(cache) Bannon to associates: "I love a gunfight" - Axios
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Bannon to associates: "I love a gunfight"

Evan Vucci / AP

After a series of high-level White House leaks portraying Steve Bannon as fed up with his job and ready to quit, Trump's chief strategist has told associates the stories are "100 percent nonsense" and he's playing for keeps.

I love a gunfight — Bannon to associates in the past 24 hours.
Infighting ... words

Even for this leaky, rivalrous White House, the Bannon broadside was brutal. Numerous officials torched the senior adviser in media stories, did nothing to soften the Bannon-loses-power narrative and watched gleefully as Drudge and others trumpeted his fall. Truth is, the hatred between the two wings is intense and irreconcilable.

The two sides: The Bannonites believe the liberals staged a coup and will turn Trump into a conventional squish who betrays the very voters who brought him to power. The Jared wing thinks the Bannonites are clinically nuts.

Killing Bannon won't be easy: His staunchest ally is one of Trump's closest confidants — Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Kellyanne Conway will go to the mat for him, as will policy advisor Stephen Miller. He's also built strong relationships with other cabinet secretaries including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. In the end, though, family matters most and all but dad are done with Bannon and his politics.

Bannon's allies on the outside include, as Trump might say, some "bad hombres."

"Steve has developed strong and important relationships with some of the most powerful right-leaning business leaders," said a close Bannon ally outside of the White House. "I see some bad press in [Jared's] future."

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Normalizing Trump (or at least Trumpland)

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

Operation Normal — the steady, loud accumulation of power by Jared Kushner and his allies, at the expense of the more ideological force hardline ideologues, led by Steve Bannon — keeps winning.

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Bannon's demotion from the from National Security Council was covered as a demotion and therefore cost him juice. Drudge bannered: "BANNON LOSES POWER IN WHITE HOUSE SHAKEUP."

Bannon associates told Axios' Jonathan Swan that he was only on the NSC to "babysit" the now-ousted Mike Flynn, and never attended an NSC meeting.

The N.Y. Times reports that Bannon resisted the move, even threatening to resign. And Politico's Alex Isenstadt and Andrew Restuccia detail an escalating "civil war between Donald Trump loyalists and establishment-minded Republicans."

At the same time, the Jared/Ivanka/Cohn wing of the White House squirrels away territory in its push to take over Trumpland:

  • Jared Kushner seizes control over structuring government at home and America's public face aboard.
  • Ivanka Trump adviser Dina Powell is named Deputy National Security Adviser, and keeps her portfolio as senior counselor for economic initiatives.
  • The NSC is normal(ish) after Flynn is dumped and Bannon sidelined. The other Deputy National Security Adviser, K.T. McFarland, a former Reagan-administration official and Fox News analyst, has been offered ambassador to Singapore, per CNN — making Dina Powell the clear No. 2.
  • Economic adviser Gary Cohn's flexes muscle over tax reform, the coming monster on the agenda, at the expense of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

What all this means:

  • For all the talk of radical change, Trump is taking fairly conventional approaches to trade, health care, tax reform, China and foreign policy. Score this a big win for the Jared wing.
  • Sound smart: Bannon's friends worry he locked arms too tight with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and finds himself more isolated from Jared/Ivanka/Cohn - and therefore with the boss.
  • Sound even smarter: Trump himself remains very frustrated and not sure who to blame or who can truly help turn things around. Jared is filling the void as aggressively as Bannon did during the early days.
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Facebook's Yann LeCun: robots won't seek world domination

Rebecca Zisser / Axios

Axios caught up with Yann LeCun, head of Facebook's artificial intelligence lab, backstage at the Future Labs AI Summit to get his thoughts on how the technology he's spent a career advancing will affect the average American. LeCun says AI will make us all richer, but that society must regulate the technology through broad, public consensus.

Why he matters: LeCun is a giant in the field, whose contributions to AI have helped drive the technology behind self-driving cars. AI is increasingly found all across Facebook products like image recognition and the personalized News Feed, and could eventually help identify fake news and improve voice-controlled assistant technology. Last summer, Facebook told Fast Company that it had hired more than 150 AI experts, and has tripled its investment in the area of late. Check out the interview below:

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What does the Facebook AI Lab do?

The mission is to push the science of artificial intelligence forward, as well as coming up with useful and cool applications along the way.

What's an example of how Facebook uses artificial intelligence?

If you are visually impaired, and you're on Facebook on your smartphone, not only will the text be read to you, but every image you encounter, the system will vocally describe the image to you.

Also, what pieces of information all Facebook users are shown is being determined by your taste, and that includes being able to tell what the post talks about and what angle or attitude the post is taking.

What are your thoughts on effects of artificial intelligence on the economy and jobs?

There's no question that there's going to be a lot of beneficial effects of wide deployment of AI on the economy. You'll have safer cars, more personalized medicine—medical imaging will be revolutionized. It will save lives and increase overall wealth. The next question is: how is that wealth going to be distributed? When you have a rapid technological advance, you tend to see an increase in a concentration of wealth. AI is no different, it's just one contribution to accelerating technology, and so that question needs to be asked. A lot of politicians are refusing to recognize that this is a question to be addressed.

People don't want just a check from the government, they want a job and a sense of purpose. Do you worry that the median worker fifty years from now will have the aptitude to do jobs that need doing?

[AI and automation] will change the value we attribute to things. There will be more value attributed to create activities and intrapersonal relationships, and much less value attributed to material goods, because they will be created by machines.

Does that mean that we have to change the way the way we educate humans? A lot of people aren't really good at soft skills and intrapersonal communication, and it's not something we've had a ton of success teaching in school.

We're not asking people to go against their nature. It will actually be asking them to be more human. If you leverage people's intrapersonal skills and creativity, that's actually what really is human.

In the immediate future, what are the most exciting applications of artificial intelligence?

Healthcare will be one of the most important. It will begin in radiology and dermatology—there are prototype systems we have right now that work pretty well that can diagnose skin ailments, for example. The quality of healthcare will increase—we just have to figure out how make it widely accessible.

You said during your talk that we shouldn't worry about machines taking over the world, because that assumes that computers will have human failings, like greed or the tendency to become violent when threatened. But what about a scenario in which a hedge fund bot is programed to maximize returns, and it turns out the best way to do that is to buy a bunch of food before destroying the rest of the world's food supply. Such a machine would be fulfilling its purpose, but through evil, even if the person who programmed the machine didn't anticipate this reaction.

We have a lot of checks and balances built into society to prevent evil from having infinite power. Most companies are not either working for good or evil—they're just maximizing profits. But we have all sorts of rules and laws to prevent our economy from going haywire. It will be the same thing for AI. Learning to build AI systems that are safe—not because they're going to take over the world, but because you want them to work reliably—is going to take some time, similar to how long it took people to figure out how to build airplanes that don't crash.

There is a group that I helped found called Partnership for AI that's a forum for companies like Google and Facebook, and other groups like the ACLU, to discuss the best way to deploy AI systems in such a way that they are safe and unbiased. These are issues are so broadly important that they must be discussed in public.

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Ivanka quietly met with the president of Planned Parenthood

Andrew Harnik / AP

Ivanka Trump quietly reached out to the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, following her father's inauguration, and requested a sit-down meeting with her, reports Politico. Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, revealed the details of the meeting:

"The purpose of the meeting, from Cecile's point of view, was to make sure that Ivanka fully understood what Planned Parenthood does... [Richards] was explaining that the money doesn't actually go to abortions — we get reimbursed the same way a hospital does. We were clearing up misinformation about how this works."

Why it matters: While it's unclear how receptive Ivanka was to the meeting, it's known that she has influence over her father, and her willingness to try to find common ground with the organization that Republicans' want to defund could have an impact on the Trump administration's views.

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Women VCs don't fare better at smaller firms

Earlier this week we detailed the pathetic paucity of women decision-makers at U.S. venture capital firm, which stands at just 7%. That data was calculated by examining hundreds of VC firms that had raised funds of at least $100 million over the past five years, prompting many readers to suggest that we also take a look at smaller funds. Apparently there is an anecdote-fueled theory that women decision-makers would be more prevalent at <$100 million funds.

So we looked. And the numbers are virtually identical.

PitchBook sent us over a list of 168 U.S.-based VC firms that raised funds sized at between $15 million and $99 million between 2012 and 2016 (it actually sent us a few more, but we removed any dupes with the prior list). Then we went to the firm websites, sometimes using SEC filings for supplemental information. The percentage of female decision-makers within that sample worked out to just 6.89%.

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Aetna pulling out of Iowa Obamacare exchange

AP file photo

Aetna announced this morning that it's not going to sell health insurance in the Iowa Obamacare marketplace next year — just days after Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the state's dominant insurer, said it was pulling out. In a statement, Aetna spokesman T.J. Crawford said the insurer is withdrawing because of "financial risk and an uncertain outlook for the marketplace." He said Aetna is still deciding whether to participate in other states.

Why it matters: It's just one state, but the withdrawal of two major insurers in the same week could be a sign of an Obamacare meltdown there — and a bad sign for other states where insurers are on the fence. The decision leaves at least two other insurers in the Iowa Obamacare marketplace — Medica and Gundersen Health Plan, per the Gazette.

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Why we sleep less as we age

We sleep less as we get older. But why?

In a new study, researchers say it's because receptors in our brains that receive a sleepiness signal change and decline with age. It's up for debate whether we simply require less sleep later in life or we can't generate the sleep that we need, but the evidence points toward us not being able to get the sleep necessary to re-charge our bodies.

Why it matters: Lack of sleep may not be a consequence of growing older but a factor that contributes to aging, the study's author told Popular Science. Knowing that new framework could lead to better sleeping aids and underscores the need to sleep, despite what your brain might be telling you. A lack of proper sleep also increases the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Everyone needs a good night's rest – whether you think so or not.

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Nunes ethics investigation triggered by internal concerns

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

Shortly after Devin Nunes stepped aside from the Intel Committee's Russia probe, the House Ethics Committee announced that it would be investigating allegations that he "may have made unauthorized disclosures of classified information."

What this means: The Ethics Committee's internal concerns were serious enough that the truly bipartisan committee — it sits an equal number of Republicans and Democrats — determined that an investigation was warranted.

What the concerns might be: The Daily Beast's Nunes whisperer Tim Mak has a roundup: James Comey said during a House Intel hearing last month, "All FISA applications reviewed by the court and collection by us pursuant to our FISA authority is classified." So all of the "incidental collection" involving the Trump team that Nunes made the centerpiece of his impromptu March 22 press conference at the White House is still classified, even if it has been publicly reported.

And don't forget: None of this jives with Nunes' own statement announcing his recusal, which blamed the decision on "several leftwing activist groups" that he alleged "filed accusations against [him] with the Office of Congressional Ethics."

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52 companies pull ads from The O'Reilly Factor

Richard Drew / AP

52 companies have announced that they are pulling ads from "The O'Reilly Factor" after multiple women have accused Bill O'Reilly of sexual harassment, and the list is continuing to grow.

Paul Rittenberg, EVP of ad sales at Fox News, released this statement Tuesday night:

"We value our partners and are working with them to address their current concerns about the O'Reilly Factor. At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been re-expressed into other FNC programs."

Read highlights from the company statements below:

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Hyundai statement: "Hyundai currently has no advertising running on The O'Reilly Factor. We had upcoming advertising spots on the show but are reallocating them due to the recent and disturbing allegations...."

Mercedes-Benz: "We had advertising running on The O'Reilly Factor (we run on most major cable news shows) and it has been reassigned in the midst of this controversy. The allegations are disturbing and, given the importance of women in every aspect of our business, we don't feel this is a good environment in which to advertise our products right now."

BMW: "In light of the recent New York Times investigation, BMW of North America has suspended its advertising with "The O'Reilly Factor," the BMW spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Mitsubishi: "Mitsubishi Motors takes these allegations very seriously and we have decided that we will pull our advertising at the present time. We will continue to monitor this situation as we assess our long-term strategy."

Lexus: After saying it would "monitor the situation" the Japanese automaker decided to pull its ads.

Subaru: The company said on Twitter "Thank you for your comment... After review, we will no longer advertise during the Bill O'Reilly show in the future."

Ainsworth Pet Nutrition: The parent company of the Rachael Ray-endorsed dog food brand Nutrish, said it "removed our advertising from the program because of these recent and disturbing allegations."

Constant Contact: "Based on the recent allegations and our strong commitment to inclusion, respect and tolerance in the workplace, we have decided to pull Constant Contact's ads from The O'Reilly Factor," the spokeswoman of the digital marketing company said.

UNTUCKit: The men's clothing line said "As a company in which more than 2/3rd of our employees are women, we take sexual harassment claims very seriously. Moreover, it is important our corporate partners reflect the same principles of inclusivity and equality upon which we have built our brand. In light of the disturbing allegations, we instructed our media buyer this morning to reallocate our ad dollars to other shows effective immediately."

Sanofi: The consumer healthcare company said "The controversy around The O'Reilly Factor program and allegations made against Bill O'Reilly are matters that we take seriously and will continue to monitor. We do not endorse the behavior or opinions of program hosts or the content."

GlaxoSmithKline: The Pharmaceutical maker said "We have temporarily put a hold on spots running on The O'Reilly Factor while we assess this situation."

Bayer: The German pharma company said, it "supports a safe, respectful and non-abusive environment for women and we have reached out to Fox to voice our concerns regarding this matter."

AllState: The insurance company said "Inclusivity and support for women are important Allstate values."

Esurance: The auto insurer, which is owned by Allstate, has pulled ads.

T. Rowe Price: "We regularly evaluate our media buys to ensure alignment with our corporate values, and in light of the recent allegations we have decided to pull our upcoming ads from The O'Reilly Factor," the global financial firm said.

Wayfair: The online home goods seller said, "we condemn all forms of harassment are closely assessing the situation."

Orkin: "Orkin buys its advertising in broad dayparts on networks that reach our target audience. We do not buy specific shows, including the O'Reilly Factor... we have added that show to our 'Do Not Buy' list in the wake of the current allegations."

Credit Karma: The company said it "will not be advertising" on the program and that it's "asked for our ads to be removed."

The Wonderful Company: The makers of POM juice, said it does not "currently have or plan for ad inventory on this show."

TrueCar: The car-buying website told announced on Twitter it had instructed its media buyer "to direct our advertising to other programming."

The Society for Human Resource Management: The organization said on Twitter that it had decided to "cease its advertising on the Fox News Network."

Coldwell Banker: The real-estate firm said Tuesday night that it was "disappointed" its ad aired during the "O'Reilly Factor," and that "it wasn't part of our intentional media programming." It also said that it would pull future ads from the show.

MileIQ: The tech company said they are taking the matter "very seriously," and that some pre-booked ads might appear on O'Reilly's program as they wait for the cancellation to take effect.

Voya Financial: The company said on Twitter "We have no spots scheduled to run on the O'Reilly Factor... We're committed to diversity, inclusion and equality – and respect for all individuals."

Ancestry.com: The company said on Twitter "We're in the process of pulling our ads from this show."

H&R Block: The company said on Twitter "We share your concern about recent allegations, and no longer advertise during The O'Reilly Factor as a result."

Amica Insurance: The company said on Twitter "Our ads on The O'Reilly Factor are being pulled. It may take a few days for this to occur."

Jenny Craig: The weight loss company said on Twitter "Jenny Craig condemns any and all forms of sexual harassment... We can confirm that we have suspended all ads on The O'Reilly Factor."

VisionWorks: "Once we learned about the allegations, we pulled our ads from the program."

LegalZoom: The company said on Twitter "We value your feedback. This was not part of our intentional media programming and we have pulled all ads from this show."

Pacific Life: The company said on Twitter "As of today, Pacific Life is no longer an advertiser on The O'Reilly Factor."

Old Dominion Freight Line: The transport company said on Twitter: "In light of the recent allegations surrounding the Bill O'Reilly show, OD has decided to discontinue our commercials."

Advil: The company said on Twitter "We are no longer advertising on the Bill O'Reilly show."

Invisalign: The dental company said on Twitter "We appreciate u raising awareness & will discontinue airing ads during this program."

Stanley Steemer: The carpet cleaner said on Twitter "We are in the process of removing our commercials from 'The O'Reilly Factor'. Thank you, for bringing this to our attention."

Carfax: "The ongoing controversy over The O'Reilly Factor is a distraction from our mission to help millions of consumers. Therefore, we have instructed Fox News to remove our advertising from the program."

GoodRx: The company said on Twitter "After review, GoodRx will no longer advertise on The O'Reilly Factor. We are in the process of removing our ads."

Eli Lilly: Eli Lilly alerted of its move to suspend its advertising on The O'Reilly Factor via email.

Touchnote: "We requested that our commercials won't run on the show. Sadly pre-booked spots may still air."

BambooHR: "BambooHR condemns workplace harassment, and in light of recent allegations, has canceled ads on The O'Reilly Factor."

WeatherTech: The company said on Twitter "We are already working on adjusting our advertising schedule and we appreciate your feedback."

Propane Council: The energy company said "We have pulled our advertising from The O'Reilly Factor, effective immediately."

AllStar Products Group: "It was a corporate decision for Allstar Products Group to pull the media."

Reddi Wip: "We've received some questions about our advertising presence on the O'Reilly Factor. We are removing the show from our advertising plans."

Southern New Hampshire University: "In light of recent allegations, SNHU has pulled all advertising from The O'Reilly Factor. As a University, we value diversity, inclusion, and respect for all, and we take every measure to ensure our advertising is consistent with our core values."

BeenVerified: "At this time, we're pulling our advertisements on The O'Reilly Factor. We continually monitor our advertising to make sure it aligns with our company values."

Consumer Cellular: "We can confirm that Consumer Cellular has removed our advertising from 'The O'Reilly Factor' show."

Peloton: The cycle company stated "Peloton has currently suspended advertising on The O'Reilly Factor in light of the recent allegations against the show's host, which are in direct opposition to our company's core values."

Infiniti: "INFINITI has chosen to reallocate our resources to other time slots due to recent allegations."

Land Rover: "In light of the current situation, The O'Reilly Factor is not a positive environment for advertising our products and thus we are not allocating any ads to the program."

Next Day Blinds: "Our ads have been pulled from 'The O'Reilly Factor.'"

Mahindra: The car company said on Twitter "Mahindra has ceased all advertising on the O'Reilly Factor.

This post is updating with the latest statements. The original post was published on April 4 at 7:20a.m.

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Merkel backs German law to stop fake news

Markus Schreiber / AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vocalized support for legislation that, if passed, would fine content distributors like Facebook and Twitter up to $53 million if they failed to quickly remove hate speech and fake news from their platforms. The measure has been approved by Merkel's cabinet, increasing the likelihood it gets approved by the German Parliament, per The Washington Post.

Why it matters: The bill is facing blowback by those who feel it impedes on free speech. Facebook, which is a lead target of the bill, said it's been actively taking steps to weed out fake news from its network and is "determined to work with others to solve this problem."

Timing: Merkel's support of the crackdown comes amid mounting concern about the political influence fake news and hate speech could have on Germany's federal election in September, where Merkel is squaring off against a strong populist and anti-immigration movement.

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Ryan's Trumpcare message: it's not dead, it's just resting.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

House Republicans are trying really hard to show movement toward a Trumpcare deal, and prove that it's still alive. House Speaker Paul Ryan brought a few dozen Republicans to his weekly press conference this morning to talk up their latest brainstorm: They'll add a $15 billion "risk-sharing" fund to help reimburse health insurers for high-cost patients.

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What it does: Republicans say the provision could lower premiums and help take care of sick people. Rep. Gary Palmer, one of the authors, said it's based on a risk-sharing program in Maine. Ryan called the idea "real progress" and said it "brings us closer to the final agreement that we all want to achieve."

What it doesn't do: It doesn't solve the most fundamental disagreement between the Freedom Caucus and the rest of the Republicans: whether to get rid of the Obamacare rules that require insurers to cover sick people and prevent the insurers from charging them higher premiums. (Missing from the press conference: Freedom Caucus leaders.) Ryan said they're still "trying to build consensus" on other ideas.

Why they're doing it: It's all about showing momentum, or at least movement. From House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's email this morning to House Republicans:

I realize how important it is to keep up momentum so be assured that conversations will continue and we will keep in contact with you throughout the district work period. Should we be prepared to advance our bill through the House in the coming two weeks, we will advise Members immediately and give you sufficient time to return to Washington.
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Trump already eyeing next SCOTUS vacancy

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

The Trump administration is already strategizing for the next Supreme Court vacancy by doing its best to relax 80-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom the White House views as the likeliest justice to retire next, per Politico. Trump has two connections to Kennedy that could help his plan:

  • Connection #1: Trump's kids. Donald Trump Jr. is a pal of Kennedy's son, Gregory. Trump was overheard telling Kennedy at his speech to a joint session of Congress, "[My kids] love [your son], and they love him in New York."
  • Connection #2: An army of Kennedy's former clerks at the Supreme Court. The administration is doing its best to mine the group for any retirement chatter. The biggest weapon: Trump's current Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, a former Kennedy clerk himself.
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Nunes off Russian investigation

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes will temporarily step aside from the committee's investigation into Russian interference in the November presidential election, as well as Trump's campaign associates' ties to Moscow. The Ethics Committee announced its looking at whether Nunes "made unauthorized disclosures of classified information." Paul Ryan's statement today:

"It is clear that this process would be a distraction for the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russian interference in our election. Chairman Nunes has decided to step aside as the lead Republican on this probe, and I fully support this decision."

The probe will now be led by Reps. Michael Conaway, Trey Gowdy, and Tom Rooney.

Read the timeline on Devin Nunes and Trump's surveillance claims.

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