Cal Thomas, Newt Gingrich, Tim Hugo, Lee Smith and James O’Keefe joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, October 11 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C   Phoenix man gets inked up with T-Mobile logo to score free iPhone. PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) – A Phoenix man got inked up with a T-Mobile logo for a chance to score a free iPhone and the CEO rewarded him. What started as a joke for 20-year-old Philip Harrison turned into a day he will never forget. Harrison tweeted at T-Mobile and their USA CEO John Legere saying he’d get the T-Mobile logo tattooed on his arm if they hooked him up with a free iPhone 8. It snowballed from there. Two days after the tweet, Harrison followed up saying he went looking for a tattoo shop but all were closed that night and that he’d get results tomorrow with the hashtag #TattooForPhillip. The following day, Harrison said he would get the tattoo after work and that he did.

5am – D         VEGAS UPDATE:

• MGM Resorts disputes Las Vegas police timeline of mass shooting
• Las Vegas shooter fired ‘incendiary’ rounds at fuel tank.  (CNN)Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock fired special “incendiary” bullets at a 43,000-barrel fuel tank in what investigators believe was an attempt to cause an explosion, two law enforcement sources told CNN. Those types of rounds, meant to ignite what they hit, were found inside Paddock’s room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and near the fuel tank a short distance away on the grounds of McCarran International Airport, the sources said.
• Las Vegas shooter believed to have used hotel’s freight elevator before attack. Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock is believed to have used the freight elevator at the Mandalay Bay hotel casino in the days leading up to last week’s deadly attack. It wasn’t clear what Paddock used the freight elevator for or how often he used it.

5am – E         Roger Goodell sends letter to NFL teams, wants players to stand during anthem. The NFL has developed a plan to “move past” its ongoing debate about player protests during the national anthem and could enact it next week, commissioner Roger Goodell wrote Tuesday in a letter to all 32 teams. Goodell made it clear in the letter, obtained by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that he wants players to stand during the anthem. He did not provide specifics on how he intends to ensure it, but he wrote that it would “include such elements as an in-season platform to promote the work of our players on these core issues.” The issue will be discussed, and likely acted upon, during the NFL’s regularly-scheduled fall meetings on Oct. 17-18. In the letter, Goodell said he wanted to end the controversy by agreeing on a uniform approach for all teams. “Like many of our fans,” Goodell wrote, “we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem. It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us. “We also care deeply about our players and respect their opinions and concerns about critical social issues. The controversy over the Anthem is a barrier to having honest conversations and making real progress on the underlying issues. We need to move past this controversy, and we want to do that together with our players.” The NFL’s current anthem policy states that players “should” stand for the anthem, but it stops short of requiring it.

6am – A/B/C HARVEY WEINSTEIN:

