| | | | | President Trump delivers remarks at the 37th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Service at the US Capitol Building Tuesday. Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Getty Images | | | Trump Tower Meeting Transcripts Released: What DJTJ and others told the Senate Judiciary Committee
Will the DJT-KJU Summit Still Happen?: North Korea threatens to pull out
Actress Speaks Out for Gaza at Cannes Red Carpet: "Stop The Attack on Gaza!!" her sign read | | | | Kate Bennett is off. Her section will return Tuesday. | | What Washington is Talking About:
The Senate Judiciary Committee released hundreds of pages of transcripts about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer (read them for yourself in full here, and read CNN's story on them here), including for Donald Trump Jr., who said he didn't discuss the meeting with his father. Also, the Senate Intel Committee is set to vote on Gina Haspel's nomination as CIA director, EPA Chief Scott Pruitt is getting grilled, and Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
What America is Talking About:
Yanny vs. Laurel, which would be a lot more fun if we hadn't already done this all before with The Dress.
Will the DJT-KJU Summit Still Happen?:
North Korea is considering canceling the summit because of joint military drills between South Korea and the US, per North Korea's state news agency KCNA.
The US Finds Itself at Odds with Allies at the UN:
A group of EU members of the UN Security Council said in a statement yesterday about violence in Gaza that although they recognize Israel's "right to protect its borders, we expect Israel to respect the fundamental right to peaceful protests and the principle of proportionality in the use of force when defending its legitimate security interest."
That put them at odds with US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who said yesterday at the UN Security Council meeting that Israel acted with "restraint" in its deadly clashes that left 61 dead and injured thousands more, and that the violence was not connected with the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem. When the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN began speaking, she walked out of the meeting. | | Credit: Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Facebook Says It's Recently Deleted 2.3 Million "Pieces of Hate Speech":
The company said in a statement that of the 2.3 million pieces of hate speech it has deleted in the first quarter of 2018, 38% were flagged by AI. It also said 3%-4% of the active accounts on its site are fake and it's disabled about 583 million fake accounts in Q1.
"I Love It," a Colloquialism:
In the Donald Trump Jr. transcripts, DJTJ says his use of the term "I love it" in responding to music publicist Rob Goldstone saying he had incriminating documents on Hillary Clinton from Russia was "simply a colloquial way of saying that I appreciated Rob's gesture." Ahh. | | Credit: via Senate Judiciary Committee
The Music Manager Who Set Up the Meeting Thought it Was a Bad Idea:
Rob Goldstone, the manager for Russia-based pop star Emin who helped set up the Trump Tower meeting, said that he told Emin the meeting was a bad idea. | | Credit: via Senate Judiciary Committee
Actress Speaks Out for Gaza at Cannes Red Carpet:
Manal Issa, a French-Lebanese actress, held a sign reading "Stop The Attack on Gaza!!" on the red carpet at Cannes for a screening of "Solo: A Star Wars Story" yesterday. Also at Cannes, a group of Palestinians held a moment of silence for those killed in Gaza. | | Credit: Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images
Cheesecake Factory Suspends Employees for Mocking Guy in MAGA Hat:
After the Daily Wire reported that a man was mocked by Cheesecake Factory employees for wearing a MAGA hat to one of their Florida restaurants on Mother's Day, the company tweeted that the employees involved had been suspended while it investigates the incident. "No guest should ever feel unwelcome in one of our restaurants and we are taking this matter very seriously," the company said. Glad that was taken care of, because I don't know if I could make it through a Cheesecake Factory outrage news cycle.
Kate on Covering FLOTUS and Heading to the Royal Wedding:
Before heading out to the Royal Wedding, Kate spoke with Famous DC about the best part about COVER/LINE ("it's news, but it's fun"), Meghan Markle's challenge ("Meghan has to walk a tight line between being this incredibly modern American woman and paying homage to the British monarchy and tradition") and the most surprising thing she's learned about Melania ("how human she is"). You can read the full interview here. 💕
Jon McNaughton's Latest:
The conservative Mormon artist has a new piece entitled "Tell the Truth" showing Trump grabbing Robert Mueller's tie and looking at his face through a magnifying glass. "I'm just honestly a little perplexed," he told the Washington Post. "I have no idea where [buyers] are hanging them; I just sell a ton." Amazing. | | Credit: Jon McNaughton
Street Art Sighting:
This DJT-KJU mashup with a backdrop of missiles was painted under an overpass by Lushsux and posted August 2017: | | Credit: @Lushsux/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.:
Christina, I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. Christina Aguilera released "Fall in Line" (featuring Demi Lovato), the third song off her forthcoming album, "Liberation," and I'm just really bored by all of it. 😞 | | | | | | |
