Legal analyst Joe diGenova, Washington Post sports reporter Cindy Boren, Daily Signal’s Jarrett Stepman, Daily Mail’s Francesca Chambers and RNC’s Kayleigh McEnany joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, October 9, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C   VP PENCE WALKOUT:

• NFL Players Association hits back at Pence: We’re proud of our players who protest . (The Hill) — The NFL Players Association released a statement in support of players’ constitutional rights to “peacefully raise awareness” after Vice President Mike Pence walked out of a NFL game Sunday over players kneeling during the national anthem. “Our men and their families are also conscientious Americans who continue to be forces for good through our communities and some have decided to use their platform to peacefully raise awareness to issues that deserve attention,” the statement read. “It is a source of enormous pride that some of the best conversations about these issues have taken place in our locker rooms in a respectful, civil and thoughtful way that should serve as a model for how all of us can communicate with each other.” “We should not stifle these discussions and cannot allow our rights to become subservient to the very opinions our Constitution protects. That is what makes us the land of the free and home of the brave.”
• 49ers player rips Pence’s walk-out as a “PR stunt”: “This is what systemic oppression looks like”   (The Hill) — San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid slammed Vice President Mike Pence’s walkout during his team’s game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, calling it a “PR stunt.”
• CNN’s Brian Stelter: Pence Walkout of Colts-49ers Game ‘a Staged Moment’ >  Trump says he told Pence to leave NFL game if players kneeled. President Donald Trump says he was the one who told Vice President Mike Pence to leave the Indianapolis Colts’ game he was attending if players kneeled during the National Anthem Sunday.
• Donald J. Trump: @realDonaldTrump: I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen. 2:16 PM – Oct 8, 2017

