The Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by FICO — Trump optimistic about historic summit | Three detained Americans home | CIA nominee Haspel navigates Senate questions | Trump taunts news media | Generic ballot advantage for Dems evaporates | Cohen financial transactions under microscope | House lawmakers try a work around on immigration | Marijuana legalization not a bonanza for state coffers | Native Americans sue to address opioid crisis | Da Vinci politics in Poland

Sponsored by FICO Trump optimistic about historic summit | Three detained Americans home | CIA nominee Haspel navigates Senate questions | Trump taunts news media | Generic ballot advantage for Dems evaporates | Cohen financial transactions under microscope | House lawmakers try a work around on immigration | Marijuana legalization not a bonanza for state coffers | Native Americans sue to address opioid crisis | Da Vinci politics in Poland   © Getty Images     Welcome to The Hill's Morning Report, and happy Thursday! This daily email, a successor to The Hill’s Tipsheet, is reported by Jonathan Easley and Alexis Simendinger to get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. (CLICK HERE to subscribe!)   *** OVERNIGHT UPDATE ***   President Trump greeted three Americans who had been detained in North Korea at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington early this morning in a dramatic moment that marks a high point for his administration (The Hill).   The release of Kim Sang Duk, Kim Dong Chul and Kim Hak Song was billed as a gesture of goodwill by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of a potentially historic summit between Trump and Kim.   The released men stepped off their airplane shortly after 3 a.m., smiling and raising their arms and making the peace sign as Trump and first lady Melania Trump clapped and shook their hands.   “It was a very important thing to all of us to be able to get these three great people out,” Trump said.   The president said the time and place for his meeting with Kim will be announced within the next 48 hours. Multiple news outlets have reported that it will take place in Singapore, likely in June. For the first time, the North Korean leader publicly acknowledged the upcoming summit, calling it a “historic meeting”  and a “positive development.”   Trump has said his goal with North Korea is to open a dialogue that can achieve complete, verifiable denuclearization. If he thinks the North Koreans are acting in bad faith, he’s vowed to walk out or cancel a meeting.   “My proudest achievement will be — this is a part of it, but it will be when we denuclearize that entire peninsula,” Trump said on the tarmac, accompanied by Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “This is what people have been waiting for for a long time. Nobody thought we could be on this track in terms of the speed.”   The release of the American prisoners — coupled with Kim’s remarks about shutting down some nuclear sites and opening his arsenal to inspectors — moves Trump and Kim closer to their planned meeting.   “Hopefully everything is going to work out at the highest level,” Trump said. “We want to thank Kim Jong Un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people.”   The president would not say if he had spoken with the North Korean leader, whom he once mocked as “Rocket Man.” Today, Trump interpreted Kim’s actions in advance of their meeting with optimism: “I think he did this because I really think he wants to do something and bring that country into the real world. I really believe that.”   The returning Americans received medical attention after their arrival, and one described to reporters conditions in North Korea, that included both hard labor and medical attention when he was ill.   “It’s like a dream,” one of the men said of his release. “We are very, very happy.”   Trump also praised the American detainee who returned to the United States in June and died soon after. College student Otto Warmbier, imprisoned by the North Koreans for a year, was released in a coma.   “I want to pay my warmest respects to the parents of Otto Warmbier, who was a great young man who really suffered. And his parents have become friends of ours,” Trump said.   “We are happy for the hostages and their families,” Warmbier’s parents said in a statement. “We miss Otto.”   The Associated Press: Trump gives freed Americans flag-waving, wee-hours welcome.       LEADING THE DAY CIA: Gina Haspel, the veteran CIA officer nominated by Trump to lead the spy agency, said Wednesday she would not revive a brutal detention and interrogation program, even if ordered to do so by the president (The Hill).   Trump tweeted his approval: © Twitter     Under tough questioning during her Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing, Haspel:   Defended her “moral compass” amid Democrats’ criticisms of interrogation techniques used by the CIA during the George W. Bush administration and secret prisons like the one she ran in Thailand following the 9/11 attacks;   Ducked when pressed about whether enhanced interrogation was immoral (The Hill);   Told senators torture “does not work” as a technique. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) issued a statement opposing Haspel and urged colleagues to vote against her nomination, arguing "her refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality is disqualifying" (The Hill). Across the aisle, Haspel won over at least one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of red state West Virginia, who is at risk of defeat in November (The Hill). Facing the narrow GOP majority in the Senate and stated opposition from McCain and Sen. Rand Paul (R)  of Kentucky, Haspel’s supporters still hoped she strengthened her chances of confirmation (The Hill).   CONGRESS:  Midweek news on Capitol Hill got more interesting...   Immigration: A group of Republican lawmakers in the House filed a discharge petition to force consideration of an immigration measure (The Hill).   If all Democrats signed the petition, it would need signatures from 25 Republicans to succeed (The Hill).   House GOP leaders moved quickly to try to extinguish Republican support for the move (The Hill).   We are hearing more Republicans will defy Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his deputies and sign the discharge petition.   The Hill: Tensions on immigration erupt in House GOP.   DOJ/Prisons: The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill backed by the White House to incentive prison programs that discourage inmates from reoffending after incarceration (The Hill).   Net neutrality: Senate Democrats formally launched their push for a floor vote on restoring net neutrality protections (The Hill). The FCC voted in December to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality rules on the grounds that they harm innovation. Democratic candidates want to champion their opposition during the election season.   Cybersecurity: The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bipartisan bill that would incentivize “ethical” hackers to hunt for vulnerabilities in the State Department’s digital systems (The Hill).   Farm bill: The president is not going to issue a veto threat of a House farm bill over work requirement provisions for food stamp recipients, Trump’s legislative affairs director clarified, responding to a Wall Street Journal report (The Hill).   The Hill: Policy issues take center stage as House panel passes $716 billion defense authorization bill.       SPONSORED CONTENT A message from FICO:  With FICO, you know the score. Our decades-long commitment to high standards and proven practices makes FICO® Score the industry’s most trusted credit score. While others move to weaken standards to sell more scores, FICO is helping lenders expand homeownership responsibly while reducing risk in our system. Read more.   IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES ➔ CAMPAIGNS:  ***SHOCK POLL*** A new survey from CNN finds the Democratic advantage in the House generic ballot has all but vanished, reduced from 16 points in February to only 3 now.   Democrats aren’t panicking yet. Pollster John Anzalone tells us the party is holding steady at 7 points in the FiveThirtyEight aggregate. He said the over performances by Democrats in special elections this cycle are the “bellwether signals about 2018.”   But Democratic pollster Celinda Lake told us that there are signs the GOP is closing in, particularly in battleground states, where the president’s supporters are sticking with him and matching liberal energy on the ground. She said a “blue swell” exists but that it will “take a lot of work” to turn that into a blue wave.   “Our Achilles heel is that Democrats also have to gain some advantage on the economy. We remain behind and Trump's initiatives on [the North American Free Trade Agreement], trade, infrastructure reinforce that brand. Among independent voters, Democrats are still double digits behind (on those issues).” - Lake.   On that front, Democrats got some good news on Wednesday from a Monmouth University survey that found only 12 percent of Americans say their family has benefited a great deal from the economic upturn.   “We continually see national economic indicators hitting new marks, such as last week’s news of the lowest unemployment rate in 18 years. And yet very few Americans feel like they are reaping the benefits.” — Monmouth pollster Patrick Murray.   The Hill: Senate GOP relieved after primary wins. The Hill (opinion): Sanity prevails for both parties in primaries. The Hill (opinion): Blue wave? Not so fast. The Hill (opinion): Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will drag GOP down in midterm elections.   ➔ Investigations: It was a confusing day on the legal front for Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen, whose private business deals are under investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York.   There was a flood of stories about large payments Cohen received from corporations eager to get close to Trump, including one investment firm whose biggest client is a company controlled by a Russian oligarch.   The Hill’s Niall Stanage has the only story you need to read to tie all of these threads together. Niall talked to Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who has become an all-purpose legal agitator against the White House.   “It’s beyond that it doesn’t look good. This is the right-hand attorney of the president. If that attorney is selling access to the president without the requisite disclosures, that is a serious problem.” — Avenatti.   But some legal experts urged caution:   “We need to be a little conservative in crying from the rooftops that there is criminal activity here. It seems swampy but I don’t know if I would use the word ‘criminal.’” — Attorney Caroline Polisi.   Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani told Bloomberg that the president did not know about Cohen’s consulting business.   But Avenatti knew about the payments because he somehow obtained Cohen’s bank records, leading to this interesting development:   The Washington Post: Treasury Department’s inspector general investigating how Avenatti received Cohen’s bank records.   Avenatti, who seems to have a permanent seat reserved for him on cable news sets, has talked about how his ubiquitous media profile has encouraged information-sharing. © Twitter     The Hill: Russian firm linked to “Putin’s chef” pleads not guilty in Mueller probe. STAT News: Cohen pitched himself as fixer to Novartis and received $1.2 million. Reuters: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) seeks hearing on Cohen’s post-election clients.   ➔  NEWS MEDIA:  The war between the White House and the media had cooled off since the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner debacle last month, but returned with a vengeance on Wednesday after Trump tweeted a veiled threat about suspending press credentials. © Twitter     The president is likely to take his complaints no further than Twitter: Since arriving in the Oval Office, his White House communications team has mulled all manner of restrictions, from ending the press briefings altogether to moving the White House press corps some distance from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.   The result: Occasional restrictions to bar cameras during some briefings. That was when Sean Spicer was press secretary and his daily clashes with journalists were so over the top, he became comedy fodder for “Saturday Night Live.”   The WHCA responded to Trump’s Wednesday threat with a blistering retort:               “A president preventing a free and independent press from covering the workings of our republic would be an unconscionable assault on the First Amendment." — Margaret Talev, WHCA president.   Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was not amused yesterday when asked to explain Trump’s Twitter broadside about credentials. As evidence of a hostile press corps, she skewered two recent stories — a New York Times article suggesting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had gone missing at a key moment  when he was actually on his way to North Korea to free U.S. detainees — and Washington Post coverage that said first lady Melania Trump is frequently apart from her husband.   Sanders: “There is a responsibility by you guys to provide accurate information.”   The New York Times: FX to debut documentary series about New York Times’ news coverage, called “The Weekly.” CNN (analysis): Trump is seen by many as untruthful and also perceived as “authentic.” A study published in the American Sociological Review suggests that some of the most prevalent, elite analysis of that dynamic could be missing the mark.   OPINION Why New York attorneys general are power-mad freaks, by Charles Gasparino, New York Post. https://nyp.st/2I4eDRU   How to end unfair foreign drug price disparities, by James K. Glassman, RealClearPolitics. https://bit.ly/2ruSXUE   WHERE AND WHEN The House meets at 9 a.m. Later, Speaker Ryan holds his weekly news conference.   The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. and proceeds to executive session to resume consideration of the nomination of Michael B. Brennan to be United States circuit judge for the 7th Circuit.   The president flies to South Bend, Ind., where he and Hoosier VP Mike Pence will hold a reelection rally.   For inflation watchers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics may offer key new information at 8:30 a.m.: the consumer price index and real earnings, both for April.   ELSEWHERE > States’ marijuana revenues where pot is legal represent a small fraction of general funds, meaning legalization arguments increasingly turn to other rationales, by Reid Wilson (The Hill).   > More than 15 Native American tribes filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors, and more such suits are expected soon. Native Americans are joining a long list of stricken cities, counties and other stakeholders suing to recoup money spent fighting the opioid epidemic, hoping to drive reforms, by Rachel Roubein (The Hill).   > California became the first state to require solar systems in new home construction (New York Times), effective in two years (The Hill).   THE CLOSER The art of politics (or no good deed goes unpunished): Poland’s culture minister this week survived a no-confidence vote after being accused of wastefully spending $120 million in public funds to secure an art collection that included Leonardo da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine.” Da Vinci’s portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, the young lover of his boss, is one of only four portraits of women created by da Vinci. In 2016, Piotr Glinski purchased an art collection his countrymen argued was always secured in Poland, but he maintained he settled ownership once and for all. The masterpiece now hangs in the National Museum in Kraków.   © Artnet     And finally …  WIN OUR WEEKLY QUIZ, all you smart, artsy readers of The Hill. The sole da Vinci portrait of a woman on public display in the Americas has been in the National Gallery of Art collection in Washington since 1967. Its purchase price was considered a record sum at that time. Quiz Question: It cost a) $10 million; b) $8 million; c) $5 million; or d) $1 million. *** Email your best guess to jeasley@thehill.com or asimendinger@thehill.com and your winning response will earn a h/t in our Friday Morning Report.***   Suggestions? Tips? Intriguing pix to share from around D.C. and the Capitol? We want to hear from you, and please encourage friends and colleagues to SUBSCRIBE! Jonathan Easley jeasley@thehill.com + Alexis Simendinger asimendinger@thehill.com   To view past editions of The Hill's Morning Report CLICK HERE To receive The Hill's Morning Report in your inbox SIGN UP HERE Morning Report Sign Up FORWARD Morning Report Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

DAILY DOSE: More Than Stories

Torah is entirely spiritual. But those who cannot sense the spiritual see only stories. People think the Torah is all about laws and rituals

ב"ה

Daily Dose

Print · Read Online More Than Stories By Tzvi Freeman People think the Torah is all about laws and rituals and quaint stories, with a mystical side as well. In truth, the Torah is entirely spiritual. But when you cannot perceive the spiritual, all you see are laws and rituals and quaint stories. By Tzvi Freeman From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. Subscribe and get your dose daily. Or order Rabbi Freeman's book, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here. Print Page   ·   Read Online   ·   Discuss   ·   Share on Facebook This email was sent to: tweatsho.email004@blogger.com Change email address · Manage Subscriptions · Going on Vacation? · Unsubscribe Tip: To ensure that our emails continue to be delivered to your inbox, add subscriptions@chabad.org to your address book or "whitelist" it in any filters or anti-spam programs you may have. © Copyright Chabad.org, all rights reserved. Privacy Policy Chabad.org · Ask the Rabbi · Contact Us · Donate

Breaking News: McCain urges Senate to reject Haspel’s nomination

View in your browser     McCain urges Senate to reject Haspel’s nomination Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday came out against Gina Haspel, President Trump’s nominee to be CIA director, following her confirmation hearing in the Senate. McCain said that she failed to address his concerns about her role in an enhanced interrogation program regarded as torture. In a break with President Trump, McCain urged his Senate colleagues to vote against Haspel, charging that "her refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality is disqualifying." Haspel cannot afford to lose any additional Republican support. Read the full story here         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Breaking News     Forward Breaking News     You Might Like       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Hillicon Valley: Senate Dems move to force net neutrality vote | AT&T spoke with Mueller's team about Cohen payments | Chinese firm ZTE ceases operations after US ban | Panel advances bills to secure energy infrastructure

View in Browser     Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill's comprehensive newsletter with all you need to know about tech and cybersecurity from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.   Welcome! Follow the tech team, Ali Breland (@alibreland) and Harper Neidig (@hneidig), and the cyber team, Morgan Chalfant (@mchalfant16) and Olivia Beavers (@olivia_beavers), on Twitter. Scoops/tips/comments/compliments? Please reach out.   ZTE DOWN FOR THE COUNT: Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE is ceasing all "major operating activities" after being hit by sanctions from U.S. regulators. The company announced the move in a securities filing on Wednesday. It blamed a decision from the Commerce Department banning U.S. businesses from selling to the Chinese firm, after it pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell technology to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. "As a result of the Denial Order, the major operating activities of the Company have ceased," ZTE said in the filing. "The Company and related parties are actively communicating with the relevant U.S. government departments in order to facilitate the modification or reversal of the Denial Order by the U.S. government and forge a positive outcome in the development of the matters." A big deal for China: The ban attracted much scrutiny in China. During Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's trade negotiation trip to China last week, the country asked the U.S. to adjust its penalties on ZTE. Eurasia group's Pau Triolo called this: In a story we did this past weekend Triolo said "if the Commerce Department sticks to its ban, the U.S. is essentially killing China's No. 2 phonemaker." Is Huawei next?: China would certainly hope not, but the Department of Justice is opening an investigation into similar potential sanctions violations, so we'll see. Why U.S. tech companies are worried: China could very well retaliate. There are many companies like Intel and Qualcomm that China's tech industry is reliant on. Those companies are worried about blowback. But other companies that aren't as reliant on China could also become targets. Read our full story on that here.   A LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Senate Democrats are officially forcing a vote on a bill that would reinstate the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and a group of Democrats announced that they had filed a discharge petition that will force the chamber to vote on the bill in the coming days. "I believe that today kicks off the most important day for the internet that the Senate has ever seen," Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass) said at a press conference. What's next: The vote could come as early as next week. The effort currently has 50 backers in the Senate -- all 49 Democrats plus Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). That may be enough to pass the bill if Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is unable to vote while coping with his treatment for brain cancer. Still, getting the bill to the House floor, let alone passing it, will be another fight altogether. It would take a majority in the House just to force a vote on the resolution, and it's unclear if Democrats have the support of the 25 Republicans it would take to put them over that threshold. But even if the bill fails, Democrats still see an upside in forcing Republicans to vote on the issue during a midterm election cycle. "This bill does one simple thing: it gets every member of the Senate on the record for or against net neutrality," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told reporters on Wednesday. "Republicans are going to regret it from a public policy standpoint and a political standpoint," Schatz said. "I cannot think of an issue that polls so decisively on one side." To read more, click here.   AT&T SPOKE TO MUELLER'S TEAM ABOUT COHEN: AT&T said Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller had contacted the company about the payments it previously made to President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen. "When we were contacted by the Special Counsel's office regarding Michael Cohen, we cooperated fully, providing all information requested in November and December of 2017," AT&T said in a statement to Reuters and other outlets. "A few weeks later, our consulting contract with Cohen expired at the end of the year. Since then, we have received no additional questions from the Special Counsel's office and consider the matter closed." Background: AT&T said Tuesday that it had paid Cohen for "insights" on the Trump administration. The payment was first revealed in a report released by Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti, which stated the firm paid Cohen's shell company a total of $200,000 from late 2017 to 2018. Dems want answers on Cohen payments: Two Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the Department of Justice, raising concerns about AT&T hiring President Trump's lawyer to consult for it last year. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. David Cicilline, ranking members on the Senate and House Antitrust Subcommittees wrote the DOJ's antitrust chief Makan Delrahim over their issues with AT&T paying Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. The payment was first revealed on Tuesday in a document published by Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who is suing the president and Cohen. Wired asks: What did AT&T want from Michael Cohen?     ANOTHER MUELLER UPDATE: A Russian company charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's sprawling probe into Russian interference in the presidential election pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges related to the spreading of divisive content on social media. A U.S. attorney for the company, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, offered the not guilty plea at an initial appearance and arraignment in federal court in Washington, D.C., before Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey. The indictment unveiled in February alleges that the so-called Internet Research Agency and individuals and entities associated with it knowingly and intentionally conspired with one another "to defraud the United States by impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful functions of the government through fraud and deceit for the purpose of interfering with the U.S. political and electoral processes, including the presidential election of 2016." It alleges that Concord Management funded the operation of the Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm that spread divisive content on social media to U.S. audiences as part of a broader plot to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The company is said to be controlled by Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who has been nicknamed "Putin's chef" because of his reported close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The individuals and entities charged in February as part of the Internet Research Agency case were largely thought to be out of the reach of U.S. prosecutors because they are based in Russia. However, Concord Management notified a federal judge last month that it had retained D.C.-based attorneys to argue on its behalf. Those attorneys, Eric Dubelier and Katherine Seikaly of the law firm Reed Smith, appeared in court on Wednesday to plead not guilty on the company's behalf. No representatives from Concord Management were present at the arraignment.  Click here for more on the developments in the case.   MORE BILLS, BILLS, BILLS: Two House panels on Wednesday marked up a slew of cybersecurity bills. First up, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bipartisan bill that would incentivize ethical hackers to hunt for vulnerabilities in the State Department's digital systems. The legislation would direct the department to set up a pilot "bug bounty" program to pay security researchers for discovering and reporting vulnerabilities in the department's public internet-facing systems. And the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved several pieces of legislation aimed at securing U.S. energy infrastructure from cyberattacks. One of the proposals, for instance, would establish a new program at the department focused on the physical security and cybersecurity of energy pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities. The action on the legislation Wednesday underscores growing concerns in Washington over the physical and digital security of the nation's critical energy assets.   HOUSE DEM WANTS ANSWERS ON FCC ADVISER INDICTED FOR FRAUD: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is demanding answers from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai after former agency adviser Elizabeth Ann Pierce was arrested for wire fraud last month. "[If] the allegations are true, it appears that Ms. Pierce may have been engaging in fraudulent behavior related to her own telecommunications company at the same time she was chosen by you to lead -- and was leading -- an important FCC committee," Ellison wrote in a letter to Pai on Wednesday. "This is deeply troubling, raising questions about the process by which members of the committee were chosen, its deliberations, and its recommendations to the FCC commissioners." Law enforcement officials are alleging that Pierce, the former CEO of an Alaska telecommunications firm called Quintillion, used forged customer contracts to try to attract investors. To read more, click here.   MORE FCC: Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) is circulating a letter among Congressional offices seeking signatures on a letter probing the FCC's plan to transfer Universal Service Fund (USF) money from a private bank to the Treasury Department. See the letter obtained by The Hill here.   TRUMP'S CIA PICK FACES A GRILLING: President Trump's nominee to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel, faced the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, which largely focused on her role in the agency's use of enhanced interrogation techniques during the Bush years. Check out our full coverage. Haspel had no major stumbles and appeared to bolster her chances of confirmation.   AND ICYMI: The Senate Intelligence Committee late Tuesday evening released its unclassified report on Russian cyberattacks against U.S. voting infrastructure before the 2016 election. To check out all the details, click here.   A LIGHTER CLICK: Now we've seen it all: bikes become a hacking target. (Motherboard)   ON TAP FOR TOMORROW: The White House is hosting a summit on artificial intelligence (AI), a meeting that will feature representatives from major tech firms like IBM, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Read more here. Gigamon is hosting its third annual Public Sector Cyber Security Summit at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. The Federal Communications Commission will hold its monthly open meeting at 10:30 a.m.   NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB: Amazon rolls out model 'smart' homes for U.S. shoppers to try out Alexa (Reuters) Kaspersky Lab software has been removed from all federal systems. (NextGov) On social media's fringes, growing extremism targets women (The New York Times) President Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran has raised concerns about future cyberattacks. (Wired) How Qatar, UAE use email leaks to journalists to advance their agenda. (BuzzFeed) Facebook is creating a blockchain team with top execs from Messenger and Snapchat (The Hill)           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Technology Newsletters     Forward Technology Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.