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Mornings on the Mall
Monday, August 14, 2017
Hosts: Vince Coglianese and Emily Miller
5am – A/B/C Trump faulted for not explicitly rebuking white supremacists (WJLA)
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump is drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists in the aftermath of violent clashes in Virginia, with lawmakers saying he needs to take a public stand against groups that espouse racism and hate. Trump, while on a working vacation at his New Jersey golf club, addressed the nation Saturday soon after a car plowed into a group of anti-racist counter-protesters in Charlottesville, a college town where neo-Nazis and white nationalists had assembled for march. The president did not single out any group, instead blaming “many sides” for the violence. “Hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now,” he said. “We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and … true affection for each other.” Trump condemned “in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” He added: “It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump. Not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time.”
5am – D Trump Campaign Releases New Ad Blasting Democrats And Media ‘Enemies’ (The Daily Caller) The Trump campaign released a new ad on Sunday blasting Democrats and excoriating President Trump’s “enemies” in the mainstream media. “Democrats obstructing, the media attacking our president, career politicians standing in the way of success,” begins the 30-second ad. Images of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and California Rep. Maxine Waters flashed across the screen as a narrator accused Democrats of obstructing Trump’s legislative agenda. Notably absent are photos of any Republicans, who Trump has not shied away from criticizing in recent weeks for failing to repeal Obamacare. The middle part of the ad — which is notable for its release a day after a white nationalist protest ended in the killing of a woman in Charlottesville, Va. — touted Trump’s achievements in his first 200 days in office. “President Trump’s plan is working,” a narrator says. “One million jobs created; more Americans working than ever before; unemployment lowest level since 2001; the stock market, all-time record highs; the strongest military in decades,” the ad goes. But, the narrator claims: “The president’s enemies don’t want him to succeed.” A collage of journalists and news anchors — mostly with CNN and MSNBC — pop up on the screen. CNN anchors Don Lemon, Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper make an appearance, as do MSNBC hosts Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarborough, Mike Brzezinski, and others. “Americans are saying: Let President Trump do his job,” the narrator says. “After only 200 days in office, President Trump has already achieved great success. He has fueled the creation of one million new jobs and growth in the economy, including new lows in unemployment claims and all-time record highs in the stock market, and he is rebuilding our military to be the strongest in decades,” Trump campaign executive director Michael Glassner said in a statement releasing the ad. “Yet, the mainstream media continue to attack the President and career politicians continue to stand in the way of his progress. This new campaign ad speaks directly to the American people and sets the record straight, reminding them that President Donald Trump will not stop fighting for them and will not allow anyone to stand in his way to deliver success for them.”
5am – E One in eight American adults is an alcoholic, study says (Washington Post) A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry this month finds that the rate of alcohol use disorder, or what’s colloquially known as “alcoholism,” rose by a shocking 49 percent in the first decade of the 2000s. One in eight American adults, or 12.7 percent of the U.S. population, now meets diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder, according to the study.
Study: Doctors received more than $46 million from drug companies marketing opioids (Washington Post) One in 12 doctors has received money from drug companies marketing prescription opioid medications, according to a study released Wednesday afternoon. Researchers at Boston Medical Center found that from 2013 to 2015, 68,177 doctors received more than $46 million in payments from drug companies pushing powerful painkillers. Researchers believe it is the first study to look at the practice of pharmaceutical companies marketing opioids to physicians. “The next step is to understand these links between payments,” said Scott Hadland, a pediatrician and author of the study, and “prescribing practices and overdose deaths.” More than 52,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug overdoses sharply increased during the first nine months of 2016, according to the National Centers for Health Statistics, driven by increases in opioid deaths, especially from heroin and fentanyl, a powerful synthetic narcotic. But for many people, “It’s very common that the first opioid they’re ever exposed to is from a prescription,” Hadland said. Doctors were paid the most for the promotion of fentanyl, which is typically used in hospitals to treat post-surgical pain, cancer patients and for end-of-life care. Most of the fentanyl driving the increase in deaths is illicitly manufactured overseas and cut into heroin. According to the study, companies were not aggressively marketing tamper-proof versions of pills, which were created in response to the opioid crisis.
6am – A/B/C Trump faulted for not explicitly rebuking white supremacists (WJLA)
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump is drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists in the aftermath of violent clashes in Virginia, with lawmakers saying he needs to take a public stand against groups that espouse racism and hate. Trump, while on a working vacation at his New Jersey golf club, addressed the nation Saturday soon after a car plowed into a group of anti-racist counter-protesters in Charlottesville, a college town where neo-Nazis and white nationalists had assembled for march. The president did not single out any group, instead blaming “many sides” for the violence. “Hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now,” he said. “We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and … true affection for each other.” Trump condemned “in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” He added: “It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump. Not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time.”
