Subject: POLITICO Playbook, presented by the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs (CAPD): Instead of pushing his agenda, TRUMP launches into TWEETSTORM about the media -- MORE TILLERSON fireworks -- INSIDE VIEW of the Russia probe -- DANA KLINGHOFFER to NBC
From: "Anna Palmer Jake Sherman Daniel Lippman" <[email-masked]>
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Date: Sat, 01 Jul 2017 08:43:20 -0600
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Today's POLITICO Playbook presented by the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs (CAPD) 
    
07/01/2017 10:37 AM EDT
        
By JAKE SHERMAN ([email-masked]; @JakeSherman), ANNA PALMER ([email-masked]; @apalmerdc) and DANIEL LIPPMAN ([email-masked]; @dlippman)
        
Listen to the Playbook Audio Briefing | Subscribe on iTunes | Visit the online home of Playbook
                  Driving the Day         
Good Saturday morning and welcome to July. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is on a tweetstorm from his summer home in Bedminster, New Jersey. It started out nice, and calm -- the president wished Canada a happy 150th anniversary. But the tweets turned sharp -- quickly, veering into a stream of tweets analyzing the media landscape. It's a fascinating view into what seems to be occupying the mind of the president of the United States: cable news.

PALS -- @realDonaldTrump at 8:44 a.m.: "Happy Canada Day to all of the great people of Canada and to your Prime Minister and my new found friend @JustinTrudeau. #Canada150" ...

-- @realDonaldTrump at 8:59 a.m.: "Word is that @Greta Van Susteren was let go by her out of control bosses at @NBC & @Comcast because she refused to go along w/ 'Trump hate!'"

-- TAKE A STEP BACK and recognize that the president of the United States is weighing in on the dismissal of the host of the 6 p.m. hour on MSNBC. For the record, MSNBC insiders say the show didn't catch on.

THE PRESIDENT at 9:07 a.m.: "Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?"

-- ACTUALLY, many of the states that have refused say it is against their state laws to turn over personal information. (Read the WaPo story http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613b1e21a0f09e92372a887b26925b42f2661385a7a7b5f5ed626792a4c675b279a3f92b548bff096fcc655fa169a858854 and the NYT story http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06131c8120b4adb479cb16407123bcb1c7ed5feca4f8b2aedf42deeeb3cf0a86e37e7219f97c27d66fad99aff89d47516905 More than two dozen states are resisting the president's request)

MORE MEDIA CRITICISM at 9:12 a.m.: "I am extremely pleased to see that @CNN has finally been exposed as #FakeNews and garbage journalism. It's about time!"

 -- CNN is not fake news.

THE PRESIDENT at 9:20 a.m.: "Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses. Too bad!"

-- JOE isn't crazy, Mika isn't dumb and their show isn't "dominated by their NBC bosses." ... JESSE RODRIGUEZ, the senior producer of "Morning Joe," (@JesseRodriguez): "Just a reminder about the @Morning_Joe ratings" Link to press release saying MJ had its "highest rating ever in the time period in the key demographic last quarter" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06137bd3d075dc9aa6e4eda2aa84c18139d2cf9f9ea7d1314a0b405a08198cb2c53cf42e8cff27e80389bc04b7ecf519b1ba

TRUMP'S TWITTER ACCOUNT reaches 33 million users. The media covers his every utterance. WHAT THE PRESIDENT COULD BE DOING: Using the platform to push for Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare, overhaul the tax code or invest in infrastructure. He could be amplifying the party's message. Instead, he's musing about MSNBC and CNN. 

INSIDE D.C. STORY OF THE DAY -- AUSTIN WRIGHT andMARTIN MATISHAK: "An inside view of the House Russia probe." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf061346743d14397b146ef7ca7a2dfb1e1dc05e136dde0826cad92eb0b57cdb3e1872950b7a4f37b5f5aad10dcfd22210d16b

MORE TILLERSON FIREWORKS -- "Tillerson argued with a second White House aide," by Josh Dawsey and Eliana Johnson: "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson argued with senior White House aide Stephen Miller over immigration issues last week in a second recent clash with the White House. Miller pushed Tillerson and the State Department to be tougher on immigration and make changes to the programs they control, according to four people familiar with the conversation in the West Wing. John Kelly, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, was also present.

