Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Cal Thomas, Ken Cuccinelli, Carol Maloney and Russ Vought joined WMAL on Wednesday!

5am – A/B/C DOJ EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF THE PROBE: DOJ investigation w/John Durham is rapidly expanding due to how much they are finding. Durham investigation into origins of 2016 Trump campaign surveillance expands its scope.   Fox News previously reported that Durham would be reviewing the days leading up to the 2016 election and through the inauguration.  However, based on what he has been finding, Durham has expanded his investigation adding agents and resources, the senior administration officials said. The timeline has grown from the beginning of the probe through the election and now has included a post-election timeline through the spring of 2017, up to when Robert Mueller was named special counsel.

• MUELLER LIED ABOUT PURSUING FBI DIRECTOR JOB: Mueller was pursuing FBI director job when he met with Trump in 2017, administration officials say. Mueller allegedly lied under oath when he said he was not interviewing for FBI Director.  EXCLUSIVE – John Durham, the U.S. attorney reviewing the origins of the 2016 counterintelligence investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign, is probing a wider timeline than previously known, according to multiple senior administration officials.

5am – D/E     Actress Jaime Pressly is accused of ‘damaging’ her three kids after openly admitting that her oldest son is her ‘FAVORITE’ – claiming they ‘have a special bond that no one will ever match.’ (Daily Mail) – Actress Jaime Pressly is being slammed on Instagram for admitting she has a ‘favorite’ child and insisting that they ‘have a special bond that no one else will ever match.’ The 42-year-old has three sons — 12-year-old Dezi and one-year-old twins Leo and Lenon — but she has no qualms about picking a favorite and proclaiming her preference publicly. But after she shared her reasoning for favoring her eldest, social media users called her out, accusing her of inflicting lifelong damage on her other kids and pointing out that just because she thinks something doesn’t mean she has to write about it on Instagram.

6am – A         2020 NEWS:

• Elizabeth Warren is new Democratic frontrunner, polling average finds. (AP) – It’s the first time Joe Biden has not led the field. Now, Warren prepares to take on the extra scrutiny that comes with being atop the polls. There is a new frontrunner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to at least one average of multiple polls. Senator Elizabeth Warren has overtaken former Vice President Joe Biden by a slim margin, according to a Real Clear Politics (RCP) national polling average. Warren has 26.6% average support compared to 26.4% for Biden. While that may seem insignificant, it’s the first time since he entered the campaign more than five months ago that Biden is not leading the field. At one time, he led by more than 25 points.Warren has been surging in recent weeks, evidenced in part by thousands of people attending her rallies. Warren also leads the field in the RCP polling average in Iowa, where the first votes will be cast in the primaries on Feb. 3. She leads Biden 23% to 20.3%. Biden leads in the second state, New Hampshire, 23.2% to Warren’s 21%. But, Warren has been trending up there, too. The only other candidate polling with double-digit support all three aforementioned RCP averages is Sen. Bernie Sanders (14.6% national; 12% Iowa; 17.2% New Hampshire). South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has 11.3% support in Iowa.
• WARREN Sticks To Pregnancy Tale: When I was 22 and finishing my first year of teaching, I had an experience millions of women will recognize. By June I was visibly pregnant—and the principal told me the job I’d already been promised for the next year would go to someone else. This was 1971, years before Congress outlawed pregnancy discrimination—but we know it still happens in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. We can fight back by telling our stories. I tell mine on the campaign trail, and I hope to hear yours.
• NYT: Sanders Says He Will ‘Change the Nature’ of His Campaign After Heart Attack. The Vermont senator vowed to slow his grueling campaign pace. He also acknowledged that voters would take his health into account when deciding whether to support him.
• RYAN NOBLES: NEW: @BernieSanders is meeting a cardiologist this morning. A new doctor he has not met with before. Before he left he told reporters that he was “dumb” and should’ve listened to the warning signs his body was sending him prior to his heart attack.
• Bernie Sanders’ daughter-in-law has died after being diagnosed with cancer.   The daughter-in-law of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has died, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. Rainè Riggs was 46.  The Lee & Martin Funeral Home in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, says Riggs died Saturday, the day Sanders returned to Vermont after suffering a heart attack. Her obituary said she was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer.   Riggs, a neuropsychologist, was married to Levi Sanders, who ran unsuccessfully for a New Hampshire congressional seat in 2018. Riggs’ obituary says she met Levi Sanders while the two worked at an emergency food shelter in Vermont.

6am – B/C     IMMIGRATION NEWS:

• END OF YEAR BORDER NUMBERS: Nearly 1M migrants apprehended or deemed inadmissible along US-Mexico border in fiscal year 2019, CBP says. WASHINGTON — The number of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border skyrocketed last year as Customs and Border Protection apprehended and deemed inadmissible nearly one million people during the government’s 2019 fiscal year, according to acting Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan. That is 88% higher than the previous fiscal year, Morgan told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, adding that “these numbers are numbers that no immigration system is the world is designed to handle, including ours.” The number of families arriving at the border more than tripled any previous year on record, Morgan said. He pointed out, though, that the “apprehension and inadmissible” numbers have dropped in recent months, calling it an “unprecedented achievement.” There were just over 52,000 law enforcement actions on the southern border in September, down almost 65% from the May peak. Law enforcement actions generally include US Border Patrol arrests, as well as people deemed inadmissible at the legal ports of entry.

• DC Council votes to limit cooperation with ICE. (WTOP) – The D.C. Council has voted unanimously to limit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to enforce immigration law in the nation’s capital. The council passed an emergency bill Tuesday to ensure that the city, primarily the Department of Corrections, doesn’t detain individuals for ICE solely based on an immigration law violation. “D.C. is a proud city of immigrant communities and we want to make sure we’re protecting every single one of our neighbors,” said D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen of Ward 6, who chairs the D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety. “We say we’re a sanctuary city and we want to make sure we mean it.”

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist

• White House tells Pelosi it will not cooperate with impeachment probe. The White House told House Democrats it will not comply with demands for documents and testimony in Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, setting up a legal showdown between the two branches of government. “You have designed and implemented your inquiry in a manner that violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone wrote in an eight-page letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the chairmen of the committees leading the inquiry.
• Ambassador to EU Sondam not allowed to testify though he was willing. At the direction of the State Department, the U.S. ambassador to the E.U. did not appear for testimony before House lawmakers. President Trump said he would “love” to send Gordon Sondland to testify, but not before what he called a “totally compromised kangaroo court.”
• Elite American Institutions Keep Bowing To Communist China… Over And Over Again. (Daily Caller) – The NBA provided the latest example Sunday night, when league commissioner Adam Silver apologized for Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. Rockets star James Harden followed suit and apologized to China for Morey’s tweets. China Daily, the communist government’s propaganda arm, used the NBA’s conciliatory reaction to warn other companies to learn “a lesson: The big Chinese market is open to the world, but those who challenge China’s core interests and hurt Chinese people’s feelings cannot make any profit from it.” The NBA isn’t alone in bowing to communist China. American universities have allowed the Chinese government to fund centers called Confucius Institutes that provide the communist regime with avenues to infuse pro-China propaganda into American academia. Eighty-nine Confucius Institutes were operating in the U.S. as of September 2019, according to the National Association of Scholars.

6am – E         GOP FIGHTING BACK:

• A new GOP comes out swinging. (American Thinker) – One way the Democrats could fulfill their dream of crippling President Trump (as opposed to simply running him out of office) would be to stampede the Republicans, to send them running wild-eyed for shelter from shouted accusations and piercing rays of adverse publicity.  There is no shortage of weak-spined GOP officeholders, and it has happened many times before.  The Dems had no reason to doubt that it would happen again. But it’s not happening.  Apart from the usual suspects such as Mitt Romney (Romney as Massachusetts governor was the sole politician to hold out against the Bulger brothers, but that was a long time ago), the GOP wall is holding firm, with no defector or weak sister of any significance. One example can be found in the confrontation between Indiana congressman Jim Banks and NPR’s Michel Martin this past Wednesday.  Martin was fulfilling NPR’s unwritten charter of putting the wildest fringe leftist thinking into comfortable terms to make it acceptable to the denizens of the suburbs.  Banks, a freshman representative who saw service in Afghanistan, wasn’t having any.
• Trump’s Hill cheerleaders take center stage in impeachment defense. (Politico) – The president’s fiercest protectors held an impromptu press conference to slam the impeachment inquiry. Scott Perry (R-PA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). Many Hill Republicans are staying in their bunkers, waiting for more details to emerge before they defend President Donald Trump in the Ukraine scandal. Then there’s the Trump loyalists who are racing out on social media, cable TV and the Capitol’s hallways to protect the president as the impeachment inquiry ratchets up — and the president has taken notice. While some of these lawmakers have long relished in their role as Trump warriors — especially during the years-long Russia probe — the duty has taken on new meaning as Trump faces the greatest threat to his presidency to date. And in the absence of a centralized strategy from the White House, they also appear to be filling the messaging void in the House GOP, which is Trump’s first line of defense against impeachment.

