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By Seung Min Kim (
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skim@politico.com or @seungminkim)

LAWMAKERS SLAM EBOLA RESPONSE - The Wall Street Journal: "In [a] nearly three-hour hearing Thursday, which pulled lawmakers off the campaign trail, House members raised alarms that one of the nurses was allowed to fly shortly before being diagnosed with Ebola. Lawmakers also questioned infection-control protocols at the Dallas hospital. The hospital conceded it made mistakes. 'It would be an understatement to say that the response to the first U.S.-based patient with Ebola was mismanaged,' said Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee ... Some Democratic lawmakers also said the cases of Ebola in the U.S. were a wake-up call for the need
for more funding for national health agencies.

--'We have all heard the grave warnings that this will get worse before it gets better, and folks are scared,' said House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan. Much of the heat at the hearing was directed at Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who has been the administration's public face of the response for weeks. Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) joined a small number of Republican lawmakers who have called on him to resign, saying Dr. Frieden's 'response to the spread of the Ebola virus has been nothing short of pathetic.'"

--Still, POLITICO's David Nather and Brett Norman write that Frieden's job seems to be safe - for now: "[S]o far, the criticisms don't appear to be rising to the level where the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needs to worry about his job. Frieden came through a three-hour House hearing Thursday with some bruises but also with his ability to function as director seemingly intact ... by the end of the hearing, none of the subcommittee members had called for Frieden to resign. In fact, the chairman, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, specifically said he wants Frieden to stay."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b52b2e96292d2cc58339782ebc8f72372d525e46526b95882c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b52b2e96292d2cc58339782ebc8f72372d525e46526b95882c

--Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) says Frieden is the "new commander of the Democrats' war on women nurses." Buzzfeed:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b5c79c862177f89a8d6c610e265d4dea029c537cd8d69f07cb
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b5c79c862177f89a8d6c610e265d4dea029c537cd8d69f07cb

OBAMA: EBOLA CZAR 'MAY BE APPROPRIATE' - The New York Times: "President Obama raised the possibility on Thursday that he might appoint an 'Ebola czar' to manage the government's response to the deadly virus as anxiety grew over the air travel of an infected nurse ... Mr. Obama spoke Thursday night after meeting with several top aides working on the Ebola issue. The president praised their work but said they were also responsible for other tasks, including national security matters and other health care concerns. 'It may be appropriate for me to appoint an additional person, not because they haven't been doing an outstanding job, really working hard on this issue, but they are also
responsible for a whole bunch of other stuff,' Mr. Obama told reporters."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b569d1db0c922ca174c26a329a7029c93ce276b1be578f2101
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b569d1db0c922ca174c26a329a7029c93ce276b1be578f2101

--Sen. Rand Paul (R-Texas) insists during a stop in New Hampshire that Ebola can be spread between people standing three feet from each other - comments that the AP notes "directly conflict with statements from world health authorities who have dealt with Ebola outbreaks since 1976."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b543104d40bcf2ab0d9902de87c9cf58f1408cec6510084d83
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b543104d40bcf2ab0d9902de87c9cf58f1408cec6510084d83

SUPPORT GROWS FOR TRAVEL BAN - Reuters: "Republican lawmakers dragged the Ebola crisis into the political arena on Thursday, ramping up their demands that President Barack Obama impose new restrictions on travel from countries ravaged by the deadly virus ... The Obama administration has resisted a ban on travel from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa, where thousands have died in the Ebola outbreak that began in March. 'The president has that authority. He's choosing not to exercise it,' said Representative Michael Burgess, a Texas Republican."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b554f2225190bb3aed0d711a877feb6976d938164b8683b62c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b554f2225190bb3aed0d711a877feb6976d938164b8683b62c

--Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) calls for Congress to return to Washington to act on a travel ban:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b511560cc3759a69ecbc4ea72ee680fdb335d5f05c3bbedcca
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b511560cc3759a69ecbc4ea72ee680fdb335d5f05c3bbedcca

--The HuffPost hed on their version of the travel ban story: 'EXPERTS? WHO NEEDS 'EM?'
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b5b8d7b3da458a7806252fe7442c7b7e114f9bc4a70ee0b3d0
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b5b8d7b3da458a7806252fe7442c7b7e114f9bc4a70ee0b3d0

DEMS BRAWL OVER HARKIN'S MILLIONS - Manu Raju and John Bresnahan with the behind-the-scenes battle between top Senate Democrats and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) over his campaign cash: "Despite direct appeals from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other top Democrats, Harkin has refused to transfer money from his $2.4 million campaign account to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ... Instead, the retiring Iowa senator has informed party leaders that he plans to use the campaign funds for a charitable contribution to an entity that bears his name: The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement at Drake University in Des Moines."

--"The issue has been the subject of multiple tense meetings. Reid first made a plea for money during a face-to-face meeting with Harkin in April, and again at another session in late summer when he was joined by Harkin and DSCC Chairman Michael Bennet of Colorado. Harkin said no both times ... 'It is ridiculous that Bruce Braley is getting outspent by Republicans when Tom Harkin is sitting on over $2 million in his campaign account,' said one senior Democratic aide ... Harkin declined to be interviewed, but a spokeswoman for the senator, Susannah Cernojevich, strongly disputed that the Iowa senator was being stingy."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b58d2334ad0f682f7b9771b0325e14f05c484227590e77ed2c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b58d2334ad0f682f7b9771b0325e14f05c484227590e77ed2c

LATINOS, LABOR LINE UP BEHIND PEREZ - POLITICO's Edward-Isaac Dovere, Carrie Budoff Brown and yours truly: "Hispanic lawmakers, immigration advocates and labor allies are lining up to lobby President Barack Obama to nominate Labor Secretary Tom Perez as attorney general. Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus want to endorse Perez to be Eric Holder's replacement even before they return to Washington next month. The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda urged Obama in a letter this week to nominate Perez. Immigrant activists say they couldn't ask for a better friend. And liberal groups view him as the best on the shortlist to tackle race issues."

--"An email circulated Thursday to key staffers from the CHC by Rep. Ben Luján (D-N.M.), who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus diversity task force, wanted to gauge support for a formal Perez endorsement. It's 'possible' Obama will nominate someone before they're back in town Nov. 12 for the lame-duck session, the email reads, 'so we're hoping to act on this in advance of that.' Perez has 'the qualifications, the understanding and the heart we need in an attorney general,' said CHC Chairman Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas)."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b5acb85ab3d8620d8eb720dc01f9c9f2dd9f57c682bace9661
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=058d4266863f41b5acb85ab3d8620d8eb720dc01f9c9f2dd9f57c682bace9661

--The Washington Post's Al Kamen and Sari Horwitz lay out just how jammed the timeline will be for confirming a new attorney general in the lame duck session:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822d46f36ed26183e9ab879be9684a129ab0f66c2adbefe3ae1
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822d46f36ed26183e9ab879be9684a129ab0f66c2adbefe3ae1

--The Huffington Post's Jen Bendery writes about the fate of Obama's judicial nominees in a GOP-led Senate:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822bc9c551eaa2c844a73f0c4acad31c43a4f1ee30a91a1a9d1
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822bc9c551eaa2c844a73f0c4acad31c43a4f1ee30a91a1a9d1

BUSH NOT BLAMED IN SENATE CIA REPORT - McClatchy with the exclusive: "A soon-to-be released Senate report on the CIA doesn't assess the responsibility of former President George W. Bush or his top aides for any of the abuses of the agency's detention and interrogation program, avoiding a full public accounting of one of the darkest chapters of the war on terror. 'This report is not about the White House. It's not about the president. It's not about criminal liability. It's about the CIA's actions or inactions," said a person familiar with the document ... The Senate Intelligence Committee report also didn't examine the responsibility of top Bush administration lawyers in crafting the legal
framework that permitted the CIA to use simulated drowning called waterboarding and other interrogation methods widely described as torture, McClatchy has learned."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822f4d790ac80b6d933cd07c0b6bb959231ecbd4b58ddf0e3bf
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822f4d790ac80b6d933cd07c0b6bb959231ecbd4b58ddf0e3bf

SURPRISE! New Gallup Poll out this morning: "Weeks Before Elections, Congressional Approval Still Low." Congress earns a 14 percent approval rating from the public - not much higher than Gallup's historical low of 9 percent in November 2013.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822d1aff3de7413fd6f4283d4540292af4e4306d9bfe3010de7
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822d1aff3de7413fd6f4283d4540292af4e4306d9bfe3010de7

--But there are people who still give Congress an "A" for their work, and Reid J. Epstein for the Wall Street Journal finds them:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc618222434acb9f30bb9ca5ff374f83ffec4f188281ca8c06728f7
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc618222434acb9f30bb9ca5ff374f83ffec4f188281ca8c06728f7

DEEP DIVE MUST-READ - Esquire talks to 90 (!) lawmakers about what's gone so wrong with Congress:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc6182292855e6c26a2536f0112bacf778c2a50b93e58aae88de49e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc6182292855e6c26a2536f0112bacf778c2a50b93e58aae88de49e

TRANSITIONS - Laura Zapata, press secretary for Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), is marking her last day on Capitol Hill today. She'll head out west for a new gig, which will be formally announced soon. Friends and colleagues gathered at Hill Country earlier this week to raise a glass in her honor.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, OCT. 17, 2014 and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Thank goodness it's Friday - and Burgess Everett will be taking over next week, so please send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints, and corrections to
mailto:beverett@politico.com
beverett@politico.com and
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow us on Twitter @burgessev and @seungminkim.

My new followers include @NALEO and @NewsNatasha.

AROUND THE HILL - All is quiet.

RECORD AAPI CANDIDATES THIS YEAR - MSNBC: "A record number of Asian-American and Pacific Island candidates are running for national office this November ... 22 Asian and Pacific Island candidates are running for Congress in 12 states and territories, nearly doubling the number of candidates who ran in 2008. The candidates skew left: Sixteen of them are running as Democrats, five as Republicans, and one as an Independent."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc618223c98861b8948b96c4bc626eff1eddc2e1f0625459d6a0990
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc618223c98861b8948b96c4bc626eff1eddc2e1f0625459d6a0990

IT'S GOOD TO BE (ANGUS) KING - Bloomberg's Lisa Lerer: "While the Maine independent was meeting with top Pakistani officials in Islamabad on a trip ending this week, he was becoming a bit of a sensation back at home. Independent Senate candidates in South Dakota and Kansas are dropping his name, hoping to prove to voters that non-party candidates are not political unicorns ... 'It's not like I'm out, trying to organize a third party or something or are either of those guys,' [King] said. 'It's a reflection, though, of the public frustration with the two parties and with the idea that these are the only choices we have.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc618220a12ac005657ba46bf72d71dc620de11591a8239cabaa35b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc618220a12ac005657ba46bf72d71dc620de11591a8239cabaa35b

SENATE DEM WOMEN BOOST GRIMES - From the Louisville Courier-Journal: "Late one night earlier this year, Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow was shopping in a grocery store when her cellphone rang. It was Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate, and she wanted to talk. 'I have her cellphone and e-mail, and she has mine,' Stabenow said. In fact, that's an arrangement most if not all of the Democratic women senators have with Grimes and other Democratic women who are Senate candidates this year."

--"Call it the most exclusive women's club. Advice, strategy and tactics, understanding - and, yes, money - are all benefits Grimes is reaping from being a member of that club as she seeks to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822b759ab194099385bec1a9b3a9a26f25b6ee020daeab80d88
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822b759ab194099385bec1a9b3a9a26f25b6ee020daeab80d88

DON YOUNG: 'IF YOU CROSS THE LINE, I'M NOT A TEDDY BEAR' - A fun profile from CQ Roll Call: "Rep. Don Young, the House's longest-serving Republican, has survived more than four decades in Congress despite a reputation for being ornery, aggressive - and maybe even a little unstable. In many ways, his confrontational style fits the personality of his far-flung state ... Young, 81, has never been known for his social grace. In the '90s, the former tugboat captain brandished a walrus penis bone - also known as an oosik - at a committee hearing."

--And then there's this nugget from the story: "Most recently, before an October debate with his Democratic challenger, Forrest Dunbar, Young had a bizarre backstage exchange with his opponent. When Dunbar touched the congressman's arm, Young allegedly told him, 'The last guy who touched me ended up on the ground dead.' CQ Roll Call asked Young about that comment - whether the last person to touch him really did end up dead. The congressman's response: 'There's some truth to that.' It's unclear if he was suggesting there was some truth to what Dunbar said, or, more hair-raisingly, if there was some truth to someone ending up dead. Young didn't elaborate, and his press secretary instructed
CQ Roll Call to move on."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822d3285433781ed094b94b4945dd4c42406840279abb9a7097
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=63221201acc61822d3285433781ed094b94b4945dd4c42406840279abb9a7097

WHISPER TRACKING HILL USERS? POLITICO's Hadas Gold: "The anonymous message-sharing application Whisper allegedly stores information and tracks users that could be newsworthy, regardless of whether they've opted out of location tracking services, the Guardian reports. ... These include users on Capitol Hill, the White House, the National Security Agency, military personnel and one 'sex-obsessed lobbyist in Washington, D.C.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2d29d4f74c9202625dbfa90a6511499e35301fcbe4a29fe9a6c67530bf8c76d9
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2d29d4f74c9202625dbfa90a6511499e35301fcbe4a29fe9a6c67530bf8c76d9

SENATE DEMS PUSH DHS ON DETENTION CENTER - Roll Call's Humberto Sanchez: "A group of 10 Democratic Senators, including the party's leaders, raised concerns with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson over plans for a massive new detention facility for immigrants here illegally. 'This decision threatens to make permanent a practice of presumptive detention for families and marks a reversal of this administration's family detention policy,' the letter said." The government plans to open a new 2,400-bed detention center in Dilley, Texas.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2d29d4f74c920262ee89eb9b2e3cc747e6cb276a845253a0718809d5f65ae8ea
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2d29d4f74c920262ee89eb9b2e3cc747e6cb276a845253a0718809d5f65ae8ea

GRAYSON DIVORCE GETS MESSIER - The AP: "U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson's messy divorce is getting messier, at least when it comes to his house. Court papers filed by his estranged wife, Lolita, claim that the Democratic congressman failed to pay for repairs for the 5,300-square-foot Orlando house where she is living with their four children. The roof is leaking, broken windows are allowing rain to get inside and the house has a significant mold problem because of the moisture ... She also said the congressman cut off her credit cards, even though he has been the sole financial provider during their 24 years of marriage."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2d29d4f74c92026270f30282f9a461f13eed3fe7e0e5be4a541fbb31f6560fd7
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2d29d4f74c92026270f30282f9a461f13eed3fe7e0e5be4a541fbb31f6560fd7

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - It was a three-way tie: Paul Hays, Wilfred Codrington and Catherine Caponi all answered correctly within seconds of each other that Albert Clinton Horton was the first lieutenant governor of Texas, and he previously served in the Alabama House of Representatives.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Catherine has today's question: What was the first department in the president's Cabinet to be led by a woman, what was her name and who appointed her? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email
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skim@politico.com .

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