| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | |  Barack and Michelle Obama endorsed VP Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. | Getty Images | NEW THIS MORNING — BARACK and MICHELLE OBAMA officially endorsed KAMALA HARRIS’ presidential campaign this morning via a campaign video that captured a phone call between the VP and the former first couple. Watch the 55-second video On the call, former President Obama described the Democrats as 2024’s “underdogs,” but reassured Harris that “we’re absolutely confident that you're gonna be able to make it happen,” according to excerpts of the phone call. More from Myah Ward … extended excerpts from the call WHAT THEY’RE READING IN WILMINGTON — “Biden’s Economic Message Failed With Voters. Can Harris Do Better?” by Victoria Guida VEEPSTAKES — POLITICO Magazine’s Charlie Mahtesian has a worthwhile conversation with former presidential campaign managers ROBBY MOOK, PATTI SOLIS DOYLE and STUART STEVENS about how, essentially, to set up an entire campaign apparatus 100 or so days before the election. We were especially intrigued by their thoughts on who Harris should pick as a running mate. Mook favors Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO or Arizona Sen. MARK KELLY, while both Stevens and Solis Doyle say their heads are with Shapiro, but their hearts favor Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER (who, to reiterate, has said she’s not interested). HARRIS’ SUBTLE BUT IMPORTANT SHIFT ON GAZA — Earlier this week, we wrote that as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Harris had a difficult needle to thread, distinguishing herself and her views without distancing herself too much from President JOE BIDEN’s stance on issues. Thursday provided her the first big test. On Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU’s last day in Washington, he met separately with Biden and Harris. The meeting with Biden was meant to be the headliner — the two leaders coming face to face for the first time after months of another conflict in the Middle East. And the White House readout suggested the conversation was what you’d expect: They discussed the cease-fire and hostage release deal currently on the table, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the support for Israel’s security. “President Biden expressed the need to close the remaining gaps, finalize the deal as soon as possible, bring the hostages home, and reach a durable end to the war in Gaza,” the White House said. But this morning, the headlines are instead about the meeting between Harris and Netanyahu. Playbook was in the room as Harris and Netanyahu began their meeting, and two things immediately jumped out at us. First, Harris welcomed Netanyahu with the usual diplomatic exchanges, but added something that caused reporters’ ears to perk up: “We have a lot to talk about.” The comment was benign enough, but hinted that this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. Then, the VP’s team told the reporting pool that after the meeting, she would make on-camera remarks — without Netanyahu. That, too, was unremarkable on its face, but notable for one big reason: Biden hadn’t made remarks after his own meeting with the PM. Taken together, those two moves underscored the opportunity Harris’ team saw before her: At a moment of intense scrutiny, they wanted to showcase her foreign policy chops to millions of Americans who hadn’t yet seen her engage in the subject area. It was a chance to make a lasting impression, and they wanted to take it. Her remarks contained a bit of something for everyone. She read aloud the names of all of the American hostages, committed to Israel’s right to defend itself, called Hamas a “brutal terrorist organization” and did something that the Biden administration has often been criticized from the left for not doing enough: speaking in detail about the suffering in Gaza. Invoking the “images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety,” Harris pressed Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire deal. “To everyone who has been calling for a cease-fire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you,” Harris said. “[A] two-state solution is the only path that ensures Israel remains a secure Jewish and democratic state, and one that ensures Palestinians can finally realize the freedom, security and prosperity that they rightly deserve.” Yes, it’s true that Harris’ has long emphasized the humanitarian needs in Gaza. And, yes, even when she reads the exact same lines as Biden, it’s interpreted very differently — as Eugene and Holly Otterbein have reported. But it served as a subtle signal that a Harris administration may approach these issues differently than the Biden administration has. Biden’s critics on the left took note. Harris “conveyed more sympathy for the plight of civilians in Gaza than President Biden did at any point,” says ABBAS ALAWIEH. The former staffer to Reps. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-Mich.) and CORI BUSH (D-Mo.) helped lead the “uncommitted” campaign in Michigan, and is one of the state’s two “uncommitted” delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Of course, as VP, Harris is unable to change American policy at the drop of a hat, which is what a lot of the pro-Gaza activists we spoke with really want. “The White House’s policy to continue to supply American bombs to Netanyahu is like a bartender serving drinks to an alcoholic while repeatedly urging them to stay sober,” added WALEED SHAHID, the former Justice Democrats spokesperson. “Empathy for Palestinians from [the] vice president is a step in the right direction, but people just want a policy change to stop the supply of American bombs to Israel’s war.” But as the Democratic presidential candidate, Harris' tone has the potential to force change — including in how Israel is prosecuting the war. The political reality that Netanyahu finds in America looks a whole lot different now than it did just one week ago. As one White House aide told us last night, the task before the Israeli PM is to “make sure that with both [DONALD TRUMP and Harris], he’s going to be on their good side.” Happy Friday. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | A message from Capital One: Capital One recently announced our historic, five-year, $265 billion community benefits plan in connection with our proposed acquisition of Discover to advance economic opportunity and financial well-being. This plan is twice as large as any other community commitment developed in connection with a bank acquisition and demonstrates that the combined Capital One and Discover will create an opportunity to provide more lending, investment, and services for underserved communities than the institutions would undertake on a stand-alone basis. | | | THE ZAPRUDER TAPE OF OUR TIME — “Speculation Swirls About What Hit Trump. An Analysis Suggests It was a Bullet,” by NYT’s Malachy Browne, Devon Lum and Alexander Cardia: “What has helped stoke confusion is that Mr. Trump himself has said he was hit by a bullet, but his campaign has not released any official medical reports, nor has Mr. Trump’s current physician weighed in.” ICMYI: Trump teed off on FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY last night for suggesting in congressional testimony that he had been hit by shrapnel on July 13: “No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!” HOW DOUG GOT THE NEWS — Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race last Sunday caught much of the nation off guard — including second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF, who told attendees on a Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris call last night that he had just finished a SoulCycle class with “a gay couple friend” of his in West Hollywood and was enjoying coffee in a park when the news dropped. “My friend’s partner said, ‘You need to look at this,’” Emhoff said. “I just went to the end — ‘cause I’m a lawyer, so I always go to the end. … He said, ‘No, look at the line above that’ … I didn’t have my phone, so I ran and ran and got into our car, and of course my phone is just on fire, and it’s basically, ‘Call Kamala! Call Kamala! Call Kamala!’” Emhoff said he spoke to his wife before jetting to Wilmington for a “whirlwind” of a week. “We’ve just been hustling; I’ve barely even seen her or talked to her since this all happened.” (h/t Tyler Katzenberger) The call was one of several organizing and fundraising confabs held last night to build support, raise money and sign up volunteers for the Harris campaign.
- The Black queer men’s call brought together almost 2,500 people.
- A climate and clean energy activist call, featuring the likes of LEAH STOKES, BILL McKIBBEN and Sen. ED MARKEY (D-Mass.), brought in more than $100,000.
- A Human Rights Campaign “Out for Kamala Harris” call, which included several prominent politicians and celebrities like JESSE TYLER FERGUSON and RAVEN-SYMONÉ, brought together 20,000 people and raised more than $300,000.
- And a call for white women supporting Harris apparently became the biggest Zoom of all time, with 164,000 participants raising more than $2 million, SHANNON WATTS posted. Big names like MEGAN RAPINOE, SUE BIRD, CONNIE BRITTON, PINK, GLENNON DOYLE and MALLORY McMORROW participated.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — ProgressNow is up with a new $11 million digital ad buy that is among the first major pushes of outside advertising on behalf of Harris. While the initial spot plays off of Harris’ memeable comments about her love of Venn Diagrams (which the organization said moved “vote choice in favor of Harris [by] +5 points”), a slate of spots using clips from her Monday speech are being rotated in. The eight-figure ad buy is limited to four battleground states: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
| | | | A message from Capital One:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate is in. The House is out. 3 things to watch …
- The Senate is suddenly on track to pass major tech legislation — finishing probably just before leaving for its summer recess next week — after an initial procedural vote passed 86-1 vote yesterday. The package of two online safety bills aimed at protecting kids won broad bipartisan support after concerns about tech platforms’ failures to prevent sexual exploitation, online bullying and corporate ad targeting exploded in recent months. Only Sen. RAND PAUL (R-Ky.) voted against it. More from Roll Call
- On another tech-regulation front, the vibes aren’t nearly so good. Attempts to finalize a consensus cryptocurrency-focused bill this month are sputtering in the Senate Agriculture Committee, where Chair DEBBIE STABENOW (D-Mich.) is facing bipartisan pushback. Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) said yesterday that Stabenow’s efforts to police crypto trading don’t go far enough, Eleanor Mueller reports for Pros, while Republicans fear the effort could push the industry overseas. (If you are wondering: This is all playing out in the Ag panel because it has oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a key crypto watchdog.)
- Today marks one month since Rep. JAMAAL BOWMAN (D-N.Y.) lost his primary race, and it’s a mixed picture for the other hard-left “Squad” members still facing primaries. Rep. CORI BUSH (D-Mo.) is behind in a recent poll and saw her biggest hometown paper, the St. Louis Times-Dispatch, offer an “enthusiastic” endorsement yesterday for challenger WESLEY BELL ahead of the Aug. 6 primary. Meanwhile, Rep. ILHAN OMAR (D-Minn.) is sitting more comfortably ahead of her Aug. 13 race, releasing a poll yesterday showing her up nearly 30 points on challenger DON SAMUELS.
At the White House Biden will get an artificial intelligence briefing from staff in the afternoon, before leaving for Camp David.
| | | | Pro Briefing: Kamala Harris and the World. What we expect on foreign policy and trade. Join POLITICO Pro for a deep-dive conversation with our specialist reporters about the vice president’s approach to foreign policy. Register Now. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 2024 WATCH
|  VP Kamala Harris’ campaign is ramping up quickly, with a barrage of events planned for this weekend. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | HERE COMES THE CAVALRY — Though Harris has been outgunned by Trump on TV so far this week, Future Forward is swooping in with a $50 million ad blitz in swing states over the next few weeks, WaPo’s Michael Scherer reports. American Bridge 21st Century and EMILY’s List are also going up with spots boosting Harris. Not to be outdone, MAGA Inc. is adding $32 million in ad buys to attack Harris in swing states up to Labor Day, Meridith McGraw scooped. They’ll focus on her immigration record and prosecutorial career. Harris’ campaign is ramping up quickly, with a barrage of events planned for this weekend, USA Today’s Francesca Chambers reports. More than 40 prominent Justice Department alumni backed Harris, NBC’s Ryan Reilly and Yamiche Alcindor scooped. Not everyone is on board: Rep. JARED GOLDEN (D-Maine) told Axios’ Andrew Solender that he’s not yet committing to vote for her in November. And Trump is quickly working to define and criticize Harris — though, as Irie Sentner and Jared Mitovich report, Republicans are still struggling to find effective, consistent attack lines. Trump campaign officials tell The Bulwark’s Marc Caputo that they’d grown complacent and “this was a