POLITICO Playbook: What Trump said behind closed doors Presented by Amazon

President Donald Trump said he met with an Asian man named Toyota and asked him if it was the same as the car company. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

DRIVING THE DAY

A FEW ODDS AND ENDS from the president’s fundraiser with Senate Republicans this week, from multiple sources at the Trump Hotel… THE PRESIDENT ribbed Sen. CHUCK GRASSLEY’s (R-Iowa) voice. He said Grassley sounds scary even when he’s trying not to. Trump mentioned JIM COMEY’S testimony in front of Grassley’s Judiciary committee and said the former FBI director copped to passing his memos to a Columbia professor because Grassley’s voice scared him into confessing.

-- HE SPOKE ABOUT wind turbines killing birds again.

-- HE SAID HE MET with an Asian man named Toyota and asked him if it was the same as the car company.

HAPPENING TODAY … TRUMP TO LSU-ALABAMA … The Advocate: “On Saturday, Trump will make history as the second sitting Commander-in-Chief to attend an LSU football game. The first was William Howard Taft when LSU played Sewanee in New Orleans in 1909. It was a 15-6 Sewanee win, snapping the Tigers' 15-game winning streak.” The Advocate (h/t @jmartNYT)

ONLY THE NEW YORK TIMES put JOHN BOLTON’S shocking letter on the front page: NYT: “BOLTON DANGLES VITAL KNOWLEDGE OF UKRAINE PUSH” NYT story … THE WASHINGTON POST went with a story about Alexander Vindman’s testimony: “‘No doubt’ about a quid pro quo, official testifies”

ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL … BIG STORY: “Giuliani Associates Urged Ukraine’s Prior President to Open Biden, Election Probes,” by Rebecca Ballhaus and Alan Cullison in D.C. and Brett Forrest in Kyiv: “Months before President Trump pressed Ukraine’s newly installed leader to investigate Joe Biden’s son and allegations of interference in the 2016 U.S. election, two associates of Rudy Giuliani urged the prior Ukrainian president to announce similar probes in exchange for a state visit to Washington, according to people familiar with the matter.

“A late February meeting in Kyiv between Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman and then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko took place at the offices of Ukrainian general prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko, the people said. It came soon after Messrs. Parnas and Fruman met with Mr. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, and Mr. Lutsenko in New York in late January and again in Warsaw in mid-February, Mr. Giuliani has said.

“Mr. Lutsenko also attended the late February meeting, the people said. Mr. Poroshenko didn’t ultimately announce that he was opening those investigations. Mr. Lutsenko, the prosecutor, gave an interview to the Hill in March in which he said he was opening an investigation into alleged interference by Ukrainians in the 2016 U.S. election.

“He also said he had evidence he wanted to present to the U.S. Justice Department related to former Vice President Joe Biden and Burisma Group, a Ukrainian gas company where Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, was a director. Two months later, in an interview with Bloomberg, Mr. Lutsenko said he had no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens.” WSJ

KYLE CHENEY and ANDREW DESIDERIO: “The unsolved mystery of frozen Ukraine aid”: “House Democrats are building a case that President Donald Trump attempted to extort a foreign leader, withholding desperately needed military assistance to Ukraine unless the country’s president announced investigations into Trump’s political rivals.

“But a key part of their narrative, which Democrats have asserted is ironclad, remains a mystery — frustrating their efforts to prove one of the more damaging charges against Trump.

“How was Trump’s order to freeze the $400 million in military assistance handled at the highest levels of his administration? What reasons were given, if any, to the senior budget officials who implemented the abrupt freeze?

“Despite a mountain of evidence supplied by cooperative diplomats — and a public admission and hasty retraction by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — the uncertainty surrounding the hold on the aid has only deepened over time, according to interview transcripts released this week as part of the impeachment inquiry. In fact, what has become increasingly clear is that only a small cadre of budget officials — and Trump himself — has the answers. And they have fought harder than anyone to spurn Democrats’ demands for testimony.” POLITICO

JOSH GERSTEIN: “Mulvaney moves for ruling on House impeachment probe subpoena”: “Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney is asking to join a pending lawsuit aimed at clarifying whether the House of Representatives can require senior advisers to President Donald Trump to testify in the ongoing impeachment probe related to Ukraine.

