| | | | | President Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino pose for photographs with a soccer uniform in the Oval Office Tuesday. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | | | Trump, A Noted Former Anonymous Source, Trashes Anonymous Sources: He used to be one of the most prolific tipsters in the news biz
Trump Warns of Violence if Dems Win: What he said at his meeting with evangelicals
Rock The Vote: One "American Idol" runner up on why voting matters | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump announces a grant for drug-free communities support. This evening he and first lady Melania Trump host a reception honoring the White House Historical Association.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Another day without a White House press briefing -- at least, one has yet to be announced.
Also, the prices in the White House vending machines are going up. Sadly, this is how most of us eat if days are busy. I'm sure someone (more clever than the person who wrote #ThanksObama) will figure a clever joke to tie this to tariffs. In the meantime, I will continue my silent protest against the fact the soda machine has always been Pepsi and not Coke. | | Credit: Brittany Shepherd for Washingtonian.com
Trump, A Noted Former Anonymous Source, Trashes Anonymous Sources:
Those of us old enough to remember the glory days of Donald Trump and the New York City tabloid newspapers understand that he used to be one of the most prolific tipsters in the news biz. Some of my favorite Trump stories are the ones where he is accused of faking that he is a publicist named John Barron. This is interesting and kind of funny when you consider one of the President's tweets this morning, in which he says anonymous sources mean the story is fake: "When you see "anonymous source," stop reading the story, it is fiction!"
President Confirms Axios Scoop:
Trump also tweeted confirmation of a morning scoop from Jonathan Swan of Axios which stated White House counsel Don McGahn is leaving his post in the fall. CNN has reported extensively lately on Trump's relationship with McGahn and how it has fractured in recent months.
John McCain and Barack Obama's Relationship:
This is a really great piece by Jeff Zeleny about the tenuous and respectful friendship between Barack Obama and John McCain, and how much it meant to both men when McCain, back in April, called Obama to ask him to be one of his eulogizers. It shows the humility and reverence between two lions of politics who had fought one another, from different ideological sides as well as in an actual presidential race, and mended their relationship. It's good stuff.
Google Sort of Jumping the Gun Here But I'm OK With It:
Apparently, Google has already changed the name of the Russell Senate Building to the McCain Senate Building. There is currently a proposal to do so, but Congress has yet to determine how to memorialize the late senator. | | Credit: screenshot
White House Descendants Descend on Washington:
Cover/Line special correspondent Betsy Klein (aka CNN White House producer and CNN reporter extraordinaire) reports on the special White House Historical Association event last night at the Kennedy Center: "The WHHA's Presidential Sites Summit included a gathering of over 40 presidential descendants, including John Tyler's grandson Lyon Tyler Jr. (yes, the 10th president of the United States, who died in 1862, has two surviving grandsons), Lyndon Johnson's daughter Lynda Johnson Robb, and Theodore Roosevelt's great-grandson Tweed Roosevelt. They shared some of their memories – Susan Ford Bales, daughter of Gerald Ford, talked about the challenges of dating in the White House, and Johnson Robb talked about having Secret Service protection while she was in an all-girls dorm at the University of Texas. My seat in the theater for the panel discussions was directly in front of Mary Jean Eisenhower, President Dwight Eisenhower's granddaughter, who told me that she and Grover Cleveland's grandson George visited the White House earlier this week. While standing in the Blue Room, Cleveland pointed and told her that was where his parents got married. Eisenhower pointed to another part of the room and said that was where she was christened. A great reminder that the White House is America's House, but it's also a home – and presidents are our leaders, but they're also "Daddy" and "Grandpa" to our first families. Tonight, the President and first lady will host summit guests for a reception at the White House." Here's Betsy's photo of the descendants on stage at the Kennedy Center (which lost A/C power last night and canceled its performance of "Hamilton" in another of the building's theaters). | | Credit: Betsy Klein
Dress Like the First Daughter:
At the evangelical leader dinner on Monday night at the White House, Ivanka Trump wore another dress that I really liked. If you read this space, you know I have a love-hate with Ivanka's style. But I thought her choice of the ultra-femme Alexis dress, with its blush pink tiers and floral details, was actually lovely. This particular style (the "Ruth" dress) appears to be sold out now, but I will say Rent the Runway has a great selection of Alexis, and I've actually rented this one from them a couple of times and highly recommend. It appears Ivanka is wearing a pair of shoes from her eponymous line (soon to be discontinued!) that are actually also cute and available here for the low-low price of $40. The woman in the photo, btw, is Jerry Falwell's daughter-in-law. | | | Credit: @beckilu71/Instagram, modaoperandi.com, 6pm.com | | What Washington is Talking About:
An upset in yesterday's Florida primary by Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who became the first African-American major-party nominee for governor in the state and will face off against the President Trump-backed Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis in November. And Arizona is on track to elect its first female senator, either Republican Rep. Martha McSally or Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who won their primaries.
What America is Talking About:
Aretha Franklin is lying in repose at Detroit's Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in a red dress and heels and gold casket, Ariana Grande will join Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson, and others performing at Franklin's funeral Friday, and Puerto Rico said Tuesday the death toll from Hurricane Maria is 2,975, which is 46 times higher than the last estimate.
Poll of the Day:
As Trump seeks to remake NAFTA, Pew found Americans have much "warmer" feelings toward one of the countries in the agreement than the other. The poll found 67% said they have "very warm" or "somewhat warm" feelings toward Canada, but 40% have those same feelings toward Mexico. | | Credit: Pew
The gap between Canada and Mexico is driven by Republicans and Republican leaners, of which 54% said they have "very cold" or "somewhat cold" feelings toward Mexico.
Trump Warns Evangelicals of Violence if Dems Win in November:
According to a recording of Trump's meeting with evangelical leaders on Monday, the President can be heard saying the midterms are a referendum on him and on the evangelicals' religion. "It's not a question of like or dislike, it's a question that they will overturn everything that we've done and they will do it quickly and violently," he said. "And violently. There is violence." He also brought up Antifa, a popular boogeyman for those on the right, and said religious leaders have "tremendous power" to reach people.
L.A. Just Renamed Rodeo Road After Obama:
Not to be confused with Rodeo Drive, in Beverly Hills. Los Angeles City Council voted on the name change, and Democratic L.A. Mayor and 2020 hopeful Eric Garcetti tweeted that "Angelenos and visitors will forever be reminded of the legacy of President @BarackObama when traveling across L.A." In 2008, Obama held a rally at a park on the road.
Caps Player Says He's Skipping White House Visit:
Washington Capitals player Brett Connolly said he won't make the championship White House visit. He told reporters it had "nothing to do with politics, it's about what's right and wrong, and we'll leave it at that." He also said he thought a few other players would skip the visit as well.
Rock The Vote:
2006 "American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee had a midterm voting message for her followers, posting a photo with that season's winner, Taylor Hicks, and linking to an official government site to register to vote. 🙃 | | Credit: @katharinemcphee/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
These portraits of Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and other black leaders and public figures were painted on abandoned row houses in the Park Heights neighborhood of Baltimore by artist Ernest Shaw. | | 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. | | | | | | |
