| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | BREAKING OVERNIGHT — via AP's Ghaith Alsayed, Lolita Baldor and Bassem Mroue: "U.S. special forces carried out what the Pentagon said was a large-scale counterterrorism raid in northwestern Syria early Thursday. First responders at the scene reported 13 people had been killed, including six children and four women. The operation, which residents say lasted over two hours, jolted the sleepy village of Atmeh near the Turkish border — an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria's civil war. The target of the raid was unclear." President JOE BIDEN travels to New York City today for a pair of events on crime policy with Mayor ERIC ADAMS. Two years ago, if Democrats knew their next president would be meeting with an ex-cop mayor of New York at the NYPD's Manhattan headquarters to discuss "historic levels of funding for cities and states to put more cops on the beat," it would have been a big surprise. Low levels of crime combined with outrage over white police officers abusing and killing unarmed Black Americans sparked a fierce backlash against cops, especially among progressives, and birthed the "defund the police" movement, which was embraced by a surprisingly wide spectrum of Democrats. You don't hear that slogan much anymore. So what happened to make it safe for Biden to reorient the Democratic Party's positioning on crime? Top Dems argue it was several big things: — Reality: Crime, especially homicide, has spiked in cities across the country. Black mayors in big progressive-dominated cities like San Francisco (LONDON BREED) and Chicago (LORI LIGHTFOOT ) have been more vocal about the problem than well-known Washington Dems who are now playing catch-up. The Adams race was catalytic. "Adams becoming mayor of one of the most liberal cities in America shifted the politics," said one high-ranking Democrat. "He captured it the right way: It's a false choice to pit civil rights against public safety." — Justice: High-profile prosecutions of white cops charged with abuse or murder, such as Minneapolis police officer DEREK CHAUVIN, showed the legal system could work. Still, the tension between advocates of criminal justice reform, which crashed in Congress, and advocates of cracking down on violent crime remains. "Democrats don't want to be robbed while pumping their gas or to live in fear," a former Biden administration official told Playbook. "The White House just needs to make sure the violent crime conversation does not over take the police reform conversation because they are two different things. I believe they are sensitive to that dynamic." — Personnel: Biden is surrounded at the top levels of the White House by an older generation of advisers who have long been wary of the leftward shift on crime and policing. BRUCE REED, for example, has been working on the politics of crime since the 1990s. They are often pushing on an open door when it comes to Biden. — The Dem strategist rebellion: A cottage industry of Democratic polling experts has emerged over the last two years to warn the party of the dangers of mishandling the issue of crime. RUY TEIXEIRA, one of the main anti-defund voices, pointed us to something he wrote last summer: "Initially dismissed as simply an artifact of the Covid shutdown that was being vastly exaggerated by Fox News and the like for their nefarious purposes, it is now apparent that the spike in violent crime is quite real and that voters are very, very concerned about it. According to recent data from the Democratic-oriented Navigator Research, more Americans overall, including among independents and Hispanics, now believe violent crime is a 'major crisis' than believe that about the coronavirus pandemic or any other area of concern. … Moreover, majorities of even Democrats now believe violent crime is a major crisis and concerns are sky-high among black voters (70 percent say it's a major crisis). "The public response leans heavily in the direction of more policing, not less, countering the defund the police approach that was promulgated by many on the Democratic left and still holds considerable sway in those quarters." Back then, Teixeira's view was seen as heretical among his party's leaders. Today it's close to conventional wisdom.
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Watch her story here. | | | — Coalition maintenance: Crime is a fraught issue for the White House partly because it requires managing the interests of civil rights advocates, criminal justice reform hard-liners and gun safety groups, among many others who are often at odds. Despite a lack of legislative progress on these fronts, these activists know Biden is their only option. Recently, LINDA BEIGEL SCHULMAN got an email from a White House official inviting her to New York to meet the president and the mayor today. Linda's son, SCOTT BEIGEL, a geography teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was murdered on Feb. 14, 2018. Linda first met Biden last summer at a Rose Garden event focused on gun legislation and crime. Since then, there has been no movement on her issues: banning ghost guns and passing a federal red flag law. But she hasn't soured on Biden. "Biden's doing the best he can," she told Playbook on Wednesday night as she prepared to board a plane from Florida to New York. "I believe him when he says he wants to make the streets safer and pass federal legislation. I also think he has his hands tied." More: Erin Durkin and Laura Barrón-López: "Biden, Adams strike up alliance as Democrats face new threat: Rising violent crime" … WaPo's Annie Linskey: "President Biden, Mayor Eric Adams and the volatile politics of policing" … NYT's Katie Benner, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Charlie Savage: "White House Moves to Reset Relationship With Police Leaders" … AP: "Biden steps up fight against 'iron pipeline' of illegal guns"
| | A message from Amazon: At Amazon, health benefits start on day one. Learn more. | | | Good Thursday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. BIDEN'S THURSDAY: — 8 a.m.: The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will attend the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol Visitor Center. — 9:50 a.m.: Biden will leave for New York, arriving in Manhattan (via Queens) by 11:10 a.m. — 12:15 p.m.: Biden, A.G. MERRICK GARLAND, Adams and Gov. KATHY HOCHUL will hold a gun violence strategies partnership meeting at NYPD headquarters. — 2:30 p.m.: Biden, Garland, Adams and Hochul will visit a public school in Queens to talk about "community violence intervention programs with local leaders." — 4:20 p.m.: Biden will leave Manhattan, arriving back at the White House at 6:05 p.m. HARRIS' THURSDAY: The VP will also swear in members of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders at 1 p.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will gaggle on Air Force One on the way to New York. THE SENATE is in. The Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the Fed nominations of SARAH BLOOM RASKIN, LISA COOK and PHILIP JEFFERSON at 8:45 a.m. THE HOUSE will meet at noon to take up the COMPETES Act. FAA Administrator STEVE DICKSON will testify before a T&I subcommittee on 5G and aviation safety at 11 a.m. Speaker NANCY PELOSI will hold her weekly news conference at 12:15 p.m.
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President Joe Biden listens as first lady Jill Biden delivers remarks during a Cancer Moonshot initiative event in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, Feb. 2. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | JUDICIARY SQUARE THE LEFT VS. CHILDS — In the past 24 hours, several stories have highlighted progressives' concerns about one of Biden's possible Supreme Court nominees: J. MICHELLE CHILDS of South Carolina, who's favored by Democratic House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN and also has the backing of GOP Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM. 1) Left-leaning American Prospect has a story up suggesting Childs "has a history of tough-on-crime sentences" and that her "punitive criminal justice rulings were repeatedly overturned" by higher courts. "Throughout the 2010s, a period where criminal justice reform was increasingly prioritized for activists and Democratic politicians alike, Childs ruled against both plaintiffs and defendants who alleged everything from excessive force by prison guards to ineffective legal counsel to sentencing errors," writes Alex Sammon, going through several examples of specific cases. The story concludes that "it's difficult to imagine someone with a record like Judge Childs's winning votes from criminal justice advocates like Sen. CORY BOOKER, or even DICK DURBIN, both of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee and have claimed that these issues are particularly important for them." 2) Meanwhile, over at WaPo, Jeff Stein and Seung Min Kim report that labor groups are expressing concern to the White House about Childs, who worked as a lawyer representing companies in employee disputes. "She comes from an anti-union law firm where she