Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 -- debut issue
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2017 06:07:03 -0500 (EST)

Presented by Bank of America:

Trump's secret set * Facebook changes * "The last party"

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Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Jan 09, 2017

Good morning — again; 11 days to President Trump. Welcome to the de=ut edition of Axios AM: Mike's Top 10, a pre-dawn quick read from Axios, o=r new media company covering the collision and convergence of business, te=h, media and politics. We're pioneering some clever ways to bring you smar=er, more efficient coverage.

Jim VandeHei, Roy Schwartz and I started building Axios after our nearl= decade-long run at Politico, and we now have more than 50 colleagues gett=ng ready for our big launch.

The WSJ this morning has some details on our plans, an= Vanity Fair last week broke the news of two top p=litical insiders (Tim Berry and Evan Ryan) joined as EVPs.

If you enjoy Axios AM, we hope you'll urge your friends, r=latives and colleagues to sign up here =o they can be part of the conversation. This is a beta version (come the 1=th, every item in AM will be shareable and savable), so I'd love your sugg=stions, leaks and thoughts: [email-masked]. I look forward to breakfast to=ether each morning.

The 1 thing: Trump's battle plan

On the sixth floor of an unmarked federal office building in downtown D.=., the Trump transition team has built a Hollywood-worthy stage set so Cab=net nominees can practice confirmation hearings, which begin tomorrow and =ill dominate Washington's week.

A chandelier hangs above the woo=-paneled rostrum. Photos of the real senators are tacked beneath the volun=eers who play questioners during the "murder boards" — 30 so far, =asting a total of 70 hours, with an average of 120 questions apiece. Fake =Code Pink" demonstrators occasionally interrupt a "hearing."

Tr=mp's nominees face an unusual hurdle: They don't just have to defend thems=lves — they'll be barraged with questions about their boss's tweet= and campaign statements. The hearings are the highest profile chance Demo=rats have had to bash the president-elect, and they plan to take advantage=

People prepping the nominees tell me that the strategy is to answ=r the topic not the question, and let Trump fight his own fights. On the b=rder wall, for example, nominees are coached to say they understand the ro=e Congress has to play, "and we look forward to working with you."
The one absolute rule: Don't say anything bad about Trump.
Republicans are proudly "flooding the zone" — tw= hearings tomorrow and four on Wednesday, when coverage of Trump's news co=ference in New York will distract from the hearings. "You can't kill four =eople in one day," a transition team member said. Democrats can't stop the=hurry-up hearings, but say they'll drag their feet when the nominees are r=ady for a floor vote.

​2. Food for thought

Candidate Trump was wildly unpredictable, often reckless and won bigly; =ransition Trump has been wildly unpredictable, sometimes reckless, and don= more than any POTUS-elect ever. So the early betting among Republicans on=the Hill is he will be wildly unpredictable, episodically reckless and per=aps MORE successful in terms of legislative wins than Bush or Obama were w=th full party control of Washington.

​3. An announcement is coming…

… that lawyers have worked out a way for Jared Kushner, who turn= 36 tomorrow, to serve in the West Wing. He'll be named "senior adviser," =nd is already seeking applicants for his own staff.

Name a couple with more juice in a White House than Kushne= and Ivanka Trump will have. You can't. And you can't overstate their powe=.

New York mag last night popped an eye-catc=ing cover of Kushner as "President In-Law." The most interesting part of t=e article explores the tight alliance between Kushner and Steve Bannon, th= intellectual architect of Trumpism: "Kushner found in Bannon a strategist=just as disdainful as he was of the traditional campaign playbook. 'He thr=w the whole thing out,' Bannon says. 'That's why I bonded with him.''
=li>A priceless passage: "Some of the same Manhattan liberals =ho ostracized [Kushner] during the campaign were rattled afterward, and th=y sent him emails, trying to offer healing words of congratulations and co=ciliation. These went right in the trash."

SO=ND SMART: The Kushner/Bannon/Stephen Miller (head of policy) fact=on is building the intellectual architecture of Trump Nationalism �=94 and it's certain to shake up the GOP as profoundly as '16 did.

A Message From Bank of America

Responsible Growth

At Bank of America, we have a responsibility to grow by improving the fi=ancial lives of our customers and having a positive, lasting impact on the=communities we serve. We call this “Responsible Growth,&rdqu=; and it means we are:

Driving the economy in real and sustainable ways

Helping create jobs, develop communities, foster economic mobility and =ddress society’s biggest challenges

Managing risk and providing a positive return to our customers, clients=and our business

From being the leader in clean energy financing to increasing our small =usiness loans by 12% year over year, we are growing responsibly and creati=g tangible value for the customers we serve and the communities we live in= To learn more, visit bankofamerica.com/responsiblegrowth.

​4. Trumpland

One of the changes Sean Spicer is contemplating for the daily White=House briefing is using technology to include more outlets that aren't D.C=-based.

WSJ front-pages a four-byline feature on the Mercers: "Armed with data on a= alienated electorate, a hedge-fund magnate and his family shun the GOP es=ablishment to support the winning campaign; advising on cabinet selections="

Reince Prie=us will be a guest on Greta Van Susteren's debut show on MSNBC, at 6 tonig=t.

​5. Facebook goes on the offensive …

… after stepping into two big, persistent controversies at the e=d of '16: fake news and faulty data. Zuckerberg is mobilizing: He hired Ca=pbell Brown, former NBC News star, to head news partnerships. Watch for he= to work closely with another former journalist, Anne Kornblut, who has em=rged as one of the most important advisers to Sheryl Sandberg. And look fo= Facebook to add more communication talent soon.

I'= told the hiring of Brown (someone the industry knows and can giv= feedback to) is the leading edge of a plan by Facebook to develop stronge= ties with publishers, with other announcements coming soon.

A Facebook official said: "We want to demonstrate that we want =o be a strong partner to the news industry, a little more deliberately tha= we have in the past."

Elsewhere in media tre=ds … Breitbart, hoping to capitalize on the attention tha= has come with Trump's election, this week will launch a financial vertica=, including markets coverage and commentary. Contributors include Larry Ku=low.

​6. "The last party"

At 4 a.m. Saturday, 100 people were still hanging out at President Obama=s farewell White House bash for alumni, celebrities (Springsteen, McCartne=, Seinfeld, Paltrow, Wonder), donors — and random friends of the s=ow like New Yorker editor David Remnick.

One former administrat=on official's husband tried to pull her away at 2, just after the chicken =nd waffles had been brought out. But she said: "We can't leave. This is th= end. This is it."

Dems say fewer people — especially the =ollywood crowd — would have made the trip if Hillary had won: "Now= we don't know when we'll be back."

Bill and Hillary Clinton got s=veral rounds of applause on Broadway yesterday=/a> when they attended the last of 482 performances of "The Color Purple."=/li>

​7. Trending in business: Car talk

Notes from the Detroit Auto Show, which opens to the public next Saturda=: Something many in Trump's cabinet can afford: Aston Martin and Lamborghi=i are planning electric models.

And for you potheads, past =r present: Volkswagen will unveil its I.D. Microbus, a modern, battery-pow=red take on its '60s-era hippie van.

SOUND SMART:=The Ford F-150 was best-selling vehicle for 35th straight year. The last t=me it wasn't top, Elon Musk was 10 and Zuckerberg wasn't alive.

Google's self-driving car — spun off as Waymo — =a href="http://link.axios.com/click/8559594.7496/aHR0cDovL3d3dy50aGV2ZXJ=ZS5jb20vMjAxNi8xMi8xMy8xMzkzNjc4Mi9nb29nbGUu/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cBdf17=e04" target="_blank">hits the street this month. It's a Chrysler Pac=fica Minivan.

​8. Tops in tech: Uber data

Uber yesterday released "Movement," an online portal for accessing an=nymized data about more than 2 billion Uber trips -- at first, accessible =or government officials and city planners; eventually, to the public.
=ul>
Kia Kokalitcheva, a Silicon Valley reporter for Axios, emails: "Thi= is a seemingly good (friendly) first step from Uber, but it could also be=a way for the company to placate governments … while retaining con=rol over what it divulges."

The WashPost, from India, looks a= how Trump/Sessions plan to curtail H-1B, high-skilled labor visas could b= a boon for India. Top tech execs tell us they fear Trump might restrict t=e program in first 100 days, and pressure them in other ways to hire and f=nd U.S. talent. They are right to think this …

​9. Out tomorrow: 2 hot books

Hugh Hewitt, the conservative radio host, banged out a post-elec=ion policy manual for Trump, "The Fourth Way" — "absorbing mos= of the traditional Reagan agenda … while adding an emphasis on im=rovements in infrastructure and modernized delivery of those parts of gove=nment that cannot be replaced by the private sector." Hewitt confesses: "I=voted for him … but I was still certain he was doomed."

<=>CFR President R=chard Haass, warns in "World in Disarray": "[W]holesale, frequent reversals [in =oreign policy] run the risk of unnerving friends and emboldening adversari=s. Disarray at home is thus inextricably linked to disarray in the world. =he two together are nothing short of toxic."

10. 1 fun thing: Trump calling

Trump, "early Monday morning … in a brief telephone interview" <= href="http://link.axios.com/click/8559594.7496/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ueXRpbWVz=mNvbS8yMDE3LzAxLzA5L21vdmllcy90cnVtcC1tZXJ5bC1zdHJlZXAtZ29sZGVuLWdsb2Jlcy1=cGVlY2guaHRtbA/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cBb7496988" target="_blank">with t=e NYT, called Meryl Streep "a Hillary lover" after she gave a Golden G=obes speech denouncing him. He said he's "not surprised" to be under attac= from "liberal movie people." Full text of Streep.

Drop me your rants, tips and links: [email-masked].

A Message From Bank of America

Our Business

At Bank of America, responsible growth means we are focusing on advancin= the work that contributes to real economic growth and prosperity – =rom simplifying mortgages to providing support for small businesses to fin=ncing large scale companies that drive state and national economies.

Key to growing responsibly are internal governing policies that ensure w= are providing transparency in our products and business practices, and he=ping clients access the capital they need to achieve their goals without t=king on unnecessary risk.

As a result:

Business loans are up 12% year over year

We’ve increased the number of Bank of America customers who secur= a mortgage with us by 50%

Improved our strength and stability as a global financial institution

That’s what responsible growth means for us and for the more than =0 million customers and communities we serve. To learn more, visit bankofamerica=com/responsiblegrowth.

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