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10/31/2018 08:02 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

PELOSI'S PREDICTION -- Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) believes that Democrats will win. The House minority leader boldly declared that Democrats will be in the majority next year. "Up until today, I would have said, 'If the election were held today, we would win,'" she told Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show." What changed that prediction, Colbert asked. "What now I'm saying is we will win," Pelosi said. "We will win. We will win." Democrats, she said, "own the ground" and are "not yielding one grain of sand." She also dismissed the president's latest immigration proposal on birthright citizenship as "more of the same." "What he was saying ... has no relationship to what his authority is," she
added. The nine-minute interview: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf39608843128c9f2746366ba3025490ea80ae19b7ad522762b64f23c021531c2b538dd691b2d9e039bb256

Related: "Democrats bank on female voter surge to flip the House," by Elana and Steven Shepard: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf396089b417f29d1c0a43e43eac1e1c21ebd6fcaffc41fbf2726bd4d4dccc67c98a0f026baa66fda632db4 and "Female Candidates Break Barriers, Except When It Comes to Money," from The New York Times' Kate Zernike: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf39608a6bd75928af385b11ac9c80535bf467cf1c1689dee1626f48ba1fd92af7f3d3ad2ec2b9ab3bd4bb1

IT BEGINS -- President Donald Trump will travel to Estero, Florida, today for a Make America Great Again rally, the first stop in an eight-state, 11-rally stretch to boost Republicans. "[H]e will spend valuable time in the final days of the campaign on defense, traveling to states he won handily to try to shore up support for Republican candidates who strategists believed to be well positioned for victory a few weeks ago," Bloomberg's Shannon Pettypiece and Jennifer Jacobs report. "Trump advisers have all but given up on keeping Republican control of the House and are now focused on saving the Senate, which will be crucial to confirm Trump's judicial and Cabinet appointments."

Last week's mailed pipe bombs and synagogue shooting have distracted from the president's closing message, which has largely focused on immigration. Trump announced on Monday that he would send more than 5,000 troops to the southern border, as a caravan of migrants roughly 1,000 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border slowly make their way north. And in an interview excerpt broadcast Tuesday, Trump told Axios he would sign an executive order barring U.S.-born children whose parents are undocumented immigrants from gaining birthright citizenship. "The moves may energize Trump's base supporters," they write. "But he may further antagonize moderates and liberals." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf39608a924c69c67e8e23bc4f231a8225f0dd32e998ce2ea34de2b97389dcee6097c0d3ec3e5ea02db46b3

Related reads: "'Moving day': White House staffers set to split for 2020 campaign," via Alex Isenstadt: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf3960887ef86d13fc6b7b41f28e160ff9b61680ee3aec37a629795e1b454e1698d36783f942f27460a12e9 and "Press struggles with amplifying Trump's pre-midterms claims," per Jason Schwartz and Michael Calderone: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf39608fb439b21fe7dacf6a86fb9d161d2863217fbc9ad2726c0e5c235198eb558b544aaf226d24519d83b

FAST FORWARD -- The president is looking for revenge. And his chance for vengeance against Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) for his role in sinking former White House physician Ronny Jackson's bid to lead the VA will come at Saturday's political rally in Montana. Tester narrowly leads his race against Republican Matt Rosendale, but new GOP polling shows a statistically tied contest. "Republicans think a late surge of GOP enthusiasm tied to Trump's visit this coming weekend could produce a major upset of a two-term incumbent who has never cleared 50 percent of the vote," Burgess reports.

Tester said he's always known his reelection race would be tough. "That's just the nature of the beast," the Montana Democrat said. "Do I think I'm going to win? Damn right I think I'm going to win." Tester has outraised his opponent, but he's also his own best surrogate. Meanwhile, Rosendale has brought out the president, the president's son and Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.). He's also being backed by the Club for Growth, Chamber of Commerce, NRA and Senate Leadership Fund. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf396088e1d5d409e9897574ebb5bdeffc4f7c485ab14afad14ac741a592350bdb391c326801c689c150c1d

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, Oct. 31.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Elena Schneider's report on Democrats regaining momentum in the battle for the House was the winner.

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EXECUTIVE OVERREACH? -- House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says the president can't end birthright citizenship with an executive order. But "the idea of limiting birthright citizenship still has significant cache among congressional Republicans, even if they aren't quite sure how to undo a constitutional guarantee stemming from the 14th Amendment," Burgess and Caitlin Oprysko write. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) called birthright citizenship for children of permanent residents "settled law" but acknowledged "a debate among legal scholars about whether that right extends to the children of illegal immigrants." He said Congress should take the lead on this issue.

That stance was backed by Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), who said Congress would need to get involved because legal challenges would hamstring the president. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) added that the citizenship issue is "a symptom of a bigger problem." "We need less posturing and less rhetoric on this and more solutions," Cornyn said. Democrats dismissed Trump's claim that he can unilaterally terminate birthright citizenship as a divisive ploy to distract from the issues the minority party is talking about. "Clearly, Republicans will do absolutely anything to divert attention away from their votes to take away Americans' health care," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) said. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf3960849040003b6fa77a3ee2be942ea301f288bb4c05b44bb8b707f82cc28592cdf957fc54fffa331f6fa

Related: "Can Trump revoke birthright citizenship? Nearly all on left and right say no," by Ted Hesson: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf3960846ae2cb438f34ebebcb1b9249a787803e054b82d39f4541642d7820b8904c42788b8c1d225f394e9 and "How Trump's 'birthright' idea went from the fringe to the Oval Office," from Annie Karni and Eliana Johnson: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf396083fade6b180ac3136f9eefa1a9f2adbe783eafb50de0f58d55899b2932c841a8a837a24cb1e097b8f

TRUMP LARGELY GOES IT ALONE -- Congressional leaders declined the White House's invitation to join the president on his trip to Pittsburgh, where he offered condolences to families of the victims in last weekend's mass synagogue shooting and visited victims in the hospital. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had prior commitments. But neither House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) nor Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) joined the president. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), whose district includes the Squirrel Hill area, was not invited, his spokesman said.

"With key Democrats and Republicans either declining to attend or not receiving an invitation, Trump was instead joined by the first lady, as well as his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner," Jesus Rodriguez and Andrew Restuccia write. Other administration officials also traveled to Pittsburgh. Trump visited the Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 people were gunned down. The first lady lit candles to honor the victims and placed white flowers and small stones at a memorial for them. Trump did not talk to the media or make any public remarks. More on Trump's visit: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf39608306622c8eda0a54b36999153373c21f3296ec30e6daff3159a98542a759f21d9175ababf138d46de

Related read: "Trump's visit to Pittsburgh after synagogue massacre creates tensions in grieving city," via The Washington Post's Seung Min Kim, Josh Dawsey and Mark Berman: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf39608d0a04b92b8282b7f5c6b04f6233d924460e6321633a246313d10acc62709a4c25bb13f61fa39428e

REPUBLICAN REBUKE -- NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) singled out Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) for racism, a rare rebuke that comes a week before Election Day. After being briefed on the immigration hard-liner's recent racially charged comments, Stivers "could not stay silent," a source familiar with his thinking said. "Congressman Steve King's recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate," Stivers tweeted Tuesday. "We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior." King suggested Stivers is an establishment Never Trumper who is complicit in an orchestrated media campaign to hand Democrats control of the House and
impeach the president.

"Stivers' comment shook party leaders in the final stretch of the campaign," Rachael and Bres report. "Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, and House Republicans are likely to lose their majority. They need every seat they can get." Still, the NRCC won't support King's campaign. The Iowa Republican is poised to win reelection, but his Democratic challenger, J.D. Scholten, has seen a surge of fundraising. Stivers' condemnation will put pressure on Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to weigh in, forcing the GOP to confront the sensitive topic of race a politically precarious time. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf39608775c3431d1b22451192201bf5b6b41123b99496ed939dd740d4495208e7497b1ac411d153520c732

Related: "Land O'Lakes, Purina Pull Support for Iowa Congressman Steve King Over Racial Remarks," by Bloomberg's Deena Shanker and Lydia Mulvany: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf396085c78a05a64b88d4d42296ecb65197c89c597178b6e7cecce440df0fa5cd5a097f2793f54b4ecdafb and "Trump Has Remade the World in Steve King's Image," from The Daily Beast's Asawin Suebsaeng, Gideon Resnick, Jackie Kucinich and Sam Stein: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf396082622b47ac5de38dceaf61a4f468ca43b478ba8ef6677a48827ddcdb32dd3a36a58e29050f8ac520f

CLYBURN'S REVERSAL -- Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) will join Democratic congressional candidate Archie Parnell at a pre-election fish fry next week. Clyburn, however, urged Parnell to withdraw months ago following reports that he had assaulted his ex-wife four decades ago. "Parnell is seeking to unseat Republican Rep. Ralph Norman from the district that spans 11 counties in South Carolina's northern and central areas," The Associated Press' Meg Kinnard writes. "In July, Clyburn told McClatchy he had 'never urged' Parnell to drop out. But asked for his take on Parnell a few weeks ago, a spokesman for the longtime congressman reiterated to The Associated Press that
Clyburn, indeed, stood by his earlier calls for Parnell to withdraw from the campaign." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf396083f315e53b5d82c3ec100d1cbfbe0a7e100cc3ff4690b945c0f0b5ede43d2677d338f16358ef313ae

DEMS TARGET LATINOS -- Democrats are seeking to bolster turnout among Latinos with a Spanish-language television ad running in five states through Election Day beginning today. The DCCC invested more than a half-million dollars to broadcast the spot on Univision, Telemundo and additional stations in eight large media markets. "This multi-state Spanish-language television ad will reach hundreds of thousands of Spanish-speaking voters and features real voters, real stories and their real aspirations for the future," said Javier Gamboa, a DCCC spokesman. The ad is running in Albuquerque, New Mexico; El Paso, Texas, and the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston areas; Las Vegas; Sacramento
and Los Angeles; and Utah. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf39608e33ce241203f43fa6d542f6f7c899970ecb734848d816ff7cabbc0ae74c8e77f630f55b0a98db663

FACEBOOK'S FACEPALM -- Facebook added a mandatory "Paid for by" disclosure atop political advertisements to tell users who is paying for the ads they see in their news feeds. But the "feature is easily manipulated and appears to allow anyone to lie about who is paying for a political ad, or to pose as someone paying for the ad," according to a VICE News investigation. VICE News applied to purchase fake ads on behalf of every sitting senator. "Facebook's approvals were bipartisan: All 100 sailed through the system, indicating that just about anyone can buy an ad identified as 'Paid for by' by a major U.S. politician," William Turton writes.

"What's more, all of these approvals were granted to be shared from pages for fake political groups such as 'Cookies for Political Transparency' and 'Ninja Turtles PAC,'" he adds. "VICE News did not buy any Facebook ads as part of the test; rather, we received approval to include 'Paid for by' disclosures for potential ads." Facebook acknowledged that the ads shouldn't have been approved, but Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) challenged the social media network to do more. "Clearly it needs to do far more to combat fraudulent and false content, both in paid advertisements and viral posts," Wyden said. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ef296cb78bf396087dca8a561cb7b35862c7e4e02d2f0ba9b7bbc370b8a35b51e14decc7b0612021ebc76768352edf68

TRANSITIONS -- Rachel Kelly is leaving Rep. Jim Himes' (D-Conn.) office after 10 years to serve as Rep. Derek Kilmer's (D-Wash.) chief of staff. Kelly was most recently Himes' deputy chief of staff.

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House and Senate are out.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was first to correctly guess that Sam Houston is the last foreign head of state to serve in the U.S. Congress. Houston, former president of the Republic of Texas, represented the state of Texas in the Senate.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Leader McConnell: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is the only Cabinet secretary from Kentucky since the Truman administration. Before her, who was the last Kentuckian to serve as a secretary in the president's Cabinet, and what department did he or she lead? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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