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Today's POLITICO Playbook presented by Starbucks

06/20/2017 06:34 AM EDT

By ANNA PALMER (anna@politico.com; @apalmerdc), JAKE SHERMAN (sherman@politico.com; @JakeSherman) and DANIEL LIPPMAN (daniel@politico.com; @dlippman)

Listen to the Playbook Audio Briefing | Subscribe on iTunes | Visit the online home of Playbook
Driving the Day
Good Tuesday morning.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: There has been a lot of chatter about the White House searching for talent these days. AN EXAMPLE of who the White House is trying to recruit: the Trump administration recently approached SCOTT JENNINGS to gauge his interest in a senior role, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. Jennings is a confidant to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, was a special assistant to President George W. Bush and now is a principal at RunSwitch PR in Louisville, Kentucky. He's a frequent Trump defender on cable TV. The White House offered him a job but he turned it down last week. THIS IS A SERIOUS EFFORT to bring in high-level operatives with applicable
experience -- something the White House has shied away from, traditionally. Jennings declined to comment. The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.

INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE -- "Spicer searching for candidates to take over White House briefing," by Tara Palmeri: "White House press secretary Sean Spicer is leading a search for his own replacement at the briefing room podium as part of a larger plan to shake up the White House communications operations, according to two people with knowledge of the effort. Last week, Spicer and White House chief of staff Reince Priebus reached out to Fox News personality Laura Ingraham about the role of press secretary and Daily Mail editor David Martosko about the role of communications director, according to a White House official. Spicer and Priebus have had preliminary discussions with Ingraham and
interviewed Martosko." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b329cfa6019a0b57f6958110be23d99d82dd425b2f5d10e2b6eeae76cf317599c4cbf7429a0aa6d732c334297ad6f4de5

-- IF THE WHITE HOUSE is phasing out the daily on-camera press briefing -- as it appears to be -- Spicer's job switch seems quite natural. ONE BAD SIGN: The White House does not have an on-camera or off-camera press briefing today. This could be bad for the White House, as it will be far more difficult for them to drive a message and respond to questions, and it's bad for democracy, because the public has grown accustomed to reporters quizzing the administration in a public setting. In short, it is a problem for everyone. The White House even forbade journalists from broadcasting audio from yesterday's off-camera session.

-- BY THE WAY... The White House has been whispering about staff shake ups for months. We'll believe it when we see it.

WHERE THINGS STAND IN GEORGIA -- "Georgia special election comes to a messy end," by Gabe Debenedetti in Marietta, Georgia: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b998c84c5df36def141bf9f8bd270efe82a2807691c95dbca852e67af156f9ae7d6619c200aa9d76c9f476c95ad3e7678

GEORGIA 6TH BRAIN DUMP -- WHAT THE INSIDERS ARE SAYING ON ELECTION DAY ...

-- FROM A DEMOCRAT INVOLVED IN THE RACE: "This race is truly too close to call -- best guess is that Ossoff gets between 48-51 percent. He's consistently led in the polling and we have an advantage in the early vote, but GOP turnout (or lack thereof) will drive the day. On that note, it's clear that the Republicans have learned from their near-loss in the primary and are actually running a field program, and the extent to which last week's shooting of Rep. [Steve] Scalise will bring Republicans home is also unknown.

"We are playing to win, but it's important to keep in mind that the difference between a 51 percent win for Ossoff and 49 percent loss is that Georgia gets another Democratic Congressman. Nationally, either result is a huge problem for House Republicans in 2018, given where GA-06 sits on the GOP-held map in terms of competitiveness."

-- FROM A REPUBLICAN INVOLVED IN THE RACE: "Stock up on coffee. Poised to be a very late night. It's a pure tossup. But we're cautiously confident. Both parties have gone all-in here. Any press releases declaring a "moral victory" will be laughed at.

"Around 7:45, the first early vote from DeKalb will come in. That's the Dem county. Will look bad. People read too much into that. Between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., once we start getting enough of the Election Day vote in, should be a clearer picture. We need a strong Election Day showing out of Cobb County (stronghold for us). Watch Fulton County. Ossoff needs to at least tie Fulton to have a shot."

-- FROM THE PRESIDENT. @realDonaldTrump at 5:49 a.m.: "Democrat Jon Ossoff, who wants to raise your taxes to the highest level and is weak on crime and security, doesn't even live in district." ... at 6:02 a.m.: "KAREN HANDEL FOR CONGRESS. She will fight for lower taxes, great healthcare strong security-a hard worker who will never give up! VOTE TODAY".

-- IT'S WORTH NOTING: Ossoff would hardly be the first person to represent a district they don't live in. There are plenty of members of both parties who, for one reason or another, do not live in the district they represent.

THE BIG PICTURE -- WAPO A18 -- "In Trump's Washington, public business increasingly handled behind closed doors," by Phil Rucker and Ed O'Keefe: "The Senate bill to scale back the health-care law known as Obamacare is being written in secret by a single senator, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and a clutch of his senior aides. Officials at numerous agencies of the Trump administration have stonewalled friendly Republicans in Congress - not to mention Democrats - by declining to share internal documents on sensitive matters or refusing to answer questions.

"President Trump, meanwhile, is still forbidding the release of his tax returns, his aides have stopped releasing logs of visitors to the White House and his media aides have started banning cameras at otherwise routine news briefings, as happened Monday. Trump even refuses to acknowledge to the public that he plays golf during his frequent weekend visits to his private golf courses. More and more in the Trump era, business in Washington is happening behind closed doors. The federal government's leaders are hiding from public scrutiny - and their penchant for secrecy represents a stark departure from the campaign promises of Trump and his fellow Republicans to usher in newfound
transparency." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b6e6818ff7002febf070568458a299202233fd96eae6c6b9df0df2c60db655dffc67ce7b67f23ad0964f03fe645ce2eae

IVANKA TO THE HILL TO MEET RUBIO, FISCHER ON PAID LEAVE - via Ian Kullgren and Seung Min Kim in Morning Shift: "Ivanka Trump is scheduled to meet today [on Capitol Hill] with Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and other members to discuss paid leave and family issues, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans. The meeting comes as the Trump administration pushes its paid leave proposal, which would provide six weeks of leave for mothers and fathers. The White House hasn't found a sponsor yet, though today's meeting would indicate that Rubio and Fischer are two top choices.

"Fischer, for her part, has embraced the idea of paid family leave, but has stopped short of endorsing the White House's vision. She's pushing an incentive plan that would give a two-year tax break to companies that offer at least two weeks of paid leave, an idea she's put forth in previous years. Rubio has embraced that approach, too, saying during his presidential campaign that he would give companies a 25 percent tax credit for offering four to 12 weeks of paid leave."

AND THERE'S MORE -- "At height of Russia tensions, Trump campaign chairman Manafort met with business associate from Ukraine," by WaPo's Roz Helderman, Tom Hamburger and Rachel Weiner: "In August, as tension mounted over Russia's role in the U.S. presidential race, Donald Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, sat down to dinner with a business associate from Ukraine who once served in the Russian army. Konstantin Kilimnik, who learned English at a military school that some experts consider a training ground for Russian spies, had helped run the Ukraine office for Manafort's international political consulting practice for 10 years. At the Grand Havana Room, one of New York City's most
exclusive cigar bars, the longtime acquaintances 'talked about bills unpaid by our clients, about [the] overall situation in Ukraine ... and about the current news,' including the presidential campaign, according to a statement provided by Kilimnik, offering his most detailed account of his interactions with the former Trump adviser." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b7842d045b92d959890ecbc897bb9e4e7be568de6fc06a49c28f7e14717a35c21a83b3e09014171e0bd11ae87cfeb50c3


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FOR TRUMP'S WIN COLUMN -- "Gallup: Public trust in government's counter-terror efforts rebounds," by Jake Lahut: "Seventy percent of Americans feel assured of the government's ability to protect against terrorism, a Gallup poll released on Monday found, reflecting a boost [up from 55 percent] in public confidence since the last time the question was asked after the December 2015 attack in San Bernardino, California." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bee694557ec20705ab8f6e489951b4f9a5b5794b17661ebf40df492da2de7498508ea40e63793b6929bf043cd2973728e

MUELLER'S MUSCLE - "Mueller team lawyer brings witness-flipping expertise to Trump probes," by Reuters' Karen Freifeld: "A veteran federal prosecutor recruited onto special counsel Robert Mueller's team is known for a skill that may come in handy in the investigation of potential ties between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team: persuading witnesses to turn on friends, colleagues and superiors.

"Andrew Weissmann, who headed the U.S. Justice Department's criminal fraud section before joining Mueller's team last month, is best known for two assignments - the investigation of now-defunct energy company Enron and organized crime cases in Brooklyn, New York - that depended heavily on gaining witness cooperation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b3c42299d399db562b4b8fe38d7b0ed6679d61a318af6f0c7a38b8ddc4363b5371b205972a10a58cc59d301fcfb7860d3

FOR THE PRESIDENT -- "A Top Presidential Public Defender Was Also a Twitter Critic," by NYT's Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Maggie Haberman: "In April, Mark Corallo, the spokesman for President Trump's personal legal team, used Twitter to suggest - twice -- that Vice President Mike Pence, not Mr. Trump, should be the Republican nominee for president in 2020. In May, he posted several remarks disparaging the influence of Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, in the White House, suggesting they were part of 'the swamp' the president had promised to drain. ... 'Hey Mr. President, where's all the "winning?"' Mr. Corallo wrote last month, appearing to compare
Mr. Trump to Bill Clinton, who hailed from Arkansas, and his famous parsing of words. 'Or, like the guy from AR, are you going to tell me it depends on the definition of "winning?" " http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b2363d2ea3ea89802b128a8b4e08be47e7772768fa8ef22b47e3382643026ec533ec6576066a71afcb8aa19736c9b0403 ... Corallo's Twitter http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9be9a1b939b910f0e451fcfd0fe38c2366b038e745c73640462351f1651b0cc51d6a40658e9b3635539f797210ecbc7109

WHAT MITCH MCCONNELL IS UP TO -- "Sources: Senate GOP prepares for Obamacare repeal vote next week," by Burgess Everett and Jen Haberkorn: "Senate Republicans are preparing to vote on Obamacare repeal next week, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, potentially leaving rank-and-file lawmakers with no more than a week to review legislation that would affect millions of Americans and one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Senators are expected to see the text of the bill as soon as the end of this week, those sources said, provided this week's work goes smoothly. The timeline could change based on the response from individual senators toward the proposal at party meetings, but
Republicans are increasingly optimistic they can hold a vote next week if this week's lunch talks go well." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bde5bb377f205db0c08d134488df26aa957f9658c155626951fc6cd561dc9f76882f4fe7659864bdbae18392aa4c0137f

MIXED MESSAGES -- "Some Dems reluctant to shut down Senate committees over Obamacare," by Elana Schor and Seung Min Kim: "Even as Senate Democrats began a Monday night talk-a-thon designed to spotlight the GOP's still-secret Obamacare repeal plan, some of their own questioned the party's other potential procedural tactic to block committees from meeting this week. The skepticism within the caucus underscores the risk facing Senate Democrats as they launch an all-out battle against a Republican health care bill they have had zero power to influence.

"Democrats want to use every procedural tool at their disposal to slow the GOP's progress, but one of their more arcane options - the power to block committee meetings two hours after the Senate goes into session - risks inviting Republicans to paint them as heedlessly obstructionist. ... Two high-profile Tuesday hearings could get sandbagged by a Democratic blockade using the so-called 'two-hour rule,' if it is invoked: the Foreign Relations Committee's discussion of presidential authorizations for the use of military force and a Judiciary Committee look at past congressional and criminal investigations. If the tactic is used Wednesday, it could prematurely cut off an Intelligence
Committee hearing on Russian meddling in the 2016 election." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b60650d366f5ba5ccc03a78da8110f3141c4a82151bc3b29f2da98f25e70787d42ce105017af4bab24d2e7886b3ecd98a

WHAT PAUL RYAN WILL SAY TODAY ON TAX REFORM -- Speaker Paul Ryan is giving what his office is billing as a major address on tax reform today at the National Association of Manufacturers conference. He isn't going to discuss the vast and crucial disagreements between the House, Senate and White House but will aim to "describe the important components of any reform - both for individuals and businesses, big and small."

ONE BIG THING: He's going to lean into permanent tax reform instead of temporary measures, and will argue against "half measures" -- both signals that he wants to avoid a simple tax cut, which many see as an easy way to avoid tough decisions and political pain when cleaning out the cluttered tax code.

-- EXCERPTS: "We are actually unique in the world in the way we discourage capital from coming back to America and how we incentivize off-shoring jobs. This is not the kind of exceptionalism we should aspire to ... We must think differently, so that once again we make things here and export them around the world."

"We are going to get this done in 2017. We need to get this done in 2017. We cannot let this once-in-a-generation moment slip ... Transformational tax reform can be done, and we are moving forward. Full speed ahead."

SCALISE WATCH -- "McHenry steps up as Scalise recovers," by Rachael Bade and John Bresnahan: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b2e856a70b39f19e155359cde056eae935c1e61cf57471eefb3404a14549b2854f8ffebf7499630ac4723b7cae67c9744

NEW SUSAN GLASSER PODCAST, "The Man Who Argued With Dictators": "Tom Malinowski spent years trying to get President Obama to care more about human rights. Now, he's figuring out what to do with a president who doesn't seem to care at all." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b5b3bcca35cb32d638cf7bbfecf0894271745ae1f577d468e12d8ed00d381b23de809e450058a5ead194fda01bb72370b ... Subscribe http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b6b67aff982ceabd27bb24e238f479fb38f344653c2d3262f09e6f6c9bc8e02d46acdd4d6663e51ca6340f36900f4a20f

WHAT JERUSALEM AND RAMALLAH NEED TO KNOW -- "Jared Kushner Is About to Plunge Into Middle East Diplomacy," by NYT's Mark Landler and Maggie Haberman: The trip "also demonstrates Mr. Kushner's determination not to let investigations into the Trump campaign's alleged ties with Russia, or his own business dealings, distract him from his day-to-day work. ... Several officials said this could be the first trip in which Mr. Kushner and Mr. Greenblatt delved into the nitty-gritty of a possible peace agreement - borders, security and other questions that have bedeviled American peacemakers for decades - by asking both sides to list their priorities for negotiations."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b839b2260166c4e8483d0a0eac301f41cc58892c17be96c8ef41fc0a8e8d4a85d97242b4dcb7406d7783b8659d3463ce4

TRUMP'S TUESDAY -- TRUMP will drop by VP Mike Pence's meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and will have a legislative affairs lunch in the afternoon. The president and the first lady will head up Massachusetts Avenue for dinner at the Naval Observatory with the Pences tonight.

-- HOT VIDEO: @BraddJaffy: "He speaks! Have you ever heard Jared Kushner's voice before? Here you go." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9ba5fcbaae8de077321795dee26abe4a63aa237af5c7c1333291ee14262a28dc2b8cf1907a9181fb51d38999e2f3726594

THE JUICE ...

-- SPOTTED AT LE DIPLOMATE last night: Jeff Bezos and Jay Carney.

-- NATALIE JONES HALLAHAN has started as SVP of external affairs at Meridian International Center. Jones was acting chief of protocol at State in the Obama administration.

-- JACK QUINN has joined the D.C. office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as a partner in the litigation group and chair of the firm's federal regulatory and government practice. At Manatt, he will work with clients involved in "complex regulatory proceedings, government investigations and public policy campaigns." Quinn previously chaired QGA Public Affairs.

-- MICHAEL LAROSA starts on July 10 as comms director for Democrats on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources under ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). He has spent the last six plus years as a producer for MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews. He is emailing friends this morning: "I am eternally grateful to Chris for taking a chance on me six years ago; his mentorship and friendship have been invaluable. I've had a front row seat to history during two Presidential Election cycles."

-- SNEAK PEEK: CBS's NORAH O'DONNELL interviews South Korean President Moon Jae-in on "CBS This Morning." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bde4c6a2e85c58c062b33f477c9f3566f0d3c9d0a0fde8b9991c556321311dd7d1c432d6ddddf295b1e06ea150af72d3a


Playbook Reads


PHOTO DU JOUR: Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff speaks to volunteers and supporters on the last night before election day as he runs for Georgia's 6th Congressional District on June 19, 2017 in Roswell, Georgia. The election will fill a congressional seat that has been held by a Republican since the 1970s. | Joe Raedle/Getty

DEEP DIVE -- "7 Sailors Emerged From Diverse Backgrounds to Pursue a Common Cause," by NYT's Dave Phillips: "The seven sailors who died when the destroyer Fitzgerald collided with a container ship last weekend were a snapshot of the nation they served: an immigrant from the Philippines whose father served in the Navy before him; a poor teenager whose Guatemalan family came north eager for opportunity; a native of Vietnam hoping to help his family; a firefighter's son from a rural crossroads in the rolling green fields of Virginia. The roll call of the dead also illustrated the degree to which the military relies on recruits from immigrant communities around the country."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bcb8d340adefc5652469b024701fdba19ba11eea21e862c9159cc2bc5fcbc64674804e5b49c57eaacecf1ef707620bb39

2018 WATCH -- "Sources: Heller gets Democratic opponent for 2018 race," by Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett: "Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) plans to run against Republican Sen. Dean Heller for his Senate seat in Nevada, according to multiple people familiar with her plans. Heller is widely considered the most vulnerable Republican up for re-election in 2018 and is the only GOP senator this cycle who represents a state won by Hillary Clinton in 2016. ... The recruitment of Rosen has the strong imprint of former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who was entrusted by the party establishment to identify the strongest candidate to challenge Heller. Reid settled on Rosen, figuring that
she's a fresh face with little political baggage and would be the most formidable opponent, according to a person familiar with the matter." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bc7f4e590888b6b039353df12108b99602ad36f5919fbb106b4a6fb840ab6810c315cd0bc2688fe443b16a75799bc6f93

SNEAK PEEK - JASON ZENGERLE in the N.Y. Times Magazine, "Is North Carolina the Future of American Politics? The state is narrowly split between Democratic and Republican Parties that agree on virtually nothing. Are its scorched-earth politics what the rest of us have to look forward to?": "Welcome to North Carolina circa 2017, where all the passions and pathologies of American politics writ large are played out writ small -- and with even more intensity. Ever since 2010, when Republicans seized control of the General Assembly for the first time in a century, and especially since 2012, when they took the governor's mansion, the state's politics have been haywire. 'There's been a bigger and
quicker shift to the right here than in any other state in the country,' says Rob Christensen, a longtime political writer for The News and Observer ...

