| | | | | President Trump arrives at a "Make America Great Again" rally in Mesa, Arizona, on Friday. Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images | | | Jared Kushner Talks to ... CNN: Kushner said at Citizen CNN the administration is in "the fact-finding phase" when it comes to Khashoggi
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Takes Mark Twain Prize: Tina Fey was among the stars roasting the "Veep" star
Why Midterm Candidates are Ditching Red, White and Blue: To stand out, some campaigns are using unorthodox colors for their logos | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today has an intelligence meeting and then will head to Houston for another MAGA rally.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
What the President will do as more evidence of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi comes out.
They Used a Body Double:
Incredible reporting by CNN's international team, led by Clarissa Ward, paints a horrifying picture of the timeline of Khashoggi's killing, including new images of a Saudi man who dressed in Khashoggi's clothes and exited the consulate in Istanbul. It's an attempt, and a poor one, to deceive. Khashoggi went in, and he never left. | | Credit: cnn.com
Jared Kushner Talks To ... CNN:
CNN today is holding a forum about politics called Citizen CNN -- watch live here. One of the headliners is Jared Kushner, who this morning sat down for an interview with Van Jones. Kushner was asked how he got his job in the first place. Answer: his father-in-law. And he was also pressed about what the administration knows about the death of Khashoggi. "Right now, as an administration, we're more in the fact-finding phase," Kushner told Jones. "We're getting as many facts as we can," Kushner said, "then we'll determine which facts are credible." Asked what Kushner told his friend Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about participating in the investigation, Kushner's advice to the prince was, "Be transparent." Dana Bash interviews Rep. Nancy Pelosi next and later Jake Tapper sits down with Sen. Jeff Flake. The rest of the day's schedule can be found here.
"I Wouldn't Say Fun":
Jones also asked Kushner if working in the White House is fun. Kushner was not quick to apply that descriptor. He also said that Trump is the kind of grandfather who keeps a candy drawer in the Oval Office to give his grandkids sugary treats that Ivanka Trump doesn't allow.
Did You Guys Watch That Florida Governor Debate?:
It was pretty intense -- and also probably a viable picture of what the national political discussion would be like today. Last night on CNN, Ron DeSantis, the Republican, and Andrew Gillum, the Democrat, went round by round about issues ranging from the environment to whether Trump is a good role model to children, to race. If you recall, DeSantis was accused of bringing race into the picture when he told Floridians on Fox News not to "monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda." If he wins, Gillum would be Florida's first African-American governor. It's worth reading the recap because I think it's one of the most heated races in the country right now and in some way could be a peek into the future of 2020 when someone goes up against Trump. | | Speaking of Political Climate, There Was a Line LAST NIGHT:
Intrepid CNN reporter and White House producer Betsy Klein is on the road for us this week, and last night she arrived in Houston ahead of Trump's rally there -- and there were already people lined up on the sidewalk, camping out, to get a good spot at tonight's event. From Betsy: "Just after midnight and many of the folks I talked to don't plan to sleep (much). Decidedly less lively than earlier but there's pizza being passed around and some people selling hats and it's a comfortable 62 degrees. Doors open at 3:30p CT, the President takes the stage at 6:30p." | | Credit: @betsy_klein/Twitter
Trump and the Caravan:
Trump will likely talk at this rally about the caravan -- which he is blaming the Democrats for creating. Here's his series of tweets about it from earlier today: | | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter | | Did You Get Engaged at Yosemite?:
A CNN photographer snapped this incredible shot of a couple getting engaged at Yosemite National Park earlier this month but he can't find the couple! And, let's be honest, they have to know this picture is out there and that it exists! Let's help find them, shall we? | | Credit: Matt Dippel
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Takes Mark Twain Prize:
Last night at the Kennedy Center, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was awarded the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Louis-Dreyfus said that laughter has been the best medicine for cancer -- she has been open about her battle against breast cancer over the past year. Tina Fey was among the stars roasting Louis-Dreyfus and she echoed what many of us felt about the comedian when she first appeared in "Seinfeld": "Julia made the bold choice for her character Elaine Benes to wear long, loose dresses, flat shoes and over-sized coats and a center barrette. Julia was letting us know that she was the real deal, comedy-wise, and she didn't need to give us midriff for (us) to watch her work because – here's the secret – Julia's not afraid to be unlikable – not onscreen and not in person. Just try sharing an elevator with her."
Fun fact: there was babka and Junior Mints at the after-party. | | | Credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images | | What America is Talking About: - It's 15 days until the midterm election.
- Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, has suspended his re-election campaign, saying he doesn't believe he can win a three-way race. He endorsed Democratic candidate Mark Begich.
- DNC chair Tom Perez said on "New Day" this morning they "always knew that this election was going to be close" but that they're confident in taking the House, while "the Senate is a tougher map."
- A record 44% of US firms are giving their employees paid time off to vote this year, per the Society for Human Resources Management. That's up from 37% in 2016.