great wake-up call.” The polls: The much-anticipated NYT/Siena poll found Harris mostly closing the gap with Trump, who leads her by 1 point among likely voters head to head, and trails her by 1 in an expanded field. A handful of New England polls provide more fodder that Harris has helped return the race to its nearly tied baseline after a recent Biden collapse: She leads by 6 points in two different New Hampshire polls, and by 8 in Maine. In Michigan, meanwhile, a new Detroit News/WDIV survey finds the candidates tied. The veepstakes: For a sense of the field that Harris is considering for a running mate, there are helpful rundowns from FiveThirtyEight’s Mary Radcliffe and Cooper Burton (analyzing the data) and Semafor’s Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, and Shelby Talcott (on why it’s mostly a white, male group). Plenty of the contenders are getting their names out there in various ways:
More top reads:
JUDICIARY SQUARE SCOTUS WATCH — Justice ELENA KAGAN took a big public step yesterday in calling for stronger ethical standards for the Supreme Court, WSJ’s Jess Bravin reports from Sacramento, California. Kagan said the current code of conduct has no clear way to be enforced, and suggested that a panel of lower-court judges could be assigned that task. AMERICA AND THE WORLD MAJOR ARRESTS — “Co-founder and alleged leader of Sinaloa Mexican drug cartel in US custody, DOJ says,” by CNN’s Emma Tucker, Fidel Gutierrez and Sahar Akbarzai: “ISMAEL ‘EL MAYO’ ZAMBADA, co-founder and alleged current leader of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel, is in US custody, according to the Justice Department. JOAQUIN GUZMAN LOPEZ, son of cartel co-founder JOAQUIN ‘EL CHAPO’ GUZMAN and another alleged leader of the cartel, is also in federal custody, said Attorney General MERRICK GARLAND.” The news could have a significant impact on the Mexican criminal landscape. SPARE CHANGE — The Defense Department has found $2 billion worth of accounting mistakes in its plans for Ukraine aid, which will allow the Pentagon to bolster the tranches of assistance it’s sending to Kyiv, Reuters’ Mike Stone reports.
| | A message from Capital One: Developed in partnership with a coalition of leading community groups, our five-year community benefits plan includes significant financial and programmatic commitments through community development, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), philanthropy and pro bono, consumer card and auto lending, small business and supplier diversity, and bank access. These commitments will aim to expand economic opportunity for underserved consumers, including those in low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods, rural areas, and communities of color. It will also support increased access to best-in-class products and services for unbanked or underbanked consumers as well as consumers across the credit spectrum and expand access to capital and opportunity. | | | MORE POLITICS
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Former California State Rep. Rudy Salas is among a list of Democratic challengers with a significant fundraising advantage so far. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo | CASH DASH — The battle for control of the House looks tight this fall, but second-quarter fundraising reports show Democrats with a money advantage in the races where they’re going on offense, Madison Fernandez and Jessica Piper report this morning. Across 29 competitive districts currently held by Republicans, challengers on average raised over $200,000 more than incumbents, outrunning the GOP in 17 seats. Democrats RUDY SALAS, ADAM GRAY, JOSH RILEY and JANELLE STELSON all doubled their opponents’ hauls. Republicans say the fundraising gap isn’t significant enough to concern them, and they note one big advantage: GOP incumbents still generally have more money in the bank. They’ll also have major outside spending to their benefit. But Madison and Jessica flag that Republican challengers have fallen short of Democratic incumbents on fundraising, too: Across 34 Dem-held competitive seats, 33 saw Democrats raise more in Q2. (Only MAYRA FLORES came out ahead in her bid to return to Congress.) More top reads:
- Cruz control: Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) is kicking off a huge, $4.4 million ad and voter outreach campaign to reach Hispanics in his reelection bid, with most of the money on Spanish-language spots, Axios’ Stef Kight reports.