6am – F         Dick’s Sporting Goods destroyed $5 million worth of assault weapons: CEO. Dick’s Sporting Goods has destroyed more than $5 million worth of assault weapons. CEO Ed Stack made the announcement during an interview with CBS News. He said the company turned the weapons into scrap metal.The move comes after Dick’s made the decision last year to stop carrying the rifles following the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – KEN CUCCINELLI  – acting Director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services

• END OF YEAR BORDER NUMBERS: Nearly 1M migrants apprehended or deemed inadmissible along US-Mexico border in fiscal year 2019, CBP says
• DC Council votes to limit cooperation with ICE.

7am – B/C     ELLEN AND W. BUSH:

• George W. Bush sends appreciation for Ellen’s response to critics. Former President George W. Bush is voicing appreciation to Ellen DeGeneres after she sent a message of love to those criticizing the pair for sharing a fun afternoon at a Dallas Cowboys game Sunday. DeGeneres and Bush were spotted in Dallas Sunday with their wives, actress Portia de Rossi and former first lady Laura Bush, during the live FOX telecast of the Packers and Cowboys game. DeGeneres then reminded everyone of her favorite saying, which she repeats daily on her show. “Just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be friends with them, DeGeneres said. “When I say be kind to one another, I don’t mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone.” A spokesman for Bush said the couple appreciated Ellen’s words. “President and Mrs. Bush really enjoyed being with Ellen and Portia (de Rossi) and appreciated Ellen’s comments about respecting one another. They respect her,” read a statement from Freddy Ford to USA TODAY.
• FLASHBACK:  Ellen DeGeneres Won’t Invite Trump on Her Show. (Vanity Fair) – Despite her general resistance to getting political on her show, Ellen DeGeneres took a firm stance against Donald Trump on Friday, when she told Matt Lauer that she would not, hypothetically, invite the president on as a guest. She’d said the same thing to Alec Baldwin just days before, but Lauer, unlike Baldwin, also hit her with a follow-up: Why? That’s when DeGeneres, a genial comedian known for keeping things light, took her firmest anti-Trump stance. “Because I’m not going to change his mind,” DeGeneres told Lauer. “He’s against everything that I stand for. We need to look at someone else who looks different than us and believes in something that we don’t believe in and still accept them, and still let them have their rights.”
• DIVISIVE CNN LACKS SELF-AWARENESS: CNN’s Brooke Baldwin and guest Jamie Gangel cheers on Ellen’s comments on being nice to people you disagree with.
• CNN’s Brooke Baldwin gushes about how Stacey Abrams best friend is a WHITE Republican — there you go!

7am – D         The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on whether federal civil rights laws protect a person’s sexual identity from job discrimination. While the 1964 Civil Rights Act forbids discrimination based on sex, there’s disagreement if that includes those who consider themselves to be LGBTQ.

7am – E         Trump campaign says Minneapolis rally is back on, won’t pay extra fees for security. MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – President Donald Trump’s upcoming campaign rally in Minneapolis is back on after a daylong public battle between Trump and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over who would pay for extra security at the event. The city had demanded that Trump’s campaign pre-pay $530,000 for police overtime, street closures and barriers at Thursday night’s rally, scheduled to be held at Target Center. The Trump campaign called that extortion and threatened a lawsuit. The dust-up was mostly resolved late Tuesday afternoon, when Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said the rally would go on and the campaign wouldn’t pay any extra fees.  The arena in Minneapolis has been fully approved,” Parscale said in an emailed statement. “The Target Center has backed off cancelling the contract, which means President Trump’s Keep America Great rally will go on as scheduled.” Target Center, a nearly 20,000-seat NBA arena, is city-owned but privately managed by AEG Worldwide. Frey said the city needed $400,000 for Minneapolis Police officer overtime and an additional $130,000 for public works changes. He did not provide a full accounting for the cost estimate, nor did he fully explain why it was so much higher than what Minneapolis has billed other political candidates in years past.

EARLIER: Trump blasts ‘lightweight’ Minneapolis mayor as campaign threatens suit over massive rally security bill

• President Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump The lightweight mayor is hurting the great police and other wonderful supporters. 72,000 ticket requests already. Dump Frey and Omar! Make America Great Again!
• Journalist Alex Griswold @HashtagGriswold 19h19 hours ago: If there’s a good explanation for why the City of Minneapolis is charging the Target Center $530K for Trump’s security costs, but charged $20K for Obama’s rally in 2009, I’d love to hear it

8am – A         INTERVIEW – Carol Maloney – host of Carol Maloney Show on ESPN 630 ESPN (in studio)

• PREVIEW WASHINGTON NATIONALS GAME TONIGHT: Ryan Zimmerman delivered, and the Nationals’ 6-1 win in NLDS Game 4 gave them new hope heading to L.A. for Wednesday’s finale.  The excitement continues Wednesday when the Nationals take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series.

8am – B/C     The Trump administration has notified the House of Representatives that it will not participate in the “illegitimate” impeachment probe led by Democrats. In a statement the White House says “The President has done nothing wrong and the Democrats know it.” Former GOP Congressman Trey Gowdy has agreed to serve as outside counsel for the Trump legal team as the House impeachment effort expands.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – RUSS VOUGHT – the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget – previewed The White House hosting a major deregulation event today with POTUS signing two executive orders.

• Trump to Sign Executive Order Reining in ‘Rogue Agencies’ Rules. (Bloomberg) – President Donald Trump is expected to sign a pair of executive orders on Wednesday that would limit the use of memos, letters, and other guidance that federal agencies use to help individuals and companies comply with regulations, a person briefed on the plans said. Conservatives and business groups have long complained that the agencies use the process to establish “stealth regulation” that circumvents Congress and avoids public scrutiny. Unlike formal government rules the interpretations are issued without the typical notice and comment period required by law. “Americans deserve to have their side of the story properly considered by the government and not punished by rogue agencies who use fear and costly court cases to force Americans into following their directives,” the White House said in talking points on the executive orders distributed to supporters on Tuesday. Under the Obama administration, agencies broadened existing laws and regulations through interpretations that were then issued in blogs, letters memos and brochures. Trump has made deregulation a cornerstone of his presidency, and the executive orders are intended to protect small businesses from agencies who use it as an “off-the-book way around the regular rule-making process,” the White House said in the talking points. The White House declined to comment on Tuesday night, but the president is scheduled to sign the orders “on transparency in federal guidance and enforcement” on Wednesday afternoon. According to the talking points, one executive order would require agencies to seek public input on certain guidance while a second executive order seeks to prohibit “secret or unlawful bureaucratic interpretations of rules” as well as “unfair or unexpected penalties from agencies.”
• Executive Orders To Be Signed Today:

• Bringing Guidance out of the Darkness Executive Order:
  • Under the previous Administration, Federal agencies imposed thousands of costly and burdensome mandates through thousands of various publications including; blogs, letter, brochures, etc.
  • These “Guidance” documents have been used as an off-the-books way for government regulations to bypassing cost-benefit analysis and remove opportunity for public input.
  • Example: A 2015 blog post from Department of Labor declared that many independent contractors should be classified as employees.
  • This created confusion, raised for thousands of small businesses, and was done without any opportunity for the public to provide comment to the agency.
  • This only example out of many where small businesses and families been forced to comply with various agency request out of fear – no one wants the Federal government to show up and say you broke a regulation.
  • Agencies will have to seek public input on the most important guidance, increasing transparency.
• Transparency and Fairness Executive Order:
  • President Trump is protecting Americans against secret or unlawful interpretations of regulations, or from unfair or unexpected penalties.
  • Americans deserve to have their side of the story properly considered by the government and not punished by rogue agencies who use fear and costly court cases to force Americans into following their directives.
  • Example: One family was threatened by the EPA with more than $20 million in fines for building a pond on their property.
  • By making agencies proactively educate the public, America’s small businesses will have the opportunity to comply with rules rather than be surprised by costly lawsuits.

8am – E         Florida man ‘tried to get an alligator drunk by pouring beer down its throat. ‘ (Daily Mail) –  Two Florida men are accused of capturing an alligator from the side of the road, holding it down, and pouring beer down the reptile’s throat – while one of the men encouraged it to bite his arm. Timothy Kepke, 27, and Noah Osborne, 22, allegedly filmed the incident around 10pm on August 26 in Palm City. In a police report, Kepke claimed Osborne grabbed the animal with his bare hands from the side of the road. Kepke was apparently bitten by the animal on his right forearm before pouring the beer down its throat, but it’s not clear how serious the injury was. It’s also not clear how big the alligator was.  Both men were arrested on October 3 after police became aware of a video the pair made of the incident. The video has not been released by police, and it’s not clear if it was circulated before their arrests. They have both been charged with unlawfully taking an alligator. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received a complaint about the incident in August. Authorities investigating the incident were ultimately able to obtain the video on September 17. They then confronted Kepke about the allegations at his home where he confessed he was involved in the incident, the New York Post reported.  Kepke told officers that Osborne caught the reptile with his bare hands from the side of the road. Kepke then enticed it to bite him and then poured beer into its mouth, causing the alligator to act aggressively, TPPalm.com said. The pair then released the gator alive, Kepke told officers. Although Kepke admitted to having a couple of beers, he told cops he was not drunk at th e time of the incident. Kepke told officers a female friend was also there when the alleged episode happened. The woman said she thought the reptile bit Kepke because of his hostility.