SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:06 P.M. ET: 

MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF RESIGNS – FROM REUTERS:  Minneapolis police chief Janee Harteau resigned on Friday at the request of the city's mayor, who said that she and the community had lost confidence in Harteau following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed Australian woman.  The death of Sydney native Justine Damond, 40, from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen fired through the open window of a police patrol car, has outraged her family members and the Australian public. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called it "shocking" and "inexplicable."  Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a written statement that she and Harteau agreed on Friday that Harteau would step aside.  "I've lost confidence in the Chief's ability to lead us further - and from the many conversations I've had with people around our city, especially this week, it is clear that she has lost the confidence of the people of Minneapolis as well," Hodges said in the statement.  A press conference Hodges called to discuss the personnel change was interrupted by a group of protesters calling for her to resign, a witness video posted on YouTube showed. 

NOT MUCH JUICE IN THE JUICE – FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES:   TV ratings aren't as big as they used to be, even for O.J. Simpson.  Based on preliminary Nielsen data provided by various networks that carried the hearing, around 13.5 million TV viewers watched the Thursday hearing in which the former football star, actor and pitchman was granted parole after serving nine years in prison for a Las Vegas hotel room heist. The hearing was carried across four broadcast networks and several cable outlets, including ESPN.  The estimated figure pales next to previous multinetwork broadcasts of culturally iconic Simpson moments. An estimated 150 million viewers watched Simpson’s 1995 acquittal after standing trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. In June 1994, 95 million people tuned in to see police in a low-speed pursuit of Simpson in his white Ford Bronco through the streets of Los Angeles and on the 405 Freeway.  The trial and verdict were 22 years ago.  There's a whole generation out there who's probably never heard of O.J. Simpson.  Millions have never heard of Johnny Carson.  Don't underestimate the impact of time.

SPICER SPEAKS – FROM FOX:  Outgoing White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday that President Trump did not want him to resign but Spicer felt there were “too many cooks in the kitchen” promoting the president’s message.  “I just thought it was in the best interest of our communications department, of our press organization, to not have too many cooks in the kitchen,” Spicer told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview hours after he resigned from the White House on Friday.  Spicer quit in apparent protest after Trump tapped Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was promoted Friday to replace Spicer.  I have a feeling we'll see other changes soon.  I wouldn't be shocked to find out that Rex Tillerson's days at State are numbered.   More about that in future editions of Urgent Agenda.

July 21, 2017