Joe diGenova, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, White House’s Brooke Rollins and PureFlix’s Billy Hallowell joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, April 1, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg calls for regulation of the internet. New York (CNN Business) Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who has been under scrutiny for the social media company’s role in spreading misinformation and inadequately policing content, is calling for regulators to play a “more active role” in establishing rules for the internet. Zuckerberg called for stricter regulation of “harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability” in an op-ed published Saturday on his official Facebook account and in the Washington Post. “I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators,” he wrote. “By updating the rules for the Internet, we can preserve what’s best about it – the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things – while also protecting society from broader harms.” Zuckerberg’s missive was the most comprehensive the Facebook CEO has ever been on the issue of government regulation. His call comes as US federal prosecutors are reportedly probing Facebook’s data sharing deals with a number of large technology companies. The US Federal Trade Commission is said to be in talks with Facebook over a possible record fine. And European officials continue to scrutinize the company.  Facebook was roundly condemned this month when it failed to stop a live stream by the suspect in the New Zealand terrorist attack that killed 50 people. The platform has also faced a litany of scandals, ranging from hate speech to privacy, and criticism over the spread of fake news, especially during national elections. “Every day, we make decisions about what speech is harmful, what constitutes political advertising, and how to prevent sophisticated cyberattacks. These are important for keeping our community safe,” he wrote. “But if we were starting from scratch, we wouldn’t ask companies to make these judgments alone.” Zuckerberg called for regulators to hold internet companies “accountable for enforcing standards on harmful content,” an idea that has served as a point of contention in the United States and other countries where social media platforms have long been immune from such legal punishments.

5am – D/E     MUELLER REPORT FALLOUT:

• BARR WILL RELEASE REDACTED REPORT BY MID-APRIL: In his letter to the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate and House Judiciary committees, Barr announced that he will release a redacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly 400-page “confidential report” into Russian interference in the 2016 election by mid-April.
• GOWDY DOESN’T THINK REPORT SHOULD BE PUBLIC: Former GOP South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy said Saturday that he disagrees with congressional Republicans who want the special counsel’s Russia report to be made public. “I’m in a really small minority, Neil,” Gowdy said in an interview with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto. “If you’re not indicted, I don’t know that the Department of Justice should be releasing a political hit piece that people like Schiff and Nadler are then going to use for 2020.”
• RAND PAUL BLOCKS RESOLUTION CALLING FOR RELEASE OF MUELLER REPORT: Rand Paul objected because Klobuchar wouldn’t agree to amend the nonbinding resolution to include provisions calling for the public release of communications between several Obama-era officials including former President Obama, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan.
• OBAMA ADMIN OFFICIALS PRESERVED RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE DOCS ON TRUMP. Obama administration officials were so concerned about what would happen to key classified documents related to the Russia probe once President Trump took office that they created a list of document serial numbers to give to senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a former Obama official told NBC News.
• Trey Gowdy: CIA May Stop Giving Adam Schiff Information Because He Leaks ‘Like A Screen Door On A Submarine’ / Former Republican South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy predicted Sunday that the U.S. intelligence community might stop providing information to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff because he leaks “like a screen door on a submarine.” Gowdy was asked to weigh in on Republicans’ decision Thursday to call on Schiff to step down as chairman of the House panel.  “Never seen that before,” said Gowdy, who served on the intelligence panel before leaving Congress in January. “We never voted to remove or ask a chairperson to step down.” “Adam is a deeply partisan person. He did everything he could to make sure Hillary Clinton became president. And he’s done everything he could to keep a cloud over the Trump presidency,” Gowdy said of Schiff.

6am – A/B/C BIDEN ACCUSATIONS:

• 2020 DEMS ‘BELIEVE’ BIDEN’S ACCUSER: A number of Democratic presidential candidates weighed in over the weekend on the allegations made by a former Nevada political candidate that former Vice President Joe Biden inappropriately touched and kissed her on the back of the head during a 2014 campaign rally  … Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told ABC’s “This Week” that she has no reason not to believe the allegations made by Lucky Flores. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is running for the Democratic nomination, said during an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that while he has no reason not to believe Flores, he doesn’t believe that “one incident alone” would disqualify Biden from running for the White House. On NBC’s “Meet The Press, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper called the allegations against Biden “very disconcerting.” Earlier in the weekend, while speaking to reporters in Iowa, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro said they believed Flores. Biden – who is expected to soon launch his 2020 presidential bid – has denied ever acting inappropriately toward Flores or anyone, but promised to “listen respectfully”
• Joe Biden responds to Lucy Flores’ allegation, says “not once” does he believe he acted inappropriately.  (CNN)Former Vice President Joe Biden responded for the first time on Sunday to allegations that he made a Nevada politician feel “uneasy” in 2014 when he kissed her on the back of her head, saying that he never believed he acted inappropriately. “In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort,” Biden said in a statement. “And not once – never – did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention.” The statement was the first response to the allegations directly from the former vice president. Previously there have only been statements from Biden’s spokesman. In his statement on Sunday, Biden said, “I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.” “I will also remain the strongest advocate I can be for the rights of women. I will fight to build on the work I’ve done in my career to end violence against women and ensure women are treated with the equality they deserve. I will continue to surround myself with trusted women advisers who challenge me to see different perspectives than my own. And I will continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won.” The accusation against Biden comes as he is considering a bid for president in 2020. He is expected to announce his decision as soon as April.
• Lucy Flores Responds to Joe Biden Statement: This Isn’t the First Time. Lucy Flores, the former Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Nevada, made the allegations against Biden on Friday in an essay for The Cut, an arm of New York magazine, writing that Biden made her feel “uneasy, gross, and confused” in 2014 when, at a campaign rally in Nevada, she said he kissed her on the back of the head. Flores said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning that Biden’s new statement Sunday morning was “certainly better” than the initial response from Biden’s spokesman Bill Russo. Flores said in response to the new statement from Biden himself that she was “glad that he’s willing to listen” and “glad that he is clarifying his intentions.” But, she added, “Frankly, my point was never about his intentions, and they shouldn’t be about his intentions. It should be about the women on the receiving end of that behavior.”
• KELLYANNE ON BIDEN:
  • Kellyanne Conway: Joe Biden Apologized To Anita Hill. ‘Why Can’t He’ Apologize To Lucy Flores?
  • ‘CREEPY UNCLE JOE’ –  “If anybody just types in ‘Creepy Uncle Joe Videos’ you come up with a treasure trove. I think Joe Biden has a big problem here because he calls it affection and handshakes, his party calls it completely inappropriate.” – Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, on “Fox News Sunday,” on the allegations of inappropriate conduct leveled against former Vice President Joe Biden by former Nevada political candidate Lucky Flores.
• PEGGY NOONAN says former Vice President Joe Biden came from a previous era of American politics, when everyone “started to hug and kiss” #MTP @Peggynoonannyc: Joe Biden “came from the fleshy world of ’60s and ’70s politics”
• 2020 REACTION:
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “I read the op-ed last night. I believe Lucy Flores and Joe Biden needs to give an answer.” Question: “Should he not run as a result?” Sen. Warren: “That’s for Joe Biden to decide.”
  • Bernie backs Biden: ‘One incident alone’ shouldn’t disqualify him. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., reacted to Lucy Flores’ #MeToo allegation against former Vice President Joe Biden, saying “one incident” shouldn’t stop a presidential candidate. During an interview Sunday, the 2020 candidate was prompted to speak about Flores’ allegation last week that Biden inappropriately kissed her and what it might mean for Biden’s decision on whether he wants to run for president. “I think that’s a decision for the vice president to make,” said Sanders when asked by CBS host Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.” “I’m not sure that one incident alone disqualifies anybody.”

6am – D/E/F  AOC’S TOWNHALL ON MSNBC FRIDAY NIGHT WITH CHRIS HAYES:

• TIME FOR A HISTORY LESSON FOR AOC? – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., might want to brush up on some history after asserting, incorrectly, that Republicans in Congress amended the Constitution to kick President Franklin Delano Roosevelt out of office … “They had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt did not get reelected,” Ocasio-Cortez said Friday during a night hall event with MSNBC with Chris Hayes. Ocasio-Cortez was referring to the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which passed in 1947. FDR died in office in 1945.
• FDR: According to AOC, Congress amended the Constitution to prevent FDR from being re-elected: “They had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt dd not get reelected.”  (Reminder, FDR died in office in 1945; the 22nd Amendment came in 1947)
• AOC BLAMES A STAFFER FOR POOR LANGUAGE IN THE GREEN NEW DEAL FAQ ROLLOUT: “I definitely had a staffer that had a very bad day at work,” AOC  said in response to a question about her controversial #GreenNewDeal FAQ that mentioned “farting cows”  She labeled it a “working draft” that was released too early by said staffer.
• After no Senate Dems vote for the Green New Deal this past week, Rep. Ocaiso-Cortez says “And first of all of, you know, we wave a magic wand and we passed the Green New Deal resolution tomorrow, what happens? Nothing because it’s a resolution.
• TEA PARTY: Rep. AOC says the difference between her movement and the Tea Party is her’s don’t call anyone names. (THEN GOES ON TO NAMECALL THE TEA PARTY)…Whereas the “grounding of the Tea Party was xenophobia, the underpinnings of white supremacy,” and the Koch brothers funded them.
• MORON! “Hey, that’s unacceptable”: Rep. Ocasio-Cortez responds to audience member who called fmr. Rep. Inglis a “moron”
• 12 YEARS! KIDS ARE DOOMED: AOC: Climate change is different because we have an expiration date..and the IPCC report says we’ve got 12 years to turn it around! 12 years!  My concern is that we are going to be the frog in the pot of boiling water, and we are going to debate and debate and debate… and our kids are doomed
• AOC REACTS TO ATTACKS ON HER GREEN NEW DEAL: “I didn’t expect them to make total fools of themselves,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez told  Chris Hayes. “I expected a little more nuance, and I expected a little more ‘concern trolling.'”
• AOC: Until you do it, I’m the boss!

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – shared his reaction to the Mueller report fallout.

• CNN DOUBLES DOWN ON MUELLER COVERAGE: Jake Tapper: CNN Didn’t Get ‘Anything’ Wrong In Russiagate Reporting. CNN personalities Brian Stelter and SE Cupp bashing Fox News personalities for being glad that Fox News didn’t participate in the big, two-year-long collusion hoax.
• BARR WILL RELEASE REDACTED REPORT BY MID-APRIL: In his letter to the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate and House Judiciary committees, Barr announced that he will release a redacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly 400-page “confidential report” into Russian interference in the 2016 election by mid-April.
• GOWDY DOESN’T THINK REPORT SHOULD BE PUBLIC: Former GOP South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy said Saturday that he disagrees with congressional Republicans who want the special counsel’s Russia report to be made public. “I’m in a really small minority, Neil,” Gowdy said in an interview with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto. “If you’re not indicted, I don’t know that the Department of Justice should be releasing a political hit piece that people like Schiff and Nadler are then going to use for 2020.”
• RAND PAUL BLOCKS RESOLUTION CALLING FOR RELEASE OF MUELLER REPORT: Rand Paul objected because Klobuchar wouldn’t agree to amend the nonbinding resolution to include provisions calling for the public release of communications between several Obama-era officials including former President Obama, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan.
• OBAMA ADMIN OFFICIALS PRESERVED RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE DOCS ON TRUMP. Obama administration officials were so concerned about what would happen to key classified documents related to the Russia probe once President Trump took office that they created a list of document serial numbers to give to senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a former Obama official told NBC News.

7am – B         FAIRFAX ACCUSER SPEAKS OUT: One of the two women accusing Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault has spoken out publically on television for the first time, saying that she wants to testify in front the Virginia Assembly — and that Fairfax should resign … Vanessa Tyson, an associate professor of political science at Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., told “CBS This Morning” in an interview airing on Monday that she did not want her students interested in politics to face a similar situation. CBS News’ interview with Fairfax’s other accuser, Meredith Watson, is set to air Tuesday. A spokesperson for Fairfax said Sunday the lieutenant governor had taken two polygraph tests showing that he engaged in “no wrongdoing whatsoever.” Justin Fairfax says he never sexually assaulted anyone, and he claims he now has two polygraph tests to back him up.   Tyson is calling on the Virginia General Assembly to schedule a public hearing on the accusations when lawmakers meet in Richmond this week.

