Peter Morici, Hans Von Spakovsky, Andrew McCarthy, Josh Kraushaar, Steve Moore and Jessica Vaughn joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, January 26, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C   Trump supports path to citizenship for up to 1.8 million ‘dreamers’ in new White House proposal

• Democrats pan Trump’s immigration framework.  (The Hill) –Democrats and outside progressive groups are quickly panning an immigration framework from President Trump as a nonstarter on Capitol Hill. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) called the proposal a “ransom” that “doesn’t pass the laugh test.”  “It would be far cheaper to erect a 50-foot concrete statue of a middle finger and point it towards Latin America. Both a wall and the statue would be equally offensive and equally ineffective and both would express Trump’s deeply held suspicion of Latinos,” he said in a series of tweets on Thursday.Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, added that the White House proposal is “shameful” and using the DACA program as a “bargaining chip.“
• Mark Krikorian @MarkSKrikorian: Time to start burning your #MAGA hats. Send pictures and I’ll retweet.
• Mark Krikorian ‏@MarkSKrikorian: The Art of the Choke http://bit.ly/2neimPw  I will gladly reduce immigration on Tuesday for an amnesty today.
• “Bill of cruelty.” “The Statue of Liberty weeps.” The left is furious with Trump’s immigration proposal.
• JONATHAN SWAN: Sources tell me Stephen Miller had a pretty feisty conference call just now with immigration hardliners. Lots of them hate the proposal. Seems like the WH has managed to piss off just about everyone!
• Jason Riley on immigration: “Do Democrats really want a deal or do they just want this issue to bash Republicans with come November?”
• WHITE HOUSE FRAMEWORK ON IMMIGRATION REFORM & BORDER SECURITY
  • BORDER SECURITY: Securing the Southern and Northern border of the United States takes a combination of physical infrastructure, technology, personnel, resources, authorities, and the ability to close legal loopholes that are exploited by smugglers, traffickers, cartels, criminals and terrorists.
    • The Department of Homeland Security must have the tools to deter illegal immigration; the ability to remove individuals who illegally enter the United States; and the vital authorities necessary to protect national security.
    • These measures below are the minimum tools necessary to mitigate the rapidly growing surge of illegal immigration.
    • $25 billion trust fund for the border wall system, ports of entry/exit, and northern border improvements and enhancements.
    • Close crippling personnel deficiencies by appropriating additional funds to hire new DHS personnel, ICE attorneys, immigration judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement professionals.
    • Hiring and pay reforms to ensure the recruitment and retention of critically-needed personnel.
    • Deter illegal entry by ending dangerous statutorily-imposed catch-and-release and by closing legal loopholes that have eroded our ability to secure the immigration system and protect public safety.
    • Ensure the detention and removal of criminal aliens, gang members, violent offenders, and aggravated felons.
    • Ensure the prompt removal of illegal border-crossers regardless of country of origin.
    • Deter visa overstays with efficient removal.
    • Ensure synthetic drugs (fentanyl) are prevented from entering the country.
    • Institute immigration court reforms to improve efficiency and prevent fraud and abuse.
  • DACA LEGALIZATION: Provide legal status for DACA recipients and other DACA-eligible illegal immigrants, adjusting the time-frame to encompass a total population of approximately 1.8 million individuals.
    • 10-12 year path to citizenship, with requirements for work, education and good moral character.
    • Clear eligibility requirements to mitigate fraud.
    • Status is subject to revocation for criminal conduct or public safety and national security concerns, public charge, fraud, etc.
  • PROTECT THE NUCLEAR FAMILY: Protect the nuclear family by emphasizing close familial relationships.
    • Promote nuclear family migration by limiting family sponsorships to spouses and minor children only (for both Citizens and LPRs), ending extended-family chain migration.
    • Apply these changes prospectively, not retroactively, by processing the “backlog.”
  • ELIMINATE LOTTERY AND REPURPOSE VISAS: The Visa Lottery selects individuals at random to come to the United States without consideration of skills, merit or public safety.
    • This program is riddled with fraud and abuse and does not serve the national interest.
    • Eliminate lottery and reallocate the visas to reduce the family-based “backlog” and high-skilled employment “backlog.”

5am – D         MUELLER NEWS:

• Trump called for Mueller’s firing in June 2017, source says. (CNN) President Donald Trump denied on Friday that he had moved to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. He had called for the firing last June, according to one person familiar with the matter. White House counsel Don McGahn refused to order the Justice Department to fire Mueller because he disagreed with the President’s reasoning, the source said. However, according to the source, McGahn did not threaten to resign directly to the President. The New York Times was first to report that Trump called for Mueller’s departure in June 2017. “Fake news, folks. Fake news,” Trump said when questioned about the revelation as he entered the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Typical New York Times,” he added. The timing at issue last summer was just a month after Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey in May. Later that month, Mueller was appointed by the Department of Justice to manage the special counsel investigation into possible Russian meddling in the 2016 election. In June, The Washington Post reported that Mueller’s investigation was broadening to include looking into a potential obstruction of justice case.

• Scaramucci: Report Trump attempted to fire Mueller “totally irrelevant” because Trump didn’t fire him // Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci slammed reports that President Trump attempted to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last year, saying they were “totally irrelevant” because Trump didn’t end up firing Mueller. “I actually didn’t know, but it’s totally irrelevant because he didn’t fire Mueller,” Scaramucci said. “I find it very ironic that this information is coming out while he’s here in Davos, while he’s had great fanfare … [and] I would love to get a look at somebody like Steve Bannon’s phone records to see who he’s talking to and how this information is out there.” “[The] second thing I will say is that the president talks to everybody,” he continued. “So this information apparently happened in June – why is it coming out right now like a big water balloon on the president when he’s having a fantastic trip here in Davos, meeting with world leaders and about to give a fantastic speech about global prosperity and global growth?”
• President Trump’s attorney, John Dowd, tells CNN that he is the one to decide if the President will sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team  /  (CNN) President Donald Trump’s attorney, John Dowd, told CNN on Thursday that he is the one to decide if the President will sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team. “I will make the decision on whether the President talks to the special counsel,” Dowd said. “I have not made any decision yet. ” Sources previously told CNN that Mueller has indicated interest in interviewing the President, and Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to talk with Mueller under oath.

5am – E         Found: DOJ recovers 50,000 missing text messages between Peter Strzok, Lisa Page. (The Blaze) —   Lo and behold, the missing FBI text messages between agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have been found, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote in a letter Thursday, the Washington Examiner reported. Roughly, 50,000 text messages spanning from Dec. 14, 2016, to May 17, 2017, went missing from the pair’s FBI-issued mobile phones that reportedly “failed to capture” them. Why are the messages important? The recovered messages are considered a critical part of FBI special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. “[F]orensic tools” were successfully used to retrieve the texts, Horowitz said in the letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa) and Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson, (R-Wis.), the Examiner reported. GOP lawmakers contend that those texts contain evidence of political bias against President Donald Trump in the Russian investigation and inside the FBI.

6am – A         INTERVIEW – PETER MORICI – University of Maryland economist

• TOPICS: President Trump speaks in Davos and record high in market
• President Trump speaks in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum at Davos; to sell ‘America First’ at gathering of global economic elite.
• Dow closes at new record high for 10th time this year
• Trump says he’s open to re-entering TPP one day after Canada announces deal without US

6am – B         SCHOOL LOCKERS GOING AWAY

• Washington Post’s Perry Stein @PerryStein 15h15 hours ago: “Gen Z continues to be weird and make everyone else feel old”
• Schools and lockers: No longer the right combination. (Washington Post / By Joe Heim) –– It is a full five months into the school year, and Isabel Echavarria, a junior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland, hasn’t used her locker once. She’s not even sure she has one. Sean Radley, a sophomore at Tesoro High in Southern California, thinks there may be one book in his locker, but he rarely visits it.  Nekko Jones and Dwayne Burrell, freshmen at Cardozo Education Campus in Washington, were assigned lockers at the beginning of the year, but neither knows where his is. Once the gravitational center of the high school day, lockers long ago lost their allure, and their usefulness seems a relic of an epoch of education that has slipped away.  Movies and television shows about high schools may still feature students decorating lockers — or being shoved into them — but in the real world, lockers have all but been abandoned.  The trend has expanded so rapidly and widely that schools are now removing individual student lockers from their hallways, and builders and designers for many new high schools don’t even include them in their plans. “It’s a pretty big change that has taken place over the last few years,” said Sean Connor, a principal with Pfluger Architects, a large Texas firm that focuses on school construction. “It used to be the standard to provide individual lockers for every student. Now, the standard is no lockers or, at most, just a few.” So, why the change?  Anyone with a high schooler in their orbit knows that students now want everything they own with them all of the time. Books, phones, water bottles, headphones, laptops, tablets, snacks, coats, extra shoes.  Where students used to swap out textbooks between classes, they now navigate the halls bent over by jam-packed backpacks like Himalayan Sherpas shuffling along without a base camp. This carryall approach probably ensures a steady stream of patients for chiropractors, and it bewilders parents who don’t understand why their kids can’t just use an assigned locker to store their stuff. For most students, the issue is time and convenience. “My school is really big,” Echavarria said. “It has four floors and a basement, and stopping in one specific location between each class would be ridiculous. And it’s harder to keep track of your stuff if it’s in another location.” Acxel Escobar, a junior at Cardozo, realized early on that he simply had no need for a separate place to keep everything at school. “My freshman year, I kept a few books in my locker and used it,” he said. “But I stopped using it because I had all of my resources in my book bag.” Lockers are also being left in the dust because schools offer more classes that use online textbooks, or they keep textbooks in the classroom to be shared by students. And the very nature of school is changing.   “The high school experience has evolved where learning is anytime, anyplace,” said Ann Bonitatibus, principal at Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax County, where most of the school’s individual lockers were removed during a renovation last year.

6am – C         Rapper 50 Cent confirms he accidentally made around $8 million in bitcoin: ‘Ima keep it real I forgot I did that s—t.’ (Business Insider) — The rapper 50 Cent on Wednesday confirmed a TMZ report that he had made millions by accepting bitcoin for his 2014 album, “Animal Ambition.” He said in an Instagram post that he “forgot” about the cryptocurrency payments, which sat in his account for four years and, according to TMZ, are now worth between $7 million and $8.5 million. The rapper 50 Cent on Wednesday confirmed a TMZ report that he had made about $8 million by accepting bitcoin as payment for his 2014 album, “Animal Ambition.” TMZ calculated that the 700 bitcoins 50 Cent received for the album in 2014 and sat untouched in his account for four years would be worth between $7 million and $8.5 million today.  The rapper confirmed the report by posting a screenshot of the TMZ article on Instagram with the caption: “Not bad for a kid from South Side, I’m so proud of me.”50cent @50cent A little bitcoin anyone? LOL. l know l make you sick but excuse me…I’m getting to the bag 💰 #denofthieves 5:00 PM – Jan 23, 2018  he Verge notes that he later commented on the post, which has since been deleted, “Ima keep it real, I forgot I did that shit lol.”

6am – D         INTERVIEW — HANS VON SPAKOVSKY – former counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Justice Department, former commissioner for the Federal Election Commission from 2006 to 2007 and senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation – discussed the FBI texts and Trump’s immigration framework.

• RECOVERED TEXTS: Found: DOJ recovers 50,000 missing text messages between Peter Strzok, Lisa Page. (The Blaze) —   Lo and behold, the missing FBI text messages between agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have been found, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote in a letter Thursday, the Washington Examiner reported. Roughly, 50,000 text messages spanning from Dec. 14, 2016, to May 17, 2017, went missing from the pair’s FBI-issued mobile phones that reportedly “failed to capture” them. Why are the messages important? The recovered messages are considered a critical part of FBI special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. “[F]orensic tools” were successfully used to retrieve the texts, Horowitz said in the letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa) and Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson, (R-Wis.), the Examiner reported. GOP lawmakers contend that those texts contain evidence of political bias against President Donald Trump in the Russian investigation and inside the FBI.
• Trump backs citizenship for Dreamers, while slashing legal immigration. (NBC News) — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he will support a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, according to a telephone briefing by the White House for Republican congressional staff members. His remarks could move negotiations on an immigration deal that is stalled in Congress but Democrats have signaled that his proposal is a non-starter. The call, hosted by White House adviser Stephen Miller, outlined the demands for any deal on DACA, which includes a $25 billion “trust fund” for a border wall, an end to family reunification, also called “chain migration” by conservatives, and an end to the diversity visa lottery.   But in a more detailed outline of the proposal released by the White House later on Thursday, it calls for a massive increase in border security and a massive decrease in legal immigration by aiming to “protect the nuclear family migration” by only allowing family immigration sponsorships to include spouses or children, rather than extended family members. In addition to $25 billion in border security, it would appropriate funds to add new enforcement officers, immigration judges and prosecutors – efforts to more quickly deport people who are in the country without legal papers. The path to citizenship would be provided to DACA recipients via a “10-12 year path” that includes “requirements for work, education and good moral character.”
• Mark Krikorian @MarkSKrikorian: Time to start burning your #MAGA hats. Send pictures and I’ll retweet.
• “The importance of public safety and national security in the immigration debate” By Hans A. von Spakovsky | Fox News

6am – E         UConn offers counseling to students in wake of packed Ben Shapiro lecture. (Daily Wire) — Ahead of Wednesday night’s lecture by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, campus administrators at the University of Connecticut urged students whose feelings may have been hurt to take advantage of the university’s counseling services. In an email addressed to the entire student body, Joelle Murchison, the Associate Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for UConn, warned students about the Shapiro lecture and expressed understanding for those students who may feel triggered by the event. “We understand that even the thought of an individual coming to campus with the views that Mr. Shapiro expresses can be concerning and even hurtful,” wrote Murchison, “and that’s why we wanted to make you aware as soon as we were informed.” In her email to students, Murchison describes Shapiro as “an American conservative political commentator, columnist, author, radio talk show host, and lawyer.” Because Shapiro possesses these credentials, however, it apparently became necessary for UConn to alert students. “In the meantime, please utilize the many campus resources available to you should you want to talk through your feelings about this issue,” wrote Murchison, “including my office, the Cultural Centers, the Dean of Students Office, and [Counseling and Mental Health Services], if necessary.”

6am – F         TACO BELL FRIES?

• Taco Bell is taking aim at McDonald’s with $1 fries — and they’re like nothing else in fast food. (Business Insider) — Taco Bell is finally serving fries. On Thursday, the fast-food chain added $1 nacho fries to the menu for a limited time. Instead of taking the classic fast-food route, Taco Bell tops its fries with a spicy seasoning and serves them with a side of nacho cheese. Customers can also order “supreme” fries for $2.49 or the larger serving of “Bell Grande” fries for $3.49, served with even more toppings: beef, pico de gallo, nacho cheese, sour cream, and other add-ons like guacamole, bacon, and jalapeno peppers. McDonald’s and other burger chains need to think about the power, the influence, the business implications that these fries could have. To see how Taco Bell’s new fries measure up to the competition, we tried them for ourselves. Taco Bell’s emphasis is on the cheese rather than the ketchup. It’s the right decision. For $1, customers can get a handful of fries and a cup of nacho cheese sauce for dipping — the first sign that Taco Bell isn’t trying to imitate competitors’ fried offerings. While the nacho cheese isn’t by any means gourmet, it provides a rich and gloopy satisfaction and immediately sets the fries apart from their ketchup-dipped rivals.

7am – A         DAVOS NEWS:

• Trump official tells Davos attendees they “can leave” if they don’t want to listen to Trump: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said Wednesday that critics who don’t want to listen to President Trump when he attends the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this week “can leave.” “Davos should feel very flattered that he has chosen this as a forum,” Chao said at a panel discussion, according to Politico. “Those who don’t want to listen to him can leave.” When Trump travels to the Swiss Alpine resort town this week, he will become the first U.S. president in nearly two decades to attend the World Economic Forum, a gathering of powerful finance and business officials largely considered aligned with the free trade and globalism that Trump and his aides have derided.
• Stuart Varney: “Davos, the annual elitist get together in the Swiss Alps. I’ll make no secret of my hostility… I want our president to go in there like a wrecking ball.”
• Jim Acosta @Acosta 16h16 hours ago: After Trump says of Davos “It’s been really successful…” I asked him how he can be America First if he’s rubbing elbows with big wigs. He did not respond.
• President Trump meets with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Trump: “We’ve developed a great relationship, both as countries where I think it’s never been stronger. I can honestly say that, and also as personal friends”
• White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah says “restrictions in all forms to aid are on the table” if Palestinian leaders don’t “calm down some of the anti-American and anti-White House rhetoric”
• Pres. Trump dines with European Business Leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
• Trump: “A lot of money, billions and billions of dollars, is coming back to the U.S. and people are very happy with what we’ve done.” #Davos2018
• President Trump touts the new tax law and his administration’s deregulation efforts at a dinner in Davos
• MANSPREADING: Donald Trump Manspreads Prime Minister Theresa May At Davos Forum.
• DAILYMAIL: Davos: Trump ‘arrives like prize fighter then manspreads.’  
• Donald Trump arrived like a prize fighter before ‘manspreading’ in front of the Prime Minister – but Theresa May looked like ‘the cat that got the cream’, according to a body language expert.  Judi James said she was surprised to see the US President displaying ‘normal body language’ in Davos for the first time in the year she has been studying him. She said that Mr Trump spoke in an ‘almost romantic tone’ when he referred to supporting Britain’s military – and Mrs May looked ‘elegant, even regal’.
• WHITE HOUSE RELEASES EXCERPTS OF TRUMP’S 8 AM SPEECH:
  • I am here today to represent the interests of the American People, and to affirm America’s friendship and partnership in building a better world. Like all nations represented at this forum, America hopes for a future in which everyone can prosper, and every child can grow up free from violence, poverty, and fear.
  • The world is witnessing the resurgence of a strong and prosperous America…There has never been a better time to hire, to build, to invest and to grow in the United States. AMERICA IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS AND WE ARE COMPETITIVE ONCE AGAIN.
  • I believe in America. As President of the United States, I will always put America First. Just like the leaders of other countries should put their countries first. But America First does not mean America alone.
  •  When the United States grows, so does the world. American prosperity has created countless jobs around the globe and the drive for excellence, creativity and innovation in the United States has led to important discoveries that help people everywhere live more prosperous and healthier lives.
  •  We will enforce our trade laws and restore integrity to the trading system. Only by insisting on FAIR and RECIPROCAL trade can we create a system that works not just for the United States but for all nations.
  •  To be successful, it is not enough to invest in our economy – we must invest in OUR PEOPLE. When people are forgotten, the world becomes fractured. Only by hearing and responding to the voices of the forgotten can we create a bright future that is truly shared by all.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – ANDREW MCCARTHY – former federal prosecutor and a contributing editor at National Review.

• Found: DOJ recovers 50,000 missing text messages between Peter Strzok, Lisa Page.
• The Clamor over the Nunes ‘FISA Abuse’ Memo by Andrew C. McCarthy in National Review         
• Trump called for Mueller’s firing in June 2017, source says

7am – D         CALIFORNIA CRAZINESS: CRIMINALIZING STRAWS:

• California Considers $1,000 Fine for Waiters Offering Unsolicited Plastic Straws. (Reason magazine) — Ian Calderon wants restaurateurs to think long and hard before giving you a straw. Calderon, the Democratic majority leader in California’s lower house, has introduced a bill to stop sit-down restaurants from offering customers straws with their beverages unless they specifically request one. Under Calderon’s law, a waiter who serves a drink with an unrequested straw in it would face up to 6 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. “We need to create awareness around the issue of one-time use plastic straws and its detrimental effects on our landfills, waterways, and oceans,” Calderon explained in a press release. This isn’t just Calderon’s crusade. The California cities of San Luis Obispo and Davis both passed straws-on-request laws last year, and Manhattan Beach maintains a prohibition on all disposable plastics. And up in Seattle, food service businesses won’t be allowed to offer plastic straws or utensils as of July. The Los Angeles Times has gotten behind the movement, endorsing straws-on-request policies in an editorial that also warned that “repetitive sucking may cause or exacerbate wrinkles on the lips or around the mouth.”  Celebrity astronomer Neil DeGrasse Tyson (always up for a little chiding) and Entourage star Adrian Grenier have appeared in videos where an octopus slaps them in the face for using a plastic straw. The actual number of straws being used is unclear. Calderon, along with news outlets writing about this issue—from CNN to the San Francisco Chronicle—unfailingly state that Americans use 500 million plastic straws a day, many of them ending up in waterways and oceans. The 500 million figure is often attributed to the National Park Service; it in turn got it from the recycling company Eco-Cycle. Eco-Cycle is unable to provide any data to back up this number, telling Reason that it was relying on the research of one Milo Cress.  Cress—whose Be Straw Free Campaign is hosted on Eco-Cycle’s website—tells Reason that he arrived at the 500 million straws a day figure from phone surveys he conducted of straw manufacturers in 2011, when he was just 9 years old. Cress, who is now 16, says that the National Restaurant Association has endorsed his estimates in private correspondence. This may well be true, but the only references to the 500 million figure on the association’s website again points back to the work done by Cress.

7am – E         BERNIE SANDERS RUNNING IN 2020 / HIS SON HINTS THAT ‘BERNARD’ IS ‘SERIOUSLY CONTEMPLATING’

• Bernie Sanders’ Son Just Dropped A Massive Hint About 2020. (Daily Caller) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ son indicated on Thursday that the senator is seriously considering running for president in 2020. “Bernard is seriously contemplating a run in 2020 and I don’t mean a jog,” his son, Levi Sanders, said in a tweet. “I forgot to mention that he is taking his vitamins and going on long walks,” he added. (Levi has always referred to his father by his first name, he said in 2016, because his father “was a friend, not an authoritarian.”)
• Levi Sanders @Celentra Bernard is seriously contemplating a run in 2020 and I don’t mean a jog. Jan 25, 2018
• Levi Sanders‏ @Celentra I forgot to mention that he is taking his vitamins and going on long walks.
• Levi was a senior policy strategist on his father’s 2016 presidential campaign.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JOSH KRAUSHAAR – Politics Editor at National Journal — shared his analysis of the politics of Trump’s immigration framework: Trump supports path to citizenship for up to 1.8 million ‘dreamers’ in new White House proposal.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — STEVE MOORE – Economist at the Heritage Foundation – discussed President Trump’s speech in Switzerland at the World Economic Forum at Davos; selling ‘America First’ at gathering of global economic elite.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – JESSICA VAUGHN – Director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies — analyzed the politics of Trump’s immigration framework: Trump supports path to citizenship for up to 1.8 million ‘dreamers’ in new White House proposal.

8am – E         THIS IS CNN:

• CNN: Cuckolding can be positive for some couples, study says

• CNN mocked after declaring cuckolding can be a positive for certain couples