Subject: Playbook Power Briefing, presented by PhRMA: TRUMP pushes for some sort of action on guns, but big questions remain
From: "Anna Palmer Jake Sherman Daniel Lippman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2018 12:12:12 -0600
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Today's Playbook Power Briefing presented by PhRMA 
            
By JAKE SHERMAN ([email-masked]; @JakeSherman), ANNA PALMER ([email-masked]; @apalmerdc), DANIEL LIPPMAN ([email-masked]; @dlippman) and ZACH MONTELLARO ([email-masked]; @ZachMontellaro)

        
TWO PIECES OF D.C. NEWS... 

MARGARET BRENNAN is the new host of CBS's "FACE THE NATION" ... MIKE GRYNBAUM scoop: "Her new role, announced by CBS on Thursday, makes Ms. Brennan, 37, the only woman to serve as a solo anchor of a major Sunday political affairs show. She succeeds John Dickerson, who left 'Face the Nation' in January after less than three years to replace Charlie Rose on 'CBS This Morning.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649a27cd5611f691a7b6ce47deca1d5e08f673a9a0e1639b1fa42128bdb585751f91671fb04d54e8b310 

-- IMPORTANT: Brennan was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the city that works!

COMEDIAN MICHELLE WOLF is headlining the White House Correspondents' dinner at the end of April. 

SPOTTED -- ROGER STONE on JetBlue 1480, the 9:23 a.m. Fort Lauderdale to DCA flight. ... Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Marc Short, Drew Maloney and Eli Miller at Cafe Milano last night ... Mnuchin was on a New York-bound Acela Thursday ... 

Good Thursday afternoon. THE PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR ... SOMETHING ON GUNS -- @realDonaldTrump at 7:26 a.m.: "I never said 'give teachers guns' like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC. What I said was to look at the possibility of giving 'concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience - only the best. 20% of teachers, a lot, would now be able to" ... at 7:40 a.m.: "....immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions. Highly trained teachers would also serve as a deterrent to the cowards that do this. Far more assets at much less cost than guards. A 'gun free' school is a magnet for bad people. ATTACKS WOULD END!" ...

... at 7:54 a.m.: "....History shows that a school shooting lasts, on average, 3 minutes. It takes police & first responders approximately 5 to 8 minutes to get to site of crime. Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. GREAT DETERRENT!" ... 8:05 a.m.: "....If a potential 'sicko shooter' knows that a school has a large number of very weapons talented teachers (and others) who will be instantly shooting, the sicko will NEVER attack that school. Cowards won't go there...problem solved. Must be offensive, defense alone won't work!" ... at 8:13 a.m.: "I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental
 Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue - I hope!" ...

... at 9:31 a.m.: "What many people don't understand, or don't want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" ... at 9:53 a.m.: "Will be meeting with Lawmakers today at 11:30 A.M. to discuss School Safety. Next week it will be with our Nation's Governors. It's been many years of all talk, no action. We'll get it done!"

A LOT OF QUESTIONS HERE: Background checks aren't a slam dunk -- similar bills have faltered after previous shootings. Arming teachers? Who is going to train the teachers? When will they be trained? Who is going to conduct the background checks? What if some schools don't have anyone who wants to carry a weapon? Who will pay for the weapons? What will individual municipalities and districts think? 

... The age issue is quite difficult, as well. Listen to Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie: "Why should a 20yr old single mom be denied the right to defend herself and her kids? We should lower the age to buy a handgun to 18, instead of raising the age to buy an AR15. SAD!"

WHAT TRUMP SAID about arming teachers yesterday, per Louis Nelson: "And this would only be, obviously, for people that are very adept at handling a gun. And it would be -- it's called concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them ... They'd go for special training. And they would be there, and you would no longer have a gun-free zone." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649a748c4101647eeb21e15318d404a08fd2ae067659892022dc7e827186b9ae96c4465c49f6c2a9c42d 

TRUMP AT A SCHOOL SAFETY MEETING, per TPM's Cameron Joseph, today's pooler: "'There's a tremendous feeling that we want to get something done... Including at the NRA.' Says he's called many lawmakers in recent days. 'They're into doing background checks that maybe they wouldn't be thinking about' a few weeks ago. ...

"Trump warned about children's' exposure to violence in video games, movies and on the internet. 'We have to do something about maybe what they're seeing and how they're seeing it. ... We may have to talk about that also.' ... On long gun age restrictions: 'It should all be at 21... And the NRA will back it.' ...

TRUMP IS NOT A FAN OF ACTIVE-SHOOTER DRILLS, per Joseph: "POTUS fired back as DeVos talked of active shooter drills. Trump: 'Active shooter drills is a very negative thing.... I don't like it. I'd much rather have a hardened school... I think it's crazy. I think it's very hard on children.'" 

THE PRESIDENT also suggested a bonus for teachers who are trained and willing to carry a firearm. He said he'd give federal money for "additional training" for teachers.

REACTION FROM THE NRA -- "At CPAC, NRA chief LaPierre singles out Democrats for politicizing school shooting," by Cristiano Lima: "National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre decried the 'shameful politicization' of the deadly Florida high school shooting during a speech on Thursday and pushed back against alleged detractors at the FBI, the media and Democrats.

"Addressing a crowd of GOP officials and supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the NRA leader bemoaned that 'the opportunist wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain' in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting last week." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649ab84e6fb16eaed7f683eb0e86ee344d6f796627bb069f70d6a8dacd3cf26aef4878089378c48e3a3d 

-- "NRA spokeswoman attacks media over shootings: 'You love the ratings'," by Ayanna Alexander http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649afdd0151b4cb13a95e919d55bafba7eb8f51b94e2cc40361494b095d12b927c6c5ce84861476a5213 

****** A message from PhRMA: New report from Express Scripts shows spending on medicines grew just 1.5 percent in 2017, which is the smallest increase since the company began tracking spending 25 years ago. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649ac68fccbc01cdd309b4562c4a1acccb6da7707ce8172a46e019c8d3e6fd37f123dd4b44a5fda26a2e ******

FIRST PERSON -- "What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns," by Heather Sher in The Atlantic: "As I opened the CT scan last week to read the next case, I was baffled. The history simply read 'gunshot wound.' I have been a radiologist in one of the busiest trauma centers in the nation for 13 years, and have diagnosed thousands of handgun injuries to the brain, lung, liver, spleen, bowel, and other vital organs. I thought that I knew all that I needed to know about gunshot wounds, but the specific pattern of injury on my computer screen was one that I had seen only once before.

"In a typical handgun injury that I diagnose almost daily, a bullet leaves a laceration through an organ like the liver. To a radiologist, it appears as a linear, thin, grey bullet track through the organ. There may be bleeding and some bullet fragments. I was looking at a CT scan of one of the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who had been brought to the trauma center during my call shift. The organ looked like an overripe melon smashed by a sledgehammer, with extensive bleeding. How could a gunshot wound have caused this much damage?" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649ab6a3fb5e7bd176e59185ba81d9f1c5a743a9e1a0b914d5a7b71448597b973e55a86cc518e5ac7949 

BILLY GRAHAM will lie in honor in the Rotunda at the Capitol next Wednesday, Speaker Paul Ryan's office announced. It is a tremendous honor that has only been bestowed sparingly -- to Capitol Police officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, who were killed on duty in 1998, and Rosa Parks. Several presidents and longtime lawmakers have "lain in state" at the capitol before.

ANOTHER BIG SHAKEUP LOOMING? -- "McMaster could leave WH after months of tension with Trump," by CNN's Barbara Starr, Zachary Cohen, Elise Labott, Kaitlan Collins and Jamie Gangel: "With tensions flaring between President Donald Trump and national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the Pentagon is considering options that would allow the President to potentially move the three-star general out of his current role and back into the military, according to half a dozen defense and administration officials. A search is quietly being conducted by the Pentagon to see if there is a four-star military job suited for McMaster, these officials said. ...

