Cal Thomas, Mark Krikorian, White House’s Hogan Gidley and Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C   DACA / IMMIGRATION NEWS:

• On their first day back at work since voting to reopen the federal government, senators spent the day regrouping on immigration reform. (ABC NEWS) —  On their first day back at work since voting to reopen the federal government, senators spent Tuesday regrouping on immigration reform. Congress voted to end the three-day shutdown Monday after Republican leaders provided assurances to Democrats that issues like immigration reform – especially the fate of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients – would be addressed soon. But the path forward remained murky Tuesday as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle couldn’t give details on what a possible compromise would look like nor was there clarity on who in the Senate was leading the effort. “There’s a lot of good ideas out there,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who is part of a bipartisan group of senators working on a deal, told ABC News. “There’s no base bill we’re starting with.”
• Senate Democrats concede they won’t shut down the government again over DACA. (The Hill) — Senate Democrats say there’s no appetite in their caucus for forcing another government shutdown if Republicans refuse to agree to an immigration deal by a March 5 deadline. Democratic senators who are mulling presidential bids in 2020 haven’t yet entirely backed away from shutdown threats, which could help them rev up support among the party base, but other Democrats have soured on it as a tactic. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), who vowed last week to vote against any spending bill that didn’t help young immigrants facing deportation, on Tuesday waved away talk of another shutdown if the immigration talks promised by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) stall next month. “We’re not talking in those terms. We’re talking in positive terms,” Durbin said. “Moving forward with the promised procedure from Sen. McConnell.” Asked about the prospect of Democrats blocking a funding bill again to pressure Republicans to agree to an immigration deal, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said, “I wouldn’t anticipate that would be the case at all.”
• Trump talks immigration with Joe Manchin, Doug Jones. (The Hill) — President Trump on Monday met with a pair of centrist Democratic senators to discuss a path forward on immigration.  West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Alabama Sen. Doug Jones spoke with the president at the White House as the Senate was voting to approve a stopgap spending bill to end the three-day government shutdown.
• White House calls bipartisan DACA bill “dead on arrival” The White House on Tuesday hardened its position against a bipartisan proposal in the Senate that would shield young immigrants living in the U.S. from deportation. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave her strongest indication yet that President Trump would not sign the measure, written by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), if it reaches his desk.  “It’s totally unacceptable to the president and should be declared dead on arrival,” she told reporters.  President Trump previously dismissed the proposal in profane fashion when it was first presented to him in the Oval Office, remarks that helped lead to a government shutdown.
• Powerful Republican Committee Wants Vote On Goodlatte’s Conservative DACA Bill. (Daily Caller) — An influential caucus of conservative Republicans is pushing House Speaker Paul Ryan to hold a vote on an immigration reform bill that has emerged as a White House favorite. The 150-member Republican Study Committee (RSC) announced Tuesday that it endorses the Securing America’s Future Act, which gives legal status to certain younger illegal immigrants in exchange for a host of conservative immigration reforms. Critically, the bill contains provisions on the three concessions demanded by President Donald Trump as part of an amnesty for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program: border wall funding, limits on chain migration, and the end to the diversity visa lottery. The RSC’s steering committee voted to back the bill and called for a floor vote in the House.
• Schumer: ‘The Wall Is Off The Table’ / Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) confirmed on Tuesday that he has withdrawn his offer to discuss funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall as part of a deal with President Trump. “We’re going to have to start on a new basis and the wall offer is off the table,” Schumer told reporters, saying that the offer was initially “part of a package.”
• TRUMP: Cryin’ Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA. We must have safety and security, together with a strong Military, for our great people!
• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 20h20 hours ago: Nobody knows for sure that the Republicans & Democrats will be able to reach a deal on DACA by February 8, but everyone will be trying….with a big additional focus put on Military Strength and Border Security. The Dems have just learned that a Shutdown is not the answer!
• Trump open to expanding Dreamer protection to 1.2 million despite campaign vow
• Daily Beast Report On White House’s Immigration Plans:     “Chuck Schumer says he’d rescind his ‘offer’ to fund the wall is like me saying I’m going to rescind my ‘offer’ to give all of your readers a million dollars. I never made a real offer. It never existed. That’s exactly what Sen. Schumer did,” White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley wrote in an email to The Daily Beast on Tuesday. “He offered an ‘authorization’ for the funding, not an appropriation and that’s D.C. speak for nothing is ever going to happen.”      […]      Marc Short, the president’s director of legislative affairs, told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that the administration was not planning to introduce its own legislative proposal but would reiterate the principles that it has advanced in prior documents to agencies and the Hill. He also noted that the administration would be open to a deal that not only provided a solution to DACA but also expanded protections to a universe beyond the 690,000 or so currently protected under the expiring program. “I think it depends on what the Democrats are offering,” Short said. “Our position has been that the population inside our borders are obviously, by in large, people who are law abiding or else we would be looking to remove them. If there is an expansion there, we are willing to consider that, particularly as it relates to the DACA population.”  Short noted that immigration advocates have said that many potential DACA-recipients didn’t come forward for protections out of fear that they would subsequently targeted for deportation. “If that’s true, we have said we would be more than happy to consider that,” he said. “What were asking [Democrats] to help us do is make changes so we aren’t back in they same situation 5-10 years from now.”
• Powerful Republican Committee Wants Vote On Goodlatte’s Conservative DACA Bill

