| | | | | President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on Thursday at Andrews Air Force Base. Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images | | | Mueller Zeroes In on Russian Oligarchs: Investigators are asking whether wealthy Russians funneled cash to the Trump campaign
Nats Park Gets First Lady Homage: But it's to Grace Coolidge, not Melania Trump
The Woman Fired for Flipping Off Trump is Suing: She says her firing was "unlawful and un-American" | | | What the White House Is Talking About:
President Donald Trump goes to West Virginia today to hold a round-table discussion about tax reform.
What the White House Press Corps Is Talking About:
Border plan confusion.
Hogan Gidley will gaggle with the press on the way to West Virginia. Also, Gidley said this earlier on Fox News about the job security of the embattled Environmental Protection Agency chief: "I can't speak to the future of Scott Pruitt."
Border Control Continues:
This morning, Trump tweeted this: | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
And then Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted this: | | Credit: @SecNielsen/Twitter
If you are sort of confused as to why Trump has decided to send National Guard troops to the border now, especially if numbers are at a historic low, this explainer is handy.
Speaking of Troops, Syria is Making Trump Cranky, Too:
Apparently, the President is hot to get our forces out of Syria, but his national security team is advising him "not so fast." CNN's Elise Labott and Kevin Liptak had a scoop Wednesday night that Trump became "irritated" during a tense meeting with his military leaders, who told him that immediately withdrawing US troops is a bad idea. As of now, the timeline remains undefined, but Trump isn't a President who likes hearing "no."
Mueller Zeroes In on Russian Oligarchs:
The dictionary defines an "oligarch" as: - a ruler in an oligarchy.
- (especially in Russia) a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence.
So the second definition seems to be why special counsel Robert Mueller's team questioned Russian oligarchs who landed in the United States, going so far as to board a private plane owned by one and search his electronic devices, according to CNN reporting. Apparently, Mueller feels the situations have one thing in common: "Investigators are asking whether wealthy Russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly into Donald Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration." | | Mike Isabella's Nats Park Eatery Replaced by First Lady Homage :
Let me break this down. Celeb chef Mike Isabella is facing a massive sexual harassment lawsuit with allegations of appalling behavior -- so the Nationals cut ties with Isabella, who had three concession spaces at Nationals Park. One of those spots has now been replaced with Grace's Kitchen, named after former first lady Grace Coolidge, who was not only the owner of a pet raccoon at the White House but also an avid baseball fan. Grace's Kitchen will feature food from local Washington female cooks and restaurateurs, the first being Jamie Leeds of Hank's Oyster Bar, and Carla Hall, one of the stars of ABC's "The Chew." Leeds handles the shrimp po'boys for today's Nats opener against the Mets, and Hall the hot chicken sandwich and mac 'n cheese -- no word on who is claiming the "prescription chicken bipartisan soup," but that person should be ejected from the game. | | Credit: @ScottSAllen/Twitter
James Comey Digs His Broadway Shows:
Page Six had an item Wednesday about former FBI Director James Comey enjoying the New York nightlife. He and his wife went to dinner at Scarpetta and then took in "The Band's Visit," a musical about Egyptian musicians who end up in Israel. This guy loves his musicals, because by my count, "The Band's Visit" marks the fifth one Comey's been to in recent months. He also likes to go backstage and pose with the cast. Since he got fired by Trump last year, he's also been to see "Fun Home," "Springsteen on Broadway," "Waitress" and "Come From Away." | | Credit: @Comey/Twitter
Hotels That Use the Royal Wedding for Stunts:
If there's an event, there's a hotel that's going to whip up a "special package" for it. This time it's the Fairmont Washington, which announced a royal wedding "experience" for two nights for $75,000. Once that gets your attention, then the hotel mentions all the stuff the package includes, such as a butler, tea service, Barbour jackets, a $10,000 gift certificate to Burberry, photographer, chef and makeup artist, and tickets to the hotel's royal wedding watch party to observe the May 19 nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. I'm not sure anyone actually books these special packages, but it's a way to piggyback off of people's obsession with the royal wedding.
