| | | | | President Trump gives a handful of ink pens to steel and aluminum workers after signing the Section 232 Proclamation on steel and aluminum imports at the White House Thursday. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | | | The North Korea Stunner: Trump will meet with Kim by May
What Rex-T Said Hours Before: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said earlier Wednesday the US was "a long ways" from a meeting with North Korea
Dennis Rodman Brought "The Art of the Deal": During his 2017 trip, Rodman presented Trump's book to a North Korean official | | | What the White House is Talking About:
No public events on President Trump's schedule today.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
The "summit" announcement between Trump and Kim Jong Un.
Sarah Sanders is scheduled to brief the press at 2 p.m. today.
The North Korea Stunner:
It was a big shock for most of the world to hear the announcement last night, delivered via South Korea's national security adviser, that North Korea was committed to denuclearization, and that Kim Jong Un wanted to meet face-to-face with Donald Trump. It's a bold and fascinating development between two men who, weeks ago, were calling each other names. The meeting is supposed to take place in May, unclear where exactly it will happen, but the decision to even talk is already a historic development. The news splashed across the front pages in Seoul, South Korea, today: | | Credit: Jean Chung/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Jobs Report Friday:
It's jobs day -- and today's report on growth is the biggest it has been since July 2016. The economy added a whopping 313,000 new jobs in February, a huge jump and a sign that unemployed Americans are getting back to work. Trump tweeted. He's happy about it.
Tariffs Happened After All:
The back and forth -- and worries from Republicans on the Hill -- didn't change Trump's decision to go ahead and place tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. As he confirmed it was happening, two members of his Cabinet literally "cheers"'d. And by the afternoon signing ceremony, during which Vice President Mike Pence held a steady, adoring gaze at the back of the President's left ear, Trump was in full Trump-ian form, even asking one of the steelworkers stepping up to the podium if he wanted to arm wrestle. | | Credit: @kevinliptakCNN/Twitter
Our Daily Melania:
The first lady had a big afternoon yesterday, with a one-on-one visit to the White House from Kyle Kashuv, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who narrowly survived the devastating shooting last month -- he was locked out of a classroom, but let in at the last moment, spending hours in a closet as chaos unfolded outside. Kashuv reached out to the first lady in the hopes of discussing guns, trauma, solutions, and the idea of students helping students, which is the purpose of a new app Kashuv has developed. The White House told me Melania spent about 30 minutes with Kashuv, during which she asked him a lot of questions about his emotional recovery, and that of his fellow students. She was concerned whether in the aftermath of the trauma there was enough support for the kids at school. Kashuv spent a good part of his day on the Hill, meeting with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle -- but he really wanted to meet the President, who, despite Kashuv sending a letter requesting some time, had yet to respond. So, after their talk, Melania surprised Kashuv, walking him over to the Oval Office. Here's the video, and here are some photos from the first lady's Twitter: | | Credit: @FLOTUS/Twitter
Obama's Netflix Deal:
Former President Barack Obama could next be a television producer, if the talks he's reportedly having with Netflix morph into a new series about uplifting Americans, which is the buzz. According to The New York Times, which first reported the story, the Netflix deal will also include Michelle Obama, who would likely appear in some of the episodes.
Dress Like the First Daughter:
Ivanka Trump's tour through the entire Zara collection continued yesterday at the Cabinet meeting with this black-suit-with-pearls look. It was majorly on sale ($22.99!) but has now sold out, but here's a very similar jacket for $99.90. | | | Credit: Michael Reynolds/Getty Images, zara.com | | What Washington is Talking About:
Reacting to the news of President Trump's planned meeting with Kim Jong Un ("It's going to take time to get this underway under any circumstances," Wendy Sherman, a North Korea policy coordinator in the Clinton administration, told the Washington Post) and steel and aluminum tariffs (Sen. Jeff Flake talked about legislation to nullify them, and Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement, "I disagree with this action and fear its unintended consequences").
What America is Talking About:
Nintendo is bringing Super Smash Bros to Switch.
Poll of the Day:
The percentage of American adults who believe Trump's tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from other countries will increase the price of things they buy, according to a Marist poll released Thursday: | | Credit: Marist
And it turns out it's not just Republican lawmakers feeling skeptical about the tariffs. The poll found 56% of Repub adults think the tariffs will increase prices, along with 68% of independents and 73% of Dems.
What Rex-T Said Hours Before Trump-Kim Meeting Announced:
As Kate said, Trump's Kim Jong Un meeting news was an absolute stunner. Just earlier that day, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US was "a long ways from negotiations" with North Korea. Not that long, it turns out. Tillerson said today it "was not a surprise in any way."
Dennis Rodman Brought "Art of the Deal" When He Was in North Korea in 2017:
The former NBA star brought Trump's ghostwritten 1987 book with him during his June 2017 trip to North Korea and was photographed presenting it to the country's sports minister Kim Il Guk. Rodman, who's visited North Korea multiple times and was a contestant on Season 8 of "The Apprentice," is possibly the only person on the planet to know both Kim and Trump. Trump has tweeted multiple times about Rodman and NoKo, including this tweet from 2014 when he said that despite Rodman's invitation to go to North Korea, he had "no interest" in visiting and it was the "last place on Earth I want to go to." | | As he arrived in Beijing in September 2013, Dennis Rodman displayed photographs to the media apparently showing him with Kim Jong Un. Credit: Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images
Bernie in Trumpland:
Bernie Sanders has been on tour since the 2016 election, visiting 28 states (plus Vermont) to campaign for candidates and promote his latest book. If you look at the states he's been to, you'll notice something interesting: He's gone to more states that voted for Trump than ones that voted for Clinton: | | Credit: CNN
Our Gregory Krieg and Sam Petulla wrote here about why Sanders is spending so much time in Trump states. Sanders said:
"We have put a significant effort into going into states that Trump won. Not exclusively, but most of the states that I've visited have been states that Trump won. The reason for that is I think it's important for people who voted for Trump to understand that many of the promises that he made on health care, on taxes, on many other issues, are promises that he did not keep."
The Russians Made a Hillary Clinton Video Game:
In the weeks before Election Day 2016, an online game called "Hilltendo" popped up online. CNN has learned the game has connections to the Russian Internet Research Agency. You can see the remnants of the site here on Wayback Machine. The game had three levels: - "Help Hillary Delete as many classified emails as possible before she is caught": Clinton rides a missile trying to catch email icons and dodge agents
- "How much money can Hillary get from the Arab states?": Clinton has to catch falling money and avoid falling bombs
- "Help Hillary throw the Constitution as far as possible.": Clinton stands outside the White House holding a Statue of Liberty bat, and Obama, standing on the roof, throws the Constitution down for Clinton to hit.
| | Credit: the Russians
This isn't the first time we've heard about Russia-connected efforts to meddle in the 2016 campaign through video games; we know they tried a bizarre campaign for Pokemon Go that didn't get much traction, but "Hilltendo" seems much savvier. Tracking software on the game's site allowed the creator to target people who visited the site and then follow them as they went elsewhere online, including to Facebook and Google, making it easy to build an audience with which it could share fake news or propaganda. And there's evidence suggesting Imgur was used to spread it: two accounts created days after the game's site was created posted lists of games to "kill your time" on Imgur that included "Hilltendo" and went viral. The lists were viewed more than 700,000 times and one made Imgur's front page. That's some BuzzFeed native ad-style marketing right there. Imgur said it has been "actively investigating how our platform may have been used by foreign actors" and has not been contacted by investigators from Robert Mueller's team or Congress.
BYU Asks Mitt to Not Use Footage From Campus:
Mitt Romney has been asked by his alma mater to not use footage shot on campus in his campaign. Romney's announcement video included clips of students at BYU, and a school spokesman told the Salt Lake Tribune, "We have spoken with Mitt Romney's campaign officials about the brief clips showing campus and our political neutrality policy. We have been assured by the campaign staff that this footage will not be used in any other promotional pieces."
Designer Who Worked on Clinton Campaign Button Series' Latest Project:
Paula Scher, a designer who works for the firm Pentagram, designed the identity for ReflectUS, a nonpartisan partnership of groups that help women run for elected office. Pentagram posted images from the identity Thursday to mark International Women's Day. You may have seen Scher's work during the 2016 campaign; she was among the designers who participated in the Clinton campaign's Forty-Five Pin Project, a set of pins sold in the Clinton campaign store. Hers played off the "H" logo arrow with pins reading "Progress," "Unity" and "Empathy." | | Credit: @Pentagram/Instagram
Street Art Sighting:
The political figure I see most on stickers around Washington is undoubtedly Trump. No. 2 I'd probably say is Kim Jong Un. I spotted this sticker of him last weekend on the corner of U and 16th. | | Credit: @hunterschwarz/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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