POLITICO Playbook: Cuomo says ‘hatred exploding’ after stabbing at Hanukkah gathering

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DRIVING THE DAY

BREAKING OVERNIGHT ... AP: “Gov: 5 stabbed at Hanukkah gathering was act of intolerance,” by Ryan Tarinelli in Monsey, N.Y.: “A man stabbed and wounded five people as they gathered at a rabbi’s home north of New York City to celebrate Hanukkah, in an attack that the governor said Sunday was fueled by intolerance and evidence of a “cancer” in American politics.

“The Saturday night stabbings north of New York City on the seventh night of Hanukkah come on the heels of a string of attacks targeting Jews in the region, including a massacre at a kosher grocery store in New Jersey earlier this month. The rabbi’s home is in Monsey, a town not far from the New Jersey state line and one of several in the Hudson Valley that has seen an influx of Hasidic Jews in recent years. The Rockland County town is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of New York City.

“One person was very seriously wounded, the governor told reporters, and remained in critical condition. The rabbi’s son was also injured, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. His status and that of the other victims was not clear. Authorities have not provided a motive for the attack, but Cuomo said it was an example of larger problems. ‘This is an intolerant time in our country,’ he said to reporters outside the rabbi’s home on Sunday morning. ‘We see anger, we see hatred exploding.’

“He added: ‘It is an American cancer on the body politic.’ He said he thought the crime was an act of domestic terrorism and expected it to be prosecuted that way.” AP

-- SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.) tweeted: “The attack last night in Monsey was an act of pure evil. The cascade in anti-Semitic attacks is outrageous throughout metropolitan New York and America, and must not be tolerated. We need a thorough federal investigation of this specific attack and all of the recent attacks.”

-- PIX11: “There were alleged attacks on Jewish New Yorkers almost every day last week” (h/t @jaketapper)

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM … A DAY AFTER saying he wouldn’t comply with any subpoenas in President DONALD TRUMP’s impeachment trial in the Senate, JOE BIDEN reversed himself, saying on the campaign trail that he would now obey “any subpoena that was sent to me.”

NYT’S THOMAS KAPLAN in Fairfield, Iowa, has the play-by-play: “Joseph R. Biden Jr. backtracked on Saturday from his stated position that he would not comply with a subpoena to testify in President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate. Instead, he declared that he would abide by “any subpoena that was sent to me” even as he insisted there was no justification for calling him as a witness.

“A day after reaffirming that he would not comply with a subpoena, Mr. Biden tried twice on Saturday to clarify his remarks, asserting that there would be no ‘legal basis’ for such a subpoena but left it unclear, for much of the day, if he would ultimately comply with one. Then, questioned by a voter about the issue of compliance with subpoenas, Mr. Biden answered unequivocally.

“‘I would obey any subpoena that was sent to me,’ he said at a town hall-style event in Fairfield. Mr. Biden’s 180-degree turn on whether he would comply with a subpoena was one of the starkest and swiftest reversals by a candidate in the Democratic primary campaign, and came after he faced questions and criticism about whether his initial stand would run counter to the rule of law.” NYT

OUT TODAY: BIDEN OP-ED in Religion News Service: “Today’s politics are too toxic, mean and divisive. People are too quick to demonize and dehumanize, too ready to dismiss all that we have in common as Americans. That’s beneath us as a country. It doesn’t reflect our values; it’s not who we are. That’s why, since I first declared my candidacy for president, I’ve said: I’m running to restore the soul of our nation.” RNS

MEANWHILE … Democrats have been holding out hope that their impeachment effort will rein in TRUMP and his more erratic behavior, but the president has been on a Twitter spree of late, retweeting the name of the alleged whistleblower and this morning tweeted conspiracy theories about Speaker NANCY PELOSI’S family.

-- WAPO’S COLBY ITKOWITZ: “Trump retweets a post naming the alleged whistleblower”: “President Trump retweeted a post naming the alleged whistleblower who filed the complaint that became the catalyst for the congressional inquiry that resulted in his impeachment by the House of Representatives.

