| | | | | President Trump listens to lawmakers during a roundtable on the Foreign Investment Risk Review Moderization Act in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Thursday. Credit: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images | | | The Flipping Pecker: American Media Inc.'s David Pecker has been granted immunity in the Cohen investigation
There's a Big Tech Meeting Today to Discuss the Midterms: Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter are meeting in San Francisco
There's a Dolly Parton Song About the 19th Amendment Coming: I am so here for a Dolly Parton song about women's right to vote | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today heads to Ohio with First Lady Melania Trump. The first couple will go to Nationwide Children's Hospital for a visit at a Neonatal ICU, and then President Trump will go to a roundtable and GOP dinner with supporters.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
TGIF.
Sad News About Senator John McCain:
Just hours ago John McCain's family released the below statement saying the senator, who has been fighting brain cancer, will no longer seek medical treatment for his condition, which is terminal. We wish him and his family the best during this difficult time. | | Credit: screenshot of family statement
Just "Jeff":
This morning the president renewed his frustration with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, also known, apparently, as just Jeff. Trump directed three tweets at Sessions this morning as the feud between POTUS and his AG intensifies. | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
Here's What *Could* Happen:
CNN's Laura Jarrett wrote this handy explainer of what could possibly happen if Jeff Sessions is fired -- or quits. Let's not forget that yesterday Sessions did something he doesn't normally do when Trump puts him publicly in his crosshairs: he hit back.
The Flipping Pecker:
Perhaps the most shocking turn of events in the land of who is and who isn't a Trump loyalist happened yesterday when it was revealed the head of American Media Inc. David Pecker, publisher of The National Enquirer, had been granted immunity by prosecutors in the Michael Cohen investigation. Pecker has long been known as one of Trump's closest allies, and someone aware of his secrets -- the Enquirer was a hotbed of anti-Hillary stories during the campaign cycle. Chelsea Clinton yesterday retweeted this collection of covers about her mother, including one about her mom having a hitman. | | Credit: @chelseaclinton/Twitter
The New York Post was riffing on the Enquirer cover template today, too. Pecker reportedly has a safe where he keeps all of his Trump scandal secrets under lock and key. | | Credit: nypost.com
Trump Company CFO Also Granted Immunity:
Allen Weisselberg, the longtime CFO of the Trump Organization, was also granted immunity by the US attorney's office investigating Michael Cohen, a source familiar tells CNN.
Our Daily Melania:
Today in Ohio will be the first time the president has joined Melania at one of her visits to a children's hospital to discuss issues affecting newborns. Trump is slated to tour the NICU with his wife, and possibly meet with families. Then she will stay behind for a roundtable discussion -- focused in part on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, a result of the opioid crisis -- and meet up with the president back at the airport for the flight home.
Dress Like the First Daughter, #FBF Edition:
When Ivanka Trump was in Bedminster the other week, she sat in on a dinner with CEOs and business leaders, hosted by the president and first lady. Melania wore a pink floral Monique Lhullier dres she has worn before, but Ivanka was wearing something new, an off-the-shoulder tannish-brown dress, also with a floral motif. It's by one of her go-to designers, Roland Mouret, and available here for $2,265. | | | Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images, matchesfashion.com | | Credit: nypost.com
Farewell Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams:
I spent a decade of my career in Las Vegas, as a columnist, a TV anchor and a magazine editor, and I used to run around town a lot with Robin Leach, who died early this morning at the age of 76. He was larger than life, a truly enigmatic character, and a smart television producer who saw the advent of reality television and aspirational intrigue long before anyone in the biz. He was an icon of 80s and 90s excess, just like someone he was friends with for many years, and, yes, that's a young Ivanka in between them: | | | Credit: The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images | | What Washington is Talking About:
Rep. Duncan Hunter appeared to throw his wife under the bus Thursday, telling Fox News she handled the money. "She was the also the campaign manager, so whatever she did, that'll be looked at too," he said. "But I didn't do it. I didn't spend any money illegally."
What America is Talking About:
Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a Category 3 storm, and is 200 miles outside Honolulu. Hawaii is bracing for heavy rainfall, flooding, and landslides. The Gala just surpassed the Red Delicious to become the most popular apple in the country. And California could become the first state to bar restaurants from handing out plastic straws unless they're requested.
Poll of the Day:
What do Americans like most about how President Trump is handling his job? It's not his policies. A Pew poll found 35% of American adults said they find nothing positive, 28% say they like his approach or personality, and 15% said they like his policies and values. | | Credit: Pew
Russian Bots Were Posting About Vaccines Too:
Researchers working on a study about social media and people's decision-making about vaccines stumbled upon bots behaving strangely that were found to be connected to Russian troll efforts. The accounts posted both pro- and anti-vaccine messages. "One of the things about them that was weird was that they tried to -- or they seemed to try to -- relate vaccines to issues in American discourse, like racial disparities or class disparities that are not traditionally associated with vaccination," David Broniatowsk, the study's lead author told CNN. The study's authors wrote that the bots sought to "legitimize" a debate around vaccines. "Normalizing these debates may lead the public to question long-standing scientific consensus regarding vaccine efficacy," the study read.
There's a Big Tech Meeting Today to Discuss the Midterms:
Representatives from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter are meeting today to talk about protecting their platforms from manipulation ahead of the November election. The meeting was organized by Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, and will be held at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters, per BuzzFeed.
Mystics Player Rocks Equality Kicks:
The Washington Mystics' Kristi Toliver wore a pair of Nike Equality sneakers during the team's WNBA playoff game against the Los Angeles Sparks last night at George Washington University. Toliver spoke against the Unite the Right II rally earlier this month, giving a speech before a game where she said "bigotry is never justified." | | Credit: Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images
There's a Dolly Parton Song About the 19th Amendment Coming:
WNYC Studios' "More Perfect" podcast has an album coming out September 18 with songs about the amendments (like Schoolhouse Rock! for grownups?). Billboard has a tracklist, and No. 19 is Dolly. I am so here for a Dolly Parton song about women's right to vote.
La Roux Upset With Fox Segment Using Her Song:
A Fox Business segment about "Back To School Safety" that featured bulletproof backpacks and clothing this week is being criticized by La Roux's Elly Jackson for using the band's "Bulletproof." The singer told Pitchfork in a statement, "Using 'Bulletproof,' a song I wrote about relationships, for a piece like this is abhorrent. I have never, and would never approve my music to be used in this way."
Nick Jonas' Free Nats Park Show:
Nick Jonas was in Washington for a postgame concert after the Nationals game yesterday. His setlist included "Jealous" and "Under You," and Jonas called it "an amazing day in DC," on Instagram. The show was in support of Strike Out Slavery, a group that raises awareness of modern-day slavery and works with nonprofits that fight sex trafficking. According to the Global Slavery Index, 45.8 million people live in modern slavery, including 57,700 in the US. | | Credit: @DailyNickJonas/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
Today we have an update on some art featured in this space in May. Last time we saw the upside-down flag mural on the Mexican side of the border wall in Tijuana was Memorial Day, when the artist, veteran Amos Gregory, and a group of deported vets repainted it while they waited to see if Border Patrol would get it taken down. Three months later, not only is the mural still up, but it's grown. Next to the flag Gregory painted "Stop Lies," and he along with Brianna Kirchenbaum, deported veteran Alex Murillo, and Murillo's father Angel painted "Justicia." | | Credit: Amos Gregory
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. | | | | | | |
