Heritage’s Mike Gonzalez, Daily Mail’s David Martosko and Fox’s Ed Henry joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, May 4, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Which issue is a more important platform for 2018: taxes or immigration? More than six in ten Hispanic likely midterm voters say they want legal immigration levels — the United States admits one to 1.5 million legal immigrants a year — reduced to anywhere between zero and 750,000 legal immigrants a year. According to the latest polling data by The Polling Company, commissioned by NumbersUSA, Americans are vastly opposed to current levels of legal immigration and want the number of foreign nationals legally arriving in the U.S. seriously cut, a plan that is supported by President Trump.

5am – D         Mystery pooper at N.J. high school’s track turned out to be superintendent, cops say. The Kenilworth school superintendent charged Monday with defecating in public was caught in the act at the Holmdel High School football field and track after surveillance was set up due to human feces being found “on a daily basis,” police said. Thomas Tramaglini, 42, lives about 3 miles from Holmdel High School in neighboring Aberdeen. He was running at the track on the athletic fields at 5:50 a.m. before he was arrested. Track coaches and staff at Holmdel High School told the district’s resource officer that they found human feces on or near the football field and track daily, Holmdel police said in a statement Thursday.  School employees began monitoring the area and on Monday police arrested Tramaglini at 5:50 a.m., according to Sgt. Theodore Sigismondi. Tramaglini is also charged with lewdness and littering. He is due in municipal court in Holmdel at 8:15 a.m. Monday to answer the charges. Tramaglini has taken a paid leave of absence from his $147,504 a year job in Kenilworth. Leave can only be unpaid if a person is indicted or faces tenure charged, the district said, citing state law.

5am – E         Comey’s memo leak contact worked at FBI for over a year, defended him in media on Clinton probe. (Fox News) — The Columbia law professor James Comey used as an intermediary to help leak details of sensitive memos worked as an FBI “special government employee” for at least 19 months – during which time he repeatedly defended the FBI director in media interviews amid the Hillary Clinton email probe. Fox News first reported last week that Daniel Richman was hired as a “special government employee,” or SGE. Records reviewed by Fox News now show he signed the agreement as early as June 30, 2015. The former director previously told Fox News that Richman left the FBI in February 2017, meaning he served there for well over a year. Sources familiar with Richman’s FBI status said he was assigned to “special projects” by Comey, and had a security clearance as well as badge access to the building. Richman told Fox News in an email last week that he was working as an SGE on an unpaid basis.  FBI records show that as a special government employee, Richman would “serve at the pleasure of the Director [Comey],” with an initial term of one year. Richman’s stated responsibilities included the use of encryption by terror suspects — known as “Going Dark.” In August 2015, his projects were expanded to include “an examination of the implications of federal investigations being brought to state and local prosecutors.” During this time, a review of media reports between July 2015 and February 2017 shows Richman gave multiple interviews defending Comey’s handling of the Clinton email case, including the controversial decision to reopen the probe shortly before the presidential election. He was typically identified as a law professor, and sometimes as a policy adviser to Comey.

6am – A/B/C NBC WIRETAPPING CORRECTION:

• NBC issued a correction its wiretap story on MSNBC. Feds are “monitoring” Michael Cohen’s calls, they are NOT listening to or recording them, there is NO “wiretapping.”
• SNBC calls it a “Correction” on Twitter. Meanwhile story says “Editor’s Note.”
• eds have pen-register, not wiretap on Michael Cohen
• Daily Caller’s Amber Athey: The Definitive List Of Media Screw-Ups On The Trump-Russia Story

6am – D         WEST VA RACE:

• DON JR WEIGHS IN: Donald Trump Jr. asks West Virginia “to reject Blankenship'”
• Blankenship goes after McConnell’s ‘China family’ in new ad. West Virginia GOP Senate hopeful Don Blankenship is amping up his racial attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with a new ad declaring, “Swamp captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China” “While doing so, Mitch has gotten rich,” Blankenship adds. “In fact, his China family has given him tens of millions of dollars.”

