| | | | | Campaign signs outside the Activity Center at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg, Maryland, for early voting Wednesday. Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call | | | Trump Sides With Saudis: He made the odd choice to compare the Khashoggi case to the issues with Kavanaugh's confirmation
Toby Keith Plays Show for Pro-Trump PAC: The "Red Solo Cup" singer had a mic stand with a red Solo cup holder
Taylor Swift Promotes Early Voting: With early voting beginning in Tennessee, Swift called on fans to vote | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today holds a Cabinet meeting and later this afternoon presents the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Maj. John Canley, whose heroic actions saved the lives of many fellow Marines in the Vietnam War.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Updates on the Jamal Khashoggi investigation as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returns to Washington. And yesterday's Trump interview with the AP.
Gruesome Details:
This story is very hard to read, but it is remarkably important to understand the final minutes of Khashoggi's life -- and how this horrific story has unfolded.
Despite audio obtained by the Turkish press and used in the New York Times story about Khashoggi's disappearance, Trump minutes ago in the Oval Office seemed to not know if there was audio -- or at least questioned its existence. | | Credit: @jonlemire/Twitter
Trump Sides With Saudis:
Trump, meanwhile, in his AP interview late yesterday, appeared to side with the Saudis, who claim they are not responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance. He made the odd choice to compare the Khashoggi case to the issues with Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation process: "Here we go again with, you know, you're guilty until proven innocent," Trump told The Associated Press. "I don't like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh, and he was innocent all the way." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returns to Washington from Saudi Arabia tonight and he is expected to brief Trump.
Here's the entire transcript of the AP interview with Trump and I frankly think it's worth the full read. He covered a lot of ground, including the comment he made about Stormy Daniels' physical appearance. I don't understand Trump's answer here -- do you? AP: Sir, as the president of the United States, is it appropriate to call a woman, and even one who is making serious allegations and who you are in litigation against, to call her a horseface? Trump: You know what? You can take it any way you want. | | Trump Asking Cabinet to Cut Costs:
Minutes ago Trump revealed he was going to make every Cabinet secretary cut costs: "I'm having a Cabinet meeting in a little while and we're gonna ask every Secretary to cut 5 percent for next year and last year," Trump said. "First year I had to do something with the military. The military was falling apart. It was depleted. It was in very bad shape, and that's why we went for two years $700 billion, $716 billion dollars, and that took place over a period of two years. We have purchased and re-purchased jets, missiles, rockets, all forms of military equipment -- ships, submarines. We...are in the process of rebuilding our military to a level it's never been before."
Michael Cohen Now Wants to Campaign:
Once Trump's get-'er-done guy, now his possible campaign trail nemesis. Go figure, Michael Cohen. What a crazy turn of events for Cohen and his relationship with his former boss. Trump, for his part, yesterday in that AP interview downplayed Cohen's years' long time working for him and said Cohen lied to prosecutors: "Oh, absolutely he's lying. And Michael Cohen was a PR person who did small legal work, very small legal work. And what he did was very sad, when you look. By the way, he was in trouble not for what he did for me; he was in trouble for what he did for himself. You do know that? Having to do with loans, mortgages, taxicabs and various other things, if you read the paper. He wasn't in trouble for what he did for me; he was in trouble for what he did for other people. He represented me very little. It's a very low level."
Our Daily Melania:
Wow, the one time I'm not on a FLOTUS trip and something happens with the plane! There was a mechanical issue minor enough that everyone was fine and ok, but also important enough that the plane carrying Melania to Philadelphia this morning had to turn back to Andrews Air Force Base a few minutes after takeoff because the cabin was filling with smoke. Members of the press were given damp washcloths to hold over their faces in case the smoke was too much. Scary stuff.
The first lady eventually took a different plane to Philly and arrived to give remarks and tour the NICU at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Here's a pic taken by Fox News pooler Meghan Welsh of Melania exiting the damaged plane and getting back into her SUV to wait for plane B. | | | Credit: @meghankwelsh/Twitter | | What America is Talking About: - It's 20 days until the midterm election.
- There are voter registration deadlines today in Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, although Wisconsin also has same-day registration.
- There are debates tonight between candidates in the Massachusetts gubernatorial and Delaware Senate races.
- In the 69 most competitive House races, Democrats have raised $46 million from small donors and Republicans have raised $15 million, the New York Times found.
- Republican Duncan Hunter, who has been indicted, is running an anti-Muslim campaign in California against Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, who is Christian and has a Mexican-American mother and Palestinian father. Our Maeve Reston has a look here.
- Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke debated last night in San Antonio. O'Rourke criticized Cruz for missing votes to run for president, called Cruz "dishonest," and said President Trump's "Lyin' Ted" nickname stuck "because it's true." Cruz called out O'Rourke for supporting impeachment. The Texas Tribune did a fact check of the debate here.
- North Dakota Democratic Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp apologized for a newspaper ad her campaign ran that included the names of sexual assault victims who did not give their permission to be in the ad, which criticized Republican opponent Kevin Cramer for comments he made about #MeToo.
- "The Conners," minus Roseanne, debuted last night.
- The Mega Millions jackpot is at at $868 million.
Poll of the Day:
Americans' support for stricter laws about gun sales has fallen from a longtime high of 67% in March, following the shooting in Parkland, Florida. A Gallup poll out this morning found 61% now support stricter laws on gun sales. | | Credit: Gallup
Twitter's Releasing Everything it Has on These Foreign Interference Accounts:
Twitter announced today it's releasing information for foreign interference accounts to enable further research. That includes 3,841 accounts believed to be linked to the Russia troll factory IRA, 770 accounts believed to be connected with Iran, as well as all the content these accounts pushed: "more than 10 million Tweets and more than 2 million images, GIFs, videos, and Periscope broadcasts, including the earliest on-Twitter activity from accounts connected with these campaigns, dating back to 2009," the company said.
And It Also Suspended Some Trolly Accounts:
Twitter also suspended 1,500 accounts this weekend linked to a trolly NPC campaign, which stands for the video game term "nonplayable character" and was created on 4chan and Reddit. The campaign made fun of liberals and spread misinformation about the date of the midterm election. The New York Times has a look at the campaign, which used gray Photoshopped faces and appeared to be more of an effort to mock liberals and their opposition to Trump than a serious effort to meddle in an election. | | Credit: Reddit via New York Times
Former Facebook Exec Creating Group to Solve Tech Problems:
Former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos announced the new Stanford Internet Observatory in a speech at the university Tuesday. The group aims to unite academics, policymakers, and Silicon Valley and tech companies to solve "the negative impacts technology can have on society," he told the Washington Post.
Charlotte Pence Has a New Book Out:
It's called "Where You Go: Life Lessons From My Father" and it has a foreword written by Vice President Pence. Pence writes about how intrusive the campaign could be, but it sounds like her dad has a different view of the press and being a public figure than Trump does. "Part of public life is knowing that you're opening yourself up to criticism," she told our Alisyn Camerota on "New Day" this morning. "And my dad has always told us that's what freedom looks like, you know, is being open to protesters or the press commenting on things they don't like about you."
Don't Be Distracted by Celebs, Sally Yates Says:
In a Washington Post op-ed, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates wrote that despite Trump's embrace of Kanye West over criminal justice reform, "this administration has in actuality reverted to the failed "lock them up and throw away the key" practices of the past." Yates wrote that she hopes Trump's "newly professed support for criminal justice reform is real -- and not just a celebrity photo-op."
Toby Keith Plays Show for Pro-Trump PAC:
Keith played a private show last night at Union Stage at Washington's Wharf for the pro-Trump PAC America First Action, and Donald Trump Jr. posted photos. Keith also played at the Make America Great Again Celebration and Concert in Washington before Trump's inauguration, but kept things nonpartisan, telling the audience, "Thanks to Barack Obama for your service, and thanks to the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump." He also played in Saudi Arabia the same weekend Trump visited the country for his first foreign trip. His publicist told me at the time Keith was believed to be the first non-Arabic artist to perform there.
The "Red Solo Cup" singer had a mic stand with a red Solo cup holder: | | Credit: @donaldjtrumpjr/Instagram
TSwift Promotes Early Voting With Red, White, and Blue Nail Polish:
Early voting begins today in Tennessee, and Taylor Swift posted about it on Instagram with a pair of pictures including of her toes, painted in red, white, and blue. "Something I wish I knew about when I was 18 and voting for the first time: ✨ EARLY VOTING ✨," she wrote. Swift linked to a vote.org page with a list of early voting times in each state. | | Credit: @taylorswift/Instagram
Cards Against Humanity Releases Midterm Pack:
The card game's latest political promotion supports Democratic candidates in six House races. People who refer a friend from one of these six districts get a special midterm pack of Cards Against Humanity for their friend and themselves, along with voter information. Packs are also available for $5, with proceeds going to Run For Something.
"We tried to pick competitive races with exciting Democratic candidates who would benefit from fundraising and organizing," the company said on its site. "We looked for candidates that supported universal healthcare and would serve as a check on Trump's power." | | Credit: Cards Against Humanity
Street Art Sighting:
This "Vote" mural of Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams was painted by street artist Fabian on Sister Louisa's Church, an Atlanta bar. | | Credit: @gafollowers/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. | | | | | | |