“Mulvaney’s move in a court filing late Friday night could breathe new life into the suit filed last month by former Deputy National Security Adviser Charles Kupperman.

“Kupperman’s attorneys billed the lawsuit not as a challenge to Congress’ authority but as an effort to get a definitive ruling on whether the former Trump aide should comply with a subpoena he received to testify before the House Intelligence Committee or whether to abide by instructions from the president not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.” The court filing

NYT’S CARL HULSE: “Senate Democrats Face Their Own Risks Over Impeachment”

CNN’S MANU RAJU, JEREMY HERB and MARSHALL COHEN: “What 2,677 pages of testimony reveals about Trump's Ukraine scandal”: “[A] review of more than 2,600 pages of transcripts released this week from eight witnesses who have testified in the House impeachment inquiry over the past six weeks shows how controversy over Trump's Ukraine policy had been brewing inside the US government for months. It roiled efforts to bolster a key strategic alliance after Trump enlisted his own personal attorney to work outside normal diplomatic channels in an apparent effort to bolster his reelection chances.” CNN

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L.A. TIMES: “ICE is ignoring California’s ban on private immigrant detention centers,” by Andrea Castillo: “Last month, California became the first state to kick out privately run immigrant detention centers. A new law that also bans private prisons prohibits new contracts or changes to existing ones after Jan. 1 and phases out existing detention facilities entirely by 2028.

“But on Oct. 16, five days after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 32 into law, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials posted a solicitation — a request for offers — on the Federal Business Opportunities website for at least four detention facilities around the state.

“Democratic state legislators and advocates for immigrants say that ICE’s action is a blatant attempt to circumvent the law in order to continue detaining immigrants in California. They’re now calling for answers from the agency, which has remained tight-lipped about the situation.” LAT

SENTENCED … JOSH GERSTEIN: “Manafort's former son-in-law gets 9 years for array of scams”: “As U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. imposed the sentence of nine years and two months on Jeffrey Yohai, the judge blasted the would-be real estate developer as a serial scammer whose ‘horrific’ crimes posed a significant threat to the public, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said. …

“Yohai pleaded guilty to a brazen array of frauds, including renting out luxury homes without the permission of their owners, selling non-existent backstage passes for the Coachella music festival, and pawning band equipment that belonged to someone else.”

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THE MOMENT FOR A NEW YORK CITY BILLIONAIRE … WAPO FRONT PAGE: “Democrats debate presidential field on news of Michael Bloomberg’s potential candidacy”: “Even for a party accustomed to an anxious donor and political class — a group of second-guessers that Obama adviser David Plouffe famously called the “bed wetters” — billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s likely entry into the Democratic presidential primary has supercharged a debate over whether the party has the right candidates, whether the time for entries has passed, and whether yet other candidates could raise the mountain of cash needed for a credible campaign.

“Bloomberg’s decision, fueled by his dissatisfaction with the race’s leading moderate, former vice president Joe Biden, and worries about the rise of liberal leader Elizabeth Warren, injected renewed volatility into the primary race just three months before voting begins with the Iowa caucuses. …

“Names being floated as potential candidates include former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and former U.S. attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. Former secretary of state John F. Kerry, the party’s 2004 nominee, also has been mentioned, although people close to him insist that he will not enter the race.

