Axios

For the CIA, hedge funds and the largest retail enterprises, the confounding problem is the same: too much data. The world and its actors have never seemed more complex, and with no way to absorb a meaningful part of the information out there, events appear harder than ever to understand.

• A business opportunity: We are seeing a slew of startups promoting artificial intelligence as a solution. The latest is Primer, which, backed by $14.7 million in venture funding, says it sorts millions of news sources and any other data thrown at it, and then crystallizes what's important in concise, natural language.
• Why it matters: It will take time to gauge the accuracy of tools like Primer's, and its founder says it does not supplant human intelligence. But it — and rival products — appears to be a solid first crack at breaking through the mountain of data weighing down our best analysts, and shaping it into useable bites and form.

Joe Biden, who's been coy about a potential presidential bid since leaving the Obama administration, admitted to Vanity Fair's David Kamp that he's not ruling out a 2020 bid.

I haven't decided to run. But I've decided I'm not going to decide not to run. We'll see what happens. — Joe Biden

President Trump on Wednesday directed the Transportation Department to launch a pilot program to make it easier to test and deploy drones in select cities across the country. The pilot program is intended to test different models for drones to be used — for delivering cargo or emergency supplies, for example — that can then be evaluated for more permanent deployments.

Why it matters: A growing number of companies such as Amazon, Alphabet, UPS and Intel, are interested in tapping drones for a wide range of uses, but current FAA rules prohibit commercial drones from flying outside of the operator's line of site, above people, or at night. Those restrictions severely limit the practical uses for drones, and companies have been pushing for more clarity and flexibility to operate them.

House Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady suggested Wednesday that the tax bill he is planning to introduce next week could include changes to 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts, per the Washington Post.

Why it matters: President Trump told Senate Republicans on the Hill yesterday that he ended the 401(k) debate and he tweeted Monday that there would be "NO change" to current the plans. However, some party members involved in tax reform policy are showing resistance.

America's North Korea envoy, Joseph Yun, has been warning lawmakers that North Korea has been avoiding talks with the U.S. in response to Trump's attacks on Kim Jong-un, NBC reports, citing "multiple U.S. government and congressional officials." This comes after Tillerson said in Beijing that the U.S. has "three" channels open to North Korea.

Impact: Yun's warnings inspired Senator Bob Corker's comments that the administration is fraying diplomatic efforts, per these sources. East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau Spokesperson Justin Higgins for his own part said that although "we still want to see a peaceful, diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear and missile threat, now is clearly not the time for talks."

Go deeper: The latest on the dossier.

Go deeper: Reality check on Flake

Get smart: Amid all the chaos in Washington right now, and despite some Republicans complaining about Trump in private, the reality is that nearly all of them continue to publicly bow to him. As Axios' Mike Allen wrote today, this is the story of the moment. Trump is as strong as ever.

Senator Jeff Flake, who announced he's not running for reelection in Arizona the next cycle told Morning Joe one of the reasons he's standing down is because constituents see "not standing with the president is somehow not conservative…that's something that's got to change." Other thoughts from the Senator:

Despite the fact that Trump enjoys public support (despite private gripes) from most of the 49 Senate Republicans (asides from Senators Flake, Corker, and McCain) and 239 House Republicans, including every person in elected leadership, some Republicans fear his inexplicable fights with GOP senators could have downstream consequences he doesn't seem to be considering:

Why it matters: Republican strategist Alex Conant emails: "To be successful, Trump needs a united Republican Party. A divided party loses elections."

Senator Jeff Flake spoke directly to other members of the Republican party during his announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2018. He addressed other members' "unquestionable loyalty" to the President despite his unprecedented behavior and actions.

"The notion that we shouldn't say or do nothing in the face of such mercurial behavioral is a-historic, and I believe, profoundly misguided."

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz) delivered an emotional retirement speech on the Senate floor today, and condemned the "flagrant disregard of truth and decency" in politics today, stating, "heaven help us."

Key quote: "We must stop pretending that the degradation of politics in our executive branch are normal, they're not normal... it's reckless, outrageous, and undignified... it's dangerous to our democracy."

President Trump's walk with Sen. Mitch McConnell to attend the Republican Senate policy lunch in the Capitol this afternoon was briefly interrupted by a protestor who apparently managed to infiltrate the press area, and threw Russian flags at the president while yelling "Trump is treason!" The man, who identified himself as Ryan Clayton of Americans Take Action, a group dedicated to Trump's impeachment, was promptly arrested by Capitol Police.

