Weather Channel’s Ray Stagich, National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar, Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga, Rep. Jim Jordan and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, April 6, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C Libertarian Comedian Owen Benjamin Permanently Suspended from Twitter. (Breitbart) — Attempting to access Benjamin’s Twitter account, which had over 120,000 followers before its suspension, now returns users with a notice reading, “This account has been suspended.” Benjamin also confirmed the suspension in a post on his official Facebook page. “Both twitter accounts suspended and now my ability to make an income has been revoked,” declared Benjamin. “This is disgusting. I have a two year old and a pregnant wife and they just set my life back to 0 with on big swoop. I just worked tirelessly for the last 5 months building my online ability to make a living and it’s all gone. You will be next. Fight it now.”

5am – D         Trump proposes $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese products. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he has instructed the United States Trade Representative to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs against China. “In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the USTR to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs,” Trump said in a statement.

China, holding Treasuries, keeps ‘nuclear option’ in U.S. trade war. (Reuters) — China held around $1.17 trillion of Treasuries as of the end of January, making it the largest of America’s foreign creditors and the No. 2 overall owner of U.S. government bonds after the Federal Reserve. Any move by China to chop its Treasury portfolio could inflict significant harm on U.S. finances and global investors, driving bond yields higher and making it more costly to finance the federal government.

5am – E         INTERVIEW — RAY STAGICH – Meteorologist for The Weather Channel  @TWCRayStagich ‏ discuss whether we should panic (or not) about the snow

• Weather Channel Forecast:
• Today|Cloudy. Periods of light rain this morning. High near 70F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
• Tonight|Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low 42F. SW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
• Tomorrow|A shower of rain or wet snow possible early. Cloudy. High 46F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Less than an inch of snow…and mainly on grassy areas….
• Tomorrow night|Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 33F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
• Sunday|Plenty of sun. Highs in the low 50s and lows in the mid 30s.

6am – A         Trump praises “courageous” Scott Pruitt, still reviewing ethics issues President Trump lauded Scott Pruitt Thursday for doing “a fantastic job” in his role as Environmental Protection Agency chief, while acknowledging that he has yet to look into the series of scandals Pruitt is battling. “I think he’s done a fantastic job. I think he’s done an incredible job. He’s been very courageous,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after an event in West Virginia. “It hasn’t been easy, but I think he’s done a fantastic job.” “I just left coal and energy country, they love Scott Pruitt. They feel strongly and love him,” he said. Pruitt is rolling back many of former President Barack Obama’s regulations on the coal industry as part of Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda.

6am – B         New details about basis for Andrew McCabe’s firing from FBI revealed (By Catherine Herridge  / Fox News) – Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired last month for committing three violations of the bureau’s ethics code, an investigative source told Fox News on Thursday. The violations initially were uncovered by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General and confirmed by the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility. They included lack of candor under oath, lack of candor when not under oath, and the improper disclosure of non-public information to the media about the FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation. The violations stemmed from McCabe’s response to an October 2016 Wall Street Journal report about sizeable campaign donations from Democrats to McCabe’s wife, Jill, during her campaign for the Virginia State Senate. The investigation found that McCabe instructed FBI lawyer Lisa Page and FBI public affairs chief Michael Kortan to work with the Journal’s reporter to set the record straight. The source said Page’s statements to investigators were “critical” because they directly contradicted her boss, McCabe. According to the source, McCabe’s lack of candor about the contact with the Journal reporter led to his firing. The source added that Page’s testimony about the matter contradicted McCabe’s. Then-FBI Director James Comey claimed he never authorized the leak to the Journal.

6am – C         SeaWorld San Diego’s attendance takes deep plunge.

6am – D/E     TRUMP IN WEST VA:

• POTUS: “It’s wonderful to be back in West Virginia. It was a very special place during the election for me. It was not even close, was it?”
• WEST VA Governor JIM JUSTICE: “I love him with all my heart, and I’ll support him to the death. He’s a great man.” Justice recalled an encounter with POTUS, which he says describes his character.
• WV Governor JIM JUSTICE to POTUS: “What he’s done that has impacted our state thus far, has changed our state in so many ways it’s unbelievable… All of us have a gratitude to pay to this man and his guts to stand up.”
• TRUMP: If oyu have a baby on our land, it’s now a United States citizen… Mexico has very tough laws and Canada is very tough too — the way it should be
• Trump reprises “Mexicans are rapists” comments: “Remember my opening remarks at trump power when I opened. Everybody said, oh, he was so tough. I used the word rape. Yesterday it came out where this journey coming up, women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before.”
• POTUS rips on MANCHIN on immigration laws: “We have the worst laws.”
• Trump tosses his prepared remarks at roundtable on tax reform. “I’m reading off the first paragraph, I said, ‘This is boring. Come on. We have to tell it like it is.'”
• Trump: This will be the last time you will go that “old-fashioned” tax form.. “next April, you’re going to, in many cases, one page, one card”
• TRUMP criticizes Sen. Joe MANCHIN n West Virginia for voting against last year’s tax bill: “I thought he would be helpful…but he votes against everything.”

6am – F         STORMY DANIELS:

• Trump Denies Knowledge of $130,000 Payment to Stormy Daniels
• Stormy’s Lawyer: Trump Comments Are ‘A Gift From The Heavens’

7am – A   INTERVIEW – JOSH KRAUSHAAR – Politics Editor at National Journal @HotlineJosh – discussed the midterms, President Trump’s visit to West VA and the embattled EPA Chief Pruitt.

• MIDTERMS:
  • Mitch McConnell says midterms will be tough for the Republican Party In an interview with Kentucky (The Blaze) —  Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) expressed concern this week over how his party might fare in the 2018 midterm elections.Speaking with the paper’s editorial board, McConnell said “This is going to be a challenging year. We know the wind is going to be in our face. We don’t know whether it’s going to be a Category 3, 4, or 5.”
  • KRAUSHAAR: The Worst House Republican Slackers: The path to a Democratic majority could hinge on whether GOP members in otherwise safe seats blow winnable races.  https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/666081?unlock=BYP1XIWAU58SA5ZT
• WEST VA:
  • President Trump starts out tax cut event in West Virginia by taking multiple jabs at Sen Joe Manchin D-WV:  “He votes against everything and he voted against our tax cuts… we can’t have it. ..”
  • 3 Republicans in West Virginia battle to oust vulnerable Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. The primary to determine which Republican will run against Manchin in November is May 8.
  • Trump: We have very weak immigration laws because of the Democrats and Joe [Manchin].

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – BARRY SVRLUGA, sports columnist for The Washington Post (In Augusta) @barrysvrluga ‏ — Discuss the latest news at the Masters, particularly Tiger Woods

• Svrluga: At this year’s Masters, an anticipation unlike any other
• Svrluga: Masters 2018: Who can win, who can but won’t, and who to pick in your pool
• Tiger Woods’ first shot at the Masters in 3 years did not go well, but he did manage to recover (Business Insider) — Tiger Woods made his return to Augusta National official on Thursday after missing the Masters the past two years.  His first shot did not go well, veering off course and into the crowd gathered in anticipation of his comeback.

7am – D/E     Black Gun Owner Slams Gov’t: Why Do You Want To Take Away My Rights? (Daily Caller) — A black gun owner slammed those who would want to restrict guns from law-abiding citizens during a Tuesday city council meeting on how to combat gun violence. “You want to restrict my right to buy a firearm and protect myself from some of the very people you are talking about in here tonight,” Mark Robinson, a Greensboro, N.C., resident said. “The law-abiding citizens of this community, of other communities we are the first ones taxed and the last ones considered.” Robinson spoke out a city council meeting held to address how the community should handle gun violence and whether it should cancel an upcoming “Gun and Knife Show.” The Greensboro gun owner argued it was far past time for the government to listen to the “majority” in America: law-abiding citizens who might want to buy guns. “I’m the majority. I’m a law-abiding citizen who has never shot anybody,” Robinson said. “Never committed a serious crime. Never committed a felony. I’ve never done anything like that. It seems like every time we have one of these shootings, nobody wants to put the blame where it goes, which is at the shooter’s feet. You want to put it at my feet. You want to turn around and restrict my rights.”

 

8am – A         IMMIGRATION NEWS:

• Trump Throws Out ‘Boring’ Tax Reform Script, Takes Wild Turn On Immigration Instead.
• Trump says up to 4,000 National Guard members may be deployed to border (Washington Examiner) — President Trump told reporters Thursday that he’s looking at deploying up to 4,000 National Guard members to the southern border with Mexico. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that a deployment he announced this week will consist of “anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000″ members of the National Guard, and he’s “looking at” the cost, according to a pool report.
• Mexican president appeals to Trump after barrage of tweets: ‘Threatening attitudes’ not justified (USA Today) — Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, in a statement personally directed to President Trump, called on the U.S. president Thursday to negotiate with Mexico in a constructive spirit, saying the challenges between the two neighbors “never justify threatening or disrespectful attitudes between our countries.” “If your recent statements are the result of frustration due to domestic policy issues, to your laws or to your Congress, it is to them that you should turn to, not to Mexicans,” he said in a five-minute, video statement issued on Twitter.
• Mexico starts giving caravan migrants transit visas  — MATIAS ROMERO, Mexico (AP) — The Mexican government began handing out transit or humanitarian visas to people in a caravan of Central American migrants, and said the procession of 1,000 or so migrants that drew criticism from President Donald Trump had begun to disperse. Some migrants who awoke at the camp Wednesday said they would try their luck at requesting asylum in the United States, others in Mexico.
• Illegal immigrants own 1 million of California’s 26 million driver’s licenses (Washington Examiner) — More than 1 million illegal immigrants in California have obtained driver’s licenses since January 2015, when a new law kicked in, the state Department of Motor Vehicles said this week. That amounts to about 4 percent of the state’s 26 million driver’s licenses. California is one of 12 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that allow people living in the U.S. illegally to apply for identification cards and driver’s licenses.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – REP. JIM JORDAN – (R-OH) — co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus and member of the House Oversight and Government Reform  @Jim_Jordan ‏ — discussed omnibus spending, the Freedom Caucus legislative priorities and new details about Andrew McCabe’s firing.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – BRET BAIER – Anchor of Special Report on Fox News Channel @BretBaier – discussed the latest political news.

• Trump administration punishes 7 Russian oligarchs, 17 government officials with sanctions.
• MASTERS: BRET was at the MASTERS this week with his family. He even talked about it on his show last night.
• TRUMP IN WEST VA: Trump Throws Out ‘Boring’ Tax Reform Script, Takes Wild Turn On Immigration Instead
• PRUITT: Trump says he has confidence in Pruitt amid scandals.

8am – E         Stray cats take over Woodbridge neighborhood. (Fox 5 DC) — WOODBRIDGE, Va. – Residents in Woodbridge say feral cats have taken over their neighborhood. They said they have alerted animal control in Prince William County about the issue, but officials said residents are required to trap the cats before they can respond. Neighbors are now split on how to tackle the growing problem in their cul-de-sac. “People feed them and when they feed them, they come back. I don’t feed them,” said Roque Basallote. “I was never brought up that way and I’m not going to see that. I wouldn’t see anybody go hungry,” said Jim Spiker. Spiker said he feeds the feral cats daily – and that is not all. “I have built houses out of Styrofoam boxes and everything so they can sleep at night,” he said. However, Basallote has been taking an opposite approach. “I barricade all of my porch so they don’t hang around here,” Basallote said.