Axios

IBM, Google, Lyft, Microsoft, Salesforce and Twitter were among a number of big-name tech companies filing a brief Wednesday in support of a legal challenge to President Trump's effort to end the DACA, a program that protected from deportation those brought to the U.S. as young children. Apple filed its own brief in the case. The companies are supporting an effort by several state Attorneys General to get an injunction keeping the federal government from ending the program.

Why it matters: This issue is of particular importance to tech companies and their workforce and leaders have been especially outspoken on their commitment to seeing Dreamers-protected. Wednesday's move follows an earlier letter to Trump signed by dozens of tech company leaders as well as separate pushes from Microsoft, Apple, and IBM, among others to either get Trump to change course or convince Congress to take action.

A former high-ranking North Korean diplomat and defector, Thae Yong-ho, said today that "Kim Jong-un is not fully aware of the strength and might of American military power." He was testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about Kim's thoughts on ballistic missiles and how best to deal with the regime.

Why it matters: "Because of this misunderstanding Kim Jong-un genuinely believes he can break the sanctions regime apart," once he can convince the U.S. to accept North Korea's nuclear program, Thae said. But he emphasized that military force cannot be the first answer to the security dilemma on the Korean peninsula and said that "it is necessary to reconsider whether we have tried all non-military options…before we decide [a] military [option]…is all that is left."

President Trump called for immigration reform on Twitter this morning by stating that Sayfullo Saipov, the alleged New York City attacker, entered the United States via the Diversity Visa Lottery program, calling the program a "Chuck Schumer beauty." Schumer hit back at POTUS, accusing him of continually "politicizing and dividing America" during times of national tragedy.

The problem: We don't know yet if Trump's tweet can be taken as confirmation of Saipov's immigration status. The Diversity Visa Lottery tidbit about Saipov first came up in an unconfirmed local ABC7 report, which was seized on by right-wing outlets like Breitbart and Blunt Force Truth as well as former Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka — seemingly to connect Schumer's prior immigration work to yesterday's deadly attack.

"Trump ... belittled ... George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty ... to lying to federal agents investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, tweeting that 'few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar,'" the WashPost reports.

Why he matters: "[I]nterviews and documents show that Papadopoulos was in regular contact with the Trump campaign's most senior officials and held himself out as a Trump surrogate as he traveled the world to meet with foreign officials and reporters."

At 9:26 p.m. — just over six hours after the rented truck attack near the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan — President Trump tweeted: "I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!"

Why it matters: We've known this moment — a radical Islamic terror attack on U.S. soil — would happen while Trump was president, and now it's here. Will President Trump stoke fears, or unite Americans with resolve against an insidious enemy?

The last 48 hours have rocked Trump's world: the indictment of his former campaign manager, followed by the bike-path Halloween attack that killed eight, which "officials are calling the deadliest terrorist attack on New York City since Sept. 11, 2001." The grim facts, from the N.Y. Times. "The rampage ended when the motorist — whom the police identified as Sayfullo Saipov, 29 — smashed into a school bus, jumped out of his truck and ran up and down the highway waving a pellet gun and paintball gun and shouting 'Allahu akbar,' Arabic for 'God is great,' before he was shot in the abdomen by the officer. He remained in critical condition." "Investigators discovered handwritten notes in Arabic near the truck that indicated allegiance to the Islamic State ... But investigators had not uncovered evidence of any direct or enabling ties between Mr. Saipov and ISIS and were treating the episode as a case of an 'inspired' attacker." Uber confirmed that the suspect was one of its drivers. What to watch: Does President Trump handle this like George W. Bush [after 9/11], or like campaign trail Trump? It's never been more important that Trump's aides do their jobs competently. Any time an attack like this happens, hate crimes against Muslims go up. Key context: Haroon Ullah — a terrorism expert whose "Digital World War: Islamists, Extremists, and the Fight for Cyber Supremacy" was just published by Yale University Press — tells me the "end of ISIS" was exaggerated after Raqqa was overrun: "ISIS has made unexpected gains — especially on the battlefield that matters most to them, the information battlefield, which is an arena fought through social media and dark web. The activity of fanboys after this gruesome NY terrorist attack in multiple languages demonstrates their influence." What's next: The New York City Marathon, with 51,394 finishers in 2016, will be run Sunday. Be smart: A former law-enforcement official who fought terrorism in Manhattan tells me that there's no way to stop these attacks: Police have thousands of leads, and surveilling a single person can take at least 16 agents (four per shift, three shifts per day, with days off). So this threat, which poses such a dark risk to freedoms we expect and deserve, is permanent.

One of the biggest pro-Trump outside groups of 2016, backed by the Adelson and Ricketts families, plans to spend "eight figures" — at least $10 million — backing tax reform. The 45Committee is launching "The Middle Class Project," a 501(c)(4) with an opening TV spot, "What's In It For You," that will debut nationally with tomorrow's bill introduction. See it here.

Why it matters: The size of the spend — from some of the most important donors in the party — is correlated to the stakes: Republicans know this is existential for them. If they fail to pass tax reform on the heels of failing to repeal Obamacare, the GOP could might as well be renamed R.I.P.

House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) announced Tuesday that he won't run for re-election at the end of his term, per the Dallas Morning News. Hensarling said he "never intended to make it a lifetime commitment" and has already stayed "far longer" than he had originally planned.

Why it matters: Hensarling follows 10 other House Republicans and two Republican senators — Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) — who have announced their plans to retire next year.

Sen. Chris Murphy introduced a bill this afternoon that would bar President Trump from launching a first strike on North Korea, except in situations of imminent threat or authorization from Congress. The co-sponsors include Sens. Bernie Sanders, Liz Warren and Cory Booker, along with Brian Schatz, Tammy Duckworth, Jeff Merkley, and Tom Udall.

Why it matters: Democrats have been expressing concerns that Trump's rhetoric and tweeting about using the military option against North Korea could march the U.S. into an unprovoked war. And given some of the high-profile senators backing this bill — and the questions other Democrats raised about North Korea at a hearing yesterday — it's a good bet you'll hear about the issue again, even if the bill itself doesn't advance.

President Trump dodged reporters' questions at a tax policy meeting Tuesday about whether he would issue pardons for his former campaign officials Paul Manafort and George Papadopoulos.

However, Trump did offer a timeline for tax reform, stating that he wants the House to pass his tax bill by Thanksgiving so that the Senate can pass it by Christmas. He added that opponents of his tax proposals "are fighting for themselves, not for the country," and said "the Democrats will say our tax bill is for the rich, but they know it's not."

A senior administration official told reporters Tuesday that President Trump will not visit the demilitarized zone on the North Korean border on his upcoming trip to Asia. The official said there isn't enough time, and that they had to choose between going to the DMZ or Camp Humphreys, and the camp prevailed.

Key quote: "There's been a minority of American presidents who have visited the DMZ since the Korean War, less than half," the official said. "[Defense Secretary James] Mattis was just there last week, we've had [Vice President Mike] Pence there... and [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson... it's become a little bit of a cliché really."

Fox News always had Trump's back on Russia. The New York Post usually had it, too. Now, the Wall Street Journal — the jewel of the Murdoch empire — has fully joined the defense. While Journal reporters have done some great work on the Russia story, many cringe at what they see as pro-Trump interference from their editor, Gerry Baker.

But it's the editorial page that has taken the lead in critiquing Mueller and calling for greater emphasis on possible Clinton corruption instead of Trump's.

Sarah Sanders: "[L]ook, today's announcement has nothing to do with the President, has nothing to do with the President's campaign or campaign activity."

• Sanders on George Papadopoulos, Trump campaign adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is cooperating with Mueller (N.Y. Times Quote of the Day): "[L]ook, this individual was the member of a volunteer advisory council that met one time over the course of a year."

Go deeper: How the indictments went down

In yesterday's historic crush of news, we saw early hints of the coming political and corporate reckoning for Russian interference in the 2016 election:

The takeaway: For the White House, the most worrisome part of the Manafort indictment is that Mueller showed he's willing to delve deeply into personal financial matters as part of his Russia probe.

As President Trump prepares to travel to Asia later this week, he has ordered many of his top officials to stay back and campaign for tax reform around America: