Weather Channel’s Ray Stagich, author Sean Parnell, Joe diGenova, meteorologist John Trout, Larry Michael, Juli Briskman, Fox’s Bret Baier and guest host Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, September 14, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C Should all politicians release their tax returns when running for office?

• SASSE INTRODUCES BILLS TO IMPROVE CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS: (USA Today) — In addition to requiring presidential candidates’ tax returns be released, the new legislation would prohibit cabinet members and their immediate family from soliciting donations from foreign sources and would create a public database of congressional settlements related to harassment, discrimination or other types of misconduct. Members of Congress would be banned from buying or selling stocks while in office, and would be under a lifetime lobbying ban as “getting elected to the U.S. Congress should be an opportunity to serve your constituents and the country, not a stepping-stone to a cushy job on K Street.”

5am – D         FEINSTEIN / KAVANAUGH:

• Sen. Feinstein gives investigators info she got on Kavanaugh.   Dianne Feinstein alerts authorities to secret Brett Kavanaugh letter
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is under fire for alleged smear tactics for suggesting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh may have committed a crime in his youth. FEINSTEIN’S ‘SEPTEMBER SURPRISE’: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Thursday threw a cryptic curveball at Brett Kavanaugh, insinuating the Supreme Court nominee could be guilty of a crime even as other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee seek to delay his confirmation … “I have received information from an individual concerning the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court,” Feinstein said in her surprise statement. “That individual strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision. I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities.” The vague accusation comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee already grilled Kavanaugh and other witnesses and prepares to vote on sending his nomination to the full Senate. The White House blasted the ambiguous charge as a last-minute, 11th-hour attack. A spokesperson for Feinstein declined FOX News’ request to further explain her statement. A source familiar with the confirmation proceedings told FOX News that Feinstein received the letter in July, but did not make its existence public until Thursday.
• Dianne Feinstein alerts authorities to secret Brett Kavanaugh letter. (Guardian) — Source briefed on the contents of letter told the Guardian it details an incident involving Kavanaugh and a woman when the pair were 17-years-old. A source who said they were briefed on the contents of the letter said it described an incident involving Kavanaugh and a woman that took place when both were 17 years old and at a party. According to the source, Kavanaugh and a male friend had locked her in a room against her will, making her feel threatened, but she was able to get out of the room. The Guardian has not verified the apparent claims in the letter. It is not yet clear who wrote it.

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

• HURRICANE FLORENCE: Florence still crawling through the Carolinas through Saturday. Hurricane Florence has been downgraded to a Category 1 storm as it gets ready to hit the Carolina coast.
• Florence pummels Carolinas with heavy rain, wind; eyewall nears coast. Hurricane Florence’s eyewall was making its way toward North Carolina on Friday, as the Category 1 storm lashed the coast and appeared ready to cause catastrophic flooding. State officials were bracing for the worst. A tattered American flag seen flying on a live surf camera at Frying Pan Tower in North Carolina was evidence of the strong wind gusts pounding the coast. Authorities in the coastal city of New Bern, N.C., were working with federal responders to rescue at least 150 residents who reported themselves stranded in Florence’s storm surge.

 

6am – A/B/C New Bern, NC, residents rescued after Hurricane Florence storm surge leaves them stranded. (Fox News) — Authorities in the coastal city of New Bern, N.C., were working with federal responders to rescue at least 150 residents who reported themselves stranded in Hurricane Florence’s storm surge. Colleen Roberts, public information officer for the city of about 30,000 residents, told Fox News that 200 people had been rescued so far as the Category 1 storm battered the area with strong winds and a life-threatening surge. FEMA teams were employing boats in the rescues and were determining which cases were the most severe. Roberts said many of the residents live near the Neuse and Trent rivers. Flooding and a strong storm surge prompted more than 90 calls to the emergency operation center in Craven County, N.C., for residents trapped in vehicles and homes, spokeswoman Amber Parker said. Response teams had already “brought in busloads” of rescued people from areas including Fairfield Harbor, New Bern, Adams Creek and Township 7, she said.

6am – D/E/F  INTERVIEW — Sean Parnell – bestselling author of new book “Man of War” – discussed his new book in studio.

• Bio: Sean Parnell is a former U.S. Army airborne ranger who served in the legendary 10th Mountain Division for six years, retiring as a captain. He received two Bronze Stars (one for valor) and the Purple Heart.
• ABOUT BOOK: The New York Times bestselling author of Outlaw Platoon makes his fiction debut with this electrifying military thriller—a gripping tale of action, suspense, and international intrigue that introduces a compelling new hero, Eric Steele. Eric Steele is the best of the best—an Alpha—an elite clandestine operative assigned to a US intelligence unit known simply as the “Program.” A superbly trained Special Forces soldier who served several tours fighting radical Islamic militants in Afghanistan, Steele now operates under the radar, using a deadly combination of espionage and brute strength to root out his enemies and neutralize them. But when a man from Steele’s past attacks a military convoy and steals a nuclear weapon, Steele and his superiors at the White House are blindsided. Moving from Washington, DC, to the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, Steele must use his considerable skills to hunt this rogue agent, a former brother-in-arms who might have been a friend, and find the WMD before it can reach the United States—and the world is forever changed.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — JOE DIGENOVA – WMAL legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• FEINSTEIN / KAVANAUGH: Feinstein gives investigators info she got on Kavanaugh.   Dianne Feinstein alerts authorities to secret Brett Kavanaugh letter
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg blasts Brett Kavanaugh hearings as ‘highly partisan show.’  Supreme CourtJustice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Wednesday criticized the Senate hearings for Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh and lamented that the confirmation process had devolved into a “highly partisan show” since she was confirmed in 1993. “The way it was, was right. The way it is, is wrong,” the 85-year-old justice said during a discussion at George Washington University Law School, prompting a round of applause.
• Clarence Thomas mocks Cory Booker’s ‘Spartacus’ claim, says theatrics hurt process. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas poked Sen. Cory Booker over the New Jersey Democrat’s much-mocked invocation of “Spartacus” during last week’s confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh. Booker was roundly ridiculed after threatening to defy the Senate rules and release what he thought were confidential documents concerning Kavanaugh’s past, “This is about the closest I’ll probably ever have in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment,” said Booker.
• PAGE CLINTON INTERN: Ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page ‘interned’ ‘under Clinton,’ texts reveal. EXCLUSIVE – Ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, whose Trump-bashing texts made it clear who she backed in the 2016 presidential election, refers in a newly revealed message to serving as an intern “under Clinton.” Page, who exchanged tens of thousands of texts with disgraced FBI official Peter Strzok, revealed the information in one message among a new batch exclusively obtained by Fox News.

 7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – JOHN TROUT – WMAL’s Meteorologist (IN STUDIO) — latest on path of hurricane and how it will impact the DC area

 7am – D         INTERVIEW – Larry Michael – Voice of the Redskins (in studio)

• Preview Redskins home opener  – Redskins vs. Colts
• Also Redskins have some new in-stadium features for fans coming to the games

7am – E         New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo easily defeats actress and activist Cynthia Nixon in Democratic primary.  (CNN) New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo will win the Democratic nomination for a third term, CNN projects, easily defeating a challenge from his left by progressive activist and actress Cynthia Nixon. The Empire State primary marked the final opportunity this year for left-wing insurgents to unseat powerful Democratic incumbents. But Cuomo, a battle-tested campaigner with deep pockets, consolidated establishment support in the spring and spent the summer blitzing the airwaves, spending more than $8 million over three weeks late in the contest to head off any momentum growing around Nixon’s insurgent bid. The “Sex and the City” star’s decision to run was met with a hard line of resistance from top party officials inside the state and nationally, who backed Cuomo as both a liberal champion and the best positioned candidate to stand as a bulwark against the Trump administration and an increasingly conservative Supreme Court. Pushing for universal rent control, single-payer health care, new funding for public schools and a large-scale renewal of New York City’s broken-down subway system, which is controlled by the state, Nixon spent much of the spring and summer relentlessly attacking Cuomo and his political agenda as insufficiently ambitious for one of the country’s bluest states.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JULI BRISKMAN – Loudoun woman who flipped off  President Trump joined us to discuss her run for office in Loudoun.

