| | | | | The Lincoln Memorial during the snowstorm Wednesday. Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images | | | Melania Acknowledges the Elephant in the Room: What she said during her roundtable
A Repub Just Dropped the "I" Word: "Our only constitutional remedy is after the fact, through impeachment"
There Was a Pussycat Doll at the White House: She posted a photo with Pence | | | What the White House is Talking About:
Due to the snow, President Trump cancelled White House events today, including a scheduled Cabinet meeting.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
"DO NOT CONGRATULATE." Congratulations, it leaked.
Drip, Drip, Drip:
In case you missed it, the Washington Post yesterday broke news that Trump was informed, in an all caps situation, not to congratulate Vladimir Putin on his reelection win when the two spoke on the phone yesterday morning. But Trump did anyway -- something he shared with the media during a brief press event yesterday. The leaking of the do-not-congratulate instructions, issued by Trump's national security advisers, has infuriated the president and chief of staff John Kelly. It's sort of amazing to me, after all this time, how this West Wing cannot stop the leakers. It's like a game of whack-a-mole.
Mueller on Trump's Mind:
The president also apparently awoke with more anger at special counsel Robert Mueller (or, as he initially spelled it in his first tweet on the topic, "council"). In a series of tweets this morning, Trump lashed out at the Russia investigation, citing lawyer Alan Dershowitz and claiming again that there was no collusion. This is more recent evidence that Mueller is getting under his skin. Also, here's a good explainer of what *could* happen if Trump fires Mueller.
Our Daily Melania:
I thought Melania Trump did a surprising thing yesterday: she acknowledged the elephant in the room. When she said that cyberbullying was going to be one of the things she wanted to focus on under the giant umbrella of her "helping children" platform, the claws came out. Clearly, she was going to be attacked for picking something that her husband does on an almost daily basis -- he's probably the most notorious Twitter name-caller in recent memory, for starts. Yet in a move that I thought was pretty self-aware, Melania addressed the criticism: "I am well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing this topic. I have been criticized for my commitment to tackling this issue and I know that will continue. But it will not stop me from doing what I know is right." The first lady was addressing a roundtable of internet representatives from companies like Twitter, Facebook, Snap and Google, who she invited to the White House to discuss ways for children to interact safely with social media. I felt like it was a step in the right direction for a first lady who has been AWFULLY quiet about the issues and juxtapositions within this White House in terms of perceived hypocrisy. But feel free to disagree with me. | | Our Daily Melania, Part Two:
Personally, the shots she posts from the inside the White House, looking out, are my favorite. | |
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Weighs In ... On Scrunchies:
In perhaps my favorite RBG quotes to date, the inimitable justice shares her thoughts in the Wall Street Journal about the '80s hair accessory and why she has never given it up.
"I have been wearing scrunchies for years. My best scrunchies come from Zurich. Next best, London, and third best, Rome. My scrunchie collection is not as large as my collar and glove collections, but scrunchies are catching up." I mean, amazing, right? And why does she only buy them in Europe? I'm dying to know why they are best from Zurich! So many questions!
Here's the story's opening photo, for the scrunchie uninitiated: | | Credit: wsj.com
Best On-Air Snow Hat:
I dig how our Ryan Nobles is embracing his knit show hat with a fairly aggressive pom-pom. Ryan and his producer, Noah Gray, also get props for building this snowman. Well done, guys. | | Credit: CNN.com
"The Americans" Holds Season 6 Premiere in DC:
There was an event last night with the cast of the FX Russian spy show (which is so meta right now) at the Newseum to kick off Season 6. This was hands-down my favorite red carpet photo. Because, like, why? | | Credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images
Dress Like the First Lady:
This week, it's all about shoes. Melania wore a fairly tame skirt suit yesterday for her meeting with internet executives, but she paired it with a pair of Christian Louboutin So Kate 120 pumps in red python -- whoa. They originally retailed for $1,395 but I can only find one pair online at Tradesy, reduced to $879. And, YES, that's me in this pic of her walking into the room yesterday. Hi, I'm Kate. | | | Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images, tradesy.com | | What Washington is Talking About:
It's snowing here, and the government is officially closed, but the House and Senate are both in session. The spending bill needed to pass to avert a shutdown isn't expected to be ready in time for Friday, so a stopgap continuing resolution, or CR, would be needed to pass to fund the government for a few days until the big bill could be passed.
