Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Alexandria Police’s Lt. Courtney Ballantine, Josh Kraushaar and Jennifer Brown joined WMAL on Tuesday!

5am – A/B/C Barack Obama: Women are better leaders than men. (BBC) — If women ran every country in the world there would be a general improvement in living standards and outcomes, former US President Barack Obama has said. Speaking in Singapore, he said women aren’t perfect, but are “indisputably better” than men. He said most of the problems in the world came from old people, mostly men, holding onto positions of power. He also spoke about political polarisation and the use of social media to spread falsehoods. Speaking at a private event on leadership, Mr Obama said while in office he had mused what a world run by women would look like. “Now women, I just want you to know; you are not perfect, but what I can say pretty indisputably is that you’re better than us [men]. “I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything… living standards and outcomes.” When asked if he would ever consider going back into political leadership, he said he believed in leaders stepping aside when the time came. “If you look at the world and look at the problems it’s usually old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way,” he said. “It is important for political leaders to try and remind themselves that you are there to do a job, but you are not there for life, you are not there in order to prop up your own sense of self importance or your own power.”

5am – D         ‘I won’t be quiet’: Meghan McCain hits back after Whoopi Goldberg outburst. The View host Meghan McCain said she will not be silent after her fellow host Whoopi Goldberg told her to “stop talking” during the show.  “Dems and Rs alike need to confront the ugly truth: both parties are failing to be impartial jurors,” McCain said Monday on Twitter. “I won’t be quiet, even if the reality reflects poorly on the entire political establishment. I have a responsibility to speak for the 50% that feels media doesn’t represent them.”

5am – E         FLYNN SENTENCING: The federal judge who will sentence Michael Flynn has issued a blanket rebuke of conspiracy theories about the former Trump national security adviser. The FBI didn’t entrap Flynn when he lied to them in the early days of the Trump administration, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court in DC said in a 92-page opinion. “The Court summarily disposes of Mr. Flynn’s arguments that the FBI conducted an ambush interview for the purpose of trapping him into making false statements and that the government pressured him to enter a guilty plea. The record proves otherwise,” Sullivan wrote on Monday. Flynn will now be sentenced on January 28.

6am – A         LATEST ON DEM DEBATE:

• 2020 DEM DEBATE IN LIMBO THIS WEEK OVER UNION DISPUTE:
• The December Democratic presidential debate is in limbo with just two days before it is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez and other top officials spent the weekend working to resolve a labor dispute at Loyola Marymount University, where the debate is set to take place, between Sodexo, a food services company, and the food workers’ union. All seven Democrats who qualified for the debate have said they will not cross a picket line to participate in the debate. Labor union Unite Here Local 11 informed the campaigns on Friday that they will picket the Thursday debate if they cannot reach an agreement with the catering provider.
• CNN: 2020 Democrats say they won’t participate in December debate if they have to cross picket line. Washington (CNN) All seven Democratic presidential candidates who met the qualifications to participate in next week’s debate declared their support on Friday for a local labor union and said they would not participate in the debate if they have to cross the union’s picket line. UNITE HERE Local 11 sent a letter Friday to all the Democratic presidential campaigns informing them of a labor dispute involving their union on Loyola Marymount University’s campus, the site for next week’s debate. LMU subcontracts its food service operations to a company called Sodexo, and Local 11 has been in negotiations with Sodexo since March for a collective bargaining agreement, according to the letter. A resolution has not been reached and Sodexo last week canceled scheduled contract negotiations, according to the union. After receiving the letter, the candidates — Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Tom Steyer and Amy Klobuchar — all announced their support of the union.
• AXIOS SCOOP: Tom Perez spent over 20 hours on the phone this weekend trying to save Thursday’s debate from crumbling, per a source familiar, after a labor dispute prompted the presidential candidates to threaten a boycott. Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez spent over 20 hours on the phone this weekend trying to save Thursday’s debate from crumbling, per a source familiar, after a labor dispute prompted the presidential candidates to threaten a boycott. Why it matters: The DNC already switched the venue once because of another labor dispute, and it would be nearly impossible to find a new location now. Internally, Democrats are hopeful a deal will be made today or tomorrow — and some DNC staffers are already heading to Los Angeles this afternoon.
• RACIAL EQUITY DRAMA IN DEBATE QUALIFICATIONS:
  • BOSTON HERALD: Cory Booker leads nine Democratic presidential hopefuls in asking DNC to change debate rules. Nine Democratic presidential hopefuls, led by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, are calling on the Democratic National Committee to lower its qualifying thresholds for the January and February debates after only one candidate of color made the cut for the December stage. Booker’s campaign led the charge in a letter sent to DNC Chairman Tom Perez on Saturday saying, “The escalating thresholds over the past few months have unnecessarily and artificially narrowed what started as the strongest and most diverse Democratic field in history before voters have had a chance to be heard.” The DNC has systematically upped its debate qualifying thresholds throughout the year. For Thursday’s debate, candidates needed to receive at least 4% support in at least four national or early state polls, or 6% or more in two early state polls. Candidates also needed at least 200,000 unique donors, with at least 800 apiece in 20 states. Saturday’s letter comes after Booker failed to qualify for this Thursday’s debate in Los Angeles — which is already in question after all seven of the eligible candidates said they wouldn’t cross a picket line of Loyola Marymount University food service workers locked in a labor dispute.
  • POLITICO: DNC balks at effort to alter debate qualifications. Cory Booker and Julián Castro may not make the January and February debates under current rules. The candidates asked the DNC to return its qualifications to either achieving the threshold through polling or through individual contributors — rather than requiring candidates to reach both. Booker and Castro have reached donor thresholds for debates, but not polling. But the DNC resisted the request in a statement shared with POLITICO: “The DNC has led a fair and transparent process and even told campaigns almost a year ago that the qualification criteria would go up later in the year — not one campaign objected. The DNC will not change the threshold for any one candidate and will not revert back to two consecutive nights with more than a dozen candidates. Our qualification criteria is extremely low and reflects where we are in the race. Once voting starts in February, our criteria will reflect those contests, which is more than appropriate. We’re proud to have given candidates so many opportunities to get their message across, and will continue to have fair criteria that reflects each point in the race.”

6am – B/C     Porch pirates stalking delivery drivers in Alexandria neighborhood | FOX 5 DC. ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A pair of Christmas crooks has a Northern Virginia neighborhood on edge after a number of residents reported packages being stolen. However, it’s the technique of these particular porch pirates that’s catching their attention. According to neighbors living in the Potomac Yard townhomes off of Richmond Highway in Alexandria, this pair of package thieves followed behind a deliver driver and stole their boxes almost as soon as they were dropped off. “It happens all the time, it’s always been, people are always losing packages,” Michael Whitehead, one neighbor, tells Fox 5.  The problem was particularly bad this week though. Whitehead says he spotted the duo in a Dodge Charger around 6:30 Tuesday morning.  “I saw them come back along, throw something in the car, go to next door and pick a package up and throw that in the car,” he said. Whitehead snapped a photo of the vehicle and posted it to the Nextdoor app. He quickly discovered that his neighbors in the alley behind his townhouse were not the only victims. Neighbors also spotted the daring duo around the corner on Richmond Highway and down the street on Annie Rose Avenue. Doorbell video from the home on Richmond Highway captures the suspected scrooge snatching the package up close, while the driver waits in what appears to be the same black Charger.

6am – D         As final impeachment vote nears, swing-district Dems fall in line. Other than New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who has mulled switching to the Republican Party, and Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, no other Democrat occupying one of the 31 House districts that Trump won in 2016 has announced opposition to impeachment. All Republicans in Congress and the Senate have opposed impeachment. At the same time, New York Rep. Max Rose, whose district backed Trump by 10 points in 2016 and who has long campaigned on bipartisanship, announced Friday he would support impeaching the president. “A president coercing a foreign government into targeting American citizens is not just another example of scorched earth politics, it serves as an invitation to the enemies of the United States to come after any citizen, so long as they disagree with the President,” Rose said in a statement. Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb, Arizona Rep. Tom O’Halleran and Nevada Rep. Susie Lee, all Democrats representing Trump-won districts, have also said they will back impeachment. And, Texas Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat who flipped a GOP seat in 2018, called Trump’s actions an “unacceptable violation of his oath of office and constitute an impeachable abuse of power.” Allred’s district went to Hillary Clinton by just 1.9 points. Not all moderate Democrats have weighed in, with several saying the vote will be a challenging decision. The House is comprised of 431 members, meaning Democrats would need 217 yeas to impeach Trump. There currently have been 233 Democrats, so they could lose only 16 of their own and still impeach the president.

