Trevor Matich, Susan Ferrechio, and Ashley Carter joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Memo Update and Discussion:

• Devin Nunes to FBI: ‘No surprise’ to see FBI and DOJ’s ‘spurious objections’ to allowing public to see FISA memo
• Schiff claims Nunes memo was “secretly altered”
• JUST IN: Republican memo alleging anti-Trump bias at FBI and Justice Department likely to be released on Thursday – Trump administration official
• FBI has ‘grave concerns’ about ‘omissions’ in surveillance memo
• BYRON YORK: House Intel let FBI director Wray read ‘FISA abuse’ memo Sunday. Today WH let 5 FBI career officials read it. Now, Intel committee minutes show House let two FBI officials read memo on Monday. Speaker here is Rep Peter King
• BYRON YORK: .@johnrobertsFox just reported that last night before SOTU, five career FBI officials went to White House to read House Intel ‘FISA abuse’ memo with White House officials.
• Rep. Massie: Democrat Memo ‘Discloses Sources And Methods That Can’t Be Released’
• SEAN DAVIS: The transcript of Monday’s House Intel meeting was just released, and it shows the exact opposite of what was claimed in this @DailyBeast article from yesterday.
• EARLIER: Did Devin Nunes Work With White House on Anti-FBI Memo? ‘Far as I Know, No.’
• SCHIFF THROWS A HAIL MARY — BREAKING: Discovered late tonight that Chairman Nunes made material changes to the memo he sent to White House – changes not approved by the Committee. White House therefore reviewing a document the Committee has not approved for release.
• BYRON YORK: Just talked with House Intel source. Said total changes to memo were: A) Unknown number of ‘grammatical and clarifying’ fixes. B) One change requested by FBI due to sources & methods concerns. C) One two-word change requested by Democrats for accuracy. House Intel GOP statement

5am – D         GOWDY NEWS:

• Trey Gowdy announces retirement from Congress, has finally had it with Washington.(Politico) — The influential chairman of the House Oversight Committee is sick of politics and won’t seek reelection. Trey Gowdy is done with politics. The House Oversight Committee Chairman for years has joked privately about quitting Congress and returning home to South Carolina. On Wednesday, he finally pulled the plug — likely for good. A rising star that many Republicans once considered a dark-horse for speaker of the House, Gowdy announced Wednesday he would not seek reelection or any political office and would instead return to the justice system. Sources close to him say he wants to return home, practice law and maybe teach and write a book with his friend Sen. Tim Scott. “Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system,” the South Carolina Republican said. And in a sign of Gowdy’s desire to step back from public life, he recently turned down a golden opportunity to become a federal judge. White House counsel Don McGahn in recent weeks broached Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, about filling a slot on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals — a newly vacated judgeship that Gowdy has eyed before, according to sources close to Gowdy. His fellow Palmetto State Republicans, Scott and Sen. Lindsey Graham, also urged him to accept the post.

• Gowdy Was Approached For Federal Judgeship. (Daily Caller) — GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina was offered a federal judgeship in 2017, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. The four-term Republican announced Wednesday that he will retire from Congress, just one day after Judge Dennis Shedd of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals assumed senior-status, a form of quasi-retirement under which judges leave active service while still participating in a handful of cases. The timing prompted speculation that Gowdy, a career prosecutor, would be tapped to succeed Shedd. “He is not planning on becoming a judge,” a source close to the congressman told TheDCNF. “He was approached months ago and turned it down.” The source added that he will return to private practice. A White House official confirmed that Gowdy was approached for a seat of the 4th Circuit, but declined the offer.

5am – E         PUTIN USES BIRDS OF PREY TO TAKE DOWN DRONES. (The Sun) — RUSSIAN strongman leader Vladimir Putin has specially trained birds of prey guarding his Kremlin HQ from drones, it’s been revealed. The fortified seat of government in Moscow has long used birds of prey to chase away pesky crows. But now falcons have been trained to take out drones amid fears spies could use them – or worse ISIS use them as a weapon. It is understood the raptor birds are better able to target small drones than hawks. The source told Russian news agency RIA Novosti: “There is already such an experience of use in Europe, but you need to understand that the female hawk weighs about 1.2-1.4 kilograms, the weight is not very big.”Therefore it will be difficult for her to intercept even small drones.” There are already other anti-drone defences under development to protect the Kremlin from rogue devices. One is an electromagnetic gun with a range of more than a mile. And as previously reported, Russia tested a new “death ray” vastly superior to anything developed by the West, it is claimed. The terrifying weapon uses “directed energy” to disable enemy radio and magnetic equipment on board enemy jets, drones and other aircraft.

