| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | A TALE OF TWO BROADCASTS — In Moscow, the flagship newscast on state television was interrupted Monday by MARINA OVSYANNIKOVA , an employee of the network, who burst into the frame and held up an anti-war poster. In English it said, "No War" at the top and "Russians against the war" at the bottom. In between, in Russian, it said, "Stop the war. Don't believe the propaganda. They're lying to you here." NYT's Anton Troianovski noted, "The moment went viral online in Russia, despite the Kremlin's recent efforts to block dissent on the internet. Within hours, Ms. Ovsyannikova's Facebook page had more than 26,000 comments, with many people thanking her or praising her for her bravery in Russian, English and Ukrainian." She was detained by police as of this morning — her whereabouts are unknown. In Kyiv, President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY delivered his latest video address to Ukrainians with a shocking level of confidence. Despite the siege of his cities and the worsening refugee crisis, Zelenskyy sounded like he had the upper hand in the conflict. He addressed Russian soldiers with the same message as Ovsyannikova: they are being deceived. "The enemy is confused," he taunted. "They did not expect such resistance. They believed in their propaganda, which has been lying about us for decades.They still can't recollect themselves. But they have already begun to understand that they will not achieve anything by war. "Their soldiers know this. Their officers are aware of this. They flee the battlefield. They abandon equipment. We take trophies and use them to protect Ukraine. Today, Russian troops are, in fact, one of the suppliers of equipment to our army. They could not imagine such a thing in a nightmare."
| | | | A message from PhRMA: According to a new poll, Americans would like to see Congress focus more on reducing the overall costs of health care coverage such as premiums, deductible, and copays (71%) over reducing the costs of prescription drugs (29%). This extends across party lines; 73% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans would like to see Congress focus on reducing overall costs of coverage. Read more. | | | ZELENSKYY'S NEXT BIG ADDRESS — On Wednesday, Zelenskyy will speak to Congress virtually. According to one person with knowledge of the address, he plans "to name and shame," meaning excoriating the West for not doing enough to defend his country, though he will balance his remarks with some gratitude for what has been provided. WSJ's Andrew Restuccia and Siobhan Hughes report that it was Zelenskyy who asked Congress to speak. Few world leaders have the kind of moral authority that Zelenskyy has to push Congress. A week ago Saturday, when he addressed members of Congress privately, his pleas for assistance produced a flurry of congressional requests to the Biden administration. The Ukrainian aid package zipping through Congress ballooned in the following days. Tougher sanctions, advanced air defense weapons, airplanes from Poland, and a no-fly-zone are all still on Zelenskyy's wish list. His advocates in Washington — lobbyists and members of Congress — told Playbook they have tried to push his government to deemphasize the no-fly zone, which has been repeatedly ruled out by Biden, and focus on beefed up defense assistance that is more achievable, such as S-300 surface-to-air missiles. MUST-READ — WaPo's Sudarsan Raghavan has a remarkable report from the front lines that explains with great detail how the Ukrainian resistance has so far surprised the world in holding off the Russian takeover of Kyiv: "How Kyiv's outgunned defenders have kept Russian forces from capturing the capital." The last line of this graf caught our attention: "To be sure, most military analysts and Western officials still predict that Russian forces will eventually encircle Kyiv and push into the capital, possibly aided by airstrikes. While this could prove true, it's far from clear whether Russia will prevail." More and more commentators and reporters are echoing Raghavan's view that it's no longer a fait accompli that Russia will prevail. The other big Ukraine headlines: — Biden may travel to Europe next week. (POLITICO) — NATO leaders are weighing plans for an "extraordinary" — i.e., not regularly scheduled — meeting in Brussels next week to discuss the war. (CNBC) — National security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN had what the administration described as an "intense" seven-hour discussion with a top Chinese diplomat in Rome. Other Biden officials warned there would be "consequences" if Beijing assisted the Russian war effort. (CNN) — Peace talks are scheduled to resume today. ( Reuters)
| | | | A message from PhRMA: ICYMI: Majority of Americans reject so-called government "negotiation" once they learn it could restrict access and choice and chill the innovation of new treatments and cures. | | | Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels , Ryan Lizza. BIDEN'S TUESDAY: — 10:15 a.m.: The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 2:15 p.m.: Biden will sign the Consolidated Appropriations Act into law, with Harris and acting OMB Director SHALANDA YOUNG attending. — 5:30 p.m.: Biden, Harris and first lady JILL BIDEN will deliver remarks at an Equal Pay Day event in the East Room. Among the attendees: second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF, Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM, Young, DNI AVRIL HAINES, Council of Economic Advisers Chair CECILIA ROUSE, SBA Administrator ISABELLA CASILLAS GUZMAN and members of the U.S. women's national soccer team. HARRIS' TUESDAY — The VP will also host and speak at the Equal Pay Day Summit at 3 p.m. and have a conversation with current and former USWNT players at 3:25 p.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 1 p.m. THE HOUSE will meet at noon and take up several bills under suspension of the rules at 2 p.m., with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. THE SENATE is in and will recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. for weekly conference meetings.
| | | | WIN A VIP TICKET TO THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH! POLITICO and SHOWTIME are teaming up for an evening of cocktails and conversation featuring the POLITICO Playbook team and Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmieri from "The Circus" on Showtime in Washington, D.C. Enter for a chance to win a ticket to join fellow Playbookers and newsmakers at this exclusive, VIP event by Friday, March 18th. Winners will be notified on that date (travel and accommodations not provided, this is a widely attended event pursuant to House & Senate ethics rules). ENTER HERE. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams speaks during a campaign rally in Atlanta, Ga., on Monday, March 14. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | CONGRESS SENATE SHOCKER — It's the Capitol's election-year surprise: The 50-50 Senate is actually working. "After high-profile partisan failures on President Joe Biden's signature domestic policy bill and on weakening the filibuster for voting reform, the chamber's racked up a series of bipartisan accomplishments lately — some of which had eluded Congress for years," Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine write . "It's not always been pretty, but there's been no debt defaults, no shutdown and no change in chamber control due to a party-switcher." TWO YEARS LATER –– The Capitol may soon open to the public after more than two years of closure because of the pandemic, WaPo's Felicia Sonmez and Marianna Sotomayor report. The proposal has a planned reopening in three phases, with the first beginning March 28 and the final expected to begin on Labor Day. "On Monday, staffers for the House Administration and Senate Rules committees, the House and Senate sergeants at arms, and members of the U.S. Capitol Police discussed a draft plan for the reopening. The proposal, which has not been finalized, lays out a three-phase plan for reopening the complex to visitors and the general public." ALL POLITICS THE COOLING TRUMP EFFECT? — Republicans looking to run for president in 2024 once lived in fear of crossing DONALD TRUMP. That's beginning to change. "Over the past few weeks, three would-be presidential candidates who hail from the conservative wing of the Republican Party — Arkansas Sen. TOM COTTON, former Vice President MIKE PENCE and Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS — have prodded at or even outright criticized the former president's record," Alex Isenstadt reports . "Taken together, they highlight how the prospective candidates are staking out calculated distance from Trump with an eye toward establishing their own political identities, making clear that they aren't carbon copies of the former president and signaling to donors and party activists that they're serious about running in 2024." 2024 WATCH — Sen. STEVE DAINES (R-Mont.) is eyeing the top spot for the GOP Senate campaign arm ahead of the 2024 cycle, Burgess Everett reports. "The second-term Daines confirmed in an interview that he's interested in chairing the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the next election cycle. That assignment would put him in charge of winning Senate races in red-leaning states like Ohio, West Virginia and, yes, Montana, where Sen. JON TESTER (D-Mont.) may run for re-election. And Daines seems to be locking up his colleagues' support for the job."
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   ICYMI: Majority of Americans reject so-called government "negotiation". | | | THE WHITE HOUSE HEADS UP — Today is Equal Pay Day, "the first in a series of days across the year that highlights how little progress the country has made toward closing the gender pay gap," The 19th's Chabeli Carrazana writes. The White House today announced it is "taking steps to reduce gender disparities in the federal workforce. The Office of Personnel Management is expected to propose a resolution to eliminate the use of salary history in setting pay for federal workers, a practice that has been known to carry over discriminatory pay practices from job to job. Biden also signed an executive order directing the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, which helps direct government procurement, to consider limiting the use of salary history." THE PANDEMIC BUCKLE UP — Wastewater data is sounding an early warning sign that Covid-19 cases have been rising in March in about a third of monitoring sites around the country, Bloomberg's Drew Armstrong and Andre Tartar report . That's almost double the proportion from a month prior. "It's not clear how many new infections the signs in the sewage represent and if they will turn into a new wave, or will be just a brief bump on the way down from the last one." — ANDY SLAVITT warned of a possible spring wave coming to the U.S. in a Twitter thread : "An estimated 45% of the US has had omicron recently. That should be highly protective. Those fully vaccinated but who haven't had omicron should be vulnerable to infection from BA2, but largely won't be hospitalized or worse. Those without prior infection would be at most risk of infection. Those who haven't been infected but also aren't vaccinated or boosted will be at highest risk of hospitalization. So we could see lots of cases, but an even lower portion of ppl hospitalized than last wave." BEYOND THE BELTWAY INFLATION NATION — Rising prices are hitting voters of color hardest, giving Republicans a potential political opening with traditionally Democratic-leaning groups, WSJ's John McCormick reports . Thirty-five percent of people of color said inflation is causing "major financial strain in their lives," compared to 28% of white people. The groups most affected in the survey were Black women and Hispanic men, both at 44%. One 47-year-old Latino independent in Colorado "said he was more open to Republicans this year, in part because of inflation."
| | | | DON'T MISS POLITICO'S INAUGURAL HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON 3/31: Join POLITICO for a discussion with health care providers, policymakers, federal regulators, patient representatives, and industry leaders to better understand the latest policy and industry solutions in place as we enter year three of the pandemic. Panelists will discuss the latest proposals to overcome long-standing health care challenges in the U.S., such as expanding access to care, affordability, and prescription drug prices. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | John Bolton tells "The Bill Press Pod" he thinks Vladimir Putin may have waited to invade because he thought Trump would win reelection and pull out of NATO. "The Leninist phrase is 'useful idiot,' and they haven't forgotten that in Moscow." Listen here Benjamin Hall, a Fox News correspondent, was injured while covering the war in Ukraine, the network reported. Details were scant. PBS NewsHour's Jane Ferguson responded with a Twitter thread about how dangerous Ukraine is for journalists: "This war is incredibly tough to cover as a field reporter - unlike any I have seen or experienced before." Nieman Lab's Joshua Benton has a lovely remembrance of the life's work of his colleague Brent Renaud, who was killed in Ukraine: "Because if there's even a single thing about Sunday that makes any sense, it's that Brent Renaud died telling the stories of people caught up in some of humanity's darkest situations. WaPo's Seung Min Kim quipped that Sherrod Brown's head must be "exploding" over the likely demise of his favored pick for a spot on the Federal Reserve Board. To which Brown's wife, journalist Connie Schultz, cracked: "Nah, his hair always looks like that." Adam Kinzinger let everyone know why he refused an invite to go on Tucker Carlson's show. The trucker convoy finally entered D.C., snarling traffic and comparing themselves to the Battle of Jericho. OUT AND ABOUT — Liechtenstein Ambassador Georg Sparber and Yvonne Sparber hosted a reception honoring the House Chiefs of Staff Association at their Georgetown waterfront home Monday evening, marking 25 years since the first U.S. ambassador to Liechtenstein was accredited. 75 chiefs of staff and staff directors from both parties gathered for specialty curated craft cocktails, wine from the private vineyard of Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein Alois, and customized cocktail shakers as party favors. SPOTTED: co-chairs Mitchell Rivard and Jonathan Day, Don Andres, James Bernhard, Jaryn Emhof, John Byers, Joshua Cohen, Chris Crawford, Braden Dreiling, Mark Dreiling, Robert Edmonson, Matthew Fery, Justin German, Chris Gorud, Drew Griffin, Liana Guerra, Chloe Hunt, Paige Hutchinson, Mark McDevitt, Jen Bradley, Michael Mucchetti, Nishith Pandya, Tara Rountree and Yardena Wolf. Pics STAFFING UP — Ramya Prabhakar has joined USAID Administrator Samantha Power's speechwriting team. She previously was at West Wing Writers and is a member of Speechwriters of Color. TRANSITIONS — Rachel Meyer is now deputy chief of staff for Project ECHO. She previously was senior director of policy and government affairs at the American Society of Nephrology. … Erica Teasley Linnick is joining NEO Philanthropy to lead the State Infrastructure Fund. She most recently was senior program officer and then acting director of democracy at Open Society Foundations. … … Reggie Paros is now chief program officer at Millennial Action Project. He previously was director of government relations at Oceans Conservancy. … Jonathan Martinez is now director of federal government affairs at GSK. He previously was legislative director for Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.). Renata Beca-Barragan is now Velazquez's legislative director. ENGAGED — Caroline Tucker, comms director for Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), and Spencer Hamilton, a legislative correspondent for Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), got engaged Saturday morning at Constitution Gardens near the National Mall. They met last May through mutual friends. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) … Kevin Munoz … Lenny Alcivar … Brendan Buck of Seven Letter (4-0) … George Holman … Washingtonian's Jack Limpert … former Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) … Svante Myrick … POLITICO's Mallory Culhane … Austin Durrer of Rep. Charlie Crist's (D-Fla.) office … Megan Uhrich … Marcus Weisgerber of Defense One … Franklin Davis of the American Beverage Association (4-0) … Amanda Broun … Kate Dickens of S-3 Group … Patrick Dellinger of FlexPoint Media … Suzanne Smalley … Lauren Marshall of Sen. Mark Warner's (D-Va.) office … Joe Carapiet … Ariel Hill-Davis of Solvay America … Jenny 8. Lee … Protocol's Megan Morrone … Mark J. Green … former West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (7-0) … Tom Baer … Bill Hendrickson (93) … Josh Deckard … NYT's Sopan Deb 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 PhRMA: According to a new poll , voters overwhelmingly support policies that would lower out-of-pocket costs and bring greater transparency and accountability to the health insurance system.
We need to make the cost of medicine more predictable and affordable. Government price setting is the wrong way. The right way means covering more medicines from day one, making out-of-pocket costs more predictable and sharing negotiated savings with patients at the pharmacy counter.
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