Subject: ?Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — An epic healthcare gamble — Facebook backlash — Colbert: 'I don't regret that'
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 4 May 2017 06:40:08 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by JPMorgan Chase & Co.:

An epic healthcare gamble — Facebook backlash — Colbert:='I don't regret that'

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Presented By JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·May 04, 2017

1 big thing: An epic healthcare gamble

People protest outside the office of Rep. Fred Upton in St. Joseph, Mich=, yesterday to protest his support of the healthcare bill / Photo by Don C=mpbell of The Herald-Palladium, via AP

House Republicans — promising that they really,=really have the votes this time — plan to rush into a health-refor= vote this afternoon without waiting for a Congressional Budget Office est=mate of how the updated bill will affect estimates of the costs and impact=

The WashPost warns: "[I]ndependent analy=ts remained skeptical that the new proposal would fully address the needs =f at-risk patients who receive coverage guarantees under the Affordable Ca=e Act."

With the House in recess next week, neither=end of Pennsylvania Avenue wants to take a chance on delaying the vote, wh=ch would give President Trump his first big legislative victory. The Journal says a win would "red=em" Ryan, and The Times says it'd be "redemption for both Mr. Ryan and Mr= Trump."

But plunging ahead carries its own risks =E2�� short- and long-term:

Potential landmine 1: House GOP is voting on a bill not knowing how many people i= covers and how much it costs. Maybe the numbers will come back fine �=80� but imagine if they don't.

Potential la=dmine 2: Tampering with protections on preexisting conditions is =he new "third rail of politics." Think about how easy it will be for Democ=ats to argue this bill erodes protections for your mom with cancer or frie=d with multiple sclerosis.

Potential landmine=3: Republicans are playing with a fire they have seen burn fatall= before. Obama lost a Democratic-ruled Congress by jamming through a compl=x and easily demagogued health-care law during his first two years in offi=e. Now Trump, with his own full control of Congess, is doing the same thin=.

Sound smart: Do you really think Republica=s would suffer in any way, shape or form from waiting a few days to read t=e bill and find out CBO's cost and coverage numbers?

Joe Sc=rborough calls it "political day-trading" by members: "This vote =angs around them forever. ... They can't just give this to someone to get = quick headline. ... They're cobbling a bill together. They had six, seven=years to do this. They're not ready yet. ... They're going to jump off the=cliff."

2. Your media future foretold

Lazaro Gamio / Axios

Three headlines capture massive media disruptions:

TV stocks take a beating. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Hulu launch=s streaming service as cord-cutting explodes. (Fortune)

Financial reports this week show that Google and Facebook (the t=o largest advertising companies in the digital ecosystem) are thriving des=ite controversies that have raised questions about how safe their platform= are for advertisers, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

Why it matters: TV/cable are getting hit by the sam= wave of change that destroyed the newspaper industry as you knew it �=80� with much higher stakes. This is going to get ugly.

Facebook backlash ... "USA TODAY spoke with users all over the c=untry angered that Facebook had not done more to shield them from live-str=amed sexual assaults, shootings and suicides," the newspaper reports in a =ront-pager by Jessica Guynn in San Francisco:

"A few ev=n encouraged the Silicon Valley company to shut down its live-str=aming product until it could assure the public that these videos would no =onger be broadcast."

"Steps announced Wednesday b= Facebook to hire 3,000 more people to review videos for graphic or inappr=priate material and to make videos easier for users to flag as violent wer= a good start, they said."

Reality check: "In a c=nference call with financial analysts on Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuck=rberg conceded: 'No matter how many people we have on the team, we are nev=r going to be able to look at everything.'"

3. Trumpology

Trump shakes hands with with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Ova= Office yesterday / AP's Evan Vucci

For the lovers ... Newmax's Chris Ruddy, Mar-a-Lago member and friend of the president, has a New York Times Op=Ed, "The Power of Trump's Bully Pulpit": "Through his message he has m=ved markets, steered global business in a better direction for American co=panies and defended American workers. He has also put bad actors, domestic=and foreign, on notice. Even I do not agree with everything the president =ays or does. But we should be willing to recognize that, at times, he can =e very effective. The Chinese have."

For the haters ... Geor=e Will's WashPost column, "Trump's dangerous disability," begins: <=strong>"It is urgent for Americans to think and speak clearly about Presid=nt Trump's inability to do either. This seems to be not a mere disinclinat=on but a disability. It is not merely the result of intellectual sloth but=of an untrained mind bereft of information and married to stratospheric se=f-confidence."

P.S. Quote of the month (already!) ... FBI Director james Comey, testifying on the Hill yesterday: "It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impac= on the election. But honestly, it wouldn't change the decision."

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4. One sad, astonishing stat

About 1 in 10 babies born in the main hospital in Hun=ington, W.Va., are born addicted to heroin or some other opiate. CNN, whic= =ighlighted this estimate in December, wrote: '[I]t is their shrill scr=ams that caretakers find so heart-wrenching."

Think a=out that for a moment: If you walked through the maternity wing i= this white, working-class town of 50,000 people, every tenth baby is goin= through withdrawal — many from drugs no one was even talking abo=t a decade or so ago.

