National Review’s Alexandra DeSanctis, Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio, Dr. Stephen Farnsworth, National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar and Culpepper Councilman Jon Russell joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C SOTU PREVIEW

• TRUMP’S MESSAGE: President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday at the House of Representatives in the S. Capitol. With the threat of another government shutdown looming, Mr. Trump is sure to address his concerns about border security and immigration and to explain how a wall is the right fix for those problems.  Also, according to an excerpt of the speech released by the White House, he plans to call for unity and bipartisan cooperation.
• SOTU: Who’s delivering the Democratic response? Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, will take the national stage to deliver a response toTrump’s State of the Union address. The Atlanta lawyer was hoping to become the first black female governor in the S. in November but ultimately came up short.
• DEM SOTU GUESTS: Dems using guest lists to score political points at State of the Union address. Congressional Democrats are using their guest lists for the State of the Union address on Tuesday to score political points against President Trump on immigration, the government shutdown and more.
  • Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., invited a mother and daughter from Guatemala who were denied asylum in the U.S.
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said on Monday she’ll bring an activist who made headlines protesting against now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Ana Maria Archila famously cornered then-Sen. Jeff Flake in a Senate elevator and pleaded for the Republican lawmaker to reconsider voting for Kavanaugh
  • Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is running for president in 2020, invited Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik, an air traffic controller who lost her home in the 2017 Thomas fire in Southern California and was one of the 800,000 federal workers who missed paychecks during the shutdown.
• DEM SOTU BOYCOTTS: Four House Democrats planning to boycott Trump’s State of the Union: Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Georgia Democratic Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson also said last week that they will not attend.
• TRUMP SOTU GUESTS: WH announces Trump’s guests for SOTU tomorrow, including an angel family, a Tree of Life synagogue member and Holocaust survivor, and a former drug dealer granted an early release from prison through the First Step Act. Trump SOTU guests include: family of couple killed by unauthorized immigrant; human trafficking investigator; survivors of Pittsburgh massacre; Alice Johnson; recovering opioid addict; re-hired sawmill employee; child cancer survivor; kid bullied for being named Joshua Trump.

5am – D         Ruth Bader Ginsburg attends musical production in first public appearance since surgery. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday made her first public appearance since having surgery to remove cancerous nodules from her lung, attending a production celebrating her life.  Ginsburg attended a showing of “Notorious RBG in Song” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, according to The Washington Post. The program, which is composed and performed by Ginsburg’s daughter-in-law, Patrice Michaels, offers a portrait of the 85-year-old justice in several songs.  The Post noted that that production is presented for high school students by the National Constitution Center.  “Thrilled that Justice Ginsburg attended the first concert performance of #NotoriousRBG in Song,” Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, tweeted. “She, Patrice Michaels, and the performance were magnificent!”

5am – E         SUPER BOWL NEWS:

• Lowest-scoring Super Bowl becomes lowest-rated championship telecast since 2009. An estimated 100 million viewers watched the Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in the Super Bowl from Atlanta on CBS Sunday night, marking the lowest ratings the big game has seen since 2009, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen Media Research.  The audience numbers for this year’s game, which was the lowest scoring in the game’s 53-year history, clocked in with a 44.9 rating in households. That was the lowest rating since the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals in the 2009 Super Bowl.
• Patriots’ Duron Harmon to skip White House visit, says it ‘would be dope’ to meet with Obama instead. (Fox News) — At least one New England Patriots player has no intention of visiting the White House to celebrate his team’s big Super Bowl win. Duron Harmon, 28, told TMZ Sports after the game that he won’t join his teammates for a trip to Washington, D.C. “They don’t want me in the White House,” Harmon said. The Patriots safety was asked if he’d meet with President Barack Obama instead — just as the Golden State Warriors did last month, in place of a meeting with President Donald Trump. “That would be dope,” Harmon, who just wrapped his sixth season with the Patriots, told the news outlet. “Hey, Obama, man, come holler at me, man, we love you over here.” Professional sports teams traditionally have been invited to the White House after winning championships to celebrate their victories. Harmon appears to be the first Patriots player to decline an expected invite from the White House.
• Jeff Bezos yanked $20 million Super Bowl ad over Lauren Sanchez affair. Jeff Bezos pulled the plug on a $20 million Super Bowl ad for his spaceflight company, Blue Origin, after it was revealed his mistress had helped shoot footage for the commercial, sources told Page Six. Instead, the Amazon owner had a last-minute commercial created for his Washington Post, with some all-star narration by Tom Hanks.

6am – A/B/C VA GOV. NORTHAM AND LT. GOV. JUSTIN FAIRFAX DRAMA:

• Va. Gov. Northam weighs resignation as Lt. Gov. Fairfax faces sex assault allegation
• NEW: Northam’s popularity plummets 41 points (net) among Virginia voters amid blackface, KKK scandal
• KRAUSHAAR: His favorability among Dems is 50/24 despite unanimous partisan condemnation.
• RYAN NOBLES: NEW- a source inside this morning’s cabinet meeting tells me that Gov. @RalphNortham asked his cabinet for time to clear his name. The Governor said he doesn’t want to leave office as a “racist for life”.
• Justin Fairfax on if he thinks Ralph Northam’s team is smearing him: “Does anybody think it’s any coincidence that on the eve of potentially my being elevated that that’s when this uncorroborated smear comes out?
• Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax now says sex was consenual. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax on Monday said he had a consensual one-night stand with a woman in 2004 who now accuses him of sexual assault, saying that he is the victim of a political “smear.” “Everything was 100 percent consensual. Not only that, the same person called me sometime later and wanted to meet with me, wanted to come visit me … wanted me to meet her mother,” Mr. Fairfax told reporters in Richmond.
• Virginia lieutenant governor’s accuser consults law firm. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Amid the political upheaval over Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s yearbook page featuring a racist photograph, a woman who accused the state’s lieutenant governor of sexual assault is consulting with a law firm. Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax strongly denied the allegations Monday. They were initially circulated on a conservative website. A person close to the legal team who’s not authorized to speak publicly says the woman accusing Fairfax has retained Washington law firm Katz Marshall & Banks and is consulting about next steps. The person insisted on anonymity. A firm founding partner, Debra Katz, represented Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her decades ago when they were teenagers. He denied the allegation and was confirmed to the court.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – ALEXANDRA DESANCTIS – Staff writer at National Review @xan_desanctis – discussed the Democrats blocking an anti-infanticide bill in the Senate Monday night.

• DEMS REJECT ANTI-INFANTICIDE BILL IN SENATE MONDAY NIGHT:
• FERRECHIO: McConnell dares Democrats to block ‘born alive’ bill (Washington Examiner) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Monday that Democrats have no reason to block a move by Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., to call up legislation requiring that babies born alive during abortions receive medical care. Sasse plans to bring up the measure under rules that would allow any senator to block consideration. His effort comes a week after the Virginia legislature defeated a third-trimester abortion bill. “I hope that none of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle invent any reason to block this request later today,” McConnell said. “That would make quite a disturbing statement. If they do inexplicably block Sen. Sasse’s effort, I can assure them this will not be the last time we ensure that all newborns are afforded this fundamental legal protection.”
• Senate Democrats Block Bill Prohibiting Infanticide  
• Senator Murray (D-WA) blocked Senator Sasse’s request for unanimous consent to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, legislation banning infanticide.
• Alexandra DeSanctis @xan_desanctis: I’m told that @PattyMurray was the only Senate Democrat to come to the floor tonight. After she objected to @SenSasse’s born-alive bill that would prohibit infanticide, she left immediately.
• Alexandra DeSanctis @xan_desanctis: Democratic senator Patty Murray has objected to Sen. Sasse’s Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act on the floor, saying there are already laws on the books preventing infanticide.

6am – E         LIST OF SOTU GUESTS OF THE DEMOCRATS:

• SOTU: Who’s delivering the Democratic response?  Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, will take the national stage to deliver a response toTrump’s State of the Union address. The Atlanta lawyer was hoping to become the first black female governor in the U.S. in November but ultimately came up short.
• DEM SOTU BOYCOTTS: Four House Democrats planning to boycott Trump’s State of the Union: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Georgia Democratic Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson also said last week that they will not attend.
• DEM SOTU GUESTS: Dems using guest lists to score political points at State of the Union address. Congressional Democrats are using their guest lists for the State of the Union address on Tuesday to score political points against President Trump on immigration, the government shutdown and more.
  • Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., invited a mother and daughter from Guatemala who were denied asylum in the U.S.
  • Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said on Monday she’ll bring an activist who made headlines protesting against now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Ana Maria Archila famously cornered then-Sen. Jeff Flake in a Senate elevator and pleaded for the Republican lawmaker to reconsider voting for Kavanaugh
  • Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is running for president in 2020, invited Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik, an air traffic controller who lost her home in the 2017 Thomas fire in Southern California and was one of the 800,000 federal workers who missed paychecks during the shutdown.
  • Ed Markey Invites Climate Activist Who Stormed Nancy Pelosi’s Office As His SOTU Guest. Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey invited the 25-year-old co-founder of the environmental group that stormed Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office in 2018 to demand a “Green New Deal.” The Democratic senator announced Monday that Varshini Prakash of the Sunrise Movement will join him at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address set for Tuesday night.
  • Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: Lt. Commander Blake Dremann is one of thousands of transgender Americans serving in our military
  • Rep. Katie Hill: Chrissy Lewis, a local air traffic controller, during the shutdown
  • Sen. Chris Van Hollen:  Lila Johnson worked as a cleaning services contractor at USDA for 21 years, and right now she gets no back pay from the shutdown
  • Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington and a chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is bringing a climate change scientist.
  • Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota and a Somali refugee, is bringing a Liberian refugee who is threatened with deportation
  • Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia, who is bringing Amer Al-Mudallal, an Iraq-born chemist who was furloughed from the Environmental Protection Agency
  • Representative Adriano Espaillat, Democrat of New York, has invited Yeni González, a mother who was separated from her three children at the border
  • Representative Veronica Escobar, a freshman Democrat from Texas, is bringing an immigrants’ rights advocate whose father has been deported to Mexico.
  • Rep. Eric Swalwell: Cameron Kasky – Co-Founder of March For Our Lives
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Sajid Shahriar is a MA federal worker and union leader who went 35 days without a paycheck during the Shutdown

6am – F         GATEWAY PUNDIT CLAIMS TO HAVE PROOF THAT CNN WAS TIPPED OFF BY “AAW”: Documents obtained exclusively by The Gateway Pundit show a copy of the draft indictment without the PACER filing number or official stamps of the court, with metadata on the document identifying it as being authored by “AAW”, who is suspected to be lead Special Counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner @susanferrechio – previewed the State of The Union.

• TRUMP TO CALL FOR UNITY – DURING A STATE OF DISUNITY: During his State of the Union address tonight, President Trump is expected to take on a role his fiercest critics say he is most unfamiliar with: Uniter-in-Chief. And Trump is expected to call for unity and stress optimism when he addresses Congress and the nation during his second State of the Union address … But given the bitter partisan battle with Democrats, especially House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, over the border wall and another looming government shutdown, the question is whether Democrats will be receptive — or at least give the appearance of decorum. Will they applaud or will they sit on their hands. What will Pelosi’s expression be, as a nation observes her, in the background, over Trump’s left shoulder, when he condemns “resistance and retribution politics” and makes his argument for strong border security via his wall? This is the drama that faces President Trump’s State of the Union address.

7am – B         Liam Neeson reveals how he walked the streets with a weapon looking for a ‘black b******’ to kill after a loved one ‘was raped’ as he is branded a ‘racist’ who ‘should be banned from Oscars.’  (Daily Mail) — Liam Neeson was branded a racist who should be banned from the Oscars after speaking for the first time about his extreme reaction when he learned a loved one had allegedly been raped while he was overseas. During an interview with the Independent to promote his new film Cold Pursuit, the actor, 66, described how he walked the streets looking for a ‘black  b*****d’ to kill in a misguided attempt at revenge. He was subsequently branded a ‘racist’ on Twitter who ‘should be banned from the Oscars.’  Liam’s new movie sees the action star take on the role of a father intent on revenge after his son has been killed in a drug feud, with Liam revealing he understands his character’s motivation.  He said that after coming home from an overseas trip years ago he was told a loved one, who he does not name, had been raped.  Liam said: ‘She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way. But my immediate reaction was I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.  ‘I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be… approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some ‘black b******d’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.’ He went on: ‘It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, “Where are you going?” and I would say, “I’m just going out for a walk.” You know? “What’s wrong?” “No no, nothing’s wrong.'”

He admitted it was a ‘horrible’ time and he’s learned a valuable lesson from his ‘awful’ reaction. He added that growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles has given him insight into the ‘primal need for revenge’ and how destructive that can be.

7am – C         TRUMP DR VISIT:

• Trump to have second medical checkup as president on Friday. President Trump will have his annual physical on Friday, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. The checkup will occur at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The exam is likely to be overseen by Dr. Sean Conley, the White House doctor. Sanders did not immediately elaborate on whether Trump, 72, would release the records to the public. No law obligates presidents to do so, and throughout history presidents frequently have released only partial records or, in some cases, masked severe medical conditions from the public.
• Ronny Jackson is Trump’s doctor again: The White House announced that Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, President Trump’s former physician and failed Secretary of Veteran Affairs nominee, will serve as an assistant to the president and as chief medical adviser. (NBC News) — The White House announced that Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, President Donald Trump’s former physician and failed Secretary of Veteran Affairs nominee, will serve as an assistant to the president and as chief medical adviser. Jackson is best known for claiming that Trump could live for 200 years because of the president’s “incredible genes” and for his nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, despite having little to no applicable experience for the role. Jackson later withdrew from consideration when allegations surfaced that he drank on the job, provided prescription pills with little oversight and created a hostile workplace while serving as chief physician at the White House.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – DR. STEPHEN FARNSWORTH – Virginia political analyst and Professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington @drsfarnsworth – discussed the Northam-Fairfax drama in Richmond.

• A CNN source says Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam told his Cabinet members that if he resigns, he would be resigning as a “racist for life,” and the only way he can clear his name is to stay in office and convince people he isn’t in a racist photo that surfaced
• Va. Gov. Northam weighs resignation as Lt. Gov. Fairfax faces sex assault allegation

7am – E         DEM & BERNIE RESPONSES:

• Who’s delivering the Democratic response?  Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, will take the national stage to deliver a response toTrump’s State of the Union address. The Atlanta lawyer was hoping to become the first black female governor in the U.S. in November but ultimately came up short.
• BERNIE IS GIVING HIS OWN SOTU RESPONSE AND SOME PROGRESSIVES AREN’T HAPPY ABOUT IT (Daily Caller) — Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is facing some backlash from progressives Monday after announcing his plan to give his own rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, which is scheduled for Tuesday. Sanders’ rebuttal will air on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter after the Democrats’ response to Trump. The Dems have chosen 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to give the party’s response. She lost her bid for the governorship to Republican Brian Kemp. Some progressives have expressed their displeasure with him giving his own response, explaining that he will be competing with the party’s official response. Some have also brought their respective races into why they think Sanders shouldn’t give his own rebuttal. Amy Siskind  @Amy_Siskind: Why is he talking over the black woman our party chose to speak for us?

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JOSH KRAUSHAAR – Politics Editor at National Journal @HotlineJosh — previewed State of the Union and shared his thoughts on the Northam debacle.

8am – B/C   INTERVIEW – JON RUSSELL – Culpepper Town Councilman

• CHRISTIAN PREGNANCY CENTER VANDALIZED IN CULPEPPER, VA
• Christian non-profit pregnancy center in Virginia vandalized. CULPEPER, Va. (FOX 5 DC) – Police in Culpeper, Virginia are investigating a possible hate crime that happened overnight after someone spray-painted disturbing messages on a local pregnancy center and damaged windows.
• On Friday, Jon Russell, town councilman for Culpeper, Virginia, found the local pro-life pregnancy center vandalized. A window was broken, signs had been spray-painted, and vandals even wrote the message “Jesus hates this sh*t.”
• “The things that were written on the signs — one sign that said, ‘Fake,’ the other sign said, ‘You hate women,’ and ‘Jesus hates this sh*t’ — all of these things are not lingo that is common around here in Virginia, not as much as you would see in California or New York.”
• Russell recalled discovering the vandalism at around 7:30 a.m. on Friday morning. “I jumped in my car and I drove down there and when I got there it was pretty bad: broken window, graffiti on the walls, on the signs, it had the feel of being both political and personal,” he said. Police had arrived at 3:30 a.m., he added, and “captured at least a couple foot sizes in the snow.”

8am – D/E     SOTU Preview