Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Susan Ferrechio, White House’s Adam Kennedy, ESPN 630’s Carol Maloney, RealClearPolitics.com’s and Tom Bevan joined WMAL on Tuesday!

5am – A/B/C RONAN FARROW SPARS WITH NBC EXECS:

• NBChaos! Ronan Farrow’s ‘Catch and Kill’ ‘motivated not by a pursuit of truth, but an axe to grind,’ NBC News president says in leaked memo. Embattled NBC News President Noah Oppenheim called Ronan Farrow’s book, “Catch and Kill,” an “effort to defame” the Peacock Network that is “clearly motivated not by a pursuit of truth, but an axe to grind” in a memo sent to employees Monday morning.
• Chris Hayes goes after his NBC bosses over covering up for Weinstein and other sexual harassment offenders at NBC.

5am – D         Girl is arrested for pointing finger gun in class was a victim of bullies, mom says. (BY MARÁ WILLIAMS/Kansas City) — Vanessa McCaron says she pleaded with an Overland Park Police school resource officer not to arrest her daughter for pointing a finger, formed to look like a gun, at four of her middle school classmates. “He said, ‘I will press charges against anyone who I think has broken the law,’” said McCaron, who contacted The Star following Wednesday’s initial story about the incident. “He had such a great opportunity to use his badge to change something in a child, but he chose not to,” she added. “I think this is an insane abuse of power. “She is a child. She is kind. She’s loving. She’s shy. She is a precocious kid who is passionate about gun control, human rights and cats. That’s what she cares about.” The girl had been bullied for months by some of the classmates who provoked the Sept. 18 incident, her mother said. The eighth-grader, who had turned 13 just days before the incident, was arrested and charged with felony threatening. Police said she was led out of the Shawnee Mission school district’s Westridge Middle School by Principal Jeremy McDonnell. School resource officer Dana Harrison, who is an employee of the police department, handcuffed her outside the building and placed her in a police car before she was driven to a juvenile detention facility. The Star does not identify juveniles charged with crimes. McCaron said that a boy in her daughter’s class had asked her, if you could kill five people in this class who would they be? The girl formed a gun with her fingers and pointed at the other students one at a time, and then turned the pretend weapon toward herself. Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez on Friday confirmed those facts, but also said there’s more he could not disclose. Donchez supports his officer’s decision to arrest the girl.

5am – E         FERRECHIO: GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz ejected from closed-door impeachment meeting. (Washington Examiner) – A Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee was ejected from a closed-door impeachment hearing. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida tried to enter a hearing Monday in which lawmakers from three different committees are interviewing President Trump’s former top aide on Russia, Fiona Hill. Gaetz said he believed he should be allowed to attend the hearing because impeachment inquiries traditionally are handled by the House Judiciary Committee, and he serves on that panel. But the House parliamentarian told Gaetz he is not allowed to attend the hearing because he does not sit on either the Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, or Oversight panels, which are the official committees conducting the impeachment inquiry. “Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler claimed to have begun the impeachment inquiry weeks ago,” Gaetz said on Twitter after leaving the hearing room. “Now, his own Judiciary members aren’t even allowed to participate in it. And yes – my constituents want me actively involved in stopping the #KangarooCourtCoup run by Shifty Schiff.”

6am – A/B/C Project Veritas’ alleged CNN whistleblower claims network is ‘pumping out propaganda’ (By Brian Flood | Fox News) — Undercover recordings made by an alleged “whistleblower” capture CNN employees casually confirming the network’s anti-Trump bias and show company president Jeff Zucker telling top news executives to focus solely on impeachment even at the expense of other important news, according to the conservative activist group that posted the bombshell footage online. Project Veritas, whose founder, James O’Keefe, describes himself as a “guerrilla journalist” — built up the release on social media with an “#ExposeCNN” hashtag, and Monday published the first segment of what is billed as a multi-part series. The video features Cary Poarch, who claims he was a satellite uplink technician at CNN’s Washington Bureau before, he says, his “dream job” quickly turned into a nightmare due to CNN’s blatant bias. “I don’t care about the MSNBC event, OK? I don’t care about them. Let’s just stay very focused on impeachment,” a person identified as Zucker says in the recording. “We shouldn’t just pretend, oh, this is going one way. And so all of these moves are toward impeachment.” Poarch allegedly recorded “several” of Zucker’s conference calls, in which he claims Zucker runs the daily meeting “with an iron fist” aimed directly at “hammering Trump” or “Republicans in general.” Poarch told O’Keefe that several high-powered CNN executives join Zucker on the daily call, including senior vice president of newsgathering Virginia Moseley and political director David Chalian. Zucker, who began his career at NBC, rose from researcher all the way to president and CEO of NBC Universal. Along the way, he was responsible for increasing Donald Trump’s fame when he greenlighted “The Apprentice.” The duo has famously feuded since Trump’s foray into politics, with the president attacking the liberal network on a regular basis and accusing CNN of unfair coverage. Zucker is also heard telling staff to call out Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and encouraging CNN on-air personalities to attack Fox News.

