Kathleen Willey, Trevor Matich, Stuart Varney and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday!
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Mornings on the Mall
Friday, September 18, 2015
Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor
Executive Producer: Heather Smith
5am – A DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW – KATHLEEN WILLEY – a former White House volunteer aide to Bill Clinton and author of “Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton”
- Kathleen Willey slams Hillary’s new sex assault survivors ad. Hillary Clinton believes victims of sexual assault have “a right to be believed.” Except, of course, if the accusations are made against her husband and could complicate her political aspirations. In Clinton’s new web ad, titled “Hillary’s Message to Survivors of Sexual Assault,” the candidate claims: “I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault. Don’t let anyone silence your voice. You have a right to be heard. You have a right to be believed. We’re with you.”
5am – B/C Commander admits size of US-trained Syrian fighting force at ‘4 or 5.’
5am – D Fed leaves interest rate unchanged, citing global economic risks. The Federal Reserve said Thursday that the U.S. economy faces new threats from abroad and needs continued support to grow, backing away from expectations that the moment had come to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. The risks are many: Breakneck growth in China finally appears to be slowing down — and it’s unclear whether officials there know how to handle that. Wild swings in financial markets around the globe have put investors on edge. Even Canada is in a recession. The global turmoil had already colored the Fed’s two-day meeting in Washington — long regarded by many investors as the time when it could finally raise rates. In the end, what was striking was not only that officials overwhelmingly voted to keep the central bank’s interest rate at zero, but also that there were also fresh doubts that the economy would be ready to stand on its own anytime soon.
5am – E Obama Admin. Naturalizing 36,000 Immigrants In One Week. (Breitbart) — More than 36,000 immigrants will become citizens over the next seven days, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Thursday. As part of the Obama administration’s new multilingual effort to promote citizenship, starting Thursday and into next week, USCIS will be holding more than 200 naturalization ceremonies. The effort, according to USCIS, highlights Constitution Day and Citizenship Day which marks the signing of the Constitution in 1787. “Congress first highlighted the significance of U.S. citizenship in 1940 when it designated the third Sunday in May as ‘I Am an American Day.’ In 1952, Congress shifted the date to Sept. 17 and renamed it ‘Citizenship Day.’ Congress changed the designation of this day to ‘Constitution Day and Citizenship Day’ in 2004,” USCIS explained in a release. In addition to the naturalization ceremonies USCIS is holding as part of “Constitution Week,” the Obama administration Thursday launched its “‘Stand Stronger’ Citizenship Awareness Campaign” aimed at encouraging the estimated 8.8 million legal permanent residents in the U.S. eligible to apply for citizenship to naturalize.
6am – A/B/C Town Hall Question To Trump: Obama Is a Muslim. When Can We Get Rid Of Muslims? (Daily Caller) – Donald Trump received an explosive question from an audience member about Muslims at a town hall Thursday night in Rochester, New Hampshire. “We have a problem in this country and it’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one. You know he’s not even an American–” the man asked Trump. Trump laughs: “We need this question? This first one?” The man continued, “We have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That’s my question. When can we get rid of them?” “We’re going to be looking into a lot of different things. A lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying a lot of bad things are happening out there. We’ll be looking at that and a lot of other things,” Trump responded. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews told his “Hardball” panel Thursday night that Trump should have corrected the man and noted the mogul was still “clearly a birther.”
6am – D/E Hillary Clinton could not name her “number one accomplishment” while she was secretary of state during her first live interview of the campaign season with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Thursday. Clinton instead said that anyone who is interested in her accomplishments should “read my book ‘Hard Choices.’”
7am – A INTERVIEW – TREVOR MATICH — Redskins elite long snapper and WMAL’s Redskins analyst
- Washington Redskins, Sunday, September 20, 1:00 PM on FOX on FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland – St. Louis Rams vs. Washington Redskins
7am – B Entertainment News:
- Emily Blunt Apologizes for Her Comments About the GOP Debate: ‘It Was Just an Offhand Joke’ Shortly after becoming an American citizen, Emily Blunt received somewhat of a backlash after making a joke about regretting her decision in light of the Republican presidential debate. The Sicario actress appeared on the Today show on Thursday and apologized for her verbal gaffe. “It was so not the intention to hurt anybody or cause any offense, so I really apologize to those that I caused offense,” she said. “It was just an offhand joke. I think I’ll probably leave the political jokes to late night or something.”
- JEOPARDY Q: ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Tricks Alex Trebek Into Saying Turd Ferguson
- Renee Zellweger cuts a low-key figure as she’s pictured sneaking out of ITV studios ‘after attending research meeting’ for third Bridget Jones movie. (Daily Mail) — Rumours that a third movie in the much-loved Bridget Jones series is set to grace cinema screens with its presence heightened when leading star Renee Zellweger was spotted sneaking out of the ITV studios in London after supposedly attending a research meeting on Wednesday. The real-life alter-ego of Helen Fielding’s hopeless romantic cut a low-key figure as she was photographed hoping to make a quick exit out of the central London building. Renee, 46, hoped to go incognito as she was dressed in an ensemble which wouldn’t have looked out of place on fictional Bridget.
7am – C Join me for a special night out at The Birchmere with Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers this Sunday, September 20th! We have your chance to win two free tickets to the show, plus you’ll meet Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers at the WMAL private pre-show meet and greet. Enter to win online at wmal.com slash contests.
7am – D INTERVIEW – STUART VARNEY – host of “VArney and Company” on Fox Business Network
- Fed leaves interest rate unchanged, citing global economic risks
- Stuart explained how median household income of average Americans is down.
- Stuart weighed in on the GOP debate and Trump not refuting Muslim comment.
7am – E White House Meetings:
- Heroes who stopped the French train attack visit President Obama at the White House. The three American heroes who took down a suspected terrorist aboard a Paris-bound train paid a visit to President Obama at the White House on Thursday. The three childhood friends from Sacramento – U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Spencer Stone, 23, Army National Guard Specialist Aleksander “Alek” Skarlatos, 22, and student Anthony Sadler, 23 – were escorted into the Oval Office shortly after noon, where the president gave a four-minute speech honoring their bravery. “I think all of you are familiar with the incredible story of three high school friends who were getting together – two of whom had served in uniform on behalf of the United States Armed Forces – thinking that they were just going to have a fun reunion in Paris,” Obama told reporters at the White House, “and ended up engaging a potential catastrophic situation and pinning down someone who clearly was intent on doing doing a lot of harm to a lot of people, inflicting terror on the French people.” “Because of their courage, because of their quick thinking, because of their teamwork … a real calamity was averted,” the president added.
- Valerie Jarrett, White House Meet With ‘Black Lives’ Activists During GOP Debate. (Daily Caller) — White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett and other Obama administration officials spent Wednesday evening meeting with several #BlackLivesMatter activists, including Brittney Packnett and DeRay McKesson. According to Buzzfeed, the discussion centered on “law enforcement and community policing with an emphasis on how to increase public safety,” with Jarrett emphasizing, “the implementation of its recommendations from the 21st Century Task Force on Policing as a priority for reducing violence.”
- Ahmed Mohamed says he’s going to the White House — and then he’s transferring schools. Two days after his arrest for bringing a homemade clock to school, Ahmed Mohamed appeared at a press conference today to address his supporters. The 14-year-old student at MacArthur High School in Irving, TX, thanked his many fans on social media, who include Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, among many others. At his press conference, Ahmed said he planned to take the president up on his offer to visit him at the White House — and said he also plans to transfer to another school.
- White House Invites Several Opponents of Catholic Teaching to Greet Pope Francis. (Breitbart/Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.) — President Obama will apparently test just how far Pope Francis’ notorious tolerance will go by inviting a rogue’s gallery of people opposed to Catholic teaching to greet the pontiff at the White House during his visit next week. In a stunning show of political indecorum, Obama has invited a series of individuals who publicly flout Catholic teaching, including a pro-abortion religious sister, a transgender woman and the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, along with at least two Catholic gay activists.
- One of the invitees, retired Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, made history by becoming the first openly gay episcopal bishop in 2003 and subsequently the first to divorce his gay partner in 2014, after having previously separated from his wife of 14 years. He has attended a number of religious events with the Obama administration, offering a prayer at President Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and taking part in the 2014 National Prayer Breakfast.
- Mateo Williamson, a cross-dressing woman and former co-chairman of the Transgender Caucus for Dignity USA, has also received an invitation to the White House for Pope Francis’ visit. Williamson says that though she now thinks of herself as a man, she continues to be attracted to males.
- Sister Simone Campbell, is the pro-abortion executive director of the social justice lobby NETWORK. Campbell fought against the U.S. bishops when Obama’s Affordable Care Act was originally being debated, in an attempt to undermine their abortion and conscience concerns. Sister Campbell will attend two events: the White House reception and Pope Francis’ address to Congress on Wednesday. Campbell famously helped organize the “Nuns on the Bus” a tour by Catholic religious women to protest the budget of then-Senator Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
- An intermediary for several of the invitations to greet the Pope was Vivian Taylor, a 30-year-old male transvestite who acted as Executive Director of Integrity USA, a homosexual and transgender activist wing of the Episcopal Church, until last March.
8am – A/B/C Town Hall Question To Trump: Obama Is a Muslim. When Can We Get Rid Of Muslims? (Daily Caller) – Donald Trump received an explosive question from an audience member about Muslims at a town hall Thursday night in Rochester, New Hampshire. “We have a problem in this country and it’s called Muslims.”
8am – D INTERVIEW – BRET BAIER – ANCHOR, SPECIAL REPORT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL, weekdays at 6 pm
8am – E INTERVIEW – LARRY GATLIN – Grammy Award-winning country music songwriter and musician
- Join me for a special night out at The Birchmere with Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers this Sunday, September 20th! We have your chance to win two free tickets to the show, plus you’ll meet Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers at the WMAL private pre-show meet and greet. Enter to win online at wmal.com slash contests.
MONDAY: DC Deputy Mayor for Safety Kevin Donahue, Joe diGenova, Trevor Matich and Amb. John Bolton