Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

European Parliament Member Alexandra Phillips, ESPN’s Carol Maloney, HHS Alex Azar and VA House of Delegates candidate Paul Milde joined WMAL on Tuesday!

5am – A/B/C Goodwin: It’s time for Michael Bloomberg to enter the 2020 race. (By Michael Goodwin/NY Post) — Like the swallows coming back to Capistrano, reports are surfacing that Michael Bloomberg is considering a White House run. Again.  The former New York mayor dipped his toes into the water in both 2012 and 2016, and backed off a 2020 race last March. Always for the same reason: He concluded he couldn’t win. He was right and many actual candidates should follow Bloomberg’s example. The 12 Democrats on the debate stage last week proved that quantity does not guarantee quality. Yet a new reality is prompting Bloomy’s second thoughts. It is the growing likelihood that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, an extreme leftist, will win the nomination and guide the party into the political wilderness. Bloomberg, a Democrat again after being a Republican and independent, regards Warren’s economic plans as dangerous nonsense. He told her as much at a gun control event he bankrolled. Taking the microphone after her, he told the audience, “I just said to Senator Warren on the way out, ‘Senator, congratulations, it’s a nice talk. But let me just remind you if my company hadn’t been successful, we wouldn’t be here today, so enough with this stuff.’ ”

5am – D         House votes to set aside resolution censuring Adam Schiff. The vote was 218 to 185 to table the resolution, which the Republican minority had introduced. All Democrats voted to table the censure resolution, with all Republicans voting against tabling. […] After the vote, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy condemned Schiff’s “grave missteps” and “reckless behavior.” “Each member of Congress must uphold a high standard of honesty and integrity. When it comes to matters of our national security, that responsibility is even greater,” McCarthy said. “Chairman Schiff has fallen short in his duty. From claiming he had evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign to covering up his committee’s relationship with the whistleblower, he has demonstrated a pattern of lying to the American people on matters of intelligence.” Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Schiff a “patriot” in her own statement. “Our country is extremely well-served by his serious, smart and strategic leadership to protect our elections, national security and democracy – which sadly stands in stark contrast to Republicans in the Congress who cover up the truth, look the other way when the President invites foreign governments to interfere in our elections and vote against legislation to secure the ballot from foreign attacks,” Pelosi asserted.

• ADAM SCHIFF: It will be said of House Republicans, When they found they lacked the courage to confront the most dangerous and unethical president in American history, They consoled themselves by attacking those who did.

5am – E         Gabbard says she’s open to ‘face-to-face’ meeting with Clinton, amid ‘Russian asset’ accusation. (Fox News) – Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard on Monday suggested that a “face-to-face” with Hillary Clinton might be an appropriate next step, as both Democratic and Republican politicians, including President Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders, condemned Clinton’s unfounded suggestion that the congresswoman is a secret Russian asset. Speaking to reporters at an Iowa coffee shop, Gabbard, D-Hawaii, lamented that Clinton had pulled out of a planned appearance at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, where Gabbard is set to speak. Clinton was said to have abandoned the summit to avoid appearing with former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. “Well, she had something to say about me, and I would have been very happy to have that conversation directly face-to-face with her,” Gabbard said. Earlier Monday, Sanders, I-Vt., joined fellow presidential candidates Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson and Beto O’Rourke in defending Gabbard. 

6am – A/B/C Transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon dominates, competitors raise questions. (New York Post) – Transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon keeps dominating women’s cycling. And she keeps creating controversy all the way. Last weekend at the Masters Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester, England, the 37-year-old Canadian first set a world record in qualifying for the 35-39 age category 200-meter sprint, then went on to defend her title in the finals. Her success, however, has been overshadowed by frustrated competitors. In an interview with Sky News, former cycling champion Victoria Hood said, “It is not complicated. The science is there and it says that it is unfair. The male body, which has been through male puberty, still retains its advantage; that doesn’t go away. I have sympathy with them. They have the right to do sport but not a right to go into any category they want.” In a press release in response to Hood’s comments, McKinnon denounced her for having “an irrational fear of trans women.” “By preventing trans women from competing or requiring them to take medication, you’re denying their human rights,” McKinnon told Sky News before the event. “All my medical records say female,” McKinnon said. “My doctor treats me as a female person, my racing license says female, but people who oppose my existence still want to think of me as male. … So, if we want to say, that I believe you’re a woman for all of society, except for this massive central part that is sport, then that’s not fair.”

Donald Trump Jr. expresses sympathy for female athletes who lost to a transgender cyclist.  (NY Daily News) — The president’s namesake took issue with transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon’s win at the 2019 Masters Worlds in Manchester, England. “You can never be woke enough! Sorry to all female athletes who spent their lives mastering their games,” Donald Trump, Jr. tweeted alongside a link to a story about McKinnon’s win on TownHall.com. McKinnon, 37, a Canada native who teaches philosophy in South Carolina, tweeted on Monday afternoon “They’re flooding my IG with hate speech. That usually means that some right wing outlet published something hateful.” An hour later, she realized the president’s eldest son was leading the campaign against her. “Oh THIS explains the explosion of hate messages I’m getting!!” she wrote alongside a link to Trump Jr.’s tweet.

6am – D         MAYOR PETE SURGING:

• Mayor Pete Buttigieg Polls Third in Iowa. Mayor Pete Buttigieg has jumped to third in Iowa, according to a poll of the state released on Monday. The Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll shows that Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are battling for the lead with Biden at 18 percent and Warren at 17 percent. The South Bend mayor tangled with Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the last Democrat presidential primary debate, suggesting some of her policies were too radical, especially her proposal to end private health insurance in favor of Medicare for all. Buttigieg is at 13 percent, up seven points from the poll taken in June.
• Here’s The Hiring Advice Mark Zuckerberg And His Wife Gave Buttigieg Ahead Of The Election. (Daily Caller) – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg the names of several potential hires as the Democrat continues his bid for president in an anti-big tech environment. Zuckerberg sent emails to Buttigieg’s campaign manager, Mike Schmuhl, laying out people who might be good hires, campaign spokesman Chris Meagher told Bloomberg News. The Silicon Valley billionaire’s wife also provided Schmuhl with recommendations.

6am – E/F      MEDIA BUBBLE / CRAZY NY TIMES HEADLINES:

• BUBBLE MANAGEMENT… SLATE: What Is the “Highly Anticipated” FISA Report That Conservatives Keep Talking About? To those outside the conservative news bubble, “the FISA report” might not mean much—let alone be “highly anticipated,” as the story described it. But those who watch Fox News have been primed to think of this report as something that will show that the FBI and Justice Department were reckless, or even acted illegally, in their efforts to undermine Donald Trump.
• NY TIMES DEFENDS DEEP STATE: NY TIMES: They Are Not the Resistance. They Are Not a Cabal. They Are Public Servants. President Trump is right: The deep state is alive and well. But it is not the sinister, antidemocratic cabal of his fever dreams. It is, rather, a collection of patriotic public servants — career diplomats, scientists, intelligence officers and others — who, from within the bowels of this corrupt and corrupting administration, have somehow remembered that their duty is to protect the interests, not of a particular leader, but of the American people.
• NY TIMES HILLARY FLUFF PIECE: NY TIMES: Hillary Clinton, Master Troll? Is Hillary Clinton trolling us? Over the past two weeks, Mrs. Clinton has called President Trump a “corrupt human tornado.” She’s refused to appear on a panel with Kirstjen Nielsen, the former homeland security secretary best known for separating migrant children from their families. She’s picked a fight with Representative Tulsi Gabbard, suggesting that the Hawaii congresswoman and presidential candidate is a favorite of the Russians. And she’s tweeted a letter mocking Mr. Trump with language that makes it unprintable in this family newsletter. Welcome to Hillary Unplugged. For most of her public career, Mrs. Clinton has been constrained by the expectations of her position, be it first lady, senator or secretary of state. Now, after her stunning loss in 2016, it seems she finally feels liberated to speak her mind. And she’s certainly stirring up a lot of drama while doing it. The two-time Democratic presidential candidate continues to loom large in the psyche of her party — both as heroine and villain.
• NY Times blasted for Hillary Clinton article calling her a ‘master troll.’ The New York Times was widely criticized on Monday for what was described as a “puff piece” about Hillary Clinton over her recent attacks on Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and President Trump, suggesting she’s a “master troll.” In an analysis piece from Times reporter Lisa Lerer, she questioned whether Clinton was “trolling us,” listing her “corrupt human tornado” insult towards Trump, her unsubstantiated suggested that the Russians were “grooming” Gabbard, D-Hawaii, as a Russian asset in 2020, and sharing a fake letter mocking Trump’s recent, casually worded missive to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which neither she nor Lerer credited “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for creating. “Welcome to Hillary Unplugged,” Lerer wrote. “For most of her public career, Mrs. Clinton has been constrained by the expectations of her position, be it first lady, senator or secretary of state. Now, after her stunning loss in 2016, it seems she finally feels liberated to speak her mind.” However, the Times piece was met with a slew of mockery on social media. “NYT: Hillary is ‘living her best life’ by smearing Gabbard and tweeting boomer memes at Drumpf,” The Hill Chief Washington Correspondent Saagar Enjeti tweeted. Megan Murphy @meganmurp: I truly long for the cycle when the @nytimes stops writing these takes. Maybe 2032. “The two-time Democratic presidential candidate continues to loom large in the psyche of her party — both as heroine and villain.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW – ALEXANDRA PHILLIPS –  is a member of the European Parliament and a rising star of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. She is a former Nigel Farage’s chief of staff for more than a decade and is a former BBC journalist.

