| | | | | A sign reading "We Believe Survivors" hangs in a window overlooking the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | | | Senators Are Reading the FBI's Kavanaugh Report: What Washington is talking about
The Clintons Saw Xtina in Concert: Bill and Hillary Clinton were at Christina Aguilera's Liberation Tour stop in New York
The Presidential Alert Became a Meme: The alert's simplicity and the fact it was presidential made for an easy meme format | | | What Washington Is Talking About:
Senators have begun reading the FBI's report on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh today, and Sen. Susan Collins said it "appears very thorough" and Sen. Jeff Flake said there was no additional cooperating information in it; Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said President Donald Trump "may have to give up" his tax returns following this week's New York Times report alleging tax fraud; and in a rare showing of bipartisanship, the Senate passed legislation meant to fight the opioid epidemic.
What America Is Talking About:
Some people didn't get the presidential alert on their phones Wednesday; scientists believe they may have discovered the first moon outside of our solar system; and a new study found more than 250 people have died while taking selfies.
Poll of the Day:
Americans' trust and confidence in politicians has reached a 10-year high. Yes, high, that's not a typo. A Gallup Poll released today found 55% of Americans said they have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in their politicians. | | Credit: Gallup
The 10-year high is driven in large part by Republicans, whose levels of trust have risen from 33% to 53% since 2016, while Democrats' trust in politicians has remained stable, rising from 55% the past two years to 58% today.
Justice Department Indicts 7 Russians:
The department announced this morning it has indicted seven Russian intelligence officers, accusing them of hacking, wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering to distract from Russia's state-sponsored doping efforts. You may remember back during the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Russian athletes weren't allowed to march under the Russian flag or compete for Russia, and were instead known as OAR, or Olympic Athletes from Russia.
Arrest Made in Connection with Suspicious Letter:
A former Navy veteran has been arrested in connection with the suspicious letters sent to Trump and the Pentagon. William Clyde Allen III was arrested Wednesday in Logan, Utah.
Arrest in Suspected "Doxing" of Lawmakers:
Capitol Police said they arrested Jackson Cosko, 27, who is suspected of posting lawmakers' personal information on Wikipedia, or "doxing." That information surfaced on the Twitter bot @congressedits, which posts Wikipedia edits made on Capitol Hill IP addresses. A Legistorm profile for Cosko said he had worked for Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and previously for former Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California.
So Fresh And So Clean:
If you notice that the Capitol Dome seems to shine a little bit more today, that might be because it just got a power washing. Here's a shot of a worker near the top of the dome Wednesday: | | Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
FLOTUS Watch:
Melania Trump is now in Malawi for the third day of her Africa trip. She visited the Chipala Primary School, where she donated soccer balls. The first lady will also donate 1.4 million textbooks to schools throughout the country, Kate reports. Here she is reading with students during an English lesson. | | Credit: @KateBennett_DC/Twitter
Ocasio-Cortez is a Vanity Fair "New Establishment" Ground-Breaker:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was photographed for Vanity Fair's 2018 New Establishment list. On Instagram, the Democratic congressional candidate from New York wrote that she's felt anxious since attracting widespread media attention and discussed the importance of representation.
"Sometimes people ask me how this feels. To be honest, at least in part, I feel scared. Anxious. Overwhelmed. And that's okay. It is a surreal experience to go from being virtually anonymous to having an enormous amount of attention overnight. ... Every time a media event like this happens I get NERVOUS. But I also think about how I never got to see anyone like me on any magazines growing up. I never saw a version myself in leadership, or on TV, or anywhere really and think, 'That could be me.' "
Ocasio-Cortez was photographed by Cass Bell, who did the Obamas for People magazine in 2016. | | Credit: Cass Bird for Vanity Fair
Ocasio-Cortez is included on the list at No. 94, along with other Democratic midterm candidates the magazine labeled "Ground-Breakers" -- Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Andrew Gillum of Florida and Beto O'Rourke of Texas.
Vanity Fair's list also includes Robert Mueller at No. 1 and Jeff Bezos at No. 2, as well as Michelle Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Beyoncé, LeBron James, Kendrick Lamar, the Parkland students, Peter Thiel, the women of Time's Up, Rihanna, Vladimir Putin, Jack Dorsey, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Donald Glover and CNN's Jeff Zucker, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper.
Does Campaign Design Matter?:
Wednesday night at Union Station in Washington, designers who've worked on political campaigns held a panel titled "Branding Politics: Does campaign design matter?" hosted by Baltimore creative agency Post Typography. They discussed topics including where they see campaign design heading next and how compelling the Trump campaign's MAGA hat was. "It wound up being so broadly applicable," progressive creative director Anjelica Triola said of the hat. Conservative designer Erik Wooten said it let people declare their "affiliation to a club."
Hearing their stories of how hard it can be to convince campaigns to consider design that isn't clichéd red, white and blue stars and stripes sounded very frustrating. Here are the bumper stickers they handed out to attendees: | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
The Clintons Just Saw Xtina in Concert:
Bill and Hillary Clinton posed for photos with Christina Aguilera at her Liberation Tour stop at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday night. So far, neither of them have posted any cell phone footage from the show. Aguilera supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and held a concert for her in Los Angeles the day before the California primary. And who could forget this iconic moment, from 2012? | | Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation
Another Way to Read the Times Story:
You can read The New York Times' big story on the Trump family's alleged tax schemes in print, online and on the Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington. Or at least the lead of the story. Projection artist Robin Bell projected an excerpt from the opening sentence of the story onto the building. | | Credit: @bellvisuals/Instagram
The Presidential Alert Became a Meme:
The alert's simplicity and the fact it was presidential made for an easy meme format Wednesday. Behold: | | Credit: @colbertlateshow, @superdeluxe, @recycledpropaganda, and @thatswhatsup
Street Art Sighting:
This street art of Christine Blasey Ford and Anita Hill was spotted in Philadelphia. It's by artist Symone Salib, who also recently did a dope Gritty, the new Philadelphia Flyers mascot. | | Credit: @j_laww/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.
Kate Bennett is off. | | | | | | |