6am – E          Neighbors say it’s no surprise Lincoln County man crashed helicopter

LINCOLN COUNTY, NC (FOX 46 WJZY) – An Iron Station man is lucky to be alive after his helicopter crashed and caught fire right on his front lawn. Back in October, Timothy Kniess’ wife won the lottery a hundred thousand dollars on a scratch off ticket. Luck was definitely on their side again today when he was able to escape the crash with just a few scratches. Neighbors weren’t surprised by the crash. They say they watched Kniess attempt to fly his Mosquito XE helicopter for weeks, just waiting for it all to go wrong. “Is today the day? I came home and the neighborhood was blocked off and today was the day, it went down,” said neighbor John Aubery.  North Carolina State Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies responded to the crash Wednesday morning, finding the helicopter on fire and Kniess watching his helicopter melt away.

6am – F         Is “Last Man Standing” coming back? Tim Allen suggested on Twitter that his hit sitcom may be returning. “They heard all your voices people!! LMS just might be a reality. Keep it up. Who wants more #LastManStanding?” the actor tweeted on Thursday. Tim Allen @ofctimallen: They heard all your voices people!! LMS just might be a reality. Keep it up. Who wants more #LastManStanding? 1:54 PM – May 3, 2018     // He also tweeted, “Stay tuned” in an earlier tweet. ABC canceled the sitcom in May 2016 despite its high ratings. Many speculated at the time that the network axed the series over its politics — a rumor that ABC vehemently denied at the time.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – MIKE GONZALEZ – Senior Fellow for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation and the author of “A Race for the Future: How Conservatives Can Break the Liberal Monopoly on Hispanic Americans.”

• GONZALEZ: What Trump Should Say on Cinco de Mayo. (Daily Signal) – “President Donald Trump is famously difficult to write speeches for, and his relationship with Mexican-Americans has been strained by comments made, so any speechwriter crafting an address for Cinco de Mayo would have a challenge. Having worn this hat at the State Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission during the George W. Bush administration, this is the advice I’d give him.”

7am – B         KANYE NEWS:

• CNN’s Brian Stelter says Kanye is ‘a gift to racists’
• Kanye West’s music banned by radio station after slavery remarks  (Los Angeles Times) — Detroit radio station 105.1 The Bounce said Thursday that it has banned Kanye West’s music from its airwaves.  “We feel like Kanye has gone too far with his latest statement declaring that ‘slavery was a choice,’” deejays BiGG and Shay Shay from “The Morning Bounce” said in a Facebook post on Thursday. “We are over it. “We don’t want to hear Kanye’s music. So we are taking a stand and we aren’t playing his music anymore; we just are refusing to give him a platform,” they continued.  West lit a fire Tuesday when he said on “TMZ Live,” “You hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years? That sounds like a choice. Like, you was there for 400 years, and it’s all of y’all?”  Shay Shay said on the air Wednesday — when the two hosts asked listeners if a boycott would be appropriate — that she’s tired of listening to West on the self-described “throwback” hip-hop and R&B station.
• Steve Harvey Advises Kanye West to ‘Have People Around That Can Be Truthful’ After Slavery Controversy  (People) — Steve Harvey is joining the growing number of celebrities who’ve expressed their thoughts on Kanye West‘s unapologetic outbursts, most notably the rapper’s remark implying slavery was a “choice.” “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Kanye. I think what Kanye is – is he’s insulated in his own thoughts, in his own mind,” Harvey, 61, said on Thursday’s episode of his radio program, The Steve Harvey Morning Show. “I don’t think that Kanye has people around him where he can run stuff by and bounce it off, and get some real truth from. You have to have people around you that can be truthful,” the host continued.
• Dr. Phil: Kanye_West ‘Has Empowered White Supremacists’ (Breitbart News) — TV host Dr. Phil said on Wednesday that Kanye West’s recent comments about slavery being a “choice” have “empowered hate groups” and “white supremacists.” “It does show a lack of impulse control, it shows what I would refer to as dysregulated thought. He doesn’t have a filter here. The things that he’s saying are irresponsible and ignorant,” Dr. Phil said in an interview with TMZ. “Either this is attention-getting behavior because he’s got an album coming out or he wants to sell shoes, he’s wanting attention. Or he really has a problem pumping the break here mentally and emotionally,” Dr. Phil continued. “Either way it’s not okay because for whatever reason he does have a big pulpit, he does have a big platform. And so a lot of people are listening. A lot of people are being influenced.” “And I’ll guarantee you he has empowered white supremacist, he has empowered hate groups with the things he saying here,” Dr. Phil said
• Roseanne Barr is on Kanye West’s side. (Fox News) — The outspoken actress took to social media on Thursday to voice her support for one of the points Kanye West has recently made on Twitter about Chicago, the city he is from. Barr said West is “telling the truth” about Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s city. “Ppl (sic) do not want to hear the truth-that Chicago could be a better city for its citizens, but the establishment is corrupted,” Barr wrote. “@kanyewest is telling the truth about Rahm’s Chicago. Ppl do not want to hear the truth-that Chicago could be a better city for its citizens, but the establishment is corrupted.”  — Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 3, 2018
• Adidas CEO is keeping Kanye around: “Kanye and the Yeezy is a very important part for our brand.”
• BIEBER STANDS WITH KANYE: Thank you @justinbieber for being brave enough to speak out against the mob. Love to both you and @kanyewest who have both been unfairly demonized by the media, all too often. #FreeThinkers

7am – C         How a ‘Far-Left Propaganda Machine’ Got a Respected Legal Group Expelled by Amazon (Daily Signal) — Alliance Defending Freedom has won seven cases at the U.S. Supreme Court in as many years, including one that upheld an Arizona school choice program and another that prevented the state of Missouri from discriminating against a Christian preschool. The legal powerhouse, which fights for religious freedom, is awaiting decisions in two more landmark free speech cases it argued this term before the high court. It is counted as one of the most successful legal advocacy organizations in the country. But even that stellar record was not enough to prevent Alliance Defending Freedom from being banned from participating in AmazonSmile, which allows Amazon.com customers to contribute “0.5% of eligible purchases” to “almost one million eligible 501(c)(3) public charitable organizations.” ADF had been one of those charities since the 2013 launch of AmazonSmile until recently, when those who had assigned the legal organization as their charity were notified that it was no longer eligible. The reason? Southern Poverty Law Center.

7am – D         ‘Extremely offensive’: GW students launch petition to change Colonials nickname. They prefer ‘Hippos.’ (Washington Post) — Some students are asking to change a longtime nickname for George Washington University, arguing that “Colonials” is offensive because it is too evocative of colonization and oppression. As alternatives, they suggested “Hippos.” Or “Riverhorses.” Student Rachel Yakobashvili created a petition on Change.org that states, “We, as students, faculty, and staff of the George Washington University, believe it is of great exigence that the university changes the official nickname for its affiliates. The use of ‘Colonials,’ no matter how innocent the intention, is received as extremely offensive by not only affiliates of the university, but the nation and world at large. The historically, negatively charged figure of Colonials has too deep a connection to colonization and glorifies the act of systemic oppression.” She and other students also created a petition on a website for the Student Association, which suggested “Revolutionaries” as another possible nickname. By Thursday afternoon, more than 200 students had added digital signatures. If 500 students sign on, the Student Association president will have to respond to the request. The petitioners have not approached university officials with the issue. Leaders of GW Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The GW Hatchet, the student newspaper, quoted sophomore Andrew Hesbacher as saying, “Colonialist, terrorist, murderer. In a lot of places that’s what colonials mean to people. Why would we continue to call ourselves that?”

Some students noted their “reason for signing” the petition:

• “GW shouldn’t be able to call itself “progressive” or “inclusive” when its mascot is a literal representation of the systematic extermination and oppression of global communities for white profit and power.” — Emma Krasnopoler, Washington, DC
• “As a two-time orientation leader for the exchange students at GW, we have always had to take a significant amount of time explaining to the students why “they should not be offended by our mascot.” We should be able to proudly represent our school in international communities without fear that we are offending others, or making light of extremely unpleasant and traumatic circumstances many individuals have endured as a result of colonialism.” — Elyssa Clauson, Washington, DC
• “Because “Colonials” does not represent the values of anyone at the University and also our mascot is terrifying and Hippos are objectively a better mascot. Adopt Hippos and watch people start going to basketball games, campus events etc. Nobody likes colonists. Everyone likes Hippos. This aint hard” — Nikolas Michael, Jamaica, NY

7am – E         Md. school district mistakenly told third-graders they were on waiting list for gifted program (Washington Post) — Thousands of Montgomery County families were mistakenly told their elementary-school-age children had been placed on a waiting list for a program that enrolls gifted students. In truth, they hadn’t been accepted. The letters arrived April 20 at the homes of more than 5,265 families. The news was promising: Each family’s third-grader was on the waiting list for one of the school system’s Centers for Enriched Studies, which exist at 13 elementary schools and offer accelerated curriculums to gifted students. Days later, parents received a second letter retracting the first one.  The second letter told parents the students’ current elementary school can meet their “accelerated and enriched programming needs,” according to a copy of the letter that parents shared. Derek Turner, a spokesman for Montgomery County Public Schools, apologized for the mistake, blaming it on a “printing error.” “We definitely apologize for the error on our part and any impact it’s had on our families,” Turner said Thursday. “We know that people are very excited about our Centers for Enriched Studies, and we apologize to those families who inadvertently received the wrong letter.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – DAVID MARTOSKO – U.S. political editor at DailyMail.com – discussed the latest political news of the day from the White House.

• MARTOSKO: Rudy Giuliani offers NEW explanation for why Trump fired Comey: Because then-FBI director refused to publicly say president wasn’t a Russia probe target
• MARTOSKO: Trump’s new lawyer demands AG must step in following leak that Michael Cohen was WIRETAPPED // UPDATE: NBC issued a correction its wiretap story on MSNBC. Feds are “monitoring” Michael Cohen’s calls, they are NOT listening to or recording them, there is NO “wiretapping.” Investigators used a “pen register” to log numbers dialed from Cohen’s phone and duration of calls, but did not listen in.
• MARTOSKO: Kellyanne’s husband contradicts Trump with tweet to FEC regulations. George Conway, whose wife is Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway, tweeted a link to government rules about loans to candidates.    If Trump paid Cohen back, it was legally a ‘loan’; and if Cohen paid Stormy Daniels specifically to help Trump win an election, it’s counted as campaign cash.  Trump could have been required to report the ‘loan’ on his financial disclosure forms, depending on when he started paying Cohen a retainer.

8am – B         CNN Uses White House Prayer Event To Cover Stormy Daniels:

• Trump Stands Up for Religious Freedom on the National Day of Prayer
• CNN does live segment on Stormy Daniels at White House prayer event
• Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollins: A guest at the White House for the National Day of Prayer event tells me I am “pitiful and disgusting” for reporting that President Trump reimbursed his attorney for the $130,000 he paid a porn actress. I think you’re gonna have to take that up with Trump, sir.
• CNN aired a segment on porn actress Stormy Daniels live from the White House just as an event recognizing religious freedom began.
• Collins then went into her live shot while it was mostly silent at the event, and people could be seen behind Collins turning around to see where the noise was coming from. The choir began its performance when Collins’ segment ended. Andrew Beatty, a White House reporter for the Agence France-Presse, wrote on Twitter that he was there and called the CNN shot a “Slightly awkward moment in the Rose Garden,” adding that it was “quiet except for the sound a CNN reporter doing piece to camera about Stormy Daniels. Some giggles some questioning glances.”

8am – C         Vice President Pence swears in Ric Grenell who is moving to Berlin to serve as US Ambassador to Germany. Holding the Bible is Ric’s longtime partner Matt Lashey.

• VP Pence administers oath of office to Richard Grenell as US Ambassador to Germany. “It’s taken a long time to get here,” said Grenell, noting he’s been waiting for Senate confirmation since last September. Confirmed 56-42 last week. Served 8 years as US spokesman at UN.
• Derek Hunter ‏@derekahunter: Mike Pence  @VP is really awful at being a homophobe. Congratulations @RichardGrenell.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – ED HENRY – Fox News Chief National Correspondent and New York Times Bestselling Author “42 Faith” — discussed the political news of the day.

• Ed Henry @edhenry: Just talked to Rudy Giuliani at charity event in #NYC — details on his latest conversation w @realDonaldTrump 11pm ET
• Ed Henry Retweeted: Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy: NBC News with a big correction: MSNBC Banner reads right now: “Correction: Feds are monitoring, not listening to Cohen’s calls.”

8am – E         HOUSE CHAPLAIN RESCINDS HIS RESIGNATION:

• Paul Ryan accepts House chaplain’s decision to rescind resignation, ducks “protracted fight” (Washington Examiner) — House Speaker Paul Ryan accepted Father Patrick Conroy’s decision Thursday to rescind his resignation, allowing him to remain as chaplain of the House. “It is my job as speaker to do what is best for this body, and I know that this body is not well served by a protracted fight over such an important post. I intend to sit down with Father Conroy early next week so that we can move forward for the good of the whole House,” Ryan said in a statement. Conroy told Ryan in a letter earlier in the day Thursday that he was walking back his resignation, which was announced last month. Conroy said it was never explained to him why Ryan wanted him out, but he added Ryan’s chief of staff suggested he needed to resign because he is Catholic.