| | | | | President Trump speaks after the lights in the Cabinet Room temporarily went out on Tuesday. Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images | | | What Washington is Talking About: Lawmakers are considering their options to push back against Trump's support of Putin
Botched: Trump's continued attempts at damage control over the Putin fallout
Comey Would Like You to Vote Dem: Whoa, the former FBI director weighs in on 2018 | | | What Washington is Talking About:
Lawmakers are considering their options to push back against President Trump's support of Vladimir Putin over US intelligence. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) wants a resolution supporting the intelligence community, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) co-authored legislation that would impose sanctions on countries if they interfere in American elections, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants Trump's national security team to testify before the Senate, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) want a hearing with Trump's translator, one of four people who sat in on the Trump-Putin meeting and actually knows what they said to each other.
What the White House is Talking About:
There's a press briefing scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. Should be intense. 😳
What America is Talking About:
MGM Resorts International is facing blowback after suing more than 1,000 victims of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting to protect itself from legal action, the American League beat the National League 8-6 in the All-Star Game, and "Rugrats" is getting a 26-episode reboot, as well as a movie scheduled to be released in November 2020, shortly after the election.
Poll of the Day:
A majority of Americans now approve of the Supreme Court. The Court's approval rating has reached 53%, its highest level since 2009, driven by an increase among Repubs and independents, according to a Gallup poll. | | Credit: Gallup
Trump's Botched Damage Control Over Putin Remarks:
Trump claimed Tuesday that he misspoke during his press conference with Putin, telling reporters, "In a key sentence in my remarks I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't.' The sentence should have been: 'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia.' Sort of a double negative."
It was a bizarre claim that ignored other instances of deference Trump paid to Putin during the press conference, and was followed up by Trump saying he believes US intelligence before reversing and casting doubt on the US intelligence community's findings in the next sentence.
"I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place," he said, adding, "Could be other people also. There's a lot of people out there." (emphasis mine) | | Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Trump read from printed prepared remarks, which included some handwritten all-caps notes in black, like "THERE WAS NO COLUSION" (sic), spotted by our Kevin Liptak: | | Credit: CNN
Russia Says It Reached Military Agreements with the US:
Russia is "ready for practical implementation of the agreements reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in the sphere of international security achieved at the Helsinki summit," a Russian military spokesman said in a statement Tuesday. The problem? We have no idea what that agreement is. The National Security Council told CNN it's still "reviewing the discussion" and the Pentagon had no comment.
Trump Biographer Says We Should Look at Tax Returns:
Tim O'Brien, the author of "TrumpNation" who said he saw Trump's tax returns as part of a libel lawsuit Trump filed against him over the book, called on the President to release his returns in light of his siding with Putin. "I suspect that Trump is hesitant to make them public because they would reveal, among other things, sensitive information about his business activities, conflicts of interest and financial pressures that might come to bear upon him in the White House," O'Brien wrote in an op-ed for Bloomberg. "Pressure from places like Russia, for example." O'Brien said he's barred by a court order from discussing specifics of what he saw in the returns and said Repubs should demand that Trump release them "if they are truly disturbed."
Former White House Stenographer Explains Why She Quit:
Beck Dorey-Stein, a stenographer who worked for the White House from 2012 to 2017, told our Alisyn Camerota she quit because she wasn't proud of where she worked anymore. "I felt like President Trump was lying to the American people," she said. "He wasn't even going the extra mile to have the stenographers in the room." In an op-ed for the New York Times, Dorey-Stein wrote that under Obama, stenographers provided the White House with a record of what was said in the event that reporters misquoted him. "Mr. Trump likes to call anyone who disagrees with him 'fake news,'" she wrote. "But if he's really the victim of so much inaccurate reporting, why is he so averse to having the facts recorded and transcribed?" | | Credit: CNN
Comey Would Like You to Vote Dem:
Whoa. Former FBI Director James Comey tweeted Tuesday that the Repub Congress hasn't done its job checking the executive branch and called on "all who believe in this country's values" to vote for Dems in the midterms. "Policy differences don't matter right now," he wrote. "History has its eyes on us." | | Credit: @Comey/Twitter
Harris Has a Book Coming Out:
"The Truths We Hold: An American Journey," by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), is set to come out January 9, 2019, about a year before the Iowa caucus. Hmmmm...
Also, Christie Has a Book:
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's own book, "Let Me Finish," will come out 20 days after Harris', on January 29. Hachette Books said Christie will "set the record straight," from Bridgegate to his thoughts on J-Kush.
Harper Went Full 'Merica:
The Nats' Bryce Harper showed up to the Red Carpet Show ahead of the All-Star game yesterday with a "Red, White, & Bryce" edition of a suit by Stitched, the brand from his native Las Vegas that opened a D.C.-area location last year. The inside lining was covered in a collage of monuments, founding documents, and eagles. | | Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
And he wore red slippers with his initials and the Stitched logo on the flag. | | Credit: Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images
There's an Album About Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
The liberal stanning over RBG continues with Notorious RBG in Song, an album written by her daughter-in-law and produced by her son. If you like piano and vibrato, maybe it's for you, but it's def not pop. | | Credit: Cedille Records
Street Art Sighting:
Some political ads from OKCupid for the dating service's "DTF" campaign were up on a building across from Nats Park last night. Some of the posters replaced the typical meaning for the "F" in "DTF" with "Filter Out The Far Right" and "Fight About The President." The ads were next to others, for Spike Lee's upcoming "BlacKkKlansman," and from Amnesty International calling for the closure of Guantanamo. Here they are sideways, for easier reading: | | 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. | | | | | | |
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