Subject: Axios: Mike's Top 10 — Trump: "I'm President and you're not" — TIME: "Is Truth Dead?" — Hot name: Jalen
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2017 06:27:11 -0400 (EDT)

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Trump: "I'm President and you're not" — TIME: "Is Truth Dead?" =E2�� Hot name: Jalen

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Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Mar 23, 2017

Join me TOMORROW for Treasury Secretary Stev= Mnuchin's first onstage interview, at 8 a.m. in downtown D.C. Click here to RSVP. This is the deb=t of my News Shapers event series, sponsored by PepsiCo and their Quaker, =ropicana and Naked nutrition brands. Shoot me your questions at [email-masked].

Follow the health-care cliff =ll day in the Axios STREAM. As Axios Editor Nick Johnston<=strong> (@AxiosNick) tweeted yesterday: "we've literally built a new medi= company to help you out on days like today."

1 big thing: Russia erupts

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) speaks to =eporters in the White House driveway after meeting with Trump / AP's Pablo=Martinez Monsivais

In an interview out this morning, President Trump tells=TI=E Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer, in response to a question a=out the risk to his reputation caused by false and ever-changing utterance=: "Hey, look, I can't be doing so badly, because I'm President and you're =ot."

That "My Way" approach is part of the reason t=e Russia story has been festering, and now is erupting.

Hea=th-care reform will be dead and born again many times before its =rue fate is sealed. That's how complicated legislation works.
B=t the Russia story is going from fishy, to career-ending (Manafor=, Flynn), to investigation-worthy, to FBI criminal probe, to a wide, Water=ate-like scandal that could bring all of government to a halt:

House Intelligence Ch=irman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), without informing his Democrati= counterpart, saying he "recently confirmed that on numerous occasions, th= intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citi=ens involved in the Trump transition." (What he revealed, wha= he didn't.)

Trump saying he feels "somewhat" vindicated.

Feds have evidence suggesting Trump associates coordinated anti-Hillary releases wit= Russians.

The Manafort contract: You don't pay $10 million to play sm=ll ball. You pay it to blow up enemies.

If you read on=y 1 paragraph ... Watergate was a coverup of a burglary. This=could be the coverup of a nuclear-armed U.S. nemesis that infiltrated=our politics with the specific aim of disrupting the very foundation of ou= democracy — a presidential election — and did so, possibl=, in a manner that elected its preferred candidate and locked in all party=control that could decimate the opposition party for years.

=ulletin ... APNewsAlert at 6 a.m., "US probes banking of ex-Trump campaign ch=ef": "Treasury Department agents have recently obtained information about=offshore financial transactions involving President Donald Trump's former =ampaign chairman."

"[T]he infor=ation about Paul Manafort's transactions was turned over earlier =his year to U.S. agents working in the Treasury Department's Financial Cri=es Enforcement Network."

2. What Comey knew

CNN's Pamela Brown, Anderson Cooper and Evan Perez

After a day of surprises, CNN popped the biggest one at=8 p.m.: "The FBI has information that indicates associate= of ... Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly c=ordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign=" per CNN's Pamela Brown, Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz.

"[T]hat information ... includes human intelligence, travel, b=siness and phone records and accounts of in-person meeting.

"The information is raising the suspicions of F=I counterintelligence investigators that the coordination may have taken p=ace, though officials cautioned that the information was not conclusive an= that the investigation is ongoing."

"One law enforcement =fficial said the information in hand suggests 'people connected t= the campaign were in contact and it appeared they were giving the thumbs =p to release information when it was ready.'"

Yesterda='s events will increase pressure for independent commission ... <=trong>Nick Kristof column in N.Y. Times, "'A Smell =f Treason in the Air,'" postulates "soft collusion": =The fundamental question now isn't about Trump's lies, or intelligence lea=s, or inadvertent collection of Trump communications. Rather, the crucial =uestion is as monumental as it is simple: Was there treason?"

3. Frantic White House scrambles for deal

The White House, short of votes with time running out, =orked into the night trying to cut a deal with conservatives before tonigh='s wild House vote on Obamacare:

How it could pass ...<=strong> Axios' Jonathan Swan tells me one key may be for the White House t= make big enough changes that the hard right can say it was a victory for =rump, not Speaker Paul Ryan. The hardline House Freedom Caucus will return=to the White House late this morning. Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who=now holds the whip hand on the Hill, told Sean Hannity th=t he is "really optimistic we can get there ... The President and I came t= an agreement in principle."

Why it might not ...=The bill could still be brought down by moderates =E2�� worried that they could lose their seats over the real-life effec=s of a bill that has no chance of passing the Senate. The Koch organizatio= last night announced a "seven-figure =und" to sink the bill. (Axios' Caitlin O=ens: "Trumpcare gives more money to the rich, less to the poor.")=/li>

The Sunday shows foretold ... "Trump's awkward =lliance with Ryan faces biggest test," by L.A. Times' Noah Bierman and=Mike Memoli: "Ryan has learned that his wonky style of communication is wa=ted on Trump given the president's lack of interest in policy details, [fo=mer GOP leadership aide Michael] Steel said. But he has come to value Trum='s eagerness to exert pressure on wavering Republicans."

Mis=ed opportunity ... George Wil='s column in the WashPost points out that "whatever replaces the ACA's=tapestry of subsidies, regulations and mandates will be a tapestry of subs=dies, regulations and mandates ... hardly ... a revolution in the relation=of the citizen, or the health-care sector, to the government."

