Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — Not normal — Scoop: What Sessions will say — Streaming economy — Cable war — NBA greats
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2017 06:44:10 -0400 (EDT)

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Not normal — Scoop: What Sessions will say — Streaming e=onomy — Cable war — NBA greats

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Presented By Forcepoint

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Jun 13, 2017

1 big thing: This isn't normal

Trump speaks during yesterday's Cabinet meeting (AP's Andrew Harnik)

We try very hard here to simply explain the Trump White=House, and not join the pile-on. To us, the Trump world doesn't need more =oise — it needs more explanation and illumination. But there are =oments when it's important to remind even our staunchest pro-Trump readers=that this often isn't anything approximating normal:

=n 18 years of covering presidents, we have never seen a Cabinet m=eting like the one yesterday. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, taking his tu=n to genuflect for a beaming Trump, said: "On behalf of the entire senior =taff around you, Mr. President, we thank you for the opportunity and the b=essing that you've given us to serve your agenda and the American people."=em> (N.Y. Times front-page headline: "Flatterers First, Then Preside=t Praises Himself'" ... CNN chyron: "TRUMP'S W=IRD CABINET MEETING.")

Going back to the Clintons, we have never seen a president and his family work so hard to promote or =ppear on a program like the Trumps' trumpet, "Fox & Friends." =rom yesterday's show: "Hey, look! It's I=anka Trump." ... "I join you almost every morning, just=not on the couch!" This came after Trump himself promoted the friendl= show on Twitter, which he regularly does.

In 228=years of presidents, none has canned the FBI director, then allow=d his own Justice Department to appoint a special counsel — who wi=hin weeks his friends and allies would openly muse about firing.

<=trong>In modern presidential history, there is nothing comparable=to the personal and public attacks on James Comey by the president and his=eldest son. In the last few days alone, they have called Comey — = guy who most elected Republican officials in town like and trust �=94 a liar, a coward, a criminal leaker, and "a dishonest man of bad character."=/li>

Be smart: Remember that we're living through =istory that will be studied and debated until the end of time. Many Trump =ackers, both the eager and reluctant ones, enjoy the destruction of norms =nd bemoan the highly critical coverage of this presidency. But we should n=ver lose sight that we are experiencing a daily display of unprecedented a=tions and behaviors.

P.S. Quote du jour — Ivanka Tru=p on "Fox & Friends": "There is a level of viciousness tha= I was not expecting. I was not expecting the intensity of this experience= But this isn't supposed to be easy. ... [S]ome of the distractions and so=e of the ferocity, ... I was a little blindsided by."

=

2. Number of the day

Bloomberg's Michael Riley and Jordan Robertson: =ussian hackers hit election systems in at least 39 states=in the summer and fall of 2016, according to a person with direct knowledg= of the U.S. investigation into the matter.

The attack was "far more widespread than has been pub=icly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software syst=ms in almost twice as many states as previously reported."

3. What Sessions will say

At 2:30 p.m., Attorney General Jeff Sessions will face =he Senate Intelligence Committee in an open hearing, where senators will g=ill their former colleague about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.=/p>
The broadcast networks plan to break into daytime p=ogramming with special reports, with Lester Holt anchoring on NBC and Geor=e Stephanopoulos on ABC.

Scoopage by Axios' Jonathan Swan .=. Here's how Sessions will address some thorny questions, accordi=g to sources familiar with his thinking:

Sessions wil= say he did not meet privately with Russian ambassador S=rgey Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel in April 2016.

In his closed s=ssion with senators last week, former FBI director James Comey reportedly =old them about classified intelligence that suggested an undisclosed meeti=g between the two men at this event.

A source close to Sessions t=lls me the Attorney General was at the event but doesn't recall any intera=tion with Kislyak and certainly didn't peel off for a private meeting.
You should also expect Sessions to cast doubt over this intelligence,=given that it was apparently intercepted communications with Moscow. Sessions may frame such communications as exaggerated or outright fallac=ous.

Sessions will say he did='t initially disclose his original meeting during the campaign with Kislya= because he was following instructions.

Sessions will disp=te James Comey's characterization of a conversation the two men h=d in February. This is a big deal, as Comey gave his account under oath.

Read Swan's full preview here=/a>.

Wildcard ... A Washington legend emails me thi= speculation: "Would not be surprised to see a counterattack. As =as vividly seen in the campaign, Trump knows that golf, and much else such=as the real estate world and politics, is a game of recovery. When you are deep in the woods, you try to find a miracle shot."

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4. How the Mueller threat took off

The brushfire — Trump said to be considering fi=ing Mueller — took off quick. Axios' Jonathan S=an quickly discovered there was less to it than met the eye:

Trump's friend, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, told Judy Woodruff =n PBS' "NewsHour" that the president was "considering perhaps terminating =he special counsel": "I think he's weighing that option."

Between the lines: Ruddy never actually spoke to Trump about f=ring Mueller, a source close to Ruddy says, but was reading between the li=es of what others had said. Ruddy referred to comments from Jay Sekulow, o=e of Trump's lawyers — on ABC's "This Week," he didn't rule out th=t Trump might fire Mueller.

Sean Spicer confirmed
Our t=ought bubble: One can never predict with certainty what Trump wil= do — and he's known to buck against conventional wisdom —=but ordering the firing of Mueller really does seem unlikely. The near-uni=ersal advice Trump will be getting from his White House team — and=from legal advisors close to the administration — will be that it'= a catastrophic idea to get rid of Mueller.

One frequent i=formal advisor to the White House: "There has to be a limit to hi= impulsiveness ... And there are some cooler heads like [White House Couns=l Don] McGahn who weigh in."

Click =ere for the anatomy of the brushfire.

Maggie Ha=erman tweets: "White House can't go too far in trying to dis=ance itself from Ruddy, since he's one of few surrogates defending him on =V."

5. Uber adding women execs

Clockwise from top left: Wan Ling Martello, Frances Frei, Salle Yoo, Boz=ma Saint John

Uber is still figuring out how to change its frat-cultu=e image, but one step is increasing the ranks of women in upper management=— four have been added in recent weeks, Axios' Kia Kok=litcheva reports.

The big question: One jo= Uber needs to fill is chief operating officer, which would ideally go to = seasoned female executive to help re-balance the company culture, according to Recode=/a>.

Headlines: L.A. Times A1, "Uber's scandals test investor pati=nce" ... WashPost, top of A1, "Uber, once cruising, in cor=orate crisis mode."

6. Get smart fast

"Tech Analysts Rule Out a Dot-com Type Bubble" �=94 Wall Street Journal's Daily Shot newsletter (subscription):

"Tech firms have been under pressure <=strong>over the past couple days, with market losses spreading to Europe a=d Asia. ... Analysts, however, point out that there is no evidence=of a tech bubble similar to what we saw in the late 1990s. Tech v=luations do not seem to be too far off from the broader market."

The talk of business ... Boston Globe l=ad story, "A post-transformation transition atop GE," by Jon Chesto: "=eneral Electric Co.'s Jeff Immelt will step down as chief executive this s=mmer, an earlier-than-expected departure that will leave Boston's biggest =ompany under new leadership just a year after it relocated from Connecticu=. John Flannery, the 55-year-old head of GE Healthcare, will take the rein= as CEO on Aug. 1."

Why it matters: "Immelt dr=matically transformed General Electric during his 16-year tenure as its to= executive, selling businesses such as its appliances unit and NBC Univers=l to focus on bringing its mainstay industrial lines into the digital age.=Now, it will be up to Flannery to execute his mentor's vision in a way tha= satisfies GE's increasingly impatient investors."