- "Halloween" set a franchise record at the box office, bringing in $77.5 million in North America over three days.
- Three players have been suspended for a fight in Saturday's Lakers-Rockets game.
Poll of the Day:
No one's more excited about the midterms than seniors. An NBC-Wall Street Journal poll found 73% of seniors have a high level of interest in the midterms, the most of any group polled, followed closely by 72% of Democrats, and 71% of Latino voters.
The groups with the lowest level of interest in the poll were independents (46%), those 18-34 (51%), and whites with no college degree (61%). | | Credit: NBC News
Why Midterm Candidates are Ditching Red, White and Blue Campaign Logos:
You may have noticed campaign signs this year are using more colors than just the standard red, white and blue, depending on where you live. Candidates across the country went with non-traditional color schemes in 2018 to set themselves apart from their competition, and I talked to some of their designers about why they used the colors they did. | | Credit: Anthony Smith/Getty Images
Some fun facts: - Beto O'Rourke's designer Tony Casas used to do freelance work for punk rock bands and said O'Rourke was a fan of vintage campaign design, especially Robert Kennedy's, and specifically didn't want red, white and blue.
- Designer Ben Ostrower, whose firm Wide Eye worked with a number of Democratic candidates, said they sometimes select colors based on a candidates' wardrobe. You can see it with Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, whose clothes are complimented by her purple, periwinkle, aqua green and peach color scheme.
| | Credit: Stacey Abrams campaign, Prince Williams/WireImage - I've long wondered why Jimmy Carter chose green for his presidential campaign and could never find the answer, until now. Gerald Rafshoon, a former White House communications director for Carter, told me they picked it because they wanted to stand out and didn't have a big budget. "We always had to be different since we didn't have a lot of money and TV was our medium," he said.
- In his 2008 campaign, Barack Obama used a shade of blue that was lighter than the typical "corporate blue" used by candidates including George W. Bush, John Kerry, John McCain and Hillary Clinton. That "Obama blue" now shows up all over politics, and in business, too. Also, in 2008, Walmart changed its logo from dark blue to light.
You can read my full story here.
Trump Administration Considering Rollback of Transgender Protections:
Trump's Department of Health and Human Services is considering setting a legal definition of gender based on gender at birth, The New York Times reported Sunday. In its memo, HHS also said other government agencies should define gender set by "a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable."
LGBT activists held a press conference this morning at the Human Rights Campaign's Washington headquarters to speak out against the proposal. And HRC president Chad Griffin said in a statement, "Setting a destructive precedent, the Trump-Pence administration intends to erase LGBTQ people from federal civil rights protections and eviscerate enforcement of non-discrimination laws."
Another Russian Indicted, This Time for Allegedly Attempting to Interfere in 2018 Race:
Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, a 44-year-old Russian woman from St. Petersburg, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States for her work between December 2016 and May 2018. Khusyaynova was accused of seeking to "inflame passions" online with a propaganda effort dubbed "Project Lakhta" that had a $35 million operating budget and targeted divisive issues including race, immigration, NFL protests for racial justice during the National Anthem, guns and LGBT issues.
"House of Cards" Ending to be "Macabre":
That's how Robin Wright described it at The Hollywood Reporter's TV Talks series last week. One of the series' show runners, Melissa James Gibson, said they didn't want to be "coy" or "run away from" Kevin Spacey's departure from the show, but said the show was always heading toward a reckoning for Wright's Claire Underwood character. "We had to do another version of what this last season would be, Gibson said. "But it was always about her turn." She also said the world of the show will be "destabilized."
TSwift's Latest GOTV Push:
Taylor Swift is continuing to push for early voting while on tour in Australia, posting a photo on her Instagram story Friday of her wearing an "I Voted" sticker. She called on fans to tag her with their own early-voting pics and posted several on her story. | | Credit: @taylorswift/Instagram story
Happy Birthday to This Incredible Tweet:
On this day in 2015, Ben Carson was leading then-candidate Trump in the Iowa polls and @realDonaldTrump manually retweeted a tweet from the account @mygreenhippo wondering that if it had something to do with "too much #Monsanto in the #corn," creating "issues in the brain."
The RT was deleted and Trump made a rare apology, but blamed it on an unnamed intern lol. We still don't know who the alleged intern is. | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
If you're wondering what @mygreenhippo is up to now, he tweeted a photo of a black "Resist" hat yesterday along with the hashtags #VoteBeto #VoteBlueToSaveAmerica2018 #VOTEBLUE2018 #VoteBlue #VoteThemOut.
Street Art Sighting:
Robin Bell projected the image of Jamal Khashoggi over the First Amendment on the Newseum. Saudi Arabia acknowledged Khashoggi was killed, but claimed it was it was part of a rogue effort. Many lawmakers said they don't buy the story. Trump told the Washington Post, "obviously there's been deception and there's been lies" but called Saudi Arabia an ally. | | Credit: @bellvisuals/Instagram, André Chung
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. | | | | | | |
