2016 WATCH — How to Back Hillary Into a Corner: A report from the secret race to answer 2016’s most pressing question — : “One afternoon in late September, David Plouffe, President Barack Obama’s former campaign manager and most trusted political aide, slipped into Hillary Clinton’s stately red-brick home on Whitehaven Street in Washington, D.C., to lay out his vision for her 2016 presidential campaign. The Clintons have always made a habit of courting their most talented tormenters, so it wasn’t surprising that she would call on the man who masterminded her 2008 defeat as she finds herself besieged by Republicans replaying Plouffe’s greatest hits.” [Politico] • Related: “2 Clinton Aides move on” [Politico] 

2016 WATCH — WARREN: “Even without running, Warren has made clear she’s not interested in seeing a Clinton coronation. In Boston, when the two spoke at a rally Friday for Martha Coakley, the Democrat running for governor, Warren barely mentioned the former secretary of state in her remarks. In the past, the Massachusetts Democrat has criticized Clinton as too close to Wall Street. The side-by-side appearance was a reminder that Clinton is still learning the language of the new economic populism, which formed in the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis during a period when she was focused on foreign affairs. Her remarks — including a misdelivered line about businesses not creating jobs — added another scrap to the narrative pile that she is a reactive campaigner, who will bend if it’s politically expedient.” [Politico] • “Biden his time for 2016” [Politico]

2016 WATCH — White Men Clubs & Sen. Lindsey Graham: “An audio recording provided to CNN captured the South Carolina Republican joking at a private Charleston club that “white men who are in male-only clubs are going to do great in my presidency.” According to the CNN report Wednesday, Graham confirmed the veracity of the recordings. Graham was speaking to the Hibernian Society of Charleston, a charitable group with an all-male membership.” [Politico]

2014 WATCH: Cuomo Pledges Support for Israel and Religious School tax Credits: “Speaking at a last minute campaign stop at Beth Jacob of Borough Park–one of the city’s most well-known Orthodox Jewish enclaves–Mr. Cuomo reminisced about the trip he made to the Jewish State this summer during the country’s battle against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Like his Republican rival, Rob Astorino, Mr. Cuomo has assiduously courted the city’s Orthodox Jewish community. “When you grow up in New York, you grow up as a member of the Jewish community, and that’s how I grew up. And that’s the relationship that I feel in my essence. And as governor of New York, it’s one of the really valuable things I can do and that is something that I want to do,” Mr. Cuomo added… One of the event’s organizers, Jewish philanthropist Sol Werdiger, announced that he intended to usher Mr. Cuomo into even higher office. “I can only promise that in four years we’ll be doing this again, only it’ll be ‘Cuomo for President,” Mr. Werdiger said. The governor laughed the remark off. “You had to make trouble. It was all good over until now,” he said.” [Observer]

POLITICAL PULSE: Mayor Hurt Locker Rahm Emanuel: “Most in the political universe know the CliffsNotes on Emanuel: Grew up in comfortable, deeply driven Jewish home in Chicago’s ’burbs … Dad a Jerusalem-born pediatrician, mom a nurse and psychiatric social worker … Studied ballet, worked for Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee … Volunteered for Israeli military during 1991 Gulf War, then saved a reeling Bill Clinton with critical fundraising amid allegations of Clinton extramarital affair in 1992 … Joined Clinton White House, gained renown as profane take-no-prisoners top aide … Made $18.5 million in 2 1/2 years of investment banking and then won four terms in Congress, where he led Democrats’ 2006 recapture of the House … Arm twisted to be President Obama’s chief of staff, derailing ambition to be first Jewish House speaker … Ran for mayor in 2011 after surprise Daley decision to retire, proceeding to crush field. But what came next has been a surprise.” [Politico]

Mr. Miller Doesn’t Go to Washington: “After serving as a top budget aide in the Clinton White House, Miller and his wife, Jody, moved to Los Angeles. When he decided to run for Congress two decades later, consultants told him to play up his Jewish faith and the name recognition he had earned as a public radio host.” [Politico]

U.S. sees long alliance with Turkey crumble over ISIS: “The increasingly hostile divergence of views between Turkey and the United States over Syria is testing the durability of their 60-year alliance, to the point where some are starting to question whether the two countries still can be considered allies at all. Turkey’s refusal to allow the United States to use its bases to launch attacks against the Islamic State, quarrels over how to manage the battle raging in the Syrian border town of Kobane and the harsh tone of the anti-American rhetoric used by top Turkish officials to denounce U.S. policy have served to illuminate the vast gulf that divides the two nations as they scramble to address the menace posed by the extremists.” [Washington Post] • Egypt Flattens Neighborhoods to Create a Buffer With Gaza [NYTimes] • Op: Why Europe Hates Israel [PJ]

Apple in Talks to Sell iPhone in Iran: “Senior Apple executives have met potential Iranian distributors at Apple’s regional headquarters on London’s Hanover Street, people familiar with the matter said…Apple would be allowed to export its iPhone to Iran because of a U.S. decision last year to lift rules that had barred the sale of consumer communications technologies in Iran.” [WSJ]

STARTUP NATION: Israeli Accelerator UpWest Helps Startups Move to Silicon Valley:“UpWest Labs, which invests in early-stage Israeli startups and brings them immediately to Silicon Valley, is targeting $15 million for a second fund, according to a regulatory filing. The firm also announced investments in seven new startups, its eighth class since it was launched in 2012. Its first fund was about $2.5 million. “Our vision is to enable the best and brightest from Israel to get access to the U.S. market, customers, partners and funding and grow to become tremendous businesses,” said UpWest Partner Gil Ben-Artzy.” [WSJ] • SodaStream to move its West Bank factory in 2015 [AP]

REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP: Developers Joseph Chetrit and David Bistricer made an empty Flatbush hospital building into an apartment complex. [Brooklyn Eagle] • Martin Selig unveiled early plans for a 440-foot-tall residential and office tower in downtown Seattle [Biz Journals] • Mort Zuckerman Talks Midtown and the Future of New York City [Commercial Observer]

BUSINESS BRIEFS — Steve Ballmer on His New Life as a Basketball Owner and Microsoft Shareholder: ““Buying an NBA team was on his list of seven things he wanted to spend time on after he retired from Microsoft, Ballmer said. (He’s also said he’s preparing for a bar mitzvah, a Jewish rite boys usually make around age 13. Ballmer is 58.)”” [WSJ]

In Passport Case, Alyza Lewin Steps Into Her Father’s Shoes: “On Nov. 3, Alyza Lewin, not her father—the veteran advocate Nathan Lewin—will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Zivotofsky v. Kerry.” [National Law Journal]

LONGREAD: “My Captivity” by Theo Padnos: “At the U.N. base in the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria, an Indian doctor had me sit on a table. He asked the attendants to leave the room. He had me remove my trousers. With the gentlest, most silent, most breathtaking courtesy, he examined my body. That broke my heart. A representative of the United States government greeted me on the far side of the Israeli border. In the back seat of an immaculate dark-blue S.U.V., she put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s O.K. to cry,” she said.” [NYTimesMag]

TALK OF OUR NATION: “Inspired by Taglit-Birthright’s free trips to Israel for college students, a brand new program will bring Jewish newlyweds from North America on heavily subsidized honeymoons to the Holy Land.” [Haaretz]

SPORTS BLINK: Sinai Says: Israeli trio Blatt, Casspi, Mekel all with plenty to prove in NBA [JPost]

DESSERT: 6 Jewish crime novels with female protagonists everyone should read [Forward]

BIRTHDAYS: Andrea Mitchell turns 68… Ivanka Trump turns 33.