OFF TO THE RACES: Is Jeb’s Super PAC going to fall short of $100 million?
BUSH: The super PAC backing Jeb Bush isn't likely to hit the $100 million mark by the end of the month, the Washington Post writes.
In the wake of a campaign shakeup, he said "I don't read the polls," Benjy Sarlin reports.
POLITICO looks at Sally Bradshaw's role in the campaign and her big role in the recent shakeup. "It was Bradshaw who ultimately made the call to install a relatively young political operative, Danny Diaz, as campaign manager, instead of the more seasoned David Kochel, who was widely expected to get the job."
Larry Sabato and the Crystal Ball crowd are not exactly giving Jeb Bush high marks: "Everyone can see that Jeb Bush is doing poorly so far. He’s in a much worse position than his father was in 1987 or his brother was in 1999. This Bush intimidates no one. His political skills are rusty, he’s a pedestrian speaker and some of his views (immigration reform, Common Core, etc.) have made him many enemies among party ideologues.
CHRISTIE: Some good news for the New Jersey governor: The state's Supreme Court sided with him in a legal fight with public worker unions over pension funds, the AP reports.
CLINTON: Michelle Kwan will work for the Clinton campaign's outreach efforts in Brooklyn.
The Washington Post talks to black voters disillusioned with politics after the rush of helping to elect the first African-American president. "[A]s her allies prepare to register voters and expand the black electorate, her candidacy presents residents here with a question: If Obama’s presidency didn’t do more to help African Americans, then how could hers?"
(A little perspective, though: Obama’s fav/unfav with African Americans in the last NBC/WSJ poll was 90%-2%; Hillary’s was 80%-4%.)
CRUZ: His top Senate communications aide is leaving to return to writing under her own name, Roll Call reports.
KASICH: He's picked McCain alums John Weaver and Fred Davis as top advisers.
RUBIO: An aide tells NBC's Peter Alexander that the campaign has raised $100,000 from fundraising appeals dinging the New York Times' coverage.
SANTORUM: He told the Des Moines Register that he won’t spend money on the Iowa Straw Poll.
And around the country...
NEVADA: Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval won't run for Harry Reid's Senate seat.
OBAMA AGENDA: Up to 450 U.S. military trainers to Iraq
"In a major shift of focus in the battle against the Islamic State, the Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province, Iraq, and to send up to 450 more American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi,” the New York Times writes.
The Washington Post's Carol Leonnig: "A rush to recruit additional Secret Service officers in the wake of numerous White House security lapses has led to a new problem: Several dozen of the fresh arrivals have been posted in sensitive positions without completing the required national security clearance process, according to two government officials familiar with the situation."
Michelle Obama said that she wants Americans to know "the real story" of Chicago's South Side during a commencement address to graduates at the high school of murder victim Hadiya Pendelton.
Vladimir Putin will meet with Pope Francis today even as the United States urges the Vatican to publicly condemn Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
CONGRESS: Hastert pleads not guilty
The Chicago Sun-Times: "Hastert finally pleaded not guilty to his May 28 indictment Tuesday. But the hearing otherwise shed little light on the accusations that Hastert structured $952,000 in bank withdrawals after agreeing to pay $3.5 million in hush money to a longtime acquaintance, money sources say was paid out to cover up alleged sexual misconduct."
Legal experts say that Dennis Hastert created significant problems for himself when he spoke to the FBI last year.
The trade promotion authority vote could turn into a litmus test for Democrats who hope to succeed Nancy Pelosi, Roll Call writes.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Tamron Hall speaks with MSNBC military analyst Retired General Barry McCaffrey regarding the prospect that the U.S. may send more troops back into Iraq, Co-president of National Nurses United (NNU) Jean Ross about the study by John Hopkins University that finds 50 hospitals charge uninsured more than 10 times cost of their care, and Founder and CEO of Eu Genia Shea Naa-Sakle Akuete in another in our Born in the USA series.
*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell will interview Fmr. Rep. Patrick Murphy, AFL/CIO President Richard Trumka, America’s Promise Alliance President John Gomperts, the Washington Post’s Anne Gearan and Chris Cillizza, Joan Lunden and NBC’s Stephanie Gosk, John Yang, Pete Williams and Jim Miklaszewski.