| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | |  Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had unintentionally killed several World Central Kitchen aid workers. | Petros Karadjias, File/AP Photo | The Israeli airstrike that killed several World Central Kitchen aid workers last night imposed new strain today on the U.S.-Israel alliance, as condemnations poured in from around the world. The State Department confirmed that one American was among the seven staffers killed, and Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN praised WCK’s critical work getting food to starving people in Gaza and other conflict zones around the world. “These people are heroes … they have to be protected,” he said. “We’ve spoken directly to the Israeli government about this particular incident. We’ve urged a swift, a thorough, an impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened.” Expect further comment from the Biden administration when JOHN KIRBY joins White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE at this afternoon’s press briefing. Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU said in a new video that Israel had unintentionally killed the civilians and that the country would investigate the tragedy, but also that “it happens in war,” per The Times of Israel’s Tal Schneider. Roughly 200 humanitarian aid workers have been killed thus far in the Israel-Hamas war. Israel’s military has already concluded that it was responsible for the strike, NYT’s Aaron Boxerman, Adam Rasgon and Matthew Mpoke Bigg report. New details emerged today about how the strike could have happened. World Central Kitchen said that its convoy had coordinated movements with the Israel Defense Forces, that they were traveling in a deconflicted zone and that their vehicles were clearly branded. (You can see the hole that was torn directly through the WCK logo.) But Haaretz’s Yaniv Kubovich reports that Israel suspected an armed man of being a terrorist and fired three consecutive missiles at the multi-car convoy — even as the aid workers in the vehicles tried to move cars and send messages that they’d been attacked following the first hit. In the end, the armed man wasn’t even in the convoy; he’d stayed back in the food warehouse. The governments of Australia, Poland and the U.K. — all of which lost citizens in the attack — called on Israel to investigate and be held accountable as well. It remains to be seen whether the incident will change the geopolitical calculus around the war for Israel’s allies in any significant way, but few organizations enjoy as broad support and admiration as JOSÉ ANDRÉS’ WCK. Israeli opposition leader YAIR LAPID, who has said the Israeli government needs to listen to the country’s anti-Netanyahu protesters, will travel to D.C. for talks next week, per The Times of Israel. As a result of the incident, 240 tons of aid were turned back for Cyprus as World Central Kitchen paused its efforts in Gaza. And the United Arab Emirates suspended for now its involvement in the aid route until it gets reassurances from Israel, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports. Meanwhile, though they got far less attention, at least 16 Palestinians were also killed last night in other Israeli airstrikes, per the AP. Half of them were children.
| | | | A message from Meta: “VR let me practice hundreds of times before I operated on a patient.”
Dr. Baid used FundamentalVR and Orbis International's VR platform for additional training in a hands-on environment.
In the past year, Dr. Baid has performed 300 life-changing surgeries to preserve her patients' vision.
Discover other stories. | | | HE SAID, XI SAID — President JOE BIDEN and Chinese President XI JINPING had their first call today since their November summit, as the two countries try to get back to more frequent communication between the superpower leaders. The White House said Biden and Xi talked about fentanyl trafficking, Taiwan, the South China Sea, military-to-military communications, AI and more. Next up in the smoother diplomatic relationship: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN and Blinken will head separately to China for talks in the coming weeks. More from the AP BRACING FOR 2025 — “Allies consider moving Ukraine arms group into NATO to shield it from Trump,” by Lara Seligman … “NATO Proposes $100 Billion, Five-Year Fund to Aid Ukraine,” by Bloomberg’s Natalia Drozdiak and Peter Martin Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics. | | | | | | | 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | 
A new Joe Biden campaign ad once again focuses heavily on abortion. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | 1. WHAT BIDEN WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: The Biden campaign is launching a new seven-figure ad buy across battleground states that blasts DONALD TRUMP on abortion, CBS’ Weijia Jiang scooped. The spot directly links Trump to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and shows him proudly taking credit for it. Notably, despite Democrats feeling hopeful that Florida’s abortion ballot initiative could give them a turnout boost, the ad won’t be running in the Sunshine State. Watch it here As Democrats look to make reproductive issues a centerpiece of their campaigns more broadly, the DCCC is also going up with a five-figure billboard effort hammering Republicans in eight swing House districts over in vitro fertilization, NPR’s Lexie Schapitl scooped. Trump, meanwhile, kept trying to split the difference on abortion, where he’s managed to project a fair amount of policy ambiguity: A campaign adviser said today that “President Trump supports preserving life but has also made clear that he supports states’ rights because he supports the voters’ right to make decisions for themselves,” per CNN’s Alayna Treene. Let’s see how long he can go without saying how he’ll vote on the ballot measure. 2. ONE OF NOVEMBER’S BIG QUESTIONS: “Republicans hope to win Black voters for Trump. It won’t be easy,” by Reuters’ Bianca Flowers in Milwaukee: “Reuters spoke to nearly 30 Black voters in majority-Black neighborhoods of Milwaukee, about half of whom said they remained undecided about voting for Biden in November or voting at all. About 10 of the 15 residents who are unhappy with Biden also expressed skepticism about Republicans’ long-term commitment to the area and to issues of concern to Black voters.” 3. CASH DASH: Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-Ariz.) posted a big first-quarter fundraising haul for his Senate campaign. He pulled in $7.5 million and ended the quarter with $9.6 million on hand, per NYT’s Kellen Browning. Republican KARI LAKE has yet to announce her haul, but Gallego’s “funding edge, if it continues, could allow him to flood the airwaves with advertising in a state that has a relatively expensive television market.” The presidential donor dance: “The Trump machine: the former president’s dash for campaign cash,” by FT’s Alex Rogers
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | 4. NO SURPRISE: “Conservative media sours on RFK Jr. as an independent,” by Axios’ Alex Thompson and Sara Fischer: “Right-wing media has abruptly shifted its volume and tone of coverage of ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. now that he’s running as an Independent instead of as a Democrat. … Since he declared his independent run in October, on-air mentions of Kennedy on Fox News roughly halved through February 2024. Similar trend lines can be observed with The New York Post … Prominent conservative commentators also abruptly switched from friendly to hostile.” Related read: Former Rep. TULSI GABBARD (D-Hawaii) told ABC’s Beatrice Peterson that she turned down Kennedy’s offer to be his running mate. 5. POLL POSITION: Republican LARRY HOGAN leads either of the main Democratic contenders in the Maryland Senate race in a new poll from Goucher College and The Baltimore Banner, John O’Connor reports. But the margins are closer in this survey, which was taken before the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, than in some other recent polling: Hogan is ahead of Rep. DAVID TRONE 43% to 42% and Prince George’s County Executive ANGELA ALSOBROOKS 44% to 40%. Meanwhile in New Jersey, the prospect of indicted Sen. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.) mounting an independent reelection bid could give Democrats a bit of a headache: A new Emerson/PIX11/The Hill poll finds Menendez pulling 9% in November and reducing a generic Democrat’s lead over a generic Republican to just 7 points. 6. BOOK CLUB: “Anthony M. Kennedy to reflect on his life and his years on the Supreme Court in two-volume memoir,” by AP’s Hillel Italie: “Simon & Schuster announced Tuesday that [ANTHONY] KENNEDY’s ‘Life and Law: The Early Years’ and ‘Life and Law: The Court Years’ will be published Oct. 1, as a boxed set and in individual editions, each around 320 pages.”
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Raúl Grijalva has been diagnosed with cancer. Guy Reschenthaler wants to rename Dulles after Donald Trump. Alex Bruesewitz is flying with Trump to Wisconsin. Brad Raffensperger had a tongue-in-cheek response to Larry David. IN MEMORIAM — “Betty Cole Dukert, Top ‘Meet the Press’ Producer, Dies at 96,” by NYT’s Richard Sandomir: “She worked as a secretary before being hired as an associate producer at the NBC News public affairs show in 1956. She went on to spend 41 years there.” OUT AND ABOUT — YouTube’s “Hoppy Hour” returned for the second year yesterday in the lobby of the Hotel Washington, featuring YouTube creators Ms. Monica, Bri Reads and YoYo. SPOTTED: Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, Erica Loewe, Dan Koh and Amy Sennett, Sydney Harvey, Opal Vadhan, Alexandra Veitch, Josh Blumenfeld, Swami Sivasubramanian and Olivia Igbokwe. TRANSITIONS — Former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is now a partner and head of federal affairs at Holland & Hart. He most recently was director of the Office of Regulatory Management and acting secretary of natural and historic resources for Virginia. … Zakiya Carr Johnson has been appointed chief diversity and inclusion officer at the State Department, a role that’s been vacant for 10 months, NBC’s Abigail Williams scooped. She previously worked at State from 2010 to 2017. … Tamara Hinton is joining Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies as senior principal, leading its strategic comms practice. She most recently was SVP at Story Partners. … … Chioma Chukwu will become interim executive director of American Bridge as current executive director Heather Sawyer leaves the organization this month. Chukwu currently is deputy executive director. … Benjamin Klutsey has been named the next executive director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, as current executive director Daniel Rothschild departs. Klutsey most recently has been founding director of its Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Natalie Joyce, director of interparliamentary affairs for the House of Representatives and a Kevin McCarthy alum, and Sean Joyce, founder and CEO of Atlas Crossing and a Patrick McHenry alum, welcomed John Hal Joyce on Wednesday. Pic — Katie (Pudwill) Wills, senior director at Purple Strategies and a POLITICO alum, and Drew Wills, VP of sales at Brilliant Made and a LinkedIn alum, on Thursday welcomed Mack Wills, who came in at 9 lbs, 14 oz. Pic … Another pic 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.
| | | | Sponsored Survey WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Please take a 1-minute survey about one of our advertising partners | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
