Subject: POLITICO Playbook, presented by the Alzheimer’s Association: TRUMP’S EMPTY CABINET: Top GOP talent resists serving – FREEZE-OUT for foreign press -- B’DAY: Laura Capps, David Gergen, Joel Kaplan, Ezra Klein, Theo LeCompte, Mark Leibovich, Dana Perino
From: Mike Allen <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 9 May 2016 06:17:06 -0600

05/09/2016 08:11 AM EDT

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email-masked]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email-masked])

Good Monday morning. AP reminds us that 55 years ago today, in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters, FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow - a loyal Playbooker, now age 90 -- decried the majority of television programming as a "vast wasteland."

JOE SCARBOROUGH, on MSNBC's "Morning Joe": "How you doing, Donald? It's very funny when you say you don't watch the show. I think it's cute. Keep it up. It makes us feel good that you care that much that you tweet about us." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9389e570f8f0f1bd317007c1ea59bd2d98c48e8cb3d7746418a

JUST POSTED - "Trump's empty administration: As presumptive nominee takes first steps on transition, GOP policy veterans say they're not interested," by Darren Samuelsohn and Morning Money's Ben White: "Politico interviewed nearly five dozen Republicans over the past two weeks - people with experience working in government and who understand how Congress can enact, or shred, a new president's agenda - and heard the same sentiment expressed repeatedly. If Trump doesn't change his tune or extend much longer olive branches, many of these government veterans say they intend to cede highly coveted administration posts to less-experienced competitors. ... 

"The lack of interest in serving Trump extends from the energy and financial services sectors to defense and foreign policy. ... [T]he absence of experienced professionals at the assistant-secretary level could have profound consequences on the government. ... 'Trump will be able to fill these jobs because there is a whole class of people who want these titles so badly it doesn't matter who is president,' said a former senior George W. Bush administration official. 'But these are B- or C-level people. ... The A-level people, and there are not that many of them to begin with, mostly don't want to work for Trump." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9383112f91a160a98a34fcb7d567bc8d8dacc668989ae37ef9d

--"Stunned Trump foes face diminished options at GOP convention," by AP's Alan Fram, with Julie Pace and Tom Beaumont: "Trump opponents see the Republican platform ... as a place for a stand in Cleveland. ... Many conservatives say they will use that vote to keep Trump from reshaping GOP dogma against abortion, for free trade and on other issues. ... Erick Erickson, a Trump opponent, said he expected delegates to accede to Trump's selection, saying that by July, 'the phases of depression and anger' will subside as Republicans accept 'their coming defeat.' ...

"Beth Myers, ... Romney's campaign manager in 2012, was not a Trump supporter during the primaries. But she said Trump knows TV and expects his convention to outshine the Democrats' in stagecraft and draw millions more viewers than usual. ... '[I]t will be a production of Trump, Inc., and it will be pretty good live television.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93896a2d33dcc4cee7f7deadbbcc916e46b09da50c0cb235494 

TRUMP vs. RYAN -- N.Y. Times 1-col. lead, "SPARRING IN G.O.P. RISES OVER PLANS FOR CONVENTION: TRUMP ISSUES WARNING -- Candidate Continues to Spurn the Leaders of Republican Party," by Jeremy Peters: "Trump refused to rule out blocking ... Ryan ... from serving as the convention's chairman. ... [T]he list of speakers from the 2012 convention reads like a list of Mr. Trump's enemies. Many have denounced him, including Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Representative Barbara Comstock of Virginia." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93853d8e1f61c7c607a5e75982d7892cbb571111f8769e9e970

--WHAT TRUMP SAID on "Meet the Press," when Chuck Todd asked him if Ryan should remain convention chair if he can't endorse the nominee: "I don't want to mention now. I'll see after. I will give you a very solid answer, if that happens, about one minute after that happens. OK? But there's no reason to give it right now. But I'll be very quick with the answer. Let's see what happens ... I don't think that's going to happen. You know, the party's come together. ...

"I'm never going to get Romney's endorsement. He choked. ... I'm never going to get Bush's election. ... I was tough on him, and he was trying to be tough on me, but he's not a very tough guy. ... [A]nd by the way, Chuck, very important: He signed a pledge. He pledged that he would support the nominee. And so did this lightweight, Lindsey Graham."

TRUMP'S AMERICA - "Trump's war on the foreign press: Foreign reporters are steamed at the campaign's ... freeze-out," by Ben Schreckinger and Hadas Gold: "The nationalist tone of Trump's campaign is being echoed in its press credentialing practices, with foreign media giants regularly denied press access and even blocked from general admission. Meanwhile, local outlets, down to the high school level, find there is plenty of room. ... [J]ournalists from Russia, France and Germany [are] reporting freeze-outs at the same time that Qatari-owned Al Jazeera and Japanese television find their way in." With a Carol Lee cameo http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93808de3a2bddad60d0c369e46c8cbdf1fe9baa189cf60f76fb

--Houston Chronicle front page, above fold, "Anger over Trump spurs Latino voter registration: Spike in naturalizations across Texas and U.S. doesn't bode well for GOP," by Lomi Kriel: "Since last summer, ... average monthly citizenship applications nationwide spiked nearly 15 percent to about 64,800 between August and January compared to the same period the year before." Paywall http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93815a20db9dd4338fce838822f0be4a713726113f56414f215

HILLARY'S WEEK AHEAD, per a campaign official: "Clinton will continue her 'Breaking Down Barriers' tour ... with stops in Virginia and Kentucky, talking with young families about the struggles they face with affordable child care, paid family leave and health care. ... The campaign ... release[d] a new video [today] highlighting Clinton's work in Arkansas in creating a pre-K program decades ago." 1-min. video http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93804dd3944a2bd3d697c8c766cd3abdcffa90fa49bc67c0835 

--WashPost A1, top of col. 1, "Clinton's agenda is big on small steps: Incremental approach could increase burden on federal bureaucracy," by Dave Fahrenthold (online: "Clinton's wonky policies of fine-grained complexity contrast with rivals' grandiose ideas"): "To her, complexity is realism. Clinton says she simply can't make the simple, grand promises of her rivals - free college tuition, a big, beautiful, free wall. Instead, she skips ahead to what policy looks like the way it's actually been done: complicated, ugly and in small steps.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9384ab5cfda2ced253a8d01028c9e73f64029a70549a03c046a

** A message from the Alzheimer's Association: Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in the country. Every hour, Alzheimer's costs taxpayers $18.3 million dollars. Today, Alzheimer's costs the country $236 billion a year and that will quadruple to more than $1 trillion over the next generation. Funding for Alzheimer's research must increase. Learn more at alz.org/advocacy **

BEN RHODES, White House Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications & Speechwriting, does damage control after NYT magazine profile, writing on Medium, "How We Advocated for the Iran Deal": "First, we never made any secret of our interest in pursuing a nuclear deal with Iran. ... Second, we did aggressively make the case for the Iran deal during the congressional review mandated by statute last summer, as it was imperative that the facts of the deal be understood for it to be implemented. ... Third, there was no shortage of good reporting and analysis-positive, negative, and mixed-about the Iran deal." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938bfa18cb1ae8054d0068325879e5fd45f193a4bc5c46cf883 ... 

--N.Y. Times Magazine, "The Storyteller and the President: How an aspiring fiction writer became one of the central figures reshaping American foreign policy in the Obama age," by David Samuels (online: "How Ben Rhodes rewrote the rules of diplomacy for the digital age") http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93816c402ceca794c2bdff06fe67500ea843eb7ac4acae59018

--"Eli Lake and Tommy Vietor Debate the Meaning of Ben Rhodes and Obama's Foreign Policy Legacy" on Sidewire http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9388fab9336ecf08256d84bfe5e53b210c278c0a2a1e515458c

PIC DU JOUR -- @howardfineman: "#RandPaul back home at #KyDerby, running for Senate reelection. 'Spend money in Kentucky!' he said. You, too, Rand!" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938e2b98908e94342c98dd7108187ec84bb45c2801647600fed 

TOP TWEET -- @jonlovett: "The progression is fantastic" with 3 headlines: Jan. 25, 2013: "'Bobby Jindal: GOP needs to "stop being the stupid party"' ... Sept 15, 2015: 'Jindal: Trump is a madman who must be stopped" ... May 8, 2016 WSJ op-ed: 'I'm Voting Trump, Warts and All.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93892cfb11382b2bb14a0fb400e82b8e1c95b798ac1bb622938 

SPOTTED: Joe and Mika taking in "Hamilton" on Saturday night at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in the 4th row center. 

VALLEY TALK - "Cheddar, the 'CNBC for Millennials,' Goes Behind a Paywall: Streaming video site from former BuzzFeed executive Jon Steinberg will start charging $6.99 a month," by WSJ's Shalini Ramachandran: "Former BuzzFeed executive Jon Steinberg's ... startup ... has been streaming videos for free on Facebook Live and Cheddar.com for the last few months, airing interviews and commentary from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. 

"[Today,] Mr. Steinberg will debut a new subscription video-on-demand service for Cheddar priced at $6.99 a month, powered by IAC/InterActiveCorp's video platform Vimeo. ... The idea is that smaller clips will appear for free on Facebook but full-length CEO interviews, for instance, would be exclusive for subscribers. ... 

"The Cheddar service is part of Vimeo's effort to become a destination for creators that want to build a Netflix of their own. ... 'I didn't want to get into the ad business again,' said Mr. Steinberg, the former chief operating officer and president of BuzzFeed and a former executive at the DailyMail.com. 'It was becoming increasingly clear that was becoming a winner-takes-all situation for Facebook and Google.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938aaab733d5c2867fee620e1c8173c607d091491e01acc80fc ... www.cheddar.com 

FOR YOUR RADAR - "Exxon scrambles to contain climate crusade: A green campaign to make the company pay for climate change is besieging the oil industry and its conservative allies," by Andrew Restuccia and Elana Schor: "[I]nterviews with dozens of activists, industry officials and lawmakers suggest that support for a legal crusade against Exxon is growing far beyond the political fringe - and now poses the biggest existential threat the company has faced in decades. ... A four-year effort by green activists, scientists and lawyers to turn Big Oil's biggest player into the poster child for climate change [is] deliberately patterned after the successful campaign to take down tobacco ... 

"Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers [said the] greens' campaign is built on 'distorted reports that they have commissioned and a distorted history of climate research that we've done openly with government bodies' ... The industry is even exploring the idea of launching a counter-probe: A lobbyist for one of Exxon's industry rivals told POLITICO he has reached out to red-state attorneys general to gauge their interest in probing where environmental groups are getting their funding. No takers have emerged so far. ... 

"Oil companies may face yet another headache if Democrats regain the Senate in November: Lawmakers such as Whitehouse told POLITICO they will push to hold hearings like those in the 1990s where tobacco executives had to testify under oath." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9381a7028b9aefd6950eb57d2e1e117c8118a5735387efcc7c0

"CONTAGION" -- "Brexit vote set to fuel more referendums," by Financial Times' Christian Oliver in Brussels: "Britain's referendum is widely expected to trigger a domino effect of similar votes on EU membership ... An Ipsos poll in nine leading EU states found that almost half of people thought that next month's Brexit vote posed a risk of contagion. ... 58 per cent of Italians and 55 per cent of the French already wanted their own referendums on EU membership, regardless of the [U.K.] result on June 23." (h/t Ryan Heath's Brussels Playbook) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9381fe2aa36f3bd439cccd94e8d4947f9eabb965341ba097f84

--"FORGET THE HYPE" -- TOM McTAGUE, Politico's Chief UK Political Correspondent, writes from London: "David Cameron is on course to comfortably win Britain's impending referendum on the EU membership. This, at least, is the growing consensus among polling experts and Westminster insiders, not to mention the U.K. betting markets which now put the chances of Brexit at just 25 percent." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9388b506467d6442fb9d874ab321bc3d17070d8b949a4d8dddd

--HAPPENING TODAY ... "THE PATRIOTIC CASE" against Brexit ... Daily Telegraph lead story, "Cameron: leaving EU could bring war -- Britain will pay high cost and risk conflict in Europe, says PM in Churchillian speech," by Deputy Political Editor Steven Swinford: "The Prime Minister [this morning invoked] Sir Winston Churchill [to] say that the foundation of the EU has helped bring together countries that have been 'at each others throats for decades.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938ec547a4af56fe87edf9ef5df50b05370469d15128711b27c 

PODCAST PALOOZA ...

--GLENN THRUSH's "Off Message": Mark Salter - one the first and one of most prominent Republicans to publicly back Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump - says Trump is "unstable" and could come apart in a "visible way." Salter, who was part of the team that vetted Sarah Palin in 2008, was hesitant to speak ill of Palin: "We asked Sarah Palin to be on the ticket. She didn't invite herself ... We owe her our respect." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93880b5d0b56a966b001ea0ec8c716d5bbcce26648c8f7f9f00 ... Listen and subscribe on iTunes http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c93846c06e7de6140c733c6ad766b8c94eb4cd22ee2120f5d50a 

--FAVREAU/PFEIFFER podcast, "Keepin' it 1600," part of Bill Simmons' podcast network, now has its own iTunes feed so you can subscribe directly. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9384f84f401a0edcf0ef08828745af198994053e00cb41ba3b2 

--DAVID HELFENBEIN's "The Gaggle" - "James L. 'Skip' Rutherford, Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School (UACS) of Public Service, [on] planning and construction of the Clinton Presidential Center, and ... the 40th anniversary commemoration of the 1957 crisis at Little Rock Central High School." www.thegagglepodcast.com 

--HAPPENING TODAY -- The University of Chicago Institute of Politics is hosting a special live taping of "The Axe Files" podcast hosted by David Axelrod with guest Jon Stewart, starting at 1 p.m. ET and live-streaming at http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938448db8963c062d9e15ab144f583b4a73eb5762722a99930f 

FIRST LOOKS - "A Very Un-Happy Two-Year Anniversary to the Benghazi Select Committee" - new 2-min. Correct the Record video http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938fd7aab6f95c6139dc2b1654485f588c6f678f1e8647b3a50

--"The Smoot Tewes Launches Media Engagement Practice": "The core of this new practice will be television and radio booking, media placement, media training and other services. ... Chris Fleming will lead the media booking practice as the firm's Media Engagement Principal." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9382df2bfe1de2742f4ec94dcb8a98b976c0eb355b8175fa698 

FUTURE OF NEWS -- "The Cover of The New Yorker's Innovators Issue Comes to Life in an Augmented-Reality Experience": "The New Yorker's annual Innovators Issue d&eacute;buts today with an augmented-reality experience triggered by the front and back covers of the print edition-a first for the magazine-and various advertising elements throughout the issue. This special initiative is supported exclusively by Qualcomm Incorporated. The covers, designed by Christoph Niemann, bring a bustling subway car and city skyline to life." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938f5e3433af925916ea4bf0343f16c1e8cc357f0b2328d6798 ... Uncovr app http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938892c86b81c92e9d02da8964893abfca7d97694a7affbc6a0 

WEEKEND WEDDINGS - "Melissa Morales, Andrew Lewis" - N.Y. Times: "Morales, 29, is a vice president specializing in health care and health coverage advertising in Washington at GMMB ... Lewis, 32, is a director of content in Washington for Subject Matter, a public-affairs firm, where he oversees digital communications for clients. ... The couple met in 2007 at GMMB." With pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9380e40729c67a2f02d350f94c52780aa34d811ef81a4eed402  

ENGAGED: Sam LeBlond, Doro Bush's son, and Lee Bobbitt, Sen. Burr's top Ag staffer, had their engagement party at the home of Marvin and Margaret Bush on Saturday night in Arlington, high above the city. The couple, to be wed in Lubbock, Texas, in September, celebrated with family and friends. Smoked Texas turkey was served. Pic of the couple with hosts Margaret Bush, Marvin Bush http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c938f681df2b188009060d753a764feb0b9b06c2f3199a318cc2

