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Mornings on the Mall

Friday June 9, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C  What was your takeaway from Comey’s testimony? Trump did not ask for closure of Russia investigation “Did the president at any time ask you to stop the FBI investigation into Russian involvement?” North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr asked Comey. “Not to my understanding, no,” He said Obama’s attorney general meddled in Clinton email probe Comey said he was “concerned” with Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s demand that he call the Hillary Clinton email probe a “matter” rather than an “investigation.” Trump “directed” closure of Flynn probe, but did not order it. Trump’s request in a Feb. 14 Oval Office meeting that Comey back off of investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn was interpreted by Comey as a direction but not as an order, he testified. “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go,” Comey says Trump told him in the meeting. Comey destroys NYT story about frequent contacts. Comey described a bombshell Feb. 14 report in the New York Times as “almost entirely wrong.” Comey arranged memo leaks. Comey said that he instructed a friend, Columbia Law School professor Daniel Richman, to leak details of transcripts of his memos to the media.

5am – D  Theresa May Promises ‘Certainty’ After Queen Approves Plan For Coalition Government. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is forming a new governing coalition, after her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in Thursday’s election. May received formal permission from the monarchy to lead a coalition Friday. “I will now form a government,” May said in front of 10 Downing Street moments after she spoke with Queen Elizabeth, “a government that can provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country.” Noting the “crucial Brexit talks that begin in just 10 days,” May said the new government will work to fulfill the will of U.K. voters who decided to leave the European Union. May also promised her government will “keep our nation safe and secure,”

5am– E   Massachusetts medical pot dispensary selling marijuana pizza  A Massachusetts medical marijuana dispensary has created a culinary delight for patients who don’t want to smoke their pot or eat it in the form of sweets. The 6-inch cheese pizzas sell for $38 apiece. The tomato sauce contains 125 milligrams of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana. The company has sold about 200 already. Yaffe says if patients want toppings, they can add their own.

6am – A/B/C  Is Trump Breaking a campaign promise? Nearly 100,000 ‘Dreamers’ Granted Amnesty In Trump’s Opening Months. The Trump administration has given amnesty to an estimated 98,000 illegal immigrants through former President Barack Obama’s program for minors who arrived in the U.S. illegally, according to government statistics released Thursday. The figures released by U.S.  Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) show that between January 1 and March 31, a total of 124,649 illegal immigrants got protection from deportation and work permits under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

6am – D INTERVIEW – FRANK WAGNER – Republican candidate for VA Governor 

Topic: Upcoming election

• The Washington Post’s endorses Frank Wagner in Virginia’s gubernatorial primaries

6am – E Honda to focus on self-driving cars, robotics, EVs through 2030. They will release a self driving car by 202. Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co on Thursday spelled out for the first time its plans to develop autonomous cars which can drive on city streets by 2025, building on its strategy to take on rivals in the auto market of the future.

Unveiling its mid-term Vision 2030 strategy plan, Honda said it would boost coordination between R&D, procurement and manufacturing to tame development costs as it acknowledged it must look beyond conventional vehicles to survive in an industry which is moving rapidly into electric and self-driving cars

6am – F  Man Angry Over Onions On His Food, Exposes Himself, Threatens To Shoot Restaurant Staff A man is facing charges after police say he threatened the lives of employees at a restaurant in North Oakland because they put onions on his food. When police arrived on the scene, officers said Sharma smelled of alcohol, had blood shot eyes, was slurring his speech, couldn’t maintain his balance and was speaking nonsense.

7am – A  MATTHEW WHITAKER – former U.S. Attorney (who knows Comey personally). He currently serves as the Executive Director of the non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT)

Topic: Reaction to Comey’s Testimony.

7am – B/C/D/E    What was your takeaway from Comey’s testimony? Trump did not ask for closure of Russia investigation “Did the president at any time ask you to stop the FBI investigation into Russian involvement?” North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr asked Comey. “Not to my understanding, no,” He said Obama’s attorney general meddled in Clinton email probe Comey said he was “concerned” with Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s demand that he call the Hillary Clinton email probe a “matter” rather than an “investigation.” Trump “directed” closure of Flynn probe, but did not order it. Trump’s request in a Feb. 14 Oval Office meeting that Comey back off of investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn was interpreted by Comey as a direction but not as an order, he testified. “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go,” Comey says Trump told him in the meeting. Comey destroys NYT story about frequent contacts. Comey described a bombshell Feb. 14 report in the New York Times as “almost entirely wrong.” Comey arranged memo leaks. Comey said that he instructed a friend, Columbia Law School professor Daniel Richman, to leak details of transcripts of his memos to the media.

8am – A  Media Failures. Comey Goes After Press In Senate Hearing, Says That A Lot Of Stories ‘Are Dead Wrong’ The February Times story said that intercepted phone calls and phone records showed that Trump campaign officials and associates were in contact with Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 presidential campaign. Comey said: “In the main – it was not true. The challenge — and I’m not picking on reporters — about writing stories about classified information is that people talking about it often don’t really know what is going on. “And those of us who actually know what’s going on aren’t talking about it,” he added. “And we don’t call the press to say, hey, you got that thing wrong about this sensitive topic. We just have to leave it there.”

8am – B Pickup Truck Strikes Cops in D.C. Two Virginia men are facing charges this morning .. after two DC police officers and a D-DOT aide were hit by a speeding pickup truck last night in Adams Morgan. The two men arrested were 22-year-old Brandon Figures-Mormon, charged with assault with intent to kill and 23-year-old Dwayne Taylor, who’s charged with possession of an unregistered firearm. One of the officers is in “critical but stable condition” this morning — the other two victims are in “fair” condition. Police Chief Peter Newsham says .. investigators are not yet ruling out an act of terrorism. Outrage as Saudi Arabia’s football team snubs a minute’s silence for London Bridge terror victims ahead of World Cup qualifier against Australia because ‘it is not in keeping with their culture’ The Saudi Arabian soccer team refused to line up for a minute’s silence for the London terror victims on Thursday night because it is not in keeping with their culture. A spokesman for Football Federation Australia explained they were told a minute of silence was ‘not in keeping with Saudi culture’ ahead of the match. Fans were left outraged at the display ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Australia in Adelaide.

8am – C Crown Point High School nixes U.S. Marine in uniform accepting diploma Some graduating Crown Point High School seniors, parents and community members are expressing outrage because a graduate was not allowed to walk across the stage Tuesday and accept his diploma while in his military uniform. Crown Point grad Jacob Dalton Stanley, whose name was listed in the graduation program, was turned away when he went to the graduation ceremony Tuesday night at the Star Plaza Theatre in his Marine dress blues. Nor did school officials read his name among the graduates.

8am – D INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – Legal Analyst & Fmr. U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

Topic: Reaction to Comey Testimony

8am – E  Hillary Clinton takes swipes at President Trump in Medgar Evers commencement speech “When I was here last year, someone asked if I would come back and speak at commencement,” Clinton told thousands assembled at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. “Now, I wish I had flown in from the White House, but I’m just as happy to be here anyway.” But she had barely begun her rebuke of Trump’s court-stymied travel ban on immigrants from six majority-Muslim nations — later stressing the need to “recommit ourselves to the urgent work of protecting the safety and civil rights of all our people, not moving in the opposite direction.” “I’ve had a few setbacks in my own life … and losing an election is pretty devastating, especially considering who I lost to,” she said, prompting head shakes from some audience members.