6am – D Your sleeping position may reveal how smart you are (WTOP)
WASHINGTON — A new study shows that your sleep position may be revealing more about you than you think. A study by The Better Sleep Council, an Alexandria-based nonprofit, found that people who reported to have higher education levels, graduate school or beyond, were less likely to sleep in the fetal position, the most common sleeping position among Americans. But the most common way to sleep isn’t necessarily the best for sleep. The study showed that people who sleep in the log position, sleeping on either side with both arms down, report a better night’s sleep than those who sleep in a fetal position. The least popular sleep positions are the log, the soldier (where someone lies on their back with arms down and close to the body) and the starfish (where sleepers lie on their backs with arms up near their head or pillow).
6am – E Congresswoman Calls NRA, Dana Loesch ‘Domestic Security Threats’ (The Daily Caller) A Democratic congresswoman from New York called the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its spokeswoman “domestic security threats” in a tweet Thursday night. Rep. Kathleen Rice claimed Dana Loesch, a prominent figure in the NRA, and the organization itself were becoming growing threats under President Donald Trump that could no longer be ignored. Loesch responded to the tweets, asking Rice for further explanation as to how she and other NRA members are security threats. “Hi Congresswoman, can you explain why you say I and millions of members are “domestic security threats?” Thank you,” Loesch quote-tweeted the congresswoman. “Rephrase: An elected gov’t official just labeled me and millions of others ‘domestic security threats.’Wow,” Loesch said in another tweet. The NRA recently came under fire after they released a video claiming they would go after The New York Times for its “fake news.” “We’re going to laser-focus on your so-called ‘honest pursuit of truth.’ In short, we’re coming for you,” Loesch said in the video, before describing the outlet as an “untrustworthy, dishonest rag.” The NRA was also at the center of outrage when the Women’s March hosted an 18 mile walk from Fairfax, Va., to the Department of Justice last month to protest the group’s silence on the police shooting of Philando Castile, a black gun owner. It took the NRA a year after his death to release a statement on the shooting, with Loesch calling it a “tragedy.”
7am – A INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia
TOPIC: MUELLER PROBE
-Robert Mueller, special counsel for Russia investigation, is said to be asking to interview White House officials
WASHINGTON — In a sign that the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election will remain a continuing distraction for the White House, the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is in talks with the West Wing about interviewing current and former senior administration officials, including the recently ousted White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, according to three people briefed on the discussions.
-Mr. Mueller has asked the White House about specific meetings, who attended them and whether there are any notes, transcripts or documents about them, two of the people said. Among the matters Mr. Mueller wants to ask the officials about is President Trump’s decision in May to fire the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, the two people said.
-That line of questioning will be important as Mr. Mueller continues to investigate whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice in the dismissal of Mr. Comey.
7am – B/C Trump faulted for not explicitly rebuking white supremacists (WJLA)
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump is drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists in the aftermath of violent clashes in Virginia, with lawmakers saying he needs to take a public stand against groups that espouse racism and hate. Trump, while on a working vacation at his New Jersey golf club, addressed the nation Saturday soon after a car plowed into a group of anti-racist counter-protesters in Charlottesville, a college town where neo-Nazis and white nationalists had assembled for march. The president did not single out any group, instead blaming “many sides” for the violence. “Hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now,” he said. “We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and … true affection for each other.” Trump condemned “in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” He added: “It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump. Not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time.”
7am – D In CNN Interview, Bill Maher Criticizes Network’s Firing Of Jeffrey Lord (The Daily Caller) Political correctness is getting “worse every year,” and CNN’s recent firing of pro-Trump analyst Jeffrey Lord is a prime example of that trend, comedian Bill Maher said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN. “It’s getting worse. I don’t know how long I’m going to last. Really, I mean, it’s worse every year. The things that they go after people for now,” Maher told Fareed Zakaria. The HBO host was discussing the role that political correctness has played in paving the way for a Trump presidency. “What they love about him is he’s politically incorrect,” Maher said of Trump’s supporters. “Even though they know that he’s bad in a lot of ways, they would rather be on his team than those insufferable people on the left. That’s what they think.” Notably, the interview was taped before Saturday’s white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Va. One woman was killed after a 20-year-old man who was affiliated with racist groups plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters. In their interview, Zakaria asked Maher about what he said was a certain kind of “Puritanism” and censorship prevalent on the left. That’s when Maher mused about how long he can last in show business given his anti-PC posture. Maher, a liberal who is heavily critical of Trump, has been criticized from the left and right over controversial comments he’s made throughout his TV career. Conservatives have accused him of sexism for making derogatory comments about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. He’s been accused of Islamophobia for criticizing radical Islam. And earlier this year, he was skewered for using the N-word during one of his shows. Maher pointed to CNN’s decision on Thursday to fire Trump loyalist Jeffrey Lord over a tweet as an example of PC run amok. “Your colleague, I don’t agree with him, Jeffrey Lord, CNN got rid of him because he said ‘Sieg Heil’ on a tweet. It was a joke. This has got to stop, this idea of people have to go away if they’ve offended me even for one moment. How about just move on, turn the page, go to the next thing in your life,” said Maher. Maher attributed the rise of political correctness to parenting. “This idea that you cannot suffer one moment of pain, this comes I think from bad parenting,” said Maher, also asserting that there is an “alarming number of millennials who really don’t even believe in free speech.”
