Good Saturday morning. With 73 days until Election Day, it’s clear Donald Trump is getting a lot of conflicting advice from a lot of different people on very important topics like taming his sharp tone and moderating on immigration. And where he comes out will have major implications for the Republican Party not just in 2016, but for years to come.
THERE ARE TWO CAMPS IN TRUMPLAND, per Bob Costa and Jenna Johnson:
--Camp No. 1: “Those pushing Trump to soften his stances and tone — and who have gained immense influence in recent days — include [Rudy] Giuliani, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Fox News chief Roger Ailes, a longtime ally who has no formal role with the campaign but talks to the candidate frequently and attended a strategy session last weekend. At recent private fundraisers, many Republican donors have also urged Trump to adopt a different pitch and rethink his priorities.
--Camp No. 2: “Meanwhile, Trump continues to discuss immigration policy with Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), who is seen as the populist force behind much of his candidacy. While he has defended and encouraged Trump’s deliberations, Sessions is considered a balancing force against more centrist appeals. So is new campaign chief executive Stephen Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, the hard-charging conservative website.” http://wapo.st/2bHEEC7
THE MAP -- “As Donald Trump Repels Minority Voters, G.O.P. Fears Its Future in the West,” by Jeremy Peters on A1 of the NYT from Phoenix: “Republicans in Western states fear that Donald J. Trump could imperil their party for years to come in the country’s fastest-growing region as he repels a generation of Hispanics, Asians and younger voters who have been altering the electoral map. Mr. Trump, with his insult-laden, culturally insensitive style of campaigning, is providing fuel for the demographic trends that are already reshaping the political composition of this once-heavily Republican territory. And now many Republicans are contemplating the possibility that states like Colorado or Nevada could soon become the next California: once competitive but now unwinnable in presidential contests.
“Asked how fellow Republicans could win election to statewide office in the West, Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona offered some blunt advice: ‘Distance yourself from Donald Trump.’ ‘That’s difficult,’ he added, ‘but I think we’ve got to do it if we’re concerned not just about this election but elections to come.’ Otherwise, Mr. Flake said, ‘this will last decades.’” http://nyti.ms/2bxfQOm
TRANSITION WATCH -- NYT A11, “Clinton and Trump Campaigns Are Buzzing About the Race … for the Cabinet,” by Mark Landler: “The jockeying for jobs that usually consumes the two and a half months between Election Day and Inauguration Day is well underway in Washington, with people swapping their notional lists of cabinet officers and speculating about who might get the plum deputy posts just under them. ...
“[O]n the Democratic side, Mrs. Clinton’s persistent lead in the polls has made it hard for her supporters to resist the urge to measure the drapes. And no area is more rife with jockeying than national security ... [Jake] Sullivan would have a lot of say over who got the marquee national security posts: secretary of state, defense secretary and C.I.A. director. Michèle A. Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense in the Obama administration, is viewed as a clear favorite to be defense secretary because, among other things, it would allow Mrs. Clinton to make history by putting a woman in charge of the Pentagon.
“The outlook for secretary of state is murkier, in part because Mrs. Clinton held the job herself and presumably has strong views on what kind of person she wants. Unlike Mr. Obama, who sought major public figures like Mrs. Clinton and John Kerry to be the nation’s chief diplomat, Mrs. Clinton, advisers said, might prefer a trusted and reliable facilitator of her policy. That has led to speculation about William J. Burns, a low-key former deputy secretary of state who runs the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ... [Tom] Donilon’s name also figures in speculation about secretary of state, as well as C.I.A. director. For the C.I.A. post, Mrs. Clinton could also pick Michael J. Morell ... or Michael G. Vickers ... Both recently wrote op-ed articles sharply critical of Mr. Trump and favorable to Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Morell also works as a senior counselor at Beacon Global Strategies, a consulting firm started by Philippe Reines and Andrew Shapiro, two former close Clinton aides who could return to a Clinton White House. Among the firm’s other founders is Jeremy Bash, a former chief of staff to Leon E. Panetta when he was defense secretary. Mr. Bash is advising the Clinton campaign on cybersecurity and is in the hunt for a job as well.” http://nyti.ms/2bNmqlU
CLINTON INC. -- WSJ A1, “Foundation Tapped Chelsea Clinton Friend’s Firm to Manage Endowment,” by James V. Grimaldi and Rebecca Ballhaus: “When the Clinton Foundation in 2014 was seeking a firm to manage its planned $250 million endowment, it turned to a familiar source: a New York investment fund with a managing director, Nicole Fox, who is a longtime friend of Chelsea Clinton and served as matron of honor at Ms. Clinton’s wedding. Ms. Fox, along with the chief executive of Summit Rock Advisors L.P., presented to the foundation during the hiring process, said Clinton Foundation spokesman Craig Minassian.
“Ms. Fox’s husband, Michael Fox, also was until recently chief administrative officer and deputy chief operating officer of Eaglevale Partners, the hedge fund co-founded by Ms. Clinton’s husband, Marc Mezvinsky. Mr. Minassian said the foundation selected Summit Rock from among a dozen other fund managers because it was deemed to be ‘one of the most respected firms helping not-for-profit organizations such as colleges and charities invest their endowments.’ ‘Once it became clear that Summit Rock was one of the finalists, Chelsea did not participate in the final selection process,’ he added in a statement.” http://on.wsj.com/2bshEq0
--Grimaldi, a Pulitzer Prize-winner at the Washington Post, and Ballhaus have been all over the Clinton Foundation beat. They wrote about the foundation’s foreign cash (http://on.wsj.com/2chBCd5), her dealings with UBS (http://on.wsj.com/2brhAvo), Chelsea’s decision to stay on the board (http://on.wsj.com/2bUN2PA) and more we’re sure we’re forgetting.
FED WATCH -- “Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen Sees Stronger Case for Interest-Rate Increase: Central banker cites solid performance of labor market, Fed’s outlook for economic activity and inflation,” by WSJ’s Jon Hilsenrath and Harriet Torry in Jackson Hole, Wyoming: “‘In light of the continued solid performance of the labor market and our outlook for economic activity and inflation, I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months,’ [Federal Reserve Chairman Janet] Yellen said in remarks delivered here Friday. The remarks left the door open for a Fed rate increase at its Sept. 20-21 policy meeting, but the chairwoman hedged her comments in ways that give the central bank an out if economic data disappoint in the next few weeks.” http://on.wsj.com/2chEhU0
HAPPENING TODAY -- Donald Trump is in Iowa for the Joni Ernst Roast and Ride. Mike Pence is in Purcellville, Virginia, for a rally. Hillary Clinton has no public events today. Tim Kaine is in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
--@IanSams, battleground state comms for Hillary for America: “NEWS: They’re hitting the road — @POTUS will campaign for @HillaryClinton in Philly on 9/13, @VP in Youngstown & Cleveland on 9/1. Fired up.”
SCREENSHOT DU JOUR – DSCC popup ad on Mother Jones’ site featuring a pic of Bernie Sanders and this text: “It’s Time to Retake the Senate -- Say You’re In for 2016” http://bit.ly/2bWayvo
PRESIDENT TRUMP -- “Trump taps Bush, Romney veterans for transition: He relies on consummate GOP insiders to lay the groundwork for a possible presidency,” by Andrew Restuccia and Jen Haberkorn: “The team’s executive director is Rich Bagger, a former New Jersey lawmaker and pharmaceutical executive who spent two years as Christie’s first chief of staff. William Palatucci, another member of the transition team, is a former Christie law partner and one of New Jersey’s best-connected Republican operatives who was a senior campaign adviser for both Presidents Bush. Other Trump transition staff include William Hagerty, an economic adviser to George H.W. Bush who was a key player on Romney’s transition team; and Jamie Burke, who worked for George W. Bush as White House liaison to Health and Human Services and also served on Romney’s transition team.” http://politi.co/2bHBpiz
-- “Trump fights breaking out across college campuses: College Republicans all over the nation are wrestling with whether to endorse their party’s nominee,” by Tyler Pager: “As students head back to campus for the start of the new school year, College Republicans are going through the same soul-searching that Republicans across the country have been wrestling with for months over what the future of their party will look like and what lasting impact Trump’s unorthodox campaign will have on the GOP… ‘What’s happening at Yale right now is the perfect foreshadowing of what we will see in the Republican Party in the years to come,’ [Yale New Republicans co-director Ben Rassmussen] said. ‘The Republican Party is at a point now where it needs to either adapt or it will die.’” http://politi.co/2bG74zr
GOTHAM WATCH -- NY Daily News: “MAKE ISIS GREAT AGAIN: Terrorists rooting for Donald, say he’d be tremendous for his fiendish cause” http://nydn.us/2b6YE1k … NY Post: “THE GREAT SAMBINO: Baby Bomber Sanchez on a mind-blowing run” http://nyp.st/2boalWb
SNOWDEN’S AMERICA -- “HOW THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN IS FOILING THE KREMLIN: Staffers are now using a ‘Snowden-approved’ app to hide Trump-related e-mails from hackers, in Russia and elsewhere,” by Nick Bilton in Vanity Fair’s The Hive: “[S]taffers were told, according to a person who works with the committee, that if anyone was going to communicate about Donald Trump over e-mail or text message, especially if those missives were even remotely contentious or disparaging, it was imperative that they do so using an application called Signal … Signal, staffers in the meeting were told, was ‘Snowden-approved.’ A week after the meeting at the campaign headquarters, according to two people who have worked with the D.N.C. and the Clinton campaign, an e-mail was sent out instructing staffers where to download the app and how to use it. Shortly thereafter, the news broke that the D.N.C had been hacked.” http://bit.ly/2bY0nq5
-- “Teamsters endorse Hillary Clinton,” by Cogan Schneier and Marianne Levine: “The 1.4-million-member Teamsters endorsed Hillary Clinton, the union announced Friday, in a unanimous vote by its executive board. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is the nation’s fourth-largest union, and the last of the country's labor giants to fall behind the Democratic presidential nominee — well behind the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Union, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which all endorsed Clinton in 2015. Unlike these other unions, the Teamsters do not consistently endorse the Democratic candidate for president.” http://politi.co/2bobPje
DRIP DRIP -- “Clinton calendars won’t be released until after election,” by AP’s Ted Bridis: “Seven months after a federal judge ordered the State Department to begin releasing monthly batches of the detailed daily schedules showing meetings by Hillary Clinton during her time as secretary of state, the government told The Associated Press it won't finish the job before Election Day. The department has so far released about half of the schedules. Its lawyers said in a phone conference with the AP’s lawyers that the department now expects to release the last of the detailed schedules around Dec. 30, weeks before the next president is inaugurated. The AP’s lawyers late Friday formally asked the State Department to hasten that effort so that the department could provide all Clinton’s minute-by-minute schedules by Oct. 15. The agency did not immediately respond.” http://apne.ws/2bob9F1
--No dice: The Clinton campaign ignored POLITICO’s invitation to ask that the calendars be released before the election.
D’OH! -- “Trump Doctor Wrote Health Letter in Just 5 Minutes as Limo Waited,” by NBC News’ Anna R. Schecter, Chris Francescani and Tracy Connor: “Donald Trump's personal physician said he wrote a letter declaring Trump would be the healthiest president in history in just five minutes while a limo sent by the candidate waited outside his Manhattan office. Dr. Harold Bornstein, who has been the GOP nominee’s doctor for 35 years, told NBC News on Friday that he stands by his glowing assessment of the 70-year-old’s physical state. ... Bornstein said that after he was asked to write the letter, he thought about what he would say all day but did not type it out until the last minute as a black car sent by Trump waited to collect it. He said he didn’t even proofread it.” http://nbcnews.to/2bNlr5z
TOP TWEET -- @BenjySarlin: “. @seanspicer on glaring lack of GOP pols defending Trump yesterday from Clinton speech. ‘I don’t know. I think Congress is in recess.’”
TRUMP IN IOWA TODAY -- “Ernst: ‘Nonpartisan’ motorcycle ride to precede political speeches Saturday,” by Des Moines Register’s Brianne Pfannenstiel: “Trump declined to take part in the motorcycle ride. But with recent polling indicating a tight race in Iowa, he’ll have an opportunity to try to win over some undecided Iowa Republicans and independents.
“Ernst’s advice to him: Stick to talking about issues like the economy, jobs and national security. ‘What I would say with both of them, because there have been a lot of barbs thrown at each other, is that they need to take this into a civil discourse,’ she said. ‘And we’re not seeing that right now. I don’t like it when campaigns go that direction. And I would say of both of them, that, you know, back down and let's really talk about policies and the issues.’” http://dmreg.co/2bO8OFM
--“Snyder: Trump wrong to label Michigan a ‘disaster,’” by the Detroit News’ Chad Livengood: “Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said Friday that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s claim that Michigan’s manufacturing industry is a disaster is ‘not accurate.’ When Trump railed against American trade policy a week ago in suburban Lansing, the New York billionaire said ‘the Michigan manufacturing sector is a disaster’ and predicted Mexico would steal Michigan’s claim as the car capital of the world “very, very soon.” Snyder rebuffed Trump’s remarks Friday, marking a rare occasion when the two-term Republican governor has struck back at his own party’s presidential nominee despite remaining officially neutral in the White House race. ‘No, factually that’s not accurate,’ Snyder said of Trump’s claim. ‘Michigan’s No. 1 in the creation of manufacturing jobs over the last few years, and we’ve got a thriving manufacturing sector, and I’m proud of it.’” http://detne.ws/2bxJiUp
-- “Shays rebellion: GOP seeks retribution for Hillary embrace,” by Connecticut Post’s Neal Vigdor: “Connecticut Republicans moved to strip former Congressman Christopher Shays of the state party’s highest honor this week in retribution for his pledge of support for Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump. GOP leaders briefly entertained a motion Wednesday night to rescind the Prescott Bush Award that was presented to Shays in the early 1990s ... The honor is named after the late patriarch of the Bush political dynasty, which has overwhelmingly rejected Trump. But the unprecedented measure was ultimately withdrawn from consideration by the 72-member Republican State Central Committee, with opponents arguing that it would draw negative attention to the party. That did not stop GOP leaders from admonishing Shays, who represented the southwestern part of the state in Congress from 1987 until he lost in the 2008 tsunami of Barack Obama.
