Legal analyst Joe diGenova, Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton, MD Comptroller Peter Franchot, DC Metro Board Chair Jack Evans and CNN’s Jake Tapper joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C    DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW — JOE DIGENOVA — legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• FBI, DOJ roiled by Comey, Lynch decision to let Clinton slide by on emails, says insider

5am – D         Latest WikiLeaks Emails:

• Podesta To Hillary: Woo These ‘Needy Latinos’ (Daily Caller) — Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, urged the former secretary of state to contact two “needy Latinos” to convince them to endorse her for president, hacked emails released on Wednesday show. “Needy Latinos and 1 easy call,” Podesta wrote to Clinton in an Aug. 21, 2015 email released by Wikileaks. Podesta went on to list Federico Pena, Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Transportation, and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as the two Latinos Clinton should woo. Podesta suggested reaching out to Pena as a favor to Ken Salazar, President Obama’s first secretary of the interior and a former Colorado senator. Podesta also urged Clinton make “a quick call” to Richardson “to ask him to stay stout and publicly endorse.” “But if it’s too galling, don’t bother,” he added. He also said that Richardson “can be a dick,” but that he is politically useful because he “is still on TV a lot, especially on Univision and Telemundo.” “I have pressed Bill, but I think it will take a call from you to get a formal endorsement,” added Podesta. Clinton did not respond on the email chain.
• Leaked Emails Reveal Hillary Clinton Read From A Script During MSNBC Interview. (Daily Caller) — Newly leaked emails reveal that Hillary Clinton read from a script word-for-word during a phone interview with Chris Hayes on MSNBC. Newly leaked emails reveal that Hillary Clinton read from a script word-for-word during a phone interview with Chris Hayes on MSNBC. Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responds to a question during the town hall debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. The emails, hacked from the campaign chairman John Podesta’s Gmail account and published by WikiLeaks Wednesday, reveal an exchange between him and Dan Schwerin — her speechwriter — where they reviewed her scripted response to a question about tax hikes on “All In With Chris Hayes.”
• Hillary Approved Plan To Go After Congressional Emails, But She Wanted It Done In SECRET. (Daily Caller) – Just days after Hillary Clinton’s private email use was revealed to the world, the former secretary of state approved a top aide’s plan to push back on the fledgling scandal by filing records requests for Congress members’ emails, newly released emails show. The requests would have been pure political theater since Congress’ emails are not covered by the Federal Records Act, in contrast to the State Department’s and other executive agencies. But Clinton didn’t want the aide’s fingerprints on the project, so she suggested that he find someone else to carry it out. “I told HRC yesterday I was going to submit FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests to the Rs on the committee and [Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz] etc just to trigger their offices sending me replies that Congress is exempt from FOIA and therefore they are rejecting my request,” Philippe Reines wrote in a March 5, 2015 email to John Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman whose hacked emails have recently been released by Wikileaks.
• Revealed: How Hillary’s top aide worked for the State Department and the Clinton Foundation at the SAME TIME – and even coached Bill on his tangled web of business interests.  (Daily Mail) – Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff moonlighted as an advisor to the Clinton Foundation while working full time at the State Department, according to leaked emails which highlight the blurred line between the government and the foundation while Clinton worked as Secretary of State. Leaked emails published by WikiLeaks show State Department aide Cheryl Mills helping to remodel the foundation’s structure, preparing the organization for a corporate audit, and counselling Bill Clinton on his high-paying speaking and consulting work. Mills worked closely with the foundation and Bill Clinton – even as she was tasked at the State Department with helping to vet the former president’s paid speaking engagements and non-profit work for potential conflicts of interest.

5am – E         DC Metro News:

• Metro: Red Line single tracking in 2 places; evening rush impacted
• Metro Won’t Stay Open Late for Nationals Playoff Game. The Washington Nationals’ playoff game Thursday night likely will not end by the time Metro is scheduled to end service at midnight — and there’s no plan for trains to keep running later.  Metro general manager Paul Wiedefeld told News4 Wednesday morning that he knows it’s difficult, but he will not keep Metro open late Thursday night. The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. “It’s a tough one, but think of the tens of thousands of people that have been impacted over the last few months,” he said.
• Metro hints at fare increases to close budget gap. As Metro officials weigh options to close a looming budget gap, it’s looking increasingly likely that they will move to raise fares. In documents released Tuesday to prep the board for upcoming budget negotiations, Metro staff say bus fares could be raised from $1.75 to $2 without a significant impact on ridership. The presentation on potential budget scenarios also suggests that Metro is considering a slight increase to rail prices — a 7-cent-per-mile increase for shorter trips, and a 10-cent-per-mile increase for trips 6 miles and over. In that scenario,  the maximum fare that riders would pay during peak periods would go from $5.90 to $6.

• DC Council OKs resolution urging return to Metro late-night service. WASHINGTON — In a unanimous decision, the D.C. Council approved an emergency resolution urging Metro’s board to restore late-night hours. Council member Jack Evans, who is also the chairman of the Metro board, introduced the resolution after months of backlash against the proposal by Metro’s Paul Wiedefeld to permanently cut late-night service in order to give Metro crews more time to do regular maintenance work. Evans said the resolution is only a sense of the Council and is not binding. But the measure sends a signal “that the District of Columbia wants the late night hours,” he said.

6am – A/B/C Report: Stick shifts appear to be going the way of typewriters. (Newschannel 10) – Just 18 percent of American drivers know how to operate a stick shift, according to new figures from U.S. News and World Report. Meanwhile, just 5 percent of cars sold in the United States today come with a stick shift. There are several reasons for the decline in manual transmission.  Advancements in automatic transmissions and fuel economy have won over tentative converts. Plus, manual transmissions can actually bring down the resale value of a car.

6am – D         Trump News:

• Four women accuse Trump of forcibly groping, kissing them. Four women accused Donald Trump of groping or kissing them without their consent in news reports published Wednesday, just days after the Republican presidential nominee insisted in a debate that he had never engaged in such behavior. One of the women alleges that Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt during a flight more than three decades ago, the New York Times reported. Another says he kissed her on the mouth outside an elevator in 2005, according to the same report. A third woman says Trump groped her rear end at his Mar-a-Lago resort 13 years ago, the Palm Beach Post reported. The fourth, then a People magazine reporter, says Trump kissed her without her consent when the two were alone in 2005 right before an interview she was about to conduct with Trump and his wife. Trump and his campaign denied the allegations.
• Trump’s Campaign Is ‘Pulling Out of Virginia’ (NBC News) – Donald Trump’s campaign is “pulling out of Virginia,” a move that stunned staff in the battleground state, three sources with knowledge of the decision told NBC News. The decision came from Trump’s headquarters in New York and was announced on a conference call late Wednesday that left some Republican Party operatives in the state blindsided. Two staffers directly involved in the GOP’s efforts in Virginia confirmed the decision. The move to pull out of Virginia shows Trump is “running essentially a four state campaign,” with the focus now shifting to battlegrounds critical to his chances in November: Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio, a source with knowledge of the decision told NBC News.  Trump’s former Virginia state chairman, Corey Stewart, who was recently fired by the Trump campaign for organizing a protest outside Republican National Committee headquarters, called the move “totally premature.”

6am – E         Hogan sets narrow terms for school districts seeking waivers from after Labor Day start. (Washington Post) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Tuesday amended his order to start school after Labor Day, setting narrow terms for districts to seek waivers and appearing to make it nearly impossible for school districts to get approval to start before Labor Day. The new rules, released more than a month after Hogan’s mandate, take much of the decision-making power out of the hands of the Maryland State Board of Education and come as school districts across the state scurry to approve their 2017-18 calendars. Under Hogan’s original executive order, schools must open after Labor Day and end by June 15. But districts could seek waivers based on a “compelling justification.” The governor did not spell out what that meant.  Under the amended order, Hogan largely limits a “compelling justification” to several circumstances, involving either a charter school with an innovative schedule; certain low-performing or at-risk schools with innovative schedules, such as year-round or extended year calendars; or a district that has had 10 emergency or weather-related closings a year at least twice during the past five years.

7am – A/B/C             INTERVIEW – TOM FITTON – Judicial Watch President and author of new book “Clean House: Exposing Our Government’s Secrets and Lies”

• NEW BOOK: CLEAN HOUSE takes you through incriminating documents from the attack in Benghazi, Hillary Clinton’s secret emails, the IRS scandal, and the Obamacare swindle. How did five Congressional committees miss the smoking gun on Benghazi?  How did Hillary Clinton keep a secret email server quiet for years?  Does the IRS audit you because of your politics?  Did the first American target of Obama’s drone program work for the US government?  How did Congress commit fraud to get Obamacare taxpayer subsidies?
• HIllary Clinton’s answers on Judlicial Watch’s 25 questions are due today.
• TOM has some other developments from Judicial Watch coming out today

7am – D/E     Fairfax Schools put plan to spend money on J.E.B Stuart name change committee on hold. FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA (WUSA9) – It was another wrinkle in the controversy surrounding the push to change the name of J.E.B. Stuart High School in Fairfax County. The school system had planned to spend up to $100,000 on a facilitator to lead a committee looking into the name change. But no one knew about the plan to spend money to hire someone, said Denise Patton, an opponent to the name change. She’s angry because surveys of both district residents and students found most are against the name change.  “What’s wrong is that the community has spoken, the community is against a name change for many reasons,” she said. “One is money. J.E.B. Stuart needs money for the kids, not for a name change, and the community has said that. Also, the distortion of history.” Patton ia a former history teacher who lives in the Stuart district. “J.E.B. Stuart was here at Munson Hill,” she said “He’s famous for his Quaker Gun deception.”  There have been passionate speeches about the need to change the name of J.E.B.  Stuart, one of the most diverse high schools in the nation.  Supporters argued that a public school should not be named after a confederate war hero.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — MARYLAND COMPTROLLER PETER FRANCHOT

• Hogan sets narrow terms for school districts seeking waivers from after Labor Day start
• His thoughts on Montgomery County attempting to change the start of their school year

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – JACK EVANS – DC COUNCILMEMBER AND DC METRO BOARD CHAIRMAN

• Jack Evans Represents Ward 2 of Washington, D.C. since 1991, Evans is the D.C. Council’s longest serving lawmaker and serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
• Metro: Red Line single tracking in 2 places; evening rush impacted
• Metro Won’t Stay Open Late for Nationals Playoff Game.
• Metro hints at fare increases to close budget gap.
• DC Council OKs resolution urging return to Metro late-night service.

8am – D/E     INTERVIEW — JAKE TAPPER — anchor of “The Lead” and “State of the Union on CNN

• Tapper reacted to being mentioned in a few WikiLeaks emails.

• Several of the Podesta emails showed that Jake has a contentious relationship with and the Clinton campaign.
• EMAIL #1:
• From:[email protected]
  To: [email protected], [email protected]
  Date: 2015-06-23 21:45
  Subject: RE: Daily Media Report 6.23.15
  That is the right question.
• *From:* John Podesta [mailto:[email protected]]
  *Sent:* Tuesday, June 23, 2015 7:42 PM
  *To:* Jennifer Palmieri; Kristina Schake
  *Subject:* Fwd: Daily Media Report 6.23.15

• Jake Tapper Addresses Emails Released By Wikileaks. (CBS Philly) — PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Cable news host Jake Tapper talked with Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about emails he has sent to or been discussed in by Democratic staffers that were released by Wikileaks, including one congratulating current Chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, John Podesta, on a White House appointment in 2013. Tapper said he was just being polite in the message, which then went on to ask Podesta if he was willing to appear on Tapper’s show. “I haven’t gone back and looked at my emails. I assume it’s accurate. It sounds like me… If you’re asking somebody to come on your show, you start off with something polite. We’ve also seen in Wikileaks, by the way, John Podesta calling me a name that rhymes with click and starts with the letter D. Which is probably an accurate reflection of how the Clinton campaign thinks about me.” He insisted he did nothing wrong and feels this issue is being overblown because of the proximity to the presidential election.
• New email shows Brazile may have had exact wording of proposed town hall question before CNN. A new email obtained by POLITICO is shedding more light on the mystery of whether and how interim DNC chair Donna Brazile might have obtained the text of a proposed question from a town hall between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in advance, and possibly shared it with the Clinton campaign. And now CNN, which co-hosted the town hall with cable network TV One, is pointing the finger at its media partner for what appears to be a breach of the traditional secrecy surrounding the questions for such events. The email obtained by POLITICO was written by town hall co-moderator Roland Martin on the day of the town hall to CNN producers. But it shows him using word for word the language of a question that Brazile appeared to have sent to the Clinton campaign a day earlier. That email, from Brazile to the campaign, was included in yesterday’s release of hacked emails by Wikileaks of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta.