Gayle Trotter, Andrew McCarthy, Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton, ACU’s MAtt Schlapp, Washington Post’s Scott Allen and Daily Caller’s Kevin Daley joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, September 28, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C How Did The Female Prosecutor Do At The Ford-Kavanaugh Senate Hearing? Was She A Good or Bad Idea For The GOP?

• Senate Republicans brought in a female prosecutor to question Christine Blasey Ford. They sidelined her shortly after she started questioning Brett Kavanaugh. She was never heard from again.
• GOP senators abandon use of outside prosecutor who specializes in sex crimes during Kavanaugh testimony
• Chris Wallace: this was a disaster for GOP
• Dershowitz: Senate Special Counsel Mitchell Was “Incompetent,” Did A “Terrible Job” Questioning Ford
• Alan Dershowitz On Mitchell’ Cross-Examination Of Ford : ‘She Was Totally And Completely Incompetent’

5am – D/E     FORD’S TESTIMONY: ‘I will never forget:’ Christine Blasey Ford recounts her trauma in raw testimony. (CNN) The world heard Christine Blasey Ford’s shy, quiet voice for the first time Thursday as she stepped into the harsh spotlight of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room to tell her story about an alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh. For those who watched Ford Thursday, believing her story, it was the ultimate act of courage—a raw, emotional retelling of the trauma of a sexual assault at a time when her privacy has been violated in every conceivable way. Flanked by her attorneys as she sat before a ring of senators, the California psychology professor came across as authentic, determined, and also vulnerable, as she recounted the story that has haunted her for more than three decades. In an unusual arrangement that was intended to avoid insensitive questioning by male Republicans senators, Ford faced off against a female sex crimes prosecutor who appeared, at times, to try to undermine the credibility of her allegations. The prosecutor was quickly sidelined during Kavanaugh’s subsequent testimony.

6am – A/B/C REACTION TO KAVANAUGH’S TESTIMONY:

• Brett Kavanaugh repeatedly declines to say whether he wants an FBI investigation into the charges against him. “The FBI does not reach conclusions,” he says.
• Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was repeatedly pressed by lawmakers about why he won’t suggest an FBI investigation during his Senate panel testimony
• Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who sat on the accusations for 8 WEEKS, attacks Judge Brett Kavanaugh for not calling for an FBI investigation into himself.
• Kavanaugh says he would participate in an FBI investigation if the committee pursues one and tells Sen. Dianne Feinstein: “My family has been destroyed by this, senator. Destroyed”
• Feinstein: “If you’re very confident of your position, and you appear to be, why aren’t you also asking the FBI to investigate these claims?” Judge Kavanaugh: “Senator I’ll do whatever the committee wants. I wanted a hearing the day after the allegation came up.”
• Brett Kavanaugh: “When I accepted the president’s nomination, Ashley and I knew this process would be challenging. We never expected that it would devolve into this. Explaining this to our daughters has been about the worst experience of our lives.”
• Kavanaugh getting emotional as he tells the committee his daughter last night said the Kavanaugh family should “pray for the woman” who has accused him of sexual assault.
• KAVANAUGH: “I’m not even in DC on the weekends in the summer of 1982”
• Judge Brett Kavanaugh: “If we want to sit here and talk about whether a Supreme Court nomination should be based on a high school yearbook page, I think that’s taken us to a new level of absurdity.”
• Kavanaugh: “This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election…revenge on behalf of the Clintons…This is a circus”
• “This has destroyed by good name,” Kavanaugh said. Blames angry Democrats and “left wing opposition groups” for attempting to “take him out.”
• Kavanaugh says he was privately proud of being a high school virgin. For him, he says, it was “a matter of faith, and respect, and caution.”
• Brett Kavanaugh denies series of actions alleged by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, saying he has never been alone in a room with Ford and Mark Judge, and did not engage in “sexual behavior” with Ford, consensual or otherwise
• Judge Brett Kavanaugh: “If every American who drinks beer, or every American who drank beer in high school is suddenly presumed guilty of sexual assault, we’ll be in an ugly new place in this country. I never committed sexual assault.”
• Brett Kavanaugh: “I liked beer. I still like beer. But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out, and I never sexually assaulted anyone.”
• Judge Brett Kavanaugh says he did not watch Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony this morning. “I planned to, but I did not. I was preparing mine.”
• Senate Republicans brought in a female prosecutor to question Christine Blasey Ford. They sidelined her shortly after she started questioning Brett Kavanaugh. She was never heard from again.
• Sen GOP plans first floor vote on Kavanaugh for Saturday, 12 noon. That will be procedural vote. Unclear if GOP has 50. Committee vote to happen tomorrow 9:30 as planned.
• President Trump is backing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. He tweeted at the close of a Senate hearing, calling Kavanaugh’s testimony “powerful, honest, and riveting.”
• Vice President Mike Pence: “I stand with Judge Kavanaugh – a person of integrity & impeccable credentials. Take the vote.”
• Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse asks about Judge Brett Kavanaugh about farting remarks he made from over 35 years ago.
• Graham: you want to destroy this guy’s life….this is the most unethical sham!

6am – D         INTERVIEW — GAYLE TROTTER – attorney and spokeswoman for the Judicial Crisis Network—reacted to the Ford-Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

6am – E/F      More Reaction to the Ford-Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — ANDREW MCCARTHY – Best- selling author,  Contributing Editor at National Review & Former Chief Asst. U.S. Attorney—reacted to the Ford-Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW — TOM FITTON – President of Judicial Watch —reacted to the Ford-Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

7am – D/E     More Reaction to the Ford-Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MATT SCHLAPP – chairman of the American Conservative Union @mschlapp — reacted to the Ford-Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – SCOTT ALLEN – Sports reporter, Washington Post

• What’s going to happen to Bryce Harper? Did he play his last game this week?
• BRYCE HARPER’S FUTURE IN D.C.: No telling how Bryce Harper saga will end, but Nationals have options
• WASHINGTON TIMES: Bryce Harper cherishes perhaps his last Nationals home game: ‘This is my city’
• Bryce Harper may have posted a cryptic goodbye message to Nationals on Instagram. An elaborate Instagram post in which Harper thanks Nats fans appears to be showing him waving goodbye

8am – D         INTERVIEW – KEVIN DALEY – Supreme Court reporter, The Daily Caller —reacted to the Ford-Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

8am – E         AAA: Mayor Bowser pushing for $500 speeding tickets, 15 mph speed limits.   WASHINGTON (ABC7) — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is pushing for new legislation that would raise speeding tickets in the District up to $500 and create 15 miles per hour speed limits in parts of the city. According to a press release from AAA, Bowser is fast-tracking the resolution for her “Vision Zero Initiative,” which would increase 18 traffic fines and create 11 new traffic infractions. “The objective of Vision Zero is to achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries to travelers using the District’s transportation system by 2024 through the more effective use of data, education, enforcement, and engineering,” Bowser said in a statement.  The proposed changes include upping the fine for going 25 mph over the speed limit from the current $300 to $400 on Washington freeways and interstates and $500 on city streets. It would also create designated “Safe Zones” with speed limits of 15 mph for roads next to “school facilities and grounds serving youth” as well as “a playground, recreational facility, pool, athletic field, or senior center designated by official signs.” AAA says there have been 27 recorded traffic deaths in D.C. so far in 2018, which is already 12.5 percent more than all of 2017. Despite the intentions of the resolution, it is already facing criticism. “There is not a shred of empirical evidence that proves that higher traffic fines deter bad driving behavior,” John Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs said in a statement. “This is about generating revenue under the patina of traffic safety.”