Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to lawmakers concerned about President Donald Trump’s plans to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, and have the scoop on the antisemitic social media activity of a newly elected Democratic official in Brooklyn. We look at the role Qatar is playing after Vice President JD Vance’s comments that Doha would serve as a place for CENTCOM and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to “hang out,” and talk to former American Jewish Committee head David Harris about his new book about antisemitism. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Neera Tanden, Mathias DΓΆpfner, and Jonathan Safran Foer.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
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For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Starmer’s resignation puts Burnham’s record on Israel, antisemitism in the spotlight; Prospective 2028 Democrats rally against Trump’s Iran agreement; and How Ritchie Torres dodged the DSA wave in New York City. Print the latest edition here.
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- State Department-facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon that were slated to conclude yesterday are being extended and are now expected to wrap up today, as the parties remain split on whether the IDF will partially withdraw from southern Lebanon.
- Elsewhere in Washington, the State Department’s two-day Pax Silica Summit continues today. The State Department announced on Thursday that nine new parties had signed on to Pax Silica, the U.S.-led initiative uniting American allies with the aim of developing global supply chains for artificial intelligence and the production of semiconductors, chips, critical minerals and energy sources to reduce global dependence on China. Read more here.
- Texas Democrats are gathered in Corpus Christi for the state party’s convention, which began yesterday. Among the resolutions expected to be voted on before the convention concludes on Saturday are more than a dozen resolutions about Israel.
- The Aspen Ideas Festival is underway in Colorado. This evening, Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer, respectively the national security advisor and deputy national security advisor in the Biden administration, are recording a live episode of their podcast “The Long Game,” alongside foreign policy analyst Robert Kagan, focused on shifting global power dynamics.
- On Saturday in Aspen, Karen Brunwasser, Riman Barakat, Nour Darwish and Noam Helfer are set to speak on a panel titled “The Opposite of War Is Creation: Israeli-Palestinian Artistic Partnership.” Later in the day, Fareed Zakaria, Kim Ghattas, Karim Sadjadpour and Mark Dubowitz will discuss Middle East dynamics and the war with Iran.
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A QUICK WORD WITH JI'S MELISSA WEISS |
As diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran continues following the adoption of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries last week, Washington is again leaning on Qatar to serve as a critical interlocutor, further cementing Doha’s standing as an intermediary despite the significant setbacks sustained by the Gulf state during the recent war with Iran.
In an interview with UnHerd that was published on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance, traveling back from the Iran talks in Switzerland earlier this week, said that Doha would serve as the location for CENTCOM to meet with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials — despite the IRGC’s designation as a foreign terror organization by the U.S. (a move undertaken by President Donald Trump in his first term).
“One of the things we wanted to come out [of the negotiations]” was a “channel on the Iranian side” to seek conflict resolution, Vance told UnHerd aboard Air Force Two. “Which we did. They were like, ‘OK, fine, we’ll send somebody from the IRGC to go hang out in Doha with somebody from CENTCOM,’ and that’s how we’re going to settle a lot of these disputes,” he said. Read more here.
Doha has long played a role in the back-channel communications between the U.S. and adversaries. But Vance’s comments underscore the degree to which Qatar’s once-quiet intermediary role is now not only public, but a key element of the infrastructure supporting the new regional dynamics.
Read the rest of 'What You Should Know' here.
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DSA-aligned Brooklyn Democratic leader promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories |
An activist that two politicians from the Democratic Socialists of America helped elevate to a leadership position in the Brooklyn Democratic Party on Tuesday posted a vitriolic antisemitic screed to her Instagram last year — declaring as “the truth” a notorious work beloved by Adolf Hitler that describes a Jewish world conspiracy, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
Brooklyn beat: Although the DSA itself did not formally endorse Charrington for the post of Democratic leader, two of its most important local figures campaigned with her and helped her make the ballot: state Sen. Jabari Brisport and state Assembly candidate Eon Huntley. Reached by JI, Charrington maintained that she was not prejudiced, but also insisted the video “was some facts.” She repeatedly told the reporter to “get your rabbi,” as she intended to hold a future “roundtable” on what she called a “bullying community.”
Read the full story here.
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Vance says U.S. military, IRGC to ‘hang out’ together in Doha |
Vice President JD Vance said this week that U.S. military officials are working directly with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. The vice president made the comments after departing Switzerland following the conclusion of talks with Iran that lasted until Monday, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.
What he said: “One of the things we wanted to come out [of the negotiations] with” was a “channel on the Iranian side” to seek conflict resolution, Vance told the outlet UnHerd aboard Air Force Two. “Which we did. They were like, ‘OK, fine, we’ll send somebody from the IRGC to go hang out in Doha with somebody from CENTCOM,’ and that’s how we’re going to settle a lot of these disputes,” he said.
Read the full story here.
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Bipartisan alarm over Trump’s plan to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey |
U.S. lawmakers across the political spectrum are sounding the alarm over the Trump administration’s plans to review whether it can sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, arguing that the move would raise national security concerns and that Ankara has not yet fulfilled its obligation to dump its Russian S-400s, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea and Marc Rod report.
Turkey talk: The proposed deal has drawn fierce bipartisan pushback and notable criticism from within Trump’s own ranks. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) told JI, “Turkey has integrated its defenses with the Russian missiles. The F-35 is a technology platform that Russia would love to get information on and we can’t allow that to happen. Turkey has not been the best NATO ally. Its actions in the Eastern Mediterranean have been contrary to U.S. interests and regional interests, so I have real concerns.”
Read the full story here with additional comments from Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Dina Titus (D-NV), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Brian Mast (R-FL) and Greg Meeks (D-NY).
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Neera Tanden reemerges at CAP, draws red lines against extremists in Dem Party |
A decade ago, Center for American Progress CEO Neera Tanden spent her time arguing with the far left on Twitter. Her life doesn’t look too different today: After four years holding senior roles in the Biden administration, Tanden is back at CAP and once again arguing with the far left on X. But Tanden now finds herself fighting a much more solitary battle than before against the ascendant left flank of the party, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Sorry, not sorry: Tanden has called out far-left candidates challenging incumbent Democratic lawmakers for taking positions well outside the party’s mainstream. And at a time when some in the party are calling to make the Democratic tent so wide that it includes even activists and candidates who have flirted with antisemitism, she has taken to X to push back. “Sorry if I think it's important to state out loud on here my disagreements with a guy who says it's ok to murder people, Jews are inbred, America was responsible for 9/11 and Russia was right to invade Crimea, amongst other insane things,” Tanden wrote on X in April after “Pod Save America” interviewed Hasan Piker, the far-left, antisemitic political streamer.
Read the full story here.
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Rep. Josh Gottheimer says moderates need to stand up against incoming socialist bloc |
In the wake of a trifecta of victories by far-left candidates in New York City primaries on Tuesday — in addition to several other radical insurgents expected to join the House next year — Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), a leading moderate Democrat, said that Democrats of his ilk need to stand firm and push back, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Fighting back: Gottheimer told JI on Wednesday that he’s concerned the incoming DSA-aligned lawmakers will be coming to Washington to “wreak havoc in Congress,” rather than focusing on affordability and protecting national security, and warned that they will try to “hold the party hostage” to their socialist views. “Common-sense Democrats will fight back … when they try to push some part of their socialist agenda, whether that’s anti-cop, anti-American, we’ll stand up and block it. I’m not going to allow the party to be hijacked by a bunch of socialist agenda,” Gottheimer said.
Read the full story here.
On the Hill: The House Education & Workforce Committee advanced three bills to combat antisemitism on college campuses, with minimal or no support from Democrats, at a markup on Thursday.
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In new book, former AJC chief David Harris traces antisemitism’s past — and warns about its present |
David Harris spent more than two decades leading the American Jewish Committee, where he navigated crises facing the Jewish community and built bipartisan coalitions to advance the group’s mission of supporting Israel and Diaspora Jewry. His book, Antisemitism: What Everyone Needs to Know, published by Oxford University Press last year, is Harris’ attempt to reach beyond the Jewish community — churches, classrooms and the “average New York Times reader.” His goal, he said, is to turn the “silent majority” into the “loud majority,” Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Interview with the author: Harris, who quipped that he retired “for about 30 seconds” after serving as AJC’s CEO from 1990–2022, sat down with JI on Thursday to discuss the book at a moment in which he said he has “never been more worried” about antisemitism — yet also remains optimistic about the Jewish future. “I wrote the book over the span of close to two years during the post-Oct. 7 period,” Harris said. “Two things impacted me: the speed and virulence of which history was turned on its head. The worst day in Israeli and Jewish history since the end of World War II had before our eyes suddenly become directed at Jews, Zionists [and] friends of Israel who were suddenly seen as the perpetrators.”
Read the full interview here.
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Leaving Iranians Behind: In The Washington Post, Elliott Abrams, who served as Iran envoy in the first Trump administration, raises concerns about Washington’s pledge, in its memorandum of understanding with Iran, to “refrain from interfering” in the country’s domestic affairs. “If the West cares about freedom in Iran, support for dissidents is crucial — for opposition leaders in the country and those in exile, for the millions of Iranians who loathe the regime and for the hundreds of thousands who rise up against it even in the face of murderous suppression. They need and want the moral and political support of democratic societies. Lifting sanctions and unfreezing the mullahs’ assets only make their struggle more difficult.” [WashPost]
Feeling the Heat on Israel: In The Free Press, Mark Halperin examines the degree to which Israel has become a “toxic litmus test” among Democrats. “The anti-Israel left has learned that it can pressure establishment politicians by arousing the grassroots over Israel, which has created an unvirtuous cycle. The more such pressure campaigns work against universities, corporations, and political actors, the more the left returns again and again to the same tactics, strategies, and themes to apply their threats. There is not a Democratic candidate in the country, from places with a lot of Jewish voters to places with nearly none, who is not aware of this dynamic.” [FreePress]
Vance’s Veer: Puck’s Julia Ioffe looks at how Vice President JD Vance, assessing shifting political dynamics, has increasingly staked out a position on Israel that is more critical than it was when he was in the Senate. “In recent weeks, word has spread around town that Vance has been regularly talking to Trita Parsi, the Swedish-Iranian co-founder of the Quincy Institute. The anti-interventionist think tank, which is funded by Charles Koch, bills itself as ‘transpartisan’ and operates in that space between the ends of the political horseshoe — one that, these days, looks increasingly like a circle.” [Puck]
Gulf Positioning: The Wall Street Journal’s Elliot Kaufman reflects on Vance’s appeal to Gulf states as he worked to promote the memorandum of understanding with Iran. “The Gulf states are always hedging with Iran, by virtue of geography. Several opposed the war from the start and denied the U.S. use of local airspace and U.S. military bases. … The Gulf states want their oil exports out and their energy infrastructure safe, and they are glad for the conflict to end. But that doesn’t mean they think this is a strong deal. The collapse of the U.S. position on Iran’s missile program — left out of the memorandum of understanding entirely — has unsettled the Gulf Arabs, and rightly so.” [WSJ]
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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck a Singapore-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday in an apparent violation of the ceasefire agreement…
Iran is estimating it will amass some $40 billion annually in revenue from its control over the strait as an increasing number of ships transit the waterway after it was reopened…
The Wall Street Journal does a deep dive into Washington’s calculus on rebuilding destroyed and damaged U.S. military facilities in the Middle East and relocating assets — including potentially to Israel — as it addresses the significant damage caused by Iran’s attacks on a U.S. Navy base in Bahrain during the war…
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is expected to plead guilty to a single count of retaining government information when he appears today in federal court; Bolton, who served in the first Trump administration, had previously pleaded not guilty after being accused by prosecutors of sending from his personal email address more than 1,000 pages of “diary-like” recollections to relatives helping him with a book…
In The Hill, former Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) considers the takeaways for moderate Democrats following the Democratic Socialists of America’s victories in Tuesday’s primaries in New York…
Republican Bruce Blakeman, who is mounting a gubernatorial bid in New York challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul, suggested that Brad Lander, who won his primary against Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) on Tuesday, “would be a camp guard in the concentration camp if he could,” prompting Lander to respond, “Standing up for Palestinian human rights doesn’t make me any less proud to be Jewish, or any less serious about fighting antisemitism”...
Axel Springer CEO Mathias DΓΆpfner, speaking this week at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London, cautioned that antisemitism had become a “global export” following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, and that antisemitism among younger generations was “the biggest disgrace of our times”...
The New York Times interviews MIT professor Yossi Sheffi about his new book about antisemitism at the university, which he said he wrote in response to administrators’ decision not to thoroughly investigate and report on antisemitism on the campus and efforts to address it…
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the country should reopen its embassies in Iran and Venezuela, noting that having a diplomatic presence “does not mean we endorse the policies of that country”...
The head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian government’s security arm, said that an Australian citizen living in Iran and working for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had orchestrated the firebombing of a 2024 Sydney restaurant, months before an Australian living in Iraq had plotted an attack on a Melbourne synagogue…
The Wall Street Journal looks at how CoinEx became a “major hub” for Iran, which used the cryptocurrency exchange to move nearly $4 billion in illicit funds…
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JI wine columnist Yitz Applbaum reviews the Katzrin Cabernet 2021:
Celebrating the Sheva Brachot of a close friend’s daughter in his glorious Jerusalem garden was spiritual, emotional and full of joy, and it settled, for me, an age-old question: Does the wine make the moment, or the moment make the wine? The answer came the instant I opened one of Israel's greatest bottles, the Yarden Katzrin 2021, as wine and occasion were joined in perfect harmony.
The Katzrin Cabernet 2021 is rich and generous from first sip to last. The opening is layered with tobacco leaf; the mid-palate carries a Bordeaux-style earthiness; and the finish is deep, luscious and unforgettable. This is a wine with 20 years ahead of it. Pour some now, alongside a 14-hour wine-braised brisket, and the marriage will speak for itself.
Purchase a bottle here.
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Author Jonathan Safran Foer met this week with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, where he presented the pontiff with a sold-out New York Knicks yarmulke days after the team’s NBA championship win. Foer was invited to the Holy See as it celebrated the centenary of the Vatican Publishing House.
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RODIN ECKENROTH/GETTY IMAGES
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Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award-winning actor, movie director, composer and comedian, born Melvin James Kaminsky, Mel Brooks turns 100 on Sunday...
FRIDAY: Member of the New York State Senate from Queens since 1999, she chairs the committee on higher education, Toby Ann Stavisky turns 87... Partner in the law firm BakerHostetler known for his recovery of $14.5 billion from the Madoff investment scandal, Irving H. Picard turns 85... Retired co-host for more than 30 years of NPR's "All Things Considered," Robert Siegel turns 79... Rabbi of Congregation Chaverim in Tucson, Ariz., for more than 35 years, Stephanie Aaron… Chair of the Nexus Project and retired lawyer, he was previously chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Alan Solow turns 72... CEO of Emerging Star Capital and the author of a biography of President Bill Clinton, Robert E. Levin... Attorney and Holocaust survivors' rights advocate, Samuel J. Dubbin turns 71... CEO of ZMC, he was previously chairman of CBS and president of 20th Century Fox, Strauss Zelnick turns 69... Professor of psychology at Loyola University Maryland, she is known for her work on sleep patterns and behavioral well-being, Amy Ruth Wolfson, Ph.D.... Israeli actor and comedian, Anat Waxman turns 65... Once the wealthiest of all Russian businessmen, then a prisoner in Russia and now living in London, Mikhail Khodorkovsky turns 63... First Jewish federal cabinet member to serve in post-WWII Germany, she is minister for education, family, seniors, women and youth, Karin Prien turns 61... Creator of multiple TV series including "Felicity," "Alias," "Lost" and "Fringe," and director and producer of many films, Jeffrey Jacob “J.J.” Abrams turns 60… Novelist and journalist, most notable as the author of the Magicians trilogy, he was the book critic and lead technology writer at Time magazine, Lev Grossman... and his twin brother, author, video game designer and adjunct instructor at NYU, Austin Grossman both turn 57... Head of school at Ramaz since 2025, Noam T. Wasserman turns 57... President and founder of Reut Group, a Tel Aviv-based nonpartisan and nonprofit policy think tank, Gidi Grinstein turns 56... Political commentator, YouTube personality, comedian and talk show host, Dave Rubin turns 50... Head of external communications at Geico, Ross Feinstein... Partner in Mayer Brown's D.C. office, Michael "Mickey" Leibner... EVP of programming at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Sara Fredman Aeder... CEO at Jewish California (formerly JPAC), David Bocarsly turns 36... Principal at Boston Consulting Group, Asher J. Mayerson... Author, model, media personality and political operative, she was the national spokesperson for the Republican Party, Elizabeth Pipko turns 31...
