| | | | | First lady Melania Trump listens as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn before boarding Marine One to head to Brussels for the NATO Summit. Credit: Al Drago/Getty Images | | | Who's Ready for Trump Euro Tour 2018?: The Trumps took off today for Brussels
Turning the Pop Charts Into a Protest: Ahead of Trump's London stop, "American Idiot" is climbing the UK chart
Alternate Flags: The flag designs Americans cooked up last time we added new stars | | | What Washington is Talking About:
Reacting to President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, 55-year-old former George W. Bush staff lawyer Brett Kavanaugh. This morning, Kavanaugh met with Vice President Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. No announcement yet on when a hearing will start. And Taylor Swift is in town for two nights of her Reputation Tour at FedEx Field.
What America is Talking About:
All 12 members of the Thai boy's soccer team and their coach have been rescued from the cave.
Poll of the Day:
Ahead of his trip to Europe, Trump tweeted that NATO was unfair. But a majority of Americans support NATO, according to a 2017 Pew poll. The poll found 62% of Americans approve of the alliance. | | Credit: Pew
Dem 2020 Hopefuls Slam Kavanaugh:
A who's who of Dem senators and possible 2020 hopefuls spoke to demonstrators and press at a protest outside the Supreme Court last night, giving a preview of the progressive response to Kavanaugh. Sen. Bernie Sanders called the fight to derail Kavanaugh's nomination "tough," but said it was "a fight that we can win" because a majority of Americans support Roe v. Wade and are in favor of other positions that Kavanaugh is believed to be against. Sanders said they must "go state by state by state to make sure senators do what their constituents want." | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker both said Trump did exactly what he said he was going to do, and framed Kavanaugh as a step back. "America must decide now do we want to go backward 10, 20, 30, 40 , 50 years?" Booker asked. Gillibrand said "women's freedom ... freedom for LGBTQ Americans, for equal rights, for civil rights, for voting rights" were all at stake.
My fav moment from the protest was when protesters in "Resist" shirts tried to drown out a man with a megaphone wearing a pro-life shirt by screaming as long as they could. And there was a TV news camera in the background. That's what I call the First Amendment, baby. 🗣📢📹 | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
Kavanaugh Thinks Presidents Shouldn't Face Litigation While in Office:
The nominee, who also worked on the independent counsel Ken Starr's investigation into then-President Clinton, once wrote in a law review he believes sitting presidents should be shielded from civil and criminal litigation because he believed it vital that "the President be able to focus on his never-ending tasks with as few distractions as possible." He did, however note, "If the President does something dastardly, the impeachment process is available."
Who's Ready for Trump Euro Tour 2018?:
The Trumps departed today for Europe, where POTUS will spend nearly a week traveling and meeting with uneasy European allies and Russian President Vladimir Putin. They will arrive in Belgium this afternoon, and the itinerary for the trip includes: 1. 🇧🇪 Brussels for the NATO Summit Wednesday and Thursday, 2. 🇬🇧 London to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth, 3. 🇬🇧 Weekend in Scotland, where Trump owns property, and 4. 🇫🇮 Helsinki, where he'll hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin next Monday.
We'll have continuous coverage of Trump Euro Tour 2018 -- the handshakes, Melania's outfits, and more -- in the newsletter and on the official COVER/LINE Instagram. Stay tuned.
Dress Like the First Lady:
Speaking of outfits, Melania was wearing a Martin Grant belted A-line midi skirt this morning when leaving the White House, Kate found. The skirt was originally available for $975 but is now on sale for $439. | | Credit: Al Drago/Getty Images/M'oda 'Operandi
Trump Sued by Former Driver:
Noel Cintron, who served as Trump's personal driver for 30 years until he received Secret Service protection in 2016, is suing his former boss saying he worked about 50 to 55 hours a week without receiving fair compensation or overtime. In the suit, filed Monday in the Supreme Court of New York, Cintron calls Trump a "purported" billionaire and said last time he got a raise, in 2010, he had to give up his healthcare benefits in exchange.
Turning the Pop Charts Into a Protest:
Ahead of Trump's London stop, British listeners are pushing Green Day's 2004 track "American Idiot" back into the charts. There's a social media campaign calling for people to get the song to No. 1. The song currently sits at No. 18. | | Credit: Get American Idiot to No. 1 for Trump's UK Visit/Facebook
They face tough odds hitting the top spot, however. The current No. 1 is "Three Lions (Football's Coming Home)," a soccer (sorry "football") anthem written in the '90s that's hit No. 1 two times in British chart history before, according to Official Charts. It's one of the UK's best-selling ever and it jumped from No. 24 to No. 1 this week. England plays Croatia tomorrow in the semi-finals.
Back in 2004, "American Idiot" was a bigger hit in the UK, where it hit No. 3, than the US. In America, it stalled at No. 61, but was followed up with "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," which became Green Day's highest-ever charting hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Alternate Flags:
The American flag hasn't changed since Hawaii and Alaska joined the Union in the late '50s. We went with a pretty straightforward edit when they joined, adding two new stars to the blue field, but there were some Americans who had other ideas. People sent in their own designs for an updated flag to then-President Eisenhower (he didn't even ask for them, they just sent 'em in), and 50 of those designs have been collected in the book "Old Glory." The publisher of the book, Atelier Éditions, is donating 20% of sales for the month of July to the ACLU. | | Credit: Atelier Éditions
Street Art Sighting:
The remnants of this #Resist poster in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was sent in by Carrie Sizelove: | | Credit: Carrie Sizelove
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.:
Drake just broke a 54-year-old Billboard Hot 100 record -- a big one -- with seven songs in this week's top 10. That bests the Beatles' record of five songs in the top 10 in 1964. In fairness to the Beatles, they captured the entire top five that week and didn't have streaming music services to boost their numbers. But they also weren't competing against Cardi B, who breaks up Drake's top 10 showing with two hits at No. 3 and No. 5. Here is the top ten for this week, led by the No. 1-No. 2 punch of "Nice For What" and "Nonstop" vs. the week of April 4, 1964, when the Beatles first set the record: | | Credit: Billboard
Simply put, Drake is the biggest pop star in America right now with not just the biggest hits, but the most hits. He has 27 songs on the entire Billboard Hot 100, including every song of his new Scorpion album. 🐐🐐🐐 | | | | | | |
