The Hill’s 12:30 Report

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The Hill’s 12:30 Report: House to vote on next step for ObamaCare repeal | Trump team downplays adviser’s call with Russian envoy | Senators on the fence over State pick | Inside the first family’s residence | Pence on Sunday shows

TALK OF THE MORNING — NEW GAME, EVERY TIME A TV CHYRON SAYS “RUSSIA,” WE ALL DRINK: Via AP’s Julie Pace, “A senior U.S. official says the Obama administration is aware of frequent contacts between President-elect Donald Trump’s top national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia’s ambassador to the United States.” When: “The official says the contacts happened on the day President Barack Obama expelled dozens of Russian officials from the U.S. and imposed sanctions as punishment for election-related hacking.” But not just that one time: “The official says the administration is also aware of contacts between Trump adviser Michael Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at other times as well.” http://apne.ws/2jfT7vD  

SPICER REACTS: Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed the matter on Friday’s transition call: “Flynn call with Russian ambassador centered around setting up call with Trump and Putin after the 20th.” http://bit.ly/2io5z8t

Happy Friday the 13th. Welcome to the last weekend of President Obama’s presidency. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@digital-staging.thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The 12:30 Report will be off Monday for the holiday. Enjoy the long weekend! Tuesday. Same time, same place. 

{mosads}

TO SUPPORT OR NOT TO SUPPORT — THAT IS THE (AWKARD) QUESTION (DU JOUR): Rex Tillerson‘s rocky performance at his confirmation hearing has left many senators on the fence about whether to support his nomination for secretary of State. No Democrats have come out to publicly support Tillerson, and key Republicans aren’t saying how they’ll vote. http://bit.ly/2iPD1WI

UPDATE — A YES AND A NO FROM KAINE: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) announced this morning that he will support President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, retired Gen. James Mattis, but not his secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson. http://bit.ly/2ikCIqO

BETTER READ THE FINE PRINT: Remember Trump’s L.L. Bean tweet yesterday, encouraging Americans to buy their brand? Well, such a tweet would violate a White House policy prohibiting the endorsement of organizations, products or people. But he’s not president yet: This tweet wasn’t illegal, but it would be once he’s in the White House unless he changes the law. http://bit.ly/2ikdnx6

NEW POLL — STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM, NOW WE’RE HERE!: President-elect Donald Trump has the lowest recorded approval rating heading into Inauguration Day, a new Gallup poll has found. Approval: 44 percent of Americans; Disapproval: 51 percent. http://bit.ly/2inogJO

ANOTHER MEMBER WITH ‘OTHER PLANS’: Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) announced from the House floor on Friday that he plans to boycott President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week. Context: The co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus is the fifth House Democrat to publicly vow not to attend the inauguration on Jan. 20. http://bit.ly/2jrVGsu

INAUGURATION DAY SURVIVAL GUIDE: WTOP Radio has a helpful guide with the weather, travel information, road closures and what to know for inauguration balls. Check it out: http://bit.ly/2jfzAvW 

FUN WATCH — OH THE THINGS I’D DO TO JUMP ON THAT CRISPLY MADE BED: Here’s a short video inside the first family’s residence at the White House. http://bit.ly/2iPAiws

ALL THE MARY-JUE-ANNA: Via The Hill’s Reid Wilson, marijuana reforms are flooding state legislatures as lawmakers look to loosen laws restricting access to or criminalizing marijuana. Why this matters: The different ways states treat marijuana could come to a head at the federal Justice Department, where President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), is a staunch opponent of legal pot. Steps marijuana advocates are taking: http://bit.ly/2jMpxPo

WSJ EDITORIAL — HOW TO KNOW YOU’RE HAVING A BAD DAY: The Wall Street Journal editorial board says President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration should fire James Comey if the FBI director does not resign. “The best service Mr. Comey can render his country now is to resign. Failing that, Jeff Sessions should invite him for a meeting after he is confirmed as Attorney General and ask him to resign.” Dayuuum. Full editorial: http://on.wsj.com/2islRkb

