Cal Thomas, Tom Bevan, James Carafano, Sarah Westwood, Larry Kudlow and guest host Emily Miller joined us on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Hosts: Vince Coglianese and Emily Miller

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B     Under Armour CEO adds his name to those leaving Trump’s manufacturing council. 3 CEOs have now quit White House posts in protest of Trump’s Charlottesville response. Three CEOs have resigned from Donald Trump’s manufacturing advisory council to register their disapproval of the president’s weak initial response to last weekend’s violent white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and Intel CEO Brian Krzacnich both announced their decisions in separate statements Monday night, following in the footsteps of Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier that morning. Several other corporate leaders have joined Frazier in speaking out  about the hate and bigotry of last weekend’s violent white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville. But most other council members stopped short of actually quitting or even criticizing the president directly.

5am – C         Hillary Using $800K In Campaign Funds For New Political Group. (Daily Caller) — Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton transferred just under a million dollars from her failed 2016 presidential campaign to her new political group, FEC filings show. Hillary for America transferred $800,000 to Onward Together on May 1 — two weeks before Clinton even announced that she was launching the organization. The day after her campaign transferred the donor money to her new political organization, Clinton claimed she was now “part of the resistance” against President Trump. As a 501(c)4 “social welfare” organization, Onward Together is not required to disclose the identity of its donors.  The only reason the donation became public is because Clinton’s campaign is required to document its spending in FEC fillings. The Washington Free Beacon first pointed out the sizable funding move late Monday afternoon.

5am – D         NORTH KOREA:

• Kim Jong Un Backs Down In Nuclear Showdown With Trump. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un decided Tuesday not to fire ballistic missiles at Guam, reserving the right to change his mind if “the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions,” according to North Korean state media. Kim appears to be attempting to de-escalate tensions to prevent conflict between the U.S. and North Korea. After the U.N. Security Council approved tougher sanctions against North Korea for its intercontinental ballistic missile tests, the North warned Wednesday that it was considering launching a salvo of ballistic missiles into waters around Guam in a show of force demonstrating an ability to surround the island with “enveloping fire.” That same day, President Donald Trump stressed that North Korean threats will be met with “fire and fury like nothing the world has ever seen.” For a week, the two sides hurled threats and warnings at each other repeatedly, leading some observers to conclude that the two sides were close to nuclear war. While lowering his sword, the young North Korean dictator stressed that he may still carry out his plan if the U.S. does not change its approach to his country. Kim stated “that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared, warning the U.S. that it should think reasonably and judge properly not to suffer shame that it is hit by the DPRK.”
• Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters Monday that the U.S. military will shoot down North Korea’s missiles if they fire on U.S. territory.

5am – E         Alabama Special Election: Polls are open across Alabama today as voters are casting ballots in party primary elections for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by now Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

• Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump: Luther Strange of the Great State of Alabama has my endorsement. He is strong on Border & Wall, the military, tax cuts & law enforcement.
• What to know about the Alabama special election for Jeff Sessions’ Senate seat (ABC News) — Next week, Alabama voters will head to the polls for a primary election for the Senate seat previously occupied by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Seven candidates are running for the Democratic nomination, though it’s the Republican primary that has gained national prominence.
• Republican Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the post temporarily, is seeking to fight off challengers that include former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks. President Donald Trump has endorsed Strange and recorded automatic phone calls on his behalf.
• Why the seat is open: The Senate seat was previously held by Alabama native Jeff Sessions, who served as senator for 20 years before his nomination by President Trump to serve as attorney general. Following Sessions’ confirmation in February, then-Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley appointed the state’s attorney general, Luther Strange, to temporarily fill Sessions’ Senate seat until the general election. Bentley later resigned after allegations that he used state resources as governor to hide an affair with one of his top aides. Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey replaced Bentley as governor following the resignation, and called for a special election in April.
• Who is running: Among the nine Republicans running for the vacant seat, three are flagged as main contenders: incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, former judge Roy Moore and Mo Brooks, representative for Alabama’s 5th congressional district.   Strange officially stated his candidacy for Sessions’ seat on Dec. 6, just 18 days after Trump announced he would be picking Sessions for attorney general. Strange was appointed in February to temporarily fill the seat left by Sessions. Previously, Strange served as the attorney general for Alabama. After winning the Republican primary, he lost the race for lieutenant governor in 2006. On Tuesday, Strange was endorsed by Trump, who tweeted that Strange “has done a great job representing the people of the Great State of Alabama,” adding, “He has my complete and total endorsement!”