Related: Yesterday I Bought This Mug:
Hi, I'm Kate. | | What Washington Is Talking About:
Today is the Nats' home opener against the Mets. President Trump will again not throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
What America Is Talking About:
Facebook believes most users have had their data scraped by third parties because of a search feature that allowed users to be discoverable through their phone number or email. That feature has now been disabled.
Poll of the Day:
Women and Democrats are more likely than men and Republicans to believe that men getting away with sexual harassment and assault and women not being believed are major problems, according to a Pew poll released Wednesday. | | Credit: Pew
Republicans Brace for Midterms:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said as much to the editorial board of Kentucky Today. "This is going to be a challenging election year," he said. "We know the wind is going to be in our face. We don't know whether it's going to be a Category 3, 4 or 5."
The Woman Fired for Flipping Off Trump is Suing:
Juli Briskman, who was fired from her job in November after giving the President's motorcade the bird as it traveled back to Washington from Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, is suing her former company, calling its actions "unlawful and un-American."
Google Employees Call for End to Defense Department Program:
More than 3,100 Google employees have signed a letter asking the company to pull out of Project Maven, an initiative using artificial intelligence surveillance to track vehicles and other objects for the Defense Department. Addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the letter reads, "Google should not be in the business of war," and it warns that participation in the program "will irreparably damage Google's brand and its ability to compete for talent."
Trump Ordered the National Guard to the Mexico Border; Here's How Border States Responded:
Trump's efforts to fulfill his campaign promise to build ~The Wall~ has largely been a flop. Mexico isn't paying for it, Trump's suggested privately it be built using money supposed to be used for our troops, and he's resorted to tweeting misleading photos of pre-existing border barriers being replaced to suggest construction is underway. So he's now onto a new plan, saying Tuesday "we're going to be guarding our border with the military" until it can be built.
Presidents have done this before. George W. Bush sent more than 6,000 members of the National Guard to the border beginning in 2006, and Barack Obama sent 1,200 in 2010. This is how the border states responded to Trump's plan: - Arizona is in. Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted, "Arizona welcomes the deployment of National Guard to the border."
- California is TBD. California National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Keegan said in a statement officals "look forward to more detail, including funding, duration and end state"
- New Mexico is in. Gov. Susana Martinez "appreciates the administration's efforts to bring states to the table as they go about taking steps to better secure our border," spokesman Michael Lonergan said in a statement.
- Texas is in. Gov. Greg Abbott said the Lone Star State has maintained National Guard members on the border and said in a statement, "I welcome the support."
| | A view of the border fence Tuesday near wall prototypes at the US-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico. Credit: Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images
Cecile Richards Says She Felt 'Javanka' Tried to 'Bribe' Her:
According to an excerpt from her forthcoming book "Make Trouble" in People, the Planned Parenthood CEO said during the transition, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner promised an increase in federal funding for her organization if it stopped providing abortions. Richards wrote:
"If it wasn't crystal clear before, it was now. Jared and Ivanka were there for one reason: to deliver a political win. In their eyes, if they could stop Planned Parenthood from providing abortions, it would confirm their reputation as savvy dealmakers. It was surreal, essentially being asked to barter away women's rights for more money."
Street Art Sighting:
An anti-Facebook street art campaign has gone up around New York, including this "Caution Facebook Sells Data" street sign. The Daily Mail is attributing it to Sabo. | | Credit: via Daily Mail
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.
P.S.:
Turn your "Dreams" into memes and your memes into hits. Fleetwood Mac's 1977 No. 1 hit "Dreams" has re-entered the Billboard charts, coming in at No. 14 on the Hot Rock Songs chart because of this amazing tweet that put the song over a video of a woman dancing. | | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment