| | | | Ronny Jackson is done (even if he doesn't know it) | | Less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump -- and his White House -- insisted that they would stand behind Ronny Jackson as their VA nominee, a series of new allegations emerged that raise questions about whether he can hang on.
The allegations, which emerged from a leaked Democratic memo detailing claims by whistleblowers, include: - Crashing a government vehicle while intoxicated after a Secret Service going-away party
- Writing prescriptions to himself
- Providing a "large supply" of Percocet to a White House military staffer, a move that sent other members of the military staff into a "panic."
Those accusations come on top of a series of other allegations on Tuesday, including that Jackson was known as "The Candy Man" for his willingness to provide prescription sleeping pills on overnight flights and that he had banged on the door of a female staffer, while intoxicated, on a trip abroad with President Obama.
Under normal circumstances, Jackson's nomination would not have survived past Tuesday. Under extraordinary circumstances -- and everything involving Trump and his administration counts as extraordinary -- it's hard to imagine how Jackson could possibly survive this.
CNN's Elizabeth Landers caught Jackson coming out of press secretary Sarah Sanders' office in the West Wing Wednesday afternoon. He insisted that he had never crashed any car, but offered no thoughts on the other allegations.
"We're still moving ahead as planned," he insisted.
For now.
The Point: Political gravity may be different under Trump, but it still exists. And there's simply no way that Jackson can hope to combat all of these charges amid the growing media maelstrom.
-- Chris | |  | | The rapper and Trump had quite a Twitter exchange on Wednesday. Saba wrote up a timeline of all of West and wife Kim Kardashian's political moments. Check it out here. | | TONIGHT: CNN TOWN HALL WITH JAMES COMEY | | | Chris and Brenna are at CNN's Town Hall tonight -- hosted by Anderson Cooper -- where James Comey will answer questions in front of a live audience. Also, before you watch, be sure to read CNN's 7 things to know about the fired FBI director. | | | Today's topic? Chris' questions for Comey ahead of the Town Hall. | | REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: SCOTUS TRAVEL BAN HEARING | | Today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on President Donald Trump's travel ban. Saba was there to help the CNN team. Here's her brief reporter's notebook:
I arrived around 8:15 a.m. and checked in in the press room, where I was given a pink card with a seat assignment. We were reminded: No electronics whatsoever in the court room. Just pen and paper! Old school! About 45 minutes later, we were all kindly escorted to our seats in the court room in an orderly fashion. It kind of felt like I was back on a school field trip, except with a ton of fellow journalists. Some in line with me had been covering SCOTUS for years (like our amazing team here at CNN). Others, like me, were just helping out for the day.
Our view wasn't great -- behind the curtain (literally) -- so we had to rely solely on our ears. While challenging, it kept me on my toes, as I frantically scribbled notes (some legible) and checked my watch to make sure I had the time correctly written down as well. Also in the room where it happened: "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia.
The big takeaway? Conservative justices and swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to side with the Trump administration. Solicitor General Noel Francisco emphasized throughout the hearing that "this is not a so-called 'Muslim ban.'"
Read CNN's full coverage by Saba and CNN's Ariane de Vogue here. | | CNN's Betsy Klein wrote Wednesday: "This chain link fence was bent by a bullet almost one year ago when a gunman opened fire on congressional Republicans' charity baseball game practice. Today, they returned to the dugout together for the first time.
'A lot of emotions when we left the field that day. One of the things that stayed with me was we never got to finish the practice that we started, and that's why I wore the same uniform I was wearing on the field that day, because it was important to come out here and show the world that we're not going to be deterred,' said Rep. Barry Loudermilk."
Read more in Betsy's full story here. | | SUSPECTED SPIES AMONG DOZENS OF EXPELLED DIPLOMATS | | CNN's Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz broke news on Wednesday afternoon that "among the dozens of Russian diplomats the United States expelled last month were suspected spies who US law enforcement and intelligence officials believe were tracking Russian defectors and their families who had resettled in the United States."
"In at least one instance, suspected Russian spies were believed to be casing someone who was part of a CIA program that provided new identities to protect resettled Russians, officials briefed on the matter told CNN."
Read more here. | | | Brenna writes: "They like him! They really like him! French President Macron was clearly touched by his warm welcome when he spoke to Congress earlier today. He's French, so he's probably never seen such outward warmth. (That was a joke about the French being stereotypically rude. Jokes are funnier when you explain them)." Do you like The Point as much as Congress likes Macron? If yes, spread the word! Tell people you know 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. | | | | | | |
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