| | | | | Activists hold signs Tuesday during a protest outside an Alexandria, Virginia, courthouse prior to the first day of the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images | | | "Collusion is Not a Crime," Wait, What?: Trump tweeted it's not a crime and it doesn't matter because he didn't collude anyways
LeBron Says Trump is Using Sports to Divide: LeBron James said it's something he "can't relate to"
Getting the Band Back Together: Obama and Biden reunited at Georgetown bakery | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump later today travels to Tampa, Florida, for an event to promote the "ceremonial signing of H.R. 2353, the 'Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act," according to the official White House schedule. Afterwards, Trump remains in Tampa for an evening "Make America Great Again" rally.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Guessing the topics Trump might cover in the rally: collusion, or lack thereof; the media; Michael Cohen; North Korea; Russia. Anything is possible.
Day One of Paul Manafort's (First) Trial:
It's mostly just jury-picking today in Alexandria, where Paul Manafort's trial for mostly alleged financial crimes is getting underway. Manafort's is the first case of the Robert Mueller investigation to actually be brought to trial -- with 18 charges against Trump's former campaign manager and more than 30 witnesses willing to testify. The case is mostly white collar-crime stuff; Manafort allegedly made a lot of money by taking millions from Ukraine and putting it in offshore accounts and then not reporting that to the IRS. The crux of this trial, which is pretty crucial for Mueller to win in order to establish a base for the rest of his claims, is Manafort's luxe lifestyle, and how he afforded it. My favorite detail of evidence is the $850,000 Manafort reportedly spent on his clothes, a good chunk at House of Bijan, a custom suit shop in Beverly Hills that was super-popular ... in the 1980s. This New York Times piece from last year about all the stuff (rugs, landscaping) Manafort spent thousands on is worth a revisit.
"Collusion is Not a Crime," Wait, What?:
This morning, in one of several tweets, the President echoed what his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said yesterday on CNN: "Collusion is not a crime." But then he said he didn't do it anyway, and if anyone did commit collusion and it was a crime, it was Democrats, like he tweeted just yesterday. Also, nothing matters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
Trump Wouldn't Have Problem "Doing a Shutdown":
The President doubled down on his threat to shut down the United States government if Congress doesn't pass new immigration and border restriction measures. At the news conference yesterday with Italy's Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, Trump said: "If we don't get border security after many, many years of talk within the United States, I would have no problem doing a shutdown. It's time we have proper border security. We're the laughingstock of the world. We have the worst immigration laws anywhere in the world."
New Woodward Book on the Way:
Legacy journalist Bob Woodward has announced he has a new Trump book coming out in September, called "Fear: Trump in the White House." Woodward has been working on it for the past 19 months, and The Washington Post says this about Woodward's reporting tactics for the new book: "Late at night, he's been prone to show up at important people's houses unannounced to ask for interviews. He's told friends that it feels like a 'rebirth.'" Here's the cover. It's very red.: | | Credit: washingtonpost.com
Friends Eat Lunch, Town Goes Crazy:
The only picture that matters from yesterday's lunch encounter with Barack Obama and Joe Biden (they had ham & cheese sandwiches) is this one from Joshua Morris/@arguablytrue. Morris sacrificed his selfie to get a shot of the two eating in a booth (Biden is also wiping his nose). Inevitably, it became a meme. Not all heroes wear capes, guys. More than 100K have already watched the video of Obama and Biden ordering sandwiches on Dog Tag Bakery's Facebook page. | | Credit: @genepark/Twitter
Come on, Vogue:
I really liked Yashar Ali's scoopy piece yesterday on the latest happenings at Vogue. And while I am not a Beyoncé fan (don't @ me), I think it's amazing that after 126 years, an African-American photographer will shoot the photo for the magazine's cover. Vogue often annoyingly works in a bubble of the same photographers, same makeup artists, same stylists, etc., and it has been incredibly difficult for new talent to get into Anna Wintour's stable. So, kudos to Beyoncé for choosing 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell to shoot her for the magazine's iconic September issue.
This part of Ali's story also floored me: "Stormy Daniels is also expected to be featured in the September or October issue of Vogue after being photographed by Annie Leibovitz. A spokeswoman for Vogue declined to comment when HuffPost reached out to the publication several months ago after hearing about the possibility of Daniels being featured in the magazine." Let me just say, it will be quite the thing if Daniels gets into the pages of Vogue before first lady Melania Trump. That's not a subtle message -- that's a full-on diss.
| | What Washington is Talking About:
Paul Manafort's trial starting today in Alexandria, Virginia, and it's Justice Anthony Kennedy's Supreme Court retirement day.
What America is Talking About:
The Carr Fire in California is so big that it's creating its own weather system, and 19 people were reported missing as of a Monday night.
Poll of the Day:
In the past decade, the number of newspaper employees has fallen by 45%, from about 71,000 to about 39,000, according to Pew. Support local news, get a newspaper subscription. | | Credit: Pew
NoKo Up to No Good?:
North Korea is possibly building new missiles, according to The Washington Post, which cited satellite images and officials familiar with the intelligence. 👀
LeBron Says Trump is Using Sports to Divide:
In an interview with our Don Lemon, James said he's noticed over the past few months that President Trump uses sports to divide, "and that's something that I can't relate to." James said for him, sports has brought people together. "Sports was the first time I was ever around someone white," he said. "I got an opportunity to see them and learn about them, and they got the opportunity to learn about me and we became very good friends, and I was like, 'Oh, wow, this is all because of sports.'" | |
Hillary Clinton's Group is Dropping Checks:
Clinton's group, Onward Together, has donated the maximum $5,000 to 19 Dems running for the House and four running for secretary of state. Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill told our Dan Merica, "All along the goal has been singular: Do whatever it takes to lift up candidates and organizations who will be terrific stewards of Democratic values." Clinton still has yet to publicly hit the campaign trail this cycle.
Getting the Band Back Together:
Former President Obama and former Vice President Biden had lunch together yesterday at Dog Tag Bakery in Georgetown. The bakery has a fellowship/business incubator program with Georgetown for veterans, military spouses, and military caregivers and partners. Dog Tag's CEO, Meghan Ogilvie, told me she found out 44 and his Veep were coming about six minutes before they got there, and she gathered the fellows to surprise them. Obama told Ogilvie he knew about the bakery and the work it does, and he and Biden spent about 45 minutes there, talking with the fellows about their work and future business ideas and having lunch. | | Credit: @cnncoverline/Instagram
Street Art Sighting:
This pop art tribute to Norman Rockwell's 1964 "The Problem We All Live With," which depicts Ruby Bridges, a young black girl, walking to a Louisiana school that had been segregated, is outside the Harlem Berry Beauty Lounge in New York. | | Credit: @kmelb7/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.:
Drake has now spent 42 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, more than any other artist this decade. His "In My Feelings," which is No. 1 for a third week, put him past Rihanna. | | | | | | |
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