By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone )

NOTABLES

• RAND PAUL REALLY, REALLY WANTS YOU TO KNOW HE'S PRO-VACCINE: After facing criticism over comments he made about vaccinations and mental disorders, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, tried to clarify his statement yesterday and show his own comfort with vaccinations, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ notes. "I did not say vaccines caused disorders, just that they were temporally related - I did not allege causation. I support vaccines, I receive them myself and I had all of my children vaccinated," Paul said in a statement. And to prove he is pro-vaccines, he tweeted out a photo of himself as he received a booster vaccination for Hepatitis A yesterday afternoon. "It just annoys me that I'm being characterized as someone who's against vaccines," Paul said, according to the New York Times. "There's 400 headlines now that say 'Paul says vaccines cause mental disorders,'" he added. "That's not what I said. I said I've heard of people who've had vaccines and they see a temporal association and they believe that." http://abcn.ws/1z8Fb39

• FLASHBACK - TO MONDAY: In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Paul, an ophthalmologist, said, "I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines." "I'm not arguing vaccines are a bad idea. I think they're a good thing, but I think the parents should have some input," he added. "The state doesn't own your children. Parents own the children and it is an issue of freedom." And in a separate interview with Laura Ingraham on Monday, he said vaccines "ought to be voluntary." http://abcn.ws/1z8Fb39

• TODAY IN IOWA: A friend of The Note writes in: "On the heels of a new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll showing terrorism as the top issue of concern for Iowa Republicans, former House Intel chief Mike Rogers starts a two-day visit today to the Hawkeye State. Rogers is expected to meet with Gov. Terry Branstad and leading Iowa elected officials, donors and activists in the leadoff presidential state about his new initiative, Americans for Peace Prosperity and Security, which is aimed at educating, identifying and mobilizing pro-national security voters during the 2016 presidential caucuses and primaries . Rogers is expected to unveil the leaders of the Iowa effort in a Thursday statehouse news conference."

• SWING STATE NUMBERS: Quinnipiac University is out with another new Swing State poll this morning looking at Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio and while we need to stress it's very early for 2016 polls, the leaders are Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, reports ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE. Clinton has more of a lead, but of course she has less potential rivals as well. Clinton is the choice of more than 50 percent of Democrats in each state, the poll finds. ?If she does not run, Vice President Joe Biden leads the Democratic pack in the three states with tallies ranging from 28 percent to 39 percent. Bush gets 32 percent of Florida Republicans, 10 percent in Ohio and 12 percent in Pennsylvania. In Ohio, it's current Gov. John Kasich who leads with 14 percent of state Republicans with Scott Walker next with 11 percent and Bush and Rand Paul with ten percent. In Pennsylvania, Bush gets 12 percent and Christie gets 11 percent, while Clinton leads Democrats with 54 percent. http://bit.ly/1DxAvry

THE BUZZ

with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

WHY ELIZABETH WARREN'S SUPPORTERS THINK THEY CAN CONVINCE HER TO RUN IN 2016. Elizabeth Warren has said over and over that she isn't running for president in 2016. Her supporters couldn't care less. A group of Warren super fans gathered recently in Washington, D.C. to talk about how to spread the word about the Massachusetts senator, who is mentioned as potential Democratic challenger to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Only 15 of the 70 people who RSVP'd for what was billed as a pro-Warren "strategy session" showed up. But this did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of these supporters of the "Run Warren Run" effort, which included members of a trio of liberal groups (Ready for Warren, MoveOn.org and Democracy for America), from making big plans for the next few months. Those who gathered in Washington included college students, veterans of Obama and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaigns and people who said it was their first political meeting ever, ABC's STEPHANIE EBBS reports. Some described themselves as big Elizabeth Warren fans, others as "outraged citizens," and a few who said they were seeking an alternative to Clinton. http://abcn.ws/16ifA0Z

THE LUXE LIFE OF CHRIS CHRISTIE - WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS 'FRIENDS.' It's the loophole through which New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been flying on private jets. Christie's personal travel habits, detailed in a New York Times article include a preference for Cessna Citation X flights, Four Seasons stays and champagne toasts, are all legally consistent with his state's code of conduct for governors - as long as everything is paid for by friends. "The governor may accept gifts, favors, services, gratuities, meals, lodging or travel expenses from relatives or personal friends that are paid for with personal funds," the code reads. ABC's ALI WEINBERG and SHUSHANNAH WALSHE note, lately, those friends include King Abdullah of Jordan, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Republican super donor Sheldon Adelson - all with big pockets and big toys, like the private jet Adelson had him fly with his family on during a 2012 trip to Israel, at the same time Adelson was trying to defeat a measure to legalize online gambling in New Jersey (Christie later signed the bill anyway). http://abcn.ws/1CXW7PT

OUTGOING ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER TAKES PARTING SHOT AT REPUBLICANS. In what was likely one of his last news conferences as head of the Justice Department, outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder Tuesday accused Republican critics of being "a little irresponsible" last week during Senate hearings to vet his likely replacement. According to ABC's MIKE LEVINE, Holder said many of the questions posed to nominee Loretta Lynch and other witnesses over two days were "not particularly relevant" to Lynch's qualifications, and a "notion that somehow or another this Justice Department has been politicized" seemed to "permeate that hearing both the first day and the second day." http://abcn.ws/1zbNPTm

WHY OBAMA'S BUDGET CUTS $50 MILLION FROM NATIONAL VACCINE PROGRAM. President Obama has proposed a $50-million cut to a federal immunization program, citing diminished need for government-funded vaccinations thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The funding reduction, included in Obama's 2016 budget blueprint released Monday, comes amid a measles outbreak nationwide and growing debate over vaccinations. The government budgeted $611 million in 2015 for the federal purchase and distribution of vaccines for uninsured children and adults, which is authorized by Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act, ABC's DEVIN DWYER reports. "The health insurance expansion will further increase access to immunizations and decrease the number of uninsured and underinsured individuals in need of Section 317 vaccine for routine immunizations," explained Melanie Roussell, a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget. http://abcn.ws/1vqCdMI

SENATOR SUGGESTS EMPLOYEES SHOULDN'T HAVE TO WASH HANDS. You can walk into almost any restaurant bathroom and see a health-code mandated sign that reads "Employees must wash hands before returning to work." But one senator is suggesting that businesses should be free to ditch that regulation, ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI writes. In a question-and-answer session Monday at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, argued that restaurants should be allowed to "opt out" of certain regulations - such as employees washing their hands. Such a rule, he says, is an example of how America is "one of the most regulated nations in the history of the planet." http://abcn.ws/16f09Gz

WHO'S TWEETING?

@USATOnPolitics: . @JebBush to tout his "right to rise" vision in Detroit speech today http://usat.ly/1uVTYOf via @ccamia

@thegarance: Ineviatble. CREW files ethics complaint against Rep. Schock for 'Downton Abbey' office decor http://wpo.st/CVd20

@tedhesson: The immigration strategy from @tedcruz: block the Loretta Lynch confirmation http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/ted-cruz-block-loretta-lynch-114863.html …

@rollcall: House Freedom Caucus Looks to Be Force - in Leadership and Lawmaking http://roll.cl/1x8qigy

@edatpost: NEW THIS MORNING: @ScottWalker is working to harness national donor network for White House run (by @mateagold) http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/scott-walker-works-to-harness-national-donor-network-for-white-house-run/2015/02/04/44c0ee96-ab5c-11e4-abe8-e1ef60ca26de_story.html …