BERNIE’S FRIENDS: He’s starting to believe he could win -- GRIDIRON HEADLINER announced -- B’DAY: Ben Sherwood, Susan Page, Marc Caputo, Jim VandeHei Presented by

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected])

HAPPY Friday! Valentine’s Day is Sunday. The Gridiron Club emails members: “Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina will be the Republican speaker at the Gridiron Club’s 131st anniversary dinner on March 5, President Doyle McManus announced ... Haley, mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential choice, joins the two Democratic speakers, twin brothers Julian and Joaquin Castro, and Vice President Joe Biden, who will represent the administration.”

GLENN THRUSH takeaways from PBS’ #DemDebate in Milwaukee: “Clinton did very little to arrest Sanders’ momentum, although she effectively contrasted her command of granular policy with his vague-ish appeals to liberal outrage. She probably won, ... but by an Iowa-sized increment ... Sanders is just as good a debater as Clinton. ...

“Will the Bern get heat rash? ... Sanders, friends say, is a very competitive guy, and he’s just now starting to believe he can really win. That’s making him progressively nastier. It’s a trap. When Clinton began describing her agenda if elected president – which is, after all, the purpose of these debates – Sanders snapped back in way that elicited some cheers, oohs and boos. ‘Secretary Clinton, you’re not in the White House yet,’ he said, with an un-Bernie edge in his voice.” http://politi.co/1XnrM5V

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DRIVING THE CONVERSATION – WSJ A1, below fold, “Clinton’s Wall Street Talks Were Highly Paid, Friendly,” by Anupretta Das and James Grimaldi: “In the two years between resigning as secretary of state and launching her ... campaign, Hillary Clinton personally received $4.1 million in fees from financial institutions for closed-door talks that attendees described as friendly and light. ... About one in five dollars that Mrs. Clinton collected while giving speeches from February 2013 to April 2015 came from banks and financial institutions.

“She spoke at three client conferences hosted by Goldman Sachs; twice at Deutsche Bank AG; once each at events organized by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and UBS; and also at gatherings hosted by private-equity firms KKR & Co., Apollo Management Holdings LP and GTCR LLC.” http://on.wsj.com/1V8juxr

--“Even in the GOP, It’s Cool to Hate Wall Street,” by Bloomberg Businessweek’s Josh Green:“Republicans up and down the ballot are trying to harness voters’ anger by criticizing Wall Street donors. The Republican presidential candidates have turned on the financial giants that have been their biggest benefactors – and are attacking one another for being too close to the financial industry.” http://bloom.bg/1QvEtq2

TOP TWEETS: Michelle Rindels @RindelsAP: “Focus group loudly groaning, wants to leave after sitting through that long first #DemDebate segment” ... @brianefallon: “Sanders’ robotic parroting of his Iraq line is Rubio-esque” ... @DougHeye: “This is as good as Hillary gets. Calm, in command, not patronizing, armed with facts. Best debate performance yet?” ... @PoliticoCharlie: “Bernie is only politician who can name check Herbert Hoover, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, Churchill & Mossadegh and still kill it w/the youth vote” ... The pharma bro, @MartinShkreli: “I might go on a University speaker tour. Except I’d do it for free and/or donate the fees to charity. Try it sometime, @HillaryClinton” ...

... @DougHeye: “Whenever Sanders wants to respond, he looks like he's asking for the check at an Outback Steakhouse” ... @jonlovett: “Kissinger looks down at the FEEL THE BERN shirt he wore to watch the debate. He sighs and turns off the TV. The room is silent. He is alone” ... @blakehounshell: “Bernie Sanders’ critique of the U.S. intervention in Libya is almost identical to Ted Cruz’s.”

BITE OF THE DAY – Hillary Clinton, to debate moderators Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill: “I would note, just for a historic aside: Somebody told me earlier today we’ve had like 200 presidential primary debates, and this is the first time there have been a majority of women on the stage. So, you know, we'll take our progress wherever we can find it.”

--L.A. Times’ Evan Halper and Mike Memoli: “Clinton mentioned Obama’s name 21 times during the two-hour debate.” http://lat.ms/1QbF7P7

--“The 8 most important moments of the Democratic debate,” by Kyle Cheney http://politi.co/1O6iSTo

POLITICO co-founders John Harris and Jim VandeHei last night were awarded the Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award by the National Press Foundation, with Sally Quinn (and John’s mother, Nancy Hamlin) at front tables.

--JOHN HARRIS: “Ben talked about ownership. ... Ben, like me, worked for a great owner, the Graham family. Jim and I found another great owner, Robert Allbritton, who's also investing ... Every single dime that Politico has made, he has turned back into the business. He's not interested in selling; he’s interested in investing. That’s what a great owner does. And I take a minute to say thank you to Robert Allbritton.” Harris pic, by Kristen Hayford http://bit.ly/1Qbj9FO

--JIM VANDEHEI: “[T]he reason that I’m optimistic about journalism, have been optimistic about journalism, is the people in this room. It unifies us. It unifies us as people who believe journalism matters -- that the country, that the world needs really good, nonpartisan, deeply reported journalism, that society is better for it. We're also unified in resisting things. ... [E]very person in this room, I think, is unified in a fight against sort of the cheap tricks ... If you think you can build a business model on that, it's mythology. ...

“[T]here’s nobody I learned more about writing than from John Harris. This guy -- in terms of of conceptualization, articulation, the capacity to be able to take that reporting and make people actually want to read it -- the guy is a genius.” VandeHei pic http://bit.ly/1o5ViAI

A message from Google: 50+ new features to help educators. As educators worldwide have reinvented their practices, Google products are also adapting to help them meet their evolving needs and challenges. At “The Anywhere School,” a virtual back-to-school event, Google introduced over 50 new features across Meet, Classroom, G Suite and more. Watch on demand.

ONLY 318 SHOPPING DAYS -- “2016 White House Ornament Commemorates 1929 White House West Wing Fire”: “Honoring the presidency of Herbert Hoover, the ornament is a vintage fire truck design commemorating the 1929 Christmas Eve four-alarm fire of the West Wing. Montserrat College of Art student Kayla Whelan, the winner of the Association’s national art school design competition, created this year’s design.” http://bit.ly/1WhoX5n

SPOTTED: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me.) at DCA Gate 35x en route to Bangor last night, watching #DemDebate on her phone.

PEOPLE ARE WORKED UP ABOUT THIS -- “Lawmakers load up FAA bill with goodies,” by Jake Sherman and Heather Caygle: “It’s great to be Alaska Rep. Don Young. On Wednesday, the longtime Republican lawmaker angrily declared that he would not vote for House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster’s [FAA] overhaul unless his state was taken care of. ... [So] Shuster (R-Pa.) reshuffled millions in mandatory dollars back to the Essential Air Program ... Many lawmakers on the committee declined to comment about the Alaska-centric provisions, saying they were unfamiliar with the measures.” http://politi.co/1TcvONU

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION: “[T]he Credit Union Cherry Blossom Capitol Hill Competition kickoff event has been rescheduled for [next] Wednesday ... in the Rayburn HOB Foyer from noon to 2:30 p.m. ... It was ... postponed due to the snow. The Feb. 17 kickoff is for Capitol Hill staffers planning to run in the Capitol Hill Competition, the race within the larger Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run. Hill staffers are guaranteed entry in the race, as long as they register by Feb. 29. They can register on ... CapitolHillCompetition.org.”

INSTAGRAMS DU JOUR -- @john.p.hudson: “Some yellow cake turned up at the State Department’s Thursday happy hour,” with “100% IAEA verifiable” written in frosting on the cake http://bit.ly/1O6qC7O

-- Per 2016 Blast: “Taking to his Instagram account (!) former President George W. Bush drops a terrifically cute #TBT photo of him and his younger brother, JEB BUSH, wishing him a happy birthday.” http://bit.ly/20OSGcm

LATE-NIGHT BEST – BERNIE on STEPHEN COLBERT: “Do you think there is a similarity in appeal between you and Donald Trump? Because I had Bill O’Reilly on here Monday night and he said you guys were the same thing with different hair cuts.” ... SANDERS: “Let me say something about Bill O’Reilly. ... This is a reason why people might want to vote for me. Bill said if I won the presidency, he would move to Ireland. [Applause] So electing me president is a two-fer. You get Sanders and you get Bill to go to Ireland.”7-min. video http://bit.ly/20s2YJY ... “Stephen Gets Some Help Opening The Show” – 3-min. video http://bit.ly/1QbwW5s

FRONT PAGES: (Charleston) Post and Courier banner, “Clinton to confront racial disparities in S.C.: Sanders still working out his schedule in state where attracting minorities key for Dems” ... The (Columbia, S.C.) State lead story, “How GOP candidates are trying to win SC: Family ties, religious values, tasty foods are all in play” ... Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, top of p. 1A, “Clinton, Sanders clash over claim to White House: Candidates tackle higher education, health care” ... N.Y. Times p. A1, top of col. 1, “Clinton Paints Sanders Plans As Unrealistic: New Lines of Attack at Milwaukee Debate” ... WashPost A1, at fold, “Fault line spotlighted in Wis. Debate: Democratic contenders clash repeatedly but civilly.”

MEDIAWATCH -- ELECTION FEVER: Who says people tune in late? Voters are shattering turnout models, millions are tuning in for debates breaking ratings records, and interest in political news is at a fever pitch. POLITICO has experienced more traffic over the first 10 days of February this year than in the entire month of February, 2012. GAME ON!

-- “Inside AP’s Washington bureau: Calling the New Hampshire primary”: “This time-lapse video shows AP race call director David Pace analyzing data and consulting with AP’s race caller in the field, Dwayne Desaulniers, as they work to call Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump the New Hampshire primary winners, sitting Tuesday night in AP’s Washington newsroom.” http://bit.ly/1PpA6yW

RUBIO STRATEGERY -- “Rubio eyes brokered convention after NH setback,” by AP’s Steve Peoples:“Rubio suddenly faces a path to his party’s presidential nomination that could require a brokered national convention. That’s according to Rubio and his senior team, who [said] that the Republican nomination fight will likely go on for another three months, if not longer. ... [A]fter a disappointing fifth-place finish in New Hampshire, a long delegate slog to the party’s July presidential nominating convention may be the only chance Rubio has left. ‘I don’t think it necessarily is negative,’ Rubio said Thursday when asked about the possibility of a so-called brokered, or contested, convention.” http://apne.ws/1O5xL8r

-- “Game Change: Marco Rubio Says the Twix Bar He Cracked a Tooth on Was FROZEN,” by Gawker’s Allie Jones: “Rubio described the extremely depressing incident to the Wall Street Journal this way: ‘I just bit into a Twix bar and I go, “Man this Twix bar’s got something really hard in it. And I go, ‘Oh my gosh, I cracked my tooth.”’ http://bit.ly/1PQ3oIK

MONEY HONEYS – “Christie megadonor Ken Langone hops on the Kasich train,” by Daniel Strauss:“Kasich’s campaign announced that they had brought over Langone on Thursday. Langone, a brash and outspoken moderate Republican who brings his own network of like-minded donors, has an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion, according to Forbes.” http://politi.co/1QYSZJE

NEW HILLARY AD, “featuring a testimonial from Reverend Thompson of Charleston, South Carolina, who lost his wife in the Charleston shooting. In the ad, Reverend Thompson makes the case that Hillary Clinton is ‘standing with the President to get stronger gun laws so no family has to go through anything like this again.’” http://bit.ly/1TckqSn

POWERFUL BERNIE VIDEO released yesterday features an endorsement by Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner who was killed on Staten Island by police. She calls Bernie “a protester” who is “not scared to go up against the criminal justice system.” 4-min. video http://bit.ly/1RvIEam

VICTORY LAP -- L.A. Times A1, below fold, “Obama reflects on presidency, race and poker,” by Christi Parsons in Springfield, Ill.: “In a 45-minute interview with the Los Angeles Times, conducted on Wednesday with three former legislators who worked with Obama during his eight years in the Statehouse, he said ... ‘There is no doubt that every step of the way, every day that I’m in that office, maybe I could have done that a little better.’” http://lat.ms/1QvUXhO ... Transcript http://lat.ms/1Tg3knT

--OBAMA, on how he has changed since coming to D.C.: “I’m a little funnier in public. (Laughter.) I perform probably better. But the people who know me now -- and that includes you, Christi -- I’m not appreciably different than I was then. I’m no more cynical. I’m no more ideological. My positions are surprisingly consistent. I mean, if you read my first position papers or my first speeches and you look at what I’m saying now, they’re pretty much the same. And the challenge in Washington is not simply that we don’t have as much time to socialize -- although I’m sure that that has some impact.

“What’s changed is the nature of how you are perceived through the lens of talk radio, television -- the pressure that individual members are under from various not just advocacy groups but sort of those who are policing purity within the party. And so what you discovered was -- I would invite a number of Republican senators in my first couple of years to come over to the White House for movies or some other events, and increasingly, what you found was, is that it was hard for them to do it without getting in trouble.”

“NO FIREARMS” signs added at White House -- USA Today p. 1A, below fold, “White House bans guns — finally: Sign is posted outside guard shack 28 years after law enacted,” by Greg Korte: “‘The signs [posted last month outside public entrances, on the advice of the U.S. attorney for D.C.] were put up literally because we have to by law,’ said David Iacovetti, the deputy assistant director of public affairs for the U.S. Secret Service. ‘The only way we can search somebody and have those charges stick is have the sign posted.’ That law is the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.” With pic http://usat.ly/1KK3NMi

SUNDAY SO FAR:

--ABC’s “This Week”: Kasich ... Roundtable: Matt Bai, LZ Granderson, Bill Kristol and Ana Navarro. “Plus, Commander Scott Kelly joins ... from the International Space Station to discuss his historic year in orbit.”

--CNN’s “State of the Union”: Jake Tapper interviews Jeb!

--“Face the Nation,” from the Peace Center in Greenville, S.C., the morning after CBS’ GOP debate: John will sit down with Trump and Rubio. CBS News Director of Elections Anthony Salvanto will have new South Carolina Battleground Tracker numbers. Panel: Peggy Noonan, Kim Strassel, Dan Balz, Slate’s Jamelle Bouie.

--“Meet the Press”: Kasich and Trump

--“Fox News Sunday”: Panel: George Will, David Gregory, Kristen Soltis Anderson, Juan Williams

--CNN’s “Inside Politics” – special 1-hour edition, starting 8 a.m. Sunday (from D.C.): Julie Pace, Ryan Lizza, Jackie Kucinich, Manu Raju

HOT VIDEO – Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) vaped during a congressional hearing. “This has helped thousands of people quit smoking. It’s helped me quit smoking and in the next decade or so, you’re going to be able to inhale Ibuprofen ... your Prozac and anything else you need drug-wise.” 30-sec. video http://on.fb.me/1V89Vyx

DATA DU JOUR -- “Death Toll From War in Syria Now 470,000, Group Finds,” by NYT’s Anne Barnard: “almost twice the 250,000 counted a year and a half ago ... Life expectancy has dropped 14 years, to 56 from 70, since the war began, with an even deeper plunge for Syrian men [according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research] ... It put the war’s economic cost at $255 billion.” http://nyti.ms/20Z3LUM

FUTURE OF NEWS – Per Politico Media Pro: Quartz released a news app that presents news stories to readers as part of a fake text message conversation instead of just showing a feed of news stories. “We’ll send you messages, photos, GIFs, and links, and you can tap to respond when you’re interested in learning more about a topic.” http://bit.ly/1o73i5f

--“Facebook’s Instant Articles Advertising Fixes Win Over Publishers,” by WSJ’s Jack Marshall: “It’s getting easier to make money from Facebook Instant Articles, according to multiple publishing partners enrolled in the program. ... Some say their Instant Articles currently generate the same amount of ad revenue on a per-view basis as pageviews on their own mobile properties. ... [T]he most effective change was perhaps the most obvious one: more ads per article.” http://on.wsj.com/1Slmsk8

THE ECONOMIST’s new cover is “The right way to do drugs -- Legalising cannabis safely” http://econ.st/1TfhOo0 ... Lead Editorial http://econ.st/1TVvJih ... Their Economics Correspondent, Henry Curr, has also written piece examining Bernie Sanders’ economic policy, “A vote for what? Health-care costs and high taxes would sink the Sanders economic plan” http://econ.st/1SkiIiO

DEEP DIVE – NYT A1, “Alan Grayson’s Double Life: Congressman and Hedge Fund Manager,” by Eric Lipton: “Interviews and ... documents show that Mr. Grayson [who’s now running for Rubio’s Florida Senate seat] told potential investors in his hedge fund that they should contribute money to the fund to capitalize on the unrest he observed around the world, and to take particular advantage when there was ‘blood in the streets.’” http://nyti.ms/1O4RGnL

“60 MINUTES” listings – “John Brennan -- In a rare interview, the head of the CIA outlines the threat to America posed by ISIS and discusses other security concerns such as cyber and biological terror. Scott Pelley reports. Robert G. Anderson, Pat Milton and Aaron Weisz are the producers. ... FIFA – The organization that governs the marketing and chooses host countries for the World Cup soccer extravaganza every four years is rife with corruption say U.S. law enforcement officials who have indicted its leaders. Steve Kroft reports. Michael Gavshon, David Levine and Maria Gavrilovic are the producers. ... Danny Clinch - Hiding behind amplifiers or lurking backstage, photographer Danny Clinch has captured the leaps, the laughs, the shouting and the silence of music artists from Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen to Lady Gaga and Miranda Lambert. Anderson Cooper reports. David Browning and Michelle St John are the producers.”

TRANSITIONS -- Dawn Le has joined American Bridge as the Communications Director for the c4 (Bridge Project and Koch Brothers work). She comes from the Alliance for Citizenship where she worked with immigrant activists the last three years. Prior to that, she spent a decade in organized labor with SEIU and AFT.

-- “The [American Council for Capital Formation] Welcomes Tim Doyle as Vice President of Policy”:“Prior to joining the ACCF, Doyle served as Senior Counsel for the House Science, Space, & Technology Committee and Staff Director for its Oversight Subcommittee.” http://politi.co/1T9CgW7

HEADLINE HISTORY – 10 YEARS AGO TODAY – WashPost A1, “Cheney Shoots Fellow Hunter in Texas Accident -- Companion in Intensive Care With Upper-Body Wounds,” by Shailagh Murray and Peter Baker – See the page. http://politi.co/1KJ3YHN ... N.Y. Times A1, “Cheney Shoots Fellow Hunter In Accident on a Texas Ranch”. See the page. http://politi.co/1PGfAZ0

WELCOME TO THE WORLD – Sujata Mitra, senior director of comms. at The Huffington Post, andAbhisek Mitra, VP and senior project manager at US Bancorp Community Development Corporation, post on Facebook: “We’d like to introduce Rohin Shankar Mitra born ... [Wednesday] weighing 5 lbs and 15 ounces. Mommy and Rohin are doing great and Deyven is really enjoying his baby brother. Rohin in Sanksrit means to ascend and rise and Shankar is after the great Indian sitarist, Ravi Shankar.”

BIRTHDAYS: Ben Sherwood, Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks and President, Disney|ABC Television Group … Jim VandeHei ... RGIII is 26 ... Politico Florida Playbook star Marc Caputo ... Politico's Kristen East ... USA Today’s Susan Page, the pride of Wichita … Abraham Lincoln was born 207 years ago ... Ali Lapp, founder and executive director of House Majority PAC ... Barbara Zylinski ... Michael Zuckerman ... Trish Hoppey, partner at Pivot (h/ts Teresa Vilmain and Jon Haber) ... MSNBC’s Robert Zeliger, producer at Hardball … Christine Jacobs, deputy director of external affairs and comms. at The Kresge Foundation and a Brookings alum … Elizabeth Baker Keffer, managing director and chief network officer of BDT & Company and an Atlantic alum ... Tiffany Adams, VP of public affairs of the National Association of Manufacturers ... Charlotte Sellmyer, SVP of external affairs at the National Music Publishers’ Association … Judy Reardon ...

... Adam Webb, comms staffer for Sen. Thom Tillis (h/t Daniel Keylin) ... Katherine Hildebrand ... Lisa Marie Holmes ... Cory Colligan ... Donatella Lorch ... Erin Sermeus of Harpo Studios ... Ludy Green ... Court Cook, senior manager of facilities at Blackboard ... Joel Rennie ... Jeff Schlagenhauf ... John Loftus ... Thelma Thiel ... Grant Maloney ... Judy Reardon ... Richard Cardona ... Jeremy Iloulian, a J.D. candidate at Duke Law and a Hogan Lovells alum ... Ryan Beiermeister, in biz development at Palantir Technologies ... Donatella Lorch ...movie director Franco Zeffirelli is 93 ... Baseball Hall-of-Fame sportscaster Joe Garagiola is 90 ... Basketball Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell is 82 (h/t Bill Bradley) ... author Judy Blume is 78 ... former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is 74 ... Arsenio Hall is 60 ... Josh Brolin is 48 ... Jennifer Stone is 23 ... actresses Baylie and Rylie Cregut (“Raising Hope”) are 6 (h/ts AP)

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Follow us on Twitter Anna Palmer @apalmerdc



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