| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | HEADS UP — "Biden makes decision on Supreme Court nominee, with announcement as soon as Friday," by CNN's Jeff Zeleny BREAKING OVERNIGHT IN UKRAINE: — Russian forces have entered Kyiv, and are reportedly in the city's heavily residential Obolon district, about five miles north of Ukraine's presidential palace. On its official Facebook page, Ukraine's Defense Ministry called on locals to rally and fight back by making Molotov cocktails, per the BBC. — Ukrainian Foreign Minister DMYTRO KULEBA tweeted, "Horrific Russian rocket strikes on Kyiv. Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany. Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. [Sever] all ties. Kick Russia out of [everywhere]." — Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY said he's staying put despite becoming a top target for Russians. The president appeared in a video around midnight saying he won't leave despite rumors that he fled, though his family, which he called "target No. 2," is hiding somewhere else in the country. His decision comes despite knowing no help will arrive. "We are left to our own devices in defense of our state," he told Ukrainians in an address, per NYT's Richard Pérez-Peña . "Who is ready to fight together with us? Honestly, I do not see such." More on this below, but first … FRIDAY PALACE INTRIGUE — In a private meeting at Mar-a-Lago a few days ago, DONALD TRUMP made a personal pitch to Senate Republican campaign chief RICK SCOTT. "You should run for Senate majority leader," he told the NRSC chair, according to someone familiar with the exchange. It wasn't the first time, either: Trump has repeatedly told Scott he'd be great at the job and should challenge MITCH MCCONNELL, multiple people familiar with the interactions told Playbook. The Florida Republican didn't tell the former president "no" that day — though he's told reporters that he supports McConnell for leader. Instead, he quickly pivoted to the reason for his meeting. "We have to focus on winning" the Senate, Scott told Trump. "My only focus is on winning." SCOTT'S BALANCING ACT: The Florida governor-turned-senator is navigating some treacherous terrain — and we're not talking about the Senate landscape. He's trying to balance working with the GOP's two most powerful figures in McConnell and Trump, who also happen to despise each other. But Scott's predicament also underscores his rising stock in the party: The ambitious former businessman is seen as a possible presidential contender — or, more recently in some Trump circles, as a dark-horse candidate for leadership someday. This week only cemented speculation about the latter: Scott, 69, made waves — and infuriated some McConnell allies — when he bucked the GOP leader's decision not to lay out a policy agenda for 2022 and instead released his own. Whereas McConnell wanted to make the election a referendum on President JOE BIDEN's unpopularity, inflation and other Democratic failures, Scott unilaterally decided that Republicans should also state what they're for. His list of red-meat proposals addressed topics ranging from term limits and finishing Trump's border wall to nationwide voter ID laws to banning transgender athletes from women's sports. Scott's move opened a rare tactical divide between McConnell and the man leading the party's efforts to win the Senate. But despite internal criticism from some in his own party, Scott isn't soft-pedaling his platform. He's spending seven figures from his own campaign account to promote it, starting today. This weekend, he'll tout his proposals at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
| | | | A message from Amazon: "This is the first time in my life when I've only had to have one job," said Amazon employee Mary Kate. "I used to teach and babysit on the side, and I didn't have a work-life balance." Today, she's earning more than she did after 14 years in education, and her comprehensive benefits started her first day on the job. | | | WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SCOTT: — Scott and McConnell have a professional relationship. But they've never been close: In fact, there were plenty of concerns among McConnell allies about Scott's decision to bring in his own people to run the NRSC rather than relying on those who'd worked in that world before. There were also worries that his objections to the Electoral College results on Jan. 6 could repel donors — though Scott has managed to raise record sums of money. — Scott has kept Trump close where McConnell hasn't: While Trump was attacking McConnell for saying the then-president incited a riot against the Capitol last spring, the NRSC chair awarded the former president with the committee's "Champion for Freedom Award" in April, causing eye rolls even among some Republicans. Others, however, saw it as a wise move for Scott's future political ambitions. — Scott, a self-made pol who has gotten to where he is almost entirely on his own, has always rankled the establishment. Former Mississippi Gov. HALEY BARBOUR and the Republican Governors Association vocally backed his primary opponent for Florida governor in 2010 — one of the reasons Scott to this day refuses to wade into any GOP primaries. Then, in 2018, the NRSC refused to help Scott in his campaign to unseat then-Sen. BILL NELSON, a Democrat, telling him he had the bandwidth to raise money or self-fund. Scott won by 10,000 votes. As a result, Scott has always followed his own counsel. As governor, he swore off the political back-scratching in Tallahassee that his GOP predecessors had embraced. Instead, he ran ads in the districts of state officials whose support he needed to pass his agenda. In Washington, he has a similar reputation as a somewhat stubborn loner. While he gave McConnell and RNC Chair RONNA MCDANIEL a heads-up before unveiling his midterm platform, he didn't ask their permission, let alone consult with anyone in party leadership, we're told. "Rick Scott doesn't give a fuck about what McConnell world thinks," said one senior Republican official who's not in either camp but has observed the back and forth between them closely. Scott's spokesman CHRIS HARTLINE had a different take, one McConnell's team also endorsed: "Chairman Scott and Leader McConnell are working hand in hand to win back the Senate in November." ABOUT THAT PLATFORM: Scott's gambit has dominated chatter among D.C. Republicans this week. There are two competing views about what he did: 1. What Scott skeptics are saying: that he's putting his own political ambitions above his mandate of capturing the Senate. The argument is that his midterm agenda plays great among the base, but at the risk of alienating independent voters needed to flip the chamber. McConnell has a track record of winning campaigns, they add, and Scott should follow his lead. They also note that Scott's platform provided Democrats with fresh ammunition to hit the GOP. One of the planks would require all Americans to pay taxes, when currently about half of them — mainly low-income and senior citizens — do not. Democrats are having a field day labeling the plan a tax hike. And many prominent Republicans have distanced themselves from it or panned that proposal outright, as our Natalie Allison reported this week — including even longtime advisers to anti-tax king GROVER NORQUIST. NBC's Marc Caputo and Jonathan Allen have a good write-up on this. Also notable: We asked McConnell's office whether the leader supports Scott's agenda. We were told he didn't want to comment — not exactly a sign of confidence. 2) What Scott's allies are saying: that this has nothing to do with ambition and everything to do with winning. McConnell may know about elections, but he's neither popular among, nor has the finger on the pulse of, base voters. Scott also has gotten an enormous amount of face time with a new cadre of post-Trump donors during his travels as NRSC chief. His associates say Scott knows their thinking better than McConnell does. Those who agree with his decision to put out an agenda — a group that includes senior officials at the RNC — say that donors and GOP voters are eager for a forward-looking agenda laying out what Republicans will do if they win. There's a concern about a repeat of 2017, when Republicans, after running on repealing Obamacare, had basically no plan to realize that promise. Plus, House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY is also putting out his own agenda. Why should Senate Republicans not do the same? they ask.
| | | | A message from Amazon: At Amazon, health benefits start on day one. | | | Happy Friday, and thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza . BIDEN'S FRIDAY: — 9 a.m.: The president will meet with NATO heads of state for a virtual summit to discuss the security situation in and around Ukraine. — 11:30 a.m.: Biden will receive the President's Daily Brief. VP KAMALA HARRIS' FRIDAY — The VP will participate in a virtual meeting at 8 a.m. of the Bucharest Nine group of eastern flank NATO allies — including leaders from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the European Union — to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 2 p.m. THE SENATE and THE HOUSE are out.
| | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
| 
A woman flees Thursday from an apartment complex in Chuhuiv, Ukraine, that was lethally bombed. | Exclusive photos by Alex Lourie/Redux Pictures | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | RUSSIA OCCUPATION BY THE NUMBERS: At least 137 Ukrainian civilians and soldiers have been killed so far since Russia invaded. PHOTO GALLERY: "Fear, flight and tragedy in Ukraine" IN MOSCOW, PROTESTERS ARRESTED — "Some 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow," AP's Dasha Litvinova reports. IN WASHINGTON — CBS has more on Biden's move to impose new sanctions. NYT has the latest on Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN ordering 7,000 troops to Europe to fortify NATO allies. And ABC has a roundup of the dissatisfaction by both parties, who want Biden to do more. Meanwhile, WaPo has more on Republicans (minus Putlin-defending TUCKER CARLSON) widely rejecting Trump's praise of Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN — though down at CPAC in Florida on Thursday, they blamed Biden for being "weak." 'PUTIN WAS PLAYING BIDEN ALL ALONG' — Our colleague Nahal Toosi has the read of the day: a direct, clear-eyed account of how Biden and his aides fundamentally misread Putin: "For more than two decades, Joe Biden has disliked and distrusted Vladimir Putin, even claiming the Russian didn't have a soul. And yet, for the past year, Biden tried repeatedly to reason with the steely-eyed strongman. When the two met last June in Geneva, Biden urged Putin to end his yearslong aggression against Ukraine and stop hacking the United States, telling Putin that he was hurting his 'credibility worldwide.' In a call in December, as Putin was assembling tens of thousands of troops along Russia's border with Ukraine, which he first invaded in 2014, Biden pushed him to deescalate and 'return to diplomacy.' Earlier this month, Biden warned Putin that reinvading Ukraine 'would produce widespread human suffering and diminish Russia's standing.' "None of these efforts mattered … And actions that might have — maybe — changed Putin's calculus, such as deploying U.S. troops to Ukraine itself, were not ones Biden would consider. For Biden and his team, it is a deeply frustrating moment. Their strategy toward Russia has largely failed, despite their effort to adjust it over time to account for Putin's stubborn moves." Nahal breaks down Biden's sanctions decision further here, asking the question: "Did Biden just sanction a 'sanction proof' Russia?"
