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Presented by Everytown for Gun Safety: Rated the #1 political newsletter by political professionals. Feb 26, 2019 View in browser
By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
NEW: BOB BARNETT, the Williams and Connolly attorney, is shopping around a book by Gary Cohn to publishers in New York. Cohn was a central character in "Fear," the Bob Woodward book.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT ... THIS WEEK, with the president in Hanoi, it looks like he is going to have a pretty horrible week in Washington. First, as our colleagues report below, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP will likely be handed a defeat when Congress rejects his emergency declaration. The House is going to vote it down, and it increasingly looks like the Senate will too.

-- AND SECOND, Michael Cohen, the president's former attorney, will be on the Hill testifying for the next three days. Just one session is open: tomorrow's House Oversight Committee hearing, chaired by MARYLAND REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS. Cummings gaggled Monday night in the Capitol for a bit with reporters, and said a moment like this is "very significant." Cummings added that he thinks people will be talking about Trump and the investigations 200 years from now.

-- NYT'S MAGGIE HABERMAN: "Cohen ... is planning on portraying his onetime client in starkly negative terms when he testifies Wednesday before a House committee, and on describing what he says was Mr. Trump's use of racist language, lies about his wealth and possible criminal conduct." NYT

BURGESS EVERETT and MARIANNE LEVINE: "Trump on brink of defeat on border emergency": "President Donald Trump is on the verge of a bipartisan rejection of his emergency declaration at the border, in what would be an embarrassing rebuke by a Congress opposed to his immigration agenda.

"Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Monday night said he would join Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) along with 47 Senate Democrats to block Trump's attempts to secure billions for his border wall after lawmakers effectively stiffed him. Now just one more GOP senator's support for a resolution to block Trump's bid would send the measure to Trump's desk and force a veto. ...

"Interviews on Monday with more than a dozen GOP senators who have been publicly critical of Trump's unilateral maneuver or warned him not to deploy it were cagey about their intentions for what would be a crucial vote on the Senate floor in coming weeks. Many said they were undecided and still studying Trump's move to circumvent Congress and score billions more for the border barrier." POLITICO ... Tillis' WaPo op-ed

-- SENATE REPUBLICANS have held back on publicly rebuking the president on a number of issues, but the emergency declaration appears to be a step too far for many who have long privately criticized Trump and his policies.

WHERE THE HOUSE IS ... SARAH FERRIS and MELANIE ZANONA: "House GOP leaders work to contain defections on Trump's emergency"

THE SUMMIT ...

-- THE PRESIDENT is en route to Hanoi from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, per pooler Eli Stokols of the L.A. Times. Trump also stopped at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom.

-- THE SCHEDULE, per Stokols: Wednesday: TRUMP will meet with the Vietnamese president and prime minister, and will have dinner with Kim Jong Un, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Kim Yong Chol and another North Korean associate.

-- ELIANA JOHNSON in Hanoi and RUAIRI ARRIETA-KENNA: "Trump's blind spot on North Korea could sink a deal: The president has sold Kim Jong Un on peace and prosperity. But North Korea's record on human rights stands in the way."

-- DRAMA WITH AMERICAN MEDIA ALREADY ... WAPO'S DAVID NAKAMURA and JOHN HUDSON in Hanoi: "Kim was staying at the Melia hotel tower in the heart of the city, but the hotel also happened to have been booked by the White House as the filing center for the traveling press corps to cover the summit.

"Not long before Kim arrived, a notice was distributed to the press corps that the filing center would be moved to a separate filing center for the international press corps at the Cultural Friendship Palace. ...

"Television network producers had spent weeks setting up cameras, lights, monitors and other equipment shipped halfway across the world. A person with knowledge of the situation said the networks were told they could no longer do liveshots from the Melia, although the correspondents booked to stay in the hotel were not told they had to leave." WaPo

Good Tuesday morning. SPOTTED: Justice Brett Kavanaugh at the WCAC basketball tournament game between St. John's and Gonzaga ... Ryan Zinke having dinner Monday night at Joe's Seafood. Pic ... Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was also separately at the restaurant.

HAPPENING TODAY -- Our team will be on Capitol Hill today signing up new Playbook readers and delivering special treats to new members and their staff. Keep an eye out for them throughout the day. #PlaybookLoyal Sign up

A message from Everytown for Gun Safety:

On average, gun violence claims 100 lives in America each day. Lawmakers have a choice: take action to help free Americans from gun violence, or ignore us for the gun lobby. We're Everytown for Gun Safety, and we urge Congress: support H.R. 8 to update background checks. Learn more here.

2020 WATCH -- "Trump ally launches effort to blunt Md. governor's potential 2020 challenge," by WaPo's Jenna Johnson, Bob Costa and Arelis Hernández: "As President Trump's allies continue to try to discourage Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan from mounting a 2020 primary challenge, the president's former deputy campaign manager David M. Bossie has started to organize a political salvo: A collection of endorsements for the president's reelection campaign from prominent Maryland Republicans.

"Bossie, who is one of two [RNC] representatives for Maryland, spoke at the Montgomery County GOP Convention on Saturday. There he met privately with allies of the president to discuss assembling a statement that would send a clear signal to Hogan (R) about Trump's support in the state as the governor mulls a 2020 bid, according to two people familiar with the effort." WaPo

-- "Sanders casts an eye toward 'Trump Country': The presidential contender, in a CNN town hall, sounds almost as if he has already outlasted his primary rivals," by Holly Otterbein

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... DARREN SAMUELSOHN and JOSH GERSTEIN: "Manafort lawyers ask judge for leniency in sentencing": "Lawyers for Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, pleaded on Monday for a federal judge to spare their 69-year-old client from a sentence that would essentially send him to prison for the rest of his life.

"In a 47-page filing, Manafort's attorneys described a client who has been 'personally, professionally, and financially' broken by special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and who deserves a sentence 'significantly' below the statutory maximum of 10 years he faces after pleading guilty in Washington to a pair of conspiracy charges." POLITICO ... The filing

-- BEHIND THE SCENES: "It's Mueller's Investigation. But Right Behind Him Is Andrew Goldstein," by NYT's Noah Weiland and Michael Schmidt: "The routine was always the same. President Trump's lawyers would drive to heavily secured offices near the National Mall, surrender their cellphones, head into a windowless conference room and resume tense negotiations over whether the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, would interview Mr. Trump.

"But Mr. Mueller was not always there. Instead, the lawyers tangled with a team of prosecutors, including a little known but formidable adversary: Andrew D. Goldstein, 44, a former Time magazine reporter who is now a lead prosecutor for Mr. Mueller in the investigation into whether the president obstructed justice. ...

"As evidence built over two years, Mr. Goldstein functioned as a repository of conversations that Mr. Trump had with lawyers, advisers and top law enforcement officials from early 2017 on. Among Mr. Goldstein's jewels, according to Mr. Trump's lawyers: exhaustive notes taken by Annie Donaldson, [Don] McGahn's former chief of staff, which detailed in real time Mr. Trump's behavior in the West Wing." NYT

A message from Everytown for Gun Safety:


This week lawmakers will choose between taking action on gun violence, or siding with the gun lobby. Vote Yes on H.R. 8: update background checks. Learn more here.

THE JUICE ... NEW: PENNY LEE is joining Invariant to head up the firm's growing public affairs practice. Lee most recently served as chief strategy officer at 1776. She has also worked as president of Venn Strategies, as top communications and political adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and as executive director of the Democratic Governors Association.
PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: Kim Jong Un waves Tuesday after arriving in Vietnam for his summit with President Donald Trump. | Minh Hoang/AP Photo

JARED WATCH ... SHALOM LIPNER in Jerusalem for POLITICO MAGAZINE, "Kushner's Peace Plan Looks Dead on Arrival: Here in Israel, nobody expects much from the White House's long-expected attempt at Mideast peace."

KNOWING KELLY CRAFT -- "Trump's U.N. pick thin on foreign policy, long on political connections," by Alex Panetta and Lauren Gardner: "The woman President Donald Trump chose to represent America at the United Nations is a billionaire known for her bursting political Rolodex, disarmingly sunny disposition - and limited foreign policy experience.

"Kelly Craft pulled off one unquestionable achievement in her stint as ambassador to Canada under Trump: She maintained good relations with Ottawa, even as her boss imposed tariffs and bashed Canada. ... At an Independence Day party Craft hosted last year at her Ottawa residence, some Canadians were so angry the president took the unprecedented step of imposing national-security tariffs that people boycotted the party.

"Those who did attend took home memories of the ambassador pouring tumblers of bourbon from her home state of Kentucky. 'People were having a lot of fun,' Ottawa lobbyist Greg MacEachern recalled. 'She was really knowledgeable about the bourbon.' Craft's knowledge of other issues is about to be severely tested. As nominee to be U.N. envoy, she'll face much tougher pitching than the softballs usually served up at a confirmation hearing for ambassador to Canada." POLITICO

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Iran's Foreign Minister, Architect of Nuclear Deal, Says He Is Resigning," by NYT's Ben Hubbard in Istanbul and David Sanger: "Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran announced Monday that he was resigning, in what seemed a sudden end to the tenure of one of the Islamic Republic's best-known figures abroad. Mr. Zarif, an American-educated diplomat who was an architect of the Iranian nuclear deal, announced that he was stepping down in a post on his Instagram account. It was not immediately clear why he was quitting or whether his resignation would be accepted.

"In the post, Mr. Zarif said he apologized 'for my inability to continue serving and for all the shortcomings during my service.' His resignation announcement also was reported by Iran's Fars News Agency. Mr. Zarif's public resignation in a country where governance is usually conducted behind closed doors seemed to indicate escalating tensions between the country's hard-liners and President Hassan Rouhani." NYT

THE LATEST IN VENEZUELA -- "Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, team detained, released in Venezuela, network says," by Fox News' Nicole Darrah

A message from Everytown for Gun Safety:


Americans are standing up to urge Congress: pass H.R. 8 to update background checks. Learn more here.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- "Interior hands out nearly 1,700 waivers to offshore drilling safety rules," by Ben Lefebvre: "The Interior Department has given offshore oil drillers nearly 1,700 exemptions to Obama-era safety rules put in place after BP's 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, effectively gutting parts of the regulation before the Trump administration officially rolls them back.

"Those waivers were awarded in the first 20 months after the Well Control Rule took effect, according to data provided to POLITICO under a Freedom of Information Act request. The most common waivers were those that allowed the companies to sidestep tighter rules for blowout preventers - the device that failed to seal off BP's well after it erupted in 2010, killing 10 workers and spewing more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf over five months." POLITICO

MEDIAWATCH -- "The National Enquirer's Publisher Says The White House Had No Influence On Its 'Space Force' Magazine," by BuzzFeed's Dan Vergano: "American Media Inc., the National Enquirer's publisher, has put out a new magazine celebrating the Trump's administration's Space Force and bashing Elon Musk - but denies that the federal government or the private space industry had any influence on the publication.

"Although the estimated $13 billion price tag for this proposed sixth branch of the U.S. military has been met with only lukewarm support in Congress, AMI anticipated the move with 97 pages of propaganda, the 'United States Space Force' magazine, on sale at drugstores and airport newsstands through April for $13.99. The cover touts 'Over 125 Photos,' 'Life on Mars by 2050,' and 'Top-Secret Weapons Systems.'" BuzzFeed

-- L.A. TIMES' MEG JAMES: "HBO brings back Axios show for a second season"

-- Jack Auresto will be deputy Washington bureau chief for video at the AP, a new position for the wire service. He most recently served as broadcast unit manager for U.S. video.
PLAYBOOKERS
BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): former Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.) (hat tip: John Barrow) ... America First's Isaac Piller turned 27 (h/t Alex Titus) ... journalist Alex Thomas (h/ts Alice Lloyd and Hannah Yoest)

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Corry Bliss, partner at FP1 Strategies, who got his start in politics by managing a Virginia House of Delegates race in 2007, is 38. What he's been reading recently: "Andrew Roberts' new biography of Churchill ('Churchill: Walking with Destiny'). I highly recommend it -- no matter how many books you read about Churchill, there are always new things to learn." Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Kelley Gannon Russell ... Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is 61 ... Washington Times' Dave Boyer ... Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan is 65 ... former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto\u011flu is 6-0 ... Sophie Willis ... Fae Jencks ... former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, now executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme, is 62 ... CBS News' Arden Farhi ... POLITICO's Katie Ellsworth and Sarah Eppler ... Carrie Meadows, COS to Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) ... Amanda Alpert Loveday ... A'shanti Gholar, political director for Emerge America ... Ashli Palmer, director of floor operations for House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), is 4-0 ... Li Zhou ... Ryan Martin ...
Courtney Paul, manager of public affairs at AdvaMed ... CAA's Zara Haq ... Clay Doherty ... Jo Schopper ... Jeff Abers is 63 ...

... Ronald Lauder is 75 (h/t Alex Levy) ... Reuters' Nicholas Brown is 34 ... Adam Baer is 25 ... BCG alum Val Young ... Marisel Morales ... Alan Rosenblatt of Lake Research Partners ... Bassima Alghussein ... Tim Brant is 7-0 ... Celia Meyer ... Will Mitchell, LD for Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.), is 31 ... Bruce Cohen ... Jonathan Nabavi, the NFL's VP of public policy and government affairs (h/t Kam Mumtaz) ... Eric Kleefeld ... Peter Scheer ... Samantha Lugo ... Kathy Park ... Scott Sanders ... Jonathan Sporn ... Lisa Shin ... Sarah Budds, FSO at State ... ... Ryan Falk ... George Agurkis ... Mark Gersh ... Cathey Park (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

A message from Everytown for Gun Safety:

Gun violence claims 100 each day -- it touches every town in America. For too long, change has been thwarted by the Washington gun lobby and leaders who refuse to take common-sense action that will save lives. But something is changing. More than 5 million mayors, moms, law enforcement, teachers, survivors, gun owners, students and everyday Americans have come together to fight for the changes that we know will save lives. This week, lawmakers have a choice. They can take action to help bring us closer to a future free from gun violence, or they can ignore the calls for action and side with the gun lobby. We urge Congress: support H.R. 8 and update background checks. A safer future for
America depends on it. Learn more here.

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