Document Q6EL5wJokoV4ZD53x1Vw3ZN8

lawsuits related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. His hire was widely seen as a signal that the company was taking a more aggressive approach inside the Beltway. Morrell joined the company after serving as deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and Pentagon press secretary to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Prior to that he covered the White House for ABC News. Mary Streett, a former Clinton administration official and regulatory attorney who has been at BP for the past three years, will take over for Morrell in Washington. As he takes on this new role, Morrell said he is focused broadly on the changes in how people communicate. BP operates in nearly 80 countries around the world -- a vast, and complex canvas for a corporation. "We need to do government relations different in all of those places, but what is universal to them all is there is enormous changes underway in how we communicate and what's expected from companies in terms of transparency and accountability and we need to keep pace. I think that is the biggest challenge our organization will face." Excerpts from the interview THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MORE WILLING TO ENGAGE: "There is no question that [the Trump administration's] commitment to regulatory reform, regulatory relief to some degree, is welcomed by the oil and gas industry. We are not anti-regulation, but we also don't believe that if you have more sensible regulations that that somehow is anti-environment. We think you can have sensible regulations that protect the environment and still promote investment in America ... What we've seen from the administration thus far is a willingness to have conversations about how to strike that balance." COMPANIES SHOULD TALK, EVEN DURING LITIGATION: "A lot of companies may say, 'This is being adjudicated in court. We're going to do our speaking in court and refrain from doing so in the media.' But I think that's naive and fails to appreciate that they have shareholders and partners and contractors and employees who very much need to know what the company is thinking and doing on these issues. ... I am a strong believer that you cannot bunker down and you have to communicate even during intense litigation. You can tell your story without putting yourself in greater legal jeopardy. It can and should be done." ADVERTISING MATTERS: "People are skeptical about the power of advertising today. It's become almost as dirty a word as lobbying, but both of them are still alive and well because they work. When you you have messages to get out, stories to tell and the media is focused elsewhere, perhaps justifiably, often times paid advertising is the only way to communicate to your stakeholders. I've come to believe it is still a really important tool in your toolbox." MEDIAWATCH -- "Reporter manhandled by FCC guards because he asked question," by Julie Schoo on the National Press Club's website: "Security guards at the Federal Communications Commission headquarters here manhandled a well-regarded reporter at a public hearing [on Thursday] and forced him to leave the premises after he had tried to politely ask questions of FCC commissioners. ... Throughout the FCC meeting, the security guards had shadowed [CQ Roll Call's John M.] Donnelly as if he were a security threat, he said, even though he continuously displayed his congressional press pass and held a tape recorder and notepad. They even waited for him outside the men's room at one point. When Donnelly strolled in an unthreatening way toward FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly to pose a question, two guards pinned Donnelly against the wall with the backs of their bodies until O'Rielly had passed. O'Rielly witnessed this and continued walking." http://bit.ly/2qZ0bSe REMEMBERING ROGER AILES -- MICHAEL WOLFF in The Hollywood Reporter, "Roger and I spoke a week ago, just after the last ouster at Fox -- Bill Shine, his lieutenant who had taken over his job, following by a week the ouster of Bill O'Reilly - and, invariably, the subject was Fox's quickly eroding fortunes and the possibilities for a new conservative network. Roger, yet proscribed by the non-compete provisions of his separation agreement, nevertheless had a plan in his head, and was taking calls. 'I can't call. But I can't stop people from calling me,' he said. As we spoke, Beth texted pictures of their view and of a newly svelte Roger lying lazily in the sun." http://bit.ly/2pZXews --"Bill O'Reilly: Roger Ailes endured hatred 'and it killed him. That is the truth.'" https://usat.ly/2qDNjxJ ... Shepard Smith's Ailes tribute http://bit.ly/2q32Y7W TV TODAY -- At 8:30 a.m David Gura will interview NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg live on Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Radio in a broadcast exclusive. PLAYBOOK ERS SPOTTED: Sen. Ted Cruz deep in coach on an American flight to Dallas from DCA ...