Joe Theismann, Henry Rodgers, Griff Jenkins, Marjorie Dannenfelser and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, February 1, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C LATEST ON BORDER WALL NEGOTIATIONS:

• Speaker Pelosi: “There’s not going to be any wall money in the legislation” being negotiated by the bipartisan border security conference committee.
• “Without a wall, it doesn’t work,” President Trump says of legislation being negotiated by the bipartisan border security conference committee.
• “On February 15th the committee will come back, and if they don’t have a wall, I don’t even want to waste my time reading what they have,” Pres. Trump says.
• President Trump: “If you go to Tijuana and you take down that wall, you will have so many people coming into our country that Nancy Pelosi will be begging for a wall. She will be begging for a wall. She will say, ‘Mr. President, please, please give us a wall.'”
• Senior DOD Official: Three Migrant Caravans Headed to U.S., One with 12,000. There are three migrant caravans headed to the United States’ southern border with Mexico, according to top Pentagon official John Rood. Rood testified to the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that one of the caravans contains over 12,000 migrants. “Current information shows that a caravan of over 12,000 people — there’s three that we are tracking, that the DHS is tracking en route, one that is over 12,000 by the latest estimate,” said Rood, who is the under secretary of Defense for policy.
• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 11 hours ago: More troops being sent to the Southern Border to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country. We have stopped the previous Caravans, and we will stop these also. With a Wall it would be soooo much easier and less expensive. Being Built!
• Over 3,000 more US troops headed to southern border (CNN) Over 3,000 additional active duty troops will be deployed to the southern US border to bolster security, joining the 2,300 troops already there, several defense officials tell CNN. The Pentagon’s decision to not reveal the size of the increase during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday was slammed by the committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington.

5am – D         Donald Trump Jr. calls out Schiff after reports say that blocked phone calls weren’t to father. (Fox News) — Donald Trump Jr. late Thursday laid into House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., after reports appeared to vindicate the younger Trump of Democratic suspicions that he made phone calls to President Trump around the time of the Trump Tower meeting with Russians in June 2016. Senate investigators obtained phone records which appeared to show that Trump Jr. had actually spoken to two longtime Trump family friends – Brian France, the chief executive of Nascar, and the investor Howard Lorber, the New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the matter. Trump Jr. responded to the reports on Twitter, knocking Schiff.

Donald Trump Jr. @DonaldJTrumpJr  Has anyone heard from Adam Schiff?  I imagine he’s busy leaking other confidential info from the House Intelligence Committee to change the subject?!? #FullOfSchiff

“Has anyone heard from Adam Schiff?” Trump Jr. tweeted. “I imagine he’s busy leaking other confidential info from the House Intelligence Committee to change the subject?!?”

Democrats have long suspected the calls were between Trump Jr. and his then-candidate father regarding a meeting with Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign.

5am – E         House Democrats Vote to Keep ‘So Help You God’ in Oath (Breitbart News) — Democrats on the House Committee on Natural Resources voted to retain the phrase “So help you God” in the oath witnesses say prior to their testimony.

According to Jason Calvi, EWTN’s Capitol Hill correspondent, Arizona Democrat Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who chairs the committee, said the draft that would have eliminated the phrase and reference to God was “a mistake”:

Jason Calvi @JasonCalvi  “So help you God?” Should it stay or should it go in oaths? The House Natural Resources Committee debated it today and here’s what they decided: 7:01 PM – Jan 30, 2019

The news that the reference to God would be eliminated from the oath created an uproar. Republican leaders condemned committee Democrats’ plan to remove the phrase referencing God from the oath and replace it with the words “under penalty of law,” says a report at Fox News. The news that the reference to God would be eliminated from the oath created an uproar. Republican leaders condemned committee Democrats’ plan to remove the phrase referencing God from the oath and replace it with the words “under penalty of law,” says a report at Fox News.

6am – A         NORTHAM & TRAN DOUBLE DOWN ON ABORTION COMMENTS:

• VA Gov Ralph Northam (D) refuses to disavow his comments from yesterday when he endorsed infanticide, says: “I don’t have any regrets”
• Governor Who Endorsed Infanticide Received $2 Million From Planned Parenthood. Public records reveal Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who endorsed infanticide as a form of abortion on Wednesday, received almost $2 million in campaign contributions from Planned Parenthood. Research reveals nearly $2 million in campaign contributions from the taxpayer funded pro-abortion group Planned Parenthood sent to Northam, who endorsed a bill that would allow new mothers to determine whether they wanted to keep a child after delivery, essentially legalizing infanticide. Northam received $1.996 million from Planned Parenthood Virginia over the course of five years, with most of the donations coming in during his 2017 election campaign. These include massive cash injections of $338,852, $278,247, $255,641, and other similar amounts in the final days before the election.
• Virginia State Delegate Tran Defends Abortion Bill Cutting Medical Regulations

6am – B         Undocumented worker who was fired by Trump Organization to attend State of the Union (Washington Post) – An undocumented worker who recently worked for Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., and left after she publicly disclosed her immigration status will attend President Trump’s State of the Union address next week. Victorina Morales, who was born in Guatemala, will be a guest of Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat, when the president speaks to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Watson Coleman’s office confirmed the decision Wednesday.

6am – C         Feds make biggest-ever fentanyl bust at the border (Washington Examiner) — Federal law enforcement agents stationed at the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz., made the largest-ever seizure of fentanyl Saturday after stopping a truck that was purportedly trying to bring cucumbers into the country, according to Customs and Border Protection officials. CBP officials said Homeland Security employees stationed at the border crossing found 254 pounds of fentanyl in a single bust. Nogales area Port Director Michael Humphries said the seizure would likely save U.S. lives. “One kilogram of fentanyl contains 1 million fatal doses,” he said. A few grains of fentanyl can put a person in a coma. Fentanyl is up to 50 times as strong as heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, and it led to more than 20,000 deaths in 2017. The Trump administration has cited illicit drugs being smuggled from Mexico into the U.S. as a leading factor for enhancing security at the 2,000-mile border. But Democrats say most drugs are transported through formal checkpoints such as the one at Nogales. On Saturday, an officer working at the port of entry in Nogales had referred the tractor-trailer for a second inspection after the driver initially tried to pass through the checkpoint. The truck went through a massive X-ray machine, which alerted officers to narcotics inside the trailer. Inside the trailer were 10 packages of fentanyl pills, 100 packages of powdered fentanyl, and about 300 packages of methamphetamines. A total 354 pounds of fentanyl valued at $3.5 million and 395 pounds of meth worth $1.1 million were seized from the truck. Up until Saturday, the largest amount of fentanyl seized by border employees was 118 pounds on a truck that was pulled over by Nebraska state troopers in 2017.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – JOE THEISMANN – Legendary former Washington Redskins quarterback @Theismann7

• SUPER BOWL: Preview New England Patriots vs Los Angeles Rams
• GOODELL PRESS CONFERENCE ON WEDNESDAY
  • NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the controversial no-call in NFC championship game: “Our officials are human…they are not going to get it right every time”
  • NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dismisses the idea that owners colluded against controversial free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, saying teams make roster decisions ‘individually about players they want’
• REDSKINS: Redskins reportedly believe Alex Smith will miss the entire 2019 season with leg injury. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Redskins believe Smith will miss the entire 2019 season after a gruesome broken leg prematurely ended his first season in Washington in mid-November. After undergoing surgery, Smith reportedly battled complications and infection. Rapoport reported on Sunday that the Redskins will be “pleasantly surprised” if Smith can play next season. And it’s probably worth mentioning that Rapoport reported in December that “no one has been able to definitively say he is going to play football going forward.”

6am – E         MOST DEM 2020 CANDIDATES SUPPORT UP-TO-BIRTH ABORTION: Democrats running for president in 2020 haven’t commented on the Virginia abortion bill, but most of them have effectively already told us where they stand, because they have cosponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act, federal legislation that would override state restrictions on third-trimester abortions.

6am – F         VENEZUELA:

• RUBIO, THURSDAY AFTERNOON: URGENT: @jguaido reports that at this very moment Maduro shock troops are inside his home apparently waiting for him. His daughter & her grandmother are in the house. The world is watching & the consequences will be severe if any har, come to him or his family.
• Maduro forces come down hard on media in Venezuela that reports on Juan Guaidó. Venezuela’s Globaltv was reporting live last week when National Assembly President Juan Guaidó announced that he was declaring himself president of Venezuela. The consequences were swift. Five hours after the Jan. 23 event, 30 police units raided the most important open-signal station in the northwestern state of Zulia, vandalizing its equipment and destroying security cameras. “They came and without any warning at all attacked our installations, disconnecting key parts of our broadcasting system and taking away as much as they could,” Globaltv owner and president Guido Briceño told el Nuevo Herald. Hours earlier, Briceño had received a message on his cellphone: “Feels like going over the line. I hope you have the guts to keep it up.” Briceño said the police raids were retaliation for the station’s decision to fulfill “as always, our responsibility to report on the events that were taking place: the huge protests in all of Venezuela and the giant gathering in Caracas where Guaidó swore himself in” as president. “We were the only open-signal channel in Venezuela to broadcast that, and the only channel punished so severely,” Briceño said.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – HENRY RODGERS – Capitol Hill Reporter at The Daily Caller News Foundation @henryrodgersdc

• TOPIC: Henry was on Capitol Hill on Thursday and Dem lawmakers were repeatedly pleading ignorance about Northam’s abortion comments
• DEMS PLEAD IGNORANCE OF NORTHAM’S ABORTION COMMENTS:
  • Daily Caller’s Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc: 3h3 hours ago: I just spoke with over 10 Democratic Senators in the past 2 hours. Not one of them would acknowledge @GovernorVA’s comments on late-term abortion. Everyone of them denied ever hearing them.
  • Henry Rodgers‏ @henryrodgersdc 4h4 hours ago: Every Democratic Senator I have spoken with has completely denied hearing anything about Gov. Northam’s late-term abortion comments…
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 19m19 minutes ago: Sen. Van Hollen on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: “I have not heard them actually. I have not.” / Me: Ok. You can’t say if you support late-term abortion or not? / Van Hollen: “I support Roe v. Wade. Ok. That’s the holding that I support.”
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 24m24 minutes ago: Sen. Chris Murphy on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: Denied hearing comments. / “I mean I’m pro-choice. I support Connecticut’s laws regarding choice. Connecticut is not talking about changing it’s laws.” / Wouldn’t say if he supported abortion up till the 9th month.
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 38m38 minutes ago:  en. Bernie Sanders on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: Staffer: “He doesn’t have time for this right now.”  / Me: We have plenty of time on this escalator right now. / Sanders & his staffer walk into elevator…
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 40m40 minutes ago Sen. Coons on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: “I’m literally mid sentence talking to staff about the vote I have to take right now. Happy to talk to you soon.” / Me: So you haven’t heard them? / Coons: “I’ve been in a caucus retreat for two days.”
  • Henry Rodgers  @henryrodgersdc 49m49 minutes ago: Sen. Menendez on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: Claims he has not heard them. / “No,” he said in response to my question. / Capitol subway door then closed.
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 2h2 hours ago:  Sen. Reed on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: “I know what it is about. I have not listened.”  / Me: So no comment? / No response…
  • Henry Rodgers @henryrodgersdc 2h2 hours ago: Sen. Leahy on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: “I have no idea what he said. I have no idea what happened there. I do follow the Governor of Vermont though, all the time.”
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 2h2 hours ago:  Sen. Markey on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: “I don’t know what he said. I don’t know what he said.” Walked away.
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 2h2 hours ago: Sen. Manchin on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: “I haven’t seen anything. I’ve been in retreats. Obviously I just got out of a meeting.” Kept walking…
  • Henry Rodgers @henryrodgersdc 2h2 hours ago: Sen. Widen on @GovernorVA’s late-term abortion comments: “I haven’t haven’t seen them.”  / Me: “It was about late-term abortion.” / He walked away…
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 3h3 hours ago: JUST NOW: Sen. Joe Manchin just told me he has not heard about Gov. Northam’s late-term abortion comments. Refused to comment otherwise.
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc 5h5 hours ago: .@MarkWarner Still nothing about @GovernorVA’s late term abortion comments? I have contacted your office numerous times. Nothing?
  • Henry Rodgers ‏ @henryrodgersdc: I just spoke with over 10 Democratic Senators in the past 2 hours. Not one of them would acknowledge @GovernorVA’s comments on late-term abortion. Everyone of them denied ever hearing them.
  • PELOSI ON NORTHAM: Reporter: “Considering the comments from Governor Northam yesterday, how does that make it harder for pro-life Democrats in the party and does that cause problems? Pelosi: “I’m sorry, I just don’t know what he said

7am – B         INTERVIEW – GRIFF JENKINS – Fox News Channel Correspondent — reporting from the caravan in Mexico @griffjenkins

• Senior DOD Official: Three Migrant Caravans Headed to U.S., One with 12,000. There are three migrant caravans headed to the United States’ southern border with Mexico, according to top Pentagon official John Rood. Rood testified to the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that one of the caravans contains over 12,000 migrants. “Current information shows that a caravan of over 12,000 people — there’s three that we are tracking, that the DHS is tracking en route, one that is over 12,000 by the latest estimate,” said Rood, who is the under secretary of Defense for policy.