“‘It shows total contempt for the Connecticut primary voters for any Republican to come out and say they’re supporting Hillary Clinton after Donald Trump won overwhelmingly in the primary,’ said Andy Wainwright, a State Central Committee member from Stamford and alternate delegate for Trump to this summer’s GOP national convention in Cleveland…‘Our party has lost its way,’ said Shays, who was aware of the reprisal attempt. ‘So I guess the only thing that they could take from me is that I have a plaque. What they can’t take away ... was a recognition for what I had done for the party back then.’” http://bit.ly/2bG2YY6
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK – New RNC video, “Hillary’s Very Bad Week” with cameos by Joe and Mika, Axe, Dana Bash, Brian Stelter, Brianna Keillar, Chris Jansing, Chris Cuomo – 2-min. video http://bit.ly/2bwidkB
TEXT FROM TRUMP – “Check out our new store! We’ve added new merchandise for you to show you’re on Team Trump. Tap here to be among the first to see:” http://bit.ly/2bELltn
2016 PLAYERS – “Donald Trump’s Campaign Hires Ex-Christie Aide to Bolster Political Operation,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Kate Zernike: “Donald J. Trump’s campaign has hired Bill Stepien, a former top aide to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, whose role in the Bridgegate scandal led to his firing and denied him the central role he was expected to play in the governor’s presidential run. Mr. Stepien is expected to step in to help guide the campaign’s political operations ... [as] national field director. ... Mr. Stepien’s career had all but hit a wall after Mr. Christie let him go. He did some work for a Republican direct mail firm and for New Jersey legislative campaigns and had discussions about working on the presidential campaign of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida as well as on Mr. Trump’s campaign in New Hampshire — all before Mr. Christie dropped out of the race.” http://nyti.ms/2bTEGIh
POLL DU JOUR -- “Poll: Clinton holds 43-point lead over Trump among Florida’s Jewish voters,” by POLITICO Florida’s Sergio Bustos: The GBA Strategies “poll of 500 Florida Jewish voters, released Friday, shows Clinton [ahead of Trump] 66-23 percent. ... The poll found 57 percent viewed her favorably, 33 percent unfavorably. Trump’s favorability was far worse. Only 21 percent see him as favorable; 71 percent unfavorably.” http://politi.co/2br3xB6
VIDEO DU JOUR – “Behind the scenes of The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks” from Google – 1-min. video http://bit.ly/2bqcjzc
IN CHICAGO -- “Dwyane Wade’s cousin shot dead while pushing her baby in stroller on South Side,” by Chicago Tribune’s Grace Wong, Elvia Malagon, Deanese Williams-Harris and Megan Crepeau: “Nykea Aldridge, 32, and a man were walking in the 6300 block of South Calumet Avenue about 3:30 p.m. when two men approached and someone began firing at the man … The woman was hit in the head and the arm and taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died … The baby was not hurt, and a relative came to the scene and took the child.” http://trib.in/2bUOcdP
--@DwyaneWade: “My cousin was killed today in Chicago. Another act of senseless gun violence. 4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughIsEnough”
BIRTHDAY BOY ROGER STONE does Lunch with the FT: “What’s it like to be Donald Trump’s streetfighter? On a hectic summer’s day in Manhattan, over ‘the best devilled eggs in the world’, Edward Luce finds out.” http://on.ft.com/2bnMVAt
CLICKER – “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,”edited by Matt Wuerker – 8 funnies http://politi.co/2bqcWJ8
GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from NYC:
--“How Does the Language of Headlines Work? The Answer May Surprise You,” by Chi Luu in JSTOR Daily “In an online age where attention spans are worn thin by information overload, these are remarkable feats for a bunch of words, yet headlines get little respect around here. From titillating tabloid titles toclickbait chicanery, headlines these days have often been derided as the empty calories of information, sensationalist trickery, ‘the art of exaggerating without actually lying’ as Otto Friedrich put it.” http://bit.ly/2bN8OWz (h/t TheBrowser.com)
--“Like. Flirt. Ghost: A Journey Into the Social Media Lives of Teens,” by Mary H. K. Choi in Wired: “For teenagers these days, social media is real life, with its own arcane rules and etiquette. Writer Mary H. K. Choi embedded with five high schoolers to chronicle their digital experiences. ... As with most teens, they’re elusive creatures. But when Choi asked them targeted questions, they were able to deconstruct their own behavior in exhaustive detail.” http://bit.ly/2bvzOcs (h/t Longreads.com)
--“Welcome to the Big Time,” by Don Van Natta Jr. in ESPN The Magazine: “The implosion of the daily fantasy industry is a bro-classic tale of hubris, recklessness, political naïveté and a kill-or-be-killed culture.” http://es.pn/2bW82VS (h/t Longform.org)
--“The Most Exclusive Restaurant in America,” by The New Yorker’s Nick Paumgarten: “Damon Baehrel’s methods are a marvel, and his tables are all booked until 2025. Or are they?” http://bit.ly/2bV5QPx (h/t Matt Brooks)
--“The Biden Doctrine,” by The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons, a birthday boy today: “Has the vice president made a lasting contribution in foreign policy?” http://theatln.tc/2bTxHz1 ... Transcript of his Biden interview http://theatln.tc/2bEgzPA
--“A literary guide to hating Barack Obama: Inside the right-wing anti-Obama books, from 2008 to 2016,” by Carlos Lozada in tomorrow’s WashPost Outlook: “Secret Muslim. Socialist. Amateur. Anti-American. Criminal. Throughout the presidency of Barack Obama, and even before it, a chorus of writers has stood stage right, reinterpreting the era but mainly eviscerating the man.” http://wapo.st/2c2TCXm
