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Today's Playbook Power Briefing presented by AARP

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)


WE HEAR ... That the rescissions package -- the budget cuts the White House and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy are pushing -- has shrunk to less than $30 billion, and will not see the light of day until early May.

WHAT IS GOING ON??? ... NYT'S NICK FANDOS: "[Senators] have also received claims that [the Veteran Affairs Secretary nominee] Dr. Ronny L. Jackson drank too much on the job." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e13159b758bad4aaeb13ff1f820c275acc9014536245cc6681dbe5857edd9e4d418f2f1781b12db96

-- WAIT A SECOND: Shouldn't this alarm us? The president's physician should not be drinking at all while working.

TRUMP ON RONNY JACKSON, in a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron: "I haven't heard of the particular allegations, but he's one of the finest people I've ever met. ... They failed to stop [Mike Pompeo's nomination for secretary of state]. So now they say 'who's next? Who's next?' ... I told [Jackson], I said, 'You know what, doc? You're too fine a person. ... He's a high quality person. I said 'what do you need it for?' So he'll be -- it's totally his decision, but he'll be making a decision. ... I don't want to put a man through who's not a political person. I don't want to put a man through a process like this. It's too ugly and too disgusting."

... FOX'S JOHN ROBERTS: "So are you saying, Mr. President, that you will stand behind him?" TRUMP: "I would definitely stand behind him. He's a fine man. I'll always stand behind him. ... If I were him, actually in many ways I'd love to be him, but the fact is I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't do it. What does he need it for? To be abused by a bunch of politicians ... I really don't think personally he should do it, but it's totally his [decision]."

THE HEARING HAS ALREADY BEEN POSTPONED, BUT THE WHITE HOUSE IS STILL BACKING HIM -- Andrew Restuccia, Matt Nussbaum and Burgess Everett: "Lawmakers have delayed the confirmation hearing for Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, President Donald Trump's choice to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, amid growing concern on Capitol Hill about Jackson's past and as the White House scrambles to save his nomination.

"The Senate hearing, initially set for Wednesday, has been postponed pending an investigation into allegations against him, a congressional source with direct knowledge of the matter said. ...

"Members of Trump's legislative affairs team huddled Tuesday morning to discuss the nomination. After the meeting, a White House official said there were no current plans to withdraw the nomination, and the press shop separately issued a public statement in support of Jackson. ...

"White House aides note that Trump has a strong personal connection with Jackson, which could make it less likely that the nomination is pulled altogether. But aides have also begun to wonder whether Jackson will want to continue with the confirmation process if his personal life becomes national news." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e57072c97a9fab94bfa688d1a245220306471dfbb7517eece2f1994453f865263cfba085b664fd74b

... Is there any way Jackson survives? Can he get through a hearing? Would he get confirmed?

DOES THE WHITE HOUSE want to risk a week of bad press over a nominee that many senators are skittish about anyway? They just got over the hump with Mike Pompeo. And now they're prepping for Gina Haspel's nomination, which is expected to be bruising.

Good Tuesday afternoon. Polls close tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern in Arizona 8th district. Follow live here http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960edfd8fdf4529e99c6ac4590baf116744995a14862bdab9daafa5734ccc83ba3f1e26fe8deeac1d034

TRUMP and MACRON, via Peter Baker, today's pooler: "Asked whether he would be willing to stay in the Iran deal, POTUS said: 'We'll see. People know my views on the Iran deal. It was a terrible deal. It should have never ever been made.'

"'It's insane. It's ridiculous. It should never have been made. But we will be talking about it.' President Macron spoke in French and then translated himself: 'The Iran deal is an important issue but we have to take a far broader picture which is security in the overall region.' He added: 'What we want to do is to contain Iran [and] its presence in the region.' ...

"POTUS then added: 'It just seems that no matter where you go especially in the Middle East, Iran is behind it, wherever there's trouble, Yemen, Syria, no matter where you have it, Iran is behind it. And now unfortunately, Russia is getting more and more involved. But Iran seems behind everything where there's a problem. And we just have to take a look.' ...

"Asked about the prospect that Iran might restart its nuclear program if the deal is ripped up, POTUS said: 'It won't be so easy for them to restart it. They're not going to be restarting anything. If they restart it, they're going to have big problems, bigger than they ever had before. And you can mark it down. If they restart their nuclear program they will have bigger problems than they ever had before.'"

-- SHADE: "When Jon Karl asked POTUS if he would consider a pardon for Michael Cohen, the president glared at Karl and snapped, 'Stupid question.'

TRUMP said later that Steven Mnuchin is going to China next week to talk trade (all of this via Peter Baker).

-- ON IRAN: "On Iran, he said he and President Macron had a good discussion and seemed to hint that side agreements could be negotiated. 'We're looking forward to doing something but it has to be done and it has to be done strongly,' he said without explanation. Speaking of President Macron in the context of Iran, he added: 'We're fairly close to understanding each other. Our one on one went very well.'"

-- ON NORTH KOREA: "Headlines: POTUS says Kim Jong-un has been 'very open and very honorable' and POTUS suggests he is open to 'doing something' on the Iran deal as long as it is 'done strongly.' On the Kim meeting, POTUS said: 'We have been told directly that they would like to have the meeting as soon as possible. We think that's a great thing for the world.'

"Speaking of Kim, POTUS said: 'He really has been very open and I think very honorable from everything we're seeing. Now a lot of promises have been made by North Korea over the years but they have never been in this position.'"

TRUMP on what denuclearization in North Korea means, in the press conference with Macron: "It means they get rid of their nukes. Very simple. They get rid of their nukes."

-- TRUMP, responding to a question from Reuters' Jeff Mason on Syria: "I would love to get out. I would love to bring our incredible warriors back home. ... But Emmanuel and myself have discussed the fact that we don't want to give Iran open season to the Mediterranean, especially since we really control it to a large extent. ... We are discussing Syria as part of an overall deal."

****** A message from AARP: POLITICO AND AARP ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP: The 6-month partnership will launch this June with "The Deciders" editorial series focused on 50-plus voters and their impact on the 2018 midterms. Learn more. ******

DIPLOMACY DOESN'T COME CHEAP! -- Some context from CBS' Mark Knoller in a February 2014 story on the cost of former PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S first five state dinners: "Nov. 24, 2009 -- State dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India. $572,187.36 ... May 19, 2010 -- State dinner for President Felipe Calderon of Mexico. $563,479.92 ... Jan. 19, 2011 -- State dinner for President Hu Jintao of China. $412,329.73. ... June 7, 2011 -- State dinner for Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. $215,883.36 ... Oct. 13, 2011 -- State dinner for President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea. $203,053.34". http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e153e1ccbcc60d0b520522e3608c3b20cf53708e842687b90cb24a10236d2d417b5d186dfd6f4ab50

KNOWING BOLTON'S RIGHT-HAND WOMAN -- WaPo's JOSH ROGIN: "John Bolton's new deputy is a hawk with sharp elbows, just like him": "Bolton's choice of Mira Ricardel as his deputy last week shows he is moving fast to consolidate control over the national-security policymaking process, and is preparing for internal battles that may emerge. Ricardel's ties to the Trump world date back to late 2016, when the president-elect's team was looking hard for national security-minded Republicans who hadn't opposed Trump during the primaries, and were willing to come aboard. ...

"Ricardel's close ties to the White House personnel office could be valuable to Bolton as he tries to fill several senior staff positions at the NSC with candidates who can get through the White House's notoriously nitpicky vetting. On Monday, Vice President Pence named NSC Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as his own national security adviser. That means Bolton has cleared out another top spot on the NSC staff." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e9208bb4036a8328bb8893a9b5e0b2fe33b72d88e5416f02dcee87ebea1d1a33887482612f7c25fe6

THE INVESTIGATIONS -- "Sessions Declines to Recuse Himself From Probe Into Trump Lawyer," by Bloomberg's Chris Strohm: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions has decided against recusing himself from the investigation into President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, but will consider stepping back from specific questions tied to the probe, according to a person familiar with the matter. By contrast, Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election that's now led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller ...

"By staying involved in the Cohen probe, Sessions is entitled to briefings on the status of the investigation, which is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York. That could put Sessions in the position of being asked by Trump, who strongly condemned the FBI raid on his longtime lawyer, to divulge information about the Cohen investigation. Sessions could also weigh in on specific decisions by prosecutors, including whether to pursue subpoenas and indictments. The attorney general may be asked about his role in the Cohen investigation when he testifies before congressional panels on Wednesday and Thursday."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960efa8ba84e4e8f3a19bd33b248e70d1d66a55605c91090de83690f26f6925ed6e71c687061d7e783cb

HARASSMENT FILES -- "Inside A Divisive Fight Over How A Top Progressive Think Tank Handled Sexual Harassment," by BuzzFeed's Sarah Mimms: "The Center for American Progress, the politics and policy hub for the Democratic establishment, has put out four different policy proposal papers on handling sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as data on how pervasive the issue is 'across all industries.' ...

"But only an hour after the Access Hollywood tape was made public, top officials at CAP received an exit memo from a young woman who'd just quit detailing the sexual harassment she experienced from Benton Strong, a manager on her team -- harassment, she wrote, that management already knew about -- and how she faced retaliation for reporting it.

"In the email, the junior staffer, who asked that BuzzFeed News refer her to as Mary, which is part of the woman's formal name, wrote that 'on several occasions, myself and others on the team felt as if reporting had been a mistake and that the retaliation, worsening of already tenuous team dynamics, and treatment by supervisors outweighed the seemingly positive act of reporting sexual harassment in the workplace.' When contacted about this story, the woman confirmed the authenticity of the exit memo, but declined to comment further, except to respond on Saturday to a statement from CAP." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e74fd0b85ef3a77ce56d15efe8e9bcae8b27002bd8d25cb5833b6272bef86f38b992ec11bb73b7efb

WORTH WATCHING -- "Puerto Rico governor to announce political initiative in Orlando," by the Orlando Sentinel's Bianca Padró Ocasio: "The governor of Puerto Rico is kicking off a civic organization in Orlando on Tuesday, an initiative he hopes will mobilize Puerto Ricans in the region to become politically active.

"'Seven months after Hurricane Maria and the devastation that followed, we learned who was willing to support us and who wasn't,' Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said in a statement. 'With the 2018 midterm elections just around the corner, we want to fully exercise the influence we can have.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e0d06f8945b02467e20b77cb23dfbb5903456ec6f007329b9288e0c1e06ebe70fa111c4f329118c66

MEDIAWATCH -- "Mystery grows over pro-Saudi tabloid: Embassy got sneak peek," by the AP's Josh Lederman and Jeff Horwitz: "It landed with a thud on newsstands at Walmart and rural supermarkets last month: Ninety-seven fawning pages saluting Saudi Arabia, whose ambitious crown prince was soon to arrive in the U.S. on a PR blitz to transform his country's image. As questions swirled about the glossy magazine's origins, the Saudis said they were just as perplexed as everyone else, declaring on Twitter: 'If you find out, we'd love to know.'

"But files obtained by The Associated Press show that a digital copy of the magazine, produced by American Media Inc., was quietly shared with officials at the Saudi Embassy in Washington almost three weeks before its publication." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960eef19b6b2f799ee2310e1954f89c28827acbb9cce0579d1ca0fdc08a7bf06667f70bc2ea656cdbeae

-- JIM ACOSTA, ASHLEY PARKER and APRIL RYAN'S STAR TURN -- cover of VARIETY, "Inside the Intense, Combative World of Covering the Trump White House," by Ted Johnson: "Lately, Trump has been tweeting about the 'Amazon Washington Post' ... 'I joined the Post last year, and I didn't even get an Amazon Prime subscription,' quips Ashley Parker, White House correspondent for the Post. 'There is no connection.' 'The one thing about this "fake news" environment: I think one of the ways you protect yourself is by doing your job and being extra bulletproof. So if under Obama or under George W. Bush you would triple-check your work, now maybe you quadruple-check it because you don't want to give them
any excuse to call you 'fake news.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e5a7f4b5abd2fb3f690b0970cc41ba557537ccf14f252925ae2a20aecdf0893a5312af5679ea1ef8c ... The cover http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e5c3581aeddf23ea87a54e6a1b9f43246a11a4c09b6a62c915f4514d21d322a013b6ca2f54e935d49

SPOTTED: Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) in first class wearing athletic shorts and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) in first class talking on his phone on a red-eye flight from LAX to IAD ... Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) boarding a 1 p.m. Amtrak Acela at NYC's Penn Station.

PLAYBOOKERS ABROAD -- JEN PALMIERI is in London this week for her UK book tour for "Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Rule the World." On Monday, she visited Manchester to do a round of BBC interviews, and Sara Latham is hosting her for a women's dinner tonight at the Chiltern Firehouse hotel with Blair, Brown and George Osborne alums and top female journalists.

SPOTTED at a book party last night for "Whip: The Rise of the Right," by former Rep. David Bonior (D-Mich.) - ($19.75 on Amazon http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e45b61e4cf522634d8c20ac993f373014d7ddb7c4d0743b53a6b96222b8912dfd6b1f8c134b6b1a6a Jill Daschle, Kimball Stroud, Brian Wolff, Shanti Stanton, Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), Marissa Mitrovich, Diane Blagman, David Mercer, Dave Grimaldi, Reem Sadik, Todd Flournoy, Mike Monroe, Rebecca Cooper, and Erica Payne.

TRANSITIONS -- OBAMA ALUMNI: Kristen Jarvis West joined Airbnb as head of executive operations. She was previously the Ford Foundation president's chief of staff and was senior adviser and director of external relations for former First Lady Michelle Obama. ... Christine Koronides joined Rational 360 as a VP. She was National Economic Council chief of staff during the Obama administration and director of federal affairs for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. ... Jane Oates has been named president of the nonprofit WorkingNation. She was an assistant secretary of labor in the Obama administration.

-- Kyleanne Hunter will join the Brady Campaign as vice president of programs. She previously founded Vets for Gun Reform and is a Marine vet. ... Siobhan Gorman is now a partner at Brunswick Group. She previously was a director at the firm and served as a national security correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.

ENGAGED -- Susannah Cunningham, executive director and co-founder of Only Through U.S. and an alum of the Enough Project and CAP, recently got engaged to Ian Magruder, who works at San Francisco Y-Combinator backed startup Landed, which helps teachers buy homes. "Ian proposed at Jefferson's Monticello, a place of special importance to [her] late father, an American history professor." Pics http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e3152032842bf4c5c67cd76a9f834cc832448555fba8f405fdc07d6c8c4891ccc757cd3c2b8d37bec ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960ef7c840f7e7f261fa433eab940791aeceb0afaccdbb126109de7220cef47ee2944ff9d4abd02da85e

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Ashley Merrill, former director of brand communications in the D.C. office of Glover Park Group, married Dave DeBuys, director of global sales enablement at CSG International and a CEB alum. "We met at the Brixton in D.C. in October 2014. We got married at Cannon Green in Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday and stayed at the incredible Zero George hotel throughout the weekend." Instapics by Sam Hurd http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960ec19651157e7042aa6ed9e534315a4e65c3628426160375af0d976c65a9f7e793a69b4065a4c12ca9 ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e3d22864e2362d5a54f20fc1c1022a5ee352e9fe198e553d46495b766c59d24495b970283ef005575

-- Cara Kelly, USA Today entertainment editor, married Chris Keeling, director of acquisitions and asset management at WinnCompanies, in a ceremony this past weekend in Charleston, S.C. and celebrated at the Gibbes Museum of Art. The couple met in college at Appalachian State University. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e26a65ab044e72d6a424a75092d4f5ed6312941b3d9c134aa4c2804486c6ddae5de5a3c6e5667e3ed

-- Hannah Moore, health policy/reimbursement coordinator at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and a GW GSPM alum, wed Corey Lynch, accounting and operations coordinator at the National Indian Health Board. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e7670a3c3838354cd70b7e2588620b35c026a1e77d38e48f4378ffa46fe5a16a4a489ac3cf80f78da

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Zach Tronti, an MBA candidate at Notre Dame and alum of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Mary Tronti, a consumer products category manager for Hasbro, recently welcomed Adeline Marie Tronti. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e87e850c7dfbfb3474b911037d98256a22ac192a7b0bb8ce51b15a608a8466f87b9245ea46f086e6e ... Instapics http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=31c6aa95f019960e7d5b60382ab26298459b3aa9c579e29bd96e68e76272187f431f1a86134aecb51f099f95495799ff

****** A message from AARP: POLITICO AND AARP ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP: "The role of 50-plus voters in deciding elections should not be understated - especially with critical issues on the line this year," said Nancy LeaMond, AARP's Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer. "We are excited to partner with POLITICO to showcase the important role older Americans play in the upcoming election." Learn more. ******

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