BULLETIN -- “MOSCOW (AP) - Russia’s foreign ministry: Israeli, Palestinian leaders agree 'in principle' to meet in Moscow for talks.”
Good Thursday morning. We are exactly two months out from Election Day. Last night, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appeared at a “Commander in Chief Forum” on NBC. Matt Lauer, the host, was panned for not challenging the candidates enough. Clinton was put on the defensive over her email issues and promised not to put troops back into Iraq or into Syria. Trump falsely asserted he was against the war in Iraq, came out for separating men and women in the military, railed against the nation’s top military brass and praised Russia’s Vladimir Putin as a better leader than the U.S. president. He said, “If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him,” citing the strongman’s 82 percent approval ratings.
--@stuartpstevens: “If in ‘08, Senator Barack Obama had praised Putin as a better President than the American, Republicans would have demanded he quit race.” … @jonlovett: “Trump was on stage for 30 minutes and managed at least 8 statements that in another year would be a major scandal.” ... @maggieNYT: “Clinton got tougher questions, but also got visibly irritated and defensive. Trump got mostly softballs. But he rode over them.”
HOW IT'S PLAYING -- POLITICO: “Trump, Clinton stumble in debate dry run” (http://politi.co/2ckRL13) … NYT A1, “CANDIDATES FLEX DEBATE MUSCLES DURING TV FORUM FOREIGN POLICY TOPICS Clinton Defends Record — Trump Says He’ll Be Ready” (http://nyti.ms/2cc3qwr) … A1 tease: “Moderator Gets Low Marks...Matt Lauer was accused of unfairness and sloppiness in his handling of the forum with the presidential candidates.” (http://nyti.ms/2bVSEwh) … WaPo has two different A1s. One headline reads “Trump defends praise for Putin” ... The other: “Clinton, Trump clash on military -- DUEL AT COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF FORUM -- Each questions other’s judgement on defense issues”... (http://wapo.st/2cb4ePL) WSJ, “Trump, Clinton clash on security” (http://on.wsj.com/2bVSyVv)
SIREN -- NANCY PELOSI IN THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: WE CAN TAKE BACK THE HOUSE -- “Nancy Pelosi has been extraordinarily cautious about saying her party would take back the House majority. But now, just two months before Election Day, the House minority leader says the Republican Party’s persistent struggles have put Democrats within striking distance, and control of the chamber could be decided by the slimmest of margins.
“‘I thought in December I would’ve told you we’d win 20 seats, left to our own devices,’ a relaxed and upbeat Pelosi said in a Playbook Interview in her Capitol office Wednesday. ‘Seeing the behavior of the presidential candidates right after that when the debates [happened], I became even more optimistic because they were so pathetic … Since then, I think anything is possible. I think it comes down to probably a single digit, one way or another.’ She added, ‘If Hillary [Clinton] were to win 54-46, oh my God. It’s all over. If it’s 53-47, and I think that’s in the realm of possibility, then that’s a big deal. Five or more is a big deal.’” Full story http://politi.co/2c9cKPI Scroll down to Playbook Reads for more interview highlights
HOW ABOUT THAT -- “Powell advice to Clinton about email goes public,” by Josh Gerstein: “Former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s advice to Hillary Clinton about using email at the State Department was made public Wednesday by a top House Democrat. The early 2009 exchange — itself conducted via email — shows that Clinton sought guidance from Powell about how she could continue to use a BlackBerry in the executive suite at the State Department. Powell’s response warns Clinton’s about some of the pitfalls of using email, but also appears to indicate that he defied instructions from security experts not to use such devices in State’s offices designated to handle classified information and conversations.” http://politi.co/2bVSDbO … The email http://bit.ly/2bUS6C8
TRANSITION WATCH -- Chris Christie will be in D.C. today to hold transition meetings with people in the financial services and energy sectors.