--“How To Legally Own Another Person,” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Medium: “Evidence of submission is displayed by having gone through years of the ritual of depriving himself of his personal freedom for nine hours every day, punctual arrival at an office, denying himself his own schedule, and not having beaten up anyone. You have an obedient, housebroken dog.” http://bit.ly/2c2hGt8
--“Giving up alcohol opened my eyes to the infuriating truth about why women drink,” by Kristi Coulter in Quartz: “[T]o be a modern, urbane woman means to be a serious drinker. ... How did you not see this before? I ask myself. You were too hammered, I answer back. That summer I see, though. I see that booze is the oil in our motors, the thing that keeps us purring when we should be making other kinds of noise.” http://bit.ly/2bmgnRI
--“Everyone is altered,” by Josh Dickey in Mashable in 2014: “The secret Hollywood procedure that has fooled us for years.” http://on.mash.to/2bmgPPM
--“Act Naturally: Pretentiousness, Coolness, and Culture,” by Barrett Swanson in the L.A. Review of Books, reviewing “Pretentiousness: Why It Matters,” by Dan Fox: “Where to find [the] ‘real you’? And, upon its discovery, how best to communicate it to the world? This anxiety has a long pedigree, first arising amid the revelations of the Enlightenment, when individuals were no longer beholden to the stiff hierarchies of feudalism but could tear away the garments of their socially determined roles in order to reveal their authentic selves.” http://bit.ly/2c2jyCs ... $10.72 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2bqSFmT (h/t ALDaily.com)
--“Urban Outfitters Bares All,” by Jason Fagone in Philly Magazine: “We venture inside the secretive $3.4 billion empire as it reaches a crucial crossroad.” http://bit.ly/2c2h1Im
--“Pat Dollard’s War on Hollywood,” by Evan Wright in the March 2007 Vanity Fair: “In 2004, having made his name as Steven Soderbergh’s agent, Pat Dollard was the stereotypical Hollywood operator: coked-up, Armani-sheathed, separated from his fourth wife, and rapidly self-destructing. But when he hit bottom, Dollard didn’t go back to rehab; he went to Iraq, embedded with the Marines, and filmed a pro-war documentary ... But whether he’s surviving mayhem in Ramadi or dining with Ann Coulter in Los Angeles ... Dollard’s life is a one-man combat zone.” http://bit.ly/2bN9YRW
--“California Slaughter: The State-Sanctioned Genocide of Native Americans,” by Newsweek’s Alexander Nazaryan: In “California ... the Native American population fell dramatically, from about 150,000 to 30,000, in the middle decades of the 19th century. It has since rebounded, so that California has the largest Native population in the United States today, with about 723,000 Indians, including many who belong to the state’s 110 federally recognized tribes.” http://bit.ly/2bGgHv9
--“Inside Facebook’s (Totally Insane, Unintentionally Gigantic, Hyperpartisan) Political-Media Machine,” by John Herrman in tomorrow’s N.Y. Times Magazine: “How a strange new class of media outlet has arisen to take over our news feeds.” http://nyti.ms/2bmXMrt
--“Sitting Up: A brief history of chairs,” by Witold Rybczynski in Paris Review: “The world is divided into people who sit on the floor and those who sit on chairs. In a classic study of human posture around the world, the anthropologist Gordon W. Hewes identified no fewer than a hundred common sitting positions.” http://bit.ly/2c2fYrQ
--“An MIT Scientist Claims That This Pill Is the Fountain of Youth,” by Benjamin Wallace in N.Y. Mag: “Leonard Guarente is certain he’s succeeded where doctors (and quacks) before him have failed. His pill will either extend lives or tarnish his career.” http://sciof.us/2bNa3oI
--“Playboy Interview: Vladimir Nabokov,” by Alvin Toffler in the Jan. 1964 issue: “Lolita ... was like the composition of a beautiful puzzle—its composition and its solution at the same time, since one is a mirror view of the other, depending on the way you look.” http://bit.ly/2bmY3un
--“The Uber Killer: The Real Story of One Night of Terror,” by Chris Heath in GQ: “On a Saturday evening in February, a 45-year-old Uber driver and father of two named Jason Dalton got into his car, left his home near Kalamazoo, Michigan, and began shooting people. But the strangest, most unfathomable thing about the night that Dalton killed and killed again is what he did in between.” http://bit.ly/2bN9RWJ
GREAT WEEKEND LISTENS, by Jake Sherman, filing from Jerusalem:
--Grateful Dead, today in 1972, at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. Later released as Sunshine Daydream on DVD. It was a very hot day, and the Dead got a fire truck to spray the audience with water. A great show -- and the audio quality is tremendous. http://bit.ly/2bHBAWE
--Phish, from 7/9/16 in Hartford. http://bit.ly/2bnPm5Z
--The NYT’s music critics fill us in on new tunes. http://nyti.ms/2bUAO9N
MEDIAWATCH – “Donald Trump broke the conservative media,”by Business Insider’s Oliver Darcy: “[T]hroughout the election season, it has appeared that Republicans have fielded more attacks from their supposed friends on the right than their political opponents on the left. It’s an incidental twist, considering how Republicans helped foster the growth of the conservative news media in order to avoid the skewering of mainstream journalists. Instead, it appears their plan of using friendly pundits to tap directly into the vein of red-blooded Americans sympathetic to their political views has backfired. ...
“‘The analogy that I think of is somebody who has a baby alligator in their bathtub and they keep feeding it and taking care of it,’ said Charlie Sykes, a popular conservative talk show host in Wisconsin. ‘And it’s really cute when it’s a baby alligator — until it becomes a grown-up alligator and comes out and starts biting you.’” http://read.bi/2bmwoMW
DAN ARNALL named executive producer for NBC Weekend Nightly News -- Janelle Rodriguez, NBC News SVP of editorial, emails colleagues: “Dan comes to us [on Sept. 6] from Bloomberg, where he served as deputy head of Television Global Operations and also led daily editorial efforts. ... He also spent nearly a decade at ABC, serving as a senior producer at World News with Diane Sawyer.”
MATT RIVERA to NBC’s “Meet the Press” – per a memo from MTP executive producer John Reiss: “In the This-Should-Be-Obvious-By-Now Department, Chuck and I would like to welcome Matt Rivera to the ‘Meet the Press’ staff as our Senior Digital Producer. ... [I]n addition to helping to shape the Sunday broadcast, Matt will work to advance our mission in extending the show past Sundays with a strong digital presence and continue to create and produce great content, as we saw with his work on our first MTP mini doc, ‘How Politics Saved Miami.’”
SPOTTED: James Carville, Mayor Mitch and Cheryl Landrieu, Walter and Cathy Isaacson, and Jonathan Martin and Betsy Fischer eating last night at Lilette on Magazine Street in New Orleans.
THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD: “On Monday and Tuesday, the President will attend meetings at the White House. On Wednesday, the President will travel to Lake Tahoe, Nevada to deliver remarks at the 20th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit and highlight his commitment to protecting the environment and addressing climate change. In the evening, the President will travel to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he will deliver remarks to leaders from the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders and the IUCN World Conservation Congress, which is being hosted in the United States for the first time. The President will remain overnight in Honolulu, Hawaii.
“On Thursday, the President will then travel to Midway Atoll, located within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, to mark the significance of this monument designation and highlight first-hand how the threat of climate change makes protecting our public lands and waters more important than ever. The President will remain overnight in Honolulu, Hawaii.
“On Friday, the President will travel will travel to Hangzhou, China. This trip will highlight the President’s ongoing commitment to the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation as well as the U.S. Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific.
“On Saturday, the President will arrive in Hangzhou, China and will also conduct in-depth meetings with President Xi Jinping of China, where the two leaders will discuss a wide-range of global, regional, and bilateral issues. The President will remain overnight in Hangzhou, China.
“On Sunday, the President will participate in his final G-20 Leaders’ Summit, where he will emphasize the need to continue building on the progress made since 2009 in advancing strong, sustainable, and balanced global economic growth. He will underscore the importance of G-20 cooperation in promoting a level playing field and broad-based economic opportunity. The President will remain overnight in Hangzhou, China.”
WELCOME TO THE WORLD: On July 11, RNC’s MarlonBateman and wife Emily, a registered nurse, welcomed daughter Elianna Joelle Bateman, who weighed in at 7lbs 11oz. He writes: “She stole her dad’s heart the first time I put eyes on her.” Pic http://politi.co/2bWHjby
Marlon emails friends and colleagues: “As many of you know, my wife and I were blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby girl a few weeks ago. After much consideration, I have decided to accept a position with the Hoover Institute in California – working under the great Jenny Mayfield. ... Steve Guest, who has done great work at the Daily Caller [as a media reporter], will join the RNC to take over for some of my responsibilities.” Steve, a UCLA grad, starts Monday and will head their radio effort and continue work with Alex Stroman on conservative media.
GEORGE P. BUSH went to Israel last week for the first time as Texas Land Commissioner, spending two nights and 3 days there, along with three friends from Texas. Pool report from his travel buddy – and avid Playbooker -- Jay Zeidman: The trip focused on mineral rights, water rights and veterans affairs, and the group met with some startups that deal with water technologies; Israel has 200 water tech startups and the largest desalination facility in the world. On Bush’s first official foreign trip (funded in part by the RJC and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the group also went to Yad Vashem, the Old City and the Golan Heights, where they toured Ziv Hospital near the Syrian border and met with Syrian patients there. Bush also met for an hour with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, president Reuven Rivlin, Shimon Peres and defense minister Avi Dichter. Medium op-ed http://bit.ly/2bGxRZi
BUSH ALUMNI – TEVI TROY in the WSJ’s Review section, “How Presidents Can Blow It During a National Disaster” – Troy is the author of “Shall We Wake the President?: Two Centuries of Disaster Management from the Oval Office” (out Sept. 1): “In response to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, President Calvin Coolidge sent his commerce secretary, Herbert Hoover—who had won praise for orchestrating food distribution in Europe after World War I—to run relief efforts. Before this intervention, Coolidge was criticized for dallying: Will Rogers quipped that he was stalling in the “hope that those needing relief will perhaps have conveniently died in the meantime.” http://on.wsj.com/2bV4B32 ... Pre-order -- $20.77 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2bWnOjF
OUT AND ABOUT -- University of Virginia’s Miller Center hosted a meeting of former top Democratic and Republican White House officials to discuss what the next president’s first year might look like, and whether bipartisan cooperation may be possible. The meeting was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The group’s website: www.firstyear2017.org ... Bush 41 speechwriter Mary Kate Cary’s article on the meeting in US News: http://bit.ly/2bMXhrR
SPOTTED: David Gergen, Fran Townsend, Don Baer, Eric Edelman, Roger Altman, Bill Galston, Mary Kate Cary, Pat Griffin, Dan Meyer, Philip Zelikow, Dan Crippen, Vikram Singh, Bill Antholis, plus Miller Center faculty Barbara Perry, Mel Leffler, Niki Hemmer, Jeff Chidester, and Guian McKee.
