| | | | | Ivanka Trump heads into a meeting with technology leaders Monday at the White House. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images | | | Dinner Party at the Pences: The Trumps head to dinner tonight at the VP's recently renovated residence
"Sean Got Fatter": What Steve Bannon texted an Atlantic reporter about Sean Spicer
J-Kush Speaks: The son-in-law finally speaks in public | | | What the White House Is Talking About:
President Donald Trump had a "drop in" on the meeting between Vice President Mike Pence and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The timing of the meeting comes as the Treasury Department announced this morning it has issued new sanctions against Russia in an effort to get it to work on diplomatic ties with Ukraine.
What the White House Press Corps Is Talking About:
Sean Spicer intrigue, and it's quite frankly getting ridiculous. FIrst there wasn't going to be a briefing at all today, but then the White House announced Spicer will do one, on camera, at 1:30 p.m.. There's palace intrigue that Spicer is going to become communications director, and that someone else will take the press secretary/main podium role -- one story today went so far to say Spicer is picking his own replacement. But how long have we been hearing about a staff shake-up in the communications office? Two months now? It's just messy and getting messier by the day.
Monday's lack of an on-camera, with-audio press briefing (after several days of not having one) raised all sorts of concerns about the White House not being upfront with the media, and, thus, the American people. CNN's Jim Acosta had a lot of important thoughts and questions in his Twitter feed Monday.
Dinner Party at the Pences' House:
The Trumps are scheduled to dine at the VP's residence at 7 tonight and are promptly set to leave at 8:25 p.m., according to the President's schedule. So, eat up! Apparently, the vice president's residence has just completed extensive renovations, and there's the new Pence puppy and kitten, which make it a good time for double-date night.
To the Polls:
A new CBS poll out this morning puts Trump's approval rating at 36%, a drop from the April poll, which was at 41%. Apparently, Americans aren't pleased with his handling of the Russia situation. Another interesting tidbit shows those polled trust former FBI Director James Comey's word more than they do the President of the United States. | | Credit: cbsnews.com
Ivanka Trump Goes to Capitol Hill:
The first daughter is having meetings today on the Hill, including one with Sen. Marco Rubio, to discuss child care tax credit initiatives, according to an administration source. When she got there, this is how they...hugged? It was not awkward at all. | | Credit: @politiCOHEN_/Twitter
Michelle Obama's Planking:
In Monday's random-but-I-still-clicked file, the former first lady Instagrammed a few pics of her continuing workout program. She's been doing boot camp and stuff with her girlfriends, which she wanted us to know. | | Credit: @michelleobama/Instagram
Melania Trump's Hometown:
The Washington Post has a photo essay with images from Sevnica, the Slovenian town where Melania Trump grew up. It's really fascinating and makes her ascension to first lady slightly more surreal when you see where she came from. Below is a cake that a local bakery has named after her: | | Credit: Matic Zorman for The Washington Post
Who Wore It Best, First Lady Edition:
On Monday, Melania Trump wore this blue pre-fall 2017 Michael Kors Collection dress ($1,695) to meet with Panama's President and first lady. Four days ago, Michael Kors tweeted a pic of Cindy Crawford wearing the same dress -- so I couldn't pass up the chance for a classic "Who Wore it Best?" Lemme know: coverlinekate@cnn.com | | Credit: left, Melania Trump, Getty Images; right, Cindy Crawford, @MichaelKors/Twitter
Also, sartorial shoutout to Panamanian first lady Lorena Castillo Varela for the forethought to wear platform heels for the visit. It gives her at least 2 more inches in height, better for being photographed next to Melania. | | | Credit: Bloomberg contributor/Getty Images | | What Washington Is Talking About:
Today's the special House election in Georgia, the most expensive in history at more than $50 million, between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel.
What America Is Talking About:
Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student who was released by North Korea last week after being detained there for 17 months, died Monday. His family and officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, blame North Korea for his death.
Poll of the Day:
Barack Obama's post-presidency approval rating is higher than ever, and George W. Bush is seeing his popularity rise as well, according to Gallup. Obama just hit a 63% approval rating. I did some digging through his presidential approval ratings, and the last time he was this popular was May 2009. | | Credit: Gallup
Meanwhile, W's approval reaches 59%, climbing out of a 2015 dip that coincided with a presidential primary that saw his brother Jeb underperform and Repubs turn on the Iraq War. ("Obviously the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake," candidate Trump would say at a debate the following February.) | | Credit: Gallup
"Sean Got Fatter":
That's literally what Steve Bannon texted the Atlantic's Rosie Gray when asked why White House briefings are increasingly held off camera, per her story. | | Credit: The Atlantic
If You're Registered to Vote, Your Personal Info Was Probably Out There On The Internet This Month:
Information about 198 million registered voters (or about 99% of all registered voters in America) compiled by a trio of Republican groups was accidentally made available to download this month and not at all password protected. Among the information available were names, birthdays, addresses, voter registration details and information from social media sites including Reddit. "This is exactly what they use to determine how someone is likely to vote on a specific issue," cyber-risk analyst Chris Vickery, who discovered the exposed information, told CNN.
The information was exposed June 1, discovered by a security firm on June 12, and secured June 14.
Jared Kushner Speaks:
The 36-year-old first son-in-law finally spoke in public. At an event Monday for the American Technology Council, he discussed how the private sector could help modernize the federal government, but in true J-Kush fashion, his comments didn't make much news ... except of course for the fact he was actually speaking. | | Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Shoutout to those online who tweeted they knew what Kushner sounded like three weeks ago because they read COVER/LINE. 😂😂😂 Ily guys so much.
MAGA Style:
These flesh-colored Trump clothes have me screaming. The company that sells them also sells Kim Jong Un-face garments and a "hairy chest swimsuit," but no Trump-face swim trunks. Yet. | | Credit: swimsuit and sweatshirt/Beloved
Taylor Swift Charted 4 Albums This Week:
Just a quick update on how T.S. fared on the charts after putting all her music on streaming services the same day Katy Perry dropped her new album: Every album of Swift's but her first made the Billboard 200, "1989" at No. 31, "Red" at No. 88, "Fearless" at No. 199, and "Speak Now" at No. 133.
Street Art Sighting:
Washington Examiner criminal justice reporter Kelly Cohen tweeted this photo of edited New York Times front pages she said she saw in Washington. The A1 on the left shows two stories about the fatal shooting of Michael Brown with most of the text blacked out, classified document-style. The first story reads, "Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot a unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown." | | Credit: @politiCOHEN_/Twitter
Send me your pics of political street art to coverlinehunter@cnn.com, tweet me @hunterschwarz or tag @cnncoverline on Instagram. | | | | | | |
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