Subject: ?Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — 'Au revoir' to Paris — 2020 Dems — Internet trends of the year — The youngest speller
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2017 06:43:09 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by The Boeing Company:

'Au revoir' to Paris — 2020 Dems — Internet trends of th= year — The youngest speller

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Presented By The Boeing Company

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Jun 01, 2017

1 big thing: "Au revoir" to Paris

Lazaro Gamio / Axios

What happened behind the scenes ... President Trump thi= afternoon is expected to uncork his stunning withdrawal from the Paris cl=mate accord, a decision that Axios' Jonathan Swan sc=oped yesterday. Ahead of the 3 p.m. Rose Garden announcement, AP says aides were deliberating on "=strong>caveats in the language."

Swan sends AM read=rs this fascinating postcard from behind the scenes:

Want to know how volatile many=administration officials consider Trump? As the sun went down on Wednesday= Trump had told confidants, including EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, that=he was withdrawing from the Paris deal. A withdrawal speech had been draft=d and redrafted. An announcement for the withdrawal had been planned for T=ursday (today). A whole team of policy wonks inside the EPA had b=en told to work up mechanisms for withdrawal.

AND YET, numerous White House officials to=d me in confidence throughout the day that while they were as sure as coul= be that Trump would pull the trigger, they wouldn't believe it until they=saw it.

[The West Wing=buzzed] about the West Coast elites like Elon Musk and Tim Cook, =ho were making last-ditch pleas to Trump. And movement conservatives vente= to me about the liberal influence of Ivanka.

All the while, Trump kept asking people's =pinions, and expressing doubt, even after setting the train in full motion=towards withdrawal. When this thing is over, a good number of West Wing st=ff will have acquired some new gray hairs.

Sound smart:=/strong> Allies say Trump — with no ironclad policy convictions on=climate, and buffeted by conflicting campaigns from rival advisers �=94 defaulted toward delivering on a campaign promise that catered to his l=st refuge, the voters who put him in office.

Yet to be sorted: consequences for the party, the pl=net, and the U.S. role on the globe.

2. Zeitgeist: The consequences

Bloomberg Businessweek=cover on Trump's climate choice ... "An exit would undermine =merica's economic competitiveness, technological innovation, and global le=dership. Not to mention the, um, planet," by Eric Roston:=

"The potential consequences of Washington aba=doning the climate pact would be grave not only for the planet bu= also for the U.S., its economic competitiveness, technological innovation= and leadership of the world in the 21st century."

"A U.S. exit from the Paris accord would be a rupture in=policy, a dramatic departure from the record of the last four U.S. adminis=rations, both Democratic and Republican."

"[T=he community of nations that came together for the accord [in 201=] gave industries worldwide a soft signal: It's time to clean up dangerous=19th and 20th century energy and agriculture systems — if we want =he future to be prosperous and sustainable."

=hy it matters: "A U.S. exit might embolden others to leave the pa=t as well, believing that it had become an agreement that once again benef=ted a single established ruling clique — and not the universal goo= of all nations and the planet."

3. 2020 vision

Former Vice President Biden takes a selfie at a campaign event for New J=rsey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy on Sunday in Lyndhurst= N.J. / AP's Mel Evans

Former Vice President Joe Biden is creating an American=Possibilities PAC as a possible prelude to running in 2020, the N.Y. Times' Jonatha= Martin reports.

What to think ... A Biden adv=ser emails me:

I'd say the=e are three ways to see this. First, it is driven by mechanics: H= is much in demand for political travel and appearances, and he needs a wa= to staff and pay for it.

Second, it is driven by his passion. He loves politics: He do=sn't see it as some unpleasant necessity to govern, he sees it as a joyous=enterprise — and this is his platform to pursue that passion.=/p>
And third, it is d=iven by a desire to be seen as a 2020 player: Whether he runs or not, he k=ows he is a more significant figure if he is in the mix, and he sees no re=son to take himself out of it.

P.S. Hillary Clinton was en fuego yesterday at Recode's =ode Conference in Southern California, saying that last year's DNC data op=ration was "bankrupt ... mediocre to poor, non-existent, wrong. I had to i=ject money into it ... to keep it going."

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

A message from The Boeing Company

It's more than a race. It's a journey.

Boeing is proud to support our wounded warriors as they compete in the 2017=Warrior Games. Open to the public for the first time in Chicago, June 30-J=ly 8. Get your ticket= today.

4. The talk of tech

Asa Mathat / Recode

Axios' Ina Fried isolates top nuggets from the 300-page annual tech trends report by Mar= Meeker of Kleiner Perkins, delivered at Recode's Code Conference, in Ranc=o Palos Verdes, Calif.:

Internet advertising =ill surpass TV this year, with 85 percent of the growth going to Google an= Facebook.

Smartphone growth continues t= slow.

China mobile is still huge: 30% usage=growth, 12% user growth.

India has 355 million In=ernet users, with strong usage growth. But the key to the next 200 million=is how quickly smartphone and mobile service prices drop.

=atching people play video games, aka eSports, is huge and growing=fast.

Healthcare is at a digital inflection point=

See Mary's =ull deck.

5. Profiling Jared

TIME cover story, "Family first: If=one thing emerged crystal clear from the muddy first months of his father-=n-law's presidency, it's that Jared Kushner prefers the background," by E=itor-at-Large Karl Vick:

"The quiet man is n=w conspicuous, having been slurped into the spotlight by the tentacles of =the] Russia investigation."

"The bar to prove tha= someone improperly colluded with a foreign power is very high, and even t=e most aggressive investigators use a note of caution when speaking of Kus=ner's role in the probe."

"Inside the White House,
"Kushner's ability =o skirt the system has made him popular among the town's diplomatic corps =ut has led to strains inside the building."

"Now,
One U.S. official familiar with the investigation says of Kushner: "He's an ends-justi=ies-the-means guy. It could be naivete, but the investigation is about fin=ing that out."

6. Stat du jour

L.A. Times: "Between 20% and 25% of the nation's shopp=ng malls will close in the next five years, according to a new report from=Credit Suisse that predicts e-commerce will continue to pull shoppers away=from bricks-and-mortar retailers."

But, but, but ... "Retail industry experts say Credit Suisse may have underestimated t=e scope of the upheaval. 'It's more in the 30% range.'"

7. The talk of business

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk introduces the Model X in Fremont, Calif., in=2015 / AP's Marcio Jose Sanchez

"Investors pick Tes=a's promise over GM's steady profits," by AP's Tom Krisher an= Dee-Ann Durbin, in Detroit:

GM's sto=k is trading around the $33 price of its initial public offering =even years ago. During that time, Tesla shares have soared more than tenfo=d to $335.

Wall Street now values Tesla at about =55 billion, compared to around $50 billion for GM.

Despite efforts to paint themselves as technology companies,=automakers can't shake their giant, capital-intensive global manufacturing=operations. The huge investment needed to build vehicles yields low profit=margins compared with tech companies that make software or cell phones.
Why it matters: The big changes in the auto industry=are in the early stages. Electric vehicles make up less than 1% of global =uto sales, and fully self-driving cars are years away.

8. British election is a week from today

E=onomist endorsement cover rejects both major candidates ... "=he British election: The middle has fallen out of British politics �=94 The leaders of both main parties have turned away from a decades-old vi=ion of an open, liberal country":

"Jeremy Corbyn has taken Labour to the loony left ... The Conservative prime minister,=Theresa May, promises a hard exit from the EU. The Liberal Democrats would=go for a soft version, or even reverse it."

B=th "are united in their desire to pull up Britain's drawbridge to=the world."

Endorses Liberal Democrats: <=strong>"Brexit is the main task of the next government and they want membe=ship of the single market and free movement. ... They are more honest than=the Tories ... and more sensible than Labour ... We know that this year th= Lib Dems are going nowhere."

9. The great mentioner

A day after the leak when he sent movers to his office= CBS News ann=unced the sudden departure of Scott Pelley as anchor of the "CBS Eveni=g News" to become a full-time "60 Minutes" correspondent.

A =op executive at a rival network told me: "Anchor transitions just=don't happen this way. This is something you plan for years."
=p>Fill-in stalwart Anthony Mason (bio here) "will serve as the interim anchor ... begin=ing in the coming weeks," the release said. (J=ff Glor anchored last night, adding to the impression of haste.)
Among the names mentioned for the permanent gig: CNN's An=erson Cooper, NBC's Willie Geist, NBC's Peter Alexander, Fox's Chris Walla=e, CNN's Jake Tapper and others.

About all that's certain is that CBS doesn't plan to mess with its winning "CBS This Morning= team of Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell.

CBS N=ws President David Rhodes is taking the team and key staff to din=er tonight to congratulate them on their growth, and assure them of more r=tings gains ahead.

This pulpit isn't open often. It=is now. Rhodes' phone is ringing and his in-box abounds.

10. 1 fun thing: Youngest speller

Edith Fuller, 6, from Tulsa, Okla., adjusts the microphone before spelli=g during the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee yesterday in Oxon Hill, Md= / AP's Alex Brandon

Six-year-old Edith Fuller of Tulsa, Okla. — the=youngest speller in the 90-year history of the Scripps National Spelling B=e, which allows contestants up to age 15 — had to spell words just=as difficult as everyone else, AP's Ben Nuckols reports from Oxon Hill, Md.:

Li=e more than 100 other spellers, her test score wasn't high enough=to make the finals.

Her parents got permission from Scripps to let=Edith spend some of her time offstage while waiting to spell. (She was No.=290.)

Her mother, Annie Fuller: "This is a girl w=o has difficulty sitting through a Disney movie."

During a news conference, Edith mentioned th=t she hoped to invent a new kind of refrigerator.

In the first round, her word was "nyctinasty=" the movement of plants in response to the onset of darkness.

Like the polished spellers who fare best in the bees, she rep=ated the word several times and calmly asked for the definition and langua=e of origin.

She got "tapas" in the second round =nd didn't seem to have heard of the Spanish small plates before, but the a=plause let her know she spelled it right.

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Their spirit is never broken

Find your way to the 2017 Warrior Games. Open to the public for the first t=me in Chicago, June 30 - July 8. Get your tickets today.

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