Document jgBp1GeGzzq5jpr2n34Qe4MdN

Brady Press Briefing Room following press secretary Sean Spicer's off-camera news conference at the White House on June 23. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty DEPT. OF PREVIOUS LIVES -- N.Y. DAILY NEWS -- "Trump commerce secretary once flouted zoning laws and built a wall around his Southampton property," by James Fanelli: "President Trump isn't the only one in his administration who thinks a border wall can solve a problem. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross once built an illegal wall on the perimeter of his swanky Southampton estate to block the noise from the American Indian reservation across the street and the traffic along Montauk Highway. When the billionaire cabinet member was told he couldn't have the wall, he waged a three-year legal battle with the local zoning board of appeals that he ultimately lost. Ross installed the sound barrier after his infant grandson kept waking up from the procession of cars and trucks along the highway and from the parade of customers at the tax-free tobacco shops on Shinnecock Nation land." http://nydn.us/2s7v8Qg THE BLURRING -- "The White House hires a Trump hotel executive to serve as chief usher," by WaPo's Krissah Thompson and Jonathan O'Connell: "Melania Trump on Friday named a senior manager at Washington's Trump International Hotel to serve as chief usher of the White House. Timothy Harleth, who worked for Mandarin Oriental hotels in D.C. and New York before joining one of the Trumps' flagship hotels last year, will take the crucial position overseeing the staff of housekeepers, butlers and others who work in the first family's living quarters and maintain the executive mansion. ... This spring, the Trumps pushed out Chief Usher Angella Reid, an Obama appointee who had also come from the world of luxury hotels. The White House gave no reason for her firing other than a desire for change." http://wapo.st/2rN5NM2 KNOWING CORRY BLISS -- "The GOP's one-man fire brigade: After four special election wins, Republicans are relying on the Congressional Leadership Fund's Corry Bliss to safeguard the House majority," by Eliana Johnson: "Bliss has proselytized relentlessly about the declining importance of television, which Trump used to great effect, and the rising importance of ground game, something Barack Obama and Democrats were quicker to exploit than their Republican counterparts. He was bitterly critical of what he regarded as the [RNC's] weak field program last year in Ohio, where he built an independent field operation on Portman's behalf - a move that ruffled feathers at the [RNC]. "The senator waltzed to victory, but Bliss clashed repeatedly with then-RNC chairman Reince Priebus and his chief of staff, Katie Walsh, over Portman's field program; and Priebus and Walsh later waved off Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan from hiring Bliss to run the [NRSC] and the [NRCC]. Sources close to Bliss and Priebus say they have a cordial relationship now." http://politi.co/2t637gZ BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- "California activist Tom Steyer adds health care to his brand," by Victoria Colliver in San Francisco: "California billionaire activist Tom Steyer made his name as an environmental activist, worked with Democratic groups to register a million new voters and redefined green politics with high-profile campaigns on climate change and clean energy. Now as he weighs a run for public office, he's adding health care - specifically drug prices - to his brand. ... The former hedge fund executive, 59, is backing a California effort to force drug manufacturers to give notice of price increases, a move Steyer sees as a first step to reining in drug costs and curbing the power of corporate interests." http://politi.co/2s6S8yY CONNECTING THE DOTS -- NYT A1, "Maritime Mystery: Why a U.S. Destroyer Failed to Dodge a Cargo Ship," by Scott Shane: "There should have been lookouts on watch on the port, starboard and stern of the destroyer Fitzgerald - sailors scanning the horizon with binoculars and reporting by headsets to the destroyer's bridge. At 1:30 a.m. last Saturday, off the coast of Japan south of Tokyo, they could hardly have failed to see the 730-foot freighter ACX Crystal, stacked with more than 1,000 containers, as it closed in. Radar officers working both on the bridge and in the combat information center below it should have spotted the freighter's image on their screens, drawing steadily closer. ... But none of that happened. The Fitzgerald's routine cruise in good weather through familiar, if crowded, seas ended in the most lethal Navy accident in years. Seven sailors lost their lives." http://nyti.ms/2sMJBTG ****** a message from Starbucks: One in eight Americans struggles to get enough to eat. Inspired by the commitment from our partners (employees), Starbucks is working with Feeding America to channel our unsold fresh food to feed the communities we serve. By 2020, as our FoodShare program grows, we'll donate 50 million meals each year: http://sbux.co/2sBiWeM ****** FIRST PERSON - DAVID RANK in WaPo, "Why I resigned from the Foreign Service after 27 years": "When the administration decided to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change, however, I concluded that, as a parent, patriot and Christian, I could not in good conscience be involved in any way, no matter how small, with the implementation of that decision. ... I worry about the frequently politically