Cal Thomas, Amber Athey, Adam Kennedy and Sean Spicer joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C CONTEMPT VOTE TODAY:

• House Dems to hold contempt vote on Barr Wednesday WaPo: “Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee said they will vote Wednesday on whether to hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress after Barr missed a deadline to produce a complete version of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report.
• Talks continued into Tuesday evening between staff members of the House Judiciary Committee and Department of Justice officials about a planned Wednesday vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress. At issue is Barr’s refusal to allow some members to see the unredacted Mueller report.
• Justice Dept. Threatens House Democrats Over Contempt in Barr Battle. WASHINGTON — The Justice Department threatened late Tuesday to ask President Trump to invoke executive privilege over the hidden portions of Robert S. Mueller III’s report and all of the evidence behind it if Democrats proceeded Wednesday with a vote to hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, the department accused Democrats of being unreasonable in subpoenaing that material. “In the face of the committee’s threatened contempt vote, the attorney general will be compelled to request that the president invoke executive privilege with respect to the material subject to the subpoenas,” wrote Mr. Barr’s deputy, Stephen E. Boyd. “I hereby request that the committee hold the subpoena in abeyance and delay any vote on whether to recommend a citation of contempt for noncompliance with the subpoena, pending the president’s determination of this question.”
• MCGAHN / SUBPOENA: AG Barr considers evoking executive privilege over subpoenaed Mueller documents. White House orders McGahn not to comply with congressional subpoena. The White House has told former lawyer Don McGahn to ignore a subpoena for documents related to the Russia investigation from the House Judiciary Committee saying it is subject to executive privilege. President Trump also says Special Counsel Robert Mueller shouldn’t testify before Congress. Mueller is expected to leave his position in the near future, and could speak, should he choose to do so
• White House sends letter to lawmakers, indicating that former White House counsel Don McGahn was instructed by White House not to comply with a subpoena from House Democrats for documents related to Mueller probe, until an agreement is reached.

5am – D         DENVER SCHOOL SHOOTING: Colorado high school shooting leaves at least one dead, eight wounded; Two suspects in custody. Two suspects were in custody Tuesday night after a shooting at a Colorado high school left at least one person dead and eight others injured, according to authorities. The suspects were identified as 18-year-old Devon Erickson and a juvenile accomplice. The shooting took place at a STEM school in Highlands Ranch, a Denver suburb only about 7 miles from Littleton, site of the infamous Columbine High School mass murder in 1999.The coroner has not officially identified the student who died, but said the victim was an 18-year-old male. Authorities said they believe both Erickson and the juvenile suspect were students of the school, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said at a news conference. Neither suspect was previously known to authorities, he added.

5am – D         PARODY SITES:

• JOE BIDEN PARODY SITE MORE POPULAR THAN REAL SITE: Users are reporting that the former vice president’s official 2020 campaign page is nowhere to be found on the first page of results for the search term “Joe Biden.”
• No Mocking AOC: Popular Ocasio-Cortez Parody Account Banned From Twitter; Creator Speaks Out
• DAVID BURGE: Twitter has spoken: AOC is officially beyond parody

6am – A         Buttigieg: ‘I Can’t Imagine’ God Would Be a Trump Republican. Tuesday on NBC’s “Today,” South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said he “can’t imagine” that God would be in the political party that elected President Donald Trump. Reporter Craig Melvin said, “You also spend a fair amount of time talking about your faith.” Buttigieg said, “Yes.” Melvin asked, “Why?” Buttigieg said, “It’s important to me.” He added, “I think it’s also important that we stop seeing religion used as a kind of cudgel as if God belonged to a political party. If he did, I can’t imagine it would be the one that sent the current president into the White House.”

6am – B/C     IMMIGRATION MEETING AT WH: President Trump hosted GOP Senators for a discussion about a new immigration plan that includes increased assets for border security. The proposal, spearheaded by presidential adviser Jared Kushner, seeks to secure ports of entry and create a merit-based immigration system that gives preference to skills of immigrants, rather than their having relatives already in the United States.