6am – D/E     2020 DEM DEBATE TONIGHT:

• DEBATE NIGHT… 12 CANDIDATES: BIDEN, WARREN, SANDERS, BUTTIGIEG, HARRIS, YANG, BOOKER, O’ROURKE, STEYER, KLOBUCHAR, CASTRO, GABBARD.
• Debate begins at 8 PM ET at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio — near Columbus. CNN is broadcasting and The New York Times is cohosting.
• After Considering Boycotting Fourth Presidential Debate, Tulsi Gabbard Says She’ll Be There.
• Democratic debate watchers concerned about Bernie Sanders health: Poll. In the HuffPost/YouGov survey, released Monday, 42% of Democrats said the Vermont senator’s “physical condition is not good enough.” Sanders, 78, was hospitalized in Las Vegas recently for three days after experiencing chest pains following a campaign event. The doctors discovered he had suffered a myocardial infarction when the senator underwent surgery to receive two stents. In the survey of 1,000 people from Oct. 8-10, 26% of Democrats said his health was good enough to serve in the White House. Overall, 19% of registered voters believe that Sanders is in good enough health to be president for the next four years, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 3.4%.
• LA TIMES Causing Trouble: Elizabeth Warren, 70, flaunts her fitness as Democratic candidates’ health becomes a debate issue. WASHINGTON — As hundreds of people gathered for a recent Elizabeth Warren rally in Rock Hill, S.C., the heat built so much that one woman in the crowd passed out before the event started. The 90-degree day did not appear to slow Warren: She bounded up the steps to the stage and gave a kinetic, full-body wave to the crowd. Without saying a word, the 70-year-old presidential candidate sent a message: Her physical stamina belies her age.
• New poll has Warren leading Biden ahead of next Democratic debate. Warren leads Biden by 30 percent to 27 percent among Democratic voters and independents who lean Democratic, according to a Quinnipiac University poll published Monday.
• CNBC: Mike Bloomberg keeps talking to allies about running for president as Joe Biden struggles against Elizabeth Warren. “Bloomberg is in if Biden is out,” says one source. Biden has not indicated any desire to drop out any time soon.
• MICHELLE OBAMA IN FIRST PLACE IN NH POLL: The Boston Herald-Franklin Pierce University survey, released on Monday, indicated a three-way tie for the top spot in New Hampshire — with Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 25 percent support, former Vice President Joe Biden at 24 percent, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 22 percent.

6am – F         NATS WIN AGAIN!

• Nationals demolish Cardinals, 8-1, in NLCS Game 3, move within one win of World Series. (Washington Post) — There was the crack of Howie Kendrick’s bat, of ball colliding with wood, before a double sizzled into grass and looked like the earliest of exclamation points. There was the resulting cheer, when some 43,675 fans find unison, when a four-run third inning is a reason to reach for a pitch-black sky and roar. Then there were Stephen Strasburg’s pitches, 117 of them, dancing toward the plate to find Kurt Suzuki’s mitt, or the comfort of dirt, producing clicks and clacks heard from the top of a swelling stadium. And all of it sounded like belief. Belief inside Nationals Park on Monday night — unleashed, unmeasured, almost unbelievable — came with the Washington Nationals’ 8-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. It came with seven dominant innings from Strasburg. It came with an offense that started and didn’t stop, not for any Cardinals pitcher, until it had scored eight runs between the third and seventh. And it came, in the end, with a promise: Take one more game from the Cardinals, just one in four tries, and go straight to the World Series. Only one team in history, the 2004 New York Yankees, had a 3-0 lead in a seven-game series and didn’t win.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner – discussed the latest on impeachment efforts, witnesses and Schiff.

• FERRECHIO: Where’s the whistleblower? Key GOP questions about Schiff’s contact may never be answered. (Washington Examiner) –  House Republicans are eager to ask the whistleblower at the center of the impeachment inquiry a variety of questions about the scope and frequency of his contact with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff. They also want to know about the California Democrat’s role in orchestrating the complaint alleging President Trump sought Ukraine’s help investigating Joe Biden. But it is appearing more likely Republicans will never have the chance to ask the whistleblower any questions at all about how closely he worked with Schiff’s team. “At some point, both Schiff and the whistleblower came to the conclusion that his personal testimony stands to do more harm than good to both of them,” a Republican source who requested anonymity told the Washington Examiner.
• FERRECHIO: GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz ejected from closed-door impeachment meeting. (Washington Examiner) – A Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee was ejected from a closed-door impeachment hearing. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida tried to enter a hearing Monday in which lawmakers from three different committees are interviewing President Trump’s former top aide on Russia, Fiona Hill. Gaetz said he believed he should be allowed to attend the hearing because impeachment inquiries traditionally are handled by the House Judiciary Committee, and he serves on that panel. But the House parliamentarian told Gaetz he is not allowed to attend the hearing because he does not sit on either the Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, or Oversight panels, which are the official committees conducting the impeachment inquiry. “Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler claimed to have begun the impeachment inquiry weeks ago,” Gaetz said on Twitter after leaving the hearing room. “Now, his own Judiciary members aren’t even allowed to participate in it. And yes – my constituents want me actively involved in stopping the #KangarooCourtCoup run by Shifty Schiff.”
• FERRECHIO: House Democrats warn Trump against blocking impeachment witnesses. (Washington Examiner) —  House Democrats said President Trump could be impeached for corruption and a cover-up if he blocks witnesses summoned to testify in the impeachment inquiry. “Any efforts by Trump Administration officials to prevent witness cooperation with the Committees will be deemed obstruction of a co-equal branch of government and an adverse inference may be drawn against the President on the underlying allegations of corruption and coverup,” the Democratic chairmen of the three House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry said Friday. The Democrats released the statement after Marie Yovanovitch, the ex-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, showed up on Capitol Hill to participate in a deposition. The Trump administration ordered her not to appear, but Democrats last night issued a subpoena and Yovanovitch appeared, in defiance of the Trump administration. Yovanovitch is no fan of the Trump administration and told lawmakers she was wrongfully accused of working against the president during her nearly three-year tenure as ambassador. Trump recalled her a few months before the end of her term following reports she was badmouthing the president.
• Schiff Says Congress May Not Need To Interview Whistleblower After All. “Given that we already have the call record, we don’t need the whistleblower who wasn’t on the call to tell us what took place during the call, we have the best evidence of that,” Schiff said on “Face the Nation.” “It may not be necessary to take steps that might reveal the whistleblower’s identity to do that, and we’re going to make sure we protect that whistleblower.”

7am – B/C     Hunter Biden defends foreign ventures but concedes political ‘mistake’ (ABC News) – As President Donald Trump continues to fill his Twitter feed and campaign speeches with attacks on Hunter Biden over his foreign business deals, the former vice president’s son defended the ethical implications of his private ventures in an interview with ABC News, but conceded taking a misstep in failing to foresee the political implications on his father’s career.   “In retrospect, look, I think that it was poor judgment on my part. Is that I think that it was poor judgment because I don’t believe now, when I look back on it — I know that there was — did nothing wrong at all,” said Biden. However, was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is…a swamp in—in—in many ways? Yeah.”  “I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father. That’s where I made the mistake,” Hunter Biden told ABC News in an exclusive interview. “So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever.” No topic was off-limits when Biden sat down with ABC News’ Amy Robach over the weekend, including how the spotlight on his personal and professional life has threatened his ongoing struggle with addiction. It’s his first broadcast interview since attracting the attention of Trump, who posed this question to his 66 million Twitter followers last week: “WHERE’S HUNTER?”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – ADAM KENNEDY – Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications at The White House – discussed how the White House is responding to the Congressional Democrats pushing impeachment.

• White House tweeted: Congressional Democrats have flouted the Constitution and all past bipartisan precedent under the guise of an “impeachment inquiry.” Full response from the White House

7am – E         COLUMBUS DAY RECAP:

• WARREN Tweets Support For ‘Indigenous Peoples’ On Columbus Day…
  • Elizabeth Warren @ewarren The story of America’s mistreatment of indigenous peoples is long and painful. And yet, Native communities have proven resilient. We owe them our respect—and we must honor our government’s commitments and promises to them. #IndigenousPeoplesDay 9:25 AM · Oct 14, 2019·Twitter Web App
  • Elizabeth Warren @ewarren 22h We must fulfill our trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations. We must protect Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. And we have to go even further to empower indigenous peoples to build stronger communities and a brighter future.
• COLUMBUS STATUES VANDALIZED: ‘Stop celebrating genocide’: Christopher Columbus statues vandalized on namesake holiday. (AP) –  PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Several Christopher Columbus statues were vandalized with red paint and messages against the 15th century Italian navigator Monday when the U.S. holiday named for one of the first Europeans to reach the Americas was being celebrated. A statue in Providence, Rhode Island, was splashed from head to toe Monday with red paint, and a sign reading “Stop celebrating genocide” was leaned against the pedestal. The word “genocide” was written in orange paint on the rear of the pedestal. The statue has been the target of vandals on Columbus Day in the past. A spokeswoman for Mayor Jorge Elorza said the statue will be cleaned Monday. A Columbus statue in the Southern California city of Chula Vista was also defaced Monday with red paint. A Chula Vista police officer discovered the defaced Columbus statue in the city’s Discovery Park. Crews were called in to clean off the paint, Chula Vista police Capt. Vern Sallee told the San Diego Union Tribune .
• Trump: Christopher Columbus’ ‘Courage, Skill, and Drive’ Are at ‘The Core of The American Spirit’  (CNSNews.com) — In his proclamation marking Oct. 14, 2019 as Columbus Day, President Donald Trump said that Christopher Columbus’s “watershed voyage ushered in the Age of Exploration” and set the foundation for “development of our Nation.”  The president further proclaimed that the “courage, skill, and drive” of this “great explorer” are at “the core of the American spirit.” “I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities,” said Trump.  Below is the full text of the Proclamation: Presidential Proclamation on Columbus Day, 2019 Issued on: October 11, 2019 // On October 12, 1492, after a perilous, two-month journey across the treacherous Atlantic Ocean, Christopher Columbus and his crew aboard the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria landed in what is today The Bahamas.  This watershed voyage ushered in the Age of Exploration, changing the course of history and setting the foundation for development of our Nation.  Today, we commemorate this great explorer, whose courage, skill, and drive for discovery are at the core of the American spirit. While Columbus sailed from the port of Palos under the Spanish flag, he took pride in the fact that he was a citizen of Genoa, Italy.  The celebration of Columbus Day is, therefore, an appropriate opportunity to recognize the more than 16 million Americans who claim Italian heritage and to carry forth the legacy of generations of Italian Americans who helped shape our Nation.  The United States greatly values its close bond with Italy, a longstanding friend, ally, and economic partner.  Our relationship, built on shared values and a commitment to furthering peace and prosperity, continues to benefit both of our nations. Columbus’s daring voyage to the New World brought two continents together, enabling a global perspective for the first time.  The bold legacy of Columbus and his crew spun a thread that weaves through the extensive history of Americans who have pushed the boundaries of exploration.  On Columbus Day, we draw inspiration from this intrepid pioneer’s spirit of adventure.  We also affirm our commitment to continuing our quest to discover and better understand the wonders of our Nation, the world, and beyond. In commemoration of Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage, the Congress, by joint resolution of April 30, 1934, and modified in 1968 (36 U.S.C. 107), as amended, has requested the President proclaim the second Monday of October of each year as “Columbus Day.” NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 14, 2019, as Columbus Day.  I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.  I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and all who have contributed to shaping this Nation.

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

• Nationals demolish Cardinals, 8-1, in NLCS Game 3, move within one win of World Series. (Washington Post) — There was the crack of Howie Kendrick’s bat, of ball colliding with wood, before a double sizzled into grass and looked like the earliest of exclamation points. There was the resulting cheer, when some 43,675 fans find unison, when a four-run third inning is a reason to reach for a pitch-black sky and roar. Then there were Stephen Strasburg’s pitches, 117 of them, dancing toward the plate to find Kurt Suzuki’s mitt, or the comfort of dirt, producing clicks and clacks heard from the top of a swelling stadium. And all of it sounded like belief. Belief inside Nationals Park on Monday night — unleashed, unmeasured, almost unbelievable — came with the Washington Nationals’ 8-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. It came with seven dominant innings from Strasburg. It came with an offense that started and didn’t stop, not for any Cardinals pitcher, until it had scored eight runs between the third and seventh. And it came, in the end, with a promise: Take one more game from the Cardinals, just one in four tries, and go straight to the World Series. Only one team in history, the 2004 New York Yankees, had a 3-0 lead in a seven-game series and didn’t win.

8am – B/C     ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• PHARRELL EMBARRASSED BY BLURRED LINES SONG: (Buzzfeed) – Pharrell Williams Finally Spoke Out About The “Blurred Lines” Backlash. “My mind opened up to what was actually being said in the song and how it could make someone feel.” Pharrell started off talking about how he was born in a “different era” and how a lot of the things he grew up with would “never fly today.” “I get embarrassed by some of that stuff. It just took a lot of time and growth to get to that place.” Pharrell said the reaction to “Blurred Lines” opened him up to what is now known as the #MeToo movement.
• ‘We’re not following God’: Pharrell Williams claims ‘spiritual warfare’ rages between transgender people and ‘older-straight-white-male world’  (Washington Examiner) – American singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams argued that the United States is involved in “spiritual warfare” between straight white men and the world of gender fluidity. “We’re followers. And we’re not following God. We’re following men. So that’s spiritual warfare,” Williams, 46, said in an interview published Monday in GQ. “So when you offered for me to be a part of this conversation, I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ Because think about it. What is happening to a transgender person? What are they going through? They feel like their body is not connected to their spirit. And what kind of toxic environment do we live in that they have to justify how they feel? That must feel incredibly insane.” “That is spiritual warfare,” Williams continued. “So I wanted to be in the conversation. On the surface, it is an older-straight-white-male world. But it has prompted this conversation that I think is deeper than what the new masculinity is or what a non-gender-binary world looks like. I think we’re in spiritual warfare.” Williams also tore into America’s founders, saying that the name “Founding Fathers” itself was problematic.
• SEAN SPICER STAYS ON AT DWTS:
  • Trump calls for votes for Spicer on ‘Dancing With The Stars.’ President Trump is rooting on Sean Spicer for the first time as the former White House press secretary competes on “Dancing With the Stars.” Trump tweeted on Monday to his more than 65 million followers: Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Vote for good guy @seanspicer tonight on Dancing With The Stars. He has always been there for us!
  • Sean Spicer Goes Full Woody From ‘Toy Story’ in Bizarre ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Performance. “You were meant to dance a quickstep, as Woody,” one judge told the former White House press secretary. “You give good Woody!” He ended up with a 19 out of 30 and his first seven from an individual judge of the competition. “That’s amazing to see that kind of growth,” Spicer said, his voice cracking as he added, “It’s so cool to get those scores tonight.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – TOM BEVAN – co-founder and president of RealClearPolitics. RealClearPolitics.com – previewed the 2020 Democratic debate tonight.

• DEBATE NIGHT… 12 CANDIDATES: BIDEN, WARREN, SANDERS, BUTTIGIEG, HARRIS, YANG, BOOKER, O’ROURKE, STEYER, KLOBUCHAR, CASTRO, GABBARD.
• Debate begins at 8 PM ET at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio — near Columbus. CNN is broadcasting and The New York Times is cohosting.
• New poll has Warren leading Biden ahead of next Democratic debate. Warren leads Biden by 30 percent to 27 percent among Democratic voters and independents who lean Democratic, according to a Quinnipiac University poll published Monday.