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| Presented By Google |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·Mar 14, 2021 |
| 🥧 Good Sunday morning. It's Pi Day — 3.14. Smart Brevity™ count: 923 words ... < 4 minutes. ⚡ Breaking: Dr. Anthony Fauci told Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union" that the CDC is aware of accumulating data that suggest 3 feet of social distance "are OK under certain circumstances." |
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| 1 big thing: Biden's conspicuous silence |
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| Graphic: CNN |
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| Based on everything we know about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's psyche, it's impossible to imagine him resigning unless he knows he has no way out. The only Democratic figure who could plausibly persuade Cuomo to resign is President Biden, Axios' Jonathan Swan reports. - Unlike many of his other Democratic critics, Cuomo respects and likes Biden. The two men have had good relations — during the transition, there was even (far-fetched) talk that the governor would be considered as Biden's attorney general.
If Biden called for Cuomo to resign, it would mean infinitely more than Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's statement on Friday. Schumer and Cuomo have years of bad blood — and the governor would never take marching orders from the Senate majority leader. - A smart piece last year by the N.Y. Times' Alex Burns explains the long history between Biden and the Cuomos, father and son.
- That helps explain why calling for Cuomo's resignation would be so uncomfortable for Biden.
Biden has sat it out — silent, even as pressure builds for him to speak out as more and more elected Democrats call for Cuomo to step down. Jonathan Swan reports that as of yesterday, Biden had not discussed the scandal with Cuomo. - On Friday, the White House reiterated support for the investigation by New York attorney general Tish James. But with constant new facts, there's a continuing conversation about how to respond.
The bottom line: Biden's silence on Cuomo is increasingly conspicuous. As the harassment allegations accumulate, this position already seems unsustainable. |
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| 2. Cuomo's Trump card |
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| Cuomo on the grounds of the Executive Mansion in Albany on Friday. Photo: Angus Mordant/Reuters |
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| Sound familiar? A cascade of completely believable allegations. Defiant denial; refusal to resign. Members of the politician's party seethe with grudges but are reluctant to condemn him, until there's a tipping point. - New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's bravado had echoes of Donald Trump as the harassment scandal gathered all week.
- Then the pièce de résistance. On Friday, Cuomo again denied the women's allegations, adding a Trumpian twist: "People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth."
Cuomo also tried to invoke a vague conspiracy: "I did not do what has been alleged, period. I won't speculate about people's motives. But I can tell you — as a former [state] attorney general who's gone through this situation, many times — there are often many motivations for making an allegation." - And the governor was obsessed with ratings during the height of his COVID briefings, the N.Y. Times' Shane Goldmacher reports: "He would sometimes quiz aides as soon as he ended a broadcast about which networks carried him live and exactly when they cut away — data they were expected to have at their fingertips."
Between the lines: Democrats scoffed at the "cancel culture" excuse, but several insisted to me that there's no comparison in the way the two parties have handled the two leaders. - Cuomo has said he's sorry (if anyone felt uncomfortable), and most party officeholders — including the U.S. Senate majority leader — said he should resign.
- "Doesn't mean that people ... aren't hypocrites," a top Democratic strategist told me. "But the Republicans never went after Trump the way the Dems are going after Andrew."
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| 3. COVID spurred media glut |
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| Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Star Tribune via Getty Images |
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| COVID put the news cycle on overdrive and propelled a massive shift to digital media — forcing consumers to sort through more news and information than ever, Axios Media Trends expert Sara Fischer writes. - Why it matters: Americans leaned deeper into partisan echo chambers, further polarizing the nation.
The gap between Democrats' and Republicans' trust in mass media reached an all-time high by the end of 2020, and their media diets continued to diverge. |
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| A message from Google |
| A path to in-demand jobs in under six months |
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| Through programs like Google Career Certificates and Google.org grantee programs, nearly 170,000 Americans have been placed into new jobs. Now, Google has launched four new Career Certificates in project management, data analytics, UX design, and Android development. Learn more. |
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| 4. Saying her name |
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| Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath/Axios |
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| Hundreds of demonstrators marched yesterday in Louisville on the anniversary of the police killing of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman. - An outdoor memorial includes a mural, posters, artwork and other mementos honoring Taylor's life. Some organizers gave away food during the speeches. —AP
See more photos by Axios' Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath. |
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| 5. Black Lives Matter helps Native Americans and Latinos |
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| Native Americans speak during a protest in memory of George Floyd on March 8, as jury selection began in the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin. Photo: Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images |
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| The racial reckoning generated by the killing of George Floyd helped Native Americans and Latinos bring attention to their fight against systemic racism, Axios race and justice reporter Russell Contreras writes. - Why it matters: Native Americans say the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement helped push sports teams to change their names and logos. Latino activists say it also drew attention to their own long-ignored experiences with police abuse.
Keep reading. |
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| 6. Why "The Quad" matters |
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| Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images |
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| Above, President Biden and SecState Tony Blinken meet virtually Friday with the other leaders of "The Quad" — an alliance of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. that aims at being a counterweight to China, which the administration calls "the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century." - Why it matters: In the first two months, the Biden team held a foreign ministerial Quad and now the first head of state Quad. That seizes momentum from the Trump administration, which saw the Quad as the 21st century's most consequential diplomatic arrangement.
🗞️ Biden has an op-ed in today's WashPost with the other three Quad leaders — India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga — with the headline, "Our four nations are committed to a free Indo-Pacific region." |
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| 7. 🏀 It's Selection Sunday |
| Courtesy N.Y. Post "Patrick Ewing became the first person to win the Big East championship as both a player and a coach in Georgetown's 73–48 win over Creighton" —Sports Illustrated Bracket "Selection Show" begins 6 p.m. ET. Streams here free. |
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| 8. 1 fun thing: Chicago surprise |
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| Photo: Abel Uribe /Chicago Tribune via AP |
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| Crews on boats dump green dye into the Chicago River after Mayor Lori Lightfoot reversed her earlier cancellation of the St. Pat's tradition. - "In a remarkable attempt to give Chicagoans a bit of mid-March normalcy, while also trying to avoid the kind of large public gathering she's still discouraging during the COVID-19 pandemic," the Chicago Tribune reports, "Lightfoot sanctioned the famous river dyeing to proceed ... without confirming the exact time, marveling passing revelers, dog walkers and joggers alike."
Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images |
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| A message from Google |
| Google Career Certificates scholarships for 30k job seekers |
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| Google and the National Association of Workforce Boards are providing scholarships for 30,000 people to access the Google Career Certificate program. In addition to IT support, new certificates are available in the fields of project management, data analytics, and UX design. Learn more. |
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| 📬 Thanks for sharing your weekend with us. Please invite your friends to sign up for Axios AM/PM. |
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