Inside today's : Trump DEFECTION watch -- New Clinton ad hits Trump on outsourcing -- Another producer OUT at NBC -- B’DAY: Jacob Weisberg

Presented by the Financial Services Forum

Driving the Day

Good Wednesday morning. We hate to give him too much credit, but John Bresnahan, our Capitol Hill bureau chief, summed things up pretty well last night.

--@BresPolitico: “The post-Democratic convention script couldn’t have run any better for Clinton. Trump implodes, takes GOP with him, she marches on.”

Trump has spent the last five days smacking around Republicans, feuding with the family of a dead soldier and “overextending,” according to one Republican source, at every turn. (He threatened to kick a baby out of his rally yesterday!) Once again, Trump’s public statements are being quickly refuted. Just yesterday, in declining to endorse Paul Ryan and John McCain, Trump said the speaker asked for the GOP nominee’s endorsement. Ryan’s camp immediately denied that -- on the record.

There’s one big caveat to this entire narrative: Our attention spans are short. WikiLeaks could dump some more embarrassing internal documents, giving Hillary Clinton a bad week, month or year. But Bres is right for now. Bill O’Reilly put it even more succinctly last night on Fox News: “If he fights everyone who comes after him, he’ll lose.”

We haven’t seen a drumbeat of Republicans abandoning Trump -- yet. But, as the last of the at-risk Republicans get past their primaries, and attention shifts to the general, senior GOP officials on the Hill say they expect the unease to become more pronounced.

Katy Tur (@katyturnbc) who covers Trump for MSNBC, tweeted that Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman and a close friend of Ryan, is “apoplectic” that the GOP nominee won’t back the speaker, and has made his view heard. But for Ryan, Trump’s extraordinary breach of party unity presents an opportunity of sorts. He is expected to trounce Paul Nehlan in the primary next week -- even without Trump’s endorsement, according to multiple Republican sources who have seen party polling. It’s a chance for him to re-assert his primacy over Trump. But, as Republicans and Democrats privately reminded us yesterday, despite all of this Republican handwringing, Trump is still Ryan’s candidate for the presidency. We don’t expect that to change.

Meanwhile, top reporters -- CNN’s Dana Bash, and CNBC/NYT’s John Harwood -- are hearing some version of what we’re hearing: that morale is plummeting inside the Trump campaign. @JohnJHarwood tweeted, “longtime ally of Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager: ‘Manafort not challenging Trump anymore. Mailing it in. Staff suicidal.’” @DianneG, a CNN national correspondent, tweeted, “A source tells @DanaBashCNN that some Trump campaign staff are frustrated w/ candidate lately, ‘feel like they are wasting their time.’”

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DEVELOPING -- Rick Klein (@rickklein): “Priebus ‘furious,’ per @jonkarl. Senior GOP officials ‘actively exploring’ how to replace Trump on ballot if he drops out. @GMA.” Although, we think this is a triple bank shot, at this point.

The Trump campaign insists all is well, with the man himself tweeting this morning: “There is great unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before. I want to thank everyone for your tremendous support. Beat Crooked H!”

DEFECTION WATCH -- JMART on A13 of the Times: “Meg Whitman, a Hewlett Packard executive and Republican fund-raiser, said Tuesday that she would support Hillary Clinton for president and give a ‘substantial’ contribution to her campaign in order to stop Donald J. Trump, whom she berated as a threat to American democracy … She revealed that Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic nominee, had reached out to her in a phone call about a month ago ...Ms. Whitman, who said she would remain a Republican, brings with her a considerable network of contributors, some of whom she said were open to giving to Mrs. Clinton. She said she was willing to campaign for Mrs. Clinton, said she would do her best to gather checks for her campaign and indicated she would personally give to both Mrs. Clinton and her affiliated ‘super PACs.’ An aide to Ms. Whitman said she would personally give at least an amount in the ‘mid-six figures’ to the Clinton effort.” http://nyti.ms/2atROBj Other GOP defections: Retiring GOP Rep. Richard Hanna, former top Jeb Bush aide Sally Bradshaw, former Chris Christie spokesman Maria Comella.