5am – D/E     Alabama lawmakers move to eliminate marriage licenses, throw up hands in culture wars. Alabama lawmakers may be waving the white flag in the culture wars – advancing a bill that would eliminate marriage licenses entirely, in turn helping judges avoid the gay marriage debate in the conservative state.  “No one particularly likes changing our law, I’ll tell you that,” the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Greg Albritton, said in an interview with Fox News. “However, under the circumstances, it’s the best thing we can do.” Albritton denies any attempt at “denigrating marriage,” as some social conservative critics charge. The Republican said his bill is a practical solution for the state in response to the Supreme Court striking down gay marriage bans in the 2014 Obergefell v. Hodges decision. “We would not have changed this had it not been for Obergefell,” Albritton said. “But without the change, the law remains in conflict with Obergefell. So we got to make some changes to the law to come into compliance.” Alabama’s state law has long defined marriage as between a man and a woman and has given probate judges discretion in issuing marriage licenses. But after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling, then-Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore instructed probate judges to use their power to deny same-sex couples marriage certificates. The conflicting orders led to Moore’s suspension from the court. Albritton’s legislation, which was approved by Alabama’s Senate on Jan. 16, would end the practice of probate judges issuing marriage licenses to anyone. The bill now heads to the House, where it is being considered in committee on Wednesday.

6am – A         FBI TEXTS:

• Sen. Ron Johnson says there were “secret meetings offsite” of the Justice Department  “…Mueller is in no position to do an investigation over this type conduct.”
• In ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Text, Peter Strzok Expressed ‘Concern’ About Joining Mueller Team
• The Hill… Strzok, who was having an affair with Page, told Page in the newly released text messages that he was torn about whether to join Mueller’s team or take his career in another direction. He referred to it as “maybe the most important case of our lives.” Page, however, said multiple times she didn’t think Strzok should join the investigation.  “You shouldn’t take this on. I promise you, I would tell you if you should,” she wrote. Strzok later said he feels he has “a sense of unfinished business.”  “Now I need to fix and finish it,” he wrote.  However, Strzok expressed skepticism about whether the case would uncover any wrongdoing. “You and I both know the odds are nothing. If I thought it was likely, I’d be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern there’s no big there there,” Strzok wrote.
• Sessions Orders Investigation Of Missing Strzok-Page Texts
• TRUMP: Where are the 50,000 important text messages between FBI lovers Lisa Page and Peter Strzok?  Blaming Samsung!
• Rep. Lee Zeldin: There will need to be a new Special Counsel assigned. We cannot expect the DOJ & FBI to properly investigate themselves w/so much significant, mounting evidence of misconduct at the highest levels re how and why the Clinton probe ended & Trump-Russia probe began.
• Donald Trump’s Attorney @JaySekulow puts things in context: “The reality is there’s nothing in the investigation that’s investigatory….[Strzok] would have known there was no “there there” because of what? He was on the so called Russian collusion investigation fr

6am – B         NFL rejects ‘Please Stand’ veterans ad for Super Bowl LII. AMVETS National Commander Marion Polk explains why the organization’s Super Bowl LII ad was rejected by the NFL. The National Football League has rejected a one-page advertisement for Super Bowl LII’s game program submitted by the American Veterans (AMVETS) organization. The ad, which would have cost $30,000, featured the words #PleaseStand accompanied by an American flag. AMVETS national commander Marion Polk told FOX Business’ Ashley Webster asking people to stand for the national anthem is not a political statement. “The NFL wanted us to change our ad to state a different wording on the program and we did not want to do that. That was our simple ad, ‘PleaseStand’,” he said.

6am – C         TRUMP TO DAVOS:

• Trump is due to take an overnight flight on Wednesday night to snowbound Davos, where he will encourage investment in the United States and cooperation on national security issues, including the fight against Islamic State and North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Trump will have a full day of meetings in Davos on Thursday and then deliver a keynote address to the forum on Friday before returning to the United States later that day.
• Thousands of protestors march in Switzerland ahead of Trump’s Davos trip. Protesters took to the streets in two Swiss cities on Tuesday ahead of President Trump’s visit to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Reuters reports nearly 20 anti-capitalist protesters broke through a security barrier in Davos while shouting “Wipe out WEF.” The protesters rallied around slogans such as “Trump Not Welcome” and “Smash WEF!” “Trump is just one of the other people we disagree with. We’ve been protesting every year now against the World Economic Forum and if Trump comes or not we don’t care,” one protester told Reuters. “Trump is just, maybe he’s just the best symbol of this world.” In Zurich, 2,000 protesters marched toward the city’s financial district, carrying banners reading “No Trump, no coal, no gas, no fossil fuels” and “Dump Trump.” Reuters reports at least one person carried a sign reading “who was the shithole?” in reference to Trump’s reported remarks about Haiti, El Salvador and African nations. Trump is expected to give remarks Friday at the meeting of business leaders and global elites, becoming the first president to personally attend the WEF since Bill Clinton in 2000. Typically, U.S. presidents send high-level delegations to the event. Trump will attend the WEF with a delegation made up of a large chunk of his Cabinet, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday that Trump will present an “America First” agenda at the forum.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist — discussed President Trump going to Davos and the latest on the immigration debate.

6am – E         LaVar Ball steps into assistant coach role with sons’ Lithuanian team during Big Baller Challenge. LaVar Ball’s role in Lithuania is beginning to look a little bit different.  Ball will be on the sideline of Vytuatas’ game against BC Dzukija, but this time he will serve as an assistant coach for his sons’, LiAngelo and LaMelo, team. The game is the fourth of five friendly games as part of the Big Baller Challenge, which was started as an effort to give the Ball brothers more minutes against other teenagers, but the games do not count in the standings.  While his role in this game is technically assistant coach, Vytautas head coach Virginijus Seskus said their positions on the sideline will be equal and LaVar will be making a lot of the decisions.  “LaVar wants the team to play fast. He also has an idea for a new way for the team to play defense, so we’re going to try it out tonight,” Seskus told ESPN through a translator. “Today we’ll be like two equal coaches, but this will only be for the friendly match. We’ll see how it goes today.” “Why not let him do it? It’s only a friendly match. It will end, and everyone will forget about it.”

6am – F         CHILDBIRTH NEWS:

• Children born by c-section far more likely to be obese by aged five, major study suggests. Children born by c-section are far more likely to be obese by the time they reach five years old, the biggest ever analysis of the health impacts of caesareans has found. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh reviewed data from 80 studies and trials which jointly looked at 29 million births. They found that the risk of obesity for under fives jumped by 59 per cent if they had been delivered through a c-section. The youngsters were also 21 per cent more likely to develop asthma by the age of 12.
• Holding hands DOES ease pain in childbirth: Study breaks down the healing effects of a loving touch. (Daily Mail) — If you’re wondering what you can possibly do for your partner when they’re in excruciating pain, just holding their hand could be enough, new research shows. The familiar urge to reach for a hand when we’re hurting, or desire to be held when we’re sick, now has a biological explanation.    A Colorado University, Boulder study found that the mere touch of a partner can communicate empathy, and reduce the sensation of pain. Women reported a milder pain experience from heat experiments when their male partners were in the room and holding their hands.  After holding his wife’s hand through her labor and delivery of their oldest daughter, Pavel Goldstein, a neuroscience researcher at CU Boulder wondered if hand-holding couldn’t have effects on our physical experience of pain.  ‘I was in the delivery room, and I felt like I didn’t know how I could help my wife,’ Goldstein recalls.  ‘She asked me to hold her hand, not to speak too much, just to hold her hand, and that was very helpful to her.’  Goldstein recreated the scenario in the lab.  He and his team recruited 23 straight couples between the ages of 23 and 32. They all had to be healthy, on no medications besides birth control and be in a romantic relationship, ‘defined as couple who reported being in a serious relationship, living together for at least one year and having significant feelings of love for each other.’

7am – A         INTERVIEW – MARK KRIKORIAN – a nationally recognized expert on immigration issues, has served as Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) @MarkSKrikorian – discussed the latest on the immigration debate.

7am – B         ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• The one with homophobic jokes, sexism and body-shaming: Friends’ arrival on Netflix reveals storylines that are VERY problematic for a new millennial audience. Friends is still one of the most popular sitcoms of all time despite ending in 2004.  But the show appears to be failing to reach a new audience now it’s on Netflix. Millennial viewers have branded it ‘transphobic’, ‘homophobic’ and ‘sexist’. (Daily Mail) — Friends is one of the most popular sitcoms of all time and ran for over 10 years before its finale in 2004, but since the show arrived on Netflix UK at the end of 2017, having been available in the US for many months, it has attracted a brand new – and much more sensitive – audience. Millennial viewers who were too young to see the show when it first aired have been calling the show out on Twitter for what they deem to be some very problematic plot points. The treatment of LGBT characters left some feeling ‘uncomfortable’, from the way Chandler was paranoid about being seen as a gay man, to his cruel jokes about his cross-dressing father.  The sitcom has also been slammed for its lack of diversity as it has few non-white characters despite being set in the multi-cultural melting pot of New York.
• Oscars 2018: Snubs and surprises. The 2018 Oscar nominations are in and while “The Shape of Water,” “Lady Bird” and “Get Out” all received well-deserved nods, many fan favorites were notably missing. “Wonder Woman,” widely considered a game changer last year in the superhero genre, was just one film that was snubbed. But there were also some surprises. Christopher Plummer received a nod for his last-second work in “All the Money in the World.”
• Neil Diamond Thanks Fans for Making Him ‘Smile’ by Donating Ticket Refunds to Parkinson’s Research. After announcing his Parkinson’s diagnosis, Neil Diamond and his wife Katie are overwhelmed by the fan support. The music legend, responsible for hits like “Sweet Caroline,” “America” and “Cracklin’ Rosie,” shared a statement on his website Monday evening revealing that he canceled concert dates in Australia and New Zealand based on doctor’s advice. “Wow, I’ve received a bunch of messages from people in Aus & NZ who are donating their ticket refunds to good causes: Parkinson’s research, animal rescue groups, fire victim funds, etc,” Katie, 46, tweeted on Tuesday. “My heart is so full of joy to see this silver lining. Faith in humanity = restored. Thank you!” she added.

7am – C         LATEST ON MEMO:

• Republicans On House Intel ‘Moving Strongly’ Toward Releasing Nunes FISA Memo
• Rep. Paul Gosar on #ReleaseTheMemo: Obama’s ‘Weaponization’ of DOJ and Intelligence Services Links to Fast and Furious, IRS, and Benghazi Scandal
• Top Democrats warn of ‘ongoing attack by the Russian government’ amid push to publish classified memo
• No, Russian Bots Weren’t Behind The #ReleaseTheMemo Hashtag

7am – D         MIDTERMS:

• Almost all vulnerable senators ended 2017 less popular than they started
• Manchin Will Seek Re-election but Sends Democrats a Stern Warning. “I’ve said this point blank: If people like me can’t win from red states, you’ll be in the minority the rest of your life,” Mr. Manchin said about his conversations with other Democrats about the need to tolerate more moderate lawmakers.
• A Billionaire — Tom Steyer — Keeps Pushing to Impeach Trump. Democrats Are Rattled.
• George Soros’s foundation spent $10.3 million on lobbying in the last three months

7am – E         FLASHBACK: Obama Feels ‘Frustration’ When Talking To Foreigners. (Daily Caller) — A look through the pages of former President Barack Obama’s 2006 autobiography shows he seemed to suffer from the same “racial anxiety” that many pundits and journalists have diagnosed President Donald Trump’s supporters with. In “The Audacity of Hope,” then-Sen. Obama of Illinois wrote about his personal feelings towards immigration and early changes in the country’s demographic landscape: “When I see Mexican flags waved at pro-immigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment,” he wrote. While such words wouldn’t raise an eyebrows over a decade ago, it’s hard to imagine any politician today — let alone a Democratic presidential hopeful — get away with such honesty without a flurry of media scrutiny. Yet Obama goes even further in his next sentence, in what could surely be interpreted by columnists and commentators as nothing but ugly xenophobia were he thinking of running in 2020. “When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration,” he wrote.

8am – A         LATEST ON IMMIGRATION NEWS

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — Hogan Gidley – White House Deputy Press Secretary – discussed where the White House stood on the immigration / DACA talks.

8am – D/E     INTERVIEW – CHUCK ROSS – Reporter at The Daily Caller – discussed the FBI texts and latest on the memo.

• In ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Text, Peter Strzok Expressed ‘Concern’ About Joining Mueller Team
• Republicans On House Intel ‘Moving Strongly’ Toward Releasing Nunes FISA Memo