Subject: POLITICO Playbook, presented by Samsung: BREAKING: TRUMP to delay UK trip -- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Aug. recess in jeopardy -- ISENSTADT: MITT shows signs of political revival -- SPOTTED at Mike Shields/Katie Walsh engagement party -- B’DAY: Greta van Susteren
From: "Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 08:57:22 -0600
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94ec5edff6b3c84d02ee14b41539bdaa1f8acb122d84c63c233a280cdfa18ca4227d325b6dbe429d4b6  |  Add [email-masked] to your address book. 

     

Today's PLAYBOOK presented by Samsung 
    
06/11/2017 10:55 AM EDT
 
By ANNA PALMER ([email-masked]; @apalmerdc) and JAKE SHERMAN ([email-masked]; @JakeSherman) with DANIEL LIPPMAN ([email-masked]; @dlippman)
        Driving the Day       
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- WE HEAR ... There is a chance Congress will stay in session for part of August. There has been political pressure from some members of the House and Senate to stay in town and try to get some things done instead of take a five-week recess. The pressure will only increase if the Obamacare repeal and replace isn't done in the next few weeks. Congress has just 27 days in session until the summer break. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise: many lawmakers have had to face angry constituents on trips home.

STATEMENTS FROM PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey -- at 8:22 a.m.: "The #FakeNews MSM doesn't report the great economic news since Election Day. #DOW up 16%. #NASDAQ up 19.5%. Drilling & energy sector......way up. Regulations way down. 600,000+ new jobs added. Unemployment down to 4.3%. Business and economic enthusiasm way up- record levels!" ... at 8:29 a.m.: "I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'" ... at 8:49 a.m.: "The Democrats have no message, not on economics, not on taxes, not on jobs, not on failing #Obamacare. They are only OBSTRUCTIONISTS!"

-- TWO QUICK THINGS: Many Democrats will privately agree with Trump that they oftentimes lack a coherent message. But Trump's presidency has unified Democrats for the first time in a long time ... Trump has majorities in the House and Senate, and he's blaming Democrats for obstructing him.

BREAKING OVERSEAS -- TRUMP PUTS OFF U.K. VISIT -- THE GUARDIAN: "Donald Trump's state visit to Britain put on hold: U.S. president told Theresa May he did not want trip to go ahead if there were large-scale public protests": "Donald Trump has told Theresa May in a phone call he does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain until the British public supports him coming. The U.S. president said he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests and his remarks in effect put the visit on hold for some time. The call was made in recent weeks, according to a Downing Street adviser who was in the room. The statement surprised May, according to those present." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e8b5328c67c0a257c9fbf5d63abe53bdd5bf042e8997131ebbad741fb9c246c6359d34007815f70c9

Good Sunday morning. Jake will be on Steve Hilton's new Fox News show "The Next Revolution" live from Los Angeles tonight at 9 p.m. East Coast time.

TRUMP stopped by a wedding at his country club in New Jersey last night. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e1870d2864b04d5119582996f0d4dc5c48307c8f7723fbce4c7003b7d7a41cdbc248c4d51ff971f5d

YOU'LL HEAR THIS QUOTE A LOT -- Donald Trump Jr. on Fox News, via the Washington Post: "'When he tells you to do something, guess what? There's no ambiguity in it, there's no, 'Hey, I'm hoping,'' Trump said. 'You and I are friends: 'Hey, I hope this happens, but you've got to do your job.' That's what he told Comey. And for this guy as a politician to then go back and write a memo: 'Oh, I felt threatened.' He felt so threatened -- but he didn't do anything.' Trump also said that Comey's testimony 'vindicated' the president and that everything in it was 'basically ridiculous.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94eb51c6153a3af4b4c2a2aa76b5f84e5e7b32598ff09527654ad7375ff7c4014b530e638cd7804a7e7

ALEX ISENSTADT in DEER VALLEY, UTAH -- "Romney stokes speculation he's weighing another political run: The 2012 GOP nominee is plotting how to help Republicans in the midterms, and he's being coy about his own political future": "Mitt Romney is once again testing his political power - critiquing President Donald Trump, raising money and campaigning for fellow Republicans, and not ruling out another run for office for himself. The 2012 GOP nominee is returning to the spotlight, six months after Trump -- the man Romney once savaged as unfit for the presidency -- nearly picked him to be secretary of state. ...

"Spencer Zwick, a longtime Romney adviser and political gatekeeper, said he'd been inundated with appeals from Republican candidates asking the former GOP nominee to help them. Last week, Romney held his first fundraiser for a 2018 hopeful, an event benefiting Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican who has been fiercely critical of the president. Over the coming days, Romney is also expected to release a robo-call boosting Georgia Republican Karen Handel, who has been losing ground in a high-stakes June 20 special House election she had once been favored to win.