THE BIG PICTURE from Alex Burns in the Times: The Khan controversy and playing footsy with opposing Paul Ryan and John McCain “threaten to shatter his uneasy alliance with the Republican Party at the outset of the general election campaign...Republicans now say Mr. Trump’s obstinacy in addressing perhaps the gravest crisis of his campaign may trigger drastic defections within the party, and Republican lawmakers and strategists have begun to entertain abandoning him en masse.” http://nyti.ms/2aPfA0f

--Phil Rucker, from the “blacklisted” Washington Post, gets a 50-minute interview with Trump at Trump National Golf Club. Full transcript: http://wapo.st/2ahwF1S

--NEWT in the WSJ: “This is the decisive moment of defining this election. He’s allowed himself to get dragged down into personality politics, which are to his complete disadvantage. He has to come back to elevate the race to a much bigger set of questions.” http://on.wsj.com/2atSSoG

--@TimAlberta (National Review writer and POLITICO alum): “Respectfully, it’s gonna take more than a failed gubernatorial candidate, two operatives and a back-bench member to demonstrate a GOP exodus”

HAPPENING TODAY -- Hillary Clinton will be in the Denver area, where she will tour Knotty Ties, a company that manufactures neckwear in Colorado. Clinton’s looking to highlight Trump’s outsourcing. She also has a rally at Adams City High School in Commerce City, Colorado. Donald Trump will hold a town hall in Daytona and rally in Jacksonville, Florida. Mike Pence will hold a town hall in Denver and rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Tim Kaine is in Greensboro, North Carolina. He’s touring Amerifab International, and then rallying at the Greensboro Transit Authority.

NEW TV AD -- Off embargo at 5 a.m. -- CLINTON hits TRUMP on outsourcing: The 30-second spot shows Trump talking to David Letterman about his shirts and ties -- which were made in Bangladesh and China. http://bit.ly/2aQgLwE

BOMBSHELL -- “U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed,” by WSJ’s Jay Solomon and Carol E. Lee: “The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran … Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane ... The U.S. procured the money from the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland ... The money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.” http://on.wsj.com/2ahlOp1

INSIDE VANDEHEI’s NEW SECRET PROJECT -- Jim VandeHei has hailed his new company as being the next big thing in media -- and there’s already something unique about the outfit: He is forcing prospective employees to sign a nondisclosure agreement before he details just what the company will do. To even earn an interview, a candidate has to express interest in an organization they know nothing about, according to a source involved in the process. If VandeHei and his cohorts like you, they’ll get you to sign a legally binding document promising complete secrecy. If you get hired, you don’t tell your current employer what your title will be, what your job will be or what the company’s focus is. You can only say you are going to work with VandeHei. The new venture has rented office space in Clarendon, a neighborhood in Virginia, outside of D.C., and VandeHei is making frequent trips to New York.

VandeHei - who will be joined by Mike Allen after the election - has hired Nick Johnston away from Bloomberg. VandeHei didn’t respond to an email requesting comment, nor did Johnston. Playbook reported yesterday that VandeHei hired David Nather, a former POLITICO Pro and STAT News reporter, who has spent his career reporting on the intricacies of health-care policy.

FLASHBACK -- Mike Bloomberg SIX years ago on Governors Island, supporting the Ground Zero mosque. What the independent mayor of New York said at the time: “We would betray our values – and play into our enemies’ hands – if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists – and we should not stand for that. … Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure.”

FOR YOUR RADAR -- BBC World News: “North Korea fires ballistic missile into Japanese waters.” http://bbc.in/2aMrxCS

Playbook Reads

SCOOPS ON TRUMP -- “Trump Gave His Kids A Big Stake In Huge Government Deal, Document Shows,” by BuzzFeed’s Aram Roston and Daniel Wagner: “As he runs for president, Donald Trump has a massive business deal underway with the federal government: a luxury hotel in the iconic, taxpayer-owned Old Post Office building, just five blocks from the White House. Now, a newly released document gives a glimpse into how Trump channels money to his children. It also shows that Trump leveraged a mere $2.4 million equity investment to gain control of the $200 million project.“

By using [FOIA] to appeal a previous denial of records, BuzzFeed News gained access to the new document: a key part of the 2013 lease Trump signed with the federal government to take over the Old Post Office building. The document indicates that Trump gave three of his children — Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric, all of whom spoke at the Republican National Convention — more than 22% of the federal project, though they apparently invested no money of their own.” http://bzfd.it/2arZl5x

--“Documents Show Trump Officials Agreed to Limit Rally Size, Contradicting the Candidate,” by Nate Thayer in Politico: “The problem with Trump’s charges? His own senior campaign staff officials were fully aware and had agreed in writing that the Trump event in Columbus was to be restricted to a maximum of 1,000 people, according to documents signed on Friday, July 29, between the Trump campaign and Columbus Convention Center for the Monday event, and obtained by Politico. The documents, provided by Columbus Convention Center officials and the city fire department, show that senior Trump officials agreed to the terms four days prior to Monday’s event.” http://politi.co/2aMWG98

--“Trump acolytes campaign to defeat Ryan: The speaker is expected to win easily, but that hasn’t stopped a half-dozen former Trump hands from working for his GOP opponent in next week’s primary,” by Rachael Bade in Janesville, Wisconsin, and Ken Vogel: “With the relationship between Paul Ryan and Donald Trump already increasingly fraught … a group of former Trump campaign hands are quietly working to defeat the House speaker in his primary election next week. More than half a dozen of Trump’s former campaign staff members or leading volunteer organizers from around the country — and many more local volunteers — have signed on to the long-shot campaign of Ryan’s primary challenger, businessman Paul Nehlen, who is openly embracing Trump and casting Ryan as an impediment to Trump’s agenda.” http://politi.co/2akJa8s

43 WATCH -- “George W. Bush Delivers Critique of Donald Trump’s Policies,” by WSJ’s Beth Reinhard and Reid J. Epstein: “Without naming Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, former President George W. Bush delivered an incisive critique of his policies of ‘isolationism, nativism and protectionism’ at a private fundraiser in Cincinnati on Tuesday for Ohio Sen. Rob Portman ... People at the fundraiser recalled that the former president said that Islamic women should come to the U.S. to experience a free society so they can lead the charge for equality in the Middle East.” http://on.wsj.com/2aMVS4h

2016 PLAYERS -- “Trump shuffles North Carolina campaign team,” by Eli Stokols: “With three months before Election Day, Donald Trump’s campaign has hired a new state director to stabilize its campaign in North Carolina, a state that Republicans barely won four years ago and is now a top pick-up opportunity for Democrats. Jason Simmons, 35, has ostensibly taken over for Earl Phillip, an outspoken African-American conservative who Trump hired last fall to run North Carolina for him. But Phillip, who did not attend the Republican National Convention last month, had already ceded day-to-day campaign responsibilities to his young deputy, Taylor Playforth.” http://politi.co/2auW7j1

YOU’RE INVITED! -- Playbook Breakfast Thursday (tomorrow!) with Tom Donilon and Stephen Hadley, two of the nation’s top national security minds. Donilon was national security adviser to President Barack Obama and is now a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and vice chairman at O’Melveny and Myers. Hadley was national security adviser to George W. Bush and is now a partner at Rice Hadley Gates LLC. We’ll talk national security, Russia and cybersecurity. Doors open at 8 a.m. at the Mayflower, 1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW (Metro to either Farragut North or West). Suggested questions? Send to [email protected] and [email protected]. RSVP http://bit.ly/2apGEUg

DAILY DONALD -- “Few Republicans want to campaign with Trump,” by Alex Isenstadt and Theodoric Meyer: “Over the past week, POLITICO surveyed nearly 50 GOP candidates in competitive House, Senate and governor’s races on whether they’d be willing to campaign with the Republican nominee. Only a handful said yes — and the rest said no, refused to commit or didn’t respond at all.” http://politi.co/2aGQm1s

-- “Trump Defends His ‘Rigged’ Election Claim: ‘I Just Hear Things, And I Just Feel It,’” by BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynskihttp://bzfd.it/2aHTMkq