7. The Wilderness

Rolling Stone / Illustration by Victo= Juhasz

Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson=/a>, "Can Democrats Fix the Party? Trump's victory exposed the pa=ty establishment as utterly broken – now Dems hope to rebuild in t=me for a 2018 comeback":

"[=]t the dawn of the Trump age, one complex just south of Capitol H=ll stands out. It looks like it missed the Obama boom entirely, which is h=rd to fathom because it's the headquarters of the Democratic Party �=93 home to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) as well as the Congress=onal Campaign Committee (DCCC).

concrete-and-glass structure is wedged=between an elevated railroad track and the Capitol Power Plant. Exterior p=int that may once have aspired to adobe has faded to an indistinct pink, r=calling lox. Streaks of rust mar the walls. Someone has tried to spruce up=the joint, on the cheap, tacking up a floor-to-ceiling poster in a third-f=oor window of the party's post-donkey logo, a blue-circled 'D.' ...
"The air of confidence and optimism <=strong>around the DCCC is a sea change from the weeks after Election Day =E2�� when rank-and-file anger about 2016 House results spilled over in=o a minor mutiny against Pelosi's leadership. ... [F]or the Democrats to w=n back the House, the party will need to both harness the energy of its ba=e and reach to the center."

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

8. The new streaming economy

"Five years ago, Spotify was a fledgling music-streamin= service only months removed from its U.S. launch and YouTube had just sta=ted its push into original programming; Netflix was a year away from doing=the same, starting with House of Cards," Forbe=' Zack O'Malley Greenburg writes.

=strong>"But sometimes profound change happens quickly. Streaming =s now the dominant platform for music consumption, and it's growing rapidl= ... YouTube has birthed a whole new breed of celebrity: the YouTube star.=And Netflix plans to spend hundreds of millions annually on original conte=t."

The new business model: "The model of maki=g music available cheaply in order to cash in on touring and endorsements =as been taken to its logical conclusion by Chance the Rapper ... The 24-ye=r-old has never sold a physical album or signed a record deal in his life;=he has only freely distributed his work via streaming services. He generat=s enough spins to make several million dollars that way. And he's cashing =n big-time on lucrative festival gigs and arena dates, as well as deals wi=h brands like Apple and Kit Kat."

"It's akin to the freemi=m model that's worked so well for apps ranging from Tinder to Can=y Crush — give your stuff away to the many and then soak a smaller=group of devotees."

9. "Cable news goes to war"

Publishing soon ... Variety cover story by Brian Steinberg and=Cynthia Littleton: "Unprecedented audience interest post-election has ratc=eted up the competition between the biggest stars in cable news, with CNN,=MSNBC and Fox News pulling out all the stops to claim victory."

"The ratings growth for news programming ... comes at a t=me when the largest broadcast and cable networks are struggling with ratin=s erosion for primetime entertainment programming. Media buyers ... recogn=ze that it's hard to beat real-world politics for intrigue and suspense."<=li>
"The notion of taking a summer vacation right now =eems unrealistic for most newsies."

CNN's Erin Burnett: "It's like you're running a marathon ... at a sprint's pace."

10. 1 fun thing: Looking like a dynasty

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry holds his daughter, Riley, as =hey celebrate with forward Kevin Durant, the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP, =fter winning the NBA Finals in Oakland (AP's Marcio Jose Sanchez)

"Warriors join Bulls, Lakers, Celtics on list=of NBA's greats," by AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney:
<= style="margin-left: 20px;">"They could outrun teams li=e the Showtime Lakers and outgun them like Michael Jordan's Bulls �=94 and the Golden State Warriors [of Oakland] had a more dominant postseas=n than either. Their run was better than anything Bill Russell or Larry Bi=d did in Boston, so they should be able to claim a spot on the list of the=NBA's best teams ever.

"Golde= State finished the playoffs 16-1 [last night] when they beat the=Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 [before a home crowd] in Game 5 of the NBA Fi=als. They ended with the highest winning percentage ever in the NBA postse=son and won 15 consecutive games, the longest streak in the major North Am=rican sports. ...

"[T]hrow =n a 65-17 regular season, and the Warriors went 81-18 after Kevin=Durant joined them, an impressive start to finish after their collapse in =ast year's Finals that prevented them from winning three straight champion=hips.

"Golden State plays <=strong>under a set of offensive-friendly rules, and critics said they woul=n't have stood up to the rugged play of the past. But the Warriors also ha= shooting that would have made them the envy of even some of the toughest =eams of all-time."

Click here for a li=t of some teams, now including the Warriors, who have permanent places on =he list of NBA greats.

=/a>

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