Cal Thomas, White House’s Adam Kennedy, Mollie Hemingway, Carrie Severino, Daily Caller’s Henry Rodgers joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C PLANNED PARENTHOOD HEAD FIRED

• Planned Parenthood Has Ousted Its President, Leana Wen, Amid A Dispute Over The Organization’s Direction (Buzzfeed) — Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen, the first physician to head the women’s health care group in 50 years, said she was removed from her position by the organization’s board “at a secret meeting,” capping months of internal concerns over her management style and a perceived shift away from the group’s political work. Wen attributed her departure to “philosophical differences over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood,” she said in a tweet on Tuesday. She was in the position for less than a year. “I believe that the best way to protect abortion care is to be clear that it is not a political issue but a health care one,” Wen wrote in a statement about her sudden termination.
• Fmr Planned Parenthood head learned about her termination after a “secret meeting” that she wasn’t invited to. In short, she was fired without any knowledge of wrongdoing or diminished job performance.
• Dr. Leana Wen: Moments ago, I learned that the Planned Parenthood Board terminated my employment at a secret Board meeting to which I was not invited. The Board Chair and I had been engaged in good faith negotiation about my departure based on philosophical differences over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood. I will issue a full statement shortly.
• BUZZFEED: Under Wen’s short tenure, Planned Parenthood’s fundraising saw a significant decline without Richards at the helm. Planned Parenthood repeatedly asserted that it was not changing direction under Wen, and Schifeling and Wallace both said their departures were unrelated to any shift at the organization under her leadership. In response to BuzzFeed News’ reporting, Wen insisted in a series of tweets that Planned Parenthood’s “core mission is providing, protecting and expanding access to abortion and reproductive health care” and that the organization would “never back down from that fight.” During the beginning of Wen’s tenure at Planned Parenthood, the staff she brought with her distributed a 182-page handbook on rules and tips for staffing Wen. The “Special Assistant Guide” from the Baltimore City Health Department, according to a copy obtained by BuzzFeed News, details guidelines on timeliness (“Nothing can fall through the cracks”), office demeanor (“Make sure to frequently look up [from Twitter] and make eye contact with Dr. Wen to see if she is trying to communicate urgent information”), language use (“Dr. Wen ‘learns’ not ‘hears’”). and correspondence (“Try not to look at emails more than once. Take care of it then”).

5am – D WARREN GAINING MOMENTUM IN 2020 RACE:

• Peter Thiel: Elizabeth Warren Scares Me The Most, She’s The Dangerous One (RealClearPolitics) — Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel said the Democratic presidential candidate he most fears is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). In an interview with FNC’s Tucker Carlson, the billionaire investor called Warren “dangerous” and the only candidate talking about the economy.
  • TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS: I assume you’re watching the Democratic primaries unfold; who’s the most impressive candidate in that race, do you think?
  • PETER THIEL: Well, I’m most scared by Elizabeth Warren. You know, I think she’s the one who’s actually talking about the economy, which is the only thing that I think — the thing that I think matters by far the most.
• California Poll: Elizabeth Warren Surges Past Kamala Harris, Joe Biden in Golden State (Breitbart) — A California poll of Democrat primary voters in the state has Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) surging past favorite daughter Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and former Vice President Joe Biden in the Golden State ahead of the second debates upcoming at the end of July. The tracking survey of 4,050 respondents, conducted by Capitol Weekly, has Warren at 24.8 percent in California, while Harris is at 20.3 percent and Biden is at 19.6 percent. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is at 15.6 percent and South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg is down at 7.7 percent. The only other candidate to break the 2 percent threshold, at 2.4 percent, is former Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke (D-TX).

5am – E Alyssa Milano raises eyebrows after announcing which candidate’s fundraiser she’ll be attending (Fox News) — Actress and political activist Alyssa Milano raised some eyebrows on Tuesday evening after she announced she’d be attending her first fundraiser of the 2020 election cycle. Milano, who in recent months has been vocal in her opposition against the legislation that was signed into law in several states that restricting abortions, took to Twitter and unveiled her upcoming plans. “I’m going to my first fundraiser of the election cycle and it’s for- [spiritual guru] @marwilliamson,” Milano told her 3.6 million Twitter followers. “I know. I know. But she’s the only candidate talking about the collective, soulful ache of the nation & I think that’s an important discussion to have.” Milano stressed that she was “not committing to anyone yet,” adding that she’s “going to support everyone if given the opportunity until the choice is crystal clear.” The “Charmed” actress was slammed being open to support Marianne Williamson, who critics labeled an “anti-vaxxer” due to her opposition for government-mandated vaccinations. She dismissed the naysayers and responded positively to other Twitter users, agreeing with one that Williamson “does” have “some points.”

6am – A/B/C Dem-led House formally condemns Trump’s ‘racist’ remarks after floor battle involving Pelosi erupts (Fox News) — The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday evening condemning President Trump’s “racist” remarks against the “squad” of progressive freshman Democratic lawmakers this past weekend. However, the formal condemnation of Trump was arguably overshadowed by a floor fight earlier in the day that ended with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ruled out of order for a breach of decorum for calling tube president a racist on the House floor. The unexpected mayhem in Congress, which briefly resulted in the revocation of Pelosi’s speaking privileges on the House floor, left commentators and lawmakers stunned. The final resolution passed by a vote of 240-187. All Democrats voted yea, with a handful of Republicans joining them: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Will Hurd, Fred Upton and Susan Brooks. Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who recently left the Republican Party after calling for Trump’s impeachment, also voted yes. The rest of the Republicans voted no. Trump’s remarks initially appeared to have united the Democratic Party when it was struggling with a public feud between Pelosi and the “squad” – Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley. But a CBS News interview with the four congresswomen suggested that hard feelings still remain.

6am – D INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – syndicated columnist

• Cal Thomas: Apollo 11 landed on the moon 50 years ago, but it was worth more than nostalgia (Fox News) — You had to be there 50 years ago, and I was. As a young reporter for a local TV station in Houston, I frequently visited NASA (“the space base,” we dubbed it), met many of the astronauts and reported on their exploits. Along with people from around the world, I watched the lunar landing on television, July 20, 1969, fulfilling President Kennedy’s goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of that decade. A new, three-part PBS documentary, “Chasing the Moon,” recalls the American space program, which followed the Russian launch of the first satellite in 1957. It is a brilliant film, created and directed by Robert Stone, and a useful reminder for the two generations born since then of what a united America can achieve.
• Justice John Paul Stevens, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by Republican President Gerald Ford in 1975 in the wake of Watergate and stepped down almost 35 years later as a leader for the liberal side of the bench, has died. He was 99.

6am – E Ugly is in: How Crocs have taken over teen footwear, and sent the stock soaring (CNBC) — Bibiane Huang has a pair of Crocs for every day of the week. The 16-year-old from San Francisco got her first pair when she was five, featuring a very cool “Dora the Explorer” print. But last year, she started searching for comfy shoes that she could easily wear before and after swimming practices, and found a pair of green hand-me-downs in Crocs’ classic clog style. “I would wear Crocs every day, and then people started laughing at me!” she recalled. “But then people started to notice me. And then everyone started wearing Crocs.” Now, Huang proudly owns seven pairs in a rainbow of colors, and is far from the exception. She estimates that more than half of the girls in her school also have a pair of what Time Magazine once called one of the “worst inventions. Crocs is the 13th most popular footwear brand among average-income female teenagers, according to Piper Jaffray’s spring survey. It grew from 30th in 2017, although last year it was ranked 12th. On Monday, the company’s stock was upgraded to overweight from neutral by the bank, citing “solid traffic during the summer season.” The analysts were also excited about Crocs’ collaboration with Vera Bradley, which sold out on both companies’ websites. They boosted Crocs’ price target to $27 from $22, sending shares up more than 6% in trading Monday to above $22.

6am – F Biden says if Trump challenges his mental state he’ll challenge him to a push-up contest (Fox News) — Presidential candidate Joe Biden said he would challenge President Trump to a push-up contest on-air if the commander-in-chief questions his physical or mental faculties on the 2020 debate stage. Biden appeared on “Morning Joe” for a Tuesday interview with co-host Mika Brzezinski and said he would immediately retaliate if Trump started poking fun at his behavior. “I would say, come on Donald, come on, man. How many push-ups do you want to do here, pal? I mean jokingly,” Biden said. “You know, come on, run with me, man. it’s like I was in a parade in Independence, Missouri. And I always run in parades… and a fellow from Independence who was a Trump supporter said, ‘hey sleepy Joe!’ I said, come run with me, Jack. Come on man!”

7am – A ‘The Squad’ revives feud with Pelosi: Be aware when you ‘single us out’ that we’re ‘women of color’ (Fox News) — The four progressive congresswomen who are currently in a nasty feud with President Trump offered a not-so-subtle warning to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, the next time she “singles them out.” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass, often referred to as “The Squad,” sat down with “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King on Tuesday as the House voted to formally condemn Trump over tweets that Democrats labeled as racist. King asked the congresswomen if they’ve been in contact with Pelosi. “Our teams are in communication,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. “But shouldn’t you be meeting face-to-face?” King asked. “She’s the new member, not the speaker,” Tlaib interjected. “She has every right to sit down with her at any moment, any time with any of us. She is Speaker of the House. She can ask for a meeting to sit down with us for clarification.” Tlaib continued, “Acknowledge the fact that we are women of color, so when you do single us out, be aware of that and what you’re doing, especially because some of us are getting death threats, because some of us are being singled out because of our backgrounds, because of our experiences and so forth.” King followed up with Ocasio-Cortez, asking if she was “interested in having a conversation” with Pelosi, which Ocasio-Cortez responded, “Absolutely.” Last week, the four congresswomen had an ongoing public spat with Pelosi, which got very heated after Ocasio-Cortez suggested that the speaker was “singling out” them because they were “women of color.” Pelosi previously dismissed their vocal opposition to the House’s approval for border funding.

7am – B/C ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• Chris Pratt is facing criticism over a T-shirt he was pictured wearing featuring a controversial symbol. (Yahoo) – The Marvel star’s top shows the American flag with a coiled snake over the top and a message underneath which reads “Don’t Tread On Me.” The writing and snake combo on its own is depicted on the Gadsden flag; a symbol created by Christopher Gadsden, a Charleston-born brigadier general in the Continental Army. It came to prominence during the Revolutionary War of the US by colonists who wanted independence from Great Britain. Although it is one of the symbols and flags used by the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team, Metallica, as well as some libertarian groups, over the years the flag has been adopted by Far Right political groups like the Tea Party, as well as gun-toting supporters of the Second Amendment. It has therefore become a symbol of more conservative and far right individuals and, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the US, it also is “sometimes interpreted to convey racially-tinged messages in some contexts.” It’s why some people are critical of Pratt wearing a T-shirt featuring the Gadsden flag iconography.
• Hugh Grant on Why He Would Kill Social Media if He Could. (Variety) – Hugh Grant has been very active in U.K. press reform initiatives, but he knows the problem is even bigger than the media moguls who control the world’s major news outlets. That’s why Hacked Off, the campaign he’s involved with, is also expanding its scope to include the impact of online propaganda “It’s particularly terrifying, the triumph of technology over democracy,” Grant told Variety‘s “My Favorite Episode” podcast. “You realize, Trump couldn’t have happened without Facebook manipulation, and Brexit couldn’t have happened without it. It’s all the ability now, people with enough money and resources, to manipulate swing voters through very highly tailored Facebook ads.” Grant’s solution: “I would just pull the plug on social media,” he said. “I look at the pluses and minuses, and to me the minuses way outweigh the pluses. We had perfectly decent lives before social media. At the very minimum, I would take away anonymity from social media posts.”

7am – D INTERVIEW – ADAM KENNEDY – Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications at The White House – discussed President Trump sparring with The Squad.

7am – E 1.4 million people have signed up to storm Area 51. What could go wrong? Please don’t attempt to raid Nevada to ‘see them aliens’ as part of the internet’s joke du jour, the US air force will not be amused. (The Guardian) — Urban legend has it that Area 51 is a weird place. Yet even if the conspiracy theories are true and the Nevada air force facility harbors extraterrestrial technology and/or life, it would still barely qualify as being weirder than the internet where, early this month the anonymous users behind a Facebook meme page proposed a jaunty group invasion of the restricted compound. In a Facebook event titled “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us,” the creators explain: “We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry. If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Let’s see them aliens.” The “naruto run” part of this call to action refers to the particular, oft-memed, ostrich-like sprint of a popular Japanese anime character. Their plan, scheduled for the wee hours of 20 September, has gained momentum; 1.4 million people have RSVP’d as “attending” the raid, while 1.1 million more are “interested”.

8am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – MOLLIE HEMINGWAY and CARRIE SEVERINO – authors of new book “Justice on Trial” – discussed their new book.

• ‘Justice on Trial’, reached number 1 on Amazon’s New Releases list, number 1 on Amazon’s non-fiction book list
• New Book On Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Has Incendiary Allegations About Christine Blasey Ford. In “Justice on Trial” authors Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino say unnamed peers accused Ford of drinking to excess and accosting boys with some regularity as a student at the Holton-Arms School, a contrast with press accounts that cast her as innocent and naive during that period. Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a 1982 house party in suburban Maryland when they were high school students.

8am – D INTERVIEW – HENRY RODGERS – Capitol Hill Reporter for The Daily Caller @henryrodgersdc

• Dem-led House formally condemns Trump’s ‘racist’ remarks after floor battle involving Pelosi erupts (Fox News) — The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday evening condemning President Trump’s “racist” remarks against the “squad” of progressive freshman Democratic lawmakers this past weekend. However, the formal condemnation of Trump was arguably overshadowed by a floor fight earlier in the day that ended with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ruled out of order for a breach of decorum for calling tube president a racist on the House floor. The unexpected mayhem in Congress, which briefly resulted in the revocation of Pelosi’s speaking privileges on the House floor, left commentators and lawmakers stunned. The final resolution passed by a vote of 240-187. All Democrats voted yea, with a handful of Republicans joining them: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Will Hurd, Fred Upton and Susan Brooks.