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Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday June 21, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Should Congressional Republicans end their investigation? Mueller to meet with Senate Judiciary Committee (Washington Times) Special Counsel Robert Mueller is scheduled to meet with top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. A Judiciary Committee spokesman made the announcement on Tuesday. Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Mueller will talk with the chairman of the committee, GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and the top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California. He’ll also meet with GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. The part of the reason for the meeting is to ensure there is no conflict between Mueller’s probe and the work of the congressional committees. Robert Mueller Hires Another Clinton Donor For Russia Probe Special Counsel (Daily Caller) Robert Mueller has added another Democrat to his growing team of Trump-Russia investigators. The former FBI director recently recruited Elizabeth Prelogar, a lawyer in the Office of the Solicitor General, to work on the Russia probe, The National Law Journal reports.

A former law clerk for liberal Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan, Prelogar has donated in the past to Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, Federal Election Commission records show.

5am – D  Liberals Blamed White Supremacy For Muslim Teen Murdered By Illegal Immigrant From El Salvador (Daily Caller) Liberals on Twitter are blaming white supremacy and Donald Trump for the murder of a Muslim teen, despite the fact that the suspected murderer is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. Darwin A. Martinez Torres was arrested Sunday as a suspect in the death of Nabra Hassanen, a 17-year-old Muslim high school student from Virginia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed with The Daily Caller that Torres is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. Investigators believe the attack was the result of road rage and is not being investigated as an anti-Muslim hate crime.

5am– E    Democrat Suing Trump Caught in Conflict of Interest Snare (Polizette) Karl Racine, the attorney general for Washington, D.C., who last week launched a lawsuit against President Trump for allegedly using his office to further his private business interests, is now under attack for the appearance of using his own office to settle a business score. Racine announced the lawsuit on June 12 at a press conference with Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who is also party to the legal action. “Never in the history of this country have we had a president with these kinds of extensive business entanglements,” Racine said at a June 12 press conference. But Racine has an inconvenient business entanglement of his own. It turns out that Racine is an investor in a Washington, D.C., business whose owners took Trump to court in March over claims that his association with the Trump International Hotel creates unfair competition.

6am – A/B/C Was the Georgia special election a referendum? GOP’s Karen Handel wins most expensive House race ever, dashing Democrat upset hopes (CNBC) The race for Georgia’s 6th District for the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price pitted Handel, 55, the former Georgia secretary of state, against Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 30-year old former congressional aide. Fueled by a rush of donors from around the U.S., Ossoff pushed for an upset in the suburban Atlanta district that Price repeatedly won easily.He came up short, as Handel won by about 5 percentage points, according to incomplete returns. The two campaigns and outside groups supporting and opposing the candidates shelled out at least $36 million as of May 31, including more than $22 million from Ossoff’s campaign. The election easily set a record for spending in a House race, according to NBC News. Speaking after her win, Handel said her first priorities in Congress will be finishing the GOP health-care bill and working to lower corporate and individual tax rates. In the four races for red House districts vacated by Trump nominees, the Republican candidate won but the Democrat performed better than the party’s candidate did in 2016. Still, it is not clear yet what the effect will be on the 2018 elections, which take place more than a year from now. Democrats need to win 24 seats to take the House.

6am – D INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Author and columnist

Topic: Hate coming from the left, why so much rage?

• On Friday, the Drudge Report ran these headlines: “Shots fired at a truck flying ‘Make America Great Again’ flag”; “Starbucks staff harasses Trump supporting customer”; “Time Warner defends funding ‘assassination play,’ ” in which Julius Caesar is presented as a Donald Trump look-alike in Shakespeare’s classic.
• So many of us identify as members of tribes — right, left, religious, secular, Republican, Democrat, socialist. No member of one tribe seems willing to speak to any member of another tribe, or find out how and why the other came to their point of view. Apparently, many people are fine with this, at least the political activists among them. They demand 100 percent conformity from members of their tribe. If one compromises in the smallest way in order to achieve something that will benefit the most people, they are denounced as insufficiently liberal or conservative.

6am – E One in Four Democrats Sees GOP as Existential Threat (CBS) “And while Congress and many observers called for a more civil tone to political debate in the wake of the events, Americans of all political leanings overwhelmingly say that the tone and level of civility in our political debates has been getting worse in recent years,” the CBS News report read. Indeed, 68 percent of those polled believe that the “tone and civility” of current U.S. political debate is getting worse, while 24 percent believe it has remained the same. Only 7 percent said they think it is getting better. In addition, 73 percent of Americans said that this current political climate is “encouraging violence.” Although 68 percent of Republican respondents believe this to be true, 85 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of independents concur.

6am – F  Daniel Day-Lewis Just Made A Big Announcement About His Career (Daily Caller) Daniel Day-Lewis has decided to retire from acting after a storied career that has spanned across four decades. The 60-year-old actor, who is considered one of the best of his generation, has decided to call it quits without offering any reason as to why. “Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor,” his spokeswoman, Leslee Dart, said in a statement. “He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on the subject.”

Day-Lewis is the only actor to ever win three Academy Awards in the best actor category, which he earned for his roles in “Lincoln,” “There Will Be Blood,” and “My Left Foot.” He also earned two other Oscar nominations for “Gangs of New York” and “In the Name of the Father.” The highly-acclaimed actor has one last film that is yet to be released. The drama hasn’t been titled yet but is scheduled to go to theaters on December 25, 2017.

7am – A MARC LOTTER – the Vice President’s Press Secretary

Topic: Tech Week/Healthcare 

• Senate Democrats are in the midst of trying a procedural Hail Mary to derail the Senate GOP’s bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
• Trump called House bill ‘mean’; critics say Senate could go further
• Trump to meet with top executives on wireless tech, drones
• In front of the cameras — and seated alongside the president in the White House — the likes of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Amazon chief Jeff Bezos offered rare praise of Trump’s tech agenda. Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, even seemed to suggest Trump helped foster “a huge explosion of new opportunities” on the horizon.

7am-B Lawmakers Weigh North Korea Travel Ban (Daily Caller) A bipartisan bill, spearheaded by California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff and South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, that would prevent American tourists from entering North Korea is gaining supporters.” The North Korean regime has shown once again that it is perfectly willing to treat Americans who visit their nation as hostages to extract concessions from the United States, and to put their lives in danger,” Schiff said in the statement. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer noted administrations have struggled with finding a solution to North Korea’s human rights violations over the course of the past 20 years, adding he thinks working with China is the best way handle international relations with the country. “China is the principal actor here, because China does a lot of business with North Korea. We don’t have a lot of leverage, but I would support the travel ban,” he told reporters Tuesday. “I would support effective ways to modify North Korea’s behavior — the Chinese the best way to do it. It’s difficult for the rest of the world to do it, but it ought to be done. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said lawmakers should act to ensure similar instances don’t occur in the future. Trump: Warmbier ‘should have been brought home a long time ago’ President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that Otto Warmbier, the American who dieddays after his release from North Korea, would still be alive if he had been released sooner.”He should have been brought home that same day. The results would have been a lot different,” Trump said.

7am-C Barbie’s boyfriend Ken gets a makeover Tuesday, Mattel announced 15 new looks for Ken, including three body types: slim, broad and original. Yes, some Kens might come with dad bods instead of six packs. The doll will also be available in a variety of skin tones, eye colors and hairstyles. Man buns, polka-dotted tees and hipster glasses are all a part of the mix. Some of the new $9.99 Ken dolls were available in select shops and online stores Tuesday, Mattel said, but will be widely available July 8. 

7am – D INTERVIEW – TOM FITTON  – President of Judicial Watch 

Topic: Judicial Watch Pursues James Comey Records/ Susan Rice Unmasking Material Sent to Obama Library

• The National Security Council has informed conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch that materials regarding former National Security Adviser Susan Rice’s reported requests to identify “masked” U.S. persons in intelligence reports linked to President Donald Trump’s transition and campaign have been sent to Barack Obama’s presidential library outside of Chicago.
• Judicial Watch is focusing on James Comey, the former FBI director who spirited away government documents, then arranged for the contents of those documents to be leaked to the media to force the appointment of a special prosecutor.  

7am – E  State Department probes Clinton handling of government emails, could pull her security clearance (FOX NEWS)  The State Department has opened a formal inquiry into whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her aides mishandled classified information while she was the nation’s top diplomat, Fox News has learned. Despite being under investigation, Clinton and her staffers still have security clearances to access sensitive government information.

The department’s investigation aims to determine whether Clinton and her closest aides violated government protocols by using her private server to receive, hold and transmit classified and top-secret government documents. The department declined to say when its inquiry began, but it follows the conclusion of the FBI’s probe into the matter, which did not result in any actions being taken against Clinton or any of her aides.

8am – A INTERVIEW – JASON RUSSELL – Contributors Editor for Washington Examiner

Topic : Metro

• Metro has instituted a new safety regulation aimed at reducing the risks to workers and track inspectors who walk along the tracks during service hours. The new protocol relies on a simple concept: If you want to make sure people understand instructions, tell them face-to-face. According to the regulation, workers who are planning to inspect the tracks during service must post an “advanced mobile flagger” — a person who stands at the end of the station platform to warn train operators to slow down and watch for workers on the tracks.
• A group of Maryland lawmakers has proposed an overhaul of the Washington-area subway system that would give the struggling rail network the dedicated funding its leaders say it needs. The lawmakers are calling for a radical restructuring of the Metro system’s board of directors. Their proposal, released Monday, would also leave it up to the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia to decide how to come up with the $500 million in annual dedicated funding that Metro’s general manager has called for.

8am- B/CCHAIRWOMAN RONNA ROMNEY MCDANIEL – Chairwoman of the Republican Party

Topic : Georgia Special Elections

• The race for Georgia’s 6th District for the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price pitted Handel, 55, the former Georgia secretary of state, against Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 30-year old former congressional aide.
• In the four races for red House districts vacated by Trump nominees, the Republican candidate won but the Democrat performed better than the party’s candidate did in 2016.

8am – D Eric Holder Wants Might Run In 2020 Former Attorney General Eric Holder is moving away from a behind-the-scenes role and is considering running for president in 2020, according to a Tuesday report from Yahoo News.” Up to now, I have been more behind-the-scenes. But that’s about to change. I have a certain status as the former attorney general. A certain familiarity as the first African-American attorney general,” Holder told Yahoo News. “There’s a justified perception that I’m close to President Obama. So I want to use whatever skills I have, whatever notoriety I have, to be effective in opposing things that are, at the end of the day, just bad for the country.”

8am – E  Couple gets back nearly $100K accidentally donated to Goodwill (USA Today) An associate at Goodwill Industries thought she had found a duffel bag full of play money last week while sorting a box of housewares. On closer inspection, employees realized the money was real — and there was a lot of it.Nearly $100,000 in hundred dollar bills was accidentally donated when a woman dropped off a box of clothes at the Maple Avenue Goodwill store.  Betsy Lyons and Barb Claypool were sorting through a large box of housewares when Claypool opened the bag.  Dan Leckrone, husband of the donor, said he had withdrawn the money from the bank and put the it in the trunk of the car where he thought no one would find it. “We are moving closer to Wheeling and we have been saving to buy a house,” Leckrone said. “We were taking the money to deposit it in another bank where we were moving to. We had our trunk full of clothes and things we wanted to get rid of but we don’t have a Goodwill near where we live so we took the things to Zanesville where we have family.Leckrone said he and his wife didn’t know the money — $97,004 to be exact — was missing until they got home and started listening to all of the calls on their answering machine.