Mornings on the Mall

Monday, April 13, 2020

Hosts: Vince Coglianese and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Joe diGenova, Alex Berenson, Ralph Reed and Andy Puzder joined WMAL on Monday!

5am – A/B/C FBI Received Evidence Of Russian Disinformation In Steele Dossier. The FBI received information that Russian disinformation might have been fed to Christopher Steele, whose dossier played a “central” role in the bureau’s investigation of the Trump campaign. The bombshell disclosures are in newly unredacted footnotes contained in the Justice Department inspector general’s report on the FBI’s surveillance of the Trump campaign. An FBI unit had concerns as far back as 2015 about Steele’s relationships with Russian oligarchs, one footnote stated. The FBI was provided assessments that Steele’s claims about Michael Cohen and a trip that Donald Trump made to Moscow in 2013 were products of Russian disinformation, another footnote said.

• CHUCK ROSS: ANALYSIS: The FBI Knew The Steele Dossier Contained Russian Disinformation Three Years Ago — Somehow It Never Leaked. At some point in 2017, the precise month is not clear, the FBI obtained evidence that Russian operatives fed disinformation to former British spy Christopher Steele. That stunning revelation came on Friday, and not through a leak, as did so many of the anti-Trump and pro-Steele stories that have come out since the dossier was published in January 2017. Instead, the disclosure was the product of an intense GOP-led fact-finding campaign to force U.S. intelligence officials to declassify information that the FBI had on Steele and his notorious dossier. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson, the two Republicans who jogged loose the new information, noted the disparity in the type of information that has leaked out of the Trump-Russia investigation in the three-plus years since it began. “For years, the public was fed a healthy diet of leaks, innuendo and false information to imply that President Trump and his campaign were part of a Russian conspiracy to spread disinformation,” they said in a statement upon the release of three footnotes from the Justice Department inspector general’s (IG) report on the FBI’s surveillance of the Trump campaign. The previously-classified footnotes said that an organization not identified in the IG report provided the FBI evidence that Russian operatives fed disinformation that wound up in the dossier.
• AG William Barr on the Russia investigation: ‘There’s something far more troubling here’ (Fox News) — The Russia investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign was “one of the greatest travesties in American history,” Attorney General William Barr said Thursday during an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle.” Barr said he has seen troubling signs from U.S. Attorney John Durham’s ongoing probe into the origins of the two-year probe, which resulted in no allegations of wrongdoing against the president. “My own view is that the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness,” Barr told host Laura Ingraham. “There was something far more troubling here. We’re going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted.”
• Barr on Durham Investigation: ‘Evidence Shows That We’re Not Dealing with Just Mistakes or Sloppiness’  / U.S. attorney general William Barr implied in an interview Thursday that U.S. Attorney John Durham is prepared to prosecute former intelligence community officials if evidence shows they illegally surveilled the 2016 Trump campaign over allegations of collusion with Russia. Barr, who tasked Durham last May to review the origins of the Russia investigation, told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that the Connecticut U.S. attorney is “looking to bring to justice people who were engaged in abuses if he can show that there were criminal violations.”

5am – D/E     Trump announces second task force on reopening economy as he weighs ‘biggest decision’ (Fox News) – President Trump said Friday that that choosing when to move to reopen the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus pandemic would be “the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make.” “I want to get it open as soon as possible,” Trump told reporters at Friday’s briefing with members of the White House task force. “This country was meant to be open and vibrant and great.” The president added that he would formally convene an “Opening our Country” task force April 14 that will be comprised of doctors and business leaders. According to Trump, the second, smaller task force would “include names that you have a lot of respect for.”

Mark Cuban wants to join Trump task force on reopening economy: ‘Any way I can serve my country.’  Billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and star of the reality business show “Shark Tank,” told “The Ingraham Angle” Friday that he would welcome an invitation to join the newly-announced White House task force focusing on when and how to reopen the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Any way I can serve my country, I’m all in,” Cuban told guest host Brian Kilmeade. “If they ask me to … I would be happy to.” Kilmeade noted that President Trump often views the program and may take Cuban up on his offer.