6am – A         TRAIN WRECK ON WAY TO GOP RETREAT

• Train carrying members of Congress hits truck, 1 dead. (CNN)A train carrying dozens of Republican members of Congress, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, to their legislative retreat in West Virginia hit a truck Wednesday, leaving at least one person dead. The driver of the truck was killed, President Donald Trump said Wednesday afternoon. Six patients were transported to UVA Medical Center, with one in critical condition. One of those six has been discharged, while the remaining four were being evaluated. Multiple sources said that all members of Congress on the train and their families were OK, with the exception of a few minor injuries. An aide confirmed Ryan is fine. “Today’s incident was a terrible tragedy,” the Wisconsin Republican tweeted later. “We are grateful for the first responders who rushed to the scene and we pray for the victims and their families. May they all be in our thoughts right now.” Rep. Jason Lewis of Minnesota was taken to the hospital for a potential concussion.
• GOP doctor-lawmakers rush to aid of injured after deadly train wreck.Minutes after the train slammed into the dump truck on Wednesday morning, Kansas GOP Rep. Roger Marshall tweeted that he was OK but was delivering first aid to victims. “We are on our way to our annual GOP retreat, the train carrying members and spouses hit something. … I am helping those that are injured,” the physician tweeted.  A House GOP aide tells Weekly Standard Reps. Brad Wenstrup, Michael Burgess, and Phil Roe — all medical professionals — are “outside the train working on someone from the truck.”
• Liberal author Jonathan Tasini celebrates fatal GOP train accident: ‘God is working hard today’  // Author and self-proclaimed CNN “talking head” Jonathan Tasini took to Twitter on Wednesday to declare that “God is working hard today to clean up the stink” because a “train full of Goopers” slammed into a dump truck moments after the news broke that GOP lawmakers were in a collision that resulted in at least one death.“Wow, btwn train full of Goopers hitting truck and this, God is working hard today to clean up the stink. Thank her. #TreyGowdy #goptrainwreck,” Tasini wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
• Daily Beast Writer: GOP Train Crash Is A ‘Metaphor’

6am – B         MANCHIN NEWS:

•  PENCE slams MANCHIN:  Manchin voted no to give working families more of your hard-earned money. Joe voted no on tax cuts. Joe voted no time and again on the policies that West Virginia needs. #JoeVotedNo
• Sen. Joe Manchin calls the potential release of the Nunes memo “asinine” and says that Chairman Devin Nunes “has neutered” the House Intelligence Committee
• SOTU: Joe Manchin: Democrats were “wrong” to sit for Trump’s Speech (Washington Examiner) — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Wednesday morning that Democrats were wrong to sit sullenly for most of President Trump’s State of the Union address, and said that mild protest showed a lack of respect to the presidency. “I was very, very upset when I saw the Republicans never, ever stood up with Barack Obama, and there was things I didn’t agree about President Obama in his speech,” he said on MSNBC. “But I was taught in West Virginia there’s a little bit of respect, and you should show that. And I did that then, and I did it last night,” he added. “I think the Democrats were wrong in not showing respect,” Manchin said. “That’s just me.

6am – C         ‘The Passion Of The Christ’ Sequel Is Picking Up Steam. (Daily Caller) — Mel Gibson has been working on a sequel to “The Passion of the Christ” for years now, and his lead actor is finally back on board to reprise his role as Jesus. Jim Caviezel confirmed that he will return to portray Jesus Christ for the film that will focus on the resurrection nearly 14 years after portraying his death in the first film, USA Today reports. “There are things that I cannot say that will shock the audience,” Caviezel teased. “It’s great. Stay tuned.” The 49-year-old actor didn’t offer many details on the project, but he already has high praise for the sequel in the works. “I won’t tell you how he’s going to go about it,” Caviezel added. “But I’ll tell you this much, the film he’s going to do is going to be the biggest film in history. It’s that good.” That may sound like a bold prediction, but when looking at the success of “The Passion of the Christ” in 2004, it’s hard to underestimate how big an impact the resurrection film could have. Of course Gibson, who directed, co-wrote and produced “The Passion,” has high hopes for the long-awaited sequel as well. “The Resurrection. Big subject. Oh, my God,” he said back in 2016. “We’re trying to craft this in a way that’s cinematically compelling and enlightening so that it shines new light, if possible, without creating some weird thing.” No dates have been announced for the upcoming biblical blockbuster, but with Caviezel officially signing on fans can count on it happening.

