NEW … PLAYBOOK SNEAK PEEK: Sen. DOUG JONES (D-Ala.) is going up on statewide television with his first TV ad: a new 30-second, straight-to-camera TV spot about racial justice. JONES’ most recent polling has him in a tight race with TOMMY TUBERVILLE, the likely GOP candidate.
— SCRIPT: “As he lay dying, George Floyd cried for his mama and pleaded for his life: ‘I can’t breathe.’ As we witnessed his death together, the world changed. Across Alabama, folks are struggling with seeing this injustice and inequality and wanting to see that end. We cannot let this moment pass. The road to racial justice has taken far too long — but it’s a journey that we must make, and we must make it together. Come join me. I’m Doug Jones and I approve this message.” The spot
DEMS GETTING READY TO BLOCK POLICE OVERHAUL … THE QUESTION LINGERING for the past week was whether Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER would agree to allow a debate on the GOP police reform bill, authored by Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.). DEMOCRATS don’t much like the bill, but SCHUMER has left open the possibility that he may allow for a debate and amendment process in the hopes of getting a deal. Speaker NANCY PELOSI signaled she wanted the Senate to take it up, so the two chambers could enter into formal negotiations.
— BUT NOW, Democrats’ body language indicates they are going to block debate, which, in Republicans’ view, hands them a talking point on a silver platter.
— BURGESS EVERETT reported Monday night that Senate Democrats were “strongly signaling they will filibuster Republicans’ police reform bill later this week absent more concessions from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”
— SEVERAL SENATE DEMOCRATS flagged Monday evening that the NAACP Legal Defense Fund urged Dems to oppose the bill Wednesday.
— ON MONDAY AT AROUND 6 P.M., SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.), the party’s whip, told a small clutch of us reporters in the Capitol that “there’s no clarity” on what MCCONNELL is offering — in other words, Democrats want a commitment on how many amendments they would get to offer if they did agree to debate, and they are not getting it.
— DURBIN said he has faced “similar offers” from MCCONNELL in the past, most notably when Democrats voted against debating the CARES Act — the large-scale Covid-19 stimulus bill. “The best thing that happened was we didn’t accept his offer, we demanded a bipartisan approach to it,” DURBIN said, referring to the negotiations between the White House and Senate Democrats.
— BUT, BUT, BUT … POLICE REFORM isn’t the CARES Act. The White House and Senate Republicans are not inclined to jump into a bipartisan negotiation with Democrats if they block this bill from debate. The administration privately says it feels confident in its position on police reform, especially after the executive order it issued. So if Democrats block debate, this process probably comes to a screeching halt.
— REPUBLICANS in the administration and on the Hill are ready to scream from the hilltops that it was Democrats who blocked police reform on the Senate floor. EXPECT MCCONNELL to use his post-GOP lunch news conference to wallop Democrats for blocking this. Expect DEMS to say MCCONNELL is offering them a take-it-or-leave-it proposition that they cannot accept, and they should sit down to negotiate a compromise.
— THE HOUSE will vote Thursday on its police overhaul, and Republicans say they believe as many as a dozen of their lawmakers may vote with Democrats to pass the bill. TRUMP opposes the House bill, and the Senate will have nothing to do with it. Sure, it’s better for the GOP to stand unified against the Dem legislation, but it would seem laughably nonsensical for Republicans to expend any effort to whip their troops against it. (In fact, there’s an argument that it’s helpful for some moderate Republicans to have something to vote on.)
