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Presented by Better Medicare Alliance: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day Jan 09, 2019 View in browser
By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
SHUTDOWN ... DAY 19 ... OK, COOL. Democratic leaders don't want a wall. The White House does. Both agree there's something bad going on at the border. They don't agree what it is, and they don't agree what the solution is. We knew this before the networks gave up 30 minutes of their airtime last night. Unsurprisingly, not a single concession was made on either side.

WHAT YOU SAW ... THREE COASTAL POLITICIANS reiterating their well-known positions about the current standoff. SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER said the wall was "ineffective, unnecessary." SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI said: "The fact is, the women and children at the border are not a security threat. They are a humanitarian challenge, a challenge that President Trump's own cruel and counterproductive policies have only deepened."

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP called the situation "a humanitarian crisis. A crisis of the heart, and a crisis of the soul."

-- THE PRESIDENT demanded "$5.7 billion for a physical barrier. At the request of Democrats it will be a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall." That's not exactly the case. Full text ... Video of the speech ... Video of the Pelosi-Schumer response

PHRASE WE DIDN'T HEAR: "national emergency."

THIS WAS NOT AN ADDRESS ABOUT A FOREIGN CONFLICT, but the president framed the situation at the southern border as a war. TRUMP: "How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?"

A TIPSTER TOLD US ... AT THE TRUMP HOTEL, BLT Steak turned off the music and carried the Trump speech live.

TRUMP'S DOUBTS ... NYT'S PETER BAKER on A1: "[P]rivately, Mr. Trump dismissed his own new strategy as pointless. In an off-the-record lunch with television anchors hours before the address, he made clear in blunt terms that he was not inclined to give the speech or go to Texas, but was talked into it by advisers, according to two people briefed on the discussion who asked not to be identified sharing details.

"'It's not going to change a damn thing, but I'm still doing it,' Mr. Trump said of the border visit, according to one of the people, who was in the room. The trip was merely a photo opportunity, he said. 'But,' he added, gesturing at his communications aides Bill Shine, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway, 'these people behind you say it's worth it.'" NYT ... A1 PDF

NBC'S LESTER HOLT on the special report around 9:23 p.m. last night: "I'm scratching my head here trying to figure who the intended audience was that the president really wanted to reach tonight." CHUCK TODD said the audience was congressional Republicans.

WHAT WE'RE HEARING ...

-- WARNING ... WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT: As this standoff drags on and on and on, Democrats are going to start to want to insert some of their own immigration policy into legislation to open the government. They're going to get sick of playing the game on Republican territory.

-- PEOPLE IN TOUCH WITH THE PRESIDENT say he has no intention of backing down from $5.7 billion. Our Democratic sources say they can't imagine giving the president anything approaching $5.7 billion.

-- WE KEEP HEARING MORE AND MORE that White House aides are looking to get out of this, and declare victory no matter what Congress can pass.

-- AT WHAT POINT does the White House butt out of this, and allow Schumer, Pelosi and SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL to cut a deal? Trump said last night this could get done in 45 minutes. He's probably right. But that's if the White House stayed out, and let congressional leaders take the wheel.

HAPPENING TODAY ... HOUSE REPUBLICANS and DEMOCRATS have their weekly party meetings in the Capitol.

-- PELOSI and SCHUMER are holding a joint press conference at 11 a.m. on Capitol Hill.

-- TRUMP is coming to the Capitol to speak to the Senate Republican lunch. ... He will then have congressional leadership at the White House for a negotiating session at 3 p.m.

CNN'S MANU RAJU and CLARE FORAN: "Cracks emerging among Senate Republicans as Murkowski calls for end to shutdown": "In interviews with a wide range of Senate Republicans, a number have grown anxious about the long-term impact of a partial shutdown that has shuttered a quarter of the federal government and impacted hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors, including many in their states who will soon miss their first paychecks.

"And some GOP senators are signaling a new willingness to allow a number of key federal agencies -- such as the Treasury Department, the Transportation Department and the National Park Service -- to reopen even if the fight over the border wall is not resolved, breaking with the White House and Senate GOP leaders.

