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Today's POLITICO Playbook presented by the Alzheimer's Association

By JAKE SHERMAN (sherman@politico.com; @JakeSherman), ANNA PALMER (anna@politico.com; @apalmerdc) and DANIEL LIPPMAN (daniel@politico.com; @dlippman)


Driving the Day
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: DNC PICKS TEAM FOR 2020 CONVENTION SITE SELECTION: Former DNC CEO Jess O'Connell will be leading the DNC's 2020 convention site selection process, according to multiple Democratic sources familiar with the effort. Brynne Craig, Lavora Barnes and Jaime Harrison will also be involved in the effort. Cities in the mix include: Houston, Milwaukee and Miami Beach.

THE DNC has not yet named its CEO for the convention.

THE RNC will hold its convention in Charlotte. ... CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: "The show must go on somewhere': How Charlotte police are prepping for RNC protests" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0dbf48ef254d7774e066d67f94f21e61e51040fbf401c181865f45138a49ca611b9010d7b59a2f8cd3769a2e499521b1 ... A1 http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0dbf48ef254d7774f6b9b56458e9639a73eb67bccf988de2908805e6ffa92fd5e9d42195de64e6cf988eb13295dfe521

THE PRESIDENT on the MICHAEL COHEN TAPES at 8:10 a.m.: "Inconceivable that the government would break into a lawyer's office (early in the morning) -- almost unheard of. Even more inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client -- totally unheard of & perhaps illegal. The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!"

-- YESTERDAY, Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, called the tapes "powerful exculpatory evidence."

-- AP'S ERIC TUCKER: "An attorney for President Donald Trump's former lawyer says 'any attempt at spin cannot change what is on' a recording of Trump discussing a potential payment for a former Playboy model's account of having an affair with him years ago. Attorney Lanny Davis said Friday the recording won't hurt his client, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

"Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani says the payment was never made. Giuliani says what's important is Trump said that if it were made it should be properly documented. A person familiar with a federal investigation into Cohen tells The Associated Press that Cohen made the recording two months before Trump's 2016 election. The person wasn't authorized to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0dbf48ef254d7774fa2cdaca244f61ff8346905b96fc101f787fd66ebf3e46440902e87ac0fbe71f0c52226e27984a5d

HOW IT PLAYED ... CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER: "Attorney taped Trump in 2016" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0dbf48ef254d7774a781f806df1699d709ee3583f41a4f0c255c3940728e96ddfc1c747fbb95b9894073e7d38c5e1787 ... STAR TRIBUNE, banner headline: "Trump knew of Playmate payoff" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0dbf48ef254d7774623be89c5756e0e89397067eab6dcf95b0b9c60e6ff5b6efd76628b4998a6e76191338c7c4a96e68

TICK TOCK ... WAPO'S ASHLEY PARKER, PHIL RUCKER, JOSH DAWSEY and CAROL LEONNIG: "[R]oughly an hour into the flight [to D.C. from Helsinki] Trump's mood darkened and grim reality set in as he consumed almost universally negative cable news coverage and aides began reviewing pages upon pages of printed-out statements from fellow Republicans lambasting the president. Trump called his former chief of staff, Reince Priebus, to gripe, and he also huddled with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in his cabin at the front of the plane to strategize. ...

"Trump himself was flummoxed. He waxed on about his impressions of Putin up close - strong, smart and cunning, in Trump's assessment - and told associates that he viewed the Russian as a formidable adversary with whom he relishes interactions. He also was furious with the negative media coverage of a summit that he felt had been a clear success. And he complained to some about what he viewed as an undercovered angle of the election controversy: That the [DNC] allowed its server to be hacked. ...

"Meanwhile, in a senior staff meeting, [Kellyanne] Conway pointed out to the team that [DNI Dan] Coats would be sitting down for an interview with NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell before a gathering of thought leaders and media elite in Aspen. Conway warned her colleagues that Coats could generate headlines - and she was prescient.

"The White House had little visibility into what Coats might say. The intelligence director's team had turned down at least one offer from a senior White House official to help prepare him for the long-scheduled interview, pointing out that he had known Mitchell for years and was comfortable talking with her.

"Coats was extraordinarily candid in the interview, at times questioning Trump's judgment - such as the president's decision to meet with Putin for two hours without any aides present beyond interpreters - and revealing the rift between the president and the intelligence community. The spectacle was all the more surprising considering that Coats is nicknamed 'Marcel Marceau,' after the French mime, in national security circles because the director so rarely opines as he did with Mitchell." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0dbf48ef254d7774dcd18ae040e8b29d4c6b9c9ef4fd8ff732c555fb4ec8a1e2a05ffaa3e8056c1af913dcd4b2595ca9

-- FOR GOOD MEASURE ... POST AND COURIER: "Accused Russian spy was guest at U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford's Thanksgiving BBQ last year" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b82bd730f319e170a7636d203e4d1ad69f5ed0ecfcdc820b0bc8545c0d2e0b0480d52f0d6d32a43b58d

-- "Bad Debts, Fraud Claims Trail Boyfriend of Alleged Russian Agent," by WSJ's Mark Maremont, Julie Bykowicz and James Grimaldi: Paul "Erickson also attempted to cultivate ties to the GOP on Russia's behalf, according to court papers. Prosecutors cite an email he sent to an acquaintance that read in part, 'I've been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin' and GOP leaders via the NRA." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b82d5b6e2e086fb7e93bec7eb1ff2bd808a2cee1d59bc623c8887faa3cd1e074893c84a6c8a26776f08

SCOOP - "Broidy accuses ex-diplomat of being secret Qatari agent," by Ben Schreckinger: "Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy accused a former high-ranking United Nations diplomat of serving as an undeclared agent of Qatar in a court filing in California this week. In the filing, Broidy also claims that the Persian Gulf state maintains an entire 'network' of undisclosed agents operating inside the U.S. ... Former United Nations Under Secretary-General Jamal Benomar, the alleged agent named in the filing, did not respond to requests for comment.

"Benomar, a U.K. citizen, was born in Morocco, where he was arrested and tortured for his opposition to the country's government. He went on to work for 25 years at the U.N., where he served as a special envoy for Yemen and a special adviser to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b82ba935007198d258ee36cab8530368cb22523350826bb88b047801e7a2d53c4938ece2ce0dfddd149

Good Saturday morning. PRESIDENT TRUMP is in Bedminster. He has no public events scheduled.

BACK TO HIS COMFORT ZONE -- @realDonaldTrump at 6:17 p.m.: "The NFL National Anthem Debate is alive and well again -- can't believe it! Isn't it in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart? The $40,000,000 Commissioner must now make a stand. First time kneeling, out for game. Second time kneeling, out for season/no pay!"

****** A message from the Alzheimer's Association: Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in the country. Every hour, Alzheimer's costs taxpayers $21 million dollars. Today, Alzheimer's costs the country $277 billion a year and that will quadruple to more than $1 trillion over the next generation. Funding for Alzheimer's research must increase. Learn more at alz.org/askcongress ******

MORE HELSINKI FALLOUT ... "Coats faces greater scrutiny as fallout from Russia summit spreads," by Chris Cadelago and Martin Matishak: "As the fallout from his Russia summit spills into the weekend and spreads among his staff, President Donald Trump is retreating to the site of his most consequential personnel decision, the dismissal of FBI Director James Comey last spring.

"Trump's return to his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, where he often surrounds himself with close friends and family, follows a calamitous week, beginning with the news conference in Finland with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and ending with news that the president's longtime personal attorney made a recording of Trump talking about payments related to a former Playboy model.

"Trump loyalists have come to see the White House staff's response as insufficiently supportive, as officials inside struggle to explain the president's seesaw statements about Putin and Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The hair-trigger situation culminated in an on-brand yet off-message remark by his director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, stirring further angst among some in the president's inner circle." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b82e3d353c841ca0e488ab90fdff9eedfea9126e538037ebccc1b903ecbc2a6fd67439e9d4123a3266f

-- "Russia continues to shape narrative of Helsinki summit," by WaPo's Karen DeYoung: "Russia provided additional details Friday of what it said were agreements made at the presidential summit in Helsinki this week, shaping a narrative of the meeting with no confirmation or alternative account from the Trump administration. Not surprisingly, the Russian story line tended to favor the Kremlin's own policy prescriptions, at times contradicting stated administration strategy.

"Russia already has sent formal proposals to Washington for joint U.S.-Russia efforts to fund reconstruction of war-ravaged Syria and facilitate the return home of millions of Syrians who fled the country, following 'agreements reached' by President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, the three-star head of the Russian National Defense Management Center, said Friday." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b82be0e18f1d56ce68e29edcef2744c15881b7d9fc9b9141568322ff9d861e2a5fa1903facfdbf749ae

-- MIKE MCFAUL (@McFaul): "I did not ask Putin to attack me in Helsinki to raise book sales. Please stop with these cynical quips. Having Putin accuse me of committing crimes as a USG official is a serious matter that will complicate my travel and work for a long long time."

