Obama to Call for Nuke Reductions; Little New Ground in Last MA SEN Debate; Malloy Trails in CT Poll

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WHAT'S NEWS

  • Pres. Obama "will speak Wednesday" at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, where he is expected to "focus on arms control with Russia, a topic far less volatile than it was during the Cold War arms race but one near to" Obama's heart (CBS News).

  • Appearing Tuesday before the House Intel Cmte, NSA Dir./Army Gen. Keith Alexander said surveillance programs "had helped prevent 'potential terrorist events over 50 times since 9/11'" (Washington Post).

  • MA SEN Special: Rep. Edward Markey (D) and ex-Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez (R) "broke little new ground in their third and final televised debate Tuesday night," but "with some voters just tuning in to the race for the first time, the candidates made their closing arguments with considerable vigor" (WBUR-FM).

  • NJ SEN Special: Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) on Tuesday named ex-Organizing for America nat'l political dir. Addisu Demissie as his campaign mgr. (Newark Star-Ledger).

  • AK SEN: Sen. Mark Begich (D) "shrugged off" the cancellation of a Monday fundraiser "financial industry heavy weights were holding for him days after" NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) "urged local donors" not to give to Dems "who opposed gun control legislation." Begich and his office said the cancellation of the event was "related to scheduling issues and other problems," and Begich "said he is 'more than likely' to hold other fundraisers" in NYC (New York Daily News).

  • MN SEN: State Rep. Jim Abeler (R), who "endorsed" Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) for WH '12, "said that he is exploring a run" (Minneapolis Star Tribune).

  • MD-06: '12 SEN nominee Dan Bongino (R) officially announced his candidacy in Frederick on Tuesday (Frederick News-Post).

  • CT GOV: A new Quinnipiac Univ. poll of RVs, conducted 6/12-17, shows '10 nominee Tom Foley (R) leading Gov. Dannel Malloy (D), 43-40%. Malloy leads Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton (R), 43-36%; state House Min. Leader Larry Cafero (R), 44-37%; and state Senate Min. Leader John McKinney (R), 44-37% (release).

  • FL GOV: In a "45-minute interview with the Tampa Bay Times" on Tuesday, '10 nominee Alex Sink (D) said she "will decide" whether to run by 9/1 and "spoke angrily about the direction of the state" under Gov. Rick Scott (R). Sink said "she will enthusiastically support" Sen. Bill Nelson (D) if he runs. Sink, on Nelson: "He's got a little bit more of an effort going on than [people realize]" (Tampa Bay Times).

  • ME GOV: Gov. Paul LePage's (R) admin. "will no longer comment in stories published by the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal and the [Waterville] Morning Sentinel," following "the newspapers' publication of a three-day series of articles this week examining LePage's top environmental regulator and how her department's actions have benefited her former lobbying clients in private industry." LePage spokesperson Adrienne Bennett "said MaineToday Media, the newspapers' parent company, 'had made it clear that it opposed this administration'" (Portland Press Herald).

  • MN GOV: According to a new Minneapolis Star Tribune poll of adults, conducted 6/11-13, 57% approve of Gov. Mark Dayton's (D) job performance, while 31% disapprove. In the previous poll, conducted 2/25-27, 45% approved of Dayton, and 34% disapproved (release).

OUR CALL

Hotline editors weigh in on the stories that drive the day

• National Republicans intent on influencing primaries without appearing meddlesome will face two very big tests next year in Georgia and Alaska. But don't buy the Joe Miller hype in the Last Frontier: Internal GOP surveys show he runs way behind either announced candidate Mead Treadwell or possible/likely contender Dan Sullivan.

• AZ Reps. Paul Gosar (R) and Ann Kirkpatrick (D) appear to have mended their relationship since Gosar unseated Kirkpatrick in 2010: They just passed a land bill together, one of several issues the two rural reps. are cooperating on. Thanks especially to recent redistricting, the House has an unusual number of members who have run hard-fought races against each other in the past, but we're willing to bet few are partnering as much as this AZ pair.

