| | | | | White House press secretary Sarah Sanders speaks to members of the media outside the White House Thursday, after Rudy Giuliani said President Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen for the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images | | | Ah, Rudy. Rudy, Rudy, Rudy.: His rambling, insightful, and possibly disastrous interview with Sean Hannity
Happy World Press Freedom Day: How the 25th anniversary is being commemorated
The Obama Library is Actually Going to Have a Library: The deal worked out with the city of Chicago | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump this morning attended a National Day of Prayer ceremony in the Rose Garden.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Good ol' Rudy Giuliani.
Should be an interesting briefing with Sarah Sanders, scheduled for 2 p.m.
Ah, Rudy. Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. (Shakes Head):
Taking a minute here to acknowledge Sean Hannity's interview with Rudy Giuliani last night was something to behold. It was rambling, it was insightful, and it was possibly a disaster for the President. Giuliani said Michael Cohen was reimbursed the $130,000 hush money he paid to Stormy Daniels in October 2016, but it's ok because it was funneled through the law firm, so it wasn't campaign related -- as if all of that was as normal as pie. Trump had previously denied knowing anything about the payment. And then THIS MORNING RUDY WENT ON FOX NEWS AGAIN and made the story seem related to the campaign, and adding Trump was so busy, you know, running for president, he probably didn't even know there was a reimbursement happening, or that it was being paid at all. "Imagine if that came out on October 15, 2016 in the middle of the, you know, last debate with Hillary Clinton...Cohen didn't even ask. Cohen made it go away. He did his job." And, "How many times do you have to go back to your checkbook to see, you know, you forget," he said. "Did I make that contribution, didn't I make it, was it $2,000, $5,000, did I take it from this account or that account?" Ok, guy.
Here's my thing: what's up in the White House communications office? How are any of these Trump surrogates allowed anywhere near a talk show, "friendly" or not, for the mere chance they might say something bad or contradictory, or just downright stupid, and give the Stormy Daniels story, a story that could actually fade a bit on its own, more legs? I'm so perplexed. If I were running White House strategic communications, I wouldn't be sitting down to dinner with a reporter from the New York Times for a fancy profile (ahem, Mercedes Schlapp), or going to every single White House Correspondents' Dinner weekend event (ahem, Kellyanne Conway, whose husband even seems to be questioning the rhetoric) -- I would be in a war room, making sure the messaging surrounding multiple investigations centered around the president of the United States was impenetrable and cohesive, that no one unauthorized to do so was doing press, and that there were no more errors coming out of the White House.
Last night's Giuliani bombshell forced Trump this morning to attempt a clarification. He tweeted some very legalese-sounding tweets. Whether they make sense in this context, or are even proving helpful or hurtful, is tbd. | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
Memes Have Been Good Tho:
A random search of internet ... | | Credit: Internet, @lisatozzi/Twitter
What It's Like to Be on the Front Lines of Covering This Story:
A quick dispatch from my friend and colleague, Kaitlan Collins, one of the finest young journalists working today, and a veritable scoop machine for CNN, whose stories and reports on this White House have been unparalleled. In short, let me at 'em ... | | Credit: @kaitlancollins/Twitter
North Korea To Possibly Release Prisoners:
The good news out of the past 24 hours at the White House appears to be the possibly imminent release of three Americans being held prisoner in North Korea. We're watching developments for you here... | | Today in "Who Knew?":
Vanessa Trump, Don Jr's soon-to-be ex-wife, is connected to my personal favorite jar tomato sauce!
Monica Lewinsky with the 🔥 :
Yesterday, Sen. Marco Rubio took issue with a Politico story that called him out on some inconsistencies in policy. Rubio was particularly upset that an "intern" had written the piece, and said as much in a condescending manner on Twitter. First off, I worked at Politico, and the interns are most often accelerated journalism students or recent college graduates with impeccable clips and resumes. Secondly, who better to come to the defense of an intern than perhaps the most famous one ever to make the history books. Monica Lewinsky with the clapback.
Charlie Rose Sounds Like a Total and Complete Jerk:
I'm using the word "jerk" in lieu of a less family-friendly word because I like to keep it clean, kids. But, you know what I'm saying. And if you don't, read this new and explosive investigative report from the Washington Post about Rose and the allegations against him for sexual harassment, which date back to the 1980s. | | Dress Like the Press Sec, Revised, with Sleuthing!:
Cover/Line reader Cara, also an avid Rent the Runway-er (like a lot of us), sent this to me yesterday regarding Sarah Sanders' WHCD ensemble. It's apparently very RTR-available. No word if that's the route Sanders took, but if she did, we applaud it. | | | Credit: Getty Images, reader screen shot from renttherunway.com | | What Washington is Talking About:
A group of House Repubs sent a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee nominating President Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.
What America is Talking About:
The two black men arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks reached an agreement with the city for $1 each, plus a $200,000 grant for high school entrepreneurs, and the Boy Scouts of America are dropping "Boy," and will be known as "Scouts BSA" beginning in February 2019.
Happy World Press Freedom Day:
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the day, World Press Freedom Day and the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization put out a campaign calling for people to expand their media diet and support a range of news media outlets. I love this. ❤️❤️❤️ Here's a full-page ad from the New York Times: | | Credit: @marclacey/Twitter
Cambridge Analytica Announces Bankruptcy:
The company said in a statement Wednesday it is "immediately ceasing all operations." It denied any wrongdoing but said media coverage of its Facebook data scandal has made business "no longer viable."
The Obama Library is Actually Going to Have a Library:
The Obama Foundation signed a seven-year "tentative rent-free deal" with the city of Chicago to host a Chicago Public Library branch at the Obama Presidential Center, according to the Chicago Sun Times. It will be the first public library in a presidential library. | | Credit: Obama Foundation
Sean Hannity Broke Big News on His Show But You Might Not Have Known It If You Were Reading Fox News:
Guys, don't bury your scoop! The push notification Fox News put out after Rudy Giuliani's "Hannity" interview left out the biggest news he made, claiming Trump repaid Michael Cohen for the Stormy Daniels hush money. They finally published a story on it hours after the fact, shortly after midnight. And the news updates on the Fox News site haven't emphasized it. The story is currently leading CNN.com and Drudge Report, among other outlets, fyi. | | Credit: via @passentino/Twitter, foxnews.com
Tomi Lahren Isn't Here for MAGA Ye or Candace Owen's Support For Him:
For her "Final Thoughts" segment Wednesday, Lahren went off on MAGA Ye and the conservatives attaching themselves to him. She called his TMZ interview "disastrous," rebuffed his claim that slavery was a "choice," and said if he ever flips his politics, "we look like fools for appointing him our cultural messiah."
She also tweeted that it's all "a ploy to sell albums." Candace Owens disagreed. 👀 | | Credit: @TomiLahren/Twitter
Lauren tried for an agree-to-disagree truce, but Owens wouldn't let it go. 👀👀 | | Credit: @RealCandaceO/Twitter
Here was Lahren's final thought on the matter on Twitter as of this morning, referencing Ye's support for Emma Gonzalez, one of three people he follows on Twitter (the other two are Kim K and Owens). 👀👀👀 | | Credit: @TomiLahren/Twitter
Adidas Sticking with Kanye:
The company, which makes West's Yeezy line sneakers, hasn't considered dropping Ye, CEO Kasper Rorsted said during an interview with Bloomberg. "Kanye has been, and is, a very important part of our strategy and has been a fantastic creator," he said. "I'm not going to comment on every comment he or somebody else [is] making." OK, now you just sound like a congressional Repub trying to dodge Qs about Trump tweets.
Street Art Sighting:
U2 opened its AR-friendly Experience + Innocence Tour last night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the help of artist Edel Rodriguez. Rodriguez created a series of political posters that appeared on screens during the show for issues including women's empowerment, voting, guns in schools, and refugees. | | Credit: @edelrodriguez/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 Aguilera is making her comeback. She just released "Accelerate" (in true Xtina fashion, the video is NSFW, so maybe don't watch in the office), the first single from her first album since 2012. I'll be the first to say we haven't given Xtina the respect she deserves, but now it's time. Rise up, LOTUS, rise. Page Six reported her first new song would be produced by none other than Kanye West, but Spotify doesn't have liner notes, so I've been unable to confirm. | | | | | | |