“On Friday night, Trump shared a Twitter post from @surfermom77, who describes herself as ‘100% Trump supporter,’ with his 68 million followers. That tweet prominently named the alleged whistleblower and suggested that he had committed perjury.

“By Saturday morning, the post did not appear on Trump’s timeline, though it was visible to certain users and via direct link. On Saturday evening, Twitter acknowledged that a technical glitch made Trump’s retweet appear visible to some users but not others. Twitter said the discrepancy was the result of a system error that affected tweets from millions of users, including the president.” WaPo

-- HOUSE MINORITY WHIP STEVE SCALISE (R-La.) on “FOX NEWS SUNDAY” did not directly address Trump’s decision to retweet the alleged whistleblower. SCALISE: “Look the whistleblower should have testified a long time ago in fact they don’t really meet the definition of the whistleblower, they never saw a crime. Personally, from everything we have seen this person had a political vendetta against the president and supposedly worked for Joe Biden, so he has a political axe to grind.”

SCALISE also said he is certain Trump will be acquitted. More from Rishika Dugyala

Good Sunday morning. THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD: TRUMP will be at Mar-a-Lago all week and has nothing on his public schedule until Friday when he will deliver remarks at an “Evangelicals for Trump” coalition launch in Miami.

SUNDAY BEST … IVANKA TRUMP spoke with MARGARET BRENNAN on CBS’ “FACE THE NATION”: BRENNAN: “Whenever anyone hears you talk about the importance of being with your children, they also think about your personal- and you were vocal in your opposition to the family separation policy when it came to immigration … and the U.S. border. You said that was a low point for you.” TRUMP: “Correct.”

BRENNAN: “We went and looked and Homeland Security says there are still around 900 children who remain separated from their families. Is that something you continue to remain engaged on when it comes to immigration?”

TRUMP: “Well, immigration is not part of my portfolio, obviously. I think everyone should be engaged. And the full force of the U.S. government is- is committed to this effort to border security, to protecting the most vulnerable. That includes those being trafficked across our border, which this president has committed to countering and combating human trafficking in an incredibly comprehensive, aggressive way. So the full United States government has been focused on this issue, starting with the president.”

-- DEPT. OF NOT GOING THERE: SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-La.) to JAKE TAPPER on CNN’S “STATE OF THE UNION” about Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) difference of opinion with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) when it comes to an impeachment trial: “I think Senator McConnell is entitled to his opinion and his and his approach. So is Senator Murkowski. So is Senator Schumer. So is Senator Blumenthal.” More from David Cohen on Tapper’s interview with Kennedy

-- JON KARL interviewed ANDREW YANG on ABC’S “THIS WEEK” where the two discussed Yang’s new “Medicare for All” plan: KARL: “I’m confused. Your ad is explicit. Your ad says, Medicare for all. Your plan is not Medicare for all. It’s not even Medicare for some because in your plan there -- there’s not even a public option.” YANG: “Our plan is to expand a universal health care system to all Americans. Medicare for all is not the name of a bill. Medicare for all … Is universal health care for all Americans. And that is our vision.

KARL: “But Medicare for all is Medicare for all, right? I mean…” YANG: “Well, our -- our health care plan would be -- would be based on Medicare and expanding it over time to more and more Americans. You’d lower the eligibility age and then you make it widely accessible.”

THE LATEST IN NORTH KOREA -- “N. Korea begins key meeting before year-end deadline for U.S.,” by AP’s Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea: “North Korea has opened a high-profile political conference to discuss how to overcome “harsh trials and difficulties,” state media reported Sunday, days before a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang for Washington to make concessions in nuclear negotiations.

“The ruling Workers’ Party meeting is a focus of keen attention as some observers predict North Korea might use the conference to announce it would abandon faltering diplomacy with the U.S. and lift its moratorium on major weapons test.

“The Korean Central News Agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un presided over a plenary meeting of the party’s Central Committee convened in Pyongyang on Saturday. It called the gathering the ‘first-day session,’ suggesting it would continue for at least another day.” AP

-- KARL spoke with White House National Security Adviser ROBERT O’BRIEN: KARL: “Christmas has obviously come and gone. Are you still expecting some kind of a Christmas gift from Kim Jong-un?” O’BRIEN: “Yes, we always monitor the situation. And Chairman un has said that there would be something over Christmas. I think the president has engaged in personal diplomacy at a very high level with him over the years. And they have a good relationship personally. So perhaps he’s reconsidered that. But we will have to wait and see. We’re going to monitor it closely. It’s a situation that concerns us, of course.”