6am – A/B/C GOVT OVERREACH OR ARE THEY JUST ENFORCING STAY AT HOME ORDERS?

• DEM MAYOR TRIES TO MAKE LIFE HARDER FOR CHURCH-GOING RESIDENTS… ‘Stunning’ And ‘Unconstitutional’: Judge Grants Restraining Order After KY Mayor Vowed To Record License Plates Of Easter Church Goers. A federal judge granted a restraining order against a Kentucky mayor who promised to record the license plates of Easter church goers, calling the order “unconstitutional.” U.S. District Court Judge Justin Walker granted the temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer from blocking Easter drive-in-services at On Fire Church, the non-profit public interest law firm First Liberty Institute announced in a Saturday press release. […] “But two days ago, citing the need for social distancing during the current pandemic, Louisville’s Mayor Greg Fischer ordered Christians not to attend Sunday services, even if they remained in their cars to worship –and even though it’s Easter.” “The Mayor’s decision is stunning,” the opinion concludes. “And it is, ’beyond all reason,’ unconstitutional.” Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear had announced that the state would enforce stay-at-home measure by recording the license plates of any person attending Easter services.
• EARLIER: Kentucky To Enforce Quarantine Orders By Recording License Plates Of Churchgoers
• People In Wisconsin Are Being Arrested, Charged For Violating Stay-At-Home Order. (WPR) — Some Police Departments Actively Look For Violators; Others Rely On Calls From Public. Gov. Tony Evers issued his stay-at-home order two weeks ago, and some local police departments have already started to issue citations and refer charges for people accused of violating the order.  In Fond du Lac County, the district attorney’s office has filed charges against 10 people so far for allegedly violating the order. Most of the charges stem from two incidents, as described by law enforcement. A supper club in the town of Taycheedah allegedly did not follow social distancing rules, and a guest allegedly ate in the restaurant, even though restaurants are only allowed to fulfill takeout or delivery orders. A non-essential shop in Fond du Lac allegedly stayed open for business after the order was passed down and hosted a party of more than 20 people. Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said police are responding to calls from the public, not driving around looking for violations.
• LITTLE OLD LADIES GET TICKETS IN MISSISSIPPI… Church members get $500 tickets for sitting in their vehicles with windows closed during radio service in church parking lot. (The Blaze) – The parking lot at Temple Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi, was full Wednesday night for a service, the Delta Democrat-Times reported. That might sound odd considering churches around the country aren’t meeting in person due to the coronavirus social distancing guidelines — but this was a different kind of church service. Temple Baptist members were staying in their vehicles with the windows rolled up to listen to Pastor Arthur Scott’s sermon on the radio, the paper said. […] Gordon told the Democrat-Times he and his wife were among those gathered in the church parking lot — and figured they all were abiding by the coronavirus social distancing guidelines given they were in their cars with the windows rolled up. But that wasn’t the case — and they paid for it. Gordon told the paper he and his wife were both issued $500 tickets.

6am – D/E         MEDIA SPIN ABOUT FAUCI’S TIMELINE:

• DAILY MAIL: Dr. Fauci admits lives could have been saved if America had shut down in February and NOT mid-March – but says his ‘recommendation’ was not taken. Anthony Fauci suggested Sunday morning that more lives could have been saved if Donald Trump had initiated a coronavirus shut down earlier than mid-March. The government’s top immunologist said more could have been done that would have potentially slowed the spread and lessened the ramifications of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. ‘Obviously you could logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier you could’ve saved lives, obviously,’ Fauci told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning. ‘No-one is going to deny that,’ he continued, but added ‘there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then.’ There are several reports that intelligence officials told the White House that there was a virus threat coming from China as early as November, indicating that the president knew about coronavirus sooner than he let on.  ‘You know, Jake, as I have said many times, we look at it from a pure health standpoint,’ Fauci told CNN’s Jake Tapper. ‘We make a recommendation. Often, the recommendation is taken. Sometimes, it’s not.’ ‘But it is what it is,’ he continued. ‘We are where we are right now.’
• Fauci says U.S. was given wrong information about virus “right from the beginning.” “You know I don’t know where the missteps went, the only thing I know what the end result was, that early on we did not get correct information,” Fauci said. “And the incorrect information was propagated right from the beginning because you know when the first cases came out, that were identified I think on December 31st in China and we became aware of this, they said this was just animal to human period.” “Now we know retrospectively that there was ongoing transmission from human to human in China, probably at least a few weeks before then,” he said. Fauci said once the illness hit the U.S. it became evident “that was misinformation right from the beginning.” He added that “whosever fault that was, you know, we’re gonna go back and take a look at that when this is all over, but clearly it was not the right information that was given to us.”
• Flashback: January 21, 2020 – “This is NOT a major threat to the United States” – Dr. Fauci talking about coronavirus
• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you  @OANN

7am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to The District of Columbia

• FBI Received Evidence Of Russian Disinformation In Steele Dossier. The FBI received information that Russian disinformation might have been fed to Christopher Steele, whose dossier played a “central” role in the bureau’s investigation of the Trump campaign. The bombshell disclosures are in newly unredacted footnotes contained in the Justice Department inspector general’s report on the FBI’s surveillance of the Trump campaign. An FBI unit had concerns as far back as 2015 about Steele’s relationships with Russian oligarchs, one footnote stated. The FBI was provided assessments that Steele’s claims about Michael Cohen and a trip that Donald Trump made to Moscow in 2013 were products of Russian disinformation, another footnote said.
• CHUCK ROSS: ANALYSIS: The FBI Knew The Steele Dossier Contained Russian Disinformation Three Years Ago — Somehow It Never Leaked. (Daily Caller) – At some point in 2017, the precise month is not clear, the FBI obtained evidence that Russian operatives fed disinformation to former British spy Christopher Steele. That stunning revelation came on Friday, and not through a leak, as did so many of the anti-Trump and pro-Steele stories that have come out since the dossier was published in January 2017.
• AG William Barr on the Russia investigation: ‘There’s something far more troubling here’ (Fox News) — The Russia investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign was “one of the greatest travesties in American history,” Attorney General William Barr said Thursday during an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle.” Barr said he has seen troubling signs from U.S. Attorney John Durham’s ongoing probe into the origins of the two-year probe, which resulted in no allegations of wrongdoing against the president.
• Barr on Durham Investigation: ‘Evidence Shows That We’re Not Dealing with Just Mistakes or Sloppiness’  / U.S. attorney general William Barr implied in an interview Thursday that U.S. Attorney John Durham is prepared to prosecute former intelligence community officials if evidence shows they illegally surveilled the 2016 Trump campaign over allegations of collusion with Russia. Barr, who tasked Durham last May to review the origins of the Russia investigation, told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that the Connecticut U.S. attorney is “looking to bring to justice people who were engaged in abuses if he can show that there were criminal violations.”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – ALEX BERENSON – a former reporter who worked for the Times from 1999 to 2010 primarily covering the pharmaceutical industry. He recently came to prominence again with a book, “Tell Your Children The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence”

• TOPIC: Meet the former NYT reporter who is challenging the coronavirus narrative. (Fox News) – As daily life across America is upended by the coronavirus crisis — with mass business closures plunging the economy into freefall — one former New York Times reporter is sounding the alarm about what he believes are flawed models dictating the aggressive strategy. Alex Berenson has been analyzing the data on the crisis on a daily basis for weeks and has come to the conclusion that the strategy of shutting down entire sectors of the economy is based on modeling that doesn’t line up with the realities of the virus. “The response we have taken has caused enormous societal devastation, I don’t think that’s too strong a word,” he told Fox News in an interview Thursday. Berenson is a former reporter who worked for the Times from 1999 to 2010 primarily covering the pharmaceutical industry. He recently came to prominence again with a book, “Tell Your Children The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence,” which challenged prevailing narratives on marijuana. In the face of a broadening consensus on both the left and the libertarian right that sees marijuana as mostly healthy and even a positive in some circumstances, Berenson argued that the evidence instead shows a link between the drug and serious mental illness and an epidemic of violence. Now he’s turned to challenging the narratives on the response to the coronavirus. What Berenson is promoting isn’t coronavirus denialism, or conspiracy theories about plots to curb liberties. Instead what Berenson is claiming is simple: the models guiding the response were wrong and that it is becoming clearer by the day.

