Mornings on the Mall

Monday, December 30, 2019

Hosts: Vince Coglianese and LT Col. Tony Shaffer

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C Person Opens Fire In Texas Church — And Multiple Armed  Congregants Rush The Shooter

• At least two people have been killed and one more is in critical condition after a shooter opened fire in a Texas church Sunday morning, according to reports.
• The Dallas Morning News reported that the entire incident was initially broadcast on a live stream of the service at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas. The video — which has since been taken down — showed one person standing up just as communion ended, removing a long gun from his coat, and firing twice before at least one person shot back.
• A state law went into effect in September 2017 that allows churches to have armed volunteer security. Licensed handgun owners may legally bring firearms into a place of worship as long as the church allows it, and a law passed earlier this year requires churches to give notice to their congregations if they want to ban guns.

5am – D Taliban council agrees to cease-fire in Afghanistan (AP News) The Taliban’s ruling council agreed Sunday to a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan, providing a window in which a peace agreement with the United States can be signed, officials from the insurgent group said. They didn’t say when it would begin.  A cease-fire had been demanded by Washington before any peace agreement could be signed. A peace deal would allow the U.S. to bring home its troops from Afghanistan and end its 18-year military engagement there, America’s longest. The White House said it would have no comment. The U.S. wants any deal to include a promise from the Taliban that Afghanistan would not be used as a base by terrorist groups. The U.S. currently has an estimated 12,000 troops in Afghanistan.

5am – E Rep. John Lewis diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer

6am – A/B/C Suspect in Hanukkah stabbing at NY rabbi’s home pleads not guilty to attempted murder charges

• The man accused of entering the home of a New York rabbi and stabbing five people with a machete, in a horrifying Saturday night attack labeled an anti-Semitic act of “domestic terrorism,” pleaded not guilty to multiple charges Sunday.
• Wearing a white jumpsuit, Grafton E. Thomas, 37, of Greenwood Lake, Y., appeared at the Ramapo Town Hall in Ramapo, N.Y., Sunday morning, facing five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary.
• Bail was set at $5 million.
• Police said Thomas allegedly entered the home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg in Monsey, a suburb north of New York City, during a Hanukkah celebration — the latest in a string of anti-Semitic incidents in recent weeks that included beatings of Jewish people in the streets of New York City and a massacre at a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, J.
• Thomas sped away from the stabbing scene but later was captured in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. He had blood all over his clothing and smelled of bleach, according to prosecutors.

6am – D INTERVIEW: Andy Pollin –  longtime D.C. sports news veteran and co-host on the Carol Maloney Show on ESPN 630  

Topic: Redskin’s update

• • Ron Rivera is meeting with the Washington Redskins on Monday about the team’s head coaching vacancy, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
  • Bruce Allen fired as Redskins team president after 10 seasons with the franchise

6am – E Chuck Todd touts ‘fascinating’ letter mocking Christian Trump supporters who believe in Noah’s ark

6am – F Don Imus, Legendary ‘Imus in the Morning’ Host, Dies at 79

7am – A INTERVIEW: Joe diGenova – legal analyst and former US Attorney to the District of Columbia 

TOPIC: Joe Biden backtracks, says he would comply with impeachment subpoena

7am – B/C Statement By Washington Redskins Owner Dan Snyder: “As this season concludes, Bruce Allen has been relieved of his duties as President of the Washington Redskins and is no longer with the organization. Like our passionate fan base, I recognize we have not lived up to the high standards set by great Redskins teams, coaches and players who have come before us. As we reevaluate our team leadership, culture and process for winning football games, I am excited for the opportunities that lie ahead to renew our singular focus and purpose of bringing championship football back to Washington D.C.”

7am – D Washington Post praises Ralph Northam post-blackface scandal, says they were ‘wrong’ to call for resignation (Fox News) The Washington Post is facing criticism for its praise of Gov. Ralph Northam, D-Virginia, over his handling of the blackface scandal, with one of its columnists now saying they were “wrong” to demand his ousting. Last February, Northam made headlines after it was discovered that a racist photograph featuring a man in blackface and another man in a KKK hood was printed on his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page.  However, the Post appears to have now reversed course. “The history of U.S. politics is full of second chances- of scandal-scarred, disgraced and irredeemable public figures staging improbable comebacks – but few back-from-the-dead narratives have been as swift and sure-footed as the one Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has managed this year,” the Washington Post editorial board began its piece on Friday evening. The Post praised the embattled Democrat for “refocusing” his governorship “on racial equity and reconciliation in what amounted to an extended act of public contrition and atonement,” which it claimed was “astonishingly effective” on his political rehabilitation as well as his polling.

7am – E Barack Obama shares his favorite movies and TV shows of 2019

8am – A INTERVIEW: Trevor Matich- WMAL’s Redskins Analyst

TOPIC: The key moments from Redskins’ 47-16 season-ending loss to the Cowboys

• • • Ron Rivera is meeting with the Washington Redskins on Monday about the team’s head coaching vacancy, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
    • Bruce Allen fired as Redskins team president after 10 seasons with the franchise  

8am – B/C Joe Biden Says He Will Not Comply With Potential Senate Impeachment Trial Subpoena (Daily Caller) / Joe Biden Quickly Backtracks His Senate Subpoena Comments

Speaking to the Des Moines Register’s editorial board on Friday, the Democratic presidential front runner doubled down after being asked about a similar contention he made to NPR in early December.

“Do you stand by your earlier statements that you wouldn’t comply if you were subpoenaed to testify in an impeachment trial before the Senate,” a board member asked.

“Correct, and the reason I wouldn’t is because it’s all designed to deal with Trump doing what he’s done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him,” Biden said, calling any suggestions that he do so “a diversion” from Trump.

“Doesn’t that position you as if you’re defying a subpoena, putting yourself above the law?” asked the Register.

“Well, look, the grounds for them to call me would be overwhelmingly specious, so I don’t anticipate that happening anyway,” he responded. “But what it would do if I voluntarily just said let me go and make my case. What are you going to cover? You guys are going to cover for three weeks anything that I said. And he’s going to get away. You guys buy into it all the time. Not a joke … Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t testify if you thought I should, but think what it’s about. It’s all about what he does all the time, his entire career. Take the focus off. This guy violated the Constitution. He said it in the driveway of the White House. He acknowledged he asked for help.”

8am – D/E Person Opens Fire In Texas Church — And Multiple Armed  Congregants Rush The Shooter

• • • At least two people have been killed and one more is in critical condition after a shooter opened fire in a Texas church Sunday morning, according to reports.
    • The Dallas Morning News reported that the entire incident was initially broadcast on a live stream of the service at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas. The video — which has since been taken down — showed one person standing up just as communion ended, removing a long gun from his coat, and firing twice before at least one person shot back.
    • A state law went into effect in September 2017 that allows churches to have armed volunteer security. Licensed handgun owners may legally bring firearms into a place of worship as long as the church allows it, and a law passed earlier this year requires churches to give notice to their congregations if they want to ban guns.