7am – C         BORDER NEWS:

• ‘We’ve never seen anything like this’: As Trump threatens to close border, migrants overwhelm Texas cities
• President Trump: “I will close the border if Mexico doesn’t get with it, if Mexico doesn’t stop it.”
• Trump seeks to cut foreign aid to 3 Central American nations

7am – D         INTERVIEW — FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr

• Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg calls for regulation of the internet. New York (CNN Business) Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who has been under scrutiny for the social media company’s role in spreading misinformation and inadequately policing content, is calling for regulators to play a “more active role” in establishing rules for the internet. Zuckerberg called for stricter regulation of “harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability” in an op-ed published Saturday on his official Facebook account and in the Washington Post. “I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators,” he wrote. “By updating the rules for the Internet, we can preserve what’s best about it – the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things – while also protecting society from broader harms.” Zuckerberg’s missive was the most comprehensive the Facebook CEO has ever been on the issue of government regulation. His call comes as US federal prosecutors are reportedly probing Facebook’s data sharing deals with a number of large technology companies. The US Federal Trade Commission is said to be in talks with Facebook over a possible record fine. And European officials continue to scrutinize the company.
• Brendan Carr on Twitter: “Facebook says it’s taking heat for the mistakes it makes in moderating content. So it calls for the government to police your speech for it. Outsourcing censorship to the government is not just a bad idea, it would violate the First Amendment. I’m a no.

7am – E         Chris Rock Calls Out Jussie Smollett at NAACP Image Awards:  (Hollywood Reporter) — “You don’t get no respect from me,” the comedian said of the controversial actor while presenting at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday. Jussie Smollett may not have attended the 50th NAACP Image Awards, but Chris Rock made sure to address the controversy surrounding the Empire star upon taking the stage.  Rock first joked that he was told not to talk about the controversial actor while he presented the award for outstanding comedy series.

8am – A         Joe Biden responds to Lucy Flores’ allegation, says “not once” does he believe he acted inappropriately .  (CNN) Former Vice President Joe Biden responded for the first time on Sunday to allegations that he made a Nevada politician feel “uneasy” in 2014 when he kissed her on the back of her head, saying that he never believed he acted inappropriately. “In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort,” Biden said in a statement. “And not once – never – did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention.” The statement was the first response to the allegations directly from the former vice president.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — BROOKE ROLLINS – Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives at the Office of American Innovation at The White House

• Brooke worked hand in hand with Jared and the OAI team to develop and solidify the passage of the First Step Act
• TOPIC: Trump to lead the Prison Reform Summit and First Step Act celebration this evening.  This evening at 5:30 PM, Trump will participate in the 2019 Prison Reform Summit and First Step Act Celebration in the East Room of the White House. Prison Reform and S.3649 from the 115th Congress, the First Step Act, had strong bipartisan support in the Senate with 87 senators voting in favor and just 12 Republicans opposed. The president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, lent considerable influence to get the bill passed. It addresses a wide range of issues including, but not limited to: Limiting the use of restraints on federal prisoners who are pregnant or in postpartum recovery; Reducing mandatory minimum prison terms for certain nonviolent repeat drug offenses; Permitting reduced sentences for certain nonviolent, cooperative drug offenders with limited criminal histories; Requiring prisoners to be placed within 500 miles of their primary residence so that their relatives can visit them; Requiring low-risk prisoners to be placed in home confinement for the maximum amount of time permitted;Requiring the BOP to help prisoners obtain identification documents prior to release, so they can incorporate de-escalation procedures into training programs

8am – D         INTERVIEW – BILLY HALLOWELL of Pure Flix – discussed the ‘Unplanned’ movie over performing with 5th place finish this weekend, 6.1 million, expands to 1,700 theaters.

• BOX OFFICE: Unplanned, the controversial film about Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director, surprised box office watchers, doubling projected earning, coming in at 5th place with a $6.1 million dollar opening despite being on only 1,060 screens, for a per screen average of $5,770. Defying industry predictions of $2-3 million for opening weekend, audiences turned out in large numbers despite a Saturday morning Twitter ban that was lifted with no explanation after online pushback from fans and media inquiries. Next week the film’s distributor Pure Flix will add an additional 600 screens for a count of 1,700 screens after the film earned a rare A+ rating from CinemaScore.Partially financed by MyPillow inventor Mike Lindell, the film is the story of Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director who switched sides and joined the pro-life movement. It was released nationally on 1,000 screens on March 29.
• FORBES: Pure Flix’s anti-abortion drama Unplanned overperformed this weekend. Written and directed by Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, the $6 million-budgeted flick, about a former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned anti-abortion activist, earned $2.72 million on Friday, setting the stage for a likely $7.25 million debut weekend. If that holds up, then it’ll be PureFlix’s second-biggest opening weekend behind the $7.6 million launch of God’s Not Dead 2 three years ago this weekend. That sequel earned $20 million domestic so we could see a similar result for the Abby Johnson biopic. That would be a big win, since most of the faith-based biggies still come from Sony and Lionsgate as opposed to the various small-scale distributors.
• TWITTER SUSPENSION: Anti-Abortion Film’s Twitter Account Reinstated After Brief Suspension. (Variety) — Christian-focused production company Pure Flix’s latest release, “Unplanned,” had its Twitter account restored Saturday after it was briefly suspended. “Thank you everyone for your support in letting Jack & Twitter know when our Unplanned movie account was recently suspended without cause,” the film’s account tweeted Saturday. “We are back and excited for the great response we’re getting in theaters this weekend.” According to Twitter, the suspension was not as a result of the “Unplanned” account’s content. Rather, another account had violated Twitter rules, which can sometimes result in linked accounts being investigated to prevent ban evasion. On a second review, the “Unplanned” account was cleared and reinstated.
• TV Networks Reject Ads for Anti-Abortion Movie. Commercials for PureFlix’s ‘Unplanned,’ arriving in 1,000 theaters on Friday, have been rejected by Lifetime, Hallmark Channel, HGTV and several other cable networks other than Fox News. If you haven’t seen a commercial for Unplanned, an anti-abortion movie critical of Planned Parenthood, it isn’t for lack trying on the part of marketers, whose efforts have been consistently rebuffed by TV networks. Pure Flix, the distributor behind the box office hit God’s Not Dead and other movies aimed a Christians, opens the movie in 1,000 theaters today, but outside of the Fox News Channel, every other mainstream television outlet has declined to air the ad. Lifetime, for example, told the film’s marketers that they declined to air the commercial due to the “sensitive nature of the film,” the ad buyers tell The Hollywood Reporter. The marketers though, note that the network — which is owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture of Walt Disney and Hearst Communications — previously promoted an interview with Scarlett Johansson where she pitches Planned Parenthood.The Travel Channel, Cooking Channel, HGTV and Food Network, each of which are owned by Discovery, also refused to sell ad time for Unplanned due to the “sensitive nature” of the movie, say those who tried buying air time. Other networks that refused to advertise the movie include the Hallmark Channel and USA Network, the latter of which is owned by NBCUniversal.

8am – E         Saturday Night Live Wades Into the Chaos of the Mueller Report.  In an SNL sketch, this one detailing Russia’s own reaction to the Mueller findings. Beck Bennett reprised his role as Vladimir Putin, surrounded by deputies in an elaborately decorated conference room, as the underlings tried to process the idea that per the Mueller report, the American president had not colluded with the Kremlin. “This—this cannot be, can it, sir? American president is work for Russia. Right?” one staffer asked, confused and crestfallen. Another: “We look forward to report so much! You know, it was going to be Mueller Time, baby! All the world would see the power of Russia, and we were so excited!” Another: “I was planning a party.”   The joke ostensibly poked fun at Russia, but it came in fact at the expense of those who had spent the past many months convinced that Mueller’s report would find the Trump campaign guilty of collusion. Soon, Kim Jong Un (played by Bowen Yang, a staff writer on the show) appeared with an interpreter (Oh). The North Korean leader was questioning Putin’s influence over the American presidency, and Putin was attempting to assure him that he still had a troll army and so many more means of meddling—and, Putin noted, “We don’t know everything in the report yet. Plus, Mueller handed off a lot of stuff to the Southern District of New York. That’s where the real action is.”