| | | | | Jared Kushner arrives at the Hart Senate Office Building to testify behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | | | "Can U Pls Call Me On My Cell?": Jared Kushner used the excuse we all use to get out of a meeting
Scaramucci Takes Private Jet on First Day of Work: Because of course he did
COVER/LINE Road Trip Stops in Dallas: Hunter is halfway through his journey and making a pit stop at the George W. Bush Presidential Library | | | What the White House is Talking About:
Following an afternoon statement on health care, President Trump travels to Beaver, West Virginia, for an appearance and remarks at the National Scout Jamboree.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Daring one another about who can say "Jamboree" and "Beaver, West Virginia" the most. It's a Monday, and we need play time in the middle of the summer -- don't judge.
Also, the press is paying closer attention to the future of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.
And Jared Kushner's on the Hill, health care's over a barrel, and Trump's unloading on Twitter this morning.
Briefing: Sarah Huckabee Sanders will gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to "Beaver, West Virginia" (point!), but new communications director Anthony Scaramucci tweeted this morning that cameras will be turned back on, presumably when the briefings resume at the White House.
But First, Tweets:
There's a wide-ranging focus this morning from President Trump, who seems angry. The pointed attack on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, dubbed "our beleaguered AG," may be most notable. Trump also used the word "sleazy" to describe Congressman Adam Schiff, the California Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and an outspoken critic of Trump during his numerous television appearances. | | Credit: @RealDonaldTrump/Twitter
"Can U Pls Call Me on My Cell?":
Slow clap Jared Kushner for deploying the get-me-out-of-this-bad-date tactic used by women the world over as an excuse to flee no-chemistry situations. Well played, Kush. Of course, he used it to get out of a meeting during the presidential campaign with his brother-in-law and Russians who indicated they had sketchy intentions. But, still. The revelation about Kushner's tactic came in his 11-page statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee, which you can read here, ahead of his closed-door testimony this morning.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch:
Ivanka Trump this morning posted a strong accessories-game photo of her kids, Arabella, 6, and Theodore, 1, eating breakfast at home. Apparently, Daddy going off to testify on Capitol Hill was not going to dampen oatmeal, shades and a very cute straw boater. Ivanka captioned the pic, "Good way to start the day! 😎" | | Credit: @ivankatrump/Instagram
Scaramucci Takes Private Jet to First Day of Work, Avoids DC Traffic:
New White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci is quickly becoming my favorite character in the movie version of the Trump administration that plays in my head. Today he apparently took a private jet to work -- you know, first day on the job, want to make a good impression and all.
Our Daily Melania Has Turned into Melania Watch:
Officially. Because it's now been eight days sine we (literally) caught a glimpse of the First Lady of the United States. It was last weekend when she was snapped watching the US Women's Open golf championship at the Trump course in Bedminster, New Jersey. Otherwise, she's basically Keyser Soze-ing all of us this summer, saving her best outfits and public appearances for an international audience. I wish she'd come out and First Lady a little bit -- maybe she'll surprise us and show up in "Beaver, West Virginia," for the "Jamboree." (points.) | | The last glimpse of Melania Trump on July 16 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Credit: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Joe and Mika Sitting in A Tree ... :
The duo show up in the new issue of New York Magazine in a feature written by Olivia Nuzzi. It's a clever look at the pair's relationship, both with each other and with President Trump — plus it has a cute, albeit long, bit about the bunny Brzezinski gave Scarborough's son that was named Donald Fluffy Trump but turned out to be a girl bunny and was thus renamed Melania. Here's the opening spread: | | Credit: Jake Chessum/nymag.com
Also, Joe and Mika are pretending to appear in different locations during "Morning Joe" tapings of late to make it seem like they're traveling apart, or that one is out of town, and the other is on the set. But they're not. They're just "yards" away from one another in different studios and the show staff is reportedly annoyed by it, says Page Six. | | What Washington is Talking About:
Jared Kushner released a statement today about his contacts with Russians during the campaign and transition ahead of interviews with Senate Intelligence Committee staffers today and House Intelligence Committee members tomorrow.