| 
| —Related: Our POLITICO Magazine staff spoke to a range of experts about where the conflict is headed next and Putin's motives. The upshot: "The good news is that most of them saw limits to Putin's goals. The bad news: Those limits lie far outside the boundaries of the global order we've come to rely on." THE VIEW FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER — A revolution, an invasion, some pricey political consultants and one infamous phone call: Ukraine has been in the geopolitical spotlight for most of the last decade, and unfortunately, it's there again. Ryan talks with journalists NATALIYA GUMENYUK in Kyiv and ULIANA PAVLOVA on the Russian-Ukraine border about what they are witnessing in Putin's new war on Ukraine. Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive
| 
| JUST POSTED — HILLARY CLINTON and her longtime adviser DAN SCHWERIN seek to blame the GOP in The Atlantic: "A State Of Emergency For Democracy : By attacking the rule of law, Republicans are helping Putin and Xi." An excerpt: "These are the stakes of the argument between democracy and autocracy. And when Republicans undermine American democratic institutions and trash our democratic norms, they make it harder to win that argument. They make it harder for the United States to encourage other countries to respect the rule of law, political pluralism, and the peaceful transfer of power. "Those values should be among America's most potent assets, inspiring people all over the world and offering a stark contrast with authoritarians whose power depends on squashing dissent and denying human rights. Instead, America has shown the world the ugly sneers of the insurrectionist and the conspiracy theorist."
| | | | A message from Amazon:   | | | ALL POLITICS CPAC ROUNDUP — Republican leaders including Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS and Sens. JOSH HAWLEY (Mo.), TED CRUZ (Texas) and MARCO RUBIO (Fla.) kicked off CPAC in Orlando, Fla., this week. CNN's Steve Contorno and Jeff Zeleny recap DeSantis' speech : "Walking out to a slick hype video and tossing hats into a raucous crowd as he approached the microphone, DeSantis on Thursday demonstrated the bravado and fighting attitude that has made him the most popular elected Republican in the country among conservatives. "In a high-energy 20-minute speech, DeSantis ticked through the steps he has taken to turn Florida into a laboratory of favored conservative policies, from banning critical race theory in schools, transgender women in sports and sanctuary cities to his pandemic stances against mask mandates and vaccine requirements … "One person DeSantis didn't mention: Donald Trump. DeSantis, who faces reelection in November, is one of a handful of Republicans who hasn't said if he would challenge Trump in a primary, a point of recent contention in their friendship." — Meanwhile, our Burgess Everett has a must-read on Hawley and Cruz , the two most-watched GOP senators eyeing the White House. Burgess notes that the pair are engaged in a (friendly?) rivalry, endorsing opposing candidates in the Missouri Senate race and waging separate challenges to the 2020 election at Trump's request. Cruz has embraced more of the "doctrinaire conservatism" approach, while Hawley has burnished Trump's populism, even supporting pandemic stimulus checks. As for their CPAC speeches: "On Thursday, Hawley and Cruz spoke back to back to wind down the first day of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. Going first, Cruz went after big business and White House press secretary Jen Psaki … while Hawley defended his decision to object to the 2020 election and said he will introduce oil and gas legislation on Monday to send a message to Russia." CONGRESS ICYMI — Sen. JIM INHOFE (R-Okla.) "has told officials in his state that he will step down at the end of this Congress, vacating a seat he has held since 1994 with four years remaining in his term," NYT's Jonathan Martin scooped Thursday. The move will trigger a special election this fall to replace him as he vacates well before his term ends in 2027. GOP Rep. MARKWAYNE MULLIN is expected to jump into the race, per Alex Isenstadt. TV TONIGHT — PBS' "Washington Week": Peter Baker, David Martin and Ann Simmons. SUNDAY SO FAR … CBS "Face the Nation": retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster … Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). MSNBC "The Sunday Show": Max Boot … Rashad Robinson … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). ABC "This Week": Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) … Ukraine/Russia crisis reporting on the ground. Gray TV "Full Court Press": Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) … Jon Decker. FOX "Fox News Sunday": Condoleezza Rice. Panel: Peter Doocy, Jonathan Turley, Juan Williams and Charles Hurt. CNN "Inside Politics": Panel: Julia Ioffe, Seung Min Kim, Molly Ball and Jeff Zeleny. NBC "Meet the Press": Panel: Jeremy Bash, Andrea Mitchell, Danielle Pletka and Kristen Welker.
| | | | DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Tulsi Gabbard is heading to CPAC to preach … unity. Jake Tapper flagged the scene at the French ambassador's residence: "a brand new DC replica of the Statue of Liberty and the colors of the flag of Ukraine." Ted Cruz, statesman, called Jen Psaki "Peppermint Patty" (and asked the crowd to boo her) from the stage of CPAC. Psaki's response from the podium: "Don't tell him I like 'Peppermint Patty,' so I'm not going to take it too offensively. I'm a little tougher than that." Also spotted at CPAC: a human-sized cutout of Donald Trump's head on what seems like Rambo's body. Sean Penn is on the ground in Ukraine shooting a documentary about Russia's invasion, per Vice Studios. "Friends of Andrew Cuomo" will start airing TV ads in New York on Monday. Alex Isenstadt received an unsolicited T-shirt in the mail with Billy Long's face on it. ( Long volunteered to take it off his hands.) J.D. Vance did an about-face on Ukraine, saying less than a week ago that "I don't really care" about what happens there and now saying he absolutely does (h/t John McCormack). The reason, as Jackie Kucinich pointed out : "[S]omeone found out about the 80K or so Ukrainians who live in Ohio." (Politics 101: Know your would-be constituents!) FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Jonathan Wald is leaving MSNBC after five years as both SVP of programming and development and senior executive producer of "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams," following Williams' departure in December. — Twenty-two-year-old bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman sold his Freedom Phone — a smartphone designed for conservatives claiming to counter Big Tech restrictions that has been hyped by Candace Owens and Dinesh D'Souza — for $20 million to the Utah-based firm ClearCellular. SPOTTED at The Washington Free Beacon's 10-year anniversary at Mission Navy Yard: Marc Short, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Matthew Continetti, Michael Goldfarb, Danny Diaz, James Kirchick and Eliana Johnson. DOD ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Emma Norvell is now special assistant to the under secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr. She previously was deputy COS and legislative director for Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.). TRANSITIONS — Matthew Palmisano is now director of advance at Axiom Strategies. He previously was director of strategic operations for Glenn Youngkin's Virginia gubernatorial campaign, and is a Trump White House alum. … Liz Albertine is joining DLA Piper as a policy adviser. She most recently was chief of staff for Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). … Cameron Edinburgh is now comms officer at the Center for a New American Security. He most recently was comms director for Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.). … … Jodi Seth is now head of corporate and policy comms at Lyft. She most recently was head of policy comms at Amazon, and is a Facebook and John Kerry alum. … Wyatt Ronan is now a strategic comms manager at Crosscut Strategies. He most recently was senior press secretary at the Human Rights Campaign. … Edwin Molina is now New York City press secretary for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). He previously was deputy press secretary for Andrew Yang's NYC mayoral campaign, and is a Ruben Diaz Jr. alum. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Megan Hannigan, federal government relations manager for PayPal, and Coulter Minix, director of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's D.C. office, welcomed Rory Dunn Minix on Thursday. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) … U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides … Mona Charen … Tyler Houlton … Greg Crist … U.S. Chamber's Andrew Burk … Bridgett Frey … Tim Berry … Dan Riordan … NFL's Jonathan Nabavi … Mini Timmaraju … Valerie Chicola … Anna Albert … POLITICO's Matt Dixon … David White … Charles Faulkner … Jim Mulhall … former Reps. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) and Bill Flores (R-Texas) … Gina Kolata … CNN's Hadas Gold and Barbara Levin … Bob Schieffer … Jack Burns (7) Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
| | | | A message from Amazon: "My benefits have allowed me to live better," Amazon employee Mary Kate said. "I've been able to seek treatment for a problem that I have had for a good 15 years but wasn't able to do anything about it because I didn't have the insurance. I also make enough money now to pay for a co-pay—though the insurance is so good that I don't even have one most of the time." | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment