Cal Thomas and Matt Mackowiak joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C What was your most memorable Uber experience?

5am – D The Jamal Khashoggi Case: Suspects Had Ties to Saudi Crown Prince (New York Times) One of the suspects identified by Turkey in the disappearance of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was a frequent companion of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — seen disembarking from airplanes with him in Paris and Madrid and photographed standing guard during his visits this year to Houston, Boston and the United Nations. Three others are linked by witnesses and other records to the Saudi crown prince’s security detail.

5am – E ERIC TRUMP SLAMMED FOR CALLING WOMEN EMPLOYEES ‘AWESOME GIRLS’ ON NATIONAL BOSS’S DAY (NewsWeek) Eric Trump proudly tweeted a photo of popular e-cards he apparently received on Tuesday for National Boss’s Day and was slammed on the social media network for his caption. “This is what I get for #NationalBossDay from the awesome girls on my floor,” tweeted Eric Trump, who serves as executive vice president of the Trump Organization. “A card would have been just fine. #TeamTrump.” Many Twitter users pointed out that if Eric Trump really had “girls” working for him, they must be underage. “Awesome ‘girls’? They’re all under 18? How do you handle the child labor laws? Do you have a room set aside for their mandatory schooling?” one user tweeted.

6am – A/B/C Trump orders drug companies to disclose list prices in DTC ads

6am – D INTERVIEW –  Cal Thomas –  Syndicated columnist @CalThomas

• ‘Why vote for Democrats?’ (Washington Times) Given what the Trump administration is saying are record achievements for a president at this stage in office, why would anyone consider voting for Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections? Writing in The Washington Examiner, Paul Bedard lists 289 accomplishments of the Trump administration, beginning with the obvious one, the economy: “They include 173 major wins, such as adding more than 4 million jobs, and another 116 smaller victories, some with outsize importance, such as the 83 percent one-year increase in arrests of MS-13 gang members.”
• Trump, Feinstein feud intensifies over appeals court nominees (The Hill) Fresh off the bitter confirmation fight over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which made Feinstein a top target for President Trumpand some Republicans, the administration is pushing forward with an effort to fill vacancies in the circuit courts. The White House announced late last week that Trump intends to nominate individuals for the three California vacancies on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, moving Republicans closer to their long-held goal of rebalancing the appeals court, which they argue is too liberal and too large.
• Saudi Arabia news

6am – E Country Star Toby Keith Fundraising For Trump Super PAC (Daily Beast) Country music star Toby Keith will perform at a private fundraiser on Tuesday for a leading pro-Trump political group, The Daily Beast has learned. Two sources familiar with plans for the fundraiser said the event, hosted by pro-Trump super PAC America First Action, will take place at the Wharf, a new development on Washington D.C.’s southwest waterfront. The website for Union Stage, one of the venues at the Wharf, says that there will be a “private event” on Tuesday evening. No other details are listed.

6am – F Trump threatens to cancel all aid to Honduras if Central American government doesn’t turn ‘caravan’ of 1,000 immigrants around before they reach the U.S. (Daily Mail) President Donald Trump is threatening to cut off all U.S. aid to Honduras if that government doesn’t turn off the ‘caravan’ of immigrants headed toward the United States. ‘The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!,’ Trump tweeted on Tuesday.   Up to 3,000 migrants crossed from Honduras into Guatemala on Monday on a trek northward, after a standoff with police in riot gear and warnings from Washington that migrants should not try to enter the United States illegally.

7am – A Heitkamp apologizes for naming sexual assault, abuse victims in newspaper ad (Fox News) Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, apologized Tuesday after publicly naming victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse in an attack ad aimed at her Republican challenger — this, after some of the women said they did not give permission for the campaign to name them, and others said they’d never experienced abuse.

