Former Vice President Kamala Harris has recorded a robocall for Rep. Jasmine Crockett to turn out voters for the Dallas congresswoman in Tuesday’s hard-fought Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, the Texas Tribune reports.
The call gives Crockett a boost from one of her party’s biggest stars in the homestretch of her primary against state Rep. James Talarico (D).
President Trump suggested the U.S. could carry out a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, as the president has used a fuel blockade to increase the pressure on the communist regime in Havana, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “The Cuban government is talking with us. They’re in a big deal of trouble, as you know. They have no money, no anything right now. Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
“I like Bill Clinton and I don’t like seeing him deposed.”
— President Trump, quoted by Politico.
“President Trump on Friday expressed frustration about nuclear talks with Iran, but said he hasn’t decided yet whether to launch a military campaign,” Axios reports.
“With the region on high alert and growing signals that war could be imminent, Trump is maintaining ambiguity and sending messages that could be interpreted as either alarming or reassuring.”
“Yet several signs point to war: The ongoing U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, Trump’s military briefings, the evacuation of staff from the U.S. embassy in Israel (a potential target for Iranian retaliation), and the disappointment felt by Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff after talks in Geneva yesterday.”
CNN: Trump claimed Iran is building missiles that could soon hit the US. Sources say that’s not backed up by U.S. intelligence.
“Competing super PACs backed by the AI industry are already pouring money into the 2026 midterms, starting with the year’s first primaries in Texas and North Carolina,” NBC News reports.
“There’s just one thing missing from their ads so far: any reference to artificial intelligence.”
“The groups are seeking to shape how AI models and companies are regulated nationwide, a debate that big players in AI see as existential for the future of the industry, the United States and the world. But instead of the actual policy reason they are taking sides in these primaries, the groups are leaning into red meat or progressive messaging on other hot-button issues.”
“Paramount should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it because when Democrats win back power we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates. All of them.”
— Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), on X.
“The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee has opened an investigation into potential conflicts of interest between Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, following the Supreme Court’s decision on the legality of President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs,” NOTUS reports.
Gallup: “Forty-one percent of Americans now say they sympathize more with the Palestinians in the Middle East situation, while 36% sympathize more with the Israelis.”
“The five-percentage-point difference is not statistically significant, but it contrasts with a clear lead for the Israelis only a year ago (46% vs. 33%) and larger leads over the prior 24 years.”
Julia Ioffe: “Ideological screenings are just the beginning of the State Department’s political tests for new foreign service officers, who must affirm their support for Trump’s executive orders, navigate training seminars monitored by Trump appointees, and demonstrate their ‘fidelity’ at every turn.”
“The U.S. has recorded more than 1,100 measles cases so far this year, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” CNN reports.
“It’s a troubling milestone that has many in public health bracing for the worst.”
“Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have the votes to force Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify before their panel about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,” Politico reports.
Bill Clinton told the House Oversight Committee that his “brief acquaintance with Jeffrey Epstein ended years before his crimes came to light,” the AP reports.
Said Clinton: “I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong. I saw nothing that ever gave me pause.”
“With the threat of a U.S. strike on Iran looming, the United States embassy in Jerusalem has told its workers that they may leave Israel and warned them that if they want to, it is vital that they do so immediately,” the New York Times reports.
“Trump Media & Technology Group said Friday it is in talks to spin off Truth Social into a new publicly traded company,” Axios reports.
“Trump’s eponymous company began exclusively as a social media venture, but balance sheet growth has come from other efforts.“
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is warning that the Texas Senate seat long held by Sen. John Cornyn (R) could flip to Democrats in the November election if the incumbent is defeated in the GOP primary, The Hill reports.
Said Thune: “Honestly, if you look at the polling in a general election setting, I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that the seat flips, depending on who the Democrats nominate.”
The Wrap: “Anxiety is high inside CNN, as staffers grapple with the growing likelihood that Paramount’s David Ellison — who appointed Free Press cofounder Bari Weiss to reshape CBS News and has recalled having ‘great conversations’ with President Donald Trump about acquiring CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery — could ultimately take control of the cable news channel.”
Oliver Darcy: “While the move all but guarantees brutal layoffs across the company, it landed like a meteor at Hudson Yards. Inside CNN, alarm bells went off as staffers began to panic over the suddenly very real prospect that they could be working for Bari Weiss before the end of the year.”
Said one insider: ‘The panic at CNN right now is off the charts.”
“At this stage, CNN staffers have every reason to be worried about the future. What is unfolding is plain as day. Trump, who has despised CNN more than any other institution throughout his political career, wants to neuter the network. He wants to break it. And that is precisely why his administration did everything it could to tilt the scales against Netflix and in Ellison’s favor.“
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