A message from Starbucks

Starbucks hits military hiring goal, and drives to =5,000 by 2025

Starbucks reached its initial goal to hire 10,000 veterans and military =pouses 1 year ahead of schedule. The company proudly increased its goal to=25,000 hires by 2025. Starbucks will also create 100 more Military Family =tores in the next 5 years. Learn More.

4. Trump Tantrum looms on Wall Street

After eight hours of debate, House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Session= (R-Texas) and Vice Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) listen to arguments from comm=ttee chairs yesterday as the panel shapes the final version of the health-=are bill before it goes to the floor / AP's J. Scott Applewhite

"Investors extrapolated that a stalling bill could mean=uphill battles for other Trump proposals," per Reuters' Megan Davies =nd Rodrigo Campos in N.Y:

"Any hint of further trouble=/strong> for Trump's agenda, especially his proposed tax cut, could precip=tate a stock market correction."

"Strategists have been ca=tioning for weeks that markets are pricing in a scenario where no=hing goes wrong with Trump's agenda."

"While =nvestors and strategists have said they do not see an immediate t=reat to the eight-year-old bull market, there is a risk of a 5-to-10 perce=t drop. Only a bear market -a 20 percent decline- would put an end to the =ull."

Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at =onvergex, a global brokerage company based in New York, in a research note= "U.S. equities have been priced for perfection since the start of 2017 an= (Tuesday) was a rude reminder that the legislative process is imperfect."=/li>

5. "Attack on democracy ... knifed Britain in the heart"

Breaking ... "Seven held after =estminster attack" — BBC/London: "Defence Secretary Sir Micha=l Fallon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the 'working assumption' was t=at the attack was linked to 'Islamic terrorism in some form.'"

The Guardian: "Seven arrested =n six counter-terrorism raids in London, Birmingham and elsewhere."

6. Amazing Trump quotes

TIME's new cover, "Is Truth Dead?," echoes the typograp=y of TIME's classic "Is God Dead?" cover from April 8, 1966. In a phone in=erview from the Oval on March 22, Trump told TIME's Michael Scherer:
<=l>
On accusing President Obama of wiretapping:="I'm a very instinctual person, but my instinct turns out to be r=ght. I have articles saying that it happened."

"When I sai= 'wire tapping,' it was in quotes."

On his unsubs=antiated claim that 3 million undocumented immigrants voted illeg=lly, Trump said he would be proved right eventually, though he hinted that=he no longer stood by all parts of that claim: "When I say that, mostly th=y register wrong. In other words, for the votes, they register incorrectly= and/ or illegally. I'm forming a committee on it."

On Swe=en: "I was right about that."

7. Talk of tech

This could cost Google "hundreds of million= of dollars" ... Wall Street Journal, bottom of front page, "AT&T,=Verizon Pull Ads From Google Over 'Hate' Videos: Carriers also aim to comp=te with Google for ad dollars":

The cause: "T=e advertising backlash began in the U.K. following a report in the Times o= London about videos made by supporters of terrorist groups. Subsequently,=it was found that many American brands continued to be shown alongside con=roversial clips, prompting the wave of ad cancellations Wednesday."
The twist: "AT&T and Verizon, ... in addition to bei=g big advertisers, are building online video and ad services to compete wi=h Google."

The outlook: "This probably gets worse=before it gets better for Google," said Brian Wieser, Pivotal Research Gro=p analyst, who downgraded Alphabet's stock to hold from buy on Monday beca=se of advertisers' reactions. Google's recent policy changes "did nothing =o alleviate concerns."

=img width="32" height="32" style="border: none" target="_blank" sr=="https://static.axios.com/img-email/email-circle.png" alt="Email this=Story">

8. Bite of the day

Sen. John McCain to Greta Van Susteren: "China is ... the only one that can control Kim Jong Un, this crazy fat kid <=em>that's running North Korea." (Video)

=img width="32" height="32" style="border: none" target="_blank" sr=="https://static.axios.com/img-email/twitter-circle.png" alt="Tweet th=s Story">

9. The price of the South’s manufacturing renaissance

"[A]uto parts workers in the American South are poorly =aid, barely trained, not protected by unions, and under relentless pressur= to produce," according to a Bloomberg Businessweek co=er story by Peter Waldman, "Inside Alabama's Auto Jobs Boom: Cheap Wag=s, Little Training, Crushed Limbs."

Why it matters: "Many of the same woes that typify work conditions at contract manufa=turers across Asia now bedevil parts plants in the South."

=/a>

10. 1 fun thing

Instant classic: A video mashup of Sean Spicer scolding and cajoling ABC's Jonath=n Karl during their daily sparring session in the briefing room, brought t= life by Axios' Rob Groulx, Bubba Atkinson, Stef Kight and Eli Sinkus.
=p>P.S. "It's Not Your Imagination: There are Loads of Jal=ns in College Basketball" — Wall Street Journal A-Hed: "[T]housands of babies born dur=ng the 1990s heyday of Jalen Rose, the 'Fab Five' University of Michigan s=ar, ... are reaching adulthood. This year there are 65 Jalens, Jaylens, Ja=lans and other versions ... on Division I basketball teams, up from 58 las= year. Six years ago, there were just four."

A message from Starbucks

Starbucks offers jobs and tuition-free education to=young people facing barriers

Starbucks announced it exceeded its goal of hiring 10,000 young American= who aren’t in school or employed, and will expand to 100,000 hire= by 2020. The company is also making it easier for young people to access = tuition-free college degree with the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. =strong>Learn More.

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