The Note: Debating The Deal

By
MICHAEL FALCONE
April 6, 2015, 10:01 AM ET
9 min read

— -- NOTABLES

  • BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: IRAN WOULD USE SANCTION RELIEF TO BOLSTER 'TERROR MACHINE.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that the agreement reached over Iran's controversial nuclear weapons program is a "bad deal" and asserted that Iran would use the relief from sanctions currently imposed to bolster its military operations and what Netanyahu called its "terror machine." "It leaves Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure. It lifts the sanctions on them fairly quickly and enables them to get billions of dollars into their coffers. They're not going to use it for schools or hospitals or roads," Netanyahu told ABC'S MARTHA RADDATZ on "This Week." "They're going to use it to pump up their terror machine worldwide and their military machine that is busy conquering the Middle East now," he added, according to ABC's BENJAMIN BELL. http://abcn.ws/19VhqX6.

  • SEN. CORKER OPTIMISTIC ABOUT DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT IN IRAN DEAL. On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said that Congress' involvement with the Iran deal was a vital check in keeping the sanctions accountable to the American people and the Western countries. He is confident that because Congress has been "weighing in," they are ensuring they will keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon with a "deal that will stand the test of time." He asserted that Senate Republicans would potentially have enough Democratic support to allow Congress to have the final say in the deal, ABC's MISHA WEE writes.

  • ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: President Obama is testing some of the biggest assumptions in modern politics by putting forward and pushing for a nuclear agreement with Iran. Everyone knows Obama has no real relationship with Congress; he'll need to foster one now to stop this framework from being scuttled. Everyone knows you can't get anything done in Washington, certainly not in the fourth quarter of a presidency; this would be a big one, a centerpiece of a foreign-policy legacy that needs one. Finally, everyone knows you can't act big in a world of small -- that the challenges and rivalries are too large for all but the most incremental movement. In defining an "Obama doctrine," the president has big aims, along with more perhaps more confidence in American capabilities than his adversaries give him credit for. "The doctrine is: We will engage, but we preserve all our capabilities," he told The New York Times' Tom Friedman.
  • MARCH MADNESS UPDATE -- SCOTT WALKER'S UNBEATABLE BRACKET? Scott Walker is running away with our 2016 potential-candidates' NCAA bracket, ABC's CHRIS GOOD notes. Aside from Iowa State, Baylor, and Georgetown, the Wisconsin governor picked just about everything right. His accurately predicted Final Four has played out according to Walker's picks, with Duke playing his home-state Wisconsin Badgers in the final. The only other candidate to pick a Wisconsin-Duke final was Rick Santorum, who'll finish second to Walker if the Badgers win tonight. http://es.pn/1F5AIaz

    • THE BUZZ

    with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

    5 STORIES YOU'LL CARE ABOUT IN POLITICS THIS WEEK. Which is harder to believe: That President Obama really taught Kevin Spacey how to do Frank Underwood, or that Bill Clinton really confides in Kevin Spacey? That the timing Bob Menendez's indictment wasn't secretly pushed by "House of Cards" producers? Or that Tom Cotton wrote an open letter to the Iranians but only got calls back from Miley Cyrus fans? We had a deal that wasn't really a deal, some action in Indianapolis that had little to do with basketball, and some news out of Brooklyn that just might have something to do with presidential politics. ABC's RICK KLEIN highlights the stories the ABC News political team will be tracking in the week ahead. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/stories-care-politics-week/story?id=30090223

    PAUL TEASES PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT IN NEW VIDEO. Rand Paul makes the case that he's a different kind of Republican leader in a sneak-peak video first released to Drudge Report ahead of his expected presidential announcement tomorrow. The web video mashes up sound bites from Paul's CPAC speech earlier this year and various TV news programs in portraying the Kentucky Republican as a principled Republican with fresh ideas and the potential to excite new voters. "It's time for a new way, a new set of ideas, a new leader, one you can trust, one who works for you, and above all, it's time for a new president," Paul says in one clip included in the video. The video touts Paul's 13-hour filibuster against drones in 2013, ABC's JORDYN PHELPS notes. WATCH: https://youtu.be/efHGNzG3KJg

    NOTED: LINDSEY GRAHAM TAKES A SHOT AT RAND PAUL. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is contemplating a presidential bid, said any potential Republican presidential contender -- or even Hillary Clinton -- could have done a better job negotiating a deal with Iran than President Obama did. Everyone, that is, except for fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul, ABC's JORDYN PHELPS notes. "The best deal comes with a new president. Hillary Clinton would do better. I think everybody on our side except maybe Rand Paul could do better," Graham said this morning on CBS' "Face the Nation." Paul is expected to officially announce his presidential bid tomorrow in Kentucky.

    CALIFORNIA GOV. JERRY BROWN DEFENDS FARMS' WATER USE, WARNS CHANGES MAY COME. Days after taking the unprecedented step of ordering mandatory water-use reductions throughout his state, California Gov. Jerry Brown defended his executive order's treatment of the state's agriculture industry and its use of water in an interview with ABC's "This Week." Brown said California's farms are "providing most of the fruits and vegetables of America," as well as jobs for the state's most vulnerable residents. Though agriculture accounts for only 2 percent of California's economy, it consumes 80 percent of the state's water, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank. The Democratic governor also emphasized how much agriculture has already been hurt by the state's drought, according to ABC's BENJAMIN BELL and ADAM TEICHOLZ. http://abcn.ws/1Igtb9P

    HAPPENING TODAY

    WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGG ROLL: 7 KIDS KILLING IT ON THE SOUTH LAWN. The White House's biggest public event began, improbably, with a couple of whiny kids. In the spring of 1878, the story goes, a group of local schoolchildren, indignant that Easter egg hunting had been outlawed on the Capitol lawn, confronted President Rutherford B. Hayes while he was out for a stroll. The president promptly ordered the White House grounds flung open for the first annual Easter Egg Roll. This year's celebration, slated for today, will feature actress Connie Britton, Washington Redskins player Robert Griffin III, chef Bobby Flay, and scores of other celebs, ABC's ERIN DOOLEY writes. More than 35,000 guests will be treated to a yoga garden, an outdoor kitchen, and even an apiary tour. So in honor of those 19th-century belly-aching young'uns who approached President Hayes, here are seven children totally #killingit at past Egg Rolls. http://abcn.ws/1NS8q4C

    WHO'S TWEETING?

    @politicalwire: Is Hillary Clinton really any good at running for president? And does it matter? http://politicalwire.com/2015/04/06/is-hillary-clinton-a-good-candidate/

    @Schriock1: So proud of former @emilyslist Executive Director @WendyRSherman for her lead in the Iran negotiations! http://bit.ly/1MXO0di

    @samsteinhp: Alabama: a case study on why the Obamacare lawsuit is based on flimsy history. Must read from @JeffYoung http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/alabama-obamacare-supreme-court_n_6999798.html?1428326339

    @cbellantoni: This could get awkward -- one presidential hopeful was her intern, the other her campaign manager: http://atr.rollcall.com/jeb-bush-ileana-ros-lehtinen-campaign-manager/

    @jeffzeleny: What did Mook & Co. hear in Iowa and NH? Voters want to touch and see @hillaryclinton and can the campaign be fun? http://cnn.it/1azTtGj

    SEN. CORKER OPTIMISTIC ABOUT DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT IN IRAN DEAL. On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said that Congress' involvement with the Iran deal was a vital check in keeping the sanctions accountable to the American people and the Western countries. He is confident that because Congress has been "weighing in," they are ensuring they will keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon with a "deal that will stand the test of time." He asserted that Senate Republicans would potentially have enough Democratic support to allow Congress to have the final say in the deal, ABC's MISHA WEE writes.

  • ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: President Obama is testing some of the biggest assumptions in modern politics by putting forward and pushing for a nuclear agreement with Iran. Everyone knows Obama has no real relationship with Congress; he'll need to foster one now to stop this framework from being scuttled. Everyone knows you can't get anything done in Washington, certainly not in the fourth quarter of a presidency; this would be a big one, a centerpiece of a foreign-policy legacy that needs one. Finally, everyone knows you can't act big in a world of small -- that the challenges and rivalries are too large for all but the most incremental movement. In defining an "Obama doctrine," the president has big aims, along with more perhaps more confidence in American capabilities than his adversaries give him credit for. "The doctrine is: We will engage, but we preserve all our capabilities," he told The New York Times' Tom Friedman.
  • MARCH MADNESS UPDATE -- SCOTT WALKER'S UNBEATABLE BRACKET? Scott Walker is running away with our 2016 potential-candidates' NCAA bracket, ABC's CHRIS GOOD notes. Aside from Iowa State, Baylor, and Georgetown, the Wisconsin governor picked just about everything right. His accurately predicted Final Four has played out according to Walker's picks, with Duke playing his home-state Wisconsin Badgers in the final. The only other candidate to pick a Wisconsin-Duke final was Rick Santorum, who'll finish second to Walker if the Badgers win tonight. http://es.pn/1F5AIaz

    • THE BUZZ

    with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

    5 STORIES YOU'LL CARE ABOUT IN POLITICS THIS WEEK. Which is harder to believe: That President Obama really taught Kevin Spacey how to do Frank Underwood, or that Bill Clinton really confides in Kevin Spacey? That the timing Bob Menendez's indictment wasn't secretly pushed by "House of Cards" producers? Or that Tom Cotton wrote an open letter to the Iranians but only got calls back from Miley Cyrus fans? We had a deal that wasn't really a deal, some action in Indianapolis that had little to do with basketball, and some news out of Brooklyn that just might have something to do with presidential politics. ABC's RICK KLEIN highlights the stories the ABC News political team will be tracking in the week ahead. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/stories-care-politics-week/story?id=30090223

    PAUL TEASES PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT IN NEW VIDEO. Rand Paul makes the case that he's a different kind of Republican leader in a sneak-peak video first released to Drudge Report ahead of his expected presidential announcement tomorrow. The web video mashes up sound bites from Paul's CPAC speech earlier this year and various TV news programs in portraying the Kentucky Republican as a principled Republican with fresh ideas and the potential to excite new voters. "It's time for a new way, a new set of ideas, a new leader, one you can trust, one who works for you, and above all, it's time for a new president," Paul says in one clip included in the video. The video touts Paul's 13-hour filibuster against drones in 2013, ABC's JORDYN PHELPS notes. WATCH: https://youtu.be/efHGNzG3KJg

    NOTED: LINDSEY GRAHAM TAKES A SHOT AT RAND PAUL. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is contemplating a presidential bid, said any potential Republican presidential contender -- or even Hillary Clinton -- could have done a better job negotiating a deal with Iran than President Obama did. Everyone, that is, except for fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul, ABC's JORDYN PHELPS notes. "The best deal comes with a new president. Hillary Clinton would do better. I think everybody on our side except maybe Rand Paul could do better," Graham said this morning on CBS' "Face the Nation." Paul is expected to officially announce his presidential bid tomorrow in Kentucky.

    CALIFORNIA GOV. JERRY BROWN DEFENDS FARMS' WATER USE, WARNS CHANGES MAY COME. Days after taking the unprecedented step of ordering mandatory water-use reductions throughout his state, California Gov. Jerry Brown defended his executive order's treatment of the state's agriculture industry and its use of water in an interview with ABC's "This Week." Brown said California's farms are "providing most of the fruits and vegetables of America," as well as jobs for the state's most vulnerable residents. Though agriculture accounts for only 2 percent of California's economy, it consumes 80 percent of the state's water, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank. The Democratic governor also emphasized how much agriculture has already been hurt by the state's drought, according to ABC's BENJAMIN BELL and ADAM TEICHOLZ. http://abcn.ws/1Igtb9P

    HAPPENING TODAY

    WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGG ROLL: 7 KIDS KILLING IT ON THE SOUTH LAWN. The White House's biggest public event began, improbably, with a couple of whiny kids. In the spring of 1878, the story goes, a group of local schoolchildren, indignant that Easter egg hunting had been outlawed on the Capitol lawn, confronted President Rutherford B. Hayes while he was out for a stroll. The president promptly ordered the White House grounds flung open for the first annual Easter Egg Roll. This year's celebration, slated for today, will feature actress Connie Britton, Washington Redskins player Robert Griffin III, chef Bobby Flay, and scores of other celebs, ABC's ERIN DOOLEY writes. More than 35,000 guests will be treated to a yoga garden, an outdoor kitchen, and even an apiary tour. So in honor of those 19th-century belly-aching young'uns who approached President Hayes, here are seven children totally #killingit at past Egg Rolls. http://abcn.ws/1NS8q4C

    WHO'S TWEETING?

    @politicalwire: Is Hillary Clinton really any good at running for president? And does it matter? http://politicalwire.com/2015/04/06/is-hillary-clinton-a-good-candidate/

    @Schriock1: So proud of former @emilyslist Executive Director @WendyRSherman for her lead in the Iran negotiations! http://bit.ly/1MXO0di

    @samsteinhp: Alabama: a case study on why the Obamacare lawsuit is based on flimsy history. Must read from @JeffYoung http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/alabama-obamacare-supreme-court_n_6999798.html?1428326339

    @cbellantoni: This could get awkward -- one presidential hopeful was her intern, the other her campaign manager: http://atr.rollcall.com/jeb-bush-ileana-ros-lehtinen-campaign-manager/

    @jeffzeleny: What did Mook & Co. hear in Iowa and NH? Voters want to touch and see @hillaryclinton and can the campaign be fun? http://cnn.it/1azTtGj