Daily Caller’s Saagar Enjeti, ACU’s Matt Schlapp, former DC Mayor Vince Gray and guest host Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Host: Vince Coglianese

Guest Host: Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer

5am – A/B/C Should Age Limit Be Raised For Guns?

• Trump calls for raising minimum age to buy all guns to 21 (ABC News) — President Trump again called for raising the minimum legal age to purchase all guns to age 21 during a meeting with lawmakers on guns and school safety Wednesday, while suggesting that those who are staying silent on the topic are “afraid” to come up against the NRA. “I’m going to give it a lot of consideration,” Trump said. “People aren’t bringing it up because they’re afraid to bring it up. You can’t buy a handgun at 18, 19 or 20. You have to wait until you’re 21. You could buy the weapon used in this horrible shooting at 18. You are going to decide – the people in this room pretty much – are going to decide. I would give very serious thought to it.”

• NRA directly appealed to Trump against raising age for firearms purchases (CNN) — National Rifle Association leaders appealed directly to President Donald Trump about not raising the age limit for buying certain firearms, a senior administration official tells CNN. The appeal came when Trump had lunch with the leaders on Sunday. The official said the NRA would prefer that the White House pursue school safety programs. The official, however, said that although the White House continues to speak with the NRA, they’re not going to agree on everything. The White House will unveil school safety proposals on Thursday before the President leaves for the Billy Graham funeral on Friday, the official said.

• Walmart and Dick’s Raise Minimum Age for Gun Buyers to 21 (New York Times) — Two of the nation’s leading gun sellers, Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods, took steps on Wednesday to limit their sales of firearms, thrusting themselves into the middle of the polarizing national debate over gun control. Walmart, the biggest gun seller, announced late in the afternoon that it would not sell any gun to anyone under 21 years of age. It also said it would no longer sell items resembling assault-style rifles, including toys and air guns. Early in the day, Dick’s said it was immediately ending sales of all assault-style rifles in its stores. The retailer also said that it would no longer sell high-capacity magazines and would also require any gun buyer to be at least 21, regardless of local laws.

5am – D         TRUMP vs SESSIONS:

• POTUS blasts Attorney General Jeff Sessions for tapping an ‘Obama guy’ to investigate FISA abuse claims after confirmation of IG probe. President Trump put Attorney General Jeff Sessions back in his political crosshairs on Wednesday, blasting him for tapping an “Obama guy” to investigate allegations of government surveillance abuse. The president was reacting to Sessions revealing a day earlier that the Justice Department’s inspector general will investigate the allegations, in light of memos released on Capitol Hill about FBI and DOJ efforts to obtain FISA warrants to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser.
• Trump calls Sessions “Mr. Magoo”: report (The Hill) — President Trump refers to Attorney General Jeff Sessions as “Mr. Magoo,” The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Trump has been comparing his top law enforcement official to the bumbling cartoon character, an elderly man who lands in comic situations largely due to his severe near-sightedness.
• TWEETS:
  • @realdonaldtrump: Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
  • Jeff Sessions responds to Trump’s tweet: “As long as I am the Attorney General, I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor, and this Department will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution.”

5am – E         AR-15 ‘full semi-automatic’ 2.0: CNN military analyst Mark Hertling addresses critics (Twitchy.com) — In case you missed it, last night CNN aired a video of an “up-close and personal look at an AR-15” featuring CNN military analyst Mark Hertling, a retired Lieutenant General. During the video, Hertling says he’s going to shoot the AR-15 in “full semi-automatic” mode. After receiving flak from gun industry professionals, Hertling decided to clarify his point of view. Mark Hertling @MarkHertling The clip about AR 15s with @GaryTuchmanCNN shown on @AC360 tonight. This was a 90 minute discussion and firing put into a succinct 3-minute story by the pros at @CNN Mark Hertling @MarkHertling For all those critiquing my phrase “full semi automatic,” you are correct. I was attempting to inform the crew that I was going from “single shot” to continuous trigger and rapid trigger pull using the semiautomatic capability. My apologies…but perhaps you’re missing the point.

