| | | | | President Trump speaks to the press pool after signing America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 in the Oval Office Tuesday. Credit: Ron Sachs/Pool/Getty Images | | | Suspicious Packages Sent to Clintons, Obama, CNN: Sarah Sanders calls attempted violent attacks "despicable"
There's an Age Gap in Separating Fact From Opinion: Poll of the day
The Mooch Wants Trump to Stop Lying: "Dial that down, and you'll be doing a lot better" | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump and Melania Trump today host an event in the East Room honoring "one year of combatting the opioid crisis," to include the signing of Tyler's Law, which will provide funding and assistance to the cause of fighting the opioid epidemic. Later, Trump departs for an evening rally in Wisconsin.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
A suspicious package was sent to the Time Warner Center building in New York, where CNN New York is headquartered. The package was screened, as routine, in the mailroom and the x-ray showed metal and wires. Authorities determined it to be a serious situation and the building was evacuated. Similar packages were mailed to the Obamas and Clintons, as well.
Suspicious Packages Sent to Clintons, Obama:
Packages containing rudimentary bomb materials also were sent to the homes of Barack and Michelle Obama in Washington and Bill and Hillary Clinton in New York, and the FBI is investigating. All of the packages were intercepted in routine mail checks performed by the Secret Service. The mail for former presidents is not processed at their homes. It is screened at off-site facilities, which is normal procedure. A similar package was sent to the home of billionaire investor and major Democratic donor George Soros earlier this week.
CNN:
The Time Warner Center, where CNN's New York hub is located, was evacuated after the report of a suspicious device. Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto were reporting on air when the fire alarm began to go off and viewers could see employees streaming out. After a commercial break, Jim and Poppy left as well. Our Shimon Prokupecz reports that a law enforcement official told CNN that the suspicious package removed from CNN's NY offices is being sent to an NYPD facility in the Bronx. The package was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, city and local law enforcement officials said.
Scary times. Feels a lot like domestic terrorism.
Follow live updates here.
White House Response:
Here's the White House response to the suspected bomb devices from Sarah Sanders, issued before the news broke about the concern at CNN New York:
"We condemn the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures. These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards."
As We Go To Send ...:
Vice President Mike Pence just tweeted this about the suspicious packages, and the President retweeted it, saying, "I agree wholeheartedly!"
| | Credit: @VP/Twitter
"There's No Proof of Anything":
Trump yesterday again said there could be "Middle Eastern" people in the massive caravan of people, mostly Hondurans, headed to the US border. On Monday he also tweeted that "criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed" into the caravan. But ... he has no concrete evidence of that. When he was pressed by CNN's Jim Acosta, Trump confessed he has no actual proof to back up that statement. He said he had "very good information," but, "There's no proof of anything but they could very well be." | | Trump Talks to WSJ:
Trump did a pretty extensive interview with the Wall Street Journal yesterday -- part of his veritable media blitz of recent days. Here's the entire transcript. He said this about the investigation into the death of Jamal Khashoggi: "It's a very—it's a very sad situation and, obviously, poorly handled from beginning to end. Certainly is something that never should have been thought of no matter what. It should never have been thought of no matter what the original thought was, and as you know they have many different—there are many different stories as to the original thought. But no matter what, from the least sinister to the most sinister—and the most sinister is really bad. And then certainly the coverup, if that's what it was, which it seems like it was, was very poorly handled. Should have never happened."
Opioid Drug Deaths Down:
Today, as the President signs significant legislation to add even more assistance to fighting the drug crisis in this country, the number of opioid-related deaths in America is actually down. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said this at a conference yesterday, announcing the news: "We are so far from the end of the epidemic, but we are perhaps, at the end of the beginning."
Melania will introduce her husband at the event today. I'll be there, so feel free to follow along on my Twitter. 🙋♀️
Dress Like the First Lady:
Melania Trump yesterday hosted a group of 6th grade students from Digital Pioneers Academy, a brand-new charter school in DC, at the White House theater for a screening of "Wonder." The movie was selected because it has a theme of anti-bullying and October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Melania said a few words of welcome, and the kids, snacking on popcorn, gifted her with a green polo shirt with the school logo on it. A White House butler then brought Melania her own box of popcorn to her front row seat, as well as a bottle of Fiji Water, with a straw. Her Twitter pictures are better than mine -- and one shows that the kids got a bunch of WH snacks and Be Best gift bags at their seats. | | Credit: @FLOTUS/Twitter
But ... back to her clothes. She was wearing this Victoria, Victoria Beckham leather and suede jacket, available here for $1,130. | | | Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, net-a-porter.com | | What America is Talking About: - It's 13 days until the midterm election.
