Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, political analyst Chuck Thies, author and National Review contributing editor Andrew McCarthy, Washington Examiner chief congressional correspondent Susan Ferrechio, deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley joined WMAL Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Latest Border Crisis News:

• White House: Dems using immigration as ‘emotional, divisive, political play’ (Washington Examiner) – A top White House official on Tuesday accused Democrats of highlighting the separation of families at the border as a way to score points for the midterm elections. Mercedes Schlapp, White House director of strategic communications, said even Democrats like Hillary Clinton were saying years ago that the U.S. border has to be protected.  “Now all of the sudden, these Democrats want to use this issue of immigration as an emotional, divisive, political play as they’re entering into the midterm election, which is incredibly irresponsible,” Schlapp said on Fox News.
• House Dems Use DOJ IG Hearing To Go After GOP For Child Border Separations (Talking Points Memo) – Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees used a Tuesday joint hearing on the Justice Department Inspector General’s report to take the Trump administration to task for the current crisis at the border, where thousands of immigrant children have been forcibly separated from their parents. “Are we really going to sit here, 70 members of a Congress of the United States of America in 2018 and have a hearing that just repeats the hearings the Senate had yesterday on Hillary Clinton’s emails?” an outraged Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the ranking member on the Oversight Committee, asked his colleagues.  The hearing was slated as an opportunity to ask Inspector General Michael Horowitz about his 500-page report on the conduct of FBI officials during the 2016 election.

5am – D FBI agent Strzok escorted from FBI building Friday (CNN) – FBI agent Peter Strzok was escorted from the FBI building Friday as part of the ongoing internal proceedings at the bureau on his conduct, according to a source familiar with the matter.  As of Tuesday, the source said, Strzok is still an FBI employee. He had a central role on the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information. He later worked on the investigation into connections between Trump campaign associates and Russia and briefly worked for special counsel Robert Mueller before text messages between Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page disparaging President Donald Trump were discovered.  Strzok is currently embroiled in an internal FBI investigation stemming from findings in outlined in a report from the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, which details a number of private text messages and use of personal email for FBI business.

5am – E US withdraws from UN Human Rights Council as Haley decries ‘cesspool of political bias’ (Fox News) – The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was withdrawing the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council, with U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley calling the 47-member council “a protector of human rights abusers, and a cesspool of political bias.”  Haley noted the move came after a year where “we did not see any progress.”  Haley threatened the pullout last year, citing longstanding U.S. complaints that the council showed a “chronic bias” against Israel. Calling it “an organization that is not worthy of its name,” Haley decried the membership of countries like China, Cuba and Venezuela — which also have been slammed for human-rights violations.

6am – A/B/C Trump Speech / Immigration Battle News:

• Trump: Dems want illegal immigrants to ‘infest our country’ (The Hill) – President Trump on Tuesday restated his support for his administration’s policy of separating migrant families at the U.S. border, calling Democrats “the problem.”  “We must always arrest people coming into our Country illegally. Of the 12,000 children, 10,000 are being sent by their parents on a very dangerous trip, and only 2000 are with their parents, many of whom have tried to enter our Country illegally on numerous occasions,” he wrote on Twitter.  “Democrats are the problem. They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They can’t win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!” he continued in another tweet.
• Trump: Illegal Immigrants Will Become Democrats (Daily Caller) – President Donald Trump knocked Democratic immigration policy in a forceful speech defending his zero tolerance policy, which prosecutes everyone who illegally crosses the U.S.-Mexico border.  Trump lamented that Democrats do not yet appear willing to accept his administration’s legislative immigration priorities saying, “Hey don’t want to give it because Democrats love open borders. But the whole world come in,” adding their position is “we have open borders. And they view that possibly intelligently except that it’s destroying our country. They view that as potential someday, they’re going to go vote for Democrats.”

• Elijah Cummings Blasts Republicans For Condoning “Child Internment Camps” At Border: “What Country Is This?” (Real Clear Politics) – At Tuesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing with Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Ranking Member Elijah Cummings delivered a stern rebuke of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy for illegally crossing the U.S. border, calling on Republicans to “stand up” and reject “this mean policy.”  “Even if you believe immigration should be halted entirely we all should be able to agree that in the United States of America, we will not intentionally separate children from their parents, we will not do that. We are better than that. We are so much better. We should be able to agree that we will not keep kids in child internment camps indefinitely and hidden away from public view. What country is that?” Cummings asked in an emotionally-charged opening statement.  “We should be able to agree that we will not keep kids in child internment camps indefinitely and hidden away from public view,” he said. “What country is that? This is the United States of America.”

• Trump signals he’s willing to back compromise immigration bill in closed-door meeting with Republicans (Business Insider) – President Donald Trump met with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill in an attempt to cobble together enough support for an immigration bill. Trump’s visit on Tuesday happened amid ongoing controversy surrounding the administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy that is leading to the separation of families who illegally cross the US-Mexico border. House Republicans are split on the path forward for an immigration bill. There are two pieces of legislation slated for a vote this week. One is a “compromise” bill crafted by moderates and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s team; the other is a more hard-right conservative bill put forth by Reps. Michael McCaul and Bob Goodlatte, who chair the committees on Homeland Security and the Judiciary, respectively.  The meeting, which lasted less than one hour, featured Trump discussing the various aspects of the two immigration bills. Trump also spent a large chunk of the meeting talking about trade, tariffs, and his accomplishments, according to multiple people in the room. At one point, Trump also barbed South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford for losing his primary election last week. However, Sanford was not in the room at the time.  According to those in the room, Trump expressed vigorous support for both the Goodlatte-McCaul bill and the compromise bill.            

6am – D INTERVIEW – Cal Thomas – syndicated columnist – discussed the immigration issue at the border           

6am – E ‘Mothers fight for their children!’ Guatemalan asylum-seeker sues Trump administration for taking seven-year-old son and REFUSING to say where he is – and he screamed ‘Mama! Mama!’ in her only phone call from him (Daily Mail) – A Guatemalan asylum-seeker sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for ‘forcibly’ separating her from her seven-year-old son after they crossed the border in May.  Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia was never indicted for illegally entering the country, but officials won’t tell her where her son Darwin is, according to her lawsuit filed Tuesday in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. against 6 federal agencies and 10 senior officials.  Mejia-Mejia’s lawsuit is believed to be the first to challenge the government’s removal of a specific child from a parent in the course of upholding federal immigration law. It opens up a new legal front in what has become an all-out battle with the White House on one side and a combination of Democratic lawmakers and immigration activists on the other.

6am – F Seth MacFarlane is ‘embarrassed’ by Fox News immigration coverage – and other Fox stars are protesting too (Washington Post) – Seth MacFarlane said he is “embarrassed” to work for Fox News’s parent company, and it turns out a lot of his Hollywood peers are too.  MacFarlane — the creator and star of Fox’s “The Orville” and its long-running animated comedy “Family Guy” — is part of a growing number of Fox-affiliated entertainers condemning Fox News amid outcry over the network’s sympathetic coverage of the Trump administration’s highly criticized policy of separating immigrant families.  That list includes directors Paul Feig and Judd Apatow, in addition to “Modern Family” co-creator Steve Levitan, who signaled in tweets Tuesday that he might want to leave his overall deal with Twentieth Century Fox, which produces the show (though it airs on ABC).

7am – A Local Governors Recall National Guard from the border:

• Republican Maryland governor recalls National Guard resources from border over family separation (The Hill) – Maryland’s Republican governor on Tuesday recalled a National Guard helicopter and four crew members from New Mexico, citing a Trump administration policy that has resulted in the separations of migrant families at the southern border. “Until this policy of separating children from their families has been rescinded, Maryland will not deploy any National Guard resources to the border,” Gov. Larry Hogan (R) wrote on Twitter.  “Earlier this morning, I ordered our 4 crewmembers & helicopter to immediately return from where they were stationed in New Mexico.”
• Ralph Northam Recalls National Guard Soldiers From U.S. Southwest Border In Response to ‘Zero-Tolerance Immigration Policy’ (WMAL News) – Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says he’s recalling members of the state’s National Guard from the U.S.-Mexico border because he disagrees with a federal policy of separating immigrant children from their families. Northam made the announcement Tuesday, saying he would not devote resources that could support an “inhumane policy.”  The Democratic governor said he had ordered four crewmembers and a helicopter to return to Virginia from Arizona. The crew was assisting the Arizona National Guard in surveillance operations on the border as part of a 90-day mission.

7am – B/C INTERVIEW – Chuck Thies – DC Political analyst and former Mayor Vincent Gray campaign manager – discussed DC primary elections and Initiative 77

7am – D/E INTERVIEW – Andrew McCarthy – author and National Review contributing editor – discussed the IG report hearing                    

8am – A INTERVIEW – Susan Ferrechio – Washington Examiner chief congressional correspondent – discussed the push for immigration bills in Congress          

8am – B Trump and his Homeland security secretary heckled in public:

• Congressional intern yells ‘Mr. President f*** you’ as Trump arrives at Paul Ryan’s office (Daily Mail) – A heckler yelled ‘Mr. President, f*** you’ as President Donald Trump walked through the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday evening to meet with House Republicans about immigration legislation.  ‘Mr. President f*** you,’ is heard yelled in footage of the president entering the office of House Speaker Paul Ryan.  Trump was in route to talk to members of his own party about immigration policy.

• Homeland security chief heckled at Mexican eatery over separation policy (NBC News) – Demonstrators interrupted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen’s dinner at an upscale Mexican restaurant in Washington Tuesday night to express their outrage over the separation of children from their migrant parents at the U.S. southern border.  “We call on you to end family separations,” a member of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America shouted as protesters filed in to MXDC, chanting, “Shame, shame, shame” and other slogans.  “Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is in a Mexican restaurant of all places,” one of the demonstrators said, according to video of the incident. “The … gall. Shame on you.”

8am – C Seattle City Council Passes Plan to Turn City Hall Lobby Into A Homeless Shelter (Hot Air) – After the recent passage and repeal of the head tax in Seattle, the city’s Mayor is now eager to show some progress on the homeless problem in the city. Toward that end, the Mayor proposed short-term spending to get up to 500 additional people off the street and into various other options including cots set up inside City Hall. The Mayor’s proposal was passed unanimously today by the City Council. From My Northwest:  The plan passed Monday gives the city 90 days to expand bridge housing and shelter units by 25 percent. It proposes to serve more than 500 additional people in Seattle each night. It will also help the city to maintain 163 existing shelter beds previously slated to be shut down. The plan also includes expanding shelter at Seattle City Hall by opening the 5th Avenue entrance to house more beds, and funds tiny house villages.  “We all have to contribute to solutions to this crisis, which is why we’re opening city hall more people each night,” Durkan said.

8am – D INTERVIEW – Hogan Gidley – White House deputy press secretary – discussed latest White House news and debate over family separations     

8am – E Men are wearing miniskirts now (New York Post) – 2018 has seen a lot of men in skirts. Now, it seems the trend is on the, ahem, rise.  During Milan Fashion Week, Prada sent dudes down the catwalk Sunday in short-shorts, which designer Miuccia Prada dubbed “miniskirts for men.”  These booty-ful bottoms, some in stone-washed denim, were teamed with retro-inspired suede blazers, body-hugging polo shirts, turtlenecks — both boldly printed and solid — and cool-looking kicks.