"While administration officials have privately said the preference is to move McMaster into a position within the Army or Defense Department that qualifies as a promotion, some within the Pentagon feel he has become politicized in the White House and have expressed reservations about him returning to the military in a prominent role. Some defense officials caution that the President could also go as far as not to offer him a fourth star and force him to retire." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649a00b7490b358f34788b91d34a724708057ad3160a0895ba87b3e02d5f510908c198877c259ce5ca73 

TRUMP INC. -- "Trump Jr.'s trip to India has sparked controversy -- and $15 million in sales," by WaPo's Annie Gowen: "In response to a query by a U.S. senator, the embassy in New Delhi said Thursday that its staff did not advise or assist Donald Trump Jr. on a foreign policy address he is set to give Friday while on a private business trip to India.

"The embassy was responding to questions about a letter released Wednesday by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to the U.S. ambassador in India raising concerns about the embassy's engagement with Trump Jr., who is in India for the week to promote various Trump real estate projects around the country -- a trip that has already netted $15 million in sales on Monday alone, according to one of his local partners. The embassy only provided routine support to his Secret Service detail, it said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649afdd34b3b5a347cb840ff50925307a6057dd4ed11bb26ee4edc12a63532f04f6e997ee59133ba16f2 

BIG MONEY IN PA-18 -- "Trump super PAC to spend $1 million in Pennsylvania special election," by Alex Isenstadt: "The pro-Trump super PAC America First Action is launching a $1 million ad-buy in support of Pennsylvania special election candidate Rick Saccone, according to a person familiar with the group's plans. The organization will start airing digital ads later this week and TV ads next week. The special election is March 13." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649a7c29791ca4d20584a2b32ad1cf5f8519abb50b359fee77df4e4c4d307da6991f6ca14ad6992aa7b4 

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- WaPo's ISHAAN THAROOR: " The world sits by as another massacre unfolds in Syria": "Death is raining down on Eastern Ghouta. The suburban district outside Damascus is one of the last remaining rebel enclaves near the Syrian capital. It's been under siege for half a decade, battered by bombs and stalked by starvation. The last humanitarian convoy to arrive was in November. And now it is under relentless attack." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649ad88114f54d0f0ed3b545787bb7d4267c8334d935bafe79dd0f1a457991bd5d9020575a2237306b24 

-- "Iran says may withdraw from nuclear deal if banks continue to stay away," by Reuters' Bozorgmehr Sharafedin http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649a1e8c9925ceeb5f744294e866828ebaa0c9bc009ec68dd3a3146338cb4bb5019ba875ffcca192b76a 

INSIDE THE CAPITOL COMPLEX -- Black women on Capitol Hill have banded together to create the BLACK WOMEN'S CONGRESSIONAL ALLIANCE in an effort to get more black women into senior aide positions. The group is embarking on the "Project 2020," which will provide networking, recruitment and training opportunities on Capitol Hill before the end of the 2020 election cycle. Their first target: sending a slate of black women candidates to Rep. Nancy Barragan's office for a senior staff opening. Currently there are less than 20 black women chiefs of staff and there has never been a black woman Democratic chief of staff in the Senate. 

TRANSITIONS -- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- PENNY PRITZKER, the former secretary of commerce under President Barack Obama, has been elected chairman of the board for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She will succeed the current chair in May. ... 

... Ellie Collinson will start as chief operating officer for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on March 6. She was most recently chief program officer for United Cerebral Palsy. ... Douglas Farrar is heading to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he will direct media relations and congressional outreach. He was previously assistant director of public affairs at the Aspen Institute. ... Kim McIntyre is now the national media strategist/booker at DCI Group. She previously was assistant director of broadcast services at the Heritage Foundation.

SPOTTED at a homeland security reception hosted by Frontier Security Strategies' Ed Cash at Bar Louie on Tuesday: former U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, Jim McDonnell, James McCament, Brian Kamoie, Chris Frech, Stewart Verdery, Don Kent, Tim Manning, Tom Atkin, Tom Dinanno, Joe Nimmich, Marc Pearl.

****** A message from PhRMA: While spending on medicines grew just 1.5 percent in 2017, unfortunately it doesn't feel that way for patients. More than one-third of a medicine's list price is often rebated back to middlemen, like insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). These discounts and rebates create savings of more than $100 billion, but insurers don't always share these savings with patients. Patients share the costs. They should share the savings. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4a0232b3a121649ac68fccbc01cdd309b4562c4a1acccb6da7707ce8172a46e019c8d3e6fd37f123dd4b44a5fda26a2e ******

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