| | | | |  | | By Lauren Egan, Eli Stokols and Ben Johansen | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren For years, TV bookers have been carefully planning their 2024 election coverage. They’ve hired people close to DONALD TRUMP and JOE BIDEN to offer on-air analysis and have built out stables of strategists with experience working for the two candidates on whom they can call to appear on their shows. But with Vice President KAMALA HARRIS taking over the top of the Democratic Party ticket, networks are having to rework their pundit lineups. Bookers and TV producers have been scrambling to find Harris alumni to come on their shows, especially given that some of the more well-known figures to emerge from Harris world are under contract with specific networks. SYMONE SANDERS-TOWNSEND, the former press secretary to the vice president, has her own MSNBC show; JAMAL SIMMONS, the VP’s former communications director, is signed on with CNN, along with Harris allies KAREN FINNEY and BAKARI SELLERS; and ASHLEY ETIENNE, former senior adviser to the VP, is on contract at CBS News but not precluded from appearing elsewhere and has been a frequent guest of late on MSNBC. Some White House correspondents who cover Harris closely are also under contract: our colleague EUGENE DANIELS at MSNBC and The New York Times’ ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS with CNN. And very few of the campaign embeds assigned to Harris during the 2020 cycle, who would otherwise be the obvious on-air talent to elevate in this moment, are still at their networks. Those talking heads and reporters with TV deals may not be enough as the revamped and admittedly more interesting presidential election enters the final stretch and requires more round-the-clock live coverage. In the nearly two weeks since Biden dropped out, networks have been trying to find Democrats who know even the slightest bit about Harris or staffers who worked for her for long enough to be able to speak with some authority. Some producers have reached out to long-time Harris reporters for suggestions about which Harris alumni are still in D.C. and could be good on TV. “We’ve noticed there’s intense interest from our audience for anything about her,” said one cable news executive who said their network has sought out Harris associates, former staffers and biographers. “People are just really curious and clearly want to know more about her.” DONNA BRAZILE, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee who is close to the vice president’s office and has a contract with ABC News, said that multiple people had reached out to her asking for names of Harris allies who would be interested in doing TV through the November election. “I’ve been helping everyone else who has called me. There’s a lot of people out there who are in negotiations,” said Brazile. Staffers who worked for Harris going back to her time in the California attorney general’s office have been inundated with requests from TV bookers in the past two weeks. ROHINI KOSOGLU, one of Harris’ longest-serving aides who tends to keep a low-profile, joined JAKE TAPPER’s CNN show last week for a discussion with SHIRA STEIN, Washington correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle. It was Stein’s cable news debut. Some TV bookers that spoke with West Wing Playbook, however, said that there is always a mad dash to get the right people on air in the final few months before the election. And they noted that they weren’t starting from scratch. There was a lot of interest in booking people in Harris’ orbit during her 2020 campaign and when she was first inaugurated as vice president. Some bookers said they were dusting off those years-old lists of contacts to see who was still in the mix. But the relative shortage of Harris alumni — compared to a plethora of people who have worked for Biden in his nearly 50-year D.C. career — has led to more junior-level staffers getting asked to go on air, including RACHEL PALERMO, the VP’s former deputy communications director and associate counsel who also worked on PETE BUTTIGIEG’s presidential campaign. GEVIN REYNOLDS, a former Harris speechwriter and contributor to The Root, told West Wing Playbook he’s gotten numerous requests in the last week to appear from U.S. and even international broadcast networks. “I spent time on vacation this past week doing interviews on CNN, Australian national radio and a New Zealand morning show,” he said. “It’s an honor to use my platform as a former Harris staffer — and a young Black male from the south — to support the VP’s historic candidacy in such a public manner.” MESSAGE US — Are you ALAN BERGER? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
| | | | Live briefings, policy trackers, and procedural, industry, and people intelligence from POLITICO Pro Analysis gives you the insights you need to focus your policy strategy this election cycle. Secure your seat. | | | | | | | | | Who is the first president mentioned in BILLY JOEL’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire”? (Answer at bottom.)
| | HISTORIC HOMECOMING: The Biden administration has agreed to a prisoner exchange with Russia that would send Wall Street Journal reporter EVAN GERSHKOVICH, Marine veteran PAUL WHELAN and Russian-American radio journalist ALSU KURMASHEVA back to the U.S., our JONATHAN LEMIRE and ERIN BANCO report. Gershkovich had been detained since March of 2023 for suspicion of espionage, a charge he and the U.S. have denied. Just two weeks ago, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison in a rushed trial widely decried as unlawful.
|  | | Their return is a part of a larger, multi-country exchange that is considered one of the most complex prisoner swaps in U.S. history. Biden gave remarks later in the day praising the deal, during which he was joined by the families of the prisoners. “Now their brutal ordeal is over, and they’re free,” Biden said in a speech from the White House State Dining Room. “It’s an incredible relief.” In Biden family tradition, the president led off a “Happy Birthday” rendition for 13-year-old MIRIAM BUTORIN, Kurmasheva’s daughter. National Security Adviser JAKE SULLIVAN said at Thursday’s press briefing that President Biden and Vice President Harris will greet the three freed Americans at Joint Base Andrews later tonight. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by CBS News’ CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ, who reports that unlawful crossings by migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border dropped for the fifth straight month in July, falling to the lowest level since the fall of 2020. U.S. Border Patrol agents made roughly 56,000 migrant apprehensions between official points of entry along the southern border during the month, the lowest number since September 2020, when the agency reported nearly 55,000 apprehensions. The continued decline has the average of daily crossings inching closer to the 1,500 per day threshold, which would have Biden deactivate his asylum crackdown. White House communications director BEN LaBOLT and campaign spokesperson JAMES SINGER shared the piece on X. WHAT WILMINGTON DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by NYT’s JENNIFER MEDINA, who reports that despite Vice President Harris’ surge nationally since the president dropped out, her campaign still faces an uphill climb in Nevada, one of the handful of states that will determine November’s election. BRYCE BRADY, a local campaign operative in Nevada, pointed to one fact in an interview: There would be no winning without Independent voters, who now outnumber both registered Democrats and Republicans in the state. After Brady led an hourlong strategy session with volunteers, several paused to consider whether they had any on-the-fence friends who could be convinced to vote for the VP. “Most concluded they did not,” Medina writes. “They were Democrats who mostly spoke with other Democrats, and they were feeding off each other’s euphoric optimism.” “We’re all thrilled — but I do question how much bad information exists out there, and how we get past all that,” said TERRY ADAMS, who attended the session. Adams has heard his own daughter repeat falsehoods about Harris, including an incorrect belief that she doesn’t support LGBTQ+ rights. “Of course I am excited, but the problems and the challenges for people are still the same,” said ÁNGELES REYES, an organizer with Make the Road Nevada, a liberal advocacy group.
| | FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY! Nashville’s own TJ DUCKLO is scheduled to be a “special guest” during a “Nashville for Her!” online event Thursday evening. Ducklo, who worked as an adviser to then-Mayor JOHN COOPER, will join FRANK STEVENSON, MICHAEL JOYNER, BREONUS MITCHELL and JERRY L. MAYNARD II to galvanize local support for Harris. According to the invite, Ducklo will share “insights into the campaign and his experience in political strategy will provide valuable context and highlight the importance of grassroots support in the electoral process.” OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL (ALMOST): The DNC on Thursday began the formal vote to nominate Vice President Harris for president, CBS News’ AARON NAVARRO reports. The DNC opened the vote to delegates this morning, who were emailed a personalized and watermarked form. They can either send the form back or have the DNC call them to cast their votes. The process is expected to take several days, with the window closing at 6 p.m. on Aug. 5.
| | POD SAVE THE POD: Bloomberg’s ASHLEY CARMAN has a juicy piece out today detailing how, behind the mic, stark divisions exist within Pod Save America, as members of its young, idealistic staff clash against the middle aged and more moderate hosts and founders of Crooked Media. Among a slew of complaints, JON FAVREAU’s real estate dealings have them heated. “Favreau reportedly bought a home for nearly $10 million in Los Angeles in early 2023. Images on social media showed him and his wife schmoozing with celebrities like Chrissy Teigen and John Legend,” Carman writes. “Some of the Crooked Media staff said they resented Favreau’s real estate dealings. They interpreted it as a signal of the founders talking like progressives but enjoying the wealth of the privileged class, particularly during a tough time in the podcast market, according to several staffers.” And there was much more. Issues such as the co-founders’ handling of discussing the war in Gaza, a stalled union-organizing push and co-founder JON LOVETT’s romantic relationship with a staffer have frustrated the younger latte-sipping, chronically-online generation at Crooked, who argue that the celebrity status Favreau, Lovett, DAN PFEIFFER and TOMMY VIETOR have gained since the Pod’s founding has blinded them to the real plights of Americans. Good grief. PERSONNEL MOVES: YASH MORI, the deputy director of the White House Photo Office is departing and starting his own digital strategy consulting firm, Mori Strategies. THIS DUDE IS A UNIT: Although this is not directly tied to the West Wing, it may be one day. Over the weekend, Maryland Gov. WES MOORE made an appearance at the start of the Washington Commanders’ training camp, sporting a #21 jersey while praising rookie QB JAYDEN DANIELS. But the more impressive showing was earlier today at the University of Maryland football practice, where he put on the pads and took some reps with the Terps, running through some plays with the team. Honestly, being able to keep up on the turf with 20-year-old, world-class athletes may be the best kind of pitch you can make to young voters four or eight years from now.
| | | | BRACE FOR IMPACT: In response to the assassination of Hamas political leader ISMAIL HANIYEH earlier this week, the Biden administration is convinced Iran is going to perform a counterattack on Israel, Axios’ BARAK RAVID reports. Officials say they expect any Iranian retaliation to be similar to the country’s April 13 attack on Israel — but potentially larger in scope — and it could also involve the Lebanese Hezbollah. FAILURE ON MULTIPLE LEVELS: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for years failed to properly investigate allegations of sexual harassment of employees in the workplace and implement programs designed to prevent such misconduct, the agency’s internal watchdog has concluded. The report from the FDIC’s inspector general, released Thursday, is the latest set of findings showing a toxic workplace under longtime FDIC chair MARTIN GRUENBERG, our MICHAEL STRATFORD reports for Pro subscribers. The report blasts the agency’s procedures for accepting complaints and conducting and tracking investigations as ineffective and inadequate. It also critiques the FDIC’s failure to set up appropriate training programs and other anti-harassment measures.
| | Inside the Secret Negotiations to Free Evan Gershkovich (WSJ’s Joe Parkinson, Drew Hinshaw, Bojan Pancevski and Aruna Viswanatha) How Gender Redefined the 2024 Election (TNR’s Grace Segers) What Donald Trump Doesn’t Understand About Race in America (POLITICO’s Teresa Wiltz)
| | | OK, for you Billy Joel fanatics out there, this might be an easy one. It’s HARRY TRUMAN, who is not only the first president mentioned, but the first name in the entirety of the song. There are four other former presidents shouted out, including RICHARD NIXON, DWIGHT EISENHOWER, JOHN F. KENNEDY and RONALD REAGAN. A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it! Edited by Steve Shepard and Rishika Dugyala.
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