7am – C         VIRGINIA DEL. KATHY TRAN SUBMITTED BILL TO SAVE CATERPILLARS ON SAME DAY AS LATE-STAGE ABORTION BILL (Daily Caller) — The Democratic Virginia delegate who has recently come under fire for sponsoring a bill in the Virginia House of Delegates that would allow the termination of a pregnancy up to 40 weeks old, is also the chief patron of a bill that would protect the lives of “fall cankerworms” during certain months. Democratic Virginia Del. Kathy Tran introduced “House Bill No. 2495 – Fall cankerworm; spraying prohibited during certain months” on Jan. 9, the same day as “House Bill No. 2491 — Abortion; eliminate certain requirements.” Tran’s other piece of legislation aims to protect insects such as “gypsy moths” and “cankerworms.” According to Virginia’s Legislative Information System, House Bill No. 2495 is: A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2403 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 9 of Title 15.2 a section numbered 15.2-926.4, relating to cankerworms; eradication; prohibition on spraying during certain months.

7am – D         DC school won’t play sports at Christian school where Karen Pence teaches: ‘They feel unsafe’ (Fox News) — A progressive school in the nation’s capital said its students will not be playing sports at the school where Second Lady Karen Pence teaches part-time because of safety concerns. Jessica Donovan, headmaster of Sheridan School, a K-8 institution located in northwest D.C. that has a tuition of more than $36,000 a year, sent a letter to parents saying Immanuel Christian School’s policies were an “obvious challenge” given the school’s “fundamental belief in diversity and inclusion.” The initial plan was to make the kids go to the school during away games wearing rainbow socks or warm-up jerseys as a show of LGBTQ support. But instead, Donovan banned the students from playing sports at the Virginia elementary school because some expressed “they feel unsafe” in such an environment. “As we talked more, we understood that some students did not feel safe entering a school that bans LGBTQ parents, students or even families that support LGBTQ rights,” she wrote. Sheridan is the latest group to target the school after Pence took a part-time job teaching art to students. The NOH8 Campaign, the Human Rights Campaign, The Trevor Project, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, and several others attacked her and the school, which says it holds to traditional Christian values when it comes to marriage and other beliefs. Neither Donovan nor the Sheridan school immediately returns calls from Fox News seeking comment. The school requires employees to pledge they believe marriage is monogamous and heterosexual and they won’t engage in “homosexual or lesbian sexual activity” or adopt or promote “transgender identity.” The school can deny admission or remove a student whose behavior is “in opposition to the biblical lifestyle the school teaches.” The hashtag #exposeChristianschools blew up on Twitter amid the outrage. Vice President Mike Pence defended his wife, saying the “attacks on Christian education must end.”

7am – E         Cory Booker is running for president in 2020: Booker announced on Twitter with a video: Cory Booker ‏@CoryBooker  25m25 minutes ago I’m running for president. Join me on this journey. http://corybooker.com

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW – Marjorie Dannenfelser – President of the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), a prolife organization that seeks to advance pro-life women in politics. @marjoriesba @SBAList

• TOPICS: Reaction to Governor Northam and Del. Kathy Tran doubling down on their support of extreme abortion bill / infanticide in Virginia 
• SBA LIST/prolife groups event on Saturday ahead of Delegate Tran’s public townhall event in Lorton, VA.
• WHAT: RALLY TO STOP ABORTION EXTREMISM IN VIRGINIA
• WHEN:          Saturday, February 2nd at 12 PM, NOON
• WHERE:       South County High School in Lorton, VA
• VA Gov Ralph Northam (D) refuses to disavow his comments from yesterday when he endorsed infanticide, says: “I don’t have any regrets”
• Virginia State Delegate Tran Defends Abortion Bill Cutting Medical Regulations

8am – B         REPLAY: INTERVIEW – JOE THEISMANN – Legendary former Washington Redskins quarterback @Theismann7

• SUPER BOWL: Preview New England Patriots vs Los Angeles Rams

8am – C         Here’s What Starbucks Is Telling Employees To Say About Howard Schultz. The coffee chain’s weekly memo discusses how to defuse the situation should someone share “aggressive political opinions.” (Huffington Post) — Starbucks is doing what it can to prepare employees for potentially uncomfortable customer encounters as anger grows at former CEO and chairman Howard Schultz, who is considering running for president as an independent centrist candidate. The coffee chain’s “Barista Need-To-Know” update for the week of Jan. 21-27 included instructions on how to “diffuse [sic] the situation” should anyone “share aggressive political opinions,” as well as what to do if someone asks about Schultz’s “political intentions.”

From the weekly update (emphasis not ours):

“… partners [i.e., employees] may be asked questions by customers or hear media speculation about Howard’s potential political intentions. We encourage you all to take a moment to review the talking points below with your partners.

If a customer asks if we are selling Howard’s book at Starbucks:

No, the books are available at bookstores and online.

If a customer attempts to investigate, or share aggressive political opinions, attempt to diffuse the situation by sharing:

We respect everyone’s opinion. Our goal is simply to create a warm and welcoming space where we can all gather, as a community, over great coffee.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – BRET BAIER – Anchor of Special Report, Fox News Channel and host of new podcast “The Candidates with Bret Baier”

• Super Bowl predictions
• Latest on border wall negotiations
• Preview State of the Union (Bret will be hosting special SOTU coverage)
• How Bret’s doing post-car crash
• Cory Booker is running for president in 2020

8am – E         EMPIRE ACTOR:

• ‘Empire’ actor refuses to give cops his phone after alleged attack. Jussie Smollett, the black and gay “Empire” actor who said he was attacked in downtown Chicago this week, has refused to turn over his phone records to detectives. The 36-year-old actor’s family, meanwhile, said the assault was a “hate crime” and they pushed back against any suggestion that Smollett was anything but honest with the police. Smollett, who plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox television show, hasn’t spoken publicly about the early Tuesday attack, though his representative said Wednesday that Smollett was recovering at home. Smollett’s family issued a statement Thursday saying they believe he was the victim of an unprovoked “racial and homophobic hate crime” and that he has been forthright with the police, who are still searching for surveillance video of the attack. “Jussie has told the police everything from the very beginning. His story has never changed, and we are hopeful they will find these men and bring them to justice,” the family said. Detectives have recovered more surveillance footage of Smollett walking home from a Subway restaurant that morning, including video of him arriving at his apartment building with a rope around his neck, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Police also asked for his cell phone records, but have been denied.
• Detectives piecing together ‘digital puzzle’ as they investigate report of attack on ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett (Chicago Tribune) — About a dozen Chicago police detectives have been sifting through footage from nearly every surveillance camera in Streeterville these last few days, piecing together “a digital puzzle’’ they hope will solve what happened outside the apartment building of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett. So far they’ve been able to track stretches of Smollett’s walk from a Subway shop to his apartment in the 300 block of East North Water Street early Tuesday, according to Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Somewhere along the way, Smollett said, two men walked up, yelled racial and homophobic slurs, hit him and wrapped a rope around his neck. None of that has been caught by any of the cameras detectives have checked. They did spot two people walking near the area around the time of the incident, but the images are dark and the faces are not clear.
• ‘Empire’ actor’s family calls for justice in Chicago attack. CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett’s family said Thursday that the attack on the black and gay “Empire” actor in downtown Chicago this week was a “hate crime” and they pushed back against any suggestion that he was anything but honest with the police.  “Jussie has told the police everything from the very beginning. His story has never changed, and we are hopeful they will find these men and bring them to justice,” the family said. They thanked the public “for their prayers” and said the family is “so grateful that God saw him through this cowardly attack alive.”
• SMOLLETT’S ASSAULT STORY IS FALLING APART: Rob Elgas, the reporter covering the story, tweeted out additional information about the persons of interest Wednesday night, including the fact that they are only seen across the street from Smollett. However, both disappear from the surveillance video for about 60 seconds. Smollett has refused to turn over his cell phone to police.
• SMOLLETT’S NEIGHBOR CLAIMS SHE SAW A “REDNECK” HANGING AROUND: The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she saw the man pacing between the building’s entrance and parking garage while she walked her dog at around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. According to Smollett’s neighbor, the man appeared agitated and “out of place” as he puffed on a cigarette. She said he was a white male with “scruff on his face” wearing a blue winter hat, a blue hoodie, and jeans. The alleged assailant also wore “thick, grey hunting socks,” which the neighbor said she could see because his jeans were ill-fitted, along with “camel-colored” shoes.
• Maxine Waters: Trump is ’emboldening’ people such as those behind ‘Empire’ star attack: (Washington Examiner) — President Trump stokes racial animus that leads to attacks such as that alleged by “Empire” star Jussie Smollett, said Rep. Maxine Waters. Smollett, who is black and gay, reportedly told police he was assaulted by two white men in Chicago early Tuesday morning who beat him, placed a noose around his neck, doused him in bleach, and yelled this is “MAGA country,” among other racial and homophobic slurs. He has since been discharged from hospital. “I know Jussie. I love him. His family’s a friend of mine. I know his sisters, I’ve met his mom, and I called already to Jazz, one of the sisters, to talk to her about what’s happening, about what’s going on,” Waters told the Grio in a video published Tuesday.