AB Stoddard and Washington Post’s Erin Cox joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Will Kavanaugh Get Confirmed?

5am – D/E     Senate passes defense and health spending bill, tries to delay border-wall fight to after midterms. (Washington Post) —  The Senate on Tuesday passed a short-term spending bill that would keep the government running through Dec. 7, aiming to avert a government shutdown and put off a fight over funding for President Trump’s border wall until after the midterm elections. The short-term bill came attached to a massive budget package containing full-year 2019 funding for the Pentagon as well as for the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services departments. GOP leaders designed the package to combine key Republican and Democratic priorities in an attempt to garner overwhelming bipartisan support. The package also aims to satisfy Trump’s desire for more military spending. The 93-to-7 vote came less than two weeks ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline when government funding will expire unless Congress and Trump intervene. The legislation would keep the government open by funding agencies whose budgets Congress has not addressed before the shutdown deadline at current levels through Dec. 7. “This is necessary to ensure that we do not face a government shutdown in the event that we do not finish our work on the remaining bills,” said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. The House is expected to take up the bill next week, but it remains uncertain whether Trump would sign the measure. The legislation would not increase funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which funds construction of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

6am – A/B/C Nearly half in top 5 U.S. cities don’t speak English at home, record 67 million (Washington Examiner/Paul Bedard) — Nearly half of the residents in the nation’s five biggest cities do not speak English at home, choosing instead their native language, according to the latest Census Bureau data that details the impact of a decade of soft immigration policies. Overall, a record 67 million do not speak English at home, said the bureau. That is nearly double in 27 years. In its just-released analysis of the Census data, the Center for Immigration Studies said, “As a share of the population, 21.8 percent of U.S. residents speak a foreign language at home — roughly double the 11 percent in 1980.” The Center added, “In America’s five largest cities, 48 percent of residents now speak a language other than English at home. In New York City and Houston it is 49 percent; in Los Angeles it is 59 percent; in Chicago it is 36 percent; and in Phoenix it is 38 percent.” The findings come as more and more reports emerge about both Americans and foreigners getting into heated debates over speaking English. In one case in New York last May, a man threatened to call immigration police if employees and customers didn’t stop speaking English in a restaurant. Last week, in Florida, a Taco Bell patron was turned away because a worker said nobody spoke English and couldn’t take the order.

6am – D         ‘EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE’: ELLISON ACCUSER POSTS DOCTOR’S REPORT NAMING CONGRESSMAN AS ALLEGED ABUSER (Daily Caller) — DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison’s ex-girlfriend published a medical document showing she told her doctor in 2017 about “emotional and physical abuse” from Ellison. The doctor’s report said Monahan feared “retribution” if she spoke out against Ellison. Ellison is running for Minnesota attorney general with the Democratic Party’s support. The ex-girlfriend accusing Democratic Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison of domestic abuse told her doctor in 2017 about alleged “emotional and physical abuse” from Ellison, according to a document the woman published Wednesday. Karen Monahan’s account in the doctor’s report is consistent with what she has been saying publicly since August: that Ellison was emotionally and physically abusive to her while the two were dating. “She states that she was in a very stressful environment for years, emotional and physical abuse by a partner with whom she is now separated,” reads the November 2017 report, a picture of which Monahan posted on Twitter. She did not have any physical injuries that required an examination in the past. She identifies the individual she was involved with as congressman Ellison, and she is worried about retribution if she identifies him publicly,” the report states. Ellison’s congressional office did not immediately return a request for comment. The Democratic Party has maintained its support for Ellison’s attorney general campaign despite the allegations. DNC Chair Tom Perez previously said the committee was “reviewing” the allegations. Perez later deferred to an investigation by the party’s Minnesota arm, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), which endorsed Ellison’s campaign in spite of Monahan’s allegations. Monahan wrote Wednesday that Ellison declined any meeting with her as part of the investigation.

“I told the investigator I would be happy to talk with @keithellison [with] them in the room. They asked Keith if he would be willing [and] he declined any meeting [with] me,” she wrote. Monahan’s son Austin Aslim Monahan first aired the allegations against Ellison on Aug. 11 and claimed to have seen evidence of Ellison’s abuse.