WHAT SENATE REPUBLICANS WILL HAVE TO ANSWER FOR TODAY … TRUMP accused former President BARACK OBAMA of “treason” in an interview with CBN’s DAVID BRODY. 1:49 clip
FRONTS: NYT, with this headline the day TRUMP flies to Arizona: “Flip Arizona? Biden Backers See a Chance,” by Jennifer Medina in Phoenix … N.Y. POST … WSJ
DRIVING TODAY … SPLIT SCREEN between the White House’s reality, which has THE PRESIDENT in Arizona, visiting the border and a church in Phoenix. … ON THE HILL, officials will talk the coronavirus: HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE has ANTHONY FAUCI, HHS’ BRETT GIROIR, FDA’s STEPHEN HAHN and CDC’s ROBERT REDFIELD at 11 a.m. Testimony packet
— NEW YORK and KENTUCKY are holding primaries today. Nine things to watch
Good Tuesday morning. MLB OWNERS voted to impose a season after talks with the players union broke down. ESPN on what you need to know
ICYMI — We held a virtual Playbook Interview on Monday morning with BURGESS and HEATHER CAYGLE to talk about covering Congress during a pandemic, the latest on police reform and the outlook for a coronavirus relief package. Watch
FOX NEWS’ SEAN HANNITY will hold a one-hour town hall with TRUMP on Thursday at 9 p.m. at the Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, Wis.
ARIZONA REPUBLIC: “Expect crowd to wear masks at Trump speech at Dream City Church in Phoenix, organizer says,” by Andrew Oxford, Ronald Hansen and Maria Polletta: “Organizers said they expect President Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday in Phoenix to draw more than 3,000 mostly young attendees who will comply with the city’s new mask ordinance.
“The visit will be the president’s third trip to Arizona in five months, as he seeks a return to normal for a presidential campaign overshadowed by crises in recent months. But that is a task complicated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, particularly in a state where the number of people hospitalized with the disease has reached new highs in recent days and public health authorities are urging the public to avoid large gatherings.
“Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, will be on hand for Trump’s appearance in Phoenix and also will participate in an earlier event in Southern Arizona, according to the Governor’s Office.”
KYLE CHENEY, HEATHER CAYGLE and SARAH FERRIS: “House Judiciary panel preparing to subpoena Barr”: “The House Judiciary Committee is preparing a subpoena to obtain Attorney General William Barr’s testimony July 2, Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Monday night. ‘We have begun the process to issue that subpoena,’ Nadler said on MSNBC, confirming an Axios report that a subpoena was being teed up.
“It’s a reversal for the panel after Nadler (D-N.Y.) indicated earlier this month that a subpoena — which Barr is sure to contest — would not be worth the House’s time. ‘I am not going to spend months litigating a subpoena with an Attorney General who has already spent years resisting the courts and legitimate congressional oversight,’ Nadler said June 2.
“Barr has yet to testify before the House Judiciary Committee since taking his post early last year. … Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed the idea over the weekend and decided ‘to be ready’ in case Barr declined to show up to testify before the panel, according to Democratic sources familiar with their conversation. Pelosi informed her leadership team Monday night, saying on a private call that Nadler’s panel was ‘starting down the path’ of subpoenaing Barr if necessary, according to Democratic sources. Nadler later confirmed the news.” POLITICO
CORONAVIRUS RAGING …
— NYT, A1: “Bars, Strip Clubs and Churches: U.S. Virus Outbreaks Enter Unwieldy Phase,” by Sarah Mervosh in Pittsburgh, Mitch Smith in Chicago and Lucy Tompkins: “After months of lockdown in which outbreaks of the coronavirus often centered in nursing homes, prisons and meatpacking plants, the nation is entering a new and uncertain phase of the pandemic. New Covid-19 clusters have been found in a Pentecostal church in Oregon, a strip club in Wisconsin and in every imaginable place in between.
“In Baton Rouge, La., at least 100 people tested positive for the virus after visiting bars in the Tigerland nightlife district, popular among Louisiana State University students. At a Christian summer camp near Colorado Springs, at least 11 employees fell ill just before the season’s opening, leading the camp to cancel overnight stays for the first time in 63 years.
“And in Las Vegas, just weeks after casinos reopened, a handful of employees from casinos, restaurants and hotels have tested positive, and frightened workers on Monday begged guests to wear masks in a news conference conducted over video.
“The newly emerging clusters — which vary in size from a handful of cases to hundreds and have cropped up in large cities as well as small towns — reflect the unpredictable course of the coronavirus. They also underscore risks that experts say are likely to persist as long as states try to reopen economies and Americans venture back into public without a vaccine.”
— IN FLORIDA: “‘Government itself can’t solve this problem’: Florida officials alarmed as virus rages,” by Arek Sarkissian in Tallahassee and Caitlin Oprysko: “Top Republican politicians and the state official leading Florida’s response to the pandemic urged businesses and residents — particularly young people — to stay vigilant about social distancing, leaving the fight in the hands of some of the same people who helped fuel the latest uptick in cases.
“‘If we don’t step up and take responsibility, government itself can’t solve this problem,’ Jared Moskowitz, the state Division of Emergency Management director, said in an interview.” POLITICO
WATCH THIS SPACE — “Trump aides consider a CDC overhaul as virus cases surge,” by Nancy Cook and Adam Cancryn: “White House officials are putting a target on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, positioning the agency as a coronavirus scapegoat as cases surge in many states and the U.S. falls behind other nations that are taming the pandemic.
“Trump administration aides in recent weeks have seriously discussed launching an in-depth evaluation of the agency to chart what they view as its missteps in responding to the pandemic including an early failure to deploy working test kits, according to four senior administration officials. Part of that audit would include examining more closely the state-by-state death toll to tally only the Americans who died directly of Covid-19 rather than other factors. About 120,000 people in the U.S. have died of the coronavirus so far, according to the CDC’s official count.
“Aides have also discussed narrowing the mission of the agency or trying to embed more political appointees within it, according to interviews with 10 current and former senior administration officials and Republicans close to the White House. One official said the overall goal would be to make the CDC nimble and more responsive.” POLITICO
BIG PRIMARY DAY … THE LEFT’S REVENGE? — “Bernie flexes muscle in Tuesday’s primaries,” by Holly Otterbein: “Bernie Sanders has raised more than $750,000 for congressional and local candidates in Tuesday’s primaries, his aides told POLITICO. The Vermont senator’s team also texted more than 120,000 of his supporters to promote the progressives he endorsed in races in New York and Kentucky. His staffers said videos boosting the contenders have received more than 1 million views on social media.”
— “Booker’s late surge imperils McGrath in unpredictable Kentucky Senate race,” by James Arkin: “Charles Booker’s late surge in Kentucky is threatening to prematurely end the campaign of one of the Democratic Party’s top recruits on Tuesday: former fighter pilot Amy McGrath. But he’s still an underdog to pull the major upset.
“Booker’s burst in the final stretch of the primary came after McGrath spent nearly a year running what essentially amounted to a general election campaign against Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, blanketing the state with advertisements and raising record sums of money from small-dollar donors eager to topple the GOP leader. She has both outraised and outspent McConnell so far and has the national party’s support, a superior campaign infrastructure and almost bottomless war chest to help fend Booker off.
“If McGrath wins — most Democrats tracking the race closely think she remains the favorite — it will be another bitter defeat for the left wing of the party, which is also seeking victories in several House primaries Tuesday. Progressives failed to mount serious challenges to the party establishment in most Senate races in recent cycles and lost in the party’s presidential primary. If Booker manages to pull it off, it would be the first primary defeat for a candidate backed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in a decade.” POLITICO
— “Left looks to build bloc of AOCs in New York primary,” by Zach Montellaro, Sarah Ferris and Ally Mutnick
DETROIT FREE PRESS: “Sources: U-M to withdraw from hosting October presidential debate”
TRUMP’S MIND IS ON HIS MIND, via WAPO’S ASHLEY PARKER and JOSH DAWSEY: “The early June meeting in the Cabinet Room was intended as a general update on President Trump’s reelection campaign, but the president had other topics on his mind.
