| | | | | President Donald Trump, flanked by daughter Ivanka, addresses the annual meeting of the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons on Thursday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. Credit: Mark WIlson/Getty Images | | | Melania Trump's Favorability Rating Is Back on an Upward Trend: Her latest poll numbers
There's Now a Reagan Hologram: The Ronald Reagan Library has brought the 40th President back
Where Kanye Went After the White House: His speech to people at the Apple store in Georgetown | | | What the White House Is Talking About:
There are no public events on President Donald Trump's official schedule today. Tonight he will be in Ohio for (another) rally.
What the White House Press Corps Is Talking About:
Piecing together the horrific details of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And Kanye West, still. Also, it's another day without a White House press briefing.
Latest on Relations With Saudi Arabia:
Even as others back away from Saudi Arabia in the wake of reports the kingdom may be responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance, the White House hasn't pulled the plug on military support, or served up punishment such as sanctions. In fact, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed he is still attending a high-profile investment conference in Saudi Arabia this month. The conference is being hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "I am planning on going at this point," Mnuchin told CNBC. "If more information comes out and changes, we could look at that, but I am planning on going."
Our Daily Melania: New Poll Numbers Edition:
Melania Trump's favorability rating is back on an upward trend, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. The survey was taken last week, while the first lady was on her first solo international trip to Africa. Her favorability now stands at 54%, up from 51% in June. Three in 10 have an unfavorable opinion of her, a statistic that moved up 1 percentage point since the June poll. The new number is her second highest favorability rating in CNN polling, behind the 57% she reached in May.
She is still significantly higher in favorability than her husband; in the same poll, he was at 41% favorable, with a 54% unfavorable rating.
Predictably, the first lady is more positively viewed among Republicans (83%) than Democrats (28%), and she is particularly well-liked by white men in the 50 to 65-plus age range. Those older than 65 are even more jazzed about her than they were in June, a jump from 57% to 66%.
Trump Media Blitz:
Meanwhile, the President is stealing a bit of his wife's media thunder, conducting a series of interviews, including a new one for Time. Writer Brian Bennett says the magazine was minutes from deadline on a Trump cover story when his cell phone rang and it was the President. Here's the Q&A. According to CNN's Brian Stelter, there's a strong indication Trump sat down with "60 Minutes" for his first interview with the news show since becoming President. It will likely air this weekend.
Our Daily Melania: Marriage Comments Edition:
In part three of ABC News teasers for tonight's "20/20" special, the first lady talks about her marriage. No bombshells here, people. She says things are fine, that she loves her husband, and that most of the gossipy stuff is just gossip -- made up by the media to sell magazines. She almost sort of brushes the whole infidelity thing off: "It is not (a) concern and focus of mine. I'm a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do. I know people like to speculate and media like to speculate about our marriage." Oh, OK.
This Wins the Bizarre Photo of the Week Contest:
I like to choose *that* moment of each week that sort of sums up where we're at. Thanks, Sarah Sanders. Nailed it. | | Credit: @presssec/Twitter
Princess Eugenie Got Married and I Feel Like I Didn't Pay Enough Attention:
But I think she looked beautiful, and I loved the diamond and emerald tiara Queen Elizabeth loaned her. Eugenie is the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson; she married Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle today. Her gown was designed by Peter Pilotto (also a fave of Michelle Obama) and includes nods in embroidery to things the couple love: a thistle for Scotland, where Balmoral Castle is; the York Rose, named for her family; and Ivy, representing Ivy Cottage, the house within Kensington Palace where the couple live. Aw. | | Credit Yui Mok/AFP/Getty Images
Dress Like the First Daughter:
I really liked the look Ivanka Trump went with Thursday -- she had an event focusing on human trafficking with the President and then lunch with Kanye West. Sort of a tough day for planning an outfit. But I thought she nailed it in this Roland Mouret two-piece and added belt. The top is $685, and the skirt is also $685. | | | Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images, stylebop.com | | What Washington Is Talking About:
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said intelligence points to Saudi Arabia being behind the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, some lawmakers say Congress will block an arms deal with the Saudis even if Donald Trump wants to move forward with them; and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, another Republican, said the Russia investigation still has a way to go despite Trump's assertions to the contrary.
What America Is Talking About:
The death toll from Hurricane Michael has risen to at least 13, and more than 1 million customers across seven states are without power, "First Man" reportedly made about $1 million Thursday; and Fyre Festival organizer William McFarland has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Reminder:
There are voter register deadlines today in Idaho, New York, North Carolina and Oklahoma.
Poll of the Day:
Most Americans don't think Trump should fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. A CNN poll released Thursday found 53% of Americans don't think Trump should fire Rosenstein and just 27% of Republicans think he should. | | Credit: CNN
Facebook Removes Another 800 Pages and Accounts:
Facebook announced Thursday it removed 559 pages and 251 accounts for violating its rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behavior. The social network said one page was called Right Wing News, but it would not tell CNN how many of these pages and accounts were political in nature. In a blog post, Facebook said a common type of spam was directing users to ad farm pages and said political content was increasingly popular to do that.
"Topics like natural disasters or celebrity gossip have been popular ways to generate clickbait," Facebook head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher and product manager Oscar Rodriguez wrote. "But today, these networks increasingly use sensational political content -- regardless of its political slant -- to build an audience and drive traffic to their websites, earning money for every visitor to the site."
Beto O'Rourke Is Bringing in Some Serious Cash:
Texas Democrat and Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke announced today his campaign has raised $38.1 million in the third quarter, the record for biggest fundraising quarter for a Senate race. The campaign said in a statement the money came from more than 800,000 donors "without a dime from PACs, corporations or special interests." Sen. Ted Cruz's campaign raised $12 million in the same time period. A Quinnipiac poll this week showed O'Rourke trailing Cruz 54% to 45%.
There's Now a Reagan Hologram:
Hi, welcome to the future. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, just added a new attraction. Three holograms of the 40th President -- as a candidate, as president and at his California ranch -- are on display. Below is the campaign hologram, depicting Reagan at a 1984 event in Ohio: | | Credit: Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images
Where Kanye Went After the White House:
CNN's Caroline Kelly spotted Kanye West on Thursday night at the Apple store in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood. He got up on a table and gave a "keynote." West told the store Trump wore the "Make America Great" hat he designed, that he took off the "Again" because it hurt black people, and that by wearing the hat, Trump was showing he was "open" to justice issues. "I just wanted y'all to put this online so everyone could definitely see this," he said before hopping off the table and leaving. He said he was going to Africa, per reporter Jack Jenkins who was also there. | | Credit: @caroline_mkelly/Twitter
Dress Like a Pop Star:
You can get the US Postal Service vest West wore for $58.18, and he seemed to be wearing his $380 Yeezy Canvas boot. | | Credit: Postal Service Express/Yeezy
Some Yeezys for the Trumps?
An eagle-eyed tipster sent in this shot of some shoe boxes, including one for his Yeezy Boost shoes, outside the White House with West's entourage. A gift, perhaps? We'll see if the President is sporting some new shoes tonight at his rally, lol. | | Credit: DCCelebrity
T.I. Didn't Like Ye's Oval Office Visit:
T.I. posted Fox News footage of West in the Oval Office on Instagram and had some words. "This is the most repulsive, disgraceful, embarrassing act of desperation & auctioning off of one's soul to gain power I've ever seen," the rapper wrote. "You ass kissing and boot licking on a whole new level &I refuse to associate myself with something so vile,weak,& inconsiderate to the effect this has on the greater good of ALL OUR PEOPLE!!!!" T.I. said West invited him to the White House, but he declined.
Here's the Guy Who Designed the Plane Ye Wants POTUS to Fly:
West told Trump the plane he thinks the President of the United States should use instead of Air Force One is called the iPlane 1 and made by Apple, but actually it's a concept piece by industrial designer Shabtai Hirshberg. Hirshberg told The Verge the plane was made for his master's thesis project in 2012 on what air travel could look like in 2030, and that it was a surprise to him when he saw it being shown off in the Oval Office. "I'd be more than happy to collaborate with Kanye West and Apple if they decide to actually take this forward," he said. | | Credit: Shabtai Hirshberg/Behance
Street Art Sighting:
This "Show Your Taxes" sticker was spotted on a utility box in Washington's Columbus Circle. | | 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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