Joe diGenova, Saagar Enjeti, and Ben Shapiro joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, April 2, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Is it time to make political affiliation a protected class?

• Sacramento Home Seller Refuses to Sell to Trump Supporters (Breitbart) — A homeowner in Sacramento, California, who has put her family home on the local real estate market is refusing to sell it to anyone who supports President Donald Trump. Experts disagree over whether her approach is illegal. Some say that her stance, while obnoxious, may not be illegal because political preference is not one of the categories protected by anti-discrimination laws.
• Gay conservative claims gay bar kicked him out over politics (Pagesix) — The former Out magazine editor who “came out” as conservative in The Post last year — claims he was kicked out of Williamsburg gay bar Metropolitan on Thursday for being a Donald Trump supporter. But the ­Lorimer Street spot argued on its Facebook page that his unceremonious ejection had nothing to do with Moore’s beliefs, saying, “We understand that your political views do not match ours, but that doesn’t mean you are not welcome here.” The bar claimed that Moore’s brother “started a fight at our sister bar [Macri Park]” before they arrived at Metropolitan and that’s why they got booted. Drag queen Alotta McGriddles says she witnessed the alleged fight at Macri Park, saying on Facebook, “If you’re violent and start fights YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED INTO ANY BAR regardless of who you voted for.” Moore insisted to us, “No one got into a fight at Macri Park. I believe my sister’s fiancé, who was visiting me, got into a political discussion, but it was in no way a ‘fight.’ ”

5am – D         Ingraham/Hogg Controversy

• Laura Ingraham to take week-long break from Fox News show amid controversy (Washington Post) — Laura Ingraham will leave Fox News’s airwaves next week for a vacation. The anchor made the announcement when she signed off her show Friday evening, which capped a week of controversy in which she saw more than a dozen advertisers flee her show. “A blessed Good Friday and Passover to all of you,” Ingraham said. “I’ll be off next week for Easter break with my kids.” A Fox News spokesperson said the week-long absence was pre-planned. Advertisers bolted from “The Ingraham Angle” after the host sent a tweet earlier this week mocking David Hogg, one of the student-activists who became a voice for gun control after a shooter murdered 17 people at his high school in Florida last month. Ingraham’s tweet included a link to a story on the right-wing news site Daily Wire that said Hogg was rejected by four colleges. Hogg then urged his 700,000 Twitter followers to contact Ingraham’s advertisers and press them to boycott her prime-time show.
• Bayer Joins Companies Pulling Ads From Laura Ingraham’s Fox News Show (Mediaite) — A number of companies have announced they will be pulling their ads from Laura Ingraham’s primetime show, after the Fox News host taunted Parkland, Florida student David Hogg on Twitter. Ingraham said on Friday night that she would be taking a pre-planned vacation next week, as advertisers continued to flee her show – with the number now tallying at least 18. Remember: two other Fox News hosts took vacations amid ad boycotts: Sean Hannity, who eventually returned to his primetime show, and Bill O’Reilly, who did not. Guest hosts filling in for Ingraham will include Jason Chaffetz and Pete Hegseth per the Hollywood Reporter. To recap the feud, for those of you lucky enough to not have a Twitter account: David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland high school shooting who has emerged as a vocal advocate for gun control, told TMZ he was getting rejected from a number of California colleges.

5am – E         Comey Book News:

• Ready for the media’s Comey swoonfest? Nothing can stop it now. (Washington Post) — Maybe it is his aw-shucks demeanor (“Lordy, I hope there are tapes”). Maybe it is his social media chops (like dropping “tbh,” text slang for “to be honest,” into a trash-talking tweet about how his jump shot is superior to Barack Obama’s). Or maybe it is that he is a target of President Trump, whose disdain for mainstream journalists is manifest. Whatever the reason, James B. Comey is about to be the focus of a full-on media swoonfest as the fired FBI director embarks on a 10-city tour to promote his memoir, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership” which publishes April 17. You have not seen anything like the coming overkill since the mainstream news media discovered “Girls” star Lena Dunham. It is going to be embarrassing, if you happen to think media coverage should include a healthy dose of critical distance. “April is officially Comey month,” observed CNN’s Manu Raju. That is probably an understatement.
• Comey’s book tour is a colossal mistake (The Hill) — Announcements of scheduled appearances for the widely anticipated $850-to-attend book tour by fired FBI Director James Comey foreshadow a much-ballyhooed return to the public square. Media outlets eagerly booked the former director, and his opus, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” briefly jumped to No. 1 on Amazon’s best-seller list. But should Comey — a central witness in special counsel Robert Mueller probe — be making public his version of events which will certainly differ significantly with what President Trump, the central target in the special prosecutor’s probe, has repeatedly stated? Comey was humiliatingly removed by the president last May and enjoyed a brief period of bipartisan sympathy for the disgraceful manner in which he was dispatched. The FBI’s seventh director learned of his termination via televised news reports while appearing before an FBI audience in Los Angeles. This is not the manner with which career public servants should ever be separated from service. Yet, with the current president, it has become de rigueur.

6am – A/B/C Are you happy with what happened with the DACA deal?

• ‘No more #DACA deal!’ Trump rules out legal status for childhood arrivals  (Fox News) — Trump declares ‘NO MORE’ DACA deal after report of caravan with Central Americans heading to US. President Trump declared on Sunday the deal for the Obama-era DACA program was “NO MORE” and called for “tough” immigration reform after a report stated a caravan carrying more than 1,000 people from Central America is traveling through Mexico and to the United States in hopes of entering the states illegally or by asking for asylum. Trump, who has vowed to end catch and release, tweeted Sunday morning that Republicans need to take the “nuclear option” when passing tougher immigration laws. The president had given Congress six months to pass legislation enshrining the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which protects about 800,000 young immigrants brought to country illegally as children from deportation. “Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. ‘Caravans’ coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!” the president tweeted.

6am – D         Charles Barkley: I’m ‘angry and disgusted’ with Trump’s White House (The Hill) — Former NBA star Charles Barkley said in a new interview that he is “angry and disgusted” with President Trump’s administration, citing Trump’s Twitter habits and regular firing of administration employees as the biggest problems. In an interview with CNN’s “The Axe Files” on Saturday, Barkley told former Obama aide David Axelrod that he believes the Trump administration has been defined by chaos that pushes real issues to the side. “I’ve never been more angry and disgusted at this situation than I am now. This turmoil every single day — the tweeting, the hiring and firing,” Barkley told Axelrod. “We have spent the last year talking about Russia every single day. Now we got Stormy [Daniels], now we got another girl, and I’m sitting here saying, ‘When are we actually going to help the people?’ ” he said. Barkley went on to accuse the president of doing an “awful” job of appearing to care about Americans from different demographics. “Do we have some bad Hispanics? Of course, we do. Do we have some bad Muslims? Of course, we do. But I believe the majority of the Muslim people in this country are amazing, hard-working people. The President has done an awful job of trying to be inclusive,” Barkley said. “I think he reached a demographic who just won’t look in a mirror and say ‘my life sucks because of me,’ ” he added.

6am – E         Scott Pruitt Rumors:

• White House frustrated with EPA’s Pruitt for apartment controversy (CNN) — Senior White House aides are exasperated with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, the already embattled Cabinet secretary who now finds himself at the center of an expanding controversy over his decision to rent a room in Washington, DC, from the family of an energy lobbyist. The White House has yet to officially comment on Pruitt’s standing, but a government official tells CNN that the lack of responsiveness shows they are not ready to step in and defend Pruitt, who they believe has created a series of headaches for an administration looking to move past controversies involving Cabinet secretaries. A White House official said the source of the frustration stems from the fact that White House officials began learning about this issue from media reports, not Pruitt himself, an issue that officials have complained about in the past over controversies involving Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and recently-fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin. Pruitt rented a room in a condo from Vicki and Steven Hart, lobbyists whose firm has lobbied the EPA on behalf of an Oklahoma Energy company, ABC News and Bloomberg reported. According to Bloomberg, Pruitt leased a room for around $50 a night, only paying when he stayed there. In total, Pruitt paid $6,100 for the room over six months, a rate significantly lower than market value. CNN has confirmed Pruitt’s landlords, the Harts, were political donors of his when he was an Oklahoma state official. According to campaign finance records, Steven Hart hosted a “fundraising reception” for Pruitt’s 2014 campaign for Oklahoma attorney general. The contribution report filed with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission states that Hart spent $1,616.43 on the expense.
• Chris Christie: I don’t know how Scott Pruitt will “survive” in the Trump administration after condo controversy (Washington Examiner) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie predicted Sunday Scott Pruitt could be the next member of President Trump’s Cabinet to be pushed out of the administration, after it was revealed the Environmental Protection Agency administrator spent some of his first year in office living in a Washington townhouse co-owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist. “I don’t know how you survive this one, and if he has to go, it’s because he never should’ve been there in the first place,” Christie told ABC. “This was a brutally unprofessional transition. This was a transition that didn’t vet people for this type of judgment issues,” he added.

6am – F         China News:

• Trade War retaliation: China is hiking up tariffs on more than 128 US imports (RT) — China slaps US with up to 25% bigger import tariffs in trade war retaliation. Beijing is hiking up tariffs on more than 128 US imports, including fruit and pork, as part of a tit-for-tat response to US President Donald Trump’s $60 billion package of tariffs imposed against China. The additional fares, which range from 15 to 25 percent, are taking effect on Monday, the Chinese Finance Ministry said on their website. It added that the measure, aimed at “safeguarding China’s interests,” was in response to Washington’s package of tariffs targeting more than 100 types of Chinese goods, from clothing to electronics. The statement said China has suspended duty concessions on imported goods originating from the US, and has imposed a duty rate of 15 percent on 120 items of imports, such as fruits and products. The tariff rate for eight items of imported goods, such as pork and food products, is now 25 percent.

• China space lab mostly burns up on re-entry in south Pacific (AP News) — China’s defunct Tiangong 1 space station mostly burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere over the central South Pacific on Monday, Chinese space authorities said. The experimental space laboratory re-entered around 8:15 a.m. Beijing time, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said. Scientists monitoring the craft’s disintegrating orbit had forecast the craft would mostly burn up and would pose only the slightest of risks to people. Analysis from the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showed it had mostly burned up. Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australian National University, said that Tiangong 1′s re-entry was “mostly successful” and that it would have been better if the space station had not been spinning toward Earth. “It could have been better, obviously, if it wasn’t tumbling, but it landed in the Southern Pacific Ocean, and that’s kind of where you hope it would land,” Tucker said. “It’s been tumbling and spinning for a while, which means that when it really starts to come down it’s less predictable about what happens to it,” Tucker said. He likened it to an airplane landing, saying it’s more difficult to predict where a plane that is “shaking around and moving” will land than one that is smoothly descending. Launched in 2011, Tiangong 1 was China’s first space station, serving as an experimental platform for bigger projects, such as the Tiangong 2 launched in September 2016 and a future permanent Chinese space station.

7am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – discussed his experience with President Trump after being tapped to join the White House legal team, news that Sessions is looking into potential abuses by the FBI, the possibility of a second counsel, and more

• Sessions Names Prosecutor Looking Into Potential FBI Abuses, But Says No 2nd Special Counsel Yet
• ANALYSIS: Constitution Compels Sessions Dismiss Mueller From Non-Campaign Cases

7am – D         MORE THAN A 1000 SOUTH AMERICANS ARE MARCHING TO THE US BORDER

• A Huge Caravan Of Central Americans Is Headed For The US, And No One In Mexico Dares To Stop Them (Buzzfeed) — “If we all protect each other, we’ll get through this together.”  For five days now hundreds of Central Americans — children, women, and men, most of them from Honduras — have boldly crossed immigration checkpoints, military bases, and police in a desperate, sometimes chaotic march toward the United States. Despite their being in Mexico without authorization, no one has made any effort to stop them. Organized by a group of volunteers called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the caravan is intended to help migrants safely reach the United States, bypassing not only authorities who would seek to deport them, but gangs and cartels who are known to assault vulnerable migrants.

7am – E         Villanova, Michigan advance to NCAA men’s title game (Fox News) — Despite an NCAA Tournament filled with upsets, Monday night’s men’s championship game in San Antonio will match a No. 1 seed against a No. 3 seed. In Saturday’s semifinal contests, Villanova made a Final-Four-record 18 three-pointers to defeat Kansas, 95-79, and Michigan used strong defense to end the Cinderella run of Loyola-Chicago, 69-57. Villanova’s Wildcats (35-4) will be making their second trip to the title game in three seasons. The Wildcats were one of the most proficient 3-point shooting teams during the regular season and upped the 3 ante in the NCAA Tournament, knocking down a record 65 and counting. Villanova literally shot the lights out by the second half, when some scoreboards and upper-level lights went out for a few minutes and darkened the upper decks. Michigan may have a better answer than Kansas had. The Wolverines have fixed the one thing holding them back in past seasons, developing a lockdown defense so they no longer have to simply outscore opponents. Michigan had the nation’s No. 3 defense efficiency-wise and put Loyola on lockdown in the second half, holding the Ramblers to 1-of-7 shooting from 3 to send 98-year-old team chaplain Sister Jean Delores Schmidt and company to the exits early. The Wolverines are seeking their first national title since Glen Rice and Rumeal Robinson rumbled through the bracket in 1989. The Associated Press contributed to this story.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – SAAGAR ENJETI – White House Reporter, Daily Caller – discussed reports of a caravan of Central Americans heading to the United States, President Trump’s response to this, CA Governor Jerry Brown’s pardon of 5 illegal aliens, and rumors surrounding EPA administrator Scott Pruitt

8am – B         Howard University sit-in continues into Sunday; no end in sight (WTOP) — As Howard University students continue their occupation of the administration building on campus, the university’s alumni council announced its support for university President Wayne A.I. Frederick. Frederick’s resignation is one of nine demands made by students when they began their protest on Thursday night. “The demands for President Frederick to step down is one that the Howard University Alumni Association rejects,” said Nadia N. Pinto, the president of the Howard University Alumni Council in a letter addressed to the Howard University community on Sunday night. The alumni council cited the “many advancements” under Frederick’s tenure including tuition refunds for on-time graduation, increases in faculty salary and the full re-accreditation of the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy and the law school. The alumni council did acknowledge the protesters’ grievances and cited the history of protests on campus during the 1960s, ’80s and ’90s. “When we see student protests, we know it is an indication that voices are not being heard,” Pinto wrote. “It is important that the University address the issues brought by students and we implore the students to understand the power of their position and the position of leadership.”

8am – C         Bryce Harper leads a power surge as Nationals complete sweep against Reds (Washington Post) — Bryce Harper dropped the lumber delicately, like an artist does his paintbrush, and marveled at his latest masterpiece. By the time the baseball landed some 425 feet away over the wall in left-center field at Great American Ball Park, he was on his second home run trot within the hour. It was the ninth inning of the Washington Nationals’ 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, and he was applying the finishing touches on their three-game, season-opening weekend sweep in typical fashion. Harper’s second home run of the day — and season — was the Nationals’ fourth blast. They totaled eight over their three-game rampage through Cincinnati, setting a club record for homers in the first three games of a season. They never faced a deficit, scoring runs in the first inning each day. It was a convincing display for a club expected to produce convincing displays against projected cellar dwellers. “I know it’s only the first three games,” Nationals Manager Dave Martinez said, “but I like what I see.” On Sunday, the firepower, coupled with another stellar starting pitcher performance, this time penned by Gio Gonzalez, allowed the Nationals to overcome another bullpen-induced bout of anxiety. Gonzalez held Cincinnati scoreless until Adam Duvall hit a flyball that Harper couldn’t haul in at the warning track with two outs in the sixth inning. Duvall was credited with a double, and Eugenio Suarez, who had walked, scored.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – BEN SHAPIRO – Editor in Chief, The Daily Wire and host of new WMAL show “The Ben Shapiro Show” at 9 pm – discussed his upcoming radio show on WMAL and the ongoing controversy between Laura Ingraham and David Hogg

8am – E         Jesus Christ Superstar Live Aired Last Night:

• Even without a resurrection, John Legend rises in NBC’s electrifying Jesus Christ Superstar Live (AV Club) — After spending the past five years trying to turn live musical theater into a TV movie, NBC finally figured out that the best way to present live musical theater is as, well, live musical theater. Billing Jesus Christ Superstar Live as a “concert” turned out to be something of an April Fool’s Day joke. This Easter Sunday broadcast was a full-on, stage-bound production of a musical theater classic. Led by an ethereal John Legend, the show’s talented cast breathed new life into Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1970 rock opera about the last week in the life of Jesus Christ. And while the show itself might not include Jesus’ resurrection, this production was a life-giving force for musical theater fans. That it was also 40 minutes shorter than all the previous live musical broadcasts was just icing on the Easter cake.