Brian Darling, Steve Moore and Saagar Enjeti joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C KAVANAUGH ACCUSER WANTS FBI INVESTIGATION:

• The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teens has demanded a full FBI investigation before she agrees to testify before Congress
• Kavanaugh hearing uncertain for Monday as accuser wants FBI to investigate before hearing. Washington (CNN) Christine Blasey Ford said in a letter Tuesday that she wants an FBI investigation into her allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate holds a hearing on her allegations. The letter, obtained by CNN, capped off a day of uncertainty around the planned hearing for Monday morning, which Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley had said he would hold to hear from both Ford and Kavanaugh, who denies the allegations. Ford’s attorney Lisa Banks told Anderson Cooper on “CNN’s Anderson Cooper 3F60” that Ford will talk with the committee but added, “She is not prepared to talk with them at a hearing on Monday.” She will talk with the committee,” Banks said. “She is not prepared to talk with them at a hearing on Monday. This just came out 48 hours ago.” Asking her to come forward in four or five days and sit before the Judiciary Committee on national TV is not a fair process. If they care about doing the right thing here and treating this seriously as they have said, then they will do the right thing and they will properly investigate this, and she will work with them in that investigation and also to share her story with the committee,” Banks said Tuesday night.

5am – D         MD’S PENSION PROBLEM  (Washington Examiner) — On Sept. 17, 20 weeks after his announced resignation, Maryland’s highest paid public-school employee will end his tenure as CEO of the Prince George’s County Public Schools. On July 12, PGCPS announced Kevin Maxwell’s severance package as $790,000, a sum that many considered excessive. The teachers’ union president attacked it as “appalling.” But this sum grossly understates the actual cost of Maxwell’s post-employment compensation. Most notably, it fails to include the increased value of his Maryland state pension. When that compensation is factored in, the cost of his severance package doubles to approximately $1.6 million, with most of the unreported amount being paid by Maryland rather than the county school system. The total value of Maxwell’s pension package is about $4.8 million.

5am – E         DECLASSIFY:

• DEMS WANT ROSENSTEIN, WRAY & COATS TO NOT DECLASSIFY: (Daily Caller) — Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Mark Warner, sent a letter Tuesday asking Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to provide an “immediate briefing” to the Gang of Eight before declassifying and releasing the documents. The four Democrats expressed “profound alarm” at Trump’s order to declassify the records. Trump ordered the Justice Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence to begin the process to declassify 21 pages from a June 2017 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application taken out against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
• TRUMP: RUSSIA PROBE ‘BEYOND A WITCH HUNT’: President Trump told the Hill on Tuesday that he’d ordered the declassification of a number of key documents connected with the FBI’s investigation of alleged Russian collusion with members of his campaign team to show that the probe was “corrupt” and a “hoax” — and that exposing it could go down as a highlight of his presidency … “What we’ve done is a great service to the country, really,” Trump said during an Oval Office interview. “In its own way, this might be the most important thing because this was corrupt.” Trump spoke to the Hill a day after he ordered three sets of documents declassified, including a secret surveillance application for former campaign adviser Carter Page. In the interview, Trump accused the FBI of using Page as “a foil in order to surveil a candidate for the presidency of the United States. “It’s a hoax,” Trump said, “beyond a witch hunt.”

 

6am – A/B/C The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teens has demanded a full FBI investigation before she agrees to testify before Congress

6am – D         ‘Fort Trump’? Polish President urges US to consider opening base. (CNN) — Washington (CNN)Polish President Andrzej Duda urged President Donald Trump on Tuesday during a joint news conference to deploy more US troops and military equipment to Poland, even suggesting the US establish a permanent military base and name it “Fort Trump.” “I invite you to post more American military troops in Poland,” Duda said, calling a US presence a “guarantor of security.” Duda suggested building a permanent US base in Poland and said he would name it “Fort Trump.” “I firmly believe that this is possible,” Duda said, saying it would be both in US and Polish interests. Trump said he is considering Poland’s request to establish a permanent US base in that country, but added that Poland “would pay the United States.” Trump said Duda had offered the US more than $2 billion to set up a base in Poland. “He would pay the United States, meaning Poland would be paying billions of dollars for a base,” Trump said. “We’re looking at that more and more from the standpoint of defending really wealthy countries.”

6am – E         Michigan professor slammed after refusing to write letter of recommendation for student applying to study in Israel. Fox News // A University of Michigan professor has been  slammed for refusing to write a letter of recommendation for a student applying to study in Israel. John Cheney-Lippold, a UM digital studies professor, notified the student, Abigail Ingber, of his decision in an email that has since gone viral after Club Z, a Zionist youth organization, posted a screenshot on its Facebook page. “I am very sorry, but I only scanned your first email a couple weeks ago and missed out on a key detail,” Cheney-Lippold wrote. “As you may know, many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine. This boycott includes writing letters of recommendation for students planning to study there.” Cheney-Lippold told the Michigan Daily “the perennial claim of anti-Semitism I fully deny,” adding that he was just “following a call by representative of Palestinian civil society to boycott Israel in a very similar tactical frame as South Africa.”

6am – F         Fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Inks A Book Deal. (Daily Wire) — Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is following in the footsteps of his boss, fired FBI Director James Comey, inking a deal with St. Martin’s Press to write a tell-all book about his time in the Trump Administration. McCabe was fired from the FBI last spring, just days before he was set to retire, after the FBI Inspector General discovered McCabe “lacked candor” when questioned about allowing his agents to speak to members of the media. McCabe, who is independently wealthy, famously raised $500,000 on GoFundMe from the anti-Trump “Resistance” to launch an appeal of his termination. It seems, though, that McCabe intends to get his revenge on the Trump Administration in print, instead. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that McCabe’s forthcoming memoir, already titled “The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump,” will recount “a series of troubling, contradictory, and often bizarre conversations” McCabe reportedly had with “Trump and other high officials that led him to believe the ‘actions of this President and his administration undermine the FBI and the entire intelligence community.'”

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 (IN STUDIO) — discussed the Kavanaugh confirmation controversy

7am – B/C     ‘Lawn mower parents’ are the new ‘helicopter moms’ (Fox News) –  Move over, helicopter parents and tiger moms — a whole new breed of terrifying moms and dads has arrived, just in time for the new school year: the “lawn mower parent.” In recent weeks, the so-called phenomenon of such parents has gone viral on Facebook after an anonymous middle school teacher shared the tale of a supposed run-in with a real-life “lawn mower dad” to educator blog WeAreTeachers.

WeAreTeachers about 3 weeks ago: “In raising children who have experienced minimal struggle, we are not creating a happier generation of kids. We are creating a generation that has no what idea what to do when they actually encounter struggle.”

In the post titled “Lawnmower Parents Are the New Helicopter Parents & We Are Not Here for It,” which has since received 2,300 likes and 12,000 shares on the social platform, the unnamed teacher recalls being summoned to the school’s office to pick up something a parent dropped off for a student. Believing it would be an essential item, like “an inhaler or money for dinner,” the teacher was shocked to find that a father went out of his way to deliver an insulated water bottle for his daughter. Showing up in a suit for the midday dropoff, the dad “sheepishly” began with “Hi, sorry,” before handing over the bottle, the writer says.

7am – D         James Comey Memoir Near TV Miniseries Deal. CBS TV Studios is in final negotiations to bring ‘A Higher Loyalty’ to the small screen with Billy Ray and Alex Kurtzman attached. James Comey’s memoir A Higher Loyalty is on its way to television. CBS Television Studios has landed TV rights to the New York Times best-selling book, with writer Billy Ray (Captain Phillips) attached to pen the script and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek: Discovery) and Shane Salerno on board to executive produce. CBS TV Studios declined comment. Kurtzman’s studio-based Secret Hideout banner and Salerno’s The Story Factory are attached to exec produce the miniseries, which landed at the studio with a sizable series commitment penalty. An outlet has not yet been determined, though it could air on the studio’s affiliated outlets of CBS All Access, Showtime or even broadcaster CBS. Then again, the studio — which has been making a concerted push on streaming — could opt to sell it elsewhere. A Higher Loyalty landed at CBS TV Studios in a competitive situation with multiple outlets pursuing the book from Comey, whom President Donald Trump fired as FBI director in May 2017. (Comey was appointed as the seventh head of the FBI by President Barack Obama in 2013.  A Higher Loyalty takes its title from the loyalty Comey claims Trump demanded during the Michael Flynn investigation.

7am – E         Driving lesson gone wrong ends with car in swimming pool. MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. — A driving lesson went off the deep end in Maryland when authorities say the car jumped a curb, crashed through a fence and landed in a swimming pool. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer tells The Washington Post the driver and passenger were uninjured Saturday, albeit soaking wet. He says the occupants were a man and a woman in their 50s or 60s, but it’s unclear who was behind the wheel when the driver turned into a diver. He says one was teaching the other to drive that afternoon. The car landed in the North Creek Community Center Pool, which was closed for the season. Piringer says the man and woman were standing poolside, having extricated themselves, by the time rescuers arrived.

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW – STEVE MOORE – chief economist at the Heritage Foundation – discussed Trump’s tariffs on China.

• China Fires Back at Trump With New Tariffs on $60 Billion.  U.S. to impose 10% duty on Sept. 24, rising to 25% next year. China will impose countertariffs immediately in 5-10% range. The U.S.-China trade war deepened as Beijing announced retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods and the Trump administration threatened duties on virtually all Chinese imports. On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to levy 10 percent tariffs on about $200 billion in Chinese goods on Sept. 24 and to increase the rate in January to 25 percent if Beijing refuses to offer trade concessions. In retaliation, Beijing has announced plans to hit U.S. goods, ranging from wheat to textiles, with 5 percent to 10 percent tariffs. Stocks shrugged off the latest ratcheting up of trade tensions, with the S&P 500 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite Index all higher. The calm reaction has some investors saying the markets had already priced in 10 percent tariffs and that it could’ve been worse.

8am – B/C  Bert and Ernie’s relationship debate continues

• Bert and Ernie Show Writer Says They’re Gay!!! … Sesame Street Says They’re Not. (TMZ) — Mark Saltzman, who joined the “Sesame Street” crew in 1984, cleared it all up by telling Queerty he wrote Bert and Ernie as a gay couple. He says the ‘Sesame’ duo is a reflection of his own same-sex relationship and not about pushing an agenda.  A spokesperson for Sesame Workshop has countered Saltzman, telling TMZ … “As we have always said, Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.” They continue, “Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.” Frank Oz — longtime puppeteer for the show and hands behind some of the beloved characters, including Bert — also denounced Saltzman, saying, “It seems Mr. Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert & Ernie are gay. It’s fine that he feels they are. They’re not, of course. But why that question? Does it really matter? Why the need to define people as only gay? There’s much more to a human being than just straightness or gayness.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – SAAGAR ENJETI – White House correspondent, The Daily Caller – discussed the latest WH news: Trump heads to NC today, Kavanaugh confirmation, Fort Trump, etc

• Trump will survey Florence damage during North Carolina visit Wednesday
• The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teens has demanded a full FBI investigation before she agrees to testify before Congress
• ‘Fort Trump’? Polish President urges US to consider opening base

8am – E         A restaurant in Maine is trying to get lobsters high before cooking them alive. Welp, it looks like a restaurant in Maine is trying to get lobsters high before cooking them. The owner of Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound  restaurant, Charlotte Gill, recently revealed the restaurant has attempted to get their lobsters stoned in an effort to make their deaths at her eatery more humane, according to the Mount Desert Islander. “The animal is already going to be killed,” Gill told the Islander. “It is far more humane to make it a kinder passage.” Gill concocted a, uh, interesting method of getting her lobsters high. Here’s an excerpt from the Islander that details her first attempt at smoking up a crustacean — a lobster she calls Roscoe: In an experiment to test the affect of cannabis on lobsters, Roscoe the lobster was placed for a few minutes in a covered box with about two inches of water at the bottom. Marijuana smoke was then blown into the water at the bottom of the box. / Roscoe was later returned to the ocean “as a thank you for being the experimental crustacean.” hough Gill, a licensed marijuana caregiver, told the Islander that Roscoe seemed more relaxed after his tank had been “infused: with cannabis smoke, it unclear that the lobster actually got stoned. THC, the compound  in cannabis responsible for getting you high is fat-soluble, not water-soluble, according to the Cannabist. This means it binds to fats not water, making it unlikely that the marijuana-infused water had any effect on Roscoe. This is why drinking bong water won’t get you stoned.