Weather Channel’s Ray Stagich, Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton, Brian Darling, Washington Post’s Patricia Sullivan and MD Emergency Management Agency’s Russell Strickland joined WMAL on Thursday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C FDA threatens to pull flavored e-cigarettes, citing ‘epidemic’ of teen use

• PETER HASSON: Now that the kids are hooked on nicotine, let’s pull their preferred alternative to tobacco. What could possibly go wrong?

5am – D         New Strzok-Page texts reveal others were ‘leaking like mad’ in lead up to Trump-Russia probe (Fox News) — New text messages between ex-FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page reveal others were “leaking like mad” in the run-up to the Trump-Russia collusion probe, according to new communications between the former lovers obtained exclusively by Fox News.  A lengthy exchange dated Dec. 15, 2016 appears to reveal a potential leak operation for “political” purposes. “Oh, remind me to tell you tomorrow about the times doing a story about the rnc hacks,” Page texted Strzok. “And more than they already did? I told you Quinn told me they pulling out all the stops on some story…” Strzok replied. A source told Fox News “Quinn” could be referring to Richard Quinn, who served as the chief of the Media and Investigative Publicity Section in the Office of Public Affairs. Quinn could not be reached for comment. Strzok again replied: “Think our sisters have begun leaking like mad. Scorned and worried, and political, they’re kicking into overdrive.” In one passage, Strzok apparently misreads a reference to “rnc” as “mc,” and then, realizing his error, blames “old man eyes.”

5am – E         INTERVIEW – RAY STAGICH – Weather Channel meteorologist — discussed the latest path of hurricane and how it will impact the DC area.

• Hurricane Florence has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm, but authorities warn it is still extremely dangerous and could strengthen again when it makes landfall in the U.S. either Thursday night or Friday morning
• FLORENCE STILL POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC – Hurricane Florence was downgraded to a Category 2 storm late Wednesday but was still considered extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening  … Florence’s nighttime winds were down to 110 mph from a high of 140 mph, but forecasters expect the hurricane to jump back to Category 4 by Thursday morning. They predict the storm will make landfall Thursday night or sometime on Friday. North and South Carolina, along with Virginia, Maryland and Georgia, remained under states of emergency ahead of the “Mike Tyson punch” the storm was expected to deliver.

 

6am – A         THE NORM MACDONALD SAGA:

• Norm MacDonald Told Not To Show Up To Jimmy Fallon. Fallon Said Macdonald Made His Senior Producers Cry. Yes, Really. (Daily Wire) — Fallon won’t have him on. Now, remember, NBC is the same network that covered up Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse allegations. But they won’t have on Macdonald to clarify. Why not? Because, reportedly, Macdonald made members of the Late Show staff cry. No joke. According to Macdonald: “Jimmy came back in. “Can I talk to you buddy?” And he said, he was very, very broken up about it, he didn’t want this, he said, “I don’t know what to do.” I said, “You think I shouldn’t do the show.” “People are crying.” I said, “People are crying.” “Yeah,” he said, “senior producers are crying.” I said, “Good Lord, bring them in and let me talk to them. I didn’t even know I had the capacity to make people cry. So I felt so bad from that comment. Jimmy said, “Come back whatever you want but I think it will hurt the show tonight.” I said, “Jimmy, I don’t want to hurt your show. That’s the last thing I want to do is hurt your show.”
• KAT ROSENFIELD: Hoo boy this Norm Macdonald thing is a fabulous example of the idioticization of contemporary discourse, where the object of the game is to find the most offensive possible interpretation of one ambiguous fragment of someone’s speech and then scream about it all day
• ALEX GRISWOLD: Wonder how far back I have to look to fine a Jimmy Fallon guest or performer with an actual MeToo accusation? I suspect not far.
• August 8: Ryan Seacrest: @normmacdonald⁩ explains how ⁦@jimmyfallon⁩ talked to him about not going on The Tonight Show — “senior producers were crying”
• Norm Macdonald Defends Roseanne Barr: ‘She Is Certainly Not A Racist. That’s Just Crazy’
• Norm Macdonald: Women upset over Louis CK’s surprise set could get over it with $200 for shoes

 6am – B/C     BORDER CRISIS:

• Family arrivals surge at US-Mexico border…
• WAPO: Arrests of migrant families rose 38 percent in August in what Trump officials call a ‘crisis’ at the border. There is also concern the publicity generated by Trump’s family-separation strategy — and its abrupt reversal — may have had the unintended effect of encouraging more migration. Border agents who backed Trump’s crackdown say smugglers are telling potential customers that their window may close if the rules are tightened again.
• Arrests of migrant families rose 38 percent in August in what Trump officials call a ‘crisis’ at the border. (Washington Post) — The number of migrant family members arrested for illegally entering the United States shot up 38 percent in August, according to statistics released Wednesday, a surge homeland security officials characterized as a “crisis.” Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 13,000 members of “family units” last month, the latest data shows, the highest August total ever recorded. The increase followed President Trump’s decision to back off the provision of his “zero tolerance” crackdown that separated children from parents in an attempt to deter illegal migration. Migration numbers typically rebound in August after a summer lull. Overall, the number of foreigners apprehended or deemed “inadmissible” at border crossings rose to 46,560 in August, up from 40,011 in July. Department of Homeland Security officials said the arrival of so many families was due to court-imposed restrictions limiting the duration children may be detained in immigration jails. The result, officials said, is that parents bring children as a way to win quick release from government custody and avoid deportation. “The numbers have continued to increase because this is a well-known avenue to arrive in the U.S. and be allowed to stay,” said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, calling the trend “a crisis of significant proportions, from a humanitarian perspective and a security perspective.” Trump has used the monthly arrest figures as a way to measure his administration’s track record on immigration enforcement, and his attention to the numbers has transformed their publication into a closely watched event within DHS. With illegal migration rising again, the president has stopped touting the numbers as a sign of his success, blaming the increases on Democrats whom he accuses of obstructing his plan to build a border wall.

6am – D/E     INTERVIEW – TOM FITTON – President, Judicial Watch

• New Strzok-Page texts reveal others were ‘leaking like mad’ in lead up to Trump-Russia probe

6am – F         Report: Las Vegas professor shot himself in arm to protest Trump. (Las Vegas Review-Journal) — A longtime College of Southern Nevada sociology professor is facing felony gun charges in connection with an on-campus shooting on the second day of classes. Mark J. Bird, 69, was charged last month with discharging a gun within a prohibited structure, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and possessing a dangerous weapon on school property, court records show. He was found bleeding from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his arm about 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 28 outside a bathroom in the Charleston campus K building. Inside the bathroom, campus police found a $100 bill taped to a mirror along with a note that said, “For the janitor,” according to Bird’s arrest report. On the floor of the restroom was a black-and-white, .22-caliber pistol and one spent shell casing. The sociology professor was hired Aug. 26, 1993, and was an emeritus faculty member at the time of the shooting, college spokesman Richard Lake said. Bird was not scheduled to teach any courses during the fall 2018 semester. Bird was employed with the college as of Tuesday, although Lake said it was not clear what disciplinary actions, if any, would be taken against him. A 911 call was made after several CSN employees and at least one student saw Bird stumble out of the bathroom, bleeding, before he collapsed, the report said. None of the witnesses — who later told police they only recalled hearing “a loud noise” — initially knew Bird was armed and had shot himself, according to the report.

 

7am – A         INTERVIEW – BRIAN DARLING – Founder of Liberty Government Affairs,  Former Sen. Rand Paul Communications Director and Counsel and a former senior fellow in government studies at The Heritage Foundation – discussed the latest on the Kavanaugh vote timeline.

7am – B/C     FEMA ADMINISTRATOR BROCK LONG FACT-CHECKS MSNBC’S ANDREA MITCHELL. (Daily Caller) — FEMA administrator Brock Long knocked down multiple misleading or false media narratives during an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday. The interview covered a wide range of topics, including FEMA’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the preparations for the landfall of Hurricane Florence. “The fact is,” Mitchell said, “Just as after Katrina, where there was infrastructure in parts of New Orleans, that is a federal responsibility. These are American citizens.” “Uh, no, you’re actually wrong on that,” Long shot back. “It’s not a federal responsibility to upkeep the infrastructure. Actually most of the infrastructure in this company is owned by the private sector.” Long also noted that FEMA put “over $2 billion in food and commodities” on Puerto Rico after the storm, but that grocery stores and retailers have to help with the recovery as well. Mitchell then tried to hit FEMA on the death toll in Puerto Rico, which Long explained is largely due to deaths that occurred from lack of infrastructure or accidents during repairs.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – Patricia Sullivan – Washington Post reporter – is on the ground in Wilmington, NC – discussed the path of the hurricane and the conditions on the ground in North Carolina.

7am – E         Loudouner Known for Flipping Off Trump Runs for Supervisor (Loudoun Now) — Juli Briskman, who landed in the national spotlight for flipping off President Donald J. Trump’s motorcade—and subsequently losing her job over it—has set her sights on a different elected Republican: Loudoun Supervisor Suzanne M. Volpe (R-Algonkian). After a photo of Briskman riding a bike and raising her middle finger to Trump’s motorcade went viral last October, she lost her job at federal contractor Akima for allegedly violating the company’s social media policy. She sued and won severance, but her wrongful termination lawsuit was dismissed. “I’ve come to realize that the court system is a very slow way to effect change, and since my incident I’ve begun talking to a lot of the community, with the Democrats in the community, I’ve been getting a lot of feedback and support for the idea,” Briskman said. “Then I realized I really have a better chance of effecting change if I’m sitting on the local Board of Supervisors.” Briskman pointed out that Volpe is part of the Republican majority on the Board of Supervisors in a county that has come to consistently vote Democrat at the state and federal levels. In Congress, Loudoun mostly recently voted narrowly for Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA-10)’s Democratic opponent, but Comstock, whose district extends from McLean to Winchester, handily won reelection. “I just feel it’s time for change,” Briskman said. “I mean Loudoun County went for [former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary] Clinton, Loudoun County went to for [Democratic Governor Ralph] Northam, so why are we sitting here with a board that’s 6-3 Republican and doesn’t seem to match the values of the residents of the county?”

 

8am – A         Jon Hamm Says He Is Interested in Playing Batman. (Hollywood Reporter) — The former ‘Mad Men’ star notes, however, “I have never had a conversation with anybody about it, literally.” Jon Hamm has interest in playing Batman — as long as the script is good.  Talking to Graham Bensinger in an interview for his series In Depth that was posted online Wednesday, the former Mad Men star said he has always been a comic book fan and, yes, had given some thought to playing the Caped Crusader. But, there are some conditions.  “It depends on the script, what the story is,” the actor told Bensinger. “I am a huge comic book fan, always have been. I’ve read comic books since I was 9 or younger. And I’m pretty knowledgeable about a lot of them. And I like the genre, and I like when they’re done well.” Saying he loved Black Panther and that he watches FX’s Legion, Hamm said he has yet to have any official conversation about perhaps playing Batman, but “I’d probably fit the suit. I’d have to work out a lot, which I don’t love. But, I am sure there’s an interesting version of that being out there. And if they wanted to tap me on the shoulder and ask me to do it, why not?”  Bensinger said there have been murmurs among fans for years who believe Hamm would make a great Bruce Wayne/Batman. Hamm said he was aware.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – Russell Strickland – Executive Director- MD Emergency Management Agency – discussed the latest on the hurricane’s impact in MD and what MD is doing to help send crews to other impacted areas.

8am – D/E     Montgomery County school board considering proposal to allow excused absences for high school students taking part in protests, rallies. (Fox5DC) — ROCKVILLE, Md. – For the past two years, we have seen student walkouts and protests ranging from gun control to the election of President Donald Trump. Now, a Maryland school district is considering to allow its high school students to get excused time off to go rally and demonstrate. Under the proposal being considered by the Montgomery County School Board, students could get three excused absences for joining in “civic engagement activities.” A student would need a letter from the group holding the demonstration, a letter of permission from their parent and then they would need the principal’s approval. School board member Patricia O’Neill is pushing this idea. She rejects any suggestion that this is politically motivated or greenlight students to break the rules. “We are not rewarding students for skipping school,” said O’Neill. “We want students in class learning, but there is a piece of learning that does occur outside the classroom.” O’Neill also said the proposal would instruct principals to award these excused absences in a fair and nonpartisan fashion. If one student was given approval for an excused absence to go to an anti-gun rally, another student would have to be given same approval to go to a pro-gun rally. According to O’Neill, this proposal would also address the issue of liability. The school is currently responsible for a student’s safety from the minute they show up to class. If they walk out of school, Montgomery County Public Schools is still responsible for their safety. O’Neill has sent the proposal to the school board’s Policy Management Committee which she chairs. As it stands right now, they will have a 30-day period for the public to weigh in with