The TAKE with Rick Klein
If the best way to measure highs is in terms of “deliverables”, it is a certain delivery at the outset.
President Joe Biden pledges 500 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for distribution around the world, announced as he began a series of high-level summits in Europe. The goal, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan, is to make the United States “the arsenal of vaccines”, as the nation was “the arsenal of democracy during World War II”.
The comparison is telling — and testament to the over-the-top goals and expectations of Biden’s first foreign trip as president. Biden has made conquering COVID the defining challenge of his tenure, and he offers American efforts as a model for his vision of the nation’s role in the world.
His focus on science resonates beyond the pandemic and into other areas of public health and climate change. The concept of sharing prosperity is important in areas of trade and commerce where European leaders worry about what is next.
Preparing for Biden’s stay abroad has focused on what he isn’t and what he isn’t — whether he’s one of the last two U.S. presidents or of the current Russian president. It may still be the end of the journey, when Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin, who defines success or shortcomings.
Yet it is Biden, finally, alone on the world stage. “America First” is no more, although the new president hopes to define himself just as simply, just in a way that could be much more complicated.
The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper
Just days before New Yorkers begin voting for the mayoral primary, a candidate is not only defending his platform, but also the place he calls home.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams pushes back after a report raised questions about whether he actually lives in New York or lives in New Jersey with his partner.
The report prompted Adams to invite the press to a garden-level apartment in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, an effort to prove he lives in all five boroughs. The controversy comes after Adams slammed his opponent, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, for retreating to a Hudson Valley home at the height of the pandemic.
“You can’t run from the city if you want to run the city,” Adams said during last week’s town hall debate.
The murky details surrounding Adam’s residence are just the latest development that could upset the outcome of the race. Over the past few days, progressive heavyweight rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Elizabeth Warren endorsed Maya Wiley for mayor.
Early voting begins Saturday. Primary election day is June 22.
The COUNCIL with Meg Cunningham
Florida representative Val Demings made him official entrance in the Senate race to unseat Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Wednesday, with a campaign video where she said she would “never get tired” of fighting for Floridians.
It has long been speculated that Demings, a former Orlando police chief, would join the race. Without naming him, she took aim at the two-term Republican in her launch video, saying ‘there are some in Washington who prefer the same old ways of doing business’ as images of Rubio flashed across the screen. . She even used a video from a 2016 presidential primary debate of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie insulting the senator.
Rubio was in violation prior to Demings’ official announcement, telling Fox News on Monday that she “wouldn’t admit” to “being a socialist.” In a response to Orlando SentinelDemings denied the allegation, adding that “desperate people do desperate things.”
She cited Republican opposition to Biden’s additional coronavirus relief package in the Senate as a driving force in her efforts to increase the number of Democrats in the upper house, sources told ABC News last month.
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News’ “Start Here” podcast. Thursday morning’s episode features ABC News’ Anne Flaherty, who details President Joe Biden’s plan to purchase COVID vaccine doses for use in the rest of the world. Department of Interior Inspector General Mark Greenblatt explains his office’s report, which found officials failed to clear Lafayette Park so President Donald Trump could attend St. -Jean for a photo shoot last year. And ABC News’ LZ Granderson tells us about his conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who reflects on the legacy of the early response to HIV/AIDS. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
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The Note is a daily feature of ABC News that highlights the top political stories of the day. Please come back tomorrow for the latest information.