“Trump had taken a cognitive screening test as part of his 2018 physical, and now, more than two years later, he brought up the 10-minute exam. He waxed on about how he’d dazzled the proctors with his stellar performance, according to two people familiar with his comments. He walked the room of about two dozen White House and reelection officials through some of the questions he said he’d aced, such as being able to repeat five words in order.
“At the time, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment — which includes animal pictures and other simple queries aimed at detecting mild cognitive impairment such as dementia — was intended to quell questions about Trump’s mental fitness. But in recalling it, Trump said he thought presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden would never be able to pass it and suggested challenging him to take the test, said the people familiar with Trump’s comments, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private details.”
TRUMP’S TUESDAY — The president will leave the White House at 9 a.m. en route to Yuma, Ariz. He will arrive at 10:55 a.m. MST and depart for the U.S. Border Patrol Yuma Station. Trump will participate in a border security roundtable briefing at 11:20 a.m. He will depart at 12:10 p.m. en route to San Luis, Ariz. Trump will commemorate the 200th mile of the new border wall at 12:40 p.m.
TRUMP WILL DEPART at 1:15 p.m. and travel to Phoenix. Trump will travel to the Dream City Church and deliver an address to young Americans at 3:40 p.m. Afterward, he will travel back to Washington, arriving at the White House at 12:25 a.m.
OH BOY — “Barring a landslide, what’s probably not coming on Nov. 3? A result in the race for the White House,” by WaPo’s Amy Gardner: “If voters remain reluctant to cast ballots in person, November is likely to bring an even more massive wave of voting by mail than what has swept across the country during primary season. That, in turn, means that a close race between President Trump and former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in a pivotal state could take days, even weeks, to resolve, election officials across the country are warning.”
PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “Police thwart attempt by protesters to topple statue of Andrew Jackson near White House,” by WaPo’s Fredrick Kunkle, Susan Svrluga and Justin Jouvenal: “Protesters attempted to topple a bronze statue of former president Andrew Jackson in a park next to the White House on Monday night but were thwarted when police intervened.
“The scene unfolded dramatically as hundreds of demonstrators protesting police brutality locked arms around the statue in Lafayette Square shortly before 8 p.m., while chanting, ‘Hey, hey, ho, ho, Andrew Jackson’s got to go.’ Inside the metal pickets surrounding the statue, a smaller group — some clad in black with goggles, helmets and gas masks — scaled the statue and draped ropes around the seventh president astride a horse. Someone scrawled ‘killer’ in black on the pedestal below.
“But then, U.S. Park Police officers in riot gear approached from the west and clashed with the protesters, swinging batons and releasing pepper spray as they moved the protesters back.” WaPo
BEYOND THE BELTWAY — “Seattle will move to dismantle protest zone, mayor says,” by AP’s Gene Johnson in Seattle: “Faced with growing pressure to crack down on an ‘occupied’ protest zone following two weekend shootings, Seattle’s mayor said Monday that officials will move to wind down the blocks-long span of city streets taken over two weeks ago that President Donald Trump asserted is run by ‘anarchists.’
“Mayor Jenny Durkan said the violence was distracting from changes sought by thousands of peaceful protesters opposing racial inequity and police brutality. She said at a news conference that the city is working with the community to bring the ‘Capitol Hill Occupied Protest’ zone, or CHOP, to an end and that police soon would move back into a precinct building they had largely abandoned in the area.”
SPY GAMES — “The C.I.A.’s Business Is Secrets, but It Is Recruiting Spies in the Open,” by NYT’s Julian Barnes: “The C.I.A. has recruited at Ivy League schools, through Hollywood-produced television programs and even by judging school science fairs. But the current era needs a modern recruiting drive, and on Monday, the C.I.A. unveiled its first television advertisement, which is aimed at streaming platforms like Hulu. The slick, advertising-agency-produced spot has the feel of clips from the television program ‘Homeland’ — with a dollop of patriotism.