7am – E         QUARANTINE HAIR:

• As Washingtonians take the hair clippers into their own hands, local stylists are either supportive or skeptical. (DCist) – The quarantine era is upending style choices for many District professionals.  As residents swap slacks for sweatpants, they’re making bold choices when it comes to the top of their ensembles. That lighthearted approach toward hairdos has gained critical mass on social media in Facebook groups like “Haircuts in the time of the plague.” The private group counts 46 members from around the country and chose the apocalyptically appropriate image from Mad Max: Fury Road of a shaved-head Charlize Theron screaming for its banner photo. Members have posted bed head selfies, overgrown locks, chopped bangs, and a slew of bad hair memes.
• Walmart CEO says hair color is next up on list of items Americans are panic-buying. WASHINGTON (SBG) – It looks like hair color is next up on the list of items people are panic-buying during the coronavirus pandemic. During an interview with the Today Show’s Savannah Guthrie on Friday, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon discussed the recent shopping trends of Americans and how the focus has shifted. “It started out with food and consumables but moved to things like puzzles and games, things to entertain kids, and educate children as you would guess,” said McMillon. “Lately we’ve seen more grooming products, people are starting to need a haircut, so you start to see more beard trimmers and hair color and things like that. It’s interesting to watch the dynamic play out.”
• Vince Coglianese @VinceCoglianese Apr 10: I, too, cut my own hair yesterday, @PeteButtigieg

I, too, cut my own hair yesterday, @PeteButtigieg. https://t.co/ZvuJpTTnuJ

— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) April 10, 2020

8am – A         INTERVIEW – RALPH REED – chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and author of new book ” For God and Country: The Christian Case for Trump” 

• For many, this year’s Easter holiday may look a bit different. It’s what Dr. Ralph Reed calls “A Coronavirus Easter” in his newly published op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. In the op-ed, Reed, founder and chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, argues that in times of crisis, people often turn to faith in larger numbers. President Trump suggesting the country could reopen by Easter tied the country’s distinctly moral language to the greater events around us, giving hope to the evangelical community and others. In the book, Reed discusses the leadership of President Trump and his commitment to keeping the promises he has made to evangelicals nationwide.
• Ralph Reed op-ed: A Coronavirus Easter: The pandemic is a reminder that human yearning for faith is deep and abiding. https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-coronavirus-easter-11586473352?mod=opinion_lead_pos6
• ABOUT NEW BOOK: “For God and Country: The Christian Case for Trump”:  In For God and Country, Dr. Ralph Reed draws on his deep knowledge of American history, his unsurpassed experience as a political strategist, his personal dealings with President Trump and the First Family, and his moral commitment as a Christian to show why Catholics and Evangelicals should continue to support their unlikely champion.
• Millions of Christians in the United States celebrated Easter separated from their extended families and fellow believers, watching religious services broadcast on television or streamed online.  Pope Francis presided over Mass in a largely empty St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, describing “the contagion of hope” while acknowledging that for many, “this is an Easter of solitude, lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties.”
• Church members get $500 tickets for sitting in their vehicles with windows closed during radio service in church parking lot. The parking lot at Temple Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi, was full Wednesday night for a service, the Delta Democrat-Times reported.

8am – B/C     GOV. NORTHAM SIGNED A BUNCH OF CRAZY BILLS ON FRIDAY IN VIRGINIA:

• NORTHAM SIGNS GUN CONTROL BILLS: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signs five gun control bills into law. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed a slate of gun control measures into law Friday that will increase background checks, limit handgun purchases and establish a so-called “red flag” law.

Among the measures approved by Northam Friday:

• Requiring background checks on all gun sales in Virginia
• Re-instituting a limit on handgun sales to one a month
• Increasing penalties for recklessly leaving firearms near children or failing to report a lost or stolen firearm within two days
• Allowing localities to set their own rules on the presence of firearms in public
• Prohibiting those subject to a protective order from possessing firearms
• Creating a “red flag” law that allows law enforcement to temporarily seize a gun from a person deemed to pose a danger to themselves or others

• ELECTION LAW CHANGES: Virginia’s voter ID law has been repealed, Election Day is now a state holiday and access to early voting has grown. Lee-Jackson Day has been repealed as a way to keep the same number of state holidays.

The following bills became law:

• • House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 111, sponsored by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring and Senator Janet Howell, respectively: early voting 45 days prior to election without stated excuse.
  • House Bill 19 and Senate Bill 65, sponsored by Del. Joe Lindsey and Senator Mamie Locke, respectively: no more requirement that voters show a photo ID before casting their ballot. According to the statement, “Voter ID laws disenfranchise individuals who may not have access to photo identification, and disproportionately impact low-income individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.”
  • House Bill 108 and Senate Bill 601, sponsored by Del. Joe Lindsey and Senator Louise Lucas, respectively: Election Day is now a state holiday. Lee-Jackson Day repealed to keep same number of state holidays.
  • House Bill 235 and Senate Bill 219, sponsored by Del. Joshua Cola and Senator David Marsden, respectively: automatic voter registration for people at Department of Motor Vehicles office or DMV website
  • House Bill 238 and House Bill 239, sponsored by Del. Mark Sickles, and Senate Bill 455, sponsored by Senator Bryce Reeves: absentee voting timelines expanded to ensure access to polls.
  • House Bill 1678, sponsored by Del. Joe Lindsey: in-person polling hours extended through 8 p.m.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – ANDY PUZDER – former chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., and the author of “The Capitalist Comeback: The Trump Boom and the Left’s Plot to Stop It” and author of a forthcoming book of “Getting America Back to Work” – shared his advice on how we can have an economic comeback.

• Trump announces second task force on reopening economy as he weighs ‘biggest decision’ (Fox News) – President Trump said Friday that that choosing when to move to reopen the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus pandemic would be “the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make.” “I want to get it open as soon as possible,” Trump told reporters at Friday’s briefing with members of the White House task force. “This country was meant to be open and vibrant and great.” The president added that he would formally convene an “Opening our Country” task force April 14 that will be comprised of doctors and business leaders. According to Trump, the second, smaller task force would “include names that you have a lot of respect for.”
• TWEET: Mark R. Levin @marklevinshow: Apr 5: I recommend Andy Puzder to chair a presidential task force on economic revitalization, a former retail (restaurant) titan from the private sector. Not a government official.  Not a Goldman Sachs-type.

8am – E         MEAT SUPPLY WARNING:

• Hundreds of meat workers have tested positive for coronavirus, plants forced to close down across the country. (The Blaze) — Several meat processing plants around the United States have temporarily shuttered their doors following hundreds of workers testing positive for coronavirus. This comes at a time when Americans are trying to stock up on food as they experience supply chains being disrupted.
  • One of America’s largest meat producers has ominous warning about the grocery store supply. Smithfield Foods, one of the nation’s largest meat producers, has an ominous warning about America’s food supply. The company announced on Sunday that it was closing its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant after nearly 300 employees there tested positive for coronavirus, the Associated Press reported. The plant is one of the largest pork processing centers in America, and is responsible for producing 18 million servings of food per day.
  • Tyson Foods, another one of the world’s biggest meat processors, suspended operations at its pork plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa. That’s where more than two dozen workers tested positive with the coronavirus.
  • Cargill Meat Solutions, another massive meat-processing company, had to temporarily close a plant after 130 workers tested positive for COVID-19. The 900-employee meat-processing plant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, is one of four meat plants in the Keystone State that have recently been forced to close because of the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Glenn Beck recently interviewed Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), where they discussed the possibility of “significant food shortages” because of the spread of coronavirus at meat-processing plants. “Six of the big, giant meat processing plants; I mean one of these handles like 1,900 cattle a day, are shutting down because the workers have the virus,” Massie told Beck. “And they don’t have the tests to know which workers don’t have it, etc., etc.” “I can tell you the price of cattle is going down, meanwhile the price of beef is going up in the supermarket and is caused because the supply chains are brittle,” Massie warned. “We need to change course because by the middle of this summer, if something hasn’t changed, it’s going to be ugly.”