Listen to Playbook in 90 Seconds http://bit.ly/2lyeffg … Subscribe on iTunes http://apple.co/2eX6Eay … Visit the online home of Playbook http://politi.co/2f51Jnf
THE BATTLE IS JOINED -- NYT, A1 -- “JUDGES REFUSE TO REINSTATE TRAVEL BAN … ‘No Evidence’ of Terror Threat — Trump Says, ‘See You in Court,’” by Adam Liptak: “The three-judge panel, suggesting that the ban did not advance national security, said the administration had shown ‘no evidence’ that anyone from the seven nations -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- had committed terrorist acts in the United States. The ruling also rejected Mr. Trump’s claim that courts are powerless to review a president’s national security assessments. Judges have a crucial role to play in a constitutional democracy, the court said.
“‘It is beyond question,’ the decision said, ‘that the federal judiciary retains the authority to adjudicate constitutional challenges to executive action.’ The decision was handed down by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco. It upheld a ruling last Friday by a federal district judge, James L. Robart, who blocked key parts of the travel ban, allowing thousands of foreigners to enter the country. … At the White House, the president told reporters that the ruling was ‘a political decision’ and predicted that his administration would win an appeal ‘in my opinion, very easily.’ He said he had not yet conferred with his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, on the matter. The Supreme Court remains short-handed and could deadlock. A 4-to-4 tie there would leave the appeals court’s ruling in place. The administration has moved fast in the case so far, and it is likely to file an emergency application to the Supreme Court in a day or two. The court typically asks for a prompt response from the other side, and it could rule soon after it received one. A decision next week, either to reinstate the ban or to continue to block it, is possible.” http://nyti.ms/2lr4C5t … A1 pdf http://nyti.ms/2kVK4RU … The ruling http://politi.co/2lvtV26
-- “3 key Trump mistakes that led to the travel ban court defeat,” by Josh Gerstein: http://politi.co/2lqQmtu
Good Friday morning. Something is happening across the country. Last night, there was an uproar at Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s (R-Utah) town hall about his position on health care. A woman complained that Chaffetz was trying to gut Planned Parenthood (http://bit.ly/2kadXOX). There was a candlelight vigil, of sorts, outside his town hall (http://bit.ly/2kP4Sb8). The crowd shouted “do your job” -- a reference to his role as House Oversight chairman (http://bit.ly/2kaqmm3).
CHAFFETZ and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics yesterday, raising concerns about Kellyanne Conway's promotion of Ivanka Trump's clothing line. The White House has expressed support for Conway. But given what happened in Chaffetz's district, if the White House does nothing, we expect Chaffetz will have little option but to launch some kind of probe. The letter http://bit.ly/2kVNT9G
Before you say this is a fake protest, know that Utah’s third congressional district -- which Chaffetz has represented since 2009 -- is an R+25, which means the average Republican wins by 25 points there. Chaffetz won with 73 percent of the vote in 2016. The state as a whole is still solidly Republican, as well, though there are Democratic pockets. The Salt Lake Tribune’s story, which led the website this morning http://bit.ly/2lvm1WA
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA.), the vice chair of the GOP conference, TRIES TO FRAME THE PROTESTS in a note to his GOP colleagues -- KEY EXCERPTS: “Americans spent the last several years trying to wriggle out of the arms of Big Brother. Many feel betrayed, and the vocal minority is attempting to appropriate that sentiment to fuel a ‘progressive’ agenda that has brought no real progress. In fact, Democrats have mobilized on behalf of the same status quo that left our nation with unmet needs, empty promises, and defective policies. ... In this moment, remember that, unlike our friends across the aisle, we aren’t grasping for relevance in communities across the nation. Conservatives are today’s thought leaders because we are the careful listeners, and people have placed their confidence in us for this reason. We allow debate to educate us, but we must not allow it to shake our confidence in the path we’re walking with our neighbors: As we embark on the 115th Congress, we are on the right side of the issues and the right side of history.” The full letter http://politi.co/2kbBWs4
THE SENATE cleared Tom Price as HHS secretary early this morning, and set up a Monday vote to confirm Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary.
TRUMP: TAX PLAN COMING IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. CAPITOL HILL: HUH? -- President Trump’s proclamation to airline CEOs yesterday that he would release a tax plan in the coming weeks has raised alarm bells on Capitol Hill. Top aides and lawmakers were caught completely off guard by the announcement, and hope Trump halts anything that could complicate tax reform. Republicans want to get through Obamacare repeal and replace before they move to tax reform, and would prefer Trump work behind the scenes for now.
SCOOP DU JOUR -- “National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say,” by WaPo’s Greg Miller, Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima: “National security adviser Michael Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Trump officials ... Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election. Flynn on Wednesday denied that he had discussed sanctions with Kislyak. Asked in an interview whether he had ever done so, he twice said, ‘No.’ On Thursday, Flynn, through his spokesman, backed away from the denial. The spokesman said Flynn ‘indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.’” http://wapo.st/2lqRT2N
-- “Trump vexed by challenges, scale of government,” by Alex Isenstadt, Ken Vogel, and Josh Dawsey: “After Trump grew infuriated by disclosures of his confrontational phone calls with foreign leaders, an investigation was launched into the source of the leaks, according to one White House aide. [NSC] staffers have been instructed to cooperate with inquiries, including requests to inspect their electronic communications ... The administration is considering limiting the universe of aides with access to the calls or their transcripts, said one administration official ... The president and his allies believe career NSC staff assigned from other agencies are out to get them. In turn, some NSC staff believe Trump does not possess the capacity for detail and nuance required to handle the sensitive issues discussed on the calls, and that he has politicized their agency by appointing chief strategist [Steve] Bannon to the council.” http://politi.co/2kzwItB
AT 1600 PENN -- “For Trump, a solitary start to life in the White House,” by AP’s Julie Pace and Jonathan Lemire: “The president’s advisers have tried to curb his cable news consumption during the workday. But there are no limits when the president returns to the residence. During [a] recent telephone conversation, Trump briefly put down the phone so he could turn up the volume on a CNN report. When he returned to the call, he was complaining about ‘fake news.’ ... Despite Trump’s weekend escapes, advisers say he has taken to the White House. He’s told associates it feels like a movie set and has spent time making sure it looks up to his standards.” http://apne.ws/2kbdpnb
ALTERNATE HEADLINES FROM AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE -- President Hillary Clinton urges senators in a private meeting to get working on immigration reform, expressing openness to the bipartisan “Gang of 8” proposal that Republicans trashed in the 2016 campaign. On Friday, she’s expected to go to Florida for the second weekend in a row, this time paying from her own pocket to discuss policy with the Japanese prime minister, a politician who is unabashedly for a massive trade deal between the Pacific Rim and the U.S. -- a deal both she and Donald Trump said they opposed during the campaign. Earlier this week, a top adviser to President Clinton urged people on live TV to do business with Chelsea Clinton, who runs her own fashion line. Donald Trump tweets, “See what happens when you elect Crooked Hillary?”
TRUMP AND THE WORLD -- “Trump pledges to honor ‘one China’ policy in call with Xi,” by Eli Stokols: “President Donald Trump backed down from a blustery threat in an effort to ease tensions with China during his first phone call with the country’s president on Thursday night. … According to a White House readout of Thursday’s ‘lengthy’ phone call, ‘President Trump agreed, at the request of President Xi, to honor our ‘one China’ policy. ‘Representatives of the United States and China will engage in discussions and negotiations on various issues of mutual interest,’ the statement continued. ‘The phone call between President Trump and President Xi was extremely cordial, and both leaders extended best wishes to the people of each other's countries.’” http://politi.co/2kz7trj
-- “In call with Putin, Trump denounced Obama-era nuclear arms treaty – sources,” by Reuters’ Jonathan Landay and David Rohde: “When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was ... Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said.” http://reut.rs/2kbk00z
REMEMBER WHEN REPUBLICANS SAID THE U.S. HAS A SPENDING PROBLEM? -- “Trump border ‘wall’ to cost $21.6 billion, take 3.5 years to build: internal report,” by Reuters’ Julia Edwards Ainsley: “The [internal DHS] report’s estimated price-tag is much higher than a $12-billion figure cited by Trump in his campaign and estimates as high as $15 billion from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.” http://reut.rs/2lqR4XO
-- ACTUALLY -- People on the Hill involved in budgeting think it could be as high as $50 billion when all is said and done.
