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Presented by Everytown for Gun Safety: Rated the #1 political newsletter by political professionals. Feb 25, 2019 View in browser
By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
NEW ... OPPOSITION TO TRUMP'S NATIONAL EMERGENCY GROWS ... 23 FORMER REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS have penned a letter, urging legislators to "pass a joint resolution terminating the emergency declared by the President." The letter

-- WAPO: "Former senior national security officials to issue declaration on national emergency," by Ellen Nakashima

THE SUMMIT ...

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, speaking Sunday night at the Governors' Ball: "[W]e'll be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, and we'll be meeting with Kim Jong Un. It's a very interesting thing to say but I've developed a very, very good relationship. We'll see what that means, but he's never had a relationship with anybody from this country and hasn't had lots of relationships anywhere. ...

"When I first came in, or really more particularly at the end of the last administration, there were rockets going up, there were missiles going up, there were bombs going off, there were massive cannons being tested. If you ever saw the picture of the beach, I've never seen anything like it where you had literally thousands of cannons on the beach shooting out into the waters.

"And there was nuclear testing. In fact, they thought it was earthquakes. They said there are massive earthquakes and then they realized it was North Korea. They said, 'Wow, it's maybe not an earthquake.' Now there's no testing, there's no rockets, there's no nuclear testing, and we get along well, very well, so it will be very interesting to see."

-- AP'S FOSTER KLUG in Hanoi: "Vietnam vows 'maximum level' security for Trump-Kim summit": "With North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on an armored train barreling through China toward Vietnam's capital, and U.S. President Donald Trump about to board a jet for Hanoi, Vietnamese officials scrambled Monday to finish preparations for a rushed summit that will capture global attention.

"Officials in Hanoi said they had about 10 days to prepare for the summit - much less than the nearly two months they said Singapore was given for the first Trump-Kim meeting last year- but still vowed to provide airtight security for the two leaders. ... Nguyen Manh Hung, the leader of the information ministry, said the 3,000 journalists from 40 countries expected in Hanoi could rely on his agency as 'you'd count on a family member.'" AP

REMINDER: Hanoi is 12 hours ahead of D.C.

NEXT UP: U.S.-CHINA SUMMIT -- @realDonaldTrump at 5:39 p.m.: "I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues. As a result of these very......"

... at 5:50 p.m.: "....productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!"

Good Monday morning.

HAPPENING TODAY via JOHN BRESNAHAN: Former Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords will be on Capitol Hill this morning to rally support for H.R. 8, a bill mandating universal background checks for all gun sales. Given that number in tribute to the eighth anniversary of the mass shooting that left six people dead and more than a dozen wounded -- including Giffords -- the bill is expected to be voted on by the House later this week.

Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) will be at the event, plus student leaders. Giffords' husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, is running for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 Arizona Senate race. ... More from John Bresnahan on Dems' push to crack down on gun violence

MEANWHILE ... "N.R.A. Magazine Draws Criticism for 'Target Practice' Headline With Photo of Pelosi and Giffords," by NYT's Emily Rueb

NYT'S CATIE EDMONDSON in Nephi, Utah, and EMILY COCHRANE in Milford, Mich.: "In Conservative Districts, Democrats Have to Answer for Party's Left Wing": "In the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Representative Ben McAdams, a freshman, was grilled by constituents about the 'socialism' and 'anti-Semitism' that they saw coming out of the new Democratic House. 'How long do you intend to ride that train with those people?' one Utahan asked.

"In Michigan, Representative Haley Stevens was asked about her ability to counter what one voter deemed the bigotry of some of her freshman colleagues - a concern fueled partly by remarks from her counterpart in nearby Detroit, Rashida Tlaib - and 'the negative attitude they bring to Democrats.'

"And on a rainy Saturday in Spotsylvania County, Va., one woman stood up in a town hall to remind Representative Abigail Spanberger that while she was the first Democrat to hold that seat in nearly 50 years, the majority of the rural enclave had voted Republican." NYT

A message from Everytown for Gun Safety:

This week, Congress has a choice. By voting for H.R. 8 to #UpdateBackgroundChecks, they can take action to help bring this country closer to a nation free from gun violence, or they can ignore the calls for action and side with the gun lobby. Learn more here.

2020 WATCH -- ANITA KUMAR and MAGGIE SEVERNS: "GOP donors: Trump campaign lacks a strategy to win in 2020": "Late last month, more than 100 major Republican donors gathered at the Trump International Hotel for a presentation from the president's campaign manager Brad Parscale and other top political hands on their plans to keep the White House in 2020 after a brutal midterm election.

"But several of the GOP contributors left the two-day retreat in Washington dissatisfied, dogged by essentially the same concern: The president doesn't really have a strategy to win reelection.

"They are chiefly worried about how he intends to prevail again in the Rust Belt states that voted for Trump in 2016, but where Democrats performed strongly in last year's midterms. But there are also concerns about whether the president's fundraising apparatus is up to the task, and whether Trump will trample on any strategy or message the campaign does develop, as he frequently does." POLITICO

-- "Kamala Harris attracts crowds in Iowa, but leaves questions about what she believes," by Yahoo News' Alexander Nazaryan in Des Moines: "A weekend swing through the Des Moines area - in preparation for next year's Iowa caucuses, now a mere 11 months away - highlighted Harris's strengths and weaknesses as a candidate.

"Comfortable in crowds, she is capable of soaring rhetoric, even if that rhetoric is perhaps not quite of the same caliber as that which Obama displayed in 2008. But in more intimate settings, she sometimes avoided specifics, leaving some Iowans unsatisfied." Yahoo

THE INVESTIGATIONS -- "Roger Stone's Proud Boys 'Volunteers' Have Been Defending Him Online After The Judge Entered A Gag Order," by BuzzFeed's Zoe Tillman: "Questioned in court last week about his recent Instagram post featuring a photo of the judge presiding over his case with what resembled a crosshairs symbol, Roger Stone said under oath that a 'volunteer' found the image. He insisted he couldn't recall who exactly, though, and struggled to identify the five or six people he said were serving as his volunteers at the time.

"The names he offered after being pressed by the prosecutor underscored Stone's ties to the Proud Boys, a far-right, men-only extremist group that describes its members as 'Western chauvinist.' The four men identified by Stone are all active on social media, and several continued to post about Stone's case after U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson imposed a strict gag order Thursday - an order that limits not only what Stone can say in public and online, but what his surrogates and volunteers can say on his behalf." BuzzFeed

A message from Everytown for Gun Safety:


Congress: It's Time To Update Background Checks - Vote Yes On H.R. 8. Learn more here.

TRUMP'S MONDAY -- The president will meet with governors in the State Dining Room at 8:30 a.m. He will leave the White House at 12:10 p.m. en route to Joint Base Andrews for his flight to Hanoi, Vietnam.

THE JUICE ... LAUREN FRENCH is joining Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Luján's (D-N.M.) senior leadership team as communications director. She previously was communications director for the House Democratic Caucus and its then-Chairman Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.).

-- HEATHER CAYGLE and SARAH FERRIS: "Can a nice guy like Ben Ray Luján elbow his way to the top?"
PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: President Donald Trump speaks at the Governors' Ball at the White House on Sunday. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

DANIEL LIPPMAN: "Ex-Clinton staffers slam Sanders over private jet flights: The Vermont senator's 2016 travel as a Clinton surrogate became 'a running joke in the office'": "In his campaign launch video last week, Bernie Sanders singled out the fossil fuel industry for criticism, listing it among the special interests he planned to take on. But in the final months of the 2016 campaign, Sanders repeatedly requested and received the use of a carbon-spewing private jet for himself and his traveling staff when he served as a surrogate campaigner for Hillary Clinton. ...

"In 2016, after Sanders endorsed Clinton and agreed to campaign on her behalf, the Sanders campaign's preferred mode of travel quickly emerged as a point of tension, according to six former Clinton campaign staffers and another source familiar with the travel. ... The senator ended up flying private on three separate multi-day trips in the last two months of the campaign. Sanders' flights - usually on a Gulfstream plane - cost the Clinton-Kaine campaign at least $100,000 in total, according to three people familiar with the cost of the air travel." POLITICO

THE LATEST IN VENEZUELA -- "U.S. and Venezuela opposition to discuss ways to oust Maduro," by AP's Ben Fox: "The United States is planning new ways to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to give up power and other means to provide assistance to the people of the economically devastated South American nation after a weekend effort failed to deliver aid.

"Vice President Mike Pence travels Monday to the Colombian capital to meet with members of a regional coalition and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to discuss the next steps aimed at ousting Maduro. A senior administration official said Pence is expected to announce 'clear actions' as he speaks to members of the Lima Group, a coalition of more than a dozen nations organized to address the crisis in Venezuela." AP

WHAT FOGGY BOTTOM IS READING -- "Defender of World Order or Trump Mouthpiece? Pompeo Is Tested by North Korea, Iran and U.S. Allies," by NYT's David Sanger in Warsaw and Edward Wong: "Almost a year into his job, Mr. Pompeo, 55, has managed to pull off what few other Trump-era senior cabinet members have accomplished - staying in the president's good graces and wielding power without countering White House pronouncements or policies." NYT

A message from Everytown for Gun Safety:


Everytown for Gun Safety urges Congress: pass H.R. 8 to update background checks. Learn more here.

ON CLIMATE -- "White House to set up panel to counter climate change consensus, officials say," by WaPo's Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Brady Dennis: "The White House plans to create an ad hoc group of select federal scientists to reassess the government's analysis of climate science and counter conclusions that the continued burning of fossil fuels is harming the planet, according to three senior administration officials.

"The National Security Council initiative would include scientists who question the severity of climate impacts and the extent to which humans contribute to the problem, according to these individuals ... The move would represent the Trump administration's most forceful effort to date to challenge the scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions are helping drive global warming and that the world could face dire consequences unless countries curb their carbon output over the next few decades." WaPo

"60 MINUTES" LAST NIGHT -- "Did the FDA ignite the opioid epidemic?: A drug manufacturer denounces his own industry and explains to '60 Minutes' how a label change by the FDA expanded the use of opioids," by Bill Whitaker and produced by Ira Rosen and Sam Hornblower

CARLA MARINUCCI and JEREMY WHITE in Sacramento: "Battered California Republicans elect Latina, a McCarthy ally, to lead party": "The California Republican Party, battered by the 2018 midterms and anemic voter registration, has chosen Jessica Patterson, the first woman in its history, as chairwoman following a combative election Sunday that pitted loyalists of President Donald Trump against those from the party establishment.

"The election of Patterson, 38, a Latina mother of two and an ally of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), to lead the nation's largest state GOP operation into the 2020 election cycle came at the close of a raucous three-day party convention that drew a record 1,500 grassroots delegates to Sacramento." POLITICO
PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: Ivanka Trump at dinner Saturday night at Bibiana ... Matt Whitaker on a flight from Chicago to DCA on Sunday night. Pic ... Betsy DeVos on the 1 p.m. first-class Acela to D.C. ... Bob Schieffer on Sunday celebrating his birthday early with family at Peacock Cafe in Georgetown

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Anne Kornblut, director of new initiatives and news partnerships for Facebook. She's celebrating it with local news publishers at the MEGA conference in Las Vegas, where she'll be speaking this week on a panel from Facebook's Local Accelerator. A fun fact about Anne: "I used to go to the 9:30 Club when it was actually at 930 F Street." Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: CNN's Hadas Gold ... Bob Schieffer is 82 ... Keith Smythe Meacham ... Andy Rosenthal is 63 ... Mona Charen ... Andrew Burk, director of digital marketing at the U.S. Chamber, is 32 ... Barbara Levin, VP of comms at CNN (hat tip: Matt Dornic) ... Lauren Kapp ... Jessica Yellin (h/t Susanna Quinn) ... Tom Nides, managing director and vice chairman of Morgan Stanley (h/ts Steve Elmendorf and Ben Chang) ... Burlington, Vt., Mayor Miro Weinberger is 49 ... Dan Riordan (h/ts Jon Haber) ... POLITICO's Matt Dixon ... Jeremy Tunis is 41 ... Michelle Ridge (h/t Ed Cash) ... Tyler Q. Houlton, DHS press secretary (h/ts Blain Rethmeier and Alex Schriver) ... Steve Gutow ... Gabi Ashkenazi is
65 ... Ralph Fertig ... Greg Crist, chief advocacy officer and head of external affairs at Advamed ...

... Tim Berry, head of global government relations at JPMorgan Chase, is 51 (h/t Fred Graefe) ... FINRA's Eric Wall (h/t Sophie White) ... Mini Timmaraju ... Hollis Gurley ... Valerie Chicola ... Anna Albert ... Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) is 65 ... Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) is 41 ... former Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) is 64 ... Madison Donzis ... former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar is 63 ... Ed Balls ... Bridgett Frey, comms director for Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) ... Paul Nash ... David White ... Bayanne Surdashi ... Diego Hofman ... Trey Graham ... Laurin Manning ... Charles Faulkner is 44 ... Jim Mulhall ... Genevieve Craggs ... Jack Dew ... Xholina Nano ...
Chelsea Handler is 44 (h/t AP)

A message from Everytown for Gun Safety:

It's been 25 years since Congress first passed the federal background checks law, and it's time to update it to require background checks on all gun sales-not just in brick and mortar stores, but all the places they are sold today, including unlicensed sales at gun shows and between strangers who meet online.

This week Congress will vote on H.R. 8 -- a bill that would close these dangerous loopholes and bring this country closer to a nation free from gun violence. Poll after poll demonstrates the public's overwhelming support for this change, including from majorities of gun owners and Republicans. It's time for Congress to take action to keep guns out of the wrong hands. Congress needs to Vote Yes on H.R. 8. Learn more here.

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Daniel Lippman @dlippman

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