Subject: ?Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — A war room without soldiers — Apple's big reveal — Stat du jour — Axios takes Hollywood
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2017 07:01:16 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by JPMorgan Chase & Co.:

A war room without soldiers — Apple's big reveal — Stat =u jour — Axios takes Hollywood

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Presented By JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Jun 06, 2017

You're invited ... to my News Shaper event tomorrow at 8 a.m. in downtown D.C.: one-on-one conversatio=s with White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway, and three fascinating ambassadors: Jordan's Dina Kawar, Singapore's =shok Kumar Mirpuri and Germany's Peter Wittig. Outside cameras and cor=espondents welcome. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. RSVP here.

1 big thing: A war room without soldiers

President Trump arrives to speak at an Air Traffic Control Reform Initia=ive event in the East Room yesterday (AP's Andrew Harnik)

With CNN's clock already counting down to fired FBI Dir=ctor Jim Comey's testimony on Thursday morning, where's the White House wa= room? Remember the scandal-containment unit that was supposed to quaranti=e the rest of the White House from Russia questions, so that President Tru=p could pursue a positive agenda, with the Clinton-style scandal machinery=handling the investigations?

I'm told that th= inside-outside machinery, as envisioned by aides who frantically planned =t while Trump finished his overseas trip, may never exist. Top Republicans=say the White House has been unable to lure some of the legal and rapid-re=ponse talent they had been counting on.

White=House Counsel Don McGahn had drawn up an org chart that Trump's t=am liked. But Game Day is 48 hours away, and the boxes aren't filled. A person involved in the conversations =aid: "They had a pretty good structure, but they're not able to close the =eal."

Reasons include some power law=ers' reluctance to work with/for lead Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz; resistan=e by Kasowitz to more cooks in his kitchen; and lack of confidence that Tr=mp would stick to advice. Some prospects worry about possible personal leg=l bills, and are skeptical Trump can right the ship.

So f=r, the existing Trump and GOP infrastructure is still stuck with =ushback duties.

After Trump's tweets yesterday undermining his own Supreme Court case on the travel ban, his Republican=allies on Capitol Hill and downtown sounded weary and irritated at day aft=r day of self-inflicted wounds:

A top GOP operative sa=d: "People are running out of patience. He's in a very tenuous po=ition, where it wouldn't take a lot more bad news for things to come crumb=ing apart. Their complete inability to get ahead of the Russia story is so=strange to people."

The N.Y. Times' Michael Schmidt, who broke the s=ory that Comey had kept memos of his conversations with Trump, made th= remarkable disclosure on "Morning Joe" last week that it was Trump's twit=er threat to Comey ("James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of =ur conversations before he starts leaking to the press!") "that motivated =ome of the folks that I was talking to ... and led to them talking=/strong> about how Trump told Comey to end the Flynn investigation. ... [T=he tweets ... loosen them up to talk about things."=/span>

Why it matters: On a call with reporters last evening, White=House Legislative Affairs director Marc Short said he expects Republicans =o pass healthcare and the 2018 budget this summer so the fall can be focus=d on tax reform. That should be achievable, but many White House =llies are skeptical because so much bandwidth, at both ends of Pennsylvani= Avenue, is being diverted to scandals and distractions.

And don't forget it's Infrastructure Week!

2. Comey's moment

Then-FBI Director James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill on May 3 (AP's C=rolyn Kaster)

10 a.m. Thursday ... Chuck Todd said on "Meet the Press= that Comey's testimony "may well join those rare historic moments when th= whole country stops to watch. Think Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954. Water=ate hearings in 1973. Oliver North's testimony in the Iran Contra hearings=in 1987, and of course Anita Hill at the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991.=

The broadcast networks are gearing up to make=it a national moment, with special reports anchored by their news stars =E2�� George Stephanopoulos on ABC; Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah ='Donnell on CBS; and Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd on NBC.<=li>

3. Top talker

"Top-Secret NSA Report Details Russian Hacking Effo=t Days Before 2016 Election," by The Intercept's Matthew Cole= Richard Esposito, Sam Biddle, Ryan Grim:

"The report=indicates that Russian hacking may have penetrated further into U=S. voting systems than was previously understood. It states unequivocally =n its summary statement that it was Russian military intelligence, specifi=ally the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, that=conducted the cyber attacks described in the document."

