| | | | | President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday during a roundtable discussion with conservative leaders to discuss border security. Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump has nothing on his public schedule today.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
The President's late-night decision to agree to postpone State of the Union until after the shutdown, whenever that is. And Cliff Sims' bombshell book excerpts.
Also, feeling for fellow journalists facing layoffs. Yesterday, three major outlets announced they would be conducting significant cuts. Here's a link to available jobs here at CNN, an awesome place to work! Also, feel free to hit me up as a fresh pair of eyes for résumés and/or cover letters. Happy to help any way I can.
Shutdown Day 34:
The Senate today is expected to vote on two proposed measures to reopen the government, both of which are said to be non-starters. So, basically, exercises in futility -- again, welcome to Day 34. Oh, and Trump's most recent chief of staff John Kelly signed his name to a letter from other former DHS secretaries saying the shutdown should end.
Wilbur Ross Got Me Like 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 :
In an interview this morning, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross became the latest administration person to step in it with seemingly insensitive comments about the shutdown and how it is affecting people's daily lives. Ross said he doesn't "quite understand why" furloughed federal workers are having to go to food banks and homeless shelters -- and that they should just be able to take out a loan instead. At last check, Forbes listed Ross as being worth $700 million.
Trump Wants the House, Or Nothing:
It was a bit of a shocker last night when Trump tweeted he would acquiesce to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's disinvitation to give the State of the Union address in the House Chamber, saying he would wait until the shutdown is over. That's where he wants to do it, so that's where he's going to do it.
"As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over," Trump said in a tweet Wednesday.
"I am not looking for an ... alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a 'great' State of the Union Address in the near future!"
"She Was a Cartoon Villain Brought To Life":
Sims' latest excerpt from "Team of Vipers," his memoir of the 500 days he spent working in the White House, is a great insider look at Kellyanne Conway, whom he basically eviscerates. Sims says Conway, who once asked him to draft something on her own laptop, without turning off her iMessages, so Sims could see all of the many journalists she was simultaneously texting, is essentially out for herself, and has no qualms about leaking information. Writes Sims in a particularly juicy passage: "As I watched Kellyanne in operation over our time in the White House, my view of her sharpened. It became hard to look long at her without getting the sense that she was a cartoon villain brought to life. Her agenda—which was her survival over all others, including the president—became more and more transparent. Once you figured that out, everything about her seemed so calculated; every statement, even a seemingly innocuous one, seemed poll-tested by a focus group that existed inside her mind. She seemed to be perennially cloaked in an invisible fur coat, casting an all-knowing smile, as if she'd collected 98 Dalmatians with only 3 more to go." The book is already climbing the Amazon bestseller lists, and it's not out until Tuesday.
Cohen Backs Out:
Michael Cohen yesterday said via his attorney Lanny Davis that he would not be testifying as planned before Congress on February 7th, citing concerns over threats to his family from the President and Rudy Giuliani. (Go ahead, re-read that sentence a coupla' times.)
Trump has alluded to Cohen's wife and father-in-law in interviews and tweets, which Giuliani has parroted, suggesting the two have been involved with legal improprieties, clearly having nothing to do with what Cohen would be discussing in testimony about Trump. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings says he will get Cohen to testify no matter what -- even it means subpoenaing him. "I promise you we will hear from Mr. Cohen. Now, we will make those determinations soon and we will let you know how we plan to proceed, but we will get the testimony as sure as night becomes day and day becomes night," Cummings said yesterday.
The Senate has beaten the House to the punch on the subpoena. A source close to Cohen tells CNN the Senate Intelligence Committee, which typically holds testimony behind closed doors, this morning subpoenaed Cohen to appear in mid-February. No word yet on how Cohen will respond ... | | #TBT Hollywood Issue:
The new annual Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair dropped today and it's good and all (except I don't really know all of the stars on the inside because I don't watch a lot of movies these days) but the best part is Krista Smith's revisit of the very first Hollywood issue cover. It's an interesting look at who made it in their careers -- since 1995, when that cover was shot -- and how it felt to be part of the select group. | | Credit: vanityfair.com
And Here is This Year's Cover: | | Credit: @VanityFair/Twitter
Also, Today in Magazines:
Washingtonian is out with its list of the very best restaurants. There are 100 total in the list, but here's the link to the top 25, which I won't spoil for you here. | | What Washington is Talking About:
The Senate is holding procedural votes on dueling proposals to reopen the government, but neither is expected to pass; the House Ways and Means committee canceled a planned hearing on the shutdown's impact on taxpayers and the IRS after Treasury Secretary Mnuchin declined to attend; and the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Michael Cohen.