6am – D         ACLU NEWS:

•  ACLU Complains: “Trump Used the Word ‘America’ More Than 80 Times” (CNS News) — The American Civil Liberties Union — note the word “American” in its title — complained Tuesday night about President Trump’s repeated use of the word “America” in his State of the Union speech. In a written response to Trump’s speech, Faiz Shakir, the ACLU’s national political director, said: Tonight, President Trump said the word ‘America’ more than 80 times in his speech. Yet, after a divisive first year, we hear and feel how exclusionary that ‘America’ is, with policies that have harmed so many vulnerable American communities. The ACLU stands ready to protect these communities, both in the courts and at the polls. In particular, the immigration plan put forth by Trump would hold Dreamers hostage to his demands for a harmful border wall and an even larger mass deportation force. We are at this crossroads because of the President’s deeply destructive ideas fomented by his nativist allies and divisive rhetoric. We will continue to stand up for these young immigrants and ensure they continue to contribute to our country. We cannot let America’s Dreamers be deported.
• ACLU FIGHTS HOGAN’S CRIME BILLS: (Baltimore Sun) — The Maryland ACLU and a coalition of allies came together Tuesday to urge defeat of Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposals to deal with crime in Maryland, calling them a throwback to failed policies of past decades. Opponents of the governor’s crime package vowed to fight Hogan’s proposed bills to promote mandatory minimum sentences for repeat handgun offenses, to limit access to parole and to try more juveniles as adults. The Republican governor proposed the measures to the General Assembly in part as a response to Baltimore’s spiking homicide rate.

6am – E         MEMO NEWS: Devin Nunes to FBI: ‘No surprise’ to see FBI and DOJ’s ‘spurious objections’ to allowing public to see FISA memo. (Washington Examiner) — The clash between House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and the FBI continued to simmer on Wednesday when the California Republican said that once “the truth gets out” about the classified memo his staff put together, “we can begin taking steps to ensure our intelligence agencies and courts are never misused like this again.”

6am – F         Spectacular dinosaur stomping grounds discovered just outside D.C. (Washington Post) — Some 110 million years ago, in the swamp that would become the Washington suburbs, a hulking, armored nodosaur trudged along a riverbank, leaving a telltale print in the mud. Its offspring scrambled after it, slipping in the parent’s print. Other dinosaurs crowded the setting: A long-necked sauropod squelched through the muck, while several theropods — smaller cousins of the fearsome T-rex — stalked the landscape. Perhaps they were in pursuit of the small, rodent-like creatures hopping about. Within days, a flood covered the many footprints with rock, preserving them. Millennia passed. An asteroid struck, the continents shifted, sea levels fell, mammals rose, humans climbed down from trees and launched toward the stars. Finally, on a summer day in 2012, a self-taught fossil hunter named Ray Stanford noticed the unmistakable shape of the nodosaur’s track as he drove out of a parking lot at what is now NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. Years of excavation and analysis revealed the contours of that fossil print and dozens more on a single 8.5-foot-long slab of sandstone, Stanford and his colleagues announced Wednesday. It is the largest and most diverse assemblage from the dinosaur age found in the Mid-Atlantic region — and it ranks among the best fossil trackways in the world.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — TREVOR MATICH – WMAL’s Redskins Analyst and former Redskin – discussed Washington swapping out Kirk Cousins for Alex Smith and whether it will improve the team.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner – discussed the train crash, Rep. Trey Gowdy leaving and the memo release.

• Trey Gowdy announces retirement from Congress, has finally had it with Washington. Gowdy Was Approached For Federal Judgeship
• TRAIN WRECK ON WAY TO GOP RETREAT:  Train carrying members of Congress hits truck, 1 dead.
• GOP doctor-lawmakers rush to aid of injured after deadly train wreck.

 7am – D         CRAZY JOY REID:

• MSNBC star Joy Reid downplays MS-13, says only Fox News viewers have heard of dangerous gang. (Fox News) — During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Trump kicked off the immigration portion of his speech by detailing the horror of two teenage girls who were killed by MS-13, an international crime gang comprised mainly of El Salvador immigrants, while their parents were in the building. During MSNBC’s coverage of the State of the Union, Reid mocked the president’s remarks while analyzing the speech with “Hardball” host Chris Matthews. “He gives a speech tonight, in which he makes it sound.  like the biggest issue in the United States, the biggest threat is MS-13, a gang nobody that doesn’t watch Fox News has ever heard of. So he makes it sound like they’re the biggest threat.” Reid said Trump simply mentioned the deadly gang to accommodate the “audience he wants applause from.”
• Tucker Carlson Tears Into Joy Reid Over Her Trump SOTU Criticism: ‘It’s Nihilism’
• Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid: Church … family … police … military … the national anthem … Trump trying to call on all the tropes of 1950s-era nationalism. The goal of this speech appears to be to force the normalization of Trump on the terms of the bygone era his supporters are nostalgic for. #SOTU 9:32 PM – Jan 30, 2018

 7am – E         MICHELLE WHINES ABOUT MELANIA GIFT EXCHANGE:

• Michelle Obama Explains That Awkward Inaugural Gift Exchange To Ellen — And Forgets Her Own Gift To Laura. (Daily Mail) — For many of the millions of people watching, it was one of the more comical moments of Inauguration Day 2017. As well as witnessing one of the most awkward exchanges ever between Melania Trump and Michelle Obama, many wondered what the gift was that the new First Lady gave to her predecessor on the steps of the White House on Friday, January 20, 2017. Well, the mystery has finally been solved, as Michelle revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that inside the signature Tiffany-blue box was a ‘lovely frame’. In her first TV interview since leaving the White House, Michelle appeared on the show as part of Ellen’s 60th birthday double-episode special, which will be aired on Thursday, February 1. The chat show host took the opportunity to ask about the hilarious encounter, which has become one of the most joked-about moments from the day, spawning countless GIFs and memes. While the footage was playing in the background, Ellen also pointed out that Donald Trump walked up the steps to greet the Obamas, leaving his wife behind. Michelle then explained exactly what happened and her train of thought throughout the process.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – ASHLEY CARTER – the At-Large Representative for the DC State Board of Education – discussed the latest news about DC Public Schools.

• BIO: Ashley Carter is a 10 year resident of Washington, DC and was elected in 2016 as the At-Large Representative for the DC State Board of Education. Additionally, she is a director at the Independent Women’s Forum, an organization that works on issues that affect women and families. She frequently speaks on issues related to women in politics. She’s a rare Republican on the DC State Board of Education.
• DC SCHOOLS AUDIT:Report on Graduation and Attendance Violations at DC Public Schools: In D.C., 34 Percent Of Graduates Received A Diploma Against District Policy. One-Third Of DCPS Class Of 2017 Graduated Despite Policy Violations. More than a third of the D.C.
• Principal not returning to Ballou HS amid investigation into alleged grade fixing

• STUDENT DIES AT DC SCHOOL: Special needs student from Ballou High School dies in D.C. hospital 3 weeks after attack. He was jumped inside of a Ballou High School classroom.

8am – B         CONGRESSWOMAN MAXINE WATERS RESPONSE TO SOTU:

Waters delivered her response on BET’s Angela Rye’s State of the Union after boycotting Trump’s Tuesday night address. During her response, Waters described Trump as a “dangerous, unprincipled, divisive and shameful racist,” pointing to his categorization of Mexican immigrants as “rapists,” his multiple attempts to impose a travel ban on Muslim-majority countries, his criticism of black NFL players who took a knee during the national anthem, and his poor response to a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville as evidence.  “Trump often works to convince dissatisfied elements in our society that all of their problems are caused by people of color,” Waters said.

8am – C         Trump Tweets This Morning

8am – D/E     Memo News