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SNEAK PEEK – “Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate,” by Juan Williams (Crown, 296 pp.), out July 26: “Just after 8:00 a.m. [the day after Williams was fired from NPR with what he calls a ‘dismissive late-afternoon call’], I got a call from Bill Shine [Fox News executive vice president of programming]. He told me that Fox CEO Roger Ailes wanted to see me in his office at 10:00 a.m. Since I had talked with Hannity the night before, anxiety and pent-up anger and depression had all pulled at my emotions. I had not slept. At times I had cried over what had happened and over the potential destruction of my career – all because I had spoken my mind. “When I walked into Roger Ailes’s office, accompanied by Shine and Michael Clemente, the senior vice president for news, Ailes greeted me with a smile and said, ‘Well, we can’t have you working here.’ As my jaw dropped, he broke into a laugh. He waved his hand and said he … [Read more...] about Obama: ‘If not now, when?’ – 11 am presser

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen;  [email protected])  and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman;  [email protected]) BREAKING – “Pro-Bush super PAC spending $10M-plus on initial TV campaign,” by AP’s Tom Beaumont in Des Moines: “Officials with Right to Rise USA say they [will make an ‘eight-figure’ buy Mon.] in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina TV markets and on cable television in the three states. Ads are scheduled to begin in Iowa and New Hampshire on Sept. 15, in South Carolina a week later and then run continuously through the end of the year. Story Continued Below “The plan ... is ... the first major move by the group, which was developed by ... Mike Murphy, to run alongside Bush’s own campaign organization, which is bound by federal fundraising limits. ‘We believe Jeb Bush has the strongest record of conservative accomplishments in the race, and we plan to tell that story,’ Paul Lindsay, … [Read more...] about TRUMP to Chuck Todd, on his military advisers: ‘Well, I watch the shows’ – On whether to admit Ukraine to NATO: ‘I would not care that much, to be honest’ – May soon rule out third-party bid

Driving the Day Listen to the Playbook Audio Briefing http://bit.ly/2rH4Ohg ... Subscribe on iTunes http://apple.co/2eX6Eay ... Visit the online home of Playbook http://politi.co/2f51Jnf Good Tuesday morning. Today is the 73rd anniversary of D-Day. Story Continued Below IN CASE YOU DIDN’T GET THE POINT MONDAY MORNING, another statement from President Donald Trump on Twitter at 9:20 p.m. last night: “That’s right, we need a TRAVEL BAN for certain DANGEROUS countries, not some politically correct term that won’t help us protect our people!” JEN HABERKORN and BURGESS EVERETT scoop that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wants to vote on replacing Obamacare by the July 4 recess. We even hear that Senate Republicans are starting to send pieces of what might end up in their plan to the Congressional Budget Office. SURE, A VOTE CAN HAPPEN, but listen to the quotes Burgess and Jen got from Republican senators, and tell us if you hear confidence or … [Read more...] about TRUMP doubles down on travel ban – WHO’S ANCHORING COMEY — TRUMP UNHAPPY with Sessions — LINDA McMAHON on the hiring ‘bottleneck’ — TRUMP ORG’s new budget hotel chain – MSNBC’s PRIMETIME SURGE to No. 1

Driving the Day THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES tweeted a 28-second video of himself punching someone whose face is covered by the CNN logo. The altered video is from one of his appearances 10 years ago on WWE. THE TWEET -- THE PRESIDENT at 9:21 a.m.: “#FraudNewsCNN #FNN” http://bit.ly/2sfIASRStory Continued Below LET’S BE CLEAR -- The president has just sent his 33 million followers a video of himself pummeling a man covered by the CNN logo. CNN anchors and reporters -- indeed, anchors and reporters from many media outlets -- have been threatened and harassed. The president tweeted this message from the comfort of his summer golf home in New Jersey, surrounded by Secret Service. Meanwhile journalists are in the field, across the country and the world. THE WHITE HOUSE keeps telling us the president wants to talk about policy, but the media doesn’t want to cover it. Since June 30, the president has tweeted once about health care -- and it was to suggest a new … [Read more...] about THE PRESIDENT posts a video of himself pummeling a man with CNN logo on his face — CNN: ‘We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his’ — SASSE punts on ’20