Jonathan Swan's unreal interview with President Trump. Chuck Todd gets moved... down. Massive blast in Beirut. Briefings galore.

President Donald Trump sat down last week for an interview with Axios’ Jonathan Swan for what turned out to be a wild and fascinating back-and-forth with heated exchanges on a number of issues ranging from the coronavirus to Black Lives Matter.
There have been a few revealing and lauded interviews recently, notably Chris Wallace's for Fox. But the Swan interview may be the best anyone has seen in years, not just for the skill of the interviewer but for the reactions of the president and even for the news and shockwaves that followed.
Here are some of the most noteworthy, even stunning moments.
Trump was defensive and characteristically narcissistic. He defended the Tulsa rally. He went off about how testing for Covid is ruining everything for him, eliciting a shocked reaction from Swan. He stood by his remarks about Ghislaine Maxwell, bizarrely. He dismissed the late Rep. John Lewis as merely someone who failed to attend Trump's inauguration.
In short, even for Trump it was surprising enough that the reaction nearly speaks for itself.
This is in part the product of Trump's total unpreparedness (another quality he possesses in abundance), having spent years enjoying timid or softball interviews and carefully managing who he does and does not speak to.
And in even larger part it's thanks to Swan being forthright, not dancing, following-up, challenging, and all without being nasty, sneering, haughty, or hostile. The ability to conduct a strong interview without coming off like a total jerk isn't as common as you think, as anyone who watches media as much as we do can attest.
Swan more than pulled it off. Truly an impressive and memorable interview, one for the books.

As the 2020 election draws near in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, MSNBC is about to commence a major overhaul for their programming lineup.

The network has announced — in moves first reported by Variety, and confirmed by Mediaite — that on Aug. 17, Meet The Press Daily will move to 1 p.m. ET, where it will continue to be hosted by Chuck Todd.
Todd will also host a new weekly political program next month on NBC News NOW, the network’s 24-hour live-streaming outlet which will air on NBC Universal’s new streaming platform, Peacock.

That's being touted and packaged like good news for the host, but it's plainly not a promotion.
Nicolle Wallace will be taking over Todd's former primo spot. Her Deadline: White House will be expanding to a two-hour show from 4 to 6, versus her previous 4 to 5 leading into MTP Daily.
Wallace will now be up against Fox's The Five and CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer making her the lead-in for the primetime and evening shows rather than the lead in to Todd, and puts her in one of the most important competition slots.
Talk of "demoting" Todd to the morning or afternoon has been floating for some time. Wallace's ratings at 4 have been far more exciting than his at 5. Taking him off the 5 p.m. hour in an election year is an especially hard kick.
That kick didn't go unnoticed on social media. And the notice wasn't pretty. In fact his name was trending on Twitter yesterday and not in a good way.
Getting shuffled to earlier in the day, in a huge election year, replaced by the expansion of the show that used to be his opening act, and then trashed for it on Twitter?
Not a good Chuck Todd day.