Ben Shapiro, Cal Thomas, Grover Norquist, Apple Insider’s Mike Wuerthele and Brian Fung joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C   White House: Border wall funding doesn’t have to be tied to DACA legislation. (The Hill) — White House legislative affairs director Marc Short told reporters on Tuesday that President Trump would not demand that border wall funding is tied to a legislative replacement for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  Speaking at a roundtable event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, Short said the administration didn’t want to “bind” itself by making a demand that would likely be a nonstarter for many lawmakers. “We’re interested in getting border security and the president has made the commitment to the American people that a barrier is important to that security,” Short said. “Whether or not that is part of a DACA equation, or … another legislative vehicle, I don’t want to bind us into a construct that would make the conclusion on DACA impossible.”

5am – D         LEGAL NEWS:

• JUDGE REOPENS INVESTIGATION IN TO HILLARY’S LAWYERS: A Circuit Court judge in Maryland has ordered the state bar to open investigations into three lawyers who allegedly deleted thousands of Hillary Clinton’s emails. Overruling lawyers representing the state, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul F. Harris Jr. said the complaints lodged against top Clinton lawyers David E. Kendall, Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson could not be dismissed as frivolous. “There are allegations of destroying evidence,” Judge Harris said at a hearing on Monday. He said that investigations must be conducted if the allegations have merit.
• WHAT ABOUT BENGHAZI? JURY SELECTION BEGINS FOR BENGHAZI TRIAL: Five years after Benghazi attacks, search for jury starts for terrorism trial in D.C. Five years after lethal attacks in Benghazi on U.S. diplomatic and intelligence facilities, potential jurors arrived Tuesday in federal court in Washington in preparation for the terrorism trial of the accused leader of the assaults in Libya. Potential jurors answered 28 pages of questions that plumbed their views on issues that have confronted and roiled the country for more than a decade. The 130 questions extended beyond routine vetting queries about employment, education and previous jury experience to ask about views on whether the U.S. government acts fairly toward mostly Muslim countries and aggressively enough to fight terrorism. The questionnaire that individuals filled out privately also asked how concerned they are about a terrorist attack where they live or work, whether they think Islam endorses violence, about their religious affiliations and whether any Islamic or Muslim cultural practices are offensive to them, such as the wearing of headscarves by women.
• Supreme Court: Trump admin can keep travel ban on most refugees. Washington (CNN) The Supreme Court granted Tuesday a Trump administration request to continue to bar most refugees under its travel ban. Without comment, the court blocked a federal appeals court ruling from last week that would have exempted refugees who have a contractual commitment from resettlement organizations from the travel ban while the justices consider its legality. The ruling could impact roughly 24,000 people.
• HUCKABEE SANDERS SAYS THE DOJ SHOULD LOOK AT COMEY: “Would the president encourage the DOJ to prosecute Comey?” Sanders was asked in Tuesday’s White House press briefing. “That’s not the president’s role. That’s the job of the Department of Justice, and certainly something they should look at,” said Sanders. “I think if there’s ever a moment where we feel someone’s broken the law, particularly if they’re the head of the FBI, I think that’s certainly something that should be looked at.”

5am – E         Hogan directs Frosh to sue FAA over flight patterns at BWI, other airports. Gov. Larry Hogan has asked the state attorney general to sue the Federal Aviation Administration over new flight patterns at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, siding with residents who say their neighborhoods have been harmed by increased noise. In a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Brian Frosh, Hogan wrote that he wants the attorney general to sue the FAA and Administrator Michael Huerta, over the implementation of the Next Generation Airport System at BWI and Reagan National Airport.  The $35 billion system was implemented at airports across the nation as an attempt to cut down on delays and carbon emissions but has been the target of complaints that the new flight paths cause planes to fly too low to the ground near residential neighborhoods. “We have heard from countless Marylanders, including many community leaders and elected officials, about this continuing problem,” Hogan wrote. “This program has made many Maryland families miserable in their own homes with louder and more frequent flights which now rattle windows and doors.” “As elected leaders of this state, we cannot allow this situation to stand,” he added.

6am – A         HILLARY’S insufferable book tour started Tuesday:

• VIDEO: She got some tough questions at a book signing
• Trump will not be reading Hillary Clinton’s new book. Spokeswoman: “He’s well versed in what happened”
• Sarah Sanders on Hillary Clinton’s book tour: “It’s sad”
• On Martha McCallum’s Show: Dave Bossie: When John McCain lost, no book! Mitt Romney, no book… it’s great she’s still the face of the Democratic party.”
• Defiant Hillary To Dems: ‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’ (Daily Caller) – Former secretary of state and twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has a message for Democrats who want her to fade into the background: she’s not going anywhere. Clinton made that clear in an interview promoting her book with NPR’s Rachel Martin, who asked Clinton if she has “reconciled that, that people might not want you around as the party steps forward?” “Well, they don’t have to buy my book, and they can turn off the radio when they hear me talking. I’m not going anywhere,” Clinton said.

6am – B         Apple unveils iPhone X at 10th anniversary event

Ten years after introducing the world to the iPhone, Apple is giving its signature product an overhaul.

• Apple iPhone X: CEO Tim Cook says the iPhone X is the “future of the smartphone” and will set the path for technology for the next decade.  The iPhone X will start at $999 for a 64 GB model and will be available November 3. The 256 GB model is $1,149.  It features what they’re calling Super Retina Display and is “all screen.” iPhone X will also feature Face ID, which allows you to unlock your phone just by looking at it. But what about security? Apple claims the chance that a random person would be able to open your phone via FaceID is 1 in 1,000,000.  As expected, Apple is also ditching the home button on this model.  Part of the iPhone X unveil included the addition of AniMoji, which are animated emojis. Camera-wise the iPhone X has all the same features as the 8 plus but it ads OIS to the telephoto camera. The battery will also last two more hours than the iPhone 7
• Apple iPhone 8: Apple has unveiled its new generation of iPhone, the 8 and the 8 Plus. To start it’ll be available in three colors: silver, space gray, and gold.  “It’s truly amazing how amazing how much iPhone impacts the world each and every day,” CEO Tim Cook explained. During the big unveil, Apple said its new chip is the “most powerful and smartest” ever.  The iPhone 8 will feature a 12 megapixel camera, while the 8 plus will include 12 megapixel dual cameras. Apple says it’ll also feature the highest-quality video capture ever in a smartphone

6am – C         Tattoo ink contaminants can end up in lymph nodes, study finds. (The Guardian) – Particles of colour, which can be tainted with toxic impurities, can make their way to key immune system sites, researchers say. Microscopic particles from tattoo ink can migrate into the body and wind up in lymph nodes, crucial hubs of the human immune system, a new study has revealed. The tiny particles – measuring a few millionths to a few billionths of a centimetre – include molecules from preservatives and contaminants such as nickel, chromium, manganese and cobalt, researchers reported in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports. Tattoo colouring is composed of various organic and inorganic pigments, and can be contaminated with toxic impurities. Besides carbon black, the second-most common ingredient used in tattoo inks is titanium dioxide, a white pigment also used in food additives, sunscreens and paints. The chemical has been associated with delayed healing, itching and skin irritation.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist

TOPICS:

• Trump’s tax push: Trump Woos Democrats on Tax Overhaul at White House Dinner. Trump may visit up to 13 states in aggressive public push on tax reform.
• Hillary’s insufferable book tour
• DACA/border wall: White House: Border wall funding doesn’t have to be tied to DACA legislation.

6am – E         Cruz says aide inadvertently caused his porn Twitter post. WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Ted Cruz says an aide was responsible for the “like” that caused a pornographic post to briefly appear on Cruz’s Twitter feed overnight. The Texas Republican and 2016 presidential candidate said Tuesday that several aides have access to the account and that one inadvertently posted the pornography. Cruz told reporters that “it was a staffing issue and it was inadvertent. It was a mistake. It was not a deliberate action.” “Liking” — which only people with access to a Twitter account are able to do — causes it to appear on one’s feed. Cruz sought to make light of the episode, which gained widespread notice on the popular social media site. “This is not how I envisioned waking up this morning,” Cruz said. “Although I will say that if I had known that this would trend so quickly, perhaps we should have posted something like this back during the Indiana primary.”

6am – F         Bannon to appear at Berkeley ‘Free Speech Week’ with Yiannopoulos, Coulter. Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon will join conservative firebrands Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter and more than a dozen speakers at “Free Speech Week” on the University of California, Berkeley campus later this month. The four-day event, starting Sept. 24, is likely to draw huge protests and ample media attention. It is being organized by a conservative group called The Berkeley Patriot. “Mr. Bannon will deliver short remarks on the final day of Free Speech Week,” reads a Tuesday press release. UC-Berkeley was the scene of violent protests earlier this year.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – GROVER NORQUIST – President, Americans for Tax Reform

TOPIC: Trump’s tax push

• Trump Woos Democrats on Tax Overhaul at White House Dinner.
• Trump may visit up to 13 states in aggressive public push on tax reform
• Ivanka Trump teams with Grover Norquist, faith and family leaders to boost tax-reform efforts
• Grover went to Burning Man this year

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – BRIAN FUNG -Technology reporter for The Washington Post discussed Apple’s big reveal of products.

7am – D/E     College Park, Maryland will allow non-citizens to vote in local elections. College Park, Md. voted to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections Tuesday night. After several votes, the council eventually voted 4-3 to allow legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrants to take part in upcoming municipal elections. One council member did not vote. Initially, the city council of the Washington, D.C., suburb voted 4-4 on the first measure, a nonbinding referendum, sending the deciding vote to Mayor Patrick Wojahn, who voted against it. The council then took up the idea of voting for permanent residents, which would have excluded undocumented immigrants. The amendment also received a 4-4 vote and a tie-breaking “no” vote from the mayor. The council then voted on allowing all non-citizens to vote, which passed. The measure was supposed to be voted on in August, but was delayed after threats were made to members.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – BEN SHAPIRO – Editor In Chief of The Daily Wire, syndicated columnist and soon to be speaker at Berkeley this Thursday

• Berkeley braces for right-wing talk show host Ben Shapiro’s visit. (LA Times) — Girding itself for a visit from another polarizing political figure and the possibility of more violent protests, UC Berkeley is tightening campus security. In a message sent earlier this week, Provost Paul Alivisatos said the university was taking precautions in advance of the Sept. 14 visit by conservative political commentator and former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro. There will be a “closed perimeter” around the building where Shapiro is scheduled to speak, and an “increased and highly visible police presence.” The university also is offering counseling to students and faculty worried about the event, which is being held at the invitation of the Berkeley College Republicans.
• Berkeley Agitators Say Orthodox Jew Ben Shapiro Is A ‘White Supremacist’ Left-wing agitators have falsely labeled conservative commentator Ben Shapiro a “white supremacist,” in an apparent attempt to inflame tensions ahead of Shapiro’s speech at the University of California, Berkeley on Thursday. Shapiro, the editor in chief of The Daily Wire, is an Orthodox Jew and a vocal opponent of the alt-right and other fringe white nationalist groups. Nevertheless, Refuse Fascism, a group that has previously organized violent demonstrations in Berkeley, labeled Shapiro a “fascist thug” and “white supremacist” over the weekend. “Fascist thug [and] white supremacist Ben Shapiro is coming to UC Berkeley — The issue is not ‘Free Speech,’” the group wrote in a Facebook post. “The Issue is Fascism.”

