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Today's Playbook Power Briefing presented by BP

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


Good FRIDAY afternoon. BREAKING NEWS -- HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS CHAIRMAN KEVIN BRADY told us in a completely packed Playbook Interview this afternoon (nearly 300 people!) at the Newseum that he has asked the Congressional Budget Office for the updated budgetary impact of including a repeal of the individual mandate in health care reform in the tax package. WHAT'S THAT MEAN? Gutting health-care reform could become part of the tax reform process. That's a serious shift.

-- Q: Is a repeal of the individual mandate on the table? BRADY: "The president feels very strongly about including this at some step before the final process and he's told me that twice by phone and once in person ... and members have as well. ... There are pros and cons to this, importing health care into a tax reform debate has consequences. ... No decisions have been made, we're listening to the members and certainly the president as well."

-- OTHER FUN BITES. BRADY held up a postcard to show how Americans will file taxes under his plan. Q: "Will we really use just that postcard for our taxes?" BRADY: "No." ... There will be another worksheet.

-- ON TRUMP'S INVOLVEMENT ... BRADY: "He calls regularly, more often now, just weighing in on these decisions." ... Q: What about concerns of business taxes going up? Q: What role will the president play going forward? BRADY: "It's been positive in a big way ... he's using Twitter to make the case as well. He's been all in on the rollout ... He's going to stay engaged, his cabinet is staying engaged while he's traveling."

-- ON FLOOR PROCESS -- Q: Will there be any amendments from the floor? BRADY: "No. ... The work will be done in the committee and before we take it to the Rules committee and later in conference."

-- ON THE MIDTERMS -- Q: Is there pressure on House Republicans to pass the bill? BRADY: "We've not delivered on our promise on health care repeal. It's critical to deliver on tax reform ... This is the challenge of the lifetime ... At the end of the day, we achieve this ... we've delivered on our promise."

BRADY says markup will end by Thursday.

GOOD JOB NUMBERS -- "Job growth rebounds after September hurricanes," by Ian Kullgren: "The Labor Department reported 261,000 new jobs in October, a sharp turnaround from September, when Hurricanes Harvey and Irma prompted a monthly gain of just 18,000 jobs. The numbers, while short of Wall Street expectations, are good news for a White House eager to generate positive press amid this week's indictments in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe and New York City's worst terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001.

"Friday's jobs numbers represent the largest single-month gain of President Donald Trump's presidency -- the biggest jump since July 2016. But economists cautioned that the gains represented no significant growth in the economy. Rather, they are a return to the status quo after severe weather disrupted September's job creation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8620539c09acd38b776c51d91cbb887ed357f6389d0aa7308807a19a7a5df39c1eef05869b50e5fc7b7960880e4e4b15

AUDIBLE -- "Trump to stay in the Philippines extra day to attend East Asia Summit," by Louis Nelson and Andrew Restuccia: "President Donald Trump announced Friday morning that he will extend his trip to Asia, adding an extra day in the Philippines to attend the East Asia Summit. ... Trump's attendance at the East Asia Summit will add a 13th day to the trip that began Friday with his departure from the White House. While in Asia, Trump is also expected to attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Vietnam and a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Philippines." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8620539c09acd38be11c42394be4dfa47e36599150286bb9d6c17b972ae051cce8125bbcabb5bba399a186f8dd6011b3

BULLETIN -- AP at 1:04 p.m.: "MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - U.S. military carries out 1st airstrikes against Islamic State group fighters in Somalia."

THE NEXT FED CHAIR'S CHALLENGE -- "Trump's risky economic handoff: The president's pick to lead the Federal Reserve must gingerly guide the U.S. through the back end of an economic expansion," by Victoria Guida: "When Janet Yellen gives the reins of the Federal Reserve to Jerome Powell, it will be among the riskiest handoffs in history -- navigating the U.S. through a likely economic slump in the coming years. It has been a decade since the start of the last recession, and the economy is experiencing steady growth, with the stock market soaring to record highs. But with the expansion in its eighth year -- already the third-longest in U.S. history -- the Fed will have to make tough calls
about how quickly to raise interest rates to head off inflation, and when to stop.

