Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — West Wing's self-inflicted wounds — Manhattan's biggest mansion — Stars take months to dress for Oscars
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2017 07:29:08 -0500 (EST)

Presented by BP:

West Wing's self-inflicted wounds — Manhattan's biggest mansion =E2�� Stars take months to dress for Oscars

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Presented By BP

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Feb 25, 2017

1 big thing: Self-inflicted wounds

The White House from the South Lawn / Reuters' Larry Downing, 2008

A day after word that White House Chief of Staff Reince=Priebus asked the FBI to talk to the media to clarify reports about Trump campaign aides' contact with Ru=sians, another doozy — one that's likely to increase congressional=interest, and perhaps lead to an independent, 9/11-style commission:
Today's WashPost lead story, Key officials were asked to rebut Ru=sia report: White House arranged calls to media," by Greg Miller and A=am Entous: "The Trump administration has enlisted senior members of the in=elligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about =rump associates' ties to Russia ... Acting at the behest of the White Hous=, the officials made calls to news organizations last week

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss t= MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, on parallels from history: "The o=vious example — and I hope this does not turn out to be this �=80� but Richard Nixon was driven out of office because he tried to stop =he investigation of the Watergate ... What the Post story is suggesting to=ight is that there was an effort to enlist big members of Congress and als= big members of the intelligence community to call reporters and say, esse=tially ... 'There's not much to the story.'"

More Beschlos=: "It's not too bright, because for reporters to get calls from i=telligence officials, and high officials in Congress who're supposed to be=investigating this, the natural question that they would ask — and=they obviously did — was: 'Who got you to do this? Was it the Whit= House?' ... It's like if they did not want a 9/11 commission, they are go=ng to be perhaps compelled to do it by essentially their own actions. ... =mazing to watch — what a story."

=n the spot, once again ... FBI Director Jim Comey! AP Justice Dep=rtment reporter Eric Tucker: "Comey is facing new political pressure as White H=use officials are encouraging him to follow their lead by publicly recount=ng private FBI conversations ... It's an unusual position for a crime-figh=ing organization with a vaunted reputation for independence and political =eutrality."

Also this morning, another arena=of tension between Trump officials and their own bureaucracy:

Wall Street Journal lead story, "<= href="http://link.axios.com/click/8973416.36265/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLmN=bS9hcnRpY2xlcy9kb25hbGQtdHJ1bXAtcmVqZWN0cy1pbnRlbGxpZ2VuY2UtcmVwb3J0LW9uLX=yYXZlbC1iYW4tMTQ4Nzk4NzYyOT91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lb=FpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc2Ft/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cB24=a562d" target="_blank">Trump Rejects Report on Travel Ban: Tension w=th career staff rises," by Shane Harris: "An intelligence report by the De=artment of Homeland Security contradicts the White House's assertion that =mmigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries pose a particular risk of b=ing terrorists."

A senior administration official: "The president asked for an intelligence assessment. This is not the i=telligence assessment the president asked for."

"The offi=ial said intelligence is already available on the countries inclu=ed in Mr. Trump's ban and just needs to be compiled."

See =he three-page document here,=posted by AP. Homeland Security press secretary Gillian Christensen called it "commentary =rom a single intelligence source."

2. "Enemies" locked out

"Reporters line up in hopes of attending a briefing in Press Secretary S=an Spicer's office." / AP's Pablo Martinez Monsivais

At the Conservative Political Action Conference �=94 a Woodstock for Young Republicans, on the Potomac in s=burban Maryland — Trump drew repeated applause and laughte= as he went on-camera with the "enemy of the people" shot at the press tha= he had tweeted. (Some top Republicans had been optimistic that POTUS woul= abandon the language after he saw how it had been=interpreted as having overtones of Lenin and Stalin.)

"I called the fake news 'the enemy of =he people' — and they are. They are the enemy of the people. Beca=se they have no sources, they just make them up when there are none. ... T=ey are very dishonest people. ... They shouldn't be allowed to use sources=unless they use somebody's name."

"[M]any of you, you're not part of the story ... If you are par= of the story, you know what they're saying is true or not."

Axios' Jonath=n Swan points out: "Trump was one of the=Manhattan media's most notorious anonymous sources throughout his career a= a real estate showman."

WashPost's Phil Rucker tweets: "Trump say= reporters shouldn't be allowed to use anonymous sources -- about an hour =fter his aides [Priebus and Spicer] held anonymous briefing with press."

Three hours later, Sean Spicer hel= an invitation-only, off-camera briefing with several conservative outlets=included, and several mainstream outlets barred — a move that the= White House Correspondents' Association said it was "protesting strongly,= and which longtime journalists called unprecedented.

This l=d to headlines around the world that made the Trump administratio= sound like a repressive regime: WashPost page A1, "White House slams door o= several reporters ... CNN, New York Times, other media barred" ... Lead s=ory of Guardian homepage i= U.S.: "Guardian, New York Times and CNN denied access to briefing" ... To= of BBC News homepage: "Media groups condemn briefing bar."

The White Hou=e posted a transcr=pt of the 40-minute gaggle. Pressed on the exclusions, Spicer=said: "I think that we have shown an abundance of accessibility. <=strong>We've brought more reporters into this process. ... [W]e've actuall= gone above and beyond with making ourselves, our team and our briefing ro=m, more accessible than probably any prior administration. So I think you =an take that to the bank."

On y=sterday's attendees, Spicer said: "We started with the pool and t=en we expanded it. So I get it. ... We do what we can to be accessible. An= if there's a problem with that, I understand it. But we do what we can to=accommodate the press. I think we've gone above and beyond when it comes to accessibility and openness and getting folks to -- our o=ficials, our team."

The reaction:

@MaggieNYT: "And now, the topic of the evening is the media outlets excluded, not th= Priebus interactions w FBI + question of open investigation."

CNN's Jake Tapper called the lockout "un=American."

N.Y. Times Executive Editor Dean Banquet: "Nothing like this has ever happened at the White Hou=e in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different pa=ties."

N.Y. Times Quotation=of the Day ... Ari Fleischer, press secretary to George W. Bu=h, on the volatile relationship between the Trump White House and the news=media: "The grass is dry on both sides, so it only takes a very small matc= to light it on fire."

Mood music ... In late=afternoon, Axios broke the news that Bloomberg, host of the premier=afterparty for the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, won't h=ld the event after this year's April 29 dinner, but will still support the=scholarship dinner.

Bloomberg =old us: "We surveyed some of the past attendees and didn't get as=much interest in a party this year as we've had in the past."

3. Out in a little place called America ...

"Americans Haven't Been This Optimistic About the Job M=rket in Over 30 Years," by Bloomberg's Jordan Yadoo: "Thirty-five percent of U.S. consumers surveyed by the Univer=ity of Michigan this month expect unemployment to further decline during t=e year ahead."

That's the large=t share "since March 1984 — a time when unemployment was=a full three percentage points higher than the current rate of 4.8 percent="

Chaser ... "Record-setting stock rally faces test=in Trump speech," by Reuters' Lewis Krauskopf: "[S]ome investors worry that h=s first major address to Congress [on Tuesday] risks dousing it if his pla=s look slow to execute or are overly vague."

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BP invests more in the U.S. than anywhere else, and over the past 10 yea=s no energy company has invested more in America.

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4. Defining Trumpism: party of American worker

Sean Spicer, Stephen Miller, Hope Hicks, Steve Bannon walk to Marine One=for trip to CPAC / AP's Pablo Martinez Monsivais

I liked the CPAC take from the Boston Globe's Tyler Pag=r, who leads the paper: "Attempting to put a defining fram=work on his tumultuous first month in office, ... Trump ... articulated a =ew vision for the Republican Party as a populist defender of the working c=ass that will challenge elites at home and abroad.

Trump said: "The GOP will be, from now on, the party als= of the American worker. (Applause.) You know, we haven't been, as a group= given credit for this, but if you look at how much bigger our party has g=tten during this cycle."

Trump =lso signaled more welfare reform= "It's time for all Americans to get off of welfare and get back to work. =ou're going to love it! You're going to love it. You are going to love it.=(Applause.)"

Advice for Trump from Peggy Noonan in =er Wall Street Journal column, arguing that Washington =till "seems a little lost" after the Quake of '16: "This president doesn't=argue [for things], he only announces. He asserts. Previous presidents in =heir early speeches were always making the case for a certain advancement.=Not to do so is a waste of the biggest mic in the world."=/p>
Worth the click ... CPAC attendee wearing a "Make America Great Ag=in" yarmulke. Photo by Reuters' Joshua Roberts

=potted at CPAC ... Ken Bone! In red sweater, appearing as Chief Peo=le Officer for Victory Holdings, a Florida-based political software compan=. Photo by Reuters' Joshua Roberts

5. The wilderness: Postgaming 2016

Matt Bennett of the centrist Democratic group Third Way=emailed us to say: "I know you like lists of ten, but we have three big re=sons why demography didn't translate into destiny for Democrats" in 2016. =/p>
The big idea: "Democrats cannot simply rely on demo=raphic change to deliver inevitable victories."

The report i= called "Why Demography Does Not Equal Destiny" (14-minute read; by =anae Ericsson Hatalsky and Jim Kessler), and Matt says it "drives a stake =hrough the heart of the theory that we believe has helped take the party o=f-course":

1. "Demographic change isn't evenly=dispersed: Power in our political system is based on place, not national p=lls. The 'Rising American Electorate' is concentrated in cities, on coasts= and in the Southwest."

2. "Voters ... don't beha=e like demographic robots: Independents swung 35 points (favoring=Dems by 17 in 2006, then Republicans by 18 in 2010) in subsequent midterms= 403 counties flipped from Obama to Trump."

3. "=ven in the Rising American Electorate, most voters aren't liberal= 54% of Democratic voters in 2016 were conservative or moderate. 40% of Mi=lennials are moderate and another 28% are conservative (68% total). 36% of=Latinos are moderate and another 32% are conservative (68% total). ... The=demographics of our country are changing, but that doesn't mean the ideolo=y is changing with it."

Why it matters: ="Democrats are in a huge hole and doubling down on demography as destiny w=n't help us dig out of it."

6. Can you hear me NOW?

AP's Evan Vucci

Ohio Gov. John Katich, one of Trump's last-men-standing=primary opponents, responds to reporters as he arrives at the White House =esterday for a closed-press, Oval Office meeting with the president."
<= style="margin-left: 20px;">Spicer: "This is something that they wanted to get together=after the election and catch up, and discuss sort of the issues and agenda=that the President is implementing, and hopefully how some of these things=-- I think coal will probably come up."

7. Feds send message with de Blasio interrogation

N.Y. Post, "Blas on the hot seat": "Hard-charg=ng US Attorney Preet Bharara sent a message to Mayor de Blasio Friday �=80� trotting out the same prosecutors who took down [Albany twin titans]=Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos to interrogate Hizzoner about his campaign =und-raising activities."

"Andrew Goldstein, ch=ef of the public corruption unit, and his deputy Tatiana Martins were amon= at least four assistant US attorneys to question de Blasio at the Midtown=office of his lawyer, Barry Berke."

"The contingent arrived around 9:18 a.m. and spent about 4¹/₂ hours inside =efore the meeting broke up at about 1:50 p.m."

"The feds have been probing the mayor over whether he and his ad=isers exchanged favors to donors for contributions to his 2013 campaign an= his now-shuttered nonprofit, the Campaign for One New York."

"De Blasio spent the better part of two workdays this week pre=aring for the interrogation with his lawyer."

"On Friday,<=strong> he was scheduled to head out of town for two days to attend the De=ocratic National Committee meeting in Atlanta."

8. Sports page + Talk of tech = NBA goes VR

"The NBA gets high-tech with VR, drones and futuristic =reams," by TechCrunch's Lucas Matney

"VR live-streaming rights belong to NextVR [wh=ch] produces cool sporting event and concert content with nifty cameras ..= NextVR signed a deal with the NBA in October of last year to stream one N=A game per week for the remainder of the 2016-2017 season."

"Download some of the All-Star content here=/a>."

"Before All-Star weekend, the league hosted=the 18th annual NBA Technology Summit, where dozens of Silicon Valley lead=rs from companies like Snap, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter all descended =o discuss how tech think about sports entertainment and what more it could=be doing."

9. Mansion slated to be the largest in NYC

Rendering via Tribeca Trib

N.Y. Post's Jennifer Gould Keil: The singl=-family, five-story mansion in northern Tribeca "is about to hit the marke= for $35 million and it will cost another $15 million to develop ... At 70=feet tall, 50 feet wide and 100 feet deep — with its own four-car =arage and 82-foot-long swimming pool — it will be the biggest subu=ban-style mansion the city has ever seen."

"The mystery seller bought the building for $13.3 mill=on ... in 2014."

Deets from The Tribec= Trib: "At ... nearly 20,000 square feet (including the basem=nt), the ... home at 11 Hubert St. [approved by the city's Landmarks Prese=vation Commission] would rise ... at the corner of Collister Street."
<=l>
"Clad in metal, glass and limestone, it would be tw= stories taller and far showier than the plain stucco, mixed-use structure=that it will be built upon."

"The floor plans call
"The =oof would be topped by a curvy trellis of solar panels."

10. 1 fun thing

"How stars spe=d a month getting ready for Oscars' red carpet," by AP's Sandy Cohen i= L.A. (Academy Awards are tomorrow night):

"Most stars=borrow designer gowns, which are only available in 'sample size,'=somewhere between 2 and 4 ... 'If you don't want to pay for it, you have t= fit into it.'"

"Hence the scramble to slim down.=... [F]itness and nutrition specialists ... say they need about four weeks=to achieve optimum results."

"Enrollment in meal-delivery =ervices spikes during awards season, said Danielle DuBoise, co-fo=nder of Sakara, which delivers ready-to-eat, organic vegetarian meals to s=ch clients as Chrissy Teigen and Gwyneth Paltrow. The company's four-week =rogram is designed to yield the plant-based diet's maximum beauty benefits= a leaner shape, vibrant skin and hair and the energy to power through the=busy season."

"Stars ... need about a month <=strong>of lead time if Botox or fillers are part of their beauty plan, sai= ... a facial plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills [who] estimates that 'proba=ly 60 or 70 percent' of men and women rely on injections."

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BP invests more in the U.S. than anywhere else, and over the past 10 yea=s no energy company has invested more in America.

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