| | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | Presented by |  | | | |  People take cover on the side of the road as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles on a freeway in Shoresh, Israel on Tuesday, Oct. 1. | Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel, a major escalation in the Middle East that comes amid Israeli forces’ ground incursion into Lebanon, where they are conducting raids against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. The White House warned of the imminent attack earlier today, with a senior White House official vowing that the U.S. was “actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel.” The official added that a direct military attack carried out by Iran would “carry severe consequences for Iran.” Shortly after the announcement from U.S. officials, Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU addressed the people of Israel in a video statement. “Citizens of Israel, we are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s axis of evil,” he said. “Together we will fight and together we will win,” he added. More from Eric Bazail-Eimil POLL POSITION — A new WaPo poll out of North Carolina has DONALD TRUMP leading VP KAMALA HARRIS by a slim margin, 50% to 48%, among likely voters in the Tar Heel State. “In the race for governor, Democratic Attorney General JOSH STEIN leads [Lt. Gov. MARK] ROBINSON by 54 percent to 38 percent among likely voters, with a sizable 8 percent saying they have no opinion or would not vote in the election for governor, including 15 percent of Republicans.” DEBATE PREP — The attention of the political world will turn to Midtown Manhattan tonight, where Sen. JD VANCE (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. TIM WALZ will face off in a debate that could mark the final set-piece event of the campaign season, as we outlined in Playbook this morning. Here’s a few more good reads to get you ready for the marquee event … Just Vance: The Atlantic’s Elaine Godfrey writes on the “important job” where Vance excels over Trump, which could prove to be important tonight: “He can squeeze Trumpism through his own post-liberal-populist tube and produce something that looks like a coherent ideology. Whereas Democrats are fond of mocking Vance for being socially awkward, Trump’s supporters see him as their very own PETE BUTTIGIEG: a man with a theory of the case who is eager to defend it both on television and in real life. He is the sharp TV-sound-bite counterweight to Trump’s rambling rally speech.” If these Walz could talk: WaPo’s Dylan Wells writes on Walz’s “bubble-wrapped” campaign thus far: “Before heading to debate prep in Northern Michigan this weekend, where he answered three shouted questions, Walz had only stopped once to take questions from his traveling press corps — a 90-second exchange at the Minnesota State Fair. That conversation ended when Walz was asked about six hostages killed in Gaza and did not answer. Since joining the ticket he’s given some local interviews, but far fewer than he did while serving as a campaign surrogate.” Everybody’s got one:
WHAT ‘AMTRAK JOE’ IS READING — “Amtrak’s New Marketing Strategy: It’s Not a Train, It’s a Hotel on Wheels,” by WSJ’s Katie Deighton Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.
| | | | A message from USAFacts: Want to know the facts on immigration, taxes and spending? Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO and owner of the LA Clippers, shares facts and data, you make up your mind! | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  Eric Adams' legal team is accusing DOJ of improper leaks that have turned the public against the indicted mayor. | Yuki Iwamura/AP | 1. THE LATEST OUT OF NYC: Mayor ERIC ADAMS’ legal team in a new filing this morning “accused federal prosecutors of leaking information about the investigation that led to the mayor’s indictment last week, and asked the judge presiding over the case to hold a hearing and issue sanctions,” NYT’s Hurubie Meko reports. “In the filing, one of Mr. Adams’s lawyers, Alex Spiro, refers to several articles in The New York Times that, over the past year, have reported on the scope and progress of the investigation. The reports, Mr. Adams’s lawyers argue in the filing, prejudiced the public against the mayor.” Related read: “Amid Adams’ indictment, his challengers seek to project calm,” by Nick Reisman 2. STUCK IN THE MEDDLE WITH YOU: Democratic meddling in Republican races returned in Wisconsin this cycle, where Dem donors propped up far-right candidate THOMAS LEAGER as a more conservative alternative to ERIC HOVDE in the GOP primary to unseat Democratic Sen. TAMMY BALDWIN. “Leager told the AP he was recruited last year to run by operatives who said they were with the Patriots Run Project. That group promoted itself as a pro-Trump grassroots movement that attacked both parties and urged conservatives to run for office as independents,” AP’s Ryan Foley and Brian Slodysko report. “The AP found the group was supported by Democratic firms and donors who worked to install several pro-Trump independent candidates in key House races. Most of them were disabled, retired or both.” 3. PLAN OF ATTACK: The Harris campaign is still extracting lines of attack against Trump from their debate last month, going up with a seven-figure ad campaign thrashing Trump for his claim that he has “concepts of a plan” to redress the health care system. “‘You have no plan,’ Harris tells Trump in the ad while touting her calls for protecting the ACA (or ‘Obamacare’) and extending the Biden-Harris policies that expanded subsidies to buy coverage and capped the cost of insulin for seniors at $35 per month,” NBC’s Sahil Kapur reports. Watch the 60-second ad
| | | | A message from USAFacts: All Americans are shareholders in this democracy: we contribute to the nation's coffers through tax dollars and elect representatives to write its laws. Like any shareholders, we deserve to know where the money goes and how lawmakers' policies affect society. Government data has those answers.
Founded by Steve Ballmer, USAFacts guides you through the maze that is government data. We’re a team of career researchers, data analysts, statisticians, and communication professionals. We track down government metrics in digital reports or the occasional Freedom of Information Act request. We standardize the numbers, consult designers to make clear visuals, and we refine our reports so that we share just the facts. | | | 4. TO THE LETTER: A group of Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee sent a letter yesterday to DOJ IG MICHAEL HOROWITZ “asking him to investigate whether Trump appointees ‘interfered with and, ultimately, blocked’ a criminal probe into U.S. intelligence that the Egyptian government sought to give Donald Trump $10 million to boost his 2016 presidential campaign,” WaPo’s Aaron Davis and Carol Leonnig report. “The request for DOJ’s watchdog to review how the case ended comes after a Washington Post article in August revealed details of a secret Justice Department investigation that was closed, despite prosecutors and agents having sought to take additional investigative steps.” 5. ANTITRUST THE PROCESS: Top antitrust officials in Washington and their supporters across the political spectrum are wondering whether Harris is fully committed to the crusade against America’s biggest companies that President Joe Biden has mounted during his presidency, Josh Sisco reports. “Normally a back-burner issue in national politics, antitrust has become one of the White House’s top legacy issues — and increasingly urgent as Biden’s top corporate regulators have launched a fresh wave of major suits over insulin prices, financial services and rental costs.” 6. FENTANYL FILES: “How fentanyl traffickers are exploiting a U.S. trade law to kill Americans,” by Reuters’ Drazen Jorgic, Laura Gottesdiener, Kristina Cooke and Stephen Eisenhammer: “In short, a regulatory tweak fueling America’s online shopping habit is also enabling the country’s crippling addiction to synthetic opioids. So is an immutable aspect of international trade: Transporting goods is largely an honor system that’s easy for bad actors to exploit. Senders are supposed to tell the truth about what’s inside the boxes they export. But shipping documents are easy to falsify, and contraband fairly simple to camouflage. Authorities can’t inspect every box without bringing global commerce to a halt.” 7. TUCKER EVERLASTING: It’s a question that has circled around Washington like a gnat for nearly a decade now: What happened to TUCKER CARLSON? “Pretty much everyone, including those who knew him well, remains perplexed by his transformation in the Trump era,” writes The Dispatch’s John McCormack, who is the latest to take a swing at one of the most vexing conundrums of the media world. “What happened to Tucker is that he went from being a P.J. O’ROURKE libertarian in the 1990s to an ALEX JONES nationalist in the 2020s. Why did it happen? There are various theories — fame, ego, power, money, ideology, lunacy. But none is satisfying by itself.”
| | | PLAYBOOKERS | | | Julian Assange said he is free from incarceration “because I pled guilty to journalism.” Taylor Lorenz is heading to Substack. TRANSITIONS — Curley Company is adding Ashley Stoney and Nicole Ryan as VPs. Stoney previously was director of comms at Comcast. Ryan previously was director of public affairs at the National Apartment Association. … Sarah Miller is joining Rising Tide Associates as the senior director of public policy. She most recently was acting director for the Treasury Department’s Terrorist Financing Targeting Center and is a Brian Mast alum. … … Hannah Finnie is launching TK Strategies, which will provide specialized writing services. She is a National Women’s Law Center and Center for American Progress alum. … Cody Uhing is joining the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association as comms and marketing director. He previously was director of comms for AdvaMed, and is a Tom O’Halleran alum. … Jonathan Meyer is joining Sheppard Mullin as a partner in the governmental practice group and head of the national security team. He previously was general counsel at DHS. ENGAGED — Hannah MacInnis, director of digital strategy for Mike Pence at Advancing American Freedom and a Trump White House alum, and Sumter Groves, regional sales manager for the Washington Wizards at Monumental Sports, got engaged Saturday. He proposed at Brant Point Lighthouse on Nantucket, followed by a surprise celebration with family and friends at the Nantucket Hotel. The couple met through mutual friends in D.C. Pic … Another pic WEEKEND WEDDING — Nicole Ginis, a producer at Newsmax, and Thomas Del Beccaro, an author, historian and political commentator, got married Saturday at the historic Congress Hall in Cape May, New Jersey. They met at the premiere of his acting debut in the movie “Sweetwater.” Pic … Another pic … SPOTTED: Bianca de la Garza, Katrina Szish, Bob Brooks and Steve Moore. — Brittany Caplin, deputy chief of staff at the Commerce Department and former White House assistant press secretary, and Jon Kuehn, head of state, local and government partnerships for Uber, got married on Saturday at the Perry Belmont House. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo officiated the wedding. The couple met at The Weeknd’s concert in D.C. seven years ago. Pic … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Hannah Morris, director of government affairs at J Street, and Gabriel Band welcomed a baby girl on Wednesday. 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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