POLITICO Playbook: BALTIMORE RIOT ups pressure on Obama, Congress to force police reforms

HELLO from New Orleans, where POLITICO today will host a blunt, illuminating "What Works" conversation with some of the nation's most innovative mayors. The Baltimore violence and destructions is a tragic manifestation of frustrations we're hearing about all over the country, putting new pressure on President Obama and Congress.

Today we're releasing our inaugural Mayors' Survey, and it puts Washington on the spot. Many of the mayors who answered it are engaged, creative leaders, and they're disgusted with D.C. Politico Magazine senior editor Eva Rodriguez writes: "Mayors to Washington: Do something! Education, infrastructure top mayors' wish list ... 82 percent of mayors queried said they had very little or no confidence in Washington." https://politi.co/1DwAkuU

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]), and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected])

PLAYBOOK SIGNUP: https://www.politico.com/playbook-signup/ 

THE FIRES OF FERGUSON SPREAD -- "White House awakes to 'national crisis,'" by Edward Isaac-Dovere:"With a dozen incidents in a year and a half, all around the country, the frustrations appear to transcend local conditions. And though local officials keep blaming round-the-clock cable news coverage for encouraging the violence, the speed and intensity of the protests in city after city make clear how much deeper than police misconduct these frustrations are - joblessness, hopelessness, racial double standards. ... [E]ach city that erupts is a reminder of how little's been done to address the hopelessness that's hitting Americans in some communities." https://politi.co/1J6mGnc

--"Baltimore descends into chaos, violence, looting," by The (Baltimore) Sun's Kevin Rector, Scott Dance and Luke Broadwater: "Roaming gangs of mostly young men clashed with police in the streets, seriously injuring officers; tore open businesses; and looted their stocks. ... [S]tate police requested as many as 5,000 reinforcements from neighboring states. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake instituted a weeklong citywide curfew from 10 p.m.[tonight] to 5 a.m. [tomorrow] ...

"Carron Morgan , an 18-year-old cousin of [Freddie] Gray's, said the violence ... was 'not what my family asked for.' 'This is not justice. This is just people finding a way to steal stuff,' Morgan said. He said Gray's family and neighbors were not rioting. Instead, he said, 'we're going to be out tomorrow cleaning up, for sure.'" https://bsun.md/1Ehwbic

CHRIS CUOMO in Baltimore on CNN this AM: "Why was there no plan in place from local leaders for this contingency?"

TWIT PIC -- Athena Jones @AthenaCNN: "Some of the projectiles that were thrown at Baltimore Police" https://bit.ly/1Jx1PwA

DAVID SIMON, creator of "The Wire," on his blog, "Baltimore": "[T]he anger and the selfishness and the brutality of those claiming the right to violence in Freddie Gray's name needs to cease. There was real power and potential in the peaceful protests that spoke in Mr. Gray's name initially ... But this, now, in the streets, is an affront to that man's memory." https://bit.ly/1EM9VAt

THE BIG PICTURE -- PETER BAKER on NYT A1, at fold, "'16 Rivals Unite In Push to Alter Justice System": "The focus on overhauling the criminal justice ... represents a profound shift in American politics. Where the elder George Bush won the presidency in part by attacking his opponent as soft on crime and Bill Clinton enacted landmark crime legislation pouring police officers into the streets and ratcheting up sentences, today's candidates across the ideological spectrum have concluded that previous leaders went too far." https://nyti.ms/1GrJB9y

--"Koch Industries to stop asking about job candidates' criminal history," by Marianne Levine: "The $115 billion conglomerate is the latest company to 'ban the box,' joining Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond. ... Koch Industries' general counsel Mark Holden said ... the company believes [it] 'shouldn't be rejecting people at the very start of the hiring process who may otherwise be capable and qualified, and want an opportunity to work hard.'" https://politi.co/1zimZvj

THE HEADLINES: USA Today banner, "BALTIMORE BURNING: Mayor enacts curfew; National Guard troops to be out 'in massive force'" ... N.Y. Times 5-col. lead, "Clashes Rock Baltimore After Funeral; Curfew Is Set: National Guard Is Called Amid Looting" ... WashPost, 1.5-col. lead, "Riots after Gray's funeral: 15 officers hurt; stores damaged and looted" ... WSJ A1, cols. 2-5, under pic, "Violence Erupts in Baltimore" ... L.A. Times 2-col. lead, "Protests turn into rioting in Baltimore."

MARTIN "O'Malley cancels Ireland speeches to return to Baltimore," by CNN's Eric Bradner and Dan Merica: "O'Malley is canceling a series of paid speeches in Ireland and returning to ... Baltimore [this] morning ... O'Malley had been in Dublin with plans to speak to a law firm, a renewable energy company, PricewaterhouseCoopers executives and IBM executives." https://cnn.it/1ziX6vd

--O'Malley statement: "I'm saddened that the City I love is in such pain ... We must come together as one City to transform this moment of loss and pain into a safer and more just future for all of Baltimore's people."

DRIVING THE NON-BALTIMORE DAY -- Gay marriage ruling may be a foregone conclusion: Even opponents are expecting the court to rule in favor of same-sex unions! Josh Gerstein: "Even those who most strongly oppose gay marriage think the Supreme Court is likely to support a constitutional right to same-sex unions - and are looking beyond [today's 10 a.m.] legal arguments to demand that Congress intervene. ... The justices' endorsement of such a sweeping constitutional right was almost unthinkable even a decade ago, but jurisprudence has changed so quickly - alongside public opinion - that even two of the court's most die-hard conservatives, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, seemed to concede earlier this year that the court was moving toward granting a right to marry. ...

"[T]hose who inveighed against the evils of same-sex marriage outside the court building on Monday were already looking past the justices to Congress, urging lawmakers to support legislation that would strip federal courts of jurisdiction over marriage-related litigation and forbid officials from spending federal funds to enforce whatever the Supreme Court holds in a ruling expected by late June." https://politi.co/1GAZ5ur

DEEP DIVE - "Wang Jianlin, a Billionaire at the Intersection of Business and Power in China," by NYT's Michael Forsythe (formerly of Bloomberg), in Hong Kong - posted online today; in the paper tomorrow: "There are as many as 430 billionaires in China ... [b]ut Wang Jianlin stands out, and not just because he is the richest person in Asia, with a fortune estimated at more than $35 billion. As his real estate and entertainment empire expands overseas ... there is an aspect of his relationship with the authorities that Mr. Wang never raises in interviews and that has gone unreported ... Relatives of some of the nation's most powerful politicians and their business associates own significant stakes in his company." https://nyti.ms/1KpsBVu

** A message from Chase: We surveyed more than 3,600 executives to find out what influences the decision-making of today's leaders. For insight into how executives view the national and global environments, and into how they're managing regulatory challenges and the skills gap, read the 2015 Business Leaders Outlook: https://bit.ly/blo2015 **

WHAT IOWA IS READING - Des Moines Register editorial, "First impressions: Rubio paints big picture with fine details": "'Hi, I'm Marco.' That's how ... Rubio ... introduced himself to ... Register staff members [at] a Saturday... editorial board meeting. He clearly wanted to appear informal, and although we were promised 45 minutes, Rubio stayed for an hour and seemed happy to go on ... Rubio exhibited an impressive grasp of public policy detail. He held forth extemporaneously on ... issues that included the economy, immigration, health care, education, energy, the environment, Medicare, Social Security." https://dmreg.co/1Jx4C8Y

READ MY LIPS: "Rubio Signs [Grover Norquist's] Taxpayer Protection Pledge," joining Rand Paul and Ted Cruz," https://bit.ly/1EyAebq

HOT IN HILLARYLAND - "Clinton vows to rebuild state parties after Obama-era wipeout," by Gabe Debenedetti in Concord, N.H.: "Clinton had a message to relay in private meetings with state and local Democrats during her highly-choreographed swings through Iowa and New Hampshire this month: let me help you. The implication? She'll fix the party infrastructure that withered under President Barack Obama. The Democratic front-runner has stressed the importance of bolstering - and in the case of Iowa, rebuilding - the state parties from the ground up, as they received scant national attention since 2008." https://politi.co/1bO8RiR

--Bill Clinton to Africa -- Release: Tomorrow "and Thursday ... President Clinton will make several stops in Tanzania to visit the sites of several Clinton Foundation projects that are improving the lives of thousands of people across the country. These visits are part of a ... trip by President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton that includes Kenya, Liberia, and Morocco."

--"Labor's letter to Hillary," by Gabe Debenedetti and Brian Mahoney: "When the country's most powerful union leader delivers ... a 'major address' on [today], it will be widely seen as a memo to Hillary Clinton outlining what she must do to earn organized labor's support. ... AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and labor will probably have little choice but to get on board the Clinton bandwagon. ... [She] has ... been mounting a charm offensive toward unions for months ... Clinton's policy team has been in touch with the AFL-CIO's team to vet policy ideas, and the campaign has contacted the policy director of every major union since Clinton launched." https://politi.co/1GB5shu

--Trumka's prepared remarks: "The problems of income inequality and stagnant wages are so clear, so abundant, that only direct, sweeping action to change the rules will put our nation on a fresh path of progress." https://bit.ly/1z8xXmP

BACKSTORY -- "Clinton frowned on racy ads and video games," by Josh Gerstein: "Buried in the drab archival files from Hillary Clinton's White House years is a racy volume that almost leaps out of the box: a 1998 Christmas catalog from Abercrombie & Fitch that touched off a firestorm over its use of children in sexually provocative advertisements. ... 'HRC thought this was outrageous re: teens + sex + selling sex to sell clothes,' Clinton aide Ruby Shamir wrote in a Post-it note ... [A] socially conservative streak ... has run through Clinton's political career." https://politi.co/1P155yG

CONNECTING THE DOTS - WashPost A1, at fold, "Flood of money could prolong GOP primary fight," by Matea Gold and Ed O'Keefe: "The ... Republican ... contest ... is ... shaping up to be a chaotic, drawn-out slog, thanks largely to an expanding pool of rich patrons raining money on a broad field of candidates. ... Never have so many candidates entered a White House contest boosted by such huge sums. The financial arms race could fuel a protracted primary season similar to the one in 2012 - exactly what party leaders were hoping to avoid. ...

"Some party operatives say that 2016 could be the first race in the modern era in which a candidate does not need to win Iowa or New Hampshire to prevail." https://wapo.st/1z8uIeV

WHAT CANDIDATES ARE SELLING: Rand Paul wine glasses https://bit.ly/1PQqn4q

HAPPENING TODAY - "Right to Rise PAC Honorary Chairman Governor Jeb Bush will visit Puerto Rico ... for an event at the Universidad Metropolitana de Cupey and a town hall style event with the Republican Party of Puerto Rico in the Ruben Rodriguez Arena." At both events, Gov Bush will deliver remarks primarily in English, with some remarks in Spanish at the end. https://bit.ly/1byNRvH

2016 PLAYERS -- Chris Nault, who managed the Hamilton Place Strategies news cycle management program, is leaving to run the Rick Perry war room in Austin. 

LATE NIGHT BEST - "[Jon] Stewart Scorches CNN for Skipping Baltimore Protests in Favor of WHCD Red Carpet" - Video: https://bit.ly/1A9ypwe

WHAT SILICON VALLEY IS READING -- "Instagram releases three new filters and more are coming more often," by The Verge's Jacob Kastrenakes: "The filters include Lark, which 'desaturates reds while punching up blues and greens' for landscapes; Reyes, which is meant to add a washed out, vintage look to photos; and Juno, which 'tints cool tones green while making warm tones pop and whites glow' and is targeted at portraits.'" https://bit.ly/1PQykqa

--"Google to launch $150 M. partnership with publishers," by Ken Doctor on Capital New York: "In a move meant to blunt escalating European Union action against Google's marketplace dominance, Google will [today] announce a $150 million partnership, to be spent over three years, in support of something called the Digital News Initiative (DNI) ... At least seven major European publishers have signed on to the initiative. ... Google will also fund Reuters to widen news research in Europe. Expect to see more Europe-centric news research, à la the kind of analytic insights offered by the Pew Research Center in the U.S." https://bit.ly/1Ftyxgd

--"Tech Expansion Overruns Cities in California's Silicon Valley," by WSJ's Eliot Brown: "Some communities are already saying they have reached their limits of development, while others signal that day is near, raising questions about the ability of the tech sector to keep expanding in what has long been its home base." https://on.wsj.com/1DFZtVh

MEDIAWATCH -- "Peter Hamby leaving CNN for Snapchat," by Dylan Byers: "Hamby ... join[s] ]Snapchat as Head of News ... [T]he network's partnership with Snapchat will allow him to continue as a CNN contributor on air and online through 2016. But Hamby's official role will be with Snapchat. The rapidly growing social media application has been moving toward news with a feature called Snapchat Stories, which allows users to create stories through video clips, and Snapchat Discover, a similar feature for news and entertainment organizations like CNN, Vice and National Geographic. Between the two, Snapchat is sitting on seemingly limitless user-generated content." https://politi.co/1dnsUVY ... Hamby tweets pic w/ Wolf  https://bit.ly/1A9uKOT

--"ESPN sues Verizon over new stripped-down 'Custom TV' plan," by Mike Snider on USA Today 1A: "The sports programming giant accuses Verizon of 'breach of contract' and asks a New York state judge to prevent the pay-TV provider from offering the new plan. Verizon 'Custom TV' plan, which it began offering last week, is a stripped down, $55-a-month pay-TV offering of more than 35 channels." https://usat.ly/1DRYAYS

--Placing White House Correspondents' Association scholarship winners in news internships -- Margaret Talev and Major Garrett email to members: "Although WHCA does not run a formal internship program, the board would like to turn that admiration and goodwill into a win-win for the scholarship recipients and for our members. We will [help] news organizations who want to consider our scholarship winners for internships or jobs ... connect with interested scholarship winners."

