CNN's GUT CHECK | for May 3, 2013 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle
DEVELOPING: SENATOR STILL TRYING TO FIND VOTES FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS… Behind-the-scenes dealing over reviving stalled gun control legislation will get a push next week when Sen. Joe Manchin, a strong proponent of expanding background checks, plans to meet individually with lawmakers, a Senate source tells CNN. – Dana Bash and Dan Merica
NRA CONVENTION: GUN CONTROL IN CROSSHAIRS AT NRA CONVENTION… Within minutes of the National Rifle Association's opening forum at their annual meeting this weekend, the group's leaders went after gun control proposals and advocates who sought to expand tougher firearm laws following the deadly Newtown elementary school massacre. “Where we see tragedy, Barack Obama and Michael Bloomberg, they see opportunity,” said Chris Cox, the executive director for the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action. – Ashley Killough
MARKET WATCH: S&P 500 and Dow finish at record highs on jobs data. S&P ends above 1,600, Dow crosses 15,000 briefly for 1st time.
TRAIL TRIVIA
(Answer below)
President Barack Obama will speak at the Ohio State University’s graduation this weekend. How many other presidents have also spoken to Buckeye graduates?
MARK (@PrestonCNN) & DAN (@DanMericaCNN)
What caught our eye today in politics
One key to a compelling speech: make it relevant to your audience.
A major goal for the President of the United States each time he delivers remarks: talk directly to your constituents.
But when a president is on foreign soil, the “key” to a compelling speech can come into conflict with the otherwise overriding goal of having him address the audience back home.
So what did President Barack Obama do today when he addressed Mexican students at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City? Well, why not just relate American policies to the Mexican people.
Throughout much of Obama's only speech in the country, the president framed two domestic issues in the United States - guns and immigration - as issues that affect the daily lives of Mexicans, too.
On immigration, the president appeared confident that immigration reform, an issue Obama says he intends to work closely with the Mexican government on, will be passed by Congress.
“I'm optimistic that - after years of trying - we are finally going to get it done this year,” Obama said after describing his plan as one that strengthens border security, improves legal immigration and “gives millions of undocumented individuals a pathway to earn their citizenship.”
Instead of talking about immigration in terms of the bill being batted around in the hall of Congress, Obama talked about immigration in terms of how Mexico could help. Obama’s answer: growing the Mexican economy to create more jobs and prosperity in Mexico.
And on guns, Obama framed the issue, one the president made a priority after 20 students and six adults were killed at a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, as something that would save both American and Mexican lives.
“We also recognize that most of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States,” the president said. “I will continue to do everything in my power to pass common sense reforms that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. That can save lives here in Mexico and back home in the United States.”
The likelihood is that most of the Mexican students and adults in the audience were familiar with the United States’ debate over guns and immigration.
the LEDE
Did you miss it?
Leading CNNPolitics: First lady will head to Boston for Ed Markey
Rep. Ed Markey, who became the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts earlier this week, will get a boost later this month from first lady Michelle Obama, who will travel to the state for a fundraising event. The event on May 29, reported first by the Boston Globe and confirmed to CNN by a Democratic official, will mark Michelle Obama's first solo fundraising event since last year's presidential election. Tickets for the event start at $500, the official said. – Kevin Liptak
Leading Drudge: Wall Street In Wonderland!
U.S. stocks rallied to new highs, pushing the Dow industrials above 15000 and the S&P 500 above 1600, after April job-growth data handily beat expectations. – Matt Jarzemsky and Tomi Kilgore for the Wall Street Journal
Leading HuffPo: Gun Show: 'We're Not The Bad Guys.. We're The Good Guys'
The incoming president of the National Rifle Association is warning its members they are fighting a "culture war" that goes beyond gun rights. James Porter, currently the organization's first vice president, will take over the top job on Monday. He spoke Friday at the NRA's national convention in Houston. – Jim Vertuno for the AP
Leading Politico: Biden hasn't told Obama about new gun plans
Vice President Joe Biden is planning a new gun control offensive – he just hasn’t told the president yet. Biden told a group of law enforcement officials Thursday that he is planning even more travel, with trips around the country to stump for a renewed push on expanded background checks and gun-trafficking laws that failed to pass the Senate last month. – Reid J. Epstein
Leading The New York Times: Proposal for Changes in Food Aid Sets Off Infighting in Congress
A proposal by the Obama administration to overhaul the $1.4 billion international program has sparked a jurisdictional fight that threatens to derail the plan. – Ron Nixon
TRAIL MOMENTS
The political bites of the day
- White House: We are getting better –
ALAN B. KRUEGER, CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS, IN A WRITTEN PRESS RELEASE: “While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we remain focused on pursuing policies to speed job creation and expand the middle class, as we continue to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007.”
- GOP: Good news, but the president is holding us back -
HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BEOHNER IN A WRITTEN PRESS RELEASE: “There’s some good news in today’s report, but the president’s policies still aren’t providing the robust economic growth and job creation the American people desperately need. To get things moving, we need to seize opportunities the president has been ignoring, and focus on growing our economy rather than growing more government.”
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN REINCE PRIEBUS: “Today's jobs report brings some good news for a lucky few who found jobs - but not nearly enough hope for the millions of Americans who still need work.”
- Pelosi wants Clinton to run –
HOUSE MINORITY LEADER NANCY PELOSI IN AN INTERVIEW AT THE CLINTON SCHOOL IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS: "I pray that Hillary Clinton decides to run for president of the United States. … Nobody has been first lady and senator and now secretary of state. Putting everything aside that she is a woman, she'd be the best qualified person that we've seen [in recent years]."
- Rubio: Congress can make path to citizenship tougher -
REPUBLICAN SEN. MARCO RUBIO, IN AN OPINION-EDITORIAL FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “Next week, the Senate will begin making changes to and, hopefully, improve the immigration-reform legislation I introduced with several colleagues last month. This part of the process is a chance to fix America's broken immigration system and end today's de facto amnesty for those who live here illegally. It will also show that Washington can work when leaders listen to the American people and invoke their wisdom in debates and legislative work.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324766604578458933649759710.html?mod=rss_mobile_uber_feed
TOP TWEETS
What stopped us in 140 characters or less
TRIVIA ANSWER from @DanMericaCNN
When President Barack Obama takes the stage at the Ohio State University graduation on Sunday, he will be following two of his predecessors – President Gerald Ford in 1974 and President George W. Bush in 2002 – who also spoke at Ohio State graduations.
In 1974, Ford joked that when the university invited him to speak, they didn’t know they were inviting the President of the United States.
“So much has happened in the few months since you were so very kind to ask me to participate on this occasion,” Ford said. “I was then America's first instant Vice President-and now, America's first instant President. The United States Marine Band is so confused they don't know whether to play ‘Hail to the Chief’ or ‘You've Come a Long Way, Baby.’”
And in 2002, President George W. Bush spoke at length about the lessons of September 11, 2001.
“Some believe this lesson in service is fading as distance grows from the shock of September the 11th, that the good we have witnessed is shallow and temporary,” Bush said. “Your generation will respond to these skeptics - one way or another. You will determine whether our new ethic of responsibility is the break of a wave, or the rise of a tide. You will determine whether we become a culture of selfishness and look inward - or whether we will embrace a culture of service and look outward. Because this decision is in your hands, I'm confident of the outcome.”
Obama’s Sunday speech will take place inside the historic Ohio Stadium. There are nearly 10,000 students receiving their diplomas this weekend and an audience of 60,000 to 70,000 is expected inside the stadium. Because of beefed up security, students have been told to arrive four hours early.
GUT CHECK WINNER’S CIRCLE
(why aren’t you in it)
No correct answers to today’s question. Happy Friday all.
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