-- CNN'S RYAN BROWNE (@rabrowne75): "In a move likely to irk Moscow, the Pentagon has released $200M in new security assistance to Ukraine days after the Trump-Putin meeting, according to U.S. & Ukrainian officials. The funds will go toward counter-artillery radars, vehicles, night vision, comms, & medical equipment".

TRADE WARS -- "Trump's new midterm threat: A trade war smacking voters," by Megan Cassella: "President Donald Trump's trade wars could become a major political drag for Republicans, with job losses and price increases piling up just as voters head to the polls in November.

"Trump jolted markets once again early Friday when he said he's prepared to impose penalties on some $500 billion in Chinese goods regardless of the consequences that might ensue, economic or political. 'Look, I'm not doing this for politics,' the president said on CNBC. 'I'm doing this to do the right thing for our country.'

KEY GRAPH: "But market analysts, industry experts and economists warn that the economic fallout of the president's tariffs - those that are already in effect and those he's threatening to impose - is only going to intensify over the coming months and could reach a peak around election time." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b82f8e51108a45bbb8cfc8091c4db659ac7be2418a36a42b3d7dfee994ee01a62b31f9c0fd81d9780c6

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Exclusive: U.S. open to lifting sanctions off aluminum giant Rusal -- Mnuchin," by Reuters' David Lawder in Sao Paulo: "The U.S. Treasury is open to removing Russian aluminum producer Rusal from a U.S. sanctions list, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday, adding the objective was 'not to put Rusal out of business.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b82474a8687819414d9a952cfbb09b5470bbc02ca6215a2ada864704066354d7d06a1668162f29cab45

2018 WATCH -- WAPO'S PAUL KANE: "Midterm history 101: Trump's win a boost to chances for Senate Democratic incumbents": "In 2012, Sen. Sherrod Brown faced more than $24 million in ads from conservative groups opposing his first reelection. Six years later, the Democrat has been forgotten as outside groups have almost entirely abandoned the Ohio airwaves, vastly improving his chances to win a third term in November. Brown's comfortable position comes as something of a surprise given President Trump won Ohio by more than 8 percentage points in 2016.

"But a new study, by a Republican strategist, suggests it should not be a surprise at all. Bruce Mehlman, a former Bush administration official, surveyed the past 10 midterm elections - covering 333 Senate races dating to 1978 - and discovered Brown's standing is actually the norm for a midterm election. And it is all because of Trump. 'The single most important factor is whether your party occupies the White House. If you are out of power and an incumbent, you just rarely lose,' said Mehlman, now a partner at a bipartisan lobbying firm.

"Consider other Senate Democrats in similar states. Brown is one of five running in a state Trump won by single digits. Four other members of the Democratic caucus are seeking reelection from states Trump narrowly lost. Of those nine contests, Florida is the only toss-up, according to independent handicappers. Republicans are trailing in the other races, at this point, reducing the amount of defense Democrats will have to play this fall." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b828d6f7df8992c7a45d2fcf93e349c3a3ced55e2c1c9eaa48f6535f5005958c28b10f1484bee7a84fe ... Mehlman's study http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a854f28a230b1b8294b99a6e5aebf6269d104611cdc269ddec84a85d85a85d51b7f92581007f98954fd799934434c7c5

K FILE -- "GOP congressman said blacks have 'entitlement mentality' and view themselves as victims," by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski, Nathan McDermott and Christopher Massie: "Republican Rep. Jason Lewis has a long history of racist rhetoric about African-Americans, pushing claims of a 'racial war' by blacks on whites and arguing that violence regularly occurs at black gatherings. ... Lewis made those comments on 'The Jason Lewis Show,' a syndicated radio program Lewis hosted from 2009 until 2014 with the tagline 'America's Mr. Right.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53597b42a15588bcbad670b76f5c889b91c8e21e562b1adaa7f9fd6c4156d20ebc9846fcfe896bd9578f2799ce78ff9d

-- JUST WONDERING: When will GOP leaders address Lewis and his comments?

THE INVESTIGATIONS ...

-- "Russian operatives blasted 18,000 tweets ahead of a huge news day during the 2016 presidential campaign. Did they know what was coming?" by WaPo's Craig Timberg and Shane Harris: "On the eve of one of the newsiest days of the 2016 presidential election season, a group of Russian operatives fired off tweets at a furious pace, about a dozen each minute. By the time they finished, more than 18,000 had been sent through cyberspace toward unwitting American voters, making it the busiest day by far in a disinformation operation whose aftermath is still roiling U.S. politics. The reason for this burst of activity on Oct. 6, 2016, documented in a new trove of 3 million Russian tweets collected
by Clemson University researchers, is a mystery that has generated intriguing theories but no definitive explanation.

"The theories attempt to make sense of how such a heavy flow of Russian disinformation might be related to what came immediately after, on Oct. 7. This was the day when Wikileaks began releasing embarrassing emails that Russian intelligence operatives had stolen from the campaign chairman for Democrat Hillary Clinton, revealing sensitive internal conversations that would stir controversy for weeks." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53597b42a15588bc6ccb5ab196adbc357df65f6653b89fc93e645c5de3174d0cb3918d1273e31443bdccb49c76acf099

-- "A Top Bernie Sanders Adviser Is Named In The Evidence List For Paul Manafort's Trial," by BuzzFeed's Ruby Cramer: "Emails and documents from Tad Devine, a political operative who served at the highest levels of the Bernie Sanders campaign, could be presented as evidence in the Special Counsel's Office's prosecution of Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign chair. In a list of government exhibits released this week, at least 16 items relate to work by Devine or his consulting firm, Devine Mulvey Longabaugh.

"The documents referenced - including emails, invoices, and memos - date from 2006 to 2014. ... Devine did not return a request for comment about his involvement in the case, including a question about when he stopped working with Manafort. His firm declined to comment." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53597b42a15588bc0d238f2b00610d0ed6e0c4f7e7a8bc45db1e40f29af0cacea09b7b6257286fc7bd49af7b66c6cb51

-- "Facebook Suspends Analytics Firm on Concerns About Sharing of Public User-Data," by WSJ's Kirsten Grind: "Facebook Inc. suspended another company that harvested data from its site and said it was investigating whether the analytics firm's contracts with the U.S. government and a Russian nonprofit tied to the Kremlin violate the platform's policies. Crimson Hexagon, based in Boston, has had contracts in recent years to analyze public Facebook data for those and other clients." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53597b42a15588bcece4b248b66f7394b474efa01e2fa86caae3808334692df487ad7d7cf5e4df047e6a994776fd95b0

CLICKER - "The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics," edited by Matt Wuerker -- 11 keepers http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53597b42a15588bc9446016f1cd17b254c3e6d565e1764a7380bc5aeeb5ac4fe58f2e87a8d668ea7e921d48bad05c4a9

HOLLYWOODLAND -- per Deadline's Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski: "In [Shonda] Rhimes' return to Washington and the White House where her Scandal was set, she is producing 'The Residence,' [for Netflix] based on Kate Andersen Brower's 2016 nonfiction book 'The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House,' an inside look into the lives of the First families - from the Kennedys to the Obamas - through the eyes of their staffers." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53597b42a15588bc8cd3c1b63fda5b9f692de577e126e7dabc78ea6e0451596bc19510b62677691087566be439354a40


Playbook Reads
AT LANGLEY -- "CIA watchdog withdraws nomination after allegations of retaliation against colleagues," by CNN's Jenna McLaughlin: "Christopher Sharpley, the acting Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency, is withdrawing his nomination after former colleagues alleged he retaliated against them for blowing the whistle on CIA IG officials' alleged mishandling of evidence. According to two sources familiar with the matter, and confirmed by the CIA, Sharpley sent an email to staff on Wednesday telling them he was pulling back his nomination to be CIA Inspector General and would be retiring from CIA within 30 days to seek other opportunities."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53597b42a15588bc74a90c47723a5d91bf3599b509bd73e99efeea6f58f2ef4427a91a538a3af24c2f6b140eafda1785

FIRST PERSON -- NYT'S MAGGIE HABERMAN, "Why I Needed to Pull Back From Twitter": "After nearly nine years and 187,000 tweets, I have used Twitter enough to know that it no longer works well for me. I will re-engage eventually, but in a different way. Twitter has stopped being a place where I could learn things I didn't know, glean information that was free from errors about a breaking news story or engage in a discussion and be reasonably confident that people's criticisms were in good faith.