AND DEMS ARE FURIOUS TOO: A number of House Democrats left Friday’s confidential briefing on Russian hacking fuming over the actions of FBI Director James Comey and convinced he’s unfit to lead the agency. “I was non-judgmental until the last 15 minutes. I no longer have that confidence in him,” Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said as he left the meeting in the Capitol. “Some of the things that were revealed in this classified briefing — my confidence has been shook.” http://bit.ly/2jfrq6E 

INTERESTING READ — THE DIETARY WAR ON SUGAR: Via Vox’s Julia Belluz and Javier Zarracina, in health policy circles, sugar is the hot item discussed as the cause of obesity and diabetes. But that’s actually pretty controversial — and not much science backs that up. Here are 11 things to know about sugar — including that as of 2018, nutrition labels will be required to show “added sugar” as a separate line. http://bit.ly/2jqMbtg

SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARINGS NEXT WEEK: Per the transition call: Betsy DeVos for Education secretary; Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) for secretary of the Interior; S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley for U.N. ambassador; Wilbur Ross for Commerce secretary; Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) for HHS secretary; Scott Pruitt for EPA administrator; Rick Perry for Energy secretary; Steven Mnuchin for T​reasury secretary.

 

NOTABLE TWEETS:

CQ Roll Call’s Alan K. Ota
GOP lawmaker: “Never been here on a Fri before MLK’s bday. … Gimme a break.” http://bit.ly/2ikIXdX 

The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold
Just saw Mike Pence buy 2 cartons of Turkey Hill ice cream at neighborhood Safeway. I am telling you this so I can expense all my groceries. http://bit.ly/2j80HXe

Pence just tweeted: I can confirm that when Mrs. Pence asks me to pick up ice cream, I pick up ice cream. 😉 http://bit.ly/2il1FCc 

Dan Barker
I still love this memo from Joe Biden. http://bit.ly/2iPBzU5 

 

ON TAP: 

The House is in and the Senate is out. President Obama is in Washington, D.C. President-elect Donald Trump is at Trump Tower in New York City.

12:30 p.m. EST: White House press secretary Josh Earnest gives the daily press briefing. 

2:45 p.m. EST: Last votes of the day in the House. They are scheduled to vote on a budget resolution that would pave the way for ObamaCare’s repeal. But some Republicans are unhappy about moving forward without a replacement plan on deck. More on that here: http://bit.ly/2jEx3Ik

Number to know: Only 18 percent of Americans want a full ObamaCare repeal, according to a new poll. http://bit.ly/2ikNL2Y

9 a.m. Wednesday: Outgoing White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast, two days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

 

WHAT TO WATCH:

10 p.m. EST: Lester Holt sits down with President Obama for a one-hour NBC News/”Dateline NBC” special, “Barack Obama: The Reality of Hope.”

CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Guests include Vice President-elect Mike Pence and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). The panel discussion will include Ben Domenech, Ruth Marcus, John Heilemann and Ed O’Keefe. 

“Fox News Sunday”: Guests include Vice President-elect Mike Pence, CIA Director John Brennan and Tom Barrack, chairman of the Presidential Inauguration Committee. The panel will include The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald F. Seib, The Washington Examiner’s Lisa Boothe, former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Bob Woodward of The Washington Post.

NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Guests include Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).

CNN’s “State of the Union”: Guests include outgoing White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, National Urban League’s Marc Morial and Sarah Isgur Flores, spokeswoman for Sen. Jeff Sessions and a former deputy campaign manager for Carly Fiorina’s presidential bid.

ABC’s “This Week”: Guests include Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher, Republican strategist Sara Fagen, ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation.

7 p.m. EST Sunday: President Obama will sit down with Steve Kroft for an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

 

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF…:

Today is National Peach Melba Day.

THE NEW ‘OMG, WHOSE CAR BROKE DOWN? I’LL LEAVE AND COME NOW’: Via The Huffington Post’s Lee Moran, restaurants have begun to offer a special “angel shot” for woman on bad dates. Basically, there’s a sign in the women’s bathroom explaining to woman certain options. Angel shot neat: Your bartender will escort you to your car; Angel shot with ice: Your bartender will call an Uber or Lyft for you; Angel shot with lime: Your bartender will call the police. http://huff.to/2io216u

And because you read this far, here’s a Russian man with a pet lynx. Bold move, my man. http://bit.ly/2j8e35S

 

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