| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
|  After years on the fringes, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is suddenly knocking on the door of mainstream relevance — and all it took was mounting a longshot presidential campaign. | AP | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — A bipartisan Dear Colleague letter today from Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and Sens. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-N.M.), MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.) and TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.) announces a series of senators-only briefings this month on artificial intelligence, warning that lawmakers “must deepen our expertise in this pressing topic.” The sessions are centered on three questions: (1) “Where is AI today?” (2) “What is the frontier of AI and how do we maintain American leadership?” and (3) “How do the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community use AI today and what do we know about how our adversaries are using AI?” News of the briefings comes days after President JOE BIDEN warned Air Force Academy graduates that some experts believe AI could “overtake human thinking and planning.” Said the senators, “As AI transforms our world, the Senate must keep abreast of the extraordinary potential, and risks, AI presents.” Read the letter THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE — “Intelligence officials say U.S. has retrieved craft of non-human origin,” by the Debrief’s Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal (formerly of NYT) REACQUAINT YOURSELF — “55 Things You Need to Know About Chris Christie,” by Michael Kruse and Ekaterina Pechenkina BIDEN’S RFK DILEMMA — After years on the fringes, ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. is suddenly knocking on the door of mainstream relevance — and all it took was mounting a longshot presidential campaign. Just in the last few days, Kennedy won a surprise endorsement from Twitter co-founder JACK DORSEY, was the subject of a deep dive by WaPo’s Michael Scherer into his long history of conspiratorial rhetoric, and spent two hours on Twitter Spaces with ELON MUSK and such ideological fellow-travelers as isolationist former Rep. TULSI GABBARD (D-Hawaii) and pro surfer-slash-vaccine skeptic KELLY SLATER. The NYT wrapped up the Twitter event thusly: “[Kennedy] said he planned to travel to the Mexican border this week to ‘try to formulate policies that will seal the border permanently,’ called for the federal government to consider the war in Ukraine from the perspective of Russians and said pharmaceutical drugs were responsible for the rise of mass shootings in America.” Needless to say, these views are out of step with the vast majority of the party whose nomination he’s ostensibly seeking. Supermajorities of Democratic voters support a national assault weapons ban, received the Covid-19 vaccine, and express confidence in the electoral process. Kennedy is on the opposite side of all of these issues. And, yet, he’s constantly polling in the double digits against Biden. The latest CNN poll, taken less than three weeks ago, has him at 20 percent. Now, theories abound as to why this is happening:
- Most obviously, the Kennedy name still means something in Democratic politics — quite a lot, according to the available evidence. For instance, ahead of the 2017 Senate special election in Alabama, one ROBERT KENNEDY JR. garnered 49 percent support among Democrats surveyed in one early poll. The catch is … he has no relation to the Kennedy political dynasty.
- Almost as obviously, voters with qualms about a second Biden term need to park their support somewhere. Poll after poll finds a sizable minority of Democrats worried about the 80-year-old incumbent’s age and what that portends, so their eyes are looking elsewhere.
- There’s also a phenomenon among Democrats that even with a young popular president (cough, BARACK OBAMA, cough), eyes can wander early on. In a September 2010 Gallup poll, for instance, then-Secretary of State HILLARY CLINTON pulled in 37 percent of support while Obama pulled in 52 percent.
Let’s be real: Kennedy poses no direct danger to Biden’s nomination, nor does any other Democrat for the foreseeable future. As is customary with a sitting president, the party apparatus has already chosen its man. There will be no debates; Kennedy will see no institutional support. What he is, though, is an annoyance for Biden — and a potentially dangerous one. Besides using his legendary name and a national campaign megaphone to espouse fringe views, his outsize polling performance has served as a routine reminder of Biden’s vulnerabilities among his base. Yet, for now, Biden world’s plan is to ignore him. The overwhelming sense inside the campaign and White House orbits is that any other posture would elevate him from a gadfly with a good name to a genuine contender. They are counting on reporters and other Democrats to do the work of informing voters about Kennedy’s well-established views. Once that happens, as one Democratic strategist put it to us, they will “realize he’s running in the wrong party.” (This person, like others who spoke about Kennedy, did so on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about strategy.) “Even the slightest press scrutiny is his biggest problem,” one Biden 2020 alum put it last night: “When Democrats see a candidate is anti-vaccination, anti-assault weapons ban, and a quasi 2020 election denier, their first thought is that this person must be a MAGA Republican.” It’s a careful strategy that will seem frustratingly familiar to Biden’s Democratic critics, who have consistently wanted a more aggressive posture out of his White House and his campaign. But don’t expect a lot of attention to be paid to the hand-wringing — on RFK Jr. or most anything else. One former Biden White House official and campaign aide whom Playbook spoke with last night agreed that ignoring Kennedy is probably the right move. But the person added that ignoring him doesn’t mean that you don’t keep an eye on him. “It is a distraction, no doubt,” the person said. “And some could say just ignore it, which is how I would feel about it. At the same time, you've got to make sure that somebody is paying attention to it and pushing back.” Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from UPS: UPS invests more than $343 million in safety training in the U.S. every year. It’s why more than 10,000 UPS drivers have driven 25 years or more without an accident and earned a place in our Circle of Honor.