- More than 7 million people have voted early as of Tuesday afternoon, according to data from political science professor Michael McDonald. He told the New York Times "we could be looking at a turnout rate that virtually no one has ever experienced."
- Beto O'Rourke has spent $5.3 million on Facebook since May, more than any other candidate, Facebook said.
- There's going to be a Titanic II, an exact replica of the original ship, and it could set sail as soon as 2022.
- Megyn Kelly is sorry for her comments about blackface.
- The winning $1.537 billion Mega Millions ticket was purchased in South Carolina.
Poll of the Day:
Younger Americans are better than older Americans at telling the difference between fact and opinion.
A Pew survey found those aged 18-49 did better than those aged 50 and older at correctly categorizing factual statements as facts (below in maroon) and opinion statements as opinion (gold). | | Credit: Pew
Pew suggested the age gap could be due in part to young people identifying less with political parties and being more digitally savvy. They also found having higher political awareness and more trust in the information from the national news media correlated with being able to differentiate between fact and opinion.
Clinton Speaks on Suspicious Package:
Speaking at an event for Democratic House candidate Donna Shalala in Miami this morning, Hillary Clinton said she was grateful for the "service and commitment" of the Secret Service. "It is a troubling time," she said. "It's a time of deep division and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together."
Georgia Candidates Talk Voting in Gubernatorial Debate:
Voting was a major topic in last night's gubernatorial debate in Georgia. Republican candidate and current Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said he would not recuse himself in the event of a recount, saying the state had a "very competent elections team" to handle a possible recount. And Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams accused Kemp of creating "an atmosphere of fear around the right to vote in the state of Georgia."
Flake Still Unsure About Ford and Kavanaugh:
Sen. Jeff Flake said on "The View" Tuesday he still didn't know what to believe about Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh's testimony. "She was very compelling," he said. "He was very persuasive. I don't know. I don't know. I wish I had the certitude that some of my colleagues expressed."
The Mooch Wants Trump to Stop Lying:
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said on "New Day" this morning that Trump is a "liar" who needs to "dial down the lying." Scaramucci said there's an "entertainment aspect" to some of the things Trump says, but spoke to the camera (as if to Trump), and said, "You should probably dial down the lying because you don't need to. You're doing a great job for the country. So dial that down, and you'll be doing a lot better."
The Toronto Star's Daniel Dale, who counted Trump's false claims, found Trump set a new one-week record for false statements in the second week of October, with 170. | | Credit: Toronto Star
Burton Drops Bernie Shirt to Encourage Voting:
Snowboarding and apparel brand Burton is out with $69.95 long-sleeved "Bernie Best Ever" shirt. The photo of Bernie Sanders was taken by Marius Bugge, and the company said its founder Jake Burton Carpenter would be making a donation to the Sanders Institute, a group run by Bernie's wife, Jane Sanders. Sanders wore a Burton parka to Trump's Inauguration in 2017. | | Credit: Burton
Chicago Candidate Explains Ye Support:
Chicago mayoral candidate Amara Enyia had both Chance the Rapper and Kanye West at her rally yesterday. Enyia's celebrity endorsements have given her long shot campaign visibility, but also raised questions in Chicago about her thoughts on West's controversial stances and statements.
She told the Chicago Tribune celebrity endorsements have to be tied to "something of substance," and in a conversation with West last month, they agreed on issues including police reform, ending stop-and-frisk, and increasing mental health facilities. She said, "We talked about the Trump factor, and he made it very clear that he doesn't necessarily support Trump's policies, some of the more controversial policies, but what he was interested in is for the ability for people to disagree and have dialogue about it." | | Credit: @chicagotribune/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
It's the mural of a pussycat-hat-wearing Taylor Swift we've all been waiting for, by Lushsux. | | Credit: @lushsux/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. | | | | | | |
