Rebecca Kiessling, Saagar Enjeti, Jonathan Schanzer, Mark Krikorian and Seth Barron joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C PREVIEW: Trump’s new immigration plan emphasizes skills and education over family connections. (CNBC) – President Donald Trump will unveil a sweeping new proposal Thursday designed to move the United States from a family based immigration system to what senior administration officials describe as an employment- and skill-based system. The proposal includes two parts – a physical infrastructure component that would include border wall construction and be financed by new fees on trade collected at the border, and a revamped points system for those applying for U.S. citizenship. Briefing reporters in the Roosevelt Room ahead of the president’s announcement Thursday, senior administration officials described a system for new arrivals that they said would be more fair and clear and also would significantly shift the population receiving American citizenship toward a much more highly educated, higher-income group. “We want to change the composition of who is coming through,” a senior administration official said. The plan is designed to give Republicans a positive proposal they can pitch on the campaign trail and in negotiations with Democrats, although Trump officials acknowledge that it is not likely to become law as is. Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, pitched the plan to Republican senators behind closed doors Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

5am – D         Selena Gomez: ‘Social media has been terrible for my generation’ (The Guardian) — The actor and singer told Cannes film festival that it was ‘impossible’ to make the online platforms safe. Selena Gomez has spoken out against the “devastating” effects of social media on young people, arguing that its emergence has been “terrible for my generation”. The singer and actor, who with more than 150 million followers is one of the world’s most popular figures on Instagram, said at a press conference for her new zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die that it had become “impossible at this point” to make social media platforms safe for users, and called on young people to take a break from social media if they were feeling overwhelmed. “For my generation specifically, social media has been terrible,” Gomez said. “I understand that it’s amazing to use as a platform but it does scare me when you see how exposed these young girls and boys are. I think it’s dangerous for sure.” When asked whether as one of the most prominent social media figures she had a responsibility in making platforms safer, the 26-year-old said that it was “impossible to make it safe at this point. I’m grateful I have a platform. I don’t do a lot of pointless pictures. For me, I like to be intentional with it. I see these young girls … I’ll meet them at meet-and-greets, and they’re just devastated by bullying and not having a voice. “I would be careful and allow yourself some time limits of when you should use it,” she advised. Directed by auteur Jim Jarmusch, The Dead Don’t Die stars Gomez, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny and Adam Driver and tells the story of a picturesque American town that becomes overrun with zombies after “polar fracking” tilts Earth off its axis.

5am – E         Alabama governor signs near-total abortion ban. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey just signed the state’s controversial near-total abortion ban. The new law is the most restrictive anti-abortion measure passed in the United States since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. The legislation — House Bill 314, “Human Life Protection Act” — bans all abortions in the state except when “abortion is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk” to the woman, according to the bill’s text. It criminalizes the procedure, reclassifying abortion as a Class A felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison for doctors. Attempted abortions will be reclassified as a Class C penalty. The legislation makes no exceptions for victims or rape or incest. “Today, I signed into law the Alabama Human Life Protection Act,” Ivey wrote in a statement Wednesday evening. “To the bill’s many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians’ deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God.”

6am – A/B/C Comey And Brennan Appear At Odds Over Who Pushed To Include Dossier In Intel Report. (Daily Caller/Chuck Ross) — A potential rift is emerging between James Comey and John Brennan over who pushed to include information from the unverified Steele dossier in an intelligence community assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Comey, a former FBI director, sent an email to subordinates in late 2016 indicating Brennan, a former CIA director, wanted to include materials from the dossier in the intelligence community assessment, known as the ICA, Fox News reported. A former CIA official speaking on Brennan’s behalf is disputing the assertion. The former official told Fox that Brennan and James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence, opposed Comey’s push to include Steele dossier information in the ICA. The dispute pits two former intelligence community officials against each other at a time when the Justice Department is investigating how government agencies like the FBI and CIA handled the dossier, which former British spy Christopher Steele authored and the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee funded. Republicans have accused the FBI of relying too heavily on the dossier in the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. The special counsel’s report all but debunked Steele’s core allegation of a “well-developed conspiracy” between the Trump team and Kremlin.

