Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Lynn Shaw, John Solomon, White House’s Adam Kennedy, The Federalist’s Sean Davis and Interior Department’s William Perry Pendley joined WMAL on Thursday morning!

5am – A/B/C/D/E     Flaws revealed in impeachment witnesses’ testimony during first day of public hearings. (Fox News) – All eyes were on moderate House Democrats in swing districts Wednesday night, after the first day of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry against President Trump wrapped up with no major revelations but also highlighted weaknesses in Democrats’ key witnesses, who relied primarily on second-hand information and never once interacted with the president. Critics may argue that Democrats’ first witnesses failed to directly prove that Trump, in a July 25 phone call, tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden’s family business dealings in the country in exchange for the release of about $400 million in military aid. That might make more moderate Democrats hesitant to impeach Trump. The House is now composed of 431 members, meaning Democrats need 217 yeas to impeach Trump. There are currently 233 Democrats, so they can’t lose more than 16 votes and still impeach the president. The key potential complication is this: Thirty-one House Democrats represent more moderate districts that Trump carried in 2016. Still, the first day of testimony offered one previously undisclosed allegation. Career diplomat William Taylor, the charge d’affaires in Kiev, asserted that the president was overheard by a member of his staff on July 26 asking EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland about “the investigations.” Sondland supposedly responded that “the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.” Taylor said that following Sondland’s call with Trump, the member of his staff asked what Trump thought about Ukraine. But Republicans pointed out that Taylor’s testimony was unverifiable hearsay, several layers deep — and that Sondland has previously testified that Trump explicitly told him there were “no quid pro quo’s of any kind” with Ukraine.

6am – A/B/C IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HEARING THEATER:

• COMFORT DOGS ON THE HILL: Therapy dogs will be ruff-ing it on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Room 902 of the Hart Senate Office Building and rooms 2043 and 2044 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
• DRAG QUEEN AT THE HEARING: Spotted towering over the gray and blue suits packed into the first day of President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearing was an enormous blond wig — that of Pissi Myles, a drag performer from Asbury Park, New Jersey.
• DC BARS CASH IN: Duffy’s Irish Pub, in the District’s H Street NE neighborhood, will feature what it’s dubbing “happy hearing hours,” with $5 rail drinks and $2 off all drafts and wine during all impeachment hearings. The watering hole — which boasts eight large, flat-screen TVs with a “stadium sound” system — says it’s also whipping up a pair of impeachment beverages to mark the occasion. Bartenders will be serving a “Subpoena Colada” and a drink called “James and the Giant Impeachment.”

6am – D         INTERVIEW – Lynn Shaw — discussed the launch of the Alliance To End Human Trafficking on Capitol Hill.

6am – E         UF student president faces impeachment over Trump Jr. visit. (TampaBay) — A push to oust Student Body President Michael Murphy comes after an email surfaces, suggesting he worked with the Trump campaign to bring a political speech to campus. GAINESVILLE — Last month’s visit to the University of Florida by President Donald Trump’s oldest son is still reverberating through campus, with some student leaders pushing to oust the student body president who invited him. For only the second time in the school’s 115-year history, a student president faces impeachment — and this time it’s happening with a U.S. president under the same threat. The parallels with Washington, D.C., don’t stop there. The looming battle in Gainesville is a struggle between the executive and legislative branches, fanned by partisan loyalties. And it features newly uncovered evidence — an email — seen by many as a smoking gun, much like the now-famous call that touched off the widening impeachment inquiry into Trump senior. Michael C. Murphy received a formal resolution for his impeachment Tuesday afternoon, which was signed by more than 100 students and alumni. It was delivered to his on-campus office and sent to his UF email. The school’s Senate president Emily Dunson, received a copy, too, in accordance with student government rules. Those behind the effort say Murphy conspired with an official for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign to bring Donald Trump Jr. and Trump campaign adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle to campus for speeches on Oct. 10.

6am – F         Deval Patrick announces presidential campaign. (CNN) — Deval Patrick officially announced a late-entry 2020 presidential campaign on Thursday, thrusting the former Massachusetts governor into an already crowded field of Democratic candidates less than three months before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. “In many ways, it has felt to me watching the race unfold that we are beginning to break into camps of nostalgia on the one hand and big ideas — my way or no way — on the other,” Patrick told reporters in New Hampshire. “We have to be about how we bring people in, how we bring people along and how we yield to the possibility that somebody else, or even some other party may have a good idea, as good or better than our own.” The announcement is a stark reversal for Patrick, who decided in December 2018 not to run for president, citing in a Facebook post the “cruelty of our elections process” and the impact it would have on those close to him.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOHN SOLOMON – Investigative reporter / His website is: JohnSolomonReports.com – shared his thoughts on the public impeachment inquiry hearing.

• The real Ukraine controversy: an activist U.S. embassy and its adherence to the Geneva Convention | John Solomon Reports. The first time I ever heard the name of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was in early March of this year. It did not come from a Ukrainian or an ally of President Trump. It came from a career diplomat I was interviewing on background on a different story. The diplomat, as I recall, suggested that Yovanovitch had just caused a commotion in Ukraine a few weeks before that country’s presidential election by calling for the firing of one of the prosecutors aligned with the incumbent president. The diplomat related that a more senior State official, David Hale, was about  to travel to Ukraine and was prepping to be confronted about Yovanovitch’s comments. I remember the diplomat joking something to the effect of, “we always say that the Geneva Convention is optional for our Kiev staff.” The Geneva Convention is the UN-backed pact enacted during the Cold War that governs the conduct of foreign diplomats in host countries and protects them against retribution. But it strictly mandates that foreign diplomats “have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State” that hosts them.

7am – B/C     PUBLIC INQUIRY HEARING HIGHLIGHTS

7am – D         INTERVIEW – ADAM KENNEDY – Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications at The White House – reacted to the first impeachment inquiry hearing yesterday.

7am – E         Dolly Parton’s faith-based CMAs performance praised by fans: ‘Everyone should be made to listen to this.’ (Fox News) – Dolly Parton is never short on delivering heart-stopping moments. Wearing multiple hats on one of country music’s biggest nights, the “9 to 5” songstress traded her hosting duties for a pulpit when she took center stage Wednesday at the 2019 CMAs and belted out a trio of faith-based anthems for a medley of her own. Tapping Christian pop duo King & Country for their collaboration of “God Only Knows,” Parton set the audience up for an unexpected trip to church when she then brought out Zach Williams for a rendition of “There Was Jesus,” before going solo and summoning a gospel choir for her offering of “Faith,” in which she collaborates with Galantis and Mr. Probz. Fans viewing at home immediately took to Twitter to share in their praise for the Dollywood operator, calling Parton’s showing “the best performance of the night.” “Thank you @DollyParton for the BEST performance of the night! @KeithUrban did an awesome job too!” wrote one user, while another echoed the sentiment, adding, “Literally sat here like a giddy child watching Dolly Parton sing on the CMAs.” However, while many fans were in awe of the 73-year-old Parton’s ability to set the stage ablaze with just her voice, others were head-over-heels in love with the fact they were able to witness faith-based music from Parton on national TV. “Can’t believe @ABCNetwork allowed songs about Jesus, Faith, and God. Thank you Dolly Parton!” wrote one user on Twitter.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – SEAN DAVIS – Co-founder of The Federalist

• Flaws revealed in impeachment witnesses’ testimony during first day of public hearings. All eyes were on moderate House Democrats in swing districts Wednesday night, after the first day of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry against President Trump wrapped up with no major revelations but also highlighted weaknesses in Democrats’ key witnesses, who relied primarily on second-hand information and never once interacted with the president. Critics may argue that Democrats’ first witnesses failed to directly prove that Trump, in a July 25 phone call, tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden’s family business dealings in the country in exchange for the release of about $400 million in military aid.

8am – B/C     PUBLIC INQUIRY HEARING HIGHLIGHTS

8am – D         Interview – William Perry Pendley – Acting Director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management – discussed the move of 40 jobs from DC to the new HQ in Grand Junction, CO and more than 200 total moving out West. While this move is controversial to some, the BLM believes it can lead more effectively with decision-makers closer to the lands they manage out West. This week, employees will be receiving letters of their reassignment.