| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | ANNIVERSARY READ — “60 Years After JFK’s Death: What Might Have Been,” by Jeff Greenfield in POLITICO Magazine: “Had [JOHN F. KENNEDY] lived, it would not only have changed the course of American history, but how we view the 35th president and his legacy.” WELL, THAT WAS FUN — “Sam Altman to return as CEO of OpenAI,” by the Verge’s Nilay Patel and Alex Heath: “SAM ALTMAN will return as CEO of OpenAI, overcoming an attempted boardroom coup that sent the company into chaos over the past several days. … The company said in a statement late Tuesday that it has an ‘agreement in principle’ for Altman to return alongside a new board.”
|  Palestinians look at destruction by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in Deir al Balah, Nov. 22, 2023. | Hatem Moussa/AP | A DEAL AT LAST — After weeks of grueling negotiations, Israel and Hamas agreed last night to a deal that would halt bombing for at least four days and secure the release of 50 women and children being held in Gaza, including three Americans. The agreement, brokered by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt, is a breakthrough for diplomacy in the six-week-old conflict, but as our Alex Ward, Adam Cancryn and Jonathan Lemire write, it’s a limited one: “Three U.S. administration officials said there’s no explicit victory lap to take as around 200 hostages will stay behind in Hamas’ grasp. And it would be uncouth to celebrate any win after Hamas killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7, leading Israel to forcefully respond with a military campaign that Hamas-led health ministries claim killed more than 13,000 people.” What’s in the agreement … (1) A four-day pause in fighting, (2) the release of 50 women and children held hostage by Hamas, (3) the release of 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in prison by Israel, and (4) safe passage for humanitarian aid from Egypt to Gaza. The agreement takes effect later tonight. Said President JOE BIDEN: “I look forward to speaking with each of these leaders and staying in close contact as we work to ensure this deal is carried through in its entirety. It is important that all aspects of this deal be fully implemented. … Today’s deal should bring home additional American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all released.” Hamas is calling the agreement a “truce,” while Israel is referring to it as a “pause” and is vowing to continue the war “in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.” Said Israel in a statement, “The release of every additional ten hostages will result in one additional day in the pause.” What we’ll be asking as this shakes out … Will diplomacy continue amid Israel’s offer to extend the pause in exchange for more freed hostages? … Will the ceasefire hold and the aid trucks keep rolling through the weekend? … Will this create space for future humanitarian pauses going forward? … Will the return of some hostages improve BENJAMIN NETANYAHU’s political standing in Israel? … Will the deal ease the pressure on Biden and congressional Democrats from the left? Related reads: “How a secret cell got Hamas to release 50 hostages,” by Alexander Ward … “The making of a ‘more for more’ deal in the Gaza war,” by WaPo’s David Ignatius … “Was Peace Between Israelis and Palestinians Ever Possible?” NYT
| | A message from National Retail Federation: The new CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions, provides a more accurate look at monthly retail sales. The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor uses anonymized, real-time debit and credit card purchase data to provide more accurate and timely insights into retail sales activity across all U.S. sectors, categories and markets. All information produced by Affinity Solutions is anonymized and aggregated and does not include any personally identifiable information of an individual consumer. Learn more. | | | A TALE OF TWO CAMPAIGNS — Thanksgiving is a time for reflection, which includes taking stock of the race for the Republican presidential nomination as time runs short for GOP contenders to catch up to front-runner DONALD TRUMP. Several new stories this morning help explain the race’s most important rivalry — between Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS and former South Carolina Gov. NIKKI HALEY, who are best positioned in terms of money, polling and campaign infrastructure to compete with Trump. — As DeSantis starts taking direct aim at Haley, his campaign continues to be beset by internal tensions between his inner circle and his main Super PAC, Never Back Down, per new reporting by NBC’s Dasha Burns, Matt Dixon, Natasha Korecki and Jonathan Allen. Things hit a boiling point in a meeting last week, the NBC crew reports, where Super PAC honcho JEFF ROE “nearly came to blows” with longtime DeSantis adviser SCOTT WAGNER. “The infighting,” they write, “represents an escalation in the long-running war … over who is to blame for the governor’s failure to compete effectively with front-runner Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. “DeSantis and his wife, CASEY, have been among those increasingly upset at Never Back Down's leadership, according to two sources familiar with their thinking. And, after tempers flared at last week's meeting, three close DeSantis allies — DAVID DEWHIRST, JEFF AARON and SCOTT ROSS — launched a second super PAC, Fight Right Inc., in part at their urging.” — Meanwhile, our Sally Goldenberg, Natalie Allison and Meridith McGraw are out this morning with a dive into how Haley is consolidating the Never Trump vote and showing new strength in early voting states. “A group of former TIM SCOTT donors is preparing to host a fundraiser for her in Manhattan. Haley’s campaign events in New Hampshire this week required overflow rooms. And in Iowa — where Haley has steeper competition from [DeSantis] — some conservatives are busy corralling support for her,” the trio writes. — WaPo’s Dylan Wells, Hannah Knowles and Maeve Reston are also up with a Haley story, that similarly documents her success emerging as a Trump alternative but also includes this epic to-be-sure graf about the challenges she’s facing: “Her pitch to move on from Trump is out of step in a party where he is largely beloved. She is facing attacks from critics who claim she tries to have it both ways on big issues, from her shifting stance on Trump to her lack of specifics on abortion. There are questions about the strength of her ground game, particularly in Iowa, where DeSantis and Trump have laid stronger foundations, local operatives said. CHRIS CHRISTIE’s continued presence in the race complicates her ability to consolidate the support of anti-Trump independents in New Hampshire. And there is a long record in recent presidential elections of candidates experiencing a late burst of momentum only to fizzle out.” — We at Playbook are gluttons for holiday drama, so we set a virtual Thanksgiving table and invited each campaign to lay out their best case vis-a-vis the other candidate — and take their best shot: Said Haley spokesperson OLIVIA PEREZ-CUBAS: “Poll after poll show Nikki Haley is the best challenger to Donald Trump and Joe Biden. She’s second in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina and is the only candidate with the momentum to go the distance. Ron DeSantis has a short shelf life with his Iowa-or-bust strategy.” Said DeSantis spokesperson ANDREW ROMEO: "The data is clear that Nikki Haley has no path to the nomination and every dollar spent on her candidacy is an in-kind for the Trump campaign. Ron DeSantis is the only candidate with the organization, resources, and message necessary to beat Trump in multiple early states — including the first and most important state on the calendar." And here’s where we talk turkey: DeSantis has everything riding on a strong showing in Iowa, while Haley is facing rising pressure in New Hampshire and her home state of South Carolina. Meanwhile, neither candidate has truly managed to pierce Trump’s sense of inevitability, and time is running out. Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from National Retail Federation:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The House and the Senate are out. What we’re watching … It’s Thanksgiving week, but the subpoenas keep flying from House Republicans. The latest target is LESLEY WOLF, a Delaware-based federal prosecutor involved in the investigation of HUNTER BIDEN who stands accused of protecting the presidential son. Wolf has been called to testify privately to the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 7 as the GOP moves ever closer to formal impeachment proceedings against the president. More from Betsy Woodruff Swan At the White House Biden and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS have no public events scheduled.
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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox hugs Celeste Maloy during an election night party in West Valley City, Utah, Nov. 21. | Rick Bowmer/AP | MAKING CONGRESS WHOLE AGAIN — Republican CELESTE MALOY won the special election to fill the seat of former Utah GOP Rep. CHRIS STEWART, who stepped aside earlier this year. Maloy will return the House to its full complement of 435 members and restore Republicans’ 222-213 margin. Maloy, who is a former congressional aide to Stewart, defeated Democratic state Rep. KATHLEEN RIEBE in yesterday’s contest, capping off a campaign that emphasized curbing inflation and government overreach, and according to Maloy avoided “red-meat issues that people get wound up about,” our colleague Madison Fernandez writes. “Maloy said she’s planning on traveling to Washington to be sworn in next week, even though the results won’t be certified until the first week of December,” per the Salt Lake Tribune’s Bryan Schott and Emily Anderson Stern. She will be the first woman in the Utah congressional delegation since 2019 and the fifth in the state’s history. More top reads:
- Rep. BILL JOHNSON (R-Ohio) announced yesterday he will retire from Congress and take over as president of Youngstown State University at some point next year. A spokesman said only that he would resign before March 31, meaning that Johnson will likely still be in place for the government funding fight early next year. More from the Canton Repository’s Robert Wang
- Rep. MARÍA ELVIRA SALAZAR (R-Fla.) released an endorsement video for JAVIER MILEI in the days before he was elected as president of Argentina, where she “praised the country as having everything, including ‘only one culture, only one religion and only one race, completely homogenous,’” NBC’s Suzanne Gamboa writes. The comment “appeared to refer to a perception of Argentina, including among its own citizens, as a country of white European descendants” which is “often criticized for ignoring the South American country’s Black and Indigenous culture and ancestry, and it is sometimes fodder for mockery, as well as memes.”
2024 WATCH
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Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) holds a rally outside of the New Hampshire Statehouse on Oct. 27. | Gaelen Morse/Getty Images | PHILLIPS TURNS THE SCREWS ON BIDEN — Pass the Torch, a new super PAC backing Rep. DEAN PHILLIPS’ longshot challenge to Biden, is pushing a slate of new ads attacking the president’s reelection bid, WaPo’s Michael Scherer reports. “Some of the spots — which will initially run in New Hampshire and the Washington area — compare Biden’s campaign to a burning dynamite fuse overlaid on news headlines about his struggles and recent polling results showing him trailing former president Donald Trump.” “Several spots use President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address as narration to argue that it is once again time to ‘pass the torch’ to a new generation of leaders. One of the spots show images of Biden looking confused at official events as Kennedy speaks about ‘a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle.’” Meanwhile, back at his day job, Phillips is expecting to make a decision about running for reelection to Congress after the Thanksgiving break, Axios’ Andrew Solender and Torey Van Oot report. Adding to the intrigue and speculation that Phillips may forgo another run for Congress is the already crowded slate of Democratic candidates who have announced their own runs for Phillips’ seat. More top reads:
- Biden’s reelection campaign is cautiously hoping that the extensive coverage of Trump’s comeback attempt continues apace, NYT’s Reid Epstein writes. “Behind the improbable longing for the former president to gobble up political oxygen again is Democrats’ yearslong dependence on the Trump outrage machine.”
- No Labels, the centrist organization that has floated and advocated for the prospect of a unity ticket to run in 2024, “has joined forces with JAVIER PALOMAREZ, an advocate of Hispanic-owned businesses with a history of allegations of workplace financial misconduct and sexual harassment,” NYT’s Kate Kelly and Reid Epstein report.
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| |  GOP Rep. David Schweikert's seat is a top target for Democrats in Arizona — if they can navigate a crowded primary first. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | RAISING ARIZONA — The race for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District on its face appears to be one of Democrats’ best flip chances, and it has the candidate field to prove it. Seven Democrats have already jumped into the race to unseat GOP Rep. DAVID SCHWEIKERT, who won his 2022 matchup by less than one percentage point. The contenders include a Clinton White House alum, a former broadcast journalist and an American Red Cross executive. “But not everyone in the primary is getting the same attention from the party committee,” Brittany Gibson reports. “Only half of the field was invited to a recent week of candidate events hosted by the DCCC in Washington, dredging up old criticisms of the campaign committee’s favoritism in primary races.” More top reads:
- While KARI LAKE has toned down some of her rhetoric regarding her 2022 gubernatorial election loss in Arizona now that she’s running for Senate, she’s largely doubling down on her claims that the election was “rigged” against her in court proceedings, the Arizona Republic’s Laura Gersony writes.
- In light of Sen. JOE MANCHIN’s (D-W.Va.) decision to call it quits, Democrats are turning their attention to the critical contests against Florida’s RICK SCOTT and Texas’ TED CRUZ that could be the party’s best opportunities to flip seats on the Senate map, The Messenger’s Dan Merica writes.
- JIM NELSON, a Black Air Force veteran and pastor who was running for Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District, is shutting down his campaign — and calling out his party brass on the way out. In an unusually candid op-ed published by TribLive.
- Former New York Gov. ANDREW CUOMO is mulling a run for NYC mayor should ERIC ADAMS end up ousted amid the federal investigation into corruption on his campaign. Our colleagues Nick Reisman and Jeff Coltin in New York report that Cuomo “has begun in recent days to gauge the viability of a potential mayoral bid,” adding that there is also a new poll that circulating measuring “how voters feel about Cuomo, his accomplishments in office and the controversies that led to his resignation.”