8am – B         Hurricane Telethon Gets Political Right At The Start  (Daily Caller)

Singer Stevie Wonder kicked off Tuesday’s star studded Hand In Hand telethon to raise money for hurricane recovery by getting political. Wonder started the show by saying, “Anyone who believes that there’s no such thing as global warming must be blind or unintelligent.” The Hand In Hand telethon was run on every broadcast network to benefit victims of hurricanes Harvey, which devastated the Houston area, and Irma, which slammed Florida over the weekend. The event mirrors past telethons for natural disasters. The 2005 telethon to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina became known for Kanye West’s infamous anti-President George W. Bush comments. “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” West said as a stunned Mike Meyers looked on. In addition to musical performances, celebrities took phone calls during Tuesday’s telethon from people making pledges to help those in need. Celebrities participating in the Hand In Hand fundraiser include Wonder, Justin Timberlake, Oprah Winfree, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid, Adam Sandler, Terry Crews, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gwen Stefani, Ray Romano, Bryan Cranston, Beyoncé, and many more. It was broadcast from New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville and was organized by Comic Relief.

8am – C         WHITE HOUSE NEWS: HOPE HICKS AND MERCEDES SCHLAPP NOW OFFICIAL ON THE COMMS TEAM

• HICKS NAMED WH COMM DIRECTOR: Washington (CNN) Hope Hicks, who was named interim White House communications director in August, will now hold the job on a permanent basis, a White House spokesperson told CNN Tuesday. Hicks, a longtime aide to President Donald Trump who was one of the first staffers to join Trump’s 2016 campaign, became the interim communications director after Anthony Scaramucci, the colorful and controversial Trump aide, was ousted from the job in July. Bloomberg earlier reported the development. Hicks’ relationship with Trump began while she was working for Hiltzik Strategies, a New York public relations firm founded by Matthew Hiltzik, a longtime Hillary Clinton supporter. She went on to leave the firm to work for the Trump Organization on several projects, including Ivanka Trump’s fashion line.
• Mercedes Schlapp joins White House as senior communications adviser. Conservative commentator Mercedes Schlapp is joining the White House as President Trump’s senior adviser for strategic communications.  The Hill reported last week that Schlapp, a prominent GOP consultant, was expected to join Trump’s White House, but it was unclear what role she would take.  The White House announced her appointment on Tuesday. Hope Hicks, a longtime Trump aide who had been serving as interim White House communications director, was also appointed to permanently fill that post. Schlapp is the wife of Matt Schlapp, another GOP consultant and the chairman of the American Conservative Union, the organization behind the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – MIKE WUERTHELE of AppleInsider.com- new Apple products / new iphones revealed – discussed Apple’s new product lauch.

• APPLE NEWS: It’s pronounced “ten,” not “X.” Here are 10 things you need to know about the iPhone X. Apple is betting its future on a $1,000 phone. On Tuesday, Apple (AAPL, Tech30) unveiled new smartwatches, an Apple TV and the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus at a press event. But the showstopper was a premium device called iPhone X, with a starting price that would have once seemed laughable for a phone: $999. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, framed the device as being nothing short of “the future of the smartphone.” “The first iPhone revolutionized a decade of technology and changed the world in the process,” Cook said on stage. “Now, ten years later, it is only fitting that we are here in this place on this day to reveal a product that will set the path for technology for the next decade.”

8am – E         Sorry, Taken fans — Liam Neeson says his action hero days are over: “Guys, I’m sixty-f***ing five” (ET) — Despite a big-screen pedigree that includes such critically acclaimed films as “Schindler’s List” and “Love Actually”, Liam Neeson will forever be associated with “a particular set of skills” honed by his character in “Taken” and its two sequels. Yet according to the Irish actor in an interview with Associated Press during TIFF, he believes his big-screen action hero days are behind him — because he’s too old. “The thrillers, that was all a pure accident,” said Neeson of becoming Hollywood’s most reluctant action hero thanks to the “Taken” movies raking in close to a billion dollars at the box office. “They’re still throwing serious money at me to do that stuff. I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m sixty-f***ing-five.’ Audiences are eventually going to go, ‘Come on.’” However, Neeson has two more “Taken”-like revenge thrillers in the can: “Hard Powder”, in which he plays a snowplow driver who tussles with drug dealers, and “The Commuter”, starring as a businessman who becomes caught up in a  criminal conspiracy while commuting to the office. After these are released, Neeson promises, he’s done with action movies. “I’ve shot one that’s going to come out in January sometime. There might be another. That’s it,” said Neeson. “But not ‘Taken,’ none of that franchise stuff.”