| | | | | President Donald Trump takes the hand of his daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, at a White House meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. Credit: Al Drago, Bloomberg via Getty Images | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today lunches with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the White House. Later, he and first lady Melania Trump will greet the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and Mrs. Monika Babišová.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Michael Cohen's testimony and presidential pardons. Also, Paul Manafort is being sentenced today.
Manafort Learns His Fate:
Today's the day Paul Manafort learns his prison sentence. He's facing up to 25 years behind bars, though prosecutors have suggested between 19 and 25 years. Manafort is going to jail for defrauding banks and the government and for failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in income he earned from Ukrainian political consulting. The charges stemmed from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Old Joe Biden Speech is Um...?:
CNN's KFILE, aka Andrew Kaczynski, uncovered an old speech from then-Sen. Joe Biden in 1993. On the Senate floor, a day before a vote on violent crime, Biden railed against "predators on our streets," who were "beyond the pale," and "born out of wedlock." It's the sort of thing that could come back to haunt Biden if he (finally!?) decides whether to run for president in 2020. Here's a choice snippet from the KFILE story: "In the speech, Biden described a 'cadre of young people, tens of thousands of them, born out of wedlock, without parents, without supervision, without any structure, without any conscience developing because they literally ... because they literally have not been socialized, they literally have not had an opportunity.' He said, 'we should focus on them now' because 'if we don't, they will, or a portion of them, will become the predators 15 years from now.' Biden added that he didn't care 'why someone is a malefactor in society' and that criminals needed to be 'away from my mother, your husband, our families.'"
Our Daily Melania:
Melania was at the State Department this morning for her third annual speech at the International Women of Courage Awards. She gave brief remarks about the importance of courage. The photo is of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Melania (that smize tho) handing an award to Razia Sultana of Bangladesh. More on the green leather trench later.
Also, I wrote a thing about the trip she took on Monday and Tuesday and how she's trying to make Be Best a thing, even if the public writ large has yet to embrace her platform initiative. | | Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
That's Mister Apple, Thank You Very Much:
This was my favorite moment of yesterday -- I don't know how I missed it, but in case you did too, here it is. When introducing Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, at a White House conference with the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, the President called Cook "Tim Apple." Even Ivanka Trump thinks it's funny.
Ivanka Also Takes a Selfie:
I don't think I'll ever get used to watching adult people in the White House take selfies. Sorry. It's not judgment, I just don't think I'll get used to it. | | Credit: @mollyjongfast/Twitter
Monika Babišová, The First Lady We All Deserve:
I first became obsessed with Monika Babišová last year, when, while standing next to Melania in a photograph in Paris, she was an actual "splurge versus steal." Babišová was wearing a similar (I won't go so far as to say knock-off, but it was) dress to the very real, very expensive Christian Dior Melania was wearing. It was, in a word, amazing. The two were together during the Armistice Day festivities in Paris. (pic below)
Anyway, Babišová is in Washington as part of the first official visit of the Czech Republic's Prime Minister, aka her husband, and she has been doing alllllll the first lady things and doing them with joy and gusto and a joie de vivre that is quite frankly awesome. Here's a sampling of her day via Monika's Instagram, which is so worth your time to scroll through: she arrived in a fabulous fur collar, white coat situation, then she went to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and hugged a lot of kids, then she had a lunch at glam Fiola Mare in one of the water-view tables, then she went to Walter Reed Military Medical Center to see advancements in prosthetics (photos of which she captioned: "Endless possibilities .. one for running, one for bike, other for walking, arms for fishing or glass of wine @wrbethesda") ... and she also pointed out her view from her suite at the Hay-Adams. | | Credit: @monikababisova/Instagram
Dress Like the First Lady:
Here are the details on Melania's green leather coat today. It's by Alexa Chung and available here for $1,585. We all know FLOTUS loves a trench. | | Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images, net-a-porter.com
COVER/LINE NEWS:
Just wanted to take a quick moment to thank you all for reading Cover/Line. We are going on hiatus Friday. However! We'll return in April in a different form, focused on all things first family and more ... | | What Washington is Talking About:
Democrats plan to vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and hate following Rep. Ilhan Omar's comments about Israel; during a hearing Wednesday on sexual assault in the military, Sen. Martha McSally said she is a military sexual assault survivor; and Rep. Rashida Tlaib said she plans on filing an impeachment resolution against President Trump "later on this month."
What America is Talking About:
Alex Trebek announced in a video posted to the "Jeopardy" YouTube account that he has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and plans to "beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease;" LeBron James surpassed Michael Jordan's all-time scoring record last night and is now at No. 4 in NBA history; and NASA said for the first time ever, an all-female crew will conduct a spacewalk at the International Space Station on March 29.
There Won't be a Democratic Debate on Fox News:
DNC Chair Tom Perez said Wednesday the party won't be partnering with Fox News to host any debates in the 2020 cycle. Perez cited an "inappropriate relationship" between the network and the Trump administration as laid out in a recent story in the New Yorker about their chumminess that reported, among other things, that former Fox News president Roger Ailes provided the Trump campaign with questions ahead of their Cleveland debate.
A Schock is Back:
Former Rep. Aaron Schock appeared this morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to talk about what comes next after federal prosecutors said yesterday they'll drop charges if he pays back his campaign and the IRS. Schock said there were "mistakes that I could have done a better job of overseeing my office" and suggested maybe he shouldn't have been on the cover of Men's Health or been so visible. But, he said, "some of that also allowed me to do things other members of Congress couldn't do."
"The reality is if you want to stand out and you want to make a difference you got to be a little different than those in the pack," he said. Schock said he's received texts from former colleagues "who've said, 'hey come talk to us because we'd like to know what you think we should be doing to reform the system.'" Judging by his Instagram activity the past few months (pics skiing in British Columbia, pics with Elton John and Sam Smith, a shirtless ocean shot in Florida), it doesn't appear he's going to give up the 'gram, but Schock suggested his social media use isn't as interesting as it was when he was in Congress since so many members use it to post about their personal lives. "Now some of that stuff isn't that sizzley," he said. | | Credit: MSNBC
'Becoming' Tour Adds Another Leg:
Michelle Obama announced yet another new round of dates for her "Becoming" book tour. The 18 stops include cities in the US, Canada, and Europe and the tour ends May 12 in Nashville with moderator Stephen Colbert. Also on deck to moderate: Conan O'Brien, Robin Roberts, Jimmy Kimmel, Rachael Ray, Valerie Jarrett and Gayle King.
McNaughton Releases "National Emergency":
Painter Jon McNaughton is out with his latest work, "National Emergency," showing an ominous army of immigrants and Trump in a military jacket praying in front of a group of Democrats standing on the American flag while most hold foreign flags. There's at least one exception, for Rep. Maxine Waters, who's holding a California flag lol. And it's hard to tell what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is holding since she's standing behind Elizabeth Warren, but maybe it's a New York state flag?
In a tweet, McNaughton said in part of the painting, "They hold the flags they cherish… And trample America's interests." The image is available for sale at price points between $29 and $705. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found Americans disapprove of Trump's national emergency declaration 66% to 31%. | | Credit: @McNaughtonArt/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
"Chiron" is an exhibition by artist Adelita Husni-Bey at the New Museum that features several of her films, including a new film about attorneys who provide representation for undocumented immigrants and the stress and uncertainty of their work. The room the films play in is decorated with banners lit by black lights that show 26 pieces of legislation dealing with immigration.
The earliest is the Page Act of 1875, America's first immigration law, also known as the Asian Exclusion Act, per the Library of Congress. And they go into the present day, including the Dream Act of 2017. The exhibit runs until April 14, and you can see more photos from it 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. | | | | | | |
