Cal Thomas, Charlie Spiering, Grover Norquist, and Tom Bevan joined WMAL on Wednesday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C JOE BIDEN NEWS:

• Biden gets testy when Fox News reporter disputes claim he draws biggest crowds in Iowa
• Jill Biden, the wife of former vice president Joe Biden, is urging New Hampshire voters who support other Democratic White House hopefuls to consider backing her husband instead on the basis of “electability” — even if they consider their candidate to be “better” on the issues. “Your candidate might be better on, I don’t know, health care, than Joe is, but you’ve got to look at who’s going to win this election,” Jill Biden said Monday at a campaign event in Nashua, N.H. “And maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say, ‘Okay, I personally like so and so better,’ but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat Trump.”
• Joe Biden has expanded his edge over the Democratic field in a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with 29% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters saying they back the former vice president. That’s up 7 points compared with a late June CNN survey. No other candidate has made meaningful gains over that time. The shift returns Biden to a double-digit lead over his nearest competitors, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 15% and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 14%. Their support is largely unchanged since earlier this summer. 
• Biden to skip DNC meeting in San Francisco where 13 candidates are expected

5am – D Trump Says He Can Order Capital Gains Tax Break Without Congress (Bloomberg) President Donald Trump said he can cut taxes by indexing capital gains to inflation without congressional approval, a move the White House has been considering for months that would largely benefit the wealthy. “We’ve been talking about indexing for a long time,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. “And many people like indexing and it could be done very simply. It could be done directly by me.” Trump’s comments came as the U.S. economy has shown warning signs that could presage a recession, although economists surveyed by Bloomberg News say there’s only a 35% chance of it hitting within the next year.

5am – E “Spider-Man” Is Leaving The Marvel Cinematic Universe (Buzzfeed) In a shocking development, Marvel Studios is set to part ways with Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man franchise, BuzzFeed News has confirmed. The decision will effectively remove the version of Peter Parker played by Tom Holland from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, separating arguably the most iconic Marvel comics superhero from the most successful superhero movie franchise of all time.

6am – A/B/C  Why millennials are seduced by socialism

6am – D INTERVIEW: Cal Thomas – Syndicated Columnist

Topics:

• Cals Column: https://calthomas.com/columns/a-troubling-poll
• Scaramucci launching PAC to ‘dismantle’ Trump: I can possibly move ‘eight percent’ of his voters
• Joe Biden’s brain surgeon is defending Joe Biden’s brain

6am – E  Couple faces up to 6 years in jail for taking 88 pounds of sand from Italian beach (WGN 9) Police in the northern city of Porto Torres found the sand while making routine checks on cars waiting to board a ferry to Toulon in southern France.

They spotted some bottles filled with sand through the window of the car, and arrested the couple, a man and woman in their 40s, police told CNN. Overall, 14 plastic bottles containing around 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of white sand were seized, police said.

The couple were reported to a court in the city of Sassari for aggravated theft and they risk a fine of up to €3,000 ($3,300) and between one and six years’ imprisonment.

Police told CNN that the tourists said they were unaware of the laws about removing sand, but noted that the island’s beaches have signs in several languages informing visitors.

6am – F Camping is canceled at Phish’s Colorado concerts. Blame the plague-infected prairie dogs (CNN) The good news: A weekend of Phish concerts will go on as scheduled at a soccer stadium outside Denver. The bad: There will be no overnight camping. Thank the plague for that. Yes, that plague, the Black Death, the one that killed an estimated 60% of the medieval European population and, centuries later, millions more. Even for a fanbase long adjusted to curveballs, the situation unfolding in the prairie dog colonies that surround Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, is a new one. Fans had been dreading the announcement that Phish made Tuesday, saying camping would not be permitted due to an outbreak of plague among the prairie dogs. A sign warns of the plague at a parking lot near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge in Commerce City, Colorado. Health officials in Colorado said Tuesday that the affected areas would remain closed through at least September 6 as officials continue insecticide treatments. Monte Deatrich, environmental health manager with Tri-Country Health, estimated that 3,000 people would be affected by the shutdown. Deatrich said there have been no human cases related to the prairie dog plague.

7am – A INTERVIEW: Charlie Spiering – Breitbart’s White House Correspondent 

Topic: Trump cancels visit with Denmark PM after she rebuffs ‘absurd’ idea of US buying Greenland

7am – B/C Trump Administration Seeks To Terminate Flores Settlement Limiting Detention Of Migrant Families (Daily Caller) The new rule is expected to be rolled out during a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference on Wednesday morning. “The Administration is closing one of the legal loopholes that has allowed human traffickers and smugglers to exploit our vulnerabilities at the southern border,” a senior administration official told the Daily Caller. “President Trump has made it clear that he’s going to secure America’s border at all cost and this rule plays a vital role in the strategy to restore the integrity to our immigration system and our national security.” The administration also plans to establish national standards for family detention housing. DHS first unveiled a plan to terminate Flores last September via a rule change in the federal register, but later asked Congress to modify the agreement on its behalf.

7am – D INTERVIEW: Grover Norquist – President of Americans for Tax Reform

Topic: Trump Says He Can Order Capital Gains Tax Break Without Congress

7am – E ‘Storm Area 51’ spurs rural Nevada county to draft emergency plan, approve 2 festivals (Fox News) Before the masses descend on the Nevada desert next month as part of the “Storm Area 51” event, local officials are pulling out all stops to ensure they will be able to handle whatever crowds may come.

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on Monday drafted an emergency declaration for the rural county as part of the ongoing planning process with state officials for the possible alien-obsessed crowds that the “Storm Area 51” event may bring into the area.

8am – A/B/C Are you teaching your children to be “social warriors” or are you teaching them to keep their heads down and be “survivors?”

8am – D/E  INTERVIEW:  Tom Bevan – co-founder and president of RealClearPolitics

Topic: CNN Poll: Joe Biden regains double-digit lead over 2020 Democratic field