| | | | Monday's White House press briefing is must-see TV | | White House press secretary Sean Spicer's first trip to the briefing room podium featured him repeatedly making -- as CNN's Kevin Liptak lays out -- false and misleading claims about the size of the crowd at President Donald Trump's inauguration.
Things got weirder today when senior Trump aide Kellyanne Conway introduced a new phrase -- "alternative facts" -- to the political lexicon on NBC's "Meet the Press." In a tangle with host Chuck Todd, Conway said: "You're saying it's a falsehood. And they're giving -- Sean Spicer, our press secretary -- gave alternative facts." Todd responded: "Alternative facts aren't facts, they are falsehoods."
So what will happen tomorrow when Spicer makes his second trip to the podium?
The bigger questions: Can Trump resist sending his team down rabbit holes? And what's the value of a press secretary who the press can't trust? A potential warning sign for Spicer, per The New York Times' Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Matthew Rosenberg: Spicer's "appearance, according to the people familiar with Mr. Trump's thinking, went too far, in the president's opinion." Brian Stelter highlighted this weeks-old interview -- former Obama strategist David Axelrod with Spicer -- on CNN's "Reliable Sources" today:
Axelrod: "Would you quit if you were asked to lie?"
Spicer: "It's not a question. I can't -- I don't think any communicator worth their salt can go out and tell a lie. You just -- you can't do it."
Make sure you're getting Stelter's "Reliable Sources" newsletter, too -- he's had great coverage of the Spicer brouhaha. Sign up here. And don't miss Stelter's roundup of media reaction to Spicer's Saturday statement.
This tweet was posted on January 18, by former George W. Bush White House staffer (and Trump critic) David Frum: | | Three key themes to watch in Trump's first week | | Here's what we'll be watching this week, in addition to "alternative facts" fallout:
1. Executive orders: President Donald Trump's aides have set Monday up as the new administration's first full workday. Trump could undo former President Barack Obama's immigration actions and reverse the Obama administration's restrictions on carbon emissions, USA Today's David Jackson and Gregory Korte report.
2. Confirmation votes: On Monday, Rep. Mike Pompeo is likely to get a nighttime confirmation vote to become CIA director. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, meanwhile, will consider secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson in the afternoon.
3. Obamacare: Trump has signed his first executive order weakening the Affordable Care Act. What's next? Health and Human Services nominee Tom Price goes before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. Price was grilled by the Senate's health panel last week -- but CNN policy guru Tami Luhby emails that the Finance Committee is the hearing that counts. As for what will come of it, CNN's MJ Lee emails: "Other than his ethics issues, it will be very interesting to see what Price says about Trump's Obamacare executive order, and just how loosely he intends to interpret it." | | "He's not going to release his tax returns." -- Kellyanne Conway, a top aide to President Donald Trump, making clear that Trump has no plans to fulfill his campaign promise to release his tax returns once an IRS audit is complete. | | | | President Donald Trump this morning tweeted two starkly different reactions to yesterday's worldwide women's marches: | | | An hour and 36 minutes later, a much different message: | | | Speaking of the women's marches -- make sure you don't miss the great story from CNN's Gregory Krieg and video featuring voices from the rally in DC. One theme Krieg picked up on: For many, the march represented a first foray into pavement politics. | | Who's closest to Trump? Check the seating chart | | From John King's "Inside Politics" forecast: President Donald Trump understands a key metric in real estate value -- location. It is true in Manhattan -- a corner condo on a high floor is going to cost more than a basement unit near the elevator. And it is certainly true in the White House. Even a tiny spot next to the Oval Office is more coveted than a larger space upstairs in the West Wing.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny walked through the competition in the new Trump power structure, including presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner's move into a tiny space that offers the closest proximity to the President. "Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, I'm told will have the chief of staff's office, which has a fireplace as we all know, long conference table, access to outside," revealed Zeleny. "I'm told that Jared Kushner will be sitting in a smaller office, but the one that is closest to the Oval Office."
Highlights from CNN's "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper:
-- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer harshly criticized Trump's supporters who booed his comments about inclusiveness moments before Trump was inaugurated. "The fact that saying these things which are usually accepted by every American met the displeasure of the crowd doesn't speak too kindly of that crowd," Schumer, a New York Democrat, told Jake.
-- House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-California, said he doesn't blame Trump for complaining about leaks from the intelligence community. "You're going to see at the highest level of the past administration, at that level, I think, Donald Trump had a lot of problems with, and I don't blame him for having a lot of problems -- there were a lot of leaks," Nunes said. | | | "If you're going to lie, don't make it so obvious," the "Saturday Night Live" version of Vladimir Putin advised President Donald Trump last night. | | Trump says he'll begin renegotiating NAFTA | | President Donald Trump said Sunday he will begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement when he meets with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. A central promise of Trump's campaign was that he would revamp the 23-year-old trade pact. At a White House event Sunday, Trump said he had scheduled meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
"We're going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA," Trump said. "Anybody ever hear of NAFTA? I ran a campaign somewhat based on NAFTA. But we're going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration, on security at the border." | | Tillerson gets crucial support from McCain, Graham | | Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham announced Sunday they will vote for President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, likely paving the way for his confirmation. The two, along with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, had up to now withheld their support.
"Listen, this wasn't an easy call. But I also believe that when there's doubt, the President, the incoming President, gets the benefit of the doubt, and that's the way I've treated every president that I've had the obligation to vote for or against as a member of the United States Senate," McCain said on ABC's "This Week." | | | First lady Melania Trump returned to New York today after a whirlwind weekend. ... Former President George H.W. Bush could be moved out of the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital in the next day or two, his spokesman says. ... Quite a moment today: President Donald Trump spotted FBI Director James Comey, and said, "He's become more famous than me." | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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