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Maia Isabel Orszag was born on Sunday at 12:49 a.m. (Mother's Day!) weighing 6 lbs. 4.4 oz. This is the second child for Citi's Peter Orszag and Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga, who just presented at Yahoo's NewFront presentation this past Wednesday. Golodrgya was previously the co-anchor of ABC's "Good Morning America" Weekend. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=402538100ea8c9386f25074007e145f672cadf03f5a04c64d3490c058b1ddfee 

BIRTHDAYS: Virginia White, known universally as "Miss White," is 94 (Texas tips: Robert, Elena, Barby) ... Mark Leibovich, the pride of Newton, Mass., is 51 ... Laura Capps (h/t Oscar) ... Theo LeCompte, deputy chief of staff at Commerce and the pride of Essex, Conn. (tot tip: Ted) ... Dana Perino, Fox News contributor and co-host of "The Five" (h/t Stew) ... David Gergen ... Ezra Klein, founder of Vox.com ... Huffington Post is 11 ... Third Way President Jon Cowan ... John Ashcroft, founder and chairman of The Ashcroft Law Firm ... Joel Kaplan, the pride of Weston, Mass., a Harvard grad and Bush 43 WH alum now VP for U.S. public policy at Facebook ... Nihal Krishan is 24 ... Kent Knutson,
 VP of gov't relations for The Home Depot (h/ts Katie Packer Gage, Heather Kennedy) ... Steven Richman, general counsel for NYC's Board of Elections ... Politico's Victoria Guida and Mary Towey ... Gregg Keller, principal at Atlas Strategy Group and an ACU alum ... Portland's pre-eminent power couple, Maine Dems Exec Director Jeremy Kennedy and Maine State Rep Matt Moonen ... Olya Moskalenko, AVP of biz-dev at Rubenstein PR (h/t Chris Falls) ... Nicholas Jackson, editor-in-chief of Pacific Standard (h/t Ted Scheinman) ... David Perera, a Politico alum now assistant VP for gov't and public policy at the Internet Security Alliance ... 

... Chris Ullman, the bow-tie wearing whistling world champ and managing director and director of global comms. for Carlyle ... Gregory Whitten, masters candidate at Harvard Kennedy School... Lauren Decot, director at MBA Consulting Group... NewsChannel 8's Melanie Hastings ... McClatchy's Greg Gordon ... Parker Poling, chief of staff to the Chief Deputy Whip of the U.S. House ... Reeve Hamilton, exec. director of media relations for Texas A&M University System and Texas Tribune alum ... Republican consultant Kevin Shuvalov ... CPSC Commissioner and former New Mexico state legislator Joe Mohorovic ... 

... Virginia Dent, in comms. and corporate affairs at Augusta National Golf Club and a Rick Allen, Fischer and Romney press team alum ... Jack Peterson, legislative assistant at the National Association of Counties ... Daily Beast senior editor Justin Miller, an Atlantic and New York Magazine alum ... Matt Hessburg ... Rick Boxer ... Jill Hassenfelt ... Peter Drummond (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Ian Osborne ... Nikki Thomas Richards ... Stu Sandler ... Brian Sowa ... actor-writer Alan Bennett is 82 ... actor Albert Finney is 80 ... actress-turned-politician Glenda Jackson is 80 ... producer-director James L. Brooks is 79 ... Candice Bergen is 70 ... Billy Joel is 67 ... Rosario Dawson is 37
 ... Audrina Patridge is 31 ... actress Grace Gummer is 30 (h/ts AP)

** A message from the Alzheimer's Association: Costing taxpayers $18.3 million every HOUR, Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in the country. More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's and more than 15 million unpaid caregivers are providing care for a loved one. Alzheimer's is a national issue, and now it's time we make it a national priority. Alzheimer's yearly cost of $236 billion will quadruple to more than $1 trillion over the next generation - an epidemic we cannot afford and shouldn't accept. While it is the only leading cause of death that can't be prevented, cured or even slowed, research and medical advancement can change that. That's why the Alzheimer's
 Association is fighting to eliminate the disease through the advancement of research and providing care and support for all affected. Learn more at www.alz.org/advocacy. **

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