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Today's Playbook Power Briefing presented by Delta Air Lines

By JAKE SHERMAN (sherman@politico.com; @JakeSherman), ANNA PALMER (anna@politico.com; @apalmerdc), DANIEL LIPPMAN (daniel@politico.com; @dlippman), ZACH MONTELLARO (zmontellaro@politico.com; @ZachMontellaro) and AKELA LACY (alacy@politico.com; @akela_lacy)


BREAKING -- "Manafort jailed after alleged witness tampering," by Josh Gerstein: "A judge has jailed former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort after prosecutors claimed he attempted to tamper with the testimony of two potential witnesses in a criminal case he faces over a Ukraine-related lobbying campaign.

"Sending the 69-year-old Manafort to jail could boost the pressure on him to cut a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, who's main task is to probe alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election. However, it's unclear what information the former Trump campaign chief could provide that would interest prosecutors enough to offer significant concessions." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d13e4ca16d0e2d087a6ba0213de0295b21eedd5334afad6b0025c915ae5ff55be3694058177d242dd

THE 2020 DNC CONVENTION will be July 13 to July 16, 2020, according to an internal email the party just sent out.

"The DNC will hold its convention ahead of the Summer Olympics, which begin on July 24, 2020, allowing the Democratic nominee maximum exposure heading into the fall," the email says. "The dates chosen will put the Party's nominee in the strongest position possible heading into the general election by allowing the nominee more time to use general elections funds and travel across the country to discuss the issues that matter most to voters. DNC leadership consulted with party leaders, previous campaigns, and rank and file Democrats in making this decision."

IMMIGRATION STATE OF PLAY ... STOP US IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE: PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP tossed a wrench into SPEAKER PAUL RYAN's well-laid plans, tossing the House Republican Conference into a state of confusion, and heightening the risk of an intra-party feud in the months leading up to Election Day.

SPEAKING TO FOX NEWS'S STEVE DOOCY outside the White House, Trump was plain: he said he "certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate" immigration bill cobbled together by Republican leadership. This was a bill that the GOP leadership worked tirelessly to craft, walking a tightrope between the moderate and conservative poles of the party. Ryan told lawmakers in a closed meeting earlier this week that Trump was excited about this proposal.

THE IMPACT OF TRUMP'S REMARKS WAS IMMEDIATE. The House Republican leadership canceled its plans to canvass its membership about whether it would support a conservative immigration bill penned by Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte, and a compromise bill based on Trump's own immigration pillars. A vote next week seems to be up in the air.

REPUBLICANS said Friday that they believe the president was mistaken, and vowed he would issue a new statement. As of publication time, the president hadn't taken back or refined his comment.

-- THE IRONY: These immigration bills were never going to become law, and might not have even passed the House.

-- RACHAEL BADE: "'He's correctly judging the American people's opinion on this subject; we're not there yet,' said Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.). Asked what more he needed in the compromise bill, Perry seemed aghast: 'Enforcement! Enforcement! We can't keep on having these half-measures that don't fix the problem.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05da304514684fd9dc50ca0d6a3883dc2c9cadccad5dd248eb2853bef02ae4b3423e86ebf6bf3171c49

** A message from Delta Air Lines: At Delta, we're committed to donating 1% of our net profits to charitable organizations around the world. Delta contributed over $40 million to charities and nonprofits in 2017, and we look forward to continuing our support for years to come. For more information about Delta, visit www.delta.com. **

Good Friday afternoon. MORE FROM THE PRESIDENT on "FOX & FRIENDS" and a GAGGLE with reporters after ...

-- ON KIM JONG UN: "He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same ... We had great chemistry. He gave us a lot. ... The agreement says there will be total denuclearization. Nobody wants to report that."

-- @philipaklein: "Trump in impromptu gaggle: 'I'm kidding, you don't understand sarcasm' when asked about his comment about wanting his people to stand up at attention."

-- ON THE I.G. REPORT: "I think that the report yesterday ... it totally exonerates me. ... What you'll really see is you'll see bias against me and millions -- tens of millions of my followers. ... And yet, if you look at the FBI, and you went in and you polled the FBI, the real FBI, those guys love me. And I love them.

-- WHEN ASKED IF HE'S THINKING OF SUSPENDING MUELLER: "The problem with the Mueller investigation is everybody has massive conflicts. ... I call them the 13 angry Democrats. ... I think that the Mueller investigation has been totally discredited."

-- ON OTTO WARMBIER, when asked how he could defend Kim Jong Un's human rights record: "Because I don't want to see a nuclear weapon destroy you and your family."

-- ON MANAFORT: "Manafort has nothing do with our campaign. ... You know, Paul Manafort worked for me for a very short period of time. ... He worked for me, what, for 49 days or something?

-- IS HE WORRIED COHEN WILL FLIP? "Look, I did nothing wrong. You have to understand. This stuff would have come out a long time ago. I don't do anything wrong"

-- ON THE BORDER: "No, I hate it. I hate the children being taken away. The Democrats have to change their law. That's their law.

TRUMP'S TRADE WAR -- "Trump to slap tariffs on $50B in Chinese tech imports," by Megan Cassella: "President Donald Trump ratcheted up trade tensions with China even further on Friday, announcing that he will impose 25-percent tariffs on Chinese technology imports worth roughly $50 billion. The tariffs, which could take effect as soon as later on Friday, will primarily target products containing 'industrially significant technologies' and others related to the Made in China 2025 initiative.

"The move is aimed at cracking down on Beijing's policies that the White House says force foreign companies to hand over valuable technology and data in order to operate in the Chinese market.

"But it threatens to derail ongoing trade talks between the two countries, including plans for Beijing to purchase more U.S. agricultural and energy products - and will spark retaliation from China as soon as the penalties take effect. Beijing will respond in kind to the American tariffs, a Chinese government spokesman said Friday." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d24beb7165347d0abcad5a618e987c69088aeb7f91ecb1be583851b2c5faf0bf88bbba5df9e917c95

-- BLOOMBERG'S ANDREW MAYEDA and JENNY LEONARD: "The response from China signaled a rapid escalation of the dispute. China will impose tariffs with "equal scale, equal intensity" on imports from the U.S. and all of the country's earlier trade commitments are now off the table, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on its website late Friday.

"President Donald Trump on Friday pledged more tariffs if China follows through on the retaliation threats, without specifying an amount. In April, he asked officials to consider an additional $100 billion in levies. Meanwhile, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said an announcement on U.S. investment restrictions on China will follow in the next two weeks." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d8f8af34a1b9cdd7c77703ac96dc9ddc66d817164e16a9a8c72c1138089f2ca4d0816c175d9ddaa8f

HEADLINES THE PRESIDENT WILL LIKE -- " Goodlatte moves to subpoena FBI agent accused of anti-Trump bias," by Kyle Cheney: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte started the clock Friday on a procedure to subpoena Peter Strzok, the FBI agent accused by an internal Justice Department watchdog of harboring intense bias against President Donald Trump. ...

"Two sources briefed on subpoena effort indicated that Goodlatte has formally notified his Democratic counterparts of his intent to subpoena Strzok, a step that launches a two-day waiting period before he can officially issue the subpoena, under committee procedures." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d12453b57f53e99174c745f19b8b479dae5e9243abc674d5854de8db18077bccd2151c9f51442cffa

PRUITT FILES -- ANTHONY ADRAGNA: "President Donald Trump offered a mix of praise and frustration for his embattled EPA administrator Friday amid new questions over whether Scott Pruitt misused his office.

"'I'm looking at Scott and Scott's done a fantastic job at EPA, but ... I'm not happy about certain things, I'll be honest,' Trump told reporters during impromptu remarks on the White House lawn Friday morning. 'I'm not happy about certain things, but he's done a fantastic job running the EPA, which is very overriding.' Trump did not specify what about Pruitt was making him unhappy. ...

"The latest allegation came earlier Friday in a letter from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee: Pruitt asked an aide to contact an Oklahoma energy consultant to help him get tickets to last year's sold-out Rose Bowl game.

"Renzi Stone, the founder of marketing and communications firm Saxum, which represents clients in the oil and gas industry, helped Pruitt in his role as a member of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents. He said Friday that he and Pruitt have been friends for 17 years, and that he does not lobby EPA." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d19be85480508d39cdcf0e09dc3e119fa4b5841bb8c90753b8846f5ed14f4028664d3c19a235c8034

-- NYT'S ERIC LIPTON, STEVE EDER, LISA FRIEDMAN and HIROKO TABUCHI: "For Pruitt Aides, the Boss's Personal Life Was Part of the Job": "Senior staff members at the [EPA] frequently felt pressured by Scott Pruitt, the administrator, to help in personal matters and obtain special favors for his family, according to interviews with four current and former E.P.A. officials who served as top political aides to Mr. Pruitt.

"The officials said that Mr. Pruitt, who 'had a clear sense of entitlement,' in the words of one of them, indicated that he expected staff members' assistance with matters outside the purview of government. ... The aides said the administrator ... had also made it clear that he had no hesitation in leveraging his stature as a cabinet member to solicit favors himself."

"As an example, Mr. Pruitt, shortly after taking the E.P.A. job, reached out to the former speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates seeking help for his daughter, McKenna, in securing admission to the University of Virginia School of Law. William Howell, the former speaker, appears on Mr. Pruitt's official E.P.A. calendar, and he confirmed in an interview that he was approached by Mr. Pruitt and subsequently wrote a letter to the school's dean on the daughter's behalf." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d762bfee4ccec1c2a8d4d0b5d6e94d7bb69521b8c0afa4f1390650a2cb9f9fcbd00fedb1a372a0053

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- "Afghan official: U.S. drone kills Pakistan Taliban chief," by AP's Amir Shah in Kabul: "A U.S. drone strike in northeastern Kunar province killed Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, the insurgent leader who ordered the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday.

"According to a statement attributed to U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Lt. Col Martin O'Donnell, the U.S. carried out a 'counterterrorism strike' Thursday in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan targeting 'a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization.' ...

"Fazlullah ordered the bombing and beheadings of dozens of opponents when his band of insurgents controlled Pakistan's picturesque Swat Valley from 2007 until a massive military operation routed them in 2009. His insurgent group, the Tehrik-e-Taliban, also took responsibility for the brutal attack on an Army Public School in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar in December 2014 when more than 140 children and their teachers were slaughtered." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d46a7599f7024bc7698474eda27b7f76b3d0e44df0c5094cdf827b6ff6e3851f9d55e9795458dbc90

COHEN WATCH -- "'What's He Doing Here?: Inside Trump's Turbulent Relationship With Michael Cohen," by WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus, Michael Rothfeld, Joe Palazzolo and Alexandra Berzon: "Donald Trump summoned senior aides to his 26th floor office at Trump Tower around 2009 for an unpleasant task: persuade Michael Cohen-a top lawyer at his company-to resign, according to one of the aides.

"Mr. Trump's frustration had reached a breaking point, the aide said. Mr. Cohen wasn't getting things done and Mr. Trump didn't believe he was a good fit at the Trump Organization, even though he liked him and didn't want to fire him. 'What's he doing here?' Mr. Trump demanded.

"The message was relayed to Mr. Cohen. Visibly upset, Mr. Cohen pushed back. 'I will try to prove myself, Mr. Cohen replied, a person familiar with the matter said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05df111cf1a82a01a35b2e28491b70f3a4788c8a365c177349b2b1fe30f7d152ba836f6b82a1aa15b08

-- "Cohen signals openness to cooperating with federal investigators," by CNN's Kara Scannell: "Cohen has expressed anger with the treatment he has gotten from the President, who has minimized his relationship with Cohen, and comments from the President's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, [a] source said. The treatment has left him feeling isolated and more open to cooperating, the source said.

"Asked by reporters Friday if he was worried about Cohen cooperating, Trump said, 'I did nothing wrong, nothing wrong.' He also said he hasn't spoken with Cohen "'in a long time,' adding, 'I always liked Michael and he's a good person.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d9c770ccf9e6524eca7038df9d131f4ec72a0417937664248f357c0b6deb93e4a59b2e5385137d629

JOHN KELLY ASSERTS POWER -- WSJ's Mike Bender: "This month, Mr. Kelly exerted his power in an Oval Office meeting over the firing of Kelly Sadler, a junior aide who became a lightning rod in Washington last month over a callous remark that she made about Sen. John McCain's brain cancer during a private meeting. In the Oval Office, Mr. Trump criticized Mercedes Schlapp, a White House communications adviser, for Ms. Sadler's dismissal, according to officials familiar with the conversation. Mr. Kelly spoke up, these people said, telling the president that Ms. Schlapp didn't fire her. 'I did,' Mr. Kelly said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d475519a9d8d520a3ca56a3dab581fe075dba080b22767b72b429c0df6bc252d167bac39bcf89a35b

BUSINESS BURST -- "The Hidden Cost of Trying to Land Amazon's HQ2," by WSJ's Shayndi Raice and Laura Stevens: "When semiconductor-maker Micron Technology Inc. approached economic-development officials in Virginia about a tax-incentive package for a $1 billion expansion of its Manassas site, it got the cold shoulder.

"The state was too busy preparing its bid for Amazon.com Inc.'s second headquarters project, according to a person involved in the discussions. Now, the company is negotiating with officials in New York about taking the project-and the 500 new employees it would require-there, said the person." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d0c04d573d7dd7f0c7365ee693f21a30fd085727ba8b7c82f49d2e10a6e3b8976e53365894f896d8e

AFTERNOON READ -- "Promoted six times and then fired: Inside a 24-year-old political appointee's wild ride in Trump's Washington," by WaPo's Robert O'Harrow Jr.: "In just over a year, [Taylor] Weyeneth received six promotions in the campaign and administration. They culminated with his appointment as deputy chief of staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, where he oversaw veteran employees and helped steer an operation that was supposed to lead the fight against the opioid epidemic. ... Weyeneth recently agreed to a request from The Post to talk about his experiences in the administration and the unusual circumstances that enabled him to climb through the ranks and into the
White House." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05d7ad086596d5bb31e3c6fb6342f465f2d3d4655f035c31d040f8267ab9e06a04c15988950a036f921 ... Video interview http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a0a588fec4c1f05ddf4ed543efa9ec09ee64dbd4698e93ecaa6dcae2f83f5a8c8c592c92f2c03b35c63d5de56a22d989

MORE SUNDAY SHOWS SO FAR ... "MEET THE PRESS": Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.). Panel: Al Cardenas, Helene Cooper, Carol Lee and Bret Stephens.

-- ABC's "THIS WEEK": Steve Bannon. Panel: Rick Klein, Karen Finney, Matt Schlapp and Greta Van Susteren.

-- CBS' "FACE THE NATION": Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Cedric Richmond, (D-La.). Panel: Jeffrey Goldberg, Eliana Johnson, Ben Domenech and David Sanger.

TV TONIGHT -- Bob Costa will be joined by NYT's Mark Landler, The New Yorker's Susan Glasser, WaPo's Anne Gearan and CNN's Jeff Zeleny (all of whom reported on the Singapore summit), tonight on PBS' "Washington Week" at 8 p.m.

SPOTTED at a bipartisan 5K "Run With The General" on the National Mall: Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a retired Air Force Brigadier General, and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a Marine veteran, Reps. Ralph Abraham (R-La.), Garrett Graves (R-La.), Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), and Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.).

** A message from Delta Air Lines: At Delta Air Lines, we're proud to support the causes that shape our world by giving back to the communities where we live, work, and serve. We're committed to donating 1% of our net profits to key charities and nonprofit organizations as we strive to truly make a difference in D.C. and throughout our global communities.

Our goal is to positively impact the world through continued investments in our current partners as well as contributions to our new partners. Our donations support education, promote health and wellness, and salute our armed service members and veterans.

We contributed over $40 million in 2017 to charities and nonprofits around the world, and we look forward to continuing our support for many years to come.

For more information about Delta, visit www.delta.com. **

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