Eli Lake, Fox 5’s Lindsay Watts, Former Obama Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan, Correspondent Jim Roope, Arlington County parent Maria Keffler, Daily Caller’s Saagar Enjeti and Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C             BORDER CRISIS NEWS:

• GUARDIAN: The booming business for smuggling people to the US.    Migration to the US from Guatemala and neighboring Honduras has risen to its highest level in a decade: if current rates continue, about 1% of the two countries’ populations will have reached the US by the end of the year. […]    As the numbers of families arriving climbs, a system designed for quick deportation of men traveling alone has become overwhelmed, and the US government is releasing people more quickly into the United States.     A cycle has emerged: the more families that come, the more likely they are to be released — and word is getting back to Guatemala.    “It’s never been easier for us to get families in,” said Germán, who recruits clients for smugglers, or coyotes, in the department of Huehuetenango. The shaggy-haired 34-year-old asks to be called “Profe” – a nod to his other job as an elementary school teacher.
• WAPO:  Federal judge blocks Trump administration program forcing asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting court hearings
• NBC: Trump’s support of renewed child separation policy led to collision with Nielsen
• NIELSEN SPEAKS: “I just want to thank the president again for the tremendous opportunity to serve this country,” Nielsen told reporters. “I’m forever grateful and proud of the men and women of DHS who work so hard every day…[and] I look forward to continuing to support them from the outside”

5am – D         MEGHAN MCCAIN SNAPS AT JOY BEHAR ON ‘THE VIEW’: ‘PART OF YOUR JOB IS TO LISTEN TO ME’

5am – E         MUELLER AND BARR TESTIMONIES:

• House Judiciary chair Nadler calls on Mueller to testify before committee after the committee hears from Barr on May 2.  Nadler joins Rep. Doug Collins in requesting Mueller testify in front of the committee. Nadler said: “I fully agree.”  (The Hill) — Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said on Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller should testify in front of the committee. Nadler’s call for Mueller to testify before the committee comes after Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the top Republican on the committee, urged Nadler earlier on Monday to have Mueller testify. “Today, Ranking Member Collins called for Special Counsel Mueller to appear before @HouseJudiciary. I fully agree,” Nadler said in a tweet. “Special Counsel Mueller should come before the Committee to answer questions in public about his 22 month investigation into President Trump and his associates.” “In order to ask Special Counsel Mueller the right questions, the Committee must receive the Special Counsel’s full report and hear from Attorney General Barr about that report on May 2. We look forward to hearing from Mr. Mueller at the appropriate time,” Nadler added. But Collins said in a letter earlier Monday that Mueller should testify during the week of April 22, something he said would help with transparency.
• BARR TO TESTIFY TODAY AND WEDNESDAY: Attorney General William Barr is set to testify publicly before the House and Senate on Tuesday and Wednesday, giving Democrats an opportunity to raise the pressure on him to release special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. Barr is expected to face questions about his handling of the Mueller investigation and report when he testifies on the Trump administration’s fiscal 2020 budget request.  Attorney General William Barr is expected to be grilled by Democratic lawmakers about his plan to release a redacted version of the Mueller report instead of the full report, to the public and will likely have to defend his handling of the special counsel’s Russia investigation when he appears on Capitol Hill in the first of two days of testimony on Tuesday … Barr will first testify before the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, whose panel consists of seven Democrats and four Republicans and is chaired by Rep. José Serrano, D-N.Y. On Wednesday, Barr will be on the hot seat before a subpanel of the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Lawmakers may also question Barr about the Justice Department’s legal challenge to ObamaCare. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Monday that Democrats pushing for the release of Mueller’s full report should also insist on making public all information related to the Justice Department’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state and other controversies dating back to the Obama administration.

6am – A/B/C 2020 BOOKER WANTS REPARATIONS

• Cory Booker is introducing a Senate bill to study reparations for African Americans — a companion bill to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s legislation on an issue that has become a litmus test for 2020 presidential hopefuls.
• FLASHBACK: CNN TOWNHALL: Cory Booker: “Can I tell you why I’m frustrated and disappointed by this reparations conversation? It’s because it’s being reduced to just a box to check on a presidential list when this is so much more of a serious conversation.”

6am – D/E     INTERVIEW – ELI LAKE – Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. @elilake  Eli previewed Israel’s pivotal election on Tuesday and discussed the US Terror designation for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

• ISRAEL: Preview: Israel is preparing for a pivotal election on Tuesday. NETANYAHU AWAITS HIS WAIT IN ISRAELI ELECTION: Voting has begun in the Israeli elections as the country decides whether longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in power … Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time Tuesday, with exit polls expected at the end of the voting day at 10 p.m. Clouded by a series of looming corruption indictments, Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term in office, which would make him Israel’s longest-ever serving leader. He faces a stiff challenge from retired military chief Benny Gantz, whose Blue and White party has inched ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud in polls. – The Associated Press
• Beto O’Rourke unloads on Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him “racist” over his hateful rhetoric and alliance with far-right radicals. He also makes it clear that supporting Israel and supporting Bibi, an obstacle to Middle East peace, are not the same thing.
• IRAN: The US labels Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, the first time it has named another nation’s military as a terror group
• Bloomberg’s Eli Lake: Trump Offers Clarity on Iran’s Terrorist Aims. Finally a U.S. president is willing to ratchet up the pressure on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

6am – F         Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Praises the Washington, D.C. Metro. (PJ Media) — On Sunday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) praised the Washington, D.C. Metro, apparently oblivious to the fires and horrific management problems the Metro faces. “DC Metro is pretty good, especially when compared to the MTA lately,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a Facebook “moment,” contrasting the D.C. Metro to the New York subway. “It’s clear they are investing in public infrastructure w/modernized train cars, etc.” She responded to criticism shortly afterward. “Lots of folks begging to differ on DC metro being better,” the congresswoman added. “I just got here so taking the train on a Sunday without a delay or track change or 1000 people in the car seems like a minor miracle to me.” Ocasio-Cortez noted complaints about the D.C. Metro, including the lack of “monthly unlimiteds,” the “charge by distance, so people who live further away have pricier commutes,” the lack of express trains (expressed in all caps: “NO EXPRESS TRAINS”), and the need for infrastructure investment.  RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann shared Ocasio-Cortez’s messages on Twitter.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – LINDSAY WATTS – Fox 5 DC reporter on MD man plotted to drive truck into crowds at National Harbor @LindsayAWatts @Fox5DC

• Maryland man plotted to drive truck into pedestrians at National Harbor: court docs. NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (FOX 5 DC) – A Montgomery County man is accused of plotting to drive a stolen U-Haul truck into crowds at National Harbor in an ISIS-inspired attack.  FOX 5 has learned Rondell Henry, 28, of Germantown is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Trinidad. According to court documents he was an engineer. He was working at Hughes Network Systems, a broadband satellite company in Germantown. According to court documents, Henry walked off his job on March 26 and ditched his cell phone on the highway. Investigators say Henry stole a U-Haul van from Alexandria with the “intention of using it as a weapon against pedestrians on sidewalks within the National Harbor” after claiming to be inspired by ISIS. A detention memo says that for two years, Henry “harbored hatred for those who do not practice the Muslim faith.” After watching videos of foreign terrorists, Henry was inspired to conduct a “vehicular attack.”  Court documents say on March 27, Henry first drove to Dulles International Airport at 5 a.m. in the stolen U-Haul, where he found the crowds outside were too thin. He then entered the terminal and tried to find a way through security. When he was unable to breach security at the airport, Henry returned to the U-Haul and drove to the National Harbor where he arrived at 10 a.m. Investigators say he again found the crowds were too small to carry out his plan.  Authorities say Henry admitted that he wanted to create “panic and chaos” and that his plans for a truck attack were modeled after the deadly Bastille Day attack in Nice, France in 2016.

7am – B         2020 SWALWELL ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL BID:

• RUSSIA COLLUSION TRUE BELIEVER JOINS CROWDED 2020 DEM FIELD: Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., an outspoken critic of President Trump, officially entered the 2020 White House race during his Monday appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”… The 38-year-old four-term congressman is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, which for years has made headlines over its investigations of Russian influence in U.S. elections and federal surveillance.

7am – C         CALLS FOR BALTIMORE MAYOR TO RESIGN:

• Embattled Baltimore City Mayor Says She’ll Stay After Entire Council Calls On Her To Resign. Hours after the city council released a letter signed by all its members calling on Mayor Pugh to resign, her office issues a statement saying she plans to stay. (WMAL) – Hours after the memo was released, Pugh’s office issued a statement saying she plans to stay. “Mayor Pugh has taken a leave to focus on recovering from pneumonia and regaining her health. She fully intends to resume the duties of her office and continuing her work on behalf on the people and the city of Baltimore,” the statement read.
• Baltimore City Council members are asking Mayor Catherine Pugh to resign effective immediately.
• All of Baltimore’s legislators in the House of Delegates to join the City Council’s call for Mayor Pugh to resign

7am – D         INTERVIEW – MARK MORGAN – former Obama US Border Patrol chief

• DHS Sec Nielsen out…potential DHS picks
• THE ROOT OF THE IMMIGRATION CRISIS: Now that Kirstjen Nielsen is out as Homeland Security Secretary and President Trump has replaced her with a “tough cop” in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan as acting secretary, there is debate over whether the shakeup will make any difference is combating the illegal immigration crisis at the border … On “Special Report” Monday, the Federalist’s senior editor Mollie Hemingway noted that while Nielsen stepped down, the problem wasn’t her performance of her job but the performance of Congress and its inability to address policies that “incentivize” human trafficking.
• Judge blocked Trump admin’s program that requires asylum seekers to  remain in Mexico while awaiting court decision

7am – E         INTERVIEW – JIM ROOPE – correspondent in Minneapolis, Minnesota

• VIRGINIA, NCAA CHAMPIONS: Now that, Virginia, is the way to close out a season. Led by De’Andre Hunter and his NBA-ready game, the Cavaliers turned themselves into national champions Monday night, holding off tenacious, ferocious Texas Tech for an 85-77 overtime win … It was a scintillating victory that came 388 days after Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16th seed team.
• Virginia defeats Texas Tech 85-77 to win its first NCAA championship. The Virginia Cavaliers topped Texas Tech to be crowned the NCAA Men’s Basketball champions on Monday night. The win is a historic first for the team after advancing to the NCAA Final Four for the first time since 1984. Neither team had ever played in a championship game in school history.
  

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MARIA KEFFLER –  a former school teacher and parent whose children attend Arlington Public Schools wrote a Wash Post op-Ed about the transgenderism agenda in Arlington schools

• Keffler: Gender politics don’t belong in the classroom, but Title IX protections do. (Washington Post Opinion) – “On Feb. 25, a friend and Arlington Public Schools parent inadvertently discovered a meeting that evening of a working group charged with developing procedures to implement the district’s transgender/gender-nonconforming students policy. We attended as nonparticipating observers and were stunned. At that meeting, an Arlington Gender Identity Allies advocate lamented that a planned reading of “I Am Jazz,” a storybook about a transgender student, had been scuttled at Patrick Henry Elementary School because of concerns over parents’ reactions. The speaker vowed that the event would happen. Three days later, Ashlawn Elementary hosted a transgender activist who read the book to 5-year-olds, introducing the idea that “anyone can be anything,” as one kindergartner who absorbed the lesson summarized. Ashlawn parents were notified less than a week ahead. The letter offered no opt-out, buried the book’s topic in its middle paragraph and went out only in English, although 27 percent of Ashlawn’s students are Hispanic or Asian. All other communication goes home bilingual. APS seems comfortable employing furtive tactics to slip into classrooms controversial topics to which parents might object. David Aponte, co-chair of the local chapter of GLSEN, formerly the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said last year that Northern Virginia and California have served as laboratories for policies regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Arlington, our children are being experimented on.”

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – SAAGAR EJETI – White House Correspondent, The Daily Caller @esaagar – discussed the Trump Administration shakeups for DHS Secretary and Secret Service Director.

• SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR OUT: Secret Service director denies he was fired. (The Hill) — Outgoing U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles denied Monday that he was fired from his post, saying in a letter to Secret Service staff that he learned “weeks ago” that there would be “transitions in leadership” across the Department of Homeland Security. “My departure from the U.S. Secret Service has been announced and is effective in May. No doubt you have seen media reports regarding my ‘firing.’ I assure you that this is not the case, and in fact was told weeks ago by the Administration that transitions in leadership should be expected across the Department of Homeland Security,” he wrote in the letter, which was obtained by CNN. “The President has directed an orderly transition in leadership for this agency and I intend to abide by that direction. It is my sincere regret that I was not able to address the workforce prior to this announcement,” Alles added.
• NBC: Secret Service Director Alles was told about 10 days ago, and prior to March 30 Mar-a-Lago breach, to “put together an exit plan” for himself in preparation for imminent staff changes within DHS.
• DAILY MAIL: Trump fires Secret Service director after agency ducks blame for Chinese malware carrier at Mar-a-Lago. The woman who allegedly breached security at Mar-a-Lago while carrying Chinese passports and a flash drive containing malware ALSO had a signal detector, 9 USB drives, 5 SIM cards, and thousands in cash in her hotel room, federal prosecutors said.
• MIAMI HERALD: So the Secret Service stuck Zhang’s thumbdrive into their computer: Secret Service agent Samuel Ivanovich, who interviewed Zhang on the day of her arrest, testified at the hearing. He stated that when another agent put Zhang’s thumb-drive into his computer, it immediately began to install files, a “very out-of-the-ordinary” event that he had never seen happen before during this kind of analysis. The agent had to immediately stop the analysis to halt any further corruption of his computer, Ivanovich said. The analysis is ongoing but still inconclusive, he testified.
• DHS SEC NIELSEN OUT: After Nielsen ouster, questions over who runs DHS next: Kris Kobach and Ken Cuccinelli seem to be top contenders
• Outgoing DHS Sec. Nielsen thanks Pres. Trump for “the tremendous opportunity to serve this country” “I share the president’s goal of securing the border. I will continue to support all efforts to address the humanitarian and security crisis on the border”
• STEPHEN MILLER: Stephen Miller wants Trump to dismiss more senior officials at DHS: report. (Hill) — White House senior adviser Stephen Miller reportedly wants President Trump to fire at least two more senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials in addition to outgoing Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.  CNN, citing Trump administration officials, reported that Miller is pushing for director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Lee Cissna, and the department’s general counsel, John Mitnick, to be dismissed.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – Prince George’s County Police Chief HANK STAWINSKI on the MD ISIS inspired man/National Harbor @PGPDNews

• Maryland man plotted to drive truck into pedestrians at National Harbor: court docs. NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (FOX 5 DC) – A Montgomery County man is accused of plotting to drive a stolen U-Haul truck into crowds at National Harbor in an ISIS-inspired attack.  FOX 5 has learned Rondell Henry, 28, of Germantown is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Trinidad. According to court documents he was an engineer. He was working at Hughes Network Systems, a broadband satellite company in Germantown. According to court documents, Henry walked off his job on March 26 and ditched his cell phone on the highway. Investigators say Henry stole a U-Haul van from Alexandria with the “intention of using it as a weapon against pedestrians on sidewalks within the National Harbor” after claiming to be inspired by ISIS. A detention memo says that for two years, Henry “harbored hatred for those who do not practice the Muslim faith.” After watching videos of foreign terrorists, Henry was inspired to conduct a “vehicular attack.”  Court documents say on March 27, Henry first drove to Dulles International Airport at 5 a.m. in the stolen U-Haul, where he found the crowds outside were too thin. He then entered the terminal and tried to find a way through security. When he was unable to breach security at the airport, Henry returned to the U-Haul and drove to the National Harbor where he arrived at 10 a.m. Investigators say he again found the crowds were too small to carry out his plan.  Authorities say Henry admitted that he wanted to create “panic and chaos” and that his plans for a truck attack were modeled after the deadly Bastille Day attack in Nice, France in 2016.
• PG COUNTY POLICE INVOLVEMENT: (WTOP) After two hours of failing to get past security at Dulles, Henry took the van to National Harbor, where they said he parked it and walked around. Henry allegedly changed his plans to drive into pedestrians when saw the low crowd size. Henry then broke into a boat to hide in overnight while waiting for larger crowds, according to the prosecutor’s filing. The following morning, police found the stolen U-Haul parked at National Harbor. Prince George’s police officers saw Henry jumping over a security fence and arrested him. Prince George’s County police chief Hank Stawinkski said that the arresting officers were able to establish that this case was more than just a stolen vehicle and that Henry represented a broader threat to the community. “It’s about going beyond what’s apparent and asking ‘is there more going on here than we’re aware of?’” Stawinski said. “The officers, instead of just handing that as a stolen vehicle, looked deeper,” Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said at a press conference on Monday night of the arrest.  The court filing says Henry had no escape plan and instead intended to die while driving into pedestrians at National Harbor.

8am – E         WMAL’s Mary & Vince React To Ilhan Omar referring To The 9/11 Terror Attacks As “Some People Did Something”: On March 23rd, Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota Democrat dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism, told Muslims in a speech Saturday to “raise hell” and “make people uncomfortable” in defense of their rights. As hundreds of pro-Israel protesters rallied outside, Ms. Omar said U.S. Muslims should confront discrimination in her keynote speech at a fundraiser hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Greater Los Angeles in Woodland Hills, California.