Good Wednesday morning. I'm Jake Sherman and welcome to your political playbook audio briefing. Stay tuned after the show for a message from the American Beverage Association. And I'm Anna Palmer. We've got some news at the top. The National Republican Senatorial Committee posted its best January fundraising hall ever, pulling in $5.58 million, according to a committee aid.

The NRC has some tough races to defend in 2020, including in Colorado, Iowa, Maine, North

Carolina, and Georgia. Alex Eisenstadt scoops that the Trump campaign is trying a very

untrumpian approach to 2020, creating

a corporate-style re-election campaign with 10 divisions, all reporting to campaign manager Brad

Parzkel.

The New York Times is a big story with a look at the president's two-year war on the investigations

encircling him.

The Times reports that the president

wanted Jeffrey Berman, a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to be put in charge

of the investigation into payments to women during the 2016 campaign. The acting attorney

general Matt Whitaker knew he couldn't do this because Berman had already recused himself from the

investigation. The Washington Post followed up on Chris Reddy's comments to Christian Amunpour,

writing that some feared director of national intelligence, Dan Coates, could be fired as

the president has grown more frustrated with him.

On the border, David Sider's reports that Beto O'Rourke continues to seize on the president's

border politics and has

thus created an opening in the Democratic primary for himself. And The Washington Post is

reporting that Border Patrol is offering snacks and medical checks to Central American families

crossing the border. Jay Timmons, head of the Natural Association of Manufacturers, is heading to McAllen, Texas to meet

with Catholic charities and law enforcement officials to discuss a pathway forward for immigration policy.

He's in Texas to deliver his annual state of manufacturing address this morning. Also, our colleague

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