5am – D         HARVEY WEINSTEIN

• Harvey Weinstein fired from The Weinstein Company over sexual harassment allegations.
• Attorney Lisa Bloom Resigns as Advisor to Harvey Weinstein Amid Sexual Harassment Claims. People — Attorney Lisa Bloom has resigned from her position of advising Harvey Weinstein as the the powerhouse film executive continues face backlash in the wake of the New York Times bombshell report about decades of allegations of sexual harassment made against him. “I have resigned as an advisor to Harvey Weinstein,” Bloom, 56, wrote on Twitter Saturday. “My understanding is that Mr. Weinstein and his board are moving toward an agreement.” She did not say whether she plans to continue working with Weinstein on adapting her book about Trayvon Martin into a television show, which Bloom had planned to do through his company.
• Schumer will donate Weinstein contributions to charities supporting women. Senate (The Hill) – Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is joining a growing list of Democrats who are donating their contributions from film producer Harvey Weinstein following allegations of sexual harassment. “Sen. Schumer is donating all of the contributions to several charities supporting women,” said Matt House, a spokesman for the Democratic leader. Schumer is expected to donate $14,200, the total amount he has received in contributions from Weinstein.
• Sen. Feinstein says she’ll look into returning Harvey Weinstein’s donations. (La Times) – Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on Sunday morning that she’ll consider returning or donating decades-old donations from Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, though she seemed unaware she had received them. According to federal records, Weinstein gave Feinstein $375 in 1992 and $1,000 in 1994. Feinstein was asked by Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” how she planned to respond to criticism from the California Republican Party about the donations. “I don’t know that I’ve received any. I’ll certainly take a look, and then I’ll make a decision,” the California Democrat said. “Anytime somebody does something wrong, and he’s done mighty wrong, and no one has ever questioned where I stand on any of this stuff, um, somebody comes to you and says, ‘Oh, they contributed to you, are you giving back the money?’ And you sort of look like a startled bird and say, ‘Well, let me look and see.’ And that’s the best I can do for you today.”
• Trump on Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment controversy: “I’m not at all surprised to see it”
• Don Jr. trolls silent Hillary over Harvey Weinstein. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s son is doing his part to keep the heat on Clinton. “Weird, Hillary has been really quiet about Harvey Weinstein. You would think she would be all Over this. #WhatHappened?”
• Attorney Lisa Bloom Resigns as Advisor to Harvey Weinstein Amid Sexual Harassment Claims. People — Attorney Lisa Bloom has resigned from her position of advising Harvey Weinstein as the the powerhouse film executive continues face backlash in the wake of the New York Times bombshell report about decades of allegations of sexual harassment made against him. “I have resigned as an advisor to Harvey Weinstein,” Bloom, 56, wrote on Twitter Saturday. “My understanding is that Mr. Weinstein and his board are moving toward an agreement.” She did not say whether she plans to continue working with Weinstein on adapting her book about Trayvon Martin into a television show, which Bloom had planned to do through his company.
• Harvey Weinstein fired from The Weinstein Company over sexual harassment allegations. (The Hill) —  Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been terminated from his position as co-chairman of The Weinstein Company after allegations of sexual harassment against him were revealed. “In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company — Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar — have determined, and informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,” the Weinstein Company Board of Representatives said in a statement Sunday.
• Rose McGowan slams Hollywood for ‘shaming her with silence’ over claims that Harvey Weinstein raped her (Daily Mail) — Rose McGowan once again lashed out at the Hollywood elite for remaining silent about the Harvey Weinstein Sexual Harassment Scandal just as it was announced that the 65-year-old was ousted from his own company on Sunday night. Weinstein, who has been referred to as ‘God’ by actors and actresses and has more than 300 Oscar nominations to his name, has reached at least eight settlements with women who have accused him of sexual harassment. McGowan took to Twitter to share a photo of herself in her 20’s and wrote: ‘This is the girl that was hurt by a monster. This is the girl who you are shaming with your silence.’ In October of last year, the ‘Charmed’ starlet came forward with claims saying she had been raped by an unnamed studio executive. In a tweet, she posted the hashtag #WhyWomenDontReport.’ She further explained: ‘Because my ex sold our movie to my rapist for distribution,’ followed by, ‘A (female) criminal attorney said because I’d done a sex scene in a film I would never win against the studio head.’
• Harvey Weinstein’s Media Enablers’? The New York Times Is One of Them. (The Wrap) — The paper had a story on mogul’s sexual misconduct back in 2004 — but gutted it under pressure. A whole lot of fur has been flying since last Thursday, when The New York Times published a game-changing investigative story about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct that in lightning speed brought the mogul to his knees. He apologized and took an immediate leave of absence from the company he co-founded, but that wasn’t enough. His board members and legal advisers have been resigning en masse. And as new, ugly details emerge of three decades of settlements for sex-related offenses, he’s quickly becoming a national pariah… I simply gagged when I read Jim Rutenberg’s sanctimonious piece on Saturday about the “media enablers” who kept this story from the public for decades. “Until now,” he puffed, “no journalistic outfit had been able, or perhaps willing, to nail the details and hit publish.” That’s right, Jim. No one — including The New York Times. In 2004, I was still a fairly new reporter at The New York Times when I got the green light to look into oft-repeated allegations of sexual misconduct by Weinstein. It was believed that many occurred in Europe during festivals and other business trips there. At the time, he denied that he was on the payroll to help Weinstein with favors. From the story: “Reached in Italy, Mr. Lombardo declined to comment on the circumstances of his leaving Miramax or Ricucci, saying they were legal matters being handled by lawyers. ‘I am very proud of what we achieved at Miramax here in Italy,’ he said of his work for the film company. ‘It cannot be that they hired me because I’m a friend.’” I also tracked down a woman in London who had been paid off after an unwanted sexual encounter with Weinstein. She was terrified to speak because of her non-disclosure agreement, but at least we had evidence of a pay-off. The story I reported never ran. After intense pressure from Weinstein, which included having Matt Damon and Russell Crowe call me directly to vouch for Lombardo and unknown discussions well above my head at the Times, the story was gutted. I was told at the time that Weinstein had visited the newsroom in person to make his displeasure known. I knew he was a major advertiser in the Times, and that he was a powerful person overall. But I had the facts, and this was the Times. Right?
• Harvey Weinstein pleasured himself to cornered female journalist: Report. A female New York City TV journalist was cornered by Harvey Weinstein in the hallway of a restaurant as he masturbated back in 2007, according to a report Friday — the latest in series of sexual harassment allegations coming out this week against the Hollywood producer.

5am – E         HEALTH CARE

• Trump administration will allow employers to refuse to cover contraception. (NPR) – The Trump administration is rolling back the Obama-era requirement that employer-provided health insurance policies cover birth control methods at no cost to women. According to senior officials with the Department of Health and Human Services, the goal of the new rule is to allow any company or nonprofit group to exclude the coverage for contraception if it has a religious or moral objection.
• White House to order expansion of health care options.
• Details emerge on Trump’s plan to sell insurance across state lines. (Washington Examiner) — President Trump is expected to sign an executive order next week that will allow people to buy lower-cost health insurance that can circumvent some of the mandates created under Obamacare. Additional details of the executive order, which is being billed as a move that would allow insurance to be sold across state lines, were reported Saturday by the Wall Street Journal. Trump will direct the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury to take steps to make it easier for people to band together and buy coverage through what is known as “association health plans.” It would also allow people to buy low-cost short-term health insurance plans, which the Obama administration limited to three months, and would expand the use of health savings accounts.
• Trump to sign executive order rolling back ObamaCare insurance regulations: report (The Hill) – President Trump will sign an executive order next week aimed at rolling back health insurance regulations put in place by former President Obama in an effort to undo his predecessor’s signature health-care law, according to The Wall Street Journal. The order will direct the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury to make it easier for individuals to group together and purchase insurance through “association health plans,” according to the report.  The president also directs the agencies in the order to roll back the Obama administration regulations of “short-term medical insurance,” which is a cheap limited-protection option that the former administration claimed did not provide adequate coverage for individuals.
• Trump phones Chuck Schumer to discuss healthcare (Washington Examiner) — President Trump placed a phone call to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday to talk healthcare. In a report from Axios, one source said Trump sought “a path forward on health care,” but no further details are known about the conversation.

6am – A         ‘White House has become an adult day care center,’ GOP senator in war of words with Trump. (ABC News) — GOP Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee hit back at President Donald Trump today in what has become a war of words between the two Republicans, with Corker saying that the White House has become an “adult day care center.”

Senator Bob Corker @SenBobCorker: It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.

11:13 AM – Oct 8, 2017

The tweet comes several days after the Tennessee lawmaker drew attention by saying that only three people in the Trump administration are standing between the U.S. and “chaos.” “I think Sec. Tillerson, Sec. Mattis, and Chief of Staff Kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos,” Corker said Wednesday. Trump on Sunday morning used Twitter to slam the Tennessee senator, whose second term in the Senate ends next year and who has said he won’t run for a third term. The president claimed in his tweets that Corker decided not to run again after Trump said he wouldn’t endorse him and that the Tennessee senator had wanted the post of secretary of state.

6am – B         COLUMBUS DAY NEWS:

• Donald Trump’s proclamation for Columbus Day contrasts heavily with the one Barack Obama made one year ago. “The permanent arrival of Europeans to the Americas was a transformative event that undeniably and fundamentally changed the course of human history and set the stage for the development of our great Nation,” Trump said in his proclamation.  Obama has also hailed Columbus’ ambition and perseverance, saying his “legacy is embodied in the spirit of our Nation.” But he also acknowledged the uglier side of Columbus’ voyages. “As we mark this rich history, we must also acknowledge the pain and suffering reflected in the stories of Native Americans who had long resided on this land prior to the arrival of European newcomers,” which included “violence, deprivation, and disease,” Obama wrote last year. “As we reflect on the adventurers throughout history who charted new courses and sought new heights, let us remember the communities who suffered, and let us pay tribute to our heritage and embrace the multiculturalism that defines the American experience.”
• Here are some of the states and cities celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day. (USA Today) — Each year, millions of Americans celebrate Columbus Day on October 9th. But as the years go on, a lot of cities, states and universities are instead celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The holiday recognizes Native Americans, instead of Christopher Columbus. Advocates argue that Columbus represents the colonization of America, not the discovery. Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the United States well before Columbus landed in 1492. Some Native American activists even want the holiday abolished completely. The day officially became a federal holiday in 1937.  Minnesota, Alaska and Vermont all celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day.  South Dakota celebrates Native American Day.  Some of the big cities that made the switch include Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, and Austin, Texas.
• Columbus, your ship may have sailed: Indigenous Peoples Day picks up steam (USA Today/ Published 4:14 p.m. ET Oct. 8, 2017) — A growing number of cities are abandoning ship and replacing Columbus Day — celebrated Monday — with Indigenous Peoples Day, also known by some as Native Americans Day. On Thursday, the Austin City Council became the latest community to go that route, approving a resolution recognizing the second Monday of every October as Indigenous Peoples Day and encouraging schools to teach Native American history.  Austin’s move comes after similar action in August in Los Angeles —  the biggest city to boot the holiday from city calendars — and nearly two dozen more places, such as Burbank, Calif., and Bangor, Maine.
• ANTIFA PLANS “DEFACE COLUMBUS DAY”: Violent left-wing anarchists have announced a nationwide campaign to deface Christopher Columbus statues this coming Monday. Five Christopher Columbus statues have already been vandalized in New York City in recent weeks, according to Far Left Watch. In one case last month, vandals defaced a “larger-than-life” statue of Columbus in Central Park, leaving blood-red paint on his hands, and scrawled, “Hate will not be tolerated” and “#SomethingsComing” on its pedestal.

6am – C         Pence to campaign for Republican Virginia governor candidate on Saturday. Vice President Mike Pence will be in Virginia later this week to stump for Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie, according to Gillespie spokesman David Abrams. The vice president is set to join Gillespie at a rally on Saturday in Abingdon.

6am – D         Trump unveils new strict 70-point immigration enforcement plan. Calls for comprehensive rewrite of laws to stiffen border and interior, cut chain migration.

6am – E/F      VEGAS / GUNS NEWS:

• MSNBC Analyst: It’s Harder in America to Buy Cough Medicine Than to Buy an AK-47. MSNBC analyst Steve Schmidt claimed Friday it’s harder to buy cough medicine in America than to buy 50 AK-47 assault rifles. Appearing as a panelist on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” Schmidt stepped into a discussion on gun control and the Second Amendment in the wake of last Sunday’s Las Vegas massacre with this odd statement. “It is harder to buy cough medicine than it is to buy an AK-47 or 50 of them,” he added.
• A note found in the hotel room of the man who shot into a crowd from his perch in a Las Vegas high-rise included hand-written calculations about where he needed to aim to maximize his accuracy and kill as many people as possible. In an interview airing Sunday on “60 Minutes,” three police officers who stormed Stephen Paddock’s hotel room in the Mandalay Bay hotel tell correspondent Bill Whitaker new details about the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The officers were the first to see Paddock’s body and the arsenal of weapons and ammunition he had stockpiled. Officer David Newton from the Las Vegas Police Department’s K-9 unit said he noticed a note on the shooter’s nightstand once officers breached the room. He said the note was located near one of the windows that Paddock had smashed with a hammer to fire onto the crowd below with high-powered semi-automatic rifles outfitted to increase their rate of fire.
• Feinstein: ‘America Is a Gun-Happy Country’
• The NRA says it wants the Trump administration, not Congress, to take action on bump stocks
• DID PADDOCK GO TARGET SHOOTING BEFORE MASSACRE? The gunman who killed 58 people here Sunday appears to have gone out to the desert to practice shooting two days before the massacre, according to a law-enforcement official familiar with the investigation. Investigators have uncovered video footage from a home-surveillance system that shows Stephen Paddock driving alone to an area on the outskirts of Mesquite, Nev. where locals go for target practice.
• PADDOCK’S PROSTITUTE SPEAKS OUT: A Las Vegas prostitute who was hired by murderer Stephen Paddock has spoken out about their ‘violent’ sex sessions and how he bragged about having ‘bad blood’. The woman, who spoke anonymously, said she would spent hours drinking and gambling in Sin City with Paddock, who she described as ‘paranoid’ and ‘obsessive’. If he hit a winning streak, he would take her back to his room for ‘really aggressive and violent sex’ including living out rape fantasies, she said.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is expected to plead guilty soon to desertion and misbehavior
• Trump administration will allow employers to refuse to cover contraception.
• WMAL Free Speech Forum – Sunday, Oct 15th – special Q & A with JOE DIGENOVA! Get tickets at https://www.wmal.com/freespeechforum/

7am – B         Mike Pence leaves NFL game after San Francisco 49ers take a knee during anthem.        

7am – C         Harvey Weinstein fired from The Weinstein Company over sexual harassment allegations.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – CINDY BOREN – Washington Post sports reporter

• TOPICS: Nats/caps wins this weekend, Cam Newton and Pence’s walkout
  • Alex Ovechkin scores seventh goal in two games as Capitals rout Canadiens  
  • Nats Rally With 5 Runs on 2 Homers in 8th Inning to Even Series With Cubs  
  • PENCE WALKOUT
  • Cam Newton on sexist comment: “Sarcasm trying to give somebody a compliment”

7am – E         WHITE SUPREMACISTS BACK IN CHARLOTTE: White nationalists, including “alt-right” leader Richard Spencer, assembled once again at the foot of Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue in Emancipation Park, armed with torches in what Spencer dubbed “Charlottesville 3.0.” Spencer, Unite the Right rally organizer Jason Kessler and members of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups first gathered at the Lee statue on May 13. On Aug. 11, the day before a violent rally ended in the deaths of three people and numerous injuries, a torchlit march across University of Virginia Grounds concluded at the Rotunda. Spencer and Kessler are both graduates of UVa, which celebrated its bicentennial on Friday. At about 7:40p.m. Saturday, about 40 to 50 ralliers chanted “we will be back,” according to Daily Progress media partner NBC29. While Spencer led the rally, which lasted about five to 10 minutes, according to police, it was unknown if Kessler was participating. Charlottesville police observed no disorders at the rally, and officers followed Spencer and his supporters as they left Emancipation Park in a tour bus to ensure that they were leaving the city.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JARRETT STEPMAN – Daily Signal writer

• TOPIC: Is this our last Columbus Day celebration? Daily Signal reporter Jarrett Stepman says we are not just going after our founding fathers anymore, we are going after the immigrants who made our civilization possible.  President Benjamin Harrison started this holiday because of a mass lynching of Italians in New Orleans, so Harrison and other Americans wanted to make a holiday to the great Italian explorer. Jarrett says Columbus became a great, uniting figure. He notes people these days think Columbus was a thug, a monster in the 1490’s that exterminated the local population but that’s not true.  He was a highly religious Christian explorer who opened up the new world and represented the boldness in American DNA that we are so proud of.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – FRANCESCA CHAMBERS – White House reporter, Daily Mail – discussed the latest Trump/White House news (immigration, corker, pence walkout, etc)

8am – D         INTERVIEW – KAYLEIGH MCENANY – RNC Spokesperson

• RNC chairwoman calls on Democrats to return campaign contributions from Harvey Weinstein

8am – E         STAR WARS TRAILER:

• ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ trailer will debut on ‘Monday Night Football.’ Here’s a fresh reason to watch the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football:” a return of the Jedi. The trailer for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” will make its debut in the game, which kicks off at 8:15 EDT and should help give it a ratings boost. The film opens in the U.S. on Dec. 15.
• Star Wars — Don’t Watch the Trailer! Director Rian Johnson Doesn’t Want You To Watch ‘The Last Jedi’ Trailer Because It’s Full Of Spoilers.