Subject: POLITICO Playbook: Best lines from the Alfalfa Club dinner
From: "Anna Palmer Jake Sherman Daniel Lippman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2019 09:55:32 -0600
List-Id: <1376319.xt.local>

Presented by BP: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day                Jan 27, 2019 View in browser                   
 By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and Daniel Lippman 
             
Presented by
                     DRIVING THE DAY      
ABOUT LAST NIGHT ... HE'S GOT JOKES! -- ALFALFA CLUB PRESIDENT JOHN KERRY'S gave his farewell address last night at the Capitol Hilton: "This is the only speech in Washington that hasn't been canceled by Nancy Pelosi. I got to tell you, you all look incredibly dapper tonight in your ball gowns, your tuxedos, your bow ties, and your cummerbunds -- or as we call it at our house, workout gear. Or as we call it at our other house, pajamas. Or as we call it at our other house, swimming costumes. But tonight it looks like I've done something Donald Trump can only dream of: finishing my term. ...

"I've learned so much over the past year as your President: I learned that I'm at an awkward age, too old to run a marathon, too young to be in the House Democratic leadership. And I learned that at an average Alfalfa dinner, this crowd goes through 70 cases of beer, 300 bottles of wine and over 2,600 mixed drinks. Or as Brett Kavanaugh calls that -- a quiet weekend. ...

"Roger Stone isn't here. He's always been controversial. I remember when he got caught advertising for sex in bondage and swingers magazines. So, [Friday] morning probably wasn't the first time he started his day in handcuffs.

"I think we've all noticed, there's been a lot of turnover in this administration. Secretary Zinke was fired. Reince Priebus was fired. Rex Tillerson, General McMaster, Jeff Sessions -- all fired. One thing you can say about the Trump people - they're not quitters. Wilbur Ross is here. I want to thank him for taking care of dessert. He went to the kitchen and said, 'Let them eat cake.'"

-- ON HIS ALFAFA SUCCESSOR MITT ROMNEY: "Just think, Mitt and I are two of the only people who understand the temptation to run for office in every state where you own a home. ... Mitt and I do have a lot in common. Mitt has run for the presidency, I've run for the presidency. 

"Mitt has represented the great state of Massachusetts, I've represented the great state of Massachusetts. Mitt's running mate Paul Ryan went on to become Speaker of the House, my running mate John Edwards got booted out of his house."

SPOTTED: Steve Schwarzman, Wayne Berman, Bobby Koch, Kellyanne Conway, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Bill Frist, Bret Baier, Hank Paulson, Josh Bolten, Fred Ryan, Kit Bond, Robert Altman, Raul Fernandez, James Murdoch, Jane Harman, Kelly Ayotte, Walter and Cathy Isaacson, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Tim Cook, Robert Allbritton, Barby Allbritton ...

... Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Abby Blunt, Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Bob Barnett and Rita Braver, Jim Mattis, Dina Powell and Dave McCormick, Ambassador Woody Johnson, Chris Applegate, Madeleine Albright, Chris Nassetta and Doug McMillon.

-- SPOTTED, per a tipster: Rex Tillerson talking with Gen. John Kelly during the cocktail hour ... Most awkward seat: French Ambassador G&eacute;rard Araud seated between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to a tipster.

SPOTTED at the Caf&eacute; Milano Alfalfa after-party hosted by Yousef Al Otaiba, Catherine Reynolds, Robert Johnson, John Rogers, Fred Smith, Robert Allbritton, Bret Baier and Franco Nuschese: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Blanche Lincoln, Terry McAuliffe, John Kerry and Vanessa Kerry, Wayne Reynolds, Jim Jones, Cal Ripken Jr., Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), Joe Crowley, Jon Karl, Mike Barnicle ...

... David Rubenstein, David Solomon, Elena Allbritton, Mark Ein, Tammy Haddad, Steve and Jean Case, Ryan Williams, Steve Clemons, Tom Quinn and Lynly Boor, Alphonso Jackson, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, Jeremy and Robyn Bash, Sally Quinn, Glen Johnson, Eli Miller, Johnny DeStefano, Matt Mowers and Cassie Spodak, Samantha Smith, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Anthony Williams, Jayne Visser, and Jack Evans.

Good Sunday morning. Happy two days post-shutdown! 19 DAYS until the government runs out of funding ... again.

POLLS DU JOUR -- "NBC NEWS/WSJ POLL: 'Wrong track': Public sours on nation's direction after shutdown," by Mark Murray: "After the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, six-in-10 Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, and nearly 70 percent of them have negative opinions on the state of the nation today, according to the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll." NBC News

-- ABC NEWS' ALLISON DE JONG: "Six in 10 Americans in an ABC News/Washington Post poll say the new Democratic majority in the House should make use of its authority to obtain and publicly release Donald Trump's tax returns, while about as many support other Democratic-led investigations of the president.

"Beyond the tax issue, 57 to 61 percent back House investigations into three topics tested in the national survey: possible collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, Trump's relationship and communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin and possible financial ties between Trump and foreign governments." ABC News

    
         
SUNDAY BEST ... POST-SHUTDOWN EDITION ...

-- JOHN ROBERTS interviewed ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MICK MULVANEY on FOX NEWS' "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" via Brent D. Griffiths: "'Ultimately he'll be judged by what happens at the end of this process, not by what happened this week ... No one wants a government shutdown, John, it is not a desired end,' Mulvaney said. 'But when the president vetoes a spending package some times that has the effect of shutting the government down. We don't go into this trying to shut the government down. ...

"'The President's commitment is to protect the nation, and he'll do it either with or without Congress,' Mulvaney said." POLITICO

-- CHUCK TODD spoke with SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FLA.) on NBC NEWS' "MEET THE PRESS": TODD: "You have said you're opposed to the national emergency option. In three weeks though -- I know you guys have no appetite on either side of the aisle for another shutdown. So if that's the only way to keep the government funded, he goes national emergency, how defiant are you on this option? Will you fight the president on this or not?" RUBIO: "I don't think it's a good idea. I think it'll be a terrible idea. I hope he doesn't do it. I don't think it's leverage -" 

TODD: "But would you fight him on it?" RUBIO: "Sure. Because I think that it's important. ... It's just not a good precedent to set in terms of action. It doesn't mean that I don't want border security. I do. I just think that's the wrong way to achieve it. It doesn't provide certainty. And you could very well wind up in sort of a theatric victory at the front end and then not getting it done. I think the best way to do it is to have a law passed that funds border security so we know it's going to happen."

ON WIKILEAKS: TODD: "Should it be a crime working with WikiLeaks?" RUBIO: "Well it's a good question. I think certainly if you're wittingly doing it, it should be considered as such."

-- JAKE TAPPER also spoke with Rubio on CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": TAPPER: "Was this whole strategy by President Trump, with Republicans in the House and Senate going along, was -- was it a huge mistake?" 

RUBIO: "I don't think shutdowns are good leverage. It's a lesson I have certainly learned in my time here. Look, there's been two shutdowns since the time I have been there, and the aggressor in neither one was the winner. I think it's important to separate the tactics from the goal and the policy aim."

ROGER STONE SPEAKS ... SOME MORE -- GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS spoke with STONE on ABC NEWS' "THIS WEEK" via Quint Forgey: "'I'm 66 years old. I don't own a firearm. I have no prior criminal record. My passport has expired. The special counsel's office is well aware of the fact that I'm represented,' the longtime Republican operative and political provocateur [said]. ... 

"'They could simply have called my lawyers and I would have turned myself in,' Stone said. 'It's an expensive show of force to try to depict me as Public Enemy No. 1. The OG. It's an attempt to poison the jury pool. These are Gestapo tactics.'" POLITICO

-- CHRIS CHRISTIE also spoke with STEPHANOPOULOS about Stone: "The fact of the matter is that every white collar defendant in this circumstance, when they're confronted with a bunch of documents of their own making try to say that they're out of context. ... So the fact is that, you know, he's got a problem. Because they've got all these e-mails and text messages that he created that tell a pretty clear story. And I think it's going to be very difficult for a jury to listen to that and conclude that it wasn't what he was trying to do."

WHAT'S ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND -- @realDonaldTrump at 8:44 a.m.: "We are not even into February and the cost of illegal immigration so far this year is $18,959,495,168. Cost Friday was $603,331,392. There are at least 25,772,342 illegal aliens, not the 11,000,000 that have been reported for years, in our Country. So ridiculous! DHS".

SCOOP -- NYT'S MAGGIE HABERMAN and ANNIE KARNI: "Trump Meets With Hard-Right Group Led by Ginni Thomas": "President Trump met last week with a delegation of hard-right activists led by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, listening quietly as members of the group denounced transgender people and women serving in the military, according to three people with direct knowledge of the events. 

"For 60 minutes Mr. Trump sat, saying little but appearing taken aback, the three people said, as the group also accused White House aides of blocking Trump supporters from getting jobs in the administration. ... 

"During the meeting last Thursday in the Roosevelt Room, which was attended by about a half-dozen White House aides, one woman argued that women should not serve in the military because they had less muscle mass and lung capacity than men did, according to those familiar with the events.

"At another point, someone said that gay marriage, which the Supreme Court determined in 2015 was the law of the land, was harming the fabric of the United States. And another attendee was dismissive that sexual assault is pervasive in the military." NYT

WAPO'S JOSHUA PARTLOW and DAVID A. FAHRENTHOLD in Ossining, N.Y.: "Trump's golf course employed undocumented workers - and then fired them amid showdown over border wall"

COUNTER-NARRATIVE -- DES MOINES REGISTER'S ROBIN OPSAHL: "Steve King gets praise, recites poetry at first Iowa town hall since recent controversy"

    
         
2020 WATCH -- "Harris picks hotbed of anti-Trump movement for campaign launch," by Chris Cadelago and Carla Marinucci in Oakland, Calif.: "On Sunday, the Democratic senator will launch her presidential campaign here with a speech to thousands of supporters that she hopes will lay down a marker to Democratic voters - and be looked back upon as a milestone moment in her career and the 2020 campaign.

"Taking a cue from Barack Obama, the Democratic senator wants to connect her personal biography with her broader reason for running. She chose Oakland as a way to tie her campaign to the place that informed her values - a diverse and progressive city once known for its militant activism that's become a stronghold of the Trump rebellion." POLITICO

FIRST PERSON - WILLIE BROWN in the S.F. Chronicle, "Sure, I dated Kamala Harris. So what?"

TRUMP'S SUNDAY -- The president has nothing on his public schedule today.

CLICKER ... SNL LAST NIGHT -- "Tucker Carlson Cold Open"

                 PLAYBOOK READS         

PHOTO DU JOUR: Venezuela's self-declared interim leader Juan Guaido greets supporters after a rally at a public plaza in the Las Mercedes neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday. | Fernando Llano/AP Photo
   
WAR REPORT - "U.S. and Taliban Edge Toward Deal to End America's Longest War," by NYT's Rod Nordland and Mujib Mashal in Kabul: "The United States and the Taliban are closing in on a deal to end America's longest war after six days of some of the most serious Afghan peace negotiations to date wrapped up on Saturday. The talks in Doha, Qatar, lasted much longer than planned and longer than any previous attempt to end the 17-year conflict, and both sides publicly reported progress - a rarity.

"The chief American negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Twitter that the talks were 'more productive than they have been in the past' and he hoped they would resume shortly. ... [T]his is the first time in nine years of intermittent peace efforts that all sides seem serious about reaching a deal that, in the first phase, would exchange a Taliban cease-fire for a phased withdrawal of American forces. The Taliban would also pledge not to allow international terror groups to use Afghanistan as a launching pad for attacks against the United States." NYT

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "America Pushes Allies to Fight Huawei in New Arms Race With China," by NYT's David E. Sanger, Julian E. Barnes, Raymond Zhong and Marc Santora: "Over the past year, the United States has embarked on a stealthy, occasionally threatening, global campaign to prevent Huawei and other Chinese firms from participating in the most dramatic remaking of the plumbing that controls the internet since it sputtered into being, in pieces, 35 years ago." NYT

BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- VICTORIA COLLIVER: "Newsom makes health care the centerpiece of California's resistance to Trump": "For California under Gov. Gavin Newsom, the resistance to President Donald Trump is about health care. Much as his predecessor Jerry Brown made climate change the state's big challenge to Trump, Newsom has embarked on a health agenda that includes extending care to undocumented adults and direct government negotiation of drug prices.

"Unlike the other 2020 candidates pushing universal health care, Newsom's policies aren't just theoretical Washington talk, so there's much more at risk. If his innovations in expanding Obamacare, extending Medicaid to undocumented immigrants - itself a jab at Trump's hard-line immigration policies - and negotiating lower drug prices work, he could emerge as a hero of the Democratic Party. 

"His policies could be templates for candidates pushing ahead on universal health care - an aspiration shared by Democrats even if they are still divided on what specific policies to pursue and how quickly to pursue them." POLITICO

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:

-- "How Grief Became Joe Biden's 'Superpower,'" by POLITICO Magazine's Michael Kruse: "Two tragedies, 43 years apart, have defined the former vice president's life. Have they also made him a more formidable presidential candidate?" POLITICO Magazine

-- "The Gay Church," by Andrew Sullivan on the cover of New York Magazine: "Thousands of priests are closeted, and the Vatican's failure to reckon with their sexuality has created a crisis for Catholicism." NY Mag

-- "Does Journalism Have a Future?" by Jill Lepore in the New Yorker: "In an era of social media and fake news, journalists who have survived the print plunge have new foes to face." New Yorker

-- "Why Are Young People Pretending to Love Work?" by Erin Griffith in the NYT: "Never once at the start of my workweek - not in my morning coffee shop line; not in my crowded subway commute; not as I begin my bottomless inbox slog - have I paused, looked to the heavens and whispered: #ThankGodIt'sMonday. Apparently, that makes me a traitor to my generation." NYT

-- "Prices at Zuckerberg hospital's emergency room are higher than anywhere else in San Francisco," by Vox's Sarah Kliff: "Under the city's watch, the public hospital's prices have doubled since 2010." Vox

-- "'I'm Not the Morality Police': Inside Benjamin Brafman's Defense of Harvey Weinstein," by Eric Sullivan in Esquire: "Why did one of New York's most successful criminal defense lawyers feel up to representing the disgraced movie mogul? Just ask one of his past high-profile clients: Diddy. Jay Z. Martin Shkreli. Dominique Strauss-Kahn. (The list goes on.)" Esquire

-- "The New Language of Climate Change," by Bryan Bender in POLITICO Magazine in Phoenix: "Scientists and meteorologists on the front lines of the climate wars are testing a new strategy to get through to the skeptics and outright deniers." POLITICO Magazine

-- "Inside Facebook's 'cult-like' workplace, where dissent is discouraged and employees pretend to be happy all the time," by CNBC's Salvador Rodriguez: "Employees say Facebook's stack ranking performance review system drives employees to push out products and features that drive user engagement without fully considering potential long-term negative impacts on user experience or privacy." CNBC

-- "President Trump Posts Altered Photos to Facebook and Instagram That Make Him Look Thinner," by Matt Novak in Gizmodo: Gizmodo

-- "How a Teen's Death Has Become a Political Weapon," by Yascha Mounk in the New Yorker: "When a refugee killed a 14-year-old girl, Germany's far right saw opportunity in tragedy." New Yorker

-- "The Tech Revolt" - California Sunday Magazine: "A sometimes pointed, sometimes resigned conversation with engineers, designers, research scientists, and job candidates who are pushing for a more ethical Silicon Valley. ... Whether it was protesting projects with ICE and the Chinese government or walking out to demand better treatment of women, political activism has entered tech with a force that the industry has never experienced." California Sunday

-- "What a medical school on a Rwandan hilltop can teach the United States," by Sarah Karlin-Smith in Butaro, Rwanda: "Doctors learn to treat patients without all the high-tech tools - and fairness and access are crucial." POLITICO

                 PLAYBOOKERS      
SPOTTED: Jeff Bezos working out on Saturday at Equinox Sports Club in West End ... Jim Mattis and Henry Kissinger entering an elevator together at the Hay-Adams. They hugged upon greeting each other. Pic by Evy Mages

SPOTTED at the French Ambassador G&eacute;rard Araud's luncheon Saturday to honor "Women of Influence in Washington, D.C.," with guest of honor M. Fran&ccedil;ois-Henri Pinault, CEO and Chairman of Kering: Rima Al-Sabah, Kellyanne Conway, Francesca Craig, Elizabeth Dole, Robin Givhan, Juleanna Glover, Tammy Haddad, Ren&eacute;e Harbers-Liddell, Natalie Jones, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, Capricia Marshall, Connie Milstein, Mark Pryor, Susanna Quinn, Sally Quinn, Heidi Crebo-Rediker, Neera Tanden and Jayne Visser.

BIRTHDAYS: Heather Nauert (hat tip: Matt Mowers) ... Chief Justice John Roberts is 64 ... Keith Olbermann is 6-0 ... Howard Mortman, C-SPAN's comms director, is 52 ... Yahoo News' Holly Bailey ... Kendall Bianchi ... Meredith Kelly, communications director for Sen. Gillibrand's 2020 campaign ... Ben Kramer ... Raul Juste Lores ... Jess Wood ... Roxane Philson, ONE Campaign's chief marketing officer ... Connie Partoyan, president of Targeted Victory (h/ts Zac Moffatt and Blake Waggoner) ... Chelsea Patterson ... Kitty Bartels DiMartino ... Circle's Jared Favole is 36 ... Saul Carlin ... Will Rusche, COS at Vigilant (h/t Farrin Jay) ... former Rep. Dick Ottinger (D-N.Y.) is 9-0 (h/t Alan
 Roth) ... former Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) is 76 ... former Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio) is 58 ... former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) is 7-0 ... Jessica Fink, who was recently promoted to be VP at Groundswell Communications (h/t Ory Rinat) ... 

... Jake Goldman, COO of Risa Heller Communications (h/t Kam Mumtaz) ... Morry Cater ... Jay Hein, president of Sagamore Institute ... Alicia Tighe ... POLITICO's Jessica DiRocco ... Erin Lindsay ... CFR's Kayla Ermanni ... Nick Swezey ... Jennifer Bogdan, R.I. Gov. Gina Raimondo's incoming communications director, is 33 (h/t Mike Raia) ... Julia Kimani Burnham ... Jamal Ware ... Nomiki Konst ... Brian Harvey Hogue ... Seth Green is 39 ... CAP's Matt Lee-Ashley ... Arthur Fleischer is 86 ... Deloitte alum Shweta Ramakrishnan (h/t Michelle Fields) ... Josh Teitelbaum ... Peter Long ... Kurt Hauptman ... Daniel Och is 58 ... Laura Vecsey ... Scott Backer ... Mark Joseph ... Victoria Pfeiffer
 Metz ... Heath Clayton ... Carter Wood ... Judy Shapleigh ... Teresa Williams ... Christina Ciammaichelli ... Nathaniel DiRenzo ... Jeff Hale ... John Miyasato ... Rick Ridder (h/t Teresa Vilmain)
               
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