BREAKING -- TRUMP on AF1: ‘We can make a fast decision’ on FBI director, maybe even this week -- 4 interviews today for the job -- GLENN and MAGGIE’s W.H. intrigue -- ISENSTADT’s hardship assignment: RNC in San Diego Presented by





Driving the Day

Good Saturday morning, and happy weekend. On to Boston! John Wall hit a game-winning three-point shot to send the Washington Wizards back to Beantown for a Game 7 against the Celtics. The Celtics showed up in Washington wearing all black, and after the game, Wall said this to ESPN: “Y’all come to my city, wearing all black, talking about it’s a funeral. We worked too hard for this.” GREAT STAT: Neither Boston nor Washington has won in the other’s arena this season. Game 7 will be Monday night at 8 p.m.

PRESIDENT TRUMP is at Liberty University this morning to deliver the commencement address. He’s flying on a smaller Air Force jet this morning -- not the 747 he usually flies.

BREAKING -- President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that “we can make a fast decision” on a new FBI director, and said it was possible he taps someone before he leaves for Saudi Arabia at the end of next week, per pooler Al Weaver of the Washington Examiner. “He also described the candidates for the post as ‘outstanding people,’ ‘very well known’, and ‘highest level,’” according to Weaver’s pool report.

**SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: http://politi.co/2lQswbh

THE FBI CANDIDATES -- “Source: 4 to be interviewed for FBI Director post Saturday,” by Josh Gerstein: “The four potential nominees set to be interviewed are: acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), former Justice Department Criminal Division Chief Alice Fisher and New York state judge and former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan Michael Garcia. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are expected to conduct the interviews Saturday afternoon ... Saturday’s meetings are the first wave of interviews for the FBI director nomination, but more candidates are expected to be brought in later.” http://politi.co/2pIwn77

-- CORNYN is in line to become Senate majority leader at some point, but Mitch McConnell doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, so perhaps the FBI job could be appealing to the Texan. Plus, Cornyn would be easily confirmable. If Trump does pick Cornyn, that Senate seat will become one of the hottest commodities in politics.

A13 INTRIGUE -- NYT’s GLENN THRUSH and MAGGIE HABERMAN: “‘Looking Like a Liar or a Fool’: What It Means to Work for Trump”: “For his part, the president’s mood, according to people close to him, alternates between grim frustration with Washington and his news coverage, and a belief that his own political capital is regenerative. ... Mr. Trump is growing increasingly dissatisfied with the performance of his chief of staff, Reince Priebus; the communications director, Michael Dubke; and Mr. Spicer, a Priebus ally, according to a half-dozen West Wing officials who said the president was considering the most far-reaching shake-up of his already tumultuous term. ... Mr. Spicer’s blustery style mimics Mr. Trump’s, but people close to both men said he has not developed an especially close relationship with the president and has failed to use the self-protective tools that savvier Trump aides have adopted.” http://nyti.ms/2qfXZTj

-- WSJ A1, “Trump Weighs Staff Overhaul,” by Eli Stokols and Rebecca Ballhaus (online headline “Trump Weighs Shake-Up of Press Team”): “Since Wednesday, a senior communications staffer has been reaching out to supportive cable TV surrogates to gauge their interest in joining the staff. … In a taped [Fox News] interview ... the president called Mr. Spicer a ‘wonderful human being’ but declined to answer a question about whether he would remain in his post.” http://on.wsj.com/2pv5pEX

-- KEEP IN MIND: Trump is creating this chaos. He fired the FBI director. He criticized his communications aides. He is weighing a shakeup of his White House staff. The House comes back to D.C. next week -- the Senate will be here too -- and they’ll be forced to talk about the firing of James Comey and whether the president of the United States is surreptitiously taping conversations in the White House. BUT, BUT BUT… Ways and Means is holding a tax-reform hearing next week!

