Breakfast Briefing, 6.22.2017: Cannes, Senate healthcare bill, inside Kalanick's exit

And the Lions go to…Taylor and Dini von Mueffling Communications were among the Gold Lion winners from Cannes day five, and firms including Current, Edelman, and Marina Maher Communications were multiple winners. Go here for all of PRWeek’s coverage from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The latest from the South of France: Shares of Cannes Lions owner Ascential dropped Wednesday after Publicis Groupe pulled out of awards for a year and WPP voiced its own doubts; WPP Health & Wellness CEO Mike Hudnall caught up with PRWeek; One Microsoft executive said there’s a case to be made for agencies to change their business models; Actor Ian McKellen called on brands to improve the portrayal of the LGBT community; Unilever chief marketing and communications officer Keith Weed laid out the CPG giant’s marketing manifesto.

There’s more upheaval at Uber: longtime board member Bill Gurley is stepping down. The Benchmark executive will hand the spot over to Matt Cohler, his colleague at the venture capital firm. Here’s a look inside Travis Kalanick’s final hours at Uber, via The New York Times, and the board’s weeks of maneuvering to push out the controversial CEO, via The Wall Street Journal. Plus: PRWeek asked 8 crisis communications executives for their advice for Uber.

What to watch today: Senate Republicans are set to roll out their healthcare bill. Although the bill is expected to be more moderate than the House’s version, there’s still some dissension among GOP senators, with conservatives saying it doesn’t go far enough to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and moderates worried about its Medicaid cuts, according to the Journal. Meanwhile, insurance giant Anthem said Wednesday that it is leaving two more state Obamacare exchanges.

President Donald Trump was back on the trail last night, channeling his inner D.J. Khaled at a rally in Iowa as he celebrated the Republicans’ wins in two special elections on Tuesday. He raised eyebrows by saying he doesn’t want "a poor person" in certain cabinet roles. Trump also proposed holding immigrants off welfare for five years and suggested lining his proposed border wall with solar panels.