"'I think we can walk and chew gum,' GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said on Tuesday, adding she's 'amenable to a process that would allow for those appropriations bills that have concluded some time ago that they be enacted into law -- whether it's the Department of Interior or the IRS. I'd like to see that.'" CNN

A message from Better Medicare Alliance:

Without action from Congress, 21 million seniors and individuals with disabilities will take a hit. The 2020 Health Insurance Tax (HIT) would raise premiums or reduce benefits for seniors and low-income beneficiaries on Medicare Advantage. Congress, don't let our seniors down. Delay the 2020 HIT now. Learn More.

THE PELOSI-SCHUMER RELATIONSHIP ... WAPO'S SEUNG MIN KIM: "The two have talked several times a day since the shutdown battle began, aides say, mostly from their cellphones and so frequently that they are often relaying updates to their staff, not the other way around." WaPo

FROM 30,000 FEET -- JOHN HARRIS in POLITICO Magazine: "Trump's Not-So-Bully Pulpit": "For President Trump, a prime-time presidential address to the nation was a radical experiment in conventionality. The first results back from the lab were not an indication that he should stop winging it and become more disciplined in the mold of predecessors.

"Here was one of the most traditionally powerful platforms available to a president-one camera, one leader, speaking to millions from the Oval Office-turned over to the improvisationalist in chief, the most non-traditional communicator ever to occupy the White House.

"It is a good thing for Trump that he will presumably withhold a caustic Trump critique of his own performance: 'low energy' is one phrase that might come back in vogue. His eyes were squinty and his expression flat. The words, which often sounded more like a speechwriter's than Trump's own, were delivered with such slow and deliberate articulation that comic Seth MacFarlane tweeted that the 9-something-minute address 'had the cadence of a Wheel of Fortune contestant solving the puzzle.'" POLITICO

-- WAPO'S DAN BALZ: "Trump used the Oval Office to try to create a border crisis": "Past presidents have used the Oval Office in prime time to announce military action, to lay out major initiatives or to calm the nation's nerves in times of stress. President Trump chose the gravity of that venue for a far different reason Tuesday night - to try to create a sense of crisis in pursuit of an elusive campaign promise." WaPo

Good Wednesday morning. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO made an unannounced visit to Iraq. AP

BULLETIN ... ABC: "Rosenstein expected to depart DOJ in coming weeks once new attorney general confirmed," by Pierre Thomas, Jonathan Karl, John Santucci and Mike Levine: "[Rod] Rosenstein has communicated to President Donald Trump and White House officials his plan to depart the administration around the time William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, would take office following a Senate confirmation. ...

"Rosenstein apparently had long been thinking he would serve about two years, and there was no indication that he was being forced out at this moment by the president." ABC

SHUTDOWN PLAYERS ... KNOWING RUSS VOUGHT -- "The partisan warrior leading the White House's shutdown response," by WaPo's Damian Paletta, Bob Costa and Josh Dawsey: "The White House nerve center spearheading the erratic response to the government shutdown is run by an interim director and longtime conservative firebrand whose confirmation last year was nearly derailed because of his inflammatory comments about Muslims.

"With limited governing experience under his belt, Russell T. Vought took the helm of the Office of Management and Budget a little more than a week ago, after agencies began closing their doors.

"In just a few days, he has used his perch to make several controversial decisions aimed at blunting the impact of the partial government shutdown - moves meant to buy President Trump more time to drag out the closure, which is on the verge of becoming the longest in U.S. history." WaPo

THE IMPACT ... STEPHANIE BEASLEY: "TSA union: Some screeners have quit as shutdown stretches on": "Some TSA screeners have left the job since a government shutdown began and others are considering quitting if they don't get paid this week, a union that represents TSA agents said Tuesday.

"The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents a chunk of TSA employees, said screeners were becoming increasingly panicked as the partial shutdown drags on, diminishing their chances of getting paid Friday.

"'Every day, I'm getting calls from my members about their extreme hardships and need for a paycheck,' Hydrick Thomas, president of AFGE's TSA Council said. 'Some of them have already quit and many are considering quitting the federal workforce because of this shutdown.'" POLITICO

-- "Highway and transit projects grind to a halt as the shutdown continues," by WaPo's Ashley Halsey III: "Normally, federal money for highway projects becomes available when the fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. But the government was running on a continuing resolution, rather than a normal appropriation, and that ran out Dec. 21, ending the flow of highway money to state governments." WaPo

-- ANNA spoke with HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS CHAIRWOMAN NITA LOWEY (D-N.Y.) about the shutdown in the latest WOMEN RULE podcast. She also sat down with PATRINA CLARKE, who owns a government contracting business, to discuss the impact the shutdown is having on her business. Listen and subscribe

-- HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH: "White House reverses course on food stamp funding": "Trump administration officials said Tuesday that the Agriculture Department will be able to pay out food stamp benefits for the entire month of February - tamping down fears that the partial government shutdown could have resulted in rationing or halting of benefits.

"The assurance that the food stamp program, which serves nearly 39 million people, would be on secure financial footing for February marked another major reversal from the administration in the ongoing shutdown fight." POLITICO

ANECDOTE DU JOUR ... WHAT'S IN A NAME?! ... NYT'S MARK LANDLER and HELENE COOPER: "Despite being a contemporary of Mr. Trump's, however, [John] Bolton is not a member of his inner circle. He does not have the same relationship with Mr. Trump that he had with Mr. Bush. Sometimes, with aides, the president refers to him as 'Mike Bolton.'" NYT

WAR REPORT -- "Trump wanted a big cut in troops in Afghanistan. New U.S. military plans fall short," by WaPo's Dan Lamothe and Josh Dawsey: "The U.S. military is drafting plans to withdraw a few thousand troops from Afghanistan while continuing all major missions in the longest war in American history, U.S. officials said, three weeks after President Trump sought options for a more drastic pullout. ...

"Trump still wants to remove troops from Afghanistan - eventually all of them - but the current withdrawal probably will be far fewer than 7,000, two senior White House officials said. Military advisers have convinced him that a smaller, and slower, withdrawal is best for now - although officials cautioned that a final decision had not been reached and that the president could order a full pullout at any moment." WaPo

-- FROM STEVE SHEPARD -- "Trump's announcements of troop withdrawals and drawdowns in Syria and Afghanistan received little applause in D.C., but a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll finds popular support for bringing home troops from both countries.

"Nearly half, 48 percent, support the withdrawal from Syria, compared to 33 percent who oppose it. And the planned troop reduction in Afghanistan is even more popular: 56 percent support bringing home about half the troops there now, and 26 percent oppose it." Toplines ... Crosstabs

-- ELIANA JOHNSON and DAVID BROWN: "New Pentagon chief under scrutiny over perceived Boeing bias"

A message from Better Medicare Alliance:


21 million seniors will face higher premiums if the 2020 Health Insurance Tax (HIT) is not delayed. Congress, delay the 2020 health insurance tax now. Learn More.

2020 WATCH -- DAVID SIDERS: "'Not a whole lot of red lights': Beto O'Rourke leaning toward 2020 run": "Beto O'Rourke is leaning toward running for president, according to four people who have spoken with him or his advisers in recent days. But for a presidential contender, his radio silence is becoming increasingly awkward.

"In Iowa and New Hampshire - where Democrats are accustomed to being courted aggressively by presidential contenders - calls from Democratic Party organizers to O'Rourke's advisers go unreturned. And a report in the Wall Street Journal on Monday that O'Rourke won't make any decision before February and is preparing for a solo road trip - but avoiding early nominating states - bewildered even his supporters." POLITICO

-- CHRIS CADELAGO: "Harris closes state campaign arm ahead of possible presidential run": "Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), moving closer to an anticipated presidential announcement, has shuttered her state campaign committee and is donating its roughly $1 million balance to a host of organizations, POLITICO has learned.

"The decision to close down the nascent 'Harris for Governor 2026' committee - which essentially served as an account to park money she raised while serving as the state attorney general, before she was elected senator in 2016 - represents the latest sign that she's gearing up for a White House run." POLITICO

-- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: DONOR WATCH -- A number of the Democratic 2020 hopefuls are starting to court Democratic megadonor Haim Saban, according to a friend of his. A spokesman for Saban, who was a top Hollywood donor to Hillary Clinton in 2016, declined to say who at this point had reached out to him.

THE INVESTIGATIONS -- "Manafort Accused of Sharing Trump Campaign Data With Russian Associate," by NYT's Sharon LaFraniere, Ken Vogel and Maggie Haberman: "As a top official in President Trump's campaign, Paul Manafort shared political polling data with a business associate tied to Russian intelligence, according to a court filing unsealed on Tuesday.

"The document provided the clearest evidence to date that the Trump campaign may have tried to coordinate with Russians during the 2016 presidential race. Mr. Manafort's lawyers made the disclosure by accident, through a formatting error in a document filed to respond to charges that he had lied to prosecutors working for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, after agreeing to cooperate with their investigation into Russian interference in the election.

"The document also revealed that during the campaign, Mr. Manafort and his Russian associate, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, discussed a plan for peace in Ukraine. Throughout the campaign and the early days of the Trump administration, Russia and its allies were pushing various plans for Ukraine in the hope of gaining relief from American-led sanctions imposed after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine." NYT

TRUMP'S WEDNESDAY -- The president will participate in an anti-human trafficking bill signing ceremony at 11:30 a.m. in the Oval Office. He will leave the White House at 12:45 p.m. to head to the Capitol to attend the Senate Republican policy lunch. At 3 p.m., the president will meet with congressional leaders in the Situation Room.
PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: Migrants mainly from Mexico and Central America look on as President Donald Trump gives a primetime address about border security Tuesday, watching from a border migrant shelter in Tijuana, Mexico. | Gregory Bull/AP Photo

KIM ZETTER: "Exclusive: How a Russian firm helped catch an alleged NSA data thief": "The 2016 arrest of a former National Security Agency contractor charged with a massive theft of classified data began with an unlikely source: a tip from a Russian cybersecurity firm that the U.S. government has called a threat to the country.

"Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab turned Harold T. Martin III in to the NSA after receiving strange Twitter messages in 2016 from an account linked to him, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. They spoke with POLITICO on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to discuss the case.

"The company's role in exposing Martin is a remarkable twist in an increasingly bizarre case that is believed to be the largest breach of classified material in U.S. history." POLITICO

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "AP Exclusive: NC election fraud probed long before 2018 race," by Michael Biesecker in Washington and Emery Dalesio in Raleigh: "Long before accusations of absentee ballot fraud in a small North Carolina county cast doubt on the results of a heated 2018 congressional race, a state elections investigator spent weeks probing whether the man at the center of the current scandal was among a group buying votes.

"That 2010 investigation was one of at least a half dozen instances over the last nine years that prosecutors and elections officials received complaints of serious elections irregularities in Bladen County, a rural locale of 35,000 people that has long had a statewide reputation for political chicanery by both Republicans and Democrats." AP

A message from Better Medicare Alliance:


Congress can protect seniors from increased costs. Act NOW. Stop the 2020 Health Insurance Tax. Learn More.

VALLEY TALK -- "Facebook, Twitter Turn to Right-Leaning Groups to Help Referee Political Speech," by WSJ's Kirsten Grind and John McKinnon: "Facebook has privately sought advice from the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian public-policy group, and its president Tony Perkins, according to people familiar with those meetings.

"Twitter's Chief Executive Jack Dorsey recently hosted dinners with conservatives, including Grover Norquist, the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, which advocates for lower taxes. Advisers on the left include the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil-rights group that keeps a list of hate groups." WSJ

MEDIAWATCH -- "U.S. lawsuit by Post journalist seeks $1 billion in damages from Iran to deter taking of hostages," by WaPo's Spencer Hsu: "Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian asked a federal judge Tuesday to impose $1 billion in damages against the government of Iran to deter future taking of American hostages, saying his ordeal began when one of three Iranian security agents pointed a gun at his head in the parking garage of his Tehran apartment building at about 8 p.m. on July 22, 2014. 'Are you Jason Rezaian?' the gunman asked.