7am – B WOMAN CYCLIST CRIES FOUL AFTER BIOLOGICAL MALE WINS WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (Daily Caller) A woman who lost a world-championship cycling race to a biological male who identified as a transgender woman criticized the result as unfair. Jennifer Wagner said it was “definitely NOT fair” that she was forced to compete against Rachel McKinnon, the male cyclist, in the women’s event. McKinnon, representing Canada, won the women’s sprint 35-39 age bracket at the 2018 UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships in Los Angeles on Sunday. Wagner, a Houston-area doctor, took third place behind McKinnon and Dutch cyclist Carolien van Herrikhuyzen.

7am – C  CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS BREAKS SILENCE ON KAVANAUGH FIGHT (Daily Caller) Chief Justice John Roberts spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday about Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s contentious ascension to the U.S. Supreme Court, vowing to protect the Court’s independence and impartiality. Delivering remarks at the University of Minnesota Law School, Roberts opened by alluding to Kavanaugh’s confirmation. He noted that the justices shake hands with one another before entering the courtroom for oral argument or gathering for private conferences, in keeping with a tradition established by Chief Justice Melville Fuller, who led the Court from 1888 to 1910. “It’s a small thing, perhaps, but it is a repeated reminder that, as our newest colleague put it, we do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle, we do not caucus in separate rooms, we do not serve one party or one interest, we serve one nation,” the chief said, referencing remarks Kavanaugh made during his ceremonial installation at the White House.

 7am-D Highlights from Beto vs Cruz Debate

7am – E Some couples in India are selling tourists admission to their weddings (CNBC) Here’s how Join My Wedding works: Indian couples list details about their weddings on the website, and international travelers can buy tickets to the nuptials they want to attend. Most of the contributions from the tickets go to the couples, but the start-up takes a cut. “If you think about it, there’s nothing more cultural than a wedding because you have every cultural element present: The local people, local food, customs, the outfit, the music, basically every cultural element is right there,” Parkanyi told CNBC.

8am – INTERVIEW – Matt Mackowiak -Founder and President of Potomac Strategy Group

Topic- Midterms

• Beto and Ted Cruz Debate
• There are about 30 “swing” House seats, with both candidates running real campaigns with adequate resources and recent polling inside the margin of error. To take back control of Congress, Democrats need to win just 13 of those seats. They have a better than 50-50 chance to achieve their goal.

8am – B/C Ellison loses fight to delay divorce paper release, report says (Fox News) A Minnesota appeals court on Tuesday ruled against Rep. Keith Ellison and his ex-wife’s attempt to delay the release of their divorce records to allow them a chance to redact ‘confidential information.’ Ellison, who holds one of the top positions in the Democratic National Committee, is near the end of a tight race for Minnesota attorney general and has recently seen his lead slip after allegations of domestic abuse by a former girlfriend. The Star Tribune reported that the divorce files will likely be unsealed on Wednesday.

8am – D Trump says he’ll hold Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti accountable for legal fees (Fox News) President Trump on Tuesday assailed adult-film star Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti, who is mulling a 2020 presidential run and is one of the president’s most vocal critics, after a federal judge tossed a defamation lawsuit against the president on Monday. “I just beat him in a big case. … Beat him badly. In fact, he has to pay me legal fees,” Trump told Fox Business’ Trish Regan. “I don’t think he has any money, but he and she have to pay me a lot of legal fees. Based on Texas law — I love Texas — based on Texas law, where the legal fees are nice and plentiful.” Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, maintains she had an affair with Trump. She sued the president in April over a tweet in which he denied her claims of being threatened by a man in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011.

8am – E Glenn Simpson, of Fusion GPS, pleads 5th on Capitol Hill amid questions over dossier (Fox News) Glenn Simpson – the co-founder of the Fusion GPS research group that commissioned the unverified, Democrat-funded anti-Trump dossier – on Tuesday invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee. On Capitol Hill, Simpson declined to answer multiple shouted questions from Fox News about his refusal to testify as he arrived to the committee room. But Simpson’s lawyer, Joshua Levy, on Tuesday took aim at Republican lawmakers for compelling him to appear.