"The viciousness, toxic partisan anger, intellectual dishonesty, motive-questioning and sexism are at all-time highs, with no end in sight. It is a place where people who are understandably upset about any number of things go to feed their anger, where the underbelly of free speech is at its most bilious. Twitter is now an anger video game for many users. It is the only platform on which people feel free to say things they'd never say to someone's face. For me, it had become an enormous and pointless drain on my time and mental energy." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53597b42a15588bcce2ad450bd8d505e62903781a262fbd9e99c913225260c682d4d689d6db340196b8433b27de01364

****** A message from the Alzheimer's Association: Costing taxpayers $21 million every HOUR, Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in the country. More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's and 16 million family and friends are providing care. Alzheimer's is a national issue, and needs a national response. Alzheimer's yearly cost of $277 billion will quadruple to more than $1 trillion over the next generation - a crisis we cannot afford and shouldn't accept. While it is the only leading cause of death that can't be prevented, cured, or even slowed, research and medical advancement can change that. That's why the Alzheimer's Association is fighting to end the disease
through the advancement of research, while also providing care and support for all affected. Learn more at alz.org/askcongress. ******

BANNON BEAT -- "Steve Bannon Launches Right-Wing Foundation to Hijack Europe," by the Daily Beast's Nico Hines in London: "Steve Bannon plans to go toe-to-toe with George Soros and spark a right-wing revolution in Europe. Trump's former White House chief advisor told The Daily Beast that he is setting up a foundation in Europe called The Movement which he hopes will lead a right-wing populist revolt across the continent starting with the European Parliament elections next spring.

"The non-profit will be a central source of polling, advice on messaging, data targeting, and think-tank research for a ragtag band of right-wingers who are surging all over Europe, in many cases without professional political structures or significant budgets. Bannon's ambition is for his organization ultimately to rival the impact of Soros's Open Society, which has given away $32 billion to largely liberal causes since it was established in 1984." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798efbd903443981f186fc4df51a36f785446722f53b9b89a9f99cb2abb4462edb8f56348ee0d2f0f7b37

ZACH WARMBRODT, "Adversaries to allies: How Hensarling, Waters came together on bill": "When Maxine Waters was sparking outrage among President Donald Trump's allies by calling for the public shaming of his advisers, one key conservative was quietly courting her: Waters' old adversary, Jeb Hensarling of Texas. What emerged from their talks over the past few weeks surprised many in Washington: a wide-ranging and broadly bipartisan bill that would ease financial regulations and protect investors. The House passed it this week in a 406-4 vote." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798ef6495f22422f19e293ff9cc20d3189dc1a6ed28a98b79ce9e88e23c13655b36456f40bcfa31f0dd60

L.A. TIMES: "State strips ex-USC medical school dean of license, citing 'an appalling lack of judgment'," by Matt Hamilton and Harriet Ryan: "The state agency that regulates physicians on Friday ordered USC's former medical school dean stripped of his license to practice medicine, citing "an appalling lack of judgment" in his use of drugs and association with a circle of addicts and criminals while leading the major institution.

"The Medical Board of California announced that it was adopting the findings of an administrative law judge who heard days of testimony this spring from Dr. Carmen Puliafito and other witnesses. The decision does not go into effect for 30 days, and Puliafito has the option to appeal. His attorney, Peter Osinoff, did not respond immediately to a request for comment." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798efc3d78008b32a03d459a6ed144195726db2e26843164e815dcc2a8915a0f40ee5a88ed13412177385

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN in WaPo, "News organizations must stand for free speech. Don't muzzle the people who work for them": "It is absurd to require NDAs for employees of broadcast news organizations - whose right to speak freely is already protected by the First Amendment. Moreover, what is so secret in a news organization that it needs draconian protection? Newsgathering isn't like sharing Coca- Cola's secret formula with Pepsi. There are no real trade secrets in TV news. Everything I did on my shows on three different networks - from segment times, to interviews, to video clips - was immediately in the public domain. The only thing that needs hiding is bad behavior, which, sadly, is hardly
limited to sexual harassment." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798ef9a132d8d1023c08853e2e026d445bc74ab71cae79d745ccfd9ca389277fc4971c58a643970571b7b

MEDIAWATCH -- "Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving the Atlantic," by WaPo's Erik Wemple: "Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving his position as a national correspondent for the Atlantic, a publication where he has emerged as one of the country's top reporters and thinkers. He has not signed on with a competing publication. ... 'I became the public face of the magazine in many ways and I don't really want to be that. I want to be a writer,' said Coates.

"'I'm not a symbol of what the Atlantic wants to do or whatever.' He's still a writer, whose gigs include a new book, comic-book writing, teaching at New York University. And if [Atlantic editor Jeff] Goldberg gets his wish, some freelancing in the future." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798ef3f6c9027f3b6d7e457ff0a067bd49af306ea823336841ae4794451ed9901f6605d68f62508d1cf00

-- "Kimberly Guilfoyle Did Not Leave Fox News Voluntarily, Sources Say: Scoop," by Yashar Ali in HuffPost: "Three sources tell HuffPost that longtime Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle did not leave the cable news network voluntarily." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798ef168874500ad7cc1f05aaf019df15007a96d64626f83d18865ea658c1ccfe0ef38e8a7e414cc16525

-- "Seb Gorka in Talks to Be Salem Radio's New Host, as Network Plots a 'Coup' Against Its Trump Critics," by the Daily Beast's Andrew Kirell, Asawin Suebsaeng and Maxwell Tani: "Salem Radio Network, a national right-wing news and talk radio operation that's home to prominent conservative voices such as Hugh Hewitt and Lou Dobbs, is looking to bring on Sebastian Gorka, the controversial, firebrand ex-Trump adviser, as one of its new hosts. According to four sources with knowledge of the situation, the ousted White House official and Steve Bannon ally has been in talks with Salem ...

"When reached for comment by The Daily Beast on Friday early evening, Gorka would not say whether he will join the right-leaning media outfit. Instead, he berated the reporter for referring to him by his first name, 'Sebastian,' adding: 'You don't f***ing know me.' The Daily Beast then asked if he preferred 'Mr. Gorka,' without factoring into the conversation that he very likely prefers 'Dr. Gorka.' 'I don't talk to people who aren't real journalists,' Gorka added. 'Goodbye, and delete this number.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798ef0db31a85a96e79db5f2da6206d42d9dc23f0292841a992646ace1a5217ebb19d046be0449f6c731b

GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:

-- "For One Last Night, Make It a Blockbuster Night," by Justin Heckert in the Ringer - per Longreads.com's description: "What's the major difference between renting a movie at Blockbuster and streaming it on Netflix? ... [A]s the last Blockbuster video stores close, the people of Alaska won't just miss the blissful comfort and simplicity of family movie night. They'll miss the human interaction that can be the best part of visiting the video store in person: the colorful people, the jokes, the laughs, and the delightful camaraderie of discovering a shared favorite film at the checkout counter." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798ef47152d6bc1e2a1efcdb2d2434579b095f304837c4cab090cdaca38026c04e484055db815c5c768e9

-- "The Extraordinary Life of Martha Gellhorn, the Woman Ernest Hemingway Tried to Erase," by Paula McLain in Town and Country: "A maverick war correspondent, Hemingway's third wife was the only woman at D-Day and saw the liberation of Dachau. Her husband wanted her home in his bed." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798ef53b0994c7cfdbb126ea8a6354823783bcaa98a6e0918395f48dc3e6d932e8760b73fd7764b46b6be (h/t Longform.org)

-- "Standing Up for Democracy American Values and Great Power Competition," by Richard Fontaine and Daniel Twining in Foreign Affairs: "Efforts to support democracy should emphasize not a missionary vision of spreading 'American' values around the world but, rather a hard-edged, practical strategy of empowering countries to protect their own sovereignty. No nation wants to be part of another's sphere of influence, and nationalism remains a potent force. By mobilizing to protect against the establishment of authoritarian great-power spheres of influence, the United States can offer a vision that appeals to both the values and interests of countries around the world."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=addde4d52db798ef5fce0bc357fc7712d966295b0ec4b41d7a903eca1252419b38d99ded872c7623e242fac9d4bbb177

-- "Zuckerberg: The Recode interview," by Recode's Kara Swisher: "'I think it'll take about three years to fully retool everything at Facebook to be on top of all the content issues and security issues. But the good news is we're about a year and a half in. I do think that by the end of this year, we'll have significantly turned the corner on a lot of these issues. I don't think we're gonna be as good as we would like to next year, either, but I think it'll be close.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a46402e3df0a52432c095ceec88c2218c8705803bda94b1b55dab4350dd985fe1aa3fa8e66499095fd7b81afef53f3d2

-- "Balding Out," by Christopher Balding, an American professor who spent nine years in China: "I leave China profoundly worried about the future of China and U.S. China relations. China is a rising power, and, probably more importantly, it is a deeply illiberal, expansionist, authoritarian, police state, opposed to human rights, democracy, free trade, and rule of law. China presents a fundamental threat to the liberal democratic order, and the ignorance on display by so many is simply mind boggling." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a46402e3df0a524383c7c93acc0f2db49cffd833b6af18f80e7dfc06fd0051852017506d28a4c6359b32baf22925ffc0

-- "Putin: The one-man show the West doesn't understand," by Fiona Hill in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in April 2016: "For Putin, to plan strategically means planning for contingencies. This is something all operatives learned in the KGB: Operations inevitably go wrong; events throw off the best-laid plans. You have to have backup plans. Putin's next steps always depend on how everyone else reacts. His ability to translate quick thinking into action and change course at the last minute gives him a significant advantage." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a46402e3df0a5243d4c546aad9d311f06564843a4778820435e87030346a51d68664a34294ae527914c4f29301580ce2 (h/t TheBrowser.com)

-- "Hunting the Con Queen of Hollywood: Who's the 'Crazy Evil Genius' Behind a Global Racket?" by the Hollywood Reporter's Scott Johnson: "For more than a year, some of the most powerful women in entertainment - including Amy Pascal, Kathleen Kennedy, Stacey Snider and a 'Homeland' director - have been impersonated by a cunning thief who targets insiders with promises of work, then bilks them out of thousands of dollars. The Hollywood Reporter has obtained exclusive audio recordings of the savvy imposter as victims come forward and a global investigation heats up." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a46402e3df0a5243dafa756c7e4ca38621402a6e73131dd3fcd09742acd4cb1317bbfa7f500dddfca392988e07ece5a5

-- "Aly Raisman Takes the Floor," by Mina Kimes in the Heroes issues of ESPN the Magazine: "In her fight to end sexual abuse, the Olympic champion is challenging the very institutions she led to glory." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a46402e3df0a52433403a13b8661116d072803ac337abb3b119b6dcfeabbf8f20b276caa09a7991f5de1f8dd347a1ee8

-- "The oil giant that was 'forced to shrink to greatness,'" by WaPo's Steven Mufson: "Since the [Deepwater Horizon] blowout, BP has sold off $75 billion of assets to cover unprecedented government fines, private damage claims and legal bills. It has retooled facilities, ousted two top executives and been lucky with the ups and downs of oil prices. Now it is once again investing profitably in massive oil and natural gas projects, including a Caspian gas pipeline, wells offshore Egypt and the fracturing of shale gas rock formations in east Texas." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a46402e3df0a52433c4475090d10635202eef73e6fa35dc3627350c2afbe976abe9231157a774ca4e560a5cd28431039

-- "George Soros Bet Big on Liberal Democracy. Now He Fears He Is Losing," by Michael Steinberger in NYT Magazine: "His enemies paint him as all-powerful, but the billionaire philanthropist believes that his political legacy has never been in greater jeopardy." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a46402e3df0a5243e242f600c4db54f2b9c816ff4ffd9840e2c31c4e2fc4fa7a6a123402385078034e06a9e716b57790

-- "'A Dog's Breakfast of Media Leftovers': Murdoch, Iger, Roberts and the Frenzied Summer of Merger Mania," by Joe Pompeo in September's Vanity Fair: "As Comcast withdraws its pursuit to buy a lion's share of Rupert Murdoch's life's work, a new era is dawning on the media landscape-one that pits old stalwarts against incipient behemoths, and one that has united the strangest of bedfellows." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a46402e3df0a5243258381629ef69ffc9b8d5f59b60b9c6b5f78e04f07ac745b9b013d27251e097f06ae51d4a1a8608a

Playbookers
ASPEN PARTY CIRCUIT -- SPOTTED at a dinner in Aspen at the mountain home of former Bush and Clinton White House official Karen Brooks, cohosted by John McLaughlin and Juleanna Glover and sponsored by the geopolitical risk prediction company Predata: Jeremy Bash, Jim Sciutto, Afghan Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib, Singapore Ambassador Ashok Mirpuri, Bill Browder, Greg Clark, Mike Isikoff, Dan Klaidman, Terry Moran, Kim Dozier, Betsy Woodruff, Tara Palmeri, Eli Lake, Josh Rogin, Mina Chang, Eric Schmitt and Julia Ioffe.

BIRTHDAYS: Mark Preston, executive director of CNN political programming and senior political analyst. He's celebrating in Roanoke, where his son's Little League team is in the state tournament (hat tip: Ed Meagher) ... OMB director Mick Mulvaney is 51 ... Bob Shrum is 75 (h/ts Tammy Haddad and Jon Haber) ... Google's Ali-jae Henke ... Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy is 63 ... Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is 66 (h/t Arjun Mody) ... Michelle Young ... Brian Parnitzke, RNC director of turnout and targeting (h/t Ryan Mahoney) ... Ford's Christin Tinsworth Baker ... Billy Schuette ... Steve Lerch ... Nancy LeaMond, EVP at AARP ... Blaire Luciano Constable ... Dale Schuurman ... Gary Crider ... Rep.
James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is 78 ... Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.) is 71 ... Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) is 73 ... former Rep. Ed Towns (D-N.Y.) is 84 ... John Negroponte is 79 ... Rachel Davis ... Jessica Menter ... Politico's Trudy Bedword ... Stacey Moreau Tank ... Phyllis Rubin ... Dave Noble ... Pip Deely ... Edelman's Athena Johnson ... Fox News' Peter Doocy is 31 ... Amanda K. Ruisi ... CRC's Garrett Ventry ... Katie Gillen ...

... Molly Schweickert (h/t Blake Waggoner) ... National Journal's Nia Prater (h/t Zach Cohen) ... Lauri Cipriano ... Julie Wadler (h/t Tim Burger) ... Katherine Schneider ... Ron Smith, managing editor/news at USA Today ... Michael Sessums, co-founder of Ibex Partners, former Burson-Marsteller and Foreign Service Officer and Nats fan (h/t Ben Chang) ... EPA alum Jahan Wilcox (h/ts Colin Reed and Caitlin Conant) ... Jen Corey Baca ... Matt Tully ... Ron Colburn ... Otto Heck ... Adam Kroczaleski ... Amanda Carey ... Jen Bluestein ... Shavon Arline-Bradley (h/ts Kelley McCormick and Kacy Hutchison) ... Doug Mellgren ... Amanda Elliott ... Greg Richardson ... Patty Morneault Richter ... Trita
Parsi, founder and president of NIAC ... Theresa Vawter ... Gen. Dick Tubb ... Carrie Simms ... Travis Thomas ... Wendy Wilkinson ... Meaghan Wolff ... David Stacy ... Lisa Neubauer.

THE SHOWS, by @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:

-- CBS's "Face the Nation": Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ... Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ... Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) ... Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) ... John Kerry. Panel: Susan Page, Susan Glasser, Ramesh Ponnuru and Jeff Goldberg

-- NBC's "Meet the Press": Preempted for British Open coverage

-- ABC's "This Week": Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) ... Tom Bossert ... Susan Rice. Panel: Alex Castellanos, Stephanie Cutter, Matthew Dowd, Michelle Goldberg and Margaret Hoover

-- CNN's "State of the Union": Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) ... Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.). Panel: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), Karine Jean-Pierre and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.)

-- "Fox News Sunday": Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) ... Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). Panel: Brit Hume, Marie Harf, Guy Benson and Juan Williams

-- Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures": Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) ... Bill Browder ... House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) ... Alan Dershowitz. Panel: Ed Rollins and James Freeman

-- Fox News' "MediaBuzz": Sean Spicer ... Liz Claman ... Kat Timpf ... Jessica Tarlov ... Trish Regan

-- CNN's "Inside Politics": Panel: Eliana Johnson, Josh Dawsey, Manu Raju and Lisa Lerer.

-- CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS": Panel: David Remnick, Stephen Sestanovich, Katrina vanden Heuvel and David Sanger ... Tony Blinken

-- CNN's "Reliable Sources": Panel: Jill Dougherty, Karen Tumulty and Max Boot ... Chris Ruddy ... Maggie Haberman ... David Zurawik and Olivia Nuzzi

-- Univision's "Al Punto": Alison Valencia Madrid and her mother Cindy Madrid ... Adolfo Franco and Fabian Núñez ... José Miguel Vivanco ... Miguel Basáñez ... Kany García

-- C-SPAN: "The Communicators": Two separate guest interviews from Anchorage, Alaska: GCI general counsel and SVP Tina Pidgeon and Alaska Collaborative for Telemedicine & Telehealth president-elect Christopher Dietrich ... "Newsmakers": Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos (D), questioned by The Hill's Reid Wilson and Politico's Eric Geller ... "Q&A": Author Grace Kennan Warnecke.

-- MSNBC's "Kasie DC": Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) ... DCCC Chairman. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) ... Bill Browder ... Michael Schmidt ... Phil Rucker ... Yamiche Alcindor ... Katty Kay ... Kevin McLaughlin ... Ali Vitali ... Jahana Hayes

-- Washington Times' "Mack on Politics" weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher or listen at MackOnPolitics.com): Former CIA senior analyst and CSIS senior fellow and Korea chair Sue Mi Terry.

****** A message from the Alzheimer's Association: Alzheimer's is not a red or blue issue. 73 million American voters - nearly half - know or have known someone with Alzheimer's or another dementia. And nearly a quarter of all registered voters have served as an unpaid caregiver to a friend or relative with the disease. Alzheimer's remains the only leading cause of death in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed - yet. Only medical breakthroughs can change that. The Alzheimer's Association is committed to supporting advancements in research that will lead to the first Alzheimer's survivor. With 4 in every 5 voters supporting an increase in federal funding for
Alzheimer's research, Congress should make the same commitment. Learn more at alz.org/askcongress. ******

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