| | | | | President Trump returns to the White House holding his granddaughter Arabella's hand after spending a weekend in Bedminster, New Jersey, Sunday. Credit: Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images | | | Tweetstorm: POTUS had a bit of a go with his Twitter account over the weekend
Now We All Know There's Such a Thing as Bigfoot Erotica: Thanks, politics in 2018!
How Mormon Pop Stars Are Using Their Music to Support LGBT Issues: Live from LoveLoud | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Donald Trump meets with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House on Monday, and the two will hold a 2 p.m. news conference. Later Trump swears in the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Will the President answer questions at a few of the opportunities the press has to ask questions today -- including an Oval Office spray where, in a similar scenario last week, our Kaitlan Collins was admonished by the White House press office for doing her job.
Tweetstorm:
Trump had a bit of a go with his Twitter account over the weekend from Bedminster, New Jersey, where he typically likes to unwind by playing golf. However, he's now ramped up his tweets from more broadly based "witch hunt" stuff to full-on finger-pointing at Robert Mueller. Example from yesterday: "There is No Collusion! The Robert Mueller Rigged Witch Hunt, headed now by 17 (increased from 13, including an Obama White House lawyer) Angry Democrats, was started by a fraudulent Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC. Therefore, the Witch Hunt is an illegal Scam!"
Trump also talked about a conflict of interest he thinks Mueller has that even his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, didn't know about when asked this morning on CNN. | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, Rudy:
I mean, I watch his interviews and I literally popcorn emoji the entire time. I don't even know what he's saying most of the time, but it's a ride for which I would always buy a ticket. This morning Giuliani talked to Alisyn Camerota in a wide-ranging interview (he also did Fox News and Sunday shows) and he generated so much content that there was an entire column on the CNN Politics homepage. | | Credit: cnnpolitics.com
And Now We All Know There's Such a Thing as Bigfoot Erotica:
Thanks, politics in 2018! | | Credit: @LeslieCockburn/Twitter
Dress Like the First Daughter:
So Ivanka Trump's smocked shirt. I just don't get it. Do you? It's a lot of summer blouse trends rolled into one: smocking, poplin, gingham, layering, puff sleeve. I've said here before that we don't have the same taste, but I still tried hard to find it -- ask Hunter -- I spent like a half an hour. Here's another option that I think does the trend justice, and only costs $16. Meanwhile, if you know who makes this shirt and where to find it, please hmu. | | | Credit: Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images | | What Washington is Talking About:
The House is on recess until September 4, President Trump is again threatening to shut down the government over border wall funding, and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is meeting with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), his first Dem.
What America is Talking About:
At least seven are missing as a wildfire burns in Shasta County, California, and LeBron James is opening a school today in Akron, Ohio.
Poll of the Day:
It's now 99 days until Election Day 2018, and turnout so far this year has favored Dems. According to an analysis by Pew, 13.6 million voters cast ballots in Democratic primaries this year (up to June 30), compared to 10.7 million ballots cast in Republican primaries. Both Dem and Repub primaries have seen more votes cast this year than in 2014. | | Credit: Pew
How Mormon Pop Stars Are Using Their Music to Support LGBT Issues:
I spent Saturday in Salt Lake City for LoveLoud, a music festival started by Imagine Dragon's lead singer Dan Reynolds to draw attention to LGBT issues and the state's growing teen suicide rate. It was basically the gay Mormon Woodstock. The festival is in its second year, there were more than 30,000 attendees, and it raised more than $1 million for local and national LGBT organizations. | | Dan Reynolds. Credit: Kiefer Hickman for COVER/LINE
I spoke with Reynolds, Neon Trees' Tyler Glenn, and Tegan Quin of Tegan & Sara about the role music can play in changing people's minds, particularly within Mormonism. "I think those conversations are happening," Reynolds said. "I've gotten tons of emails and messages over the year of people saying they felt safe coming out to their family after LoveLoud."
Organizers for the festival said they want to grow it outside of Utah to reach other religious and conservative communities, which I imagine could have been one reason Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was born in Alabama, came to speak and introduce Imagine Dragons' set. Lance Lowry, the event's executive director told me their goal was to" take LoveLoud to anywhere that it's needed ... the sky's the limit." You can read my full story here. | | Tyler Glenn. Credit: Kiefer Hickman for COVER/LINE
And more photos from the festival, follow @cnncoverline on Instagram.
RBG Plans to Be Around for a While:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, said Monday she hopes to stay on the Supreme Court until she's 90. "I have about at least five more years," she said following a performance of "The Originalist," a play about the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Eric Church Calls Out the NRA:
This broke while I was gone, but ICYMI, the country singer called for stronger gun laws in an interview with Rolling Stone. Church said although there are "some things we can't stop ... we could have stopped the guy in Vegas" and blamed lobbyists, particularly the NRA. "I'm a Second Amendment guy, but I feel like they've been a bit of a roadblock."
Obamas Jam Out to The Carters:
The former first couple was spotted at Beyoncé and Jay-Z's OTR II Tour at FedEx Field Saturday, and of course, everyone was filming them. This is Michelle Obama's second OTR II show -- you'll remember she saw The Carters in Paris earlier this month. | | Credit: @yeahitsmepinky/Instagram
Name a More Iconic Duo:
Tiffany Trump was spotted in Mykonos, Greece this weekend, where she had her hair styled by Lindsay Lohan, according to an Insta story from Tiffany's friend Andrew Warren. History. | | Credit: @adwarren/Instagram story
Street Art Sighting:
These murals by Salt Lake City-based artist David "Habbenink" Habben were made and put on display at LoveLoud and will be donated to Encircle, a Utah LGBT resource center. Encircle runs a home in Provo, Utah, that provides programming and events for LGBT youth, and is planning on opening additional homes in the state. | | 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. | | | | | | |
