The four-day Milken Institute Global Conference drew to a close Wednesday, with plenty of news, entertainment and A-lister panels packed into the final day. COMEBACK KID: It takes a lot to eclipse Bill Clinton, the star speaker of the closing day, but rocker John Fogerty achieved it. The 78-year-old former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman, who fought to retain ownership of his music in an epic legal battle, exuded talent and energy as he entertained the crowd in the closing concert of the Milken Conference, rockin’ through hits like “Bad Moon Rising” and “Proud Mary,” and reminiscing about Woodstock. Polarization warning: Clinton, in a session heavily focused on his achievements in the field of healthcare, did implicitly touch on the current political climate in the United States. He warned against “divisive tribalism” describing it as a “potential endless disaster, because our capacity if we cooperate to face every challenge we face is limitless, but we can’t do it unless we work together.” Younger generation: But it wasn’t just old white guys who brought in the crowds. Actress Kerry Washington and Grammy-award winner Usher were also headlining. Usher reflected on how rapid technological change has impacted the music industry, giving an interesting but cautious take on AI. “The one positive I could potentially see is that there are a great deal of incredible artists who are no longer with us. If there is a way for us to satisfy the audience that is still longing for connection to that artist then there is value there,” but he added: “it can be very dangerous, the tool can be manipulated.” Ain’t going nowhere: There was reassurance to his legion of fans though that he won’t let AI defeat him. “As long as I’m here, I’m going to do my best to never let AI beat me.” DOWN BUT NOT OUT GIVE JOHNSON A CHANCE: Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who was ousted as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives last year, says he doesn’t support efforts by rebels like Marjorie Taylor Greene to depose his successor Mike Johnson. “It’s very difficult and it’s chaos for America…so I don’t support that motion to vacate,” he told POLITICO’s Power Play podcast. Johnson survived a confidence vote Wednesday. No regrets: But McCarthy has no regrets about the manner of his own departure last October. “I couldn’t live with myself if I did a deal with the Democrats,” he said. (Reminder: Johnson did exactly that to get his aid package through the House.) Putin warning: In conversation with host Anne McElvoy, McCarthy compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler in the 1930s — and stressed that ensuring Russia loses the war in Ukraine should be a priority across the political spectrum in the United States. “I think the actions of Putin are very similar to Hitler. I think this is a critical time,” he said. “We should make sure Putin fails in Ukraine. For the world to be safe we should make sure that this axis of evil is broken up — Iran and others — and I think from that basis, we should make this not one party issue, but you need to make the case to all of America and to the free world.” STORMY WATERS: As for the court case that has dominated U.S. and international attention this week — Donald Trump’s “hush money” case centering around payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels — McCarthy believes that it won’t have “much play” with American voters. But he did say that he believes Trump’s many legal cases are draining the presidential candidate’s financial resources. “[The campaign is] falling behind on money, and that’s the one thing in the court case that people don’t talk about. It is hurting Trump not being able to be out campaigning, draining his money at the same time. So that is an advantage that the Democrats are using which people think is unfair,” he said. KEY TAKEAWAYS As things wrapped up in Los Angeles, POLITICO caught up with some figures who attended the Milken Institute Global Conference this week to gauge their thoughts on the main takeaways and stand-out themes. Michael Froman, President of the Council on Foreign Relations and former U.S. Trade Representative. “I think China is potentially the next front of a major set of trade conflicts. In trying to get out of this economic situation they’re in, they could have gone down various paths, creating domestic reform, investing in a service economy, setting up a social safety net. Instead, they went back to the old playbook — let’s export our way out of it. This is precisely at a time when the rest of the world is focused on closing their markets to Chinese exports, so I think it’s going to be the cause of a lot of tension. Ali Zaidi, White House National Climate Advisor in conversation with POLITICO’s Blanca Begert. “We’ve been in the decisive decade for climate action since this decade started — and yet we’re in a moment where there are enough people sitting on pools of private capital that are reevaluating how hard they should be chasing the solutions for a decarbonized economy, or the solutions associated with greater resilience and adaptation. I think that’s not just disappointing from a moral perspective. I think that is potentially risking a massive economic upside.” Susan Monarez, deputy head of the ARPA-H, (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health) which focuses on high-impact biomedical health research. “This brings us out of our traditional conference zone. It’s not just listening to biotech providers or digital health technologists who are leveraging AI. It’s about listening to every other part of what’s happening in innovation, and thinking about what that means for us; how do we leverage that new knowledge to build our portfolio in a way that perhaps others may not be.” EY’s Ryan Burke in conversation with Zach Warmbrodt. Most discussions around AI centered around the key question: “Are we going to be able to trust what comes out of the computer?” “The one thing that I’m comforted by is that some of the largest investors and entrepreneurs in the world are equally worried about that,” he said. “I’d be far more worried or concerned if there was a race to AI at all costs and then two years later we say that we should have been concerned about this.” NEXT STOP:COPENHAGEN DENMARK-BOUND: Global Playbook is heading to northern Europe next, where POLITICO will be coming to you from the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. Look out for the first edition in your inbox Tuesday. US reputation takes a hit: Ahead of next week’s gathering, the Alliance of Democracies, in collaboration with Latana, is out with its latest Democracy Perception Index. Based on more than 60,000 interviews with respondents from 53 countries, it finds that America’s popularity as a global power is waning worldwide. Middle East divides: The index shows that America’s international reputation has taken a hit — particularly in Muslim countries where Washington’s support of Israel in its war in Gaza has proven intensely divisive — but also in Europe. POLITICO’s Lucia Mackenzie and Giovanna Coi have the full story. “For the first time since the start of the Biden administration, many Western European countries have returned to net negative perceptions of the U.S. This rise and decline, from negative attitudes to positive [and] back to negative attitudes is particularly stark in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Belgium and Switzerland,” said Frederick DeVeaux, senior researcher for the Latana survey company that compiled the index. Good cop China: In contrast, there was good news for Beijing as positive perceptions of China in Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America continue to grow — counterbalancing continued skepticism in Europe where Chinese president Xi Jinping is continuing a tour this week. Mixed bag for Russia: Geographic differences also underpin perceptions of Russia. While support for cutting economic ties with Moscow remains high in Europe and the United States, most of the rest of the world wants to maintain ties. AROUND TOWN ALL HAIL THE FREE MARKET: Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin sang the praises of the private market during a session on closing the wealth gap, chastising America’s “broken social security system.” He found strong support from fellow panelist, investor and hedge fund manager Brad Gerstner. His InvestAmerica initiative wants every child at birth to get an investment account with seed capital of $1,000 to invest in the S&P 500. “Take the government out of it,” he declared. And the winner is… Over at the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center at UCLA, preparations are underway for tonight’s Aurora Prize Ceremony and Dinner, where the 2024 Aurora Laureate will be announced. The $1 million award recognizes an individual who has had an exceptional impact on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes. The short-list: The individuals who have been short-listed are: Danish-Bahraini advocate Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Denis Mukwege, gynecologist and human rights activist, and Nasrin Sotoudeh, Iranian human rights lawyer. Hollywood legend and activist George Clooney is among those on the selection committee. (Though plenty of VIPs are due to attend, he’s not due to make an appearance this time — alas.) VIVE L’EUROPE: May 9th is Europe Day — a moment that marks the signing of the Schuman Declaration, one of the founding documents of the European Union. In Brussels, EU officials are enjoying a day off, and are presumably listening to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy as they reflect on the wonder of the single market. Happy Europe Day to those who observe! PROGRAMMING NOTE: Global Playbook will be in your inboxes Tuesday May 14th and Wednesday May 15th from the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. Thanks to editor Nathalie Weatherald | 
