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On the roster: Schultz plays the angles - Trump’s speech condemns ‘resistance and retribution’ - Fairfax accuser hires Blasey Ford’s law firm - Senate Dems block bill for babies who survive abortion - Whoa, whoa, whoa… ‘Botched?’ That’s good chicken



SCHULTZ PLAYS THE ANGLES

We don’t want to give away too much, but the word on the street is that the state of the union is “strong.” Like a lot of these addresses, the one President Trump gives tonight will matter less for what is said and more for how it is received. We are getting the message that the president will be calling for unity, what we don’t know is whether that is unity behind him or unity between the two parties.



Whatever the case, Fox News will be there with special coverage starting with “Special Report with Bret Baier” at 6 pm ET and running all the way through the 1 am ET hour on “Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream.”



While we wait to see what is said (and what is said about what is said), how about some nuggets for an appetizer?



- Democrats are getting ready to unload on Howard Schultz, the independent billionaire former Starbucks CEO considering a presidential run. According to CNBC, the deep-pocketed Democratic opposition research outfit American Bridge is already shopping bad news on Schultz, including $46 million paid in settlements with Starbucks employees over wages. If they’re trying to stifle Schultz, they’ll need to do better than that.



- An interesting and telling next step for Schultz: He’s heading to Purdue University for a “major policy address.” No offense to the Boilermakers, but that sounds on its face like an unusual choice for a New York-raised, Seattle based businessman. But the Indiana university’s president is Mitch Daniels, whom the WaPo reports, has spoken already to Schultz about his ambitions. Schultz has previously praised Daniels, the state’s former governor and onetime Bush administration budget boss, as a role model for pragmatic political leadership.



- Speaking of spoilers, the Boston Herald reports that former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld has changed his registration back to Republican. Weld left the party in 2016 to serve as Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson’s running mate. Weld stoked speculation about a possible primary challenge to Trump with a scheduled visit to New Hampshire on Feb. 15 when he says he will discuss the possibility.



- Cory Booker, who has recently been spotted squiring actress Rosario Dawson, said that he has “someone really special” and who he might even marry before 2021. Booker, 49, has never been married and would be only the third bachelor ever elected president, James Buchanan and Grover Cleveland being the other two. In a radio interview, Booker was pressed on how being single might affect his presidential bid. “First of all, there’s two more years until I might fulfill this duty, so give me some time,” Booker responded. “My girlfriend might listen to this.”



- Speaking of Booker’s unorthodox candidacy, he may be looking for some help in the South Carolina primary from an unusual source: A Republican Senator. McClatchy reports on how his friendship with Tim Scott, R-S.C., could compliment or complicate his Palmetto State ambitions: “‘The vast majority of Americans want a functioning government, which means, in a divided government, you ought to get kudos for working together,’ Scott said. ‘(Booker) ought to tailor his success with a Republican majority in a way that benefits his candidacy. That’s what I would recommend if I ran his campaign team. But I’m not, by the way. I’m supporting Donald Trump.”



- A little more Booker, if you’ll allow. He was trying in a Judiciary Committee hearing today to upbraid Neomi Rao, the lawyer nominated to the D.C. Court of Appeals, for anti-gay bias. Booker demanded if Rao had ever employed a gay law clerk. Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, had an easy answer: “Senator, I've yet to be a judge. I don't have law clerks.”



- What to do if you get re-elected to Congress, but you’ve become a political untouchable? That’s the question facing GOP Reps. Duncan Hunter of California, Chris Collins of New York, both of whom are facing prosecution for alleged corruption, and Steve King of Iowa, broadly condemned for his nativist rhetoric. They’ve been stripped of their committee posts and generally busted down in rank but still have to go through the motions of serving. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., had a suggestion when asked by Politico: ‘I suppose they can form a ‘pariah caucus.’”



- Beto O’Rourke is back from the dentist and ready to get back into testing the presidential waters, this time in a conversation with Oprah Winfrey. The interview, conducted today in front of a live audience in New York, will air later this month. One question for O’Rourke: If the rap on your potential candidacy is that you’re a lightweight, does celebrity-style campaigning really work?



THE RULEBOOK: BEWARE THE FALL OUT

“A spirit of faction, which is apt to mingle its poison in the deliberations of all bodies of men, will often hurry the persons of whom they are composed into improprieties and excesses, for which they would blush in a private capacity.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 15



TIME OUT: SALUD!

Boston Herald: “…veteran players are usually best at knowing who among the peach-fuzzed kids can play the game at the National Hockey League level. … Bob Tindall, the [Bruin’s] retired scout and administrator for the team’s training camps remembers [Patrice Bergeron’s September 2003 deal] this way: ‘[Martin Lapointe] came to me in the middle of training camp and he said, ‘That kid could come live with me and my family,’’ said Tindall. ‘And he wanted to do it right in the middle of training camp. He identified his ability right then.’ … On Tuesday, the 33-year-old Bergeron will play his 1,000th NHL game — all in a Bruins uniform. He’s won a Stanley Cup, four Selke Awards, and a King Clancy Award given for leadership and humanitarian contributions. … And with his international accomplishments — gold medals in the World Junior Championships, Worlds, the Olympics and World Cup of Hockey for Canada — the Hockey Hall of Fame will be waiting…”



Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.



SCOREBOARD

Trump job performance

Average approval: 39.8 percent

Average disapproval: 56 percent

Net Score: -16.2 points

Change from one week ago: down 2 points

[Average includes: CNN: 42% approve - 54% disapproval; IBD: 39% approve - 57% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 57% disapprove; Monmouth University: 43% approve - 53% disapprove; Gallup: 37% approve - 59% disapprove.]



TRUMP’S SPEECH CONDEMNS ‘RESISTANCE AND RETRIBUTION’

Fox News: “President Trump is set to renew his call for unity during Tuesday's primetime State of the Union address, but prominent Democrats are already signaling they have no intention of reconciliation amid ongoing fights over border wall funding and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. Historian Douglas Brinkley called Trump's upcoming address -- his first before a Congress not completely controlled by Republicans – ‘a strange and bizarre State of the Union.’ It comes less than two weeks before a Feb. 15 funding deadline could lead to another partial federal government shutdown. Among the president's guests will be Delaware 6th-grade student Joshua Trump, who says he has been bullied at school because of his name. Family members of Gerald and Sharon David, the Nevada couple allegedly murdered last month by an illegal immigrant, will also be in attendance, as well as Alice Johnson, whom Trump granted clemency last year while she was serving a life-term sentence without parole for a nonviolent drug crime. Johnson had been incarcerated for nearly 22 years.”



Where’s the military money Trump may divert? - WaPo: “An emergency declaration, which the president has hinted at repeatedly in recent days, would give him authority to tap some $20 billion from a wide array of military construction projects approved by Congress but not yet under way. Hundreds of projects could be at risk of losing their funding to Trump’s wall — including a $60 million aircraft maintenance hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina, a $105 million command and control facility at Fort Shafter in Hawaii, and a $32 million vehicle maintenance shop at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.”



Senate Republicans harden resolve on emergency declaration - WSJ: President Trump’s repeated warnings that he is prepared to declare a national emergency to build a border wall, which he is likely to renew in his State of the Union address Tuesday, are stirring up increasing angst among congressional Republicans. Senate Republicans, who are typically more muted in their criticisms of the president, have been unusually candid in pushing back against such a move, which would likely divide them on any coming vote. … ‘There have been lots of concerns expressed about that approach, which have been conveyed by many of our members directly to the president,’ Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R., S.D.) said Tuesday, adding that those issues include ‘the precedent it creates for a future Democrat president to find lots of reasons to declare an emergency, the questions about separation of power and checks and balances and everything else.’”