"In just a few years, North Carolina Republicans have not just run quickly through the conservative policy checklist; they've tried to permanently skew the balance of power in the state in their favor, passing some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country and drawing some of the most egregiously gerrymandered congressional and state legislative districts in modern American politics (though their moves have repeatedly failed to pass muster with the courts). Cooper's victory, and the blowback to H.B. 2 that preceded it, seemed to suggest a chastening of the party - until Republicans contested the election results with a series of baseless allegations of voter fraud and legal
challenges that left the state in limbo for four weeks before [Pat] McCrory finally conceded." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bd6c65ba6f0b89947a61887c282eddfd4bbe3b1f58132e8b48c8587fd0b4db973fe73e52a29a8979e5b38ca56fbfbddb7


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NEW WIRED COVER STORY - "How to Switch a Country Off. The New Weapons are Digital -- and They're Pointed at Us," by Andy Greenberg in the July issue (online headline: "How an Entire Nation Became Russia's Test Lab for Cyberwar"): Viktor "Yushchenko, who ended up serving as Ukraine's president from 2005 to 2010, believes that Russia's tactics, online and off, have one single aim: 'to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, to make its government look incompetent and vulnerable.' He lumps the blackouts and other cyberattacks together with the Russian disinformation flooding Ukraine's media, the terroristic campaigns in the east of the country, and his own poisoning years ago-all underhanded
moves aimed at painting Ukraine as a broken nation. 'Russia will never accept Ukraine being a sovereign and independent country,' says Yushchenko, whose face still bears traces of the scars caused by dioxin toxicity. 'Twenty--five years since the Soviet collapse, Russia is still sick with this imperialistic syndrome.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bb041de0990a3bd9103d0e86edf0f885b9365f3537902b03969d8e39350e950146160caa5e8d074ac2368bb06835e64f6 ... The cover http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b499794dd6e257ede24a11c05eaf10e70b344a50ba542051affe293b2cf45cc70c6794533b78ae95388a35790fc01bb90

THE LATEST ON THE TRAVEL BAN -- "Judge narrows injunction on Trump travel ban," by Josh Gerstein: "A federal judge in Hawaii has reined in in an injunction he issued three months ago blocking key parts of President Donald Trump's revised travel ban executive order. U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson scaled back the injunction Monday, nullifying its impact on studies and policy reviews ordered under the directive Trump issued in March and billed as an anti-terrorism initiative." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b3115556746ee52a6676bc248407c2a2cf7a1f5260a5a71e8ebe372229b31a9a57265db1b26ef419e8ff13d052bf63d6e

JUST POSTED -- "The Man At The Center Of This Trump Scandal Wants To Clear His Name," by BuzzFeed's Borzou Daragahi: "[Kamil Ekim] Alptekin said the work Flynn did for him - for which he was paid $530,000, and included research into Erdo\u011fan's nemesis, the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen - had nothing to do with the Turkish government, and challenged anyone to prove it did. ... But Alptekin's story has raised eyebrows in Washington, where many have been left wondering where he got the money to pay Flynn - and why a relatively obscure businessman in Turkey had hired the former general to dig up dirt on one of Erdo\u011fan's enemies. ... Alptekin prizes the work done by Flynn's researchers.
'This is the only real intense investigative work done on the Gülenists,' he said. 'Is it worth the money I paid? You bet your ass.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bb164a11b307a4e001758296f0329409b01b7e09fcada2390d631b4fc92edf3357adf983272f1690687cc4e47dcbc9fc9

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Rich Venezuelans eat sushi, guzzle cocktails amid chaos," by AFP's Carlos Reyes in Caracas: "While most Venezuelans struggle to buy food and make ends meet, a small group still manages to eat sushi and sip cocktails in exclusive discos and country clubs. The country may be stricken by poverty and political violence, but a rich minority acts like they are untouched by the crisis. Case in point: Caracas, one of the world's most violent cities, is the first in South America to open a branch of the trendy Buddha Bar international nightclub chain. In a country where basics such as flour and sugar are in short supply, Buddha Bar guests can order tuna steak, pork ribs or fish
tacos -- as long as they have dollars to pay." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9bc212288be25087f338ed84fc13a996a1b3b828b7f8ccfd6568293d62b91daebd53d47d1c7f4f4466581f8e651fb87fff

OFF MESSAGE WITH ISAAC DOVERE: TRUMP STUMBLING INTO WAR -- Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tells Isaac Dovere in the latest "Off Message" podcast that Trump's impulsiveness leaves him wondering "whether he will do the right things under pressure," and that this could lead to things quickly spiraling out of control in Syria, North Korea, the South China Sea and Ukraine. "There's many areas where there could be a miscalculation that could lead to a shooting war. In every one of those circumstances, the Trump administration has not given us a strategy," Cardin said. Listen and subscribe http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b2c36d5d1c6e10d8551a7b03e967bf05b945b8299675571b21f8cce6411ae7cbdcda2557a208caa556fbda130a3fd759c

MEDIAWATCH -- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: CLINTON ALUMNI - Maya Harris is joining MSNBC as political analyst. She was a senior policy adviser on the Clinton campaign and is a CAP alum.

Playbookers
SPOTTED: Kellyanne Conway and Wilbur Ross both dining separately at RPM Italian last night ... Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) last night at Bluejacket Arsenal in Navy Yard.

OUT AND ABOUT - SUSAN PAGE and CARL LEUBSDORF hosted a 200th birthday party for their house in Georgetown on Saturday night, complete with family, friends and two birthday cakes. "The three-story stone house was built by the Georgetown Building Company in 1817 and is still standing -- from James Monroe to Donald Trump. ... [F]amous residents ... include Inez Buck Robinson, who was a Broadway actress in the 1940s, and a really interesting diplomatic couple, John Cooper Wiley and Irena Baruch Wiley. He was the U.S. charges d'Affaires in Vienna when the Nazis took over; the Wileys helped many Austrian Jews escape, among them Sigmund Freud. He went on to hold other ambassadorships. They were
close to FDR; when the Polish-born Irena became a U.S. citizen, FDR swore her in." SPOTTED: historian Robert Dallek, Tommy Burr, Clark Hoyt, Bob Hillman, Robin Sproul, Chris Rowland and Nancy Cook.

ENGAGED -- Rodd McLeod, co-founder of Radar Strategies and former Giffords campaign manager, got engaged on Friday to Rebekah Sanders, political reporter at The Arizona Republic, at a mountaintop restaurant overlooking Phoenix. "As Rebekah's favorite all-female mariachi band played, Rodd dusted off his newspaper-delivery-boy skills and presented her with a custom 'special edition' Arizona Republic with the A1 headline 'Will she? Won't she?' and a column by their dog, The Magnificent Gingersnout. The couple met in 2012 when she covered campaigns he managed for Reps. Barber and Sinema. After years of arguing with each other about politics professionally, they started dating after their
career paths diverged and have decided to debate politics for decades more." Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b6929392954786d0edd60f0f6bd2a43a1393f9e5766b9de5d2760028dca30f478f370cfca5c39d1a3e085f340178b1c41

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation and Krish Vignarajah, founder of Generation Impact, a social impact consulting firm, email friends and family: Sunday "at 1:38 a.m., Krish gave me the greatest Father's Day gift: the birth of our baby daughter, Alana Vignarajah O'Mara! Krish was amazing throughout the entire pregnancy and especially during a daunting 39 final hours at the hospital before Alana arrived -- proving time and time again that women are stronger than men. And in the O'Mara family tradition, baby Alana is a healthy, hardy 8 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long... We look forward to introducing you all to the newest member
of America's growing conservation army and another Ranger Rick kid!" Pics http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b36092a4e22272cc6095c81cb9c091efe4824d2cce2d2e14d98ee852096582bca6b262f38d7f8d9dd9fbb3f360728495b ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b0cb15fa8f14bd71b85a61bc7ea55d4b8dff8b1384e548bc5156ca6fcf8c5e9c08f9661acbdc18b68a1eaf4de568926af

TRANSITIONS -- NIKI CHRISTOFF is joining Salesforce as SVP of strategy and government relations based in Washington. She currently heads up Uber's D.C. policy shop and is a Google and John McCain alum. She'll begin in July. ...

... The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association has promoted Brian Tate to be its CEO and president. He has been the VP of gov't affairs at the association since 2013. ... Emil Caillaux has joined the Inter-American Development Bank's external relations team. ...

... Stami Williams has been named comms director for Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of Financial Services; she previously was on the press team for Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.). ... Latham & Watkins has hired Nick McQuaid, former deputy counsel to President Obama in the WH Counsel's office and former prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b4bb22ae0cdd47d0a0ff4a46a99f791a2f2e23472910dac1867d53a4bafae24e71ea650212ba4ce791974a5dc4453c3a6

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Alex Kisling, principal in the Kivvit DC office (hat tip: Emily David)

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Adrienne Elrod, president of Elrod Strategies and former director of strategic communications for Hillary for America. How she's celebrating: "I'll be in Los Angeles for work on my actual birthday, so I'll be dining with my friends on the West Coast, followed by drinks back in DC later in the week. My friends know that I'm partial to a good glass of Chardonnay, so I'm leaving the planning to their capable hands." Read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=85ff3d8125f1ec9b403165bdb217bc3cfd230c2aeef7a862aba8d6cfa1918f58a2489b9f4f47ad02e48569e628b8e7caeae3c5c472fe2c78

BIRTHDAYS: Bill Maher is 61 ... Josh Gerstein ... DOJ's Ian Prior is 4-0. He's celebrating at DOJ's National Summit on Crime Reduction and Public Safety in Bethesda, Maryland, and hopefully some time with his two little girls back at home too (h/t Sarah Isgur Flores) ... Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) is 67 (h/t Joe McCarthy) ... Gregg Birnbaum, senior political editor at NBCNews.com ... Megan Murphy, celebrating "by having dinner at the Polo Club with friends BUT late because Tuesday night is the magazine's late night. And she and the BW team are producing a 'jobs issue' to follow up on the rave reviews the magazine got for last week's re-launch" (h/t Rachel Nagler) ... former Rep. Phil English
(R-Pa.) is 61 ... David W.H. Kornahrens ... Robert Yoon, InsideElections contributing reporter and analyst and a CNN alum ... Politico's Jeltsje Skeens ... Kyle Scriven, who does digital for AARP and is an MPAA alum ... Rachel Meadows ... Politico Europe's Jeanette Minns ... Washington Business Journal's Michael Neibauer ... Brenda Cullen ... David Kornahrens, assistant analyst at Tulchin Research (h/t Tia Seltzer) ... Brad Howard, COS for Rep. Stephanie Murphy and former Blue Dog spokesperson (h/t Kristen Hawn) ...

... Sara Pearl Kenigsberg of MoveOn.org ... Chris Grieco, a lawyer in the WH Counsel's office who was a key part of the team that worked to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch (h/t Jon Nabavi) ... Brandon Arnold, EVP of the National Taxpayers Union, is 4-0 ... Tommy Zigo, senior associate at Precision Strategies and SoulCycle's biggest fan (h/t Jeff Solnet) ... Kristin White, major gifts manager at AAUW, and alum of DNC, Kamala Harris and EMILY's List (h/t Carla Frank) ... Dan McManus of Rep. Tammy Duckworth's office ... Ernie Thornton ... Ming Long ... León Rodríguez, former director of USCIS ... Roya Soleimani, corporate comms. manager for social impact at Google ... Ginger Gregory
Loper ... Ed Miyagishima ... Valerie Mackoff Graham ... Anna March ... Tony Wilson ... Sue Dvorsky ... Deanna Busalacchi-Zabel ... Sarah Diminuco ... Michelle Diminuco (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Stephen Frears is 76 ... Lionel Richie is 68 ... John Goodman is 65 ... Nicole Kidman is 5-0 (h/ts AP)

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