• UK set to vote on Boris Johnson Brexit deal. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was set to put his Brexit deal to a vote in Parliament on Tuesday, in the first test of whether he has persuaded enough lawmakers to his plan to pull the U.K. out of the European Union. On Monday, Johnson’s bid for a new Brexit vote was shot down by the speaker of the House of Commons. Speaker John Bercow refused to allow it because lawmakers voted to delay approving the Brexit deal on Saturday, and parliamentary rules bar the same measure from being considered a second time during a session of Parliament unless something has changed. Johnson still hopes to get the bill approved by Parliament before Oct. 31, the date he promised Britain would leave the EU.
• YESTERDAY: UK Parliament speaker rules government can’t ask lawmakers to vote again on Brexit deal, in new blow to Boris Johnson’s plan.
• WASTEFUL SPENDING OF THE EU: The European Parliament moves to France once a month and it costs the taxpayers a small fortune: (Telegraph) – The full cost of the travelling circus that sees MEPs decamp once a month from Brussels to Strasbourg can be disclosed. And even though MEPs have voted to scrap a second parliament, the French government has the power to block any such move. It is perhaps the most outlandish of the European Union’s excesses; a £130 million travelling circus that once a month sees the European Parliament decamp from Belgium to France. Over the course of the weekend, some 2,500 plastic trunks will be loaded on to five lorries and driven almost 300 miles from Brussels to Strasbourg. On Monday, about 1,000 politicians, officials and translators will then make the same journey on two specially chartered trains hired at taxpayers’ expense. A few thousand more will go to Strasbourg by other means, as the European Parliament switches from Brussels, its permanent base, to its “official” home in northern France. For the first time, the full detail of this “madness”, contained in official European documents, can be disclosed today by The Telegraph – and the price to taxpayers is astonishing.

