Cal Thomas, ACRU’s Kerry Toloczko, Newt Gingrich, Bruce Klingner and Steve Moore joined WMAL on Wednesday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C MICHAEL COHEN TESTIMONY TODAY:

• COHEN TESTIMONY MAY OVERSHADOW TRUMP SUMMIT: Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, is set to testify publicly for the first time before the House Oversight Committee in a spectacle that could overshadow the president’s second summit with Kim Jong Un … According to reports, Cohen will call Trump a “racist” and a “con man” in prepared testimony and will accuse the president of engaging in criminal activity related to a hush-money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels while in office. He will reportedly also accuse Trump of knowing that his adviser Roger Stone was reaching out to WikiLeaks concerning the publication of stolen Democratic National Committee emails. However, Cohen will specifically assert that he lacks direct evidence of improper collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia — a significant admission. Cohen’s testimony comes as he prepares to begin a three-year prison sentence in May after pleading guilty to lying to Congress in 2017 and committing campaign finance violations while working for Trump. He testified for nine hours behind closed doors Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee and will appear in private before the House Intelligence panel on Thursday.
• Michael Cohen testimony on Trump: ‘He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.’ *President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer is planning to tell a House committee that Trump knew ahead of time that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. In his prepared testimony, Michael Cohen says that Trump implicitly told him to lie about a Moscow real estate project. The former Trump fixer also brands his old boss as a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat.”
• RNC tells Michael Cohen to ‘have fun in prison,’ as GOP readies war room to push back on testimony. (Fox News) — The Republican National Committee is telling Michael Cohen, its former deputy finance director who has turned on President Trump, to “have fun in prison” as part of a coordinated war room effort to push back against his expected anti-Trump public testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Fox News was given an exclusive look at the RNC’s planned efforts to fight back against Cohen, who is expected to testify against Trump, his former longtime boss, during a much-anticipated House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday. Cohen is testifying on Capitol Hill for three days this week, though Wednesday’s hearing is the only one that it is public. Part of the effort is distributing a video titled “Have Fun in Prison!” that includes clips of Cohen previously vouching for Trump during the presidential campaign. Cohen has since pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, including campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress, as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Cohen, sentenced to three years, is expected to report to prison in May.

5am – D         2020 NEWS:

• Ready For Joe? Biden Reportedly Making Job Offers To Campaign Staff in New Hampshire, South Carolina. He’s ahead in most of the Democratic 2020 primary polls, but former Vice President Joe Biden has been silent on whether he’ll enter the race to challenge President Donald Trump — until now. On Tuesday, Hanna Trudo, the national politics reporter for National Journal revealed that Biden has finally made job offers to campaign staff in New Hampshire, the first state on the Democratic primary schedule. “Scoop: @JoeBiden has made job offers in New Hampshire, a source directly familiar tells me,” Trudo tweeted. A senior reporter at Huffington Post added just a short time later that Biden is also picking up staff in another early primary state, South Carolina.
• Bernie Sanders staff shake-up: Top strategists leave his presidential campaign. The chief strategist of the Vermont independent’s 2016 campaign and two other aides cited creative differences as they parted ways. (NBC News) – WASHINGTON — In a major shake-up to Bernie Sanders’ just-launched presidential bid, some of his top strategists have left the campaign. Tad Devine, Mark Longabaugh and Julian Mulvey, partners in a political consulting firm who all played leading roles in Sanders’ 2016 campaign for the White House, are parting ways with the senator, citing creative differences. “The entire firm has stepped away. We’re leaving the campaign,” Longabaugh told NBC News on Tuesday. “We just didn’t have a meeting of the minds.” Devine, a veteran Democratic presidential operative, was a familiar presence on TV in 2016 as Sanders’ chief strategist, responsible for setting the early direction of the campaign when few other Washington insiders believed the little-known Vermont independent could be a serious contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.

5am – E         CLINTON NEWS:

• DOJ PREVENTED FBI FROM PURSUING CHARGES AGAINST CLINTON (Epoch Times) — The Justice Department (DOJ), under then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, decided to set an unusually high threshold for prosecution of Clinton, effectively ensuring from the outset that she would not be charged.
• CLINTON CALLS FOR PUBLIC HEARING ON MUELLER’S REPORT (Fox News) — Speaking about the Russia investigation, Clinton said: “There hasn’t really been that kind of solemn, somber laying of facts and information before the public and the press that should happen in our democracy.

6am – A/B/C ARLINGTON ACTIVISTS VS. AMAZON: Buoyed by the success of activists and policymakers in NY, a coalition of community and advocacy groups alongside a handful of local politicians in VA are calling on policymakers to reject Amazon’s plans to build a second headquarters in Arlington.

• Amazon could be facing a New York-style backlash in response to its plans for a massive second headquarters in Virginia. The activists are decrying the negative impact of displacement and rising housing costs on low-income and minority communities in the region, along with Amazon’s anti-union stance, all of which New York opponents of Amazon had also brought up. Roshan Abraham, an organizer with Our Revolution Arlington, said during a recent meeting of “For Us, Not Amazon” that the county should vote the deal down, according to Washington Business Journal. “If Amazon chooses not to come to Arlington over $23 million, good riddance.”
• A December poll showed 68 percent of Virginians approve of the Amazon deal, while 30 percent disapprove.
• Amazon’s plans for the Crystal City neighborhood would see 25,000 jobs created over the course of 12 years with average wages of over $150,000. The tech giant, which has said that its tax payments in Virginia will reach $3.2 billion over two decades, would receive $573 million in state and local incentives from Virginia as part of the deal. If the Arlington County Board approves the package, Arlington would give Amazon $23 million over the next 15 years. (source: Fox News)
• Amazon speculators are swallowing up real estate in Northern Virginia, says a Long & Foster executive. Median prices are up across the board, with inventory dropping

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist — discussed the Michael Cohen testimony, North Korea summit and Congress vowing to block Trump’s national emergency declaration.

6am – E/F      Trump shakes hands with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at start of Hanoi summit. (AP) — President Trump shook hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam’s capital on Wednesday to kick off what is to be the two leaders second summit meeting as part of a deal to end North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. “Kim Jong Un and I will try very hard to work something out on Denuclearization & then making North Korea an Economic Powerhouse,” Trump tweeted earlier Wednesday. Trump has signaled some flexibility on his previous demands that North Korea denuclearize before it sees some relief from crushing U.S. and international sanctions. The two leaders are slated to have what the White House has called a “social dinner” ahead of more formal meetings on Thursday. It was a carnival-like atmosphere on many streets in Hanoi, with vendors hawking T-shirts and other items commemorating the meeting. Amid the fanfare and flags, however, there was a heavy security presence, underscoring the seriousness of the issues at stake when the leaders finally get down to talking.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – Kerri Toloczko – fellow at the American Civil Rights Union, a non-partisan, non-profit public policy organization dedicated to protecting constitutional liberty – discussed the Bladensburg Cross case before the Supreme Court today.

• Supreme Court to decide fate of cross-shaped war memorial in Maryland. The cross’ supporters are asking the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling in a case the justices will hear Wednesday. Backers of the nearly 100-year-old cross, also called the “Peace Cross,” say if the justices rule against them it could threaten hundreds of monuments nationwide. Opponents, for their part, say few memorials are truly similar. They argue the cross should be moved to private property or modified into a nonreligious monument such as a slab or obelisk, a suggestion backers say would be desecration. Arguing for the cross at the high court are The American Legion, which raised money for the cross and completed it in 1925, and officials with the state of Maryland, which took over managing the site in 1960. They have the support of the Trump administration and 30 states. Supporters say the cross is a fixture of Bladensburg, Maryland, just about 5 miles from the Supreme Court. Traffic reporters use it as a reference point in radio reports. Residents give directions that refer to it. Maryland officials argue that the cross doesn’t violate the Constitution because it has a secular purpose and meaning, honoring veterans, in an area where several other memorials to veterans stand. On the other side, the American Humanist Association says that using a cross as a war memorial doesn’t make the cross secular; it makes the war memorial Christian.

7am – B         MAGA HAT ASSAULTS:

• Student to appear in court after political confrontation. EDMOND, Okla. – Political tension sparked a school scuffle in the hallway of Edmond Santa Fe High School, resulting in one student getting summoned to court. “He was being assaulted for, ya know, his beliefs, what he felt what he supports and believes in,” a father’s thoughts when he saw a video of his son getting his ‘Make America Great Again’ hat tipped off and his Trump flag ripped away while walking the halls Monday morning at Edmond Santa Fe. The incident was brought to the attention of the school resource officer and a municipal summons for assault was issued to the senior that tipped the hat. “Both parties will sit down with the city attorney office and come up with some type of an agreement, and if an agreement can’t be made, it will be up to the city attorney to move forward with the assault charge,” said Jenny Wagnon of the Edmond Police Department.
• ICE arrests Brazilian woman after viral video of her knocking a MAGA hat of a man’s head. The woman seen in a viral video knocking a Trump supporter’s Make America Great Again hat off his head may soon be deported after being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Tuesday. Rosiane Santos, 41, was involved in a row with 23-year-old Bryton Turner at Casa Vallarta Mexican restaurant in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Turner used his smart phone to record part of the confrontation with Santos, where she grabbed the hat from his head. (Daily Mail) –  The woman seen in a viral video knocking a Trump supporter’s Make America Great Again hat off his head may soon be deported after being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Tuesday. Rosiane Santos, 41, was involved in a row with 23-year-old Bryton Turner at Casa Vallarta Mexican restaurant in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Turner used his smart phone to record part of the confrontation with Santos, where she grabbed the hat from his head. Police first arrested Santos on February 15, and charged her with disorderly conduct, assault and battery. But ICE agents said they took Santos into custody on Tuesday because she’s actually an ‘unlawfully present citizen’ from Brazil. ICE spokesman John Mohan told CBS News: ‘Santos is currently facing local charges for assault and other offenses. ‘She is presently in ICE custody and has been entered into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts.’

• Man, 81, Wearing Red MAGA Hat Assaulted Inside New Jersey Shop Rite, Prosecutors Say. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Prosecutors say an elderly man was assaulted inside a New Jersey supermarket after he was confronted over a “Make America Great Again” hat he was wearing. Somerset County Prosecutor Michael Robertson says the 81-year-old Franklin Township man was shopping at the Shop Rite on Elizabeth Avenue Monday afternoon when he was approached regarding his red cap.

7am – C         Maryland Democrat May Ann Lisanti Sorry for Calling County ‘N***er District.’ Mary Ann Lisanti, a white Maryland Democrat legislator, is apologizing to black lawmakers for referring to a county as “n***r district,” but claims “everyone” has used the racial slur. Delegate Lisanti reportedly used the racist slur to describe Prince George’s County — which is 62 percent African American — while conversing with a colleague during an after-hours gather at a bar in Annapolis. According to the Washington Post, Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland confronted the Democrat legislator, whose district includes Harford County, over the alleged slur. Caucus chair Del. Darryl Barnes (D) of Prince George’s County, told the Post that Lisanti was “contrite” when pressed about the comment, calling her reaction “really disturbing.” “She apologized several times,” said Barnes. “She recognizes how she has hurt so many within the caucus, and she hoped to repent from this.” “She said that she doesn’t remember fully what happened, but she recognizes what happened,” he added. In a statement, House Speaker Michael Busch demanded Lisanti “face the consequences of her behavior.”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – NEWT GINGRICH – former Speaker of the House and host of the podcast “Newt’s World”

• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has just launched a brand new weekly podcast on Westwood Once Podcast Network called NEWT’S WORLD that you can get at NEWTSWORLD.COM, APPLE PODCASTS  or anywhere you get your podcasts from.

7am – E         2020 NEWS:

• Ready For Joe? Biden Reportedly Making Job Offers To Campaign Staff in New Hampshire, South Carolina.
• Bernie Sanders staff shake-up: Top strategists leave his presidential campaign. The chief strategist of the Vermont independent’s 2016 campaign and two other aides cited creative differences as they parted ways.
• 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris made clear on Tuesday that she believes President Donald Trump is a racist. “Well look, when you talk about his statement on (Charlottesville), when you talk about him calling African countries s-hole countries, when you talk about him referring to immigrants as rapists and murderers, I don’t think you can reach any other conclusion,” Harris, a Democratic senator from California, said in an interview with The Root published Tuesday. Harris was asked, “So you definitely agree that he’s a racist?” “I do, yes. Yes,” Harris replied.

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW – BRUCE KLINGNER – former CIA’s deputy division chief for Korea and a senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center @BruceKlingner

• Trump shakes hands with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at start of Hanoi summit. (AP) — President Trump shook hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam’s capital on Wednesday to kick off what is to be the two leaders second summit meeting as part of a deal to end North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. “Kim Jong Un and I will try very hard to work something out on Denuclearization & then making North Korea an Economic Powerhouse,” Trump tweeted earlier Wednesday. Trump has signaled some flexibility on his previous demands that North Korea denuclearize before it sees some relief from crushing U.S. and international sanctions. The two leaders are slated to have what the White House has called a “social dinner” ahead of more formal meetings on Thursday. It was a carnival-like atmosphere on many streets in Hanoi, with vendors hawking T-shirts and other items commemorating the meeting. Amid the fanfare and flags, however, there was a heavy security presence, underscoring the seriousness of the issues at stake when the leaders finally get down to talking.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – STEVE MOORE – former campaign economic advisor to President Trump, economist at The Heritage Foundation and author of book “Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy”

• Buoyed by the success of activists and policymakers in NY, a coalition of community and advocacy groups alongside a handful of local politicians in VA are calling on policymakers to reject Amazon’s plans to build a second headquarters in Arlington.
• Amazon could be facing a New York-style backlash in response to its plans for a massive second headquarters in Virginia. The activists are decrying the negative impact of displacement and rising housing costs on low-income and minority communities in the region, along with Amazon’s anti-union stance, all of which New York opponents of Amazon had also brought up. Roshan Abraham, an organizer with Our Revolution Arlington, said during a recent meeting of “For Us, Not Amazon” that the county should vote the deal down, according to Washington Business Journal. “If Amazon chooses not to come to Arlington over $23 million, good riddance.”
• A December poll showed 68 percent of Virginians approve of the Amazon deal, while 30 percent disapprove.
• Amazon’s plans for the Crystal City neighborhood would see 25,000 jobs created over the course of 12 years with average wages of over $150,000. The tech giant, which has said that its tax payments in Virginia will reach $3.2 billion over two decades, would receive $573 million in state and local incentives from Virginia as part of the deal. If the Arlington County Board approves the package, Arlington would give Amazon $23 million over the next 15 years. (source: Fox News)
• Amazon speculators are swallowing up real estate in Northern Virginia, says a Long & Foster executive. Median prices are up across the board, with inventory dropping

8am – D/E     MICHAEL COHEN TESTIMONY TODAY:

• COHEN TESTIMONY MAY OVERSHADOW TRUMP SUMMIT: Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, is set to testify publicly for the first time before the House Oversight Committee in a spectacle that could overshadow the president’s second summit with Kim Jong Un … According to reports, Cohen will call Trump a “racist” and a “con man”  in prepared testimony and will accuse the president of engaging in criminal activity related to a hush-money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels while in office. He will reportedly also accuse Trump of knowing that his adviser Roger Stone was reaching out to WikiLeaks concerning the publication of stolen Democratic National Committee emails. However, Cohen will specifically assert that he lacks direct evidence of improper collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia — a significant admission. Cohen’s testimony comes as he prepares to begin a three-year prison sentence in May after pleading guilty to lying to Congress in 2017 and committing campaign finance violations while working for Trump. He testified for nine hours behind closed doors Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee and will appear in private before the House Intelligence panel on Thursday.
• Michael Cohen testimony on Trump: ‘He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.’ *President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer is planning to tell a House committee that Trump knew ahead of time that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. In his prepared testimony, Michael Cohen says that Trump implicitly told him to lie about a Moscow real estate project. The former Trump fixer also brands his old boss as a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat.”
• RNC tells Michael Cohen to ‘have fun in prison,’ as GOP readies war room to push back on testimony. (Fox News) — The Republican National Committee is telling Michael Cohen, its former deputy finance director who has turned on President Trump, to “have fun in prison” as part of a coordinated war room effort to push back against his expected anti-Trump public testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Fox News was given an exclusive look at the RNC’s planned efforts to fight back against Cohen, who is expected to testify against Trump, his former longtime boss, during a much-anticipated House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday. Cohen is testifying on Capitol Hill for three days this week, though Wednesday’s hearing is the only one that it is public. Part of the effort is distributing a video titled “Have Fun in Prison!” that includes clips of Cohen previously vouching for Trump during the presidential campaign. Cohen has since pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, including campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress, as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Cohen, sentenced to three years, is expected to report to prison in May.