Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — Russian roulette — Hillary's new group — Spicey secrets — Fidget spinners
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 May 2017 06:10:08 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by BP:

Russian roulette — Hillary's new group — Spicey secrets =E2�� Fidget spinners

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Presented By BP

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·May 16, 2017

1 big thing: Russian roulette

In a photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry (the White House ban=ed the U.S. press), President Trump meets last Wednesday with Russian Fore=gn Minister Sergey Lavrov (left) and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei=Kislyak. (Via AP)

After the Washington Post posted it= bombshell that President Trump "revealed highly classified ['code-wor='] information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White H=use meeting last week," the White House issued a series of carefully worde= denials — "playing word games," according to Greg =iller, one of the Post authors, along with Greg Jaffe.

Per the Post: "Trump went off script and b=gan describing details of an Islamic State terrorist threat related to the=use of laptop computers on aircraft."

Several national-s=curity experts tell me that lives could well be lost as a result =f an ISIS mole hunt that's sure to follow. And a key ally (the name of the=country was withheld by the Post at the White House's request, but it's ap=arently in the Middle East) may deny future intelligence as a result of th= episode.

The N.Y. Times, which quickly confirmed the Post account:="[T]he ally has repeatedly warned American officials that it would cut off=access to such sensitive information if it were shared too widely."

=strong>All this as Trump is about to head out on his first intern=tional trip, including stops in Israel and Saudi Arabia.

I t=lked to several White House officials last night, and their denia=s hinge on the argument that the president has broad authority to declassi=y, so whatever he says is by definition unclassified.

Nation=l Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who was in the meeting with the=Russians, said in the White House driveway: "At no time ... were intellige=ce sources or methods discussed. And the president did not disclose any mi=itary operations that were not already publicly known."

But =he report didn't say they were. The Post's Aaron Blake reads between the lines: "[T]he report states clearly only that=Trump discussed an Islamic State plot and the city where the plot was dete=ted by an intelligence-gathering partner. Officials worried that this info=mation could lead to the discovery of the methods and sources inv=lved, but it didn't say Trump discussed them."

Be smart — what the disclosure tells us about President Trump:

=li>This is the price of inexperience. A top Obama nationa=-security official told me: "He just didn't know any better. It's not his =ackground. I don't think there was any malicious intent — it's not=the world he comes from."

He isn't learning fast enough on=the job. A Republican very close to the West Wing said: "The pres=dent has no context for operating in the environment he's currently in �=80� as head of state and head of government of the most powerful enterpr=se in all of history. And because he has no context, he's not good at comp=rtmentalizing information."

He's cruising for a t=rrent of leaks from the intel community. The fact that several news organi=ations instantly confirmed the Post account is telling — and mean= the Hill will quickly know everything.

Bragging can get =ou in trouble The Post reports: "Trump seemed to be boasting abou= his inside knowledge of the looming threat. 'I get great intel. I have pe=ple brief me on great intel every day.'"

It shows
He's super-loose at high-stakes moments. Allied gove=nments tell us of shocking asides he makes in meetings. One West Wing visi=or told me: "He just rambles. ... He doesn't care."

He has=trouble putting together two good days. Some of his friends tell =e they'd now settle for one.

1 Axios screen, by Dave Lawler, to catch up.

2. Crowded night in West Wing

Reporters cram hall outside Sean Spicer's West Wing office after the Pos= story breaks / Photo by BuzzFeed's Adrian Carrasquillo (@Carrasquillo)

Tweets by BuzzFeed White House =orrespondent Adrian Carrasquillo (@Carrasquillo):

"Are=you dealing with this WashPo story fallout at all? Trump admin of=icial: 'No I'm dealing with other dumpster fires.'"

"Per <= href="http://link.axios.com/click/9624316.33802/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmN=bS9UcmV5WWluZ3N0P3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV=jYW1wYWlnbj1uZXdzbGV0dGVyX2F4aW9zYW0/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cBb336428b" ta=get="_blank">@TreyYingst, Bannon, Mike Dub=e, Sarah Sanders and Spicer walked into cabinet room just now. They did no= look happy."

"Can now hear yelling =oming from room where officials are."

"WH com=s staffers just put the TVs on super loud after we could hear yel=ing coming from room w/ Bannon, Spicer, Sanders."

"CNN's <=strong>Jim Acosta‏ (@Acosta): "Sarah H. Sanders told reporters she didn't =now anything about yelling."

3. Zeitgeist

MSNBC, via CNN's Brian Stelter "Reliabl= Sources" newsletter

Even many Republicans we=e aghast. Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) sai= of the White House: "Obviously they're in a downward spiral right now and they've got to figure out a way to come to grips with all=that's happening."

Kirsten Powers on CNN, about p=ople who always say the latest story is the worst thing Trump has done: "T=is is the worst. ... He has put people's lives in jeopardy."

CNN Justice Correspondent Evan Perez: "[B]y revealing some bits=of information, [i]t can tell the Russians that we have certain sources."<=li>

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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. Parallel universes

Fox News' Jesse Watters, on "The Five": "The story=is the leak."

At 8:25 p.m., the banners on the ca=les stations were ... CNN: "WASHPOST: TRUMP SHARED HIGHLY=CLASSIFIED INFO WITH RUSSIANS" ... MSNBC: "WAPO: TRUMP RE=EALED HIGHLY CLASSIFIED INFO TO RUSSIANS" ... Fox: "LEFTI=TS PROTEST GAY CONSERVATIVE JOURNALIST."

Sean Hannity at top of his show: "I have a message for those of you who work in ...=the White House: Enough with the self-serving leaks!"

5. China building biggest infrastructure project in history

In Beijing, the talk the last couple of days has been o= globalization on a historic scale — the construction of a more th=n trillion-dollar global web of roads, ports, railroads and energy project=, all of them leading back to China, per Axios' Steve LeVine:

The One Belt, One Road pro=ect ("the new Silk Road") would connect about 65% of the world's =opulation and a quarter of its GDP, according to McKinsey.

See a map.
=/ul>
P.S. North Korea likely suspect in ransomware ... =.Y. Times' Nicole Perlroth and David Sanger: "Intelligence officials and pri=ate security experts say that new digital clues point to North Korean-link=d hackers."

6. The wilderness

"Resist, insist, persist, enlist": Hillary Rodham Clint=n launches a non-profit, Onward Together ... "Clin=on did not reference Trump directly, ... but the group's mission =tatement takes an indirect swipe ... by noting she won almost 66 million v=tes in the last election. That's about 3 million more than Trump. Clinton =.. vowed her organization would support specific groups that help Democrat=. She singled out Emerge America, an organization that trains Democratic w=men to run for office, along with Color of Change, which promotes criminal=justice reform and other racial issues."

Tracking power ... =alerie Jarrett blog post, "Why I'm Joining ATTN: [mobil=-first, issues-driven media company] as a Senior Advisor": "In a short per=od of time, they've shown the ability to move the conversation and spur ac=ion around important issues. ... I hope to help ATTN: continue to reach po=icymakers who want to get their message out to wider audiences."

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7. A Trump Show instant classic

A keeper anecdote is the lead of "How Trump gets his fake ne=s: The president rarely surfs the web on his own, but his staff have m=de a habit of slipping news stories on to his desk — including the=occasional internet hoax," by Politico's Shane Goldmacher:

White House chief of staff Reince=Priebus issued a stern warning at a recent senior staff meeting: Quit tryi=g to secretly slip stuff to President Donald Trump. Just days earlier, K.T= McFarland, the deputy national security adviser, had given Trump a printo=t of two Time magazine covers. One, supposedly from the 1970s, warned of a=coming ice age; the other, from 2008, about surviving global warming, acco=ding to four White House officials familiar with the matter.

Trump quickly got lathered up about the media's hypocrisy. But there was a problem. The 1970s cover wa= fake, part of an internet hoax that's circulated for years. Staff chased =own the truth and intervened before Trump tweeted or talked publicly about=it.

8. "Is populism popular?"

This years's most-watched statewide election ... A= the bottom of the WashPost front page, a lookahead to the June 13 primari=s in the governor's race in the Old Dominion, "Va. race to be a big early test of Trump=s populist message," by Marc Fisher:

"Virginia's p=imaries both feature one candidate who preaches that the system i= rigged while their opponents more or less are the system."

"[I]t's not clear whether the populist message is a winner. In t=e GOP race, [outsider Corey] Stewart lags behind the favorite, longtime pa=ty strategist Ed Gillespie, an establishment Republican who focuses on sma=ler government."

"[I]n the Democratic contest, [f=rmer congressman Tom] Perriello [who made a surprise challenge to the esta=lishment] is in a tight race with his more staid and traditional rival, Lt= Gov. Ralph Northam."

New WashPost poll: <=strong>Gillespie 38%, Stewart 18%, state Sen. Frank W. Wagner of Virginia =each 15%.

60% of likely Republican voters think G=llespie has the best shot at winning the general election.

Quinnipiac poll =/strong>last month: Perriello 25%, Northam 20%.

9. Spicey secrets

Hollywood Reporter's cover package is an oral history of the season by "Saturda= Night Live" cast members:

Ale= Baldwin: "[A]ll I remember is, 'Just try to make him unhappy.' T=ere are many people who do Trump now, and they have different Trumps. They=have kind of a 'balls-of-his-feet-light Trump' or what I like to call 'Gen= Kelly Trump.' But my Trump is 'Miserable Trump.' No matter what. He wins,=he loses, he's miserable."

Meli=sa McCarthy: "[O]nce I heard 'motorized podium' and 'jewelry,' I =aid, 'Can he also be wearing a shoe?'"

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10. 1 fun thing: What your kids are talking about

Fidget spinners at a 7-Eleven in Warren, Mich. / AP's Carlos Osorio

"Fidget spinners, the hit toy that spun out of nowhere,= by AP Business Writer Joseph Pi=ani in N.Y.:

Stores can=t keep them in stock. Parents are scrambling to find them. And so=e schools have banned them. The mania for fidget spinners — the 3-=nch twirling gadgets taking over classrooms and cubicles — is unli=e many other toy crazes. They're not made by a major company, timed for th= holiday season, or promoted in TV commercials. They're more easily found =t gas stations or 7-Eleven than at big toy chains. ...

Fidget spinners have been around =or years, mostly used by kids with autism or attention disorders to help t=em concentrate. But they exploded in popularity this spring. ... Unlike ho= toys at the holiday season, which are often made by one company, manufact=rers — mostly in China — are making the fidget spinners as=fast as they can.

Bonus fun thing ... =/strong>"'Hangry' Passenger Orders Pizza Delivery to Stalled Amtrak Train"= "A veteran pizza delivery man in Delaware got an order from an unusual ad=ress: an Amtrak train that got stalled on the tracks for hours on its way =rom New York to Washington."

"J=m Leary ... cut through a backyard, navigated a steep embankment =nd jumped over a water-filled ditch all while balancing the two pies ... T=e 46-year-old Leary was rewarded with a cheering crowd of passengers and a=total of $32 in tips."

A message from BP

How is BP contributing to America?

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.

=earn more about our U.S. impact.

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