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Presented by PhRMA: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Washington Oct 07, 2018 View in browser
By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
THE PRESIDENT'S WEEK AHEAD ... MONDAY: PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP will participate in a swearing-in ceremony for Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice on the Supreme Court. Trump will also deliver remarks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual convention. TUESDAY: The president will have lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He will also travel to Iowa for a political rally.

WEDNESDAY: Trump will have lunch with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. He will also travel to Pennsylvania for a political rally. FRIDAY: He will travel to Ohio for a political rally.

SUNDAY BEST -- SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-MAINE) MAKES THE SUNDAY SHOW ROUNDS ...

-- JOHN DICKERSON spoke with COLLINS for CBS' "FACE THE NATION": DICKERSON: "Hardest decision you've ever made?" COLLINS: "It certainly ranks right up there. There's no doubt about it. There have been out there very difficult decisions but this was a tough one." DICKERSON: "I heard George W. Bush made a number of calls to you." COLLINS: "He did. He actually called me three times. He knows Brett Kavanaugh very well and wanted me to know of his personal experience with him and endorsement of him."

DICKERSON: "Give me a sense, since you gave this speech what the reaction has been like?" COLLINS: "It has been overwhelming on both sides. I've heard from people that I haven't heard from in many, many decades. And I heard from a lot of protesters, as well as people who support my decision."

-- DANA BASH spoke with COLLINS for CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": BASH: "Ford was really clear, under oath, under pain of perjury, that she was 100% certain that it was Brett Kavanaugh who sexually assaulted her. So given the decision you made, do you not believe her?"

COLLINS: "Let me say this. First of all, I found Dr. Ford's testimony to be heart-wrenching, painful, compelling, and I believe that she believes what she testified to. I don't think she was coming forth with a political motive. Although I do not think that she was treated well by those who breached her confidence. But we also had a case where Judge Kavanaugh came forward and said I'm 100% certain that this did not happen. So here you have two people, who are each 100% certain of what they're saying, under pain of perjury, so then I had to look at the other evidence, and was there corroborating evidence, and that's why I pushed hard for the FBI to do a supplemental background investigation."

BASH: "So do you still think it is possible that he did it? You just don't have the proof to back that up? "COLLINS: "I do not believe that Brett Kavanaugh was her assailant." BASH: "So..." COLLINS: "I do believe she was assaulted. I don't know by whom. And I'm not certain when."

MCCONNELL'S TAKE: "McConnell: 'The Senate's not broken'," by Victoria Guida: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday said the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a 'low point in the Senate' but he is proud of how his fellow Republicans handled it. 'The Senate's not broken,' McConnell said on 'Fox News Sunday.'

"He distinguished between the contentious fight over alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh and his decision as majority leader not to even consider former President Barack Obama's 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in a presidential election year. 'We didn't attack Merrick Garland's background and try to destroy him,' McConnell said. 'We simply followed the tradition of America.'

"'You have to go back to 1880 to find the last time a vacancy created in a presidential election year on the Supreme Court was confirmed by a Senate of a different party than the president,' he added." POLITICO

ON IMPEACHING KAVANAUGH ... SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DEL.) speaking with CHUCK TODD on NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": "I think that's premature. I think, you know, frankly we're just less than a month away from an election. Folks who feel very strongly, one way or the another, about the issues in front of us should get out and vote and participate. There's only ever been one justice that's been impeached and I think talking about it at this point isn't necessarily healing us and moving us forward.

"Chuck, the Senate's role in our in our politics is not to just reflect the country, but to help heal and lead the country, and that's the course we should be on."

-- "Hirono: Kavanaugh's SCOTUS seat has 'big asterisk'," by Victoria Guida: "Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) on Sunday said the confirmation of now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was tainted by the 'sham' investigation into allegations of sexual assault, but declined to call for his impeachment.

"'He's going to be on the Supreme Court with a huge taint and a big asterisk after his name,' Hirono said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'Everyone knows when you just interview a small number of people and not the dozens of others who wanted to be interviewed by the FBI, it's a sham. And it raises more questions than it answers.' POLITICO

-- COLLINS and SEN. HEIDI HEITKAMP (D-N.D.) will be on CBS' "60 MINUTES" this evening to talk about the vote.


