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Mornings on the Mall

Friday, October 27, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Poll: Majority of military officers view Trump unfavorably (The Hill) A majority of U.S. military officers have an unfavorable view of President Trump, according to a survey released this week by the Military Times. According to the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they hold an unfavorable opinion of the commander in chief, while about 31 percent said they view him favorably. Sixteen percent said they were neutral on the matter. The findings come amid the controversy surrounding Trump’s disputed call to the widow of a U.S. Army soldier killed in Niger earlier this month

5am – D /E You may have to pay $70 to visit the Grand Canyon and 16 other national parks (would you pay?) (CNN) The National Park Service proposes more than doubling the entrance fees at 17 popular national parks, including Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone, to help pay for infrastructure improvements. Under the agency’s proposal, the entrance fee for a private vehicle would jump to $70 during peak season, from its current rate of $25 to $30. The cost for a motorcycle entering the park could increase to $50, from the current fee of $15 to $25. The cost for people entering the park on foot or on bike could go to $30, up from the current rate of $10 to $15. The cost of the annual pass, which permits entrance into all federal lands and parks, would remain at $80.

6am – A Inside Trump’s “nationwide public health emergency” on opioids (Axios) President Trump will direct the Department of Health and Human Services later today to declare “a nationwide public health emergency” in response to the opioid epidemic, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on a call.The declaration will not unlock new federal funds to address opioid abuse. Instead, the administration will work with Congress on an end-of-year budget deal and talk about securing more money at some point in the future. The declaration will last 90 days and can be renewed every 90 days if necessary.

 6am – B Defense Secretary James Mattis visits Korean DMZ amidst nuclear tension (ABC News) U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis visited Friday morning the heavily fortified border between North Korea and South Korea known as the Demilitarized Zone amid heightened tensions over the North’s nuclear program and the war of words between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. At the DMZ, Mattis was briefed at Observation Point Oullette by South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo. Joint Security Area Commander Lt. Col. Matthew S. Farmer was also there, as was his South Korean counterpart, Army Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Kwon, Yong-hwan. With the aid of poster boards, Song gave Mattis a brief history of battles fought at the DMZ. Mattis also received an overview of the surrounding area from a U.S. commander, who pointed out “Propaganda Village,” situated in the North’s half of the DMZ.

 6am – C Park service denies permit for 45-foot-tall nude woman statue on National Mall The National Park Service has rejected a group’s plans to install a 45-foot-tall sculpture of a nude woman on the National Mall. In a statement issued Thursday morning, the park service said it denied organizers of next month’s “Catharsis on the Mall” event permission to install the statue because it would likely damage the Mall’s turf and soil.

 6am – D Fox News Poll: Positive views of NFL down 18 points since 2013 (Fox News) The National Football League is taking some hits these days.  A new Fox News Poll finds that since 2013, the league’s favorable rating has dropped 18 points.

Today, 46 percent of voters have a positive view of the N.F.L. while 41 percent view it negatively.  Four years ago (the last time the question was asked), 64 percent had a positive view of the league and 19 percent were critical.

 6am – E Trump wades back into monument controversy with Gillespie tweet (Politico) President Donald Trump raised the removal of Confederate statues and memorials on Thursday while touting his support for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie. “Ed Gillespie will turn the really bad Virginia economy #’s around, and fast. Strong on crime, he might even save our great statues/heritage!” Trump tweeted on Thursday.

6am – F Laughter Not Contagious For Kids Who May Be Psychopaths, Study Finds Laughter may be contagious for most of us, but a new study finds boys who don’t feel compelled to giggle when their peers do are more likely to later become psychopaths.

Researchers at University College London in the UK recruited 92 boys aged 11 to 16 for a study on how social reactions as an adolescent could predict later behavior. About two-thirds of the participants had been diagnosed with disruptive behaviors or callous and unemotional (CU) traits.