What America is Talking About:
After 19 days, five explosions and two casualties, the Austin bombing suspect, a 24-year-old male, killed himself early today, detonating an explosive device in a vehicle as officers approached.
Poll of the Day:
For the first time in the 21st century, an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll on favorability of the NRA found more people have a negative view (40%) than positive one (37%). | | Credit: NBC
A Repub Just Dropped the "I" Word:
It was Jeff Flake, but still. Sen. Flake tweeted yesterday that should President Trump fire special counsel Robert Mueller, Congress's "only constitutional remedy" would be impeachment. | | Credit: @JeffFlake/Twitter
Sen. Lindsey Graham was asked whether firing Mueller would be an impeachable offense by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, to which he responded, "Probably so, if he did it without cause."
Your Trump Allegations Cheat Sheet:
So a lot has happened recently on this front. Here's the tl;dr:
Former Playboy model Karen McDougal is suing American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Inquirer, which paid her money for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump and did not publish the story.
A New York judge denied an attempt by President Trump's lawyers to dismiss a defamation case against former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos, who claims Trump groped her a decade ago.
And Stormy Daniels released the results of her 2011 polygraph test (pictured below) in which she was asked questions about her alleged affair with Trump (do not read it out loud around the kids). | | Credit: via Michael Avenatti
Cambridge Analytica Suspends CEO:
The firm's CEO, Alexander Nix, was suspended following the release of undercover video. In one video, Nix claims data from Cambridge is responsible for Trump's win. "We did all the research, all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting," he said. "When you think about the fact that Donald Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million votes, but won the Electoral College, that's down to the data and the research." In another video, he said he has used beautiful Ukrainian women to entrap politicians.
In a statement, Cambridge said that what Nix said in the recordings "do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation," and they said the video about the Ukranian women was "edited and scripted" and that they do not engage in entrapment or bribery.
Cambridge Co-Founder Says They Tested People's Views on Putin:
Christopher Wylie, the firm's co-founder who left in 2014, has already said they tested how people felt about Trump campaign promises like "build the wall" and "drain the swamp," but he revealed to the Washington Post that they tested just one foreign topic while he was there: Putin. He said:
"It turns out there's a lot of Americans who really like this idea of a really strong authoritarian leader and people were quite defensive in focus groups of Putin's invasion of Crimea."
Wylie also said Steve Bannon oversaw data collection. He agreed to speak with Dems on the House Intel Committee, CNN has confirmed.
There Was a Pussycat Doll at the White House:
Former Pussycat Dolls member Kaya Jones posted photos yesterday for an Urban Revitalization Coalition meeting, according to her name card. She also posted this shot with Vice President Pence (she's the one with the pink hair). Jones told The Washingtonian in October she became a conservative after leaving the girl group. | | Credit: @kayajones/Instagram
Run-DMC and Fleetwood Mac are Heading to the Library of Congress:
The Library of Congress announced it's adding 25 more recordings to its National Recording Registry, including Run-DMC's album Raising Hell and Fleetwood Mac's album Rumors, "Rhythm is Gonna Get You" by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, "Le Freak" by Chic, "My Girl" by the Temptations, and "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and his Comets. See the full list here.
Street Art Sighting:
Artist Shepard Fairey has become a mass-protest poster maker. For the Los Angeles March for our Lives, his gallery will be giving out free signs Friday at his gallery in Echo Park. | | Credit: @obeygiant/Instagram
If you spot political street art, I'd love to see it. Here's how you can reach me:
1. Tweet me @hunterschwarz
2. Tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz
3. Email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com | | | | | | |
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