Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, March 1, 2020

Hosts: Vince Coglianese and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Dana Cheng, CBP’s Robert Perez and Gen. Jack Keane joined WMAL on Wednesday!

5AM -ABC — DOJ IG Checked 29 More FBI Spy Warrants, And Found Problems With All Of Them. The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General has a “lack of confidence” in the FBI’s procedures to validate information used to obtain spy warrants on American citizens, the watchdog said in a report released Tuesday. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found errors in all 29 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant applications that were subject to the review. The audit is a follow-up to an investigation of the FBI’s surveillance of Carter Page, the former Trump campaign aide.

• CHECK OUT HOW THE NY TIMES SPINS IT ON FIRST DRAFT... “But it also helps the FBI politically because it undercuts the narrative among President Trump and his supporters that the bureau cut corners to surveil the adviser, Carter Page, as part of a politically motivated conspiracy.”
• Jim Jordan Presses Jerry Nadler To Hold Hearing On FISA Abuse Following Another Damning IG Report. Jordan renewed his request of Nadler after Horowitz released the preliminary results of an audit his office conducted of a sample of 29 applications that the FBI submitted to a federal court in order to spy on American citizens.

5- D — ‘This Is Mind Boggling’: Arlington Store Owner Defends Employee Jailed For Shooting Masked Burglars. Hamzeh Abusharia, 33, was sleeping in a back room of Arlington Smoke Shop when he was awakened early Sunday morning by three masked juvenile suspects who had broken in to “steal cash and merchandise,” WJLA reported. Abusharia grabbed a gun and, according to police: “opened the door to the sales floor and discharged the weapon, striking one juvenile subject. The employee retreated to the back room but reentered the sales floor and discharged his weapon again as the subjects were attempting to flee the business.” Abushariah reportedly faces charges of malicious wounding, violation of a protective order and reckless handling of a firearm. Jowan Zuber, the store’s owner, spoke out on Tuesday night’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

5- E — REPUBLICANS SPONSOR BILL TO RESCIND $25 MILLION TO KENNEDY CENTER:

• Kennedy Center Axes National Symphony Orchestra Staff After Receiving $25 Million in Stimulus Funds.The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday laid off approximately 20 administrative staffers who support the National Symphony Orchestra. The announcement comes just four days after President Donald Trump signed a stimulus bill that provided $25 million in relief funds for the cultural institution.The news, which was delivered on an all-staff conference call organized by the National Symphony Orchestra’s executive director Gary Ginstling, followed another announcement from Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter on Friday indicating that National Symphony Orchestra musicians would stop receiving paychecks after April 3—a move that infuriated the musicians, whose union immediately filed a grievance and spurred GOP lawmakers to begin trying to claw back the money sent to the organization in the stimulus package. […] “Nancy Pelosi literally held the bill up for days to get her pet projects, including the money for the Kennedy Center,” Scalise said. “Interesting she’d use the choice of words, ‘fiddlers,’ because it was the fiddlers, the violin players, all the musicians at the Kennedy Center that got laid off right as the bill was signed. They ought to give that money back,” he added in reference to Pelosi’s Sunday morning attacks on President Trump.
• PHILIP WEGMANN: NEW: According to internal discussions and documents obtained by RCP, the Kennedy Center intends to furlough 60% of their full time staff. Furloughs are expected on a rolling basis This after already furloughing 725 part time staff and accepting $25 million in federal relief.
• Republican Rep. Bryan Steil Introduces Bill To Rescind $25 Million For Kennedy Center In Coronavirus Package, As They Lay Off Musicians. Republican Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil introduced a bill Friday to rescind the $25 million for the Kennedy Center that was included in the $2 trillion coronavirus package, as they have laid off musicians. Steil’s bill, which has 15 cosponsors including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, would pull the $25 million for the Kennedy Center. According to Steil, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was likely the one who had the idea for the funding for the Kennedy Center in the first place. In a phone call with the Daily Caller, Steil said “So we were negotiating this bill. Nancy Pelosi holds up getting relief to Americans to try to get this and other things in the bill. And so the day that the House passed this bill, I drove from Janesville, Wisconsin, to Washington, D.C. to be there.” “I spoke on the bill, spoke about how I thought the funding for the Kennedy Center was inappropriate. And then before I left Washington, D.C. to drive back home, the day we passed the bill, I dropped this bill into the hopper and introduced it to start day one. The moment after we passed a bill to begin the work of improving it and getting out of the bill, inappropriate funding. A handful of days later, after this passes and you find out that the Kennedy Center is laying people off. That’s almost the icing on the cake,” Steil continued.

6-A — CHRIS CUOMO / CORONAVIRUS:

• CNN’s Chris Cuomo addresses testing positive for coronavirus: “You do not want this” http://hill.cm/xIGsmKx
• “We do not have the testing data to make real sense of our reality beyond what we know is the face of [coronavirus] for an overwhelming number who get sick,” says @chriscuomo. “That face is mine. I tested positive.”
• Well-wishes pour in across media for Chris Cuomo after coronavirus diagnosis http://hill.cm/k1zuLgR
• “He’s strong, not as strong as he thinks,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said of his brother, Chris Cuomo, who tested positive for Covid-19
• “Everyone is subject to this virus. It is the great equalizer. I don’t care how smart, how rich, how powerful you think you are. I don’t care how young, how old.” – @NYGovCuomo on @ChrisCuomo ‘s coronavirus diagnosis. The governor also had some kind words to say about his brother:

6–BCDEF – HIGHLIGHTS: Tuesday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing

7-A — INTERVIEW – Dr Dana Cheng, Senior Editor of China News for The Epoch Times — discussed how Epoch Times is finding that China is not being honest about their coronavirus numbers.

• Chinese Government Finally Acknowledges Underreporting Coronavirus Cases. A top Chinese health official said Wednesday that the government will begin counting coronavirus patients without symptoms in its official tally of cases of the virus, in what is a tacit acknowledgement that Beijing has underreported data on the pandemic.China’s National Health Commission disclosed that the government is monitoring 1,541 people who have tested positive for coronavirus but have no symptoms.Chang Jile, the head of the health agency, said at a press conference in Wuhan that the government will start reporting asymptomatic patient numbers Wednesday.“From April 1, we will publish reports, outcomes and management of asymptomatic people in daily epidemic notifications, and respond to social concerns in a timely manner,” Jile said, according to CCTV. Jile’s statement is the first time that the government has officially acknowledged that it has undercounted patients.
• CHINA’S LAB: “A growing body of evidence indicates the virus may have been under study in a Chinese laboratory and escaped, either through an infection of a worker or through an infected lab animal.” https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/30/china-researchers-isolated-bat-coronaviruses-near-/

7-B — USS ROOSEVELT:  Captain of the USS Roosevelt pleads for help and urges Navy to let 4,000 sailors off the warship.

• ‘Sailors Do Not Need To Die’: Captain Of Aircraft Carrier With Coronavirus Cases Begs Navy For Help. Capt. Brett Crozier sent a multi-page letter asking officials to send the ship resources so his men don’t die, according to the letter obtained by The Chronicle. Theodore Roosevelt, the aircraft carrier, has been siting in a Guam dock after a novel coronavirus outbreak on board less than one week ago. […] The ship’s crew is over 4,000 strong, and most of the crew remains on board. Only a few of those infected have been allowed off, despite it being nearly impossible to adhere to the social distancing guidelines and 14-day quarantine mandate, The Chronicle wrote. “Due to a warship’s inherent limitations of space, we are not doing this,” according to Crozier. “The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating.”“Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure … This is a necessary risk. Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care.”
• Mark Esper Admits He Hasn’t ‘Had A Chance’ To Read Desperate Plea From Captain Of Aircraft Carrier Filled With Sick Sailors. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told CBS’s Norah O’Donnell Tuesday that he hasn’t yet read the four-page plea for help “in detail” from the captain of an aircraft carrier filled with sailors who have the novel coronavirus. Capt. Brett Crozier sent a four-page letter asking Navy officials to send the ship resources so his men don’t die, according to the letter obtained by The Chronicle. The USS Theodore Roosevelt has been sitting in a Guam dock after a novel coronavirus outbreak on board less than one week ago. “Well, I have not had a chance to read that letter, read it in detail,” Esper admitted after discussing the situation for a few minutes with O’Donnell. “Again, I’m going to rely on the Navy chain of command to go out there to assess the situation and to make sure they provide the captain and the crew all the support they need to get the sailors healthy and get the ship back at sea.”

7-D — INTERVIEW – Robert Perez – Deputy Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — discussed the recent travel restrictions along our Northern and Southern land borders due to COVID-19 and how many are risking their lives to protect our borders.

7 – E — Boss accidentally transforms into potato during videoconference. A company videoconference went hilariously awry after its boss accidentally transformed herself into a potato due to a filter mishap and couldn’t undo it, much to the amusement of her colleagues. A tweet chronicling her inadvertent makeover has racked up almost 697K likes and over 161K retweets since Monday morning. “My boss turned herself into a potato on our Microsoft teams meeting and can’t figure out how to turn the setting off,” reads the viral tweet by Rach Clegg. Indeed, her boss Lizet Ocampo, the political director at People for the American Way, can be seen in an accompanying pic looking like a tater with eyes and a mouth.

8 – A — INTERVIEW – General Jack Keane is a retired 4 star general, former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army, the chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst — discussed the military’s role in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

• USNS Comfort arrives in NYC but more help is needed says Cuomo, de Blasio
• Captain of the USS Roosevelt pleads for help and urges Navy to let 4,000 sailors off the warship

8-B/C — NEW PSAs BY THE SITUATION AND LARRY DAVID WARNING ABOUT SOCIALIZING… AND UPDATE ON THOSE SUPER SPREADER SPRING BREAKERS:

• Mike ‘The Situation’ says ‘the time for parties is over’ in coronavirus PSA. “Jersey Shore” star Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, 37, is working with Garden State officials to urge people to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. “This message is for the people, by the people: We got a situation,” he said in the clip, posted Monday.
  “New Jersey is tough,” the reality TV star said. “We love to party and we love even harder. But the time for parties is over.”
• Larry David urges ‘idiots’ still out socializing to ‘watch TV’ in funny coronavirus PSA. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David offered a pretty, pretty, pretty good public service announcement on Tuesday, urging the “idiots” who aren’t following social distancing guidelines to “watch TV.” “Obviously, somebody put me up to this ’cause it’s generally not the kind of thing I do, but I basically want to address the idiots out there — and you know who you are,” David began in a video shared by the Office of the Governor of California. “You’re going out — I don’t know what you’re doing. You’re socializing too close, it’s not good.” “You’re hurting old people like me — well, not me. I have nothing to do with you. I’ll never see you. But, you know, other — let’s say, other old people who might be your relatives! Who the hell knows.” The “Seinfeld” creator warned viewers that they’re “passing up” on a “fantastic opportunity, a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to stay home, “sit on the couch, and watch TV.”
• WERE THOSE SPRING BREAKERS SUPER SPREADERS? ANSWER: YEP!
• At least 28 Texans test positive for COVID-19 after spring break in Mexico.
  Austin, Texas, health officials are investigating a cluster of at least 28 confirmed coronavirus cases after a group of young adults returned from a spring break trip to Mexico. The Austin Public Health Department confirmed in a Tuesday statement that earlier this month, about 70 adults “in their 20’s” chartered a plane for a spring break trip to Cabo San Lucas. Following their return, 28 have tested positive for COVID-19 and dozens more are “under public health investigation.” Four of the confirmed cases did not present any symptoms before testing positive. Some of the people in the group returned to the U.S. on commercial flights. The 28 confirmed patients are self-isolating, according to the department’s Tuesday statement. The department has contacted all of the spring breakers who went on the plane and are monitoring them.
• Spring Breakers May Have Taken Coronavirus From South Florida Across US: Data Firm. The firm used cell phone use data of those on Fort Lauderdale Beach earlier in March. Now the data firm Tectonix GEO is posting on its social media accounts a video that it says shows the cell phone activity of spring breakers on just Fort Lauderdale Beach. The heat signals show where they went after going home – Tectonix suggests it’s an example of how the virus spread through the eastern United States.
  “As we zoom further out, it becomes clear just how massive the potential impact just one single beach gathering can have in spreading this virus across our nation,” the video says.
• LAST WEEK: Florida college students test positive for coronavirus after going on spring break. At least five students from the University of Tampa have tested positive for coronavirus after traveling with other students from the school for spring break, the university announced on Twitter. This comes after crowds of spring-breakers in Florida were criticized for ignoring social distancing guidelines and packing beaches in complete disregard of the potential risk. University of Tampa announced on Friday that it learned that one student, who resides off-campus, tested positive for the virus. Just a day later, the school confirmed that five students, who were part of a larger group traveling together during spring break, had tested positive.
• As Florida coronavirus cases surge, spring breakers express regret. Spring breakers are now expressing regret they went, but some say the government wasn’t clear enough in its message to practice social distancing. The clip went viral. “If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not gonna let it stop me from partying,” said Brady Sluder, a spring breaker in Miami. On Monday, Sluder posted a lengthy apology on his Instagram, first reported by The Cincinnati Enquirer, in which he said he “wasn’t aware of the severity of my actions.” Of course, Sluder, 22, of Milford, Ohio, has elderly people in his life whom he “adores.” He didn’t want to put anyone at risk. Now, he understands how serious the virus is and is encouraging people to follow the guidelines on how to stay safe and reduce risk. Most of all, he’s sorry.

8-D – ‘This Is Mind Boggling’: Arlington Store Owner Defends Employee Jailed For Shooting Masked Burglars. Hamzeh Abusharia, 33, was sleeping in a back room of Arlington Smoke Shop when he was awakened early Sunday morning by three masked juvenile suspects who had broken in to “steal cash and merchandise,” WJLA reported. Abusharia grabbed a gun and, according to police: “opened the door to the sales floor and discharged the weapon, striking one juvenile subject. The employee retreated to the back room but reentered the sales floor and discharged his weapon again as the subjects were attempting to flee the business.” Abushariah reportedly faces charges of malicious wounding, violation of a protective order and reckless handling of a firearm.
Jowan Zuber, the store’s owner, spoke out on Tuesday night’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”