2016-09-21

DONALD TRUMP has not held an open press availability in 56 days, and last night his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, told Erin Burnett on CNN that Trump “gives press availability every day by doing these rallies in these swing states.” That is not the same thing. (H/t Sopan Deb)

Good Wednesday morning from Capitol Hill. Want free breakfast? The PLAYBOOK FOOD TRUCK is near the Capitol South Metro now, and will stay there until 10 a.m. today. Egg Sandwiches. Coffee. TOMORROW, which, for the record, is Thursday, we’ll be on the Senate side (location to come tomorrow, but it will be easily accessible for commuters). ON FRIDAY we’ll be at 17th and K for our downtown friends.

HILLARY CLINTON is in Orlando today, and will “talk about building an ‘Inclusive Economy’ – one that works for every American, not just those at the top – and that to compete and win in the global economy, we can't afford to leave anyone on the sidelines … The ideas she’ll talk about – that everyone has something to contribute in our country – date back to Clinton’s book ‘It Takes a Village,’” per a campaign official. She also previewed the speech in the New York Times: http://nyti.ms/2clD2gU

**SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: http://politi.co/1M75UbX

UNGA BUNGLE -- “Trump Gives Ukraine Cold Shoulder in New York,” by Foreign Policy’s Molly O’Toole and Reid Standish: “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump already has a contentious relationship with Kiev, irking the Ukrainian public and government officials with his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow-friendly views on the annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine. Now, invited to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, Trump’s campaign didn’t even bother to send Kiev an RSVP.

“A spokesperson for the Ukrainian presidential administration told Foreign Policy they reached out to both Trump and his Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to meet with Poroshenko. According to the official, only Clinton said yes, sitting down with the president on Monday. The Trump campaign did not give a clear answer. Trump’s campaign did not provide comment about the so-far snub by the time of publication. But according to the candidate’s public schedule, he’s already jetted to North Carolina and has plans to be in Ohio and Pennsylvania the rest of the week, not in New York, where the U.N. meeting ends on Sept. 26, the day of the first presidential debate.” http://atfp.co/2d7MYfG

NEW TRUMP AD -- “Movement” -- SCRIPT: “It’s a movement. Not a campaign. It’s leader, Donald Trump, builder, businessman, success. Doing what others called impossible. Donald Trump’s priority: you. Dreaming big. Building bigger. United for family, jobs, country, defined by freedom, standing together, pushing ahead, leaving the past behind, changing our future. Together, we’ll make America great again.” http://bit.ly/2ctccHa

SIREN -- AP: “Early ballots: Clinton sees strength in NC but lags in Iowa”: “Seven weeks before Election Day, the earliest numbers from advance voting for president show initial strength for Hillary Clinton in swing state North Carolina, good news for Donald Trump in battleground Iowa and a record number of requests for ballots in Ohio.” http://apne.ws/2cQKeUy

-- “Tom Steyer puts more money into voter turnout machine,” by LATimes’ H. Charley Bodkin: “Tom Steyer -- the San Francisco billionaire, political donor and environmental advocate -- said Tuesday he would put $20 million of his own money behind a campaign to mobilize 2 million voters in eight swing states to boost support for Democrat Hillary Clinton. The overall effort, which includes partnerships with labor groups, is expected to cost $55 million, Steyer told Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC. He said they’ll be focusing on ‘economic justice, environmental justice, racial justice and good schools’ and targeting 200 college campuses.” http://lat.ms/2d3T44S

HOT IN RIYADH -- IMPORTANT STORY -- “Dems waver on override for 9/11 bill,” by Seung Min Kim and Heather Caygle: “Democrats are starting to show cracks in their support for legislation that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia -- suggesting White House opposition to the bill may be resonating with lawmakers. But to sustain his expected veto, Obama will need to persuade 34 senators to change course and oppose the bill -- a very difficult task. The legislation sailed through both chambers with no opposition. And the White House now has scant time to make their case to Capitol Hill, with a veto override vote in the Senate expected this month.” http://politi.co/2dhKdvx

--WHY THIS MATTERS: If Congress overrides the president’s veto, that would mark a major defeat on Capitol Hill for the White House. It would be the first Congressional override of a veto of Barack Obama’s presidency. As SMK and Heather point out in their story, McConnell wants to hold the veto override vote before Congress leaves for the fall campaign season, which doesn’t give the Obama administration a ton of time to press its argument. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said: “As we’ve made this case, members of Congress in both parties have indicated that they are open to the concerns that we’ve expressed. In many cases, they share them. And the real question for members of Congress will be whether or not they’re prepared to cast a vote that is consistent with the views and feelings that they expressed in private.”

