Playbook: How CNN is getting ready for Trump’s return

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With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

DRIVING THE DAY

WATCH THIS SPACE — “U.S. finalizes asylum restriction to ramp up border deportations once Title 42 lapses,” by CBS’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez in El Paso, Texas: “Hundreds of U.S. asylum officers were trained on how to enforce the restriction on Tuesday and the regulation is expected to be published on Wednesday, less than 48 hours before Title 42 is set to expire … The regulation, which is expected to be challenged in federal court, will be a dramatic shift in asylum policy, disqualifying migrants from U.S. protection if they fail to request refugee status in another country, such as Mexico, on their journey to the southern border.”

INCOMING — “Washington and Wall Street Brace for a Fresh Inflation Report,” by NYT’s Jeanna Smialek: “Inflation is expected to break a long streak of declines in a closely watched report on Wednesday, underlining that taming price increases remains a challenging process that could take time.”

CNN’S ‘RESET’ MOMENT? — First off, let’s just step back, pick our jaws off the floor and reflect on the firehose of political news that broke within a four-hour span yesterday afternoon …

To recap: A jury found DONALD TRUMP civilly liable for sexual assault and defamation, awarding his accuser $5 million. … President JOE BIDEN met with top congressional leadership as the country edges closer to default. … Sen. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-Calif.) returned to D.C. for the first time in months. … TUCKER CARLSON announced he’s taking his talents to ELON MUSK’s Twitter. … And federal prosecutors were reported to have filed criminal charges against Rep. GEORGE SANTOS (R-N.Y.) that could be unsealed as soon as today.

We’ll get to all of those stories this morning, but let’s start by looking ahead to another spectacle: Trump’s CNN town hall tonight moderated by anchor KAITLAN COLLINS, his first invited appearance on the network since 2016.

It was always going to be a consequential moment for Trump and for CNN, but it suddenly became even weightier yesterday after jurors in Manhattan sided with journalist E. JEAN CARROLL’s claim that Trump had forced himself on her nearly three decades ago in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room.

As is so often the case with Trump, it’s worth putting in perspective just how bonkers the circumstances are and just how crippling they would be for any other political figure. Instead, of course, Trump is vowing to charge ahead — launching what is likely to be a long appeals process and continuing to test his old supposition that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue (or at least be found civilly liable for a sexual assault on Fifth Avenue) without suffering a political price.

Related reads: “Trump Found Liable for Defamation, Sexual Abuse in Civil Case,” WSJ … “Trump’s defeat in Carroll case presages more legal peril,” POLITICO … “Mike Pence doesn’t think voters will care about the Trump sex abuse verdict,” NBC

Tonight, he’ll be confronted on national television about all of it — facing Collins and GOP primary voters at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm College. The town hall comes as Trump continues to devour the Republican presidential field despite a criminal indictment and multiple ongoing investigations into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

At the center of the drama will be Collins, who was famously tough with Trump and his deputies during his administration. More on their clashes from Kelly Garrity

Previewing the event, AP’s David Bauder captures the tightrope she will have to walk: “Collins must give audience members the chance to ask questions while determining when to step in with her own. She’ll weigh how to correct misinformation in a potentially hostile environment: Invited town hall participants are those who expect to vote in a Republican primary.”

We’re told Collins has been steadily prepping since the town hall, which has been in the works for months, was finally confirmed two weeks ago. The anchor has stepped away from her morning-show duties since Friday, spending hours meeting with producers, network CEO CHRIS LICHT and top execs MARK PRESTON and DAVID CHALIAN at a New Hampshire hotel.

A senior CNN staffer played Trump in the prep sessions, we’re told, and last night, Collins and team hit the stage at Saint Anselm going through staging and lighting.

The network’s choice to do a live event with Trump, whose farrago of falsehoods can defy live fact-checking, has been met with sharp criticism. “I find it very hard to defend the choice to give him a live platform, no matter how it is dressed up,” MSNBC host CHRIS HAYES put it last week.

CNN has pushed back by noting the obvious: Trump’s the Republican frontrunner, a former president and the de facto leader of the Republican Party. But inside the network, there are concerns about how the event — pitched as a forum with Republican voters, not a gloves-off showdown — will come off.

The pressure has landed squarely on the 31-year-old Collins, but folks familiar with her prep say if she is nervous, she’s not showing it.

“She’s fucking fearless,” a person involved told Playbook yesterday evening. “I’m nervous for her, but it’s almost like I’m annoying her by asking [how she’s doing]. … She’s like, ‘I know the pressure. I’m fine.’”

It’s also a huge moment for the network, which continues to reel from the departure of longtime president JEFF ZUCKER last year, the shuttering of its CNN+ streaming service, major layoffs this year and the recent firing of star anchor DON LEMON.

Given the stakes, Licht has taken an especially hands-on role preparing for the event. “It’s like a really big moment for the two of them together,” the insider said, adding that “it’s a reset for Chris.”

But the proof will be in the viewing, and it remains unclear which Trump will show up tonight — the relatively disciplined GOP frontrunner focused on burying his Republican rivals, or the more familiar loose cannon eager to rail against Democrats, prosecutors and the media.

Asked about Trump’s plans going into the town hall, senior advisor JASON MILLER wrote back, “Tune in! It will be ratings gold!”

Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

WHO’S AT DEFAULT — Here’s the good news: The big debt ceiling meeting between Biden and the Big Four party leaders yesterday didn’t end in total breakdown. The key players agreed to meet again Friday, with staff deputized to talk things through in the interim.

But nobody seemed to budge an inch at the meeting, leaving Washington still a very long way from a plan to raise the debt limit before the U.S. teeters into potential default in a matter of weeks.

There are plenty of circles to square: Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY said he won’t go for a short-term increase to allow negotiations to continue. Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL said the U.S. would not default. And Dems said they would not negotiate on the debt ceiling.

“Despite that bleak result, Tuesday’s meeting ended as positively as anyone could have hoped for,” write Burgess Everett, Sarah Ferris and Olivia Beavers. Expectations were low, and they’re still talking — including about a potential budget caps agreement.

The spin … Biden made remarks and took questions from reporters afterward, calling the meeting “productive” but taking some light shots at McCarthy: “Occasionally there would be a little bit of an assertion that maybe was a little over the top from the speaker.”

Biden also floated a more extreme option, telling reporters the administration was considering using the 14th Amendment to claim that the debt limit is unconstitutional but adding, “The problem is it would have to be litigated. And in the meantime, without an extension, it would still end up in the same place.” More from Jennifer Habekorn

McCarthy told reporters after the meeting that “the progress made is: We were actually able to meet. … I’m hoping that the next two weeks are different. … You can’t be so extreme in your views that you’re not going to negotiate.”

Happening today … Biden is set to travel to Valhalla, N.Y., to rail against the proposed spending cuts in House Republicans’ recent debt limit bill, launching a bully-pulpit campaign as he digs into the debt-limit fight.

Appearing in a GOP-held House district that he carried in 2020, the president will tout lower unemployment, the creation of new jobs and legislation he signed boosting U.S. manufacturing. He’ll also “discuss the threats from MAGA Republicans in Congress to undo this progress by causing the first default in American history,” per a White House official.

Standing there to hear it all will be incumbent GOP Rep. MIKE LAWLER, who told the AP that he was compelled to accept the White House’s perfunctory invitation given the gravity of the situation. Asked about how he planned to respond to Biden’s attacks, he said, “I have a pretty good poker face.”

So far Lawler and fellow GOP moderates have stayed in lockstep with McCarthy, but Biden and Democrats are betting they will ultimately buckle as the debt ceiling deadline nears. Already Lawler has taken pains to ward off White House attacks, recently sending out franked mail touting his support for veterans, pushing back against Biden’s claim that Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare in another mailer and organizing robocalls mentioning those entitlement programs.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PLAYBOOK READS

CONGRESS

THE TALENTED MR. SANTOS — CNN’s Mark Morales, Evan Perez and Gregory Krieg scooped that Santos has been criminally charged by federal prosecutors in New York, but we don’t know the details yet: The charges are under seal, though investigators have probed questions about false statements and campaign finances (among many other fabrications the congressman has reportedly spun).

Santos could be in court as soon as today. “That’s news to me,” he told AP’s Farnoush Amiri when she asked him about being charged. Per CNN, he was traveling back to New York by yesterday evening. McCarthy, meanwhile, maintained that he would not push for Santos’ ouster from Congress unless and until he’s found guilty of a crime, even as other House Republicans started to sound increasingly tired of dealing with him.

SHE’S BACK — After a monthslong medical absence, Feinstein returned to Washington yesterday on a private plane and is expected to get back to the Senate today, the S.F. Chronicle’s Shira Stein and Joe Garofoli scooped. “She knows what’s at stake,” one source who’s communicated with Feinstein says. “She is well aware of the crunch time that’s come.”

Feinstein’s return won’t quiet all the questions about her place in Congress; a second source tells the Chronicle that people close to her are “very concerned, very worried … about her health holding up.” But it definitely diminishes the odds that she resigns ahead of her planned retirement at the end of this term — and also avoids triggering an earthquake in the campaign to replace her, as Jeremy White writes.

JAMES COMER’S BIG DAY — “Comer faces make-or-break moment on Biden probe,” by Jordain Carney: “The Oversight Committee chair’s pivotal moment comes in the form of a long-planned press conference on his panel’s investigation into President Joe Biden, his son HUNTER who’s already facing a federal investigation, and other family members. Comer’s move follows weeks of doubt … that the Kentucky Republican can back up his promises to find a smoking gun that would tie the president to the private affairs of his relatives.”

The pre-rebuttal: “White House Goes on Offense Against GOP’s Biden Attack Dog,” by The Daily Beast’s Zachary Petrizzo and Matt Fuller

Related: The House Judiciary and Intelligence committees just published a separate report on efforts to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop leak before the 2020 election. More: “CIA fast-tracked letter that falsely suggested Hunter Biden laptop was Russia op,” by the N.Y. Post’s Miranda Devine (with the requisite Hunter shirtless pic) … “CIA Solicited Signatures For Hunter Biden Laptop Letter, Congressional Testimony Shows,” by The Federalist’s Sean Davis

2024 WATCH

DeSANTIS SCORES ONE — After a string of embarrassments when several Florida members of Congress officially backed Trump, Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS got a new endorsement yesterday from Rep. BOB GOOD (R-Va.). “DeSantis gives us the best opportunity to win,” Good said. More from WSET-TV

DeSANTIS LOSES ONE — On the flip side, yet another big GOP name left a meeting with DeSantis unimpressed: Megadonor STEVE SCHWARZMAN is staying on the sidelines, Bloomberg’s Nancy Cook reports. The Blackstone billionaire went to Tallahassee to evaluate DeSantis — and ended up “unconvinced” that he has what it takes.

CASH DASH — “Trump world to donors: A dollar to DeSantis may as well be a donation to Biden,” by Meridith McGraw: “In a memo sent to top Republicans on Tuesday, MAGA Inc.’s CEO TAYLOR BUDOWICH painted the 2024 GOP primary as a fait accompli (even without all the candidates even in it).”

MORE POLITICS

THEY’RE RUNNING? — Several high-profile candidates are taking steps toward running in key statewide races next year, per a barrage of reporting that emerged yesterday. To wit:

Arizona Senate: KARI LAKE is in D.C. this week to meet with several senators and NRSC officials about a potential campaign, Holly Otterbein scooped. Strategists close to Lake tell Holly that a launch could come in early fall or before.

Ohio Senate: Secretary of State FRANK LaROSE is planning to enter the race “soon,” he’s telling donors, NBC’s Henry Gomez scooped from Cleveland. LaRose says he hasn’t made a final decision yet on entering a potentially crowded GOP primary to take on Democratic Sen. SHERROD BROWN.

