Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 ? — Impossible to process — Amazing pic from the Unity Game — 'Very big names' — To tell your kids
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2017 07:00:25 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by Raytheon:

Impossible to process — Amazing pic from the Unity Game �=94 'Very big names' — To tell your kids

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Presented By Raytheon

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Jun 16, 2017

1 big thing: Impossible to process

A message from President Trump is shown on the Nats Park video board bef=re the Congressional baseball game (AP's Alex Brandon)

In the moment, it's impossible to process how consequ=ntial, historic and bizarre these dribs and drabs are that we're being bar=aged with all day.

Less than 24 hours after a m=ss shooting that critically wounded a member of Congress, the President of=the United States issued official statements via Twitter that said:
<=iv style="margin-left: 20px;">"They made up a phony col=usion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstru=tion of justice on the phony story. Nice ... You are witnessing the single=greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history - led by some very bad a=d conflicted people!"

Axios' Jonathan Swan History note by Blake Hounshell: "Bob Mueller has=a Bronze Star with Valor, two Navy medals, a Purple Heart, and the Vietnam=se Cross of Gallantry."

Then at 9:21 last night,
"Americans should exerc=se caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to ano=ymous 'officials,' particularly when they do not identify the country �=80� let alone the branch or agency of government – with which th= alleged sources supposedly are affiliated. Americans should be skeptical =bout anonymous allegations. The Department of Justice has a long-establish=d policy to neither confirm nor deny such allegations."

=nd, if all that weren't enough for one day, we learn that Vice Pr=sident Pence has lawyered up.

Statement from an aide: "[T]he Vice President has retained Rich=rd Cullen of McGuire Woods [in Richmond] to assist him in responding to in=uiries by the special counsel. The Vice President is focused entirely on h=s duties and promoting the President's agenda and looks forward to a swift=conclusion of this matter."

The backdrop: Amid =ll this, Republicans are trying to pass a health-care plan that, even in s=ates Trump won, is one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation a major=ty party has pushed in a long time.

Sound smart: Please just reread that last sentence.
=div>P.S. N.Y. Times Quote of =he Day ... Philip Allen LaCovara, a former Watergate prosecut=r, on a push by President Trump and his allies to question Mueller's impar=iality: "It's early in the game to begin to impugn the prosecutors."

2. Pic of the week

Speaker Paul Ryan (R), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D), House =inority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell=(R) applaud a message by President Trump on the video board before the Con=ressional baseball game (AP's Alex Brandon)

Chants of "U-S-A!" on a night of u=ity ... "Democrats easily defeated Republicans 11-2 in the 20=7 Congressional Baseball Game ... [W]hen Democratic manager Pennsylvania R=p. Mike Doyle was presented the winning trophy, he called Republican manag=r Texas Rep. Joe Barton to join him. Doyle gave the winning trophy back to=the Republicans to put in Scalise's office."

Trump's video m=ssage: "By playing tonight, you are showing the world that we wil= not be intimidated by threats, acts of violence, or assaults on our democ=acy. The game will go on."

"So =n this special night, I leave you with three great American words=that for generations have torn down barriers, built bridges of unity, and =efied those who have sought to pull us apart. Ladies and gentlemen: Let's =lay ball!"

Chaser ... N.Y. Times 2-col. lead, "Partisan Relations Sink From Cold =o Deep Freeze: Democrats and Republicans Have Lowest Regard of Each Other =n Decades," by Emily Badger of Upshot and Niraj Chokshi:

"Surveys over time have used a 100-point=thermometer scale to rate how voters feel toward each other, from cold to =arm. ... By 2008, the average rating for members of the other party was ba=ely above 30. .. By 2016, that average dropped by about five more percenta=e points, dragged down in part by a new phenomenon: For the first time, th= most common answer given was zero."

3. Between the lines

No surprise, but still a problem ... Wa=hPost front-pager, "Transactions by Kushner, others under investigatio=," by Sari Horwitz, Matt Zapotosky and Adam Entous: "Mueller ... is invest=gating the finances and business dealings of Jared Kushner."

"FBI agents and federal prosecutors
If y=u feel like you're read this before ... WashPost on May 25 (with =ylines who include the same three reporters), "Jared Kushner now a focus i= Russia investigation": "Investigators are continuing to look aggressively=into the dealings of Flynn, and a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., recently =ssued a subpoenas for records related to Flynn's businesses and finances."=/p>
Statement from Jamie Gorelick, attorney for Jared K=shner: "We do not know what this report refers to. It would be standard pr=ctice for the Special Counsel to examine financial records to look for any=hing related to Russia. Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with C=ngress what he knows about Russia-related matters. He will do the same if =e is contacted in connection with any other inquiry."

T=is is legalese for: "No duh."

Be smart: Even though it's obvious that Mueller will delve into the Trump and Kus=ner family businesses, nothing worries Trump allies more than a fishing ex=edition into Trump Inc.

A message from Raytheon

How Wall Street and the Pentagon collaborate on cyb=r

Businesses and military agencies have similar needs when it comes to cybers=curity, especially in an era when both are battling attacks from spies, or=anized crime rings and other bad actors. Learn more.

4. Mueller's machine

Key nuggets from a , "Mueller, Once Above the Fray, Is Now Pull=d In," that includes an update on the Mueller machinery:

"Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mr. Mueller, said his office had =mposed 'stringent controls to prohibit unauthorized disclosures that deal =everely with any member who engages in this conduct.'"

"Mueller has now hired 12 lawyers, and several more are =n the pipeline.

"A former federal prosecutor said=Mr. Mueller was hiring rank-and-file prosecutors to fill out his office st=ff, and has been prospecting for detailees from several prominent United S=ates attorney offices, including the Southern District of New York," in Ma=hattan.

"[P]rospective hires thinkin= about joining Mr. Mueller's team are watching those who have signed up co=e under intense scrutiny of the sort that ordinary prosecutors and corpora=e lawyers rarely experience, as Mr. Trump's supporters seek to discredit t=e investigation."

"Hires so far incl=de three current Justice Department or F.B.I. officials: Andrew We=ssmann, who had led the fraud section of the department's Crimina= Division, served as general counsel to the F.B.I. when Mr. Mueller was it= director, and previously led the Enron task force; Michael R. Dre=ben, a deputy solicitor general who specializes in appellate issu=s involving criminal law; and Lisa C. Page, an F.B.I. law=er who was a trial lawyer in the Criminal Division's organized crime secti=n.

"[W]hen Mr. Mueller left WilmerHa=e, the law firm where he worked after stepping down from the F.B.I. in 201= until he became a special counsel last month, [Mueller] took thre= partners with him: James L. Quarles III, a vete=an litigator who was an assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate inve=tigation early in his career; Jeannie Rhee, another exper=enced white-collar criminal litigator who was a public-corruption prosecut=r and then worked in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel; and=Aaron Zebley, who was Mr. Mueller's chief of staff at the=F.B.I."

5. Trump at war

Soldiers with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division fire s=ngle-use AT-4 rockets during a live fire training exercise on Fort Bragg, =.C., in March, preparing for a coming deployment to Afghanistan (Photo by =hane Dunlap / The Fayetteville Observer, via AP)

"About 4,000 more US troops to go to Afghanistan," by A='s Lita Baldor and Robert Burns: "The decision by Defense Secretary Jim Ma=tis could be announced as early as next week."

"The bul= of the additional troops will train and advise Afghan forces ...= A smaller number would be assigned to counterterror operations against th= Taliban and IS."

"Trump has barely spoken about Afghanistan as a candidate or president, concentrating instead=on crushing the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. His predecessors bo=h had hoped to win the war."

"Mattis' deployment =f more troops will be far smaller than Obama's."

Why it ma=ters: "Although Trump has delegated authority for U.S. troop numb=rs in Afghanistan, the responsibility for America's wars and the men and w=men who fight in them rests on his shoulders. Trump has inherited America'= longest conflict with no clear endpoint or a defined strategy for America= success."

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

6. Trump teases job, factory plans by "very big names"

Ivanka Trump stands with, from left, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, Commerce=Secretary Wilbur Ross and Small Business Administration Administrator Lind= McMahon as President Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room yesterday during =n event on Apprenticeship and Workforce of Tomorrow initiatives (AP's Susa= Walsh)

President Trump, signing an executive=order to expand apprenticeships and vocational training, in the Roosevelt =oom yesterday: "I want to thank my daughter Ivanka and her leadership. She=has worked so hard on this. ... And we're here today to celebrate the dign=ty of work — it's really a good term: 'dignity of work' — =nd the greatness of the American worker, which I've been celebrating for a=long time."

"Probably wouldn't =e here if it weren't for the American worker. And the American wo=ker sees what's happening in Michigan and in Ohio and in a lot of places t=at we've had a huge impact on just in a short period of time ... We have a=lot of companies moving in, a lot of plants are going to be built.

"A lot of plants are being exp=nded, and big ones are going to be announced very soon. Y=u're going to hear some very big names that I can't tell =ou about now. We want to get them signed on the dotted line. We don't want=to talk too quickly. It's called 'sign them on the dotted line,' right? (L=ughter.)"

7. Trump's Cuba plans

The Cuba policy Trump will announce in Miami today says=he intends to limit Americans' travel to Cuba and limit American companies=from doing business with Cuban military enterprises, U.S. officials who ha=e seen the draft of the plan told Reuters.

Trum= will be making good on a campaign promise to partially reverse O=ama's policy of detente with Cuba. Axios' Shannon Vavra =oints out:

The contradiction: Trump is imposi=g these limits due to human rights concerns but his administration has pre=iously said it won't discuss other countries' human rights issues publicly=

What he won't touch: Trump will lea=e in place U.S.-Cuba commercial flights and will not close embassies or br=ak diplomatic relations.

8. The talk of tech

Uber board member Arianna Huffington i= taking a prominent role in efforts to steady the company, the WashPost's =raig Timberg and Brian Fung write on the front=page:

"As the crisis at Uber reached a cr=tical moment this week, a familiar voice filled the company's San Francisc= headquarters. ... Huffington — the onetime pundit and digital pub=isher with a distinctive Greek accent — addressed employees, emerg=ng as the most visible leader of a company trying to recover from months o= self-inflicted wounds.

"But where many saw a company that exemplified the worst of the tech industry's male-do=inated 'bro' culture, Huffington had concluded that there was an additiona= reason for the rampant sexual harassment and other unprofessional conduct=reported at the company: a work-life balance gone disastrously awry.
<=i>"She had publicly warned of the dangers of=coddling 'brilliant jerks' at Uber, but she also worried that Uber �=94 and Silicon Valley generally — had developed what she called a =workplace culture fueled by burnout.'"

9. Kay Graham at 100

In 1971, Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, and Ben Bra=lee, executive editor, leave the U.S. District Court in Washington. The pa=er got the go-ahead to print the Pentagon papers on Vietnam (AP photo)

Katharine Graham — legendary Washington Post pu=lisher, who died in 2001 — was born 100 years ago today in New Yor= City. Her paper pays tribute ...

Publisher Fred Ryan writes on the op-ed page, "Katharine Gra=am's legacy: Fearlessness": "Mrs. Graham's role as the first lady of Ameri=an journalism was never preordained, but today ... her legacy is inseparab=e from The Post."

"In her first=decade as publisher, working with Executive Editor Ben Bradlee, M=s. Graham faced some of the most severe threats to an independent press in=U.S. history. In 1971, she had the courage to publish the Pentagon Papers,=a secret history of the Vietnam War ... even though The Post Co. was going=public the same week, and despite threats to its licenses to operate telev=sion stations.

"She continued t= face the specter of retaliation by the Nixon administration �=80� including one now-famous threat involving 'a big fat wringer' �=94 as The Post published Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's reporting on th= 1972 Watergate break-in and its ultimate ties to the White House."

=strong>Style section lead
"She even dared interview people she had =ired, discovering that time heals lots of wounds — but not all."

10. 1 thing to tell your kids

"The end of the valedictorian? Schools re=hink class rankings," by AP's Carolyn Thompson in Lancaster, N.Y.:

"The ranking of students from No. 1 on down, based on =rade-point averages, has been fading steadily for about the past decade. I= its place are honors that recognize everyone who scores at a certain thre=hold — using Latin honors, for example. This year, one school in T=nnessee had 48 valedictorians."

"About half of schools no longer report class rank, ac=ording to the National Association of Secondary School Principals."

"Administrators worry about the college prospects of s=udents separated by large differences in class rank despite small differen=es in their GPAs, and view rankings as obsolete in an era of high expectat=ons for every student"

"There are also concerns about intense, potentially un=ealthy competition and students letting worries about rank drive t=eir course selections."

A message from Raytheon

Seeking cybersecurity, companies turn to the milita=y

Under siege by hackers, spies, organized crime rings and others, businesses=and military agencies face a common cyber enemy – and work togethe= to counter the threat. Learn more.

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