The decisions made by the Department of Justice during the 2016 campaign are getting a Congressional investigation, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy announced Tuesday. The "outstanding questions" they want to answer:

• "FBI's decision to publicly announce the investigation into Secretary Clinton's handling of classified information but not to publicly announce the investigation into campaign associates of then-candidate Donald Trump"
• "FBI's decision to notify Congress by formal letter of the status of the investigation both in October and November of 2016"
• "FBI's decision to appropriate full decision making in respect to charging or not charging Secretary Clinton to the FBI rather than the DOJ"

Sen. Bob Corker unloaded on President Trump during a CNN interview today, stating that Trump will be most remembered for "the debasement of our nation." Corker also said that he "would not" support Trump again, though he stopped short of saying that Trump should be removed from office.

Don't forget: Trump is heading to Capitol Hill for a Senate Republican policy lunch this afternoon. Corker will be in attendance.

Their backstory

Back in April 2016, Corker stopped short of explicitly endorsing Trump, instead telling CNN that he'd made a "really good transition in the campaign." But the lack of a full-throated endorsement didn't stop Corker from being floated as Trump's running mate or secretary of state.

The Tennessee senator was also quick to criticize the administration after reports that Trump had accidentally disclosed classified intelligence to top Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting in May, saying that Trump's White House was in a "downward spiral." And after Trump's botched response to the Charlottesville violence, he told local Chattanooga website Nooga that Trump "has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful."

However, it was Corker's September 14 announcement that he would not be seeking reelection to the Senate in 2018 that fully allowed him to open up against the president. In October, he told reporters that the group of Chief of Staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Defense Secretary John Mattis "separate our country from chaos." Later that week, Trump blasted Corker on Twitter, stating that Corker's comments were precipitated by Trump's refusal to endorse Corker in his upcoming Senate race. Corker then responded with his infamous retort that "the White House has become an adult day care center."

What happened today:

How it all kicked off: Corker appeared on both NBC News' TODAY and ABC News' Good Morning America earlier this morning, where he doubled down on his comments earlier this month that the White House is an "adult daycare center," adding, "I don't make comments I haven't thought about."

Trump responded on Twitter: President Trump continued his attacks against Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker via Twitter this morning: "Bob Corker, who helped President O give us the bad Iran Deal & couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts....Corker dropped out of the race in Tennesse when I refused to endorse him, and now is only negative on anything Trump. Look at his record!

Corker's fired back on Twitter just before his CNN interview: "Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. #AlertTheDaycareStaff"

Trump responded to the CNN interview, again via Twitter: "Sen. Corker is the incompetent head of the Foreign Relations Committee, & look how poorly the U.S. has done. He doesn't have a clue as the entire World WAS laughing and taking advantage of us. People like liddle' Bob Corker have set the U.S. way back. Now we move forward!"

"Cutting Taxes Is Hard. Trump Is Making It Harder," by N.Y. Times' Jim Tankersley writes in a story that leads the paper under the pointed headline, "TRUMP DIRECTIVE ON TAX OVERHAUL CONFOUNDS G.O.P.":

• "Trump [tweeted] that he would oppose any effort to reduce the amount of pretax income that American workers can save in 401(k) retirement accounts, effectively killing an idea that Republicans were mulling as a way to help pay for a $1.5 trillion tax cut."
• Why it matters: "The directive ... underscored a growing fear among Republicans and business lobbyists that Mr. Trump's bully-pulpit whims could undermine the party's best chance to pass the most sweeping rewrite of the tax code in decades."

The White House will announce today its plan to resume admitting refugees from all countries into the United States, per The Wall Street Journal. The refugee program was paused in June for a 120-day review of its procedures and policies under the Trump administration's revised travel ban executive order.

What will change: The government will work to collect more biographical data on potential refugees — with an especially deep dive on their social media presence — to determine that they do not pose a risk to the United States. And though refugees from all countries will nominally be accepted, the WSJ report indicates that those from 11 still-unnamed countries will face extra scrutiny that could complicate their applications.

The Trump administration is making it more difficult for employment-based visa holders to extend their status in the U.S. — another blow to companies (particularly large technology firms) that rely on H-1B visas to hire high-skilled workers from other countries.

The big picture: With new policy guidance, foreign workers applying for visa extensions will face more scrutiny.