TRUMP to BAKERSFIELD, LA — OBERNOLTE gets the big nod — CA DEMS talk SMITH in CA-25 — new BIDEN endorsements — BULLET TRAIN price tag jumps $1B Presented by Facebook

THE BUZZ — TRUMP’S RETURN TO CALIFORNIA: President Donald Trump has been lobbing harsh criticism at California’s sanctuary city policies from a coast away in recent weeks via Twitter and his State of the Union address. But next week, he’ll deliver the message in person — with events in Los Angeles on Feb. 18 and the next day in the Central Valley, where he’s expected to address the topic of illegal immigration, among other issues. The Valley-based GW Wire says Trump will spend Feb. 19 in Bakersfield — his first visit to the ag capital.

THE TRUMP TRIP INCLUDES A FUNDRAISING SWING through the nation’s political ATM — a visit the president’s reelection team has touted in emails that have gone out to supporters this week. The Desert Sun reports Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is hosting a high dollar Feb. 19 fundraiser for Trump at his Rancho Mirage estate. Details: “Ellison will host supporters on a golf outing at his Porcupine Creek home. For $100,000, supporters can join a golf outing and have their photo taken with the president. For $250,000, contributors get a photo, golf outing and can participate in a round-table discussion.”


IT’S A POLITICAL TRIFECTA FOR TRUMP:

— One: He can raise big bucks.

— Two: He can talk up the issues that have ginned up his base big time — illegal immigration and what he’s called mismanagement of California on issues like water and homelessness. (The San Joaquin Valley Sun , which scooped on the report of the trip, noted that a Trump visit “would coincide with another high-profile visit from Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Bernhardt is scheduled to headline a forum on California water with Rep. Devin Nunes — who has been praised by the President as a doggedly loyal supporter — on Tuesday.)

— Three: Trump can also deliver an in-person pat on the back to GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who has vociferously backed the president throughout impeachment. McCarthy’s unquestioned loyalty has earned Trump’s high praise as “my Kevin” — and the president last week, in his White House remarks, offered McCarthy his personal assurances that he will do everything in his power to assure the Bakersfield Republican is “the next speaker of the House.’’ The trip, insiders say, is part of that mission.

LOOK FOR GOPers TO LINE UP: Darrell Issa, the former House member running in the contentious CA-50 GOP primary against former San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio — a race in which both candidates are debating who is closer to Trump — tells us he’ll be with the president in Los Angeles. His timing appears about right: Issa just released a campaign ad called “Sanctuary ,” which attacks DeMaio as a “never Trumper’’ and closes with a photo of him and Trump in a chummy moment.

Issa says the POTUS trip to the Golden State, a solidly blue “state of resistance,” confirms that Trump “is running against the policies of California.’’ Those include laws, he said, that have caused waves of residents to leave the state to escape the scourge of “homelessness, higher crime and higher taxes.”

The news of Trump’s return was greeted with cheers by CA Republican stalwarts like Harmeet Dhillon, the California-based RNC member and former state GOP vice chair — and a big fundraiser for the president on the West Coast. Dhillon told POLITICO via email: “Many are concerned about the state shielding alien criminal suspects from federal authorities. This rampant lawlessness has led to deaths of law enforcement officers, innocent victims like Kate Steinle, countless Americans, and in many immigrant communities as well.’’

DEMS QUIET… FOR NOW: We’ve asked Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and the California Democratic Party to respond — and we’ll update when we get one. Stay tuned.

BUENOS DIAS, good Thursday morning. California Playbook will be on hiatus this Monday for the President’s Day holiday. We’ll be back in your inbox Tuesday morning.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Gayle King, I publicly tore you down by coming at you in a derogatory manner based off of emotions, me being angry at questions that you asked. Overreacted. Should have handled it way different than that. I was raised way better than that. So I would like to apologize to you publicly for the language that I used and calling you out on your name and being disrespectful.” — Rapper Snoop Dogg’s public apology to journalist Gayle King for threatening her life on Twitter after she raised a question about past rape charges faced by the late Kobe Bryant.

