(cache) Trump: "I haven't called Russia in 10 years"

Shannon Vavra
7 mins ago

Featured

Trump: "I haven't called Russia in 10 years"

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

After a meeting with health insurance companies this morning, a reporter asked Trump about whether he supported a special prosecutor for investigating Russia

The president's response after a pause:

I haven't called Russia in 10 years.

The reporter was asking about Russia's 2016 election hacking and potential contacts between Trump's campaign team and Russian intelligence officers, per an AP report.

Mike Allen
5 hrs ago

Featured

Exclusive: Spicer arranged CIA, GOP intelligence push-back

Carolyn Kaster / AP

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer personally picked up the phone and connected outside officials with reporters to try to discredit a New York Times article about Trump campaign aides' contact with Russia, then remained on the line for the brief conversations, Axios has learned. Ten key points:

Why it matters: The new details show how determined the West Wing was to rebut a front-page Times report on Feb. 15 that Trump campaign aides "had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election."
Who was involved: The officials reached by Spicer were CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr (R-N.C), according to a senior administration official. The reporters were from The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, the official said. Spicer provided reporters' phone numbers to House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who offered to make the calls himself, according to the official: "He was in and out of an event."
When did this happen? On Feb. 15, when the two-column lead of the Times print edition, which Trump reads carefully, declared: "Trump Aides Had Contact With Russian Intelligence: U.S. Officials Tell of a Flurry of Phone Calls Intercepted Before the Election." An FBI official had volunteered privately to the White House that the story was "B.S." (but used the full word). When the FBI didn't immediately agree to tell that to the press, the White House tried to find other officials who would convey that idea to inquiring reporters.
What the White House was thinking: Spicer declined to comment. The official said Spicer didn't know at the time whether an investigation of Trumpworld contacts with Russia was underway, and was trying to make sure the connections were made before evening deadlines. "We'd been getting incoming all day," the official said. "Ironically, the White House was actually encouraging people with direct knowledge of the accuracy of the Times story to discuss it with other reporters."
The backdrop: Top White House officials tell us they're authentically confident that the Russia smoke won't lead to fire, and are even happy to have their opponents distracted by the issue. "For over six months, we have heard about these alleged contacts with Russia," the official said. "And yet, … with all the leaks have have come out, there's no 'there' there."
What was said on the calls: Pompeo and Burr told the journalists that the Times story wasn't true but provided no details, frustrating the competing reporters, according to the official: "Both of them said: All I can tell you is the story is not accurate."
What we don't know: Our sources weren't sure exactly how many calls were made, or which official talked to which reporter.
Why this is unusual: Intelligence officials from the Obama administration said it's rare for the CIA director to talk directly to a single journalist – that in the past, the director usually was held in reserve to talk to a publisher or executive editor in a case where a news organization was contemplating publishing something that could harm national security.
What we knew before: The Washington Post reported the pushback operation on Friday night under the headline: "Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories."
The reaction: Some Democrats were already arguing that Russian involvement in the election should be investigated by a special prosecutor or outside, 9/11-style commission, rather than the congressional intelligence committees. George Little, a top CIA and Pentagon spokesman under President Obama, told us: "It's doubtful that Congress can conduct an objective and independent investigation into ties between this White House and the Russian government if it is collaborating so closely on media pushback with the White House press secretary."

Keep reading Show less ... words

David Nather
6 hrs ago

Featured

The GOP's big problem: Lost health coverage

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

The warning signs are becoming inescapable for Republicans: Their most likely Obamacare replacement plans are getting terrible estimates on how many people they'll cover. Republicans have been pretty open that they're not trying to compete with Democrats on enrollment numbers — they just want to make sure everyone has access to coverage if they want it. But now the consequences are becoming more real.

Keep reading Show less ... words

Featured

What you need to know about the right-wing movement consuming Europe

The rise of nationalism and right-wing populism is the story of the decade in America and across Europe. The global movement delivered Donald Trump the presidency and formed the core of his inaugural address. In coming years, it could fundamentally reshape the European Union as we know it.

Populism has been alive and well across Europe for years now, but the European migrant crisis has injected a new strain of nationalism into the movement. What follows is look at where populism in its many forms has made its mark across the continent and what might happen next...

David McCabe
43 mins ago

Featured

Comcast adds another streaming service to its X1 box

Courtesy of Comcast

Comcast customers who have the company's X1 set-top box will soon be able to stream YouTube videos through the device, the company said on Monday. It said the feature will go live this year.

The box features a remote control that lets users search offerings by voice and already allows customers to stream Netflix content.

Why it matters: It's another attempt by Comcast to adapt to a world where viewers are as interested in web-hosted content as they are in the live television offerings that come in their cable package.

The Washington angle: Comcast introduced Netflix streaming last year against the backdrop of a regulatory fight over opening up the market for set-top boxes, so it was largely seen as a move to undercut its critics. But that's less likely to be a concern with new FCC leadership that has signaled it isn't interested in up-ending the set-top box market.

Note: Comcast's NBC is an investor in Axios and Andy Lack is a member of the Axios board.

Alayna Treene
45 mins ago

Featured

Why Anthem has so much clout in health care talks

Darron Cummings / AP

Since the November election, Anthem, the national insurer with the most at stake in the Obamacare marketplaces, and affiliated Blue Cross insurers have been meeting with top Republicans leading the charge to repeal Obamacare, per Reuters. That gives them a lot of influence with the Trump administration as it cracks down on Obamacare regulations that have hurt the company's profits — and as it meets with health insurance executives this morning.

Here's what Anthem's CEO, Joseph Swedish, has been pushing for:

Tighter enrollment rules after losing money on people who waited to signup for Obamacare until they were sick. (This was the subject of the administration's first Obamacare rule.)
Changes in the way payments for the sickest patients are calculated.
An extension to the discontinuation of plans after 2017 that were issued before Obamacare and don't meet the law's coverage requirements.

Caitlin Owens
1 hr ago

Featured

Trump: "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated"

After meeting with governors, President Trump has come to an important conclusion: Reforming the health care system is immensely difficult.

We have come up with a solution that's really, really – I think – very good. Now I have to tell you, it's an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.

Trump said he's spent time discussing the issue with Govs. Scott Walker, Rick Scott and Chris Christie.

“Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated." https://t.co/XweLPEQ9UQ
— Justin Green (@JGreenDC) February 27, 2017

Alayna Treene
1 hr ago

Featured

Trump's new budget plan: Cuts at EPA, $54B increase in defense

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

The White House is sending Cabinet officials their first draft of budget numbers on Monday. The big changes you can expect will be severe cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, as Axios reported yesterday. Other targets include the State Dept. and social safety programs, with savings used to bolster military spending by $54 billion.

Negotiable factors: Resistance from federal agencies could lessen the severity of cuts in the original plan before a final budget request is sent to Congress. From there, Capitol Hill will have the final say. In order to pass Trump's defense request, lawmakers in both parties will have to agree to raise the government spending caps on defense and domestic programs imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act.

Precise timing: As the NY Times points out, his plan — which is a product of a collaboration between President Trump's budget director, Mick Mulvaney; National Economic Council director Gary Cohn; and chief strategist, Steve Bannon — is intended to make a "big splash." The release is carefully timed to come the day before the president's address to Congress.

Stef W. Kight
2 hrs ago

Featured

Spicer becomes the storm

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

It's Day 39 of the Trump administration, and Press Secretary Sean Spicer has gone from trying to control the stories out of the White House to becoming the story from the White House.

Spicer's spiral Show less

Shane Savitsky
3 hrs ago

Featured

George W. Bush on Russia: "we all need answers"

Today / NBC

From Matt Lauer's interview with former president George W. Bush on the TODAY Show:

On freedom of religion: "I think it's very important for all of us to recognize that one of our great strengths is for people to be able to worship the way they want to or not worship at all. A bedrock of our freedom is the right to worship freely."
On Russia: "I think we all need answers...if [Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr] were to recommend a special prosecutor, then it'd have a lot more credibility with me."
On Trump's immigration ban: "I am for an immigration policy that's welcoming and upholds the law."
On the media: "I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy…Power can be very addictive. It can be corrosive, and it's important for the media to hold people to account."
On presidential nostalgia: "People ask me, 'Do you miss being president?' The answer's not really, but I miss saluting people who volunteer to wear the uniform."

Stef W. Kight
3 hrs ago

Featured

Warren Buffett on Trump, Apple and airplanes

Andrew Harnik / AP

Buffett says he agrees with Trump on entitlement programs and industries with too many regulations, but disagrees with him on the proposed border adjustment tax, which he said would end up raising prices for the American consumer.

Apple: Buffett has almost doubled his stake in Apple, now holding 133 million shares of the company. He's avoided investments in tech companies in the past, but said that he sees Apple as a maker of consumer products.

Airlines: Buffett also bought $9 billion worth of shares in airlines because he thinks they're operating more efficiently than they used to. Late last year he invested in American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Continental and Southwest.

Warren's words of wisdom: Don't mix up investment decisions with politics.

Alayna Treene
3 hrs ago

Featured

London Stock Exchange says Deutsche Boerse merger is basically dead

Sang Tan / AP

The London Stock Exchange Group said late Sunday that its $30 billion merger with Deutsche Boerse is unlikely to receive approval from European regulators.

The deal — which would have combined stock exchanges in Britain, Germany, and Italy, as well as several of Europe's largest clearinghouses — fell apart when European Commission regulators told LSE that it would need to divest MTS, an electronic platform for trading government bonds and other fixed income products. LSE believes the condition is "disproportionate," and therefore believes the broader merger is dead.

Background: The exchanges agreed to the merger last March, and shareholders approved the deal in July. But, in September, European antitrust regulators opened an investigation. This had been the two exchanges' third attempt to come together since 2000.

Mike Allen
5 hrs ago

Featured

The people behind the progressive "Shadow Cabinet"

Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Today, a progressive "Shadow Cabinet" will start tweeting under @ShadowingTrump to rebut the president and his administration's statements, actions and tweets in real time.

The "cabinet" includes scholars, authors and former Democratic officials assembled by former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green in six weeks of frantic phoning, emailing and fundraising:

Members of Shadow Cabinet Show less

Kia Kokalitcheva
5 hrs ago

Featured

Hot in Silicon Valley: streamers win big at Oscars

Netflix and Amazon get Oscars: The streaming services nabbed Oscar wins on Sunday. Amazon scored two awards with Manchester by the Sea, and one for The Salesman, an Iranian movie it's distributing in the U.S. The White Helmets, which Netflix produced and distributed, also won an award. Their Oscar wins could mean we'll soon see growing investment from the companies into the silver screen as well.

Voice-activated assistants are going big: This weekend, Motorola and Amazon announced a partnership to eventually integrate the latter's digital assistant, Alexa, into most Motorola devices. Meanwhile, Google announced that its assistant, Google Assistant, will be available to the "hundreds of millions" of Android phones running the two latest versions of its software, Marshmallow and Nougat. Previously it was only available through the Google Pixel, Google Home, Allo, and Android Wear.

Axios in your Inbox

Today's Newsletters

Follow Axios

Facebook Twitter

Trump: "I haven't called Russia in 10 years"

Exclusive: Spicer arranged CIA, GOP intelligence push-back

The GOP's big problem: Lost health coverage

What you need to know about the right-wing movement consuming Europe

Comcast adds another streaming service to its X1 box

Why Anthem has so much clout in health care talks

Trump: "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated"

Trump's new budget plan: Cuts at EPA, $54B increase in defense

Spicer becomes the storm

George W. Bush on Russia: "we all need answers"

Warren Buffett on Trump, Apple and airplanes

London Stock Exchange says Deutsche Boerse merger is basically dead

The people behind the progressive "Shadow Cabinet"

Hot in Silicon Valley: streamers win big at Oscars

Trending

Axios in your Inbox

Today's Newsletters

Follow Axios