FAIRFAX ACCUSER HIRES BLASEY FORD’S LAW FIRM

NPR: “A California woman who has accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexually assaulting her 15 years ago has hired the same law firm that represented Christine Blasey Ford in her allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Fairfax has denied the allegation [which] has come to light just as Fairfax could be on the verge of becoming the state's chief executive in the wake of a scandal involving Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and a blackface yearbook photo. The woman making the accusation against Fairfax has retained Katz, Marshall and Banks, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, and is consulting with her attorneys about next steps, according to a source close to the legal team. The law firm assisted Blasey Ford as she came forward during Kavanaugh's confirmation process with allegations that he assaulted her when the two were in high school.”



Chaos is king in Richmond - AP: “One of the busiest days on the Virginia legislature's calendar began under a cloud of suspense Tuesday as Gov. Ralph Northam weighed whether he can continue in the job amid the fallout over a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page. With tension running high, lawmakers began arriving for crossover day — when the House and Senate must finish bills to send to the other chamber — after days of turmoil set off by the photo, which depicts someone in blackface standing next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. Amid a barrage of calls for his resignation from his own party, the 59-year-old Democratic governor gave no public indication of which way he was leaning as he met privately with top advisers.”



SENATE DEMS BLOCK BILL FOR BABIES WHO SURVIVE ABORTION

Fox News: “Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a GOP effort to introduce a bill meant to protect abortion survivors, which came in response to comments last week by Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam that seemingly endorsed post-birth abortions in certain cases. Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse sought unanimous consent to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would have required that ‘any health care practitioner present’ at the time of a birth ‘exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.’ The bill, which exempted the mother involved in the birth from prosecution, also would have required practitioners to ‘ensure that the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital.’ It prescribed a possible term of imprisonment of up to five years for violations, not including penalties for first-degree murder that could also apply.”



Bipartisan rebuke for Trump’s Syria policy - Reuters: “The Republican-led U.S. Senate backed largely symbolic legislation on Monday that broke with President Donald Trump by opposing plans for any abrupt withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan. The amendment acknowledged progress against Islamic State and al Qaeda in Syria and Afghanistan but warned that ‘a precipitous withdrawal’ could destabilize the region and create a vacuum that could be filled by Iran or Russia. It called on the Trump administration to certify conditions had been met for the groups’ ‘enduring defeat’ before any significant withdrawal from Syria or Afghanistan. Before the vote, [Mitch McConnell] said he introduced the bill so the Senate could ‘speak clearly and directly about the importance of the’ missions in Afghanistan and Syria. Passage was expected, after the Senate voted to advance it in a procedural vote last week.”



PLAY-BY-PLAY

Prosecutors said to be investigating Trump inauguration committee - ABC News



Delayed Trump budget expected March 11 - WSJ



Pergram: ‘Ocasio-Cortez redefines ‘AOC,' her rise best understood through Eagles’ lyrics’ - Fox News



Green New Deal authors scale back most ambitious objective - Politico



AUDIBLE: DID YOU CHECK TWO CORINTHIANS?

“I can’t find it in the Bible, but I quote it all the time. I keep reading and reading the Bible – I know it’s there someplace. It’s supposed to be in Isaiah.” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressing presidents of Christian colleges about her favorite piece of scripture. The phrase – “To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.” – is not in the Bible. But Pelosi has cited it repeatedly for more than a decade.



Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.



WHOA, WHOA, WHOA… ‘BOTCHED?’ THAT’S GOOD CHICKEN

Times Picayune: “After a Popeye’s robber could not open a cash register, New Orleans police said, he resorted to making off with some fried chicken instead. The man entered the Popeye’s in the 8700 block of Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans East just before noon Monday (Feb. 4) and attempted to steal money from the register. But the register wouldn’t budge so he grabbed some fried chicken and fled the business, according to initial police reports. Police later located and arrested Phillip Lee, 27, in relation to the botched robbery. He was arrested on allegations of simple robbery and simple battery. He appeared in court later that day where Magistrate Judge Brigid Collins set his bond at $13,500.”



AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…

“What Obama offered the nation Tuesday night was a pudding without a theme: a jumble of disconnected initiatives, a gaggle of intrusive new agencies and a whole new generation of loopholes to further corrupt a tax code that screams out for reform.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on Jan. 26, 2012.



Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.