6am – A/B/C President Trump Meets With Lawmakers About Gun Proposals:

• Trump calls for raising minimum age to buy all guns to 21
• Trump: “[The NRA] has great power. They have great power over you people. They have less power over me. I don’t need it. What do I need? But I’ll tell you, they are well-meaning … We have to do what is right”
• “Take the guns first. Go through due process second,” President Trump says at a meeting with bipartisan lawmakers. “I like taking the guns early.”
• Trump after Sen. Toomey says gun control bill didn’t include changing age restrictions: “You know why, because you’re afraid of the NRA.”

6am – D         HOPE HICKS RESIGNS:

• Hope Hicks Will Resign as White House Communications Director
• REUTERS: In blow to Trump, top aide Hope Hicks to leave White House
• Hope Hicks resignation was a loss to the president: Anthony Scaramucci
• Trump berated Hope Hicks after she told House Intel she told “white lies”: report
• History of Trump W.H. communications directors:

—Sean Spicer: January-March 2017

—Mike Dubke: March-June 2017

—Spicer (acting): June-July 2017

—Anthony Scaramucci: July 2017

—Hope Hicks: August 2017-February 28, 2018

6am – E         Tiffany Trump promoted a nail polish brand on her Instagram feed. Is that okay? (Washington Post) — Tiffany Trump is the kind of Instagram “influencer” whose massive social media following of 958,000 people and high-profile platform (“first daughter” is a pretty exclusive title) makes designers and companies looking for product placements drool. So when the 24-year-old Georgetown Law student posted an Instagram story Tuesday night showing an apparent gift of a luxury nail-polish set from manicurist-to-the-stars Deborah Lippmann, it was no doubt a coup for the beauty brand. “Thanks, Debbie!” Tiffany Trump wrote in a fancy font across a photo of dozens of bottles of polish. She tagged @deborahlippmann alongside a heart emoji. Such promotions are common in Hollywood, where A-list actresses regularly thank Lippmann by name from red carpets with a waggle of their well-manicured digits, and elsewhere on Instagram, where model-like women with huge followings tag designers who send them freebies in exchange for the exposure. But they’re hardly typical in Washington, where such transactions just aren’t done.

6am – F         Kushner’s Business Got Loans After White House Meetings (New York Times) — Apollo, the private equity firm, and Citigroup made large loans last year to the family real estate business of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s senior adviser. Early last year, a private equity billionaire started paying regular visits to the White House. Joshua Harris, a founder of Apollo Global Management, was advising Trump administration officials on infrastructure policy. During that period, he met on multiple occasions with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, said three people familiar with the meetings. Among other things, the two men discussed a possible White House job for Mr. Harris. The job never materialized, but in November, Apollo lent $184 million to Mr. Kushner’s family real estate firm, Kushner Companies. The loan was to refinance the mortgage on a Chicago skyscraper. Even by the standards of Apollo, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, the previously unreported transaction with the Kushners was a big deal: It was triple the size of the average property loan made by Apollo’s real estate lending arm, securities filings show. It was one of the largest loans Kushner Companies received last year. An even larger loan came from Citigroup, which lent the firm and one of its partners $325 million to help finance a group of office buildings in Brooklyn. That loan was made in the spring of 2017, shortly after Mr. Kushner met in the White House with Citigroup’s chief executive, Michael L. Corbat, according to people briefed on the meeting. The two men talked about financial and trade policy and did not discuss Mr. Kushner’s family business, one person said.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – SAAGAR ENJETI – Daily Caller White House reporter – discussed President Trump’s gun legislation meeting with lawmakers, Hope Hicks resignation, and the ongoing feud between President Trump and AG Jeff Sessions.

7am – B         HUD Secretary Ben Carson Redecorating Controversy:

• Gowdy launches investigation into Carson spending thousands in taxpayer money redecorating office (The Hill) — House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) announced on Wednesday that the committee is probing whether Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson’s used “excessive spending” on the redecoration of his office. The announced probe follows reports that HUD staff member Helen Foster claimed she was replaced in her role because she refused to find a way around a $5,000 limit for redecorating Carson’s office. Gowdy requested in a letter to Carson that he turn over all communications related to Foster, as well as all documents and communications related to the redecoration of his office. The letter also requests all documents and communications related to the “redecorating, furnishing, or equipping” of the secretary’s office from Jan. 1, 1998, to Dec. 31, 2016. Carson has until March 14 to provide the material to the committee.
• Ben & Candy Carson @RealBenCarson Thank you to so many who have expressed concern for me and my family over the latest accusations. Rest assured that there has been no dishonesty or wrongdoing by us. All the numbers and evidence are being gathered and a full disclosure is forthcoming. 1/2
• Ben & Candy Carson @RealBenCarson We suspect, based on past attempts that they will continue to probe and make further accusations even without evidence or substantiation. We will continue to ask for God’s guidance to do what is right.

• White House furious at embarrassing stories about HUD, Secretary Ben Carson (CNN) — Senior White House aides are furious about a series of negative stories about frivolous spending at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and have taken a more hands-on role in trying to stem the tide of negative news, sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN. The decision to assert more control comes a day after reports that the former chief administrative officer at HUD filed a complaint saying she demoted after refusing to spend more than was legally allowed to redecorate Secretary Ben Carson’s new office. The former staffer, Helen Foster, said she was told to “find money” beyond the legal $5,000 limit for redecorating. In one instance, she says a supervisor said that “$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair.” HUD also spent $31,000 last year to replace a dining room set in Carson’s office, according to federal records and a whistleblower. A department official said that the dining set in the secretary’s dining room at HUD headquarters was replaced because it was in a state of disrepair

7am – C         Study says cats would kill you if they were bigger (Orlando Sentinel) — If you’ve ever suspected that your cat might be plotting to kill you, you might be on to something. A new study from researchers at the University of Edinburgh shows many parallels between domestic cats and their larger feline brethren, including aggression and neurotic behavior. The study rated domestic cats as expressing high levels of dominance, impulsiveness and neuroticism, characteristics they share with larger felines like the clouded leopard, African lions, snow leopards and Scottish wildcats. House cats also have high levels of anxiety, insecurity, tension, suspicion and fear of people.

7am – D/E     Should Age Limit Be Raised For Guns?

• Trump calls for raising minimum age to buy all guns to 21 (ABC News) — President Trump again called for raising the minimum legal age to purchase all guns to age 21 during a meeting with lawmakers on guns and school safety Wednesday, while suggesting that those who are staying silent on the topic are “afraid” to come up against the NRA. “I’m going to give it a lot of consideration,” Trump said. “People aren’t bringing it up because they’re afraid to bring it up. You can’t buy a handgun at 18, 19 or 20. You have to wait until you’re 21. You could buy the weapon used in this horrible shooting at 18. You are going to decide – the people in this room pretty much – are going to decide. I would give very serious thought to it.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MATT SCHLAPP – chairman of the American Conservative Union – discussed President Trump’s meeting with lawmakers about gun control, President Trump’s comments about due process, whether or not CPAC 2018 was a success, and Hope Hicks’ departure from the White House

 8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – MAYOR VINCE GRAY – DC Councilmember for Ward 7 and former mayor of D.C. – discussed potential enrollment fraud at D.C.’s Ellington School and widespread problems with the D.C. school system

• Report points to enrollment fraud at DC’s Ellington School (WTOP) — WASHINGTON — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday that a review is underway after a report of possible enrollment fraud at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Bowser held a news conference Tuesday, just hours after The Washington Post reported that dozens of families who live outside D.C. may be avoiding the tuition payments required for their children to attend the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Two D.C. officials told The Post that a preliminary check by the Office of the State Superintendent for Education of about 100 students who claimed D.C. residency found more than half may live outside of the District of Columbia. Nonresidents can attend the school, but are required to pay $12,000 in annual tuition. Ahnna Smith, the deputy mayor for education, told WTOP that the irregularities were discovered as part of an annual review of school enrollments that begins every October. Checking the residency documentation of each family is part of the process, Smith said; “they found a number of irregularities at Duke Ellington, and that triggered a deeper investigation.”

8am – D/E     President Trump Meets With Lawmakers About Gun Proposals