Joe diGenova, Christian Toto, Tucker Carlson and guest host Vince Coglianese joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, January 9, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Federal workers worry about their jobs under Trump. (Baltimore Sun) – Federal workers nationwide are bracing for reductions in head counts, civil service protections and salaries when President-elect Donald Trump and Congress turn their attention to government spending later this year. Trump, who ran on a promise to “drain the swamp,” has identified hiring freezes at most federal agencies as a top priority for his early days in office. Republican lawmakers, many of whom have long advocated for reducing Washington’s workforce, are looking to cut benefits and make it easier to fire poor performers. The threats and preliminary steps taken by Congress have created anxiety for many of the government’s 2.1 million employees.”People don’t know what to believe, and they’re in a state of uneasiness,” said Witold Skwierczynski, a Catonsville, Md., who heads the American Federation of Government Employees council that oversees Social Security Administration field offices. “That’s the feeling I hear. People are unsettled.”

5am – D/E     Preview of Sen. Jeff Sessions Confirmation Hearing

6am – A/B/C Meryl Streep denounces Trump in emotional Lifetime Achievement Award speech. What do you have to say to Meryl?

6am – D         FT LAUDERDALE UPDATE:

• FL shooter allegedly told FBI in November he was being forced to fight for ISIS
• Sources tell NBC alleged shooter visited FBI office in Alaska, said he was hearing voices in his head telling him to join ISIS
• Ft. Lauderdale shooting: Federal prosecutors file charges against Santiago, he could face the death penalty. The suspected killer in the Ft. Lauderdale rampage, 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, was charged on Saturday with performing an act of violence at an airport, which could earn him the death penalty if he is convicted. Santiago was charged with an act of violence at an international airport resulting in death and weapons charges. Earlier, the FBI announced that Santiago apparently traveled to the airport for the purpose of carrying out the bloody rampage. Santiago told investigators that he planned the attack, buying a one-way ticket to the Fort Lauderdale airport, a federal complaint said. Authorities don’t know why he chose his target and have not ruled out terrorism.

6am – E         Anarchists threaten to disrupt Trump inauguration, police say ready. WASHINGTON — Next week hundreds of thousands of people will be in town to witness the inauguration of the nation’s 45th president. Police are promising a peaceful transfer of power, but some demonstrators are threatening to cause trouble. Anarchist groups in New York, Chicago and Seattle are among those who have signed an online pledge to try to disrupt the Jan. 20 inaugural ceremony and parade. “You will not be able to move around those areas and get close to interrupt things,” said Gary Byrne, a former U.S. Secret Service officer who worked prior inaugural security and was in Seattle in 1999 when anarchists mounted violent protests against the World Trade Organization.

6am – F         Obama puts presidential records on ice for 12 years… A letter Obama sent to the National Archives in July authorizes Anita Breckenridge, a close aide, to convey Obama’s wishes about which of his presidential files can be made public and which should be kept under wraps for a period of time. The letter, released to POLITICO on Friday under the Freedom of Information Act, also indicates that Obama is exercising his rights to put many of those records off-limits for 12 years after he leaves the presidency later this month. While the move could be seen as at odds with Obama’s frequently stated commitment to transparency, it’s a step other recent presidents have also taken before leaving the White House.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• Sessions hearing this week: Senate Judiciary announces witnesses for Sessions confirmation hearing
• Lauderdale shooting: Federal prosecutors file charges against Santiago, he could face the death penalty
• Obama puts presidential records on ice for 12 years… A letter Obama sent to the National Archives in July authorizes Anita Breckenridge, a close aide, to convey Obama’s wishes about which of his presidential files can be made public and which should be kept under wraps for a period of time. The letter, released to POLITICO on Friday under the Freedom of Information Act, also indicates that Obama is exercising his rights to put many of those records off-limits for 12 years after he leaves the presidency later this month. While the move could be seen as at odds with Obama’s frequently stated commitment to transparency, it’s a step other recent presidents have also taken before leaving the White House.
• Reflect of the Obama legacy: Thousands wait in the cold for ticket to Pres. Obama’s farewell speech in Chicago on Tuesday

7am – B/C     Federal workers worry about their jobs under Trump. (Baltimore Sun) — Federal workers nationwide are bracing for reductions in head counts, civil service protections and salaries when President-elect Donald Trump and Congress turn their attention to government spending later this year. Trump, who ran on a promise to “drain the swamp,” has identified hiring freezes at most federal agencies as a top priority for his early days in office. Republican lawmakers, many of whom have long advocated for reducing Washington’s workforce, are looking to cut benefits and make it easier to fire poor performers. The threats and preliminary steps taken by Congress have created anxiety for many of the government’s 2.1 million employees. “People don’t know what to believe, and they’re in a state of uneasiness,” said Witold Skwierczynski, a Catonsville, Md., who heads the American Federation of Government Employees council that oversees Social Security Administration field offices. “That’s the feeling I hear. People are unsettled.”

7am – D         Entertainment News:

• Hillary Clinton made a rare appearance at “The Color Purple” — and got 3 standing ovations. Hillary Clinton made a rare public appearance at the Broadway musical “The Color Purple” on Sunday — and received three standing ovations. Photos from the scene showed people gawking at Clinton and snapping photos. In a video, people leaned over balconies to capture images. Clinton’s appearance at the play was met with celebration, in contrast to the reaction Vice President-elect Mike Pence received when he went to see “Hamilton” in November, a week after he and President-elect Donald Trump won the election. During Sunday’s show, many cheered and angled to get a glimpse of the former presidential candidate. Audience member Jordan Serpone, who shook Clinton’s hand at the show, told the New York Times that seeing her was an emotional experience.
• ‘They foiled me’: Mariah Carey weighs in on disastrous New Year’s Eve performance. A week after her disastrous New Year’s Eve performance, Mariah Carey is still claiming she was sabotaged. On Sunday, the singer posted an audio recording on Twitter of herself addressing the performance in her “own words” for the first time. The tweet was accompanied by a telling hashtag: #thefoilers. In the recording, Carey draws a deep breath before talking for nearly two minutes — longer than she sang live on New Year’s Eve, it must be noted. “I haven’t really addressed the situation that happened on New Year’s Eve, and in time I will,” she says. “But for now, I want everyone to know that I came to New Year’s Eve in New York in great spirits and was looking forward to a celebratory moment with the world. It’s a shame that we were put into the hands of a production team with technical issues who chose to capitalize on circumstances beyond our control.”

7am – E         WALL NEWS:

• Trump says S. will be ‘paid back’ for Mexico wall. (USA Today) — President-elect Donald Trump defended a plan Friday that would see the United States initially pay for a border wall with Mexico and then be reimbursed at a later date. “The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!” Trump tweeted Friday. The proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall was one of Trump’s key campaign pledges. He repeatedly vowed to make Mexico pay for it. His reference to “dishonest media” was related to reports that emerged late Thursday that appeared to suggest the president-elect was trying to modify his vow. Trump did not specify in his tweet whether his administration would seek to build the wall with taxpayer money, although he suggested in a speech in October that U.S. government funds could initially be used to get the project off the ground. “I said Mexico is paying for the wall, with the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such a wall, OK?” Trump said at a rally in Gettysburg, Pa. on Oct. 22. “We’re going to have the wall. Mexico is going to pay for the wall.”
• Obama is building a wall around his new DC house. President Obama is listening to Donald Trump, sort of. He’s going to “build a wall.” While that’s the saying that many Trump supporters utter, it’s weird when it comes from the soon-to-be former President Barack Obama. According to TMZ, the Obamas are building a wall around their Washington, C. mansion to keep unwelcome guests off their property for when they leave office. If we learned anything from the numerous White House fence-jumpers over the course of Obama’s presidency, the president is going to need a heck of a lot of Secret Service detail on his property too. Over the course of the 2016 presidential election, Obama continuously mocked then-Republican nominee Donald Trump for his campaign promise to build a wall along the southern border.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — CHRISTIAN TOTO — Film Critic and Host of “The Hollywood in Toto” podcast  (available on iTunes) — recapped the Golden Globes.

8am – B/C  Meryl Streep denounces Trump in emotional Lifetime Achievement Award speech. What do you have to say to Meryl?

8am – D         INTERVIEW — TUCKER CARLSON – Host of the Fox News Channel show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” NOW AT 9 PM** and also the co-founder of The Daily Caller

• ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ is moving to a new time, 9p ET, starting Monday, January 9th.

8am – E         Barack Obama says Donald Trump may have ‘enough craziness’ to be president.  Barack Obama thinks Donald Trump is “very engaging and gregarious” and “not lacking in confidence”, to the point where he may have “enough craziness to think [he] can do the job”. But he won’t say if he likes him. The US president spoke to ABC This Week host George Stephanopoulos, in a wide-ranging interview that was recorded on Friday. The conversation included reflections on Obama’s time in the White House, which ends with Trump’s inauguration on 20 January, his achievements and disappointments in domestic and foreign policy and his expectations regarding his legacy.