David Bossie, Larry Michael, Rep. Louie Gohmert and Ed Henry joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, December 8, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer

5am – A/B/C FRANKEN TO RESIGN / Al Franken Masters The Non-Apology. (NY Times) — WASHINGTON — Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, in an emotional speech on the Senate floor, announced on Thursday that he would resign from Congress, the most prominent figure in a growing list of lawmakers felled by charges of sexual harassment or indiscretions. At turns defiant and mournful but hardly contrite, Mr. Franken called it “the worst day of my political life,” as he denied allegations of groping and improper advances from at least six women. Instead, as his Democratic colleagues looked on, he took a parting shot at President Trump and Roy S. Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama; both have also been accused of sexual misconduct. “I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party,” Mr. Franken said. Hours later, Representative Trent Franks, Republican of Arizona, resigned after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment — a move that made him the third member of Congress to leave under a cloud of claims of sexual impropriety in three days. On Tuesday, Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan and the longest-serving African-American in House history, also quit.

5am – D/E     MUELLER/FBI/DOJ NEWS:

• Jim Jordan calls for second special counsel over FISA warrant on Trump aides
• Gowdy: Why Was Anti-Trump FBI Agent Interviewing Hillary?
• FBI Director Chris Wray responds to Pres. Trump’s claim that bureau’s reputation is in “tatters”: “The FBI that I see is tens of thousands of brave men and women…decent people committed to the highest principles of integrity and professionalism.”
• Jim Jordan Grills FBI Director Wray About Peter Strzok: Did He Use Steele Dossier To Obtain FISA Warrant?
• Top DOJ Official Demoted After Congress Learns He Met With Clinton Research Firm. A senior Justice Department official was demoted this week amid an ongoing investigation into his contacts with the opposition research firm responsible for the anti-Trump “dossier,” the department confirmed to Fox News. Until Wednesday morning, Bruce G. Ohr held two titles at DOJ: associate deputy attorney general, a post that placed him four doors down from his boss, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein; and director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a program described by the department as “the centerpiece of the attorney general’s drug strategy.”
• COULD HILLARY BE CHARGED? Chris Wray told the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI Inspector General was looking into whether ‘improper political considerations’ led to Clinton not being prosecuted, a decision made by James Comey who was later fired by President Donald Trump.’If he were to conclude that that’s what happened, then I think at that point we’re in a situation where we have to assess what else might need to be done to un-ring that bell if you will,’ Wray told members of Congress.

6am – A/B/C Arizona GOP Rep. Trent Franks to resign following sexual harassment claim. (CNN) Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks announced in a statement Thursday night he will resign from Congress at the end of January, after the House Ethics Committee said it would investigate allegations against him of sexual harassment. The House Ethics Committee announced earlier Thursday that it will investigate Franks to determine if he engaged in “conduct that constitutes sexual harassment and/or retaliation for opposing sexual harassment.”

Rep. Trent Franks announced that he would resign from office as of Jan. 31, 2018, after asking female staffers to be a surrogate for his child.

6am – D         WINTER OLYMPICS:

• Sarah Sanders tweeted that the U.S. would participate in the Winter Olympics, despite Nikki Haley saying it was an ‘open question’: Sarah Sanders‏ @PressSec UPDATE: The U.S. looks forward to participating in the Winter Olympics in South Korea. The protection of Americans is our top priority and we are engaged with the South Koreans and other partner nations to secure the venues. 11:17 AM – 7 Dec 2017
• Olympic star Lindsey Vonn says she won’t represent Trump at 2018 Winter Games. Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn says she’ll represent the United States, but not President Trump, when she returns to the Winter Games in February. Vonn, who won a gold medal in the women’s downhill competition in 2010 in Vancouver, skipped the 2014 Sochi games because of knee injuries. “I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president,” Vonn said this week amid the buildup to the 2018 games in PyeongChang, South Korea. “I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremonies,” she added. “I want to represent our country well, and I don’t think there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that.” Vonn also told CNN that she would “absolutely not” accept an invitation to the White House.

6am – E          Student suspended for debating Islamic extremism with Muslim peer in debate club. Officials allegedly said it could be ‘harassing,’ told him to observe ‘social cues’ / A Missouri high school that suspended a student for making critical comments about Islamic extremism says he’s not allowed to appeal the finding of wrongdoing. Senior Alex Lonsdale, a member of Liberty High’s nationally ranked debate club, says he was just trying to have a friendly debate. During his free period Oct. 17 at the public school near Kansas City, Lonsdale joined a spontaneous conversation among acquaintances about the nature of Islam. But the impromptu debate on Islamic extremism, by Lonsdale’s retelling, turned into a raucous imbroglio. “Why are you making my religion out to be like that?” Lonsdale said Pervaiz asked him. The Muslim student became reticent, apparently no longer wanting to continue debating, before he ended the conversation by leaving, according to Lonsdale. “I wasn’t saying that ‘you’re a bad kid because you’re Islamic,’” he told The Fix. “I wasn’t being rude. I didn’t personally attack him at all.”

6am – F         Melania Trump & Karen Pence stop at Whataburger & buy fries for the press pool. First lady Melania Trump dines at Whataburger during Corpus Christi visit. CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Not even first lady Melania Trump could resist a stop at Whataburger during her visit to Corpus Christi to visit first responders and view recovery efforts since Hurricane Harvey hit more than three months ago. melania and Karen Pence, the wife of Vice President Mike Pence, flew to Corpus Christi on Wednesday. Both posed for photos with emergency staff and military personnel who responded after Harvey barreled ashore in South Texas on Aug. 25. The schedule also includes a stop in nearby Rockport, where Harvey decimated numerous homes and businesses.

7am – A  INTERVIEW — DAVID BOSSIE – President of Citizens United, former Deputy Campaign Manager to the Donald Trump presidential campaign and author of new book “Let Trump Be Trump”

• Let Trump Be Trump: Book reveals what Trump’s like in private
• Trump’s rage would ‘break most hardened men and women into little pieces’: Lewandowski, Bossie book
• Trump’s diet on the campaign trail was McDonald’s, KFC, pizza and Diet Coke: Book
• Trump made Hope Hicks steam his suits while he was still wearing them: Book
• Corey Lewandowski: Yes, I steamed Trump’s pants while he was still wearing them

7am – B/C  CA NEWS:

• Waze sent commuters toward California wildfires, drivers say. LOS ANGELES—Users of popular navigation apps like Waze are warning the services directed them to neighborhoods where wildfires forced closures and evacuations. The issue stems from the way apps like Waze help users avoid commute nightmares such as heavy traffic or construction. Largely reliant on information supplied by other drivers, when the Google-owned app notices gridlock on a user’s route, it will reroute the driver to quieter streets — even if they’re empty because drivers have fled smoke and the threat of flames. Waze, which also works with transportation authorities and a team of local map editors to keep the app updated, says on any given day, those enflamed neighborhoods would have been shown as off limits within an hour of two. “We worked really hard Wednesday afternoon to get our maps up to date and accurate,” says Waze spokesperson Chelsea Russo.
• ‘I’M A HOUSE PARTY ENTHUSIAST’: Man Fights For His Right To Party At A Los Angeles City Council Meeting. (WMAL) — Los Angeles city is cracking down on on house parties in the Hollywood Hills. Residents have complained for years that short-term rentals of homes have led to loud, late-night out-of-control parties and criminal complaints. Neighbors have brought the matter to City Hall and the city attorney’s office.  Some complaints have included seeing a caged lion and an elephant at two separate parties. “It’s completely unacceptable for residential homes to be rented out every few weeks for massive parties that attract hundreds of guests, blast music throughout the night and block streets, disrupting peace and quiet in our neighborhoods,” City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement. But one community activist who self-identified as a “house party enthusiast” came to City Hall on Wednesday to fight the proposed ban on house parties. “Waddup, Council. My name is Chad Kroeger. I’m an activist and house party enthusiast. Over the past week I have been a state of deep despair over hearing the news that A. is trying to outlaw house parties in the Hollywood Hills,” he told the council. “I am here determined to stop this future atrocity.” Kroeger went to explain that his “first introduction to manhood” was informed by a house party at the home of his water polo captain Boomer Kingsley. “We tore that weekend up. It was epic and I was super stoked,” he explained. He credits the house party for finally getting girls. “My newfound confidence gave me the courage to ask out the most popular girl in school.” Kroeger continued to explain how house parties help one overcome rejection from girls but then a council member interrupted to dismiss him. Social media quickly embraced the ‘house party enthusiast’ as “citizen of the year.”

7am – D         FRANKEN AND FRANKS:

• FRANKEN TO RESIGN / Al Franken Masters The Non-Apology. WASHINGTON — Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, in an emotional speech on the Senate floor, announced on Thursday that he would resign from Congress, the most prominent figure in a growing list of lawmakers felled by charges of sexual harassment or indiscretions.
• Trent Franks announced that he would resign from office as of Jan. 31, 2018, after asking female staffers to be a surrogate for his child. Arizona GOP Rep. Trent Franks to resign following sexual harassment claim. (CNN) Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks announced in a statement Thursday night he will resign from Congress at the end of January, after the House Ethics Committee said it would investigate allegations against him of sexual harassment. The House Ethics Committee announced earlier Thursday that it will investigate Franks to determine if he engaged in “conduct that constitutes sexual harassment and/or retaliation for opposing sexual harassment.”

7am – E         INTERVIEW — LARRY MICHAEL – Voice of the Redskins

• PREVIEW: Redskins vs LOS ANGELES CHARGERS this Sunday
• Wildfires not expected to impact Sunday’s Redskins vs. Chargers game in southern California. CARSON, – Four wildfires continue to burn in southern California and effect tens of thousands of residents. However, the blazes will not impact Sunday’s Redskins game. Washington is scheduled to face the Los Angeles Chargers at 4:05pm eastern Sunday at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Carson is a city located 13 miles south of downtown L.A.
• Redskins’ Cousins is trying to avoid thinking about future. ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Kirk Cousins is trying hard to avoid thinking about his future. Now that the Washington Redskins are essentially eliminated from playoff contention at 5-7 , that challenge is getting more difficult. With four games left, the quarterback’s contract status and where he’ll be playing next season is the biggest question facing the team. “It’s human nature to want to look ahead and know the plan and know what’s coming next,” Cousins said Wednesday.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – REP. LOUIE GOHMERT – R-TX — discuss the FBI director Chris Wray hearing yesterday

8am – B/C     NTERVIEW – ED HENRY – Fox News Chief National Correspondent – discuss latest in Congress and political news: Franken/Franks

• GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: Congress clears spending bill, averting shutdown
• FRANKEN TO RESIGN / Al Franken Masters The Non-Apology
• Trent Franks announced that he would resign from office as of Jan. 31, 2018, after asking female staffers to be a surrogate for his child. Arizona GOP Rep. Trent Franks to resign following sexual harassment claim

8am – D         Jennifer Lawrence: ‘Waiting’ to Give Trump a ‘Martini to the Face’ (Breitbart) — Actress Jennifer Lawrence has a “pretty good speech” prepared for when she meets President Donald Trump. The Oscar-winner told Oprah Winfrey in an interview published in the Hollywood Reporter that she has been “waiting” to meet the president, though she may not have nice things to say to him if the occasion ever does happen. “I’ve got a pretty good speech. And it ends with a martini to the face,” the 27-year-old told Winfrey. “I have something to say for all of them. I watch different characters on the news, and I’m like, ‘You just wait.’” The mother! star stayed mum on just what she would tell Trump if they ever met, but she did offer a small tease. “I’ll give you a hint – it’s not nice,” she said. “You wouldn’t want me to say it to you.” Though the actress has never met Trump, she revealed in an interview last year that she had once come close to crossing paths with the president at a concert. Lawrence told the UK’s Graham Norton Show that she had been at a concert and heard Trump was in attendance, and ordered her security team to find the then-presidential candidate. “Because I was adamant on finding him and then making a video of me going, ‘Hey Trump, f*ck you!’” she said then.

Donald Trump Jr. Responds To Jennifer Lawrence Saying She Would Toss A Drink In Trump’s Face. Donald Trump Jr. responded to the actresses comments in a tweet on Thursday morning with a link to an article from The Hill, quoting the “Silver Linings Playbook” star. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how it would end…” he wrote.

8am – E         David Cassidy’s will leaves out daughter Katie: report. “Partridge Family” star David Cassidy left daughter Katie Cassidy out of his will and left his $150,000 in assets to son Beau Devin Cassidy. The arrangements were revealed in documents obtained by the Blast on Wednesday. Cassidy, who died Nov. 21 at age 67, recently reconciled with his daughter after an estrangement, but didn’t change his will to reflect that, the Miami Herald reported. “(A)ny references to his ‘child or children’ are only to Beau and not to Katie … It is my specific intent not to provide any benefits hereunder to Katherine Evelyn Cassidy and/or any descendant of Katherine Evelyn Cassidy,” the will reads, according to the Blast. Beau, a 26-year-old singer-actor, is the son of David Cassidy and third wife Sue Shifrin. The couple was married for more than 22 years before separating in 2013, Newsday reported. Katie Cassidy, 31, is David’s daughter from a relationship with model Sherry Williams. The star left his music memorabilia to half-siblings Shawn, Ryan and Patrick, the Daily Mail reported. Cassidy had a complicated relationship with his daughter, leading them to become estranged before their reunion, the Daily Mail reported. David told People magazine in 2009, “Because I didn’t raise her, I didn’t have to parent her,” Newsday reported.