“The party’s 2016 nominee, Hillary Clinton, was fielding calls in recent days about whether to get into the race, some close to her said. While it is still unlikely that she will run, some allies have gone so far as to talk about a potential pathway that would bypass Iowa and New Hampshire and focus on making a stand in South Carolina.” WaPo

-- MARC CAPUTO and SALLY GOLDENBERG: “What is Michael Bloomberg thinking?”:

-- JOHN HARRIS: “OK Bloomberg”: “Now that Mike Bloomberg signaled late Thursday more clearly than ever his interest in becoming president, the former New York mayor needs a pithy catch phrase. I worked overnight on words designed to capture the excitement and hopeful spirit of his imminent campaign.

“‘I am a smart guy with good intentions who has been super-successful and could actually win and it would be cool and I’d go a good job.’ Thoughts?....Please, don’t worry about my feelings. Still needs work, doesn’t it?

“Take the plunge, Mayor Bloomberg. There is a clear if narrow opening for a candidate who can compellingly represent the party’s moderate wing in the Democratic nomination fight. I am skeptical, on early evidence, about how he would actually propose to fill it.” POLITICO Mag

-- WHITE HOUSE MEMO … NYT’S ANNIE KARNI and MAGGIE HABERMAN: “As Campaign Season Heats Up, Trump Has Turned the Official Into the Political”: “[M]r. Trump has not just blurred the lines between the two. He has turned presidential speeches into political ones, and official trips around the country into campaign opportunities, complete with taunts of his rivals, riffs about his enemies, pleas for votes and fear-mongering about what will happen if he loses.” NYT

-- L.A. TIMES: “Elizabeth Warren took down an Obama nominee from Wall Street. Was it for nothing?” by Noah Bierman

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-- NYT’S REID EPSTEIN and LISA LERER in Waverly, Iowa: “Why Pete Buttigieg Annoys His Democratic Rivals”: “Joseph R. Biden Jr. was mingling with a handful of mayors backstage at a conference in Washington when an uninvited guest appeared.

“It was Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., who’d launched an exploratory committee for his presidential run the day before, stopping by to say hello. Mr. Biden turned to greet Mr. Buttigieg, a man less than half his age. ‘Hello, Mr. President,’ Mr. Biden said, in a voice dripping with condescension. In the still-crowded Democratic presidential field, one man has triggered an outpouring of resentment and angst.

“It’s not Donald Trump. As Mr. Buttigieg, the millennial mayor of a town smaller than a New York City Council district, rises in the polls, he has struck a nerve with his Democratic rivals. Many of their campaigns have griped privately about the attention and cash directed toward Mr. Buttigieg. They say he is too inexperienced to be electable and that his accomplishments don’t merit the outsize appeal he has with elite donors and voters. His public punditry about the race has prompted eye rolls from older rivals who view him as a know-it-all.

“And in a field where most candidates find themselves strapped for cash, they snipe at his ability to raise more than anyone else in the primary field except for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.” NYT

-- AP’S ALEXANDRA JAFFE: “Top Iowa aide to Steyer’s campaign resigns after AP report”: “A top Iowa aide to businessman Tom Steyer resigned Friday, a day after The Associated Press revealed he had privately offered campaign contributions to local politicians in exchange for endorsing Steyer’s White House bid.

“Steyer’s Democratic presidential campaign announced the resignation of Pat Murphy, a former House speaker who served as a top adviser on Steyer’s Iowa campaign. ‘After the conclusion of an investigation alleging improper communications with elected officials in Iowa, Pat Murphy has offered his resignation from the campaign effective immediately,’ Steyer’s campaign manager Heather Hargreaves wrote in a statement. ‘Our campaign policy is clear that we will not engage in this kind of activity, or any kind of communication that could be perceived as improper. Violation of this policy is not tolerated.” AP

BOSTON GLOBE: “A Pennsylvania roofer loved Bill Clinton and voted for Obama. Here's how Trump lured him from the Democrats,” by Liz Goodwin in Erie, Pa.: “In this pleasant lakeside city at the far western edge of Pennsylvania, where residents can expect to be blanketed in eight feet of snow each winter, voting Democrat is a tradition that has been passed down through families, along with a union card. But in 2016, the ties between working class voters here and the Democratic Party snapped, helping Trump narrowly carry Erie County just four years after Obama won it by 16 points.

