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Presented by the National Retail Federation: Playbook is POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the day Jan 14, 2019 View in browser
By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Daniel Lippman, Garrett Ross and Eli Okun

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WHAT PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SAID BEFORE LEAVING FOR NEW ORLEANS, per pooler Hunter Walker of Yahoo ...

-- THE PRESIDENT, on Democrats and the shutdown: "I've been here all weekend. A lot of the Democrats were in Puerto Rico celebrating something. I don't know, maybe they're celebrating the shutdown. We have a very big crisis, a humanitarian crisis on the border. Everybody knows it. They know it and many of them are saying, 'We agree with you.' Many of them are calling and many of them are breaking."

... AHEM: If you are a Democrat who has called the president, or you work for a Democrat who has called the president or you have heard of a Democrat who has called the president, please shoot us a note. We'd love to talk to you about that conversation.

-- TRUMP SAID he has rejected SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM'S (R-S.C.) suggestion that he reopen government while negotiating for the border wall. "I don't want to just delay it. I want to get it solved," he said.

-- TRUMP SAID he was not familiar with REP. STEVE KING'S (R-IOWA) comments about white supremacy.

-- TRUMP also said: "I never worked for Russia. Not only did I never work for Russia, I think it's a disgrace that you even asked that question, because it's a whole big fat hoax. It's just a hoax."

THE LATEST ON THE SHUTDOWN -- ANDREW RESTUCCIA: "Trump backs off national emergency with no end to shutdown in sight": "President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to rule out - at least for now - declaring a national emergency to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, setting aside one of the White House's leading options for ending the 24-day partial government shutdown. ...

"Top White House officials cautioned, however, that the emergency declaration was still on the table. Such a decision, they said, would be a 'last resort' if Congress is unable to find a way out of the shutdown. In the meantime, White House officials are discussing a strategy of trying to peel off moderate and centrist House Democrats - some who last week expressed unease with the continuation of the shutdown." POLITICO

THE IMPACT ... STEPHANIE BEASLEY: "Dulles closes screening lanes, lines sprawl in Atlanta as shutdown strains air travel": "Washington Dulles International on Monday became the latest airport to close screening lanes because of absences by unpaid TSA agents, adding to a pileup as the 23-day-old government shutdown strains air travel across the country.

"Miami International and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport similarly announced checkpoint closures over the weekend because of a higher-than-usual rate of no-shows by TSA agents. Meanwhile, passengers at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport - the busiest in the world - were stuck in security lines more than an hour long Monday morning after closures of at least six security lanes, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. 'We are down a few security lanes because of the shutdown,' an Atlanta airport spokeswoman told POLITICO. 'The lines are long but there is a continuous flow; they are moving.'" POLITICO

-- WSJ'S ALISON SIDER: "TSA's unplanned absence rate hovered at around 5% the week leading up Friday's payday. On Sunday, the rate jumped to 7.7%, up from 5.6% the previous day and 3.2% on the same day a year ago. The agency said it has been working with airports around the country on contingency plans in case they are unexpectedly short-staffed." WSJ

-- JEN SCHOLTES: "TSA cancels training for hundreds of workers as shutdown drags on"

Good Monday afternoon. HOUSE VOTES are still on for 6:30 this evening.

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... CNN'S JEREMY HERB, PAMELA BROWN and LAURA JARRETT: "Transcripts detail how FBI debated whether Trump was 'following directions' of Russia": "The congressional transcripts obtained by CNN reveal new details into how the FBI launched the investigation into Trump and the discussions that were going on inside the bureau during a tumultuous and pivotal period ahead of the internal investigation and special counsel Robert Mueller's appointment.

"Republicans view the officials' comments as evidence that top officials at the FBI were planning all along to investigate Trump and that the probe wasn't sparked by the Comey firing, according to a Republican source with knowledge of the interviews. While the FBI launched its investigation in the days after Comey's abrupt dismissal, the bureau had previously contemplated such a step, according to testimony from former FBI lawyer Lisa Page." CNN

-- ABC'S TARA PALMERI and BENJAMIN SIEGEL: "Interpreter from Trump-Putin summit may be forced into congressional spotlight": "[T]here is mounting interest in seeing [Marina] Gross step into the spotlight, as Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees seek an explanation for what exactly transpired behind closed doors in Helsinki. ...

"Lawyers for the two committees are planning to meet Monday to evaluate their legal options for subpoenaing both Gross and another interpreter, who was present during a meeting in Hamburg, Germany, between Trump and Putin that occurred without aides present." ABC ... "60 Minutes" interview last night with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)

A message from the National Retail Federation:

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A.G. WATCH -- MARIANNE LEVINE: "Barr pledges to allow Mueller to complete investigation": "Attorney General nominee William Barr will pledge this week to allow special counsel Robert Mueller to complete his investigation into suspected collusion between President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia, according to his written testimony submitted to the Senate. ...

"'I believe it is vitally important that the Special Counsel be allowed to complete his investigation,' Barr wrote in his testimony. 'I have the utmost respect for Bob and his distinguished record of public service.' In addition, Barr vowed to provide as much transparency as he can 'consistent with the law' to the public and to Congress on the results of the Mueller investigation." POLITICO ... Full prepared remarks

-- NYT'S CHARLIE SAVAGE: "Trump Says He Alone Can Do It. His Attorney General Nominee Usually Agrees": "Rejecting mainstream constitutional views, William P. Barr, the deputy attorney general, told [then-President George H.W.] Bush that he wielded unfettered power to start a major land war on his own - not only without congressional permission, but even if Congress voted against it. ...

"[U]nlike the self-restrained Mr. Bush, Mr. Trump revels in pushing limits - a temperament that, when combined with Mr. Barr's unusually permissive understanding of presidential power, could play out very differently for the rule of law than it did last time." NYT

SCOTUS WATCH -- WAPO'S ROBERT BARNES (@scotusreporter): "Without comment, #scotus turns away challenge to the legality of Matt Whitaker's appointment as acting attorney general."

-- BLOOMBERG'S KIMBERLY ROBINSON: "Justices Won't Take on Campaign Contribution Limits"

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- AP'S MATTHEW LEE in Riyadh: "U.S. tells Saudis to hold Khashoggi's murderers accountable": "Pompeo, speaking to reporters at the end of a trip to Riyadh, said he had raised the Khashoggi case in his meetings with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as other human rights concerns, and the fate of women's rights activists who have been detained in the kingdom. ...

"He said the Saudis understood and had reiterated pledges to pursue the case wherever it leads. He would not comment on U.S. intelligence suggesting the crown prince may have ordered the killing." AP

ON THE BORDER -- NYT'S JOSE DEL REAL in San Diego and MANNY FERNANDEZ in El Paso, Texas: "As Government Pulls Back, Charities Step In to Help Released Migrants": "People working along the border say an ever larger number of families are being released with nowhere to stay, no money, no food and no means of getting to friends and relatives who may be hundreds or thousands of miles away. ...

"[C]hurches and other nongovernmental organizations have strung together millions of dollars worth of assistance to help keep migrants off the streets and speed their reunion with family members in the United States. ... While there has never been a good solution to the issue of what to do with migrants after they are released by immigration agents, recent steps by the Trump administration have exacerbated the situation." NYT

TRADE WARS -- BLOOMBERG: "China's Slumping Trade Adds Pressure for Settlement With Trump"

BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- KIM HEFLING: "Teachers take to the picket lines in Los Angeles": "Tens of thousands of Los Angeles teachers went on strike Monday, demanding more pay and smaller classrooms in the nation's second-largest school district.

"The United Teachers Los Angeles, which has more than 30,000 members, opted to strike for the first time in three decades after nearly two years of negotiations. Teachers - carrying signs in the rain that read "our students deserve fully funded schools" - were expected to picket at 900 schools before gathering for a massive mid-morning march." POLITICO

2020 WATCH -- NYT'S JONATHAN MARTIN: "Democrats Want to Run on Issues in 2020. But Does Beating Trump Matter Most?": "After a 2018 midterm election that energized the left, perhaps the most consequential political question facing the Democratic Party is whether liberals will insist on imposing policy litmus tests on 2020 presidential hopefuls, or whether voters will rally behind the candidate most capable of defeating the president even if that Democrat is imperfect on some issues." NYT

CLICKER ... THE ATLANTIC: "50 Moments That Define an Improbable Presidency"

SWAMP WATCH -- THEO MEYER: "Ex-lawmakers 'scrambling and looking' for lobbying gigs: So many former House Republicans are considering heading to K Street that not all of them are likely to find work." POLITICO

NYT'S ELIZABETH HERMAN and CELESTE SLOMAN: "Redefining Representation: The Women of the 116th Congress": "This portraits series documents the women of the 116th Congress in their totality. Like the work of Kehinde Wiley, who painted Barack Obama's official presidential portrait, these photographs evoke the imagery we are used to seeing in the halls of power, but place people not previously seen as powerful starkly in the frames." With 131 photos on one page: NYT

MEDIAWATCH -- Michael Warren and Holmes Lybrand are joining CNN's D.C. bureau. Both previously worked at The Weekly Standard. ... Morgan Ortagus is now a contributor to Fox News. She has a consulting business, Global Opportunity Advisors, and is co-chair of MAVPAC and a U.S. Navy reserve officer. ... Arthur Brooks will be an opinion columnist for WaPo. He is president of the American Enterprise Institute.

TRANSITIONS -- Raj Shah, a former White House spokesman, has joined Ballard Partners to lead its media group. (h/t Florida Playbook). ... Frederick Hill will be managing director for FTI Consulting's strategic communications practice. He previously was communications director for the Senate Commerce Committee. ... Brian McGuire is now counselor to the secretary for legislative affairs at the Treasury Department. He previously was policy director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. (h/t Morning Money)

A message from the National Retail Federation:


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