CNN's GUT CHECK for July 31, 2014

CNN’s POLITICAL GUT CHECK | for July 31, 2014 | 5 p.m.
—  n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING … TEMPORARY MIDEAST CEASE-FIRE: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Secretary of State John Kerry say the U.N. hasassurances that all parties have agreed to an unconditional humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. It will commence at 8 a.m. local time on Friday and will last for 72 hours unless extended.

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HOUSE GOP LEADERS PULL BORDER BILL … House GOP leaders pulled a vote on their emergency border funding bill Thursday, after failing to muster enough support from their own ranks. Afterward, a number of Republicans revolted, worried that they were headed out of town for August recess without addressing what most on both sides of the aisle agree is a humanitarian crisis around the surge of young immigrants from Central America. GOP talks are now set to go into the night with a meeting set for Friday morning on possible next steps.—Tom Cohen and Deirdre Walsh

PELOSI’S REACTION TO THE BILL: “Oh my god. It was so awful.”

WHITE HOUSE REACTION:

Dan Pfeiffer ‏(@pfeiffer44)      
And by pulling their own bill, the House GOP once again proves why the President must act on his own to solve problems

Eric Schultz (@Schultz44)
but found time to vote on suing the President MT: @costareports House pulls border bill, GOP heading into recess without voting on plan

MORE DOUBTS ON SENATE BORDER BILL… Meanwhile, the fate of a separate $2.7 billion emergency Senate border measure remained uncertain, with doubts increasing that the Democratic majority will try to overcome a certain GOP filibuster attempt in order to hold a final vote.

RUBIO CROSSES GOP AGAIN ON IMMIGRATION: The potential 2016 presidential contender from Florida was one of 11 Republican senators joining most Democrats to support a procedural vote this week on legislation aimed at stemming the tide of immigrant children crossing the southern border. What does that mean for him politically? - Leigh Ann Caldwell.

JUST IN: AMERICANS INFECTED WITH EBOLA TO BE EVAUCATED … A U.S.-contracted medical charter flight left Cartersville, Georgia, Thursday afternoon to evacuate two Ebola-infected American medical workers from Monrovia, Liberia, a source familiar with the travel plans told CNN.

SORRY! CIA APOLOGIZES FOR HACKING SENATE COMPUTERS …CIA director John Brennan apologized to Senate intelligence leaders and admitted the agency improperly spied on computers used by Senate staffers who prepared an investigation into the agency’s 9/11 interrogation program. – Evan Perez

Gut Check Flash Back: Brennan on March 11: "As far as the allegations of CIA hacking into Senate computers, nothing could be further from the truth. I mean, we wouldn't do that. I mean, that's—that's just beyond the scope of reason in terms of what we would do."

SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE CONCERNED …
MARK UDALL: “After being briefed on the CIA Inspector General report today, I have no choice but to call for the resignation of CIA Director John Brennan.”
RON WYDEN: “What’s needed now is a public apology from Director Brennan to staff and the committee.”
MARTIN HEINRICH: “I have lost all confidence in Director Brennan's leadership of the CIA and forthrightness in dealing with the Committee.”

2016 WATCH … CLINTON REMAINS STRONG IN OHIO; POTUS, NOT SO MUCH: Ohio voters have soured on President Barack Obama, according to a new survey, but are still upbeat about Hillary Clinton, his possible Democratic successor. – Dan Merica

… CHRISTIE STUMPS FOR HAVENSTEIN IN N.H.: Chris Christie has a jam packed schedule on Thursday in New Hampshire where he’s teaming up with Walt Havenstein – the leading GOP gubernatorial candidate this year in the Granite State. – Paul Steinhauser

…RUBIO HEADING TO IOWA THIS WEEKEND: The first-term Republican senator from Florida will be in the Hawkeye State to campaign for state senator Joni Ernst, Iowa's GOP Senate nominee. – Paul Steinhauser

KASHKARI GOES HOMELESS TO PROVE A POINT … Down by double digits in the most recent polling, California's Republican gubernatorial challenger took his campaign to the streets. Neel Kashkari announcedThursday that he recently spent a week living as a homeless person in Fresno, California, to highlight poverty in the Golden State. – Paul Steinhauser

NEWLY RELEASED: BILL CLINTON ON SEPT. 10, 2001: ‘I COULD HAVE KILLED’ BIN LADEN … Ten hours before the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, Bill Clinton is reported to have told businessmen in Australia that he had a chance to kill Osama Bin Laden, but passed because it would have meant killing hundreds of innocent civilians. That’s according to never-before-released audio of remarks made public by Australian media. – MSNBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald

THE BUZZ: 43 PENS MEMOIR ON 41 … For George W. Bush, this project is personal. The 43rd President of the United States has written a book about his father, who happens to be the nation's 41st president. The biography will hit book shelves on November 11, according to an announcement by Crown Publishers.

MARKET WATCH: DOW TUMBLES MORE THAN 300 POINTS… The Dow Jones Industrial Average ends 316 points lower in one of the worst sessions of the year. NASDAQ and S&P 500 tumble about 2%.

TRAIL TRIVIA
(Answer Below)
What was the name of America's first intelligence agency?

the LEDE
Did you miss it?

Leading CNNPolitics: Walker's bargaining rights law upheld by state Supreme Court
Republican Gov. Scott Walker scored a big victory Thursday after the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the collective bargaining rights law that angered public employees but rocketed Walker into national GOP fame. – Ashley Killough

Leading CNNMoney: Wall Street wants tax holiday to be a QE4
As the Fed pulls away the easy-money punch bowl, maybe this bull market needs a "holiday" to keep the party going. – Matt Egan

Leading HuffPo: Leaked Memo: Top Tea Party Group Forced Mitch McConnell To Block Stimulus
As he seeks another six years in office, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has touted his reputation as a true conservative and an unwavering opponent of President Barack Obama. But a newly leaked document written by one of the most prominent figures in the tea party movement claims that McConnell wasn't a strong conservative leader initially when Obama proposed his anti-recession stimulus package—and that McConnell only ended up opposing this signature Obama initiative because a leading tea party group leaned on him to do so. – Mother Jones’ Andy Kroll

Leading Drudge: Hill Phones Melt As Boehner Pushes Border
The American people have overloaded the Congressional phone lines yet again on Thursday, pressuring their members of Congress to vote against the House and Senate immigration bills. – Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle

Leading Politico: Next stop for 2016 Dems: Harry Reid's Nevada
Potential Democratic presidential candidates have a must-stop this campaign season: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s backyard. – Manu Raju

Leading New York Times: U.S. Attorney Warns Cuomo on Moreland Commission Case
In an escalation of the confrontation between the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over the governor’s cancellation of his own anticorruption commission, Mr. Bharara has threatened to investigate the Cuomo administration for possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering. – Susanne Craig, Thomas Kaplan And William K. Rashbaum

HOT SOTS
The political bites of the day

- Ginsberg: SCOTUS has a ‘blind spot’ -
RUTH BADER GINSBURG IN AN INTERVIEW WITH YAHOO NEWS:“(Male SCOTUS Justices) have wives. They have daughters. By the way, I think daughters can change the perception of their fathers … Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote such a fine opinion, upholding the Family Medical Leave Act … It was so fine that when I brought the decision home to my husband after it was released, he said, 'Ruth, did you write that?' It wasn't Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It was Chief Justice Rehnquist. So, I am ever hopeful that if the Court has a blind spot today, its eyes will be open tomorrow."

- Cantor in his final floor speech as majority leader –
HOUSE MAJOIRTY LEADER ERIC CANTOR: “I have truly lived the American dream. That's what this country is supposed to be about dreaming big, believing that each generation can do better than the last.”

- McAuliffe: ‘I was devastated the night Eric Cantor lost’ -
TERRY MCAULIFFE TO THEWASHINGTON POST:“I’m heartsick that Eric Cantor lost. I will say this as a Democrat. I had as governor the House majority leader about to be speaker … My staff dealt with Eric Cantor’s staff all the time. I dealt with Congressman and Leader Cantor all the time, they were nothing but helpful. That’s an important asset in my toolbox for me to do what I need to do as governor.”

- First on CNN: New PAC launches ads to limit flood of outside spending -
BIPARTISAN COUNTERPAC CO-FOUNDER JIM GREER TO CNN:“The CounterPAC pledge is about restoring accountability for voters and agreeing to elections that aren't manipulated by a flood of secret money … Unlike campaign finance regulations, there's nothing complicated or counter-intuitive about the pledge. Many candidates agree – now it's time for them to put the dark money where their mouth is."

- A-lister sours on Obama: 'Not sure what he believes in anymore' -
MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL IN A TIME MAGAZINE INTERVIEW: “I really believed in him, and I’m not sure what he believes in anymore … Look, I get it, I know. It’s a complicated job. I could never do it. But I hope for a leader who will stand up and be unpopular.”

TOP TWEETS
What stopped us in 140 characters or less

Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak)
Chris Jansing asks about CIA apologizing for hacking Senate computers. @PressSec: Brennan "does his job extraordinarily well." So all good.

Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews)
US House members get special booking on "next available" flights out of Reagan, Dulles, BWI. Schedulers push back flights at final moment

Luke Russert (@LukeRussert)
So first test for McCarthy/Scalise seems to have gone poorly, House #GOP can't reach 218 even after Cuellar a Dem offered support

Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin)
I remember the first time Boehner had to pull a bill it was treated as this historic event. Now it's just Thursday.

Deirdre Walsh (‏@deirdrewalshcnn)
Over/under on how many times Ted Cruz gets mentioned on the House floor today?

Dana Bash (‏@DanaBashCNN)
@deirdrewalshcnn probably not enough merlot on capitol hill for THAT drinking game

Rob Flaherty (‏@Rob_Flaherty)
Pizza, skittles, beer, & Dr. Pep. Sounds like Cruz had folks over to his freshman year dorm. http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/ted-cruz-immigration-reform-conservatives-to-end-obamas-amnesty/?dcz  …pic.twitter.com/tK1cAXJqK6

TRIVIA ANSWER from @sarafischer

The original name of the department that handled intelligence and conducted special operations was the Office of Strategic Services. President Truman dismantled the office after World War II and created the Central Intelligence Office, which later became the CIA.

GUT CHECK WINNER’S CIRCLE
(Why aren’t you in it?)

Congrats to Christian Laatsch (@ChrisLaatsch) MittWontQuit2016 (@Suspenders9) and Adam Sharp (@AdamS) for correctly answering today’s Gut Check trivia question.

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