"When he answered yes, the security officials forced their way on to the elevator carrying Rezaian and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who were heading to her mother's birthday party, Rezaian testified Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C. Over the next 18 months, Rezaian and family members said on the witness stand, the recently wed couple were arrested; placed separately in solitary confinement; and threatened with execution, physical mutilation and dismemberment." WaPo
PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: Mark Cuban walking through the Hart building. He was seen entering Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) office ... Chris Cuomo having a cup of coffee at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown.

SPOTTED at the Metropolitan Club last night at a reception hosted by Dina Powell celebrating the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act, which Trump will soon sign: speakers Ivanka Trump, Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho); Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Debbie Meadows, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Cathy Russell, Dr. Elena and Robert Allbritton, Evan Ryan, Anita McBride, Kellyanne Conway ...

... Peter Navarro, Reince Priebus, Ray Washburne, David Bohigian, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, David Ignatius, Morgan Ortagus, Jonathan Swan, Luis Alberto Moreno, Matthew Swift, Andrea Mitchell, Stuart and Gwen Holliday, Bret Baier, Mark Green, Cathy and Wayne Reynolds, David Urban and Kellie Mooney, Joe Wall and Liz Schrayer.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Lauren Fritts, head of public affairs for U.S. and Canada East and Israel at WeWork. How she got her start in her career: "I always love this question because it reminds me of a pretty special moment in my career with the late Tim Russert. He once said to me, 'You have the best job! You get to meet so many different people. Don't waste that opportunity, every time they enter this greenroom, make sure to take the time to ask how they got their first job, who opened the first door for them, and the moment they realized they were just where they needed to be, and maybe a few failures along the way.'" Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Brooke Brower, managing editor of CNN Politics, is 41 ... Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is 52 ... Ben Taub, staff writer for The New Yorker, is 28 ... Pamela Walsh ... UNDP's Sarah Jackson-Han ... Elizabeth Caputo, who heads up U.S. gov't engagement at the World Economic Forum (hat tip: Tim Burger) ... Mark Stencel ... former Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) is 66 ... Democracy21's Fred Wertheimer is 8-0 ... WSJ's Charles Passy is 55 ... Erica Flint (h/t Blair Holmes) ... Tim Punke, partner at Monument Policy Group, is 48 (h/t Stewart Verdery) ... Kim Larson ... Kenya Young, EP of NPR's "Morning Edition" ... Elaine Stern ... Al Felzenberg ... POLITICO's Desmond Hester ... Don Kent, VP at
the Nickles Group and a Bush 43 DHS alum (h/t Ed Cash) ...

... Luke Holland, COS for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), is 32 ... Judith Krantz is 91 ... Linda Greenhouse is 72 ... Josiah Ryan, CNN senior producer ... Tasha Hendershot ... Richard Neffson ... Peter Edelman, law professor at Georgetown University, is 81 ... Nicola Peltz ... Deana Bass Williams ... Laura Wiley ... Carrie Seim ... Seth Thomas Pietras ... Catherine Gatewood ... Diana Doukas ... Jessica Medeiros Garrison ... Colin Campbell, managing editor at Yahoo News ... Kristin Lehner ... Zubin Sharma ... Ron Castleman ... Susan Fertig-Dykes ... Catherine Fenton ... Jodi Sakol, VP of campaign outreach at AARP (hubby tip: Chris Lapetina) ... Dan Black ... Cristina Diaz-Torres ... Bob Burke
... Samir Arora (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

A message from Better Medicare Alliance:

21 million beneficiaries receive quality, affordable health coverage from Medicare Advantage. The 2020 Health Insurance Tax (HIT) will make beneficiaries pay more for their coverage, which they simply cannot afford. For 2019, the tax was delayed, resulting in lower costs for seniors, individuals with disabilities, and low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Without delay of the tax for 2020, these beneficiaries will pay the price. Congress, time is running out. Delay the 2020 health insurance tax now and preserve seniors' access to Medicare Advantage. Learn More.

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