• LAST NIGHT: Tucker CALLS OUT Hillary, Democrats Over Harvey Weinstein. On Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” the host said, “For the days after the story broke, Democrats in Hollywood and Washington seemed to freeze, unsure of what to say, hoping the whole thing would just die down and go away. It hasn’t. Those actors who lecture you from the Oscar podium every year and their virtue and your lack of it–suddenly silent… Weinstein could never have gotten away with any of this if it wasn’t for enablers like Hillary Clinton.”
• Gov. McAuliffe to donate Weinstein’s campaign contributions. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Gov. Terry McAuliffe says he will donate funds given to his campaign by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein to a nonprofit that aids victims of sexual and domestic violence. Crystal Carson, spokeswoman for McAuliffe’s Common Good VA political action committee, said in a statement Tuesday evening that the governor “is deeply troubled and sickened” about reports of Weinstein’s behavior. She says McAuliffe plans to contribute an amount equivalent to Weinstein’s 2013 campaign donations to the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. The Virginia Public Access Project reports the donation was more than $55,000.
• Michelle Obama called Weinstein a ‘good friend,’ was silent for days on allegations. Barack and Michelle Obama “disgusted” by Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations. Barack and Michelle Obama responded to the allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against their friend and major Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein — five days after the accusations surfaced. But just four years ago, the then-first lady praised the Hollywood titan as a good guy. “I want to start by thanking Harvey Weinstein for organizing this amazing day,” Michelle Obama said during a November 2013 White House event for high school students. “Harvey. This is possible because of Harvey. He is a wonderful human being, a good friend and just a powerhouse.” The Obamas have had a long relationship with Weinstein: he donated thousands to the former president’s campaigns and visited the White House more than a dozen times, according to visitor records. The Obamas’ daughter, Malia, interned for Weinstein at the Weinstein Company this year. Late Tuesday, the Obamas released a statement saying: “Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accoubtable, regardless of wealth or status.” Last week, The New York Times reported that Weinstein had settled sexual harassment lawsuits with at least eight women. More allegations emerged Tuesday in The New Yorker.
• Hillary Clinton ‘shocked and appalled’ by the revelations of sexual abuse, harassment leveled at Harvey Weinstein.  WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she was “shocked and appalled” by the revelations about disgraced movie titan Harvey Weinstein, while former President Barack Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, were “disgusted.” Weinstein faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse and harassment from some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Weinstein has been a major Democratic Party donor as he and his family has given more than $1.4 million in political contributions since the 1992 election cycle. In a statement on Twitter on Tuesday, Clinton said she was “shocked and appalled” and that “the behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.
• ‘Stand up’ for Harvey Weinstein: Lindsay Lohan reportedly defends mogul in now-deleted post. Lindsay Lohan Comes To The Defense Of Harvey Weinstein, Says “I Feel Very Bad For Him”  (Fox News) “Mean Girls” star Lindsay Lohan on Tuesday reportedly spoke out in defense of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and said she did not “think it’s right what’s going on.” The actress made the now-deleted comments in two Instagram Story videos, EOnline.com reported. “I feel very bad for Harvey Weinstein right now, I don’t think it’s right what’s going on,” Lindsay explained, according to EOnline.com. “I think Georgina needs to take a stand and be there for her husband.”
• Harvey Weinstein’s Wife Georgina Chapman Is Leaving Him: ‘My Heart Breaks for All the Women Who Have Suffered’ (People) –  Harvey Weinstein’s wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, is leaving him — as more women continue to step forward to accuse the movie mogul of decades of sexual harassment and assault. Weinstein, 65, and Chapman, 41, married in 2007 and have two children together — India Pearl, 7, and Dashiell Max Robert, 4.  “My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time,” Chapman says in a statement to PEOPLE. There are plans for Weinstein to enter a treatment facility — but the mogul, who has been staying at a Los Angeles hotel, has not left yet, according to a source.
• Harvey Weinstein jets to Europe for sex rehab as his wife dumps him. Harvey Weinstein definitely believes he can earn a second chance in life, so on Tuesday he left behind all the headlines in America that his wife Georgina Chapman was dumping him or that all of his famous friends in Hollywood hate him because of growing evidence that he’s a serial sexual predator. The disgraced movie mogul jetted off to Europe to commit himself to some kind of sex rehab program
• Harvey Weinstein Says Brother Bob Responsible for His Demise. (TMZ) — Harvey Weinstein believes his own brother was responsible for his demise, and he has the proof in the form of a receipt … but Bob Weinstein says Harvey’s a “very sick man” who’s slinging fake stories to deflect from his own misdeeds. Sources connected to H.W. tell TMZ, Harvey firmly believes it was his brother Bob who fed The New York Times the information for its sexual harassment story. He believes it was a well-orchestrated plan by Bob to remove Harvey from the company he built. Weinstein, we’re told, firmly believes the entire board knew about his sexual harassment troubles for years. Our sources say 7 months ago Bob received Weinstein’s entire personnel file which detailed a number of the claims, and he believes Bob leaked the filed to The NY Times. As for proof the file was sent, we’re told Harvey Weinstein’s people have a FedEx receipt which shows his brother got the material. Bob Weinstein came out swinging, telling TMZ, “My brother Harvey is obviously a very sick man. I’ve urged him to seek immediate professional help because he is in dire need of it. His remorse and apologies to the victims of his abuse are hollow. He said he would go away for help and has yet to do so.” Bob goes on … “He has proven himself to be a world class liar and now rather than seeking help he is looking to blame others. His assertion is categorically untrue from A to Z. I pray he gets the help that he needs and I believe that it is him behind all of these stories to distract from his own failure to get help.”
• Report: NBC News Passed on Ronan Farrow’s Bombshell Report of Weinstein Rape Allegations. (Breitbart) —  NBC News passed on a story by contributor Ronan Farrow that it allegedly possessed in August about three separate rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein that eventually appeared in the New Yorker Tuesday, according to a report. According to the Huffington Post, Farrow’s bombshell Tuesday report — in which three women, including actress Asia Argento, accused the movie mogul of rape — “was in NBC’s hands as recently as August, according to multiple sources both inside and outside the network.” The Huffington Post reported: By then, Farrow, an NBC contributor and investigative reporter, had already obtained damning audio of an encounter Weinstein had with a woman, in which Weinstein admits to having groped her… Instead, Farrow’s story — and the audio, from a 2015 New York Police Department sting — appeared Tuesday on the website of The New Yorker. According to the outlet, NBC had “concerns” with the way Farrow’s story was sourced
• Matt Damon Denies Knowing About Harvey Weinstein’s Alleged Sexual Misconduct: ”I Would Have Stopped It” Matt Damon says he was unaware of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct. Damon told Deadline, “My recollection was that it was about a one minute phone call. Harvey had called me and said, ‘They’re writing a story about Fabrizio,’ who I knew from The Talented Mr. Ripley…Harvey said, ‘Sharon Waxman is writing a story about Fabrizio and it’s really negative. Can you just call and tell her what your experience with Fabrizio was.’ So I did, and that’s what I said to her…I was never conscripted to do anything.”
• Gwyneth Paltrow Claims Weinstein Made Moves on Her And Brad Pitt Confronted Him (TMZ) — Gwyneth Paltrow says Harvey Weinstein got sexually aggressive with her and her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt confronted the movie mogul. Gwyneth told the New York Times the incident happened in the mid-’90s when she was 22 years old. Weinstein had just cast her in a star-marking role in the movie “Emma.” She says she had a meeting scheduled with Weinstein at the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel.  Paltrow says she was in a hotel suite with Weinstein when he placed his hands on her and suggested they head to the bedroom. Paltrow says she immediately left and said to herself, “I thought you were my Uncle Harvey.” She says she confided in Brad Pitt and he approached Weinstein at a movie premiere and told him never to touch her again.  Paltrow says Weinstein later called her and screamed at her for a long time and she feared she was going to lose the movie role.
• Jessica Chastain on Harvey Weinstein: ‘Stories Were Everywhere,’ Deniers are liars.
• Seth MacFarlane Joke At 2013 Oscars Suggests Everyone In Hollywood Knew About Weinstein
• Lena Dunham Says Performing Clinton-Weinstein Benefit Was ‘A Betrayal Of My Own Values’