spent time defending employers from claims of civil rights and labor law violations," DAVID BORER, general counsel of the American Federation of Government Employees, told the pair. "That's not what we need." In short: The Childs pushback suggests Biden might once again be forced to choose between pleasing his base and tacking to the middle. Childs would undoubtedly garner bipartisan support. (As ABC's Trish Turner reported Wednesday, Graham has even been in touch with White House counsel DANA REMUS to stump for her.) But at what cost with other Democrats? SCOTUS TEAM — The Biden administration announced more additions to the Supreme Court nomination team, which includes former Sen. DOUG JONES (D-Ala.). It will also include "MINYON MOORE, a political director in the Clinton White House who is tasked with mobilizing a nationwide constellation of outside groups to build support for Biden's nominee, and BEN LABOLT, a former Obama campaign and White House spokesman who will be advising on communications and messaging." WaPo's Kim has more. UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR THE UMPIRE — Our John Harris writes in his latest column that it may well be time for Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS to retire, too. If Roberts believes the court is above bipartisanship, Harris writes, he "could join [Justice STEPHEN] BREYER in announcing his retirement at the end of the court's term this summer. This surprising act would be most likely to advance what the Chief Justice says he wants — a revival of public faith in the Court's institutional legitimacy, and that its rulings flow from something other than the personal agendas of individual justices or the partisan machinations that placed them in their jobs." CONGRESS Our colleagues on the Congress team and reporters at CNN have a pair of CHUCK SCHUMER stories you won't want to miss this morning. 1) JUDICIARY WARRIOR CHUCK COMES FULL CIRCLE — As the Senate majority leader rallies his troops for another Supreme Court fight, Marianne LeVine looks back at his two decades preparing for this moment. Way back in 2003, before Schumer became a regular household name — and when judicial fights weren't necessarily partisan — Schumer led an unusual charge against GEORGE W. BUSH's judicial nominees. His strategy to kill the nomination of MIGUEL ESTRADA, Bush's pick to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, became the first instance that a judicial nominee was filibustered only by members of one party, Marianne writes, setting a template that both sides would exploit for years to come. Fast forward to now, and Schumer has been through many more bruising court battles: the one over Garland as well as three SCOTUS showdowns under DONALD TRUMP. Now, however, he's poised to be on the winning side. 2) SCHUMER SPEAKS — Schumer sat down for an interview with CNN's Isaac Dovere and Manu Raju . A few nuggets you shouldn't miss: — Despite the Democrats' obstacles in advancing Biden's social spending bill — with Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) this week declaring it's "dead" and Sen. BEN RAY LUJÁN (D-N.M.) recovering from a stroke, keeping them under 50 votes until he returns — the leader remained optimistic. Tuning out the disappointment of the base, Schumer said, "Obviously, we haven't gotten everything everyone wants done, but people are quite pleased and impressed with what we've gotten done." — The Senate leader addressed the secret, handwritten note he and Manchin signed last summer ahead of Build Back Better negotiations, in which Manchin committed to a top line of $1.5 trillion. Schumer said the document wasn't an "agreement" but "part of his strategic way of listening to keep the process moving." Schumer also downplayed news that Pelosi didn't know about the paper. It turns out, the White House wasn't told either, according to the report. But Schumer said he had "no regrets" about the way he handled it and argued that both the administration and the speaker knew Manchin's parameters. — Schumer "wouldn't say if he would stay neutral or support Manchin and KYRSTEN SINEMA if they face primary challengers in the next cycle," the pair write. "I am focused on 2022, getting things done, and winning the election [in] 2022," the leader told them. "I'm not at all focused on 2024 right now, and neither should anyone else be. That's just how you lose in 2022." ECA TALKS LATEST — From Burgess Everett: "Trump interference exacerbates GOP split on election reforms" LUJÁN HEALTH UPDATE — Luján, who is currently recovering in an Albuquerque hospital, is expected to return to the Senate in four to six weeks, Hill sources say. Democrats don't expect his recovery to hinder Biden's SCOTUS nomination process, a Schumer spokesman said. More from CNBC