-- “Judge blocks release of Trump videos in Trump University fraud case,” by LA Times’ Greg Moran in San Diego: “A federal judge here has decided that he will not allow the release of videotaped depositions of Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump in connection with a class-action lawsuit against the defunct Trump University real estate program. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel — a target of Trump’s repeated scorn — also rejected a bid by Trump’s lawyers to get the lawsuit dismissed, a ruling that clears the way for a trial that could be costly for the candidate … Curiel said there is legitimate public interest in having the videos released, but he sided with Trump’s lawyers, who had said releasing the videos would generate so much publicity it would bias potential jurors.” http://lat.ms/2ahtyaB

BEING THERE -- “Boy’s Crude Chant Draws Attention at Trump Rally,” by WSJ’s Reid Epstein in Ashburn, Virginia: “Even by the standards of rowdy Donald Trump rallies, the sight of a boy repeatedly yelling ‘take the bitch down’ about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stood out. The preadolescent boy and his mother, who identified herself as Pam Kohler of Mount Vernon, Va., held signs reading ‘HILLARY FOR PRISON 2016.’ ... ‘I think he has a right to say what he wants to,’ said Ms. Kohler. ... Asked where the boy learned the language he shouted about the Democratic presidential nominee, Ms. Kohler replied: ‘Democratic schools.’” http://on.wsj.com/2aMxb7F

HOT DOC -- Former NRCC Executive Director Liesl Hickey’s memo on “How to survive in 2016” for vulnerable House GOP candidates: Key points: “1. Don’t buy into the Trump voter myths There is much noise this cycle about the Trump voters, turning them out, not upsetting them or losing them in November. Vulnerable candidates are wringing their hands over this, and they should just stop ... 2. Do worry about turning out soft/moderate/’establishment’/disaffected Republicans … 3. Hillary is an opportunity, but be smart about how you position against her.This is not hard. Be keenly aware of your swing voters’ attitudes on Hillary and address them … 4. Laser focus on persuadable/undecided voters… 5. Persuasion, persuasion, persuasion Swing races are all about getting lots of people who aren’t inclined to vote for you to decide to vote for you … 6. Don’t be afraid to break with your party.” http://politi.co/2aOJIZS

AIR WARS -- “Clinton, Allies Have Reserved $98 Million in Ads,” by NBC News’ Carrie Dann: “Clinton’s campaign and pro-Clinton group Priorities USA Action have reserved a combined $98 million through the fall so far, while pro-Trump PAC Rebuilding America Now has just about $817,000 set to air at this time. Through last week, Team Clinton had aired a total of $68 million in ads, while Team Trump had spent roughly $6 million – mostly from rebuilding America Now and the NRA Political Victory Fund.” http://nbcnews.to/2as5DlK

HOLLYWOODLAND -- “Hillary Clinton’s Stop at Leonardo DiCaprio’s House Highlights Two-Day, Big-Bucks Hollywood Fundraising Tour,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Jackie Strause: For an Aug. 23 fundraiser at Leo DiCaprio’s house, “guests must shell out $33,400 for a ticket to the lunchtime event ... called a ‘Conversation With Hillary Rodham Clinton.’ The star-studded gathering is also being hosted by Jennifer and Tobey Maguire, Jennifer Aniston, Yael and Scooter Braun, Shonda Rhimes, and ICM Partners’ Chris Silbermann ...On Aug. 22, Clinton will have dinner at the Beverly Park home of billionaire entertainment mogul Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl … [The event] will be co-hosted by Disney CEO Bob Iger and wife Willow Bay, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and wife Marilyn, Chernin Group CEO Peter Chernin and wife Megan, Legendary CEO Thomas Tull and wife Alba, MarketShare co-founder Jon Vein and wife Ellen, and sports executive Casey Wasserman and wife Laura.” http://bit.ly/2b24cdB

TOP TWEETS -- Emily Atkin (@emorwee): “Trump says he’s beating Kelly Ayotte in the polls ‘by a lot.’ Trump is not running against Kelly Ayotte for anything” … @adamnagourney: “Trump today is like one of those journalism school tests: give students list of everything he did/said and tell them to figure out the lede” … @Dakota_Meyer: “If @realDonaldTrump wants to be the Commander in Chief, he needs to act like one. And that cant start until he apologizes to the Khans.” … @RyanLizza: “Obama’s comments today probably make it more difficult for Republicans to un-endorse Trump. Wonder if that was his intention.” … @ByronTau: “Political operatives, who in the popular imagination are soulless guns for hire, appear to be a bastion of principled #NeverTrump opposition”

