by John Walters

Tweet du Jour

Fox News statement: “While Fox News was unaware of Sean Hannity’s informal relationship with Michael Cohen and was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday, we have reviewed the matter and spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support.”

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 17, 2018

Starting Five

1. The Matriarch

The former First Lady passes at the age of 92. Barbara Bush met her husband at a dance in Greenwich, Conn., when she was 16 and it was love at first sight. They married when he was home on leave as an aviator in World War II and later this debutante from Westchester County would move with him out to the oil fields of Odessa (if you’ve ever seen the film Giant, it was not unlike that).

Look at the date.
2017.
This is an official statement from the @WhiteHouse. pic.twitter.com/aRWLSQRsbL

— andy lassner (@andylassner) April 18, 2018

She was the only woman besides Abigail Adams to both be married to and give birth to a U.S. president. The only question we have is will the current president attend her funeral? Will he be welcome? Not that it’s related, but look at the date on the official White House letter of condolence.

2. Pelican West

LOB City has relocated from L.A. to La., as the New Orleans Pelicans have redefined the art of the alley oop. Anthony Davis, a.k.a. The Unibrow, averaged 28.5 points and 13.5 boards in Pelicans’ two road wins at Portland, including last night. If New Orleans advances to the next round, it likely gets Golden State, which should be fun.

3. Wanted: Dead Or Alive

 

Yesterday a sketch artist released a drawing of the man who allegedly threatened Stormy Daniels in a Las Vegas parking lot a few years back. Eagle-eyed and intrepid reporters here at the MH newsroom are the first to identify the assailant:

 

4. Air Scare

Southwest Airlines flight 1380 was 20 minutes into its journey from LaGuardia to DFW when an engine on the left wing blew and sent shrapnel back toward the fuselage. One window blew and, at an altitude of 32,500 feet, the woman seated against that window was nearly pushed out (Well, Actually Guy moment: you are pushed out of a plane as the air pressure inside is greater than outside; the air is rushing OUT of the plane, so you are not being sucked out). Anyway, passengers helped keep her from being pushed out, but she did not survive.

The plane landed safely in Philadelphia, but she becomes the first fatality on a domestic commercial flight in nine years.

5. Money Can’t Buy Me Glove

German billionaire Karl-Erivan Haub went missing in the Swiss Alps a week ago and is presumed dead. Haub, 58, CEO of the Tengelmann retail empire in Europe, was in training for a Swiss ski mountaineering race, the Patrouille, that took place yesterday. He took a cable car, the highest-altitude cable car in Europe, up Klein Matterhorn, 12,740 feet. Haub got out of the cable car with his skis and a day pack. Weather deteriorated and he has not been seen since.

Music 101

Smile A Little Smile For Me

Some day I’d like to do a mixtape titled “Songs From The Back Of The Station Wagon,” which would be a compilation of golden late-Sixties/early-Seventies tunes that are branded into my memory from family car trips: They’d include “Good Morning, Starshine,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Never My Love,” “Both Sides Now,” “Georgy Girl,” “Carrie Anne” and this 1969 tune from hit from the British pop group The Flying Machine. It rose to No. 5.

Remote Patrol

Casablanca

8 p.m. TCM

The best movie of them all. If you haven’t yet seen it, do yourself a favor and come join the grownups’ table. And if you’re a virgin, pay attention to the letters of transit. They matter. Here’s looking at you, kid.

Manchester United at AFC Bournemouth

2:45 p.m. NBC Sports 

A midweek matinee Premier League delight. Why? This is basically McDonald’s versus Gray’s Papaya. The Cherries are the tiniest major pro sports franchise we know of, located in a lovely tourist locale on England’s southern coast. Man United owns 13 Premier League championships, more than twice the number of the next-most successful club. Bournemouth was two leagues below the Premier League just a decade ago but now, in their third season in the Premier League, are firmly ensconced in the middle of the pack—no danger of relegation. And you’ll see them play in charming, cozy Dean Court, which seats all of 11,360 supporters. Go, Cherries!