THE FUTURE OF THE PRESS BRIEFING -- What Trump told Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro (airing tonight at 9 p.m.): “We don’t have press conferences … Unless I have them every two weeks and I do them myself. We don’t have them. I think it’s a good idea. … We shouldn’t have them … There’s never been action like this, this is crazy. … They’re getting higher ratings on those press conferences … We do it in a different way. … We do it through a piece of paper with a perfectly accurate beautiful answer … They’re asked 100 questions or 50 questions or 20 questions. If they get one out of 50 just a little bit off … the next day it’s a front-page story in every newspaper.” With video clips http://bit.ly/2rcKROy

L.A. TIMES -- “The last time a president admitted he secretly taped conversations, he had to resign,” by Matt Pearce: “‘The first thing I asked is whether he realized that, if he does have tapes of his conversations with Comey, they’re evidence in any investigation of whether his firing of Comey amount to obstruction of justice,’ said [the University of Virginia’s Ken] Hughes in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“‘If so,’ he added, ‘they are evidence related to a criminal investigation and therefore they can be subpoenaed, either by Congress, or by a prosecutor, or special prosecutor if one is appointed, and Trump has to turn them over, as the Supreme Court ruled way back in 1974.’ Hughes would know. He is one of the nation’s foremost experts on the voluminous secret recordings that President Nixon taped in the Oval Office, tapes that ultimately ended his presidency. ‘Nixon found out the hard way that having tape recordings of your conversations can backfire,’ Hughes said.” http://lat.ms/2rbnl3F

-- JUST SAYING … The public deserves to know whether our president is secretly taping conversations he has in a federal building. And members of Congress are going to want to know as well, since many of them are having conversations with the president on a regular basis.

-- FOR THE RECORD … -- “Trump has a long history of secretly recording calls, according to former associates,” by WaPo’s Marc Fisher. http://wapo.st/2qg9IkA

HOW IT’S PLAYING -- ORLANDO SENTINEL: “Fallout continues over Comey firing: Trump raises specter of ‘tapes’ on Twitter” http://bit.ly/2qg9H01 …JANESVILLE GAZETTE: “Hinting at tapes, Trump warns Comey: President’s message may escalate dispute” http://bit.ly/2r4epAV … CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER: “Specter of tapes is causing concern: Spicer won’t elaborate but says Comey not threatened” http://bit.ly/2qDejQQ



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.

HARDSHIP ASSIGNMENT -- ALEX ISENSTADT reports from the RNC meeting in Coronado, California -- “Trump meltdown sets off GOP alarms over 2018 midterm: A three-day party gathering highlights senior Republican officials grappling with a profoundly unstable White House”: “The private talks over the three-day meeting pulled back the curtain on a Republican Party leadership grappling with a profoundly unstable White House. While some attendees shrugged off the firestorm surrounding the firing of FBI Director James Comey and put a positive spin on the latest Trump controversy, others conceded they were struggling to adapt to a political moment without precedent.

“‘I don’t think there is anything to compare it to. You have a non-politician who’s the president, so he doesn’t do things in a political way and that completely drives insiders of both parties bonkers because they don’t understand it,’ said Randy Evans, a Republican National Committeeman from Georgia who was a top adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. ‘Right now, we’re just in a completely different and foreign political environment where pollsters and pundits and focus groups don’t matter.’ ‘Anybody that tells you they have a feel for what’s going to happen next year is just delusional,’ he added.” http://politi.co/2qDabQH

GARRETT GRAFF in POLITICO Magazine, “Will Trump Be the First to Politicize the FBI? Shortlist names like Kelly Ayotte and John Cornyn sound like ideal Washington department heads -- until you realize why the FBI has never had a political leader”: “[A]mid this week’s spiraling controversies is the fact that appointing any of them to lead the FBI would mark a radical departure from the entire history of the century-old law enforcement agency.

“From its founding over a century ago until Tuesday afternoon, when James Comey was summarily fired as director, the FBI has been led exclusively by nonpartisan career law enforcement professionals with no background in elected politics. The bureau, in fact, has been perhaps the last bastion of nonpolitical leadership in Washington -- an agency whose powers are so extensive and potentially damaging to American citizens that it has been kept clear of direct political influence.” http://politi.co/2qdI5Kt

COMEY WATCH -- NYT’s Peter Baker and Mike Shear: “Mr. Comey made no comment [on Trump’s tapes tweet], but later in the day he declined a request to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. According to a close associate of Mr. Comey, he is willing to testify, but wants it to be in public.” http://nyti.ms/2qdot7B

-- @jimsciutto: “Source w/firsthand knowledge tells me Comey turned down Senate invite to testify b/c ‘wants to lay low for a while & take some time off’”

JUST LIKE WE SAID … “Trump’s own words add fuel to questions about the legality of firing Comey,” by WaPo’s Karen Tumulty: “With his own words over the past two days, President Trump has vastly escalated the stakes and potential consequences of his decision to fire James B. Comey as FBI director, provoking questions about whether his motivations and tactics may have run afoul of the law. … In a television interview and on Twitter, the president has given ammunition to arguments by some legal experts that his actions constitute a possible case of obstruction of justice -- a central charge in the impeachment proceedings against two presidents in the last 43 years. …

“But whether the unfolding controversy ultimately puts Trump’s presidency at risk is more a question of politics than law. Given that both houses of Congress are in Republican control, it would take an enormous public outcry for lawmakers to begin the process of attempting to remove the president from office. The same, it appears, probably would have to happen before the Justice Department that reports to him would be compelled to appoint a special prosecutor, much less actually bring charges.” http://wapo.st/2r3Mj8I

DRIP, DRIP -- “Former Trump Adviser Paul Manafort’s Bank Records Sought in Probe,” by WSJ’s Michael Rothfeld, Mark Maremont and Rebecca Davis O’Brien: “The Justice Department last month requested banking records of Paul Manafort as part of a widening of probes related to President Donald Trump’s former campaign associates and whether they colluded with Russia in interfering with the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter. In mid-April, federal investigators requested Mr. Manafort’s banking records from Citizens Financial Group Inc. ...Citizens gave Mr. Manafort a $2.7 million loan last year to refinance debt on a Manhattan condominium and borrow additional cash ...

“Separately, investigators for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as well as Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. also have been examining real-estate transactions by Mr. Manafort, who has spent and borrowed tens of millions of dollars in connection with property across the U.S. over the past decade, people familiar with the matter say. The request for Mr. Manafort’s banking records and the New York inquiries haven’t previously been reported.” http://on.wsj.com/2r3Llcz

SNEAK PEEK -- TWITTER CEO JACK DORSEY appears on NBC’s “Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist,” to address critics who say Trump should not be permitted to use Twitter. “I believe it’s really important to hear directly from our leadership. And I believe it’s really important to hold them accountable. And I believe it’s really important to have these conversations out in the open, rather than have them behind closed doors. So if we’re all to suddenly take these platforms away, where does it go? What happens? It goes in the dark. And I just don’t think that’s good for anyone.” http://on.today.com/2qexMEy

POWER PLAYBOOKER – DAN SHAPIRO, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, in Bloomberg View, “How Trump Can Have an Impact in the Holy Land”: “While in Israel and the Palestinian Authority on May 22-23, there is an easy stop he should make to accomplish all three goals: President Trump should visit Rawabi. Rawabi is the first new, entirely planned Palestinian city in the West Bank, long heralded as the advent of the Palestinian economic future. ...