"'All I can tell you is that the number of requests that Mitt has gotten in the last month to come to a district or to come to a state for a sitting senator - it's like he's a presidential candidate again, which I was surprised by,' said Zwick, who doubles as a top political aide to House Speaker Paul Ryan. 'There are only so many people in the party that can headline these things.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e38153f8df23b25abe2089d4db05b88bb8d2eca7297b19f14f623d643c512110b996d00ff0d2cec0f

-- THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE between Republicans wanting to take advantage of Romney's fundraising prowess, and his running for office and garnering the support he needs to win.

SUNDAY BEST -- JOHN DICKERSON speaks with SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OKLA.) on CBS'S "FACE THE NATION" -- DICKERSON: "On the question of influencing the investigation, again, thinking about the scale, on the one hand the president might have done something that was a little bit crossing a line but he's a new guy to the job all the way to this question of obstruction of justice. Where do you put, knowing what you know about the president's behavior, where do you put what he did on that scale?" LANKFORD: "I would say it's very inappropriate. As Jim Comey said, it's awkward to be able to have the president of the United States sitting down with someone in the F.B.I., the leadership of the F.B.I.,
 to be able to have direct questions. And for the issue to come up about the Michael Flynn investigations, inappropriate. But the way that it was handled, with no follow-up, with no other press, with no other return to that topic, it looks like what I called a pretty light touch. If this is trying to interfere in a process of any investigation, it doesn't seem like it was number one, very effective, and number two, came up more than once in a conversation. So this looks more like an inappropriate conversation than obstruction."

-- SEN. JACK REED (D-R.I.) tells CHRIS WALLACE on "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" that Trump needs to be deposed on all Russia-related questions -- "[T]he deposition is not just about his conversations with Mr. Comey. There are issues with respect to his conversation with director of national intelligence Dan Coats, Admiral Rogers, the NSA director, his relationships with Manafort. By the time the special prosecutor Mr. Mueller is ready to depose or ask the president to speak under oath, there are a myriad of questions. So what I don't want to see is simply, we'll I just said I talk about Comey, I'm not talking about anything else. To resolve this situation he has to be prepared to speak on all these
 matters."

-- PREET BHARARA speaks to GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on ABC'S "THIS WEEK" -- STEPHANOPOULOS: "The president's defenders, like Alan Dershowitz, say there's no grounds for obstruction. You talked about that. And he, in fact, says that presidents have the constitutional right to fire FBI directors and investigations as much as they want. One of the president's attorneys, Jay Sekulow, is coming up next. He says there's no there there, no basis for obstruction. You're a former prosecutor. Are -- is there evidence there ... to begin a case for obstruction?" BHARARA: "I think there's absolutely evidence to begin a case. I think it's very important for all sorts of armchair speculators in the law to be
 clear that no one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction. It's also true I think from based on what I see as a third party and out of government that there's no basis to say there's no obstruction."

-- SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) talks to BRIANNA KEILAR on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" -- KEILAR: "I want to ask you about something the president has been cagey about, and that is these tapes, of course. So, I wonder if you would support issuing a subpoena to the White House. Right now, it's just a request coming from Congress. Would you support issuing a subpoena for the recordings or any documents that might come from that?" COLLINS: "This is an issue that the president should have cleared up in his press conference. He should give a straight yes or no to the answer -- to the question of whether or not the tapes exist. And he should voluntarily turn them over not only to the Senate
 Intelligence Committee, but to the special counsel. So, I don't think a subpoena should be necessary. And I don't understand why the president just doesn't clear this matter up once and for all."

****** A message from Samsung: Samsung is committed to creating high-skilled jobs, investing in cutting-edge manufacturing and R&D, and forming trusted partnerships nationwide. Samsung's footprint in the U.S. has been growing for nearly 40 years, with 18,500 employees across the country. Our Austin, TX semiconductor facility is one of the single-largest U.S. FDI's. Visit Samsung.com/VisionForTomorrow for more. ******

THE NEXT MAIN EVENT -- "Sessions will testify before Senate in Russia investigation," by Kyle Cheney and John Bresnahan: "In a letter to his former colleagues in the House and Senate, Sessions canceled a planned appearance before Congress' appropriations committees. Sessions said he instead plans to appear on Tuesday before the Intelligence panel to respond to questions stemming from FBI director James Comey's bombshell testimony last Thursday. ...

"If this is an open session ... Sessions will likely face a barrage of questions over his role in Comey's dismissal, his independence from President Donald Trump, and allegations of additional unreported meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Sessions has already recused himself from the Russia probe after failing to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation of two meetings with Kislyak, and there have been reports of additional sessions." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94eedf21f2c6d8545273ea5f77c9bc48e7841d729777aad456cc0de836ad3816b72d9f45d16b8e3688f

-- SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CALIF.) told Brianna Keilar on "State of the Union" that she didn't know if the hearing will be open.

INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW -- "What's next for Comey? Maybe law, corporate work, politics," by AP's Eric Tucker: "So what's next for James Comey? The former FBI director boldly challenged the president who fired him, accused the Trump administration of lying and supplied material that could be used to build a case against President Donald Trump. But after stepping away from the Capitol Hill spotlight, where he's always seemed comfortable, the 56-year-old veteran lawman now confronts the same question long faced by Washington officials after their government service.

"His dry quip at a riveting Senate hearing that he was 'between opportunities' vastly understates the career prospects now available to him - not to mention potential benefits from the public's fascination with a man who has commanded respect while drawing outrage from both political parties." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94ee5ac1a3cb806bc15cdb8b41916a9b323d5c8e93ec58115d863970c3d9fb53e724cf33e81acf36bb9

EYE-POPPING NUMBERS FROM WAPO'S KAREN TUMULTY in SANDY SPRINGS, GEORGIA -- "Trump looms over Georgia special election, a proxy battle for 2018": "It is an arms race of money and organization. The latest fundraising report, filed Thursday, showed Ossoff raising an additional $15 million in the past two months, nearly quadruple what Handel brought in. With outside groups weighing in, the race has thus far cost more than $40 million -- far outpacing the previous record for a congressional race of nearly $30 million for a Florida contest in 2012.

"Polls indicate there are few voters still undecided. 'The next 10 days are about turning out the base. There are more of us than them in the district. The more people who vote, the better,' said Corry Bliss, who heads the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). That organization alone plans to spend about $7 million in the race." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94eadab5cc4418a582fe9a3d216120861dc30ca96ab161020f56b8c5e3f1aff0f21d6ce3cf79d609428

FASCINATING READ -- "Palantir goes from Pentagon outsider to Mattis' inner circle," by Jacqueline Klimas and Bryan Bender: "The Trump era has brought a change of fortune for a Silicon Valley software company founded by presidential adviser Peter Thiel - turning it from a Pentagon outcast to a player with three allies in Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' inner circle. At least three Pentagon officials close to Mattis, including his deputy chief of staff and a longtime confidante, either worked, lobbied or consulted for Palantir Technologies, according to ethics disclosures obtained by POLITICO. That's an unusually high number of people from one company to have such daily contact with the
 Pentagon leader, some analysts say.

"It also represents a sharp rise in prominence for the company, which just months ago could barely get a meeting in the Pentagon. Last year, Palantir even had to go to court to force its way into a competition for a lucrative Army contract. Thiel was one of the only Silicon Valley titans to openly support Trump during the campaign, a role that gave him a prime speaking slot at last summer's Republican convention. He has since acted as a key adviser arranging meetings among the president and other tech executives. While there's no evidence he had a direct hand in these specific Pentagon hires, analysts say they absolutely show his growing influence in the administration, where he holds no
 formal role." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e2e01e10a70f73c191de91b708dc048b6b34a05b9c8199560206b82fc984f0f60ed065bb0e7cf226c

DEMOCRATS' NEW PLAYBOOK -- "Democrats bet on Trump in Virginia governor's race," by Kevin Robillard: "Virginia's Democratic primary on Tuesday is shaping up to be the first real test of liberalism in the Trump era, with both candidates lurching for increasingly leftward policies to position themselves in contrast with President Donald Trump. ...

"Virginia's gubernatorial elections often develop into contrasts with a new president, but there's a stark difference between now and how Republican candidate Bob McDonnell handled then-President Barack Obama in 2009. While critical of the Obama's economic record, the future governor also regularly praised Obama for supporting school choice, straddling the partisan divide. The Democrats have felt no need to do the same with the less popular Trump, whose approval rating was at 36 percent in a recent Washington Post-George Mason University poll of Virginia." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e4df0d9f082ec8853911c04f43c2fb5ecede4e7db4b7cbe53f5c05b6df5b5880fa3657d697df98e6a

THE LATEST ON HEALTH CARE -- "Fate of Planned Parenthood funding tied to Senate moderates," by Jen Haberkorn: "Two female Senate Republicans could stop the anti-abortion movement from achieving its most significant win against Planned Parenthood in decades. Most Republicans want to eliminate the group's $555 million in federal funding as part of their bill to repeal Obamacare. But as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tries to solve the legislative Rubik's Cube of finding 50 votes for repeal, he may have to drop the Planned Parenthood cut to win the support of the two Republican moderates, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e8b667ddd13ad5e7d34d2769f0dba99001ed74e5db0a47c5fae0cd853ace8546fb8ec891346967af4

WHAT SILICON VALLEY IS READING -- "Uber Board to Discuss CEO Travis Kalanick's Possible Leave of Absence: Board also set to vote on recommendations from a report of an investigation into workplace issues," by WSJ's Greg Bensinger: "Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Travis Kalanick will discuss taking a possible leave of absence when the board of directors of the embattled ride-hailing company meets Sunday morning, according to a person familiar with the matter.

"Also on the agenda when the seven-person board convenes is a vote on a series of recommendations from a report prepared by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder regarding its workplace. It was uncertain whether Mr. Kalanick would ultimately take the leave or whether the board would approve of such a measure, which would require finding a temporary replacement in short order." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94ef83e7fa22e0d9bcb8f532b7a38601a1ec447cdd68c7b72acabad505163108d6f88d2cee1f4988c15

THE JUICE ...

-- SPOTTED at Mitt Romney's E2 Summit in Deer Valley, Utah: New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, Spencer Zwick, Matt Waldrip, Corry Bliss, Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Kristen Soltis Anderson, Ron Kaufman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Anthony Scaramucci, Bianna Golodryga, Will Ritter, Mary Bono Mack, Lanhee Chen, Leah Malone and Andrew Liveris.

RIP -- @SecondLady: "Rest in peace Oreo. You touched a lot of hearts in your little life. Our family will miss you very much."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e2cbffdf3de3f099862a97db5864f342134ef58c0dcec0c5209d6e2942c379195aa855de24205040e
       Playbook Reads       
'WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT WEEK' AT THE WHITE HOUSE -- "Donald and Ivanka Trump head to Wisconsin for jobs push," by ABC News' Jordyn Phelps: "President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump are set to travel to Wisconsin Tuesday to join Gov. Scott Walker to tour a technical college, as the administration puts a renewed focus on its goal of job creation. The trip is just one event in a week full of activities built around promoting technical skills training and apprenticeships. [They are d]ubbing it 'workforce development week' ...

"The president is expected to make what the administration is billing as a 'major policy speech' at the Department of Labor on Wednesday, in which he'll lay out steps the administration will take to encourage workforce development and also call for Congressional action. Ivanka Trump will also lead a roundtable with some 15 CEOs. On Thursday, the president will also host a roundtable discussion, where he will welcome eight governors from states with successful workforce development programs to the White House." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94ef905ac2ca0707c1533b502e4be6ca8f1c76e6d82f95f69805cc5c0dbb49704a0afdbaa45a23cf17f

THE NEW U.K. POLITICAL REALITY -- "For Britain, Political Stability Is a Quaint Relic," by NYT's Steven Erlanger in London: "In a little more than two years, Britain has had two general elections and a nationwide referendum. Each time, the politicians, pollsters, betting markets, political scientists and commentators have got it wrong.

"Once considered one of the most politically stable countries in the world, regularly turning out majority governments, Britain is increasingly confusing and unpredictable, both to its allies and itself. Far from settling the fierce divisions exposed by last year's referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union, or Brexit, the election on Thursday only made them worse." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94eecbf0dbab1ed21f6cf8b89c73028f3cadaf59dec8a23cb11d3bab6028bda74330dc920a76948e1b4

-- THE POLITICO EUROPE TICK TOCK: "How Theresa May lost it: A reluctance to delegate, hubris and campaigning ineptitude ruined British prime minister's grand plan to secure a mandate," by Tom McTague, Charlie Cooper and Annabelle Dickson in London: "Halfway through Britain's seven-week snap election campaign, some in Theresa May's team came to the conclusion that they had a problem - the candidate. At a gathering of senior staff in Conservative campaign headquarters in central London, one of May's top operatives told the sitting prime minister that she risked crashing and burning like Sarah Palin did in 2008. ... To the operative, May was overly controlling and her inexperience would tell
 during a short, intense campaign. May listened with good grace ... [but] changed nothing." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e6f5f470e75de979fac76995e831ecb4995c03bb1cb05389af8b1e7bbb2ccc03d9032c304f3db68c3

ACTUAL FAKE NEWS - NYT A22, "A Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theorist, a False Tweet and a Runaway Story," by Jeremy Peters: "A pro-Trump activist notorious for his amateur sleuthing into red herrings like the 'Pizzagate' hoax and a conspiracy theory involving the murder of a Democratic aide, Mr. Posobiec wrote on May 17 that Mr. Comey, the recently ousted F.B.I. director, had 'said under oath that Trump did not ask him to halt any investigation.' ...

"But as the journey of that one tweet shows, misinformed, distorted and false stories are gaining traction far beyond the fringes of the internet. Just 14 words from Mr. Posobiec's Twitter account would spread far enough to provide grist for a prime-time Fox News commentary and a Rush Limbaugh monologue that reached millions of listeners, forging an alternative first draft of history in corners of the conservative media where President Trump's troubles are often explained away as fabrications by his journalist enemies.

"In this fragmented media environment, the spread of false information is accelerated and amplified by a web of allied activist-journalists with large online followings, a White House that grants them access and, occasionally, a president who validates their work. The right-wing media machine that President Bill Clinton's aides once referred to as 'conspiracy commerce' is now far more mature, extensive and, in the internet age, tough to counter." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e724e8eabee308176f3c4bddaf1fb1bef45ef58d9f3cc5970ec5d4202545043b51c10784b49f6e2cb

****** A message from Samsung: Samsung's footprint in the U.S. has been growing for nearly 40 years. Today, we employ more than 18,500 people across the country, covering nearly every state. Samsung Austin Semiconductor (SAS) hosts 6,000+ manufacturing and engineering jobs and has become a $17bn investment - making it one of the largest single FDI's in the U.S. We're also committed to building strong communities through citizenship and support of programs for children's health, STEAM education, veterans and military families. Visit Samsung.com/VisionForTomorrow for more. ******

DEEP DIVES -- NYT A1, "Opioid Dealers Embrace the Dark Web to Send Deadly Drugs by Mail: Anonymous online sales are surging, and people are dying. Despite dozens of arrests, new merchants - many based in Asia - quickly pop up," by Nathaniel Popper (print headline: "Drug Trade Rises in Dark Corners of the Internet"): "As the nation's opioid crisis worsens, the authorities are confronting a resurgent, unruly player in the illicit trade of the deadly drugs, one that threatens to be even more formidable than the cartels. The internet. In a growing number of arrests and overdoses, law enforcement officials say, the drugs are being bought online. Internet sales have allowed powerful synthetic
 opioids such as fentanyl - the fastest-growing cause of overdoses nationwide - to reach living rooms in nearly every region of the country, as they arrive in small packages in the mail." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e8b5fd01598c6a46e9926608b0a53248152211b490dc70418868ffb59940b2fe5cbb5a52a5d9715ef

--"China's New Bridges: Rising High, but Buried in Debt: China has built hundreds of dazzling new bridges, including the longest and highest, but many have fostered debt and corruption," by NYT's Chris Buckley: "The eye-popping structures have slashed travel times in some areas, made business easier and generated a sizable slice of the country's economy, laying a foundation, in theory at least, for decades of future growth. But as the bridges and the expressways they span keep rising, critics say construction has become an end unto itself. Fueled by government-backed loans and urged on by the big construction companies and officials who profit from them, many of the projects are piling up
 debt and breeding corruption while producing questionable transportation benefits."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e36da413ed171090201472d65188b16598bb95fbdd5b42f5d995fb03c4b7c7576723384401d29a187

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:

--"Bob Dylan's Nobel Lecture": "Some of these same things have happened to you. You too have had drugs dropped into your wine. You too have shared a bed with the wrong woman. You too have been spellbound by sweet voices with strange melodies. You too have come so far and have been so far blown back."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94ee28767e535b5ac33416d4304388f45c546128c14a8767eec66c611c4a3487228e69deeb3919b46df

--"How the D-Day Invasion Was Planned" - in the August 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics: "Every one of the thousands of men landed in France required about 10 ship tons of overall equipment, and an additional ship ton every 30 days. The number of separate items needed was about a million. Some of these million items had to be accumulated in millions, resulting in astronomical totals."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94eb2374678b803d0fb1aa77dd032f9fb1bbada8a0635d8fc82a70a5cd71a1a18a3da6e30c6ddfb8af4

--"Eternal Champions," by Sam Borden in ESPN: "Seven months ago, Brazilian underdogs Chapecoense boarded a plane to play in the game of their lives. Instead, their biggest moment turned into a tragedy no one can forget." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e9be7f5a8b5acdb10d6294c5594cce266127061c0461ee9ef3cdddb7d98ceba2bcfd2e71f81f7d824 (h/t Longform.org)

--"Inside Trump's secretive immigration court: far from scrutiny and legal aid," by The Guardian's Oliver Laughland in Jena, Louisiana: "[T]he remote LaSalle detention facility is part of Trump's attempt to fast-track deportations. A visit reveals a hastily arranged setup beset by flaws." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e1ed816e61e105612aa1545d08e0d1fae20c3e0ff7bff5f22c6455c84a5cff67bbc6785e816ea2339

--"Rolling Stone at 50: How Hunter S. Thompson Became a Legend," by Patrick Doyle in Rolling Stone - per The Browser's description: "Sports Illustrated asked Hunter S. Thompson for 250 words about a Las Vegas motorbike race. He gave them 2,500 words - and when they spiked the piece he took it to Rolling Stone, which wanted more. The result was Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, published in 1971. Thompson's coverage of the 1972 presidential campaign 'reshaped what it meant to write about politics'. But 'getting work out of him was becoming difficult". Editing him 'was a bit like being a cornerman for Ali.'"  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94eb6e8248532aeedfa1bbd7ea07144450d7b50b7085ad64af268e99095d502624b305d224e06928df3

--"Weddings of the 0.01 Percent," by Julia Rubin in Racked: "Cristal! Caviar! Chris Martin! How the rich (and sometimes famous) get married." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=02a366030bf5c94e6ec993d00f3e989a7bf675fff839161ccf833720c68511966708d20b230ad048e29381693ef88cd4

--"The truth about tarot," by James McConnachie in Aeon Magazine: "Whether divining ancient wisdoms or elevating the art of cold reading, tarot is a form of therapy, much like psychoanalysis."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f5bb451fb5880e2a33ad68ac978ed2ff2f83fe3d96be1833503700ef13df6d7c373b6a3dfb978273c (h/t ALDaily.com)

--"The Worst Ever First Day on the Job -- Punching In: My Life as a Long Haul Trucker," by Finn Murphy in Literary Hub: "Moving companies perform four categories of moving work: local, commercial, long-distance, and international. Callahan's work was mostly local moving, loading up someone's house in the morning and then unloading in the afternoon at the new house. It takes the greatest toll on the body because you are handling stuff every working day. It's the local stuff that eventually kills you or drives you to drink; more commonly, both." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f60879b531b9c18f555ee5b96176c9eed9d75ba64e6eb02fbb01801268902c1fdb41a80a50983d80e

--"There Were Once Jews Here," by Lucette Lagnado, author of "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World," in Tablet Magazine: "During the Six-Day War, some of the Arab countries at war with Israel -- Egypt, Tunisia, Libya -- treated their Jewish populations terribly, causing them to leave en masse." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f8e1701f72929179a97f0df8bb3e29e0ca9711402fcbc9bb436142bd69043b77807c2798490eff20f ... $10.01 on Amazon http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f44a846aba73bcb56510fdac46ccd1bc488fbefa9c767fcb84bfe5e28a939d0db174b66020985c772

--"Dear Brazilian Government, Thanks for the Contracts," by Michael Smith, Sabrina Valle, and Blake Schmidt on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek: "There's graft, and then there's the graft machine perfected by Odebrecht, one of the world's biggest construction companies." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f9d7519cb2b78768d212321f6b79aafe81277bce35171d36a1eb8c8a6aa108a146a9db2c8fdedc1a4 ... The cover http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f12982004275ffb048b929ed4e173d85e7797feaef33bff84065fc441f5b4a9d9c228beae38bb84e1

--"'Kill them, kill them, kill them': the volunteer army plotting to wipe out Britain's grey squirrels," by Patrick Barkham in The Guardian: "The red squirrel is under threat of extinction across Britain. Their supporters believe the only way to save them is to exterminate their enemy: the greys. But are they just prejudiced against non-native species?" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0feb85ab8e6c654edd39c56da9b65bf7add5f7738991fee59f962804cf643b8fe7f5d5d876f1252acd

--"This County Switched From Backing Obama to Trump. Here's What Happened," by Josh Siegel in The Daily Signal: "In 1980, manufacturing jobs comprised 38 percent of all jobs in Coos [New Hampshire]. In 2014, only 7 percent of jobs in the county were in manufacturing. Payroll wages from manufacturing have dropped from 49 percent to 9 percent since the mid-1980s."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f37782f974aca5a07cb0730d1c85319f994676cff172dc826c0cf9efc288510fe6a778301f4934e9e
        Playbookers       
SPOTTED: Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly enjoying "DHS Night" Friday night at the Nats game along with members of DHS' workforce - pic  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0fc2633448987935455474bc2f0dcf2d6e52647f7e317c92ac640ab74ad95bf7deb846098028572b0f ... Anson Kaye, partner at GMMB, in New Orleans last night, accepting a Gold ADDY award (and also a Mosaic Award) for the ad "Mirrors" (http://bit.ly/2sbAIEM) he created for Hillary for America

SPOTTED at State Department senior White House adviser Matt Mowers' birthday party at Wet Dog Tavern last night (which coincidentally also hosted RNC alum Anna Epstein's birthday party at the same time): Cassie Spodak, Ryan Williams, Zeke Miller, Ben Sparks, Jill Barclay, Phil Elliott, Ethan Zorfas, Ben DeMarzo, Maren Kasper, Michael Kratsios, Kailani Koenig, Tom Dickens, Elise Dietsch Dickens, Eric Jones, Alan He, Andy Polesovsky, Corey Ershow, Kelly Klass, Britt Carter.

SHIELDS/WALSH ENGAGEMENT PARTY -- THE BRITISH EMBASSY hosted an engagement party last night for Mike Shields, former RNC chief of staff and founder and partner at Convergence Media and Katie Walsh, former WH deputy chief of staff and former RNC chief of staff who is now senior advisor at America First Policies. Amb. Kim Darroch toasted the pair and called them the "ultimate political couple" and told the crowd how the couple got engaged in the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street, where the prime minister has met with his or her cabinet every week for 250 years. He also needled Mike, who has a British mother and is a big soccer fan, for supporting Ipswich, who he cast as much inferior to
 Chelsea in the Premier League. The food at the party included: herb-crusted fillet of lamb, goat's cheese and beetroot, terrine of pork, and chili shrimp while desserts included mini Bakewell tart, strawberry tartlet and passion fruit mousse. Pics of the couple http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f1143911263e8bb7fc6ef620f5fb501cefdc7ae1dd98891c0f427bd81c68d473d2f15257a8e7d2b9d ...  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0ff2acdd2d32fd320b5bd61bec7c000071619571831bf297e5c91f039690d3d2f42a0560fbebfaf9b9 ... Reince Priebus taking a pic of the couple as they thanked friends for coming http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0fd65e333ea409a396c97fe2e24eb4fcf6f3d90402e0eefcc458908803a24797e28c538e88a15ba2c5 ... The crowd  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f43f16487f5d5e375adab98ebe27d6d340981156d3b5dd5f6330acd76f1838b66e62d73aca798af15