"Two of these people described the conversation as tense, though there wasn't the 'yelling' that Tillerson reserved for Johnny DeStefano, the head of presidential personnel, in a different argument at the White House the same day, according to one of these people. Tillerson made it 'quite clear' to Miller that he wanted autonomy over his department, one of these people said. A White House spokesman declined to comment on the record. A State Department spokesman declined to comment. Miller didn't return repeated requests for comment." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613f671fcd0d59ae1882f53116229e62d82d4af5f53477f16d3faf101e2d60b6d837735f6a84778e9cd20f1e78399a5f658

****** A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs (CAPD): A new study found that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) reduced spending in Medicare Part D by 58 percent in 2014, driving down costs for the government, taxpayers, and beneficiaries. The study forecasts that PBMs will save $1,800 per Medicare beneficiary, per year over the next ten years. Learn more at affordableprescriptiondrugs.org ******

TRUMP V. MIKA, DAY III -- NEW JUICY DETAILS from NYT'S JIM RUTENBERG: "'Morning Joe' Row Is Fresh Sign of TV's Iron Grip on Trump": "Ms. Brzezinski ... also said she helped Mr. Trump find a key staff member, his foreign policy adviser, Dina Powell. Ms. Powell, a former Bush administration official, has emerged as a power inside the administration, reassuring worried outsiders. 'Dina Powell was in there because I brought her to Trump Tower and introduced her to Ivanka and Donald,' Ms. Brzezinski said. 'I will just say that, on camera and off, we hoped for the best.' ...

"Then came what he described as a screaming match over the phone a couple of weeks later, after Ms. Brzezinski and Mr. Scarborough mercilessly mocked Mr. Trump's aide Stephen Miller for his overheated proclamation that the president's power to impose the travel ban should 'not be questioned' by the courts. 'It went back and forth for 20 or 30 minutes and it was a very ugly call,' Mr. Scarborough said. 'He was screaming at me saying, 'Why are you being so tough on this kid -- I invited you to lunch at the White House, and you know I could have invited Sean Hannity,' and I said, 'Well, invite Sean Hannity -- we're not going to be schmoozed because you gave us some fish.'" 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613ea7683fdd57584b07875bb4893dc4bd966a20609c039ff0e33bdac8323c9e1533be9027a86ea79871417c5b1c70b6733

-- "Mika Speaks! A Day After Trump's Horrific Tweet, Brzezinski Reveals How It All Went Down," by Vanity Fair's Emily Jane Fox: "She said that she had told Melania Trump about the procedure when the couple stopped by Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Eve. 'The irony of it all is that Donald kept saying, 'That's incredible. You can't even tell. Who did it? Who did it?' He kept asking for the name of the doctor. He literally asked 10 times. 'Is he down here? Who is he?' Scarborough recalled. (A spokesman from the White House declined to comment.)" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06133c76faf53e4b4b4ccd23d29656507f5a143420598de9187007448d3a470b0f437a3d4905815accf7ef9061cf3112d9e6

-- THE STRATEGY: "Why some inside the White House see Trump's media feud as 'winning'," by WaPo's Phil Rucker and Ashley Parker: "To President Trump, no place is more comfortable than the middle of a fight. This week had it all: Vicious tweets, nasty nicknames, an entrenched foe in the mainstream media and the reprisal by Trump of one of his favorite roles -- the victim. Sure, Trump's health-care push stalled on Capitol Hill, his 'energy week' went largely unnoticed and the president faced almost universal condemnation for an unpresidential attack on MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski. But to many inside the White House, as well as outside allies, what looked like a public relations debacle
 amounted to an abundance of 'winning' -- a Trumpian catchphrase playfully repeated Friday by some West Wing officials, even as they were discomfited by the Brzezinski broadside." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613f1a5620af64678e54af6d355f7002627e789f721b211b592ee9ab6f93114eecbcacde87c41037727b720e537d6bfb72d