CASH DASH -- TRUMP FUNDRAISING INSIDE THE BELTWAY -- Donald Trump will be coming to McLean, Virginia, for a fundraiser Friday, Sept. 16. The event will be at the home of Mercedes Giuseppe Cecchia, who designed the Watergate. On the host committee: ex-Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, who proceeded Barack Obama in the Senate and went on to found Chain Bridge Bank; K Streeters Marc Lampkin, who was an adviser and donor to former Speaker John Boehner, and his wife Emily Lampkin; Dave Tamasi of Rasky Baerlein; and former Illinois Sen. Pete Fitzgerald and his wife Nina, among others. The invite http://politi.co/2c8NIAj
-- “Ryan hauls in $30 million for NRCC,” by Rachael Bade and Jake Sherman: “Speaker Paul Ryan in August transferred nearly $2.7 million to the National Republican Campaign Committee, bringing his total haul for the House Republicans’ campaign finance arm to just under $30 million. The fundraising sum is a record for a sitting speaker, and nearly triple that of former Speaker John Boehner’s NRCC numbers for the 2014 election cycle, when the Ohio Republican transferred $12.6 million. They also eclipse Boehner’s 2012 NRCC total of $20.9 million.” http://politi.co/2cch0QL
-- Heather Podesta is hosting Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and comedian Amy Schumer for a D.C. Hillary Clinton fundraiser on Sept. 23. “It won’t be the Rob Lowe roast, but am sure there will be lots of laughs, which we all could use about now,” emails a longtime Playbooker.
HAPPENING TODAY -- Donald Trump is in Cleveland at the Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy. Mike Pence is in California, speaking Thursday at the Reagan Library, where he plans to draw parallels between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. He will then hold a fundraiser in Bakersfield, California, before returning to Indianapolis. Hillary Clinton is in Charlotte at Johnson C. Smith University. Anne Holton, Tim Kaine’s wife, is in Colorado. The Donald Trump Congressional Caucus will be meeting across the street from Tortilla Coast at 9 a.m.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- MORNING CONSULT 50-State Poll: Hillary Clinton Still Leads Where It Matters -- “Hillary Clinton would top Donald Trump 321-195 in electoral votes to clinch the White House if the election were held today, according to an extensive Morning Consult analysis of registered voters. But the 2016 presidential race is far from over. The leading candidate is within the margin of error in nine states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. When those states are removed from the count, the former secretary of State garners 258 electoral votes to the New York businessman’s 164.” http://bit.ly/2cftE1W The online poll surveyed more than 18,000 “registered voters with state-level demographics such as gender, income, and education level.”
2016 PLAYERS -- “Trump shakes up Florida campaign team,” by Florida Playbook’s Marc Caputo: “Donald Trump ... [replaced] longtime supporter Karen Giorno with veteran Sunshine State campaign operative Susie Wiles. The shakeup was weeks in the making and capped a frustrating month for Florida Republicans — many of whom clashed with the feisty Giorno as they bellyached about the Trump campaign’s strange inertia and seeming inability to open up field offices, while Hillary Clinton’s campaign opened 51 of the get-out-the-vote centers.” http://politi.co/2cHx683
TRUMP EFFECT -- “Is Donald Trump’s campaign hurting his hotel chain?” by Boston Globe’s Christopher Muther: “The booking site Hipmunk reported that its reservations for Trump hotels are down nearly 60 percent over this time last year. ... It’s difficult to imagine ardent Democrats booking a romantic couple’s massage at the Spa by Ivanka Trump, which will be located in the D.C. location, or shelling out major money for a night in a basic room. Rates for the hotel’s opening start at $950 a night.” http://bit.ly/2bZRSwC
--“Win or Lose, Donald Trump Is Coming to Pennsylvania Avenue (With His New Hotel),” by Jonathan Mahler on A13 of the NYT: “The Trump International Hotel, Washington D.C. will open its doors next week, ensuring that Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, will not only be involved in January’s inaugural — the hotel is on the path of the parade — but will also be part of the Washington firmament for many years to come. The list of high-end hotel options in the capital, including the Jefferson, the Madison, the Hay-Adams and the Mayflower, will soon include the Trump.” http://nyti.ms/2ckIbuY
FOR YOUR RADAR -- “Obama puts South China Sea back on agenda at summit,” by AP’s Vijay Joshi and Jim Gomez in Vientiane, Laos: “President Barack Obama put the long-simmering dispute in the South China Sea front and center on the agenda at a regional summit Thursday as it became clear that most of the other leaders gathered in the Laotian capital were going to let China off with a mild rebuke over its territorial expansion in the resource-rich waters. ‘We will continue to work to ensure that disputes are resolved peacefully including in the South China Sea,’ Obama said in his opening remarks at a meeting with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.” http://apne.ws/2cvnTes
--This “morning, Vice President Biden will deliver keynote remarks at a CAP event on ways to raise wages and rebuild wealth for the American middle class. His speech marks the release of a new CAP report that offers a roadmap for middle-class economic security.” Livestream at 10 a.m. ET www.americanprogress.org Biden is also heading to the Hill for an event with Democratic leadership at noon, urging GOP leadership to "Do your job!".
THE MAP -- “Trump’s shrinking swing state map: Several battleground states appear unwinnable for the GOP presidential nominee,” by Kyle Cheney and Katie Glueck: “Two months from Election Day, Donald Trump’s swing state map is shrinking. Interviews with more than two dozen Republican operatives, state party officials and elected leaders suggest three of the 11 battleground states identified by POLITICO — Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia — are tilting so heavily toward Hillary Clinton that they're close to unwinnable for the GOP presidential nominee. But Trump remains within striking distance in the remaining eight states, including electoral giants Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.” http://politi.co/2c7IBBL
Hmm. See if you spot anything weird about this pie chart. pic.twitter.com/3EqgJ7IgE3
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 7, 2016
JEFFREY GOLDBERG in October’s Atlantic, “Getting Bill Out of the House”: “If elected, his wife will, like all other presidents of the past 40 years, at some point probably find it necessary, or advisable, or even desirable, to attempt to solve the unsolvable conflict. She would have her choice of negotiators, but the only living person the antagonists would find, to their chagrin, impossible to ignore is Bill Clinton, a figure of singular stature in the Middle East. ... Clinton ... is the sui generis president who left office widely popular on both sides of the divide. Assigning Bill the role of super-negotiator ... could provide Hillary with her best chance of success.” http://theatln.tc/2cuS859
THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
-- The news media should be careful about printing hacked material: “Russians have a couple agendas. Of course, they’d like to see the gift that keeps on giving win,” Pelosi told Playbook, referring to Donald Trump. "But they also want to undermine America in the public view and undermine democracy because authoritarianism is their way. So it’s about our country. These news organizations that are complicit with a foreign government dumping and doctoring documents. ... The news agency won’t know what’s doctored or not.”
-- GOP should be wary of punishing Democrats for gun control sit-in: “I think that, pun intended, doing that will backfire on them. They are going to besmirch the House Democratic Caucus, led by John Lewis, for a public demonstration that has been universally acclaimed? You can’t even imagine what we’ve heard through the break from Republicans and Democrats that something very special happened. If I were advising them, which I am not, I would advise them not to do that. It’s not a good thing for them, but if they want to do it, bring it on.”
-- Will Republicans work with Clinton?: “I think it's really urgent for us to win as many seats as possible and that might have an impact on how much leverage we have that can help her.”