Texas Senate: Rep. COLIN ALLRED won’t have the Democratic primary all to himself: State Sen. ROLAND GUTIERREZ is planning to jump into the race to unseat GOP Sen. TED CRUZ, WaPo’s Amy Wang and Arelis Hernández scooped. The veteran lawmaker, who represents Uvalde, was motivated to seek higher office by his work on gun reform since the school massacre in his district.

North Carolina governor: Former Rep. MARK WALKER will enter the GOP primary on May 20, WRAL-TV’s Travis Fain reports. In the campaign to take on Democratic frontrunner AG JOSH STEIN, Walker may face an uphill battle to beat controversial Lt. Gov. MARK ROBINSON in the primary.

MEDIAWATCH

TUCKER’S NEXT MOVE — Carlson officially announced his next move: He’s taking a new version of his show to Twitter. “Free speech is the main right that you have,” Carlson says. “Without it, you have no others.” It’s a big move that will give Carlson significant reach — though diminished access to his older TV audience — and aligns with Musk’s increasingly far-right politics.

Musk is bringing along JUSTIN WELLS and other former Fox News staffers, Semafor’s Max Tani and Ben Smith report in a behind-the-scenes look at the move. It’s a risky move for both Twitter (which could suffer with advertisers) and Carlson, whose new platform “has no clear way to build a business around a streaming television show or podcast.” But it will also keep both centrally perched in an influential political/media conversation.

What about his contract? Fox had a non-compete clause for Carlson lasting through early 2025. Axios’ Mike Allen and Sara Fischer report that Carlson’s lawyers are accusing Fox of fraud and breach of contract that nullified the non-compete, possibly presaging legal action to try to get out of the contract. Puck’s Dylan Byers reports that otherwise he could be giving up $25 million.

Elsewhere at Fox: LACHLAN MURDOCH said yesterday that the network’s recent turmoil hasn’t altered Fox’s course, WaPo’s Jeremy Barr reports.

HEADS UP — “CNBC Parts Ways With Anchor Who Made Accusations Against NBCUniversal C.E.O.,” by NYT’s Benjamin Mullin: “CNBC and [HADLEY] GAMBLE have negotiated a financial settlement worth more than $1 million in connection with her exit.”

STREAMLINING KILLED THE VIDEO STAR — “Paramount Cuts 25 Percent of Staff From TV Networks, MTV News Shutting Down,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Lacey Rose

AND ANOTHER TO WATCH — “Donor Infighting and Dwindling Subscribers: The American Conservative May Be on Its Last Legs,” by Vanity Fair’s Caleb Ecarma

THE WHITE HOUSE

SURVEY SAYS — The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll pegs Biden’s approval rating at 40%, Jason Lange writes. That’s closer to the average than the WaPo survey that freaked Dems out this weekend and slightly up from the last Reuters poll, but still close to his all-time low.

’TIS THE SEASON — “Harris to become 1st woman to deliver West Point commencement speech,” by ABC’s Ben Gittleson: Harris’ “remarks at the May 27 commencement ceremony will mark her first visit to the U.S. Military Academy West Point.”

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

RETURN OF THE MIGRANT FLIGHTS — DeSantis is setting up the next steps in his effort to transport immigrants to cities run by Democrats in other states, CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Steve Contorno scooped.

RETURN OF THE TEXTBOOK FIGHTS — “Florida rejected 35% of the social studies textbooks publishers hoped to sell to public schools this year and forced others to delete or change passages state leaders disliked,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Leslie Postal.

PLAYBOOKERS

Scott Atlas will be the commencement speaker at New College of Florida.

Kevin McCarthy is blocking Rashida Tlaib from hosting an event at the Capitol for the 75th anniversary of the “nakba.”

Kamala Harris is pulling out of an MTV event in solidarity with the Hollywood writers’ strike.

Doug Emhoff and Harris hosted the Emhoffs for a pre-wedding family meetup.

Barbara Picower, Jeff Bezos, Barre Seid and several others make Inside Philanthropy’s D.C. Power List.

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies’ annual awards gala at the National Building Museum last night: first lady Jill Biden, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, USTR Katherine Tai, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Madalene Mielke, Krystal Ka‘ai, Erika Moritsugu, Mike Inacay and Dao Nguyen.

— The National Governors Association hosted its spring reception last night at Amazon’s D.C. corporate office, where Maryland Gov. Wes Moore gave remarks. SPOTTED: Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Fred Zeytoonjian, Joe Dooley, Keiffer Mitchell, Patty Readinger and Christina Lepore.

— Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and General Services Administrator Robin Carnahan yesterday announced that the Transportation Department’s headquarters building will be named for former Secretaries William Coleman and Norman Mineta. The Cardinal Shehan School Choir of Baltimore sang the National Anthem at the event. SPOTTED: Polly Trottenberg, AG Merrick Garland and Lynn Garland, Peter DeFazio, Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.) and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Laura Schiller, David Mineta, Stuart Mineta, Bob Brantner, Harden Coleman, William Coleman, Andy Card, Rodney Slater and Ray LaHood.

MEDIA MOVE — Mick Mulvaney is now a political and economic contributor at NewsNation. He currently is co-chair of Actum Strategic Consultants, and is a former OMB director and acting White House chief of staff.

TRANSITIONS — Sarah Walker is now policy and legal advocacy director at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. She previously was a criminal justice and elections policy consultant. … Tim Doyle will be director of policy comms at Amazon. He currently is VP of comms at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. … Buckley Carlson is now deputy chief of staff for Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.). He previously was comms director, a position that will be filled by Jessica Weiner, who previously was a senior adviser. …

… Alyssa Gulick is now comms director for Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas). She previously was deputy comms director for Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). … Rob Hawkins is now head of D.C. government relations at BerlinRosen’s D.C. municipal lobbying practice. He previously was partner and chair of the D.C. government relations practice at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. … James Broughel is joining the Competitive Enterprise Institute as a senior fellow. He previously was at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and is a Forbes columnist.

WEEKEND WEDDING — Sahil Kapur, senior national political reporter at NBC News, and Emily Murtaugh, who does tech policy for NCTA — The Internet & Television Association, got married Saturday at River Farm in Alexandria, Va. They originally met at a party. SPOTTED: Garrett Haake and Allison Harris Haake, Hallie Jackson and Frank Thorp, Tim Mak, Byron Tau, Ryan Reilly, Dave Weigel, Elizabeth Nolan Brown and Asawin Suebsaeng, Rachel Ryan McKell, Igor Bobic and Valerie Chicola, Benjy Sarlin and Suzy Khimm, Sabrina Siddiqui, Alex Seitz-Wald, Lucia Graves, Josh Green, Moira Bergin, Nick Baumann, Cameron Joseph, Julia Krieger, Will Rabbe, Brittany Prime and Emily Swanson. Pic by Alex Seitz-Wald

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) … Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) … Howard Ou … Jonathan Powell of the State Department (4-0) … Bloomberg News’ Craig Gordon … N.Y. Mag’s Gabe Debenedetti … Stan Greenberg of Greenberg Research … POLITICO’s Mike Lee, Courtney Rohrbach, Chris Farmer and Ariel Wittenberg … Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio … Finch Fulton … American Forest and Paper Association’s Fara Sonderling … Doug Farrar of the FTC … CNN’s Jeremy Herb … Chris Tuttle … The Boston Globe’s Jorja Siemons … NBC’s Melissa Frankel … Gary Goldberg of Dentons … Clarence Tong … Andrew Card … Mercatus Center’s Veronique de Rugy … Brad Bannon … Michael Turk … Maggie Karchmer of Wiley Rein … Rachel Drian … Abbey Brandon … Adam Janofsky … Tim Powderly of Apple … Ian O’Keefe of Rep. Derek Kilmer’s (D-Wash.) office … Grant Cummings of ClearPath … Terry Holt … former Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) … former Rep. Steve Gunderson (R-Wis.) … Mel Sembler

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this newsletter mistakenly conflated a forthcoming House Oversight Committee report with a separate report released by the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees.