| | | | New tonight: CNN contributor Ryan Lizza scoops: President Trump and his White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci are having dinner with Fox News host Sean Hannity and former Fox News executive Bill Shine.
But wait, there's more: A White House source tells me Fox News co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle, long rumored to be under consideration for a White House post, is also at the dinner.
Welcome to Reliable Sources. This is Dylan Byers in for Brian Stelter... | | New Normal: Twitter Orders | | "Overheard at the Pentagon: 'We're taking orders via Twitter now?'" -- BuzzFeed senior national security correspondent Nancy Youssef
President Trump has already demonstrated the power of Twitter -- to influence the narrative, to antagonize his critics, to share his innermost thoughts. Now, Trump is using Twitter to direct policy changes.
In three tweets on Wednesday morning, Trump announced that transgender people cannot "serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military." The surprise announcement shocked military leaders and sowed confusion at the Pentagon.
"Typically, when you have an announcement of this magnitude, all of that work has been done at the procedural level between the bureaucracy of the Pentagon and the White House," CBS's Major Garrett said at Wednesday's White House press briefing. "Why wasn't any of that work done? And why was the Pentagon caught so surprised this morning by the President's tweets on it?"
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders couldn't answer any questions about the substance of the policy -- including what's going to happen to transgender people who are in the military now -- because the substance hasn't been worked out yet.
"The implementation policy is going to be something that the White House and the Department of Defense have to work together to lawfully determine," Sanders told reporters. "I would imagine that the Department of Defense will be the lead on that and keep you posted as that takes place."
The Defense Dept.: "We will continue to work closely with the White House to address the new guidance provided by the Commander-in-Chief on transgender individuals serving the military." | | Get this: Because of the way the tweets were spaced out, military personnel spent nine minutes guessing what the president's new order would be...
Tweet #1, 8:55 a.m. ET: "After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......"
Tweet #2, 9:04 a.m. ET: "....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming....."
"Only after the second tweet did military officials receive the news the president was announcing a personnel change on Twitter," per BuzzFeed.
Tweet #3, 9:08 a.m. ET: "....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you"
The backstory via Politico: "Trump's sudden decision was, in part, a last-ditch attempt to save a House proposal full of his campaign promises that was on the verge of defeat....
"House Republicans were planning to pass a spending bill stacked with his campaign promises, including money to build his border wall with Mexico.... But an internal fight over transgender troops was threatening to blow up the bill. And House GOP insiders feared they might not have the votes to pass the legislation because defense hawks wanted a ban on Pentagon-funded sex reassignment operations — something GOP leaders wouldn't give them.
"They turned to Trump, who didn't hesitate. In the flash of a tweet, he announced that transgender troops would be banned altogether." | | Once again, Silicon Valley is taking the lead as the opposition force to Trump's conservative social policies...
CNN's Jackie Wattles: "Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on the social network site he created, saying 'everyone should be able to serve their country -- no matter who they are.' ... Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of Twitter and Square, said 'discrimination in any form is wrong for all of us,' and added the hashtag '#LetThemServe.' ... Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also expressed their disapproval on Twitter."
Axios's Ina Fried: "Tech companies have emerged as a leading voice in support of LGBT rights at the local, state and federal levels." | | The confusion over the transgender directive is not necessarily a bad thing for the White House. Administration officials are happy to see the transgender issue eating up so much air time, because it turns the military into a political wedge and hardens his base's antagonism toward liberals and the media. It also deflects attention away from other controversies, including the drama with AG Jeff Sessions.
Time Magazine's @ZekeJMiller: "FWIW, White House official tells me admin is thrilled media is focusing on transgender service member issue." | | Trump vs. Sessions, cont. | | CNN's Kevin Liptak: "The one-sided feud between President Trump and his attorney general persisted Wednesday, even as a battered Jeff Sessions trudged ahead with his Justice Department duties...
"Less than an hour after Sessions was deposited at the White House by a black SUV for routine meetings in the West Wing, Trump proclaimed from another corner of the same building that his displeasure in his attorney general hasn't waned."
The Tweet: "Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation but got big dollars ($700,000) for his wife's political run from Hillary Clinton and her representatives. Drain the Swamp!"
Liptak $$$ quote: "Even as Sessions was attending a so-called 'principals small group meeting' in the West Wing on Wednesday, Trump -- who remained in his private residence -- declined to confront his attorney general face-to-face. Some of Trump's aides have encouraged the President to speak with Sessions directly, rather than angrily lambast him over Twitter, but that advice appeared to go unheeded Wednesday morning." | | Maybe Trump fears confrontation? | | CNN's Dan Merica: "During his 14 seasons as the force behind NBC's 'The Apprentice,' the phrase 'You're fired' became synonymous with Donald Trump, who cast himself as direct and combative in the make-believe board room...
"But deep down, Trump is a people-pleaser, his former employees and friends say, someone who abhors direct confrontation and would rather be well-liked by all, even if that means giving his aides power to ax people." | | | Before taking questions at Wednesday's White House press briefing, Huckabee Sanders announced that she was going to read a letter from a nine-year-old. "To remind us a little bit more often about some of the forgotten men, women, and children that we're here to serve and that the President is fighting for, we're going to start the White House briefing every once in a while with a letter or an email that we may receive from some of those individuals. To kick it off with that process, I'd like to read you a letter from nine-year-old Dylan..."
As you read the transcript, keep in mind that Huckabee Sanders told reporters at the end of the briefing that she had to "cut it short" because she'd run out of time...
Sanders: "My name is Dylan Harbin, but everybody calls me Pickle. I'm nine years old, and you're my favorite President. I like you so much that I had a birthday about you. My cake was the shape of your hat....' "And then Dylan goes on to ask a few questions: 'How old are you?' Dylan, President Trump is 71 years old. 'How big is the White House?' The White House is 168 feet long, it's 70 feet tall on the south side, and 60 feet, four inches tall on the north, and it takes 300 gallons of white paint to cover the exterior of the White House residence. It has 132 rooms and approximately 55,000 square feet. 'How much money do you have?' Dylan, I'm not sure, but I know it's a lot.
"'I don't know why people don't like you.' Me either, Dylan. 'You seem really nice. Can we be friends?' I'm happy to say that I directly spoke to the President, Dylan, and he would be more than happy to be your friend. 'My picture is in here. So, if you can, see me and say hello.' Dylan, I hope you're watching, because the President wanted me to personally tell you hello. 'Your friend, Dylan.'"
Hey media, ever feel like you're being trolled? | | Page Six says Sean Spicer "spent the day in New York City in talks with major broadcasters" -- including ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox News -- "about a new career in TV where he can share his insider knowledge of President Trump."
Now the fun part: He's also being courted by "Dancing With The Stars."
It's true: A source with knowledge of the matter says DWTS is interested in having Spicer compete on the show. There haven't been formal conversations yet, but DWTS has made its interest known -- though they won't comment on it.
Will it happen? Probably not. But Spicer may not deny it, either. He's in the money-making business now, and that means the more public interest there is in him right now, the better.
| | Discovery in lead for Scripps | | | Reuters exclu: "U.S. media company Discovery Communications Inc is in the lead to acquire U.S. cable TV network owner Scripps Network Interactive Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. "Discovery has entered into exclusive talks with Scripps after prevailing over a rival offer from Viacom Inc, another U.S. media company, one of the sources said. ... While a deal could come as early as next week, negotiations are ongoing and no agreement is certain, the sources added." | | Recode's Tony Romm: "A coming hearing in the U.S. Congress on net neutrality has left the likes of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Netflix in a tough position: They can either subject their chief executives to a potential grilling — or sit it out and take plenty of political heat...
"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has never appeared before Congress, nor has Jeff Bezos, the leader of Amazon; Reed Hastings, the chief of Netflix; or Larry Page, the CEO of Google's parent company, Alphabet....
"If they decline to appear, they might send a poor political signal — to supporters and opponents alike — at a time when the Trump administration is preparing to scrap the U.S. government's current net neutrality rules." | | | Forbes: "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is inching ever closer to becoming the richest person in the world... Bezos' net worth increased $1 billion to $89.3 billion on Wednesday, putting him less than $900 million away from surpassing Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates to become the richest person in the world... "If Amazon stock rises more than 1% on Thursday or in after hours trading, Bezos could unseat Gates, who has been the world's richest person on Forbes' annual Billionaires List for 18 of the past 23 years." | | -- Apple supplier Foxconn says it will build big Wisconsin factory: The firm will invest $10 billion in Wisconsin and create 13,000 new jobs, according to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. (CNNMoney)
-- Twitter adds updates about links, trends and accounts: The feature aims to clue you into what people you follow are up to -- including trends, buzzing news articles and new follows (TechCrunch)
-- Washington Post Team Tackles New Territory: The Washington Post's legal team last year successfully handled challenges from executing licensing deals to bringing an imprisoned journalist home. (National Law Journal)
-- Should the New York Times kill its print product?: A Breakingviews analysis suggests that killing the costly paper product altogether would be radical -- but not absurd. (Breakingviews) | | An important piece from Quartz: "Over the weekend the New York Times profiled Bozoma Saint John, a former Apple executive who Uber hired in June as its first-ever chief brand officer. ...
"Here are some things you will learn: Bozoma Saint John... likes to Instagram photos in her bikini with her fellow 'baddies.' ... She takes selfies with her daughter.... wears 'statement-making ensembles' and has a hard-to-pronounce name. She was captain of her high school cheerleading squad, befriended 'influencers' at nightclubs, and is, generally speaking, cool....
"Here are some things you will not learn: What Saint John will do at Uber; what she did at Apple (there is one paragraph describing her time at Apple); what her role is in Uber's search for a new chief executive, following Travis Kalanick's resignation; what she thinks of Uber's record on diversity; what she thinks of Uber's hard-charging culture; or how she plans to humanize Uber's brand. These are big, important questions, but they are not answered, or even explored."
| | | That's the question posed by Nieman Journalism Lab fellow Katherine Goldstein, who says that "if news organizations want to attract and retain millennial journalists, newsrooms must better meet the needs of parents with young children—and create better work-life balance for everyone." | | - Ann Curry returns to television: The former 'Today' co-host will host a new PBS series next year called "We'll Meet Again, which features reunions between people who have been affected by real-life events. (Variety)
- Retiring from The San Francisco Chronicle, at 98: David Perlman was born in 1918. Now, the 98-year-old science editor is retiring from The San Francisco Chronicle after nearly seven decades at the newspaper. (Poynter)
- No one sidesteps a question like Anthony Scaramucci: In addition to his showy approach to dodging questions and stating his beloved principles, Scaramucci is now showing a flair for real-time color commentary. (Wemple)
- The Times of London finds value in the Comments section: The News UK title found that those who comment, which amount to about 4 percent of its subscribers, read three times as many articles as those who don't comment. (Digiday) | | | Three news items from HBO following Wednesday's presentation from programming president Casey Bloys to the Television Critics Association... | | Jon Stewart returning to stand-up | | Jon Stewart is about to release his first stand-up comedy special in 21 years.
"The former host of Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show' will appear in two upcoming specials. The network did not say when the specials will air. The last time Stewart took his jokes to a stand-up mic was in 1996 for HBO's 'Jon Stewart: Unleavened.'" (CNNMoney) | | 'Confederate' is 'risk worth taking' | | Bloys addressed the harsh backlash to "Confederate," the new series from the "Game of Thrones" creators about an alternate reality in which the South has seceded from the Union and slavery still exists.
"The bet for us is on our talent. We have a long history at HBO of betting on our talent, and we're going to stand behind them … These four writers are at the top of their game. They could do anything they want. But this is what they feel passionately about, so I'm going to bet on that." (The Wrap) | | 'True Detective' 3 casting update | | | "True Detective" Season 3 is getting closer to becoming a reality. ... Bloys confirmed earlier reports that "Moonlight" star Mahershala Ali has been signed to star in the third installment, and the network is currently searching for a director to oversee the season. ... "When we find a director we want to hire, we'll be a go with that," he said. (CNNMoney) | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Email us... we're at reliablesources@cnn.com... we appreciate every email. | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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