Joe diGenova, Gordon Chang and Washington Post’s Scott Allen joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, June 4, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C How Trump’s Election Shook Obama: ‘What if We Were Wrong?’

He had read a column asserting that liberals had forgotten how important identity was to people and had promoted an empty cosmopolitan globalism that made many feel left behind. “Maybe we pushed too far,” Mr. Obama said. “Maybe people just want to fall back into their tribe.” His aides reassured him that he still would have won had he been able to run for another term and that the next generation had more in common with him than with Mr. Trump. Mr. Obama, the first black man elected president, did not seem convinced. “Sometimes I wonder whether I was 10 or 20 years too early,” he said.

5am – D         MUELLER NEWS:

• Trump attorneys’ letter to Mueller spells out legal arguments against Trump sitting down for interview. (Fox News) — President Trump’s legal team sent a letter to Special Counsel Robert Mueller in January outlining many reasons why the president should not sit down for an interview.  Fox News has obtained the letter, which offers a detailed look at the president’s legal team and its thinking about whether he should submit to an interview, including the argument that under the law and the U.S. Constitution, Mueller faces a high bar in trying to prove he needs in-person answers from the president.  Trump attorney Jay Sekulow and then-Trump attorney John Dowd challenged Mueller to prove there were questions remaining that had not already been answered in the avalanche of documents the White House and the Trump transition team provided to Mueller.
• Trump suggests Justice Department officials are leaking letters from his lawyers to media (Washington Examiner) — President Trump called the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election “bad for our country” and accused the Justice Department of leaking letters from his lawyers to the press. “There was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats). When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?” Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon.
• Trump lawyers reveal previously unknown evidence in Michael Flynn case. (Byron York) —  Newly-leaked evidence supports contention that FBI did not believe Michael Flynn lied. Also suggests Trump not only knew that, thought probe was all but over when ‘letting this go’ conversation with Comey happened.
• Rudy Giuliani: “Leaning toward not” letting Trump sit with Mueller (Washington Examiner) — Rudy Giuliani said it is unlikely President Trump will sit to interview before special counsel Robert Mueller. “Jay [Sekulow] and I want to keep an open mind. And I have to just be honest, we’re leaning toward not [sitting for an interview],” the Trump lawyer said on a segment of ABC’s “This Week” that aired Sunday. He added: “But look, if they can convince that it will be brief, it would be to the point, there were five or six points they have to clarify, and with that, we can get this long nightmare for the American public over.” The decision is ultimately up to Trump, Giuliani said, adding that the president’s legal team will recommend he does not testify.
• President Trump’s legal team is making a bold new claim in a letter to Robert Mueller that says he can’t obstruct the Russia investigation because his presidential authority is so broad that it makes obstruction impossible. President Trump’s legal team is making a bold new claim in a letter to Robert Mueller that says he can’t obstruct the Russia investigation because his presidential authority is so broad that it makes obstruction impossible, the New York Times reports. Why it matters: That claim would push the boundaries of executive power and probably set up a legal fight over whether he can be ordered to answer questions. The letter from the president’s legal team claims that the Constitution gives Trump the power to, “if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.”

5am – E         Business says its reputation tanked after shunning LGBTQ group, sues for $2.3M. (The Oregonian/OregonLive) — A Portland business that claims its reputation nosedived after it turned away an LGBTQ customer based on orders from Holy Rosary Church filed a $2.3 million lawsuit this week against the church. Ambridge Event Center rented out a large space at 1333 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. to the public for conventions, weddings and other parties, according to the lawsuit. The business leased the space from the building’s owner, Holy Rosary Church, and was under “strict orders” laid out in a “morals clause” to turn away business from the gay and lesbian community, the suit states. In February 2015, the Ambridge Event Center followed the church’s orders by telling an African American LGBTQ support group, the PFLAG Portland Black Chapter, that it couldn’t rent out the space for the group’s annual party, according to the suit and media coverage at the time. After a spate of bad press, Ambridge Event Center claims that government agencies and businesses not associated with the LGBTQ community wanted nothing to do with the event center, the suit says. According to news articles at the time, the event center apologized to the PFLAG Portland Black Chapter days later and offered to hold the party for free. According to the lawsuit, the event center also tried to restore its reputation in other ways, “going so far as to hire an events coordinator, Mr. Gary Sorrels, who is openly gay.”

 

6am – A         Latest on North Korea summit:

• NKorea Replaces Top Military Leaders…
• North Korean envoy Kim Yong Chol handed Pres. Trump an unusually large letter from Kim Jong Un during his White House visit on Friday – the internet took notice.
• US may end up paying Kim Jong Un’s hotel bill for summit.

6am – B         CNN hits peak stupid as anchor likens Trump’s presidential campaign to MS-13. (BizPacReview) — Some contend that CNN grows dumber and faker by the day. What anchor Alisyn Camerota compared President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign to over the weekend suggests they’re 100 percent right. During a discussion with American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp about the whole spy/informant controversy, Camerota specifically likened the president’s campaign to MS-13, the international street gang known for sexually assaulting children and indiscriminately murdering people. “When the FBI uses a source in MS-13 to find out what they’re doing, is that a spy or a source, an informant to figure out what MS-13 is doing?” she asked Schlapp, taking issue with his belief that the allegedly benign “informant” whom the FBI planted inside Trump’s campaign was in actuality an insidious spy.

6am – C         MELANIA:

• Melania Trump to attend event with Gold Star families on Monday. (The Hill) — First lady Melania Trump is expected to host a reception for Gold Star families alongside her husband on Monday, marking her first public appearance in weeks. The White House schedule for Monday lists the Gold Star Families Memorial Day Reception as a closed-press event and says the first lady will be in attendance alongside President Trump. The Hill confirmed with a spokesperson that the first lady was planning on appearing. The first lady has not been seen in public since May 19, when she returned to the White House after undergoing a kidney procedure.
• U.S. FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP TO SKIP G7, NORTH KOREA SUMMIT (Reuters) — WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, will skip this week’s G7 summit in Quebec and does not plan to attend the planned June 12 summit in Singapore with North Korea, the White House said on Sunday. Melania Trump attended the G7 meeting in Italy last year. The US first lady, 48, has not been seen in public since May 10. She underwent a surgical procedure on May 14 to treat a benign kidney condition and was released from the hospital on May 19. “She will not attend the G7 and there are no plans for her to travel to Singapore at this time,” her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in an e-mail on Sunday.

6am – D         VA RACES:

• House candidate defends ad comparing Trump to Osama bin Laden. (The Washington Times) — Virginia Democratic House candidate Dan Helmer defended Sunday his incendiary campaign ad comparing President Trump to 9/11 terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. “After 9/11, the greatest threat to our democracy lived in a cave,” said Mr. Helmer in the 30-second ad. “Today, he lives in the White House. No one, even the president, is above the law.” Asked Sunday if he believed that Mr. Trump is the “moral equivalent of Osama bin Laden,” Mr. Helmer took a detour, citing his days at West Point and combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Admitted pedophile and rapist running for congressional seat in Virginia (The Hill) —  Nathan Larson, a self-declared racist and ex-con who advocates for pedophilia and rape, is running for Congress in Virginia’s 10th District.  While speaking to HuffPost on Thursday, the 37-year-old independent candidate from Charlottesville told the publication he identifies as a “quasi-neoreactionary libertarian” who is open about his pedophilia so as to remain unconstrained by “political correctness.”  “A lot of people are tired of political correctness and being constrained by it,” Larson told the outlet. “People prefer when there’s an outsider who doesn’t have anything to lose and is willing to say what’s on a lot of people’s minds.” Larson confirmed in the interview that he created the now-defunct websites suiped.org and incelocalypse.today — online forums for pedophiles and violence-minded misogynists.

6am – E         Jimmy Fallon gives surprise speech at Stoneman Douglas graduation. (Fox News) — Jimmy Fallon surprised Marjory Stoneman Douglas students on Sunday as he made a guest appearance at the Class of 2018’s graduation — and even delivered a speech. The host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” spoke at Sunrise’s BB&T Center to the graduating class of 784 students, giving them some “thoughts” he said have helped him throughout his life. “When something feels hard, remember that it gets better,” Fallon told the crowd at the event, which was off-limits to the media. “Choose to move forward, and don’t let anything stop you.” The late-night host, who has supported the student activists’ March for Our Lives movement, noted that he met many of the graduates at their march in Washington, D.C., in March.

6am – F         BILL CLINTON NEWS:

• Bill Clinton says impeachment hearings would have begun already if a Democrat were president via @foxnews /// Former President Bill Clinton argued Sunday that impeachment hearings would already be in full swing if a Democrat were in the Oval Office and if the special counsel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election were as deep as it is now. “I think if the roles were reversed — now, this is me just talking, but it’s based on my experience — if it were a Democratic president, and these facts were present, most people I know in Washington believe impeachment hearings would have begun already,” Clinton told “CBS Sunday Morning.” Clinton, who appeared alongside James Patterson to promote the political thriller “The President is Missing” that the two penned together, noted that these are “serious issues” that the country is facing.
• A new book coauthored by James Patterson and former Pres. Bill Clinton is out this week.
• Bill Clinton: Press Went Easy on Obama — ‘They Liked Having the First African-American President’

7am – A         INTERVIEW –  JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – discussed the latest Mueller news.

• Trump attorneys’ letter to Mueller spells out legal arguments against Trump sitting down for interview.
• Trump suggests Justice Department officials are leaking letters from his lawyers to media (Washington Examiner)
• Trump lawyers reveal previously unknown evidence in Michael Flynn case. (Byron York) —  Newly-leaked evidence supports contention that FBI did not believe Michael Flynn lied. Also suggests Trump not only knew that, thought probe was all but over when ‘letting this go’ conversation with Comey happened.
• Rudy Giuliani: “Leaning toward not” letting Trump sit with Mueller
• President Trump’s legal team is making a bold new claim in a letter to Robert Mueller that says he can’t obstruct the Russia investigation because his presidential authority is so broad that it makes obstruction impossible
• Giuliani threatens to take Mueller to court if he subpoenas Trump
• Giuliani: Trump couldn’t be indicted even if he shot Comey

7am – B         500 DAYS: In his first 500 days in office President Donald J. Trump has achieved results domestically and internationally for the American people.

7am – C         CAPS WIN:

• Capitals top Vegas @GoldenKnights, take lead in Stanley Cup Final
• Two Caps players rode the Metro to Game 3. Picture this: It’s the biggest presentation at work you’ve ever had. Accolades, accomplishments and maybe even a promotion are on the line. You ride the Metro like you do every day, right? Same with Caps forward T.J. Oshie and defenseman Matt Niskanen. The two players were spotted on the Metro by Twitter user @danadaniello.
• Fall Out Boy performing free show before Game 4 of Stanley Cup in DC. WASHINGTON – Fall Out Boy will perform a free concert before the Washington Capitals play the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final in the District on Monday. The multiplatinum-selling rock band will play on the steps of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery on G Street at 6 p.m., the NHL announced Friday.NHL officials said the concert would take place “rain or shine” and that no tickets were required to attend.

7am – D         JOB NUMBERS / ECONOMY:

• Ivanka Trump @IvankaTrump: Jun 1: The US unemployment rate has fallen to an 18-year low of 3.8% with 223,000 new jobs added in May! This month’s #JobsReport is something that we can ALL celebrate.
• Nancy Pelosi @NancyPelosi: The #JobsReport shows that strong employment numbers mean little to the families hit with soaring new costs under the Republicans’ watch.
• Black unemployment rate hits new record low in May
• SARAH SANDERS SLAPS PAUL KRUGMAN FOR ‘GREAT RECESSION’ PREDICTION UNDER TRUMP

7am – E         ‘Roseanne’ becomes ‘Darlene’? ABC reportedly considering reboot around Sara Gilbert. (Yahoo TV) — ABC may be throwing Roseanne a lifeline — without star Roseanne Barr. The network is reportedly toying with the idea of rebooting the show around Sara Gilbert’s character, Darlene. According to TVLine, Darlene was one of five offshoots proposed to the network in the wake MZ reports that Gilbert has been calling cast members to gauge their interest, and John Goodman seems eager. Tom Werner, of Tuesday’s drama. TMZ reports that Gilbert has been calling cast members to gauge their interest, and John Goodman seems eager. Tom Werner, whose company produced Roseanne, is also involved in the effort, according to the outlet. CNN has confirmed the reports as well. This week, ABC swiftly canceled its top-rated show after Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet about former President Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. Gilbert, considered a driving force behind the relaunched Roseanne, was one of the first stars to weigh in.

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW – GORDON CHANG – Daily Beast columnist,  author of “The Coming Collapse of China” and “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World” – discussed the latest North Korea summit.

8am – B         INTERVIEW – SCOTT ALLEN – Sports reporter, Washington Post

• Capitals top Vegas @GoldenKnights, take lead in Stanley Cup Final
• Two Caps players rode the Metro to Game 3. Picture this: It’s the biggest presentation at work you’ve ever had. Accolades, accomplishments and maybe even a promotion are on the line. You ride the Metro like you do every day, right? Same with Caps forward T.J. Oshie and defenseman Matt Niskanen. The two players were spotted on the Metro by Twitter user @danadaniello.
• Fall Out Boy performing free show before Game 4 of Stanley Cup in DC. WASHINGTON – Fall Out Boy will perform a free concert before the Washington Capitals play the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final in the District on Monday. The multiplatinum-selling rock band will play on the steps of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery on G Street at 6 p.m., the NHL announced Friday.NHL officials said the concert would take place “rain or shine” and that no tickets were required to attend.

8am – C         Former Obama Aide Ben Rhodes Finds New Home At MSNBC. Former White House aide Ben Rhodes, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and advised former President Barack Obama on foreign policy issues, will start his new job on Sunday as a politics contributor for MSNBC and NBC News. MSNBC’s public relations department made the announcement on Twitter on Saturday, noting that Rhodes will make his official debut on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” and Monday’s “All In With Chris Hayes.”

8am – D         Clinton: I wouldn’t have done anything differently with Lewinsky affair. Clinton stuck by his decision to fight his impeachment rather than resign. “I think I did the right thing. I defended the Constitution,” he said. Former President Bill Clinton says that, even in light of the #MeToo movement, he would not have approached how he dealt with Monica Lewinsky any differently and acknowledged that — 20 years after their relationship made headlines — he’s still never apologized privately to the former intern.

“I don’t think it would be an issue,” the ex-president told NBC News’ Craig Melvin in an interview that aired Monday on the “Today” show, after he was asked if he would have “approached the accusations differently” if he were president in 2018 “with everything that’s going on with the #MeToo movement.” “Because people would be using the facts instead of the imagined facts. If the facts were the same today, I wouldn’t,” said Clinton, who was doing the Today show interview along with author James Patterson to promote a new book they’ve written together, “The President Is Missing.” In 1998, Clinton first denied then admitted to an affair with Lewinsky, who had been a White House intern at the time. The scandal launched a lengthy investigation that ended with Clinton becoming the the second-ever president to be impeached. Clinton told NBC News that he stuck by his decision to fight his impeachment rather than resign, telling Melvin, “I think I did the right thing. I defended the Constitution.”

8am – E         Pardon Tweet:

• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 12m12 minutes ago: As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!