| | | | | The presidential limousine, aka "The Beast," is parked in front of the Trump hotel as President Trump attends dinner with supporters Monday. Credit: Olivier Douliery/Pool/Getty Images | | | Mr. President, Robert Mueller Has a Few Questions for You: The more than 40 Qs the special counsel has for Trump
Comedians Defend Michelle Wolf: Late-night hosts weigh in on her controversial WHCD set
Behind the Scenes with MAGA Ye: Kanye says he agrees with half of what Trump does | | | | Kate Bennett is off. Her section will return Wednesday. | | What Washington is Talking About:
President Trump has come out in favor of a bipartisan term-limits bill introduced by freshmen House members. And in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir "The Restless Wave," Sen. John McCain wrote that this term will be his last, and it sounds like the OG maverick is about to get even more mavericky. "I'm freer than colleagues who will face the voters again," he wrote. "I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much. And I can vote my conscience without worry."
What America is Talking About:
Time's Up has launched a #MuteRKelly campaign pressuring the music industry and others to not do business with the singer, and this viral video of a paddle boarder in Australia who got knocked over by a dolphin.
Reminder:
Rent is due.
April 2018, a Retrospective:
Good job, guys, we've made it third of the way through 2018. My monthly Notes App lookback keeps getting harder and harder to fit in a single screenshot, but I managed. Here are some of the news, politics, and pop culture stories we lived through last month: | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
Mr. President, Robert Mueller Has a Few Questions For You:
Oh boy. Special counsel Robert Mueller provided Trump's lawyers with a list of more than 40 question topics they would like to ask him in an interview. The list was obtained by the New York Times and you can read the paraphrased list here. The questions are about four main topics: - Former national security adviser Michael Flynn
- Former FBI director James Comey
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions
- And coordination between his 2016 campaign and Russia, including Qs about his 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant, attempts to establish backchannels with Russia during the transition, and when he knew about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower between the Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton and DJTJ.
Trump's tweets came up a few times in the questions, including a question about Trump's tweet in May saying Comey "better hope that there are no 'tapes.'" 👀
Trump seemed unbothered when he tweeted about the questions this morning, incorrectly saying there were no questions about collusion and literally ending with, "Nice!" Nice. | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
Michael Cohen on That National Enquirer Cover:
When Cohen was asked by CNN whether he thinks the Trump-friendly National Enquirer cover story blaring "Trump Fixer's Secrets & Lies!" about him was meant to send a message he said, "What do you think?" | | Credit: American Media Inc.
Stormy Files Defamation Suit Against Trump:
The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court Monday, is in connection with Trump's tweet in April dismissing the composite sketch released of the man Stormy said threatened her in 2011 if she talked about her alleged affair with Trump ("nonexistent man" and "total con job" were the phrases Trump used).
Comedians Defend Michelle Wolf:
Late-night comedians returned for their shows Monday night, and Wolf's WHCD performance was a popular monologue topic. A sampling of their thoughts:
Seth Meyers: "When you call her filthy, you are right. Filthy! And she is mean, which is what we love about her, because those are wonderful qualities for comedians, and terrible qualities for free world leaders." Stephen Colbert: "Look, you didn't like it, you have that right. Don't invite her back again! ...This was a roast and you were the ones who hired Michelle Wolf. Being mad at her for doing her job is like accusing the valet of briefly stealing your car. And stop acting like you're surprised." James Corden: "She did the most amazing job, she was brilliant. She was incredible and during the dinner she mocked journalists and politicians, so you can see why Trump was upset. She's stealing his act."
Wolf told NPR she "wouldn't change a single word" in her routine and said a friend who helped write it gave her a note that read, "Be sure to yourself. Never apologize. Burn it to the ground."
Behind the Scenes with MAGA Ye:
Kanye West posted a video on his website showing a BTS of the recording of "Ye vs. the People (Starring T.I. as the People)" (watch it here now before he possibly takes it down). In it, he and T.I. argue, very civilly, of course, about Ye's support for Trump. Says West, "half the sh*t Trump does I don't agree with." When asked by T.I. which half exactly he does support, he says, "The ability to do what no one said you can do, to do the impossible." | | Credit: kanyewest.com
West also tweeted screenshots of text conversations he's having with people about whether Dems or Repubs are better for black people. In one, someone named Steve wrote:
"Abe Lincoln freed and protected the slaves and he was Republican. Republicans were the ones who's helped black people. Democrats protected the rights of the slave owners in the south."
After tweeting that out, John Legend texted Kanye this, which he also tweeted out:
"Abraham Lincoln was indeed a Republican. They love bringing that up to deflect from the fact that now the Republicans have become the party of the Confederacy. They defend the Confederate flag and oppose civil rights advances almost uniformly. When Lyndon Johnson (a Democrat) signed the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act into law, he acknowledged that the Democrats would probably lose the south for a generation. And eventually he was right."
Kanye has now deleted those tweets.
Other tweets from Ye that haven't been deleted are this one of quotes from black conservative thinker Thomas Sowell, and this whiteboard on "how to make a mind" he said Candace Owens wrote, showing politics downstream from culture: | | Credit: @kanyewest/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
I spotted posters from the group DefendJ20Resistance yesterday in Washington Circle. The poster shows Trump pointing a gun and says the arrest of people at protests in Washington for Trump's inauguration were "surely ordered from the top." | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
If you spot political street art, tweet me @hunterschwarz, tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com with your sighting so I can feature it in COVER/LINE.
P.S.:
Just in time for the May 1 "It's gonna be Maaay" memerush, 'NSync got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday. I'm obsessed with this photo and could legit spend 10 minutes dissecting each 'NSync member and what they chose to wear for this historic occasion, but unfortunately, that's all the time we have today. Enjoy: | | | Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images | | | | | | |
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