VA political analyst Quentin Kidd, Daily Callers’ Saagar Enjeti, VA GOP’s Jack Wilson, National Review’s Jim Geraghty, Washington Post’s Peter Hermann and Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Ford-Kavanaugh Head To Capitol Hill And Rosenstein Heads To The White House.  Predict Today’s Headlines!

5am – D/E     NEW ACCUSER: SWETNICK

• Avenatti shares photo of new prized client accusing Kavanaugh of gang rape.
• AVENATTI: Here is a picture of my client Julie Swetnick. She is courageous, brave and honest. We ask that her privacy and that of her family be respected.
• Kavanaugh responds to third woman’s accusations: “Ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone”: New statement from Kavanaugh, according to the White House, in its entirety: “This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened.” He’s referring to the new allegations from Julie Swetnick, though he doesn’t say so explicitly.
• Kavanaugh Accuser Sued Former Employer, Used Law Firm Of Other Accuser. Wall Street Journal reports Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick made a sexual harassment complaint against her former employer, New York Life Insurance. Representing her was the firm run by Debra Katz, who now reps Christine Blasey Ford. She won a financial settlement.

6am – A/B/C HIGHLIGHTS: President Trump’s Wild Press Conference

6am – D         INTERVIEW — QUENTIN KIDD — VA political analyst and Vice Provost and Director of the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA – analyzed the Kaine-Stewart debate in Virginia.

• Kaine, Stewart spar over Kavanaugh during Virginia Senate debate. The candidates squared off over the Supreme Court controversy in suburban Virginia. (NBC News) — McLEAN, Va. — Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Corey Stewart displayed deep divisions over the sexual assault allegations facing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as they locked horns Wednesday night during a fiery Virginia Senate debate. Sharing the stage at an NBC4 Washington debate moderated by NBC News political director and “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd, Kaine called on the Senate to subpoena witnesses and hear testimony from all of Kavanaugh’s accusers. Stewart dodged his previous criticism of an accuser to argue that the Senate’s poor record on investigating its own sexual harassment allegations makes them hypocrites. “They spent $17 million to quash accusations of sexual harassment against them and now they are going after Judge Kavanaugh, 36-year-old allegations from when he was in high school. Who are they to judge?” Stewart said.
• Virginia’s Kaine, Stewart keep up insults at second debate. (Washington Post) — U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and GOP challenger Corey Stewart traded insults in a testy debate Wednesday over whose style would best represent Virginia in the U.S. Senate. Kaine, a folksy former governor who was once dubbed “America’s Dad” when he was Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016, said Virginians want a forward-looking leader who doesn’t stoke divisions for political gain like he said Stewart does. “It’s angry and it’s divisive and what we need is leaders, especially in this moment, who are upbeat and positive and inclusive,” Kaine said. Stewart, a deliberately provocative politician well known for his outspoken defense of Confederate imagery, said the state needs someone willing to twist or even breaks arms to get things done. Stewart said Virginians want a senator who supports President Donald Trump’s agenda. “You’re bitter about 2016, you’re voting against every single thing that President Trump does,” said Stewart, a one-time state chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign. Wednesday was the second of three planned debates and the sparring and quarrelsome tone largely mirrored the pair’s first meeting in July. Stewart mocked Kaine’s record as Virginia governor and the Senate, saying Kaine had no substantive accomplishments. Stewart also made unsubstantiated attacks that Kaine discriminates against Asians and has sought to cover up sexual harassment by members of Congress.

6am – E         Bill Cosby will have access to TV and email while behind bars, prison says. Following Bill Cosby’s Tuesday sentencing of three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, the disgraced comedian is now at SCI Phoenix in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.  Press Secretary for Corrections Amy Worden explained to Fox News the nature of Cosby’s arrangements at the new maximum-security state prison, located about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia, would be like. Cosby’s single-occupant cell is “7 feet by 13 feet and the ceiling is 10 feet tall,” Worden told Fox News on Wednesday. She continued: “Although SCI Phoenix is a maximum-security prison, the amount of time that inmates are allowed out of their cell is contingent on the area of the prison facility where they are being housed.” According to Worden, Cosby, now known as Inmate No. NN7687, will have “access to a game room and exercise room.” In addition, he “will be able to purchase his own television, radio and tablet so that he will be able to receive email, music and books,” says Worden. “These are possessions that inmates are allowed to have.”

6am – F         ROSENSTEIN: Trump is considering postponing his highly anticipated Thursday meeting with Rod Rosenstein, but said Wednesday that he would prefer not to fire his embattled deputy attorney general

• POSSIBLE ROSENSTEIN REPRIEVE: President Trump said Wednesday he’d “certainly prefer not” to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and is considering delaying their scheduled Thursday meeting in Washington, D.C… Speaking at a news conference in New York, Trump said he may push back the highly anticipated meeting with the Justice Department’s second-in-command. That meeting was scheduled after the New York Times reported that Rosenstein allegedly suggested that aides wear a “wire” while with Trump. Rosenstein reportedly also suggested invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office last year.

 

7am – A/B/C INTERVIEW — SAAGAR ENJETI – White House correspondent, The Daily Caller – recapped the Trump presser: Kavanaugh / Rosenstein and more.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — JACK WILSON – Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia – analyzed the Kaine-Stewart debate in Virginia.

7am – E         Drivers continue to ignore speed cameras in the District, earning city more than $100 million. For the first time, more than 1 million speeding tickets were issued through the automated enforcement program last year. (Washington Post) —

The District issued more than 1 million speed-camera tickets last year, according to data released Wednesday, a record high for a city that has built a reputation as a “speed trap” for motorists in the nearly two decades since the automated enforcement system was launched. The number of tickets — which brought in $103.9 million in revenue — surpassed those issued the previous year by nearly 86,000 and was more than double the number issued two years ago, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic, which obtained the figures through a public-records request to the District’s Department of Motor Vehicles. The District’s automated enforcement program remains the most prolific in the region. The city issued 1,079,878 speed-camera tickets, compared with 509,542 by Montgomery County police and 227,579 by Prince George’s County police. An additional 451,224 tickets were issued by 20 local agencies within Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Virginia does not allow speed cameras. Fines for speeding in the District start at $50 and can be as high as $300. Speed cameras issue tickets to motorists caught driving more than 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. As many as one-third of violators are caught going one mile per hour over the threshold speed, according to the AAA analysis. Speed cameras are found in more than 300 locations across the region and are active 24 hours a day. The District also has separate cameras to monitor red lights at many intersections.

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW — JIM GERAGHTY – senior political correspondent of National Review. @jimgeraghty – analyzed the slew of Kavanaugh accusers.

• Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford testify amid high-stakes. Nearly three weeks ago, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh first took a seat before a panel of senators, fielded hours of questions and attempted to secure enough votes to be confirmed to the highest court in the land. Now, Kavanaugh returns, this time for a public hearing on allegations from California professor Christine Blasey Ford, who sent a letter months ago to her senator, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and Democrat Diane Feinstein of California, detailing a high school party at which she has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulted her.

• Trump forcefully dismisses sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh
• Two men say they, not Brett Kavanaugh, had alleged sexual encounter with Christine Ford
• Avenatti shares photo of new prized client accusing Kavanaugh of gang rape.
• AVENATTI: Here is a picture of my client Julie Swetnick. She is courageous, brave and honest. We ask that her privacy and that of her family be respected.
• Kavanaugh responds to third woman’s accusations: “Ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone”: New statement from Kavanaugh, according to the White House, in its entirety: “This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened.” He’s referring to the new allegations from Julie Swetnick, though he doesn’t say so explicitly.
• Kavanaugh Accuser Sued Former Employer, Used Law Firm Of Other Accuser. Wall Street Journal reports Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick made a sexual harassment complaint against her former employer, New York Life Insurance. Representing her was the firm run by Debra Katz, who now reps Christine Blasey Ford. She won a financial settlement.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — PETER HERMANN – Crime reporter for The Washington Post. Hermann has been covering crime, specifically the D.C. police department

• D.C. Homicide rate – why is it so high? 6 murders in 3 days brings DC close to surpassing 2017’s homicide count. WASHINGTON – Over the course of three days, six people were killed in the District, including four in Southeast D.C., bringing the number of homicides for 2018 to 115, just one murder shy of last year’s 116. Adding this weekend’s murders to DC Police statistics, homicides are up year-to-date by 40 percent over last year.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — SUSAN FERRECHIO — chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner

• KAVANAUGH/FORD HEAD TO THE HILL THURSDAY: Discuss what Thursday’s hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford will look like. Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation could be on the line as he and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused him of sexual misconduct, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday
• SENATE SHOWDOWN FOR KAVANAUGH, FORD: As an extraordinary series of uncorroborated, lurid last-minute allegations threatens to derail his confirmation to the Supreme Court, nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Ford, the California professor accusing him of sexually assaulting her more than three decades ago, are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning …  The stakes for Kavanaugh could not be higher:  Key swing-vote senators have said Thursday’s hearing, which will begin at 10 a.m. ET, presents a pivotal opportunity to assess Ford’s credibility and determine whether to advance Kavanaugh to the nation’s highest court. It will also be a chance for the public to see Ford, in person, explain in detail what she claims happened at the Maryland house party in 1982 where Kavanaugh allegedly jumped on top of her and tried to muffle her screams — and why she didn’t tell anyone about the episode until 2012. The proceedings will commence with opening statements from Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. After taking an oath, Ford will deliver the prepared remarks she has already provided publicly, according to a schedule provided by the committee. Each senator on the committee will then be afforded a single five-minute round of questions, with the opportunity to ask questions alternating between Democrats and Republicans.  Thursday’s hearing is supposed to focus solely on Ford’s allegations, not the others that have surfaced against Kavanaugh in recent days.
• President Trump is standing by Kavanaugh, calling Democrats ‘con artists’ and predicting that their attempts to block his Supreme Court confirmation will backfire
• Senate Judiciary hires female outside counsel to question Kavanaugh accuser on Thursday.  Republicans have retained Rachel Mitchell, an experienced sex-crimes prosecutor, to handle some of their questioning, saying it will help avoid an overtly political atmosphere. . Mitchell, according to a news release from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, is on leave from her role as deputy county attorney in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. There, she also is the chief of the special victims division.
• Murkowski, key vote in Kavanaugh confirmation, signals support for accuser, FBI probe. Just days before Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee plan to hold a critical vote on whether to recommend Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the full Senate, a key swing vote Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, seemed to suggest that her support for the nominee is wavering. “We are now in a place where it’s not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified,” Murkowski said in an interview on Monday night. “It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed.”