IT'S A SMALL NEW YORK WORLD -- "Jared Kushner Almost Bought the National Enquirer Three Years Ago," by Bloomberg's Alex Sherman and Anousha Sakoui: "Three years ago, Kushner and his brother-in-law, Joe Meyer, tried with Enquirer publisher David Pecker to buy the tabloid's owner, American Media Inc., people familiar with that bid said. The deal ultimately fell through because of weak advertising revenue at the time, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter was private." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613d27ef4df1c3c4bb0ba57200ae1d770e731a787e5511bf224994cd9bd072658caa630f91eb696531b457c3ec02c36b374

WELCOME TO THE GAME -- "Cruz and Lee play inside game in health fight," by Burgess Everett: "Four years ago, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz launched an all-out media blitz to stop Obamacare implementation that culminated in a 16-day government shutdown. Now the conservative senators are still pressuring GOP leaders to go further than their colleagues in gutting the law, but they're making their push through quiet backroom conversations instead. It's a shift for the Senate GOP's two leading agitators, who are trying to build consensus in their own unique, hard-line way. And where they end up will ultimately determine whether Republicans are able to pass a bill.

"If Lee and Cruz are able to help craft a compromise that can win 50 Republican votes, their support will go far in easing concerns from other conservatives who still deride the bill as Obamacare-lite. Yet the firm positions of Cruz (R-Texas) and Lee (R-Utah) are still imperiling the Senate Republicans' repeal effort by pushing the party more to the right than many more centrist lawmakers would like to go." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613d84fc29cbf1a53ef44a9f5af7416f4813c1a401f8e1cb17b7e8f3e93a37eb3f53ea8041d32658d03b5d2fb8f81c7884d

-- "Trump Backers 'Furious' That Senator Stood Against Health Care Bill," by NYT's Jonathan Martin and Ken Vogel (in his NYT debut): "The political fallout from [Dean] Heller's high-profile news conference a week ago offers a vivid illustration of the new fault lines on the right in the Trump era. After years of fierce clashing between Republican hard-liners and mainstream conservatives, the purity-versus-pragmatist wars have given way to a new, Trump-centered debate that highlights how fully the president has taken over the party." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613096a69e8ffaa71bd72f1339aad00309a48f43c56e4334249cdd890f19e5cbff70dc3398e02b303a28ded0c2ca1109c90

THE LATEST HEALTH CARE HURDLE -- "Conservative groups unleash on Senate Republicans over repeal bill," by Adam Cancryn: "Frustrated conservative groups are escalating attacks on Senate Republicans over the stalled health care bill, targeting individual senators and threatening political consequences if the GOP falls short of fully repealing Obamacare. The sharp opposition comes after Republican leaders signaled they may try to make health insurance subsidies more generous in hopes of appeasing the moderate wing. That could further endanger Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's fragile bid to strike a compromise that will get him the elusive 50 votes he needs to pass a bill after the July Fourth
 break." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613a7582530fd33b7765af31048f272f10ac0c453ac1d5baa476a192a1a573c7ef0296c0ea43f418bb75df374f36494419d

FRIDAY NEWS DUMP -- "White House releases salary info for Trump's aides," by Nolan McCaskill: "Donald Trump's White House is stocked with 25 staffers who hold the title of 'special assistant to the president,' according to a disclosure released Friday, which also revealed that nearly two dozen aides all earn an annual salary of roughly $180,000. The White House posted the salaries of its executive office staff in a 16-page document detailing the earnings of nearly 400 individuals ... The president's core West Wing staff dominate the top tier of earners, with chief of staff Reince Priebus, chief strategist and senior counselor Steve Bannon, press secretary Sean Spicer, counselor Kellyanne
 Conway, spokeswoman Hope Hicks and social media director Dan Scavino all earning $179,700. ...

"The Trump White House's inaugural salary disclosures also show that it has nearly 100 fewer staffers than President Barack Obama had in 2016. Obama's White House had 473 aides, with 19 assistants to the president. Nine Obama aides earned top salaries of $176,461, and only one staffer, consultant Susan Davies, went unpaid. And Obama's body man, Brian Mosteller, took home $60,000 less than Trump's long-serving body guard, Keith Schiller."http://politi.co/2sxKZI5 ... See all the salaries  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06136c6cb21d062f53c3c61c4f6dff61e3664f86b7c51b73fd3e6086239e1a99654f539ea13aec6f8b72c120fd03ae23c87c

-- "Pentagon delays lifting of transgender troop ban," by Jacqueline Klimas: "The Pentagon announced Friday night that it will delay allowing openly transgender troops to join the military until Jan. 1, 2018. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis approved the recommendation from the services that lifting the ban be delayed to allow them time to review the impact on 'the readiness and lethality of our forces,' Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement. The six-month delay will only impact new transgender recruits, not the estimated 15,500 already serving. It follows reports last week that the service leaders requested the delay." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613b51ac24b4a93d0b49a4eab743183eefc352b178630bbd336f553065d57f0f58549252caaa45559be76842d4691704e87

THE JUICE ...

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK - The Chinese Embassy in Washington has signed the global strategic consulting firm BLJ Worldwide to do PR for them. It is not clear if Qorvis, the embassy's longtime PR firm, will continue to work with the Chinese. Qorvis has represented the Chinese embassy since 2014 for $25,200 a month. BLJ will get $24,000 a month from the embassy and provide "media monitoring, social media support, drafting and editing of statements and communications, media relations, media training, crisis management, and event support," according to a FARA that was just filed.

A source close to Qorvis said that their formal contract ended "some time ago" but the embassy has recently been paying the firm on a month-to-month basis. The firm declined to comment on if they expect to continue working for the embassy. BLJ, which represents and advises foreign governments, earlier did some work for Syrian first lady Asma Al-Assad, the Qaddafi government and the Ecuador embassy. The Chinese embassy did not reply to a request for comment.

          Playbook Reads         

PHOTO DU JOUR: Marine One takes off from the South Lawn of the White House with President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their child Barron Trump on June 30. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty 

SWITCHEROO -- "Trump drops plans for order tightening food aid shipping rules - sources," by Reuters' Patricia Zengerle: "President Donald Trump's administration has dropped plans for an executive order that will require all U.S. food aid to be transported on American ships after members of Congress protested, congressional and aid sources said on Friday. Reuters reported on Thursday that Trump was considering issuing an order that would have increased to 100 percent the current requirement that 50 percent of such aid be transported on U.S.-flagged vessels. Sen. Bob Corker ... said he had discussed the issue with Trump and that he understands that the shift would have increased the cost of
 food aid and caused more people to starve." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06133f467618bbf51a012085bf688a185af44a499800c0511b698cde3c7262c5e02867e8ed7bc9c13046ef4aeb5a9a26c31f

-- "Science division of White House office left empty as last staffers depart," by CBS News' Jacqueline Alemany: "The science division of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was unstaffed as of Friday as the three remaining employees departed this week, sources tell CBS News. All three employees were holdovers from the Obama administration. ... Under Mr. Obama, the science division was staffed with nine employees who led the charge on policy issues such as STEM education, biotechnology and crisis response." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06136e849dd0573a89bd31d06a41bf0cb8b8456a074636de7a5be464336f971f59e6a30a802cc0f06843df5bd581b874a57d

SNEAK PEEK -- DAVID REMNICK in next week's New Yorker, "American Dignity on the Fourth of July": "Frederick Douglass ended his Independence Day jeremiad in Rochester with steadfast optimism ('I do not despair of this country'). Read his closing lines, and what despair you might feel when listening to a President who abets ignorance, isolation, and cynicism is eased, at least somewhat. The 'mental darkness' of earlier times is done, Douglass reminded his audience. 'Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe.' There is yet hope for the 'great principles' of the Declaration of Independence and 'the genius of American Institutions.' There was reason for optimism then, as there
 is now. Donald Trump is not forever. Sometimes it just seems that way." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613c39199b41a166f2f11d8fd0cef1590c4a291cc37b1fe6633bf397a52020b7db5b5b1485036ea1ac84ee5512cb988b75a

MEDIAWATCH -- "Former Fox Newser Joins NBC to Head Up Megyn Kelly PR," by TV Newser's Chris Ariens: "Dana Klinghoffer, who spent her entire professional career in the Fox News PR shop, is joining NBC News, TVNewser has learned. Klinghoffer will oversee public relations for Megyn Kelly's new 9 a.m. hour of the Today show, as well as other PR duties. Klinghoffer left Fox News several months ago and has since married and was taking some time off before jumping back into the TV news game." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613ff82554565027778f7e259e7d607a59fcc3676fb9942ec03ca79f893a1614d5b8789c6a6d38eeb091494ce9d157970bc

****** A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs (CAPD): A new study projects pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) will save Medicare Part D $896 billion over ten years. PBMs drive savings for taxpayers and seniors by negotiating discounts from drug manufacturers; by encouraging the use of lower cost, clinically equivalent drugs; and by providing clinical programs that improve health outcomes. Learn more at affordableprescriptiondrugs.org ******

CLICKER - "The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics," edited by Matt Wuerker -- 14 keepers http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06135907f3b8ff12b59a138a78f799b9cded2c0bc6e78f20f5d08fdc435442d0410b5cafa26f6b9ce74cb63e6e30f79f4dd2

-- WORTH THE WATCH -- NYT: "What Happens Just Before Show Time at the Met Opera" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613d2f088b900309d9b9b409c8195632f7f6c0582a2ac372ff360127fa809110f066d9fc0fd7c07d2f5a485e9ff8057189f 

GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from Aspen:

-- "Nowhere Mag: Can Monocle's globalist chic survive in an age of populism?" by Kyle Chayka in the New Republic - per Longreads.com's description: "For ten years, Monocle has successfully catered to the world's status-conscious, globe-trotting elite by offering them exclusivity, materiality and identity. So does the rise of nationalism threaten a lifestyle magazine that treats the world as one big upscale mall?" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613a7843df1ef00d17f0cef53347ba98689fd444aa0a2d8d3adf47d17509564231ad6b753f15bcda6b9602e1de1a19a4f64

-- "Ghost in the fame machine," by Andrew Crofts in the Times Literary Supplement: "You don't argue with your clients, or challenge their statements, however repulsive you may find them personally, unless they are contradicting themselves or saying something that either the publishers or the eventual readers are going to find hard to swallow." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613e42800ad08642a75590ab4a23b53bd9ba068b08962cacf89192b5b709a575c7352b12d44e366469038fd06eb03581922 (h/t ALDaily.com)

-- "From Ptolemy to GPS, the Brief History of Maps," by Clive Thompson in the July Smithsonian - per The Browser's description: The Greek astrologer Claudius Ptolemy drew the first realistic maps of the world in the 2nd century AD in order to specify places of birth more precisely and thus cast better horoscopes. He knew that the Earth was round, so he calculated a way of reducing its three dimensions to two. He added lines of latitude and longitude. He even coined a name for his new discipline: Geography. When the Roman Empire fell, his techniques were lost to the West for a thousand years." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06138f367eecca2a8fbea267b06f205a5804963a14f68d017418b5ec372dbe64e789bc658911c931d3a928cdea20d94559b1

-- "The Nihilism of Julian Assange," by Sue Halpern in the N.Y. Review of Books, reviewing the Laura Poitras documentary "Risk": "When the film was released this spring, Poitras was loudly criticized by Assange's supporters for changing it from the hero's journey she debuted last year at Cannes to something more critical, complicated, and at best ambivalent about the man. Yet ambivalence is the most honest thing about the film. It is the emotion Assange often stirs up in those who support the WikiLeaks mission but are disturbed by its chief missionary." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06135e9567a7637bf20d3ff3ab743765af1babce3f6be29018b86b9fbbd34795a55b9686524680e9db51b7bd1682033ef3cc ... Trailer http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf061333b6a452b28a563a0e11fb0fc2f9cc715d311eb06f6c6b372d1a29a70a64a0e668b64ef8925d98cf86c94a7615177455

