| | | | | | | Presented By Walmart | | | | Axios AM | | By Mike Allen · Dec 22, 2022 | | Happy Thursday! Smart Brevity™ count: 1,487 words ... 5½ minutes. Edited by Noah Bressner. 🇨🇭 Axios House is packing for the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next month. Want to attend our events? Request an invite. | | | | | | 1 big thing: Ukraine's long game | | Volodymyr Zelensky presents Vice President Harris and Speaker Pelosi with a flag signed by troops in Bakhmut, in the contested eastern Donetsk province. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly made it clear during his 10-hour visit to Washington that he's in this fight for the long haul, with Washington as a vital partner if Ukraine is going to defeat — or survive — Russia. - "Your money is not charity," he said, drawing repeated, bipartisan standing ovations as he addressed a remarkable joint session of Congress in his trademark olive-drab sweater and cargo pants.
- "It's an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way."
Why it matters: Zelensky, 44, worked to connect personally with Americans, who have backed Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance. The Ukrainian president mentioned "Christmas" half a dozen times. - He compared "our war for independence and for freedom" to past threats to the free world, including the Battles of Saratoga in the Revolutionary War and the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.
Zelensky invoked "the brave American soldiers which held their lines and fought back Hitler's forces during the Christmas of 1944. Brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to Putin's forces this Christmas." - He drew applause when he said: "The Russians will stand a chance to be free only when they defeat the Kremlin in their minds. Yet, the battle continues and we have to defeat the Kremlin on the battlefield."
Volodymyr Zelensky addresses Congress. Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters 🥊 Reality check: After the speech, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy repeated his previous position that he supports Ukraine "but I never support a blank check." Before Zelensky traveled to Capitol Hill, he held a joint news conference with President Biden in the East Room. - Biden opened by saying: "[T]he United States is committed to ensuring that the brave Ukrainian people can ... continue to defend their country against Russian aggression as long as it takes."
- "Thank you for being here, Mr. President," Biden said. "We're going to stand with you."
Zelensky's exit line from the House chamber: "May God forever bless the United States of America. Merry Christmas and happy, victorious New Year." |     | | | | | | 2. 🎙️ 81-year split screen | | Photos: AP, Jim Watson/Getty Images "Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender," Volodymyr Zelensky said last night. - It was an echo of the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, another leader who addressed a joint session of Congress while at war.
- You see Churchill above, speaking in the Senate chamber on Dec. 26, 1941 — 19 days after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
Go deeper on Churchill's address. | | | | | | | | 3. 🔎 Cloak and dagger | | President Biden welcomes Volodymyr Zelensky to the Oval Office yesterday. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP Volodymyr Zelensky's surprise visit to Washington — his first overseas trip in the 300 days after Russia invaded his country — started with a secretive train ride to Poland late Tuesday, Reuters reports. - The Ukrainian president crossed into Poland early yesterday, according to Poland's private broadcaster, TVN24. He arrived at a train station in Przemysl — a border town and the arrival point for many refugees fleeing the war, AP reports.
Accompanied by the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, Zelensky was transported in a U.S. Embassy vehicle to an airport in Rzeszów, Poland. He boarded a nonstop flight that landed at Joint Base Andrews, 12 miles southeast of D.C., at noon ET yesterday. - Zelensky rode aboard a U.S. Air Force jet — a government plane typically used for Cabinet secretaries and other dignitaries.
Once he landed, Secret Service protection kicked in — as is typical for visiting heads of state. - He traveled by motorcade to Blair House, the presidential guest house.
- After freshening up, he crossed Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, where he was greeted by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
The trip came together over the past two weeks after Biden and Zelensky discussed a visit on a Dec. 11 phone call. - The idea goes back months. During an October summit in Zagreb, Croatia, Speaker Pelosi discussed with her counterpart in the Ukrainian parliament the prospect of Zelensky addressing Congress.
Reuters tick-tock ... AP tick-tock. | | | | | | | | A message from Walmart | | Walmart helps save families up to 75% on insulin | | |  | | | | Since June 2021, families across America have saved more than $15 million on insulin. Thanks to Walmart's low-cost private brand, shoppers can save up to 75% off the cash price of branded insulin. Learn more about how Walmart helps families live better. | | | | | | 4. 🎤 Axios interview: "Crypto isn't going anywhere" |  | | | Photo Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Getty | | | | Axios' Dan Primack spoke with Brian Armstrong — co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. — as the industry writhes under the weight of rival FTX's collapse. Edited excerpts: Is the crypto industry in an existential crisis? - "No, not existential. It basically has a black eye, because it's attracted its unfair share of scammer[s] and fraudulent people over the years. Some of it was just bad management, if you look at something like [collapsed Bitcoin exchange] Mt. Gox."
- "But with FTX, it appears to be actual fraud. But that's not representative of the entire industry, and crypto isn't going anywhere. It's just like Bernie Madoff or someone like that in the traditional financing system — it's frustrating and makes everyone look more closely at everything."
Madoff was a relatively small player. - "Sort of, but it's a new industry. ... FTX only started a few years ago, and kind of rocketed up and it was too good to be true. I went to an a16z [Andreessen Horowitz] crypto conference a few weeks ago and there were around 100 companies in the audience that were all working hard — legitimate. But they don't get the headlines."
- "That's one of the frustrating things — that sometimes the people who are the most attention-seeking, or flamboyant, get too much of the attention. But for every one of those companies, there's so many doing good work — heads down computer science. They're nerds, so they're not the most outgoing people."
Has the FTX contagion been stemmed? - "I think there could be a little more contagion from FTX. But my hope is that [everything moves] through the system in the next couple of months, or quarters at most."
 Source: Axios Visuals SEC chair Gary Gensler has said he has enough tools to regulate crypto. Is he wrong? - "I think we're going to have to see Congress pass new legislation that forces clarity so [the SEC and CFTC] stop having a turf battle."
Will that happen? - "I hope that FTX is a catalyst — just like after Enron we saw Sarbanes-Oxley, and after the 2008 financial crisis we saw Dodd-Frank."
Keep reading. | | | | | | | | 5. ❄️ Bomb cyclone threatens 200 million |  Data: NOAA. Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals A dangerous stretch of extreme winter weather began yesterday as a powerful Arctic cold front swept south out of Canada — sending temperatures plunging by 46°F in an hour near Denver, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes. What we're watching: Winds up to 45 mph are expected as far as 1,000 miles away from the storm center. - Many people may lose power between today and Saturday due to downed trees and power lines, particularly in the Midwest, Ohio Valley and Northeast, where the winds look to be strongest.
Keep reading ... Get Axios Generate. | | | | | | | | 6. 🏈 "Immaculate" Franco | | The "Immaculate Reception": Pittsburgh Steelers' Franco Harris runs for a touchdown, eluding a tackle by the Oakland Raiders' Jimmy Warren on Dec. 23, 1972. Photo: Harry Cabluck/AP Franco Harris — the Hall of Fame running back and Pittsburgh Steelers legend whose "Immaculate Reception" became one of the most famous plays in NFL history — died yesterday at 72. - The play, a close-to-the-ground catch that had ricocheted off an Oakland Raiders defender and intended receiver Frenchy Fuqua, helped catapult the Steelers from also-rans to members of the NFL's elite, AP's Will Graves writes.
Sportscaster Curt Gowdy called it the "miracle of all miracles" on live TV. - Harris died two days before the 50th anniversary of the play and just three days before the Steelers are scheduled to retire his number — 32.
Watch the iconic play. Franco Harris in 2012 with a marker for the "Immaculate Reception," where Three Rivers Stadium once stood on Pittsburgh's North Side. Photo: Gene J. Puskar/AP President Biden issued a statement with this remarkable personal memory: Say the name Franco Harris and most everyone talks about the catch, the Super Bowls, and the glory he brought to the game of football. But in the fifty years we bonded as friends, I always talked about his character and compassion. It was this week fifty years ago when my first wife and infant daughter were killed and my two young sons were badly injured in a car accident while they were out getting a Christmas tree. ... "I rarely left my boys' bedside until they got better," Biden continued: But one day I did — to go shopping for them. When I returned, they were smiling for the first time since the accident. Art Rooney, the generous and honorable owner of the Steelers, had flown out with a couple of players, including Franco, and the tough-as-nails Rocky Bleier. Busy with their own lives, they took the time to be with my boys, sign footballs, and then left with no publicity. A small act of kindness that meant the world to us. Read the statement. | | | | | | | | A message from Walmart | | Walmart helps families save on the things they need most | | |  | | | | Over 37 million Americans have diabetes. With Walmart, they can save up to 75% compared to the cash price of branded insulin. This adds up to more than $15 million saved across America since June 2021. Learn more about how Walmart helps families live better. | | | | 📨 Thanks for starting your holiday week with us. Please invite your friends to sign up to get their daily essentials — Axios AM, PM and Finish Line. |  | | Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it. | | | |
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