Michael Rubin, Jessica Vaughan, Raheem Kassam and Elizabeth Schultz joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C  Rashida Tlaib: The federal minimum wage ‘should be $20 an hour’ (Washington Examiner) — Rep. Rashida Tlaib said the federal minimum wage should be raised to $20 an hour. “Big fights like this one, $15. When we started it, it should have been $15,” the Michigan Democrat said in a video posted by America Rising on Monday. “Now I think it should be $20 … It should be $20 an hour. $18-20 an hour.” Tlaib said the higher minimum was because the cost of “a lot of things” has gone up.

5am – D   Trump, congressional leaders clinch sweeping deal on budget and debt ceiling (CNN) — President Donald Trump and bipartisan congressional leaders clinched a sweeping two-year budget agreement that would produce hundreds of billions in new spending and take the threat of a fiscal crisis off of Washington’s plate for more than two years. The deal, which came together in a burst of urgency during a period of two weeks amid a steady stream of phone calls Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, would eliminate — for good — the budget caps put into place in 2011 and suspend the debt ceiling until July 31, 2021. “I am pleased to announce that a deal has been struck with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy – on a two-year Budget and Debt Ceiling, with no poison pills,” Trump tweeted shortly after congressional leaders signed off on the final agreement in a Monday evening conference call. “This was a real compromise in order to give another big victory to our Great Military and Vets!”

5am – E   Behind Pence’s Air Force Two cancellation: A drug dealer (Politico) — Vice President Mike Pence was one short plane ride away from shaking hands with an alleged interstate drug dealer. Pence abruptly canceled his trip to Manchester, N.H., earlier this month but never said why he was pulled from Air Force Two at the last minute. The vice president’s aides and even President Donald Trump himself kept up the suspense. “You’ll know in about two weeks,” Trump told reporters at the time. “There was a very interesting problem that they had in New Hampshire.” Among the problems was a federal law enforcement probe involving individuals Pence would likely encounter, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the incident. If Pence stepped off the vice presidential aircraft, one of the people he would have seen on the ground was under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration for moving more than $100,000 of fentanyl from Massachusetts to New Hampshire.

6am – A   No cooperation with ICE: Montgomery’s new ban is strongest in D.C. region (Washington Post) — Government agencies in Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction are now banned from cooperating with federal immigration raids or investigations, in what advocates say is the strongest action taken in support of undocumented immigrants in the Washington region. Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) on Monday signed the Promoting Community Trust Executive Order, prohibiting all executive-branch departments from, among other things, using local government resources to assist federal agents in civil immigration investigations. That means they cannot allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers into nonpublic spaces in government buildings or give them access to individuals in county government custody — unless they are in possession of a court order or criminal warrant.

6am – B/C   Macy’s Pulls Plates with ‘Mom Jeans’ vs ‘Skinny Jeans’ Portion Sizes After Backlash (People) — A line of decorative plates has been pulled from Macy’s stores after the company received complaints that they conveyed a body shaming message. The controversial plates had a diagram written on top with portion sizes measured as either “skinny jeans,” “favorite jeans” or “mom jeans.” Alie Ward, a writer and podcast host, ignited the conversation after she tagged Macy’s in a tweet on Sunday. “How can I get these plates from @Macys banned in all 50 states,” she wrote beside a photo she took of the dishes in a display at the Macy’s flagship store in New York City.  “Macy’s just casually promoting eating disorders and body shaming,” one Twitter user responded to Ward. “MOM JEANS FOREVER.” Within hours, Macy’s had reached out to Ward on Twitter, letting her know that they would be pulling the product as soon as possible. “Hi, Alie — we appreciate you sharing this with us and agree that we missed the mark on this product,” Macy’s wrote. “It will be removed from all STORY at Macy’s locations.”

6am – D/E   TRUMP MEETS WITH PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: Trump Offers to Mediate Kashmir Conflict, but India Demurs (Wall Street Journal) – The comments come as Pakistan’s leader visits White House and Washington presses for truce in Afghanistan. President Trump offered to help mediate the long-running Kashmir conflict in a White House meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, briefly raising the prospect of a substantial shift in the U.S. role in the conflict before India swiftly rejected it.    

6am – F   Anthony Weiner moves back in with Huma Abedin (Washington Examiner) — Former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, a registered sex offender, has moved back in with his estranged wife, Huma Abedin. Weiner, 54, over the weekend was spotted moving into the Manhattan home of Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton in the Senate, as secretary of state, and through her 2016 presidential race, the Daily Mail reported. The reconciliation comes after Weiner completed his 21-month sentence behind bars for sexting with a 15-year-old girl. He quit Congress abruptly in 2011 after sex-laden texts, with adult women, were exposed. Weiner had been a Democratic rising star and strong contender for New York City mayor.

7am – A   INTERVIEW – MICHAEL RUBIN – Resident Scholar at American Enterprise Institute, former Pentagon official and author of “Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes” – analyzed President Trump and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting in the Oval Office on Monday.

7am – B/C   FAIRFAX COUNTY SCHOOL BOUNDARIES DEBATE:  The county wants new school boundaries to consider social, economic and race characteristics of students. Standing room for heated school board meeting on proposal to change school boundary policy (WJLA) — More than a dozen parents were left outside the Fairfax County Public Schools board work session, on Monday night, as a debate heats up. “I think the temperature inside this room is a little hot and it’s not because of the temperature (outside),” Jim Trollinger said. There were dozens of protesters inside the meeting. Others were left waiting outside, as the board discussed a proposal to change the county’s boundary policy. “The school board has a history of doing things behind the scenes,” Trollinger said. “If they change the boundaries, it would absolutely affect my children because they would probably be taken out of their community schools,” Lauren Timmins said. Despite parents’ skepticism, school officials are trying to reassure everyone that they will be transparent if any changes are made. “The current review of the boundary policy is part of an overall strategy to address growth in the county and overcrowding in several schools,” spokesman John Torre said.

7am – D   INTERVIEW – JESSICA VAUGHAN – Director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, DC

• Top Dem Think Tank Warns Party: You’re Losing Immigration Messaging War to Trump. (The Daily Beast) — Tom Jawetz, vice president of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, writes supporters of humane immigration policy “have ceded powerful rhetorical ground to immigration restrictionists, who are happy to masquerade as the sole defenders of America as a nation of laws.” Jawetz—a former immigration attorney and chief counsel on the Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, differentiates “the rule of law” and Trump’s “law and order” rhetoric, calling the latter “an enforcement-heavy vision of social control that is generally used as a racially coded dog whistle.” For Democrats to achieve a fair and functional immigration system, they have to patch the immigration system’s fragmented legal framework, Jawetz writes—instead of “relying increasingly upon administrative discretion to save the system from itself.”
• Trump administration to expand its power to deport undocumented immigrants (Washington Post) — The Trump administration on Tuesday will significantly expand its power to quickly deport undocumented immigrants who have illegally entered the United States within the past two years, using a fast-track deportation process that bypasses immigration judges. Officials are calling the new strategy, which will take effect immediately, a “necessary response” to the influx of Central Americans and others at the southern border. It will allow immigration authorities to quickly remove immigrants from anywhere they encounter them across the United States, and they expect the approach will help alleviate the nation’s immigration-court backlog and free up space in Immigration and Customs Enforcement jails.

7am – E   Marianne Williamson says she wants a ‘Department of Peace’ as POTUS (Fox News) — Spiritual guru and 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson called for a “Department of Peace” during her Monday night appearance on “The Late Show.” “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert asked the “Politics of Love” author if she is would order others to “kill our enemies” as president, which she responded, “absolutely.” “I think that when you take an oath of office of the president of the United States, part of that oath means that you are commander in chief,” Williamson explained. “But I think if you’re going to talk about peace, you can’t just back up into peace… My critique of our national security agenda is not a critique of the military. It’s a critique of the politicians who have based our national security agenda as much on short-term profit maximization for defense contractors as it has on any agenda for creating peace. When was the last time you heard a politician talking about peace on this planet in 20 years? That’s why I want a Department of Peace.”

8am – A   INTERVIEW – RAHEEM KASSAM – Editor-in-Chief of Human Events and former chief advisor to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage – discussed Boris Johnson winning the seat for Britain’s prime minister.

• Boris Johnson wins race to be Britain’s next leader (Edition) — Frontrunner Boris Johnson has defeated rival Jeremy Hunt in the contest to replace Theresa May as Conservative party leader and as Britain’s prime minister. In his victory speech, Johnson said he would prove his critics wrong and deliver Brexit, then summed up his strategy as: “Dude, we’re going to energize the country.” May will step down as prime minister on Wednesday and Johnson will take the reins. The biggest task for Johnson will be to take Britain out of the EU, but his hardline strategy has plenty of critics.

8am – B/C  Tom Brady ripped for cliff diving with young daughter. The Rock says it gave him ‘anxiety’ (USA TODAY) — A cliff jump by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his 6-year-old daughter was either an exhilarating adventure or an “irresponsible” parenting decision, depending on who watched the footage. Brady shared a video on Instagram of himself and daughter Vivian leaping from a cliff in Costa Rica during a recent vacation. He captioned the post, “If Vivi is going to be an Olympic champion one day, it probably won’t be in synchronized diving.” He added, “Daddy always gives her a 10 though!” In the video, Brady asks his daughter, “Ready?” The two hold hands and Brady counts to three; Vivian hesitates before he jumps, and his daughter is pulled in after him.

8am – D   INTERVIEW – Elizabeth Schultz – a Springfield District member of the Fairfax County School Board in Virginia – discussed the heated debate about Fairfax County’s potential school boundary changes.