7am – B/C     ‘She’s not fooling anyone.’ Ilhan Omar lives a double life of secret hookups and romantic vacays to Jamaica with her married aide, as they live together ‘on and off’ and even talk of MARRIAGE (once their divorces are finalized). Ilhan Omar, 37, is not only dating, but living ‘on and off’ with her married campaign aide Tim Mynett, 38, in Washington DC, DailyMail.com can reveal. The two have secret hookups at Omar’s love nest and are taking romantic vacations and making plans for a long-term future together. DailyMail.com has obtained photographic evidence that confirms Oar and Mynett have been hooking up whenever she is in DC for congressional work. A source told DailyMail.com: ‘They are more or less living together whenever she is in DC. They are even planning a romantic vacation at Christmas.‘  (Daily Mail) — Ilhan Omar’s brazen double life involving secret hookups, romantic vacations and talk of marriage to her DC strategist lover is today laid bare after an exclusive DailyMail.com investigation. The leftist congresswoman, 37, spent months denying she had split from husband Ahmed Hirsi despite this website revealing she had left their marital home and was having an affair with a campaign aide. She finally filed for divorce on October 7 – but still refuses to acknowledge her relationship with veteran Democratic schmoozer Tim Mynett, 38, whose wife also petitioned for divorce in August. DailyMail.com can now disclose that Omar and Mynett are not only dating, but living together ‘on and off’ at a secret DC apartment, while plotting romantic vacations to Jamaica and making plans for a long-term future together. Insiders have gone so far as to suggest the pair are considering marriage when their respective divorces are finalized. At the same time, however, DailyMail.com can further reveal that Mynett’s spurned wife Beth, 55, is refusing to yield in divorce proceedings because she feels Omar is a risk to their 13-year-old son William’s safety. She wants primary custody and has told friends there is ‘no way’ she will allow her child to be ‘put in the cross hairs’ should someone try to harm the firebrand lawmaker because of her political leanings.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – Carol Maloney – host of Carol Maloney Show on ESPN 630  (in studio) – previewed today’s World Series game: Today at 8:08 PM – Washington Nationals at Houston Astros.

• 2019 World Series predictions, picks: Will Nationals shock Astros and win first-ever championship? (CBS Sports) – On Tuesday night, the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros will kick off the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.  The best-of-seven series will shift to Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. beginning with Game 3 and extending through Game 5. Here’s everything you need to know about the Fall Classic. The Astros earned home-field advantage with the superior regular-season record. To reach this point in the playoffs, they had to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays in five games in the divisional round and the New York Yankees in six in the ALCS. Gerrit Cole is scheduled to start Game 1 for the Astros, with Justin Verlander taking the mound in Game 2 and Zack Greinke in Game 3. Game 4 pitching plans for Houston is still an uncertainty. The Nationals won the NL Wild Card Game against the Milwaukee Brewers, then defeated the top seed Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the divisional round before sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS to win the pennant. The Nationals haven’t announced their rotation plans yet, but it’s expected that Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin will start the first three games in some order or another.

7am – E         KANYE FINDS RELIGION:

• Kanye West Releases Trailer for ‘Jesus is King.’ On Friday, rap megastar and fashion mogul Kanye West released a short trailer for his upcoming IMAX film Jesus Is King. To the strains of a choir, the trailer zooms in on the stairs of James Turrell’s famous Arizona artwork, the Roden Crater, a project to which West donated $10 million to finish. The new film is an outgrowth of West’s now famous Sunday Services, which the rapper began hosting earlier this year. In September, for instance, West was visibly moved as he welcomed fellow Chicago crooner Chance The Rapper to an outdoor Sunday Service held in their hometown.
• ‘Radically Saved’ Kanye Called Rap ‘The Devil’s Music,’ Almost Quit Industry, Pastor Reveals. Pastor Adam Tyson revealed during a podcast last week that musical talent Kanye West told him he almost stopped rapping soon after being save by God because he thought rap was “the devil’s music.” Tyson, the pastor at the California-based Placerita Bible Church that West began attending in mid-May, encouraged the pro-Trump performer to continue with the genre, but to do so in a way that glorifies God.

8am – A         TRUMP CABINET MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:

• President Trump on Monday urged Republicans to offer him a tougher defense against a House impeachment inquiry, amid a few signs of GOP discontent with his administration. The President said Republicans have to “get tougher and fight” to counteract Democrats pursuing an impeachment inquiry. Asked later to elaborate, Trump said he felt Democrats were “vicious”, but added that so-called “Never Trump” Republicans “might be worse than the Democrats.”
• President Trump spoke at length during a Cabinet meeting on Monday about his decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria — arguing that the U.S. never agreed to protect Syrian Kurds forever, suggesting the U.S. may secure an oil deal for the Kurds to bolster their finances, adding he’s “the one that did the capturing” of ISIS fighters in Syria. The President acknowledged that a “small” group of US troops would remain in Syria.
• Trump complains he has to fight off ‘lowlifes’ conducting ‘illegitimate’ impeachment inquiry
• Donald Trump calls the emoluments clause ‘PHONY’ saying George Washington had a business too as he explodes over being forced to ditch holding the G7 at his Doral resort and claims being president has cost him $5 BILLION
• President Trump: “I would’ve done it free, saved the country a lot of money. Then they say, ‘Oh, but you’ll get promotion.’ Who cares? You don’t think I get enough promotion? I get more promotion than any human being that’s ever lived.”

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – SECRETARY ALEX AZAR – United States Secretary of Health and Human Services – discussed the administration’s deregulation efforts.

• Secretary Azar talked about how HHS has given doctors and nurses 40 million hours of additional time with patients through cutting back on paperwork via deregulation:
• HISTORIC DEREGULATION: Since taking office, President Donald J. Trump has led historic deregulation efforts to roll back red tape that burdened Americans and stifled economic growth. Under the President’s leadership, the Administration has cut 8 and a half regulations for every new rule, far exceeding his promise to cut two regulations for every new one.   President Trump’s deregulatory efforts have already slashed regulatory costs by nearly $50 billion, with savings reaching $220 billion once major actions are fully implemented.    Sixteen pieces of deregulation legislation signed by President Trump are expected to increase annual real incomes by more than $40 billion. The Trump Administration’s deregulatory efforts will help save American households an estimated $3,100 each year. Today, the Administration announced a Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation to extend the President’s historic regulatory reform to State and local levels.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – PAUL MILDE – Republican running for Virginia House of Delegates District 28 – discussed his race for Virginia House of Delegates and how it’s being targeted by actor Alec Baldwin who is in Fredericksburg to stump for his Democratic opponent Joshua Cole.

• Alec Baldwin will be in Chesterfield, Fredericksburg and Fairfax Tuesday to canvass for Democratic candidates.  Baldwin will be in Chesterfield County to support Amanda Pohl, candidate for Virginia Senate District 11; Fredericksburg for Joshua Cole, candidate for Virginia House District 28, and Qasim Rashid, candidate for Virginia Senate District 28; and Fairfax County for Dan Helmer, candidate for Virginia House District 40.
• Milde’s opponent has been open about his anti-ICE stance:
  • Paul Milde @PaulvMilde Retweeted Joshua G. Cole: This is what Josh Cole thinks of ICE and American border security.
  • Joshua G. Cole ‏@JCole4VA: The only ICE we need is INCLUSION – COMMUNITY and EQUALITY! -Rev. William Barber  #PoorPeoplesCampaign 4:24 PM – 26 Sep 2018

8am – E         Police Groups Slam Beto’s Plan to Send Cops to Collect Americans’ Guns. (Washington Free Beacon) — National law enforcement organizations harshly criticized Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s plan to send police officers to collect AR-15s and AK-47s from those who refuse to turn them in under his mandatory buyback scheme. In interviews with the Washington Free Beacon, leaders from groups representing hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers described Beto’s gun confiscation plan as “ridiculous,” “asinine,” and likely unconstitutional. Their comments come after Beto told MSNBC on Wednesday that he would send “law enforcement to recover” firearms from those who would not comply with his buy-back plan. O’Rourke vividly described the plan at September’s Democratic primary debate, declaring that “hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.” A leader of the National Fraternal Order of Police—the nation’s largest police union, representing more than 330,000 sworn law-enforcement officers—said that not only was Beto’s plan unlikely to be constitutional but that Beto himself was unlikely to ever be elected. “Mr. O’Rourke may not be aware that state and local police officers (who comprise more than 90% of all police in the U.S.) receive their orders from their local jurisdictions – not from the Federal government,” Jim Pasco, executive director of the FOP, wrote in an email to the Free Beacon. “Further, any such legislation, if it passed, would no doubt be vigorously litigated with a view to its apparent inconsistency with the Second Amendment.”