TRUMP CARDS
|  Donald Trump’s recent legal moves could hit some obstacles in a pair of his New York cases. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images | THE TRUMP TRIALS — Even if it gets revived on appeal, don’t expect Trump’s federal classified documents trial to move forward anytime soon. An appeals court previewed yesterday that JACK SMITH and Trump’s legal team will file documents in the case through October, as the special counsel tries to get Judge AILEEN CANNON’s dismissal of the case overturned, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report. That indicates that any potential trial wouldn’t get going until after the election — or never, if Trump wins. But Trump’s legal moves could hit some obstacles in a pair of his New York cases that were already decided. Manhattan DA ALVIN BRAGG yesterday urged a judge to reject Trump’s bid to overturn his criminal hush money conviction, per Bloomberg. Though Trump has cited the recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, Bragg argued that his conduct was personal, not official, and therefore not protected — and that even with some evidence excluded, Trump would have still been convicted. Judge ARTHUR ENGORON, meanwhile, swatted down Trump’s request that he recuse himself from the massive civil business fraud case, per CNN’s Kara Scannell, saying Trump was picking a bone over a “nothingburger.” POLICY CORNER WHAT WENT WRONG — “Justice Dept. Watchdog Criticizes Barr’s Role in Election Inquiry,” by NYT’s Glenn Thrush: “[T]he Justice Department’s in-house watchdog issued a scathing report criticizing the attorney general at the time, WILLIAM P. BARR, and DAVID FREED, then a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania, for publicly disclosing a continuing criminal investigation and allowing a mistaken perception of the incident to linger during an election.” THE BRAVE NEW WORLD — “FCC pursues new rules for AI in political ads, but changes may not take effect before the election,” by AP’s Ali Swenson THE WHITE HOUSE UNDER THE RADAR — Biden signed into law yesterday the Federal Prison Oversight Act, which seeks to create independent oversight of the troubled Bureau of Prisons, AP’s Michael Sisak and Michael Balsamo report. TV TONIGHT — PBS’ “Washington Week”: Peter Baker, Eugene Daniels, Adam Harris and Asma Khalid. SUNDAY SO FAR … CNN “State of the Union”: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz … Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) … Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Panel: Olivia Beavers, Mollie Hemingway, Mario Parker and Juan Williams. MSNBC “The Weekend”: DNC Chair Jaime Harrison … DSCC Chair Gary Peters (D-Mich.) … DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.). CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) … New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. ABC “This Week”: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore … New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. Panel: Donna Brazile, Marc Lotter, Asma Khalid and Laura Barrón-López. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.). Panel: Bob Cusack, Molly Ball, John McCormack and Ryan Lizza.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Gretchen Whitmer thinks America is “ready” for an all-female ticket — just don’t expect her to be on it this year. Even so … Willie Brown endorsed Whitmer as Kamala Harris’ running mate. (He also thinks Gavin Newsom should be in her cabinet.) Jim Himes went there with a sly crack about couches. Jill Biden met with American Olympians in Paris. Kamala Harris will be on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Washingtonian’s Best of Washington party: Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), Kevin Keane, Hamad Al-Muftah, John McCarthy, Lynda Carter, Robert Costa, Ashley Parker, Elizabeth Johnson, Jonathan Silver and Melissa Moss, Bryan Voltaggio, Michael Voltaggio, Debbie Yamada, Carl Hulse, Brigitte Gwyn, Winston Lord, Christina Sevilla, Mark Ein, Tim Lowery, Roxanne Roberts, Heather Podesta, Gloria Dittus, Bill Anaya, Anthony Polcari and Bennett Richardson. BOOK CLUB — Our colleague Alice Miranda Ollstein is writing a new book, “Collateral Damage: How the War on Abortion is Making Us Sicker,” about the post-Roe medical landscape for everyone. TRANSITION — Chris Lehane is joining Coinbase’s board of directors, Chris Cadelago scooped, giving the cryptocurrency exchange a big-name Democrat as the industry gets closer to the GOP. Lehane is a Democratic strategist who more recently has worked in tech. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Kaitlyn Dwyer, chief of staff for Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio), and Ryan Stronczer, counsel at Akin, welcomed Jack Stephen Stronczer on Wednesday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) … Center for American Progress’ Patrick Gaspard … Maura Corbett of Glen Echo Group and Orchestra ... Erin Gloria Ryan ... Dan Harris … Bill Raines … Nick Muzin of Stonington Global … Mike McConnell … Andrew Romeo … Sonny Bunch … U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia Richard Buangan … Allison Dong of Sen. Mike Braun’s (R-Ind.) office … David Mayorga … Shakila Khalje … PJ McCann … Emily Kane of Sen. Maggie Hassan’s (D-N.H.) office … David Rees … Dan Rees … Oscar Goodman … Julie Anbender … Scott Sforza of Scott Sforza & Associates … POLITICO’s Lara Costello … former Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) … Jonathan Davidson … Ashley Allison … Joe Jackson of Rep. Ken Buck’s (R-Colo.) office … Namrata Kolachalam … Andrew Gillum … former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern 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 political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
