Good Thursday morning. I'm Jake Sherman and welcome to your political playbook audio briefings

day tuned after the show for a message from the Stop the Hit Coalition. And I'm Anna Palmer. Day one is

over and it's hard to encapsulate six hours of hearings in a single headline. We spent the night in the

Capitol chatting up lawmakers, aides and reporters and here is how insiders are thinking about

yesterday and the next eight

days of hearings. The six-hour hearing presented unique challenges for both parties. Republicans

didn't get their first crack at the witnesses, Bill Taylor and George Kent, until about 1 p.m.

After the opening statements and 45 minutes from House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff,

who also had a solid day per members of both parties, along with the Dem Council, Dan Goldman.

Democrats had to weave together what they believed to be an airtight tail.

They did so expertly, interspersed with Republicans trying to blow gaping holes in everything they were saying.

TV, which is usually a boon for Republicans in the Trump era, seemed to cut against them this time.

Kent and Taylor took pains to emphasize that they had no allegiance for or against Donald Trump,

and they were believable, according to most every Democrat and Republican we spoke to.

One of the keys for Democrats was that both of them said linking aid

to seemingly political investigations was wrong and unusual. There are few ways top-level lawmakers

and aides in both parties are looking at the Republicans' performance. They dove headfirst down

rabbit holes, regaling the crowd of millions of viewers with right-wing Twitter conspiracy theories,

but they also did a decent job of muddying the waters,

confusing the testimony, and fighting Democrats to a draw. We heard the draw language from many

Republicans last night. It's important to note, Republicans did not change the narrative arc of what

Democrats are alleging. They are only saying Democrats were relying on witnesses who did not have

...