• ON MONDAY: Trey Gowdy Offers Tip To Republicans: ‘Look For Emails Between Brennan And Comey’
• Ex-FBI lawyer: Officials were ‘quite worried’ Comey appeared to be blackmailing Trump with dossier. Former FBI general counsel James Baker said this week that he and other officials were “quite worried” that former FBI Director James Comey appeared to be blackmailing then President-elect Trump during a 2017 meeting regarding salacious allegations found in the Steele dossier.
• Trey Gowdy says John Brennan in more dossier peril than James Comey
• GOWDY: FBI CITED ARTICLES AND INFO FROM CLINTON ALLY TO CORROBORATE STEELE DOSSIER

6am – D         INTERVIEW – REBECCA KIESSLING — attorney, was a child conceived in rape, prolife speaker and president of “Save The 1” – shared her thoughts on the Alabama abortion law. https://rebeccakiessling.com

• Alabama governor signs near-total abortion ban. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey just signed the state’s controversial near-total abortion ban. The new law is the most restrictive anti-abortion measure passed in the United States since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. The legislation — House Bill 314, “Human Life Protection Act” — bans all abortions in the state except when “abortion is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk” to the woman, according to the bill’s text. It criminalizes the procedure, reclassifying abortion as a Class A felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison for doctors. Attempted abortions will be reclassified as a Class C penalty. The legislation makes no exceptions for victims or rape or incest.

6am – E         New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announces he will run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, joining a crowded field that now numbers 23. He announced on YouTube Thursday morning that he will seek the Democrat nomination for president in 2020, saying President Trump “must be stopped.” De Blasio has also been a strong critic of President Donald Trump’s. Ahead of his announcement, he held a news conference about an anti-pollution law in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City. Trump supporters heckled de Blasio with signs and chanted as he said he was putting the president on notice.

6am – F         BETO LIVESTREAM HAIRCUT:

• Internet cringes as Beto O’Rourke livestreams his haircut
• Beto livestreams his own haircut on day after lamenting image of ‘privilege’

7am – A         INTERVIEW – SAAGAR ENJETI – Chief Washington Correspondent & Host at The Hill — dicussed the White House rejecting Nadler’s demands for records and previewed President Trump’s immigration speech.

7am – B/C     Boston Accent Ranked Second Sexiest in America, Survey Says. (NBC Boston) — The sexiest — and least sexy — accents in the United States have been ranked, and Boston fared surprisingly well. In a survey run by travel company Big 7 across its 1.5 million social media followers, the Boston accent was ranked the second sexiest in the country. “One of America’s most imitated and parodied accents, Boston almost comes out on top of the country’s sexiest accents. And yes, just like Mahhhhk Wahlberg, locals really do say ‘pahk yuh cahr in hahvuhd yahd’.” Big 7 said in its rankings. Other New England accents that made the list included Maine (4th), Connecticut (22nd) and Providence (38th).

“Want to talk Rhode Island? The Boston-meets-Brooklyn accent is hard to mimic, but clearly distinct. Listen to any episode of Jersey Shore with Pauly D and you’ll understand instantly what it sounds like,” Big 7 said. The Texan accent was voted the most desirable, with New York (3rd) and Chicago (5th) rounding out the top five.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – JONATHAN SCHANZER – a former terrorism-finance analyst for the US Department of the Treasury, is senior vice president at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.  @Jschanzer

• US pulls ‘non-emergency staff’ from Iraq as Iran tensions mount. (BBC) – The US state department has ordered the departure of “non-emergency employees” from Iraq, amid rising tensions between the US and Iraq’s neighbour Iran. Staff at the embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Irbil must leave as soon as possible on commercial transport. Meanwhile, the German and Dutch armies have suspended training Iraqi soldiers. The US military said on Tuesday that the threat level in the Middle East had been raised in response to intelligence about Iran-backed forces in the region.
• Rolling Stone headline: The Trump Administration Is Thirsty for War, Intelligence Be Damned
• Iran Threat Debate Is Set Off by Images of Missiles at Sea. (NY Times) — WASHINGTON — The intelligence that caused the White House to escalate its warnings about a threat from Iran came from photographs of missiles on small boats in the Persian Gulf that were put on board by Iranian paramilitary forces, three American officials said. Overhead imagery showed fully assembled missiles, stoking fears that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps would fire them at United States naval ships. Additional pieces of intelligence picked up threats against commercial shipping and potential attacks by Arab militias with Iran ties on American troops in Iraq. But just how alarmed the Trump administration should be over the new intelligence is a subject of fierce debate among the White House, the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and America’s allies.
• Trump rips ‘Fake News’ over reports of White House discord on Middle East Policy. (Fox News) — President Trump on Wednesday trashed the Washington Post and the New York Times for reporting on alleged White House infighting over the administration’s policy on the Middle East. Trump, in a tweet, denied that there was infighting between his staff as tensions escalate with Iran – saying that opinions may differ, but that he is the person who makes the final decisions.  “The Fake News Washington Post, and even more Fake News New York Times, are writing stories that there is infighting with respect to my strong policy in the Middle East,” Trump tweeted. “There is no infighting whatsoever.”

7am – E         PRESIDENT TRUMP SPEAKS AT POLICE MEMORIAL SERVICE AND BARR TROLLS NANCY:

• President Trump honors fallen officers at police memorial service. WASHINGTON — President Trump honored fallen officers and voiced his continued support for law enforcement Wednesday during the annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service. Trump also had harsh words for offenders who kill officers saying they should “immediately with trial get the death penalty,” CBS News reports. He also spent part of his speech criticizing the nation’s immigration laws, saying they allow illegal immigrants enter the U.S. and commit crimes.   The president is no stranger to backing the blue. He’s voiced his support for law enforcement and frequently holds and attends events for those who protect communities nationwide.
• ABOUT OFFICER SINGH: Ronil Singh was an American police officer who was shot and killed in December 2018 in Newman, California by a driver he had pulled over on suspicion of driving while drunk. Singh grew up in the town of Naitata, Navua, Fiji.[1] He emigrated to California in 2003 with his family. He attended police academy and joined the Newman, California Police Department in 2011. He was shot by a motorist whom he had pulled over because he appeared to be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The shooter drove off and was captured after a 55-hour manhunt.[6] He was arrested as he attempted to flee across the border to his home country of Mexico.
• AG William Barr Teases Pelosi About Bringing ‘Handcuffs’ to D.C. Event. Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday jokingly asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) if she brought her “handcuffs” in an apparent reference to the Democrat leader insinuating she could put him and other Trump Cabinet members in jail. Fox News producer Jake Gibson, citing a source close to Barr, said the Justice Department head approached Pelosi during the National Peace Officers Memorial Service on Capitol Hill and “asked if she had brought her handcuffs,” sparking laughter between the two.
• ABC Congressional & White House Reporter John R Parkinson @jparkABC: 14h14 hours ago: Source confirms AG Barr approached @SpeakerPelosi at National Peace Officers Memorial Service, shook her hand + said loudly “Madam Speaker, did you bring your handcuffs?” Pelosi smiled and indicated to Barr the House Sergeant at Arms was present should an arrest be necessary.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — MARK KRIKORIAN – Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)

• PREVIEW: President Donald Trump will deliver an immigration speech on Thursday. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working to finalize a plan that focuses on border security and changes to the legal immigration system. Kushner presented the plan to senators on the Hill Tuesday.

8am – B/C     MUSIC NEWS:

• Mick Jagger, 75, shows off his iconic dance moves as he returns to Rolling Stones rehearsals just six weeks after heart surgery. The group cancelled 17 tour dates in the US after doctors found ‘something untoward’ during a routine scan in March. MICK Jagger showed off his signature dance moves today just six weeks after having open heart surgery. Last week The Sun exclusively revealed the Rolling Stones legend was cleared to tour again after having a replacement heart valve in early April. And the rock ‘n’ roll legend proved he’s back at his best as he shared a look at one of his high-octane rehearsals on Instagram. The clip showed Mick shaking his hips and strutting his stuff in a dance studio. The Paint It Black hitmaker’s video went down a storm with fans, who declared “the king is back” and referenced the Maroon 5 song “Moves Like Jagger”. The Sun revealed earlier this month that Mick, who was under doctors’ orders to rest, can now resume the Rolling Stones’ US tour.
• Britney Spears May Never Perform Again, Manager Says. “Let her be a civilian for a while,” Larry Rudolph tells Variety. “She’s given so much. Give her time.” (Variety) — Britney Spears’s longtime manager Larry Rudolph says the singer may never perform again. Speaking to TMZ, Rudolph said, “As the person who guides her career — based on the information I and all of the professionals who work with her are being told on a need-to-know basis — from what I have gathered it’s clear to me she should not be going back to do this Vegas residency, not in the near future and possibly never again.” Rudolph has managed Spears for most of her career, going back to her first album, “Baby… One More Time,” in 1999. “I’ve been with her for two-thirds of her life,” he tells Variety. “I look at her almost like I look at my own daughter. It’s very emotional for me … and really rough. Personally, I want for her to just find a peaceful, happy place — whatever that means for her. It’s not about a career anymore — it’s about life.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – SETH BARRON – associate editor of City Journal and project director of the NYC Initiative at the Manhattan Institute – discussed New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing his 2020 White House bid on Thursday morning.