#THISTOWN -- “French manicures, Bud Light and fly fishing: How Trump staffers are changing Washington,” by WaPo’s Abha Bhattarai: “In the three weeks since the Trump administration moved into town, business at Bullfeathers, a Capitol Hill watering hole popular among Republican staffers, has climbed 55 percent. Old Ebbitt Grill, across from the White House, has reported an uptick in sales of Fireball whisky shots. And at Luigi Parasmo Salon and Spa in Georgetown, a steady stream of recently relocated New Yorkers has been calling to schedule weekly blowouts and French manicures.” http://wapo.st/2kajdC9
THE JUICE ...
-- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- AMY CHOZICK, who covered Hillary Clinton for the New York Times, is on a nine-to-12 month book leave from the paper to write a “political memoir about eight years (on and off) covering Hillary Clinton for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times,” she said in an email to Playbook. Harper Collins plans to publish the book next year.
-- KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR speaking to House Democrats at their retreat in Baltimore last night: “Your opinion counts. It is worth something. Don’t take any backward steps. Keep moving forward. I think people are awake just because of what they see happening around them. It’s scary. … SNL must be paying Donald Trump for doing these things. … I’m all for the 9th Circuit Court. I’m going to send them a thank you note when I get back to L.A.”
-- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- TWO OBAMA ALUMNI LAUNCH CITIZENS44 LLC -- Allison Zellman, a Clinton and Obama alum, and Paulette Aniskoff, a former director of the Office of Public Engagement at the Obama White House, have launched Citizens44 LLC, which will “oversee President Obama’s engagement with political and progressive organizations and major supporters around the country to defend his legacy. They will also run his alumni network.” FROM ANITA BRECKENRIDGE, OBAMA’S CHIEF OF STAFF: “Paulette is someone who the President has relied on, and who countless allies and activists partnered closely with during our time in the White House. During her ten years on the campaign and inside the administration, she ran point on some of the most important fights we had and was a trusted senior strategist. We are thrilled to have her as a key member of the post presidency team.”
-- MARK PRESTON’S NEW GIG -- INTERNAL STAFF MEMO FROM CNN’S JEFF ZUCKER: “Eric Sherling is taking on an expanded role, effective immediately. As Senior Vice President, Washington, DC and Special Events Programming, Eric will oversee all editorial aspects of our special events programming. … Mark Preston will continue to report to Eric in his dual role of Executive Director, Political Programming and his new on-air role as Senior Political Analyst. Also, Carrie Stevenson has been named Executive Producer, Special Projects, and will play a key role in all of our event coverage.” Full memo http://politi.co/2lvvDRo
-- SCOOP: VOTEVETS’ new ad has gotten a lot of attention this week. It features an amputee squatting a barbell while criticizing Donald Trump. Now, the group will run the ad alongside “Saturday Night Live” to try to grab Trump’s attention. Alec Baldwin is hosting SNL this weekend. VoteVets bought time in the D.C. market and two slots in the Palm Beach market to try to make sure they reach Trump. The ad will air before the cold open. A clip of the ad http://bit.ly/2lvfP0E
-- ANOTHER SCOOP: PLANNED PARENTHOOD PLANNING PROTEST DAY -- Hundreds of activists are planning a rally day to support Planned Parenthood Saturday. Look for large rallies in Colorado outside Sen. Cory Gardner’s office, where they expect more than 3,500 attendees. There will also be rallies in Maine, California, Illinois and in Louisiana in front of the New Orleans city hall.
WATCH OUT -- “State-sponsored hackers targeting prominent journalists, Google warns,” by Daniel Lippman: “Some journalists getting the warnings say they suspect the hackers could be Russians looking to find incriminating emails they could leak to embarrass journalists, either by revealing alleged liberal bias or to expose the sausage-making of D.C. journalism. ‘The fact that all this started right after the election suggests to me that journalists are the next wave to be targeted by state-sponsored hackers in the way that Democrats were during it,’ said one journalist who got the warning. ‘I worry that the outcome is going to be the same: Someone, somewhere, is going to get hacked, and then the contents of their gmail will be weaponized against them — and by extension all media.’ The Russian embassy did not respond to a request for comment.” Journalists getting the warnings include: Ezra Klein, Brian Stelter, Julia Ioffe, Jonathan Chait, David Sanger, Paul Krugman, Garance Franke-Ruta, and Keith Olbermann. http://politi.co/2kbHgvv … Google security check-up http://g.co/securitycheckup
HAPPENING TODAY -- Trump is meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and after that, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. Trump will have a joint press conference with Abe followed by a lunch. Then the pair go to Florida for the weekend.
-- ABE is visiting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce while in town, and will meet with CEO Tom Donohue and members of Congress, in addition to a roundtable with some of its members. WHAT DONOHUE WILL SAY: “The U.S.-Japanese relationship is among the most valuable in the world—and the lifeblood of that relationship is the robust trade and investment that flows between our nations.”
SIGN OF THE TIMES – An ad on the front page of the FT this week: “LEAVING THE EU UNWILLINGLY?”: “Move some of your business to a plot alongside Copenhagen Airport and become a next door neighbour to the so called Gateway to Northern Europe. This is a final call on a commercial site in Denmark.” See the ad http://politi.co/2kaoSbj
USED NEWS – WSJ A-hed today, “Whoops! People Are Climbing Into Random Cars That Look Like Ubers” http://on.wsj.com/2ly32eJ ... Aug. 18, 2014, Valleywag, “People Keep Getting Into Strangers’ Cars Because They Think It’s An Uber,” by Nitasha Tiku http://bit.ly/VBE9k9
THE CABINET -- “Inside the GOP campaign to save Andrew Puzder’s nomination,” by CNN’s Manu Raju: “Republicans in the Senate are plotting an aggressive effort to save Andrew Puzder’s embattled nomination to become labor secretary, leaning on well-funded business groups, the White House and the powerful Senate majority leader to ensure his confirmation over stiff opposition from the left. Puzder’s nomination has emerged of particular interest to Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, who has a long-standing relationship with the nominee. In private meetings with GOP senators, McConnell has told his colleagues that he thinks Puzder is more prepared than any nominee in history to be labor secretary … This has surprised some of McConnell’s colleagues because his wife, Elaine Chao, served as George W. Bush’s labor secretary for eight years, but it underscores the seriousness that the shrewd GOP leader is taking the nomination.” http://cnn.it/2lqZvCt
-- “Cooper withdraws from solicitor general consideration,” by Eliana Johnson and Tara Palmeri: “Chuck Cooper, the conservative Supreme Court litigator, is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next solicitor general, opening the door for the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to be appointed to the role. ... George T. Conway has been reported as the other finalist being considered for the role.” http://politi.co/2ktjsUL
-- “Dominican deal tests Trump pledge of no new foreign projects,” by AP’s Jeff Horwitz: “The Trump Organization is returning to a long-dormant licensing deal involving a beachfront luxury resort in the Dominican Republic, testing the limits of Donald Trump’s pledge to halt new international Trump-branded projects during his presidency. ... But the Trump family's re-engagement surfaced unexpectedly last week, when Eric Trump, an executive vice president, was photographed touring the property with brothers Ricardo and Fernando Hazoury. He had accused them of ‘textbook fraud’ in a 2012 lawsuit over allegedly hidden property sales. In a press release, the Hazoury brothers now call their relationship with the president’s son ‘incredibly strong.’ ... The renewed pursuit of the project shows that the company believes it has latitude to carry on significant new activity overseas, despite the president’s pledge to avoid new foreign development deals.” http://apne.ws/2lvlN1T
COMING ATTRACTIONS -- “Trump gets ready for some golf course diplomacy with Japan’s Abe,” by Darren Samuelsohn: “President Donald Trump is said to be a gracious host at his golf courses. He high-fives his playing partners after a good shot and keeps his cool when his own game goes awry, according to friends, never cursing or throwing his clubs. But he is also known to run afoul of the game’s play-it-as-it-lies rules. And his trash-talking habit is well-documented by his long-time golfing partners, sportswriters and even links legends like Tiger Woods. It’s not clear which Trump will show up on the golf course this weekend, when the president hosts Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his Mar-A-Lago resort in South Florida. ‘He’s absolutely unscrupulous, absolutely completely bankrupt of any morality, when it comes to golf,’ said Rick Reilly, a longtime sportswriter who joined Trump on the course for a 2004 book about caddying for celebrities. ‘I don’t know how the Japanese are going to like that.’” http://politi.co/2kzm6uJ
TRUMP INC. -- “Saudis foot tab at Trump hotel,” by Isaac Arnsdorf: “A lobbying firm working for Saudi Arabia paid for a room at Donald Trump’s Washington hotel after Inauguration Day, marking the first publicly known payment on behalf of a foreign government to a Trump property since he became president. Qorvis MSLGroup, a communications firm that lobbies for the Saudis, has been organizing veterans and other activists to come to Washington to urge Congress to repeal the law letting 9/11 victims’ families sue the kingdom. Between 20 and 40 veterans, with the assistance of the advocacy group NMLB, stayed at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in December and January.
“One of those veterans checked in on Jan. 23 and left on Jan. 26 at a rate of $250 to $325 a night plus tax, according to NMLB president Jason Johns. The bill was paid by Michael Gibson, a subcontractor to Qorvis representing the Saudis, according to disclosures filed with the Justice Department. The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution prohibits U.S. officials from receiving payments from foreign governments. Lawyers started warning about the potential for violations at Trump’s Washington hotel and overseas properties after he won the election, but the clause didn’t start applying to Trump until he took office on Jan. 20.” http://politi.co/2kzeKr6
SPORTS BLINK -- “Miami Marlins Claim To Have $1.6 Billion Handshake Agreement For Team,” by Forbes’ Mike Ozanian: “Two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that Miami Marlins president David Samson has said that there is a $1.6 billion ‘handshake agreement’ for the MLB team. Jeffrey Loria paid $158 million for the baseball team in 2002.” http://bit.ly/2lrbDmY
-- NYT’s Andrew Ross Sorkin and Michael J. de la Merced: “The Kushners — led by Joshua Kushner, a venture capitalist, and Joseph Meyer, his brother-in-law and key lieutenant for the family’s investments — have pursued the Marlins for several months, devising a complicated financial arrangement that would include bringing in partners later … Neither Jared Kushner, who married Ivanka Trump in 2009 and is a top White House adviser, nor Charles Kushner, the family patriarch who spent over a year in prison for illegal campaign donations, tax evasion and witness tampering, is participating in the effort.” http://nyti.ms/2ktH3VC
MEDIAWATCH -- “Comedians get bump by skewering Trump,” by Alex Weprin: “There’s a new pecking order among the late night comedy shows: The ones that are most aggressive in making fun of President Donald Trump are suddenly seeing their viewership boom. Trump has shaken up the 11:30 p.m. late night talk shows, boosting the programs that poke the sharpest rhetorical barbs at the commander in chief. Last week, for the first time since its launch week in 2015, CBS’ ‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ was the number one late night talk show, topping NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’ and ABC’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live.’” http://politi.co/2ktt7uE
-- HOT ON THE LEFT -- “Have liberals found their combative new leader in … Keith Olbermann?” by WaPo’s Ben Terris: “It’s been more than six years since the fiery liberal tirade artist left his signature show on MSNBC. But he’s got a Web series now. With a polarizing new president to fulminate against, he’s calling his new show ‘The Resistance,’ and he’s more than happy to play to type. The concept is simple: The veteran broadcaster, dressed as usual like a ‘Mad Men’ antihero, sits behind a desk against a stark backdrop and rants for about seven minutes in bleak and blunt terms about the dangers of having Donald Trump as president. The recordings have the feeling of something smuggled out of a country under siege.” With a David Brock cameo http://wapo.st/2kVCpD2
-- EVELYN FARKAS has signed on to be a national security analyst for NBC/MSNBC.
--DAVID SHUSTER, an MSNBC and Al Jazeera America alum, has been named anchor and managing editor of global news channel i24 that is expanding to the U.S. on Monday, Feb. 13. http://bit.ly/2kVNMLk
SPOTTED at the Four Seasons yesterday: Heather Podesta having breakfast at the table next to Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.). Valerie Jarrett was also there. ... Rep. Luis Gutierrez on 9 a.m. American flight from IND to CLT. He was wearing a gold key on a red ribbon around his neck and sitting in coach. ... Jeff Sessions yesterday at Old Ebbitt following his swearing in as attorney general … Matt Rhoades dining with Arkansas Lt. Gov Tim Griffin at Matchbox on 14th St. … Washington lawyer Lester Hyman dining at 1789 with Dana Tai Soon Burgess, Smithsonian’s first-ever choreographer in residence, and singer John Lloyd Young. Madeline Albright and Patrick Stewart were dining at another table. The five all spoke with each other.
OUT AND ABOUT – The MPAA hosted a reception last night to screen short films nominated for Oscars in animation, live action and documentary categories. SPOTTED: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and wife Kelley Paul, Russell Williams, Adam Liptak, Rita Braver, Selim Azzazi, Juanjo Gimenez Pena, Carter Pilcher, Peter Kenney, Marie Royce, Paris Preston and Nihal Krishan
TRANSITIONS -- The Lukens Company, a direct response marketing agency, expanded its political services division. Matt Mason will lead it. Lindsay Shuba Donnelly, Jonathan Gormley, and Ehren Oates have been hired to work in the unit as well. ... Luke Bolar, former chief of staff to former Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), has joined Edelman’s energy team as SVP and will help out on financial communications. ... Steven Teles is joining the libertarian think tank the Niskanen Center as a senior fellow ... The Health Care Transformation Task Force has hired Caitlin Sweany as its director of transformation facilitation and support.
OBAMA ALUMNI -- Shin Inouye started as the director of comms and media relations at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. He previously was at USCIS and worked in the Obama White House for six years. ... Eric Pelofsky, a former special assistant to President Obama and senior director for North Africa and Yemen at the NSC, has joined The Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a visiting fellow. http://bit.ly/2kW3TbM
SUNDAY SO FAR – “Fox News Sunday”: Panel: Michael Needham, Julie Pace, Laura Ingraham, Juan Williams. Power Player: Nancy Lindborg, President of the United States Institute of Peace
--NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Katty Kay, former N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory, Eugene Robinson, Greta Van Susteren
--CBS’ “Face the Nation”: Senate Minority Leader Schumer. Panel: Peter Baker, Ron Brownstein, Reihan Salam, and Susan Page.
--CNN’s “State of the Union”: NJ Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.)
--CNN’s “Inside Politics,” hosted by John King: Jonathan Martin, Jackie Kucinich, Glenn Thrush, Nia-Malika Henderson
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Mindy Finn, co-founder of Stand Up Republic, who was the VP candidate for Evan McMullin and is an alum of Twitter, Romney, NRSC, RNC, and Bush-Cheney 2004 and the pride of Houston – she’s celebrating by spending the evening with her husband and two little boys eating cupcakes. Her assessment of Trump’s performance: “Code Red” – read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2lvoIaO
BIRTHDAYS: George Stephanopoulos, the pride of Fall River, Massachusetts, is 56 ... Robert Iger, Walt Disney Co. chairman and CEO, is 66 ... CNBC’s Jim Cramer is 62 ... Politico Magazine’s Margy Slattery ... Susan Crabtree, White House correspondent for the Washington Examiner and the pride of Redlands, California ... Glenn Beck, founder of The Blaze, is 53 ... Scott Sendek of Targeted Victory rolled off a Motor City assembly line 36 years ago (hat tips: Blain Rethmeier, Rob Saliterman and Brian Danza) ... Cathy Gillespie ... Notre Dame rep John Sturm, the pride of Jasper, Ind., celebrating with dinner at the Palm tonight and a party at home on Saturday night … Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) is 74 … Michael Levoff, a Mike Bloomberg, Romney and Huntsman NH alum now SVP of public affairs at Genting Americas ... CNN producer Mallory Thompson, an ABC News alum ... Barbee Ponder, GC and VP of regulatory affairs at Globalstar ... Stacy Kerans, SVP of brand marketing practice at Ketchum ... Izzy Klein, managing partner at Roberti Global: Irizarry Klein Roberti and a Schumer and Markey alum, celebrating the big 4-0 tomorrow night with family and friends (h/ts Jon Haber) ... Jo-Marie St. Martin, a longtime Boehner senior aide now VP for federal gov’t relations at W.R. Berkley ... Michelle Levi Noe, CBS and ABC alum now director of special projects for Shriver Media ... Anne Kaiser, Majority Leader of the Maryland House of Delegates (h/t Sean Johnson) ... PBS Newshour’s John Yang, and NBC alum and the pride of Chillicothe, Ohio, who has also lived in Jerusalem, is 59 ...
... Jessica Meyers, a Boston Globe and Politico alum now a China correspondent in Beijing ... John Cummins, comms. director for Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) (h/t Ben Voelkel) … Jeff Jacoby, syndicated newspaper columnist whose work has been published on the op-ed page of the Boston Globe since 1994, is 58 ... Howie Beigelman, Columbus-based executive director of Ohio Jewish Communities, is 43 (h/ts Jewish Insider) ... Kyle Trygstad, editor of National Journal Hotline (h/t Zach Montellaro) … BBC’s Philip Hampsheir ... Karen Dahl ... Christopher Hartman ... Connecticut State Rep. Caroline Simmons, a rising star in the Nutmeg state ... Tanya Somanader, former director of digital rapid response at the Obama WH and a Pelosi and OFA alum ... Aly Carter Bullock, associate director for comms at Service Year Alliance ... Tim Graham of the Media Research Center and executive editor of NewsBusters.org ... Marisa Kashino, senior editor at Washingtonian ... Joanna Belanger, political director at Everytown for Gun Safety and a CAP alum ... Jim Pfaff, a Tim Huelskamp alum now client strategist at Prosper Group, is 52 ... Rebecca Naomi Bash ... Hector F. Irastorza is 59 ... Kevin Duewel, a student at McGeorge Law School and policy/legal intern at the California Chamber ... Clayton Keir is 32 ... Kevin Fitzgerald, the pride of Manitowoc, Wisc. ... Suzy Ballantyne (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Mimi Sheraton, legendary New York Times restaurant critic and food writer, is 91 ... Olympic gold-medal swimmer Mark Spitz is 68 ... World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman is 62 ... retired MLB All-Star Lenny Dykstra is 54 ... Laura Dern is 5-0 ... Emma Roberts is 26 ... Chloe Grace Moretz is 2-0 (h/ts AP)