SPOILER ALERT: Members of Congress oftentimes say one thing in private, and do something completely contradictory in public. Welcome to Washington!

DRIP DRIP -- “Trump used $258,000 from his charity to settle legal problems,” by WashPost’s David A. Fahrenthold: “If the Internal Revenue Service were to find that Trump violated self-dealing rules, the agency could require him to pay penalty taxes or to reimburse the foundation for all the money it spent on his behalf. ... More broadly, these cases also provide new evidence that Trump ran his charity in a way that may have violated U.S. tax law and gone against the moral conventions of philanthropy.” http://wapo.st/2cPwr2e

--@SopanDeb: “.@JasonMillerinDC releases statement accusing @Fahrenthold of inaccuracies and bias, but doesn’t list specifics (I have asked.)”: http://bit.ly/2cCl6Qg

DAILY DONALD -- After the Washington Post ran a story with the headline “Donald Trump’s new paid maternity leave plan might exclude single mothers,” they appended an update: “Update: After this story published, Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller told The Post that Trump’s paid maternity leave policy would extend to single mothers. However, he could not explain why a marriage requirement is cited on the campaign’s website and in Ivanka Trump’s Cosmopolitan interview. ‘We don’t have the exact legislation written down,’ he said.”

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “Obama Administration Considers Arming Syrian Kurds Against ISIS,” by the NYT’s Eric Schmitt: “The Obama administration is weighing a military plan to directly arm Syrian Kurdish fighters combating the Islamic State, a major policy shift that could speed up the offensive against the terrorist group but also sharply escalate tensions between Turkey and the United States. The plan has been under discussion by the National Security Council staff at a moment when President Obama has directed aides to examine all proposals that could accelerate the fight against the Islamic State ... Mr. Obama has told aides that he wants an offensive well underway before he leaves office that is aimed at routing the Islamic State from Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital in northern Syria.” http://nyti.ms/2d1o96n

-- AP: “Man wounded after attempt to enter Israeli Embassy in Turkey”: “An attacker apparently armed with a knife tried to enter the Israeli Embassy in Turkey on Wednesday before being shot and slightly wounded by Turkish security officials, an Israeli official said. Emmanuel Nahshon told The Associated Press that all Israeli Embassy staff were safe and the attacker was captured. ‘The attacker was wounded before he reached the embassy," Nashon said in a statement in Jerusalem. ‘A person approached the embassy with a knife. He was lightly wounded by a local security man in the leg,’ he said.” http://apne.ws/2clIvEn

HAPPENING TODAY -- Donald Trump will hold a rally at the Stranahan Theater in Toledo, Ohio, with Mike Pence. Hillary Clinton will be in Orlando, at the Frontline Outreach Youth and Family Center. Michelle Obama will campaign for Hillary Clinton in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas. Bill Clinton is addressing his Clinton Global Initiative for the last time (Annie Karni previews his speech here: http://politi.co/2cPTI3V).

President Barack Obama is in New York, and will speak at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum at the Plaza Hotel. He’ll then hold bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia. He’ll return to D.C. in the afternoon.

YOU’RE INVITED! -- Join us for Playbook Cocktails TONIGHT with civil rights icon, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)! Our conversation comes during the opening week of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. We’ll talk about civil rights and explore Lewis’s extraordinary life. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The W Hotel, 515 15th Street, NW. RSVP here http://bit.ly/2cvXEEd

CAMPAIGN CASH UPDATE -- “Trump forces lagged Clinton in August money race [by $42 million]: But Trump finally showed signs of building a more conventional political infrastructure,” by Isaac Arnsdorf and Ken Vogel: “The Trump campaign, two supportive super PACs and the [RNC] pulled in a combined $70 million, relying largely on small donors, during the tumultuous month of August ... By contrast, the Clinton campaign, an allied super PAC and the [RNC], leaning heavily on major donors, raised a total of $112 million in August.” http://politi.co/2cQyPUT

