Monday 26 March 2018

"Leave Trump Alone. Forget The Story": The threatening message Stormy Daniels got in a Las Vegas parking lot

Monday, March 26, 2018
Emma Gonzalez attends March for Our Lives in Washington on Saturday. Credit: Noam Galai/WireImage

"Leave Trump Alone. Forget The Story": The threatening message Stormy Daniels says she got in a Las Vegas parking lot

Street Art Sighting: March for Our Lives edition

Kings, Celtics Honor Stephon Clark: Players wear shirts honoring 22-year-old fatally shot by police.

Kate Bennett is off. Her section will return Wednesday.

Hunter Schwarz

What Washington is Talking About:
Congress is out for the next two weeks. Politicians -- both Dem and Repub -- have been showing their support for March for Our Lives, if not for everything they said about guns, then at least their right to assemble.

What America is Talking About:
Stormy Daniels' "60 Minutes" interview, which is the program's most-viewed episode since a 2008 post-presidential election interview with the Obamas.

Poll of the Day:
A Fox News poll released Sunday found White House staffing changes make 45% of registered voters "less confident" in President Trump's administration, 16% more confident, and 36% don't think it will make a difference.
Credit: Fox News

The US is Expelling 60 Russian Diplomats:
Trump announced today he's expelling 60 Russian diplomats, including 48 who work in Washington, 12 in New York City at the UN, as well as closing the Russian consulate in Seattle, in response to the nerve agent attack in the UK.

Cambridge Analytica's London Office Gets Searched:
Officers from UK's Information Commissioner's Office finished a search of the firm's office this weekend. And three former individuals who worked for Cambridge Analytica told the Washington Post the company assigned non-US citizens to consult on 2014 Repub campaigns, violating US laws barring foreign involvement in campaigns. Officials from the company did not respond to a request for comment.

The FTC is Investigating Facebook:
The Federal Trade Commission said this morning it's investigating Facebook, saying in a statement, "the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices."

Mark Zuckerberg is Sorry, Washington:
He took out a full-page ad in Sunday's Washington Post:
Credit: Hunter Schwarz

Stormy Says She Was Threatened If She Talked About Trump:
Stormy Daniels said on "60 Minutes" her story "is not a #MeToo. I was not a victim," and that sex she allegedly had with Trump was consensual. Daniels said she was threatened by a man who came up to her in a parking lot outside of a fitness class she was going to in 2011 in Las Vegas after she agreed to talk to a magazine about her alleged affair with Trump. She said, "A guy walked up on me and said to me, 'Leave Trump alone. Forget the story,'" and then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, 'That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom.' And then he was gone."
Credit: CBS

Daniels also said Trump compared her to Ivanka, saying he told her, "Wow, you -- you are special. You remind me of my daughter.' You know -- he was like, 'You're smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you." Last week, former Playboy model Karen McDougal also said Trump compared her to Ivanka.

Melania on Spring Break:
As news of Trump's alleged affairs continue to make headlines, the first lady is staying out of it. She's spending spring break in Florida, and East Wing communications director Stephanie Grisham told Kate, "She's focused on being a mom and is quite enjoying spring break at Mar-a-Lago while working on future projects."

Kings, Celtics Honor Stephon Clark:
The Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics wore shirts reading "Accountability: We Are One" on the front and "#StephonClark" on the back to honor Clark, the 22-year-old unarmed black man killed last week by Sacramento police in his grandmother's backyard.

"It's out of love and concern and what they're feeling," Kings coach Dave Joerger told the Sacramento Bee. "I'm always going to support the players, even if I agree or disagree in any different things. I think that's one and two, that we do it together."
Credit: Paul Kitagaki Jr./Sacramento Bee/TNS via Getty Images

The Kings released a video in which players say they "will not stick to sports and "will not shut up and dribble." And, on Thursday, protesters made a human chain to block the Kings' arena

Metro Ridership on March For Our Lives Day Was Huge:
WMATA said Saturday ridership was 558,735, about two-and-a-half times larger than a normal Saturday. It's a partial look at how big the crowds were for March For Our Lives, since people also used other methods of transportation to get there. The Metro record is 1.1 million riders for Obama's 2009 inauguration, and second is the Woman's March, with just more than 1 million.

"Welcome to the Resistance":
This weekend we saw several people close to Trump appear to show their support for March for Our Lives, including Jared Kushner's brother, Joshua, who posted a photo of his girlfriend, model Karlie Kloss, holding a sign reading "Load Minds Not Guns" from the Washington march; Tiffany Trump liked several photos from and about the march; and Omarosa posted a photo of a high school student she said was her mentee speaking about the march on the news with #marchforourlives in the caption.

T Swift Donated:
ICYMI, the typically apolitical Taylor Swift posted about March for Our Lives on Friday and said she made a donation to the campaign.

Street Art Sighting:
Millennials and and post-Millennials are visual generations, something abundantly clear when you go to a protest. The signs are meant not only for the protest, but for social media, with meme-referencing slogans and creative illustrations. At March for Our Lives on Saturday, there was plenty of both.
Credit: 1-2: Hunter Schwarz/ 3: Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty Images

The "I'm not normally a sign guy, but geez"/"Protest is the new brunch" -style sign trend that was popular at demonstrations during Trump's first year in office were gone, replaced with pointed criticism of the NRA and messages about protecting students.
Credit: Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty Images

If you spot political street art, I'd love to see it. Here's how you can reach me:
1. Tweet me @hunterschwarz
2. Tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz
3. Email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com

Happy Anniversary to This Photo of Mitt Romney with 50 Cent:
It's from his 2015 "Tonight Show" appearance.
Update: The March of Dimes mural I wrote about in Friday's issue of COVER/LINE was moved last minute,\ and you can now see it at 3rd and M St NE.
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COVER/LINE is where politics meets pop culture. From CNN's Hunter Schwarz and Kate Bennett, this daily newsletter is the must-read lunch date in Washington and beyond.

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