KARL: “And what will be the consequences if North Korea resumes either long-range missile tests or nuclear tests.” O’BRIEN: “You know, I don’t want to speculate about what will happen.

But we have a lot of tools in our toolkit, and additional pressure can be brought to bear on the North Koreans.”

THE TRUMP EFFECT -- “‘Nothing Less Than a Civil War’: These White Voters on the Far Right See Doom Without Trump,” by NYT’s Astead W. Herndon in Golden Valley, Ariz.: “[I]f any group remains singularly loyal to Mr. Trump, it is the small but impassioned number of white voters on the far right, often in rural communities like Golden Valley, who extol him as a cultural champion reclaiming the country from undeserving outsiders.

“These voters don’t passively tolerate Mr. Trump’s ‘build a wall’ message or his ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries — they’re what motivates them. They see themselves in his fear-based identity politics, bolstered by conspiratorial rhetoric about caravans of immigrants and Democratic ‘coups.’” NYT

WSJ’S MICHAEL BENDER and REBECCA BALLHAUS on PAT CIPOLLONE: “White House Counsel Drives Aggressive Trump Impeachment Defense”: “Though Mr. Trump has solicited advice elsewhere, resulting in a competing bids for influence by aides, the president has chiefly relied on Mr. Cipollone for impeachment strategy, officials say. He has been a near-constant presence in Mr. Trump’s office in recent weeks.

“The two have developed a close bond and sometimes converse with a shorthand born of their familiarity, one official said: ‘They are stapled to each other’s side.’ …

“Mr. Cipollone, a longtime litigator with little political experience, is reserved and often keeps his cards close to the vest. Until recently, he was reluctant to share details of his legal strategy with Republicans on Capitol Hill or even within the White House, according to officials in both places.

“Initially, he told senators little beyond promising to pass along their points to the president, while telling associates he wanted to avoid trying the case until he got in front of a jury, according to officials. More recently, he has been willing to acknowledge potential complications for controversial witnesses, according to people familiar with the talks.” WSJ

2020 WATCH …

-- “‘Florida is too important to blow off’: Late primary won’t dim state’s primary status,” by Maya King and Matt Dixon in Tallahassee: “Florida Democrats are used to being wooed by presidential candidates hungry for endorsements and local fundraising early in primary season. This year, the love is late in coming.

“The state and its 219 party delegates have long enjoyed a front-row seat to electoral brawls. The 2020 election calendar, however, has dimmed the spotlight on the state’s celebrity after the Legislature, under pressure from national leaders of both parties, adopted a March 17 primary. By the time that date rolls around, 25 states and four U.S. territories already will have voted and nearly half the Democratic Party’s 4,051 delegates will be spoken for.

“But a crowded Democratic field and an expected split in early voting states could inject some adrenaline into Florida after its sleepy start in the presidential election. Democratic front-runners Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden — and deep-pocketed, not-so-front-runners Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer — slowly have begun making their presence felt in the state.” POLITICO

-- NYT’S JEREMY PETERS: “Inside the Biggest 2020 Advertising War Against Trump”: “Hillary Clinton tried. So did 16 rival Republicans. And after hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on ads attacking Donald Trump in 2016, the results were the same: They never did much damage. Now Michael R. Bloomberg is trying — his way — spending millions each week in an online advertising onslaught that is guided by polling and data that he and his advisers believe provide unique insight into the president’s vulnerabilities.

“The effort, which is targeting seven battleground states where polls show Mr. Trump is likely to be competitive in November, is just one piece of an advertising campaign that is unrivaled in scope and scale. On Facebook and Google alone, where Mr. Bloomberg is most focused on attacking the president, he has spent $18 million on ads over the last month, according to Acronym, a digital messaging firm that works with Democrats.

“That is on top of the $128 million the Bloomberg campaign has spent on television ads, according to Advertising Analytics, an independent firm, which projects that Mr. Bloomberg is likely to spend a combined $300 million to $400 million on advertising across all media before the Super Tuesday primaries in early March.” NYT

-- “‘We have the resources’: Democratic presidential candidates propose trillions in spending amid debate over what’s doable,” by WaPo’s Toluse Olorunnipa

TRUMP’S SUNDAY -- The president has nothing on his public schedule.

PLAYBOOK READS

IN MEMORIAM -- POLITICO MAGAZINE is out with an impressive package on “The deaths that shook 2019” with articles on Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens by Jeff Greenfield … Ross Perot by John Harris … John Dingell by Zack Stanton … Ellen Tauscher by Hillary Clinton … John Conyers by Rochelle Riley … Kay Hagan by Claire McCaskill … Elijah Cummings by Nick J. Mosby … Paul Volcker by Lawrence Summers … Cokie Roberts by Linda Wertheimer and many more.

BUSINESS BURST -- “Sales-Tax Ruling Strains Small Online Sellers,” by WSJ’s Ruth Simon: “Eighteen months after the Supreme Court gave states the green light to tax online transactions, small companies that sell things as diverse as recycled yarn and gold bullion are struggling to adjust. …

“In its June 2018 ruling, the Supreme Court held that states had the authority to make online retailers collect sales taxes even if they didn’t maintain a store, warehouse or other physical presence. Before the decision, consumers were supposed to pay what is known as use tax on out-of-state purchases, but most didn’t.

“The decision came in a lawsuit filed by South Dakota against home-furnishings retailer Wayfair Inc. and other online sellers. What is taxed and how often those taxes are paid varies from state to state. Some states, such as Colorado, allow localities to administer their own taxes. Some states share definitions and procedures to make it easier for companies to comply, but some of the biggest jurisdictions have their own rules.” WSJ

WEST WING COMEBACK -- “They Can’t Get Enough of ‘The West Wing’ Right Now,” by NYT’s Sarah Lyall: “Much as people may return to the film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ to remind themselves that feeling worthless does not mean you have no worth, or to the children’s book ‘Goodnight Moon’ to remember that bedtime once meant being enveloped in a cocoon of love, fans revisit ‘The West Wing’ to recall an era — even a fictional one — when it seemed possible for the three branches of government to be populated by public servants of integrity, intellect and wit.”

MEDIAWATCH -- CHUCK TODD interviewed WaPo’s MARTY BARON and NYT’s DEAN BAQUET for a special edition of NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS” on the weaponization of disinformation. Highlights: BARON on fact checking: “[W]e still have the responsibility for, for determining what’s true and what’s false and, in particular, holding our government officials accountable for what they say and telling people whether they’re telling the truth, or they’re not telling the truth. That’s fundamental to the responsibilities that we have as a journalistic institution.”

-- BAQUET on the need to market journalism: “Journalists took for granted and believed that people believed everything we said. They believed that, if I, if I filed a story from Afghanistan, that we were there. They believed -- we believed that everybody thought we were in warzones. And we believed that people trusted us. And we went through generations of just assuming everybody believed us.

“What I think we’re going to have to get very aggressive at is to be really transparent, to assume nothing, and to make sure people know where we are, how we do our work, to show our work more aggressively. That’s a different muscle for us.”

BONUS GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman (@dlippman):

-- “The Miseducation of the American Boy,” by Peggy Orenstein on the cover of the Jan./Feb. issue of The Atlantic: “Why boys crack up at rape jokes, think having a girlfriend is ‘gay,’ and still can’t cry—and why we need to give them new and better models of masculinity.” Atlantic

-- “On land, Australia’s rising heat is ‘apocalyptic.’ In the ocean, it’s worse,” by WaPo’s Darryl Fears in Bruny Island, Tasmania as part of the paper’s series “2C: Beyond the Limit”: “Over recent decades, the rate of ocean warming off Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state and a gateway to the South Pole, has climbed to nearly four times the global average, oceanographers say. More than 95 percent of the giant kelp — a living high-rise of 30-foot stalks that served as a habitat for some of the rarest marine creatures in the world — died.” WaPo

-- “Is Nuclear Power Worth the Risk?” by Carolyn Kormann in The New Yorker: “The Fukushima disaster sparked a worldwide phaseout of nuclear reactors. As climate change worsens, it may be time to reconsider.” New Yorker

-- “Drug Test,” by Stuart Stevens in Outside Magazine in Nov. 2003: “Everybody knows that many athletes cheat by using performance-enhancing drugs like steroids, testosterone, and EPO. But what is it like to take these banned substances? Do they really help you win? To find out, we sent an amateur cyclist into the back rooms of sports medicine, where he just said yes to the most controversial chemicals in sports.” Outside ... Stevens on skiing in Finland

-- “My Semester With the Snowflakes,” by James Hatch in Medium -- per Longreads.com’s description: “A 52-year-old former Naval officer enrolls as an undergraduate at Yale, alongside a primarily 18- to 22-year-old student body. Contrary to what his contemporaries expect, in the midst of tackling complicated ideas with his classmates, despite their differences, he finds he has great respect for his them — and they have great respect for him.” Medium

-- “The Short Life and Viral Death of Bianca Devins,” by Rolling Stone’s EJ Dickson: “She was 17 and excited to start her life. Then photos of her brutal murder started showing up on Instagram.” RS

-- “Lewis the koala’s death is a sad end to a terrible tale,” by Jill Filipovic on CNN.com: “We are in the midst of a mass extinction. Under normal circumstances on Earth -- that is, pre-human history recorded in the fossil record -- the planet would lose between one and five species every year ... It’s a thousand times that in the world today, courtesy of humans, scientists agree, and by the middle of the 21st century, half of all species could be obliterated.” With video: CNN

-- “How TV Predicted Politics in the 2010s,” by Joanna Weiss in POLITICO Magazine: “The most powerful way that TV predicted politics in the 2010s ... was in its prescription for a fix: the suggestion that what Washington really needs is an outsider to swoop in and shake things up (or drain the swamp, if you prefer). Mainstream networks in particular offered another archetype alongside these power-hungry nihilists: the accidental politician who reluctantly takes high office, then comes face-to-face with that broken system.” POLITICO

-- “The Woman Who Made Modern Journalism,” by Liza Mundy in The Atlantic’s Jan./Feb. issue, reviewing “Citizen Reporters: S. S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, and the Magazine That Rewrote America,” by Stephanie Gorton: “Ida Tarbett championed reportorial methods and investigative goals that are as potent today as ever.” Atlantic ... $28.99 on Amazon

-- “The Most Scathing Reviews of 2019,” via Book Marks -- per ALDaily.com’s description: “December drips with treacly best-of lists. For some holiday respite, look no further than this list of 2019’s best hatchet jobs.” Book Marks

-- “The Field Guide to Tyranny,” by The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik: “Dictators tend to share the same ugly manner because all seek the same effect: not charm but intimidation.” New Yorker

-- “Redux: Every decision my kids made me make in one day,” by Emma Marris in Last Word on Nothing in March 2019: “My modern American lifestyle, with its endless variety of choices, from the yogurts at the grocery store to the movies on Netflix, breeds decision fatigue. But it is my kids that really fry my brain. I decided to write down every question that my two kids asked me during a single day. Limiting myself to just those queries that required a decision, here are the results.” Last Word on Nothing (hat tip: TheBrowser.com)

PLAYBOOKERS

Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at [email protected].

SPOTTED at a holiday pasta dinner hosted by Heather Podesta and Stephen Kessler and Steve Clemons in Santa Monica, Calif., on Friday: Anne Louise Bardach, Bob Bardach, Jacki Schechner, Mark Vlasic, Matthew Linden, Michael Powell, Michael Woo and Laurie Dowling Ron Finley, Regan Kibbee and Jason Saville and Allison Sampson.

TRANSITION -- Pavitra Abraham is now constituency organizing director and regional field director at the DCCC. She previously was organizing director for Kamala Harris’ campaign.

