With a 6 am ET video, President Biden kicked off his run for a second term today that makes the case against a Trump restoration.

• Why it matters: Biden friends think he might've retired if he thought Vice President Harris could beat former President Trump. But Biden sees Trump as a lethal threat to America — the reason to run and the issue to build his campaign around.

State of play: That dynamic will lead Biden, 80, to seize every opportunity to maximize his presidential stature and dwell on his differences with Trump. He'll use what he calls "MAGA Republicans" on Capitol Hill as a handy proxy, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.

• "When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America — and we still are," Biden says on the video. "The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer."

🔎 Between the lines: Today will be a case study in how the White House can marry Biden’s campaign message with his official duties.

• This afternoon, Biden will address lead of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) — a chance to highlight his legislative accomplishments and record of job creation, including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs.
• In a preview of the weeks ahead, Biden take direct aim at Speaker McCarthy and his plans to repeal Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

• 🇰🇷 In the evening, he and First Lady Jill Biden will escort South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol to the Korean War Memorial as part of a symbolic visit that will culminate with a state dinner tomorrow night.

👂 What we're hearing: For most of the spring and summer, McCarthy will be Biden's foil — as the showdown over raising the debt ceiling grips Washington and Wall Street.

• As the Republican primary race heats up, Biden will shift his attention to the leader of that pack. He expects it'll be Donald Trump.

Watch the video.

A string of high-profile media firings in the span of 24 hours has redefined the cable news industry as it enters a period of decline, Axios Media Trends expert Sara Fischer reports.

• Why it matters: Cable news has been under extraordinary business pressure, making programming more boisterous and opinionated. But the departure of some of the industry's most controversial figures from the major networks could temper that ratings race.

🦊 Fox News yesterday said the network and star primetime host Tucker Carlson "have agreed to part ways" after more than a decade.

• The decision to fire Carlson was made Friday night by Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, a source told Axios. Carlson was surprised by the news when he was notified Monday morning.

The firing, sources said, is related to information from pretrial discovery materials related to Dominion Voting Systems' recently settled defamation lawsuit against Fox, as well as tapes that a former Fox News producer is threatening to release as a part of her lawsuit against the network.

• "Tucker Carlson Tonight," at 8 p.m. ET, routinely averaged over 3 million viewers per night — an astonishing figure compared to rivals MSNBC and CNN. They averaged roughly 1 million and 703,000 viewers, respectively, during the 8 p.m. hour in Q1.

Less than an hour after Carlson's firing was announced, CNN said Don Lemon, who had been moved from primetime to host CNN's morning show last year, had also been fired.

• In a fitting twist, Lemon hired former CNN EVP and chief marketing officer Allison Gollust, who was ousted from the network last year for an undisclosed affair between her and former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, to handle the fallout from his firing.

Both exits came the day after Comcast said it had fired NBCU's CEO Jeff Shell after he admitted to having an "inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company."

• Shell was being investigated for a relationship with CNBC senior international correspondent Hadley Gamble, based in the UAE.
• Gamble's lawyer told The Wall Street Journal that she filed a sexual harassment and sex discrimination complaint at the company against Shell.

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Productivity improved considerably in the customer service department of a Fortune 500 company that leaned into generative AI, Axios Markets co-author Emily Peck writes from a new study by Stanford and MIT researchers.

• Why it matters: The researchers believe it's the first empirical evidence of the effects of generative AI — artificial intelligence that creates (generates) content, like text or images — on the workplace.

🤖 What they did: Researchers tested AI software with a customer service team of more than 5,000 agents at an unnamed Fortune 500 company that provides software to small businesses.

• The AI monitored customer chats and gave agents real-time suggestions for how to respond, including ideas for wording.
• Agents were free to ignore the advice.

What they found: Use of the AI led to a 14% increase in the number of customer service chats an agent successfully responded to per hour.

• Agents spent less time handling individual chats, and were able to take care of more customers per hour.

The AI had the biggest impact — and helped reduce turnover — among the lowest-skilled customer service agents new to the job. Experienced customer service agents saw only a slight lift.

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More than two decades after a promising vaccine for Lyme disease was pulled from the market, more tools to protect against the tick-borne illness —including a new shot — are on the horizon, Tina Reed reports for Axios Vitals.

• Why it matters: There's worldwide concern about how climate change is helping drive the proliferation of ticks — and transforming Lyme disease from a regional summertime nuisance into a year-round health threat.

Earlier this month, Moderna announced two novel mRNA vaccine candidates against Lyme disease in its pipeline.

• Another vaccine candidate, VLA15, from Pfizer and its partner Valneva is already in late-stage clinical trials, and enrolling trial participants, including children as young as five.

The companies hope to apply for FDA authorization as early as 2025.

• Keep reading.

📣 Thinking about getting a Lyme disease vaccine if it becomes available? Tell us more by filling out this form. Some responses may be featured in future Axios newsletters and on Axios.com.

A group of crisis experts and federal advisers conclude in a report out today that a lack of disaster preparedness and coordination led to an unraveling of the nation's pandemic response.

• The crisis, the report says, exposed a "collective national incompetence in governance."

Why it matters: The 34-member group, the Covid Crisis Group, was convened by four foundations in 2021 to lay the groundwork for a 9/11 commission-style assessment, Axios' Arielle Dreher reports.

The group praised certain aspects of the response, including Operation Warp Speed — but questioned why a similar effort wasn't launched to produce protective gear or antivirals.

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Spotify today will report double-digit percentage gains for both monthly active users and premium subscribers for Q1, according to numbers shared with Axios' Sara Fischer.

• In the first quarter of '23, Spotify grew its monthly active user base by 22% year-over-year to 515 million globally, representing its second-highest quarter since going public in year-over-year MAU growth.

Spotify also said it added 5 million premium paid subscribers, more than doubling its own Wall Street guidance from the previous quarter.

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It's OK for diners to bring dogs to restaurants' outdoor seating areas if state and local laws — and the restaurant — allow it, the FDA says in new guidance, Axios' Jennifer A. Kingson reports.

• Why it matters: The agency weighed in on this hot-button issue just in time for spring — the high season for disputes over Fido's right to dine alfresco, as cities grapple with whether to extend COVID-era outdoor dining rules.

In an update to the 2022 FDA Food Code, the agency stated that its health rules "allow for pet dogs in outdoor dining areas, where approved."

• Dogs still aren't allowed indoors or anywhere food is prepared — even to walk through to an outdoor patio.
• The exception is service dogs, which generally are allowed in restaurants. Emotional support dogs are not — a big source of confusion and conflict.

If restaurants allow dogs, they can't discriminate by breed.

• 🐱 Cats and other pets are still a no-no, unless they're service animals.

About 23 states officially allow dogs in outdoor patio areas of restaurants. Here's a list ... Share this story.

After six weeks of waiting, Aaron Rodgers is leaving behind his brilliant legacy in Green Bay and heading to the bright lights — and massive expectations — of the Big Apple.

• The New York Jets agreed on a deal to acquire the four-time NFL MVP from the Packers, AP reports.

🧀 Rodgers, 39, said shortly after the season ended that he was making up his mind on whether he wanted to return to the Packers for a 19th season.

• It's reminiscent of the stunning trade the Jets made in 2008, when they acquired Brett Favre, who turned 39 a few months later, from the Packers — clearing the way for Rodgers to start in Green Bay.

Greatest Packers.