And in Berryville, Virginia, about 65 miles outside Washington, top Democrats are holding a retreat and will release an economic agenda focusing on "working people and how the system is rigged against them," Sen. Chuck Schumer told ABC on Sunday.
What America is Talking About:
The 5-year-old Reds fan who kicked the Marlins' Dee Gordon before their game Sunday. It was a soft kick, and the kid's mom told MLB.com that the umpire told him to do it. "He's not the type of kid who would go up and kick someone," she said.
Poll of the Day:
Nationally, President Trump's approval rating continues to be historically low (his second-quarter average was 38.8%). But there are 17 states where he's averaged a 50% or higher approval so far in 2017, according to Gallup. The state that's liked him most is West Virginia, where he's averaged a 60% approval rating, followed by North Dakota at 59% and South Dakota at 57%. | | I'm driving cross-country for COVER/LINE. You can read about it every day in the newsletter and follow along on Instagram, at @cnncoverline and @hunterschwarz. To read about past stops on the trip, click here.
~The Great American Road Trip 2017~ Stop No. 5: Dallas, Texas: | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
One week down, one week to go. The 319-mile drive from Little Rock to Dallas takes me to the middle of my road trip. Both "Feels" by Calvin Harris feat. Pharrell, Katy Perry & Big Sean, and "There's Nothing Holding Me Back" by Shawn Mendes, have been on the radio constantly, and they've grown on me.
Coming into town on I-30, I drive across Ray Hubbard Lake, a 21,000-acre body of water that at points seems to stretch to the horizon. Dallas feels enormous, but it's still only the third-most populated city in the state. Everything really is bigger in Texas.
What Dallas is Talking About:
The nine immigrants who died in the back of a semi-truck in San Antonio is A1 in today's Dallas Morning News, and NBC 5 talked to a Dallas trucker who said the problem has been going on for years.
Dallas's Must-See Political Spot:
The George W. Bush Presidential Library. One wing of the museum goes through his presidency and includes items like the megaphone he spoke through at Ground Zero and wreckage from one of the Twin Towers. Another wing houses the Portraits of Courage exhibit featuring his paintings of veterans. Guys, W. actually can paint really well: | | Credit: @cnncoverline/Instagram
Outside are the statues of W. and H.W. that Bill Clinton made famous just ten days ago when he stood in between them. I asked if the library had seen an increase in people recreating the pic and was told no, and then went out and recreated the pic. I call this "Hunter hiding in the Bushes": | | Credit: @hunterschwarz/Instagram
Meet David Vobora, Founder of the Adaptive Training Foundation:
Former NFL player David Vobora started the Adaptive Training Foundation in Dallas in 2014 after meeting Travis Mills, a US Army Staff Sergeant who lost all his limbs. "He's an athlete who trained and blew me away with some of the things that he was able to accomplish," he says.
Today, trainers at ATF work with adaptive and Paralympic athletes and wounded veterans and provide a 9-week course free of charge, thanks to donors. | | Credit: @cnncoverline/Instagram/Ryan Alexander
There's no real guide for adaptive training. "We didn't know anything when I first started," says trainer Hunter Clark. "You can Google 'adaptive training' and find nothing because every single person that's gone through this program is a case study."
He says it's been three years of trial and error, "creating a list of things that work and a list of things that don't work," and finding ways to replicate movements for people who may or may not have working limbs.
Sometimes that means using non-traditional equipment, like the Spun Chair, high-end furniture that can be used for a core workout. "One of our donors saw them and was like, 'I bet you I could get those donated to the foundation,'" Vobora says.
The most recent group graduated Thursday, and Vobora says he often goes home "crying like a baby" because of the progress athletes make through the course.
"It's humbling, you know. There's things in here that I can't do that they can, and vice versa, and that's how you champion each other," he says.
The one word he says that's off limits at ATF is "can't." "Don't tell me what you can't do," he says. | | | | | | |
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