Subject: Axios? AM: Mike's Top 10 — Survival at stake — The Emoji States of America — Ringling Bros. folds tent this weekend
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 06:13:11 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by BP:

Survival at stake — The Emoji States of America — Ringl=ng Bros. folds tent this weekend

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Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·May 17, 2017

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1 big thing: Survival at stake

Trump meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Offi=e yesterday / AP's Evan Vucci

Republicans close to the White House fear that Tuesday'= revelations could take President Trump into a legal or constitutional rea=m where his staff and supporters can't save him.

"A whole n=w door has opened," said a well-known Republican operative who ha= worked to help the Trump White House. "A week ago, we were talking about =he agenda grinding to a halt," the Republican said. "Now, the train is goi=g down the hill backwards."

More officials<=strong> are likely to need lawyers, and could face subpoenas for texts and=emails off personal devices. They could be asked questions like: "Did the =resident ever talk about this in your presence?" ... "Were you in the room=" ... "Is there a record?"

The N.Y. Times reported that in a memo written after an Oval Offi=e meeting in February, then-FBI Director James Comey said Trump had asked =im to shut down the investigation into former national security adviser Mi=e Flynn.

Numerous competitors instantly confirmed t=e report — a reminder of the enemies that Trump has made in the p=rmanent government. There could be more memos, and there'll be lots more l=aks.

The Times reported that according to the memo =which is dis=uted by the White House), Trump said: "I hope you can see your way cle=r to letting this go, to letting Flynn go ... He is a good guy. I hope you=can let this go."

Drudge dubbed the memo "Comey's Revenge."<=strong> And we may hear a lot more from him: The sacked director is likely=to testify on the Hill. Hushed talk — obstruction of justice; impe=chment — grew louder.

Capturing the mood o= the stunned capital, Sen. John McCain told Bob Schieffer at an award dinn=r last evening that the Trump scandals have reached a "Watergate size and scale."

Dire predictions a=out Trump are usually wrong, so forecasting the uncharted days ahead is a =ool's errand. The president leaves Friday on a world tour that his staff h=pes can serve as a modest reset.

Trump's campaign =ent supporters a fundraising email yesterday with the subject line "SABOTA=E": "You already knew the media was out to get us. But sadly it's not just=the fake news… There are people within our own unelecte= bureaucracy that want to sabotage President Trump and our entire America =irst movement."

Be smart: Watch for Trump=to continue stoking his base, because his support there is what gives him =ower over lawmakers: They're much less likely to abandon or undermine him =f he remains popular in their states and districts. It's his most basic su=vival strategy — and it's another reason he won't change.

2. Speed read

=weet by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chair =f the Government Oversight committee: "@GOPoversight is going to get the Comey memo, if it exists. I need to see it sooner ra=her than later. I have my subpoena pen ready."

NYT: "The classified intelligence that=President Trump disclosed in a meeting last week with Russian officials at=the White House was provided by Israel. ... [T]he information could be pas=ed to Iran, Russia's close ally and Israel's main threat in the region."
"Parsing Obstructi=n of Justice, an Often-Murky Crime," by N.Y. Times' Charlie S=vage: "While it can be a murky task in court to interpret the obstruction =tatutes, ... impeachment proceedings are different. ... [A]s a practical m=tter, the Constitution's standards for impeachment and removal of a presid=nt — if he has committed 'treason, bribery, or other high crimes a=d misdemeanors' — are met by anything that a majority of the House=and two-thirds of the Senate are willing to vote for."

"Famed documentarian Michael Moore has bee= secretly working on a film about Donald Trump's presidential election. Ti=led 'Fahrenheit 11/9,' the ... flick still in production was personally ac=uired by the Weinstein Co.'s Bob and Harvey Weinstein" yesterday. (L.A. Times)

1 Axios screen, =y Dave Lawler, catches you up.

3. Article of the day ...

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster briefs at the White House yester=ay / AP's Pablo Martinez Monsivais

... and maybe the month! From N.Y. Times p. 16, "Aides Cope With Chaos
Trump's "mood, according to two advisers, ... has become =our and dark, and he has turned against most of his aides — even his son-in-law, Jared Kushner — describing them in = fury as 'incompetent.'"

