| | | | | President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he speaks to the press before departing from the White House South Lawn on Marine One. Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images | | | Big Day for Trump in the Mueller Investigation: What the White House press corps is talking about
But ... Look Over Here!: Trump casually confirms two big and highly anticipated nominations
Rex T Returns: Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson talks Trump in Texas | | | What the White House Is Talking About:
President Donald Trump heads to Kansas City, Missouri, today to give remarks at the 2018 Project Safe Neighborhoods National Conference. Later, he and first lady Melania Trump host the annual holiday dinner for senior White House staff.
What the White House Press Corps Is Talking About:
It's a big day for Trump in the Mueller investigation -- have snacks.
Russia Investigation = Tweet Storm:
This morning Robert Mueller was clearly on the President's mind as he went off on Twitter about the "witch hunt" in several tweet screeds against the special counsel and "Lyin' James Comey." Mueller has until the end of today to file court documents pertaining to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and ex-Trump attorney and "fixer" Michael Cohen -- and both of the filings could reveal more details about what Mueller and his team have found in their Russia investigation. Meanwhile, Comey is in a closed-door interview on Capitol Hill with the House Judiciary Committee.
Report, Counter Report:
Trump was also big on Twitter today with news of his "counter report" to Mueller. Everyone is reporting. Trump says that Rudy Giuliani is handling the writing and that he's already up to 87 pages.
But ... Look Over Here!:
Perhaps in an effort to distract from the day's Mueller-Russia-Manafort-Cohen-Comey bonanza, the President decided to stop and talk to the press this morning on the White House South Lawn and casually confirm two big and highly anticipated nominations. As predicted, William Barr is his selection to become the next attorney general, and Heather Nauert is his pick to be US ambassador to the United Nations. Barr, who was once attorney general under former President George H.W. Bush, is known to be an independent straight shooter. And Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman, was once a Fox News anchor and reporter.
Also, a teaser for Saturday: | | Credit: @maggieNYT/Twitter
Meanwhile ... John Kelly Is All But Gone:
CNN's Kaitlan Collins broke the news this morning that Kelly and Trump are no longer speaking to one another and that Kelly's departure from the White House as chief of staff is imminent -- like in a few days. The relationship has clearly soured over the past few months, with rumors of Kelly's firing (or quitting) popping up every couple of weeks. A name on the list to replace Kelly? Nick Ayers, who is Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff. Read about Ayers in this excellent profile with the headline "Young, Rich and Loyal."
This Guy Wins the Party:
At one of Thursday night's two White House-hosted Hanukkah parties, I couldn't help but notice this guy's specially made yarmulke. Well done. | | Credit: Oliver Contreras/Getty Images
New York Times Drops Story on Trump Property:
A story on two women who worked for years at Trump's swank Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club and residence as undocumented immigrants is worth the time if you haven't had a chance to read it yet. There's some interesting insight, too, into what Trump is like as a boss to the "household" staff -- he tips big, when he feels like it. Oh, and he gets grumpy when his makeup doesn't come out in the wash.
Our Daily Melania/Dress Like the First Lady:
Is it me, or are the Trumps looking chummier these days? The President seems more reliant on Melania Trump. They're certainly at more events together, and there's a lot more ... touching. For example, at a Hanukkah event Thursday night, the first lady stood beside him and he recognized she was there. She was wearing this Scanlan Theodore "Milano" dress that has sold out. | | | Credit: Oliver Contreras/Pool/Getty Images | | What Washington Is Talking About:
Former FBI Director James Comey is meeting with the House Judiciary Committee behind closed doors; the Senate could vote on a measure to limit US involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen next week; and the 77th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor is being commemorated today at the World War II memorial.
What America Is Talking About:
Kevin Hart is stepping down as Oscars host after old homophobic tweets surfaced; Grammy nominations are out and Kendrick Lamar leads with eight; and the first trailer for the final "Avengers" film, subtitled "Endgame," was released.
Poll of the Day:
Americans are more likely to live in cities than any other place, but a Gallup Poll found the top places where Americans would like to live are a lot less populated. The poll found 27% would like to live in a rural area, and 21% would prefer a suburb of a big city. Only 12% would like to live in a big city. | | Credit: Gallup
Rex T Returns:
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made a rare public appearance Thursday for a benefit for the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston with CBS News' Bob Schieffer. Boy, did Tillerson have some things to say: - On Trump: "Pretty undisciplined, doesn't like to read, doesn't read briefing reports, doesn't like to get into the details of a lot of things, but rather says, 'Look, this is what I believe.' "
- On Trump and the law: "So often, the President would say here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, 'Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can't do it that way. It violates the law."
- On Vladimir Putin: "Many people talk about playing chess. He plays three-dimensional chess."
- On Twitter: "I will be honest with you, it troubles me that the American people seem to want to know so little about issues, that they are satisfied with a 128 characters*," he said. "I don't want that to come across as a criticism of (Trump). It's really a concern that I have about us as Americans and us as a society and us as citizens."
- On George H.W. Bush, whom he called a "founder of the 21st century": "So many of the events that were under his watch, like the peaceful dissolution of the Cold War, really set the stage for this century that we now live in. Some for the good and some issues that are still playing out."
| | Credit: @CBSThisMorning/Twitter
*The current Twitter character limit is actually 240, up from its original 140.
House Candidate Rescinds Concession in North Carolina:
Democrat Dan McCready took back his concession to Republican Mark Harris on Thursday. McCready lost a US House race in North Carolina to Harris by 905 votes, but the state elections board said it was investigating whether a political operative connected to Harris altered absentee ballots or collected them from voters without turning them in. (The operative reportedly has denied any wrongdoing.) If the fraud allegations are true and affected results, North Carolina Republican Party Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse told CNN he's open to holding new elections.
Missouri Secretary of State is Investigating Senator-Elect:
An investigation from Missouri's top election official is looking into whether Sen.-elect Josh Hawley used public resources through his former job as Missouri's attorney general in his campaign. Hawley is accused of using an outside consultant to direct his state office to raise his profile ahead of the midterms. Hawley denied the accusations today on Twitter.
The Year in Politics as Told Through Magazine Covers:
I put together a list of some publications that told a few of the big stories in politics this year. It was fun going back through covers, and I wanted to make a list that included a lot of different magazines (plus two newspapers) without using any publication twice.
It was interesting to talk with Pablo Delcan, the designer behind the illustration for The New York Times' anonymous op-ed "The Quiet Resistance Inside the Trump Administration." He was told the night before it was coming but didn't know what a big deal it would be, and they were still finalizing the image when the op-ed went up online, which he said "added a lot of anxiety to the process." He thought one reason the illustration became so big was because there was no image of an author to go along with the piece, so "it seemed the only way people could connect to it visually." | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
You can read the list here. These are my cover lines of the year:
"Tipping Point": The Week, April 6
"The Making of Robert Mueller": Wire, June
"Get Karen McDougal's Workout": Men's Journal, September
"Delete My Account": Bloomberg Businessweek, March 26
"Welcome to America": Time, July 2
"The New Dandies": GQ, November
"The Quiet Resistance Inside the Trump Administration": The New York Times, September 6
"A Missing Voice": The Washington Post, October 5
"Welcome to Congress": The New Yorker, November 19
Street Art Sighting:
These posters from the group Save Our Vote DC were put up near Union Station in Washington to draw attention to its push to overturn the D.C. Council's repeal of a ballot measure passed by voters that would raise the minimum wage for tipped workers in the District to at least $15 an hour by 2025. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
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. | | | | | | |