6am – D         INTERVIEW — CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist – discussed his thoughts on Hillary/Obama reax on Harvey Weinstein and Trump’s win over the NFL.

6am – E         Twitter Retreats on Marsha Blackburn Senate Ad. (Breitbart) – Twitter has reversed its decision to block Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s Senate campaign ad that contained a video touting her work as chairwoman of the House Select Panel investigating allegations that Planned Parenthood and biomedical companies profited from the sale of fetal body parts. According to Politico, a Twitter spokesperson released the following statement: “Our ads policies strive to balance protecting our users from potentially distressing content while allowing our advertisers to communicate their messages. Nowhere is this more difficult than in the realm of political advertising and the highly charged issues that are often addressed therein. After further review, we have made the decision to allow the content in question from Rep. Blackburn’s campaign ad to be promoted on our ads platform. While we initially determined that a small portion of the video used potentially inflammatory language, after reconsidering the ad in the context of the entire message, we believe that there is room to refine our policies around these issues.” Twitter said it blocked the ad because it states Blackburn “stopped the sale of baby body parts,” a statement a representative from the tech giant said was “deemed an inflammatory statement that is likely to evoke a negative reaction.” Blackburn’s campaign was told the statement would have to be removed if it wished to promote the ad with the video in it.

6am – F         Water taxi event kicks off celebration for opening this week of The Wharf in D.C. WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The first-ever water taxi ride on Tuesday kicked off a celebration for The Wharf’s phase one grand opening later this week. This new ride connects the Wharf to Georgetown, the National Harbor, Old Town and The Yards next to Nationals Park, according to a release from Brandlink DC. In addition to a water taxi, phase one of The Wharf will feature 3.2 million square feet of residential, hotel, office restaurant and cultural space. The Wharf is scheduled to open on Oct. 12. Costs for the three-year development is $2.5 billion, according to the release. The new waterfront option will help make The Wharf (800 Maine Ave. SW) “one of the most-connected waterfronts in the world,” said Amer Hammour, chairman of Wharf co-developer Madison Marquette. “Washington is an international city that has some of the most sophisticated modes of transportation, and today we are expanding those,” Hammour said. The 25-minute cruises to Washington Harbor in Georgetown will run about every 2 to 3 hours. Cruises to Alexandria’s Cameron Street dock — which will also be about 25 minutes — will run about every 80 minutes. A roundtrip ticket will cost $20. Service hours will vary depending on the destination. The service will run through the end of December. When it gears back up in the spring, the water taxi fleet will grow to four boats.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – NEWT GINGRICH – former Speaker of the House and author of new book “VENGEANCE” — discussed his new book and DC politics.

• Book signing: Wednesday, October 11th at 7 pm, Barnes & Noble Tysons Corner in McLean, VA — signing new book “Vengeance” and and Callista’s new book “Remember the Ladies”
• NORTH KOREA: Jimmy Carter offers to hold peace talks with Kim Jong Un
• CORKER: Senators Beg Corker To Stop Antagonizing Donald

7am – B         More On Harvey Weinstein Fallout

7am – C         Moron-gate:

• Trump suggests IQ test battle with Tillerson
• “He made a joke, nothing more than that,” Sarah Sanders says about Trump’s IQ joke about Rex Tillerson – says they are moving agenda forward
• Trump says he has confidence in Tillerson — “I didn’t undercut anybody.”
• FORBES: He counterpunches, in this case firing a shot at Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who reportedly called his boss a moron: “I think it’s fake news, but if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – VA DEL TIM HUGO — representing the 40th district, which includes the municipalities of Catharpin, Clifton, and Fairfax Station and is the Majority Caucus Chairman for the Virginia House Republican Caucus

• Hugo is the Majority Caucus Chairman for the House Republican Caucus. He is the Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee and also serves on the Commerce and Labor, Transportation, and Privileges and Election Committees. Delegate Hugo represents Centreville, Clifton, Fairfax, and Fairfax Station in Fairfax County as well as Catharpin, Gainesville, Haymarket, and Manassas in Prince William County.
• TOPIC: Paper ballots make a comeback in Virginia this fall. (Washington Post) — The return of paper ballots for all Virginia voters, a process begun a decade ago and accelerated by the threat of hacks of computerized voting machines, has kicked into high gear a month before the next state election.
• TIM HUGO: I introduced the 2007 legislation (HB2707, signed into law) mentioned in the Washington Post story that directed localities, when purchasing new voting equipment, to replace direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines with paper-based digital voting, also known as an optical scan ballot device.

7am – E         Eminem to his Trump-supporting fans: “F–k you”  (The Hill) — Rapper Eminem unloaded on President Trump in a freestyle rap Tuesday night. Eminem went after Trump for his use of Twitter, his frequent trips to his own properties and for escalating tensions with North Korea during a rare freestyle rap. The rapper called Trump a “kamikaze that will probably cause a nuclear holocaust” and accused Trump of getting “his rocks off” on racism. He also ripped Trump for his attacks on NFL players who kneel during the national anthem while Puerto Rico recovered from Hurricane Maria and in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. “All of these horrible tragedies and he’s bored, would rather cause a twitter storm with the Packers,” Eminem rapped. Eminem ended the rap with a message to his fans who support Trump. “Any fan of mine who’s a supporter of his, I’m drawing in the sand a line—you’re either for or against. And if you can’t decide who you like more and you’re split on who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for you with this: f— you.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – LEE SMITH – Writer, Weekly Standard

• The Human Stain: Why the Harvey Weinstein Story Is Worse Than You Think. (Weekly Standard/Lee Smith) — The New York Times last week broke the story of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s long record of sexual harassment. Actresses including Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd came forward to detail Weinstein’s depredations, and so did former employees of the man who founded one of the most important independent film companies of the last 30 years, Miramax. The details were so jarring and the trail of abuse so long, that it was impossible to read the story and not come away wondering: How did no one know what he was doing? But of course people knew about Harvey Weinstein. Like the New York Times, for instance. Sharon Waxman, a former reporter at the Times, writes in The Wrap how she had the story on Weinstein in 2004—and then he bullied the Times into dropping it. Matt Damon and Russell Crowe even called her directly to get her to back off the story. And Miramax was a major advertiser. Her editor at the Times, Jonathan Landman, asked her why it mattered. After all, he told Waxman, “he’s not a publicly elected official.”

8am – B         More On Harvey Weinstein Fallout

8am – C         WMAL’s Free Speech Forum is back! Sunday, October 15th at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Chris Plante, Larry O’Connor, Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese will be live on stage discussing all of the highs and lows in politics today, plus taking your questions… and holding nothing back! AND JUST ADDED: Special Guests Former White House Advisor Dr. Sebastian Gorka and Former US Attorney Joe DiGenova will also take the stage!

8am – D         INTERVIEW – JAMES O’KEEFE – Project Veritas

• New York Times video editor caught trashing Trump in new James O’Keefe sting. An editor with the New York Times’ online video team was caught disparaging President Trump and his family in a video sting by conservative activist James O’Keefe. In a video published Tuesday online by O’Keefe, Nicholas Dudich, identified as the Times’ audience strategy editor, is seen explaining his role at the news organization and apparently revealing his personal biases against Trump.

8am – E         Sources: NBC Let Ronan Farrow’s Weinstein Scoop Slip Away. NBC had concerns related to the story’s sourcing, HuffPost has learned. (Huffington Post) — NEW YORK ― Ronan Farrow’s investigation into Harvey Weinstein’s long history of alleged sexual misconduct was in NBC’s hands as recently as August, according to multiple sources both inside and outside the network. By then, Farrow, an NBC contributor and investigative reporter, had already obtained damning audio of an encounter Weinstein had with a woman, in which Weinstein admits to having groped her, sources told HuffPost. nstead, Farrow’s story — and the audio, from a 2015 New York Police Department sting — appeared Tuesday on the website of The New Yorker.  Sources told HuffPost that NBC had concerns related to the story’s sourcing and cleared Farrow to take it to The New Yorker.