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biofunmy · 4 years

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Late Night in 2019: Trump, Trump and More Trump

“I don’t want to talk about Donald Trump every night. None of us do. But he gives us no choice.”

That was Jimmy Kimmel. In March. It’s safe to say he talked about President Trump nearly every night since.

Kimmel’s lament was emblematic of the fact that, in late-night comedy, 2019 was yet another year dominated by Trump’s tweets, gaffes, comments, decisions, hirings, firings and foibles. The Trump Administration so totally dominated late-night monologues and bits, it’s more useful to break up the year into mini-eras of Trump: The Mueller Report era, the whistle-blower era, the ongoing impeachment era.

And even when Trump wasn’t Topic A, politics still was, as more than 20 Democratic hopefuls entered the race to run against him in 2020.

Kimmel’s March complaint was actually prompted by a tweet from Trump agreeing with a former host, Jay Leno, who said in an interview that he found current late-night shows to be “one-sided.”

If Trump “sat in the White House all day quietly working on things, I would almost never mention him, because it’s not interesting,” Kimmel countered in his monologue. “But today — not even today, before 10 a.m. today, before 10 o’clock this morning, his former campaign chairman was sentenced to prison for the second time in a week, he called himself the most successful president in history and he tweeted to let people know his wife hasn’t been replaced with a body double.

“I’m not supposed to mention that?”

Mueller Fails to Excite

The long-awaited Mueller Report was finally released to the public in April, in the form of a heavily redacted 448-page document.

“Political analysts are going to try to read through these redactions like teenage boys trying to watch scrambled porn on cable in 1985.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

Mueller’s report was followed by his highly anticipated testimony in July, which Stephen Colbert called “the Super Bowl of things on C-Span at 8:30 in the morning.” But Mueller’s performance, full of references to “inconclusive” findings and subjects that were “outside my purview,” did not satisfy Trump’s opponents.

“What were you expecting? Did you think Mueller was going to smash through the wall in a monster truck called the DeTrumpulator?” — SETH MEYERS

Mueller was so widely described as boring on the stand, on “The Late Show,” Colbert joked that “he only got 35 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.” But Colbert also said he wasn’t interested in a government who cared about ratings, “because we already have that with Donald Trump.”

And while the president claimed he wouldn’t be watching any part of the hearings, Kimmel pointed out that Trump spent his entire day tweeting about them.

“He tweeted more than 20 times today, capping the tweetstorm off with this: ‘Truth is a force of nature!’ And we all know how much respect he has for nature, so.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

Any Way the Whistle Blows

While interest in the Mueller Report quickly faded, it was soon followed by a whistle-blower complaint with allegations that Trump required a quid pro quo from the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

In April, late night made one of its earliest mentions of Zelensky, now somewhat of a household name. Conan O’Brien pointed out that the incoming president was a fellow stand-up comedian who’d spent some time on television.

“I looked up their Constitution: The order of succession in Ukraine goes comedian, juggler, magician, then secretary of defense. That’s how it works. After hearing about it, Elizabeth Warren signed up for improv classes.” — CONAN O’BRIEN

“Who would believe Volodymyr Zelensky would be his Monica Lewinsky?” Kimmel later joked of Trump in September, as details of the president’s July call emerged. In his statement, the whistle-blower said several U.S. officials confirmed Trump was hoping Zelensky would “play ball,” and Colbert couldn’t pass up a chance to poke fun.

“[Imitating Trump] ‘O.K., Ukraine. You gotta play ball, O.K.? And I mean let me get to second base, O.K.? Over the bra, under the Constitution.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

With the current impeachment hearings continuing, Trump is sure to be a focus throughout the holiday season, as late-night hosts wait for an opportunity to talk about something and someone else.

The President Would Like a Retraction

In October, Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director, demanded Kimmel issue a retraction for suggesting the president was golfing during the Delta Force raid that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. On air, Kimmel admitted he’d been wrong.

“Trump was at one of his golf courses for the 238th time since taking office,” Kimmel said. “But he finished the round, and was back at the White House by 5 o’clock. Whether or not they were waiting for him to finish the round — I imagine Delta Force sitting there in the choppers, locked and loaded going, ‘What hole is he on now?’”

Kimmel then called for Trump to retract “the weird detailed lie” the president shared at a 2018 rally in South Carolina. (Trump claimed Kimmel fawned over him when he appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”)

“And while you’re working on factual accuracy, your boss has now lied in public approximately 14,000 times since he took office,” Kimmel continued, in response to Murtaugh. “He should probably start the retracting and correcting soon because he’s 73.”

The only 2019 rivals to Trump’s screen time were the numerous democratic hopefuls for 2020. Some clear front-runners have emerged, with Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg consistently polling highest, though not necessarily in that order. These politicians prove a little more difficult to imitate than Trump, but it doesn’t mean Jimmy Fallon hasn’t tried on “The Tonight Show.”

“Nowadays, most of you recognize me from the rallying cries of hope and unity that I’ve stirred across the nation. But the rest of you know me from my hit series, ‘The Boy Who Became Mayor,’ only on Disney Channel.” — JIMMY FALLON, impersonating Buttigieg

As the candidates made their rounds on late night, no interviews were more entertaining than Desus and Mero’s. The Showtime co-hosts played basketball with Cory Booker, grilled Senator Sanders on his favorite rappers and challenged Senator Warren, who has a plan for everything, to help them complete an escape room.

Biden offered plenty of fodder for mockery, with his inappropriate touching, frequent gaffes and new campaign slogan: “No malarkey.” The former vice president was also ridiculed for his frequent name-dropping of President Obama.

“[Biden] spent eight years as America’s vice president and surprise masseuse, but before that, he had a whole career that you might not know about. You know, kind of like how some people only know Billy Ray Cyrus from Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ remix. And like Billy Ray, Biden was doing his own thing for decades before he was made cool by a young black man.” — TREVOR NOAH

Queer Capitalism

Late-night shows weren’t entirely focused on presidential politics. For example, in June, the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in the gay rights movement, inspired plenty of tribute, remote bits and satire. Much of it mocked the commercialization of Pride Month, “the time of the year where we all celebrate the L.G.B.T.Q. community and corporate America celebrates them by selling us, Rainbow Goodyear tires,” Colbert joked. “Yasss, traction!”

Both “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” and “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” sent correspondents on the road. In honor of the Stonewall anniversary, Jaboukie Young-White took “The Daily Show” to Pittsburgh’s Pride Parade, looking to find out if companies like Walmart are gay and if “queer capitalism is totally chill.”

In New York, the transgender comic Patti Harrison went to the Stonewall Inn for “Full Frontal,” exploring the history of gay liberation and Pride celebrations, which she joked was started by United Airlines, Citigroup, Postmates, Tesla, YouTube, Android and the Trump campaign.

In 2018, Harrison and the comic Julio Torres satirically pitched the idea of Straight Pride on “The Tonight Show,” and this year, someone actually followed through. A Boston-based group called Super Happy Fun America launched its own Straight Pride Parade this summer. “It’s so troll-y!” Trevor Noah said. “Especially a straight parade in Boston. The city has had six Super Bowl parades. What do you think that is?”

“If you’re wondering the difference between the Gay Pride Parade and the Straight Pride Parade, the Gay Pride Parade will have women at it.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

When Hosts Attack … Each Other

The mockery got intramural in September, when “The Late Late Show” host James Corden, best known for his star-studded “Carpool Karaoke” and “Crosswalk the Musical” segments, criticized Bill Maher for his comments about fat shaming on “Real Time with Bill Maher.” (Maher insinuated that overweight people should be shamed into losing weight.)

“So I sat at home, and I’m watching this and all I could think as I was watching was, ‘Oh man, somebody needs to say something about this,’” Corden said. “‘If only there was someone with a platform who knew what it was actually like to be overweight’ … and then I realized, ‘Aah, that will be me.’”

Corden, who follows Colbert on CBS, acknowledged that he and Maher, who shares HBO with John Oliver, have a lot in common — “We both host the second most popular talk shows on our network” — and that Maher has always been kind to him in person. But as for Maher’s comments about how overweight men cannot see their own nether regions, Corden responded: “Believe me, I can see a [expletive].”

“Bill, please hear me when I say this,” Corden said in conclusion. “While you’re encouraging people to think about what goes into their mouths, just think a little harder about what comes out of yours.”

The Best of the Rest

Some of the most memorable sketches of 2019 had nothing to do with Trump, particularly a few built around celebrity stunts. Exhibit A: the enviable “Day Drinking with Rihanna” on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

Brad Pitt and Fallon just couldn’t stop showing each other their gratitude in “Courtesy of the Gentleman at the Bar.”

Finally, a fictional political era — one that seemed comparatively less outlandish by the week — came to an end this year when HBO’s “Veep” wrapped up its seven-season run in May. Colbert offered a fitting send-off, hosting a very special crossover episode on “The Late Show.”

The bit featured some of beloved stars of “Veep,” including, of course President Selina Meyer, who laughed off Colbert’s suggestion that their actions had real-world consequences.

“Foul-mouthed president who tweets like a child. Blaming everything on the Chinese. Election interference. A completely moronic press secretary,” Colbert says. “Anti-daylight savings time laws, 700 measles cases and rising. You are killing my world!”

Meyer’s rather Trump-like response hit below the belt: “Another 85 pounds of generic white male mediocrity that shops at the lesbian warehouse.”

“Seriously,” she added, “you look like Letterman took the least funny dump of his life into a child suit.”

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latestnews2018-blog · 6 years

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The World Cup Was A Grift, Just Like Everything Else

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/the-world-cup-was-a-grift-just-like-everything-else/

The World Cup Was A Grift, Just Like Everything Else

Before Sunday’s World Cup final, FIFA President Gianni Infantino engaged in the sort of host-country backslapping that is routine at international sporting events. “For a couple of years, I was saying it would be the best World Cup ever. Today I can say that with more conviction,” he said at a press conference.

This, for once, was not merely public relations drivel. The tournament, if not everything around it, really was the most entertaining World Cup in a generation. Russia’s run to the quarterfinals, the limey jubilance of “It’s Coming Home,” Mexico and South Korea sending Germany out early, the 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé turning into Pelé right before our eyes ― it was all outstanding to watch, and by most accounts outstanding to attend as well. It culminated in a six-goal final that crowned France as champion.

But just a few minutes into that final, football fans the world glimpsed a stark reminder of how ugly the World Cup can be off the field. A television camera showed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Infantino smiling and laughing together in a VIP box high above the field at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. Here was the man whose country had bought the World Cup through bribes and the man whose obscenely corrupt organization had been all too willing to sell it to the highest, dirtiest bidder.

The essence of the World Cup lay somewhere between the two images. The incorruptibly beautiful soccer on the pitch, unmarked even by France’s reputation for negative football, playing out beneath the corrupt and corrupting men who otherwise run the show.

Infantino and Putin had good reason to share a triumphant moment. Both entered this World Cup with a single goal: to bolster their legitimacy ― politically, socially and globally. They were using our collective interest in the world’s most popular sport and the obscenely talented men who play it to cover up their autocratic self-dealing, and with so little shame.

ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / Getty Images

Infantino and Putin in a VIP box at the World Cup final between France and Croatia on July 15.

There is little doubt now that the Russians bought hosting rights for the 2018 World Cup with under-the-table payments to members of FIFA’s executive committee, several members of which were arrested in Zurich and indicted in the United States three summers ago. Despite tips from British spy Christopher Steele (of Donald Trump dossier fame) that Russia engaged in corruption to win the World Cup hosting rights, the U.S. Department of Justice indictments largely failed to touch Russia, in no small part because the Russian bid committee destroyed its computers immediately after the vote was held in 2010.

But in the months before this World Cup, and especially once it began, the international media paid hardly any attention to the dirty stuff underlying it all; we spent little time scrutinizing the $11 billion Putin and Russia spent to put on the tournament.

This was not an accident. If the World Cup looks like a political masterstroke from Putin and Infantino, it’s because the Russian leader was never going to let it end any other way and FIFA was always going to go along with whatever sort of authoritarian measures Putin wielded to ensure his beautiful spectacle.

Russian dissidents, whistleblowers and critics of Putin’s government have a curious habit of turning up dead, as Boris Nemtsov, who spoke out about corruption tied to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, did in 2015. Journalists and other critics of those Olympics were imprisoned or exiled, and in the years before the tournament, Putin’s Russia enacted further crackdowns on dissent and press freedoms. That has made it “more difficult to report the news” and placed journalists “under extraordinary pressure to avoid investigating Putin,” Josh Fine, a senior producer at HBO’s “Real Sports,” told SportsBusiness Daily after his show aired a segment on Putin’s targeting of journalists and political dissenters in June.

“There are still some brave Russian reporters who cover these matters but the numbers dwindle every year,” Fine said. “Relatedly: the government appears to have prophylactically locked up some reporters ahead of the World Cup so as to ensure they won’t decide to do this kind of reporting during the event.”

There’s little reason to believe that FIFA is any cleaner today than it was the day Swiss police raided that hotel in Zurich.

Russia denied visas to foreign reporters who had chronicled Russia’s World Cup corruption, and with few journalists able or willing to scrutinize his dealings locally, there was hardly anyone equipped to challenge the image of Putin’s rosy World Cup the way the domestic and international press did in Brazil just four years ago.

The country’s improbable run to the quarterfinal in the tournament provided Putin with yet another blessing. Russia’s victory over Spain in the round of 16 thrilled even his loudest political critics, and it had the effect of depoliticizing a deeply political event even further. (Contrast that, for instance, with the way Brazil’s shattering semifinal loss in 2014 only highlighted the nauseating nature of that spectacle.)

Only Pussy Riot, the anti-Putin punk band and political resistance group, had the gall to interrupt the party, when four of its members invaded the pitch in the second half of Sunday’s final. It was a brief disruption that “created, on one of the biggest stages in the world, an image of unjust and arbitrary authority, the sort with which a hundred and forty-five million Russians live day to day,” The New Yorker’s Masha Gessen wrote. But it has hardly seemed to puncture the overall perception of the World Cup as a joyous, unifying success.

When Russia won the right to host this World Cup, Jérôme Valcke — then FIFA’s secretary general, who later resigned amid corruption charges — declared the vote “the end of FIFA,” thanks to the overtly corrupt nature of it all. But eight years later, FIFA and Infantino were ready to party. They, too, needed a win.

FIFA, we have learned since the previous World Cup, was a pioneer in the field of organized sports corruption. That bribery and graft had greased the wheels of global soccer for decades was the world’s worst-kept secret, but the DOJ’s indictments cost FIFA numerous corporate sponsorships and loads of money. FIFA needed a glorious World Cup, if for nothing else than to repair its image just enough to bring those sponsors and their money back into the fold.

There’s little reason to believe that FIFA is any cleaner today than it was the day Swiss police raided that hotel in Zurich, and Infantino, who took over shortly after President Sepp Blatter resigned in disgrace in 2015, has built his presidency on the same sort of patronage that underlies so much corruption anyway.

But the football was beautiful, and the stadiums were too, and God, a World Cup finally went off without a hitch, and so for all the anger directed at FIFA over the last three years, Infantino faced not a single question about corruption or the status of his beleaguered organization at the prefinals press conference. (The Ghanaian Football Association, you may not have heard, was shuttered just a week before the World Cup began, after several of its executives were caught taking bribes. Nothing to see here.)

YURI KADOBNOV / Getty Images

The day after the World Cup final, Putin presented President Donald Trump with a commemorative soccer ball. Trump congratulated Putin on hosting the World Cup, then denied that Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

On Monday, Putin won a hearty congrats on the tournament’s success from Trump during a joint press conference in Helsinki, and Putin responded by handing his buddy a commemorative World Cup ball. It was almost poignant, the two men — one of whom had followed up the last international sporting event he hosted by interfering in an election just months later and the other the corrupt wannabe authoritarian who now occupies the White House after winning an election tainted by Russian manipulation — celebrating together. How Putin will spend the domestic political capital the World Cup helped him build is unknown, but he’ll surely spend it somewhere.

“The last time Russia did well in a global sporting event, Putin, riding high, invaded Ukraine — twice,” Julia Ioffe wrote in The Washington Post after Russia’s upset victory over Spain in the round of 16. “Let’s hope that this time, he does something more benign, or just lets his country celebrate for the sake of it. But if you’re hoping for that … don’t hold your breath.”

International sporting events, meanwhile, have terrible human rights records even when they’re not held in the country of a murderous dictator presiding over what Human Rights Watch called “the worst human rights crisis in Russia since the Soviet era,” so it seems worth heeding the concerns of LGBT activists and other political dissidents who fear that the lax-by-Russian-standards attitude toward them from Putin and the police during this monthlong party won’t last either.

As for FIFA, it’s only going to get worse. The 2022 World Cup is in Qatar, where the most direct price of FIFA’s corrupt practices could be as many as 4,000 dead construction workers. Despite what you may have read in USA Today, the worst part of the Qatari World Cup won’t be the oppressive heat or the lack of beer, because Qatar is also ruled by a repressive regime, which utilizes a labor system that international human rights groups have equated to modern-day slavery. The Qataris have made some incremental changes, but only the next four years and beyond will tell us whether that progress is real or if Qatar is merely papering over its problems to please the world for a month or so. Either way, at least several hundred foreign workers who went to build World Cup stadiums are probably already dead.

Qatar has not been shy about its efforts to use soccer to cover for its atrocities. The petrostate last year spent gobs of money to help one of the clubs it owns, Paris Saint-Germain, buy the star Brazilian forward Neymar from Barcelona, one of the clubs it used to sponsor. The weird scheme to pull together enough money to send the ever-marketable superstar to Paris involves making him an official ambassador for the Qatari World Cup.

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

Neymar, a star forward for Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain, has signed on as an official ambassador of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which utilizes an oppressive labor system that human rights groups have likened to modern slavery.

And don’t expect those corporate sponsors that ran away from FIFA amid the corruption charges to stay out of bed with this band of grifters now. Fox set viewership records for a tournament that didn’t even include the U.S. men’s national team, and on the day before the 2018 World Cup began, FIFA voted to hand the 2026 version of the tournament to a joint bid from the United States, Mexico and Canada. That’s a big stack of cash in one of soccer’s few underdeveloped, superwealthy markets. The united bid estimated that it would generate $11 billion in revenue for FIFA and an untold amount for its sponsors — more than enough to remind at least several of our corporate overlords that they’ve never had any morals anyway.

It’s horrific stuff all around, and yet it’s never felt more pointless to challenge it. Russia’s World Cup was always going to end this way, with Putin and Infantino celebrating that they made us all for marks again. Four years from now, in a stadium built by slaves, the episode will repeat itself.

It was nice to believe, for a few hours each day, that the World Cup offered a bit of respite from the perils of the world around it.

That Paul Pogba’s glorious passes and Romelu Lukaku’s brilliant runs were a safe space away from election interference and an impending sense of doom.

That cool goals ― look at that Ben Pavard volley! ― and fingertip saves and riveting, last-second results could provide us with even momentary bits of happiness.

That, even when it was a bit political, France’s and Belgium’s and Switzerland’s teams were made up of the children of immigrants and Mexico’s popularity north of its border could serve as a rebuke to the ugly xenophobia plaguing Europe and the United States.

That soccer could show us that good things are possible in hopelessly corrupted contexts.

But then there were Putin and Infantino, grinning like chimps, reminding us that even the good stuff in the world exists chiefly for the pleasure of crooks.

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everettwilkinson · 6 years

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INSIDE CAFE MILANO’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY — TRUMP ABROAD: POTUS tells reporters he believes Putin when he says Russia did not meddle in the election — MOORE doesn’t rule out dating teenagers in his 30s

Good Saturday morning. INSIDE CAFE MILANO’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY — Washington hotspot Cafe Milano celebrated its 25th anniversary last night with a massive fete that closed down an entire block in Georgetown. SPOTTED: Maureen Dowd chatting with NBA superstar Michael Jordan (pic: http://bit.ly/2ho31Jr), Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Louise Linton, Maureen Scalia, Wolf and Lynn Blitzer, Sally Quinn, Mark and Sally Ein, Bob Johnson, Mayor Muriel Bowser, Susan Rice, Betsy Fischer Martin and Jonathan Martin, Buffy Cafritz, Vernon Jordan, Kathleen Biden …

… Ret. Gen. Jim Jones, Raul Fernandez, Hilary Rosen, Kelley McCormick, Tammy Haddad, Jack Evans, Coach Kathy Kemper, Carl Hulse, Anne Brady Perron, Rick Powell, Robyn Bash, Bret and Amy Baier, Steve Clemons, Patrick Steel, Fred Ryan, Kevin Cirilli, Ryan Williams, Howard Fineman, Teresa Davis, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale, Amb. Yousef Al Otaiba, Lyndon Boozer, Dr. Tony Fauci, Tim and Anita McBride, Connie Milstein, Melissa Sowerwine, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Story Continued Below

– The 13-min. tribute video to Franco Nuschese with a Wolf Blitzer intro — cameos by Hillary Clinton, Greta Van Susteren, Bob Woodward, Ellen Tauscher, Tucker Carlson, Bret Baier, Newt, Sally Quinn, Charlie Rose, Terry McAuliffe, Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush, Norah O’Donnell, Dave Chappelle, Bo Derek, and more: http://bit.ly/2i4Gxhx

CATCHING YOU UP ON TRUMP ABROAD …

— TRUMP SPEAKS ON AF1: HIGHLIGHTS: “[Japanese] Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe came to me just at the end and he said that since you left, South Korea and Japan, those two countries are now getting along much, much better, that there has been a real bonding between South Korea and Japan, so that was great. They say in the history of people coming to China there has been nothing like that, and I believe it.”

… ON HIS MEETING WITH PUTIN: “We issued a joint statement … It’s going to save tremendous numbers of lives and we did it very quickly, we agreed very quickly. As you I know we saw each other last night just for a picture, that was the first time. And then today we had a round table with numerous countries. And we spoke during that round table. We seem to have a very good feeling for each other, a good relationship considering we don’t know each other well. I think it’s a very good relationship. …

“If we had a relationship with Russia, that would be a good thing. In fact, it would be a great thing, not a bad thing, because he could really help us on North Korea. We have a big problem with North Korea and China is helping us. And because of the lack of the relationship that we have with Russia, because of this artificial thing that’s happening with this Democratic-inspired thing. We could really be helped a lot, tremendously, with Russia having to do with North Korea. You know you are talking about millions and millions of lives. This isn’t baby stuff, this is the real deal. And if Russia helped us in addition to China, that problem would go away a lot faster.”

… ON RUSSIAN MEDDLING IN THE U.S. ELECTIONS: “Every time he sees me he says I didn’t do that and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. But he says I didn’t do that. I think he is very insulted by it, if you want to know the truth. … All he said was he never did that, he didn’t do that. I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country. … [H]aving a relationship with Russia would be a great thing—not a good thing, it would be a great thing—especially as it relates to North Korea.

“And I’ll say this: Hillary had her stupid reset button that she spelled the word wrong, but she does not have what it takes to have that kind of relationship where you could call or you could do something and they would pull back from North Korea, or they would pull back from Syria, or maybe pull back from Ukraine. I mean, if we could solve the Ukraine problem. But this is really an artificial barrier that’s put in front of us for solving problems with Russia. He says that very strongly, he really seems to be insulted by it and he says he didn’t do it.”

… ON ROY MOORE: “I will see it. I mean, I basically put out a statement, which is obvious. So I’ll stick with my statement for now, but I’ll have further comment as we go down the road. I have to get back into the country to see what’s happening.”

TROUBLE BREWING OVER PRESS ACCESS — “New York Times photographer tweets ‘photo’ of black box to protest White House coverage blackout,” by WaPo’s David Nakamura in Danang, Vietnam: “News photographers traveling with President Trump are protesting a lack of access provided by the White House to his events here at a regional economic conference. On Saturday, New York Times photographer Doug Mills, a member of the White House Correspondents’ Association board, tweeted a ‘photo’ of a black box, framed with a decorative border, to illustrate the group’s frustration. In the tweet, Mills said the 13-member travel ‘pool’ of reporters, photographers and camera operators that provides reports for the rest of the news media would have no access at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

“The pool … joined Trump in several vans in his motorcade, as is customary when a U.S. president travels domestically or internationally. But the group was kept waiting in the vans — and then, later, a fitness room away from the summit — as Trump joined the APEC Summit for meetings and an official group portrait. At an APEC welcome dinner Friday night that Trump participated in, the travel pool also had been mostly shut out.” http://wapo.st/2iNNIKC

FROM ANDREW RESTUCCIA who is traveling with the president: “White House press secretary Sarah Sanders addressed the issue with reporters aboard Air Force One later Saturday, saying that one reason Trump gaggled with reporters was because he was made aware of press concerns about access, adding she wasn’t aware of the APEC situation until after it happened. Sanders pledged to push for more access ahead of the president’s arrival in Manila, Philippines, pledging more communication with pool reporters and photographers on logistics and access.

“Margaret Talev, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, told POLITICO: ‘The WHCA has been in discussions for months with the White House about maximizing open press coverage wherever possible throughout the Asia trip and trying to accommodate the full travel pool in pooled events. While there has been a history of some host countries pushing back against the size of the US footprint and while APEC historically has limited some pool sizes, we are concerned that access on this trip has eroded more significantly and that notice about changes or new coverage restrictions has often come with too short of notice to be able to react effectively.’” http://politi.co/2AuPSWC

****** A message from Morgan Stanley: Integrating artificial intelligence into facial recognition technology could transform brand experiences, and cause disruption in both the security and marketing worlds. We’re helping Kairos, a startup in the Morgan Stanley Innovation Lab, navigate the investment world as they seek to make their dream a reality. Read more. ******

MORE FROM TRUMP’S TRIP — “Asia-Pacific forum sticks to free-trade gospel despite Trump,” by AP’s Tran Van Minh and Elaine Kurtenbach in Danang: “An annual Pacific Rim summit is sticking with its tradition of promoting free trade and closer regional ties, shrugging off President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ approach. The leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said Saturday that they had recommitted to fighting protectionism and ‘all unfair trade practices.’ They also expressed support for multi-country institutions and regional as well as country-to-country trade agreements.” http://bit.ly/2hrkK6q

— “Trans-Pacific trade deal advances without United States,” by Reuters’ Kiyoshi Takenaka and Mai Nguyen in Danang: “The agreement, which still needs to be finalised, would now be called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) … Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said he hoped that moving ahead with the deal would be a step towards bringing back the United States.” http://reut.rs/2zOKt0j

— @SenJohnMcCain: “.@POTUS in #Danang & no mention of human rights – Sad”.

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER — NANCY COOK: “How Flynn — and the Russia scandal — landed in the West Wing: “Michael Flynn wasn’t even on the shortlist of potential national security advisers. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the early transition chief for a newly elected Donald Trump, and his team had deep reservations about Flynn, fearing the retired three-star Army general who had been ousted from the Obama administration suffered from poor judgment and espoused far-out ideas on foreign policy. Instead, their list for the NSA slot included marquee military leaders such as now-Secretary of Defense James Mattis; General Peter Pace, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Bush; and Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw the Osama bin Laden raid, according to two people familiar with the transition.

“But when Christie was fired from his transition perch on Nov. 11– replaced by soon-to-be Vice President Mike Pence — Flynn and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon celebrated by tossing binders full of potential personnel picks, carefully culled by Christie’s team, into trash bins with a sense of ceremonial glee. They did this before an audience of other transition officials, according to the two people close to the transition and a campaign official — though another former transition official disputed the idea that the binders and picks were not considered by the Pence-led transition team.

“Ultimately it was Trump himself who made the decision to ditch Christie’s recommendation against hiring Flynn for national security adviser, according to two former transition officials, rewarding one of his most loyal campaign surrogates. ‘Flynn’s appointment was the president-elect’s decision, and he did it on his own timing after a lot of time spent together during the campaign,’ explained one former White House official.” http://politi.co/2i4DOo6

MCCONNELL SPEAKS — “Senate Plan Could Increase Taxes on Some Middle-Class Workers,” by NYT’s Jim Tankersley and Ben Casselman: “Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, acknowledged on Friday that the Republican tax plan might result in a tax hike for some working Americans, saying he ‘misspoke’ days earlier when he said that ‘nobody in the middle class is going to get a tax increase’ under the Senate bill. ‘I misspoke on that,’ Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in an interview on Friday with The New York Times. ‘You can’t guarantee that absolutely no one sees a tax increase’ …

“The Senate bill unveiled on Thursday would raise taxes on millions of middle-class families, according to a preliminary New York Times analysis. The plan would also disproportionately benefit high earners and corporations. Still, middle-class earners would fare better under the Senate proposal than its counterpart in the House.” http://nyti.ms/2zx0TKm

MOORE WATCH — “Moore defiant as Senate Republicans sever ties,” by Alex Isenstadt and Gabe Debenedetti: The NRSC “on Friday severed its fundraising agreement with Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, the most concrete step the party has taken to separate itself from the besieged nominee. But Moore and his backers remained defiant, portraying accusations that he initiated sexual contact with teenagers decades ago as a conspiracy by his opponents to drag down his candidacy. … Two Republican senators rescinded their endorsements of Moore on Friday evening, with Steve Daines of Montana and Mike Lee of Utah pulling their support.” http://politi.co/2zNORN1

— “Senate candidate Roy Moore does not rule out that he may have dated teen girls when he was in his 30s,” by WaPo’s Michael Scherer and Dave Weigel: “Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore declined Friday to rule out that he may have dated girls in their late teens when he was in his 30s, though he said he did not remember any such encounters and described such behavior as inappropriate. ‘If I did, I’m not going to dispute these things, but I don’t remember anything like that,’ Moore said on Sean Hannity’s radio program, when asked whether he had dated 17- or 18-year-old girls at the time. In the same interview, Moore denied outright the claim of Leigh Corfman that he had initiated sexual encounters with her when she was 14. ‘I don’t know Ms. Corfman from anybody,’ he said. ‘The allegations of sexual misconduct with her are completely false.’” http://wapo.st/2zAtJqR

— JOSH GREEN in Bloomberg, “Bannon Says Moore Story Seeks to ‘Destroy a Man’s Life’”: “‘This is nothing less than the politics of personal destruction,’ said Bannon.” https://bloom.bg/2Ay6PAh

— “Poll Shows Alabama Race Tied After Allegations Against Roy Moore,” by BuzzFeed’s Henry Gomez: “Moore and Democrat Doug Jones are tied at 46% in the survey, which was conducted Thursday by Opinion Savvy and commissioned by Decision Desk HQ in the aftermath of a bombshell Washington Post report in which the accuser, now 53, went on record with her story.” http://bzfd.it/2i5JcYt

— “For Alabama Women, Disgust, Fatigue and a Sense Moore Could Win Anyway,” by NYT’s Richard Fausset: http://nyti.ms/2mgg4Sv

— Steve Peoples (@sppeoples): “Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore tells Hannity that his campaign is doing its own investigation into accusers: ‘We have some evidence of collusion here.’”

— “Why politicians got away with sexual misconduct for so long: Everyone knew about Bob Packwood. He won reelection anyway,” by Rachel Gorlin in WaPo: http://wapo.st/2yQMwRH

YIKES — “FBI database for gun buyers missing millions of records,” by WaPo’s Devlin Barrett, Sandhya Somashekhar and Alex Horton: “The FBI’s background-check system is missing millions of records of criminal convictions, mental illness diagnoses and other flags that would keep guns out of potentially dangerous hands, a gap that contributed to the shooting deaths of 26 people in a Texas church this week. Experts who study the data say government agencies responsible for maintaining such records have long failed to forward them into federal databases used for gun background checks — systemic breakdowns that have lingered for decades as officials decided they were too costly and time-consuming to fix. …

“The FBI said it doesn’t know the scope of the problem, but the National Rifle Association says about 7 million records are absent from the system, based on a 2013 report by the nonprofit National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics.” http://wapo.st/2yrPCag

TONY PODESTA INTERVIEW –- “The rise and fall of the Podestas, Washington’s powerful political brother act,” by WaPo’s Roxanne Roberts: “‘I didn’t leave with a sense of tragedy or regret about anything I had done,’ Tony said nonchalantly in an interview last week. ‘I thought it was better for the clients and better for the people in the office for me to get out of there.’ … One might expect Tony Podesta to be angry — and apprehensive — about all this, and maybe he is. But at the moment, he’s smiling and cracking jokes.

“‘There was a period when I was at People for the American Way in which I was the devil, and this is another period in which I am the devil,’ he says. ‘I don’t retreat from my values or my life because Tucker Carlson makes s— up.’ And he’s laughing off the president. ‘If you tweet ‘Podesta’ you get some applause from people who don’t know who we are or what we do,’ he says. ‘He has his phone. And I have my integrity.’” http://wapo.st/2zxyHGM

— “Inside the Podesta Group’s last days,” by Theo Meyer: “Tony Podesta’s lavish art collection is coming down off the walls at the Podesta Group, as the lobbying firm — among the largest and most powerful in Washington — prepares to close up shop. Workers started removing dozens of pieces in Podesta’s collection of photography and other artworks from the walls of the firm on Thursday, the same day Kimberley Fritts, the firm’s longtime chief executive, abruptly resigned, according to a Podesta Group staffer. … [L]ess than two weeks after Podesta stepped down as chairman, the firm he founded 30 years ago may soon shut its doors, with staffers unsure if they’ll be paid after next week.” http://politi.co/2mdW1Ei

— “Russia Scandal Befalls Two Brothers: John and Tony Podesta,” by NYT’s Ken Vogel: “[I]n a twist with Shakespearean undertones, the two influential Washington brothers have found themselves on opposite sides of the scandals over Russian interference in the 2016 election. … It is unclear what will happen to [Tony’s] investment in the Podesta Group … Some firm partners are starting a new firm next month called Cogent Strategies, in which Tony Podesta will have no stake.” http://nyti.ms/2jlI5r6

FOGGY BOTTOM WATCH — “State Department to Offer Buyouts in Effort to Cut Staff,” by NYT’s Gardiner Harris: “The State Department will soon offer a $25,000 buyout to diplomats and staff members who quit or take early retirements by April, officials confirmed on Friday. The decision is part of Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson’s continuing effort to cut the ranks of diplomats and Civil Service officers despite bipartisan resistance in Congress. Mr. Tillerson’s goal is to reduce a department of nearly 25,000 full-time American employees by 8 percent, which amounts to 1,982 people.” http://nyti.ms/2zvaLUU

CLICKER – “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker – 15 keepers http://politi.co/2zwmBM7

THE FIRST PLAYBOOK TIMEOUT … JAKE with D.C. MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER http://bit.ly/2ABjh2b

PHOTO DU JOUR: President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam on Nov. 11. | Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

DAVID SIDERS in Vatican City with Gov. Jerry Brown: “Jerry Brown, President of the Independent Republic of California” http://politi.co/2zDLXb3

FT: “Zuckerberg says he worked out why U.S. is so divided,” by Richard Waters in San Francisco: “Mark Zuckerberg sounded a warning on Friday about the social and political fragmentation caused by America’s opioid crisis, as he ended a nationwide tour to understand the forces that had put Donald Trump in the White House. At one point the Facebook chief executive officer choked up as he talked about the effects of opioid addiction, adding: ‘This stuff is really upsetting to talk about.’ … Referring to the opioid crisis, he said: ‘One of the things that struck me, that I don’t think we all fully internalise, is how this epidemic has affected people’s attitudes more broadly on policy issues.’” http://on.ft.com/2hkR9YH

RUSSIA UPDATE — NYT A1, “A London Meeting of an Unlikely Group: How a Trump Adviser Came to Learn of Clinton ‘Dirt,’” by Sharon LaFraniere, David D. Kirkpatrick, Andrew Higgins and Michael Schwirtz: “At midday on March 24, 2016, an improbable group gathered in a London cafe to discuss setting up a meeting between Donald J. Trump, then a candidate, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. There was George Papadopoulos, a 28-year-old from Chicago with an inflated résumé who just days earlier had been publicly named as a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump’s campaign. There was Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese academic in his mid-50s with a faltering career who boasted of having high-level contacts in the Russian government. And, perhaps most mysteriously, there was Olga Polonskaya, a 30-year-old Russian from St. Petersburg and the former manager of a wine distribution company. …

“The interactions between the three players and a fourth man with contacts inside Russia’s Foreign Ministry have become a central part of the inquiry by the special prosecutor, Robert S. Mueller III, into the Kremlin’s efforts to interfere with the presidential election. Recently released court documents suggest that the F.B.I. suspected that some of the people who showed interest in Mr. Papadopoulos were participants in a Russian intelligence operation. The March 2016 meeting was followed by a breakfast the next month at a London hotel during which Mr. Mifsud revealed to Mr. Papadopoulos that the Russians had ‘dirt’ on Hillary Clinton in the form of ‘thousands of emails.’” http://nyti.ms/2hjJBFR

— “Investigators probe Trump knowledge of campaign’s Russia dealings: sources,” by Reuters’ Mark Hosenball and John Walcott: “Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has questioned Sam Clovis, co-chairman of President Donald Trump’s election campaign, to determine if Trump or top aides knew of the extent of the campaign team’s contacts with Russia, two sources familiar with the investigation said on Friday. The focus of the questions put to Clovis by Mueller’s team has not been previously reported.” http://reut.rs/2zBxMDm

— “Data Firm’s WikiLeaks Outreach Came as It Joined Trump Campaign,” by WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus and Julie Bykowicz: “The chief executive of Cambridge Analytica contacted the founder of WikiLeaks to ask him to share Hillary Clinton-related emails at the same time that people familiar with the matter say the British data-analytics firm had begun working for President Donald Trump’s campaign.” http://on.wsj.com/2iNyLbi

SPICER WATCH — “Spicer’s election-night memories cause anxiety in GOP: Spicer highlighted his presence on the fifth floor of Trump Tower, but party employees were given strict instructions not to go there,” by Annie Karni and Josh Gerstein: “The directive to RNC employees to steer clear of floor five was given out of an abundance of caution, according to an RNC employee, to avoid violating a decades-old court order, known as a consent decree. It barred the RNC from challenging voters’ eligibility at the polls after the party was accused in the 1980s of practices meant to discourage African-Americans from voting. The consent decree is set to expire next month, barring proof of any violations.” http://politi.co/2AvLWoJ

FOR YOUR RADAR — “A house divided: How Saudi Crown Prince purged royal family rivals,” by Reuters’ Samia Nakhoul, Angus McDowall and Stephen Kalin: “Prince Mohammed decided to move on his family, [a] person familiar with events said, when he realized more relatives opposed him becoming king than he had thought. ‘The signal was that anyone wavering in their support should watch out,’ said the person familiar with the events. ‘The whole idea of the anti-corruption campaign was targeted toward the family. The rest is window dressing.’” http://reut.rs/2yrVksM

THE HARASSMENT FILES — “A Senior Guardian Editor Is Under Investigation Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations,” by BuzzFeed’s Mark Di Stefano: “The Guardian’s digital editor Ian Prior has been absent from work after female staff members reported harassment allegations to management.” http://bzfd.it/2zua4Lp

— LOUIS CK’s full statement: “These stories are true.” http://cnn.it/2iOFemn

— “The spy who duped Rose McGowan unmasked! This is the blonde Israeli military veteran who worked undercover for disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein and tricked the actress into sharing her memoirs,” by Alana Goodman in the Daily Mail: “The pretty blonde spy … is a 30-something-year-old Israeli military veteran named Stella Penn … The operative at Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube … is a former member of the Israel Defense Forces and lives in Jaffa, Israel.” With pix http://dailym.ai/2zxgPfb

— “After Weinstein: A List of Men Accused of Sexual Misconduct and the Fallout for Each” – NYT: http://nyti.ms/2hkLNN7

SPORTS BLINK — “Aly Raisman says she was sexually abused by U.S. national team doctor”: “In an interview with 60 Minutes, the Olympic gold medalist says she spoke with FBI investigators after the Rio games.” http://cbsn.ws/2AvnsvL

****** A message from Morgan Stanley: Startup Kairos believes that integrating artificial intelligence into facial recognition technology could cause disruption in both the security and marketing worlds. The Morgan Stanley Innovation Lab is helping founder Brian Brackeen navigate the investment world in search of capital to make his vision a reality. Read more. ******

MEDIAWATCH — HMM — WSJ’s Amol Sharma: “Early this year, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and aide, Jared Kushner, met a top executive at CNN parent Time Warner Inc. and raised concerns about the network’s coverage of the presidential election. Mr. Kushner told the executive, Gary Ginsberg, that CNN should fire 20% of its staff because they were so wrong in their analysis of the election and how it would turn out, people familiar with the matter say. A White House official said Mr. Kushner didn’t intend the comment to be taken seriously, and was simply trying to make a point. Inside Time Warner, it wasn’t taken lightly.” http://on.wsj.com/2jiN1Ni

— “Rupert Murdoch twice discussed CNN with AT&T CEO – sources,” by Reuters’ Jessica Toonkel: “Rupert Murdoch telephoned AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson twice in the last six months and talked about cable network CNN … According to one of the sources, the 86-year-old executive chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox … offered to buy CNN in both conversations. Another source said Murdoch had ‘zero interest’ in owning CNN.” http://reut.rs/2yPZuPp

–“Layoffs Hit GQ as Condé Nast Cuts Continue,” by WWD’s Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke: “Condé Nast layoffs are under way, and GQ is one of the first titles to be targeted for a round of cuts. Around seven editorial staffers were let go on Thursday. Among those laid off were executive digital director Mike Hofman, fashion director Madeline Weeks and digital entertainment editor Ashley Fetters. ‘So: Yesterday GQ laid me off, alongside a slew of extremely talented others. Still not the worst Nov. 9 of my life, somehow?! But a sad one nonetheless,’ Fetters said via her personal Twitter account Friday. More cuts are expected at other titles in the coming weeks.” http://bit.ly/2hlrBuu

CHRIS FRATES interviews potential Wyoming Senate candidate Foster Friess about Roy Moore and how Steve Bannon convinced him to think about challenging Sen. John Barrasso. Frates also talks to former Pelosi chief of staff Nadeam Elshami. ‘Politics Inside Out with Chris Frates’ airs today at 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m., and Monday at 2 p.m. on SiriusXM channel 124 and on demand on the SiriusXM app.” Clips for Playbookers — Friess on Moore https://goo.gl/MNhVNB … https://goo.gl/hmHXxi … How Trump has done as president https://goo.gl/eZmX4f … Elshami on how he was too nervous to talk during his Pelosi job interview https://goo.gl/xuawP9

GRETCHEN MORGENSON’s last NYT column, “After 20 Years of Financial Turmoil, a Columnist’s Last Shot”: http://nyti.ms/2mewoU6

GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from Lincoln, Nebraska:

— “Terror is the Wrong Word: A Bike Path Victim and His World,” by John Homans in Vanity Fair: “Grief for Nicholas Cleves, [who was 23] and the strength of millennial New York.” http://bit.ly/2iKKyau (h/t Longform.org)

— “What Happens If China Makes First Contact?” by Ross Andersen in December’s Atlantic: “As America has turned away from searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, China has built the world’s largest radio dish for precisely that purpose.” http://theatln.tc/2zrOqrh

— “Is it too late to save the world? Jonathan Franzen on one year of Trump’s America” – The Guardian: “‘As the ice shelves crumble and the Twitter president threatens to pull out of the Paris accord’, Franzen reflects on the role of the writer in times of crisis.” http://bit.ly/2hiBKYV

— “The Leaks. The Frustrations. Omarosa’s Shoes. Mike Dubke on His 103 Days in the White House,” by Washingtonian’s Elaina Plott: “Trump’s former communications director talks about his brief but eventful stint.” http://bit.ly/2hlcfXe

— “The Untold Stories of Election Day 2016 — What really happened?” — Esquire: “[O]ver 40 brand new interviews and behind-the-scenes stories from deep inside The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, and more—plus first-hand accounts from the campaigns, themselves.” http://bit.ly/2iFbLvk

— “Arms Dealers,” by Peter Andrey Smith in Pacific Standard magazine: “When eight heads arrived at a shipping warehouse in Detroit, the feds uncovered some unsavory details about the little-known trade in human remains.” http://bit.ly/2zxMURU (h/t Longreads.com)

— “The best books on Free Speech,” by Timothy Garton Ash, author of “Free Speech: Ten Principles for A Connected World,” in Five Books: “Free speech … is the oxygen of all other freedoms. The classic example of this is Amartya Sen’s famous study, which shows that there’s never been a major famine in a country which had a free press—because the news gets out and there’s outrage. So there’s this elemental connection even with the right to life, to have enough to eat.” http://bit.ly/2jf9rPv (h/t TheBrowser.com) … $22.48 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2hrbQWJ

— “Can Ford Turn Itself Into a Tech Company?” by Kevin Roose in tomorrow’s N.Y. Times Magazine: “Its very name was synonymous with the 20th-century economy. Now it’s trying to catch up with Silicon Valley on self-driving cars.” http://nyti.ms/2ABR4sm

— “Where the Small-Town American Dream Lives On,” by Larissa MacFarquhar in the New Yorker: “As America’s rural communities stagnate, what can we learn from one that hasn’t?” http://bit.ly/2ynxoH5

— “At Home in the World,” by Vivienne Walt on the cover of Time: “At 39, French President Emmanuel Macron is just getting started.” http://ti.me/2yprLIc … The cover http://bit.ly/2yKnhQG

— “The Hottest Social Media Star in the Middle East Is a Radical Saudi Cleric,” by Haroon Ullah, author of “Digital World War: Islamists, Extremists and the Fight for Cyber Supremacy,” in POLITICO Magazine: “How Mohammed al-Arefe became the favorite preacher of ISIS recruits—and an ally of the Saudi government.” http://politi.co/2mfSMfK … $12.50 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2mcfDbY

— “Are we having fun yet?” by Alexandra Lange in Curbed: “The Museum of Ice Cream is popular, colorful, and sugary, but are visitors playing—or playing themselves?” http://bit.ly/2mc5lZi

— “Ready for Trump TV? Inside Sinclair Broadcasting’s Plot to Take Over Your Local News,” by Andy Kroll in the Nov./Dec. issue of Mother Jones: “Its mix of terrorism alerts, right-wing commentary, and ‘classic propaganda’ could soon reach three-quarters of US households.” http://bit.ly/2yS9TKl

— “The Button-Down Anarchist,” by Nell Gluckman in the Chronicle of Higher Ed: “In the face of radicalism, Mark Bray argues, radical responses must at least be considered. His work poses a challenge: Do you oppose fascism? If so, you have a duty to study it — and, once you’ve done so, to pick a side.” http://bit.ly/2i4UzzJ (h/t ALDaily.com)

— “Andrés Barba on Such Small Hands,” by Josie Mitchell in Granta in a Q&A with Barba on his new book “Such Small Hands, Gothic and Greek Literature”: “Traditionally the adult has wanted the child to become an adult as quickly as possible, because deep down the adult is frightened by the child’s gaze. Adult secrets are revealed by the child’s gaze. The period in history with the most idiotic vision of childhood is our own: We demand that the child be the most innocent being possible to prevent ourselves from recognising the child’s true complexity.” http://bit.ly/2yOmoqq

WEEKEND WEDDING – Justin Barasky, campaign manager for Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)’s reelection campaign and a Priorities USA and DSCC alum, on Friday married Lauren Durham, a DNC and EMILY’s List alum who is now campaign manager for Ohio state Rep. Kathleen Clyde, who is running for Secretary of State in Ohio. Guy Cecil officiated at the Ivory Room in Columbus, Ohio.

Pool report: “Lauren and Justin’s dog Kyrie was part of the ceremony. Guy talked about the couple’s commitment to civic society and their fierce commitment to ‘creating something new.’ The vows mentioned the couple meeting on Sen. Brown’s [2012] race. Justin said one of the reasons he knew he loved Lauren was that when the Cavs won the Championship, he looked over and she was crying harder than he was. When the bride started crying during her vows, their dog Kyrie started barking which made everyone laugh.” Pics — A selfie the couple took http://bit.ly/2zC3Reg … The newlyweds cutting the cake http://bit.ly/2AAjy5L

SPOTTED: Andrew Zucker, Adam Magnus, Zac Petkanas, Patrick McHugh, Paul Tencher, Regan Page, Quentin Fulks, Kim Kauffman, Preston Maddock, Sarah Benzing, Diane Feldman, Rory Steele, Ally Coll Steele, Monica McHugh, Sarah Paulos, Alex Glass, Anne Caprara.

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Gabriela Ayala, research associate at Senate Majority PAC (hat tip: Justine Turner, who was on time)

BIRTHDAYS: Facebook’s Tucker Bounds (h/t Blain Rethmeier) … former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is 77 … Alec MacGillis is 43 … Sean Joyce … Norm Eisen, senior fellow at Brookings, CNN commentator, chair of CREW, and former U.S. Amb. to the Czech Republic … Politico Europe’s Matt Kaminski … Matt Ortega … Lauren Thorbjornsen, director of executive comms and strategic programs at Salesforce … Taylor Holgate, senior manager of federal gov’t affairs at the Consumer Healthcare Products Association and former press secretary for Sen. Burr (h/ts Stew and Becca) … former Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) is 49 … former Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) is 86 … former Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) is 71 … Jake Swanton, senior manager for federal policy at Lyft … Joel Foster, founder of Blue Origami Strategies … Politico’s John Hendel (h/t Stephanie Benedict) … Meredith Dyer … NFL Network’s Melissa Stark … David Leiter, president of Plurus Strategies (h/ts Jon Haber and Sarah Litke) …

… Daniel Huey, partner at Something Else Strategies … Rebecca Sharer, marketing coordinator at Bully Pulpit Interactive (h/t Karen Hendrixson) … Ruth Igielnik, a pollster at the Pew Research Center (hubby tip: Ben Wieder) … Mike Frankfurt … Carlos Monje … Sarah Esty … Christian Flynn … Mandi Wimmer … Craig Pittman of the Tampa Bay Times … Jeffrey S. Malashock … Eric Ezzy Rappaport … Jon Hartley … Gretchen Michael … Nathan Imperiale, CEO of NJI Media and partner at FamousDC … Emily Pollock … Politico’s Susanna Cagle and Edgar Estrada … Morley Winograd … Jessica Jennings, director of comms at University of Maryland …. Linda Rozett … Ryan Tronovitch … Grant Lebens … Ben Hall … Frank Wilkinson … Gillian Morris … Eric Oginsky (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

THE SHOWS, by @MattMackoiwak filing from Manchester, United Kingdom:

–NBC’s “Meet the Press”: White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Panel: Charlie Cook, David Ignatius, Elise Jordan and Kristen Welker

–CNN’s “State of the Union”: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin … Gov. John Kasich … Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Panel: Van Jones and Mary Katharine Ham, Jennifer Granholm and Rick Santorum.

–CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin … Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Panel: Jeffrey Goldberg, Ed O’Keefe and the Amy Walter … discussion with Trump voters in Manchester, N.H.

–ABC’s “This Week”: Ohio Gov. John Kasich, DNC Chair Tom Perez and Delegate-elect Danica Roem. Panel: Mary Bruce, Alex Castellanos, Matthew Dowd and Mark Updegrove

–“Fox News Sunday”: Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) … Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). Panel: Mike Needham, Julie Pace, Gillian Turner and Charles Lane … “Power Player of the Week” with Museum of the Bible president Cary Summers

–Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: Gary Cohn … Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) … Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) … Mike Huckabee … Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.). Panel: Ed Rollins and Susan Ferrechio

–Fox News’ “MediaBuzz”: Mollie Hemingway … Juan Williams … Erin McPike … Bloomberg News’ Shannon Pettypiece … The Hollywood Reporter’s Matt Belloni … Fox News host Dana Perino

–CNN’s “Inside Politics” with John King: Panel: Abby Phillip, Margaret Talev, Molly Ball and Michael Warren

–CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”: Panel: Ian Bremmer, Richard Haass and NPR’s Elise Hu … Ali Shihabi … Turkish prime minister Binali Yildrim

–CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: Panel: Bethany Mandel, Jeff Greenfield and David Zurawik … John Avlon … Del.-elect Chris Hurst (D-VA).

–Univision’s “Al Punto”: Mother of 10-year-old daughter (who was detained on her way to a hospital) Felipa de la Cruz … White House director of policy and interagency coordination Carlos Diaz-Rosillo … CHIRLA’s Jorge-Mario Cabrera … Independent Mexican senator and presidential candidate Armando Ríos Piter … Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) … musician René Pérez Joglar (Residente).

–C-SPAN: “The Communicators”: Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) … NetChoice vice president and general counsel Carl Szabo … “Newsmakers”: Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), questioned by CQ Roll Call’s Joe Williams and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tamar Hallerman … “Q&A”: Rabbi David Dalin (“Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court”)

–PBS’ “To the Contrary”: Panel: Hilary Rosen, Carrie Lukas, Jennifer Higgins and Donna Edwards

— Washington Times’ “Mack on Politics” weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher or listen at http://bit.ly/2r37J6h): Ben Stein.

****** A message from Morgan Stanley: The Morgan Stanley Innovation Lab is a tech-talent accelerator program, in which startups are closely embedded into the firm, its technologists and networks. Startup Kairos believes that integrating artificial intelligence into facial recognition technology could cause disruption in both the security and marketing worlds. But first, founder Brian Brackeen has to navigate the investment world in search of capital to make his vision a reality. “I come from a middle-class African American family in Philly,” says Brackeen. “I’m not that guy from an affluent family who went to an Ivy League school and has a huge college network of friends in banking and hedge funds.” That’s why Kairos, and four other startups run by women or multicultural founders, are moving into Morgan Stanley’s Time Square headquarters in New York for three months. The experience will allow them access to the firm’s expertise and resources. Read more. ******

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