“Voters like Klinzing jumped aboard the Trump train, raising questions in this former Democratic stronghold about whether Democrats can win back white working-class voters in Western Pennsylvania this time around amid a stronger local economy fueled by a regional construction boom.” Boston Globe

RONNY JACKSON -- formerly the president’s doctor and almost the VA secretary -- is considering a run for Congress in a deep red seat in Texas, per Roll Call.

THE PRESIDENT’S SATURDAY … AT 12:20 P.M., the president and first lady will leave the White House for Andrews, where they’ll fly to Tuscaloosa, Ala. At 2:20 p.m., they will arrive at Bryant-Denny Stadium for the LSU-Alabama game. At 5:45 p.m., they will leave the stadium for the airport, and at 6:15 p.m., the president and first lady will fly to New York.



PLAYBOOK READS

PHOTO DU JOUR: A commemoration ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at Bernauer Strasse in Berlin on Saturday. | Markus Schreiber/AP Photo

CLICKER -- “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker -- 17 funnies

GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman (@dlippman):

-- “‘He Had, Like, This Big Round Bed with Mirrors on the Wall’: How the Private Jet Became the Singular Fetish Object of the Modern Billionaire,” by William D. Cohan in Vanity Fair’s December issue: “Private planes are the communal living space for the most rapacious, acquisitive people in the world. And the eternal question is: Whose is bigger?” VF

-- “Iran’s hostage factory,” by WaPo’s Jason Rezaian: “In 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking dozens of Americans captive. Forty years later, Iran has increased the arrest of foreign nationals without proof of wrongdoing, creating a new kind of hostage crisis.” WaPo

-- “When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals,” by Adam Hochschild in The New Yorker: “A hundred years ago, the Palmer Raids imperilled thousands of immigrants. Then a wily official got in the way.” New Yorker

-- “The Porch Pirate of Potrero Hill Can’t Believe It Came to This,” by Lauren Smiley in The Atlantic: “When a longtime resident started stealing her neighbors’ Amazon packages, she entered a vortex of smart cameras, Nextdoor rants, and cellphone surveillance.” Atlantic (h/t Longform.org)

-- “The Unmistakable Black Roots of ‘Sesame Street,’” by Bryan Greene in Smithsonian: “This year, as the show commemorates its 50th anniversary and is broadcast in more than 150 countries, it’s worthwhile to take a look back at how since its inception, ‘Sesame Street’ has been rooted in African-American culture, more specifically the historically black community of Harlem. The New York City neighborhood played such an outsized role in the development of the program ... the answer to the question from the ‘Sesame Street’ opening song, ‘Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street,’ ought to be Duke Ellington’s ‘Take the A Train.’” Smithsonian

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-- “Liberalism According to The Economist,” by Pankaj Mishra in The New Yorker: “Founded in 1843 to spread the doctrine of laissez-faire, the magazine has wielded influence like no other. But at what cost?” New Yorker

-- “The Education of Billy Barr,” by Marie Brenner in Vanity Fair’s December issue: “Many in Washington wonder why the stiff-spined, fastidious attorney general is carrying the water for someone as impetuous and morally untethered as Donald Trump. The answer may lie in the lessons William Barr learned from his father, a combative and deliberately provocative New Yorker—not unlike the president himself.” VF

-- “To Have or Not to Have Children in the Age of Climate Change,” by Katie O’Reilly in Sierra Magazine’s November/December issue -- per Longreads.com’s description: “An environmental journalist struggles to reconcile her desire to be a mother with the effect procreation has on the warming planet she writes about.” Sierra

-- “Lifestyle Farming Is the Latest Addictive Hobby for Banker Types,” by Lydia Mulvany in Bloomberg Businessweek: “During the week, Chris Andersen runs his Manhattan investment banking firm, G.C. Andersen Partners LLC, from behind a desk that’s a replica of one owned by Lorenzo de’ Medici. On the weekends, he heads to his farm in New Jersey, where he shovels out corn cobs and bruised watermelons to feed his herd of Mangalitsa hogs, an especially tasty breed of pig from Hungary. Andersen, 81, calls himself the Colonel Sanders of the Mangalitsa.” Bloomberg Businessweek

-- “The Wing: how an exclusive women’s club sparked a thousand arguments,” by Linda Kinstler in The Guardian: “The Wing is a private members’ space for women that claims to be an ‘accelerator’ for feminist revolution in the U.S. – and now it’s coming to the UK. But how progressive is it really?” Guardian (h/t Longform.org)

-- “Ralph Nader Is Opening Up About His Regrets,” by Rob Brunner in Washingtonian: “A niece died in one of the 737 crashes. Now he’s launching one last safety crusade—and having to reckon with the very real contempt that remains from the 2000 election.” Washingtonian

-- “Exclusive: Veterans want answers as new data shows rise in cancers over two decades of war,” by McClatchy’s Tara Copp, Shirsho Dasgupta and Ben Wieder: “[S]ome military families now question whether their exposure to toxic environments is to blame ... McClatchy found that the rate of cancer treatments for veterans at [VA] health care centers increased 61 percent for urinary cancers ... from fiscal year 2000 to 2018. The rate of blood cancer treatments ⁠— lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia ⁠— rose 18 percent ... Liver and pancreatic cancer treatment rates increased 96 percent and prostate cancer treatment rates increased 23 percent.” McClatchy

-- “The happiness ruse,” by Cody Delistraty in Aeon Magazine: “How did feeling good become a matter of relentless, competitive work; a never-to-be-attained goal which makes us miserable?” Aeon (h/t Longform.org)

-- “The Making of the World’s Greatest Investor,” by WSJ’s Greg Zuckerman, author of the new book “The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution” ($18.02 on Amazon): “Jim Simons was a middle-aged mathematician in a strip mall who knew little about finance. He had to overcome his own doubts to turn Wall Street on its head.” WSJ



PLAYBOOKERS

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WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE -- Alex Angelson is now a principal at Michael Best Strategies, working in government affairs. He previously spent nearly three years in the White House legislative affairs office and was a special assistant to the president.

TRANSITION -- Rebecca Card is now deputy COS for Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio). She previously was communications director for Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.).

ENGAGED -- Marco Sylvester, briefing book coordinator at DOT, proposed to Sara Edwards, scheduler for VP Mike Pence. They met while working at DOT. He proposed in Peru, his home country. Pic

BIRTHWEEK (was Thursday): Marcus Luttrell … (was Friday): Kelly Jane Torrance (h/t Matt McDonald) … Andrew Turner, executive assistant and former campaign manager for Iowa state Auditor Rob Sand, turned 24 (h/t Ben Jacobs)

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Mike Bloomberg, COS to Holyoke, Mass., Mayor Alex Morse and an urban technology researcher, is 3-0. A trend he thinks deserves more attention: “Bike helmets and helmet laws are a ploy by auto companies to keep cars for streets instead of people. The streets are safe, it’s the cars that will get you! Shout out to my fellow #WarOnCars friends.” Playbook Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is 67 … Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) is 57 ... Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) is 63 … Sarah Isgur Flores … Charles Kupperman … Kevin Sullivan, founder of Kevin Sullivan Communications and senior adviser at the Bush Presidential Center in Dallas ... Bob Graham, former senator and Florida governor, is 83 … POLITICO’s John Harris, Hugh Ferguson and Matthew Brown … USA Today’s Alan Gomez and David Mastio … Shannon Currie … Jake Oeth ... Peter Roff … Jessica Stuart … Orlando Watson … Trevor Eischen ... Sunshine Sachs’ Claire Tonneson is 31 ... Hunter Hall, deputy director of federal affairs at the Picard Group ... Leslie Nolan, executive director of CME Group ... Hal Dash ... Samara Hutman ... Matthew Ellison is 31 … Chelsea Rodriguez, research director for Mark Kelly’s Senate campaign, is 28 (h/t Brad Bainum) …

... Nancy Jacobson, founder and CEO of No Labels … Carolyn Casey … John Cacciatore … Catherine Chen ... Sarah Godlewski (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … László Baksay ... FT’s Chris Giles … Amazon’s Jill Shatzen Kerr … Idrees Kahloon, U.S. policy correspondent for The Economist … HuffPost’s Arthur Delaney … Sean Redmond … Scott Walter … Lee Gochman … Joel Seidman ... David Wolfson ... Aliza Klein ... BBC’s James Goldburn … Bill Arnone … Elise Norris … Tara Patel ... Kendra Kostek ... Matthew Dolan ... Matthias Reynolds, managing director at Targeted Victory (h/t wife Samantha Osborne) ... Karen Scott ... Peter Lichtenbaum, a partner at Covington & Burling ... Edelman’s Aleena Hasnain … Catherine Martin ... Kevin Bailey ... Lisa De Pasquale … Megan Carpentier ... Dee Dee Sorvino ... Jennifer Overbye ... Alex Curd ... NRF’s Bethany Aronhalt ... Marc Kimball

THE SHOWS, by Matt Mackowiak, filing from the British American Conference in Cardiff, Wales:

-- CNN’s “State of the Union”: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Panel: Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.), Linda Chavez, David Urban and Karine Jean-Pierre.

-- NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) … Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) … Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, Hugh Hewitt, David Ignatius and Hallie Jackson.

-- ABC’s “This Week”: Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) … Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) ... Joints Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. Panel: Mary Bruce, Matthew Dowd, Asma Khalid and Jonathan Swan.

-- CBS’ “Face the Nation”: Robert O’Brien … Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) … Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). Panel: Margaret Talev, Jeffrey Goldberg, Stephen Hayes and Antjuan Seawright.

-- “Fox News Sunday”: Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) ... Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.). Panel: Karl Rove, Donna Edwards, Josh Holmes and Mo Elleithee … Power Player of the Week: The U.S. Army Old Guard’s Caisson Platoon.

-- CNN’s “Inside Politics”: Julie Pace, Mike Shear, Abby Philip and Jackie Kucinich.

-- Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) … Mark Penn.

-- Fox News’ “MediaBuzz”: Stephanie Grisham … Mollie Hemingway … Beverly Hallberg … Philippe Reines … Charlie Gasparino … Kat Timpf.

-- CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”: Niall Ferguson, Richard Haas and Rana Foroohar … Nate Cohn … Constanze Stelzenmϋller.

-- CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: Manu Raju, Melanie Zanona and Addy Baird … Jess McIntosh, Tara Dowdell and Max Boot … Anthony Scaramucci … Pastor Angela Denker.

-- Sinclair’s “America This Week”: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) ... Hogan Gidley … James Rosen.

-- Gray TV’s “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren”: Pete Buttigieg … Francesca Chambers.

-- Univision’s “Al Punto”: Jésica Zermeño …. Arturo Sarukhán … Mahud Villalaz and Sergio Rodriguez … Cristian Padilla … Ezequiel Hernandez … Shakira.

-- C-SPAN: “The Communicators”: Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), questioned by WaPo’s Joseph Marks … “Newsmakers”: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), questioned by WaPo’s Erica Werner … “Q&A”: Sussanah Cahalan.

-- MSNBC’s “Kasie DC”: Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) … Julián Castro … Don Siegelman … Jonathan Lemire … Nick Confessore … Sam Stein … Adrienne Elrod … Desiree Barnes … Susan Del Percio … Dave Wasserman … Caroline Fourest (substitute anchor: MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin).

-- Washington Times’ “Mack on Politics” weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify or Stitcher or listen at MackOnPoliticsPodcast.com): Alice Stewart.

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