-- "Pearls Before Breakfast," by Gene Weingarten in the April 8, 2007 WaPo Magazine: "In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613498b26fee31f620ab109dcddd13fb5e252fbf4ae496120c09e05f1f1afb57190c368ad8e5c1b539e19bad7a313dc7e31 ... 3-min. video http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613febcb8473e80bd7eabe5e9eb102f127d4adb72ae0b66be18b56783a3aca66bdee166274e3257064c30cab238eb066378 (h/t Longform.org)

-- "Disrupt the Citizen: Against ride-sharing," by Nikil Saval in n+1 magazine: "Few moments in history have been so crowded with narcissists: incapable of acknowledging the existence of others, unwilling to permit state and civil society-with their strange, confusing, downright offensive cult of taxes, regulations and public services-to impede their quest for monopolizing the mind, muscles, heart rate, and blood of every breathing person on earth." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06133ac16533679676e28865e10d93c278207900482c0ec8c609962e86c1608f6381a06a7ec818ecd3823a388b49ba282d93

-- "It's Amazing I Haven't Ruined Myself," by Timothy Bella in Esquire: "Once revered as one of the greatest heroes in Red Sox history, today Curt Schilling is known as much for offensive memes as for his bloody sock. Is his goal to dominate right-wing media - or to win a spot in the Senate?" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613a5f16c67eea974684ca4145e98e3f767b7a1893455cb85dea933167323c13fed48a05cb669b356a35d6539a26079654f

-- "The Last Shot," by ProPublica's Alec MacGillis: "Amid a surging opiate crisis, the maker of the anti-addiction drug Vivitrol skirted the usual sales channels. It found a captive market for its once-a-month injection in the criminal justice system." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf061393ba434a20b0fea01a5f59411e5d8970fcd2124adbbcef4be5bbc3a477ea5da2e8fd5063a0f125f469e2802b180fa85d

-- "Serena Williams's Love Match," by Buzz Bissinger on the cover of August's Vanity Fair: "Last January, on the eve of the Australian Open, Serena Williams handed her fianc&eacute;, Alexis Ohanian, a paper bag containing six positive pregnancy tests. It was just the latest surprise in an unlikely pairing: the world's greatest tennis player and the geek co-founder of Reddit. From their first date -- a magical six hours in Paris -- to their plans for the baby's arrival, this is the full love story." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf06131ac9f7966a97169a4d4fc56e2c2b845d1c20e8b350f6b87f2240c6fbe811894d07a90d664d020a970d8497c7f66a6762 (h/t Longreads.com)

-- "Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up," by Randall Sullivan in the Oct. 2016 Wired: "In just a few years, it seems, [Bo Stefan] Eriksson went from languishing in a European jail cell to making millions as a tech executive to, even more improbably, becoming deputy commissioner of antiterrorism for an obscure Southern California transit police force." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf061397c239837f1c5a48a75bb247ad97d31497759685d7d87c25952d4f0e54e4ec6debb7325c2748e780716d5e423c89945f

-- "Chronicles of a Concerned Venezuelan: Scenes to Help You (Try to) Understand Venezuela," by Aglaia Berlutti on Global Voices: "I stumble around the dark apartment. Another blast goes off. It's almost 11 p.m. I make my way carefully with outstretched hands, listening to the sound of pots banging, the clack of tear gas guns discharging. In Venezuela the days don't ever seem to come to a complete end. Violence remains, continues, spreads. Normal means a collection of pains and terrors. Of closed doors and a general state of suspicion. We have survived this way for over a decade now." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613dde2f507c69628f36b5260a702d294ce4087a7c72a655af5cbe2fbc89984d46576c37fcecf167ca913241c973a0031bf

-- "The revolt of the public and the 'age of post-truth,'" by Martin Gurri on The Fifth Wave: "Established institutions, the political process, the economy, 'the system,' all look to the public suspiciously like a lottery rigged in favor of the perpetual winners: a class of insiders who manage to be both self-righteous and self-serving, arrogant and failed. The terms of the divorce would send the lot of them packing." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613dea2ffbd441ee2d855c21137984e13e519b174db6b94257669450ce2f6efeeaecd2ba2ae11fe349e3a99e3be74f4a85a
                  Playbookers         
SPOTTED: Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan last night taking in "Wonder Woman" at the Uptown movie theater in Cleveland Park ... Donna Brazile enjoying a late dinner at Sfoglina ... Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) yesterday in the Detroit airport. Per our tipster: "he was on his way to Bay City, Michigan, for his son's wedding. He said it was his first vacation in over a year!"

OUT AND ABOUT IN ASPEN - Jordanian Amb. Dina Kawar hosted a dinner last night at Matsuhisa in downtown Aspen celebrating Walter Isaacson's tenure at the Aspen Institute-- Isaacson steps down as CEO and president at the end of the year. On the menu: rock shrimp tempura, black cod with sweet miso, Wagyu beef ribeye, assorted sushi rolls and a mini chocolate souffl&eacute; and mocha ice cream.

SPOTTED: David Petraeus chatting with Steve Case, David Rubenstein, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Andrea Mitchell chatting with Lisa Monaco, Charles Duhigg, Elliot Gerson, Elizabeth Economy, Ernest Moniz (drinking a cocktail), Garrett Graff, Julian Gewirtz, Mickey Edwards, Neal Katyal, Peter Wehner and Michael Gerson.

-- OVERHEARD at the Aspen airport this morning: "Andrea Mitchell, please come to the Delta gate. ... Chicago passenger Harman, Jane Harman, please come to Gate 3." She was later spotted reading on her iPhone in the first row of first class on the United 5829 flight to Chicago. ... SPOTTED: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) holding court last night in the lobby of the Hotel Jerome in Aspen ... Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) late last night in the lobby of the Little Nell hotel in Aspen

TRANSITIONS - PAM STEVENS has joined the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy as the associate director for external affairs. Stevens is a Reagan and Bush administration veteran who has more recently been director of media affairs and strategic initiatives for the House GOP Conference. ... Dave Perera starts on Monday as the new communications director for Rep. Nanette Barrag&aacute;n (D-Calif.). He most recently was assistant VP for government and policy at the Internet Security Alliance and before that was a cybersecurity reporter at Politico. ...

... Andrew Wimer has started as a speechwriter for Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. He previously was senior media manager at the National Federation of Independent Business and was communications director for former Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.). ...Caroline Thorman starts on Monday as communications director for Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.); she had her last day as deputy communications director for Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.). ... Direct Impact has appointed Michael Fleischer as president and general manager; he's been with DI since 2012. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613e7e8c4c82e5b0919ebf6471288008632f96b9bc46d2b2b59f1dbc14b6b565b686809fbf4659ca2dd47e3fe5010594055

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Stacey Radnor, director of public affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety, and Zach Lipson, a realtor at Keller Williams Capital Properties, welcomed "the newest member of the unofficial Every Baby for Gun Safety" into the world Thursday night: Elle Sylvie Lipson.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker. How she's celebrating: "I am celebrating my birthday with my husband John, his family and my family at his house on Cape Cod. I can't wait for some long walks, family time and of course, lobster!" Read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613c3f94d5793aee4492af82674cc0ab5da77469fdeabc909833ef33bb2f409df3f37e99684e677b0faf3f67ffc7c9f2377

BIRTHDAYS: Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA ... Mike Czin, VP of SKDKnickerbocker ... Brett Zongker, comms manager at GW and an AP alum ... Diane Ravitch is 79 ... Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is 46 (hat tip: Leigh Claffey) ... HFA alum Kate Wilson ... Keith Macleod ... Data Trust's Travis Holler ... ClimateWire's Erika Bolstad ... Mara Lee Durrell ... Canada turns 150 on its national day ... Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen ... Politico's Mitchell Bowman ... Liz Elkiss ... Kevin Franck ... Lida Masoudpour ... Neal Patel of OMB leg affairs (h/t Barb Menard, filing from Rehoboth Beach) ...

... Clark Jennings ... Paul Friedman ... Bess Caughran Allen ... Jioni Palmer ... TED's Laura McClure Houghton ... NARAL's Bianca Rosales ... Julie Gibson, the pride of Missouri AND an honorary Iowan ... John Giesser ... Pat McQuillan (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Kaye Willis White ... Pierson Fowler ... Steve Gladis ... Amelia Rossini ... Gwendolen Cates ... Grace Koh ... Ricky Diaz ... Greta Lundberg ... Bill Rehkopf ... cookiemaker Wally "Famous" Amos is 81 ... dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp is 76 ... Dan Aykroyd is 65 ... actress Pamela Anderson is 5-0 (h/ts AP)

THE SHOWS by @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:

-- NBC's "Meet the Press": HHS Secretary Tom Price ... Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) ... Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) ... Malcolm Gladwell. Panel: Hugh Hewitt, Kasie Hunt, Katty Kay and Eugene Robinson.

-- ABC's "This Week": Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) ... White House homeland security and counterterrorism adviser Tom Bossert. Russia panel: Peter Baker, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Robin Wright. Political panel: Ana Navarro, Ramesh Ponnuru, Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman. 

-- "Fox News Sunday": Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ... White House director of legislative affairs Marc Short ... Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Panel: Kim Strassel, Jerry Seib, Charlie Hurt and Marie Harf (substitute host: Fox News' John Roberts)

-- CNN's "State of the Union": Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) ... Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Panel: Van Jones and Jason Kander, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Scott Jennings.

-- CBS's "Face the Nation": Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) ... Peter Baker, John Farrell, Lynne Olson and Sally Mott Freeman ... "City of Ghosts" director Matthew Heineman and Syrian journalist and "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" co-founder Abdalaziz Alhamza. Political panel: Lanhee Chen, Michael Graham, Ezra Klein and Ruth Marcus.

-- CNN's "Inside Politics" with John King: Panel: Julie Pace, Perry Bacon, Sara Murray and Phil Mattingly.

-- CNN's "Reliable Sources": Panel: Carl Bernstein, The Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik, Poynter Institute's Kelly McBride, Ben Ferguson and Olivia Nuzzi.

-- Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures": Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) ... Pete Hoekstra ... Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Panel: Steve Sigmund and Brad Blakeman (substitute host: Fox News' Sandra Smith).

-- Fox News' "MediaBuzz": Sharyl Attkisson ... Mollie Hemingway ... Ray Suarez ... Anthony Scaramucci.

-- CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS": Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). Panel: Nancy Gibbs and Jeffrey Goldberg, Walter Isaacson and Dan Senor.

-- C-SPAN: "The Communicators": FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (D), questioned by Telecommunications Reports' Lynn Stanton ... "Newsmakers": Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.), questioned by The Wall Street Journal's Richard Rubin and The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis ... "Q&A": Pat Buchanan.

-- PBS's "To the Contrary" with Bonnie Erb&eacute;: (airs all weekend): Panel: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Independent Women's Forum president Carrie Lukas, Anushay's Point founder Anushay Hossain and Women for Trump's Ann Stone.

-- Hearst / Sony's "Matter of Fact" with Soledad O'Brien (airing Sunday in most markets, check local listings): Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) ... Young Invincibles leader Jen Mishory ... Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.).

-- Washington Times' "Mack on Politics" weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher or listen at http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6774b1c529bf0613c5fa8c68a76fda0d31ad3a7c1f3dd472c50434915a7704364f72b07460f7399bf37850ce0a3adc07f53ef9db8d551f5d Author and Fox News anchor Eric Bolling.

****** A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs (CAPD): A new study estimates that Medicare Part D costs would be 58 percent higher without pharmacy benefit managers' (PBMs') clinical tools and price negotiations with drug manufacturers and pharmacies. The study shows PBMs significantly lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries. In fact, PBMs are projected to save Medicare Part D $896 billion over the next decade. Thanks to PBMs, Medicare Part D continues to drive savings and value for taxpayers and beneficiaries, ensuring that more than 39 million American seniors can access the prescription drugs they need. Learn more at
 affordableprescriptiondrugs.org ******

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