-- “Clinton campaign raced through $50 million last month,” by AP’s Julie Bykowicz and Chad Day: “Hillary Clinton spent $645,000 more a day than her opponent Donald Trump last month, but even with her $50 million campaign outlay, she has not been able to pull away from him in the race for the White House. Clinton’s campaign had its most expensive month to date in August, eclipsing its previous monthly high by more than $12 million. And combined, Clinton and the national Democratic Party paid out $78 million in August, while Trump and the [RNC] spent about $47 million.” http://apne.ws/2d1miP1

THE PRIDE OF GREENWICH -- “The Bush family’s lament: They detest the GOP nominee, and now have become his foil,” by Eli Stokols: “Their distaste for Donald Trump was no secret. But they saw no point in publicizing it. From Miami to Houston, Crawford to Kennebunkport, members of the Republican Party’s first family remained quiet for months, avoiding cameras and questions about presidential politics and focusing their few fundraiser appearances on assisting the GOP candidates who would be forced to share the November ballot with a nominee they detest. But given the Bush clan’s proximity to public life, and their progeny’s desire to one day return the family to power, it was only a matter of time before their tongues would be held no longer. Over a 24-hour span that began with Jeb Bush’s surprising and sardonic cameo in Sunday’s Emmy Awards broadcast and Monday night’s reports that his father, former President George H.W. Bush, had told a family friend privately that he intended to support Hillary Clinton, the Bushes returned to the headlines, and are giving Trump just the establishment foil he so capably exploits …

“George W. Bush, who is headed to Washington this weekend to headline a fundraiser for Senate Republicans and attend the opening of the National African American History Museum, has shared in private settings for months about his fear that he will be ‘the last Republican president.’ And while Bush family loyalists say they do not know if he is joking, they are certain he cannot support Trump.” http://politi.co/2clDmMH

GOVT FUNDING WATCH -- “Senate advances budget deal that doesn’t exist yet,” by Ben Weyl, Seung Min Kim, and Burgess Everett: “Mitch McConnell summoned his Republican Conference to a late afternoon meeting Tuesday with an unusual ask: Would his colleagues support moving forward on a spending deal that doesn’t even exist yet? The answer, surprisingly, was yes. The Senate voted 89-7 on Tuesday evening to move forward on a bill that will eventually be used to fund the government through Dec. 9 and deliver $1.1 billion to fight the Zika epidemic. A bloc of conservatives voted no, but the measure easily cleared the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster, powered by votes from Senate Democrats, centrist Republicans and GOP senators up for reelection.” http://politi.co/2cHpBy4

TERRORISM LATEST -- “Bomb suspect vowed ‘death to your oppression,’ feds say,” by AP’s Eric Tucker, Larry Neumeister and Jennifer Peltz: “Federal court complaints filed Tuesday gave a chilling glimpse into what authorities say motivated the Afghan-born U.S. citizen to set off explosives last weekend in New York City and New Jersey, including a bomb that injured 31 people in Manhattan. The blasts came two years after the FBI looked into him but came up with nothing tying him to terrorism.” http://apne.ws/2d1jwJm

PETER HAMBY AND SCOTT CONROY ARE FAMOUS! -- “Megyn Kelly to Produce Comedy Series Set on Presidential Campaign Trail,” by Variety’s Justin Kroll: “Fox News star Megyn Kelly is attached to produce a new scripted series with ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ producer Michael De Luca following a presidential campaign trail and the embedded journalists who cover it. Verizon-owned streaming platform Go90 has ordered six half-hour episodes of the political comedy ‘Embeds.’ The series will follow five young reporters who are in way over their heads as they find themselves shaping the future of the country while experiencing raucous adventures in an unexpected world of sex, drugs, and swing states. Big-name politicians are expected to cameo throughout the series. ...

“Scott Conroy, co-author of the bestselling Sarah Palin biography ‘Sarah From Alaska,’ and Peter Hamby, a former CNN correspondent who is now head of Snapchat’s news efforts, co-created the show and penned the pilot. ... Conroy is leaving Vice’s upcoming nightly news show for HBO to work on the show.” http://bit.ly/2cYA7iI

SNEAK PEAKS -- NPR’s Steve Inskeep interviewed British Prime Minister Theresa May for Morning Edition. INSKEEP: “Are you sure you are going to be able to make life better once Brexit is complete?” MAY: “There are opportunities for us once Brexit is complete and I’m absolutely clear that we are going to take those opportunities. We’re going to make a success and people will see a difference. I, what I said about my government is that it will be a government that will work with everyone. I want to see an economy that works for everyone and a society that works for everyone in the UK and that’s about spreading the benefits of economic growth across the country and among people. And there’s a number of ways in which we will do that. I think leaving the European Union with the opportunities it gives us for the trading relationships around the rest of the world will be an important part of that.” http://n.pr/2dg8Juc

--PEOPLE’s interview with Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine -- On her recent sick days at home, Clinton said she did “bounce off the walls a little bit – I’m not great at taking it easy.” Kaine on his role as the No. 2 to the potential first female president: “She’s the boss. The Vice President has a wonderful ability to influence and promote the administration, but at the end of the day it’s the President who has that weight on the shoulders. I relish that. I’m a strong man who’s excited to be supporting a strong woman in this way.” http://bit.ly/2cPQKN5 ... http://bit.ly/2d1nDFn

CLINTON, INC. -- “Clinton Foundation to lay off dozens of staff,” by Ken Vogel and Katy O’Donnell in New York: “The Clinton Global Initiative has alerted dozens of employees that their jobs will be eliminated at year’s end, even as it plans to retain some staff to continue working with donors, according to two former Clinton Foundation officials who remain in communication with staff. The winding down of CGI after this week’s glitzy gathering and the resulting layoffs stem from concessions made by the Clinton Foundation to controversies swirling around Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.” http://politi.co/2cP1ICg

TOP-ED – NORM EISEN and RICHARD PAINTER in WashPost, “A Trump presidency would be ethically compromised”: “As government ethics lawyers who have, respectively, counseled the most recent Republican president and the most recent Democratic one ... [w]e have come to believe a Trump presidency would be ethically compromised for the following reasons: Opacity. ... Lack of divestment. ... Domestic conflicts. ... Foreign conflicts. ... Legal exposure. ... Veracity. ... The ethics lawyer who would have President Trump as his or her client would face a far more daunting task than either of us — or any of our colleagues in recent years — has ever confronted.” http://wapo.st/2cTzL9g

POLLS! -- MONMOUTH: FLORIDA -- Hillary Clinton 46, Donald Trump 41 … SENATE: Marco Rubio 47, Patrick Murphy 45. http://bit.ly/2cAKiqe

-- Bloomberg Politics Purple Slice Poll, conducted by Purple Strategies, has Hillary Clinton ahead of Donald Trump 46 to 42 percent among likely voters with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more in a two-way race. Mitt Romney won this group by 10 percentage points in 2012 according to exit polls and made up 27 percent of the 2012 electorate. (Online panel survey, MOE +/- 4 percentage points) http://bit.ly/2diDtgY

2016 PLAYERS -- “Trump team talking to veteran GOP ad man Elsass,” by Alex Isenstadt: “[Rex] Elsass has deep connections to the Trump campaign. He previously served as a top strategist to vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, and in 2012 he worked with Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway for Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin ... Trump’s advertising campaign has been led by Jamestown, a prominent political consulting firm with an anti-establishment edge. Two Jamestown employees, Jason Miller and Larry Weitzner, have taken senior roles in the campaign.” http://politi.co/2dfWaPn

FLASHBACK – BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins, June 13, 2013, “Inside The Meltdown At America’s Most Conservative, Most Christian Political Consulting Firm” http://bzfd.it/2cTxISH

BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- “Protests erupt after fatal shooting by police,” by the Charlotte Observer’s Joe Marusak and Ely Portillo: “A dozen police officers were injured Tuesday night in clashes with several hundred people protesting an officer-involved fatal shooting in the University City area … In Charlotte, a crowd of several hundred shouting protesters continued to block streets well after midnight, despite the use of tear gas by police in riot gear. … The protesters also walked to nearby thoroughfares and disrupted traffic: By shortly before 3 a.m., the demonstrators had shut down all lanes of Interstate 85 northbound and started a fire on the highway, before being dispersed by police with nightsticks.

“Throughout the night, protesters chanted slogans and held signs reading ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Stop Killing Us.’ The scene was sometimes chaotic and tense, with water bottles and stones chucked at police lines, but many protesters called for peace and implored their fellow demonstrators not to act violently. ‘Accountability!’ one man shouted repeatedly at CMPD officers. ‘You don’t get to murder us and get away with it!’ yelled another.” http://bit.ly/2dagaHt

-- “Justice Department Probes Police Shooting of Unarmed Black Man in Tulsa: Video shows man with arms up, hands on car just before shots fired,” by WSJ’s Shibani Mahtani: “Terence Crutcher, 40 years old, was shot Friday evening by Betty Shelby, a Tulsa police officer who was responding to a 911 call of an abandoned vehicle blocking a road. Widely shared videos of the fatal shooting recorded by a helicopter and dashboard camera … show Mr. Crutcher walking toward his car with his arms raised and then placing his hands on the top of the car. Just after a view of the man is blocked in two separate videos, shots rang out and he fell to the ground.” http://on.wsj.com/2ctky1b

LATE NIGHT BEST -- MICHELLE OBAMA on Colbert last night: “The Late Show Blanket Fort (with First Lady Michelle Obama)” http://bit.ly/2d3J9MA ... “First Lady Michelle Obama Does Her Best Barack Impression” http://bit.ly/2d1g80Z ... “Michelle Obama Has No Sympathy for the Candidates’ Spouses” http://bit.ly/2cltYbL

VIDEO DU JOUR -- “Trump’s War: ISIS or Women?” from Republicans for Clinton: “Donald Trump shares his knowledge of ISIS, Mila Kunis, Halle Barry, and Kim Kardashian in interviews with Hugh Hewitt and Howard Stern. Who’s he at war with?” 90-second video http://bit.ly/2cnZBqh

--FIRST IN PLAYBOOK – “Drop Everything and Watch Chelsea Handler’s Hilarious Rap Song About Voting” -- in conjunction with Rock the Vote and POPSUGAR http://bit.ly/2cGAQ6M

BATTLE FOR THE SENATE -- “Ron Johnson Launches TV Ad on Joseph Project Helping to Break Cycles of Poverty” -- 60-second version http://bit.ly/2cPAoUM ... 30 second version http://bit.ly/2ctcHkh

SURE -- @Bencjacobs: “Like Trump, Evan McMullin will release a list of Supreme Court justices in the coming weeks” http://bit.ly/2d1ckgq

HOT DOCS -- HUGE AUGUST DONATIONS -- Senate Majority PAC (Senate Democrats: Neil Bluhm, billionaire real estate and casino mogul, gave $1 million … Fred Eychaner, the wealthy Chicago-based chairman of the Newsweb Corporation, gave $3 million. Senate Leadership Fund (Senate Republicans): Ken Griffin, the CEO of Citadel, gave $2 million to the Senate GOP super PAC...Hedge fund titan Paul Singer gave $1 million … The Adelsons gave $10 million … Priorities USA (Hillary Clinton super PAC): The Laufer family of Florida gave $2 million to Priorities USA … Emerson Collective, the firm run by Laurene Powell Jobs, gave $2 million to Priorities … Daniel Abraham, the founder of SlimFast, gave $3 million to Priorities … Donald Sussman, the investor and husband of Rep. Chellie Pingree, gave $2 million to Priorities.

SKITTLES UPDATE -- Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum): “A picture of a British candy, taken by a Cypriot refugee, tweeted from a phone invented by the son of a Syrian” http://bbc.in/2cTy6R9

JASON HOROWITZ in Vogue with photographs by Annie Leibovitz, “Italy’s Moment: “Italy’s dynamic young prime minister, Matteo Renzi, is charming, combative, pragmatic — and determined to reform his government, at whatever the cost.” http://bit.ly/2d06mfK

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- The American Gaming Association has enlisted former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis and former FBI Deputy Director Tim Murphy to pen a report, that says the ban on sports betting isn’t working and “is driving a $150 billion illegal market and draining law enforcement resources in communities across the country.” http://bit.ly/2cTKHnh

MEDIAWATCH -- “Fox News: Sean Hannity won’t appear in any more Trump ads,” by Kelsey Sutton: “After Fox News host Sean Hannity appeared in a pro-Donald Trump political video over the weekend, the network will prohibit him from appearing in promotional political materials through the end of the election, a spokesperson said Tuesday. ‘We were not aware of Sean Hannity participating in a promotional video and he will not be doing anything along these lines for the remainder of the election season,’ the spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO.” http://politi.co/2diFaei … Video http://bit.ly/2dg7HOT

-- “Ann Coulter, High Priestess of Trumpism, Takes a Victory Lap,” by Vanity Fair’s Abigail Tracy -- VF: “Did you support any other candidates in the field?” Coulter: “I hated them all.” VF: “All of them?” Coulter: “I hated them all. And in fact, I think Trump saved my life, because looking at that field of candidates, I mean, I was hoping that Mitt Romney was going to get in. ... But without him in the race, I just thought, ‘I can’t do this. I can’t defend any of these guys. I am not going to go on TV and pretend that any of them are going to be better than any Democrat.’ And you know, I have always wanted to learn French, so I figured that I would just go to France for 2016 and skip the election year, hang out, learn French. And I happen to love Eagles of Death Metal, so I totally would have been at that concert, except Trump ran so I couldn’t leave.” http://bit.ly/2d3FluO

--“FOX Business Network Beats CNBC For the Week in Business Day For The First Time Ever”: “FOX Business Network hit a monumental record for the week beating CNBC in Business Day (9:30a-5p) with 181,000 vs CNBC’s 171,000 in total viewers for the first time ever.”

--“CBS News finishes the 2015-16 broadcast year as the only network news division with audience growth on both morning and evening news broadcasts” http://bit.ly/2d2FkXO

OUT AND ABOUT -- Speaker Paul Ryan and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi headlined the opening last night of the new LBJ Washington Center in the historic Greyhound Suite and Lobby at 1100 New York Avenue. Honorees included former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes (Founders Award); POLITICO executive chairman and CEO Robert Allbritton (Dean’s Award); CAP EVP for Policy Carmel Martin (Distinguished LBJ School Alumna); and Speaker Ryan’s Policy Director Austin Smythe (Distinguished LBJ School Alumnus).

SPOTTED: Lynda Johnson Robb, Luci Baines Johnson, LBJ School Dean Angela Evans, Tom O’Donnell, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Texas Reps. Eddie B. Johnson, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Marc Veasey; MPAA Chair Chris Dodd, Joe O’Neill, Walter Moore, Rep. Martin Frost; Ambassadors Jim Blanchard, Lloyd Hand, James Jones and Lyndon Olson, David Berteau, Mike Naeve, Rachel Hoff, Lyndon Boozer, Beth Frerking, Dave Grimaldi, Erik Huey, Carl Leubsdorf, Abby Livingston, Mark Murray, Maria Recio, Alexis Simendinger, Karen Tumulty, Matthew Cornelius, Alexander Ritchie.

OUT AND ABOUT – At last night’s Sammies, the award ceremony for federal employees put on by the Partnership for Public Service, “House of Cards” chief of staff Doug Stamper, played by ceremony co-host Michael Kelly, and real White House chief of staff Denis McDonough appeared on stage and wished each other good luck on the election in the show and in real life. Pic http://bit.ly/2d7RHy7 … The winners http://bit.ly/2ctpAuM

SPOTTED: ceremony co-host Stephanie Ruhle, Max Stier, Tammy Haddad, Ronnie and Larry Heyman, Tom and Andi Bernstein, Denis McDonough, Shaun Donovan, Adm. Thad Allen (Ret.), Secret Service director Joseph Clancy, Josh Bolten, Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), Rep. Garret Graves, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Michele Flournoy, former Rep. Tom Davis, Sean O’Keefe, Mike Rogers, Hilary Rosen, Ruth Marcus, Craig Gordon, Elaina Plott, David Hawkings, Vikrum Aiyer

OBAMA ALUMNI -- SAMANTHA VINOGRAD has been named a Visiting Fellow for the Fall 2016 semester at the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative. She is a Treasury alum, served on the NSC from 2009 to 2013 and is now the VP of the Environmental Markets Group at Goldman Sachs. http://whr.tn/2d7DpgI

BUSH ALUMNI -- CATHY LYNN TAYLOR, former NSC director for international finance, has written “Red Is the New Black: How Woman Can Fashion A More Powerful America,” which was released yesterday. $19.25 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2cnVWbS

TRANSITIONS -- “Jason Boxt Joins Penn Schoen Berland as Executive Vice President in Washington, D.C.”: “Before PSB, Boxt spent more than eight years at The Glover Park Group … and for the last three and a half years he led its research and analytics team as Managing Director.” http://politi.co/2cnZiLW

--CALLY BAUTE has been named POLITICO’s new vice president and general manager of audience solutions.