• Funny that Sink's Tampa Bay Times interview came on the same day a Quinnipiac poll omitted her as a potential GOV candidate. Lately, Sink has downplayed her interest, given her husband's death -- though Dems have continued to insist that she's taking a serious look at the race. Whatever Sink's thinking, she's not yet ready to be left out of the conversation.

HAIR OF THE DOG

FRESH BREWED BUZZ

  • "Authorities are continuing to sort out the details of an auto accident that apparently claimed the life of award-winning journalist Michael Hastings," 33, whose death "was announced by his employer," though the Los Angeles Co. coroner's office "had yet to determine Tuesday night whether a body recovered from a fiery car crash was that of Hastings" (Los Angeles Times).

  • "While there is no template for a great reporter, he was one for reasons that were intrinsic to who he was: ambitious, skeptical of power and conventional wisdom, and incredibly brave. And he was warm and honest in a way that left him many unlikely friends among people you'd expect to hate him" -- Buzzfeed EiC Ben Smith, on Hastings (Buzzfeed).

  • The DNC "said it recently sent" the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) Police Dept. "a spreadsheet detailing" $496K worth of "missing equipment" from the '12 Dem Convo, including MacBook Pro laptops, iPads, iPod Nanos, computer printers, and BlackBerrys" (Charlotte Observer).

  • "If I see people that are not taking our country down the right path, if I see people that are not standing up for the right type of principles, and putting their own party politics before what is best for the United States of America" -- Ex-Rep. Allen West (R-FL), asked if he'd consider challenging Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in a '16 GOP primary over Rubio's work on immigration (WMAL-FM).

  • PA-13 candidate/state Sen. Daylin Leach (D) is "hosting a big fundraiser Wednesday night for his campaign ... and all the contribution levels are named for Rocky opponents." There's the "Apollo Creed" Level, at $2.6K a ticket; the "Ivan Drago" Level, for $1K; the "Clubber Lang" level, at $500; and then the "Tommy Gunn" Level, at $250" (Philadelphia Inquirier).

  • "I want to run for governor. In fact, I fully expect that I will" -- Outgoing L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D), asked about a future CA GOV run (KPCC-FM).

  • "A Houston man is accused of threatening to burn" Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and his father unless Cruz paid him $3M, according to the Harris Co. DA's Office (Houston Chronicle).

  • "My favorite football team is not the New York Giants. It's not the New York Jets. And it's not the Philadelphia Eagles. Get ready now: My favorite football team [is] the Dallas Cowboys. Which, by the way, is not the smartest thing for the governor of New Jersey" -- NJ Gov. Chris Christie (R), asked by a student Tuesday at Samsel Upper Elementary School in Parlin, NJ, to name his favorite football team (WCBS-TV).

  • More than 38% of adults in the U.S. lived in households without a landline telephone during the second half of '12, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated Tuesday in a new report that underscores the importance of sufficient cell-phone interviews for political polls and raises questions about the bias of those surveys that eschew cell phones entirely, like the IVR polls pervading politics today (Hotline reporting).

  • "I spend my whole life becoming Speaker of the House, and my wife's up there being a U.S. Senator" -- MD state House Speaker Michael Busch (D), after his wife was cast as an extra as season 2 of "House of Cards" is filmed in Annapolis, using the MD State House in place of the Capitol (Baltimore Sun).

SWIZZLE CHALLENGE

  • Florida Southern College is home to the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture at a single site in the world.

  • The winner is Jared Nichols, and here's his Swizzle Challenge: "This weekend the Washington Nationals host the Colorado Rockies in a four-game set. Name the two current starting NFL QBs the Colorado Rockies drafted and their current NFL team?" The 2nd correct e-mailer gets to submit the next question.

NJ'S EARLY BIRD SPECIALS

SHOT...

"Bizarro World: Bill Ayers Accuses Obama of Terrorism" (The Atlantic)

...CHASER

"I don't care about an old washed up terrorist, but as Senator Clinton said in her debates with you, we need to know the full extent of the relationship with you" -- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in his final WH '12 debate with Obama (The Telegraph).

Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

Steven Shepard, Executive Editor