Breaking

Big announcement about Prince Philip [husband of Queen =lizabeth II] from Buckingham Palace this morning, =ia the Beeb:

"The Duke of =dinburgh is retiring from royal duties this autumn ... The duke, =ho turns 96 next month, will attend previously scheduled engagements betwe=n now and August but will not accept new invitations. The Queen [who turne= 91 last month] 'will continue to carry out a full programme of official e=gagements.'"

5. Postgame: The risks of old tech

This is a good discussion text for anyone who leads an =rganization. Have your team read it as a thought-starter, then brainstorm =bout your own vulnerability.

Th= Wall Street Journal's "The Middle Seat" columnist, Scott McCartn=y, writes on the front page about "What Caused an Epic Meltdown at Delta=/a>" — those 4,000 canceled flights during spring break when weath=r crippled the Atlanta hub:

The basic cause: =telephone busy signals."

Say what? "Though puzzli=g in the age of instant digital communications, it turns out employees wer= dependent on dialing and circuits were overloaded. Computers told gate ag=nts rescheduled crews would be there; customers waited at gates for hours.=Then flights would end up canceled for lack of a crew member lost in Delta=s communications fiasco, unaware of the assignment."

The c=nsequence: "A recovery that should have taken the airline a day o= two stretched into the following week."

6. "Bitter personal drama"

Bl=omberg Businessweek cover, "Can Wal-Mart's Expensive New E-Co=merce Operation Compete With Amazon? A recent acquisition spree including =et.com gives the retail giant much-needed digital chops," by Brad Stone an= Matthew Boyle:

Wal-Mart's=biggest challenge is that its primary rival isn't standing still.=An estimated half of all U.S. households subscribe to Amazon Prime ... And=Amazon currently takes more than $5 out of every $10 spent buying stuff on=ine ...

In Seattle, Amazon is also trying out concepts, such as the Amazon Go store, wh=re customers are automatically charged for items they pick from shelves wi=hout going through a checkout line.

7. Immelt: a new kind of globalization

GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt will make a strong case=against protectionism in remarks at G=orgetown this afternoon, and will acknowledge that global companies li=e his (operates in 180 countries) have made past mistakes by being too eli=e:

"When companies believe that globalization is only about outsourcing … and when our co=ntry is less competitive … and when our government does not engage=… and when companies reduce investing … workers suffer. Th=t is what happened in the U.S. Because of these factors, we are not going =ack to a pure free trade world."

"The role of government is to level the playing field. In this r=gard, President Trump is right. We don't have the same opportunity to sell=our products globally that is enjoyed by those selling in the U.S. or our =lobal competitors. Trade can be made more fair, and American workers would=benefit."

Why it matters: This is an executiv= who has called out Trump on issues including=climate and the travel ban, but is working to navigate the new Washington.=

The formula: Concede some points, but don't surr=nder.

8. "A hyperconnected planet with hyperinfectious diseases"

Bryan Walsh in TIME's cover story (posting soon):<=strong> "From Ebola in West Africa to Zika in South America to MERS in the=Middle East, dangerous outbreaks are on the rise around the world. The num=er of new diseases per decade has increased nearly fourfold over the past =0 years, and since 1980, the number of outbreaks per year has more than tr=pled."

Why it matters: "The consequences of a =ajor pandemic would be world-changing. ... Because people no longer =tay in one place ... neither do diseases. An infection in all but the most=remote corner of the world can make its way to a major city in a d=y or less."

=/a>

9. Colbert: "I don't regret that"

"I'm still the host!"

Stephen Colbert last night, on his anti-Trump rant that=led to the #FireColbert backlash:

"[I]f you saw my monologue on Monday, you know that I was a lit=le upset with Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine [John Dickerson]= So, at the end of that monologue, I had a few choice insults for=the president in return. I don't regret that. [Cheers and applause.] <=em>I believe he can take care of himself. I have jokes, he has th= launch codes so it's a fair fight.

"So while I would do it again, I would change a few words th=t were cruder than they needed to be."

=strong>See the video.

10. 1 fun thing: Car confusion

I don't think this is the problem ... "Tesla's los= grows as Elon Musk claims customers are confused by Model 3 =ame," by L.A. Times' Russ Mitchell in San Francisco:

"=lon Musk used his quarterly conference call with analysts ... to =alk about his ... S3X problem. ... Tesla now sells two luxury cars, the Mo=el S and the Model X. Musk wanted to call the midmarket car the Model E. S=E-X. Get it? And there's the upcoming Model Y."

"But Ford laid previous claim to the designation, and Musk went=with 3, which sort of looks like a backward E."

Musk: "The joke's on me because it's caused confusion in the ma=ketplace ... We're going to be a broken record on this front because we ha=e to clear up an error."

The bottom line: "Tesla says Model S orders have taken a hit because some customers t=ink the 3 is a new version of the S, so they're holding off on Model S pur=hases. 'It's a bit confusing because one is a letter and one is a number.'=

A message from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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Too many people are not getting a fair shot at economic opportunity. Whi=e the private sector cannot solve this alone, it is uniquely positioned to=contribute by driving inclusive economic growth. Read more from JPMorgan Chase.

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