A message from PhRMA:

New analysis shows some hospitals mark up medicine prices 700% or more. This means if a hospital purchased a medicine for $150, a 700% markup could result in patients being billed $1,050 for that medicine. These hospital markups lead to higher costs for everyone - patients, employers and payers.

SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT YESTERDAY ...

-- INSIDE THE CHAMBER FOR THE VOTE: Brett and Ginger Loper. Brett is the senior VP of American Express, and the former policy director for John Boehner. Ginger worked in the Bush White House. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who also is a former Bush aide, brought his kids to see the vote -- he told Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn that he wanted them to be there for the historic moment. Nick Ayers, VP Mike Pence's chief of staff, was sitting in the gallery, directly across from Pence, who was presiding over the vote. Don McGahn was also in the chamber.

-- SENS. CORY BOOKER (D-N.J.) and KAMALA HARRIS (D-CALIF.) walked into the chamber together at 3:41 p.m. They are both considered 2020 candidates.

-- THE VOTE BEGAN at 3:44 p.m., and the first protester screamed: "Where's my representation!" She was protesting that the District of Columbia does not have representation in Congress.

-- SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R-ARIZ.) got up and left at 3:50 p.m. -- just after he cast his vote.

-- THE LAST PERSON TO CAST A VOTE: Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who didn't show up to the floor until the very end.

-- AFTER THE VOTE WAS OVER, SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.VA.) went to talk to SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-MAINE). Just about every Republican went to congratulate SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY.), who was standing with Cornyn.

-- MCCONNELL started out his press conference with this quip: "I always thought landslides were kind of boring anyway."

-- ON ANGER IN THE SENATE: "These things always blow over."

-- KAVANAUGH SUPPORTERS gathered in the Mansfield Room for a private reception with Grassley and McConnell, who both got a standing ovation. SPOTTED per a tipster: "Later, in the gallery some of the folks were: Don McGahn, Leonard Leo and Jonathan Bunch of [the Federalist Society], Raj Shah, Tim Goeglein, Mallory Quigley and Billy Valentine of SBA List, Gary Marx of JCN, Janae Stracke of CWA, to name a few."

-- FACEBOOK'S JOEL KAPLAN and his wife LAURA COX KAPLAN hosted a Kavanaugh celebration at their house last night for people who had worked on his nomination. Brett and Ashley Kavanaugh stopped by the gathering of about 25 people that was organized by Laura, Ginger Loper and several other Kavanaugh female supporters.


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HOW IT PLAYED -- NYT: "Kavanaugh Is Sworn In After Close Confirmation Vote in Senate" ... WAPO: "Kavanaugh sworn in as Supreme Court justice after divided Senate votes for confirmation" ... WSJ: "GOP Prevails in Fight to Confirm Kavanaugh"

NEW: CBS NEWS BATTLEGROUND TRACKER: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz vs. Rep. Beto O'Rourke 50-44 ... Arizona Rep. Kyrsten Sinema vs. Rep. Martha McSally 47-44 ... Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn vs. Phil Bredesen 50-42 ... New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez vs. Bob Hugin 49-39. Full Results

Good Sunday morning. SPOTTED: JARED KUSHNER and IVANKA TRUMP running the Army Ten-Miler this morning. They're running it with White House colleague Cassidy Dumbauld.

WHAT PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS THINKING -- (@realDonaldTrump) at 4:15 p.m.: "I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court. Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!"

... at 5:57 p.m.: "The crowd in front of the U.S. Supreme Court is tiny, looks like about 200 people (& most are onlookers) -- that wouldn't even fill the first couple of rows of our Kansas Rally, or any of our Rallies for that matter! The Fake News Media tries to make it look sooo big, & it's not!

... at 9:21 p.m.: "You don't hand matches to an arsonist, and you don't give power to an angry left-wing mob. Democrats have become too EXTREME and TOO DANGEROUS to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law -- not the rule of the mob. VOTE REPUBLICAN!"

-- TRUMP on FOX NEWS' "JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE": "Well, there were a lot of things happening that weren't correct, they weren't true, and there were a lot of things that were left unsaid. I thought I had to even the playing field, because it was very unfair to the judge. And now I can very nicely say Justice Kavanaugh. ... It was a very unfair situation. So I evened the playing field. Once I did that, it started to sail through. He was treated very, very unfairly, Jeanine."

ELANA SCHOR, BURGESS EVERETT and NANCY COOK: "A GOP 'disaster' averted: The final harrowing hours of Kavanaugh's confirmation": "Asked whether he thinks Schumer played any role in the initial media report revealing Ford's letter, Grassley said: 'I don't know. But it seems like all of the things that are reflected in the resistance seem to encompass more than just the Judiciary Committee. And it would take more than 10 Democrats on our committee to accomplish what was accomplished.'

"Schumer issued a searing response to POLITICO. 'Nobody has treated Senator Feinstein more despicably and disrespectfully than Senator Grassley,' the New Yorker said in a statement. 'Democrats on the Judiciary Committee and off are aghast at his behavior throughout this episode.'" POLITICO

-- "Show How You Feel, Kavanaugh Was Told, and a Nomination Was Saved," by NYT's Peter Baker and Nicholas Fandos: "Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh sat in the anteroom of Room 216 in the Hart Senate Office Building, a sterile, living-room-like space with a couch and a couple of armchairs and a large television on the wall. His chances of joining the Supreme Court seemed to be vanishing. 'Disaster,' read the text message from one Republican. Christine Blasey Ford had just finished testifying that he had tried to force himself on her as a teenager, and nearly everyone in both camps found her credible, sincere and sympathetic.

"President Trump called Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, and they agreed she was impressive. 'We're only at halftime,' Mr. McConnell said, trying to be reassuring. Mr. Trump thought it was time to bring in the F.B.I. to investigate, as many opponents of Judge Kavanaugh had urged, but when he called the Hart Building, Donald F. McGahn II, his White House counsel, refused to take the call. Instead, Mr. McGahn cleared the room and sat down with Judge Kavanaugh and his wife, Ashley Kavanaugh." NYT

-- TRUMP CALLS WAPO TO DUMP ON MURKOWSKI -- "Trump says Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski 'will never recover' for voting no on Kavanaugh," by WaPo's Phil Rucker: "President Trump predicted Saturday that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) 'will never recover' politically for her vote against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh as he celebrated his nominee's ascension following an extraordinarily brutal confirmation process.

"In a brief telephone interview with The Washington Post, Trump said voters in Alaska 'will never forgive' Murkowski for voting against confirming Kavanaugh, and he forecast her defeat in a Republican primary should she run for reelection in 2022. 'I think she will never recover from this,' Trump said. 'I think the people from Alaska will never forgive her for what she did.' ...

"'She doesn't run for four years,' he said. 'She's lucky.' Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin tweeted tauntingly at the senator on Friday: 'Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house...' Asked whether Palin might mount a credible GOP primary challenge, Trump said, 'I don't know anything about that. It's four years. That's a long time. But they will not forget. They will never forget. What she did was unacceptable. Really unacceptable.'" WaPo

IT'S NOT OVER -- ELANA SCHOR and BURGESS EVERETT: "McConnell calls for investigation into leak of Ford letter"

-- "D.C. Circuit sent complaints about Kavanaugh's testimony to Chief Justice Roberts," by WaPo's Carol D. Leonnig, Ann E. Marimow and Tom Hamburger: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has received more than a dozen judicial misconduct complaints in recent weeks against Brett M. Kavanaugh, who was confirmed as a Supreme Court justice Saturday, but has chosen for the time being not to refer them to a judicial panel for investigation.

"A judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit - the court on which Kavanaugh serves - passed on to Roberts a string of complaints the court received starting three weeks ago, said four people familiar with the matter." WaPo

-- "McConnell: Conservative revamp of the courts isn't done yet," by Burgess Everett and John Bresnahan: "Mitch McConnell isn't done with his 'project' to revamp the nation's courts. Hours before the Senate was set to approve Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the Senate majority leader said in an interview Saturday that he plans confirmations of more lifetime justices before the November election. The Kentucky Republican plans to meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) about a package of nominees - and Schumer's response could determine when or whether Schumer's vulnerable members will be able to go home and campaign for their seats.

"'There are still tools that I have available, that's why I canceled the August recess. And that's something I'll discuss with Sen. Schumer before we leave for the election,' McConnell said in a telephone interview, as he began an extended victory lap on Kavanaugh's confirmation. He said 'of course' more judges will be confirmed before Nov. 6, though Democrats may now be under enormous pressure to block as many judges as they can after the deflating loss on Kavanaugh." POLITICO

THE STEP BACK: JOHN F. HARRIS: "Whether Trump knew it or not, his remarks were perfectly pitched to stoke anxieties that have haunted many top Democratic operatives for a generation: the fear that their party loses big power struggles because Republicans are simply tougher, meaner, more cynical and more ruthless than they are.

"A belief in one's own virtue feels good. Losing a battle that could shape the American political landscape for decades feels bad. The tension between the two left some Democrats grappling anew this weekend with the implications: Maybe they really are the Wet Rag Party." POLITICO

T-MINUS 29 DAYS: "Anger vs. elation: Parties scrap for Kavanaugh edge in midterms," by James Arkin: "Republicans' vigorous defense of Brett Kavanaugh jolted the GOP base and boosted the party's spirits heading into the midterms. But sustaining that momentum through Election Day won't be easy.

"The 'Brett bounce,' as some Republican operatives have referred to it, coincided with the moment when voters began to tune into the midterm elections in earnest. Several Republican Senate campaigns began airing TV ads and aggressively fundraising off the Kavanaugh fight, while attempting to spin it into a larger argument about control in Washington and the threat to President Donald Trump if Democrats win.

"But Democrats say their voters are equally galvanized. Anger on the left is high after Republicans muscled Kavanaugh through in the face of sexual assault allegations against him. Protesters have stormed Capitol Hill in recent weeks aiming to pressure swing votes on both sides of the aisle." POLITICO

TRUMP IN KANSAS -- "In Topeka, Trump seeks to turn Kavanaugh victory into Republican rallying cry," by Jonathan Shorman and Hunter Woodall of the Kansas City Star: "President Donald Trump reveled in the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday to the U.S. Supreme Court during a rally with thousands of supporters in Kansas.

"Thunderous cheers greeted Trump, who denounced Democrats as an "angry, left-wing mob" in the wake of their opposition to Kavanaugh. The 50-48 Senate vote to confirm Kavanaugh came after weeks of controversy following sexual assault allegations leveled against him.

"'They threw away and threw aside every notion of decency and due process,' Trump said to the crowd inside the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka. 'Radical Democrats,' he said, launched a 'disgraceful campaign' to discredit Kavanaugh from the moment his nomination was announced this summer." Kansas City Star

SNL LAST NIGHT - "Brett Kavanaugh Post-Game Cold Open": "CNN interviews Republican senators Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett), Lindsey Graham (Kate McKinnon), Susan Collins (Cecily Strong), Jeff Flake (Pete Davidson) and Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell (Aidy Bryant) as well as Democratic senators Chuck Schumer (Alex Moffatt) and Joe Manchin (Mikey Day) about the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court." 6-min. video
PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: Vice President Mike Pence waves to protesters from the steps of the Capitol after presiding over Brett Kavanaugh's successful confirmation to the Supreme Court. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

2020 WATCH -- NATASHA KORECKI in Des Moines -- "Cory Booker roars into Iowa": "Just hours after casting a vote in one of the most contentious Supreme Court confirmation battles in history, Cory Booker stepped on stage in a packed Iowa conference hall and unofficially launched his 2020 campaign.

"Speaking before 1,500 energized Democrats at the party's premier Fall Gala event, the New Jersey senator acknowledged their likely feelings of defeat and of anger after the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh earlier that day. He then delved into race struggles, poverty, his own personal political defeats and finding faith, despite it all.

"If other top-tier potential contenders weren't rethinking their decision to avoid Iowa this far in advance of 2020, they might be now. Booker had the room silently mesmerized at some points, and won roaring standing ovations at others. 'How long will it take? I'm going to tell you not long now,' Booker roared, quoting from Martin Luther King Jr.'s legendary speech in Montgomery, Alabama. 'Because it's not long until November!'" POLITICO

FIRST LADY WATCH -- "Does Melania Trump Ever Tell the President to Put Away His Phone? 'Yes!'" by NYT's Katie Rogers in Cairo: "Of the president's Twitter habits, 'I don't always agree what he tweets, and I tell him that,' she said. 'I give him my honest opinion and honest advice. Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn't. I have my own voice and my opinions and it's very important to me that I express how I feel.' When asked if she ever tells the president to put away his phone, Mrs. Trump quickly replied, 'Yes!'" NYT

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Pompeo cites progress made with Kim Jong Un on N. Korea trip," by AP's Matthew Lee in Seoul, South Korea: "U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made unspecified progress Sunday toward an agreement for the North to give up its nuclear weapons. But there was no immediate indication whether Pompeo had managed to arrange a much-anticipated second summit between Kim and President Donald Trump." AP

WSJ: "GOP Operative Secretly Raised at Least $100,000 in Search for Clinton Emails," by Byron Tau, Dustin Volz and Shelby Holliday: "A veteran Republican operative and opposition researcher solicited and raised at least $100,000 from donors as part of an effort to obtain what he believed to be emails stolen from Hillary Clinton, activities that remain of intense interest to federal investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller's office and on Capitol Hill.

"Peter W. Smith, an Illinois businessman with a long history of involvement in GOP politics, sought and collected the funds from at least four wealthy donors as part of the plan to obtain Mrs. Clinton's stolen emails from hackers just weeks before election day in 2016, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal." WSJ


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Nearly 1 in 5 hospitals mark up medicine prices 700 percent or more.

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from Nashville:

-- "'He Actually Believes He Is Khalid': The Amazing 30-Year Odyssey of a Counterfeit Saudi Prince," by Mark Seal in Vanity Fair: "Investors all over the world fell for the schemes of the man who called himself Khalid bin al-Saud. But the truth turned out to be more incredible than the lie." VF

-- "The Bad, Good Lawyer," by Andrew Rice in New York Magazine: "Was David Boies just doing right by Harvey Weinstein? Or did he cross an ethical line?" NYMag

-- "The Comforting Fictions of Dementia Care," by Larissa MacFarquhar in the New Yorker: "Many facilities are using nostalgic environments as a means of soothing the misery, panic, and rage their residents experience." New Yorker

-- "Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Unlikely Path to the Supreme Court," by Jill Lepore in the New Yorker: "Before she became a hero to feminists, she had to overcome their distrust." New Yorker

-- "He Won $19 Million in the Lottery-And Became a Bank Robber," by Natalie O'Neill in the Daily Beast: "Jim Hayes won the jackpot of a lifetime and spent big on Lamborghinis and Vegas gambling trips. Then his life went south and he turned to crime." Daily Beast

-- "Safe House," by Lizzie Presser in California Sunday: "A group of Latina women across the country have been working in secret, turning their homes into shelters for abused immigrant women." California Sunday

-- "The Loneliest Democrat in America," by Splinter's Hamilton Nolan -- per Longform.org's description: "On the campaign trail in the most Republican congressional district in America." Splinter

-- "The Real Cost of Working in the House of Mouse," by Jaeah J. Lee in Topic: "For more than 63 years, Disneyland has proclaimed itself the 'happiest place on earth.' But a recent survey revealed that one in 10 of its employees has experienced homelessness while working there. How the world's most famous theme park became a distinctly unmagical place to make a living." Topic

-- "Why Did No One Save Gabriel?" by Garrett Therolf in The Atlantic: "He was 8 years old, and the signs of abuse were obvious. Yet time and again, caseworkers from child-protective services failed to help him." The Atlantic

-- "Lessons from the Last Swiss Finishing School," by Alice Gregory in the New Yorker: "An abundance of wealth and time are de-facto prerequisites for admission at the Institut Villa Pierrefeu." New Yorker

-- "The Squid Hunter," by David Grann in the New Yorker in May 2004: "Can Steve O'Shea capture the sea's most elusive creature?" New Yorker

-- "A Surgeon So Bad It Was Criminal," by Laura Beil in ProPublica: "Christopher Duntsch's surgical outcomes were so outlandishly poor that Texas prosecuted him for harming patients. Why did it take so long for the systems that are supposed to police problem doctors to stop him from operating?" ProPublica

MEDIAWATCH -- "Turkey concludes Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi killed by 'murder' team, sources say," by WaPo's Kareem Fahim in Istanbul: "Turkey has concluded that Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent journalist from Saudi Arabia, was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last week by a Saudi team sent 'specifically for the murder,' two people with knowledge of the probe said Saturday. Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team 'came from Saudi Arabia. It was a preplanned murder,' said one of the people. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. They offered no specific evidence to back up the account.

"Earlier Saturday, however, Turkey's Anadolu news agency said the Istanbul public prosecutor's office had opened a probe into Khashoggi's disappearance. Turkish authorities have said that Khashoggi never left the consulate. Saudi Arabia had vehemently denied that Khashoggi, who contributed to The Washington Post's Global Opinions section, was detained after he entered the mission." WaPo ... Some of his columns for the Post
PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) walking his daughter Annie Daines down the aisle in Gallatin County, Montana, on Saturday - she married Brad Moss - pic ... another pic

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Vanessa Morrone, White House regional communications director, married Michael Ambrosini, principal at Michael Best Strategies and former special assistant to President Trump and director of the office of the chief of staff. The couple, both RNC alums, got married in Kenosha, Wis. (Morrone is former Miss Kenosha), and the reception and dinner was at the Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee. Pic ... With the Priebuses

SPOTTED: Reince, Sally, Jack and Grace Priebus, Sean Spicer, Cara Mason, Tory Maguire Sendek, Steve Munisteri, John and Jen Phillippe, Ninio Fetalvo, Janet Montesi, Lauren Hernandez, Alex Angelson and Rebecca Card, Doug Coulter, Matt Hawkins, and Jeff and Doreen Larson.

-- "Julia Alschuler, Justin Goodman" - N.Y. Times: "Ms. Alschuler, 29, is the deputy director at the Combined Defense Project, a nonprofit environmental advocacy coalition, part of the Partnership Project in Washington. She graduated from Wesleyan University. ... The groom, 30, is the national press secretary for Senator Chuck Schumer of New York in Washington. He graduated from the Geneseo College. ... The couple met while working on the 2013 mayoral campaign for Christine C. Quinn, the former speaker of the New York City Council." With a pic. NYT

-- HILLARY ALUMNI: "Elizabeth Zaretsky, Lauren Peterson" - N.Y. Times: "Ms. Zaretsky ... 25, is a digital strategy consultant, specializing in fund-raising for progressive political candidates, in Brooklyn. She graduated from the University of Iowa. ... The couple met in 2012 while working on President Barack Obama's re-election campaign in Chicago, and began dating while working in Brooklyn on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, in 2015. Ms. Peterson, 31, is a speechwriting consultant in Brooklyn, and is an author of 'Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead,' (Touchstone, 2018). She graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison." With a pic. NYT

HAPPY 11th ANNIVERSARY to Melissa Kelly, chief of staff for Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas), and David Kelly.

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Patrick O'Connor of the U.S. Chamber and an NRSC alum

BIRTHDAYS: Chris Krueger of Cowen & Company is 38 ... Alice Lloyd, staff writer at the Weekly Standard ... Adam Fetcher ... Emily Davis, deputy assistant USTR for public and media affairs ... GWU professor Sean Aday is 51 ... Suz Redfearn ... DNC chairman Tom Perez is 57 ... NYT's Charlie Savage, a Pulitzer Prize winner ... Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel ... Lt. Col. Oliver North (ret.) is 75 ... Barbara E. Martinez ... Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) is 63 ... Mark Orlowski ... Brandon Hurlbut, Obama WH and DOE alum now co-founder of Boundary Stone Partners ... CNN's Elizabeth Hartfield ... Bill Sweeney, staff director for the Senate DPCC ...

... Roll Call photog Tom Williams is 44 (hat tip: Tim Burger) ... Todd Weiler ... Kate Berner ... Arie Lipnick ... Jay Korff ... MTA chair Joe Lhota ... Jacqueline Murphy ... Politico Europe's Anca Gurzu ... Patricia VanDyke ... former Interior deputy secretary David J. Hayes ... David Gellman ... Jackie Murphy ... Holly Arthur ... Allison Worsham ... Gavin Carson ... Stephen Jackson ... Dinah Abrahamson ... James Ramsey ... Catherine Jaynes ... James Ramsay ... BP's Tara Napier Harrison ... Jen Hengstenberg ... John Hedgecoth ... Mary Cox (h/ts Teresa Vilmain


A message from PhRMA:

Nearly one in five hospitals mark up medicine prices 700% or more, according to a new analysis. This means that if a hospital purchased a medicine for $150, a 700 percent markup could result in patients being billed $1,050 for that medicine. Even worse, 320 hospitals in the study marked up prices more than 1000%. These hospital markups lead to higher costs for everyone - patients, employers and payers. When hospitals mark up the cost of medicines...Patients pay the price.

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