6am – E         Rudy Giuliani says he was key player in Yovanovitch ouster, has proof of Dem impeachment a ‘cover-up’ (Fox News) — Rudy Giuliani, a personal attorney for President Trump, said Monday that he played a key role in forcing ex-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch from her post earlier this year, and claimed that he has evidence the Trump impeachment inquiry is a “cover-up” of Democratic malfeasance. Giuliani, one of Trump’s most loyal defenders, told Laura Ingraham on “The Ingraham Angle” that he helped forced out Yovanovitch because she was corrupt and obstructing the investigation into Ukraine and the Bidens. Giuliani raised eyebrows recently after an interview was published in the New Yorker where he was quoted saying that he needed her “out of the way” because she would make the investigation into the Bidens “difficult for everybody.” […] Giuliani said others voiced their concerns about the diplomat, including [former Texas Republican U.S. Congressman] Pete Sessions, and a number of congressmen. He added that he interviewed several individuals who claimed Yovanovitch was “holding up” their U.S. visas “in order to obstruct the investigation of collusion in the Ukraine and specifically to obstruct the Biden investigation.” “It is a cover-up, a cover-up,” Giuliani claimed.

6am – F         Stafford set to take gun rights vote at Tuesday meeting. (Potomac Local) — Last week, Prince William and Spotsylvania counties. On Tuesday, Stafford? The county Board of Supervisors will take up the question of whether or not to become a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary (2A), where the right to bear arms as enshrined in the U.S. Bill of Rights is upheld. A public hearing will be held in the Board Chambers at 7 p.m. at 1300 Courthouse Road in Stafford. More than 1,000 people packed the Prince William County Government Center in Woodbridge on December 10 to argue in favor of that county becoming a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary. At their final meeting of the year, the Board of County Supervisors chose to be a “constitutional county,” choosing to affirm it’s support for the 2nd Amendment. The meeting adjourned about 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 11., following the vote. Spotsylvania County passed a similar 2A resolution just prior to Prince William. The Virginia Citizens Defense Leauge reports 93 of Virginia’s 133 jurisdictions have adopted some type of 2A policy. Fredericksburg and Loudoun County in Northern Virginia have rejected 2A resolutions. The push to 2A comes after Senator Dick Saslaw (D-Falls Church) submitted a bill in the upcoming 2020 General Assembly session that aims to place tougher restrictions on guns. Saslaw’s SB16 would make selling, renting, trading, making, or transporting an assault rifle from another state into Virginia a felony, and would limit the number of rounds in an ammunition magazine to seven. The rhetoric ramped up last week when federal legislators said they would deploy the National Guard to enforce gun laws in the state if needed. Saslaw’s bill comes after a mass shooting in Virginia Beach where 13 people were killed, including the gunman, in a mass shooting in Virginia Beach. In the county’s resolution, Stafford officials plead with state lawmakers not to enact new laws that infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. It’ll be up to the elected county sheriff David Decatur to enforce the law if passed. Decatur did not return a request for comment for this story.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – Lieutenant Courtney Ballantine – spokesperson for Alexandria Police Department – discussed reports about “porch pirates” following delivery trucks in Alexandria and shared tips for preventing porch package thefts during the holiday season.

 

7am – B/C     WASHINGTON POST: Please stop making jokes about gender pronouns when people tell you theirs. They might hurt people more than you realize. (Washington Post/By Kat Jercich) — Earlier this fall, during an LGBTQ town hall on CNN, Sen. Kamala D. Harris said her pronouns were “she” and “her.” “Mine too,” said host Chris Cuomo. The backlash was instantaneous. By the end of the night, Cuomo had apologized on Twitter, noting his sorrow as “an ally of the LGBTQ community” — but still not managing to state his pronouns. And I wondered, not for the first time: Why can’t cisgender people be semi-normal about this? This ham-handed approach appears to transcend political affiliation. Ricky Gervais, who has made no secret of his disdain for so-called politically correct culture, has claimed that his pronouns are “it” and “he he” — because he’s a comedian, get it?  At a recent conference I attended, one panelist identified her pronoun as “boss,” to the delight of most of the packed room. In these contexts, there is no need to be cute or funny; don’t say your pronouns are “princess” and “in charge.” You may get a laugh, but is the cost — the alienation, discomfort or frustration of vulnerable people — worth it? A cisgender person who claims that their pronouns are “dance mom” and “brat” is suggesting that they are not interested in how fraught this matter can be for trans and non-binary people. Those of us who make a point of identifying our pronouns often want to make sure that others see us as we are. Having my gender interpreted incorrectly makes me feel panicky, like trying on a sweater that’s too tight around the neck in a crowded store. Others have said it makes them feel stigmatized, lonely, dysphoric, depressed or threatened. It’s not appropriate for people who aren’t in danger of being fired, evicted or even murdered for their gender identity to decide that pronouns are a joking matter. Taking pronouns seriously signals that you’ve thought about what trans and gender-nonconforming people face. That doesn’t automatically make you an ally, which requires much more work, and pronouns aren’t a magic key to unlocking someone’s gender: Plenty of non-binary people use “she/her” or “he/him” pronouns, for example, or they might not be ready to out themselves in mixed company. But it does mean you’re at least trying to demonstrate basic respect — just like calling someone by the correct name. I know that for people who are just learning about the practice, stating pronouns can feel a little intimidating. Some might get nervous about the possibility of offending someone or looking foolish, and may try to reclaim control over the situation by making a weird joke. I suspect that’s what happened with Chris Cuomo. But if you’re a cis person who’s going to make a show of declaring your pronouns as a way of signaling your allyship, can I just ask you to please be chill about it? Feeling discomfort with new things, especially when they involve other people’s lived experiences, is part of what it means to be a compassionate adult human. If you’re a cisgender person who has never had to worry about which pronoun someone is going to use for you, introducing yourself at a party or workshop is not the time to get creative. We might just call you “out of touch.”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – JOSH KRAUSHAAR – Politics Editor at National Journal – discussed the latest on the upcoming Dem Debate this week, 2020 race polling and impeachment battle ramps up this week.

• The December Democratic presidential debate is in limbo with just two days before it is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles.
• CNN: 2020 Democrats say they won’t participate in December debate if they have to cross picket line.
• AXIOS SCOOP: Tom Perez spent over 20 hours on the phone this weekend trying to save Thursday’s debate from crumbling, per a source familiar, after a labor dispute prompted the presidential candidates to threaten a boycott.
• Cory Booker leads nine Democratic presidential hopefuls in asking DNC to change debate rules.
• DNC balks at effort to alter debate qualifications. Cory Booker and Julián Castro may not make the January and February debates under current rules.
• Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders split the lead in the latest Democratic poll before another debate in Los Angeles but former VP sees his lead in South Carolina slashed. Ahead of Thursday’s Democratic debate in Los Angeles, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders are splitting the lead in a new poll nationally.  Biden is out in front in South Carolina too, but has seen his sometime 20-plus point lead diminish to just 7 points, in a new poll that show Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren nipping at his heels. In the new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll, which looked at the race nationally, Biden leads the pack with 24 percent support, followed by Sanders with 22 percent, Warren with 17 percent and Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 13 percent.

 7am – E         Report: Trump-Supporting Women Allegedly Abused at D.C. Event, Called ‘Nazis,’ ‘C*nts.’ Attendees of a “high-profile Democrat wedding” stalked, harassed, and physically assaulted guests of an event hosted by Women for America First at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, on Saturday, the pro-Trump group alleged in a press release issued late Monday evening. Approximately 200 women attended the aforementioned Women for America First event — titled a Very MAGA Holiday Weekend — at the Willard Hotel. The alleged “high-profile Democrat wedding” took place in an adjacent ballroom. Women for America First is an outside conservative organization that supports President Donald Trump and is run by longtime grassroots conservative activist Amy Kremer. The press release alleges that the private event held by Women for America First was interrupted “at least” 30 times by the wedding’s participants, including a physical assault against Jonathan Gilliam, a retired Navy SEAL and former FBI special agent, who attended the event. Gilliam himself tweeted a reference to the alleged events:

• Jonathan T Gilliam @JGilliam_SEAL Saturday night at the Willard Hotel in Washington DC, I attended @america1stwomen (WFAF) gala, speaking in support of our president @realDonaldTrump and the strength of all free women of the United States.
• Jonathan T Gilliam @JGilliam_SEAL Unfortunately, due to the harassment from Trump haters from an adjacent ball room, and lack of hotel security involvement, an event occurred when myself and others were escorting WFAF women out of the venue.  I’m ok, but the future of this country is not!

8am – A         INTERVIEW – Jennifer Brown is the Second Amendment Alliance president – previewed the Stafford Second Amendment meeting and vote.

• Virginia’s “Second Amendment sanctuary” movement continued to see overflow crowds throughout the state. Virginia’s “Second Amendment sanctuary” movement continued to see overflow crowds throughout the state on Thursday despite Governor Ralph Northam (D.) backtracking on confiscation and threatening “consequences” for sanctuary municipalities. Eight Virginia localities became sanctuaries Thursday night, bringing the total to 93, including 75 of Virginia’s 95 counties and 18 of its legally independent cities. The movement—which pushes local governments to declare that they won’t enforce new gun laws they deem unconstitutional—has seen grassroots support from people of all backgrounds and ages in both rural and urban Virginia. It shows no sign of slowing, despite Northam promising a grandfather clause omitting preexisting owners from his proposed gun ban and threatening “consequences” for areas that become sanctuaries.
• Stafford set to take gun rights vote at Tuesday meeting. Last week, Prince William and Spotsylvania counties. On Tuesday, Stafford? The county Board of Supervisors will take up the question of whether or not to become a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary (2A), where the right to bear arms as enshrined in the U.S. Bill of Rights is upheld. A public hearing will be held in the Board Chambers at 7 p.m. at 1300 Courthouse Road in Stafford.

8am – B/C  Member of Congress, AOC, struggles to choose a healthcare plan from 66 partially subsidized gold plans. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez complained the process to enroll in federally-subsidized healthcare for members of Congress is too complicated. “Members of Congress also have to buy their plans off the exchange,” the New York Democrat said Sunday evening. “They are Gold plans that are partially subsidized.” The freshman Democrat, who supports an overhaul of Obamacare and universal healthcare for all Americans, appeared to struggle to identify which of the 66 “complex financial products” was best for her. She tweeted a screenshot of the internal healthcare enrollment program used by congressional members and staffers along with her criticism. “This is absurd,” she said. “No person should go without healthcare, and no one should go through this, either.”

8am – D/E     IMPEACHMENT:

• Once the House approves two articles of impeachment against President Trump, the Senate intends to take up the issue in a January trial. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed hearing testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, among others. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will meet with Schumer to negotiate parameters for the Senate trial.
• President Trump says the request for Senate witnesses proves Democrats have no impeachment case and says his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani didn’t provide many facts about a recent trip to Ukraine.  Mr. Trump says Giuliani loves his country and sees the hoax of the impeachment process. As this takes place, Giuliani is quoted in the New Yorker saying he played a key role in removing Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovich from office after she refused to assist his investigation of rival Joe Biden.
• Poll: Support for impeaching and removing Trump drops by 5 points. Public support for impeaching and removing President Trump from the White House is declining, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.  The survey, which was released Monday night, found that 45 percent of American voters say Trump should be impeached and removed from office, a 5-point drop from a similar poll conducted in November following the House Intelligence Committee’s public impeachment hearings into the president’s dealings with Ukraine. Forty-seven percent of respondents oppose impeachment and removal, up from 43 percent last.
• House Judiciary Committee publishes full impeachment report.
• Democrat who went to Donald Trump’s White House Christmas ball and swing-seat congresswoman both say they will vote FOR impeaching him as decision looms for House members
• Trump Supporters Erupt At Democratic Rep. Slotkin Town Hall After Coming Out In Favor Of Impeachment
• ‘What is the president hiding?’ Chuck Schumer says Donald Trump ‘covered up’ impeachable Ukraine crimes and fears a trial with new witnesses as he claims ‘many’ Republicans want to hear new evidence in Senate trial