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Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday June 28, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Trump, Senate leaders attempt to regroup after postponing vote to overhaul Obamacare (Washington Post) Senate Republican leaders bowed to pressure from within their own ranks Tuesday and postponed a vote to overhaul the Affordable Care Act until after the Fourth of July recess, raising new doubts about their ability to fulfill one of the GOP’s core promises. The delay, which exposes lawmakers to a barrage of lobbying as they face their constituents over the holiday, has left a measure designed to pass swiftly this week teetering in the balance. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had little choice after the number of Senate Republicans who said they would not support a move to bring up the bill this week rose to five after a new budget analysis of the bill . Mitch McConnell now expects vote on healthcare bill in ‘a couple weeks’ (Washington Examiner) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said after meeting with President Trump on Tuesday that he now expects the Senate to vote on healthcare legislation in “a couple weeks.” “We’ll not be turning to the bill on the floor of the Senate until a couple weeks after this week,” McConnell told reporters at the White House.

Earlier Tuesday, Republican leaders delayed plans to vote on legislation to partially repeal and replace Obamacare by the end of this week because they didn’t have the votes from members of their own party. Trump invited the entire Republican caucus to the White House for a discussion on healthcare Tuesday afternoon. McConnell said they are “continuing to work on reaching an agreement” and they “made good progress.” Club for Growth opposes Senate ObamaCare repeal bill (The Hill) 2

The Club for Growth announced its opposition on Tuesday to the Senate GOP’s ObamaCare repealand-replace legislation, arguing it would make the United States’ healthcare system worse. The conservative group said the Senate bill would actually “restore” ObamaCare by creating new mandates and imposing taxes. “Only in Washington does repeal translate to restore,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a statement. “Because that’s exactly what the Senate GOP healthcare bill does: it restores Obamacare.

5am – D Suspect in killing of Muslim teen had been accused of a previous assault, report says (Washington Post) A week before Darwin Martinez Torres was arrested for allegedly abducting and killing a Muslim teenager near a Virginia mosque, a woman arrived at a hospital emergency room and reported that a man — later identified as Martinez Torres — had punched, choked and sexually assaulted her and was a member of the MS-13 street gang, according to two people familiar with the woman’s account.The acts allegedly occurred in the presence of a young child, which prompted a call to Loudoun County’s Child Protective Services agency, which in turn filed a report with the county sheriff, the two people said.But the woman told CPS that she did not want to pursue charges or accept any social-services help, and so no further action was taken. Days later, 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen was dead.

5am- E Manny Pacquiao won’t watch Mayweather-McGregor, says ‘it could be very boring’ (Yahoo Sports) The all-time pay-per-view record was set in 2015, when 4.6 million customers purchased a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. If the upcoming Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight is going to break that, it will have to do it without at least one customer. Manny Pacquiao himself. “The real fight and the best fight is [Gennady] Golovkin vs. Canelo [Alvarez],” Pacquiao told Yahoo Sports. “The best vs. the best. That’s the fight I will be watching.” Golovkin-Alvarez takes place on September 16 and has any true boxing fan excited. Mayweather-McGregor, which goes off in Las Vegas on August 26, is all but acknowledged to be a sideshow of an event.

6am – A/B/C Chaffetz calls for $2,500 legislator housing stipend (The Hill) Should Congress get a raise? Just days before he resigns from Congress, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said Monday that House and Senate lawmakers should receive a $2,500 per month housing allowance — something he explained would help ease housing costs for members who can’t afford two mortgages or rents. “I really do believe Congress would be much better served if there was a housing allowance for members of Congress,” Chaffetz told The Hill in an interview in his Capitol office, where he sleeps whenever he’s in Washington. “In today’s climate, nobody’s going to suggest or vote for a pay raise. But you shouldn’t have to be among the wealthiest of Americans to serve properly in Congress.” The comments from the fifth-term lawmaker suggest that financial considerations were a big part of his surprise announcement in April that he was stepping down from Congress and relinquishing his Oversight Committee gavel. Chaffetz’s son will be attending law school at the University of Virginia, and his older daughter attends college in Utah. His younger daughter will be attending college in a couple of years.

6am – D INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated Author and Columnist

Topic : Healthcare

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said after meeting with President Trump on Tuesday that he now expects the Senate to vote on healthcare legislation in “a couple weeks.”
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had little choice after the number of Senate Republicans who said they would not support a move to bring up the bill this week rose to five after a new budget analysis of the bill .

6am – E The “Progressive Liberal” Is Maybe The Perfect Wrestling Heel  Kentucky-based Appalachian Mountain Wrestling has graced the world with the presence of “Progressive Liberal” Dan Richards. He definitely isn’t a face. During a ring appearance earlier this year, Richards cut an in-ring promo in which he praised Hillary, and was interrupted by attendees chanting “Feel the Bern!” At about the 2:08 mark, some little kid yelled, “You better shut up,” always a mark of decent heat.

6am – F New Zealand promises to do ‘right thing’ with America’s Cup (ABC) When the post-race formalities ended, feisty Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton picked up the America’s Cup and carried it the few hundred yards to the team base.Dalton, 59, seemed to struggle at first with the weight of the big silver trophy. perhaps it was a metaphor for what’s ahead for the scrappy Kiwis, who nearly folded after their nightmarish collapse in 2013 but rebounded to yank the oldest trophy in international sports from tech tycoon Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA. first, there was a blowout party at the team compound Monday evening. In the next few weeks, Team New Zealand and the new Challenger of Record, Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge, will start shaping the future of sailing’s marquee regatta.” Rest assured, we’ll do the right thing,” Dalton said.

7am – A/B/C Trump, Senate leaders attempt to regroup after postponing vote to overhaul Obamacare (Washington Post) Senate Republican leaders bowed to pressure from within their own ranks Tuesday and postponed a vote to overhaul the Affordable Care Act until after the Fourth of July recess, raising new doubts about their ability to fulfill one of the GOP’s core promises. The delay, which exposes lawmakers to a barrage of lobbying as they face their constituents over the holiday, has left a measure designed to pass swiftly this week teetering in the balance. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had little choice after the number of Senate Republicans who said they would not support a move to bring up the bill this week rose to five after a new budget analysis of the bill . Mitch McConnell now expects vote on healthcare bill in ‘a couple weeks’ (Washington Examiner) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said after meeting with President Trump on Tuesday that he now expects the Senate to vote on healthcare legislation in “a couple weeks.” “We’ll not be turning to the bill on the floor of the Senate until a couple weeks after this week,” McConnell told reporters at the White House.

Earlier Tuesday, Republican leaders delayed plans to vote on legislation to partially repeal and replace Obamacare by the end of this week because they didn’t have the votes from members of their own party. Trump invited the entire Republican caucus to the White House for a discussion on healthcare Tuesday afternoon. McConnell said they are “continuing to work on reaching an agreement” and they “made good progress.” Club for Growth opposes Senate ObamaCare repeal bill (The Hill) 2

The Club for Growth announced its opposition on Tuesday to the Senate GOP’s ObamaCare repealand-replace legislation, arguing it would make the United States’ healthcare system worse. The conservative group said the Senate bill would actually “restore” ObamaCare by creating new mandates and imposing taxes. “Only in Washington does repeal translate to restore,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a statement. “Because that’s exactly what the Senate GOP healthcare bill does: it restores Obamacare.

7am – D Mexico Joins The Legal Battle Against Anti-Sanctuary City Law  (Daily Caller) Mexico filed an affidavit Monday in support of a lawsuit against the implementation of a Texas law to punish sanctuary cities and allow police officers to inquire about the immigration status of someone they have arrested or detained. The Mexican government said in a statement that the law could increase racial discrimination and create an environment of persecution.

7am – E  Furry Fables : TSA Catches Live Lobster At Boston’s Logan Airport Transportation Security Administration agents at Logan Airport’s Terminal C in Boston snapped to attention Sunday, when they came across a live 20-pound lobster lurking in a cooler among the checked luggage. The lobster was screened and allowed to continue on its way,” TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy tells NPR in an email.

8am  A INTERVIEW – MIKE ANTOLINI – Quicken Loans National tournament director

Topic: Upcoming tournament 

• The PGA Tour turns its attention to TPC Potomac for the Quicken Loans National. The course, which hosted the Kemper Open once upon a time, underwent a major facelift since the tour last visited. All 18 holes at Avenel Farm have been restructured to some degree, highlighted by a complete overhaul of holes 10, 11 and 13. Bunkers have been added, the course lengthened and par changed from 71 to 70.

• Tiger Woods won’t attend this week’s Quicken Loans National as he continues to receive treatment for how he manages his pain medications.

8am – B Sarah Palin Suing New York Times For Defamation (Daily Caller) Sarah Palin is suing The New York Times for defamation, according to documents filed in federal court Tuesday that were obtained by The Daily Caller. he lawsuit has to do with an editorial the NYT ran on June 14 that falsely smeared Palin as inciting the 2011 shooting of Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords by a mentally ill man. There is no evidence to support the NYT’s implication that Palin played a role in inciting the Giffords shooting.

8am – C Student headed to prison for registering dead voters for Democrats (CBS) A man paid to register Virginia voters prior to the 2016 Presidential Election will spend at least 100 days in prison for submitting the names of deceased individuals to the Registrar’s Office. James Madison University student Andrew J. Spieles, 21, of Harrisonburg, pled guilty Monday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. As part of the plea agreement, Spieles agreed to a prison sentence of 100 to 120 days.Spieles worked for Harrisonburg Votes when he committed the crime, according to acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle.Harrisonburg Votes is a political organization affiliated with the Democratic Party.

8am – D INTERVIEW – JAY WALKER – Maryland State Delegate

Topic: Hogan seeks investigation of Prince George’s County schools

• Allegations of grade fixing to boost graduation rates in Prince George’s County Public Schools have left many people concerned, including the entire Prince George’s County Delegation in the General Assembly. Last week, they wrote a letter to the State Superintendent describing their concerns about claims of grade fraud in the school system
• Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he wants independent investigators to look into allegations of fraud and grade fixing in Prince George’s County Public Schools.

8am – E  Elmo: Refugee kids are just like us (CNN) Sesame Street’s Elmo says refugee kids are just like kids everywhere.”They like to play and learn just like Elmo and all his friends at Sesame street” he said during a Facebook Live interview with CNN on Monday.The 3 1/2-year-old Sesame street character visited a refugee camp in Jordan back in February, and described the trip as “really wonderful because Elmo got to meet a lot of new friends. “Elmo thinks it’s important to know that everybody is the same deep down and that’s very important.”