"Those decisions will fall to Powell, President Donald Trump's choice for Fed chair, if he is confirmed by the Senate. 'I'd put the odds of a recession over the next four years at better than 50 percent, which means he's likely to face a recession at some point during his tenure,' said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8620539c09acd38bff9e0b9a2fd6efbcc09a0bc79c6ebc5cad27397cd233d4e47f500b1f1789ed4e35abaac7d19afa0d

PLAYING NICE? -- "Bannon meets with House GOP campaign strategists," by Alex Isenstadt and Elena Schneider: "[NRCC] Chairman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and John Rogers, the organization's executive director, went to the Capitol Hill townhouse that serves as a base of operations for Bannon and his Breitbart News website. According to two people familiar with the meeting, which stretched on for nearly 40 minutes, Bannon pledged to Stivers and Rogers that his focus wasn't on toppling establishment-oriented House incumbents in the 2018 midterm elections but rather on waging an all-out war against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Bannon has launched a national effort to target Senate GOP
incumbents and other McConnell-aligned Republican candidates." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8620539c09acd38b3361785f24ed248423ece7e03b21ba1c70720d608911aaa6f4816ca07b86f2a2d00323bb3a62362d

LOTS ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND THIS MORNING -- @realDonaldTrump at 6:51 a.m.: "My Twitter account was taken down for 11 minutes by a rogue employee. I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact." ... at 6:57 a.m.: "Everybody is asking why the Justice Department (and FBI) isn't looking into all of the dishonesty going on with Crooked Hillary & the Dems.." ... at 7:03 a.m.: "...New Donna B book says she paid for and stole the Dem Primary. What about the deleted E-mails, Uranium, Podesta, the Server, plus, plus..." ...

... at 7:11 a.m.: "....People are angry. At some point the Justice Department, and the FBI, must do what is right and proper. The American public deserves it!" ... at 7:48 a.m.: "The real story on Collusion is in Donna B's new book. Crooked Hillary bought the DNC & then stole the Democratic Primary from Crazy Bernie!" ... at 7:55 a.m.: "Pocahontas just stated that the Democrats, lead by the legendary Crooked Hillary Clinton, rigged the Primaries! Lets go FBI & Justice Dept." ...

... at 8:03 a.m.: "ISIS just claimed the Degenerate Animal who killed, and so badly wounded, the wonderful people on the West Side, was 'their soldier.' ....." ... at 8:11 a.m.: "...Based on that, the Military has hit ISIS 'much harder' over the last two days. They will pay a big price for every attack on us!" ... at 10:28 a.m.: "Bernie Sanders supporters have every right to be apoplectic of the complete theft of the Dem primary by Crooked Hillary!" ... at 10:29 a.m.: "Bernie Sanders supporters have every right to be apoplectic of the complete theft of the Dem primary by Crooked Hillary!"

... at 10:45 a.m.: "Just took off for ceremony @ Pearl Harbor. Will then be heading to Japan, SKorea, China, Vietnam & the Philippines. Will never let you down!" ... at 12:09 p.m.: "The rigged Dem Primary, one of the biggest political stories in years, got ZERO coverage on Fake News Network TV last night. Disgraceful!" ... at 12:22 p.m., with a Fox News screenshot: "JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!" ... at 12:54 p.m.: "The decision on Sergeant Bergdahl is a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military."

IMAGINE THAT -- @mkraju: "Trump last week: 'I have one of the great memories of all time.' Trump today on Papadopoulos meeting: 'I don't remember much about it.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8620539c09acd38b51bfb53c3b91db8c0f200a322b62b0c292f2ebcc7fd7912fb315780de03df4b294aa089f0eb3d0f3

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VALLEY TALK -- "Former Twitter Employee Says Fake Russian Accounts Were Not Taken Seriously," by Bloomberg's Selina Wang: "In early 2015, a Twitter employee discovered a vast amount of Twitter accounts with IP addresses in Russia or Ukraine. The employee, Leslie Miley, said most of these accounts were inactive or fake but were not deleted at the time. Miley, who was the company's engineering manager of product safety and security at the time, said efforts to root out spam and manipulation on the platform were slowed down by the company's growth team, which focused on increasing users and revenue. 'Anything we would do that would slow down signups, delete accounts, or remove accounts had to
go through the growth team,' Miley said. 'They were more concerned with growth numbers than fake and compromised accounts.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8877c2cd2211be94417c0dd9d36f32e98c9e7f063cef5067e5222459261796252798aba16440582dc5ead4068c21d02f

-- "Jenna Abrams, Russia's Clown Troll Princess, Duped the Mainstream Media and the World," by The Daily Beast's Ben Collins and Joseph Cox: "Jenna Abrams had a lot of enemies on Twitter but she was a very good friend to viral content writers across the world. Her opinions about everything from manspreading on the subway to Rachel Dolezal to ballistic missiles still linger on news sites all over the web. ... Congressional investigators working with social media companies have since confirmed that Abrams wasn't who she said she was. Her account was the creation of employees at the Internet Research Agency, or the Russian government-funded 'troll farm,' in St. Petersburg. ...

"But Abrams got very real attention from almost any national news outlet you can think of, according to a Daily Beast analysis of her online footprint. Abrams, who at one point boasted nearly 70,000 Twitter followers, was featured in articles written by Bustle, U.S. News and World Report, USA Today, several local Fox affiliates, InfoWars, BET, Yahoo Sports, Sky News, IJR, Breitbart, The Washington Post, Mashable, New York Daily News, Quartz, Dallas News, France24, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, The Telegraph, CNN, the BBC, Gizmodo, The Independent, The Daily Dot, The Observer, Business Insider, The National Post, Refinery29, The Times of India, BuzzFeed, The Daily Mail, The New York Times,
and, of course, Russia Today and Sputnik." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8877c2cd2211be9491acc99762a4f47902a6c44253d3a595f94f6445edcec9945cd28787f95ac322dd8338cb9d6daffa

TICK TOCK -- "Inside story: How Russians hacked the Democrats' emails," by AP's Raphael Satter, Jeff Donn and Chad Day: "It was just before noon in Moscow on March 10, 2016, when the first volley of malicious messages hit the Hillary Clinton campaign. The first 29 phishing emails were almost all misfires. Addressed to people who worked for Clinton during her first presidential run, the messages bounced back untouched. Except one. Within nine days, some of the campaign's most consequential secrets would be in the hackers' hands, part of a massive operation aimed at vacuuming up millions of messages from thousands of inboxes across the world.

"An Associated Press investigation into the digital break-ins that disrupted the U.S. presidential contest has sketched out an anatomy of the hack that led to months of damaging disclosures about the Democratic Party's nominee. It wasn't just a few aides that the hackers went after; it was an all-out blitz across the Democratic Party. They tried to compromise Clinton's inner circle and more than 130 party employees, supporters and contractors." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8877c2cd2211be94704a5f3615f103c34c357a50949b7c613967e3529c52df7afd2c3b21f4f05f6a5ccec673d75940c6

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CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD -- "Liberal group calls Virginia Democrat 'racist' for opposing sanctuary cities," by McClatchy's Alex Roarty: "'Let's be really clear: If Ralph Northam wins next Tuesday, it won't be because he publicly backtracked on his commitment to protecting immigrant families, but in spite of it,' said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America, a grassroots progressive activist based in Vermont. Chamberlain went on to say the Northam campaign was running 'the same old, broken, and racist playbook that lost Democrats over 1000 elected offices since 2008.'

"The statement, issued Thursday night, drew a swift and strong rebuke from many Democrats and liberals, including its founder, Howard Dean, who blasted the statement as 'incredibly stupid' and one that 'discredits' the group. But it highlighted the pressure now facing many Democratic candidates, who must choose between adopting a politically controversial position -- support for sanctuary cities -- or risking the wrath of the party's increasingly vocal liberal faction." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8877c2cd2211be943dcbd2f07df6b13109ea77ce89e83183bbedc7eba0b09c3175817a176d3806319918d90e1cbcb6bd

AFTERNOON READ -- MICHAEL KRUSE in POLITICO MAGAZINE: "The Mystery of Mary Trump: Donald Trump reveres his father but almost never talks about his mother. Why not?": "The mothers of presidents often have been a kind of super-influencer. From Barbara Bush, the powerful matriarch of the two-time first family; to Virginia Kelley, who all but singlehandedly launched Bill Clinton from the Arkansas boondocks to Washington and the West Wing; to Ann Dunham, the anthropologist who steered Barack Obama from Hawaii to Indonesia to the Ivy League and the White House -- the sway these women had over their sons was incontrovertible. And their sons celebrated by them throughout their political careers.
Dunham died at 52, more than a decade before her son was sworn in as the 44th president, but in books by Obama and his biographers, she has been cast as an almost elemental force. 'For all the ups and downs of our lives,' Obama once told an interviewer about his mother, 'there was never a moment where I didn't feel as if I was special.'

"Trump's mother, who died in 2000, had in some ways been fading from view for many years before her son on Inauguration Day placed his hand on the Bible he got from her. But to discount her role in the creation of the Trump persona is to disregard decades of study about family dynamics. Trump might not agree, but most psychologists agree: Your mother helps make you who you are. Who, then, was Mary Trump? ... [In 1990], according to Vanity Fair, Mary Trump asked Ivana Trump, her soon-to-be-ex-daughter-in-law, a pointed question. 'What kind of son have I created?'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8877c2cd2211be9427c8bd555bd67bd026f4e38db8184f30ff6de52192496e928e7a1bcf98720bb423b380d9fe1eb5a1

WAR REPORT -- "Bowe Bergdahl's Sentence: No Prison Time," by NPR's Merrit Kennedy: "A military judge has ruled that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has pleaded guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, should serve no prison time. During a sentencing hearing Friday, Bergdahl was dishonorably discharged and will lose his rank and forfeit his pay, NPR's Frank Morris reported from the court in Fort Bragg, N.C." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8877c2cd2211be9422464ec3c85e184dbef4e8c058261cce871eae7ceabc50ba12eea5f62f8bc5a8e0e65ddab5bb0ad3

-- "BuzzFeed News Investigation Leads To U.S. Admission It Caused Civilian Deaths In Mosul," by BuzzFeed's Mike Giglio: "The U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS has admitted responsibility for the deaths of 36 civilians in three military strikes in Mosul after they were detailed in a BuzzFeed News investigation. But the coalition has not issued condolence payments to the families of the victims for the loss of life and property, and, if its current policy continues, it likely never will. Despite estimates by one prominent monitoring group that coalition strikes against ISIS have killed at least 5,600 civilians in Iraq and Syria over the last three years -- and the coalition's own admissions
that it has killed at least 786 -- it has offered condolence payments in just two cases, a spokesperson for the coalition said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8877c2cd2211be94e609cdd2c07aed7275006465d0e7115f40e74649642676a7ff00d21d3f153606174e1683acafa321

MEDIAWATCH -- "CNN Plans to Offer Subscriptions for Digital News Next Year," by WSJ's Ben Mullin: "After investing in digital verticals focused on business and politics and acquiring an online-video startup, CNN is gearing up for another big step: It plans to launch tiered subscription offerings for its digital news business as early as the second quarter of next year. A proposed premium offering will give subscribers access to special content on topic-specific verticals such as CNN Money and CNN Politics, built around network personalities. A second option will provide additional, though less specialized, content across all of CNN's sites. Pricing hasn't been finalized."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8877c2cd2211be94e32586ab429851d8f614e75692e9efde9f66c0e11f6e2005aa2ed2f322b2a6ca7715d648438ed627

MORE SUNDAY SHOWS -- CNN's "State of the Union": House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi ... Panel: Jen Psaki, Michael Caputo, Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Charlie Dent (R-Penn.)

-- More "Fox News Sunday": House Speaker Paul Ryan

ENGAGED -- Philip de Vellis, co-founder of the Democratic media firm Beacon Media and alum of Putnam Partners, Murphy Putnam and Sherrod Brown, proposed to Lisa Lambert, a correspondent at Reuters, where she has covered financial regulation, the Detroit bankruptcy and the municipal bond market. The two natives of LA "met at Coffy Café in Columbia Heights and struck up a conversation. Phil proposed at Georgetown Waterfront Park with a beautiful nighttime view of the Key Bridge." Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89ba68fd7a27f8655fa4d7f5687b3abb31c3458a12464338ae8e129912c92de45f39f423b5eb8d5f0e34ece9fb555382

OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED: Vicki Reggie Kennedy, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and moderator Carl Hulse at an Edward M. Kennedy Institute bipartisan symposium yesterday in Russell on mental health, addiction, and the national opioid crisis.

-- SPOTTED: Henry Kissinger, David Miliband, Meryl Streep, and Tom Brokaw last night at the International Rescue Committee's annual Rescue Dinner (which raised almost $20 million) at the New York Hilton Midtown. Michael Bloomberg received the organization's Freedom Award.

-- SPOTTED last night at the annual gala of the National Democratic Institute at the Fairmont Hotel: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) whose keynote touched on "fake news," Madeleine Albright, Kathleen Matthews, Mickey Kantor, Maurice Tempelsman (who was the longtime companion for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis), Jack and Susanna Quinn.

EMBASSY PARTY CIRCUIT -- U.K. Ambassador Kim Darroch hosted a reception last night to mark the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration at the British Embassy. SPOTTED: Israeli Amb. Ron Dermer and his wife Rhoda, Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Joanna Breyer, Victoria Coates, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Mandy Grunwald, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Norm Ornstein, Norm Coleman, Cliff May, Ken Weinstein and Amy Kauffman, Shmuley Boteach, Michael Froman, William Daroff, Jeffrey Goldberg, Ann Lewis, Ruth Marcus, Bill Knapp, David Weinberg, Rob Satloff, Stuart Rothenberg, Jennifer Rubin. (h/t Jewish Insider)

TRANSITIONS -- Matt Wolking has started as Sen. Bill Cassidy's (D-Penn.) communications director today. He most recently was senior comms adviser and press secretary for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and also is an alum of the Benghazi committee and former Speaker John Boehner. ... Chris Hayden has started at Senate Majority PAC as communications director. He was previously communications director for the Center for American Progress Action Fund and Jason Kander's campaign.

... John Monsif is joining McDonald's as director of U.S. government relations in the company's D.C. office. He previously worked for First Focus and was a former chief of staff to Reps. John Delaney (D-Md.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). ... Amy Surber recently started as legislative director for Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.). She previously was a legislative assistant for Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.).

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