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Reid Pillifant

By Reid Pillifant 8/19/11 4:15pm

news radio

King Turns the Tables, Will Guest-Host for Gambling

In the run-up to his controversial hearings on Muslim radicalization earlier this year, Long Island Congressman Peter King had a lot of choice words for the media.

On Monday, King gets to turn the tables.

“I just want to congratulate you on your long career in radio,” he told John Gambling this morning. “Today is probably the last day you’re going to host the show.”

On Monday morning, King will guest-host Gambling’s four-hour show on WOR, with a slate of guests that includes Police Commissioner Ray Kelly; former MI6 agent-turned-novelist Matthew Dunn; sports reporter Bruce Beck; and maybe Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/18/11 3:20pm

Upper chamber

Ms. Warren. (Getty Images)

Off the Sidelines! Gillibrand Cheers Elizabeth Warren Run: 'Outstanding and Much Needed Voice'

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sounds like she would be happy to have Elizabeth Warren — who officially formed an exploratory committee today — as a colleague in the upper chamber.

“Elizabeth Warren is an extraordinary example of someone who has gotten off the sidelines to protect America’s middle class working families,” Gillibrand told me through a spokesman. “She would be an outstanding and much needed voice in the U.S. Senate.”

In the weeks before she was officially passed over as the head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in the face of Republican opposition in the Senate, Warren was spotted meeting with Chuck Schumer — who helped engineer big Senate victories in 2006 and 2008 — leading to speculation that Warren might be interested in challenging Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/18/11 12:20pm

Foreign Affairs

Gillibrand Praises Obama's Call for Assad to Resign

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sent out a statement this morning commending President Obama for calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

“President Assad has brutally violated the human rights of his own people while killing thousands of Syrian citizens and fostering terrorism across his borders,” Gillibrand said in the statement. “I commend President Obama for sending a clear message to Syria that the Assad regime must respond to the democratic urging of the Syrian people by stepping down.” Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/16/11 2:22pm

NY-9

Schumer Endorses Weprin For His Old Seat

Senator Charles Schumer officially endorsed David Weprin’s campaign in the Ninth Congressional District today.

“It is vital we preserve Medicare and Social Security, and the only candidate for Congress who will do that is David Weprin,” said Senator Schumer, invoking the Democratic talking points that helped them win an upset. Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/15/11 1:14pm

same-sex marriage

Getty Images

Gillibrand World Tour: Five Boroughs in Two Days, But Diaz Preaches Caution

Starting in Harlem tomorrow morning, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will make a Schumer-esque, five-borough tour in less than 48 hours.

The slew of events will touch on everything from employment, to same-sex marriage, to first-responders, to the military — and will give her a chance to rub elbows with more than a dozen downstate elected officials.

It all begins with an Urban Jobs Act event alongside Congressman Charlie Rangel, Assemblyman Keith Wright and the National Urban League. Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/15/11 8:06am

2012

Senate Leaders Hold News Conf. On Job Provisions In Debt Bill

Schumer's Weekend: Pokes Romney and Palin, Prods White House

On Saturday, Senator Charles Schumer emailed his supporters with a link to Mitt Romney responding to hecklers in Iowa by saying “corporations are people, my friend.”

Schumer’s email — which said the video “has to be seen to be believed” — was part of an all-out push by Democrats to capitalize on Romney’s comments. In Iowa, the DNC rushed out an ad with the video, and bought a block of ads across Iowa.

“This video is so important because it so clearly shows the contrast between Democrats and Republicans,” Schumer wrote in the email. Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/12/11 6:43pm

suggested reading

schumer and gillibrand

Roundup: Liberals for Turner, Fundraiser for Allon

NY-9: Liberal Party, such as it is, goes for Bob Turner.

2013: Tom Allon hires Cindy Darrison.

Blogs: New one on Public Authorities (h/t CapCon).

Riots: Former Times writer reflects on coverage in Crown Heights.

Birthday Parties: Working Families Party turns 13 (h/t State of Politics).

Health care: Eleventh Circuit says the mandate is unconstitutional.

2012: Rick Perry soaking up some staff from Newt and Haley.

2012: Stephen Colbert is promoting Rick Parry.

2012: Mitt Romney’s personal fortune: upwards of $190 million.

Toss-up: Nate Silver thinks the G.O.P. majority is in trouble.

Upstate: Senators Gillibrand and Schumer come together to talk jobs.

By Reid Pillifant 8/11/11 4:32pm

NY-9

Video

turner ad

Turner's First Ad Targets Weprin on Mosque [Video]

One day after a Siena poll showed him to be within six points, Republican Bob Turner is out with his first television ad, attacking his Democratic opponent, David Weprin, for supporting the right to build a mosque near Ground Zero.

The 30-second ad — titled “Send A Message” — opens with a static shot of the Twin Towers on fire, then juxtaposes that with the facade of a mosque, followed by the smiling face of President Obama.

That’s followed by a shot of Weprin saying, “I support the right of the mosque to build.” Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/11/11 11:17am

2012

Video

Perry campaigning for Giuliani in 2008. (Getty Images)

Rick Perry Can Win Long Island, Says Peter King [Video]

On Morning Joe today, Joe Scarborough pressed Long Island Congressman Peter King about whether a very conservative and publicly-prayerful nominee like Rick Perry could really capture large swaths of swing voters.

“I wouldn’t write him off,” said King, who compared the situation to the nay-saying that greeted Ronald Reagan in 1979. “I’ve met Rick Perry a number of times. He has a dynamic personality. He’s a larger than life character. I think people are going to look at the whole picture.”

“So you think Rick Perry can win Long Island?” Scarborough asked. Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/10/11 6:45pm

Hollywood Endings

Peter King Trades Barbs with White House Over Bin Laden Movie; 'I Must Have Hit a Really Sensitive Nerve'

The White House offered an aggressive response to today’s letter from Homeland Security Chairman Peter King — based on a New York Times column by Maureen Dowd — which called for an investigation into whether the administration had provided special access to two filmmakers making a movie about the mission that killed Osama bin Laden.

“First of all, the claims are ridiculous,” Press Secretary Jay Carney said this afternoon, according to a transcript. Carney characterized the administration’s cooperation generally as trying to make sure facts are correct, and called it “hardly a novel approach to the media.” Read More