Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — Scoop: Trump's casting call — 'House of Cards' preview — He had a ball — He started a brawl
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 May 2017 06:36:09 -0400 (EDT)

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Scoop: Trump's casting call — 'House of Cards' preview —=He had a ball — He started a brawl

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Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·May 30, 2017

Good Tuesday morning, and welcome back. Laun=hing this afternoon: Axios PM, a super-quick email (in ou= elegant, efficient Smart Brevity format) to catch you up on what happened=while you were doing actual work.

I look forward to the conv=rsation — hope you'll hit this 1-click sign-up.

1 big thing: Trump's casting call

Brittany Jacobs watches as her 6-year-old son, Christian Jacobs, talks w=th President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. The boy=s father, Marine Sgt. Christopher Jacobs, was killed during a training exe=cise / AP's Evan Vucci

Scoop: Mike Dubke, President Trump's communications dir=ctor, is leaving the White House — the start of a wave of changes =s the West Wing struggles to cope with burgeoning scandals and a stalled a=enda.

Dubke served for just three months befor= tendering his resignation May 18. He offered to stay through the overseas=trip, and Trump accepted. Dubke has been trying to help restructure the pr=ss and comms operation, and is parting on good terms, a senior administrat=on official said.

Insiders say Dubke came in wit= few patrons, and never gelled with the originals. His departure is a remi=der of how hard it is for newcomers to thrive in Trumpland.

=/span>Dubke is still coming in to work, and his last day =asn't been set. His job is likely to remain open for a bit.

Bring in the killers ... Trump is considering much broader c=anges, including the possibility of bringing in David Urban, a prominent GOP lobbyist who was a sen=or adviser on the campaign, as chief of staff.

Friends=say Urban, 53, who's credited with helping Trump win his crucial =pset in Pennsylvania, brings seasoned political judgment and no personal a=enda. He's a West Point graduate, has a master's in government administrat=on from Penn, and a law degree from Temple. Urban was on Trump's plane and=in his green rooms during frequent campaign stops in the Keystone State, a=d the two became cellphone buddies.

Trump met yesterday with two top officials from his campaign, Corey Lewandowski and Davi= Bossie, about joining the crisis-communications war room he's setting up,=perhaps as part of an outside-inside duet.

Jonathan Sw=n points out that all these moves are part of a hardening or toug=ening of the operation:

"These are not polished chara=ters being brought in (though Urban at least has Hill connections=) They are killers. And Lewandowski in particular makes conventional folks=in the White House very very nervous. ... Experience suggests he will not =nly indulge Trump's most combative instincts, but goad them."

"Trump loves the word 'killers.' ... From early c=ildhood, [Harry Hurt III wrote in his Trump biography, 'Lost Tycoon'], Fre= used to tell his boys 'you are a killer … you are a king �=A6 you are a killer … you are a king.'"

Immedi=te changes are planned for White House messaging, including:
<=l>
Sean Spicer will stay as press secretary, but will =o fewer on-camera briefings (although he's on-camera today at 2 p.m.)
=li>More briefings will be on-record but off-camera.
<=i>Trump is likely to travel more — at least once = week, some top officials hope.

Trump may take a few ques=ions from the press when he's on the road, and will take more que=tions when he's appearing at photo ops with foreign leaders.

An official explained why Trump will do more of the talking for=the White House: "He says things exactly the way he wants them to be said.=

Translation: When he says it, he can't second-gu=ss his staff.

2. Russia latest

N.Y. Times lead story,="Inquiries Turn To Why Kushner Met A Putin Ally," by Matthew Rose=berg, Mark Mazzetti and Maggie Haberman:

"Federal and c=ngressional investigators are now examining what exactly [Jared] =ushner and the Russian banker, Sergey N. Gorkov, wanted from each other. T=e banker is a close associate of Mr. Putin, but he has not been known to p=ay a diplomatic role for the Russian leader. That has raised questions abo=t why he was meeting with Mr. Kushner at a crucial moment in the president=al transition."

"Trying to set up se=ret communications with Mr. Putin in the weeks after the election would no= be illegal. Still, it is highly unusual to try to establish channels with=a foreign leader that did not rely on the government's own communications,=which are secure and allow for a record of contacts to be created."
"But the Trump transition was unique in its=unwillingness to use the government's communications lines and briefing ma=erial for its dealings with many foreign governments, partly because of co=cern that Obama administration officials might be monitoring the calls."

3. Bite of the day

Brown University

Robert De N=ro, at Brown's commencement yesterday in Providence, R.I.:'"When you started school,

=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">

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4. Tax reform falters

Wall Street Journal lead story, "GOP Bid To Rewrite Tax Code Falters," by Richard Rubin:

"The clear winner, so far, is the status quo. ... The onl= big revenue-raising provision with anything close to Republican consensus=is repealing the deduction for state and local taxes, and that idea faces =bjections from blue-state lawmakers in the party."

"[A] fruitless revenue quest may lead the GOP to second-=ier options. ... One possibility is a temporary tax cut that would expire =o comply with rules preventing long-run deficits."

"Anothe= path is settling for a 25% corporate rate instead of the 20% bac=ed by House Republicans or the 15% proposed by Mr. Trump."

"Republicans started 2017 with high tax-policy am=itions, seeing an opportunity to use unified control of government to achi=ve a long-running party goal. ... Now, the tax bill isn't written and must=wait for the health bill and budget."

Trump tweeted Sunday= "The massive TAX CUTS/REFORM that I have submitted is moving along in the=process very well, actually ahead of schedule. Big benefits to all!"

5. Top-eds

"Brzezinski understood what Trump puts at risk=" by David Ignatius in the WashPost: Zbigniew "Brzezinski's worri=s about Trump grew out of his belief in the interdependent world that the =nited States had made. Having seen Western values and freedoms crushed in =oland, he was protective of them. Having seen allies regain dignity and pr=sperity under an American umbrella, he wanted to maintain it."

"Jared Kushner And the Knotty Politics of Clan," by Da=id Brooks in the N.Y Times: "Working in government is about teamwork, majo=ity-building and addition — adding more and more people to your co=lition. It is about working within legal frameworks and bureaucratic insti=utions. It's about having a short memory and not taking things personally.=

"Why are small banks disappe=ring?" by Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bank=rs Association, in the L.A. Times: "Since Dodd-Frank was passed, just four=new banks have formed nationwide."

"Merkel, Trump and the end of the wes=: The German leader's speech was a blunder a=d risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy," by the Financial Times' Gide=n Rachman: "Merkel has also behaved irresponsibly — making a state=ent that threatens to widen a dangerous rift in the Atlantic alliance into=a permanent breach."

6. The complex web of self-driving car relationships

Lazaro Gamio / Axios

Uber and Alphabet may be locked in a bitter legal battl= over self-driving cars, but the two companies are intertwined financially=and once were quite friendly with one another.

As we see in this masterpiece by Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva= Dan Primack and Lazaro Gamio, the companies are part of a very complex we= of ride-hail relationships ― in terms of investments, personnel a=d strategic partnerships ― where rivalries and alliances are often=one in the same.

7. "House of Cards" Season 5 just dropped

by Daniel Fienberg:

"Netflix's flagship drama is back, and Frank Underwood is mor= corrupt and less subtle than ever before."

"If CNN/Fox Ne=s/MSNBC haven't sated your appetite for stories of voter fraud, m=dia distortion, a fragmented electorate, an initialed terrorist group out =f the Middle East [ICO] and the potential for Russian interference in our =emocratic process, House of Cards has you covered."

"This season focuses on many of Frank's sins comin= back to haunt him."

See Seaso= 5, with chapter-by-chapter titles.

<=mg width="32" height="32" style="border: none" target="_blank" src=3D"https://static.axios.com/img-email/email-circle.png" alt="Email this =tory">

8. He had a ball

Frank Deford — who was editor and publisher of The National Spor=s Daily, a short-lived attempt at a nationwide sports tabloid — ho=ds a proof of the final front page on June 12, 1991 / AP's Susan Ragan

Frank Deford — "Literary Storyteller of Sport,"=who wrote a shelf of books, and whose long profiles were a mainstay of Spo=ts Illustrated in its heyday — dies in Key West at 78.

It was just 25 days after he delivered the last of his weekly "Sweetness and Light" commentaries for NPR's "Morning Edit=on":

AP sports c=lumnist Jim Litke: "He dressed up every event he attended."
"He also dressed up in a more literal =ay, always sharply attired and cutting a debonair figure at 6-foot-4."N.Y. Times obit for Benjamin Franklin Deford III: "At Sports Illustrated, he beca=e a leader in a form of literary sports journalism."

On NP=, "he spoke to an audience less obsessed with box scores, statist=cs and injury updates and more interested in the cultural impact of sports=and the people behind the games."

NPR's Colin Dwyer: "[T]he Hall of Fame sportswriter was public radio's scholar of sports =or some 37 years ... He leaves behind an astonishing 1,656 commentaries fo= NPR."

Classic =eford quote: "I believe that professional wrestling is clean and =verything else in the world is fixed."

SI's "Best of Frank Deford."

9. 1 sad thing

@Azi: "Twins!"

Tiger Woods' s=atement after being charged with DUI near his home in Jupiter= Fla., yesterday: "I want the public to know that alcohol was not involved= What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I did='t realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly."

"I will do everything in my power=to ensure this never happens again."

The price? "The fallen golfing star currently earns $45.5 million a year ... in =ponsorship money ... but ... could lose lucrative endorsements."

As soon as today, police may "re=ease highly embarrassing dashcam footage of his 3 a.m. arrest, ... during =hich officers claimed the star ... was 'arrogant'."

"Let that pathetic mugshot of Tiger Woods be a remi=der," by Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel: "This isn't how golf usually w=rks. Heroes age well. They play on, competitive into their 40s. The senior=tour soon arrives to maintain their relevance. Major stars still knock out=ceremonial tee shots or play celebrity pro-ams into their 70s. It's the mo=t graceful twilight in sports, which makes Tiger's shooting star so diffic=lt to accept."

10. 1 ferocious thing

Nats' Bryce Harper hits S.F. Giants' Hunter Strickland in the face after=being hit with a pitch / AP's Ben Margot

"Benches cleared during Monday's Giants–Nationals game [in San Francisco] aft=r [S.F. pitcher] Hunter Strickland nailed [Nats star] Bryce Harper [in his=right hip with a 98 mph fastball]. ... Harper proceeded to charge the moun=. After throwing his helmet in Strickland's direction and pointing at him,=it was on. The players exchanged punches as both benches raced to the moun=, turning the incident into an all-out brawl."

The re=ult: Both ejected. ... "Strickland had to be physic=lly removed from the field by at least three of his Giants teammates."=... Nats win, 3-0.

The backstory: This was the f=rst matchup between the two since "Harper homered off Strickland twice dur=ng the 2014 National League Divisional Series ... After Harper hit one of=those home runs, he stared him down as he ran the bases and yelled at him =rom the dugout.''

Watch the clip.
<=ul>

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