| | | | | A Donald Trump impersonator poses in a mock Oval Office in London to promote the global release of "The President Is Missing" by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. Credit: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images | | | Trump Cancels Eagles' White House Visit: They "disagree with their president," he said
Our First New Pics of Melania Trump: She sat in front row at event honoring Gold Star families
Street Art Sighting: Inside a Bernie Sanders fan art-covered coffee shop | | | | Kate Bennett is off. Her section will return next week. | | What Washington Is Talking About:
The Washington Capitals now lead the Stanley Cup finals 3-1 after Monday night's victory, and lawmakers are awaiting to hear from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before making summer plans. McConnell has threatened to keep the Senate working through the August recess and said he'd have an announcement on his decision today.
What America Is Talking About:
Kate Spade was found dead in New York, Miss America board of directors Chair Gretchen Carlson announced today the pageant is scrapping the swimsuit competition, and there are primaries today in Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.
Poll of the Day:
It's not just you, 68% of Americans feel worn out by the amount of news these days, according to a Pew poll. | | Credit: Pew
Manafort Engaged in Witness Tampering, Mueller Says:
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort has been accused by the special counsel's office of contacting two people in February and attempting to get them to lie for him about his Ukrainian lobbying efforts. 👀
The White House Doesn't Have a Good Answer on This:
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked in Monday's briefing why Donald Trump's attorneys are now saying the President dictated Donald Jr.'s statement concerning a Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer despite the fact that she previously said he did not play a role. Sanders did not answer the question and punted it to Trump's outside counsel. | | Credit: White House
Then when Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani was asked about it Monday night on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time, he said, "It was a mistake. I swear to God it was a mistake," and "I don't think anybody's lying." 👀
Trump Cancels Eagles' White House Visit:
Fewer than 10 Eagles players were planning on visiting the White House today, so Trump pulled the invite for the whole team.
He said in a statement: "The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow. They disagree with their president because he insists that they proudly stand for the national anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country."
Former Eagles wide receiver Torrey Smith said Trump's statement contained "so many lies" and called it a "cowardly act to cancel the celebration because the majority of the people don't want to see you. To make it about the anthem is foolish."
And Eagles tight end Zach Ertz criticized Fox News, which ran photos of Eagles players kneeling to pray during a segment about the story. "Praying before games with my teammates, well before the anthem, is being used for your propaganda?!" Fox News has apologized.
No Eagles knelt during the National Anthem this past season, btw. | | Credit: @ZERTZ_86/Twitter
Trump Still Hasn't Said Anything About Kim's Pardon Plea:
At Monday's briefing, Sarah Sanders was also asked about Alice Marie Johnson, the woman Kim Kardashian West advocated to be pardoned last week, and said Trump is "considering a number of different pardons and commutations," but Trump has still been mum on the topic. The reality TV star's Oval Office pitch on Johnson allegedly "didn't get much immediate traction with the president," and he told her that she and husband Kanye West were helping to boost Trump's approval with African-Americans, per Bloomberg, citing two unnamed sources.
First New Pics of Melania:
The first lady posted photos (in her go-to filter, of course) from Monday night's closed-press event honoring Gold Star families. It was her first official event in public in nearly 3 1/2 weeks. You can spot Melania Trump in the first row next to her husband, who joked at the event that the media were asking "Where's Melania?" and "Did she leave him?" You can read Kate's story on the event here. We'll see the first lady again today at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters. | | Credit: @FLOTUS/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
There's a Bernie Sanders-themed coffee shop in Los Angeles covered in fan art. The building, Johnie's Coffee Shop, is at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue and has been used as a filming location. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
It was used as a base for Sanders volunteers during the 2016 campaign and remains in use today by the group California for Progress. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
The inside is also filled with Sanders memorabilia and art. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
It's not currently operating as a coffee shop but is used as a volunteer office and for events. | | 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.
P.S.:
It's about time. Dolly Parton is getting a Netflix series with episodes based on her songs, and it's coming out in 2019. In a statement, Parton said she hopes the show "will inspire and entertain families and folks of all generations." | | | | | | |