AMERICA AND THE WORLD THE VIEW FROM THE U.S. — The Biden administration has been providing Israeli officials with the location of humanitarian groups in Gaza for weeks to prevent strikes against their facilities, but Israel has continued to hit such sites, Erin Banco and Nahal Toosi report. “It’s unclear if the U.S. has compiled a formal ‘no-strike’ list or if it is providing one-off guidance. But officials have helped transmit coordinates of groups that provide food and medical care in Gaza and operate out of hospitals, smaller offices and live in guest houses.” The White House also voiced concern yesterday that Iran may provide Russia with ballistic missiles for use in its war against Ukraine, a development that likely would be disastrous for the Ukrainian people,” AP’s Darlene Superville reports. THE RIPPLE EFFECT — “Historic fine on Binance over alleged Hamas financing signals new era in crypto crackdown,” by Declan Harty and Sam Sutton DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — “A growing global footprint for China’s space program worries Pentagon,” by WaPo’s Cate Cadell and Marcelo Perez del Carpio in El Alto, Bolivia: “U.S. officials say the ground stations — which allow countries to maintain uninterrupted communication with satellites and other space vehicles — have the potential to expand Beijing’s global military surveillance network in the southern hemisphere and areas close to the United States.” TRUMP CARDS CANNON FODDER — Judge AILEEN CANNON so far has not seemed in a hurry to work through the classified documents trial that Trump is facing, setting up the case to head to trial in May. But in reality, Cannon has run the pretrial process at a “leisurely pace that will make a postponement almost inevitable, according to experts on criminal prosecutions related to classified information,” Josh Gerstein writes. “Delaying Trump’s trial until after the November election would have a momentous implication: It might mean the trial never happens at all. If Trump wins the election and the case is still pending, he’s expected to order the Justice Department to shut it down. Even a shorter delay would be fraught: Pushing the trial into the summer or fall could run headlong into the Republican National Convention or the heart of the general election campaign.” IN THE GEORGIA CASE — “Fulton judge refuses to jail Trump co-defendant over social media posts,” by the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s David Wickert and Bill Rankin IN THE NEW YORK CASE — “In tears, ex-Trump exec testifies he gave up company job because he was tired of legal woes,” by AP’s Jennifer Peltz POLICY CORNER FED UP — “The Fed Wants More Evidence Before Changing Rate Stance,” by WSJ’s Nick Timiraos: “Economic projections released at the September meeting showed most officials had penciled in one more rate increase this year. While the minutes showed officials are still focused on whether they have raised rates to levels that will slow the economy enough to keep inflation heading lower, market participants are looking ahead to when the central bank will be in a position to lower rates next year because of signs that inflation is heading back to the Fed’s 2% target.” FOR YOUR RADAR — “FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg Won’t Oversee Misconduct Probe,” by WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus MEDIAWATCH MUSK V. MEDIA — Media Matters President ANGELO CARUSONE speaks with WaPo’s Greg Sargent about the looming lawsuit against the organization brought by ELON MUSK: “The lawsuit may get dismissed. But if not, Carusone said, Media Matters would probably pursue discovery, seeking to learn whether Musk and X executives ‘knew internally’ that these juxtapositions were happening, what they communicated with advertisers about this, and how Musk internally discussed procedures for handling extremist content.”
| | | | GET A BACKSTAGE PASS TO COP28 WITH GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Get insider access to the conference that sets the tone of the global climate agenda with POLITICO's Global Playbook newsletter. Authored by Suzanne Lynch, Global Playbook delivers exclusive, daily insights and comprehensive coverage that will keep you informed about the most crucial climate summit of the year. Dive deep into the critical discussions and developments at COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Nicolle Wallace and Michael Schmidt welcomed a new baby. Tina Smith did her version of Minnesota Nice. Jeff Zucker is mounting a comeback, starting across the pond. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Rachel Levitan is now senior adviser to the CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. She most recently was senior adviser to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and is a Tom Carper, Senate EPW and House Foreign Affairs alum. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Jenna Kastan, principal at Kastan Communications and a Paul Ryan and CBS News alum, and Jake Kastan, principal at Peterson Partners and a Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney alum, welcomed Lyla Gemma Kastan on Nov. 6. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) (6-0) … NBC’s Scott Wong … U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield … U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Shefali Razdan Duggal … Ned Price … POLITICO’s Timothy Francois … Cassie Spodak … Rob Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation … CBS’ Matthew Mosk … Jacob Wood … Brunswick Group’s Robert Christie … Meghan Twomey … James Williams of Arnold Ventures … Lauren Reamy of Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) office … Meena Ganesan … Tim R. Cohen … former Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.) … Maggie Madsen … Bettina Inclán-Agen … Tim Cameron of FlexPoint Media … Andy Stern … Donny Deutsch … Austin Matheny of the Environmental Defense Fund … Reagan McCarthy of Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s (R-Pa.) office Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton, producer Andrew Howard and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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