Katie Phang, DC Police Chief Peter Newsham, Susan Ferrechio and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, July 26, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Waiter slammed for secretly serving virgin drinks to possibly pregnant woman who wanted alcohol. (Fox News) – A server started an intense debate when they secretly served a woman they thought was pregnant virgin drinks. Apparently, the server was waiting on a group of women and overheard one of them talking about being pregnant. When the group ordered drinks, the server decided to sneak virgin drinks to the one woman without informing her. YouGottaStopThat posted her story on Reddit, in a forum where users get to choose who was wrong in a situation. “I have waited tables for the last three years,” the story begins. “During my shift last night, a group of four women in their late 20s came in. They were a pleasure to have as customers. They ordered four of our house cocktails to start with and then went over the menu for their entrees.” “When I was on my way back to their booth with the drinks on a tray, I walked by the backside and overheard one of them talking about how she was 14 weeks along,” the poster continued. “When I rounded back, they were talking about the same topic and it was clear to me that she was pregnant.” At this point, it’s important to note that the waiter never confirmed that the woman was actually pregnant. “About five minutes later, they called me over again and asked for another round,” they continued. “At this point, I started getting concerned, but I took the order and cheerfully said I’d be right back. This time, I went to the bartender and asked him to make one of them a virgin cocktail. He was confused but since he’s a good friend of mine, I told him to just trust me.”

5am – D         Lieu Has A Theory On Why Mueller Walked Back Indictment Comments. (Talking Points Memo) — Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said that former special counsel Robert Mueller walked back his comments about indicting the President because he didn’t want to implicitly call Trump a “felon,” though that’s what Lieu thinks Mueller “actually believes.” During the hearing Wednesday, Lieu asked: “I’d like to ask you the reason, again, that you did not indict Donald Trump is because of the OLC opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting President?” Mueller responded, “that is correct.” Mueller cleaned up his answer in his second hearing before the House Intel Committee: “I want to go back to one thing that was said this morning by Mr. Lieu who said, and I quote, ‘you didn’t charge the president because of the OLC opinion.’ That is not the correct way to say it,” Mueller said. “As we say in the report and as I said at the opening, we did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime.” Lieu isn’t buying it. “I believe he fully understood my question,” Lieu told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday evening. “It was a logical extension of me getting him to establish the three elements of obstruction of justice were met and I think it’s what he actually believes. I think he may have walked it back because he understood that what that means is we got a felon in the White House and that’s what the hearing showed today, that Donald Trump committed multiple acts of obstruction of justice.”

5am – E         The House of Representatives has passed a two-year budget deal that would raise spending by hundreds of billions of dollars over existing caps and allow the government to keep borrowing to cover its debts. Only 65 Republicans joined the Democratic majority in the 284-149 vote, with 132 members of the GOP voting against the bill despite President Trump’s endorsement. The Senate is expected to approve the measure next week. 

6am – A/B/C Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Explains Why Interns Should Be Paid With More Than Experience. (Huffington Post) – The New York Democrat only needed five words to answer in a video she shared on National Intern Day. On National Intern Day, three of the four progressive congresswomen known as “the Squad” explained why it’s so important to pay interns.  “Today I was asked why we should bother paying interns if they’re ‘getting experience for their résumé,’” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted on Thursday.  To respond, she attached a NowThis video of her with Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) shouting, “Experience doesn’t pay the bills!” The video was filmed for Pay Our Interns, a nonprofit group that advocates for more paid internships in the government, for-profit and nonprofit sectors.   In September, Congress approved a spending package for the 2019 fiscal year that set aside about $14 million to pay congressional interns, the first time that the Hill allocated funds for paid internships. The House received about $8.8 million to distribute across lawmakers’ offices, and the Senate got $5 million. The appropriations bill added an average of $20,000 for each House member and $50,000 for each senator to pay interns. Last month, Pay Our Interns released the results of its House internship audit and found that only 9% of congressional offices advertise paid internships, while 61% advertise that they don’t offer paid internships.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – KATIE PHANG – NBC Legal Contributor, Trial Lawyer and a Partner at Berger Singerman, based in Miami, FL.

• Wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein was found on the floor of his jail cell with bruises on his neck early this week while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. It was not clear whether the injuries were self-inflicted or from an assault.  Several reports from local news outlets say that a former police officer now being held on drug and murder charges was questioned by investigators at the jail.
• Jeffrey Epstein Found Injured in NYC Jail Cell After Possible Suicide Attempt: Sources. (NBC New York) — Epstein was found semi-conscious with marks on his neck, sources said and investigators are trying to piece together exactly what happened. Accused pedophile and wealthy Manhattan financier Jeffrey Epstein was found injured and in a fetal position inside his cell at a New York City jail, according to sources close to the investigation. Epstein, who is being held in Metropolitan Correctional Center during his trial for conspiracy and sex trafficking, was found semi-conscious with marks on his neck, two sources told News 4. Investigators are trying to piece together exactly what happened, saying details remain murky. Two sources tell News 4 that Epstein may have tried to hang himself, while a third source cautioned that the injuries were not serious and questioned if Epstein might be using it as a way to get a transfer.

6am – E         Teens Attack Man Outside Washington Hilton.  A group of teenagers attacked a man outside the Washington Hilton Hotel earlier this month, D.C. police said. A witness said he and the man were walking toward the hotel about 1 a.m. July 14 when someone in a group of teens pointed at the man and screamed, “That’s him,” according to the police report. After a brief exchange of words, the man was attacked by about 10 girls and boys believed to be 13-14 years old, according to the police report.

6am – F         FOX DOMINATED IN RATINGS:

• Robert Mueller Hearings Draw 13M Viewers, Fox News and MSNBC Lead. (Hollywood Reporter) — The 7 1/2 hours of hearings, from 8:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. ET, drew an average of just under 13 million viewers (12.98 million) on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. The 13 million viewers falls short of some other recent televised hearings: Former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, for instance, drew about 16 million viewers when he testified before Congress in February. Ex-FBI Director James Comey’s 2017 appearance before Congress attracted 19.5 million and Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing averaged 20 million viewers.   Fox News led the field for Wednesday’s coverage with an average of just over 3 million viewers for the hearings. MSNBC averaged 2.41 million; followed by ABC, 2.12 million; NBC, 1.99 million; CBS, 1.91 million; and CNN, 1.52 million.
• TVNewsHQ: Fox News’ coverage of Mueller hearings outpaced all broadcast and cable news networks in total viewers. Co-anchored by @BretBaier and @MarthaMacCallum, FNC averaged 3m viewers and 441,000 in the 25-54 age demographic from 8:15AM-3:45PM/ET.

7am – A         VA DEMS THREATEN TO BOYCOTT JAMESTOWN 400TH ANNIVERSARY OVER PRESIDENT TRUMP:

• Virginia mayor resigns from Jamestown commission over Trump. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia mayor is resigning in protest from a historic Jamestown committee because of the group’s reported plans to host President Donald Trump at the 400th anniversary celebration of the first representative legislative assembly in America. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney sent a resignation letter Monday saying Trump “denigrates our democracy” and has no place at the event. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Friday that Trump will attend the July 30 event, but the White House hasn’t confirmed it to The Associated Press. Democratic lawmakers have said they will boycott the event. The event will commemorate the 1619 founding of the House of Burgesses. It is part of a weeklong observance of the state’s colonial past, which also will mark the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans’ arrival in Virginia.
• Editorial boards slam Democrats for boycotting 2019 Commemoration events at Jamestown:
  • Virginia lawmakers spar on reported Trump visit to Jamestown. The Free Lance-Star, July 20, 2019 / In February, Northam faced intense pressure to quit after a racist picture surfaced from his 1984 medical school yearbook page. He denied being in the picture but admitted to wearing blackface as a young man. American Evolution, the organization that is putting the Jamestown commemoration together, released a statement Saturday noting that Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were invited last year by Northam, a Democrat, House Speaker Kirk Cox, a Republican, and Norment. “Speaker Pelosi’s office declined the invitation within the last two weeks,” the organization’s statement said. “The White House has made no announcement regarding the President’s plans.”
  • Editorial: Democratic boycott of 1619 commemoration is petulant. Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 22, 2019 / We think that is pretty phenomenal and deserves to be celebrated widely and well. Such were the intentions of the commemoration events planned for this July 30 to mark the assembly’s 400th anniversary. It was assumed that all invited Virginia lawmakers and national politicians would understand the significance of that first meeting far outweighed the petty emotions of today’s politics. After all, Virginians of differing political beliefs and principles have been legislating together for the past four centuries. Unfortunately, Democrats in today’s General Assembly don’t feel that way. In what can only be described as an act of petulance, House Democratic Leader Eileen Filler-Corn, House Democratic Chair Charniele Herring, Senate Democratic Leader Dick Saslaw and Senate Democratic Chair Mamie Locke issued a joint statement Friday declaring they will not attend any portion of the commemorative sessions on July 30 if President Trump — a Republican — is present. Friday night, the Democratic Party of Virginia also joined in, tweeting: “There’s no room for @realDonaldTrump and his racism at the 400th anniversary of Virginia’s General Assembly.” But Democrats were taken aback to learn the following morning that the president had been invited by none other than Gov. Ralph Northam, himself a Democrat. The 2019 Commemoration organization extended invitations to Trump and to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that were signed by Northam, Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox and Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment — both Republicans. “Your presence and remarks on this important anniversary would be most appropriate,” the nonpartisan request read. “By lending your voice and insights, you would continue a tradition that has brought numerous prior Presidents and world leaders, including Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, to Jamestown to reflect on the significance of the place and its major milestones.” In their tweet, the Democrats wrote: “We will not be attending any part of the commemorative session where Donald Trump is in attendance. The current President does not represent the values that we would celebrate at the 400th anniversary of the oldest democratic body in the western world.” Unfortunately, Virginia Democrats who are boycotting this monumental event aren’t representing those values either. In another century, Virginia will observe the 500th anniversary of the General Assembly. We hope when the events of the past half-millennial are remembered, this sad performance will have been long relegated to the dustbin of history.
  • Editorial: Is boycotting Jamestown the best idea? The Roanoke Times, July 24, 2019 / In any case, there are other inconvenient facts for Democrats: The invitation to Trump was issued last year by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and Republican leaders of the General Assembly House Speaker Kirk Cox and Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment. As a result, the General Assembly Democrats are threatening to boycott an invite from their own party’s governor. Another inconvenient fact: The invitations were issued on behalf of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Three Democratic legislators serve on the foundation’s board of trustees — Del. Ken Plum of Fairfax, Del. Delores McQuinn of Richmond and state Sen. Janet Howell of Fairfax, the latter of whom serves as the board’s vice chairman. The board also includes Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, Attorney General Mark Herring and Secretary of Education Atif Qarni. The board of trustees is separate from the board of directors, so it’s unclear who actually knew about the invitation and how many of these titles are simply honorific but, still, some of these Democrats are now in the position of saying they will boycott an organization they help govern. There’s a word for this: Awkward. It gets more awkward because some Democrats who aren’t in the General Assembly say they plan to attend. Among them: Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Fairfax County. Her rationale for attending the event: “It’s not about the president.” It’s about the 400th anniversary of the first meeting of the House of Burgesses and the birth of democracy in Virginia and, ultimately, the future United States.

7am – B/C     AG Bill Barr orders executions of 5 child murderers. Federal government to resume capital punishment, schedule executions for first time since 2003. (Fox News) — Attorney General Bill Barr said Thursday the federal government will resume capital punishment and will move forward with plans to execute five inmates on death row for the first time in more than 15 years. The Justice Department said Barr has directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to adopt a proposed addendum to the Federal Execution Protocol that will clear the way for the executions. Barr has also directed the bureau of prisons to schedule the executions of five death-row inmates. “Congress has expressly authorized the death penalty through legislation adopted by the people’s representatives in both houses of Congress and signed by the President,” Barr said in a statement. He added: “Under administrations of both parties, the Department of Justice has sought the death penalty against the worst criminals, including these five murderers, each of whom was convicted by a jury of his peers after a full and fair proceeding.  The Justice Department upholds the rule of law—and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system.” The five inmates who have been sentenced to death are scheduled to be executed starting in December:

• Daniel Lewis Lee is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 9. Lee, a white supremacist, was convicted in May 1999 of murdering a family of three, including an eight-year-old girl. “After robbing and shooting the victims with a stun gun, Lee covered their heads with plastic bags, sealed the bags with duct tape, weighed down each victim with rocks, and threw the family of three into the Illinois bayou,” the DOJ said in a statement.
• Lezmond Mitchell is scheduled to be executed Dec. 11. Mitchell was convicted in 2003 of stabbing to death a 63-year-old grandmother and, according to the DOJ, forcing “her nine-year-old granddaughter to sit beside her lifeless body for a 30 to 40-mile drive.” “Mitchell then slit the girl’s throat twice, crushed her head with 20-pound rocks, and severed and buried both victims’ heads and hands,” the Justice Department said.
• Wesley Ira Purkey is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 13. Purkey was convicted in 2003 of raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl before dismembering, burning and dumping the girl’s body in a septic pond. “He also was convicted in state court for using a claw hammer to bludgeon to death an 80-year-old woman who suffered from polio and walked with a cane,” DOJ said.
• Alfred Bourgeois is scheduled to be executed Jan. 13. He was convicted in 2004 of torturing, sexually molesting and beating to death his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
• Dustin Lee Honken is scheduled to be executed on Jan. 15. He was convicted in 2004 of shooting and killing five people: two men who planned to testify against him, as well as a single mother and her two daughters.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – DC Police Chief Peter Newsham

• Teens Attack Man Outside Washington Hilton.  A group of teenagers attacked a man outside the Washington Hilton Hotel earlier this month, D.C. police said. A witness said he and the man were walking toward the hotel about 1 a.m. July 14 when someone in a group of teens pointed at the man and screamed, “That’s him,” according to the police report. After a brief exchange of words, the man was attacked by about 10 girls and boys believed to be 13-14 years old, according to the police report.

7am – E         Troubled Woodstock 50 festival moves to Maryland. (PageSix) – The show will go on… in Maryland. Organizers have shipped the beleaguered Woodstock 50 concert to Columbia, Maryland — more than 250 miles away from where the original 1969 music festival took place, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The move comes after officials in upstate New York refused to approve a permit for the 50th anniversary concert and one of the main financiers backed out. Attempts to relocate to other parts of New York — home of the original hippiefest — were unsuccessful. The festival is now slated for Aug. 16 to Aug 18 at the outdoor amphitheater Merriweather Post Pavilion, which accommodates about 32,000 people. “When we heard that there was an opportunity to save this festival and bring a piece of American history to our community this summer, we jumped at the chance,” Calvin Ball, an executive of Howard County, Maryland, wrote in a note to Greg Peck, one of the organizers. “Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia is a jewel of Howard County and one of the top music venues in the nation,” Ball wrote in the note obtained by Bloomberg. “It felt like such a natural fit to host a historic festival on our storied stage.” The concert is now being pitched as “Woodstock 50 Washington.” 

8am – A         INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner – discussed what’s next with the Dem impeachment push and the spending deal.

• SUSAN FERRECHIO: Change of subject: After Mueller flop, Democrats try to shift from pursuit of Trump. Democrats are done talking about impeachment and investigating President Trump. At least for now. A day after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s much-anticipated testimony about presidential collusion and obstruction fizzled, House Democrats Thursday marched down the East Front of the U.S. Capitol led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and waving small American flags, determined to change the subject. Lawmakers delivered a 20-minute press conference to awaiting media in which they brushed off the significance of the monthslong probes into Trump and his administration and all that talk about impeachment. Pelosi said lawmakers will use the summer recess to promote the dozens of House-passed bills, including an election reform measure, legislation aimed at equalizing pay for men and women and a pension protection bill that passed this week. None of the bills has a chance of winning approval in the GOP-led Senate, but Pelosi said public pressure stirred up by Democrats during the recess could change that.
• The House of Representatives has passed a two-year budget deal that would raise spending by hundreds of billions of dollars over existing caps and allow the government to keep borrowing to cover its debts. Only 65 Republicans joined the Democratic majority in the 284-149 vote, with 132 members of the GOP voting against the bill despite President Trump’s endorsement. The Senate is expected to approve the measure next week.