HAPPENING TODAY -- The Texas State Society is gathering at 11 a.m. today at the LBJ Memorial Grove to celebrate the 108th birthday of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Lyndon Boozer writes: “We are fortunate to have Ambassador Rosenblatt, who served on President Johnson’s White House staff coordinating non-military activities in Vietnam, as our keynote speaker. After the ceremony, refreshments will be served Stonewall, Texas style with Willie Nelson on the boom box! The LBJ Memorial Grove is located on the George Washington Memorial Parkway between the 14th Street and Memorial bridges.”
BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): BuzzFeed world editor Miriam Elder (h/t Julia Ioffe) ... Evan Zimmerman, deputy press secretary for American Bridge 21st Century (h/t Katie Lewallen) ... Jenn Sherman, press secretary for the House E&C Health Subcommittee (h/t boyfriend Bill Gray) ... journalist Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics series, turned 53 (h/t Jewish Insider) ... (was Thursday): The National Park System turned 100, created by a law signed by President Woodrow Wilson (h/t Katie Waldman, noting her boss Sen. Steve Daines celebrated at Glacier National Park’s famous “Instameet” at the Apgar Village Green)
BIRTHDAYS: Rachel Racusen, a senior comms. advisor at the White House, is 34 … former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) is 73 ... NYT daily book critic Jennifer Senior, an NYMag alum ... Roger Stone (h/t Donald J. Trump) … Steve Clemons, Washington editor-at-large at The Atlantic, is 54, celebrating while gearing up for this year’s Washington Ideas Forum in a month (h/t Ben Chang) ... Politico’s Darius Dixon, Peter Sterne, Megan Cassella, and Xavier Pugliese ... Jedd Rosche, breaking news editor for CNN Politics and the pride of Beaufort, S.C. … Ben Neal … Blake Sobczak, cybersecurity reporter for E&E Publishing’s EnergyWire (h/t Colby Bermel)… Josh Paciorek, deputy press secretary for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder … Morris Jones … Pete Boyle, VP of public affairs at National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities … Jim Osman, Washington bureau chief for Media General’s 71 TV stations ... Christopher Brown, director of digital and social media strategy at QGA Public Affairs ... CBS News Radio’s August Skamenca ... Christine “I’m not a witch. I’m you” O’Donnell is 47 (clip of her from Bill Maher’s “Politically Incorrect” show in 1999 saying she had “dabbled into witchcraft” http://bit.ly/2bmHbXG) ... Melissa Sellers
... Edgar “Mac” Abrams, COS for Sen. Heller, is 43 … Kelsey Berg of Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s office ... Francesca McCrary of House OGR ... Sarah Schenning, LD for Rep. Van Hollen, is 33 … Peter Rothfeld of Sen. Heinrich’s office is 25 ... former Sen. Robert Toricelli (D-NJ) is 65 ... Moutray McLaren of Rep. Mulvaney's office ... former Rep. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is 58 ... former Rep. Marion Berry (D-Ark.) is 74 ... former Rep. William Conover (R-PA) is 88 (h/ts Legistorm) … Linda McKay ... Marilyn Renner ... Jon Kinney, a loyal Playbook reader in Orrville, Ohio, is 66 ... Ruth Harkin ... Leah Daughtry, celebrating the best convention EVER ... Marcia Frew ... Steve Aldrich ... Jeannette O’Connor (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... CRC’s Megan Nichole Wilburn ... Paul Reubens … Fenton EVP Bill Hamilton ... Jason Houser is 37 ... Mindy Tucker Fletcher of Crux Partners ... Sean Healy is 53 ... Robert Cole ... author Lady Antonia Fraser is 84 ... actor Paul Reubens is 64 ... Mase is 39 ... Amanda Fuller (“Last Man Standing”) is 32 ... Mario is 3-0 ... Alexa Vega is 28 ... Ellar Coltrane (“Boyhood”) is 22 ... actress Savannah Paige Rae is 13 (h/ts AP)
THE SHOWS, from @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:
--NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Reince Priebus ... roundtable: Robert Costa, Hugh Hewitt, Andrea Mitchell and Joy Reid
--ABC’s “This Week”: Chris Christie ... Donna Brazile ... roundtable: Alex Castellanos, Stephanie Cutter, Ana Navarro and Symone Sanders
--CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Kellyanne Conway ... Dr. Ben Carson ... Donna Brazile ... Jason Chaffetz ... roundtable: Jeffrey Goldberg, Ed O’Keefe, Mark Leibovich and Leslie Sanchez
--“Fox News Sunday”: Kellyanne Conway ... Gary Johnson... roundtable: George Will, Susan Page, Karl Rove, Juan Williams ... “Power Player of the Week” with Gold Medal Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky
--Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” (10am ET / 9am CT): Michael Mukasey ... Steve Moore ... Gen. Anthony Zinni (USMC. Ret.) ... roundtable: Ed Rollins, Jessica Tarlov and Al D’Amato
--Fox News’ “MediaBuzz” (SUN 11am ET / 10am CT): Susan Ferrechio ... Kelly Riddell ... Joe Trippi ... Mike Huckabee ... Mollie Hemingway ... Simon Rosenberg ... Eboni Williams
--CNN’s “Inside Politics” with John King (SUN 8am ET): Roundtable: Julie Pace, Ed O’Keefe, Molly Ball and Jeff Zeleny
--CNN’s “State of the Union” (9am ET / 12pm ET): Mike Pence ... roundtable: Antonio Villaraigosa, Corey Lewandowski, Abby Phillip and Matt Bai
--CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” (SUN 10am, 1pm ET): Special episode on gun violence, with reporting from Switzerland, Japan, Israel and Australia, revealing how other nations have addressed mass gun murders and gun suicide prevention to understand whether some of those choices may work in the U.S. The episode also examines the high rates of suicide within the active military and among veterans with an eye to whether anything can be done to curb violent self-harm – and how ‘smart guns’ may be able enhance gun safety
--CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: (SUN 11am ET): AP executive editor Kathleen Carroll... Jorge Ramos ... Stuart Stevens ... roundtable: Scottie Nell Hughes, MTV News’ Jamil Smith and author J.D. Vance (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
--Univision’s “Al Punto” (SUN 10am ET / 1pm PT): Tim Kaine... National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference president Rev. Samuel Rodriguez... former U.S. Treasurer and Republican analyst Rosario Marin... investigative journalists Rafael Cabrera and Juan Omar Fierro... former Mexican foreign secretary and Univision News’ Jorge Castañeda... Peruvian amputee Shirley Melendez
--C-SPAN: “The Communicators” (SAT 6:30pm ET): Author Malcolm Gay (“The Brain Electric”) … “Newsmakers” (SUN 10am ET): NAACP president and CEO Cornell William Brooks, questioned by WaPo’s Kimbriell Kelly and AP’s Jesse Holland … “Q&A” (SUN 8pm & 11pm ET): Author Laurence Leamer (“The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle that Brought Down the Klan”)
--MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation with Rev. Al Sharpton”: (SUN 8-9am ET): NOW Television Network CEO and Trump supporter Pastor Mark Burns ... Greg Meeks ... Hugh Hewitt ... Elise Jordan ... Lis Smith
--“MSNBC Live”: (SUN 9-10am ET): Co-author Jonathan Allen (“HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton”) ... Democratic pollster Fred Yang ... Amy Holmes ... Jonathan Alter
--MSNBC’s “AM Joy”: (SUN 10am-12pm ET): Michelle Bernard ... E.J. Dionne ... Jay Newton-Small ... Red State editor-in-chief Leon Wolf ... Rolling Stone Vote Investigation’s Greg Palast ... ACLU Voting Rights Project director Dale Ho ... congressional candidate William Jawando (D-MD) ... co-author and WaPo’s Marc Fisher (“Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money and Power”) ... WaPo’s Jonathan Capehart
--“MSNBC Live”: (SUN 12pm-2pm ET): NYT’s Jeremy Peters ... Elise Jordan... Howard Dean ... Iona College’s Jeanne Zaino ... The Daily Beast’s Olivia Nuzzi ... former Carly Fiorina deputy campaign manager Sarah Isgur Flores
--“MSNBC Live”: (SUN 3pm-4pm ET): Institute for Global Engagement’s Suhail Khan ... Sirius XM The Root’s Jason Johnson ... Ridgeback Communications CEO Andrew Weinstein ... New Spirit Revival Center’s Pastor Darrell Scott ... Tara Dowdell ... Rick Tyler
--“MSNBC Live”: (SUN 4pm-5pm ET): Former Bush 41 spokesman Gian-Carlo Peressutti... Simon Rosenberg ... Rich Galen ... WaPo’s Rebecca Sinderbrand
--PBS’s “To the Contrary” with Bonnie Erbé: (airs all weekend): Special episode: Belmont Paul Women’s Equality National Monument
--SiriusXM’s “No Labels Radio” (SAT 10am ET & 6pm ET, SUN 1PM ET): Guest hosts and No Labels leaders Margaret Kimbrell and Sasha Borowsky and Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s Akash Chougule host a special millennial episode. They’ll talk technology in government with U.S. Digital Service’s Vivian Graubard, millennial engagement in public policy with Roosevelt Network’s Joelle Gamble, and the American judicial process with the Center for American Progress’ Anisha Singh. Available for download at http://www.nolabels.org.
--Sinclair’s “Full Measure” with Sharyl Attkisson (SUN 10am ET on WJLA and airing on Sinclair stations nationwide): Sharyl looks beyond the raging debate about building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. She explores the miles of tunnels underneath the border that are used by smugglers to traffic drugs and humans, and examines steps being taken to crack down on the criminal operations. And “Full Measure” examines how terrorism is devastating one of the most beautiful countries on earth, Morocco, and what we can learn from the embattled Muslim nation.
--Hearst / Sony’s “Matter of Fact” with Fernando Espuelas (airing Sunday in most markets, check local listings): Cook Political Report’s Jennifer Duffy ... Center for Immigration Studies’ Mark Krikorian ... election integrity report with correspondent Diane Roberts ... trending topic of the week: #CongressInFiveWords ... new host Soledad O’Brien previews the show she will take over Sept. 10-11 (substitute host: Jessica Gomez)