| | | | | Mike Pompeo shakes hands with President Trump at his swearing-in ceremony as secretary of state Wednesday at the State Department. Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images | | | Trump's Team Prepping for "Legal Showdown": Could Mueller issue a subpoena?
Sarah Sanders Wears "Melania": Dress like the White House press secretary
MAGA Ye Marathon: What Kanye said about politics over nearly three hours of content | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today presided over the official swearing-in at the State Department for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Later, the President awards the Teacher of the Year honor at the White House.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Trump saying at the swearing-in that he was first in his class at Wharton business school. Narrator: He was not.
Some color from CNN's Michelle Kosinski, who notes the musical entertainment at today's Pompeo ceremony festivus: | | Credit: @MichLKosinski/Twitter
"His Physical Strength and Stamina are Extraordinary":
I'm actually super-happy that one of my favorite characters came back this season. I love that nutty, shaggy-haired Dr. Harold Bornstein. Yesterday, it emerged Bornstein felt violated when Trump's former body man, Keith Schiller, came by his office to obtain the President's medical records. The good doctor called it a "raid," but the White House called it "standard procedure."
And then, later, Bornstein told CNN's Alex Marquardt that the, let's face it, incredible letter the doctor wrote in 2015 was actually dictated to him by Trump himself. "He dictated that whole letter. I didn't write that letter," Bornstein told CNN on Tuesday. "I just made it up as I went along." 😳
Trump's Team Prepping for "Legal Showdown":
This is a good read to catch up on where Trump's lawyers are in terms of preparing his defense in the case of a one-on-one with Robert Mueller about the Russia investigation. The concern on Trump's end is that Mueller could actually issue a subpoena for the President ...
Le Pauvre Arbre:
The sapling oak that the Trumps and the Macrons "planted" on the White House lawn last week has been moved into quarantine and could stay in the Department of Agriculture's Beltsville, Maryland, facilities for as long as two years. I find the whole thing fascinating -- which is why I am thankful for my colleague, Betsy Klein, for explaining the process. | | Meanwhile, Marla Maples Will Record You a Video:
So, there's that. Maples, Trump's second wife and mother of Tiffany, has signed on to Cameo, an app that arranges short, personalized videos from various C- and D-list celebrities. For $33, Maples will record a greeting, a cheering-up, or just a simple hello. She's apparently good at this -- Cameo's reviewers give Maples a five-star rating.
Meghan Markle's Brand-Name Effect:
I finally read this incredible piece in The New York Times about the impact Meghan Markle has had on the fashion brands she has worn in public since becoming Prince Harry's fiancee. It's pretty crazy. Websites have crashed, items have sold out in minutes, brands have moved into bigger facilities to accommodate demand ... In short, Markle will no doubt be the biggest fashion influencer of our time. | | Dress Like the Press Secretary:
No matter which side you came down on with the whole WHCD comedian debacle -- and I was there; it was a debacle -- Sarah Sanders' blue dress Saturday night was actually very pretty. AND IT'S CALLED THE "MELANIA" GOWN! It's by Chiara Boni La Petite Robe, and available here for $995. | | | Credit: Tasos Kalopodis/Getty Images, saksfifthavenue.com | | What Washington is Talking About:
Nancy Pelosi is feeling good about Dems' chance to retake the House and fully intends to run for speaker, and the RNC today is down in Florida for its spring meeting at the Trump National Doral Miami resort.
What America is Talking About:
Kanye West's wild TMZ interview and confrontation with Van Lathan, and Facebook is getting into the dating game.
Poll of the Day:
There's no clear consensus on how President Trump has done in ~draining the swamp~. A Monmouth poll released Tuesday found 37% believe nothing has changed, 31% believe he's made the swamp worse, and 25% believe he's made it better. | | Credit: Monmouth
MAGA Ye Marathon:
Nearly three hours of Kanye West content was released Wednesday. There were the fire-hot takes of his exhausting, scattershot "TMZ Live" appearance with Candace Owens filmed in front of the red and black TMZ newsroom, and the calm, cool conversations in an interview with Charlamagne filmed in his minimalist Calabasas, California, home that he released on his YouTube page.
The biggest news Ye made was calling American slavery a "choice," on "TMZ," which TMZ employee Van Lathan pushed back on. Lathan said:
"I actually don't think you're thinking anything. I think what you're doing right now is actually the absence of thought. And the reason why I feel like that is because, Kanye, you're entitled to your opinion. You're entitled to believe whatever you want. But there is fact, and real-world, real-life consequence behind everything that you just said. ... I'm disappointed, I'm appalled and, brother, I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something, to me, that's not real."
Ye looked genuinely taken aback by someone dressing him down like that, and he has since attempted to clarify his remarks, tweeting, "My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved," along with a quote he attributed to Harriet Tubman, though there's no evidence she said it. | | Credit: TMZ
Other things West said during the interview: - He explained he wore the MAGA hat because it was "doing something everybody tells you not to do."
- He called TMZ "the hospital to fix the world" and said "Obama was our opioids."
- And he admitted that when he saw George W. Bush at Barbara Bush's funeral, he wanted to "say I'm sorry for hurting you. I was an artist I said something in the moment, but when I look at you as a dad and a family member, I'm sorry for hurting you."
In his Charlamagne interview, Ye talked about his struggles with being played on the radio less frequently, being addicted to opioids, and being taken seriously as a creative outside music. And he also talked quite a bit about politics: - He said a West presidential campaign might be like "the Trump campaign and maybe the Bernie Sanders principles. That would be my mix."
- He's still hurt over Obama calling him a "jackass" for interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs and wants an apology. And he's hurt Obama invited other rappers, like Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z, to the White House and not him.
- He said he doesn't like the Harriet Tubman $20 bill because it's like "all the slave movies. Why you gotta keep reminding of us slavery? ... Put Michael Jordan on the $20 bill."
- He said what inspires him most about Trump was his campaign and not necessarily anything that happened after it, saying, "When he was running, it's like I felt something. It's like the fact that he won, it proves something. It proves that anything is possible in America, that Donald Trump could be President of America. I'm not talking what he's done since he's been in office."
| | Credit: Kanye West/YouTube
Kim K in Talks with Javanka Over Pardon:
Kim Kardashian has been in talks with Ivanka and Jared to get Trump to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, a woman serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug conviction, per TMZ.
The Guy Who Threw a Shoe at W. is Running for Office in Iraq:
Muntadhar al-Zaidi, 39, is running for Iraq's parliament and hopes to become president or prime minister. After throwing a shoe at then-President Bush in 2008, al-Zaidi served nine months in prison. "I don't have any issue with America or Americans," he told CNN. "My only issue is with the former President George W. Bush. He occupied my country and he killed my people."
"Roseanne" Got Beat in the Ratings:
Tuesday's episode had 10.3 million viewers, coming in second behind "NCIS."
Street Art Sighting:
This Bernie mural by street artist Jules Muck was spotted last summer on 5th Avenue in Venice Beach. | | Credit: @impermanent_art/Instagram
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.:
It's like a musical Mad Libs you didn't know you needed: Ariana Grande sang Kendrick Lamar's "Humble" in the style of Evanescence on "The Tonight Show." I would pay good money for an impressions-only Ariana Grande concert. | | | | | | |
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