8am – B/C     DNC DEBATES UPDATE:

• Democratic Presidential Debates from Detroit will be on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 30 and 31. The debates are sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee and produced by CNN.
• NEW Fox News national poll of the Democratic primary, MoE +/- 4.5% Biden: 33% Sanders: 15% Warren: 12% Harris: 10% Buttigieg: 5% Klobuchar: 3% Yang: 3% Booker: 2% Hickenlooper: 2% O’Rourke: 2%
• The First Drama of Next Week’s Democratic Debates: The National Anthem. (National Review/By JIM GERAGHTY) — CNN will broadcast the next two Democratic debates Tuesday and Wednesday night. At 8 p.m. Eastern each night, the ten candidates will be introduced, followed by a performance of the national anthem. One interesting wrinkle: The campaign of Jay Inslee specifically asked whether the National Anthem would be played. The Washington Republican party is wondering if Inslee plans on taking a knee during the National Anthem.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – BRET BAIER – Anchor of Special Report on Fox News Channel at 6 PM – discussed his analysis of the Mueller hearings, Fox’s stellar ratings and previewed the DNC debates next week.

8am – E         WARREN AND SANDERS HAVING LABOR TROUBLES:

• NOT AS ADVERTISED: Warren Fellowship Applicants: Campaign Program Was a ‘Great Scam.’ Two men accepted into the 2020 candidate’s volunteer fellowship program described the process for entry as deceptive and at times exploitative. (Daily Beast) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has built much of her political career as a champion of workers and consumers against the deceptive and exploitative practices of corporations and employers. But as she navigates the latest chapter of that career arc—a run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency—the Massachusetts Democrat faces criticism from several of her own supporters who said the lowest tier of her campaign structure doesn’t match the image she projects.  Two early converts to Warren described the process for entry into her campaign’s volunteer fellowship program as deceptive and at times exploitative in interviews with The Daily Beast. They said they were pushed towards unpaid positions over paid ones, misled over the availability of financial assistance and asked to sign highly-restrictive nondisclosure agreements that worker advocacy groups concede are irregular.  Both applicants verified their accounts with emails and text messages from the Warren campaign.   The complaints from those offered unpaid fellowships could raise new questions for Warren as she seeks to put her lengthy history advocating for consumer and worker rights at the center of her rising campaign.  “What was sold to me was very different than it actually was,” said Jonathan Nendze, a rising senior at Seton Hall University who was offered a volunteer fellowship position on Warren’s campaign. “It was kind of a great scam of getting people to show up and work in the capacity of volunteer, but to function as a paid intern in the amount of work they’re doing,” he said.
• Labor charge alleges Sanders campaign management retaliated against union activities. (The Hill) – An anonymous unfair labor practice charge against Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign alleges that at least three staffers were fired from the team for their involvement in organizing and labor activities, according to a redacted copy of the charge obtained by Bloomberg Law. The charge, which was filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by a former campaign employee on July 22, also alleges that the campaign violated a collective bargaining agreement with unionized workers by making staffers work additional days and failing to provide commensurate days off.  When the individual asked the campaign to abide by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, management retaliated, the charge alleges. “[Campaign management] retaliated against me when I organized the bargaining unit and sent an email requesting compliance with the [collective bargaining agreement],” the person wrote in the charge. The identity of the individual who filed the charge has not been made public, but the charge lists Sanders’s campaign office in Des Moines, Iowa, as the employer’s address. The NLRB’s Indianapolis office is investigating the allegations.