Fr=m the doc: "Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate a=tors … executed cyber espionage operations against a named U.S. co=pany in August 2016, evidently to obtain information on elections-related =oftware and hardware solutions. … The actors likely used data obta=ned from that operation to … launch a voter registration-themed sp=ar-phishing campaign targeting U.S. local government organizations."
<=i>Why it matters: "This NSA summary judgment is sharply a= odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin's denial last week that Russia=had interfered in foreign elections."

Leak suspe=t already arrested ... "Contractor charged in NSA document leak case," by=WashPost's Devlin Barrett: "A 25-year-old government contractor has been c=arged with mishandling classified information after authorities say she ga=e a top-secret National Security Agency document to a news organizat=on."

"Reality Leigh Winner was accused of gath=ring, transmitting or losing defense information — the first crimi=al charge filed in a leak investigation during the Trump administration.
"Winner was arrested Saturday and the case was reve=led Monday, shortly after the website the Intercept posted ... A person fa=iliar with the case said the charges stem from the document given =o the Intercept."

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4. Apple's HomePod

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks about the Apple Watch at the Apple Worldwide D=velopers Conference in San Jose, Calif. yesterday (AP's Marcio Jose Sanche=)

Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with Bloomberg TV's Emily Chang at the Apple Worldwide Develop=rs Conference in San Jose, Calif., yesterday:

On AR:<=strong> "I think ... we'll have the largest augmented reality platform in =he world."

On the HomePod speaker: "Apple is a co=pany that deeply cares about music and wants to deliver a great audio expe=ience in the home. We feel like we re-invented it in the portable player a=ea and we feel we can re-invent it in the home area as well."

On Apple's philosophy: "For us it's not about being first, it'= about being the best, and giving the user an experience that delights the= every time. And so ... we don't let that impatience result in shipping so=ething that's just not great."

On talking to TrumpI think he decided wrong. I think it's not good, not in the best interest of the United States, =hat he decided."

On why he didn't join Trump's bu=iness council: "These councils in general and committees to be terribly pr=ductive ... [B]ut it wasn't about not wanting to advise ... And so I'm doi=g the latter."

Catch up quick on yesterday's announcements;

"Apple takes key st=ps on augmented, virtual reality."

"=a href="http://link.axios.com/click/9779257.32234/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3=uY29tL2FwcGxlLWRlYnV0cy1wZWVyLXRvLXBlZXItcGF5bWVudHMtb24taW9zLTI0MzM3NzQ4M=MuaHRtbD91dG1fbWVkaXVtPWxpbmtzaGFyZSZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249b3JnYW5pYyZ1dG1fc291=mNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImc3RyZWFtPXRvcC1zdG9yaWVz/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cB210fd=1e" target="_blank">Apple debuts peer-to-peer payments<=a> on iOS."

"Apple unveilsa home speaker focused on music."

5. Palace intrigue

"Trum= Sours on Sessions, Blaming Him for White House Troubles," by=N.Y. Times' Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman:

"The disc=ntent was on display on Monday in a series of s=ark early-morning postings on Twitter in which the president faulted h=s own Justice Department for its defense of his travel ban on visitors from certain predominantly Muslim co=ntries."

"In private, the president'= exasperation has been even sharper. He has intermittently fumed for month= over Mr. Sessions's decision to recuse himself from the investigation int= Russian meddling in last year's election ... In Mr. Trump's view, they sa=d, it was that recusal that eventually led to the appointment of a special=counsel who took over the investigation."

Get smart: "David B. Rivkin Jr., a lawyer who served in the White House and Justic= Department under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, said Mr. Trump=clearly looked at the [travel-ban] case from the lens of a businessman who=did not get his money's worth."

6. Stat du jour

"Drug Deaths in America <=strong> Are Rising Faster Than Ever," by N.Y. Times U=shot's Josh Katz in Akron, Ohio:

"Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000, the l=rgest annual jump ever recorded in the United States."

7. The wilderness: Dems' 2020 vision

": Everyone's thinking of running for presiden=" ... WaPo's Karen Tumulty and John Wagner survey the insanely broad poten=ial field of 2020 Democratic nominees, and gathered some juicy quotes from=top Dems. Highlights:

Jennifer Palmieri: =How can you possibly tell someone they shouldn't run for president? There'= no one on the planet who you can tell, 'That's crazy..."

=avid Axelrod: "It is more expeditious to put together a list of D=mocrats who are not thinking they are running for president in 2020, than =nes who are."

Joe Trippi: "[I]t's only a matter o= time until a Donald Trump runs as an independent and swamps both parties.=."

Why it matters: "Going into 1992, the pa=ty's biggest names... took a pass on the race... Instead, the nomination w=nt to a little-known governor from Arkansas, Bill Clinton."

8. How U.K. extremists are radicalized

Newly installed barriers on Westminster Bridge in London yesterday (AP's=Matt Dunham)

Professors Peter Neumann and Shiraz Maher, of the Inter=ational Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London, <= href="http://link.axios.com/click/9779257.32234/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5iYmMuY29=L25ld3MvdWstNDAxNjEzMzM_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haW=mdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXJfYXhpb3NhbSZzdHJlYW09dG9wLXN0b3JpZXM/58719=3924c17c54d77a8b8cBe5c59545" target="_blank">for the BBC:

"Over the past five years, we have tracked the flow of f=reign fighters into Syria and Iraq, collecting information on nearly 800 W=stern recruits - often including their social media footprints. Our experi=nce and research suggests that radicalisation rarely happens exclusively o=line."

"[O]ur research suggests that=the decisive factor in moving people from being extremist= in terms of their thoughts and beliefs to becoming terrorists is not onli=e propaganda but offline social networks."

The bottom line: "The internet plays an important role in terms =f disseminating information and building the brand of organisations such a= IS, but it is rarely sufficient in replacing the potency and charm of a r=al-world recruiter."

N.=. Times Quote of the Day ... Shiraz Maher, deputy director of=the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King's College=London, on the number of terrorist attacks that succeed in Britain: "What'= got through is just the tip of the iceberg, and it's an enormous iceberg.=

9. Mideast rift poses risks for U.S.

Skyline of Doha, Qatar (AP file photo by Kamran Jebreili)

A "spat among U.S. allies in the Middle East carries hi=h stakes for the Trump administration, coming two weeks after ... Trump tr=ed during a visit to Riyadh to rally Arab allies around fighting terrorism=and countering Iran's influence in the Middle East," the Wall Street Journal reports on A1=/a>:

What happened: "Egypt, the United Arab E=irates and Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia in breaking diplomatic and some com=ercial ties with Qatar, as did Yemen's Saudi-backed government."

<=trong>"The command center overseeing the U.S.-led air war against=the extremist group Islamic State is located at a U.S. military base in Qa=ar, America's largest military facility in the Middle East. On Saudi Arabi='s side of the dispute is Bahrain, which hosts the Fifth Fleet, one of the=U.S.'s largest naval fleets."

"The rift disrupted
The context: "Trump ad=inistration officials ... have expressed frustration with Qatar's actions,=as did officials during the Obama administration."

10. 1 fun thing

"Axios brings the heat in Holly=ood," by Ian Mohr of N.Y. Post's Page Six:

Axios made a splash in Hollywood wit= a reception at the LA mansion of pollster Frank Luntz and another hosted =y director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele. At Luntz's home, complete wit= a replica of the Oval Office, a spy said that when Axios' Jim VandeHei an= Mike Allen "led a conversation," the mogul-heavy crowd "was angry, combat=ve and yelling about the media and politics — 90 minutes of verbal=combat."

At the Reiner=' were stars, politicos and studio honchos: Chelsea Handler, Brad=ey Whitford, Jeff Shell, Ben Sherwood, Howard Gordon, Ben Silverman, Jon L=vett, Jon Favreau and Rep. Maxine Waters.

A message from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Expanding summer youth employment

The summer employment rate for teens in the U.S. has fallen to a near =strong>record low. JPMorgan Chase is expanding its Summer Youth Employment Program so that =his summer, more young adults in 19 U.S. cities will have a chance to buil= new skills.

Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 200, Arlington VA 22201

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