What America is Talking About:
At least five people were killed in a shooting at a bank in Sebring, Florida; billionaire and hedge fund founder Ken Griffin bought a New York City penthouse for about $238 million, the record highest price paid for a home in the US, per the Wall Street Journal; and on the heels of Netflix announcing a subscription price increase, Hulu is actually announcing it's dropping prices for its ad-supported option.
A Dozen Arrested Following Shutdown Protest:
Protesters at the Hart Senate Office Building yesterday carried disposable plates with messages written on them in lieu of posters to draw attention to how the shutdown is making it hard for them to put food on the table. A dozen protesters who sat outside Majority Leader McConnell's office were arrested for "unlawfully demonstrating," Capitol Police said. You can see photos from the protest here.
Even Trump Seems Over the Nickname Schtick:
Well, at least when it comes to Speaker Pelosi. In a meeting yesterday in the White House with conservatives, Trump spoke about Pelosi postponing his State of the Union address in the House chamber by saying, "Nancy Pelosi, or Nancy as I call her, she doesn't want to know the truth." I can't tell if he thinks calling her by her first name only is an insult, or if the lack of a nickname is an odd sign of respect, or if he's decided the nickname thing is a bit juvenile and passé and we're all moving on now, or if it's something else entirely.
Emin: The Cover/Line Interview:
In an interview Wednesday morning after canceling his North American tour, Emin told Cover/Line the shows were canceled because his lawyers couldn't guarantee he could leave the US freely.
"On Monday I received the information from (my attorney) that if I do arrive, he cannot guarantee the safety of my departure and the safety of my departure puts claim on my other 50 or 60 shows that I have this year, which obviously I'm stuck and I cannot travel, I'm jeopardizing my entire touring schedule."
He said, though, he hopes to eventually tour the US one day.
Robert Mueller's team and Congress want to speak with the Russian pop star about his role in setting up a meeting between members of Trump's campaign and a Russian lawyer -- the infamous Trump Tower meeting in 2016.
Emin's new album, Good Love, is out tomorrow. It was three years in the making, and he called it a "jewel" because he was able to create without a deadline and replace tracks he thought were weak with stronger ones. | |
I got an early listen to it, and you can hear the influence of producers who worked on it, including Toby Scott (Bruce Springsteen) and Fraser T. Smith (Adele). It features the song "Got Me Good," his single last year that had a Trump look-alike in its music video and poked fun at the Steele dossier, as well as his new single "Let Me Go" featuring Robin Schulz. "Let Me Go" is catchy and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. It's also inspired by art. He said,"it's about discovering the art within yourself and sharing it with the people around you."
The music video for the track, which you can watch here, ends with Emin in a frame, covered in red paint. | |
I asked Emin about a few US pop stars. He said he admires Kanye West as an artist but isn't the biggest fan of his style of music, his favorite Britney Spears song is "...Baby One More Time," and like Cardi B and Lady Gaga, he doesn't think the government shutdown is a good idea.
"I think the shutdown is quite ridiculous because the financial value of the wall that Trump was trying to build I think is now overlapped with the amount of money the government has spent on the shutdown, so it's quite, I think, pointless," he said. "People aren't getting their salaries, which is not a good thing."
You can read my full interview here. Our Marshall Cohen also analyzed a few of Emin's responses to questions I asked connected to the Russia investigation, which you can read here.
Beto's Blog is Back, Baby:
After a brief suspension, the Beto's Blog Twitter account is back up, now clearly calling itself a parody account. It's new handle is @BetosFakeBlog, and among its tweets yesterday: "Waiting in line at the airport. Some grumbles. People eager to get moving. Forward. Homeward. Where out country could be going. Should be going. A young TSA agent, Rachel, walks by me. 'Thank you for your service' I whisper."
Street Art Sighting:
This JFK mural by Anthony Hernandez is on a wall in a parking lot outside Camelot, a Kennedy-themed nightclub in West Palm Beach. You can read more about the club here. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
Tag or DM me your political street art sightings @hunterschwarz on Twitter or Instagram, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com. | | | | | | |
