Friday, July 3, 2020

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Guests: Daniel Halper, Jane Hampton Cook and Christian Datoc

6:35 AM – INTERVIEW – DANIEL HALPER – author of “A Convenient Death: THE MYSTERIOUS DEMISE OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN”

7:05 AM – INTERVIEW – JANE HAMPTON COOK – Presidential historian and author of Resilience on Parade

TOPIC: Reflect on the importance of Independence Day and its founders

8:05 AM – INTERVIEW – CHRISTIAN DATOC – Senior White House Correspondent for The Daily Caller

5-A — EPSTEIN / MAXWELL:

*British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested by the FBI on charges she helped procure underage sex partners for financier Jeffrey Epstein. An indictment says Maxwell, who lived with Epstein for years and was his frequent travel companion on trips around the world, facilitated Epstein’s crimes by “helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse” girls as young as 14. It also said she participated in the sexual abuse.

5-D AFGHANISTAN:

• HOUSE DEMS TRY TO PROLONG WAR IN AFGHANISTAN… House panel votes to constrain Afghan drawdown, ask for assessment on ‘incentives’ to attack US troops

The House Armed Services Committee voted Wednesday to put roadblocks on President Trump’s ability to withdraw from Afghanistan, including requiring an assessment on whether any country has offered incentives for the Taliban to attack U.S. and coalition troops. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment, from Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), would require several certifications before the U.S. military can further draw down in Afghanistan. The amendment was approved 45-11.

• GLENN GREENWALD: House Democrats, Working With Liz Cheney, Restrict Trump’s Planned Withdrawal of Troops From Afghanistan and Germany. President Trump throughout the year has insisted that the Pentagon present plans for withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan prior to the end of 2020. Last week, reports indicated that “the Trump administration is close to finalizing a decision to withdraw more than 4,000 troops from Afghanistan by the fall.” Trump’s plan “would reduce the number of troops from 8,600 to 4,500 and would be the lowest number since the very earliest days of the war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001.” In February, Trump announced an agreement with the Taliban to end the war completely. Shortly after those White House withdrawal plans were reported, anonymous intelligence officials leaked a series of claims to the New York Times regarding “bounties” allegedly being paid by Russia to Taliban fighters to kill U.S. troops. Those leaks emboldened opposition to troop withdrawal from Afghanistan on the ground that it would be capitulating to Russian treachery. It was that New York Times leak that Liz Cheney, along with GOP Congressman Mac Thornberry, cited in a joint statement on Monday to suggest troop withdrawal would be precipitous.
  

5-E — KAMALA HARRIS AS BIDEN’S POTENTIAL VP:

DEMS LOVE KAMALA AS VP: White voters find this Democrat least acceptable as a Biden VP pick: poll.

The poll found that seven in 10 Democrats think it’s “important” for Biden to pick a black woman as his VP. A new poll indicates Democratic voters are most excited about the prospect of Kamala Harris being tapped as Joe Biden’s running mate, but are wary of Elizabeth Warren being chosen. Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, generated the most excitement among Democrats across racial lines: 41 percent of white voters and 32 percent of African-Americans said they would be “excited” by the choice. Overall, 33 percent called her choice “acceptable” and 12 percent called her “not acceptable.” While 38 percent of Democrats overall found Warren an “acceptable” choice and 27 percent were “excited” about the idea, 19 percent found her to be a “not acceptable” choice, the highest negative rating of any of the 11 candidates listed. The negative views rose among white voters. The USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed 23 percent of white voters found Warren to be a “not acceptable” choice, while that number was 19 percent among Hispanic voters and 13 percent among black voters. Warren was an “exciting” choice to 33 percent of white Democrats and 15 percent of black voters. The poll found that seven in 10 Democrats think it’s “important” for Biden to pick a black woman as his VP, as 35 percent said it was “very important” and 37 percent said it was “somewhat important.” Twenty-six percent thought it was “not very” or “not at all” important. Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, generated the most excitement among Democrats across racial lines: 41 percent of white voters and 32 percent of African-Americans said they would be “excited” by the choice. Overall, 33 percent called her choice “acceptable” and 12 percent called her “not acceptable.” https://www.foxnews.com/politics/elizabeth-warren-least-acceptable-democrats-poll

VINCE COGLIANESE: One Wikipedia editor has made hundreds of changes to Kamala Harris’s page in the last few weeks, many of which scrub her record as a prosecutor.

THE INTERCEPT: THERE’S A WAR GOING ON OVER KAMALA HARRIS’S WIKIPEDIA PAGE, WITH UNFLATTERING ELEMENTS VANISHING. Last month, a Reddit user […] wrote a Jupyter script to see which 2020 vice presidential contender had the most edits in a span of three weeks: Harris had 408, Stacey Abrams had 66, Sen. Elizabeth Warren had 22, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar had four. Another Redditor pointed out that a majority of Harris’s edits were coming from a single person. Harris has been working to distance herself on the national stage from her prosecutorial record in California, which has increasingly become a political liability, while taking a lead on Democratic police reform legislation after the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. During the 2020 primary, she branded herself as a “progressive prosecutor” and shifted left on issues like health care and climate change. But the most drastic gap is between her current messaging on crime and her past.

6 AM HOUR

6-A — PROTEST/RIOTS NEWS/UPDATE: 

• Report: Feds Arrest Antifa ‘Ringleader’ Responsible For Attack On Jackson Statue. Federal law enforcement officers have arrested the “ringleader” behind the attempted takedown of President Andrew Jackson’s statue in Lafayette Park late in June, according to a report from Fox News.. The Federal Bureau of Investigations, in conjunction with the U.S. Park Police, arrested Jason Charter on Thursday morning and charged him with the destruction of federal property, according to Fox News.Unnamed law enforcement sources tell Fox he was responsible for the June 22 attack on Jackson’s statue in front of the White House and the June 19 destruction of the Albert Pike statue. “They were very organized,” a federal law enforcement official told Fox News. “Charter was on top of the statue and directing people … they had acid, chisels, straps and a human chain preventing police from getting to the statue.”
  
•  BREAKING OVERNIGHT… OREGON LIVE: Portland police deem Thursday protests a ‘riot’ for 2nd time in 3 days. Around 11:30 p.m., the crowd moved in front of the federal courthouse immediately north of the Justice Center on Southwest Third Avenue. Some protesters continued to set off fireworks, and a piece of wood was set on fire in the middle of Main Avenue. At 11:45 p.m., Portland police announced people must leave because of “criminal activity” or risk the use of force.Live videos showed most people remained in the area, and officers staged at the federal courthouse appeared to fire munitions toward the crowd. Portland police declared the gathering a riot at 11:53 p.m. Police warned that tear gas or munitions to break up the crowd. Fireworks exploded as police repeated the announcement for the next several minutes. […] Around 12:15 a.m., after the crowd had passed Sixth Avenue, police suddenly announced that they were leaving. “Officers are disengaging,” police announced. “Do not follow officers. If you do, you will be subject to force.”

6-B/C — DUCKWORTH / VINDMAN:

DUCKWORTH HOLDS OVER 1000 MILITARY CONFIRMATIONS HOSTAGE IN EXCHANGE FOR PROMOTION FOR VINDMAN

• Duckworth vows to block over 1,000 military confirmations until Pentagon proves Vindman will be promoted.Vindman was a key witness in the Dem-led Trump impeachment hearings. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., on Thursday announced her intention to block Senate confirmations for 1,123 senior U.S. Armed Forces promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirms he will not block the “expected and deserved” promotion of Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Vindman, an Iraq War veteran, served on the White House National Security Council and was thrust into the limelight last year when he testified about President Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that became the heart of a Democratic-led impeachment inquiry.indman said he listened to the call and voiced concerns that Trump allegedly tried to pressure Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of one of Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies. Critics accused Trump of using much-needed military aid to Ukraine as leverage in his request to Zelensky.Trump removed Vindman from his position days after being acquitted of two articles of impeachment in the Senate. In a statement, Duckworth, also an Iraq War veteran who served as a helicopter pilot, accused Trump of trying to politicize the armed forces.
  

 6-D — 6:35 AM – INTERVIEW – DANIEL HALPER – co-author of “A Convenient Death: THE MYSTERIOUS DEMISE OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN”

*British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested by the FBI on charges she helped procure underage sex partners for financier Jeffrey Epstein. An indictment says Maxwell, who lived with  Epstein for years and was his frequent travel companion on trips around the world, facilitated Epstein’s crimes by “helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse” girls as young as 14. It also said she participated in the sexual abuse.

• New book claims Bill Clinton had an affair with Ghislaine Maxwell https://nypost.com/2020/05/27/book-claims-bill-clinton-had-an-affair-with-ghislaine-maxwell/

6-E/F — 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND PREVIEW – TRUMP’S MOUNT RUSHMORE CELEBRATIONS ON FRIDAY & DC CELEBRATIONS ON SATURDAY:

TRUMP HEADS TO MOUNT RUSHMORE FOR TODAY’S CELEBRATIONS:

• President Trump will head to South Dakota today for an Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore, the first president to do so since George H.W. Bush in 1991. The event will feature fireworks, after a decade of being banned amid concerns about wildfires and groundwater pollution, and despite protests by Native Americans. The President plans to witness the pyrotechnics display along with about 7,500 other spectators who won an online ticket lottery sponsored by South Dakota’s state tourism department. On Saturday, he’ll head back to Washington, D.C. for a celebration on the National Mall.

NY TIMES ATTACKS MOUNT RUSHMORE AHEAD OF TRUMP’S VISIT:

• NY Times Joins DNC in Criticism of Mount Rushmore. Ahead of President Donald Trump’s Friday visit to Mount Rushmore the New York Times published an article criticizing the racist history of the memorial, its sculptor, and the “complicated legacy” of the presidents represented on it. The article, “How Mount Rushmore Became Mount Rushmore,” states that the national monument has “never been without controversy.” The article comes ahead of a planned Independence Day celebration at the monument featuring Trump, an event the Times says has “invited even more scrutiny of the monument’s history, the leaders it celebrates, the sculptor who created it and the land it towers over.” Reporters Bryan Pietsch and Jacey Fortin note critiques of each of the four presidents featured on Mount Rushmore—criticizing George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as slaveowners, Theodore Roosevelt as “a racist” who “actively sought to Christianize and uproot Native Americans,” and even Abraham Lincoln, noting that “some have characterized [the Emancipation Proclamation] as reluctant and late.” The article follows a Monday attack on Mount Rushmore by the Democratic National Committee, which wrote in a now-deleted social media post that Trump was “glorifying white supremacy” by hosting a fireworks display at the monument. https://freebeacon.com/media/ny-times-joins-fight-against-mount-rushmore/

 Native tribal leaders are calling for the removal of Mount Rushmore.

(CNN) The chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe is calling for the removal of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, arguing that it is carved in an area that is considered sacred land to Natives. “Nothing stands as a greater reminder to the Great Sioux Nation of a country that cannot keep a promise of treaty then the faces carved into our sacred land on what the United States calls Mount Rushmore,” said Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, where the memorial is located. “The United States of America wishes for all of us to be citizens and a family of their republic yet when they get bored of looking at those faces we are left looking at our molesters,” Frazier wrote in a statement on June 29. In June, Oglala Sioux President Julian Bear Runner said Mt. Rushmore is a “great sign of disrespect,” noting he believes it should be “removed.” Both the Oglala and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe — which is home to four bands of Sioux Natives — are part of the Great Sioux Nation. Mt. Rushmore is carved into the Black Hills, which had been occupied by Lakota Sioux Natives. In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, signed amidst ongoing conflicts between Natives and Western expansion settlers, the US recognized Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation, according to US National Archives. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/07/02/us/cheyenne-river-sioux-tribe-mount-rushmore-trnd/index.html

• Fauci: Avoid gatherings like Trump’s Rushmore fireworks show. A large group of people close together for the president’s July 3 event goes against coronavirus best practices, the top infectious disease expert said. Anthony Fauci discouraged Americans from attending events like President Donald Trump’s upcoming fireworks display at Mount Rushmore, pointing out that a large gathering of people in close proximity goes against best practices for stopping the spread of the coronavirus. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/01/fauci-rushmore-trump-347511

DC CELEBRATIONS ON JULY 4TH

• PREVIEW PRESIDENT TRUMP’S 4TH OF JULY EVENTS ON SATURDAY:  Trump’s “Salute to America” event will take place at the White House, with a fireworks display over the National Mall. WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) – Details on President Trump’s July 4 “Salute to America” event in the District were released on Wednesday – and it will include not only the traditional fireworks display, but demonstrations from the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds. The event has come under heavy scrutiny in light of the COVID-19 crisis, and the large numbers of people expected to attend the event. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has asked residents to celebrate July 4 at home. The President, as well as First Lady Melania Trump, are hosting the event from the South Lawn of the White House and the Ellipse. The National Mall and the surrounding area will remain open to the public throughout the event. In addition to the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds, the flyover will include World War II era vintage planes, such as P-51s and B-29s. The flyovers will be from 6:45 p.m. to 8 p.m. The show is set to be 35 minutes long – and will be visible throughout the District and Northern Virginia, according to the administration. https://www.fox5dc.com/news/president-trumps-july-4-salute-to-america-event-details-released

7-A —  7:05 AM – INTERVIEW – JANE HAMPTON COOK – Presidential historian and author of new book  “Resilience on Parade”

TOPIC: Reflect on the importance of Independence Day and its founders

•  ABOUT HER LATEST BOOK: Resilience on Parade shows how eight Americans throughout U.S. history  demonstrated resilience as well as initiative, vision, perseverance, courage and creativity in a civil rights quest that expanded the promise of the Declaration of Independence to women’s right to vote.

7-B/C — CHEVY CHASE’S WAR ON LEAF BLOWERS:

WJLA: Town of Chevy Chase may ban gas-powered leaf blowers amid mental health, pollution worries

CHEVY CHASE, Md. (ABC7) — The Town of Chevy Chase may ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers due to a myriad of concerns that include mental health, greenhouse gases, and the scattering of wildlife.

In a 10-page report, the Town’s Climate and Environment Committee (CEC) recommended a phased-in approach that would begin this September, and ultimately, make gas-powered leaf blowers illegal in the upscale community where many residents rely on landscaping companies for yard maintenance.

If the measure passes, many landscapers would be required to spend thousands — and in some cases, tens-of-thousands-of-dollars — in equipment upgrades or face costly fines.

“Town residents regularly complain to Town Council members and via our Town listserv about the noise from gas-powered leaf blowers,” the CEC wrote in its “request for action” report. “This practice comes with high costs for our health, environment, and enjoyment of the benefits of living in our Town.”