“By some measures, the C.I.A. has little need for recruiting drives. Every year, thousands of applicants compete for hundreds of spots, according to current and former officials. In 2019, the agency had its best recruiting year in a decade. And traditionally it has been easier for the government to recruit during recessions.
“But Gina Haspel, the C.I.A. director, has made recruitment a priority for her secretive agency, which has to compete against Silicon Valley for the sharpest minds as it increasingly focuses on hacking and other digital spying tools. And the agency still must work at bringing in recruiting classes that reflect the diversity of the United States.” NYT
IN MEMORIAM — L.A. TIMES: “Steve Bing, philanthropist and film producer, dies after fall from building,” by Anousha Sakoui and Richard Winton: “Steve Bing, philanthropist, film producer and prominent Democratic political donor whose producing credits include ‘The Polar Express’ and ‘Get Carter,’ died Monday. Bing, 55, fell to his death from a high-rise building in Century City, according to a law enforcement source who was not authorized to comment. Foul play is not suspected.”
Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at [email protected].
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Rachel Winer is now SVP of digital at ROKK Solutions. She previously led the digital paid media practice for Ketchum North America.
TRANSITION — Stephanie Sutton is now director of external affairs at Global Ties U.S. She previously was an SVP at Edelman and is a State Department alum.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Lydia Mulvany, an editor at Bloomberg News, and Riccardo Reati, VP of digital transformation at Zurich North America, on Thursday welcomed Ludovica Reati, who came in at 8 lbs, 5 oz and joins big sister Valentina. Pic
— Michelle Strucke, senior policy manager for aid and development finance at Oxfam, and Zaki Barzinji, director of state and local government affairs at HPE and an Obama White House alum, on Thursday welcomed Amedeo Azadi Barzinji, who joins big sister Zoon. Pic … Another pic
BIRTHWEEK (was Thursday): National security adviser Robert O’Brien turned 54
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Steven Cheung, senior comms adviser for the Trump reelect. A trend he thinks doesn’t get enough attention: “The flattening of technological advancement, especially with hardware like transistors on computer chips. Engineers are getting closer to a real-world limit of how small transistors can be made, and there will be a point where it’s physically impossible to make them smaller, faster and more efficient.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Justice Clarence Thomas is 72 … Sylvia Burwell, president of AU, is 55 … Chasten Buttigieg is 31 … WaPo’s Philip Bump (h/t David Graham) … Adam Boehler, CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation … Suzanne Clark, president of the U.S. Chamber … Kaelan Dorr, senior adviser for public affairs at Treasury … Aaron Cutler, partner at Hogan Lovells … Paul Tewes … Greg Hale is 45 (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Facebook’s Amber Moon … Robert Palladino … J.P. Fielder … Jeremy Katz, president and COO of D1 Capital Partners … Robert Kaplan, CNAS senior fellow and senior adviser at Eurasia Group … Judy Lemons … POLITICO Europe’s Kate Day, Etienne Bauvir and Ali Walker …
… Louisa Tavlas Atkinson, VP of comms at the Niskanen Center … Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg … POLITICO’s Ryan Kohl … former Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) is 67 … former Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.) is 51 … former Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.) is 63 … Nick Weinstein … Atanu Chakravarty … Adam Lerner … Bradley Engle … Rick Reynolds … Steven Stombres, partner at Harbinger Strategies … Ryan Woodbury … political consultant Joe Duffy … Emma Whitestone of Blueprint Interactive … Sivan Ya’ari is 42 … Jerry Speyer is 8-0 … Patrick Morris … Brian Pomper is 31 … Caitlin Dorman … Marc Leder … Bronagh Finnegan … Tom Frechette … Tina Karalekas … Robin Strongin … Andrew Roos … Tom Blair … Chris Spanos (h/t Jon Haber)
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