| | | | | President Trump takes part in a roundtable discussion on tax reform at Bucky Dent Park in Hialeah, Florida, Monday. Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images | | | Happy Comey Week, Everyone!: Here's hoping the overload isn't too overload-y
FLOTUS Birthday Makes for Fundraising Opportunity: She turns 48 on April 26th
How Athletes Are Turning Their Shoes into Political Symbols: The new politics of sneakers | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today is in Florida for a roundtable discussion about tax cuts for small businesses.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
The James Comey book and Trumpworld reaction.
And it's Pulitzer Day! At 3 p.m. the Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and the arts will be announced.
Comey, "It's Possible":
Comey said in the ABC News interview last night that he thought it was "possible" that the Russians have compromising information on Trump, which is pretty remarkable when you think about it. He also said he didn't think Robert Mueller would get fired, or that he thought impeaching the President would be a good idea. And, tellingly, Comey said "possibly" when asked if he believed Mueller has evidence that Trump obstructed justice.
Trump tweeted this morning a fairly tame response, and just the one so far.
I also thought this morning's interview on "GMA" with George Stephanopoulos and James Comey's wife, Patrice, was interesting. Patrice and the couple's daughters were big Hillary Clinton supporters, and even went to the Women's March in Washington last year. Here's what Comey said about the politics inside his own house: "I didn't take a poll among all the kids, but I'm pretty sure that at least my four daughters, probably all five of my kids, wanted Hillary Clinton to be the first woman president. There was a lot of passion in this house for Hillary Clinton. And I -- I get that, but again, I hope it illustrates to people that I really wasn't making decisions based on political fortunes." About That Red Wine, Tho:
Comey also inserted some color last night into the moments just after he learned he had been fired. He said that while he was aboard the FBI jet back to Washington from Los Angeles -- having literally heard the news that he was canned, on the news -- he drank red wine from a paper coffee cup. I was taken aback by this, not because of the red wine in the paper cup (because who among us) but more that his go-to stress-reliever alcohol choice is red wine. Like, isn't this a bourbon moment? If I got fired like that, I don't think I would be like, "oh boy, pass the pinot noir." However, that said, I'm guessing he perhaps only *had* red wine on the plane, and that since he had just been fired, he probably didn't care that he was drinking alcohol of any kind on a government plane.
CNN analyst Josh Campbell, a former FBI agent who was ON THE PLANE with Comey when the wine went down, detailed those moments with pictures last night on Twitter. He snapped the jet's television with Jeff Zeleny reporting Comey was fired, and then Comey sitting in the cockpit for his final FBI flight. Also surreal, watching the plane he was on being on camera on CNN in the plane: | | | And here's the actual, now infamous, cup of red wine: | | Credit: @joshcampbell/Twitter
Our Daily Melania:
Melania Trump today made an unscheduled stop to visit a new pop-up memorial commemorating the opioid crisis. The memorial, titled "Prescribed to Death," is right near the White House and opened last week. FLOTUS made a brief stop there before heading to Joint Base Andrews where she hopped a (different) flight to Florida to prep for hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife at Mar-a-Lago this week. Serious question: why take a different plane, virtually within the hour, going to the same general area as the President ...
FLOTUS Birthday Makes For Fundraising Opportunity:
Melania turns 48 in 10 days, which the President's fundraising folks are taking as an opportunity to raise money for the "Trump Make America Great Again Committee." In an email to supporters entitled, "My Better Half," the President asks people to sign the birthday card for Melania -- and when you do, electronically, you give your contact info and are asked to make a donation. I found this part of the letter insightful, especially in the midst of all of the Stormy Daniels/Michael Cohen stuff: | | Credit: victory.donaldtrump.com
Speaking of Michael Cohen...:
The Wall Street Journal yesterday evening had new reporting that Cohen had used the same LLC to make payments to two women associated with alleged adulterous affairs, one being Stormy Daniels, and the other a Playboy model who had a relationship with the former deputy finance chair of the RNC. Additionally, says WSJ, Cohen also helped tamp down a US Weekly story that was going to detail an alleged affair between Donald Trump Jr. and Aubrey O'Day, a former contestant on "The Apprentice."
Happy Comey Week, Everyone!:
Here's hoping the overload isn't too overload-y! | | What Washington is Talking About:
Following Friday's precision strike attack in Syria, Dems are calling for congressional approval of military force, and House Speaker Paul Ryan said he believes special counsel Robert Mueller won't be fired and there's no reason to pass legislation to protect him.
What America is Talking About:
Former first lady Barbara Bush is in failing health.
Poll of the Day:
Ahead of Tax Day tomorrow, Americans are now more likely to say they're paying about the right amount of federal income tax than to say they're paying too much, for the first time since 2012, according to a Gallup poll. | | Credit: Gallup
James Comey, Opening Night:
The Comey book tour kicked off last night with opening act Katy Perry and the cast of "American Idol," who led into the ABC interview. The commercial breaks were super packed with ads for upcoming ABC programs that served as a reminder of the central role politics plays in our culture in 2018, including "Roseanne," Stormy Daniels and Comey on "The View," and a "Designated Survivor" episode about invoking the 25th amendment to remove a fictional president.
If "Fire and Fury" was a Beyoncé-style surprise drop, a book not on anyone's radar that became a runaway bestseller, "A Higher Loyalty" is more in the mold of Adele's "25," a behemoth mega-hit months in the making with a rollout and press tour to match. While the early excerpts from the book last week had a lot of salacious details about Trump's appearance, his Stephanopoulos interview got into some of Comey's more grave concerns. He said we live in "dangerous times," called Trump "morally unfit to be president," and questioned why no one on Trump's team seemed to be concerned the Russians had just carried out an influence campaign to meddle in our politics ("No one, to my recollection, asked, 'So what -- what's coming next from the Russians?' You're about to lead a country that has an adversary attacking it and I don't remember any questions about, 'So what are they going to do next, how might we stop it?'").
Trump: Mission Accomplished, Assad: Yeah, No:
Friday night's precision strikes carried out by the US, UK, and France against targets in Syria in retaliation for its use of chemical weapons was celebrated by Trump in a tweet in which he used the phrase "Mission Accomplished!" But in Syria, after the dust had settled, the reaction was that it was no big deal. "America and its allies had barked, but the bite was lacking," CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen wrote. There were demonstrations in Damascus celebrating, and Bashar al Assad tweeted a video of himself, walking casually to work Saturday.
Trump tweeted that he knew the media "would seize on" his use of the term "mission accomplished," with all its connotations of premature Iraq War declaration of victory, "but felt it is such a great Military term, it should be brought back. Use often!" McCarthy Gets Ryan Endorsement:
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who was in the running last time to be House Speaker after John Boehner resigned in 2015, got some major props to try out for the job again. He received Speaker Ryan's endorsement Friday.
Pence's Hometown Just Had Its First Pride:
More than 2,000 people showed up to Columbus, Indiana's first-ever Pride festival Saturday. It was organized by a high school senior, and everyone's favorite short shorts-wearing Vice President Pence impersonator Mike Hot Pence was there. | | Credit: Keith Griner/Getty Images
How Athletes Are Turning Their Shoes Into Political Symbols:
Pro athletes are increasingly turning to fashion to make a political statement. I spoke with LeBron James' stylist Rachel Johnson and prolific shoe artist Marcus Rivero for a story on the trend, which neither of them see going away anytime soon. It's a little bit of politics, a little bit of sports, a little bit of fashion. You can read my full story here, and there's a full gallery of sneakers and cleats with political or social messages on the COVER/LINE Instagram. | | Credit: Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images
Harper Honors Jackie Robinson:
Speaking of athletes making a statement with their shoes, after I published my story, Bryce Harper showed up to the Nat's Sunday game in Jackie Robinson shoes by Marcus Rivero. | | Credit: @SolesBySir/Instagram
The Nationals commemorated Black Heritage Day and Jackie Robinson Day at the game, and Rep. John Lewis threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Street Art Sighting:
Spotted at the Metropolitan Ave G Train station in New York City by Matthew Pizzolato: A Showtime "Billions" ad with Trump's face superimposed, by street artist Jilly Ballistic. | | Credit: @matthewpizzolato/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.:
Beyoncé slayed at Coachella, no question, but Walmart yodeling kid stole the show. | | | | | | |
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