SATURDAY: One of the heirs to the Bronfman family fortune, a co-founder of Taglit Birthright, the first chairman of the United Jewish Communities and former owner of MLB's Montreal Expos, Charles Bronfman turns 95... One-half of the husband-wife screenwriting and television production team, Richard Allen Shapiro turns 92... Technion graduate, he is regarded as the founding father of unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) technology, Abraham Karem turns 89... Brooklyn resident, Meyer Roth... Former member of both houses of the Pennsylvania Legislature, Constance Hess "Connie" Williams turns 82... Former commander of the Israeli Navy, head of the Shin Bet and member of Knesset, Amihai "Ami" Ayalon turns 81... First-ever woman ordained as a rabbi by HUC-JIR, Sally Jane Priesand turns 80... Author of fiction and nonfiction books, she is the founding president of the Mayyim Hayyim mikveh in Newton, Mass., Anita Diamant turns 75... New Jersey resident, Kenneth R. Blankfein... Minority leader of the Florida State Senate, Lori Berman turns 68... Managing director at Osprey Foundation, Louis Boorstin... and his twin brother, principal at Panther Works and senior advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group, Robert O. Boorstin, both turn 67... British historian and award-winning author, he is a great-great-great-nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore, Simon Sebag Montefiore turns 61... Southern California-based accountant, Susan M. Feldman... President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland (Ore.) since 2010, Marc N. Blattner turns 57... South Florida resident, Gordon M. Gerstein... Reporter for The New York Times on the climate desk, Lisa Friedman... Member of Knesset for United Torah Judaism, Yoel Yaakov Tessler turns 53... Senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, Ilya Shapiro... Israeli judoka, best known for his default victory at the 2004 Summer Olympics when his Iranian opponent refused to fight him, Ehud Vaks turns 47... Director of stakeholder advocacy at Ford Motor, Caroline Elisabeth Adler Morales... Singer and musician, best known for being Avril Lavigne's lead guitarist, Evan David Taubenfeld turns 43... Executive talent partner at Greylock Partners, Holly Rose Faith... National security advisor to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Charles Dunst...
SUNDAY: Laguna Woods, Calif., resident, she is a retired hospital administrator, Saretta Platt Berlin... Owner of NYC's United Equities Companies and honorary chairman of Berkshire Bank, Moses M. Marx turns 91... Former member of Congress for 16 years and now a distinguished fellow and president emerita of the Wilson Center, Jane Harman turns 81... Political consultant, community organizer and author, he is married to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Robert Creamer turns 79... Novelist, journalist, conservative commentator and senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, Mark Helprin turns 79... Author of crime fiction for both adults and children, Peter Abrahams turns 79... Documentary producer and adjunct associate professor at USC, James Ruxin turns 78... Professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, Kenneth Alan Ribet turns 78... Shareholder in the Tampa law office of Carlton Fields, Nathaniel L. Doliner turns 77... Rabbi and historian, he is the author of a 2017 book Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court: From Brandeis to Kagan, David G. Dalin turns 77... Former member of the California State Senate following two terms in the State Assembly, Martin Jeffrey "Marty" Block turns 76... Retired partner at Chicago-based accounting firm of Morrison & Morrison, he has been involved with the leadership of J Street since its inception, Mark Zivin... Volunteer president of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, he served for 17 years as executive director of Maccabi USA, Jed Margolis turns 75... Founding partner of NYC law firm Kasowitz LLP, Marc Kasowitz turns 74... Israeli journalist for Haaretz, she lives in Ramallah, Amira Hass turns 70... Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, a Fortune 50 company that includes NBC Universal, Brian L. Roberts turns 67... Rabbi of the Har Bracha community and rosh yeshiva of the yeshiva there, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed turns 65... U.S. special envoy for Holocaust issues at the State Department, Ellen J. Germain turns 64... Founding member of GPS Investment Partners, Marc Spilker turns 62… Actor and singer, Jessica Hecht turns 61... Former diplomatic correspondent for Al-Monitor, now reporting on Substack, Laura Rozen... Novelist and short story writer, Aimee Bender turns 57... Israeli actor residing in Los Angeles, Ayelet Zurer turns 57... Trillionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, owner of X formerly known as Twitter, Elon Musk turns 55... Former member of Knesset as a member of the Labor Party / Zionist Union, Michal Biran turns 48... Toltzy Kornbluh... and her twin sister, Chany Stark... UAE-based businessman and philanthropist who is the founder and CEO of NY Koen Group, Naum Koen turns 45... Associate at Latham & Watkins, she was previously the social secretary to the ambassador of Israel in Washington, Molly Rosen… Mark Winkler...
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