DATA DU JOUR -- “The Scale of Turkey’s Purge Is Nearly Unprecedented,” by NYT’s Josh Keller, Iaryna Mykhyalyshyn and Safak Timur: “Here is how Mr. Erdogan’s vast purge would look if Americans were targeted at a similar scale. Almost 9,000 police officers fired: Like firing every police officer in Philadelphia, Dallas, Detroit, Boston and Baltimore. ... 21,000 private school teachers suspended: Like revoking the licenses of every third teacher in private elementary and high schools across the United States. ... 10,012 soldiers detained: Like taking nearly every fourth officer in the U.S. Army into custody. ... More than 100 media outlets shut down: Equivalent to President Obama’s issuing arrest warrants for conservative journalists, closing television and radio stations and censoring dozens of news-related websites.” http://nyti.ms/2aQG2qJ

HILLWATCH -- “Huelskamp loses GOP primary after ideological battle,” by Elena Schneider: “GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a three-term incumbent and House Freedom Caucus member from Kansas, lost his House primary Tuesday night to challenger Roger Marshall, a physician backed by agricultural interests and several big-spending outside groups. Marshall had 57 percent of the vote to Huelskamp’s 43 percent when The Associated Press called the race with 72 percent of precincts reporting. Huelskamp’s primary in the ‘Big First’ district, a safely Republican seat, became a proxy war between hard-line conservatives and more traditional GOP groups and donors.” http://politi.co/2aMxW0v

PIC DU JOUR -- http://bit.ly/2aMV4wk

CH-CH-CH CHANGES -- “Heads roll at the DNC,” by Isaac Dovere and Gabriel Debenedetti: “With just three months until Election Day and the Democrats’ official party apparatus struggling to right itself from months of dysfunction and the scandal caused by the WikiLeaks email hack, interim [DNC] chair Donna Brazile cleaned house Tuesday with the ouster of three top officials. CEO Amy Dacey, communications director Luis Miranda and chief financial officer Brad Marshall are all leaving the organization, the DNC announced Tuesday afternoon, shortly after staffers were informed of the changes in a meeting. The announcement praised all three outgoing officials, but people familiar say the departures were heavily encouraged.” http://politi.co/2aNavp8

DEEP DIVE -- “Underwater in the Las Vegas Desert, Years After the Housing Crash,” by NYT’s Jack Healy: “More than eight years after rotten loans and plunging home values made Las Vegas the center of the housing crisis, thousands of people have yet to recover.” http://nyti.ms/2b1VkVn

DEM MESSAGE GUIDANCE -- The Democratic consulting firm Global Strategy Group sends out a quarterly memo to top party operatives in town. This time around, they detail how being “Trump lite” won’t work for Democrats. Memo here: http://politi.co/2aSyArG

BILLIONAIRE BEAT -- “Bloomberg-led group launches 2017 immigration reform drive,” by Seung Min Kim: ”The Partnership for a New American Economy, headed by the former New York City mayor [Michael Bloomberg] and News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, is calling the new initiative ‘Reason for Reform’ and will flood all 50 states Wednesday with pro-reform events and detailed economic reports tailored to each state. The group is also pushing a new digital crowdsourcing effort to collect stories of how immigration has affected residents in all 435 congressional districts.” http://politi.co/2aAPSZ3

MEDIAWATCH -- “Rush Limbaugh Extends Radio Contract for Four More Years,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Paul Bond: “Rush Limbaugh told his audience Tuesday he contemplated retiring from his gig as the nation’s No. 1 talk-radio host, but has decided to stick around for another four years, enough to keep him on the air through the first term of either President Hillary Clinton or President Donald Trump.” http://bit.ly/2ax1jTV

--Two SCOOPS by Hadas Gold -- “Melinda Henneberger out as Roll Call editor”: “Henneberger had been named Roll Call’s editor-in-chief just this past October, replacing Christina Bellantoni, who went to the Los Angeles Times. In an email a couple hours after the announcement, Henneberger said she disagreed with leadership over staff cuts. ‘I balked at a plan to make such deep cuts to staff that I feared the place wouldn’t survive them, and further felt that such cuts were unnecessary since the place is profitable, though not making the projected 25 percent profit margin that management is intent on cutting its way to, no matter what the long-term toll on the organization. We also disagreed over the new site, which has serious technical problems that I felt should be addressed instead of hidden from the Economist Group,’ Henneberger wrote.” http://politi.co/2aSgndK

-- SHAWNA THOMAS leaving NBC for Vice: “Shawna Thomas is leaving NBC for Vice News to become its Washington Bureau Chief, the company will announce on Wednesday. Thomas is leaving NBC after 10 years with the network, most recently as senior producer and senior digital editor of NBC News’s ‘Meet the Press.’ Thomas will be bureau chief for all of Vice News, both the HBO shows and Vice digital. And despite the election ‘sucking all the oxygen out of the room for good reason,’ Thomas’ focus post-election will be on policy, said Josh Tyrangiel, head of news at Vice.”

CHUCK TODD emails, from his iPad: “She’s going to be missed, but this is an opportunity she wanted to take advantage of. I get it and understand the dilemma of two great gigs to choose from. The good news: I know our professional paths will cross again and her exit doesn’t mean she gets to drop me as a friend. Can’t wait to work with her again.”

LUKE RUSSERT emails from LONDON: “Working closely with her for eight years, I can say Shawna Thomas is extraordinary. She will do great things at Vice. Her endless curiosity and passion for the truth will be a tremendous asset for a cutting-edge outlet. Saying I’m excited for what she’ll produce is an understatement. Go Shawna!”

--JUST ASKING: What does it mean if Russert, Thomas and Brooke Brower -- three well-liked, hard-working NBC diehards -- all leave the company within weeks of one another?

SNEAK PEEK – Cover for the new Hollywood Reporter, “In a galaxy far, far astray... Hillary strikes back” http://bit.ly/2azb811

MICHAEL WOLFF’s new THR cover story, “on Hillary’s ‘Self-Delusion,’ Trump’s ‘S— Show’ and the Media’s Final, Frantic 100 Days.” http://bit.ly/2aPeiCv

FUTURECAST -- Facebook Live had more than 8,500 hours of content during the Republican and Democratic conventions, per Facebook, and Live videos were viewed more than 120 million times. Top Clinton video: http://bit.ly/2aZuHkc Top Trump video: http://bit.ly/2axGAgr.

--“America’s Electronic Voting Machines Are Scarily Easy Targets,” by Wired’s Brian Barrett: “The list of those problems is what you’d expect from any computer or, more specifically, any computer that’s a decade or older. Most of these machines are running Windows XP, for which Microsoft hasn’t released a security patch since April 2014. Though there’s no evidence of direct voting machine interference to date, researchers have demonstrated that many of them are susceptible to malware or, equally if not more alarming, a well-timed denial of service attack.” http://bit.ly/2ax0Ukm

--@samueloakford: “The anti-Obama ad, with massive machine gun, that the winner of [Tuesday night’s] GOP Missouri gubernatorial primary ran:” http://bit.ly/2ahlhmI

Playbookers

SPOTTED: Khizr Khan at the Grand Hyatt with Locust Street Group’s Matt Simeon & National Association of Manufacturers’ Mark Isaacson –pics http://bit.ly/2aHTz0O ... http://bit.ly/2as4Fpw … Henry Kissinger, complete with cane, on 17th and I NW late yesterday afternoon.

OUT AND ABOUT -- The Bad News Babes -- a softball team made up of Capitol Hill reporters -- celebrated their recent win in the Congressional Women’s Softball Game and bid farewell to pitcher Jill Agostino, who’s wrapping up a three-year tour of duty as day editor at the NYT’s DC Bureau for a new gig back at 8th Ave. HQ. The big question of the night: will the annual game, which sends proceeds to fight breast cancer, continue next year, given the key roles Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other (former) DNC officials have played in organizing the event. SPOTTED: Teammates Amy Walter, Lisa Desjardins, Tamara Keith, Elena Schneider, Emmarie Huetteman and Mikayla Bouchard and coach Carl Hulse.

NEW KATIE COURIC podcast – “Last week, Katie sat down with longtime Republican pollster and strategist Frank Luntz, who relayed his thoughts on everything from the country’s attitudes towards President Obama as he gets ready to pass the presidential torch, to the authenticity of Trump vs. Hillary.” http://bit.ly/2ahktOT

NEW VANITY FAIR MINI-DOC – “[T]he latest episode of our miniseries NomiNation ... premieres [this] morning and focuses on Johnson’s victory at the Libertarian National Convention, where he was officially nominated in a landslide. It’s really interesting to see the cacophony of this convention in comparison to the tightly scripted Republican and Democratic conventions—the delegates voted on an Excel spreadsheet projected onto a screen, it takes place in a nondescript Orlando conference room, and the entirety of Johnson’s acceptance speech is: ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.’” http://bit.ly/2ax0Ukw

PLAYBOOKERS AT LAST NIGHT’S STATE DINNER -- honoring Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- CNN’s Stephen Collinson, John Kerry, Sen. Ed Markey, Jen Psaki, Darlene Superville, CNN’s Jeff Zeleny and Jim Courtovich. Full list http://bit.ly/2aI1kDQ

THE MENU, per AP: “Dinner opened with Maryland blue crab salad tossed in an Asian citrus curd and rimmed with slivered baby cucumbers. The salad course showcased heirloom tomatoes from Ohio paired with lime basil from Michelle Obama’s garden, as well as mangoes, cucumbers, green papayas and soursop sorbet. The main course was American Wagyu beef dressed with roasted yams, wilted kale and heirloom carrots. Dessert was peach sangria cake accented with coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves, a citrus fruit native to Asia, and dressed with White House honey. Pastry chef Susie Morrison prepared handmade, spun-sugar orchids and roses for each table. California and New York red, white and sparkling wines [were] served.”

SPOTTED IN LA -- Barbra Streisand live at Staples Center LA on opening night of her new national tour. Rocking the house with special guests including Babyface and Jamie Foxx. Her encore: citing evidence that 99.9 percent of humans on earth share identical DNA. The other one tenth of one percent? “Donald Trump.” That’s proof she sang that we’re all just “People” and the crowd went nuts, according to one Playbooker in the crowd. She followed that with her signature “Happy Days Are Here Again,” saying she’d performed it for three presidents and looking forward to the fourth in January.

TRANSITIONS – Boehner alum Matt Wolking is leaving his job as press secretary on the Benghazi Committee to work for Sen. Marco Rubio as press secretary … Rubicon Global – a waste and recycling technology company started by former George W. Bush and Mitch McConnell aide Nate Morris – has hired Michael Allegretti as head of public policy. Allegretti previously worked for Uber. http://bit.ly/2aMUyhM

SANDERS ALUMNI -- “Revolution Messaging is pleased to announce that Arianna Jones is joining the firm as Senior Vice President of Public Relations. Jones, who most recently served as Deputy Communications Director for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, will lead earned media strategy and public relations campaigns for clients. This marks an expansion of services for the full service digital firm to now offer media strategies to their clients. The firm is also announcing the promotion of Eden Joyner to Senior Vice President of Business Development. Joyner, who most recently served as VP of Advertising, will lead client acquisition, marketing and growth strategy for the firm.” http://politi.co/2atQYEQ

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Daniel Yang emails -- YANG, an assignment editor at PBS NewsHour and Carly Borgmeier, USDA grants management specialist, celebrate the one-month birthday for Olivia Marie Borgmeier Yang, born July 3 at 11:17 p.m., weighing in at 7lbs 15 oz. All three of them are proud to be born the Year of the Monkey, always held on major election years (also coincidentally, Carly and Daniel met in D.C. on election night 2008). Pics http://bit.ly/2aME4WE … http://bit.ly/2b23cGo