“The new city boasts amenities like parks and playgrounds, and top-notch municipal services and unheard of recreation facilities for Palestinians, including a 15,000-seat amphitheater, horseback riding, all-terrain vehicles, and a zip line. Quality schools, shopping, restaurants, a large central mosque and a church are on the way. Rawabi is important not only for what it is, but what it represents: an alternative Palestinian future.” https://bloom.bg/2pH9mT7

HACK UPDATE -- “Ransom Hackers Who Hit Hospitals Dealt Setback; May Return,” by Bloomberg’s Jordan Robertson: “The cyber-attack that spread rapidly around the globe was stifled when a security researcher disabled a key mechanism used by the worm to spread, but experts said the hackers were likely to return as many computers remain at risk. Hackers can still gain easy access to personal computers that lack a security update issued in March by Microsoft Corp. to fix the vulnerability in its Windows operating system. ... More than 75,000 computers in 99 countries were compromised in Friday’s attack, with a heavy concentration of infections in Russia and Ukraine.” https://bloom.bg/2qfXLLI

GOOD SCOOP -- NYT A1, “Sinclair Requires TV Stations to Air Segments That Tilt to the Right,” by Sydney Ember: “They are called ‘must-runs,’ and they arrive every day at television stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group -- short video segments that are centrally produced by the company. Station managers around the country are directed to work them into the broadcast over a period of 24 or 48 hours. Since November 2015, Sinclair has ordered its stations to run a daily segment from a ‘Terrorism Alert Desk’ with updates on terrorism-related news around the world.

“During the election campaign last year, it sent out a package that suggested in part that voters should not support Hillary Clinton because the Democratic Party was historically pro-slavery. More recently, Sinclair asked stations to run a short segment in which Scott Livingston, the company’s vice president for news, accused the national news media of publishing ‘fake news stories.’” http://nyti.ms/2rcAudV

Playbook Reads

PHOTO DU JOUR: President Donald Trump jokingly arm wrestles with a student from Charlotte, North Carolina's Victory Christian Center School during a visit in the Oval Office of the White House on May 12. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty

THE ADMINISTRATION -- “Trump’s Expected Pick for Top USDA Scientist Is Not a Scientist,” by ProPublica’s Jessica Huseman: “The USDA’s research section studies everything from climate change to nutrition. ... But Sam Clovis -- who, according to sources with knowledge of the appointment and members of the agriculture trade press, is President Trump’s pick to oversee the section ... has never taken a graduate course in science and is openly skeptical of climate change. While he has a doctorate in public administration and was a tenured professor of business and public policy at Morningside College for 10 years, he has published almost no academic work. Clovis is better known for hosting a conservative talk radio show in his native Iowa and, after mounting an unsuccessful run for Senate in 2014, becoming a fiery pro-Trump advocate on television.” http://bit.ly/2pvjDFX

PENTAGON WATCH -- “New TV ad shows Marines looking for a few good women,” by AP’s Lolita Baldor: “A Marine in full combat gear moves through dark, frigid water, gripping an M-16 rifle, before plunging under barbed wire and through a submerged drainage pipe. It is only when the fighter shouts an order over the sound of explosions does the historical nature of the TV advertisement become clear: the Marine is a woman. ... While female Marines occasionally have appeared in ads and been featured in online videos, this is the first time a woman is the focus of a national television commercial for the Corps.” http://apne.ws/2pIk1Ni ... The ad http://bit.ly/2qDeVWM

THE NEW GILDED AGE -- “Washington Welcomes the Wealthiest,” by Robert Frank in tomorrow’s N.Y. Times Sunday Business section: “[T]he combination of the richest White House in history and a boom in government-related businesses and technology companies is transforming Washington’s affluence into opulence. There are 34 billionaires within a 25-mile radius of Washington, according to Wealth-X, an information services company that specializes in identifying the tribal patterns of the superrich; that figure is up slightly from last year. And there are 2,049 D.C.-area residents worth $30 million or more. ... The average price of a property costing $1 million or more rose by 33 percent in the first quarter.” http://nyti.ms/2pIBrJN



VALLEY TALK -- WSJ A1, “Uber’s Driverless Cars Are Clouded by Possible Federal Probe,” by Jack Nicas and Greg Bensinger: “A new shadow of uncertainty was cast over the autonomous-vehicle program when a federal judge this week recommended the U.S. investigate the possibility that Uber and a top executive stole from Google parent Alphabet Inc. 14,000 files, many related to a laser sensor technology used in driverless cars. The order, which legal analysts said is rare if not unprecedented in a civil trade-secrets case, could result in executives facing criminal prosecution, a startling turn of events for a project Uber has called ‘existential’ to its future.” http://on.wsj.com/2qdR6n1

CLICKER – “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker -- 12 funnies after an eventful week http://politi.co/2r1GNDN

GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:

--“What Is Sophistication?” by Peter Berger in The American Interest – per ALDaily’s description: “Why do Japanese audiences adore Woody Allen films? Because Jewish humor has become a marker of elite sophistication.” http://bit.ly/2ra30wz

--“Inside Dope: Mark Halperin and the transformation of the Washington establishment,” by David Grann in the Oct. 25, 2004 issue of The New Yorker: “‘There is always some new tidbit,’ Mark Halperin said. ‘You just have to ferret it out.’” http://bit.ly/2qbgKc5

--“Keith Olbermann Was Once Cable News’s Liberal Standard-Bearer. Now He’s Missing Its Boom Times,” by Greg Howard in tomorrow’s N.Y. Times Magazine: http://nyti.ms/2psT9EI

--“What an Immigrant Murder in Kansas Says About America,” by Romesh Ratnesar on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek: “Olathe, Kansas, became a global magnet for tech talent, thanks to plentiful jobs, cheap housing, and good schools. Then someone opened fire on a pair of Indian-born engineers.” https://bloom.bg/2qaYv6h ...The cover http://bit.ly/2qB1NkY (h/t Longform.org)

--“The Scarily Profitable Hits of Jason Blum,” by Ryan Bradley in tomorrow’s N.Y. Times Magazine: “The film ‘Get Out’ is the latest horror blockbuster in an eight-year run of lean, inventive films from the Hollywood producer.” http://nyti.ms/2pIET7a

--“Seeing With Your Tongue,” by Nicola Twilley in The New Yorker: “Sensory-substitution devices help blind and deaf people, but that’s just the beginning.” http://bit.ly/2pGOpa2

--“Richard Russell’s XL Recordings Empire,” by Matthew Trammell in The New Yorker: “By signing artists like Adele and Vampire Weekend, the label banks on long-term potential instead of chasing viral hits.” http://bit.ly/2qewKZ8

--“Moscow, my family and me,” by Martin Kettle in the New Statesman: “The party was a social network. There would be a party doctor, a party electrician, a party car salesman. My parents employed a party gardener who had fought in the International Brigades. You expected to marry within the party. Speaking Russian conveyed a particular mystique. Scotland, the birthplace of many party leaders, was always held in special awe, as much for the scenery and the music as for the militancy.” http://bit.ly/2pGay8e (h/t TheBrowser.com)

--“More Is More,” by Deborah Cohen in the N.Y. Review of Books, reviewing “Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First,” by Frank Trentmann: “Much of the world’s waste is a product of habitual practices we think normal: driving a car, yes, but taking a daily shower, too, or heating our homes, or changing our underpants daily (by 1986, 45 percent of German men did so compared to 5 percent in 1966). It has almost nothing to do with individual motives.” http://bit.ly/2r9V0eR ... $21.77 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2r1OxWm

--“The Last Person You’d Expect to Die in Childbirth,” by ProPublica’s Nina Martin and NPR’s Renee Montagne: “The U.S. has the worst rate of maternal deaths in the developed world, and 60 percent are preventable. The death of Lauren Bloomstein, a neonatal nurse, in the hospital where she worked illustrates a profound disparity: The health care system focuses on babies but often ignores their mothers.” http://bit.ly/2pt85CW

--“The Threat,” by Ross Anderson in Edge: “If I can threaten to cause millions of cars in America to turn right and accelerate sharply into the nearest building, causing the biggest gridlock you’ve ever seen in every American city simultaneously, maybe only killing a few hundred or a few thousand people but totally bringing traffic to a standstill in all American cities — isn’t that an interesting weapon worth developing if you’re the Chinese Armed Forces R&D lab?” http://bit.ly/2pGlBPx

--“On History (1908)*” by Bertrand Russell in Independent Review in July 1904: “History is valuable, to begin with, because it is true; and this, though not the whole of its value, is the foundation of all the rest. That all knowledge is in some degree good would appear to be at least probable; and the knowledge of every historical fact possesses this element of goodness. But truth is not the sole aim in recording the past. All facts are equally true, and selection among them is only possible by means of some other criterion.” http://bit.ly/2qABCuD

--“The meaning of life in a world without work,” by Yuval Noah Harari, author of “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow,” in The Guardian: “The real problem will be to keep the masses occupied and content. People must engage in purposeful activities, or they go crazy. Economically redundant people might spend increasing amounts of time within 3D virtual reality worlds. This, in fact, is a very old solution. For thousands of years, billions of people have found meaning in playing virtual reality games. In the past, we have called these virtual reality games ‘religions.’” http://bit.ly/2pG4DAb … $20.42 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2qDx3Qj

Playbookers

SPOTTED: Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) at the Four Seasons in Georgetown last night ... House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) in downtown Brussels at 11 p.m. last night after meetings with NATO officials. “Looking impeccable as always.... no ‘recess’ for the Leader!” per our tipster ... Hugh Hewitt unloading a carry-on yesterday at Denver airport on a United flight from DCA. He’s giving the commencement today at Colorado Christian University.

OUT AND ABOUT -- COLOMBIAN AMBASSADOR JUAN CARLOS PINZON hosted a dinner last night at his home off Dupont Circle to honor Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, who’s also a former Southcom commander. Next week Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will visit Washington for a meeting with President Trump on Thursday.

SPOTTED: Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., Admiral Kurt Tidd, Tom Bossert, Elaine Duke, John Boehner, Brazilian Ambassador Sergio Amaral, Mexican Ambassador Gerónimo Gutiérrez, Spanish Ambassador Pedro Morenés, Dan Restrepo, Dr. Thomas Kennedy, Lee Styslinger III, Steve Clemons, Jim Michaels, Morgan Ortagus, Fred Hiatt.

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ, Freedom House president, and JULEANNA GLOVER hosted a buffet supper last night at Juleanna’s Kalorama house to honor Russian opposition politician and Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza. SPOTTED: Denise Couture, Margaret Carlson, Gina Chon, Bill Kristol, Julia Ioffe, Kate Bennett, Kevin Baron, Lois Romano, Eli Lake, Mark Green, Ben Schreckinger, Craig Gordon, Adam Green, Jamie Weinstein and Michelle Fields, Evan McMullin, Amanda Taub, Steve Rademaker, Kyle Parker, Garrett Bauman, Brett Forrest.

--MARCIA DYSON and MAYA MACGUINEAS hosted a “Welcome to D.C.” party last night at Marcia’s house to honor Rev. John and Omarosa Newman, who recently got married. SPOTTED: Karen Kornbluh, Steve Clemons, Margaret Carlson, Daniel Restrepo, Alex Rosenwald, Zimbabwe Ambassador Manno Mutembwa, Bahamas Ambassador Eugene Newry.

TRANSITIONS -- Devan Cayea starts on Monday as associate director of federal affairs for N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He previously worked as an aide for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Business Insider executive editor Brett LoGiurato(hat tip: Maxwell Tani, who jokes that Brett is “highly overrated”)

BIRTHDAYS: Ohio Gov. John Kasich is 65 … Stephen Colbert is 53 … Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is 4-0 ... former Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) is 53 ... Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) is 51 ... Laura Cox Kaplan … Phil Musser, president of New Frontier Strategies (h/ts Alex and Benny) … Floridian Amy J. Graham, who works in public engagement at the EPA, celebrating in South Beach (h/t Jeff Grappone) ... Amy Bos ... Jordan P. Cooper ... Sarah Gunion ... Brian Fung, WashPost tech reporter ... Cowboys fan Jason Rahlan, comms. at Chobani ... Matt Gorton, a Mike Bloomberg alum and current Hiltzik strategist ... Toby Taylor, producer of “Squawk Box” … Mark McIntosh ... Melissa Fitzgerald … Wes Pippert ... former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska) is 87 ... Politico’s Nathaniel Freiberg ... Arjun Pai, MBA candidate at Wharton and a Morgan Stanley alum ... Michael Rosenbluth ... Sarah Berlenbach, director of external affairs for Barclays and the Brooklyn Nets and alum of Biden’s policy shop (h/t Kam Mumtaz) ... Alexandra O. Zeitz ... Google’s Raquel Saxe ... Biden alum Kingsley Trotter … Hemal Jhaveri …

... Jon Soltz, Iraq War vet and chair of VoteVets ... J Street’s Yael Patir ... Justin Rosenstein is 34 (h/ts Jewish Insider) ... Melissa Fitzgerald, who was an actress on “The West Wing” and now works in DC as senior director of Justice for Vets (h/ts Alexis Weiss and Kurt Bardella) ... Adam Weinstein, senior editor at Task & Purpose ... Tim Head … Eric Opiela ... Marie Aberger … Jeff DuFour is 43 ... Jan Angilella ... Tara Bradshaw ... Tim Shipman, political editor at The Times and The Sunday Times ... Chuck Brooks is 6-0 ... Erica Farage ... Bella Santorum ... Laura Gallo … Gavin Bromberg, son of Adam … Tim Devaney ... Mike Lux, co-founder of Progressive Strategies, is 57 … John Freeman … Vanessa Opperman ... Andrew Block (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Lena Dunham is 31 ... Dennis Rodman is 56 ... actor Harvey Keitel is 78 ... Robert Pattinson is 31 (h/ts AP)

THE SHOWS, by @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:

-- CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates … Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) … Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). Panel: Peggy Noonan, Jeffrey Goldberg, David Ignatius and Ben Domenech

-- CNN’s “State of the Union”: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) … former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Panel: Amanda Carpenter, Neera Tanden, Bill Kristol and Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.)

-- “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) … Sen. Mark Warner (R-Va.). Panel: Karl Rove, Julie Pace, Josh Holmes and Bob Woodward … “Power Player of the Week” with singer-songwriter Judy Collins

-- NBC’s “Meet the Press”: New NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Panel: Matthew Continetti, Hallie Jackson, Katty Kay and Eugene Robinson

-- Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross … Newt Gingrich … Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach … Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Panel: Ed Rollins, Katie Pavlich and Garry Kasparov

-- ABC’s “This Week”: Guests to be announced

-- CNN’s “Inside Politics” with John King: Panel: Jackie Kucinich, Julie Hirschfield Davis, Jeff Zeleny and Sara Murray

-- CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: Panel: Jeffrey Toobin, Michael Scherer and Olivia Nuzzi … David Frum and Bruce Bartlett … The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik … John Farrell … Public News Service reporter Dan Heyman

-- Fox News’ “MediaBuzz”: Kellyanne Conway … Erin McPike … Mollie Hemingway … Margaret Carlson, Ed Henry (Chris Ruddy dropped)

-- C-SPAN: “The Communicators”: NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield, questioned by Communications Daily’s David Kaut …“Newsmakers”: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), questioned by AP’s Erica Werner and CQ Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski … “Q&A”: Author and Cumberland University’s Mark Cheathem (“Andrew Jackson, Southerner”)

-- Washington Times’ “Mack on Politics” weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher or listen at http://bit.ly/2mGabdq): Former U.S. Department of Justice chief spokesman Matthew Miller … Politico Playbook co-author Anna Palmer.

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Follow us on Twitter Anna Palmer @apalmerdc



Jake Sherman @JakeSherman