7am – A  Corey Feldman says his life is in danger because he wants to expose ‘pedophile ring’ that abused him, Corey Haim (Fox News) Corey Feldman has long said that he and ‘80s pal Corey Haim were victims of sexual abuse in Hollywood when they were children – now he’s determined to expose the pedophiles he says attacked them.  Feldman has alleged in the past that Haim was raped at age 11 by a powerful person in Hollywood and the experience led to Haim’s drug addiction issues. Feldman’s pal and “Lost Boys” costar died in 2010 at 38 from pneumonia. “I believe we can… bring down potentially a pedophile ring that I have been aware of since I was a child. Right off the bat I can name six names,” he said in a video posted on Wednesday in which he announced the film and requested funding from his fans.  Feldman claimed he survived a “near-death experience” after two trucks tried to run him over — all because he’s working to expose pedophiles in Hollywood, he said. In the video, Feldman said his physical safety is in danger.

7am – B/C Tom Perez: DNC ‘Didn’t Ask Questions’ About Dossier Research Project (Daily Caller) Tom Perez said this week that the Democratic National Committee, which he chairs, “didn’t ask questions” about the opposition research its lawyers were conducting on Donald Trump, research that led to the creation of the infamous Steele dossier.

In an interview at an event hosted by the University of Chicago, Perez said that it was only “a few days ago” that he learned about the fact that the DNC and Clinton campaign paid for the dossier. “I find this issue somewhat curious because here’s a news flash, candidates conduct research on their opponents and in the case of Donald Trump, the imperative for that is, to not do that is political malpractice,” Perez said during his interview

7am –  Ryan: FBI to give Congress dossier-related documents (Politico) The FBI has agreed to deliver documents related to the Steele dossier to House GOP investigators, Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday. The House Select Committee on Intelligence for months has been seeking information about how law enforcement used the dossier — which suggests Russians spent years cultivating Donald Trump as an ally and gathered evidence that could be used against him — to investigate Trump associates during the 2016 election. Following recent reports that the document was funded by the Clinton campaign, Ryan accused the agency of “stonewalling” and “foot-dragging” during a interview with Reuters Wednesday.

 7am – E INTERVIEW – Larry Michael – Voice of the Redskins

• The Redskins play The Cowboys this Sunday and Larry discusses the best way to see and listen to this exciting game

 8am – A INTERVIEW – Steve Moore – Heritage economist 

TOPICS:  Budget vote / Latest on tax reform

• House members voted to adopt the budget in a 216-212 vote, pushing the Republican tax reform plan past a key hurdle. The $4 trillion budget includes Senate budget reconciliation rules, which allow leadership to pass legislation with a simple majority, bypassing filibusters from Democrats altogether.

 8am – B/C   INTERVIEW – Elizabeth Schultz – Fairfax County School Board member

TOPIC: Update on the JEB Stuart high vote 

• After years of discussion and deliberation, a nearly four-hour session by the Fairfax County School Board Thursday night into Friday morning finally lead to a decision on what to call a Falls Church high school named after a Confederate officer.
• The school board voted to rename the school Justice High School.

 8am – D  INTERVIEW – BRET BAIER – host of Special Report with Bret Baier on the Fox News Channel       

TOPIC: News of the day

• Congress passed a budget on Thursday, clearing the way for a full tax reform plan to be released next week. Trump and the Republicans are aiming for the first major reform of the tax system since 1986, when Ronald Reagan was president.

8am – E         News anchor vomits after eating ‘world’s hottest chip’ on live TV A Denver news team tried the “world’s hottest chip” on live TV, with disastrous results.

The morning news anchors on KWGN were participating in Paqui’s #OneChipChallenge — a social media contest that asks people to eat the brand’s super-spicy Carolina Reaper chip and post their reactions on Instagram and Twitter. Unfortunately, one of the anchor’s couldn’t take the heat. And instead of “getting out of the kitchen,” she vomited under the desk: