HEALTH CARE BILL GOES UP IN FLAMES as McCain sinks ‘skinny’ repeal -- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: House GOP leaders raise big bucks for Scalise -- JAMES RISEN leaving NYT -- KASIE HUNT may get MSNBC show -- B’DAY: Richard Haass Presented by Amazon

Driving the Day

Good Friday morning. WELL, THAT’S THAT...FOR NOW. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted “no” early Friday morning on a “skinny” Obamacare repeal bill -- an effort Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan, framed as the way to begin a negotiation between the House and Senate on a large health care package. McCain and Murkowski have been targets of Trump’s scorn in the last year or so.

THERE WAS PLENTY OF LATE-NIGHT DRAMA. GREAT TIDBITS from Seung Min Kim, Burgess Everett and Jen Haberkorn: “The president made a last-ditch effort, calling [McCain] on the GOP’s Obamacare repeal measure, as the bill’s fate hung in the balance, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. After Pence had spent about 20 minutes working McCain, the senator went off the floor to speak with Trump by phone, those sources said. ... ‘I thought it was the right vote,’ McCain told reporters as he left the Capitol. ‘I do my job as a senator.’ ...

“But his mind wouldn’t change. McCain walked over to a gaggle of Senate Democrats and told them that he would be voting no on the Obamacare repeal measure. His mind had already sped ahead to what was next: the National Defense Authorization Act, a top priority for the Armed Services Committee chairman. ‘Let’s get this over with,’ McCain told the cluster of Democrats, according to senators. ‘I really want to do NDAA.’” http://politi.co/2h8bFih

-- Before the final vote was called, McCain walked to the Democratic side of the aisle and spoke to a happy Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and embraced Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Pence, who was standing by to cast a tiebreaking vote, was not presiding over the Senate during the final tally -- an ominous sign. John Bresnahan, Burgess Everett, Jen Haberkorn and Seung Min Kim with many more details http://politi.co/2v58VYk … WATCH: Schumer’s fist pump. http://bit.ly/2h8dqfi … WATCH: McCain walks up to the desk, puts his thumb down and votes no. http://bit.ly/2uHOpdX

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SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CONN.) (@ChrisMurphyCT): “I ran into John McCain as we walked underground to the Senate for the final vote. Someday I’ll get to tell my grandkids what he said to me.”

-- HOW IT PLAYED IN PHOENIX -- LEAD IN THE MAINBAR OF THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC: “Capping his dramatic return to Capitol Hill while fighting brain cancer, Sen. John McCain cast the deciding vote to sink his fellow Republicans’ so-called ‘skinny repeal’ of the Affordable Care Act.” http://bit.ly/2vOZfPn

-- WHAT MCCAIN SAID: “We must now return to the correct way of legislating and send the bill back to committee, hold hearings, receive input from both sides of aisle, heed the recommendations of nation’s governors, and produce a bill that finally delivers affordable health care for the American people. We must do the hard work our citizens expect of us and deserve.”

--Drudge banner, “THE END -- MCCAIN KILLS REPEAL” ... HuffPost banner, “SHOCK VOTE: REPEAL DEAD -- 3 GOP CROSS AISLE” … N.Y. Post cover, “SURVIVOR WHITE HOUSE” http://bit.ly/2tP12GI

REACTION FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP -- at 2:25 a.m.: “3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!”

A FEW TAKEAWAYS: Health care is a very tricky topic, and there’s very little agreement among Republicans on the key issues like Medicaid and coverage. Legislating takes time and effort. Artificial deadlines don’t help. The president needs allies, not skeptics and enemies on Capitol Hill. Shifting responses on Russia, constant chatter about the outcome of the 2016 election and berating your attorney general and members of Congress haven’t been helpful for the president, broadly speaking. The president has to learn to be nice to members of Congress. That’s all part of the game. It’s not always fun. But that’s the way to win. Not many people are interested in fighting for the president and taking tough votes for him at this point. Right now, Trump has just one major Capitol Hill win: a new Supreme Court justice.

WHERE DO THINGS GO FROM NOW? It is not completely clear. Talk to Hill Republicans and the big problem is this: House Republicans do not believe Senate Republicans can pass anything substantial -- period. And the idea that a bi-cameral negotiation -- called a “conference committee” -- would have somehow produced a compromise was also a bit of a fantasy.

WILL REPUBLICANS GIVE UP ON HEALTH CARE? No, almost definitely not. Repealing and replacing Obamacare is still the party’s central tenet -- and has been for nearly a decade. But it will have to start anew, now. And it will continue to eat up much of the party’s time and energy on Capitol Hill. Obamacare was on life support many times in 2009-2010. Democrats eventually got it through. THE LIKELIHOOD? A package of fixes from Republicans. Dismantling or fixing -- depending on your political orientation -- piece by piece. There will definitely be a push to starve the law of funding.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS have a 9 a.m. closed party meeting this morning. There’s no reason why they’ll stay for the weekend, but some might want to. TOP REPUBLICANS believe it’s incumbent on the Senate to come up with something it can pass.

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WELL, WELCOME TO AUGUST. Washington hasn’t accomplished anything on health care, infrastructure, government spending, the debt ceiling or taxes. As we’ve been telling you, health care will stretch into the fall, and could damage the chance for tax reform. We’re about two months away from a government shutdown, and not that far out from defaulting on the nation’s debt.

THE WORST SCENARIO FOR HOUSE REPUBLICANS -- A bipartisan deal on health care emerges from the Senate. It would deeply divide the House, which is more conservative and factional than the Senate.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: House Republican leaders raised $515,000 this week at a fundraiser for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s leadership fund.

WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT -- RYAN LIZZA on NewYorker.com, “Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon”: “‘What I’m going to do is, I will eliminate everyone in the comms team and we’ll start over,’ he said. ... ‘They’ll all be fired by me,’ he said. ‘I fired one guy the other day. I have three to four people I’ll fire tomorrow. I’ll get to the person who leaked that to you. Reince Priebus—if you want to leak something—he’ll be asked to resign very shortly.’ The issue, he said, was that he believed Priebus had been worried about the dinner [with Sean Hannity and Bill Shine] because he hadn’t been invited. ‘Reince is a f***ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,’ Scaramucci said. He channelled Priebus as he spoke: “‘Oh, Bill Shine is coming in. Let me leak the f***ing thing and see if I can c***-block these people the way I c***-blocked Scaramucci for six months.’” (Priebus did not respond to a request for comment.)”

“Scaramucci also told me that, unlike other senior officials, he had no interest in media attention. ‘I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c**k,’ he said ... ‘I’m not trying to build my own brand off the f***ing strength of the President. I’m here to serve the country.’ (Bannon declined to comment.) He reiterated that Priebus would resign soon, and he noted that he told Trump that he expected Priebus to launch a campaign against him. ‘He didn’t get the hint that I was reporting directly to the President,’ he said. ‘And I said to the President here are the four or five things that he will do to me.’ His list of allegations included leaking the Hannity dinner and the details from his financial-disclosure form. ...

“I got the sense that Scaramucci’s campaign against leakers flows from his intense loyalty to Trump. Unlike other Trump advisers, I’ve never heard him say a bad word about the President. ‘What I want to do is I want to f***ing kill all the leakers and I want to get the President’s agenda on track so we can succeed for the American people,’ he told me. He cryptically suggested that he had more information about White House aides. ‘O.K., the Mooch showed up a week ago,’ he said. ‘This is going to get cleaned up very shortly, O.K.? Because I nailed these guys. I’ve got digital fingerprints on everything they’ve done through the F.B.I. and the f***ing Department of Justice.’ ... Scaramucci said he had to get going. ‘Yeah, let me go, though, because I’ve gotta start tweeting some s*** to make this guy crazy.’” http://bit.ly/2h75I58

-- @Scaramucci: “I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump’s agenda. #MAGA ... I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won’t happen again.”

-- BUT … PER RYAN LIZZA’s piece: “Scaramucci, who initiated the call, did not ask for the conversation to be off the record or on background.”



JOSH DAWSEY – “Scaramucci declares war on Priebus, Bannon”: “One person who talked with Scaramucci said he talks openly about getting rid of Priebus, the former Republican National Committee chairman whose job has appeared to be in jeopardy for months. ‘He’s got to go,’ this person said, summarizing Scaramucci’s comments about Priebus. ... One White House official described the incident as a bump in the road for Scaramucci — and said that there was no expectation that he would be fired or punished for the interview. Nor any expectation that Trump will be inflamed by it. ‘He didn’t say anything negative about Trump,’ this person said. ...

“One person who spoke with Priebus over the weekend said he’d wanted to make it to one year in the White House, but has settled for staying ‘at least through health care.’ One reason Priebus and his allies opposed Scaramucci coming on board was that they knew ‘he wouldn’t just be a comms person going on TV,’ one West Wing official said. Priebus has begun calling allies and asking for advice on whether he should stay in the job and how he should handle the situation, according to people familiar with the talks. One such call went to Speaker Paul Ryan earlier this week, who advised Priebus to stay and that the president needed him. ... Priebus has continued to hold daily meetings in his office, but people no longer feel like they have to attend, one senior White House official said.” http://politi.co/2tOKwqz

REINCE WATCH -- INTERESTING NUGGET from NYT’s Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman: “Mr. Trump has openly told people that he has lost faith in Mr. Priebus. He has said he wants ‘a general’ as chief of staff, and has focused on John F. Kelly, the retired four-star Marine now serving as homeland security secretary. Many of his advisers, however, consider that a bad idea.” http://nyti.ms/2u3RwLc

-- “Reince Priebus’s Days Are Numbered, Trump Allies Say,” by BuzzFeed’s Adrian Carrasquillo: “The White House used to sternly push back on reports that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was losing the president’s favor and would soon be fired. ... Those days appear to be over. ... Privately, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, has told people that Priebus is ‘gone’ and that he is trying to figure out his next steps, a source with knowledge said. Her message is that White House staffers who came from the [RNC], which Priebus ran before being named chief of staff, are out, and that the administration is ‘going back to Trump loyalists.’” http://bzfd.it/2h8h4G1

REMEMBER WHEN the Trump administration said tax reform was easy, and would happen by the end of the year?

THE SKINNY TAX PLAN -- “Tax reform: Is that all there is?,” by Nancy Cook and Aaron Lorenzo: “The White House, Treasury and congressional leaders issued a six-paragraph statement Thursday that tried to show off their commitment to pursuing tax reform without delving into any policy specifics. The only problem? Tax overhauls live and die on details -- and their absence, after months of weekly meetings aimed at achieving consensus, showed that the GOP’s dream of achieving tax reform may be years from completion.

“Missing from the ‘Big 6’ leaders’ statement were details such as what rates Republicans think major corporations, the wealthiest individuals and the middle class should pay. Also unresolved were the status of the estate tax and the fate of prized tax breaks, such as the ability to deduct business interest and state and local taxes. It was even briefer and less detailed than the one-page tax proposal that the Treasury Department and White House released in April, which drew widespread criticism at the time for being too short.” http://politi.co/2u4lJd7

-- “Business Roundtable launching multi-million dollar push backing tax reform,” by Nancy Cook: “The Business Roundtable is embarking on a multi-million-dollar national TV and radio campaign, beginning in early August, to give tax reform extra momentum over the congressional recess. Done in cooperation with White House, Treasury, and House and Senate leadership, this is BRT’s effort to cast a potential tax overhaul as a once-in-a-generation opportunity.” http://politi.co/2eT9f6g

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “Congress sends Russia sanctions to Trump’s desk, daring a veto,” by Elana Schor: “The Senate on Thursday delivered Donald Trump the first big bipartisan rebuke of his presidency, giving final approval to a package of sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea that constrains his bid to defrost relations with Moscow. The Senate voted 98-2 to approve the sanctions bill that cleared the House earlier this week. ... The only no votes on the bill were Kentucky Republican Rand Paul and Vermont independent Bernie Sanders.” http://politi.co/2tIGxrb

-- WAPO’S MICHAEL BIRNBAUM: “The bill ... gives Trump the power to impose sanctions on [a] pipeline under development between Russia and Germany, a project that many policymakers in Europe and the United States say will harm Ukraine by enabling Russian gas to completely bypass it. The pipeline … may also increase European dependence on Russian gas imports. Days ahead of the vote, language was added to the bill saying that the president should coordinate with U.S. allies before moving on this front, in what backers view as an attempt to calm European concerns.” http://wapo.st/2vOFyYb

-- NYT QUOTE OF THE DAY -- VLADIMIR PUTIN talking about the sanctions and the Russia investigations: “It is impossible to put up forever with this boorishness toward our country.” http://nyti.ms/2tParyh

-- BULLETIN at 5:35 a.m. -- “MOSCOW (AP) - Russia’s Foreign Ministry orders number of U.S. diplomats cut, seizes recreational retreat in response to U.S. sanctions.”

FUN READ -- “Spicer on the loose,” by Annie Karni: “Sean Spicer doesn’t need the bushes anymore. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had just wrapped up her daily briefing when her gleeful predecessor came bounding up the White House driveway Thursday afternoon. He had been in meetings off campus, he said, and hadn’t been able to catch his old show on television. A departing press secretary with what appears to be at least a mild case of senioritis, smiling Spicer also didn’t have much to say about the latest, drama-filled episode of ‘As The White House Turns.’” http://politi.co/2tIzcbo

THE JUICE …

-- JOSH GREEN SMILES: BLUMHOUSE TV has optioned “Devil’s Bargain” as a Showtime miniseries. The book will be No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list Aug. 6. Blumhouse is the same shop that developed Gabe Sherman’s Roger Ailes biography into a Showtime series.

-- HILLARY CLINTON: Six hours after releasing the title and cover of her book yesterday, Hillary Clinton’s “What Happened” was number one on Amazon. They are still six weeks from release. http://amzn.to/2v4U1Bp

--FIRST LOOK – PIC of the Steve Scalise Heart of a Warrior MVP award that will be given to a player in the 19th annual Hoops for Youth Congressional Basketball Game on September 26th at the GW Smith Center. http://bit.ly/2vPiokg

TRUMP’S FRIDAY -- THE PRESIDENT is meeting with U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley before going to Long Island to “give remarks on MS-13 to federal, state, and local law enforcement.” New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin is traveling with him.



Playbook Reads

PHOTO DU JOUR: Sen. John McCain exits the Senate chamber after casting the decision "no" vote on a a measure to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act on Capitol Hill on July 28. | Cliff Owen/AP Photo

DOJ WATCH -- “Justice Department briefing at White House fuels ethics worries,” by Josh Gerstein: “A briefing a top Justice Department official and top Homeland Security official delivered at the White House Thursday on anti-gang efforts is drawing renewed warnings of blurred ethical lines between the White House and law enforcement. Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Rob Hur and Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Thomas Homan spoke and took questions from the press briefing room podium in a previously-unannounced addition to the not-so-regular White House briefing.

“Hur and Homan were flanked by some compelling visuals: TV monitors showing images of tattoos belonging to MS-13 gang members, including enough of the face of one alleged gang participant to identify him. The scene troubled several former Justice Department officials, including Hur’s predecessor in the Obama administration, Matthew Axelrod. He said the move was particularly unwise at a time when Justice’s independence seems to be under challenge by President Donald Trump’s extraordinary and sustained public criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.” http://politi.co/2v4WmvS

-- “Sessions calls Trump criticism over Russia recusal ‘kind of hurtful’ in ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ interview” http://fxn.ws/2tOMyGR

NSC DEPARTURE LOUNGE – “McMaster ousts senior official on National Security Council,” by WaPo’s Karen DeYoung and Greg Jaffe: “The National Security Council’s top official for the Middle East has been removed from his job following internal complaints about his management style, according to senior Trump administration officials. The departure Thursday of retired Army colonel Derek Harvey, an influential voice on Iran, Syria and counterterrorism policy, came at the initiative of national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who has repeatedly clashed with him. ... Michael Bell, NSC director for Persian Gulf affairs, has been named to take Harvey’s place temporarily until a permanent replacement is determined ... Harvey also drew the ire of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Pentagon officials, who thought that he was trying to set policy rather than coordinate among the different departments and agencies.” http://wapo.st/2eTu4yp … Derek’s statement on his firing http://bit.ly/2uIwR1m

THE OPPOSITION -- ATTN. NANCY PELOSI -- REP. SETH MOULTON (D-Mass.) to CBS’ Major Garrett and Steve Chaggaris for today’s episode of “The Takeout”: GARRETT: “You’d like to see the leadership changed before the 2018 elections?” MOULTON: “I think we’re going to have a much better chance of winning if it does. And that’s the bottom line.” http://cbsn.ws/2uDWemE

WHAT MARCO IS UP TO -- “Marco Rubio stakes out role in Congress as human rights champion,” by USA Today’s Ledyard King: “Rubio’s office maintains a spreadsheet of hundreds of political prisoners or human rights victims from more than 30 countries. ... The senator himself adds to the list when he comes across news accounts of particularly moving examples. He directs his office to advocate for some of them using back-channel communications with the State Department. More prominent dissidents might be strategically featured in hearings or floor speeches, often timed to coincide with a prominent anniversary, or the president’s trip to a country with a documented pattern of human rights abuses. On occasion, he’s had the opportunity to make his case directly to Trump and other world leaders.” https://usat.ly/2v3aTsk

TRUMP INC. -- “Trump Organization employees must agree to keep info about Trump family secret,” by CBS News’ Julianna Goldman and Laura Strickler: “CBS News has obtained a new confidentiality agreement rolled out after the election. The Trump Organization is requiring employees at all levels to sign it, or else they will lose their jobs. Employees must agree to keep secret any information they learn about anyone in the ‘Trump family’ and extended family, including their ‘present, former and future spouses, children, parents, in-laws.’ ‘I have reviewed confidentiality agreements in international, family-run hospitality organizations and ... I have never seen a loyalty code to a family like this,’ said Debra Soltis, who has specialized in employment law for more than 25 years.” http://cbsn.ws/2v4XIH2

FUTURE OF NEWS – “Facebook wants to help news publishers sell subscriptions, but says it doesn’t want a cut of the revenue,” by Recode’s Peter Kafka: “Facebook [is talking] to publishers about a subscription tool it wants to launch later this year … Industry sources say that instead of operating a subscription service itself, Facebook plans on creating a paywall it would implement after non-subscribers view 10 articles a month from a particular publisher. When users hit the 10-article limit, Facebook plans on sending users to that publisher’s site to sign up for a subscription.” http://bit.ly/2v5449h

MEDIAWATCH -- “Pulitzer Prize-Winner James Risen Leaving The New York Times,” by HuffPost’s Michael Calderone: “Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter James Risen is leaving The New York Times after nearly two decades, a distinguished run that included standout reporting on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration’s bogus case for invading Iraq, and rampant government surveillance. Risen, a press-freedom advocate, successfully battled two Washington administrations trying to compel him to reveal a confidential source.” http://bit.ly/2v30ltk

-- “Kasie Hunt in talks for MSNBC show,” by Hadas Gold: “MSNBC correspondent Kasie Hunt is likely to get her own show on Sunday evenings, two sources with knowledge of the situation tell POLITICO. The deal is not done yet and the show does not have its own name, but the two sources say it’s more or less a done deal. One source suggested it would be a two-hour show on Sundays.” http://politi.co/2uIdyFj

-- Cassie McNamara is leaving Media DC to be a booking producer at MSNBC for “Hardball” starting on Monday.



Playbookers

SPOTTED: Boris Epshteyn yesterday standing outside the Rosslyn tower which houses Sinclair-owned WJLA and POLITICO World HQ speaking in Russian to an older gentleman (his father) for several minutes. After the conversation concluded, the two exchanged a deep hug and a kiss on each cheek before the older gentleman hopped into a cab. ... Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) in casual clothing yesterday chatting with a young man in a Wisconsin shirt while waiting for his burger at Good Stuff ... Minority Whip Steny Hoyer stopping by an event last night in the back room upstairs at Sonoma wine bar ... Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Va.) at Bullfeathers yesterday between votes.

OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED last night at a “transition soiree” in honor of Geoff Morrell’s move to London for a new job at BP and Mary Streett, who was named head of U.S. comms and external affairs for BP: the rest of the Morrell family (Ann, his parents and brother Jarrett), Mary’s husband Clyde Tuggle, Joe Hagin, Ashley Marquis, Julie Radford, Ash Carter, Dan Glickman, Jeremy Bash, Ken Duberstein, Jack Gerard, Tammy Haddad, Pete Williams, Steve McMahon, Mike Allen, Susan Brophy, Steve Elmendorf, Adrienne Elrod, Anne Gearan, John Hamre, Tom Nides, Neil Patel, Patrick Steel and Lee Satterfield, John Seifert, Jim Hoagland, Mike Berman, Mary Claire Murphy, Bill Webster, Jack Quinn, Tucker Warren, Bruce Haynes, Maria Pica Karp and Richard Karp.

SPOTTED last night at California GOP Rep. Jeff Denham’s 50th birthday rooftop fundraiser in Penn Quarter: Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), and Garret Graves (R-La.), Matt Mazonkey, Norma Kaehler, Jeanne Slade, James Farrell, Amy Travieso, Jeff Strunk, Kyle Moore, Jill Rowlison Brubaker, Jeff Loveng.

SPOTTED at a birthday party last night at Cantina Marina for RNC director of media affairs Johanna Persing: Ali Pardo, Jahan Wilcox, Lauren Zelt, Britt Carter, Ben DeMarzo, Sara Sendek, Caroline Anderegg, Ninio Fetalvo, Lani Short, Steve Guest, Todd Cheewing, Michael Swetz, Alec Bingaman, Maeve Gallivan.

SUNDAY SO FAR – CBS’ Face the Nation”: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) ... Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) ... CBS News Elections Director Anthony Salvanto with the latest Nation Tracker poll results ... Political panel: Ruth Marcus, Ben Domenech, Nancy Cordes, and David Nakamura

--“Fox News Sunday”: Brit Hume, Jane Harman, Karl Rove, Mo Elleithee

--NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Cornell Belcher ... Helene Cooper ... Hugh Hewitt ... Eliana Johnson

--CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchored from Los Angeles: Michael Caputo ... Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) ... Mike Murphy ... Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)

--CNN’s “Inside Politics,” hosted by John King: Mike Bender, Michael Warren, Margaret Talev, Sara Murray

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Amanda Harris, director of account management for POLITICO Pro, and Jeff Harris, Duke University’s director for Duke in DC, recently welcomed Claire Evelyn Harris, weighing in at a strong 8lbs. 6oz. and measuring 21 inches.

BIRTHDAYS OF THE DAY: Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of “A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order.” A fun fact about him: “I went to Woodstock, am an addicted golfer, listen to country music and like my martinis dry.” Read his Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2v5Fyox ... Beth Reinhard, WSJ reporter covering criminal justice. How she’s celebrating: “I will celebrate my birthday with my amazing husband and two daughters in Falls Church, Va. We’ll go out to dinner at Idylwood Grill.” Q&A: http://politi.co/2w63mpA

BIRTHDAYS: Huma Abedin … BuzzFeed’s Ruby Cramer (hat tip: Rosie Gray) … Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is 51 … Jay Zeidman, managing partner at Resolute Venture Partners … Scott Pelley is 6-0 ... Bill Bradley is 74 ... Dick Ebersol is 7-0 ... Patrick Boland … Torrie Miller Matous ... Kathy Dedrick ... Betsy Werronen … Sam Mondry-Cohen, Nats’ director of baseball R&D ... Scott Pearson, executive director of the DC Public Charter School Board (h/t Jon Haber) ... Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) is 58 ... Sarah Jackson ... Politico’s Laura Nahmias, Amanda Fogarty, and Tanya Snyder ... Lauren Kaplan ... Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is 43 ... Carter campaign alum Becky Able is 7-0 ... Steve Deace, Iowa-based national conservative radio host ... Steve Glasser … Abigail Alger … New Hampshire’s Kevin Smith ... George Cook of Brevan Howard Asset Management ... Sophie White ... Shannon Salk … Brad Crowell ...

... Lyndsay Polloway, COS and executive director of operations for AtlanticLIVE and “the lady who makes the trains run on time” (h/t Patrick Garrigan) ... former U.S. attorney general Michael Mukasey is 76 ... sports columnist John Feinstein is 61 ... LA Times Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold is 57 ... Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of 23andMe ... Grant Allen … Bill Cheney … Kelly Landis ... Courtney Kube of NBC News ... Chandler Thornton, national chairman of the College Republican National Committee ... Lea O’Neal ... Brian Dotts ... Kirsten Fedewa ... Christopher M. Schroeder ... Scott Ferrell ... Jesse Boatwright, the pride of Cedar Falls, Iowa … Theresa Kehoe, the pride of Iowa City, Iowa and a happy grandmother … Phil Rawson … Solenne Trequesser … John Lease … Satish Narayanan … Susanna Fleek Green … Henry Wachs (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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Follow us on Twitter Anna Palmer @apalmerdc



Jake Sherman @JakeSherman