Cal Thomas, Steve Kastenbaum, Lanny Davis, and Mark Krikorian joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Trump budget includes proposal to replace food stamps with food packages (Axios) — The Trump administration is proposing a major shakeup to the the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): instead of giving low-income families food stamps every month, they would give them a box of nonperishable foods. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said the proposal, included in the $4.4 trillion budget the president sent to Congress for approval Monday, will save billions and offer families a more nutritious option. According to Politico, he also described it as a “Blue Apron-type program” — though the package would not include fresh produce or meat, which is an essential part of the pricey meal delivery service.

5am – D         PORTER / KELLY NEWS:

• WAPO: White House reels as FBI director contradicts official claims about alleged abuser
• FOXNEWS: FBI boss says Rob Porter background check ‘completed’ last year, despite White House claims. FBI Director Christopher Wray makes clear that White House was informed about red flags in Rob Porter’s security clearance process at least as far back as last March. “We administratively closed the file in January. And then earlier this month we received some additional information and we passed that on as well.”
• Rob Porter was up for White House promotion before domestic abuse accusations went public
• White House Personnel Security Office “had not made a final recommendation for adjudication to the White House because process was still ongoing when Rob Porter resigned,” Press Sec says of background check timeline
• “Kelly must resign,” says ex-Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci. (Scaramucci was fired by Kelly on Kelly’s first day at the WH.)  Anthony Scaramucci‏Verified account @Scaramucci: Based on FBI testimony, WH Chief of Staff John Kelly almost certainly knew about credible allegations of domestic abuse against Rob Porter at least 6 months ago – then recently forced others to lie about that timeline. Inexcusable. Kelly must resign.
• Porter blamed ex-wife’s black eye on a fall in off-the-record meeting with reporters

5am – E         Immigration News:

• MCCONNELL: Democrats are still blocking the Senate from even beginning the important debate on Immigration.
• Senator Rand Paul  @RandPaul 12h12 hours ago: In case you didn’t think Congress was absurd before, Senate Democrats are now filibustering the open immigration debate they asked for, and are refusing to put their bill on the floor.
• Graham says Dems don’t know what they’re for on DACA but know what they oppose.  Graham says Trump “very cleverly has put them in a box“ on DACA
• House GOP leaders will whip conservative GOODLATTE immigration bill on Wednesday as conservatives clamor for a vote. Ryan made the call
• A senior administration official said Tuesday night that President Trump “will veto any bill that doesn’t advance his common-sense immigration reforms” — a hardening of the White House bargaining position as the Senate begins an epic debate.
• Second federal judge blocks Trump administration’s move to end DACA

6am – A/B/C Happy Valentine’s Day!

• Women proposing to their boyfriends is the latest #MeToo culture shift (New York Post) — From #Metoo to #IDo. Many modern brides living in the age of female empowerment aren’t waiting for prince charming to pop the question — they’re taking their happily-ever-afters into their own hands. “I knew if I proposed he would have a ring and I wouldn’t be like a kept woman,” said Rebecca Reed, who proposed to her boyfriend in July on their one-year anniversary date. “I was like: I’m taking it by the balls and doing it.” Danielle Sinay, emboldened by the women’s movement, asked her boyfriend of three years to marry her in October. “Knowing it’s accepted and seen as something positive opposed to a flaw, I felt a lot better doing it,” she said. Planner Ash Fox is staging a proposal next week for a female client asking her boyfriend for his hand in marriage. “She’s making it happen for herself,” she said of the traditional set-up for the unconventional question. “You shouldn’t have to wait for a guy.” Reed refused to get on bended knee. Instead, the 34-year-old wedding photographer and her 36-year-old fiancé, Steven Jauch, had just finished dessert at Grand Army in Boerum Hill when she slipped a card across the table. “In case you don’t want to be single Steve anymore,” he read from the note inside as Reed pulled out another surprise — a titanium engagement band she ordered off Amazon for $10. “I did not get down on one knee. I felt like it is super antiquated and it was one reason I didn’t want him to propose to me,”

• VALENTINE’S DAY: Who will POP the QUESTION at PANERA??! (WASH-FM) — Bring on the Mac & Cheese! If you pop the question at PANERA BREAD on VALENTINE’S DAY, they may just pick you to win a full-blown catering spread for your wedding! Sure, it’s Valentine’s Day marketing… and sure, it’s somewhat clever… but boy is it fun to think of all of that tasty goodness you could get from PANERA for your wedding day!

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist – discussed Rob Porter and America’s debt.

6am – E         Four suspected MS-13 members indicted in Montgomery County man’s killing            (Washington Top News) — More than two years after police happened upon the body of a missing Montgomery County man, four gang members are indicted with conspiracy to commit his murder and racketeering. A federal grand jury indicted the alleged MS-13 gang members — four men ranging in age from 24 to 31 — in connection with the July 2015 killing of 19-year-old Guillermo Hernandez Leyva.

6am – F         DEMS / ELECTIONS:

• Democrat Margaret Good Flips Seat in Florida, the 36th Democratic Flip Since Trump’s Inauguration
• NEERA TANDEN: Huge news folks – another Dem pickup in a formerly Republican district in Florida!  We are building a powerful blue wave in this country. Don’t agonize. Organize.
• How big was the Democrat’s win in Florida’s bellwether HD72?

It was held by an R in a GOP county

Rs outnumber Ds by 12k voters, or 10 percentage points there

Trump carried it by 4.6% (but won FL by 1.2%)

Good just won by 7.4 points

7am – A          LOVE LIE DETECTOR TEST AVAILABLE IN 10 YEARS

Would you take it? Medical test to determine if you’re in love or ‘faking it’ will be available by 2028 (Mirror) — The painless, non-invasive procedure will enable doctors to accurately determine whether a patient is truly smitten or “faking it” A medical test to determine the biological evidence for being “in true love ” will be available in Britain within a decade, says one of the world’s leading neurologists. The painless, non-invasive procedure will enable doctors to accurately determine whether a patient is truly smitten or “faking it”. It will work by detecting the presence of potent ‘love’ chemicals in the brain using an MRI-type scanner. The chemicals, called nonapeptides, are only produced in significant quantities when a person is truly in love, researchers now believe. At present, the procedure for measuring the volume of nonapeptides in the brain can be done only in living laboratory animals. But advances in medical technology means a test on the brains of people could become a reality by 2028, Dr Fred Nour, a renowned US doctor, claims. Unlike lie detectors and other existing devices, such a scanner could not be duped and would boast an accuracy rate of between 97 and 99 per cent.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – STEVE KASTENBAUM – Correspondent in Pyeongchang, South Korea – recapped the Olympics

• Shaun White wins USA’s 100th all-time Winter Olympic gold medal (NBC) — Shaun White has reclaimed his Olympic halfpipe title and won the United States’ 100th all-time gold medal at the Winter Olympics. And he did it in dramatic fashion, landing back-to-back 1440s as part of a final run that knocked Japan’s Ayumu Hirano out of the top spot. With the win, White is now the first snowboarder to ever become a three-time Olympic champion. Twelve years after winning his first gold medal at the 2006 Torino Games, he is also the first American man to win the same individual event at three different Winter Olympics. Much has been made of White’s quest for a third gold medal ever since a disappointing result at the last Olympics, where he finished fourth and lost his Olympic title to Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov. Podladtchikov was unable to compete in PyeongChang due to a recent injury, but there were two other riders considered to be White’s biggest challengers at these Olympics: Japan’s Ayumu Hirano and Australia’s Scotty James.
• Winter Olympics 2018: Medals Table, Results and Schedule (New York Times) –
• More Dutch Gold: Jorien ter Mors won the women’s 1,000-meter speedskating race, making the Dutch team five-for-five in the sport so far at these Games. Brittany Bowe of the United States was fourth. Ter Mors had won two gold medals in Sochi, the 1,500-meter long track race and the short-track relay.

7am – D/E     INTERVIEW – LANNY DAVIS – former Special Counsel to President Clinton and “The Unmaking of the President 2016: How FBI Director James Comey Cost Hillary Clinton the Presidency” – discussed his new book, James Comey, Strzok/Page texts, and potential corruption at the FBI.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MARK KRIKORIAN – , a nationally recognized expert on immigration issues, has served as Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) – discussed – the latest immigration news in Congress.

8am – B         ROB PORTER News:

• WAPO: White House reels as FBI director contradicts official claims about alleged abuser
• FOXNEWS: FBI boss says Rob Porter background check ‘completed’ last year, despite White House claims. FBI Director Christopher Wray makes clear that White House was informed about red flags in Rob Porter’s security clearance process at least as far back as last March. “We administratively closed the file in January. And then earlier this month we received some additional information and we passed that on as well.”
• Rob Porter was up for White House promotion before domestic abuse accusations went public
• White House Personnel Security Office “had not made a final recommendation for adjudication to the White House because process was still ongoing when Rob Porter resigned,” Press Sec says of background check timeline
• “Kelly must resign,” says ex-Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci. (Scaramucci was fired by Kelly on Kelly’s first day at the WH.)  Anthony Scaramucci‏Verified account @Scaramucci: Based on FBI testimony, WH Chief of Staff John Kelly almost certainly knew about credible allegations of domestic abuse against Rob Porter at least 6 months ago – then recently forced others to lie about that timeline. Inexcusable. Kelly must resign.
• Porter blamed ex-wife’s black eye on a fall in off-the-record meeting with reporters

8am – C         Piers Morgan: Omarosa offered me sex to win Celebrity Apprentice (The Hill) — British journalist Piers Morgan said Tuesday that former White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman offered to sleep with him in order to win the season of “The Celebrity Apprentice” on which they both appeared. In an op-ed for the Daily Mail, Morgan, who in the past has supported President Trump’s White House, questioned why a “relentlessly loathsome” person such as Manigault-Newman was offered a job in the administration.

 Piers Morgan @piersmorgan *NEW: Omarosa offered me sex to win Celebrity Apprentice, then called me a ‘f***ing f*gg*t’, invented gay smears & threatened to punch me.  Why the hell was this vile creature ever employed at the White House? http://dailym.ai/2EDuKDd  12:58 PM – Feb 13, 2018

“I’ve met a lot of vile human beings in my life, from dictators and terrorists to sex abusers and wicked conmen. But I’ve never met anyone quite so relentlessly loathsome as Omarosa; a vicious, duplicitous, lying, conniving, backstabbing piece of work,” Morgan wrote. In his op-ed, Morgan details a conversation between himself and the former Trump aide during the first season of the Trump-hosted “The Celebrity Apprentice,” during which Manigault-Newman allegedly offered to create a “showmance” between the two contestants, which Manigault Newman claimed would make them both “lots of money.

8am – D/E     Trump budget includes proposal to replace food stamps with food packages (Axios) — The Trump administration is proposing a major shakeup to the the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): instead of giving low-income families food stamps every month, they would give them a box of nonperishable foods. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said the proposal, included in the $4.4 trillion budget the president sent to Congress for approval Monday, will save billions and offer families a more nutritious option. According to Politico, he also described it as a “Blue Apron-type program” — though the package would not include fresh produce or meat, which is an essential part of the pricey meal delivery service.