The Note: Returning To A Place Called Hope
— -- NOTABLES
--HUCKABEE HOPS IN: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is expected to announce today he is running for president in 2016, joining a quickly widening Republican field in what will be his second bid for the White House, ABC's BEN GITTLESON notes. Huckabee is returning to Hope, Arkansas -- the hometown he shares with Bill Clinton -- to make the announcement and is likely to draw sharp contrasts between himself and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. He will be jumping into the race amid a slew of campaign announcements by other Republicans. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson launched White House bids yesterday.
--HIGH BAR FOR HILLARY ON IMMIGRATION: She is the presumed favorite of the Latino vote and today in Las Vegas Hillary Clinton is expected to double down on this gateway issue for Hispanic voters, ABC's JIM AVILA and SERENA MARSHALL note. A Clinton official tells ABC News she plans to focus on a path to citizenship as part of comprehensive immigration reform. Latino leaders consulting her campaign tell ABC News Clinton is looking for a way to clearly contrast herself from Republican candidates for president by embracing the full path to citizenship rather than proposing a second class of Americans who can work in the United States but not enjoy the protection of citizenship. Clinton is also expected to promise to extend the dreamer program to undocumented parents of children born in the United States. Latino groups will be listening today for a timetable for implementation of these changes. President Obama has been faulted with moving too slowly during his first term when he had a Democratic majority and failed to pass immigration reform. Latino groups also say they will listen for consistency in Hillary Clinton's campaign, concerned that what happens in Vegas today on immigration doesn't just stay in Vegas but is promised in Iowa and other primary states.
--CARLY FIORINA ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN WITH A JAB AT HILLARY: Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced her run for president on "Good Morning America" yesterday, calling herself the "best person for the job" while also taking a shot at Hillary Clinton, accusing her of being untrustworthy. "Yes, I am running for president," Fiorina told ABC&'s GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on "GMA." "I think I am the best person for the job." Fiorina, the first female contender for the GOP nomination, has emerged as a vocal critic of Hillary Clinton in recent months, criticizing her State Department record and family foundation's acceptance of donations from foreign governments, ABC's BENJAMIN SIEGEL notes. "She clearly is not trustworthy, about a whole set of things," Fiorina said. "She peddled a fiction about [Benghazi, Libya] for a month, she hasn't been transparent about her server and her emails, and now we see now all of these foreign government donations to the Clinton Global Initiative."
--EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FIORINA. Fiorina was the CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005 -- the first female CEO of a Fortune 50 company, ABC's AJ FEATHER and BEN SIEGEL note. Learn more about the GOP's first female candidate to enter the 2016 presidential field. http://abcn.ws/1EaJmOL WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1DPPo71
AIR FORCE ONE: SECRETS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT. Air Force One is one of the most iconic symbols of the American presidency. But as a flying monument tasked with transporting the commander-in-chief, it is also one of the most vulnerable targets. As the plane marks 25 years of flying presidents, ABC's JONATHAN KARL was granted an exclusive nose-to-tail tour of the plane and its super-secure hangar. Whether it is a drone or a ground-to-air missile, Air Force One has an impressive array of defensive security measures to make it a flying fortress. Though many details are classified, the plane is equipped with features that allow it to repel airborne missiles and jam enemy radar. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1DQgDhO INTERACTIVE: www.abcnews.com/AirForceOne And according to ABC's JORDYN PHELPS, the flying White House comes with a number of other mind-blowing features. http://abcn.ws/1btFGR6
--10 PERKS OF FLYING LIKE THE PRESIDENT. At first glance, Air Force One might look like a typical Boeing 747 with a customized paint job. But there's a lot more than initially meets the eye with the presidential plane, specially modified by the U.S. Air Force to operate as fully functional and secure flying White House. Take a look at some of the perks that come with flying as the Commander-in-Chief. http://abcn.ws/1Ib34kS
THE BUZZ
with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS NO UNDUE INFLUENCE AFTER FOREIGN GIFTS TO CLINTON FOUNDATION. A State Department spokesman said Monday that the department doesn't see any evidence that Hillary Clinton took actions as secretary of state that were influenced by donations to the Clinton Foundation. "We are not aware of any evidence that actions taken by Secretary Clinton were influenced by donation to the Clinton Foundation or speech on honoraria of former President Clinton," State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said during a press briefing yesterday. The statement comes on the eve of the official release of "Clinton Cash," a book about Secretary Clinton's tenure at the State Department, which alleges she used her influence as secretary of state to provide favors to foreign governments who made donations to the Clinton Foundation, a non-profit charity group establish by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. ABC's JUSTIN FISHEL has more. http://abcn.ws/1zIAYe9
TODAY AT THE WHITE HOUSE: President Obama is expected to name Gen. Joseph Dunford to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs at an event in the Rose Garden, ABC's MARY BRUCE notes. Dunford, a trusted military advisor who previously acted as the top military commander in Afghanistan, currently serves as the commandant of the Marine Corps. The president's pick is already receiving praise from top Republicans, including John McCain.
BEN CARSON ON SEX AND MOZART: 10 MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM HIS FIRST DAY AS A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. As he stepped onto a stage in Detroit to formally launch his presidential candidacy, conservative firebrand Ben Carson was greeted by a sea of white and blue t-shirts that read "Win, Ben, Win." "I'm Ben Carson, and I'm a candidate for President of the United States," he declared at the Music Hall Center of the Performing Arts. Carson's first day as a presidential candidate took him to three separate events in his hometown: a prayer breakfast, an assembly at a high school named after him and the speech at the music hall. And the long-shot candidate who is known for his fiery -- and sometimes controversial rhetoric -- dished out some choice lines, noting, "I'm not politically correct." ABC's MATTHEW CLAIBORNE notes some of the newly-minted presidential candidate's most memorable one-liners. http://abcn.ws/1zINESb
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CARSON. Along with his wife, Carson is the co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, a philanthropic organization that awards $1,000 college scholarships to fourth-through eleventh-graders and builds "reading rooms" nationwide. Carson, now 63, grew up in "dire poverty" with an illiterate single mother in Detroit, according to ABC's ERIN DOOLEY. Learn more about Carson. http://abcn.ws/1IbxUtw WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1R7gSiT
IN THE NOTE'S INBOX
MARCO RUBIO TO FOCUS ON FOREIGN POLICY. A Rubio aide tells The Note: "In addition to the Iran debate on the Senate floor this week, Marco will deliver his first policy address as a presidential candidate at the Council on Foreign Relations in NYC next Wednesday, May 13. (Rubio last spoke at CFR in May 2012.) Also, this afternoon, 5/5, he'll chair his third Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee hearing."
WHO'S TWEETING?
@ZekeJMiller: My look at the GOP debates: From 23 gatherings in 2012 to as many as 17 candidates in 2016. http://time.com/3846448/republican-debates-2016/
@EliciaDover: Singer @TonyOrlando is among the name plates reserving seats at Huckabee's announcement this morning. #arpx
@ScottFConroy: In soon-to-be-released campaign ad, Huckabee drives by Clinton's childhood home in Hope, Arkansas: "We won't spend a lot of time there."
@sherylstolberg: Obama on race: A mission ''for the rest of my life.'' Super-smart @peterbakerNYT look at POTUS finding his voice. http://nyti.ms/1I7MgJT
@HenryJGomez: .@JohnKasich's 2016 team is coming together, with some of his closest Ohio advisers preparing for a presidential: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/05/john_kasich_builds_his_2016_te.html#incart_river