SPOTTED: Reince and Sally Priebus, Sean and Rebecca Spicer, Steven Mnuchin and his chief of staff Eli Miller chatting on a walk around the gardens of the embassy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Rob and Cindy Simms, Cara Mason, Jessica Ditto, Sarah and Dave Armstrong, Tim Pataki, Richard Walters, Rob Jesmer chatting with Sean Cairncross (Sean and Rob have been friends since they were 5 years old growing up in Minnesota), Brian O. Walsh, Josh Pitcock, Mike's 15-year-old son Aidan Shields-Eads, Molly Donlin, Steven Law, Sam Feist, Mike Allen, Andrew Bremberg, Lew Eisenberg, Madeleine Westerhout, Johnny DeStefano, Renee Hudson, Michael Hoare, Lindsay Walters, Vanessa Morrone and Mike Ambrosini, Zach
 and Mallory Hunter.

ENGAGED -- Andrew Feldman, principal of the progressive communications firm Feldman Strategies, proposed to his longtime girlfriend Megan Salzman Saturday night during Country Music Fest in Nashville. Megan is a communications manager at the early education advocacy group The First Five Years Fund. "Andrew and Megan met on OKCupid nearly four and a half years ago. Andrew points out that the ring has extra significant because the center stone was Megan's mother's engagement stone and she is no longer with us." Pics  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f8b3d7923af08a857a386a0269d1bfa3f7c720d03a12c6165fe610e3548a60b53178814c643ee57a7 ...  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0fb01ff3418468a50d0640c62d98aa83716ec5afe545355549bbf704a515dca2f9e8a84f78e48012c8 ... The ring http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f9b3b4a7597a33cc4976868cfc9fc74256eb2385206ba2f1297e1ed2b54d5f330a123b79659925205

-- Jessica Huff, social media director for McClatchy in Dallas and a Politico alum, and Spenser Walters, an area sales rep for Duvel USA, got engaged on Friday night in Austin, Texas. She emails us: "We met in college at UT-Austin after he came back from Afghanistan. He was serving in the Marines. We had the same group of friends but I hadn't met him yet since he was overseas. Once he was back, one of our first dates was at a restaurant in the hill country in Texas overlooking the lake, and so while visiting Austin he took me back there and proposed during sunset. It's a very special place to us so it was perfect!" Pics http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f64a0cffe2c1c936e42484c9359299fd754550e209dba5f153766dbb0b5d60d7abfcf2d81d8b92b4d ... The ring  
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f6fab6816cfd6705427360aa3226130bdb0b2306de64106a4547af7a243ad9a80cebba80b8d7369aa

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Travis Considine, communications manager at Uber Texas and a John McCain and Rick Perry alum, married Morgan Smith, a reporter with The Texas Tribune, on Saturday evening at the San Antonio Museum of Art. Guests enjoyed a bluegrass band and flawless weather at the outdoor ceremony and reception. Pic  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f084390710b4dc5fc0a9bed873349a4f8c5ecb2aa317d704cb6e388f44085eb4cd881f5e912690263 ... Travis' speech http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0fdb6a5beedc9a244366cc2728bd8915f8eb2ea9d203d38c0f63b3722715173f3139fbb6702b6722da

SPOTTED: Tucker and Alexia Bounds, Brittany Bramell, Trevor Theunissen, Chris Miller, Allie Brandenburger and Ryan Mahoney, Kevin Benacci, Emily Ramshaw, Matt and Jen Hirsch, Evan Smith, Perrylanders Rob Johnson, Mark Miner, and Andy Hemming.

OBAMA ALUMNI - Meredith Carden, head of partnerships at Sidewire, got married this weekend to Micah Fergenson, law clerk at U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a small ceremony at Four Follies Farm in Tiverton, Rhode Island. The couple first met in 2009 when they were working for President Obama. Micah worked in the WH Counsel's Office, and Meredith worked for FLOTUS in the East Wing. They lost touch, but were reintroduced by a mutual friend in 2015. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0fadefa9682ed7262217f3f47f8c97f3bf91f08f8e66af980b20ceab46eca55bb48e8496e8650eab5d

--"Lily Rothman, Elihu Dietz" - N.Y. Times: "Ms. Rothman, 31, is the history and archives editor at Time magazine, overseeing its history coverage, Life.com and the magazine's digital archive. She also wrote 'Everything You Need to Ace American History in One Big Fat Notebook.' She graduated magna cum laude from Yale and received a master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York. ... Mr. Dietz, 32, is a candidate for a master's degree in environmental management at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke, where he studies the integration of renewable energy into the grid. He graduated from St. John's College in Santa Fe, N.M. ... The groom is a great-great-grandson
 and a namesake of Elihu Root, who was President Theodore Roosevelt's secretary of state and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912. He is also a direct descendant of President Ulysses S. Grant. The couple met on a blind date arranged by friends in Brooklyn in 2011." With pic  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f2ee85657f33586eb998c0482ad211c5e256beac22018c1171b58f6cad163b166ca2945bae8f3846a

--"Alison Kenworthy, Michael Koenigs": "The bride and groom work at ABC News in New York, where they met. She is a news producer for 'Good Morning America.' He is a senior coordinating producer, creating content that is used on-air and on the website. He was also the host of 'Election Cycle,' a series in 2016 that featured him bicycling through swing states and interviewing voters along the way. The bride, 33, graduated from Rutgers. ... Mr. Koenigs, 30, graduated cum laude from Harvard." With pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0f7ca1fd7b0205694bca3aab38d77ba515f311b35eda4a1037f3d6b1dcfc6605bb3e539ed304a2181d

--"Julia Pudlin, David Wishnick": "Ms. Pudlin, 32, worked until earlier this year at the United States Treasury Department as a deputy executive secretary in the chief of staff's office and a senior adviser to the general counsel. On July 10 she is to begin working as the assistant deputy general counsel for government investigations at Comcast in Philadelphia. She graduated summa cum laude from Yale, and received a law degree magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. ... Mr. Wishnick, also 32, was until recently an associate in the Washington office of Jenner & Block, a Chicago law firm. On July 12 he is to begin a fellowship, conducting research in contract law, at the
 University of Pennsylvania Law School. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown, and received a law degree from Yale. ... The couple met in April 2013 through the dating app Hinge." With pic  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0faa615f1c337a24c7efbf6aa0370b3ff9dbb3a30b0d955758969093df609e7a00ad5232759de7267d

--"Victoria St. Martin, Richard G. Jones": "The bride, 36, is a general assignment reporter on the local desk of The Washington Post. She graduated from Rutgers and received a master's degree in journalism from American University. ... The groom, 46, is to become the director of the journalism program at Notre Dame. Until recently, he was an associate editor in news administration for The New York Times, as well as the director of the newspaper's Student Journalism Institute. He graduated from the University of Delaware and has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia. ... The couple were introduced in 2006 by a mutual friend in Yardley, Pa." With pic 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46200f9cdd337b0ff85de64c4894ccedff5899cf7f05d1d3d33d2bd82d82aa6bc1f3f69311d0ad8f8533431f81984569

BIRTHDAYS: Greta Van Susteren, the pride of Appleton, Wisconsin (hat tip: Tammy Haddad) ... Tad Devine, the pride of Providence who lives on Block Island, is 62 ... Kim Oates of the House Radio/TV gallery ... Carrie Budoff Brown's older sister, Jennifer Budoff, budget director for the D.C. City Council ... former Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is 87 ... Lindsey Williams Drath ... Jennifer Rubin ... Michael Timmeny, SVP for government and community relations at Cisco ... Jeremy Ben-Ami, president at J Street (h/ts Jon Haber) ... POLITICO's Reid Pillifant, Emily Dobler and Juliette Medina ... South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard is 64 ... Treasury alum David Cohen ... TJ Adams-Falconer, associate
 director of external affairs at Axios ... Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex.) is 69 ... Cesar Gonzalez, COS for Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart ... former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) is 59 ... DNC comms staffer and former HRC campaign media booker Lucas Acosta (h/t Crystal Carson) ...

... Will Rahn, managing editor for politics at CBS News digital, is 3-0 ... Jessica Franks, gov't affairs representative for Halliburton ... Politico Europe's Tanit Parada Tur ... Chris Campbell, Republican staff director at Senate Finance ... Kristina Edmunson ... Rachel Ruskin ... Obama alum Jonathan McBride, now a managing director at BlackRock ... Mike Schoenfeld, the Blue Devils' master of public affairs/Duke's other Mike ... Betsy Gotbaum, former NYC public advocate, is 79 ... Matt Chaban, policy director at Center for an Urban Future ... Mary Kate Cunningham ... Salesforce's Tom Gavin, an Obama WH OMB alum ... Michael Froehlich ... Caroline Barker ... Matthew Campbell ... Vanessa
 Chan, corporate comms. at Facebook ... Kelly Danielka Peirson ... Google's Ramya Raghavan ... Tom Alexander, COO at 1871 Chicago and a Rahm alum ... Jacque Vilmain, the pride of Eagle Grove, Iowa(h/t Teresa) ... animal rights activist Ingrid Newkirk is 68 ... Power Playbooker Dr. Oz is 57 ... actor Hugh Laurie is 58 ... Shia LaBeouf is 31 (h/ts AP)

****** A message from Samsung: Samsung's footprint in the U.S. has been growing for nearly 40 years. Today, we employ more than 18,500 people across the country, covering nearly every state. Samsung Austin Semiconductor (SAS) hosts 6,000+ manufacturing and engineering jobs and has become a $17bn investment - making it one of the largest single FDI's in the U.S. We're also committed to building strong communities through citizenship and support of programs for children's health, STEAM education, veterans and military families. Visit Samsung.com/VisionForTomorrow for more. ******

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