WH Immigration Plan Will Focus On Border Security And Merit-Based Immigration. (Daily Caller/Amber Athey) — The new White House immigration plan presented to Republican senators Tuesday focuses on increased border security and a merit-based legal immigration program, a senior administration official told The Daily Caller. The plan was spearheaded by senior adviser and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, but also included input from senior policy adviser Stephen Miller and has now been signed off on by President Donald Trump, the official said during a briefing with a few reporters. There are specifically six goals that the plan aims at addressing: securing the border, protecting American wages, attracting and retaining the best and brightest, unifying families, labor in critical industries and retaining the United States’ humanitarian values. Border officials and immigration experts had a hand in crafting the policies that they believed would achieve those goals. On border security, the plan calls for a physical barrier and modernization at ports of entry to stop drugs and trafficking. “We want to make sure that all people, vehicles and packages coming through the ports of entry are fully scanned for drugs,” the official explained. “This is something from a national security point of view that we believe our country should have.” The official claimed that asylum seekers will be vetted more quickly but did not offer details on how the process will change.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist

• NYT: Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses
• Pete Buttigieg in South Carolina: America ‘Was Never as Great as Advertised.’ Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg took a jab at President Trump on Monday while delivering a speech in South Carolina, saying America’s past “was never as great as advertised.” “So many of the solutions, I believe, are gonna come from our communities. Communities like the one where I grew up, which is an industrial mid-western city,” the former South Bend, Indiana mayor stated. “That is exactly the kind of place that our current president targeted with a message saying that we could find greatness by just stopping the clock and turning it back.” “That past that he is promising to return us to was never as great as advertised, especially for marginalized Americans… and there’s no going back anyway.”
• Biden takes 32-point lead over Sanders in new 2020 poll. Former Vice President Joe Biden has a 32-point lead in the Democratic presidential race in a Hill-HarrisX poll released Monday. Biden won 46 percent in the poll compared to 14 percent for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who came in a distant second place. South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg was in third place with 8 percent, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with 7 percent.
• McConnell calls for end to investigations of Trump, says ‘case closed.’ Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a case Tuesday to move on from investigations of President Trump and his 2016 campaign, calling the matter “case closed” even as Democrats intensify their inquiries into Trump’s conduct. McConnell (R-Ky.), who faces reelection next year, argued that Democrats are continuing to re-litigate an election result that is now more than two years old — deriding it as a “Groundhog Day spectacle” — and insisted in a floor speech Tuesday morning that the matter is finished and that lawmakers should focus on legislation.

6am – E         Trump’s tax records show his businesses lost so much money over a decade, he didn’t have to pay income taxes for 8 of those 10 years.  President Donald Trump’s tax information covering the years 1985 to 1994 show a business empire nearly in ruin, according to financial information obtained by The New York Times. Trump’s negative adjusted gross income allowed him not to pay any income tax for eight of those years, according to the records. The filings show that in 1985, Trump lost $46.1 million from his casinos, hotels, and apartments. These businesses kept losing money annually for a total loss of $1.17 billion over 10 years, according to The New York Times. President Donald Trump’s tax information covering the years 1985 to 1994 show a business empire nearly in ruin, so much so that his negative adjusted gross income allowed him not to pay any income tax for eight of those years, according to The New York Times.

6am – F         Peloton Fitness Videos Have a New Feature: A Random Guy Named Brad. A 42-year-old dad shows up in classes seen by riders of pricey stationary cycles; ‘I try not to watch him.’  (WSJ) — Drop in on one of Peloton’s cult spinning classes on any given day and you’re bound to see sweat-glistening instructors with abs that could cut glass. Oh, and a middle-aged man named Brad. The 42-year-old Brad Holcman, who works at a New York television network by day and spins under the username #BradNeedsAbs, has quickly become one of the most recognizable figures in the world of stationary-bike maker Peloton. And it isn’t because he’s employed by Peloton (he’s not) or because he’s a fitness model (he’s not). Instead, the father of two has both delighted and infuriated thousands of riders by lip-syncing, hip-hopping and dancing his way through countless of Peloton’s filmed classes in his neon muscle shirts. “People are like, ‘you’re a pelebrity.’ I tell them I’m not—the pelebrities are the instructors,” Mr. Holcman said. Mr. Holcman’s prominence is intentional. Peloton’s $2,245, video-playing bikes allow riders to tackle everything from interval training to Elton John-themed rides from their home. But the classes themselves are filmed and live-streamed from a Manhattan studio. And there is a catch: camera placement usually allows only one rider seated near the instructor to be seen by those following along at home. Once Mr. Holcman realized it, he knew he had to have that seat. “I’m living my best life on this bike,” he said, adding that his drive stems partially from his daughters’ passion for pop music, his own experience DJ-ing bar mitzvahs and weddings, and from fond experiences taking dance classes as a youth. “It’s so surreal to see how the community has taken to me.” Some riders have turned to creative tactics to tune him out. Lauren Mencarini Essig, who rides her bike at home in Maryland, puts a Post-it Note on her Peloton monitor when she sees Mr. Holcman. It works for the most part, although the Post-it can end up obscuring the instructor when the camera angle switches. “I don’t want to get off the bike but I try not to watch him,” Ms. Essig said. Lauren Hynds, a rider in New Hampshire, suggested the company take a simple step: randomly assign bikes for those taking in-studio classes.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – AMBER ATHEY – White House correspondent, The Daily Caller

• WH Immigration Plan Will Focus On Border Security And Merit-Based Immigration
• More women donated to Trump than any Democratic candidate in Q1. 45.45% of his donors were women. Throughout the entire 2020 cycle, Trump has had more women donate to his campaign than all of the Democrats combined.

7am – B/C     ABORTION DEBATE HEATS UP:

• Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed legislation banning abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. Similar bans have been approved in Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio. The Georgia ACLU says the decision is illegal and will seek legal action. The move is seen by many as an effort to have court challenges to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision heard by the conservative Supreme Court majority.
• CNN Panel on Abortion Goes Completely Off the Rails: ‘That is a Lie!’ A CNN panel went completely off the rails on Monday night when Chris Cuomo, Christine Quinn and Rick Santorum ended up holding a three-way sparring match over abortion and women’s’ reproductive rights. Cuomo asked the panel for their thoughts about the controversial Heartbeat Abortion Bill that Governor Brian Kemp (R) just signed into law for Georgia. Quinn slammed the bill as a workaround to Roe V. Wade that amounts to a “clear attempt” to make abortion illegal. Santorum argued that states have the right to legally challenge the Supreme Court’s rulings, but eventually, he accused Quinn and Cuomo of “invalidating” the humanity of unborn children. When Cuomo tried bringing the discussion back to Roe V. Wade‘s interpretation for the rule of law, Santorum said “nine people shouldn’t make that decision for the rest of the country” which drew immediate objections from Cuomo and Quinn. Cuomo and Santorum proceeded to quarrel over Santorum saying “millions are dying” as a result of abortion, to which Quinn shot back and said, “That is a lie!” Quinn argued that the issue should be left between a mother and her doctor, and that led to more fights over the Supreme Court and when exactly a human embryo is recognized as a person with rights under the law.

7am – D         ‘CASE CLOSED’

• Mitch McConnell: ‘Case closed’ on Mueller report, urges Dems to move on
• “The case is not closed.” Nancy Pelosi responded to Mitch McConnell’s comments on the Mueller report
• Senate Democrats have a different take on the Mueller Report now that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said “case closed” during a floor speech on Tuesday. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says McConnell is afraid of the findings and is doing nothing legislatively to stop Russian interference in U.S. elections.

7am – E         DENVER SCHOOL SHOOTING:

• Colorado high school shooting leaves at least one dead, eight wounded; Two suspects in custody. (Fox News) — Two suspects were in custody Tuesday night after a shooting at a Colorado high school left at least one person dead and eight others injured, according to authorities. The suspects were identified as 18-year-old Devon Erickson and a juvenile accomplice. The shooting took place at a STEM school in Highlands Ranch, a Denver suburb only about 7 miles from Littleton, site of the infamous Columbine High School mass murder in 1999.The coroner has not officially identified the student who died, but said the victim was an 18-year-old male. Authorities said they believe both Erickson and the juvenile suspect were students of the school, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said at a news conference. Neither suspect was previously known to authorities, he added.
• Devon Erickson: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. (Heavy.com) – Devon Erickson, an 18-year-old high school student who has worked as a youth actor in Colorado, was identified by authorities as one of the two shooters accused of wounding nine students in a K-12 STEM school located in Douglas County. One of those students, 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, died in the attack. One shooter pulled a gun out of a guitar case in a classroom and opened fire, two parents whose children were in the school described to different media outlets. Although authorities had not yet named Kendrick Castillo, his father confirmed to NBC News that he was the student who died. A Telemundo correspondent reported that Castillo “died as a hero, faced the gunmen…seeking to save the lives of his companions.” Devon Erickson’s Facebook page says he lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. John Fenton, a news producer with CBS Denver, wrote that the “car towed from #stemshooting suspect’s home apparently has ‘F*** SOCIETY’ spray painted on the side. Also ‘666’ and a what looks like a pentagram sprayed on the hood.” The second suspect was not named, but The Denver Channel wrote that multiple sources say “the second suspect, who is a minor, is a transgender male who was in the midst of transitioning from female to male.” The motive, the station alleges, “went beyond bullying and involved revenge and anger towards others at the school,” adding that one suspect “was involved in legal and illegal drug use and had been in therapy.” Erickson’s social media pages show he is a fan of videogames, paintball, skateboarding, and The Walking Dead. His Facebook posts indicated that he was a guitar-playing youth theater actor who once sent his resume to TWD. His Instagram page highlights a more recent look that matches scanner dispatch reports that indicated a suspect had purple or pink hair (that’s the photo on left above). Asked on Instagram if he’d turned his hair blonde, he wrote, “it was purple then pink for a little too 😂.” On Twitter, he indicated, “I make music I guess.” He filled a YouTube channel with videos showing him singing cover songs and playing the guitar. That page gives his Snapchat account name as “devonkillz.” On social media, Devon Erickson, a registered Democrat, expressed hatred for some Christians, and shared posts criticizing Donald Trump and praising Barack Obama.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — ADAM KENNEDY – Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications at The White House

• CONTEMPT VOTE ON AG Barr — He can talk about the House Judiciary vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt.
• DON MCGAHN — White House sends letter to lawmakers, indicating that former White House counsel Don McGahn was instructed by White House not to comply with a subpoena from House Democrats for documents related to Mueller probe, until an agreement is reached.
• WH Immigration Plan Will Focus On Border Security And Merit-Based Immigration
• China threatened with tariff hike by week’s end. President Trump has threatened to hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent at the end of the week, as trade talks with China appeared to be stalling.

8am – B/C     UBER/LYFT STRIKE TODAY:

• Drivers for Lyft and Uber plan a Wednesday strike in 10 cities demanding better pay, job security and more benefits. And they seek potential ride-sharing passengers support to make their concerns seen by Uber and Lyft executives. The strike actions will set for  Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles and Boston, among others. As this takes place, Lyft executives released the company first earnings report showing a $1.14 billion loss for the first three months of the year.
• Uber and Lyft drivers in major U.S. cities are striking Wednesday over wages and working conditions. (Washington Post) — Getting an Uber or a Lyft may be impossible — or take longer and cost more — Wednesday when drivers for both companies plan to strike in major U.S. cities to protest what they say are unfair wages and poor working conditions. Thousands of drivers in at least eight cities — including Los Angeles, New York and Washington — are planning to shut off their apps and join rallies outside company headquarters and regional offices, according to labor organizers. The national day of action comes as Uber prepares for an initial public offering this week, just weeks after Lyft hit the public market. It is unclear how the labor action might affect travel, but experts say disruptions are likely in cities where the app-based rides have become a critical mode of transportation.
• This Virginia State Representative Says He Moonlights as a Lyft Driver. (Washingtonian) – Delegate Lee J. Carter represents Manassas City and part of Prince William County in the Virginia General Assembly. He’s the only Democratic Socialist member of the state legislature, and he says he supplements his $17,640 lawmaker salary by driving for Lyft. He plans to strike Wednesday with other Lyft and Uber drivers, who are calling for job security and fare regulation, among other demands. Lee J. Carter @carterforva Because of the low pay at the General Assembly, I’ve been driving for Lyft on the side to make ends meet. I’m striking on Wednesday with thousands of my fellow rideshare drivers.  Don’t cross the picket line. Don’t do it. Don’t cross the picket line. Just don’t. 11:46 AM – May 6, 2019
• Virginia State Lawmaker Makes So Little He Has to Drive Lyft to Supplement Income. (GritPost) — Virginia lawmaker Lee Carter (D-Manassas) is perhaps one of the most famous state legislators in the country. He’s also one of the approximately two million Americans who work part-time as a rideshare driver. Delegate Carter — an avowed socialist who defeated Virginia’s House Majority Whip in 2017 — has been profiled in both the New York Times and The Washington Post. He’s built an impressive online following in his two-year career as a public official, with more than 35,000 Twitter followers on his account (which is about 5,000 more than the Virginia Democratic Party’s verified account). However, as a Virginia lawmaker, Carter makes just $17,640/year, (just $1,470/month). To compare, the median income in Manassas, Virginia, which Carter represents, is $77,551/year ($6,462/month), according to Census records, meaning Carter’s annual salary as the city’s lawmaker in Richmond is roughly 22% of his district’s median income. When breaking down Carter’s legislative salary on a monthly basis and comparing it with the average monthly rent in Manassas of $1,494/month, Carter would have to spend 101.6% of his monthly income as a state legislator on an apartment, assuming he’s paying that much in rent. Naturally, this means Carter has a second job as a rideshare driver, along with around two million other Americans. Tech site CNet estimates there are around 1.4 million Lyft drivers in the U.S., along with around 750,000 Uber drivers. However, while the companies themselves are growing, the drivers are gradually making less and less. As Grit Post reported in September, Uber and Lyft drivers have seen their monthly incomes drop by an average of 53% over a four-year period, going from $1,469/month in 2013 to just $783/month in 2017. Delegate Carter tweeted that he would be participating in the upcoming nationwide rideshare driver strike, and called on his followers to not cross the picket line while drivers were striking. “Because of the low pay at the General Assembly, I’ve been driving for Lyft on the side to make ends meet,” Carter tweeted. “I’m striking on Wednesday with thousands of my fellow rideshare drivers. Don’t cross the picket line.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW — SEAN SPICER – Senior Advisor & Spokesman, America First Action, former White House Press Secretary and host of “Everythings Going To Be Alright” podcast. Seanspicer.com

• Sean Spicer joins the CVS receipt challenge revival and shows off his 5ft-length ‘waste’ before asking the internet: ‘What’s the longest one you’ve gotten?’ (Daily Mail) — Receipts from CVS drug stores are so long that they nearly surpass the height of a former White House press secretary. Sean Spicer, who was President Trump’s top spokesperson during his first six months in office, took the ‘CVS receipt challenge,’ the competition that has gone viral on social media. ‘I’ve gotten some long @cvspharmacy receipts but I’m 5’6” (I know, you thought I was taller) and this one is almost as tall as I am,’ Spicer wrote on his Instagram page. ‘What’s the longest one you’ve gotten?’ The image next to the caption shows a smiling Spicer holding a receipt that begins at the height of his shoulders and runs downward toward the ground. Social media users posted photos of their receipts, some of them run a few feet.
• House Dems to hold contempt vote on Barr.