| | | | | President Trump speaks during the Missile Defense Review announcement at the Pentagon Thursday. Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump goes to the Pentagon to make an announcement about missile defense.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Shutdown Day 27.
And it's now been the longest amount of time, 31 days, without an official White House press briefing.
Trump's Being Awfully Quiet:
It's been a day since Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to the President, advising him to move the date of the State of the Union, which is currently set for January 29th. It's quiet. Weirdly quiet. For Trump not to respond with his usual double-down feels ... odd.
Pelosi threw out more potential bait for Trump to respond to at a press conference on the Hill today when she said about the SOTU: "I'm not denying him a platform at all. I said let's get a date when government is open. Let's pay the employees. Maybe he thinks it's OK not to pay people who do work. I don't. and my caucus doesn't either."
Rigged Polls? Cohen's On It:
Remember on the campaign trail when Trump said that polls were rigged? He said it more than once. Well, now it turns out, according to a Wall Street Journal report, Michael Cohen, when he was Trump's fixer, paid thousands of dollars to rig online polls for then-candidate Trump. In response to the story, Cohen told CNN that whatever he did back then was "at the direction" of Trump. Also, some of the details are bizarre. For example, from our story: "According to the paper, Cohen paid John Gauger, the owner of RedFinch Solutions LLC, between $12,000 and $13,000 for activities related to Trump's campaign, including 'trying unsuccessfully to manipulate two online polls in Mr. Trump's favor' and creating a Twitter account called '@WomenForCohen' that 'praised (Cohen's) looks and character, and promoted his appearances and statements boosting' Trump's candidacy."
Cohen still intends to testify before the House Oversight Committee on February 7th, although he has "concerns for his family," if he does so. | | Rudy. Rudy, Rudy, Rudy:
Ah, the Rudy Giuliani bananas interview. It's become a mainstay of this news cycle and I, for one, am not hating it. The President's lawyer always manages to say something interesting, and revealing. Last night on Chris Cuomo's show, Giuliani dropped a new piece of insight about collusion and Russia: "I never said there was no collusion between the campaign, or people in the campaign." I feel like Giuliani does stuff like this on purpose -- says something new and headline-grabbing -- to get out in front of news that might be coming. Clearly, the strategy -- should it come to this and Robert Mueller's investigation does find collusion -- will be for Trump to blame members of his campaign and say that he didn't know anything about it. Giuliani attempted Thursday morning to clean up his remarks, telling CNN's Dana Bash that he did not intend to send any new signals regarding the Trump legal team's understanding of the investigation. "The President did not himself, nor does he have any knowledge of collusion with Russians. If anyone was doing that, he is unaware of it and so am I," Giuliani said. "But neither he nor I can possibly know what everyone on the campaign was doing."
"Fraying Nerves" At the Pentagon:
No one knows what's happening inside the Pentagon better than CNN's Barbara Starr, which is why reading her new piece about how the President is causing high anxiety there is a compelling and important read. Starr says it's not only Trump's military decision-making that has people there on edge, it's also his apparent willingness to politicize the military that has caused rampant concern. | | Our Daily Melania:
Guys, should we put out a missing poster for the first lady? I'm kidding, of course, she's been at the White House, and at Mar-a-Lago, but we haven't seen her publicly since December 31st, when some photos of her at a New Year's Eve party emerged. Officially, it's been since she returned from Iraq, late at night on December 26th, that her photo has been taken. I do know that the government shutdown has affected her staff, and any events she does would require not only staff help, but also copious Secret Service, so she's been mindful of not having a schedule. But, still, three weeks is a long time.
And speaking of the Secret Service, CNN's Noah Gray with reporting today on just how badly the shutdown lack-of-pay is affecting morale among agents.
Dress Like the Duchess:
So, in lieu of Melania, I'll keep sticking to doing "dress like's" of the Duchess of Sussex, aka Meghan Markle. Last night, Meghan dressed it up in what I think was a very cool and sexy evening look -- and, yes, that can still very much be a thing at six months pregnant. Didn't come cheap, tho. Her navy blue sequin gown with twist detail was by Roland Mouret (a favorite designer of Melania and Ivanka Trump), and is available here for $5,595. | | Credit: Paul Grover/WPA/Getty Images, neimanmarcus.com
See Ya' In a Few! :
I'm heading to warmer climes for a few days of vacation. See you back here at some point next week! 😎🌴 | | What Washington is Talking About:
Senate Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to reverse the easing of Russian sanctions Wednesday, and though the House will consider a similar measure today, it will be symbolic; seven House Democrats met with President Trump at the White House over the shutdown Wednesday; and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jim Hines held a training this morning for Democrats on "the most effective ways to engage constituents on Twitter and the importance of digital storytelling."
What America is Talking About:
We got some birthdays today. Betty White turns 97, James Earl Jones turns 88, and Michelle Obama turns 55 (Beyoncé wished her a hbd with her own "Bow Down" single art); Bob Costas has parted ways with NBC; and the TSA acknowledged Wednesday that yes, workers are staying home because of the shutdown.
The Politics of Gen Z:
Pew is out with a survey of the political beliefs of Generation Z, defined as those born between 1997 and 2012 and now ages 7 to 22. While they're still young and most aren't yet old enough to vote, Pew found Gen Z agrees with Millennials on a number of issues, from approval of Trump's job performance to believing increasing racial and ethnic diversity is good for society: | | Credit: Pew
There are a few issues where Gen Z differs slightly from Millennials, though: - 70% of Gen Z believe government should do more to solve problems compared to 64% of Millennials.
- 35% of Gen Z say they personally know someone who prefers gender-neutral pronouns compared to 25% of Millennials.
- 43% of Gen Z Republicans say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in the US today, compared to 30% of Millennial Republicans (Gen Z and Millennial Democrats agree at the same rate, 82%).
You can read the full report here.
Space Force is Coming to Netflix:
Netflix is investing heavily in new content as competitors like Disney plan their own streaming services where they'll presumably house their own content rather than give it to Netflix. NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke, for example, told Deadline it was a "safe assumption" they'd try to get "The Office" back, which is licensed with Netflix through 2021, as they plan a streaming service for 2020.
But fear not, Netflix will get a Steve Carell-workplace comedy of its very own. The company announced a forthcoming series called "Space Force" by "The Office" creator Greg Daniels and starring Carell. Per the show's trailer, it will be "the story of the men and women who have to figure" out what Space Force is. (You may remember, President Trump announced the creation of the Space Force last June, calling it a sixth branch of the military that would protect US assets in space.)
Slack Got a New Logo:
And Michael Bierut, the designer behind Hillary Clinton's 2016 H logo, and his firm Pentagram were tapped for the job. The company said its old logo was was too easy to get wrong (it had 11 different colors!) and the brand lacked a sense of visual cohesion, which is why they wanted a new one.
Gladys Knight to Sing Super Bowl National Anthem:
The NFL today announced the Empress of Soul herself, Gladys Knight, will sing the National Anthem at the big game next month.
"I am proud to use my voice to unite and represent our country in my hometown of Atlanta," Knight said in a statement. "The NFL recently announced their new social justice platform Inspire Change, and I am honored to be a part of its inaugural year."
Cardi B Went ~Off~ on the Shutdown:
Cardi B released two videos yesterday. One was a music video for her song "Twerk" with the rap duo City Girls, and the other was an Instagram video of her criticizing Trump, the shutdown, and federal workers forced to go back to work without getting a paycheck. Guess which one has more views? The answer may surprise you.
In her Insta video, Cardi said, "our country is in a hell hole right now, all for a f***ing wall and we really need to take this serious" and called for taking action. "I'm scared, this is crazy," she said. Democratic Sens. Brian Schatz and Chris Murphy tweeted about deciding whether or not to RT the video because of its NSFW language. Schatz tweeted that he ultimately decided against it because it "wouldn't be senatorial." | | Credit: @brianschatz/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
These devil-horned Trump posters were spotted on Florida Ave. near Union Market. The website listed on the posters is for singer Bibi Bourelly, who's out with a political song called "Whitehouse" that's critical of Trump and also takes on climate change and migrant family separations. | | Credit: Bubba Atkinson
Tag or DM me your political street art sightings @hunterschwarz on Twitter or Instagram, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com. | | | | | | |
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