| | | | A message from Amazon:   Before Amazon, Mary Kate made $10.10 an hour and worked two jobs. | | | ALL POLITICS CLOSING THE MONEY GAP — Our Ally Mutnick and Allan James Vestal report that House Republicans "are outraising Democrats in several key races and turning a favorable political environment into a cash windfall with just nine months until Election Day. … A telling statistic: At least 53 Republicans raised over $500,000 last quarter, compared to 38 Democratic candidates. That's an unfamiliar gap for House Democrats, who have long enjoyed a financial edge." — NYT's Catie Edmondson points out that "all seven House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump and are seeking re-election have out-raised their primary opponents, many of whom have received Mr. Trump's backing. The disclosures illustrate the foothold that establishment conservatives and well-funded political action committees still hold among the party's donor class, despite Mr. Trump's continuing grip on the Republican base. They also reflect how the former president's endorsements … have yet to translate into significant donations for the candidates he backs." One glaring example from the fourth-quarter totals: Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.): $2 million; her Trump-backed opponent, HARRIET HAGEMAN: $443,000. THE WHITE HOUSE BIDEN SHIFTS GEARS ON COVID — POLITICO's newest White House reporter Adam Cancryn, who's deeply sourced among administration health care officials, details an emerging shift in the White House's approach to the pandemic — one "aimed at containing the coronavirus and conditioning Americans to live with it." "The preparations," Cancryn writes, "are designed to capitalize on a break in the monthslong Covid-19 surge, with officials anticipating a spring lull that could boost the nation's mood and lift President Joe Biden's approval ratings at a critical moment for his party. Biden and his top health officials have already begun hinting at an impending 'new normal,' in a conscious messaging shift meant to get people comfortable with a scenario where the virus remains widespread yet at more manageable levels. "But it's a delicate operation. The White House is wary of declaring victory too early, only to get hit with another catastrophic variant, a half-dozen administration officials and others close to the Covid response said." AMERICA AND THE WORLD THE LATEST IN RUSSIA — The Kremlin this morning rebuked the U.S. for "deploying additional troops to Eastern Europe, saying the move was intended to 'stir up tensions,'" NYT's Ivan Nechepurenko and Shashank Bengali report from Moscow. BIDEN'S STRATEGY — The Biden administration's strategy of revealing Russia's moves by declassifying intelligence "raised the issue of whether, in trying to disrupt Moscow's actions by revealing them in advance, the administration is deterring Russian action or spurring it on," NYT's David Sanger writes . "The administration's goal is to cut the Russians off at each turn by exposing their plans and forcing them to think of alternative strategies. But that approach could provoke [Russian President VLADIMIR] PUTIN at a moment when American intelligence officials believe he has not yet decided whether to invade." MEDIAWATCH SHAKEUP AT CNN — Following the surprise resignation of CNN President JEFF ZUCKER on Wednesday for failing to disclose a relationship with a fellow network executive, "top anchors and correspondents grilled WarnerMedia chief JASON KILAR for details on [his] exit from the company," CNN's Oliver Darcy tweeted . "Kilar was short on answers and repeatedly said that he could not 'get into details' about certain topics." — Meanwhile, Puck News' Dylan Byers dives into who might replace Zucker: "While casting about for other hypothetical replacements, some in Zucker's orbit floated the idea that JAY SURES, a close friend of Zucker's and the co-president of United Talent Agency, could be a candidate, given that he has closer relationships with CNN talent than anyone besides Zucker and [ALLISON] GOLLUST. "The most screwball theory that I've heard comes from some CNN insiders, [and] suggests that Discovery CEO DAVID ZASLAV brings back Zucker and Gollust to CNN after the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger closes. It's absurdly unimaginable, but it also represents the wishful thinking taking place right now. The fact that some CNN insiders want this to happen tells you a lot about just how much love there is for Zucker inside that building, and how much fear there is about what happens next." TOP-ED — "Democrats With a Dirty Secret — They Watch Fox," by Jack Shafer: "New data shows the conservative outlet has plenty of left-leaning viewers. Turns out everyone likes to be entertained." NEW KARA SWISHER POD — "A Fox News 'Defector' on How the Network 'Played Footsie' with Trump" : "JONAH GOLDBERG explains why he left the broadcaster and its changing relationship with conservatism."
| | | | 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 | | Lindsey Graham got together with fellow South Carolinians Tim Scott and Jim Clyburn, presumably to discuss the potential Supreme Court nomination of J. Michelle Childs. Eric Adams reportedly had dinner with Andrew Cuomo at Osteria La Baia in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday night. Cuomo ordered the restaurant's speciality: skate. "The Masked Singer" spoiler alert: Rudy Giuliani was revealed as a costumed contestant at a taping last week, prompting celebrity judges Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke to walk off in protest. Deadline had the scoop : "The theme of the new season is 'The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly'; your political affiliation determines which category Giuliani fits." Melinda French Gates is no longer pledging to give the majority of her wealth to the Gates Foundation, the philanthropy behemoth she co-founded with ex-husband Bill Gates. The Harvard Law Review named its first Latina editor in its 135-year history: Priscila Coronado. IN MEMORIAM — "Requiescat in Pace, Alma," by Karl Rove in the WSJ: "Covid took my sister, a compassionate, tough soul who always put others first." OUT AND ABOUT — The Kennedy Center hosted the 22nd annual Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater D.C. gala Wednesday night, returning to the stage for the first time since early 2020. Though the subsequent sit-down dinner was postponed to the spring due to the pandemic, guests gathered for an afterparty at the whisky bar at the Watergate. SPOTTED: Reps. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands), CEA Chair Cecilia Rouse, Art and Sela Collins, Lyndon Boozer and Karen Anderson, Lisa Warner Wardell, Yebbie Watkins, Joyce Brayboy, Tony Lewis, Nicole Venable, Jennifer Stewart, Reggie Van Lee, Steve Clemons, Lisa Grimes, John Mason, Gideon Bragin, Marlene Colucci, Kara Ross, Tasia Jackson and Tasha Cole. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Molly Eisner is now comms manager at the Financial Times. She most recently was an associate booking producer at MSNBC for "Deadline: White House." MEDIA MOVE — Former Voice of America White House bureau chief Steve Herman has been named VOA's chief national correspondent. TRANSITIONS — Charlotte Robertson is joining Abby Finkenauer's Iowa Senate campaign as digital director. She most recently was digital director for Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.). … Bailee Beshires is now a manager of strategic comms at Woodberry Associates. She previously was press assistant for Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and is a Lamar Alexander alum. … Erin Billings is moving up to partner at Global Strategy Group. She's also a CQ Roll Call alum. … … Beth DeFalco is joining Tusk Strategies as a managing director. She most recently was a managing director at Mercury. … The Semiconductor Industry Association is adding Eric Breckenfeld as director of technology policy (previously at Booz Allen Hamilton) and Robert Casanova as director of industry statistics and economic policy (previously at the U.S. International Trade Commission). … Nicole Bare will become president of Change Research and then succeed Mike Greenfield as CEO later this year. She's been with the company since 2019. WEDDING — Allison Elyse Gualtieri, senior editor with CBS News, and Benjamin Moore, general engineer with the Department of Transportation, got married in a small ceremony Wednesday in Las Vegas. They originally met via OKCupid at the now-defunct Iron Horse Tap Room. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: OSTP Director Eric Lander … Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.) … Matt Rhoades … Douglas Holtz-Eakin … Jose Antonio Vargas … DoD's Mieke Eoyang … Virginia Boney … former Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) … Andrew McIndoe … Wisconsin Dem Chair Ben Wikler … Josh Lipsky … BNC's James Holm … MaryAlice Parks … NPR's Neal Carruth … Kyle Tharp … Kathryn Lyons … Zaida Ricker of Ridge Policy Group … Lisa Boothe … Mike Ryan … Justine Turner of iHeartMedia … John Hendren … Steve Weiss … Chris DeRose … Katina Niarchos … Diana Hartstein Beinart … Arthur Levitt (91) … Fred Hochberg (7-0) … POLITICO's Claritza Jimenez and Christopher Smith … Sean McCormick … DHS' Steve Feder … Amy Chapman … Dana Thomas 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.
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