6am – A         TRUMP CONDEMNS WHITE SUPREMACISTS (AUDIO)

• MARK WARNER CALLS TRUMP ‘PRESIDENTIAL’ AFTER STATEMENT (AUDIO)
• MOTHER OF CHARLOTTESVILLE VICTIM THANKS TRUMP FOR MONDAY STATEMENT
• MEDIA: TRUMP’S DENOUNCMENT ‘INSUFFICIENT’
• TRUMP: MEDIA NEVER SATISFIED! TRULY BAD PEOPLE…
• NAVARRO: TRUMP ‘UNFIT TO BE A HUMAN’ (AUDIO)
• CELEBS SLAM TRUMP AFTER HE CONDEMNS HATE GROUPS
• CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE CHIEF DEFENDS POLICING DURING RIOT
• DEM STRATEGIST QUESTIONS TRUMP SUPPORTER’S BLACKNESS (AUDIO)
• LEFT-WING AGITATORS CALL FOR ESCALATED TACTICS AFTER CHARLOTTESVILLE

6am – B         Bannon

• MOOCH ON COLBERT: Colbert also talked to Scaramucci about Steve Bannon, asking if the White House chief strategist would be gone in a week. “That’s up to the president,” Scaramucci said. “Yeah, but what does ‘The Mooch’ think?” Colbert responded. “If it was up to me, he would be gone,” he said. “But it’s not up to me.”
• Politico: Priebus at one point also warned Bannon. “You’ve got to get people to stop writing this sh*t because people know it’s you,” the senior administration official said.
• Breitbart’s war on McMaster bites Bannon. (Politico) — The chief White House strategist is increasingly isolated in the West Wing as new chief of staff John Kelly tries to clamp down on negative news stories. Trump’s chief strategist has been suspected in the past of orchestrating stories against his colleagues in Breitbart, which he ran before joining Trump’s campaign last August. Kelly has told West Wing staff that he won’t tolerate the infighting or anonymous comments to the press that characterized the tenure of Kelly’s predecessor Reince Priebus.

6am – C         Jury says Taylor Swift was groped by radio DJ, awards her a symbolic $1 settlement. A Denver jury decided on Monday that a country radio DJ did grope Taylor Swift before her concert in 2013, awarding the pop star a symbolic $1 after a week-long trial. Two years ago, former KYGO radio host David Mueller sued Swift, claiming he was fired after the singer and her team accused him of lifting her dress and touching her buttocks during a meet-and-greet photo backstage at the Pepsi Arena. Mueller denied doing anything inappropriate and sought up to $3 million in damages. Swift then countersued for assault and battery, and asked for $1 in damages — demonstrating that her lawsuit was not about money, and as her attorney said during closing arguments on Monday, represents the fact that “no means no, and it tells every woman that they will determine what is tolerable to their body.”

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – syndicated columnist – discussed his thoughts on Charlottesville and his meeting with Bush 41.

6am – E         Laura Ingraham In Line For Fox News Channel Slot: Report. (Deadline) — Laura Ingraham is in line for a Fox News Channel primetime slot Matt Drudge has suggested via Twitter. The morning radio host/Donald Trump supporter has served as a fill-in host and contributor at the cable news network, so the move makes sense as the network mulls life sans Eric Bolling, who is suspended pending an investigation into claims he sent unsolicited photo of male genitalia to several woman at the network. Bolling has denied the accusations. Drudge posted a picture of Ingraham on Twitter with a caption “FALL PREVIEW: Laura Ingraham’s prime time to shine!”

Laura Ingraham is in line for a talk show on Fox News. (CNN) — Longtime Fox News contributor and fill-in host Laura Ingraham is in line for her own show on the channel, possibly in a key prime time hour. On Monday a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN that there are talks underway between Ingraham and Fox executives, but no decisions have been finalized. The addition of an Ingraham talk show could be part of a bigger-picture reshuffling of Fox News Channel’s highly rated schedule. A Fox spokeswoman declined to comment and Ingraham did not respond to a request for comment. Ingraham has been a paid contributor to Fox News since 2007. The show that’s been discussed would be a big promotion.

6am – F         Venezuela:

• Pence Says Venezuela’s Collapse Would Threaten US National Security. (Daily Caller) — Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that the Trump administration would seek to use all diplomatic and economic tools at its disposal to ease the crisis in Venezuela, arguing that Americans would be threatened if the state collapses. Speaking in Cartagena, Colombia, Pence said that the U.S. will continue to apply pressure on the regime of socialist President Nicolas Maduro “until we see democracy restored” in Venezuela, Reuters reports. “President [Donald] Trump has made it very clear that we will not stand by while Venezuela collapses into dictatorship,” he told reporters. “A failed state in Venezuela threatens the security and prosperity of our entire hemisphere and the people of the United States of America.”
• Venezuelan leader may have launched Rubio assassination plot. (Politico) — As Marco Rubio helped ratchet up U.S. pressure on Venezuela, a top politician believed to control that country’s security forces began actively discussing a plot to kill the Florida senator last month and may have wanted to use Mexican nationals for the assassination plot, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo sent to state and local law enforcement. The alleged threats from the Venezuelan politician, Diosdado Cabello Rondon, were not specific and weren’t corroborated by enough sources to merit a detailed explanation, according to the memo, but the situation was worrying enough to prompt Capitol Police and law enforcement in Miami-Dade County to provide security for Rubio.  The Miami Herald first reported details of the memo Sunday. Despite the potential threat, Rubio has continued to speak out against Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, has pushed for more sanctions and even engaged in a brief Twitter exchange with Cabello Rondon last week when the senator accused the Venezuelan official of involvement in drug trafficking, which Cabello Rondon has denied. “In some unspecified manner, CABELLO RONDON’s problems involved U.S. Senator Marco Rubio,” said the memo, obtained by POLITICO, which is not releasing information that could endanger Rubio, his family or confidential law enforcement methods or sources. The memo said that Cabello Rondon may even have discussed raising the money to kill Rubio or deal with the “problems” facing Venezuela’s ruling regime. “CABELLO RONDON did indeed issue an order … to have Senator Rubio assassinated,” the memo said. “Additionally, CABELLO RONDON was communicating with unspecified Mexican nationals in furtherance of the matter.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW – TOM BEVAN – the Co-Founder & Publisher of RealClearPolitics

• Alabama Special Election: Polls are open across Alabama today as voters are casting ballots in party primary elections for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by now Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

• Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump: Luther Strange of the Great State of Alabama has my endorsement. He is strong on Border & Wall, the military, tax cuts & law enforcement.
• ‘Kid Rock’ May Be Ineligible for Michigan Ballot. Robert Ritchie may end up challenging Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in Michigan next year, but his stage name, Kid Rock, may not be allowed to appear on the ballot. If Ritchie were to submit enough valid signatures to make the ballot and indicate that he wanted to be listed as “Kid Rock,” the Michigan Bureau of Elections staff would have to research the question of whether that name would be allowed. At an initial glance, Ritchie’s stage name isn’t an obviously acceptable one under the state’s criteria. According to Michigan law via the “Affidavit of Identity and Receipt of Filing,” there are five stipulations regarding the manner in which a candidate can have his or her name printed on the ballot.  For example, a candidate “may specify that both his or her given name and middle name, or only a middle name, shall appear on the ballot,” or “may specify a name that constitutes a common law name in accordance with the Michigan Department of State Guidelines.” But according to the rules, candidates may not use a “nickname that is not a recognized diminutive of the candidate’s given name.”

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – JAMES CARAFANO – Vice President for National Security and Foreign Policy, The Heritage Foundation – discussed the latest news on North Korea.

• Kim Jong Un Backs Down In Nuclear Showdown With Trump.
• Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters Monday that the U.S. military will shoot down North Korea’s missiles if they fire on U.S. territory.

7am – D         Confederate Statue Controversies:

• Confederate monument in Baltimore drenched with red paint. Someone poured red paint over a Confederate monument in Bolton Hill, defacing the 114-year-old statue during a weekend in which violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Baltimore police had not received reports of the vandalism, a spokesman said Monday afternoon. But red paint had drenched the statue of a dying Confederate soldier embraced by a winged figure of Glory. The soldier grips a Confederate battle flag, also smeared with red paint.
• Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh contacts contractors about removing Confederate monuments in Baltimore (Baltimore Sun) — Mayor Catherine Pugh pledged to Monday take down Confederate-era monuments in Baltimore — and said she has asked contractors for estimates on how much it will cost. “It’s my intention to move forward with the removal of the statues,” the mayor said. She said she planned to look into moving them outside the city, suggesting Confederate cemeteries as one possibility. The mayor’s pledge comes as cities and states across the country are considering removing monuments to the Confederacy after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned deadly over the weekend.  Statues in Lexington, Ky., and Gainesville, Fla., were targeted Monday for removal, while Maryland House Speaker Michael E. Busch called for the removal of a statue on the State House grounds in Annapolis. But Pugh’s pledge to remove the monuments wasn’t enough for some members of the Baltimore City Council, who said statues recognizing Confederate leaders should be destroyed, not moved. “These people were terrorists. They were traitors. Why are we honoring them?” said City Councilman Brandon Scott.
• Protesters tear down Confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina. DURHAM, N.C. — Protesters in North Carolina have toppled a statue of a Confederate soldier during a rally against racism following violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend, CBS affiliate WNCN-TV in Raleigh reports. A female protester in Durham climbed the statue on a ladder around 7 p.m. Monday. She attached a rope around the statue, and the crowd pulled it to the ground.  The Confederate statue was dedicated to Durham back in 1942. Engraved on the front of the monument reads: “The Confederate States of America.” One man quickly ran up to spit on the statue. Several others began kicking it. Protesters continued marching, while some posed with the broken statue. Durham police said they monitored the protests to make sure they were “safe” but did not interfere with the statue toppling because it happened on county property.

7am – E         Musk: Artificial intelligence safety carries ‘more risk’ than North Korea. (USA Today) — According to Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, concerns over artificial intelligence safety carry “more risk” than the potential for a nuclear war with North Korea. Musk made the remark on Twitter on August 11, with a poster reading “In the end the machines will win.” “If you’re not concerned about AI safety, you should be,” Musk wrote. “Vastly more risk than North Korea.” Musk’s comments followed a demonstration by OpenAI, a non-profit artificial intelligence research company sponsored by the entrepreneur, of its latest bot.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – SARAH WESTWOOD – White House reporter for the Washington Examiner

• TOPICS: latest White House news:
• Trump Condemns Hate Groups, Calls Racism ‘Evil’ Days After Charlottesville Violence
• Trump advisers signal the knives are out for Bannon

8am – B         President Donald Trump rejected CNN’s Jim Acosta’s request to answer questions following an event at the White House, calling CNN “fake news.”

8am – C         ‘New York hates you’: Protesters greet the president at Trump Tower. (Washington Post) – When President Trump returned to his hometown of New York City on Monday night, he received anything but a warm welcome. Trump was returning to his eponymous tower for the first time since being inaugurated. Protesters gathered in the shadow of Trump Tower on Monday evening, filling the sidewalk for several blocks and forming a gauntlet of signs and chants that ran several blocks down Fifth Avenue. Various organizers and a popular Facebook event had called for people to gather at Trump Tower starting at 5:30 p.m., and law enforcement was ready. Protesters were kept to the sidewalks with metal barricades, and the numbers gradually swelled as the evening progressed. For hours, protesters chanted “New York hates you!” and “Shame, shame, shame!”

Donald J. Trump‏  @realDonaldTrump 9h9 hours ago: Feels good to be home after seven months, but the White House is very special, there is no place like it… and the U.S. is really my home!

8am – D         INTERVIEW – LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm and author of “JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity”

• Trump Signs Order Increasing Trade Pressure on China. WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump took a step Monday in his effort to ramp up trade pressure on China, directing aides to explore the prospect of sanctioning Beijing for the “unfair” acquisition of American high technology.

8am – E         SOLAR ECLIPSE:

• School district: No outdoor recess during eclipse. MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania school district says children won’t be let outside for recess during the Aug. 21 solar eclipse because of the potential harm to students who look at the sun. The Cumberland Valley School District sent a letter to parents Monday saying the decision was made after consulting the district’s physician. The letter says district officials recognize that the opportunity to view an eclipse is rare, but the safety of students is more important. NASA officials recommend viewing the eclipse through specially-made glasses to prevent eye damage. Central Pennsylvania will see a partial eclipse next Monday sometime between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
• Can you really go blind staring at an eclipse? Tips for safe viewing.  (CNN) On August 21, the moon’s shadow will block the sun from view in a total solar eclipse. What happens if you ignore the warnings? Your face won’t melt off, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”-style, but your eyes could be severely damaged. And, yes, you could go blind. Looking directly at the powerful brightness of the sun can cause damage to the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye. “When you look directly at the sun, the intensity of the light and the focus of the light is so great on the retina that it can cook it,” said Dr. Christopher Quinn, president of the American Optometric Association. “If the exposure is great enough, that can and will lead to permanent reduction in vision and even blindness.” The retina may translate light into an electrical impulse that the brain understands, but one thing it can’t translate to your brain is pain. So even if you’re excited about the eclipse and think one brief glimpse at the sun before it completely hides behind the moon is worth it — it’s not. There’s no internal trigger that is going to let you know that you’ve looked at the sun for too long. Any amount of looking at it is too long. Even the smallest amount of exposure can cause blurry vision or temporary blindness. The problem is, you won’t know whether it’s temporary.