BIRTHDAYS: Tom Brady is 39 ... Joe McLean, the pride of Crockett County, Tenn. and president of the Crockett Policy Institute (hat tip: wife Kiki) … Politico’s Nick Juliano and Rachana Pradhan ... Slate’s Jacob Weisberg, the pride of Chicago, is 52 ... The Parkinson Twins: John Parkinson, ABC’s producer at the White House and Scott Parkinson, executive director of the Republican Study Committee ... Ben Siegel, ABC’s House producer (h/ts Sally Rey Parkinson and Arlette Saenz) ... Gene Park, social media editor for opinions at the Washington Post (h/t Seung Min Kim) … Charles Dharapak, AP photog extraordinaire and regional photo editor for Asia-Pacific in Bangkok (h/t Peter Simmons Watkins) … Allison Haley, managing associate at CLS Strategies and an OFA and GSG alum ... Rick Murphy, Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s COS ... Michael Frazier, principal at Pendulum Strategies … Addison Smith, partner at Sphere Consulting (Courto’s firm) … Jordan Burke, Uber’s head of market and consumer research and a David Simas and White House alum … DNC’s Claire Olszewski and Julia Fahl ... Bradley Brooks, Reuters Brazil chief correspondent and an AP alum ... Jennifer Swanson ... Ann Davison, chair of US Public Affairs and Crisis Practice Group at Burson-Marsteller (h/ts Jon Haber) ... James Wegmann, new father, tortured Pirates fan and top flack for Sen. Sasse (h/t Matt Lloyd) ... Allison Abner (h/t ACCT) ... Jonathan Young of HFA Disability Outreach (h/t Michael Duga) ...

... Bernadette Meehan, Bronx Bombers fan, career Foreign Service Officer, former NSC spox, currently in residence at Georgetown University - celebrating her recent marriage to Evan Medeiros this weekend with friends and family in NYC (h/t Ben Chang) ... Tom Freedman, president of Freedman Consulting, LLC, a former President Clinton senior advisor and former Carleton College roommate of John Harris (h/t Kyra Jennings) ... Joe Ruiz, on the web team at NPR (h/t Dale Blasingame) ... Doug Burnett ... Karin Walser ... Tom Parker ... Doug Haddow (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Erikka Knuti, comms director at United Food and Commercial Workers Union (h/t Ted Greener) ... Graham MacGillivray of C-SPAN (h/t Brenna Williams) ... Andrew Craft, an associate producer at Fox News (h/t Hillary Flynn) ... Alberto Pimienta ... Roger Kodat ... Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is 43 ... Jessica Ennis, alum of Rubio, RNC, Romney, Bush-Cheney and FP1 Strategies … Josh Greenman, op-ed editor at the N.Y. Daily News, is 43 ... Ken Nahigian is 45 … former Ill. Sen. Roland Burris is 79 … Jeff Dressler, senior policy advisor for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy … Matt Compton, deputy digital director at Hillary for America and a DNC, WH and DLCC alum …

... Kenneth Grubbs, press secretary for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), is 68 ... Vicki Cram, principal of Squire Patton Boggs … Katie Todd Reilly, manager of public policy initiatives at the Travelers Institute at Travelers ... Walter Bishop, legislative assistant at the NYC Office of Federal Affairs ... David Velázquez ... former Rep. Orval Hansen (R-ID) is 90 ... Rochele Dornatt of House Approps ... Majid Salahuddin ... Mark Powden, Dem staff director for Senate Banking, is 59 (h/ts Legistorm) ... Matthew Foldi is 2-0 ... City Journal editor Brian Anderson ... Aaron Lewis of Edmunds.com ... Michael Hilder is 33 ... Laura Schneider ... Hofstra and NYU journalism professor Joe Peyronnin ... Nancy E. Smith ... Krista Lane ... Football Hall-of-Fame coach Marv Levy is 91 ... Tony Bennett is 9-0 ... Martin Sheen is 76 ... Martha Stewart is 75 ... movie director John Landis is 66 ... Jay North (“Dennis the Menace”) is 65 ... country musician Randy Scruggs is 63 ... Isaiah Washington is 53 ... actress Georgina Haig is 30 ... singer Holly Arnstein (Dream) is 31 ... actress Tanya Fischer is 31 ... pop-rock musician Brent Kutzle (OneRepublic) is 31 (h/ts AP)

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