-- Pelosi on Paul Ryan: “I always grant people their position. I know where they are. They represent their philosophy, their districts and their states. So I always have a good rapport with whoever I am working with. It's not a personal thing, it's just where you are on the spectrum in terms of the role of government, or the resources you want to allocate or something like that. So I have a good rapport, a respectful rapport, but same thing with John [Boehner].” Full interview: http://politi.co/2cronDe
HILL WATCH -- “Freedom Caucus eyes biggest power grab since Boehner,” by Heather Caygle and Rachael Bade: “The House Freedom Caucus is eyeing its biggest power play since it pushed out John Boehner as speaker last year. Members of the group of far-right agitators are considering a plan to run one of their own as a candidate for the Republican Study Committee chairmanship election this fall in a bid to push the conservative group further to the right. Seizing control of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) would be the latest show of clout for the group of about 40 conservatives, which in its mere two-year existence has upended the House Republican Conference and infuriated GOP leaders with its no-holds-barred legislative tactics.” http://politi.co/2c9Exis
-- “Meet the men plotting strategy for California’s U.S. Senate candidates,” by LA Times’ Sarah D. Wire: “California hasn’t had an open Senate seat in two-and-a-half decades, and for the first time in state history, voters will choose between two Democrats for a statewide office. The dynamic means new territory for the two scions of California’s political consulting world involved in the race … Rep. Loretta Sanchez turned to Carrick, Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s longtime advisor, for those answers. To charter her path, Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris went with Sean Clegg and the team at SCN Consulting, a group that has worked with Sen. Barbara Boxer.” http://lat.ms/2c7rKyV
-- “Merrick Garland to visit Senate again,” by Seung Min Kim: “Months after his one-on-one charm offensive with senators largely ended, Garland is returning to the Senate on Thursday to meet privately with Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy as Senate Democrats continue a broader public relations push to pressure Republicans on confirming the veteran jurist this year.” http://politi.co/2c7Qg2I
CRUZ IS BACK -- He’s giving his first speech since the GOP convention, per POLITICO’s Ashley Gold -- “Sen. Ted Cruz will talk about internet freedom on the Senate floor tomorrow morning in what his office is billing as his first public speech since the Republican National Convention. Cruz will focus on the Obama administration’s plan to end U.S. oversight of the internet’s domain name system by the end of this month. The government's longtime contract with ICANN is set to expire Sept. 30.” For Pros http://politico.pro/2cvtjGg
-- “Cornyn declines to back Cruz ahead of Senate primary,” by CNN’s Manu Raju: “‘I’m not going to get involved in any primary races particularly with my colleagues in the Senate,’ [Texas Sen. John] Cornyn told CNN when asked about Cruz and [Rep. Mike] McCaul squaring off. ‘We’ll see what happens, but we’ve got plenty to worry about between now and November 2016 before we start worrying about November 2018.’” http://cnn.it/2crieXZ
--@BresPolitico notes: “Cruz didn’t endorse Cornyn for reelection in 2014 cycle.”
NOW YOU KNOW – “To Launch a Nuclear Strike, Clinton or Trump Would Follow These Steps,” by Bloomberg’s Dave Merrill, Nafeesa Syeed and Brittany Harris: “How much power does the president alone have to launch a nuclear strike? Bloomberg News asked Bruce G. Blair, a former Minuteman missile-launch officer and research scholar at Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security, to spell out the step-by-step procedure.” http://bloom.bg/2cHziwi
MEDIAWATCH – “Donald Trump ending press ‘blacklist,’” by CNN’s Brian Stelter: “Effective on Thursday, the Trump campaign says it will approve requests for press credentials from The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Politico, and other news organizations that were previously blocked by Trump. A campaign spokeswoman confirmed the change on Wednesday. Trump provided a cheeky statement to CNN about the restoration of credentials: ‘I figure they can’t treat me any worse!’” http://cnnmon.ie/2cjnpMb
-- “‘CBS This Morning’ Gets Exclusive First Look at New African American Museum,” by the Hollywood Reporter’s Marisa Guthrie: “CBS This Morning will travel to Washington DC to present a special edition of the program Sept. 12 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. All three anchors – Gayle King, Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell – will make the trip for the broadcast that will also have limited national commercial interruptions and just two sponsors: Target and Toyota.” http://bit.ly/2c0GOlT
COMING ATTRACTIONS – Tickets for The New Yorker Festival, Oct. 7-9, heavily focused on comedy and politics this year, go on sale today at 11 a.m. for MasterCard cardholders with general sales opening up tomorrow at noon. http://bit.ly/2cDmD9i
MICHAEL KRUSE -- “Donald Trump’s Shortest Attribute Isn’t His Fingers”: “In the early ‘90s, Barbara Res, a project manager on Trump Tower who was a vice president in the Trump Organization, attempted to prepare him for a deposition for a court case pitting a Trump-led group against the Los Angeles school district in a battle for a coveted piece of property. ‘He said, “No, I don’t need to be prepared,”’ Res said last week from her home in New Jersey. Finally, she persuaded him to give her, an associate and an attorney two hours in his office. ‘In the two hours, he kept taking phone calls,’ Res said. Unprepared, he did ‘poorly’ in the deposition, she said; his group lost the case, and the deal fell apart. ‘He was so distracted,’ she said. ‘He really couldn’t stay focused.’ … ‘I think he’s definitely got attention deficit disorder,’ said Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio, who interviewed Trump five times for a total of eight hours and found himself frustrated trying to get him to concentrate on answers to questions about his parents, his childhood, just about anything. ‘That doesn’t mean he isn’t really smart—it just means he’s not at his best when he’s asked to dwell on a topic.’” http://politi.co/2c0J5O5
SNEAK PEEK – BRAD PITT on Trump -- T Magazine debuted its Fall Men’s Fashion cover story featuring Brad Pitt- interviewed by Marlon James, the Man Booker Prize winner for fiction. Pitt told James at his office in Beverly Hills: “Man, I never thought [Brexit] would happen. Same way I can’t bring myself to think that Trump will be in charge... Coming from Oklahoma, southern Missouri, which leans more toward a Trump voice, I try to understand it. ... You gotta understand that it’s also in our DNA. Most Americans don’t have time to watch CNN and Fox and Al Jazeera. They’re trying to make the rent, get the kids fed, they’re tired when they get home and they want to forget about everything. And so suddenly when this voice comes in — and it doesn’t have to be a voice of substance — saying he’s fed up with all of this, that’s the part that hooks into the DNA. ... A Trump supporter is fighting against just about everything. What does he even mean, take our country back? Would someone please explain that to me? ... Where’d it go?” http://nyti.ms/2cDo0oJ ... The cover http://bit.ly/2cHzX0C
SEAN SPICER -- On CNN yesterday morning: “You look at the ground game we’ve put out this cycle, working hand in hand with the campaign, the most comprehensive ground game any political operation has put out.”
--The League of Conservation Voters has “announced the launch of a $4.2 million persuasion canvass campaign in three swing states– Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. This investment builds on recent political science studies that suggests longer chats with voters is better than traditional scripted canvassing at persuading them to change their minds. LCV is prepared to spend as much as 20 minutes per voter talking over the issues, asking about their personal experiences, and ultimately prodding them to back Hillary Clinton.” http://bit.ly/2cjpcAR
NEW THIS MORNING — per Morning Score: “Get real-time campaign finance alerts from ProPublica ... [which] is launching a new site this morning in partnership with Google News Lab that pulls together a variety of election data on House and Senate races.” http://bit.ly/2cDjx84
COVERS DU JOUR – The Obamas on the cover of Essence http://politi.co/2c03vqb ... Michelle on InStyle http://politi.co/2cbJF8x
THE NEW GILDED AGE -- “Safe as houses: how the super-rich make their homes super-secure: From face-recognition cameras to blast-resistant windows, the wealthy are going to ever greater lengths to keep their houses safe,” by Hugh Cox in the FT: http://on.ft.com/2c9hchu
ANDREW RESTUCCIA and ELANA SCHOR have gotten an honorable mention for the Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Large Market, from the Society of Environmental Journalists for their story “Broken by Design: How an Unknown Federal Agency Is Failing To Protect the Public from Pipeline Disasters.” The winners http://bit.ly/SEJ2016 … Their story http://politi.co/2bUSG2t
CLICKER -- VANITY FAIR is out with its International Best-Dressed List, which includes a lot of politicians, including Biden, the Obamas, and Justin Trudeau (who says his style idol is Jack Sparrow). http://bit.ly/2c0pt9K
SPOTTED: Paul Manafort yesterday in the lobby of an office building in Century City in LA. Our tipster: “Looked relaxed. Open neck shirt. Talking to a ‘Hollywood’ looking young man with a beard and sunglasses on.” ... former Sen. Joe Lieberman sitting in coach this morning on the 7 a.m. Delta shuttle from NY to DC (aisle seat) … Treasury Secretary Lew and Washington Post’s Dan Balz exchanging pleasantries as Balz entered the Hall of States to do a hit on Fox News. ... Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) buying Campbell’s soup at a Capitol Hill supermarket yesterday on Mass and 3rd N.E.
ENGAGED: POLITICO Capitol Hill reporter -- and author of Huddle -- Heather Caygle, to Bloomberg BNA’s Aaron Lorenzo, the pride of Tampa, Florida. Lorenzo took Caygle -- an Alabama native -- to a park where they went on their first date, and proposed as the sun was setting. They met on the Hill three years ago. … Julia Pyper, a senior writer for Greentech Media and E&E alum to Devin Devin McGaughey, COO of the home goods company Parachute “[O]n a quiet vineyard in Paso Robles, sweaty after cycling up a giant hill ... he proposed.” Pics http://politi.co/2cEcYCv ... http://politi.co/2c03kLx
TRANSITIONS -- Meredith Shiner -- a former political correspondent for Yahoo News, and an alumna of POLITICO and Roll Call -- has joined Resolute Consulting as a vice president in Chicago. She’ll coordinate national media strategy for the firm’s public, private and nonprofit sector clients. http://bit.ly/2cbheHw
-- Chelsea Maughan Kohler has joined Uber’s product communications team, leading their future of cities portfolio which includes self-driving cars, maps, public transit, environment and congestion and accessibility. Chelsea joins Uber from Facebook, where she led comms for Facebook’s Social Good products. Prior to that, Chelsea was at Google for more than three years. Chelsea lived in DC for seven years working for Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton -- first on the Hill as a legislative aide followed by a chief of staff role at the State Department for Ann Stock.
-- George Rogers named CEO of Wexler Walker http://politi.co/2c022jE … Former Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, a former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama Administration, is joining Finsbury as a partner to run its Washington office. http://politi.co/2cmcyjx … United Against Nuclear Iran “Welcomes Jeb Bush and Bill Richardson as Newest Advisory Board Members” http://politi.co/2cmcekG
BUSH ALUMNI -- AEI president Arthur Brooks emails the staff: “Dr. Ryan Streeter will be joining AEI as director of domestic policy studies, one of AEI’s three research divisions. ... Ryan comes to us from the University of Texas, where he currently serves as the executive director of the Center for Politics and Governance. Previously, he worked for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as the deputy chief of staff for policy and strategy; for the Legatum Institute in London as a founding director and senior fellow; and for President George W. Bush, first as associate director for domestic policy and later as special assistant to the President.”
OUT AND ABOUT -- OBAMA ALUMNI -- Meg Little Reilly, the former OMB and Treasury spokeswoman and Glover Park Group alum, made a State Visit on her multi-city book tour for her novel, “We Are Unprepared” -- recently named Target’s book of the month! In her talk at Kramerbooks, Meg said she used to get up early while working at OMB to write before the morning White House comms call. She quit DC, moved to New England with her family and became a novelist. $9.40 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2bZpQ4n
SPOTTED at the signing and after-party at Dupont Circle Hotel: Dan Reilly, Scott Mulhauser and Kara Carscarsden, Lisa Lerer, Paul Kane, Tracy Sefl, Natalie Earnest, Molly Buford, Steve Krupin, Claire Doody, Ken Baer, Darius Tahir, Ken Baer, Alex Slater, John Bresnahan, Victoria McGrane, Marcy Stech, Erin McPike, Max Gleischman, Rachel Racusen, Michael Steel, Nu Wexler, Meghan Stasz, Jim Tankersley, John Bresnahan, Alex Slater, Mike and Mindy Madden, Lisa Lerer, Susan Davis and Adam Aigner-Twerorgy, Helena Andrews.
--- InsideSources held a second anniversary party last night at The Hamilton. SPOTTED: Eliana Johnson, Benny Johnson, Chris Bedford, Alex Moe, Alice Lloyd, Zachary Cohen, Jenna Lifhits, and Kimberly Railey.
D.C. SNOWDEN SCREENING: Oliver Stone hosted an invite-only screening and reception last night in Georgetown to preview his upcoming thriller, “Snowden,” set to debut in theaters Sept. 16. Trailer http://bit.ly/2bUrrFB SPOTTED: Michael Isikoff, Mary Ann Akers, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), Jeff Stein, Jonathan Broder, Thomas Drake, Seymour Hersh, Souroush Shehabi, Erin Pelton, Michael Crittenden and Dan Wilson.
BIRTHDAYS: Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) is 75 … Steve McMahon, co-founder and CEO at Purple Strategies (h/t Jon Haber) ... Richard Cullen, SVP of public affairs at FP1 Strategies ... Madigan Schmidt, Steve and Angela’s daughter, is 13 ... Jonathan Rosen, de Blasio adviser and principal at BerlinRosen ... Morgan Hook, SVP at SKD Knickerbocker … Ali Pardo, RNC spokeswoman currently in Denver and a Rubio alum, who was once named one of the 50 most influential women by Marie Claire (h/t Becca Coffman who wants her to move back now) ... Will Brunelle, associate at SKDKnickerbocker and Politico alum ... Sharon Páez, partner at Hilltop Public Solutions … Harry Liberman, data and research analyst at The Atlas Project, is 26 ... Politico’s Rhea Beal … former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) is 62 … Samantha Osborne, RNC’s deputy digital director and a Romney and Targeted Victory alum (h/t Matthias Reynolds) … Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) is 66 (h/ts Legistorm) ... CNBC’s Jillian Harding … Andrei Berman of Everytown for Gun Safety is 31 (h/t Danny G.) ...
… Matthew McGregor, an Obama 2012 alum currently director of digital at Precision Strategies -- Go Bulldogs ... Michael Pratt, Warren and Markey finance alum and amazing Iowan … WSJ markets reporter Akane Otani, who celebrated by going to the Kanye West concert Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden (h/t Colby Bermel) ... Zack Ford, editor of Think Progress LBGT ... Jason Mattera … Andrew Golis … Jill McClain, an ABC News alum … Dan Gurley, founding partner of G2 Strategy Group in Raleigh ... Dylan McDowell, who coordinates state environmental work for the National Council of Environmental Legislators ... Will Batson of House E&C ... Kim Coalter of Sen. Cochran’s office ... Mike Danylak, press secretary for Senate Indian Affairs ... former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) is 68 ... Jaime Lennon, comms director for Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, is 33 ... Jasi Edwards of Rep. Coleman’s office ... Janelle Kovacevich … Sara Fellenz ... JoAnne Anton … David Dixon … Don Schimanski … Gail Leftwich Kitch (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... former Clinton aide Lenore Cho … Nick Bouknight ... Al Hubbard ... Brookly McLaughlin ... Andrea Hoffman, president of political operations at GR Seppala and Associates ... Diedtra Henderson ... Paul Fletcher ... Charlotte Spears Ivancic ... Jillian Wikler Black ... Michael Johns ... Brandon Wright.