Learn more | | | UKRAINE LATEST — Amid a rising tempo of military conflict, Ukraine overnight accused Russia of destroying a major dam and hydroelectric power station in an area under its control along the Dnipro River. Video verified by the NYT and other outlets showed water surging through a breach, which President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY called the work of “Russian terrorists.” AP’s Susie Blann writes that the failure of the Kakhovka dam “could unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas downriver where hundreds of thousands of people live,” as well as depleting waters that help cool a nearby Russian-occupied nuclear power plant. So has the long-awaited Ukrainian spring counteroffensive finally kicked off? Depends whom you ask. A more intense campaign of fighting that began Sunday fell within the time frame Ukraine had given Washington for when it would begin the counteroffensive, officials tell NYT’s Andrew Kramer, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Julian Barnes and Eric Schmitt, and Russia accused Ukraine of having attempted a major operation. But Ukraine denied that this was in fact the counteroffensive, as WaPo’s Samantha Schmidt, Isobel Koshiw and Mary Ilyushina report, though Kyiv has also said it wouldn’t signal the start publicly. Ukraine said it made some gains, while Russia claimed to have stopped the main thrust; both sides denied the other’s accounting of shifting front lines. DEVELOPING OVERNIGHT — “Zelensky says evacuations have been ordered, with 80 settlements ‘in the flood zone,’” by CNN’s Olga Voitovych and Sebastian Shukla Across the pond, the U.S. is trying to do what it can to support the Ukrainian drive. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. MARK MILLEY told CNN’s Oren Liebermann in Normandy, France, that Ukraine is “very well prepared,” but success is no guarantee. And at the White House, Biden talked about assistance to Ukraine, especially F-16s, with Danish PM METTE FREDERIKSEN, NYT’s Katie Rogers reports. It will be a big topic again with British PM RISHI SUNAK later this week.
| | | | A message from UPS:   | | | | | BIDEN’S TUESDAY:
11:45 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
2:15 p.m.: Biden will hold a Cabinet meeting, with VP KAMALA HARRIS participating.
Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 1 p.m.
HARRIS’ TUESDAY:
8:35 a.m.: The VP will leave for Philadelphia, arriving at 9:20 a.m.
10:40 a.m.: Harris will take part in a moderated conversation with the Service Employees International Union at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown.
12:05 p.m.: Harris will leave to return to D.C., arriving at 12:55 p.m. ahead of the Cabinet meeting.
7 p.m.: Harris will speak at the Israeli Embassy’s Independence Day reception at the National Building Museum, celebrating the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding, with second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF attending.
THE HOUSE will meet at 10 a.m. and at noon will take up legislation that would prevent the use of federal funds to curtail the sale or use of gas stoves.
THE SENATE will meet at 3 p.m. to take up DAVID CRANE’s nomination as Energy undersecretary for infrastructure, with a cloture vote at 5:30 p.m. | | | | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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President Joe Biden poses for a photo as he welcomes the Kansas City Chiefs to the White House, Monday, June 5, 2023. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 2024 WATCH VIVEK RAMASWAMY IN ROSSLYN — The unorthodox presidential contender sat down with POLITICO reporters and editors yesterday, when he “framed his candidacy as a galvanizing movement for the country,” Natalie Allison recaps. Ramaswamy took shots at DeSantis and Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG. And though he doesn’t think Trump is unelectable, Ramaswamy sees himself winning a general election much more easily. “Sipping an orange Gatorade and describing the current state of affairs as a ‘1776 moment,’” he said it’s up to the country whether “it wants to ‘revive the ideals of the American Revolution.’” SEEING RED — “Team DeSantis bets big on angrier GOP base,” by Axios’ Hans Nichols and Alex Thompson: “The DeSantis team argues that the swing voters of the Republican primary are on the far-right rather than the center-right and are more focused on cultural than economic power. … This week, the Super PAC Never Back Down will begin a $5 million ad buy through July 4 designed to burnish DeSantis’ conservative credentials.” KEY DEMOGRAPHIC — “In need of success in Iowa, DeSantis starts making his pitch to Evangelical voters,” by the Miami Herald’s Alex Roarty in Council Bluffs: “In an effort that began years ago and accelerated as he prepared to run for president, DeSantis has forged personal relationships with Evangelical leaders and begun layering his speeches with Biblical allusions.” MORE POLITICS NEW NAME IN THE MIX — “Ambassador Jeffrey Ross Gunter Mulls Run To Challenge Senator Rosen,” by The Nevada Globe’s Megan Barth OLD NAME IN THE MIX — “Former Democratic Rep. MONDAIRE JONES plans to launch a comeback bid for his old congressional seat this summer,” Ally Mutnick reports. “His entrance into the race sets up a primary clash with LIZ GEREGHTY, an education advocate and the sister of Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER, in a must-win district for House Democrats.” But, but, but: Polling conducted by Democratic groups has Jones down 2 points to incumbent GOP Rep. MIKE LAWLER, not a great number from the home team. And opponents will seek to cast him as too progressive. EYES EMOJI — Is Whitmer launching a federal PAC? THE WHITE HOUSE AD WARS — “Biden campaign launches ad blitz capitalizing on debt ceiling deal,” by Holly Otterbein: “The spots will run digitally and on billboards over the next week in battleground states and Washington, D.C.” NEW THIS MORNING — The White House is launching a new way to visualize the real-world impact of the big-ticket new laws passed during the Biden administration. Invest.gov includes a map and state-by-state summaries that show how federal funds from the infrastructure law, the chips law, the Inflation Reduction Act and more are creating jobs and pumping new investments into communities. More from the AP
| | | | A message from UPS:   | | | CONGRESS SOMEBODY CHECK ON LINDSEY GRAHAM — Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY dashed Senate defense hawks’ hopes yesterday, telling reporters he’s not open to a supplemental Pentagon funding bill after Senate Republicans fumed over their House counterparts’ spending levels in the debt ceiling deal. Quite the opposite: Talking to CNN, he sided with his conference’s conservatives: “Think about it, $886 billion. You don’t think there’s waste?” McCarthy also said he’s not concerned about a motion to vacate threatening his speakership from the right. (The Freedom Caucus didn’t even discuss it at a meeting last night.) CONTEMPT CONTRETEMPS — House Oversight Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) said yesterday he planned to move forward with contempt proceedings Thursday against FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY, WSJ’s Ryan Barber and Sadie Gurman report. Oversight Republicans have been battling with the FBI over access to a document that the GOP claims could substantiate allegations of corruption against Biden. Yesterday, the FBI allowed lawmakers to access the document behind closed doors — but because the agency won’t fork it over, Comer is plowing ahead. “This is only the beginning,” he vowed. Democrats blasted Comer’s actions as not credible or grounded in fact. Ranking member JAMIE RASKIN (D-Md.) warned that he’d try to peel off as many Republican votes as possible in a contempt vote against Wray, calling the GOP moves “a war on law enforcement.” Related read: “Hunter Biden emails show Joe Biden ‘lied’ on business dealings ‘knowledge,’ Comer charges,” by the Washington Examiner’s Gabe Kaminsky MICHAEL McCAUL HAS BETTER LUCK — “Blinken blinks: Secretary of state avoids contempt by meeting Afghan dissent cable demands,” by the Washington Examiner’s Jerry Dunleavy TRUMP CARDS DOCU-DRAMA — In the federal probe into Trump’s possession of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, one incident that’s drawn investigators’ suspicion was a flood from a swimming pool draining in October, CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, Jeremy Herb and Kaitlan Collins scooped. The water went into “where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept” — though it’s unclear whether the flood was intentional, and there’s been testimony that the technology was not affected. But it could nonetheless play a part in a potential criminal obstruction conspiracy case. The maintenance worker who was draining the pool has had his phone seized. The revelation comes on the heels of Trump’s lawyers meeting with DOJ officials yesterday to urge them not to press charges. But the investigation looks even more extensive than was previously known: NYT’s Alan Feuer, Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush report that a second federal grand jury, this one in Florida, is hearing testimony in the case. The jury is hearing from a new witness this week and has already heard from at least one other. JUDGE FOR YOURSELF — “Judge who once did legal work for Trump can continue in criminal case,” by ABC’s Aaron Katersky POLICY CORNER THE ICE TEA — DHS announced yesterday that acting ICE Director TAE JOHNSON will retire at the end of the month, as Axios’ Stef Kight scooped. The agency veteran’s departure was a long time coming, but it also follows quickly on the Border Patrol chief’s retirement. That leaves the Biden administration with another key immigration vacancy at a major transition point in border policy. ICE has now gone six years without a Senate-confirmed, non-acting head. AMERICA AND THE WORLD WHAT JARED KUSHNER IS READING — “Blinken to Talk to Saudis About Normalizing Ties With Israel,” by NYT’s Edward Wong Related read: “As Blinken Visits Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Are Back in Focus,” by WSJ’s Dion Nissenbaum BEYOND THE BELTWAY FIRST IN THE NATION — “Catholic charter school proposal greenlighted for Oklahoma state sanctioning, taxpayer funding,” by the Tulsa World’s Andrea Eger: “If or when St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School opens, it will be the nation’s first religious charter school, but taxpayer challenges have been promised.” SIREN (OR, WELL, NOT) — “The Murder Rate Is Suddenly Falling,” by The Atlantic’s Jeff Asher: “The United States may be experiencing one of the largest annual percent changes in murder ever recorded.” MISCELLANY SONIC BOOM LATEST — “Unresponsive pilot seen slumped over before deadly Virginia plane crash, officials say,” by AP’s Sarah Brumfield and Michael Balsamo … “He kissed his family goodbye. Their private plane never made it home,” by WaPo’s Emily Davies
| | | | GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Nancy Pelosi will throw out the first pitch at the Nats game tonight. Rishi Sunak might throw out the first pitch at the Nats game tomorrow — but 10 Downing Street is nervous. George Santos doesn’t want to reveal who’s guaranteeing his bond. IN MEMORIAM — “Robert Hanssen, convicted of spying on U.S. for Moscow, dies in prison,” by WaPo’s Ben Brasch: “Robert Hanssen, a turncoat American spy whose leaks to Moscow the FBI dubbed ‘possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history,’ was found dead in prison Monday.” MARK YOUR CALENDARS — This year’s Congressional Women’s Softball Game will take place July 12 at Watkins Recreation Center. SPOTTED: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) getting lunch with her family at Burrito Brothers yesterday. (“Best burrito in D.C,” our tipster heard her say.) Pic OUT AND ABOUT — This weekend, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute and McCain Institute hosted an event with 10 former senators at the Kennedy House in Hyannis Port, Mass., focusing on the negative effects of today’s political climate on the Senate. SPOTTED: Barbara Boxer, Saxby Chambliss, Tom Daschle, Russ Feingold, Cory Gardner, Heidi Heitkamp, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Mel Martinez, Ben Nelson and Gordon Smith. MEDIA MOVES — ABC News announced its 2024 class of embeds, the reporters/producers who will cover the campaign trail this cycle: Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Libby Cathey, Abby Cruz, Hannah Demissie, Fritz Farrow, Lalee Ibssa, Nicholas Kerr, Soorin Kim, Will McDuffie, Kendall Ross and Kelsey Walsh, plus alternates Kiara Brantley-Jones, Julia Cherner, Isabella Murray, Olivia Osteen and Laura Romero. TRANSITIONS — Ally Soifer O’Connell has been detailed to be senior adviser for scheduling and advance for first lady Jill Biden. She most recently was deputy director of scheduling and advance at DHS. … Hila Levy is now director for science, technology and workforce strategy at the NSC. She most recently was assistant director for ocean, polar and national security at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. … … Sarita Williams is now press secretary for Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). She previously was comms director for Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jone. … Benjy Messner is now of counsel at Precision Strategies to help lead their data and analytics practice. He will also continue work with his own firm, New River Strategies. … Peter Butkovich is now research assistant for the Senate Homeland Security Dems under Gary Peters. He previously was a legislative manager for Dykema. ENGAGED — James Hohmann, editorial writer and columnist for WaPo, and Annie Linskey, White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal, got engaged Saturday on Beauty Mountain in West Virginia’s New River Gorge National Park. They met covering a gun rights rally in Nashua, New Hampshire. Pic WEEKEND WEDDING — Tyler Grimm, chief counsel at the House Judiciary Committee, and Laura Grimm (formerly Laura Stone), ocean markets manager at the World Wildlife Fund, got married this weekend at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael’s, Md. Pic, via Audra Wrisley … Another pic … SPOTTED: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Steve Castor, Russell Dye, Chris Hixon, David Brewer, Kevin Eichinger and Machalagh Carr. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) ... Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) … ABC’s Katherine Faulders … Bloomberg’s Justin Sink … CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Ariel Edwards-Levy … CBS’ Weijia Jiang and Natalie Morales … Alexander and Yevgeny Vindman … WaPo’s Christopher Rowland and Sarah Frostenson … NBC’s Allison Hageman … Ward Baker … Michael Goldfarb … Margaret White of No Labels ... Max Docksey … Heather McGhee … former Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) (6-0), David Bonior (D-Mich.) and Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) … Regina LaBelle ... POLITICO’s Kam Rahman ... CQ’s Caroline Simon Coudriet … Allie Freedman … Leah Abrams … Thomas Pritzker … Felicia Sonmez … Sarah Gadsden … Keith Perine … Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez … Rolling Stone’s Waiss Aramesh … Abby Ginzberg … Fabiana Corsi Mendez of Rep. Kathy Manning’s (D-N.C.) office Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
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