GRAND FINALE -- Kate Glassman Bennett: "[T]he Sunday brunch at the Georgetown home of POLITICO Publisher Robert and Elena Allbritton marks the unofficial end to the four days of parties ... Even though it's one of the newer events on the calendar-starting only in 2010-the brunch has established itself as the must-hit event for Washington's most prominent people ...  Valerie Jarrett was there, as were Susan Rice and Rep. Nancy Pelosi ... Rep. Mia Love worked her way around the tent ... Senator Amy Klobuchar chatted with ... Andrea Mitchell, ... Bret Baier, CBS News president David Rhodes, Chris Wallace and Joe Ripp, the CEO of Time Inc." https://politi.co/1DRVzYv ... 12 pics https://politi.co/1GAvsJI

SPORTS BLINK: Brett Favre jersey to be retired - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tyler Dunne: "[T]he team made it official that Brett Favre will be honored at halftime of their Thanksgiving game against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 26. His name and retired No. 4 will be unveiled on the north facade of the stadium." https://bit.ly/1DwuABi

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): CBC Chair Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) ... Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) ... Hannah Kim, comms. director for Rep. Charlie Rangel ... The Information's Reed Albergotti, a WSJ alum ... Adam Clymer

BIRTHDAYS : Abbie Nieuwstraten, part of my Oregon family ... Josh Schwerin, rapid response spokesperson for Hillary for America, and DCCC and McAuliffe for Governor alum (h/t HFA HQ Comms and Jesse Ferguson) ... Ed Pagano of Akin Gump (h/ts Jenny, Jack) ... Justice Elena Kagan is 55 ... James Addison Baker III, former Secretary of State, is 85 ... Jay Leno is 65 ... Harper Lee, author of "To Kill a Mockingbird," is 89 ... Sarah B. Miller, ex-Treas. Dept. and new mom (h/t DJW) ... Ruth Sherlock, The Telegraph's incoming Washington correspondent and Mideast war reporting veteran (h/t boyfriend Paul Wood) ... Daniel Keylin, comms. director for Sen. Thom Tillis, is 26 (h/t Joe Nolan) ... Dan Byrnes, associate press secretary at Sierra Club (h/t Andrew Keaton) ... Alejandra Owens, AARP Director of Media and Community (h/t Daniel) ... Susan Katz Keating ...

... Natalie Wozniak ... Maurice Daniel ... Brett Hulsey ... Jonathan Cloar ... Kristine Kippins ... Time's Chris Wilson, a Slate alum ... CQ's Ben Weyl ... Jan Larimer ... Nick Schroeder of Continental Mills, a Sen. Hutchison alum ... K.C. Jones ... Carrie Giddins Pergram ... Alison Teal ... Michelle Diehl ... New York Councilman Corey Johnson ... George McDonald, founder and president of the Doe Fund in New York ... Gabe Gallucci of New York Communities for Change ... Ann-Margret is 74 ... Penelope Cruz is 41 ... Jessica Alba is 34 ... actress Aleisha Allen is 24 (h/ts AP)

DESSERT - Showtime announces that "'Homeland' going to Germany for season 5," by Entertainment Weekly's James Hibberd: "'Homeland' is pulling out of the Middle East. ... We're told the new season will pick-up two years after Carrie Mathison's (Claire Danes) ill-fated tenure as Islamabad station chief. 'Struggling to reconcile her guilt and disillusionment with years of working on the front lines in the "war on terror," Carrie finds herself in a self-imposed exile in Berlin, estranged from the CIA and working for a private security firm.'" https://bit.ly/1HMAa8Y

** A message from Chase: We surveyed top business leaders from across the U.S. to find out what influences the decision-making of today's executives. They revealed an increasing optimism about the domestic economy, while their outlook towards the global economy appears to be dimming: Among the more than 3,600 business leaders surveyed, 68% of middle market executives and 47% of small business owners say they are optimistic about the U.S. economy, while only 19% of middle market leaders and 26% of small business owners are optimistic about the global economy.

For more on that and other topics, including the regulatory environment, the skills gap and employment projections, read the 2015 Business Leaders Outlook: https://bit.ly/blo2015 **

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