"Trump's rattled staff k=pt close tabs on a meeting early Monday in which the president summoned Mr= Spicer; the deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders; and the commu=ications director, Michael Dubke, to lecture them on the need 'to get on t=e same page.'"

"Trump was considering
"Some of Mr. =rump's senior advisers fear leaving him alone in meetings with fo=eign leaders."

"[T]hree administration officials =onceded that they could not publicly articulate their most compelling �=80� and honest — defense of the president: ... that Mr. Trump ..= simply did not possess the interest or the knowledge of the granular deta=ls of intelligence gathering to leak specific sources and methods."

Read=the whole thing. Every line in it is a story.

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.

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4. Zeitgeist

On Brian Williams' "11th Hour" at 11 p.m. on MNSBC (from left): N.Y. Tim=s' Mike Schmidt, WashPost's Ashley Parker, Jeremy Bash of Beacon Global St=ategies

"Morning" Joe Scarborough: "The arc of this narrat=ve keeps getting worse. People on the inside say he keeps getting worse ..= This is not, unfortunately, a learning curve. ... This is a man in declin=."

David Ignatius column in Was=Post, "Trump's presidency is beginning to unravel": "Obse=ving this White House ... is sometimes like watching a horror movie. The '=ood guys' ... keep falling through trap doors. National security adviser H=R. McMaster ... struggled ... to defend Trump's actions in disclosing terr=rism information."

N.Y. Times conservative columnist Ros= Douthat, "The 25th Amendment Solution to Remove Trump": "[T]he 25th A=endment to the Constitution ... allows for the removal of the president if=a majority of the cabinet informs the Congress that he is 'unable to disch=rge the powers and duties of his office' and (should the president contest=his own removal) a two-thirds vote by Congress confirms the cabinet's judg=ent."

5. Parallel universe

Fox News, via Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog)

Sean Hannity's alternative universe is the lead story o= the WashPost Style section, "Hannity sees unicorns, not the elephant in the room," b= media columnist Margaret Sullivan:

The president's favori=e apologist was at it again, devoting his hour-long show on Fox N=ws Channel to a strange assortment of topics that had nothing to do with t=e blockbuster news ...

was his idea for reforming the White H=use news briefings by requiring journalists to choose among a dozen or mor= topics and submit written questions in advance. The White House could the= pick those it liked and answer them after carefully crafting responses.

Deadspin editor Timothy Burke tweeted screenshots of the three cable news networks at t=e same moment in prime time: CNN: "Sources: Comey Memo Sa=s Trump Asked Him To End Flynn Probe" ... MSNBC: "Trump A=ked Comey To End Flynn Investigation" ... Fox: "Clinton F=undation: Where Is It Now?"

Why it matters: Remembe= that Trump — and a key slice of his base — are watching F=x in prime time, reinforcing their view that the rest of the world is delu=ional.

P.S. "C=eeping closer: MSNBC has good week competing with Fox," by AP=Television Writer David Bauder: "MSNBC topped Fox among the 25-to-54-year-=ld age demographic for the first time since the week of Dec. 29, 2008, jus= after Barack Obama's first election."

6. The Emoji States of America

Lazaro Gamio / Axios

A tour de force by Axios Visuals Editor Lazar= "Laz" Gamio:

"This visualizat=on is a modified version of Che=noff Faces, a technique that maps multiple statistical values to the f=atures of a face. Because it's 2017, we expanded on the technique and made=Chernoff Emojis. Each part of the emoji is controlled by the state's ranki=g in a given metric, which range from the uninsured rate to the percent of=adults who report getting enough sleep."

Face color: This is mapped to the uninsured rate in every state — t=e greener and more sickly the face, the lower this state ranks. (Worst= Texas; best: Massachusetts)

Eyebrows: The more furrowed the brow, the lower a state ranks in the unemploy=ent rate. (Worst: New Mexico; best: Colorado)

Eye size: The larger the eyes in each f=ce, the larger the share of adults over 25 w=th a bachelor's degree. (First: Colorado; last: West Virginia)
Eye bags: The more pronounced these=are in every face, the smaller the share of adults that report at least 7 =ours of sleep each night. (Best-rested: South Da=ota; worst: Hawaii)

Mouth: The =hape of the mouth is mapped to the poverty rate. (Highest: Mi=sissippi; lowest: New Hampshire)

Chin: The more noticeable this feature is, the higher this state ranks in=obesity rates. (Highest: Louisiana; lowest: Colorado).=/li>

Treat yourself to clicking on the w=ole thing.

7. Likely expansion of laptop ban

The travel industry hates this ... Reuters' David She=ardson: "U.S. Homeland Security chief John Kelly has not made=a final decision on extending a ban on larger electronic devices [such as =aptops in the cabins of] airplanes, but the department still believes an e=pansion is likely."

"Fears that a bomb could b= concealed in electronic devices prompted the United States to announce in=March it would restrict passengers from bringing devices larger than cellp=ones on flights originating from 10 airports, including in the United Arab=Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey."

"Britain followed suit =ith restrictions on a slightly different set of routes."

"The United States has been considering increasing the=number of airports affected by the ban to possibly include some European o=es."

8. The talk of tech

"Amazon is hiring people to break into the multibillion=dollar pharmacy market," by CNBC's Christina Farr: "[W]ith the rise of =igh-deductible plans and the trend towards consumers paying for he=lth care, it is ready to get more serious. ... The company recent=y started selling medical supplies and equipment in the U.S."

"Tesla Rebuffed Uber Partnership on Self-Driving Cars in 2016," =y Bloomberg's Eric Newco=er: Uber CEO Travis Kalanick "rang up Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk last ye=r to propose a partnership on self-driving cars, according to an upcoming =ook."

"The discussion came after Apple Inc. invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing, then a fierce co=petitor of Uber in China. Kalanick pitched Musk on teaming up against Appl=, according to Wild Ride [Inside Uber's Quest for World Domination]Fortune magazine's Adam Lashinsky scheduled for relea=e next week."

9. The talk of business

The Wall Street Journal has a rocking front page today,=with a trifecta of stories worthy of your attention:

=Despite Promises, Car M=kers Are Set on Job Cuts": "GM, Ford plan to cut U.S. workforce ... Faced =ith softening U.S. car sales and mounting investor skepticism about Detroi='s ability to weather the first industry downturn in nearly a decade, auto=executives are facing a tough choice in who to please — Wall Stree= or the White House."

"Disney's Iger Isn=t About to Let Go as CEO": "[T]he question of who will succeed Robert Iger=at Walt Disney Co. is more uncertain than it has been for nearly a decade.=... [I]nside candidates leave, outsiders lack interest."

"=a href="http://link.axios.com/click/9632854.33834/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLm=vbS9hcnRpY2xlcy9hY3RpdmlzdC1pbnZlc3RvcnMtaGF2ZS1hLW5ldy1ibG9vZGx1c3QtY2Vvc=0xNDk0OTM2MDAxP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9j=W1wYWlnbj1uZXdzbGV0dGVyX2F4aW9zYW0/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cBd628abb6" targ=t="_blank">Activist Investors Have a New Bloodlust: CEOs": =No longer satisfied with board seats and buybacks, activists now target ch=efs at the start of campaigns."

10. 1 sad thing

In 1963, a Ringling Bros. Circus elephant walks out of a train car as yo=ng children watch in the Bronx railroad yard / AP Photo

"The last days of the Ringling Bros. ci=cus," which ends this weekend after 146 years — AP's=Michelle Smith in Providence, R.I.:

An elephant stretches its trunk through a window to soot=e a sick child. A woman gives birth and three months later is back perform=ng on the high wire. A handler of big cats weeps as the beasts lope out of=the ring for the last time.

<=trong>These stories could come only from circus performers, and i= particular one famous circus, the one immortalized as "The Greatest Show =n Earth": the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which is hang=ng its hat for the last time this weekend. ...

The size, the spectacle and the history =E2�� stretching back to P.T. Barnum and his traveling museum in the 18=0s — set it apart. One of Ringling's two traveling circuses is sch=duled to perform its final show Sunday in New York. The other closed this =onth, in Providence, Rhode Island, and with it, the end to a way of life.<=em>

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