7am – E Trump suspects Bannon behind WH leaks: report (The Hill)
President Trump reportedly suspects that his chief strategist Stephen Bannon is behind some White House leaks about fellow staffers, according to a new report by Axios. Sources told Axios that West Wing staff believe Bannon was behind leaks about national security adviser H.R. McMaster and that Bannon’s job could be in danger. According to the report, Trump has been “irritated” with Bannon following a series of Breitbart reports targeting McMaster. Bannon was formerly the executive chairman of Breitbart. There is no clear connection, however, linking Bannon to such reports. Trump has long decried leaks of sensitive information to media, such as specifics of his Oval Office conversations with world leaders earlier this year, as well as details surrounding the palace intrigue around the White House. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a government-wide crackdown on leakers on Friday, including a review of Justice Department policies on subpoenas for media outlets that publish such sensitive information. Many also expect that chief of staff John Kelly will help crack down on leaks. White House aide Sebastian Gorka sent a warning to West Wing staff last week about leaking information, saying not to mess with Kelly. “This is John F. Kelly. This is a man you do not toy with,” Gorka said during an appearance on “Fox and Friends.” “He will get to the bottom of the leaks,” Gorka added at the time.
8am – A INTERVIEW – DIAMOND AND SILK – YouTube sensations and President Trump supporters
TOPICS: Their thoughts on Charlottesville and also how YouTube is going after Diamond and Silk
-YouTube CRACKS DOWN on Diamond and Silk => Demonetizes 95% of Their Videos ‘For Supporting Trump’
-Pro-Trump personalities Diamond and Silk took to Twitter Thursday, accusing Google-owned YouTube of demonetizing 95 percent of their videos. The pair believes YouTube’s decision was driven by their support for President Trump.
-The popular duo has 89,000 subscribers on YouTube and another 361,000 on Twitter.
8am – B/C INTERVIEW – U.S. REP. TOM GARRETT (R-VA05) – the United States Representative for Virginia’s 5th congressional district
TOPIC: thoughts on the events in Charlottesville
-In the wake of the violent clashes at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., that left three dead and more than a dozen injured, a Virginia congressman said Sunday he is “afraid” about the future of the nation.
-On Saturday, a Dodge Challenger rammed into a group of counter-protesters, killing a 32-year-old woman—identified as Heather Heyer—as she was crossing the street. Just hours later, two state police officers died in a helicopter crash. Law enforcement officials said the officers were “assisting public safety resources with the ongoing situation in Charlottesville,” at the time of the accident.
-The rally, called “Unite the Right,” was initiated by members of white nationalist, Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Earlier this year, the city voted to remove it from Emancipation Park, but it remains in place until a judge rules on the matter later this month. Protesters said the demonstration, which the Southern Poverty Law Center said could be the “largest hate-gathering of its kind in decades in the United States,” was created to “take America back.”
-President Trump denounced the events in Charlottesville during a brief speech in New Jersey on Saturday.
8am – D INTERVIEW – DANA LOESCH – NRA spokeswoman and radio host
TOPICS: Discuss Congresswoman KATHLEEN RICE calling NRA and DANA LOESCH “domestic security threats” and also get her take on CHARLOTTESVILLE
-A Democratic congresswoman from New York called the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its spokeswoman “domestic security threats” in a tweet Thursday night.
-Rep. Kathleen Rice claimed Dana Loesch, a prominent figure in the NRA, and the organization itself were becoming growing threats under President Donald Trump that could no longer be ignored.
-Loesch responded to the tweets, asking Rice for further explanation as to how she and other NRA members are security threats.
8am – E Trump faulted for not explicitly rebuking white supremacists (WJLA)
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump is drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists in the aftermath of violent clashes in Virginia, with lawmakers saying he needs to take a public stand against groups that espouse racism and hate. Trump, while on a working vacation at his New Jersey golf club, addressed the nation Saturday soon after a car plowed into a group of anti-racist counter-protesters in Charlottesville, a college town where neo-Nazis and white nationalists had assembled for march. The president did not single out any group, instead blaming “many sides” for the violence. “Hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now,” he said. “We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and … true affection for each other.” Trump condemned “in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” He added: “It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump. Not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time.”