ENGAGED -- Seth Morrow, campaign manager for Bradley Byrne’s Alabama Senate campaign, and Hannah Strub, military legislative aide to Byrne, got engaged Friday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. They met working in Byrne’s office in 2017. Pic

-- Judith Rowland, a managing supervisor in public affairs at FleishmanHillard, and Andrew Younger, an architect, got engaged recently. The couple proposed to each other in the home they renovated themselves. Pic … Another pic

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- OBAMA ALUMNI: Herbie Ziskend, SVP at SKDKnickerbocker and a Barack Obama White House and Joe Biden alum, and Arlie Slonim, admissions outreach and selections officer for the Schwarzman Scholars program, got married on Saturday at Congregation Schaarai Zedek in Tampa. Pool report: “The reception was at Armature Works with an afterparty into the wee hours at the Marriott. The Ziskends were feted by a long line of Obama alums, including Mass. State Sen. Eric Lesser and Jake Levine (whose birthday was Saturday), along with acclaimed ophthalmologist to the Tampa Bay Lightning and father of the bride, Chuck Slonim.” Pic … Another pic … Another pic

SPOTTED: Josh Lipsky (who signed the Ketubah), Stef Feldman, Kevin Bailey, Ali Merali, Raf Sanchez, Jonny Dach, Seth London, Ethan Yake, Sarah Coleman, Gustavo Quiroga, Dan King, Rachel Schindler and David Malton, Hana Green, Anna Ziskend, Brian Levine, Josh Goldman and Tobin Marcus.

-- “Christina Mandreucci, Robert Noel,” via NYT: “The bride, 28, is the press secretary for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington. She graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. ... The groom, 29, is speechwriter in Washington to Mike Pompeo, the United States’ secretary of state. Mr. Noel graduated from George Washington University. ... The couple met in 2015 while working for Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, for whom Mr. Noel served as chief speechwriter and Ms. Mandreucci as deputy press secretary.” NYT ... Wedding pic ... Another pic

SPOTTED: Alex and Caitlin Conant, Annie Kelly Kuhle and Kevin Kuhle, Brooke and David Sours, Olivia Perez-Cubas, Hooff Cooksey, Michael Ahrens, Courtney Alexander, Val Mack, Matt and Alisa Wolking, Belsis Romero and Anthony Cruz.

-- “Erica Kwiatkowski, Blaine Nielsen,” via NYT: “Up until Dec. 20, Mrs. Kwiatkowski Nielsen, 30, worked in Baltimore as the director of state campaigns for the presidential campaign of Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California. Senator Harris dropped out of the race this month. ... Mr. Nielsen, also 30, is the associate head coach for men’s volleyball at the University of California, Santa Barbara.” With a pic: NYT

BIRTHWEEK (was Saturday): CQ Roll Call’s John Bennett (h/t Jason Dick)

BIRTHDAYS: Kate Sherman … Reihan Salam is 4-0 ... Del. Aumua Amata Radewagen (R-American Samoa) is 72 … NYT’s Katie Glueck … Jeremy Waldstreicher is 34 … Leah Malone ... Andrew Malcolm, manager of public affairs at Exelon ... Tom Jarriel is 85 ... Kevin Griffis ... Katie Pudwill … POLITICO’s Holly Otterbein and Grace Goodman ... Jordan Langdon, director at Purple Strategies … Erica Ryan ... Scott Keyes … Leo Wallach, principal at RALLY, is 4-0 … Renée Revetta … Edelman’s Alexander Romano ... Mike Siegel … Shehzad Haider ... DHS’ Kyle Egan … Tom Dickens is 31 …

… Ashleigh Banfield is 52 … Kaiser Health News’ Rachel Bluth … NBC News PR’s Claudia Meyer-Samargia … Blair Watters, senior director at InterDigital ... Maria Randazzo of Dewey Square Group is 26 ... Boris Medzhibovsky ... Rob Burgess … Kai Stinchcombe ... Kim Barnes Kimball … David Koeppel ... Caroline Ey ... Eric Engleman ... Gracie Brandsgard … Laura Clawson ... Grant Addison ... George Caudill … Marie-Therese Dominguez … IOC president Thomas Bach … Laura Friedel, staff director/GOP clerk on the Senate Approps Labor-HHS subcommittee ... Kara Kostanich … Kim Snyder