| | | | Donald Trump loves a crowd | | On Tuesday, President Trump (and First Lady Melania Trump) traveled to Corpus Christi to meet with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others working to deal with the impact of Hurricane Harvey.
Stepping outside where a crowd had gathered to see the President, Trump made a brief speech. "What a crowd, what a turnout," he said.
So, yeah.
Just to set the scene: White House pool reporter -- and CNN White House producer -- Kevin Liptak estimated the crowd outside the firehouse where Trump met with Abbott to be larger than 200 but smaller than 500.
And, as Liptak notes of the gathering: "Not all were supportive; one held a sign calling Trump a 'liar, cheat, racist' and another sign read 'You pardoned Joe, what about Jose?'" (Trump defended his decision to pardon former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio during a news conference Monday, arguing the timing was intended to draw attention).
That's -- almost -- beside the point. The point is that Trump, even at an appearance in a disaster zone, is focused on the number of people there to see him.
Trump's comments on the crowd in Corpus Christi come just 24 hours after reports emerged that he was irate at advance man George Gigicos for the TV cameras which were showing a less-than-packed room for Trump's campaign rally in Phoenix a week ago. (Gigicos was informed after the Phoenix rally his services would no longer be needed.)
Trump appears to judge his success -- whether it's at a campaign rally or a visit to a region crushed by a natural disaster -- by how many people turn out to see him. It's the same mentality that makes him an avid consumer of TV ratings, book sales and, generally speaking, being #1.
Like it (which some do) or hate it (which more do), one thing is for sure: Trump's not changing.
-- Chris | |  | There is a Trump tweet for everything.
This Trump tweet from October 2012 -- in which he criticized former President Barack Obama for touring Hurricane Sandy damage -- resurfaced on the Internet today as the President traveled to Texas post-Hurricane Harvey. | | People on the Internet went crazy over first lady Melania Trump's Hurricane Harvey outfits on Tuesday.
At first, FLOTUS attracted everything from backlash to confusion as to why she was wearing heels to a flood zone. RE: the social chatter, FLOTUS' communications director told CNN's Kate Bennett in a statement: "It's sad that we have an active and ongoing natural disaster in Texas, and people are worried about her shoes."
As Kate predicted, Melania Trump did have an outfit change upon landing in Texas. The first lady hopped off the plane sporting a "FLOTUS" cap and Stan Smith tennis shoes. | | Coldplay dedicated a new song -- called "Houston" -- to Harvey victims during a performance on Monday night in Miami. The band wrote the song as the hurricane hit Texas.
"This is a new song, and we'll never play it again," Coldplay's Chris Martin said during the concert. "It's a once-off. It's called 'Houston.' We're going to sing it in Miami for everybody here and then we're going to send it over there to everyone who missed the show."
Listen and watch on YouTube here. | | CNN's Ryan Struyk analyzed how this chart shows why Trump's pardon of Arpaio was so unusual.
Trump's pardon of Arpaio was, historically, really weird. He bucked decades of precedent for how recent pardons have nearly always been granted: a majority have come in the last year of a president's term, they usually come in groups of a dozen or more and they cancel convictions averaging more than two decades old. But Trump's pardon of Arpaio? Not so much.
For more, check out Ryan's full story here. | | DEFAMATION CASE DISMISSED | | | CNN's Tom Kludt reported Tuesday that a federal judge in New York has dismissed former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. A reminder: Palin sued the newspaper earlier this year over an editorial that drew a link between an advertisement from Palin's political action committee and the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that wounded then-US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Per Tom's article, Judge Jed Rakoff wrote in his opinion: "Nowhere is political journalism so free, so robust, or perhaps so rowdy as in the United States. In the exercise of that freedom, mistakes will be made, some of which will be hurtful to others." The Gray Lady was obviously pleased. "Judge Rakoff's opinion is an important reminder of the country's deep commitment to a free press and the important role that journalism plays in our democracy," a Times spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. "We regret the errors we made in the editorial. But we were pleased to see that the court acknowledged the importance of the prompt correction we made once we learned of the mistakes." | | | Photo credit: Screengrab/Twitter/Fox&Friends | | Sebastian Gorka is continuing to open up about his departure from his role as White House counterterrorism adviser.
As CNN reported last week, a White House official said in a statement Gorka "did not resign, but I can confirm he is no longer with the White House."
Gorka spoke to Breitbart's Matt Boyle on SiriusXM Patriot on Saturday morning. Then on Tuesday, he appeared on "Fox & Friends," where he talked about everything from his exit to North Korea. Here are three highlights from the interview.
1. On his White House departure: "The fact is my resignation letter is out there in full now as of last night. You can read the reasons why I resigned. One of the reasons is that the MAGA platform, the Make America Great platform that brought us into the White House. There are a lot of people in that building who really don't agree with it, and won't associate with it -- that's why I left, so we can support the President from the outside because that's why he was elected. And he is not going to give up. The question is are the people around him going to support him, at least the people on the outside like myself, Steve Bannon, we are going to support him to the fullest."
2. Some post-departure reflection: "It was the greatest honor of my life to serve for the President inside the White House. But the President reached out to me after I resigned on Saturday. He thanked me for my service and he also said I am sticking to the agenda. He is sticking to his agenda. He wants me to help him on the outside, especially in the media to support him. That's exactly what i'm going to do."
3. On North Korea: "Yeah so, I'm not at liberty to talk about the discussions we had with South Korea when I was inside the White House. But missile defense is a topic that, of course, came up with the government of South Korea. But, there are many other options, Brian, as well. Also, on the more covert side of things, you've seen a lot of missile tests fail. Most tests actually fail. Sometimes there may be reasons beyond just the incompetence of North Korea for those missile tests." | | | CNN's Tal Kopan writes:
As President Donald Trump's decision on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program looms, the nation's mayors are making a bipartisan push to save the program, which protects young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Here's what some of them had to say on a conference call today for the US Conference of Mayors: - Anaheim, California, Mayor Tom Tait (Republican): "This really isn't a complicated issue. … This one really strikes at the hearts of folks and at the heart of the country."
- Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles (Republican): "I think morality trumps partisan politics. I think even conservative Republicans see this is a clear choice between right and wrong and the right thing to do is to embrace these great young people and to nurture them and to help them be successful."
- Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Jorge Elorza (Democrat): "It's almost unconscionable to think that someone who trusted the federal government would be penalized because they trusted the federal government and I can't imagine the political consequences, in addition to the moral consequences, would be positive."
- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (Democrat): "There have been conversations within the White House that have directly gotten back to the US Conference of Mayors that this isn't settled, but this is something that's talked about and it could be something that's done this week, that's not hearsay."
| | SPICER MEETS THE POPE (FINALLY) | | Dreams do come true.
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer met the Pope, American Magazine reported on Tuesday. CNN confirmed the news.
More from CNN's Donald Judd (DJ), who first flagged the American Magazine article:
It looks like Sean Spicer's living his best life following his West Wing departure. Back in May, Spicer (a devout Catholic) was cut, last minute, from President Donald Trump's audience with Pope Francis in a move that raised questions regarding Spicer's status in the White House. American Magazine reported that Spicer met with the pontiff as part of a visiting delegation of the International Catholic Legislators Network, which also included Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL). Photos posted by the Vatican make it clear it wasn't the private audience with the Pope that Spicer may have hoped for, but at least he got a holy handshake out of it. (There are about two pages worth of Spicer and family meeting the pope, starting on Page 7 of this album). | | | Speaking of Spicey, remember when Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski (Gronk) stopped by the White House briefing? Memories. Anyway, have a great rest of your Tuesday. Don't forget to tell everyone to subscribe. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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