Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 -- Happy Valentine's Day! Sally's revenge * Jake Tapper debut novel * John Oliver mischief
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 06:03:10 -0500 (EST)

Presented by JPMorgan Chase & Co.:

Happy Valentine's Day! Sally's revenge * Jake Tapper debut novel * John =liver mischief

View in browser

Presented By JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Feb 14, 2017

1 big thing: Sally's revenge

At 4:06 p.m. yesterday on MSNBC, Kellyanne Conway -- Co=nselor to the President, and someone who authentically has his ear and aff=ction -- twice told anchor Steve Kornacki, live from the White House brief=ng room, that embattled national security adviser Mike Flynn "does enjoy t=e full confidence of the president -- this is a big week for General Flynn="

Well, at least half that was true. An hour later, press secret=ry Sean Spicer put out a very different statement, resulting in the all-ev=ning headline on CNN: "WHITE HOUSE: TRUMP IS 'EVALUATING' FLYNN SITUATION.= How often does that end well?

We told you Sund=y that Flynn "looks gone," and yesterday that he was "toast." It =as obvious to our top West Wing sources that he had to go after lying to V=ce President Pence, who was mad about it -- his own credibility had been d=maged, along with the administration's, after the V.P. went on TV and repe=ted Flynn's assurance that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian=ambassador during a transition conversation. After it was clear that trans=ripts of the call were leaking, Flynn became less sure.

And yet, Pre=ident Trump hesitated for 97 hours, from the time The Washington Post post=d its devastating revelation Thursday night that Flynn had the discussions "despite denials." Flynn t=ok a last joyride on Air Force One, spent the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, and a="senior administration official" told CNN on Sunday that Flynn had "no pla=s to resign and no expectations that he will be fired."

Who'= running this railroad? Yesterday evening, The Post struck again, revealing that acting attorne= general Sally Yates, later fired by Trump for refusing to enforce the mig=ant travel ban, informed White House Counsel Don McGahn late last month th=t she believed Flynn had misled officials about his communications with th= ambassador -- and was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail!
<=>At 11:12 last night, the White House finally announced: "President Donald=J. Trump Names Lt. General Joseph Keith Kellogg, Jr. as Acting National Se=urity Advisor / Accepts Resignation of Lt. General Michael Flynn."

<=trong>The New Yorker's Evan Osnos tweeted: "The Flynn story is a reminder of a big truth: =ournalism lives. And principled public servants who got the story out are =idden heroes."

Alumni of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama adminis=rations are agog: They tell me their bosses never would have tolerated dri=t in the face of such a revelation. There may well have been something beh=nd the scenes that we don't know about. If so, someone in the White House =ill no doubt cough it up, pronto.

In the meantime, =ere are a couple questions to get things rolling at today's 1 p.m. briefin= by "Daytime TV's New Star" Sean Spicer:

=strong>If Sally Yates told the White House last month that Flynn =as vulnerable to blackmail, why was he just now fired? How long had you pl=nned to keep a security threat at the top of the NSC?

Was =lynn acting on his own when he discussed the Russian sanctions wi=h the ambassador? Was he authorized to have the conversation? Or did he th=nk he had complete license -- truly remarkable for a guy born of and commi=ted to chain of command.

A victory for the conformists=... The favorite to succeed Flynn, per WashPost's Bob Costa: Vice Adm. Robert Harward, a former deputy comman=er of the U.S. Central Command ... served under Defense Secretary Mattis, =nd the two remain friends ... had a tour on the NSC during George W. Bush'= presidency, where he worked on counterterrorism strategy,

2. The letter

=/a>

3. Ruh-roh!

Reuters video via MSN

Trump told reporters yesterday in the hallway between t=e Upper and Lower press offices: "Reince is doing a great job. Not a good =ob. A grea= job."

"In Trump administra=ion, tumult becoming norm," by WashPost's Ashley Parker and Phil Rucker: "Several candid=tes have turned [communications director] down, including=Brian Jones, ... a former communications director on the =008 presidential bid of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and a senior adviser to=Mitt Romney in 2012 ... The administration has also reached out to , the deputy staff director of the Senate Republi=an Conference and a Hill veteran."

=/a>

A message from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Students prepare to fill 16 million jobs through 20=4

JPMorgan Chase’s $75 million New Skills for Youth init=ative gives high school students a path to meet the needs of a growing eco=omy. L=arn more about the impact now.

4. Open-door Situation Room

The Internet lit up with Facebook photos from Mar-a-Lag='s club dining room on Saturday night, as narrated by the N.Y. Times' Mike=Shear and Maggie Haberman in this front-pager: "Trump and his=top aides coordinated their response to North Korea's missile test ... in =ull view of diners ... a remarkable public display of presidential activit= that is almost always conducted in highly secure settings."

"The scene — of aides hudd=ed over their computers and the president on his cellphone at his club's t=rrace — was captured by a club member dining not far away and publ=shed in pictures on his Facebook account. ... 'HOLY MOLY !!! It was fascin=ting to watch the flurry of activity.'"

The White House=says that "no classified material was discussed publicly ... =picer says ... Trump was briefed in a classified room after [the] missile =est ... Trump was briefed before and after dinner ... [Spicer] says that d=ring dinner Trump and U.S. and Japanese officials were discussing plans fo= a press conference later that night. Spicer says the activity at dinner w=s 'literally a discussion of logistics.'"

Axios' Stef Kight reports that after Trump=and Abe made their 10:39 p.m. press statement on the North Korean missile =aunch, " Trump crashed a wedding taking place at Mar-a-Lago, grabbed the m=c and spoke to the guests."

More pics: "Trump and Abe reviewing proposed responses to North Kor=a's test under the moonlight as staffers used their cell phones to make th= intelligence recommendations readable."

5. GOP should fear health-care protests

Greg Ruben / Axios

Axios' Jim VandeHei and David Nather=/strong> warn: "Republicans are busy debating whether these protest ar= real or manufactured. It might not matter. Democrats were sure the 2009 p=otests were manufactured too."

Truth bomb: "On=e Democrats see coverage of protests elsewhere getting media attention, it=s natural to plunge in and pile on. Truth is, these things are usually a m=x of contrived and organic."

6. All politics is local

"The White House still isn't open for tours — a=d Congress is getting annoyed," from WashPost Reliable Source<=a> column, by Emily Heil: "At least two dozen lawmakers have signed a lett=r circulating on Capitol Hill urging the swift reopening of the office tha= handles tours."

"[T]he Trump W=ite House has been unusually closed off. ... In contrast to the C=inton, Bush and Obama administrations — which all hosted hundreds =f well-wishers in the days after an inauguration — the Trumps have=so far limited invitees to close family and supporters.

"On the White House website, a warning no=es that 'White House Tours will be temporarily unavailable until the Trump=Administration is ready to begin processing Public Tour requests.'"

7. Tops in media trends

Jake Tapper debut novel ... "Little, Brown ... announced ... THE HELLFIRE CLUB, ...=by Jake Tapper, CNN anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent. ...Tapper w=s represented ... by Robert B. Barnett ... [T]he book is slated for public=tion in the summer of 2018. THE HELLFIRE CLUB is a thriller set in 1954 in=Washington, DC, where Charlie Marder is a newly appointed young New York c=ngressman navigating the dangerous waters of the era and the capital with =is wife, Margaret, a zoologist with ambitions of her own."

"Amid the swirl of glamorous and power=ul political leaders and deal makers, a mysterious fatal car accident thru=ts Charlie and Margaret into an underworld of secret deals, secret societi=s, and a plot that could change the course of history."

Wal= Street Journal closing loophole ... Digiday's Lucia Mo=es: "[I]t's turning off Google's first-click free feature that let peo=le skirt the Journal's paywall ... [T]he Journal turned it for off four se=tions for two weeks, resulting in a dramatic 86 percent jump in subscripti=ns."

"Wall Street Journal Editor Defends Coverage of Trump,= by N.Y. Times' Sydney Ember, on p. B2: "Facing to=gh questioning at a town-hall-style meeting with the staff, [Editor in Chi=f Gerry Baker] suggested that other papers had discarded objectivity, and =hat anyone who wanted to work at an organization with a more oppositional =tance toward the administration could find a job elsewhere."

-- Wall Street Journal front page: "Felix Kjellbe=g, a top star with 53 million subscribers to his 'PewDiePie' YouTube chann=l, ... has posted nine videos that include anti-Semitic jokes or Nazi imag=ry [since August] ...

"On Mond=y after the Journal contacted Disney about the videos, the entert=inment giant said it was severing ties ... Kjellberg is a top earner on Yo=Tube, making roughly $14.5 million last year."

8. Hot in tech

"Bill Gates' latest challenge: Trump -- The billionaire=philanthropist says 'America First' may hurt funding of global initiatives= -- USA =oday banner, by Marco della Cava in Sunnyvale, Calif.: "'With this new=crowd, and with some of things they want to do fiscally, it just means we'=e going to have to tell the story of how amazing this work is,' he said. [=ill and Melinda Gates] worry a new nationalist view in [the U.S. and Brita=n] could jeopardize foreign aid."

Jeff Bezos, in an=interview with =ast Company magazine, which named Amazon the World's Most Innovative C=mpany of 2017: "I have the best job in the world because I get to work in =he future."

Asked about divides in the country, his answer is "almost laughably narrow.": "I'll t=ll you one way that I don't think anybody is divided ... Everybody wants f=st delivery. Low prices. I'm serious about this. Our job is to provide a g=eat customer experience, and that is something that is universally desired=all over the world."

9. World Press Photo of the Year

Burhan Ozbilici / AP

Monday, Dec. 19, 2016, at an art gallery in Ankara, Tur=ey ... "As an off-duty policeman who had just assassinated Russia's ambas=ador to Turkey stood in front of Burhan Ozbilici waving a gun, the veteran=Associated Pres= photographer summoned the composure to stand his ground and keep taki=g pictures."

"'I immediately de=ided to do my job because I could be wounded, maybe die, but at l=ast I have to represent good journalism,' Ozbilici said Monday as his imag= of gunman Mevlut Mert Altintas looming over the body of Ambassador Andrei=Karlov was named World Press Photo of the Year."

"The digital award winners covered issues that i=cluded modern relationships, the rise of walls and fences around the world= and the story of an American boxer from Flint, Michigan." See the winners.

10. 1 fun thing

HBO's John Oliver joked on "Last Week Tonight" that Trump took office "aroun= 412 years ago." Oliver's big finish: "There is one small way we wanted to=try and sneak some useful facts into his media diet. As we now know, he wa=ches morning cable news for information. So we've actually created a serie= of commercials in an attempt to bring him up to speed on information he m=y lack."

"We're going to run th=m on shows that we know he watches every day." The spoof spots be=an airing in the D.C. area yesterday between 8:30 and 9 a.m. on the three =able news stations.

The ads inc=ude primers on: the nuclear triad ("in case you're the kinda pers=n who might really need to know that"), the Geneva Convention, th= location of Gabon, the unemployment rate, inner-city demographics ... and=table manners.

A message from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The urgent need for pathways to well-paying jobs

Today, 5M young people ages 16-24 are neither working nor in school. Lea=ing youth unprepared to enter the workforce hurts them and hurts the busin=sses that need to fill jobs.

JPMorgan Chase’s $75M New Skil=s for Youth initiative will give young people a pathway to economic o=portunity and meet the needs of a growing economy. Learn more about the $20M dire=ted to 10 U.S. states to spur growth.

Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 200, Arlington VA 22201

You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios.
Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.=/a>

Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.

Follow Axios=on social media:

=                     &nb=p;