TWEET OF THE DAY: CA-50 House candidate Tim Donnelly @PatriotNotPol replying to @realDonaldTrump’s endorsement of @JayObernolte — the second time in two cycles Trump has endorsed against the far-right former assemblyman: “I thought you wanted to drain the swamp, so why do you keep endorsing it? You're endorsing a guy who Co-Authored ‘‘Muslim Appreciation Month‘ & who negotiated with Gov. Brown for a massive .73/Gallon Gas Tax to stop ‘Global Warning’? Wow, you let Kevin McCarthy fool you twice.”

TRUMP’S TWEET: “Jay will help me to continue securing the Southern Border, he Loves our GREAT Law Enforcement Officers, Military, Vets, and he will protect your #2A. Jay has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

TOP TALKERS

LORD OF THE LAND — “Deceit, Disrepair and Death Inside a Southern California Rental Empire,” by LAist’s Aaron Mendelson: “Virtually unknown to his tenants or the public, [Mike] Nijjar is one of the biggest landlords in the state. Companies he is connected to make up a vast rental empire centered in some of the poorest parts of Southern California.”

PROFILE — “Trump's Enforcer: Meet the Man Who Holds Hollywood and Silicon Valley's Future in His Hands,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Eriq Gardner: “As showbiz scales up to battle Big Tech, Makan Delrahim, the nation's top antitrust regulator (and a former movie producer), is becoming as influential as any mogul over Netflix, Megamergers, the Writers Guild and maybe the entire future of the entertainment business.”

NIGHTMARE SCENARIO — “The hellish experience of getting your Real ID at the DMV: Long lines are just the beginning,” by the LA Times’ Steve Lopez: “I don’t know why I bothered noting the time. What’s the point? Time stalls at the DMV. The planet stops spinning. You know in advance that you’re entering a time warp, like your first day in the jury assembly room.”

A RARE APPEARANCE IN SF — “Christine Blasey Ford: I Expected Attacks But Felt Compelled to Share Kavanaugh Story,” by KQED’s Marisa Lagos and Kate Wolffe.

SHATTERED… AND REIMBURSED? — “SF auto burglary epidemic: DA Chesa Boudin wants to reimburse victims for shattered windows,” by the SF Chronicle’s Evan Sernoffsky. Cost to the city: $1.5 million.

THE TRUMP ERA

— “Young immigrants face fee increase for DACA renewal,” by CalMatters’ Jacqueline Garcia: “Currently the cost of the biennial renewals is $495. But the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has proposed increasing the fee to $765, a 55 percent hike.”

PRESIDENTIAL PURSUIT

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — BIDEN BEVY: Looking for a jolt of momentum, former Vice President Joe Biden’s flagging campaign is rolling out new endorsements and unveiling a California Leadership Council comprised of some previously announced, big-name endorsers. Among his 14 new endorsers are Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, state Sen. Lena A. Gonzalez and LA Councilman Curren Price.The leadership council will include Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, six members of Congress — including Sen. Dianne Feinstein — and nearly 20 state legislators, in addition to various local electeds.

ELENI FOR PETE: Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis endorsed former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president this morning and will open for Buttigieg at an upcoming Sacramento town hall. Kounalakis said in a statement that Buttigieg brought a “fresh perspective and new voice” and can build a Trump-defeating coalition.

OP-ED: “Racist stop-and-frisk tape makes it clear: Californians must reject Michael Bloomberg,” by The Sac Bee’s Gil Duran: “Bloomberg’s support for the controversial “stop-and-frisk ” policy became a hot topic this week after podcaster Benjamin Dixon released audio of the former mayor bragging about it. The tape is explosive.”

WOW — former Reagan speechwriter Ken Khachigian, a Nixon White House alum and veteran GOP strategist on KLOBUCHAR: “Hillary Clinton Without the Snark and Baggage,” via WSJ: “Amy Klobuchar is stolid, stable, intelligent, informed and capable — exactly what the Democrats need.”’

CAMPAIGN MODE

CA-25 DRAMA: DCCC chair Rep. Cheri Bustos convened California House Democrats Wedbesday to talk about the chaotic contest to replace former Rep. Katie Hill. A confusing March primary ballot will feature two separate contests — one to fill out Hill’s term and one to represent the district next year — and a crowded field that includes Assemblywoman Christy Smith and progressive journalist Cenk Uygur on the Democratic side and a cluster of Republicans on the other.

The message to California Democrats, per a source in the room: Defending this seat will take some work. The party believes it’s unlikely anyone will win outright, which would mean a May runoff decided by a more conservative electorate — and there’s concern that Smith, despite unifying the elected establishment behind her run, isn’t doing enough to retain a frontline seat the party flipped in 2018.

Word of the meeting infuriated the Uygur campaign, which has broadcast an anti-establishment message casting Smith as a corrupt party tool. Uygur blasted Bustos on Twitter for moving to “oppose the viable progressive,” arguing that Smith supporters would ensyre the “Democratic Party stays conservative and corrupt.”

— SPEAKING OF: The LA Times editorial board endorsed Smith, writing that she’s a “centrist, pragmatic Democrat who in just a year in the state Legislature has distinguished herself as an elected official more interested in pushing good policy than playing politics, something we’d like to see more often in Congress.”

THERE’S THIS… Details of Jim Zito's divorce become campaign issue in race for San Jose council,’’ by the San Jose Spotlight’s Ramona Giwargis and Nadia Lopez.

WHICH LED TO THIS… Sam Liccardo @sliccardo: Today I am withdrawing my previous endorsement of Jim Zito for City Council. While I understand that these allegations were made in the contentious environment of a political campaign by Mr. Zito's opponents, they are sufficiently troubling to cause me to withdraw my endorsement.”

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

ALL ABOARD — “California bullet train adds another $1.3 billion to projected price tag,” by the LA Times’ Don Thompson: “After years of embarrassing cost overruns and delays, managers of California’s ambitious bullet-train project insisted that they are on pace to meet a preliminary 2022 federal deadline for laying track along the first segment in the Central Valley. But that will use up virtually all the money the project has available.”

PENSIONS — “U.S. lawmaker calls for ouster of CalPERS CIO over China ties: letter,” by Reuters’ Alexandra Alper: “In a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom, U.S. Representative Jim Banks of Indiana said Yu Ben Meng, the CIO of California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), should at least be investigated.”

— RESPONSE from CalPERS CEO Marci Frost: “This is a politically opportunistic attempt to force us to divest, undermining our ability to perform our fiduciary duty to provide retirement security to California’s public employees. This is a reprehensible attack on a U.S. citizen.”

GENDER BIAS BAN — “California lawmaker’s bill could put women’s rights in Constitution,’’ by SF Chronicle’s Dustin Gardiner: “Nearly four decades after opponents of the Equal Rights Amendment declared the effort dead, House Democrats led by San Mateo Rep. Jackie Speier will vote Thursday to revive the fight to write women’s rights into the Constitution.”

— “The AB5 backlash: Singers, actors, dancers, theaters sound off on freelance law,” by the LA Times’ Makeda Easter: “The overwhelming majority said AB5 is hurting their careers.”

DEEP DIVE — REWIRED is a two-part investigation by San Diego-based inewsource into “a promising yet experimental brain treatment that wreaked havoc on the lives of a former Navy SEAL and his ambitious UC San Diego doctor. The stories also reveal details of an ongoing probe by UCSD and the UC Office of the President into how a $10 million gift to study the brain treatment was squandered.”

The stories, by Jill Castellano and Brad Racino:

— “The Navy SEAL and his doctor: An experimental brain treatment blows up two lives”

— “How to squander a $10 million donation from a dead man”

DON’T GO THERE — “San Francisco bans most cars from Market Street. Will other California cities follow?” by the LA Times’ Rong-Gong Lin

SHOT… “BART has lost nearly 10 million riders on nights and weekends. Can it lure them back?” by the SF Chronicle’s Rachel Swan: “Data from the four-county rail system shows the disconnect between Bay Area transportation habits and purported Bay Area values. Though trains continue to fill up during rush hour, fewer people are riding BART to museums, parks or shopping centers.”

...AND CHASER: “Man hospitalized after being beaten on BART train in Oakland,” by Merc News’ Harry Harris.

— EDITORIAL: “Curb Oakland Mayor Schaaf’s insatiable tax appetite,” via the East Bay Times editorial board: “Oakland’s problem isn’t a lack of revenues. It’s the refusal of the mayor and City Council to rein in soaring spending and responsibly pay down debts.”

TRAGEDY — “Three women freeze to death in California mountains after crossing border, agents say,” by The Sac Bee’s Don Sweeney.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

— "Second coronavirus case confirmed in San Diego," by the San Diego U-T's Paul Sisson.

— "Coronavirus strands Chinese students studying at Inland colleges," by the Riverside Press Enterprise's David Downey.

— “Coronavirus: Last flight to China from SFO leaves Friday,” by the SF Chronicle’s Mallory Moench: “Many flights to Hong Kong, including those on United Airlines, have also been canceled — but not all: SFO still has 21 round trips per week through the end of March.”

— “5 US evacuees quarantined at Travis AFB test negative for coronavirus,” by KRON’s Alexa Mae Asperin.

GAVINLAND

ZINGALE'S FAREWELL: "One of California’s longest-serving political hands is retiring. Here’s his state of the state," by the LATimes' Patt Morrison: "By the time the shortest month of the year is up, a man with one of the longest track records in Sacramento government is walking out of the Capitol building, retiring, and taking giga-knowledge of institutional memory with him."

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— “Inside Mark Zuckerberg's Lost Notebook,” by Wired’s Steven Levy: “In his jottings are the seeds of what would come—all the greatness and the failings of Facebook.”

— “How a flawed mentality led to Silicon Valley’s meteoric rise,” by New Scientist’s Donna Lu: In her memoir, Anna Weiner “touches on the casualties of the technological gold rush: an influx of moneyed tech workers has driven housing prices up in San Francisco to unaffordable levels and worsened California’s homelessness crisis.”

— “U.S. judge drops some charges against Theranos's Holmes, leaves wire fraud,” via Reuters.

CANNABIS COUNTRY

— “After a rough 2019, California’s cannabis industry will bloom in 2020,” by Leafly’s David Downs: “California remains the nation’s largest cannabis employer, with an estimated 39,804 full-time jobs, but the industry remains tightly constrained by a tough licensing and regulatory environment.”

HOLLYWOODLAND

NOW THAT’S RICH — “Jeff Bezos Buys David Geffen’s Los Angeles Mansion for a Record $165 Million,” by WSJ’s Katy McLaughlin and Katherine Clarke.

HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH DOESN’T COME CHEAP — “Disneyland raises ticket prices, breaking the $200-a-day mark,” by the LA Times’ Hugo Martin: “Under a new five-tier pricing scheme that charges more for days when demand is highest, one-day ticket prices rose as much as 5%.”

MIXTAPE

— “College admissions scandal: Prosecutors urge longest sentence for Atherton mom who ‘gloated’ over cheating,” by The Mercury News’ John Woolfolk.

— “Karma Automotive to lay off 60 more workers at California headquarters,” by TechCrunch’s Kirsten Korosec.

— “Rent hikes could be smaller for L.A. tenants under new plan at City Hall,” by the LA Times’ Emily Alpert Reyes.

— “Metro secures $1.3 billion to finish the Purple Line subway to West L.A.,” by the LA Times’ Laura J. Nelson.

— “Accused killer testifies Wilson sisters were ‘aliens’ who kidnapped grandma,” by The Mercury News’

TRANSITIONS

— Justin Ray, formerly of the Columbia Journalism Review, “is joining the Los Angeles Times audience engagement team as an editor embedded in the entertainment and arts section.”

BIRTHDAYS

Chip Smith … Allison Ryan … Dov Blauner

CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here.

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