#THISTOWN -- @howardfineman: “In @Hardball greenroom with 1 of the first (& most talented) journos I’ve met in DC, my friend @NYTimesDowd. Her terrific new book is out.” http://bit.ly/2clr9rc

SPOTTED: Bush alums Peter Watkins, Blain Rethmeier and Rob Saliterman last night at the Italian trattoria Morandi in NYC’s West Village

WELCOME TO THE WORLD – Richard Cullen, SVP of public affairs at FP1 Strategies and an early POLITICO, and Laura Cullen of the National Petroleum Council, post on Instagram: Agnes Carrington Cullen. Born Sunday at 3:45pm. 7 pounds, 12 ounces. Mom and baby are doing great.” Pic http://bit.ly/2cYyRw9

NEW OBAMAWORLD BABY -- Longtime Obama staffers Jenny Yeager Kaplan, director of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, and perennial Obama fundraiser Jordan Kaplan welcomed Everette Grace Kaplan to the world on Monday morning just in time to witness her first (of many) Bears heartbreaks. Everette joins Benjamin and Harper as the Kaplans’ third baby of the administration. Pic http://bit.ly/2cCnvdA (h/t Finance_DD)

--Melissa Bonine (formerly Bruns), HUD’s director of scheduling and advance, and David Bonine, Sen. Chris Murphy’s deputy chief of staff, welcomed Penelope yesterday. Pic http://bit.ly/2ctc3U8

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Emily Grunewald, fundraiser for Sen. Blumenthal and Sen. Warner alum (h/t Natalie Raps)

BIRTHDAYS: Dean Baquet is 6-0 ... Cass Sunstein is 62 ... former CIA director and Trump supporter James Woolsey is 75 … Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is 72 ... former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is 59 ... Brian Roehrkasse, VP of external comms at BAE Systems and a Bush DOJ and DHS alum (h/t BKR) ... Politico’s Karey Van Hall ... Anna Greenberg, SVP at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (h/t Jon Haber) ... Kiki Burger, the pride of Manhattan Beach (h/t a source close to Dahl Burger) ... CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar, who studied communications and psych at UC Berkeley and is the pride of Mission Viejo, Calif. (h/ts Richard Hudock and Ben Chang) ... U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Samantha Power, fittingly falling on the week of the UN General Assembly (h/t Ben) ... Charles Garrison, director of business development at FiscalNote and a Politico alum (h/t colleague Mallory Howe) …

... Ian Russell, DCCC political director and pride of the Midwest (h/t Ty Matsdorf) ... Erin Graefe Dorton, managing director at Prime Policy ... Patricia Summers Edwards, vice consul for comms at the British Consulate General in NYC ... Elizabeth Wiebe, director of the Christian Alliance for Orphans ... Laurel Ruza, research associate at Hillary for America ... Monica Carmeant ... Jessica Andrews, public affairs officer for State’s Office of the Chief of Protocol … CQ Roll Call’s Toula Vlahou ... Maggie Dougherty, senior congressional advisor at the British Embassy and a Rubio alum … Lydia Stuckey, program director at ConwayStrategic ... Shealah Craighead (h/t Peter Watkins) ... John Celock is 37 ... Jonathan Robinson, entrepreneur-in-residence at the VA ... Rachel Barth of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association ... Mark Watson ... ... Sarah Sibley … John McKechnie … Chelsie Paulson … Ricki Lake … Kelly Lindner ... Dan Turrentine is 39 ... Lisa Marie ... Mike Veselik ... Soren Dorius … Jane Bowlsby ... David Craighead ... Joerg Wareka ... John Paul Croake (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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