• Loudouner Known for Flipping Off Trump Runs for Supervisor. 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.”

8am – B/C     Fox News host Tucker Carlson humiliated Stormy Daniels’ “creepy porn lawyer” — Michael Avenatti — during an interview on Thursday night after weeks of back and forth of them feuding on social media. The testy interview escalated after a few minutes when Carlson turned the focus to Avenatti’s client. “Why don’t you show some respect to my client and me and stop calling us a ‘porn star’ and a ‘creepy porn lawyer?'” Avenatti said. “If you’ve got that big a problem with porn –– do you have that big a problem with porn?” “I’m not making fun of, hold on, slow down!” Carlson replied. “When’s the last time you saw porn?” Avenatti creepily asked. “Oh, you busted me,” Carlson replied. “Actually, maybe humiliation porn. That’s why I watch you on CNN.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW — BRET BAIER – Anchor, Special Report, Fox News Channel, weeknights at 6 PM and author of Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire” @BretBaier

• KERRY / IRAN / POMPEO TO ADDRESS THIS TODAY: Kerry Meeting With Iran to Salvage Nuke Deal With Rogue Diplomacy. Shadow diplomacy aids Iran’s regional pursuits. Former Secretary of State John Kerry disclosed that he has been conducting rogue diplomacy with top Iranian officials to salvage the landmark nuclear deal and push the Islamic Republic to negotiate its contested missile program, according to recent remarks. Kerry, in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt to promote his new book, said that he has met with Iranian Former Minister Javad Zarif—the former secretary’s onetime negotiating partner—three or four times in recent months behind the Trump administration’s back. “I think I’ve seen him three or four times,” Kerry said, adding that he has been conducting sensitive diplomacy without the current administration’s authorization. Kerry said he has criticized the current administration in these discussions, chiding it for not pursuing negotiations from Iran, despite the country’s fevered rhetoric about the U.S. president.
• FEINSTEIN / KAVANAUGH: Sen. Feinstein gives investigators info she got on Kavanaugh
• NEW STRZOK / PAGE TEXTS THIS WEEK:  Ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page ‘interned’ ‘under Clinton,’ texts reveal. FOX EXCLUSIVE –  Ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, whose Trump-bashing texts made it clear who she backed in the 2016 presidential election, refers in a newly revealed message to serving as an intern “under Clinton.”
• HURRICANE FLORENCE // BRET is also a veteran hurricane reporter, he’s been through covering lots of hurricanes — his thoughts on this hurricane

8am – E         Brad Pitt built dozens of homes in New Orleans after Katrina. Now they’re falling apart and residents are suing. “This has been years of ongoing lies and broken promises,” a resident said, detailing Make It Right’s pledges and failures to repair her home. (NBC News) — NEW ORLEANS — Kamaria Allen had no plans to return to the Lower 9th Ward after losing everything in Hurricane Katrina. But then she saw the new houses. Billed as flood-safe and futuristic, the Make It Right homes towered over vacant lots in pops of teal, lemon and lavender. Houses like that just didn’t exist in the working-class, mostly black section of New Orleans that Allen’s family had called home for four generations — and definitely not for $130,000. “I called it my Mardi Gras float,” Allen says of 1826 Reynes Street, the roof deck-topped home that now sits abandoned — mushrooms growing from its split siding, wooden boards propping up its sagging roof.  Allen bought the house in 2011 from the Make It Right Foundation, a charity formed by Brad Pitt to help Lower 9th Ward residents return home after the hurricane. Make It Right’s mission was to build 150 well-designed, green, affordable homes in the Lower 9th Ward, the area hardest hit by Katrina. As of 2016, the group reported spending $26.8 million building 109 homes, fueling the most visible recovery effort in an area still reeling from the storm. But Allen and 11 other residents who spoke to NBC News, 10 of them on the record, say that many of the Make It Right homes are rotting and dangerous. They complain of mold and collapsing structures, electrical fires and gas leaks. They say the houses were built too quickly, with low-quality materials, and that the designs didn’t take into account New Orleans’ humid, rainy climate. “This has been years of ongoing lies and broken promises,” Allen said in a recent interview in which she detailed Make It Right’s pledges and failures to repair her home.