6am – E         Mazie Hirono says Democrats ready to keep Supreme Court seat vacant through 2020 if conditions are right. Senate Democrats could stall a Supreme Court nominee President Trump potentially names as a replacement for Brett Kavanaugh until 2020 if they flip the chamber, according to Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii. Hirono, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Politico Tuesday her caucus could try to detail Trump’s attempts to appoint another justice to the court if they are deemed by Democrats in the Senate to be a conservative ideologue. “I think we’ve had those kinds of vacancies before, and we certainly had over a one-year vacancy with Merrick Garland,” Hirono told the news outlet in a podcast aired Tuesday. “So, the world does not come to an end because we don’t fill all of the nominees.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took a veiled swipe at Democrats in the chamber by praising Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, for following “standard practice and regular order” in addressing an allegation of sexual misconduct leveled at Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford.

6am – F         Poll: Larry Hogan holds commanding lead in Maryland race. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) holds a commanding 22-point lead over challenger Ben Jealous (D) in the Maryland governor race, according to a new poll released Wednesday. The Goucher College Poll found that 54 percent of likely voters would vote for Hogan compared to 32 percent for Jealous, with 9 percent undecided. The poll also showed that 73 percent of those who have decided how to vote are set on their candidate. The poll showed as well that 60 percent of voters said their opinions about President Trump would have no or only a little effect on their choice for governor, while 39 percent say that their opinion toward the president will have some or a lot of effect. In 2014 Hogan became only the second Republican governor in Maryland in 50 years, though in 2016 the state overwhelmingly voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

7am – A         KAVANAUGH NEWS:

• Grassley sets Friday deadline to hear back from Kavanaugh accuser. Washington (CNN)Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has set 10 a.m. Friday as the deadline for Christine Blasey Ford’s legal team to respond to his request for her to speak to the committee regarding her sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  Grassley wrote to Christine Blasey Ford’s attorneys Wednesday that the panel was giving her until 10 a.m. ET Friday to submit a biography and prepared statement “if she intends to testify” Monday.
• Mazie Hirono says Democrats ready to keep Supreme Court seat vacant through 2020 if conditions are right. Senate Democrats could stall a Supreme Court nominee President Trump potentially names as a replacement for Brett Kavanaugh until 2020 if they flip the chamber, according to Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii. Hirono, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Politico Tuesday her caucus could try to detail Trump’s attempts to appoint another justice to the court if they are deemed by Democrats in the Senate to be a conservative ideologue. “I think we’ve had those kinds of vacancies before, and we certainly had over a one-year vacancy with Merrick Garland,” Hirono told the news outlet in a podcast aired Tuesday. “So, the world does not come to an end because we don’t fill all of the nominees.”
• Kirsten Gillibrand says ‘forcing’ Christine Blasey Ford into a sham hearing is ‘silencing her’   // Kirsten Gillibrand @SenGillibrand  Denying Dr. Ford an FBI investigation is silencing her. Forcing her into a sham hearing is silencing her. And pushing through Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation is silencing her.
• Grassley wants unredacted version of letter from Kavanaugh’s accuser. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is demanding that ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) hand over an unredacted version of the letter from a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Grassley in a letter sent Wednesday to Feinstein said he needs an unredacted copy in order to prepare for the Monday hearing where Republicans have invited both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, to testify. “My staff has made repeated requests for this document — which has become a significant piece of evidence in Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation process — but your staff has so far refused to provide a copy of the letter,” Grassley wrote. “I must review the unredacted letter that Dr. Ford sent to you, dated July 30, 2018. I ask that you send me a copy of the original, unredacted letter immediately.” Grassley’s letter is the latest in an increasingly partisan standoff over the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.
• ‘OBSTRUCT AND DELAY’ TACTICS BACKFIRING ON DEMS? – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Wednesday unloaded a torrent of criticism on ranking Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein for her handling of the sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and blasted Democrats for their “abuse of this confirmation process” through “delay and obstruction” … Saying Feinstein “chose to sit on the allegations until a politically opportune moment,” Grassley demanded she immediately turn over an unredacted copy of the letter from Christine Blasey Ford that Feinstein received July 30. Feinstein, D-Calif., shared the letter with federal authorities and other senators only last week, days before a key Judiciary Committee vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, after a leak about the letter was published in the Intercept. Republicans have accused Democrats of orchestrating that leak. Grassley has had access only to a redacted copy of the letter.

7am – B/C BETO vs CRUZ

• Watch—Beto O’Rourke to Black American: Illegal Immigrant Labor Needed for Cotton Gin. During a town hall event on Wednesday night, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) — running against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for the Senate seat — told a black American who questioned his support of illegal immigration that illegal aliens from Central America and Mexico are today’s cotton pickers. O’Rourke’s remarks were made after a black American asked the congressman if he supported illegal aliens being given S. citizenship despite breaking the country’s immigration laws. O’Rourke responded by saying that it is illegal aliens who are working at cotton gins today.
• Poll: Beto O’Rourke leads Cruz in Texas Senate race. Beto O’Rourke (D) holds a 2-point lead over incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in a new poll of their Texas Senate race. The Reuters–Ipsos–University of Virginia Center for Politics poll released on Wednesday found that 47 percent of voters said they favored O’Rourke, while 45 percent said they favored Cruz. The survey, which was composed among a population of 992 adults, had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. It was conducted between Sept. 6 and Sept. 14. A separate Quinnipiac poll released a day earlier found Cruz with a 9-point lead in a race that has drawn national attention, partly because of Cruz’s fame and partly because the state has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in three decades.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — AB STODDARD – associate editor and columnist at RealClearPolitics. She has been covering the U.S. Congress since 1994 – shared her thoughts on the Kavanaugh confirmation delay.

7am – E         North Carolina Boy Asks Donald Trump for a Hug After Hurricane Florence. President Donald Trump toured New Bern, North Carolina, on Wednesday, viewing the damage caused by Hurricane Florence. Trump also visited Temple Baptist Church and joined volunteers handing out pre-packaged meals to storm victims.

“Can I have a hug?” he asked. “Yes!” Trump said enthusiastically, embracing the boy to the delight of the crowd.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — ERIN COX — Washington Post reporter covering Maryland state politics

• Goucher Poll: Larry Hogan has commanding 22-point lead over Ben Jealous, drawn support from significant numbers of Democrats and African-American voters.

8am – B         College students aren’t sending in their absentee ballots because they don’t know how to buy postage stamps, focus group says. FAIRFAX, Va. — “Vote or die.” Unless, it’s too hard to find a stamp. A Fairfax County focus group this summer found many college students who have gotten an absentee ballot simply fail to send it back because a U.S. Postal Service stamp seems to be a foreign concept to them. “One thing that came up, which I had heard from my own kids but I thought they were just nerdy, was that the students will go through the process of applying for a mail-in absentee ballot, they will fill out the ballot, and then, they don’t know where to get stamps,” Lisa Connors with the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs said. “That seems to be like a hump that they can’t get across.” The focus group included college interns from across numerous county departments. “They all agreed that they knew lots of people who did not send in their ballots because it was too much of a hassle or they didn’t know where to get a stamp,” Connors said.

8am – C         Florida man’s nude yard work habit draws ire of neighbors (Fox News) — Neighbors are complaining about a Florida man who’s apparently getting a little too comfortable in the area. They claim the man, who lives in Stuart, frequently does outdoor chores completely nude. And witnesses of the nudity say they’ve seen enough. “He works on his car, and he does it naked and everyone has called the police, he is just out there doing his yard work … naked,” Melissa Ny, one of the man’s neighbors, told WBPF-News. Charlie Estes, another neighbor, voiced concerns about kids potentially seeing the naked man. “Have some respect … Kids catch the bus here. It’s wrong,” Estes added. Indecent exposure is illegal in public places in the state. But while some may be disturbed by the man’s choice to go in the nude, officials with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office previously told WBPF-News they’re unable to take any action against him because the man is on private property and is “not touching himself inappropriately.”

8am – D/E     LATEST KAVANAUGH NEWS