Joe diGenova, USS Cole Commander Kirk Lippold, John Lott, Raheem Kassam, Washington Examiner’s Al Weaver and film critic Christian Toto joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, January 7, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CONTINUES: How Far Would You Like The Shutdown To Go? Are You Affected?

5am – D/E     MUELLER GRAND JURY: Mueller grand jury extended for up to 6 months

• Federal judge extends Mueller grand jury by up to another six months.  A federal grand jury being used by the team of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been extended, Fox News has learned. The original term of 18 months for the Washington, D.C.-based jury expired on Friday. Sources close to Chief Judge of U.S. District Court in Washington, Beryl Howell, tell Fox News she has extended the grand jury term.
• House Intelligence Committee Chairman ADAM SCHIFF said Sunday that he plans to move quickly to provide the panel’s interview transcripts to special counsel Robert Mueller. “We hope, as one of our first acts, to make the transcripts of our witnesses fully available to special counsel for any purpose, including the bringing of perjury charges if necessary against any of the witnesses,” the California Democrat told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” Schiff declined to name who among the committee’s witnesses he believed might have committed perjury, but he said he had concerns about “multiple witnesses.”

 

6am – A/B/C OCASIO NEWS:

• OCASIO ON 60 MINUTES ON SUNDAY:
  • Ocasio-Cortez Responds to Critics: People More Concerned With Being Factually Correct Than Morally Right
  • Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, talks to 60 Minutes about the Green New Deal and says only “radicals” have changed this country: “It only has ever been radicals that have changed this country”
  • ’60 MINUTES’ SUNDAY: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggests taxes as high as 70% on the wealthiest to pay for a “Green New Deal.”
• GOP’s Steve Scalise shuts down Twitter debate on taxes with Ocasio-Cortez after ‘radical followers’ allude to Virginia shooting. U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., abruptly halted a Twitter debate with newcomer Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York early Sunday morning after at least three commenters made references to the June 2017 shooting in which Scalise and three other people were shot by a left-wing activist. “snipe his a–,” one Twitter user wrote, in support of Ocasio-Cortez. (The user later denied that the post was a call for political violence, writing, “not seeing any violence there sorry” and telling Fox News it referred only to a verbal “sniping.”) “she’s got better aim than James Hodgkinson, that’s for sure,” another wrote, comparing Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter responses to the marksmanship of the suspect in the Virginia shooting, a Bernie Sanders supporter who later died in a shootout with police. “Kick his cane,” a third wrote. As of late Sunday afternoon, Ocasio-Cortez had not commented on the tweets from the users cited by Scalise, even though she has published tweets on other subjects.

6am – D         TRUMP PROPOSES A STEEL BARRIER:

• Trump makes new offer to Democrats on his border wall as shutdown hits Day 16
• President Trump says he wants a steel border wall, and a reporter asks why Democrats would support that. Trump: “They don’t like concrete, so we’ll give them steel. Steel is fine. Steel is actually more expensive than concrete, but it will look beautiful”
• POTUS: “If I build a steel wall, rather than a concrete wall, it will actually be stronger than a concrete wall. Steel is stronger than concrete. You can check it out…I will have it done by the United States steel corporations and companies.”

6am – E         Elizabeth Warren’s First Week On The Stump Filled With Missteps. (Daily Caller) — Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren kicked off her 2020 presidential campaign with a series of awkward gaffes and lingering questions about her alleged Native American ancestry.The day Warren announced she was launching an exploratory committee for a 2020 bid, she appeared on Instagram Live with her husband, Bruce Mann. In the video, Warren attempts to appear folksy as she tells viewers, “Hold on a sec, I’m gonna get me, um, a beer.” Politico ran a piece comparing Warren’s likability issues to those of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Warren’s first week on the campaign trail has also been plagued with fallout from her decision in October to release a DNA test showing she is somewhere between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Native American. The Cherokee Nation immediately slammed Warren for releasing the test, stating, “Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong.” On Friday night, Warren was speaking at an event in Sioux City, Iowa when an audience member forced her to address the DNA test again. Warren was careful to wrap the criticisms of the Cherokee Nation — primarily that DNA tests do not show tribal membership — in her answer. “I’m not a person of color,” Warren told the audience. “I’m not a citizen of a tribe. Tribal Citizenship is very different from ancestry. Tribes and only tribes determine tribal citizenship and I respect that difference.”

Warren’s Native American ancestry claims weren’t the only struggle she faced on the stump in Iowa, one of the biggest presidential election battleground states. After just one day of campaigning, Warren had already lost her voice and had to address a group of supporters with a hoarse throat. Her explanation came with a poorly-worded excuse: “Too much time with little people,” which a spokesperson says was in reference to Warren’s grandchildren.

6am – F         GOLDEN GLOBES:

• Sandra Oh delivers an emotional opening speech during Golden Globes
• …Sandra’s comedy was so bad, it was hard to tell she was being serious. Crowd even laughs inappropriately…
• Winners: The biggest winner of the 2019 Golden Globes was Bohemian Rhapsody with Bradley Cooper‘s A Star Is Born shut out of the winner’s circle despite five nominations. The Queen biopic took home two Globes for best motion picture drama and best performance by an actor in a motion picture drama for star Rami Malek on Sunday night. Cooper was also nominated in that category, with his directorial debut also losing out in the race for best motion picture drama. A Star Is Born did take home the award for best original star, scoring a gold statue for songwriters Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt for “Shallow.” Lady Gaga lost out on a Globe for best actress to Glenn Close for The Wife, while Cooper lost out to Alfonso Cuaron for Roma in the best director category. The show, hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg, also saw a few surprises in Green Book, which scored three awards while Vice, the Dick Cheney biopic, received six nominations and won one for Christian Bale in the best performance by an actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy category.
• Christian Bale refers to Dick Cheney as ‘Satan’ during Golden Globes acceptance speech

 

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• MUELLER GRAND JURY: Mueller grand jury extended for up to 6 months. A federal grand jury being used by the team of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been extended, Fox News has learned. The original term of 18 months for the Washington, D.C.-based jury expired on Friday. Sources close to Chief Judge of U.S. District Court in Washington, Beryl Howell, tell Fox News she has extended the grand jury term.
• House Intelligence Committee Chairman ADAM SCHIFF said Sunday that he plans to move quickly to provide the panel’s interview transcripts to special counsel Robert Mueller. “We hope, as one of our first acts, to make the transcripts of our witnesses fully available to special counsel for any purpose, including the bringing of perjury charges if necessary against any of the witnesses,” the California Democrat told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” Schiff declined to name who among the committee’s witnesses he believed might have committed perjury, but he said he had concerns about “multiple witnesses.
• Trump: I could declare a national emergency to get border wall // President Trump said Friday he could declare a national emergency and bypass Congress to build his long-promised border wall — and warned that the government shutdown could last for months or years. “Absolutely, we can call a national emergency. I may do it. We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly,” he said during a briefing in the Rose Garden after a two-hour meeting with top Democrats about the government shutdown and border security. He also said he could seize private property from people who own land on the border “under the military version” of eminent domain, the law that allows the government to seize private property for public or private development.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – Commander KIRK LIPPOLD – former commander of the USS Cole

• BIO: Commander Kirk S. Lippold, USN, was the Commanding Officer of the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, when the ship was attacked and bombed by al-Qaeda terrorists during a refueling stop in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 U.S. sailors.
• The White House @WhiteHouse: U.S. Central Command has confirmed that Jamal al-Badawi was killed in a precision strike on 1/1/19. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2003, charged with 50 counts of various terrorism offenses, and was wanted for his role in the terrorist attack against USS Cole.
• President Donald Trump confirms death of alleged USS Cole plotter killed in US airstrike. President Donald Trump confirmed that a U.S. military strike in Yemen last week killed Jamal al-Badawi, an al-Qaeda operative believed to be involved in the deadly 2000 attack on the USS Cole. Trump tweeted on Sunday that the U.S. military had “delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded” in the attack. “Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole,” Trump tweeted.” We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al-Badawi. Our work against al Qaeda continues. We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!” The U.S. military later confirmed what the president tweeted. “U.S. Central Command has confirmed that Jamal al-Badawi was killed in a precision strike in Marib governate, on Jan. 1,” said Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – JOHN LOTT – President, Crime Prevention Research Center and author of “The War on Guns” – discussed Dems pushing more gun control in new Congress and in Virginia.

• NEW CONGRESS: Dems to Push Gun Control on Anniversary of Giffords Shooting. House Dems to introduce gun background checks bill on Tuesday.  Get ready for a massive fight over gun control in Congress in 2019. Days after reclaiming the House majority, Democrats are introducing gun control legislation timed for the anniversary of the shooting of former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats will introduce a bill to expand background checks for sales and transfers of firearms on Tuesday, the eighth anniversary of the day Giffords was shot at a constituent meeting in Arizona. Democrats promised swift action on gun control after the party regained the House majority following eight years of Republican rule.
• VIRGINIA: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is promoting a series of gun-control measures he says promote public safety while still respecting individual gun rights.  Virginia’s Democrat Gov. Pushes Gun Confiscation Orders, Criminalization of Private Sales.
• Sensing an opening, Virginia governor revives push for gun control. (Washington Post) –– Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is making an aggressive push to revive gun-control proposals that GOP lawmakers killed in last year’s General Assembly session, seizing what he senses to be Democratic momentum as the legislature convenes next week. Flanked by fellow Democrats from the House of Delegates and state Senate, Northam rolled out a package of bills Friday that would require universal background checks for firearms purchases, ban assault weapons and resurrect individuals’ purchase limits to one handgun per month, among other proposals. The bills Northam endorsed Friday covered topics that have failed multiple times before in the GOP-controlled legislature, but sponsors said they’ve been tweaked in ways to help build support. They include:

• The “Extreme Risk Protective Order,” sponsored by Del. Richard C. “Rip” Sullivan Jr. (D-Fairfax) and Sen. George L. Barker (D-Alexandria), which would allow a court to temporarily prohibit someone from access to his firearms if the person has been found to pose a danger to himself or others. In response to concerns raised by Republicans last year that such power could be misused, the proposal specifies that any removal order would have to be brought by law enforcement and approved by a judge or magistrate.
• A bill requiring background checks on all gun sales, including private sales at gun shows or online. The measure is sponsored by Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax) and Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth).
• A revival of Virginia’s one-handgun-a-month law, which had been in effect for nearly 20 years when it was repealed in 2012. Sponsored by Del. Jeion A. Ward (D-Hampton) and Sen. Mamie E. Locke (D-Hampton), the measure would “prevent people from stockpiling firearms and transporting them for sale in other states,” Northam’s office said.

Other measures would keep guns out of the hands of someone who is under a protective court order; require gun owners to report the loss or theft of a firearm within 24 hours; and increase the penalty for leaving unsecured firearms near children. Del. Kathy Tran (D-Fairfax) and Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) are also sponsoring a ban on assault weapons, defining them as any firearm with a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

7am – E         Matt Schlapp ‘very seriously’ considering entering Kansas Senate race. (Fox News) — Matt Schlapp, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union, said Saturday that he is “very seriously” considering running in the upcoming Kansas Senate race to replace outgoing Sen. Pat Roberts. Roberts, the longest-serving member of Congress in Kansas history, announced Friday that he won’t run again in 2020 in a race that leans Republicans but could see a serious Democratic challenge. The 82-year-old said he did not feel pushed out, and said at a press conference that “I think it’s just time” Schlapp, who grew up in Kansas and organizes the annual Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) meeting of grassroots conservatives, was asked on “Fox & Friends” whether he is considering a run to fill Roberts’ seat. He said he was seriously considering stepping into the race. “My first next challenge is to get through another great and impactful CPAC but we’re going to look at this race very seriously,” he said. When pressed he said that “there’s a lot of calls going from my cell phone to the 316 area code is all I have to say.”

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW – RAHEEM KASSAM – Fellow, Claremont Institute and former chief advisor to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage – discussed the media obsession over Ocasio-Cortez.

• CONSERVATIVES ARE GETTING ACCUSED OF MAKING FUN OF OCASIO’S DANCING AND THIS IS FAKE NEWS: RAHEEM KASSAM: Newsweek Gets It Wrong — Conservatives Weren’t ‘Outraged’ By Ocasio-Cortez Dancing, We Loved It. (Daily Caller) — Newsweek ran a story to coincide with the swearing in (or “inauguration”) of new Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) this week. They suggested “conservatives” were outraged by a video of AOC dancing while in college. They lied. There’s little to no evidence that any conservatives, in the real world or on Twitter, were affected by the video that came out this week in any way other than thinking “Ha, that’s kind of cute.” Believe it or not, all of us were college students, or of college age, at some point in time. Most of us, in fact, danced at some point. Some of us still dance. We even post videos (and/or pictures) of us doing such things to our own social media profiles. This must come as a big revelation to Newsweek writer Jason Le Miere, who, prior to running public relations pieces for the incoming congresswoman, spent a noteworthy amount of time on his Twitter page disparaging Israel.
• OCASIO ON 60 MINUTES ON SUNDAY:
  • Ocasio-Cortez Responds to Critics: People More Concerned With Being Factually Correct Than Morally Right
  • Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, talks to 60 Minutes about the Green New Deal and says only “radicals” have changed this country: “It only has ever been radicals that have changed this country”
  • ’60 MINUTES’ SUNDAY: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggests taxes as high as 70% on the wealthiest to pay for a “Green New Deal.”
• GOP’s Steve Scalise shuts down Twitter debate on taxes with Ocasio-Cortez after ‘radical followers’ allude to Virginia shooting. U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., abruptly halted a Twitter debate with newcomer Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York early Sunday morning after at least three commenters made references to the June 2017 shooting in which Scalise and three other people were shot by a left-wing activist. “snipe his a–,” one Twitter user wrote, in support of Ocasio-Cortez. (The user later denied that the post was a call for political violence, writing, “not seeing any violence there sorry” and telling Fox News it referred only to a verbal “sniping.”) “she’s got better aim than James Hodgkinson, that’s for sure,” another wrote, comparing Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter responses to the marksmanship of the suspect in the Virginia shooting, a Bernie Sanders supporter who later died in a shootout with police. “Kick his cane,” a third wrote. As of late Sunday afternoon, Ocasio-Cortez had not commented on the tweets from the users cited by Scalise, even though she has published tweets on other subjects.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – AL WEAVER – political reporter for the Washington Examiner – discussed the latest on the government shutdown.

• NATIONAL EMERGENCY: Pres. Trump says he’s considered declaring a national emergency to circumvent congressional approval to allocate funds for border wall: “We can call a national emergency because of the security of our country… I haven’t done it, I may do it.”
• STEEL BARRIER: Trump makes new offer to Democrats on his border wall as shutdown hits Day 16. President Trump says he wants a steel border wall, and a reporter asks why Democrats would support that. Trump: “They don’t like concrete, so we’ll give them steel. Steel is fine. Steel is actually more expensive than concrete, but it will look beautiful”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – CHRISTIAN TOTO – Film Critic, HollywoodInToto.com and Host of “The Hollywood in Toto” podcast  (available on iTunes) @HollywoodInToto – recapped the Golden Globes.

8am – E         WARREN GOES TO SIOUX CITY, IOWA:

• ‘Why did you undergo the DNA test?’: Elizabeth Warren asked about ancestry in first question at Iowa event

• Elizabeth Warren’s First Week On The Stump Filled With Missteps. (Daily Caller) — Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren kicked off her 2020 presidential campaign with a series of awkward gaffes and lingering questions about her alleged Native American ancestry.The day Warren announced she was launching an exploratory committee for a 2020 bid, she appeared on Instagram Live with her husband, Bruce Mann. In the video, Warren attempts to appear folksy as she tells viewers, “Hold on a sec, I’m gonna get me, um, a beer.” Politico ran a piece comparing Warren’s likability issues to those of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Warren’s first week on the campaign trail has also been plagued with fallout from her decision in October to release a DNA test showing she is somewhere between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Native American. The Cherokee Nation immediately slammed Warren for releasing the test, stating, “Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong.” On Friday night, Warren was speaking at an event in Sioux City, Iowa when an audience member forced her to address the DNA test again. Warren was careful to wrap the criticisms of the Cherokee Nation — primarily that DNA tests do not show tribal membership — in her answer. “I’m not a person of color,” Warren told the audience. “I’m not a citizen of a tribe. Tribal Citizenship is very different from ancestry. Tribes and only tribes determine tribal citizenship and I respect that difference.” Warren’s Native American ancestry claims weren’t the only struggle she faced on the stump in Iowa, one of the biggest presidential election battleground states. After just one day of campaigning, Warren had already lost her voice and had to address a group of supporters with a hoarse throat. Her explanation came with a poorly-worded excuse: “Too much time with little people,” which a spokesperson says was in reference to Warren’s grandchildren.