position, communications director. Christyn joins the team of Brad Dayspring, vice president of global communications, and will take the lead in external promotion of Politico journalism, leaders and events.
--FRAN HOLUBA has been named director of social enterprise at Politico; she previously worked in the Office of Global Engagement at the National Security Council and spent 5 years in the White House, starting as an intern for press secretary Robert Gibbs.
TAKING OSCAR HOME: Best Picture: “Spotlight” ... Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant” ... Actress: Brie Larson, “Room” ... Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies” ... Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl” ... Directing: Alejandro G. Inarritu, “The Revenant.” Full list http://bit.ly/1ReMy2N
L.A. TIMES, “SPOTLIGHT ON HARD TRUTHS” – Two A1 stories:
--“Broadcast did more than hand out gold statues,” by TV Critic Mary McNamara: “An event most often criticized for being self-indulgent and self-congratulatory -- so over-long, repetitive and predictable that the host is all but required to joke about its absurdity -- this year’s Academy Awards was a strange compilation of atonal moments in which the audience was kept perpetually off-balance. ... It was also the first Oscars in memory that, nakedly and unapologetically, attempted to do something other than hand out a bunch of gold statues.” http://bit.ly/1oILsoM
--“Biting comments on race dominate the awards show,” by Josh Rottenberg: “Throughout the evening, the theme of honoring survivors of one kind or another recurred. Accepting the original screenplay award for ‘Spotlight,’ which chronicles the Boston Globe’s investigation uncovering the sexual abuse scandal among Catholic priests, the film’s co-writer and director, Tom McCarthy, acknowledged both the reporters and the victims. ...
“Late in the evening, Vice President Joe Biden took the stage to issue a call to end sexual violence, introducing Lady Gaga’s rendition of her Oscar-nominated song ‘’Til It Happens to You’ from the documentary film ‘The Hunting Ground,’ a performance that earned a standing ovation. Extending the survival theme further, [Leo] DiCaprio devoted the bulk of his [Best Actor] acceptance speech to an impassioned call to save the planet in the face of the global warming crisis.” http://lat.ms/1TMhqxq
--Transcript -- Chris Rock’s opening monologue (“He took the stage to Public Enemy’s ‘Fight the Power’”): “This year, the Oscars, things are going to be a little different. ... [T]he ‘In Memoriam’ package: It's just going to be black people that were shot by the cops on their way to the movies.” http://lat.ms/1oIJ0Pg
--N.Y. DAILY NEWS cover, “CHRIS WENT TOO FAR – [Daily News writer Shaun] King: Rock was in impossible spot, but lynching jokes were appalling.” See the cover. http://nydn.us/vp5qdB Read Shaun King. http://nydn.us/1OHrC2A ...
--N.Y. POST cover, “OSCARS ROCKED: Chris plays Hollywood racism for big laughs – LEO WINS, ‘SPOTLIGHT’ SHINES.” http://nyp.st/1RzotpX
BILL PRESS’ new book, “Buyer’s Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down,” debuted on the WashPost bestseller list at #7. $18.39 on Amazon http://amzn.to/1oIl7XY
VALLEY TALK -- “For Some Men, Mark Zuckerberg Is a Lifestyle Guru,” by Matt Haber on cover of NYT Sunday Styles: “Each year, Mr. Zuckerberg, ... 31, has made public pledges to improve himself. ... In 2009, Mr. Zuckerberg decided to wear a tie every day. In 2010, he set himself the task of learning to speak Mandarin. ... In 2013 he aimed to meet someone new every day. In 2014, he promised to write a daily handwritten (or emailed) thank-you note. ... This year ... he has said he will run 365 miles over the course of the year and build an artificial intelligence butler for his home.” http://nyti.ms/21uvEIh
--L.A. Times p. A1, top of col. 6, “APPLE FIGHT RAISES POLICE HOPES: Many in local law enforcement want the same access being sought by the FBI,” by James Queally and Kate Mather: “The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has as many as 150 phones in evidence lockers that investigators can’t crack, Cahhal ... The LAPD has about 300 ... In Sacramento, sheriff’s officials have nearly 90. Officials said that before the FBI court order, they thought there was no way to access the information. Several California law enforcement agencies said they were told by Apple the company didn’t have the means to unlock phones.” http://lat.ms/1T3WFgF
THE MAP – CHARLIE MAHTESIAN, a birthday boy yesterday, “Breaking down Democrats’ Super Tuesday map: What to watch for in the biggest day of the Democratic presidential race so far”: “In state after state, the pattern is the same. Hillary Clinton’s team swooped in early, organized methodically and captured support from the Democratic establishment. Bernie Sanders arrived late, opened eyes with a few jam-packed rallies and quickly generated a ground game powered by the progressive grass roots. ... Here is POLITICO’s guide to the Super Tuesday Democratic landscape.” http://politi.co/1XUcje0
--“[Hawaii Rep.] Tulsi Gabbard backs Sanders,” by Gabe Debenedetti in Chicago: “Gabbard announced her resignation from her post as a vice chairwoman of the [DNC] to back the Vermont senator in his presidential bid. ‘I have taken my responsibilities as an officer of the DNC seriously, and respected the need to stay neutral in our primaries. However, after much thought and consideration, I’ve decided I cannot remain neutral and sit on the sidelines any longer,’ Gabbard wrote in an email to her fellow DNC officers.” http://politi.co/1oIlVfE
THE BIG PICTURE -- MICHAEL HIRSH, “Why Trump and Sanders Were Inevitable: It was only a matter of time before we had a populist backlash to 30 years of flawed globalization policies that both parties embraced”: “From Washington there was only the all-too-self-confident movement of both political parties toward a full-on embrace of policies that further promoted the brutally unequal society that America is today. ... [M]ake no mistake: The message that Sanders and Trump are bringing to the stump isn’t going away soon, not until the two parties acknowledge the deep flaws in the economic paradigm that got us to this place of inequality, but which neither the Democratic nor the Republican leadership have questioned deeply.” http://politi.co/1KWzYIO
CANTOR ALUMNI -- RORY COOPER on Medium, “#NeverTrump Is the Unifying Movement Conservatives Needed”: “The #NeverTrump movement took off this weekend and it may be a much needed moment of unity for the conservative movement and rank-and-file Republicans after years of discord. ... Trending worldwide non-stop since it began. Writers like Matt Lewis, Jonah Goldberg, Stephen Hayes, Erickson, Podhoretz and Kristol are all there. Early adapters like Rick Wilson, Liam Donovan.” http://bit.ly/1T3NbC4
SPOTTED: Harry Reid and his wife in the produce aisle at the P Street Whole Foods on Saturday afternoon: “He was intently picking out the best apples! An interesting juxtaposition among the throng of 20- and 30-somethings.” ... Colin Kahl, the Vice President’s national security adviser, at Peregrine Espresso in Eastern Market yesterday morning.
FREE EPISODE ... Showtime’s “THE CIRCUS”: “Someone has to change the game,” Donald Trump Jr., explaining his father’s victories in last night’s episode. Trump Jr. told co-host Mark McKinnon that his dad is bringing out frustrated voters who previously were turned off by politics. “He’s saying what he wants, and, you know, some people are going to be offended. But there comes a time where you actually have to say something real.” Showtime is offering the full episode for free this Super Tuesday week on YouTube, Sho.com and as a video podcast on iTunes. YouTube http://bit.ly/1n9UJFw ... Showtime http://s.sho.com/1QnsQSD
SEAN SPICER posts on Facebook: “I am trying to go back to College!!! In 2004 I was honored to be elected to represent Virginia’s 8th district and cast one of Virginia’s 13 electoral votes for President Bush and Vice President Cheney. I am excited to represent Virginia’s 8th congressional district again this cycle.” The 8th has all of Arlington county, the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church and parts of Fairfax county. Short article from The Sun Gazette http://bit.ly/1KWxni5
SNEAK PEEK – “The Bidding War: How a young Afghan military contractor became spectacularly rich,” by Matthieu Aikins in The New Yorker: “America’s war in Afghanistan, which is now in its fifteenth year, presents a mystery: how could so much money, power, and good will have achieved so little? Congress has appropriated almost eight hundred billion dollars for military operations in Afghanistan; a hundred and thirteen billion has gone to reconstruction, more than was spent on the Marshall Plan, in postwar Europe.” http://bit.ly/1TJxhvy
SENATE RACES ... “Kamala Harris receives California Democratic Party endorsement,” by Sacramento Bee’s Christopher Cadelago in San Jose: “Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris received far more than enough votes from party delegates to win their coveted endorsement late Saturday, exceeding most expectations and dealing a potentially harrowing blow to her opponent, veteran Rep. Loretta Sanchez.” http://bit.ly/1LOP5Pv
TRANSITIONS: Adam Bramwell, longtime friend of Sen. Chris Coons and 20-year veteran of the Hill, is coming to his office as chief of staff. The Georgetown grad “previously served for thirteen years as General Counsel to the Secretary of the Senate and for seven years as counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.”
OBAMA ALUMNI -- “Luke Hartig Joins National Journal to Lead New Network Analysis Product”:“Hartig, former Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the ... (NSC), has joined National Journal as Executive Director of the research and insights company’s new
Network Science Initiative.” http://bit.ly/1oRKasi
ENGAGED -- Hillary for America Deputy Digital Director Jenna Lowenstein and her girlfriend Emily Norman were engaged Saturday night in Brooklyn. Emily made a surprise visit to celebrate Hillary’s big win in South Carolina and Jenna proposed. Emily also had a ring hidden in Jenna’s apartment. Pic of the couple’s hands with rings http://bit.ly/1QFTh58
--Rocky Fox of Cloakroom Advisors, to McKinsey alum and University of Miami MBA student Kat Morgan, who met through friends. The two were engaged on a vacation to England where they took in a Leicester City (The Foxes!) Premier League game. Pic http://bit.ly/24wfzRa
WEEKEND WEDDING -- Maggie Easterlin, senior account executive at Stratacomm and a Burson-Marsteller alum, married Dayne Cutrell, legislative assistant in Sen. Richard Shelby’s office, over the weekend in Macon, GA in the hometown of the bride and home of the Easterlin Pecan Company. The couple met on the bride’s first night living in DC and celebrated with more than 250 of their family and friends in a quintessential southern wedding, with plenty of pecans. Pic http://bit.ly/1RyL9H2
OUT AND ABOUT: Interior Secretary Sally Jewell spent her 60th birthday on Feb. 21 at the White House for the National Governors Association Governors’ Ball but fittingly celebrated her 60th last night at Sportrock Climbing Center in Alexandria, VA with beer and a BBQ food truck. SPOTTED at the climbing gym: Secretaries McDonald, Burwell, King Moniz and Vilsack, Mike Connor, Dr. Kathy Sullivan, Sen. Cantwell, Tina Tchen, Christy Goldfuss, Mike Boots, Conrad Anker, Neil Kornze, Dan Ashe, Mike Black, Esther Kia’aina, Kris Sarri, Michael Bean, Tommy Beaudreau, Laura Daniel-Davis, and lots of current and former DOI staffers. 12-second video of the Secretary racing former WH CEQ Acting Chair Mike Boots’ son ... who let the birthday girl win http://bit.ly/1SbqkDE
OUT AND ABOUT -- Friends and former staffers gathered to celebrate Bob Michel’s 93rd birthday yesterday. (Actual birthday is March 2.) Bob served in Congress for 38 years and was the longest serving Republican Leader for 14 years during the 2 terms of President Reagan, President George H. W. Bush and 2 years of President Clinton. He retired from Congress in 1994. SPOTTED: all four of his children: Scott Michel, Robin Michel, Laurie Michel and Bruce Michel, Ray and Kathy LaHood, former National Republican Chair Frank Fahrenkopf, former staffers Billy Pitts, Mike Johnson, Karen Haas, Sharon Yard, Linda Steele, Barbara Kosta, Missi Tessier, Karen Buttaro, Paul Vinovich, Vickie Dixon. (h/t Ray LaHood)
MEDIAWATCH: NYT Upshot’s Josh Barro is leaving to return to Business Insider, Hadas Gold reports. Barro will oversee BI’s commentary team, while writing a regular column on politics, business and the economy. “While the Times has been absolutely amazing, it’s been limiting in certain ways to be on the news side,” Barro said. “There’s a lot I want to say about what’s going on and I feel like I could be more useful as an opinion writer.” Barro said his columns will follow similar themes to what he’s written on his Twitter account, including the Trump phenomena and “what the hell has happened to the Republican party.” http://politi.co/1QPVfGu
--RUT-ROH! Notice at top of today’s Houston Chronicle front page: “SUBSCRIBERS: Delivery of paper may be late Wednesday -- The Chronicle will be holding the presses for the editions of Wednesday, March 2, to bring you the most complete coverage of Super Tuesday. This may delay delivery to your home or business.”
BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Christine Domenech, VP of development at Claremont Institute, is 32, and celebrated with friends at Ambar on Barracks Row (h/t Jim Cardillo)
BIRTHDAYS: Kent Lucken, the proud Iowa State University/Harvard grad, international affairs specialist, member of the Romney inner circle, and well-respected GOP campaign hand is (technically) celebrating his 13th birthday after 52 years on the planet (h/t David Kochel) … Center for Public Integrity Deputy Executive Editor John Dunbar is “13” on Feb. 29 (h/t Dave Levinthal) ... Craig Kennedy (h/t Jon Haber) ...Daniel Thornton, New Jersey’s deputy attorney general in the financial affairs and state contracting practice and a Booz Allen alum ... Alicia Power …
... New Hampshire’s Aaron Goulette ... Bruce Potter will be 13, the same age as his son ... Enid Doggett, CEO and founder of INSPR Media ... Bruce Potter, COO of Northern Virginia Media Services ... Kristen Slaughter Brown ... Wendy Goldberg (h/t Teresa Vilmain) ... actress Michele Morgan is 96 ... former astronaut Jack Lousma is 80 ... Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is 76 ... motivational speaker Tony Robbins is 56 ... legal affairs blogger Eugene Volokh is 48 ... actor Antonio Sabato Jr. is 44 ... Ja Rule is 40 ... Mark Foster (Foster the People) is 32 ... Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward is 32 (h/ts AP)