Mornings on the Mall

Monday, June 27, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

5am – A/B/C   INTERVIEW — PETE HOEKSTRA

• DC Metro Transit Officer arrested for ties to ISIS

5am – D         TALKER: LIBERTARIAN TOWN HALL — Is a vote for Johnson, not a vote for Hillary?

5am – E         Gun rights advocates challenge D.C. stun-gun ban in Second Amendment suit (Washington Post) Gun rights advocates have asked a federal court in Washington to strike down the District’s ban on stun guns, taking a cue from a March ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that suggested possessing stun guns and electronic weapons is protected by the Second Amendment. Three city residents, identified in a 17-page lawsuit filed Tuesday as a conservative blogger, a nurse who sometimes works at night and an armed-robbery victim, said the D.C. law violates their constitutional right “to arms for self-defense that are not unusually ­dangerous.”

6am –A/B/C  TALKER: Is America growing soft? Clint Eastwood says so, and we want to know what you think.

6am – D         CLINTON NEWS:

• Bret Baier Grills Clinton Spox Over Whether Clinton Foundation Is Under Investigation (Mediaite) On Fox News tonight, Bret Baier grilled Hillary Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon over whether the Clinton Foundation is being investigated. Baier brought up how the IRS is supposedly conducting an investigation. Fallon said that reporting is inaccurate and he said the Foundation has been “unfairly the subject of many partisan attacks.” Baier kept pressing on question about ethical issues surrounding the Clinton Foundation and why Bill Clinton received more money from speaking fees after his wife became Secretary of State. He asked if nations that invite Clinton to speak and then donate to the Clinton Foundation “expect something in return.” Fallon insisted they don’t, saying that the Clinton Foundation has gone “above and beyond the legal requirements” for disclosure.
• Hillary Calls For Tax Increase on Middle Class, Crowd Cheers…(DailyWire) Hillary Clinton called for raising taxes on the “middle class” while campaigning on Monday in Omaha, NE. Joined by left-wing Democrat billionaire Warren Buffett, she received applause from those in attendance. “Because while Warren is standing up for a fairer tax code, Trump wants to cut taxes for the super-rich,” said Clinton. “Well, we’re not going there, my friends. I’m telling you, right now – we’re going to write fairer rules for the middle class and we are going to raise taxes on the middle class!”
• Clinton uses props to rip Trump at tie factory stop (WTOP) Hillary Clinton is criticizing Donald Trump’s use of outsourcing at his companies, part of an effort to undercut the business record that has formed the basis of his presidential pitch. “What kind of man does business by hurting other people? I am just so determined that we are not going to let him do to America what he has done to small business,” she told several thousand people gathered at in a high school gymnasium on Wednesday afternoon. Clinton highlighted Trump’s use of outsourcing to manufacture some of his branded products, arguing he’s profited from the same foreign labor he now blames for killing U.S. jobs. Most of Trump’s branded neckties, shirts and suits are made abroad, in China and Bangladesh, as are the bulk of the products sold by his daughter, Ivanka.
• EXCLUSIVE: NBC Quietly Scrubs ‘Discredited’ Smear of Bill Clinton Rape Accuser (Breitbart) Following the receipt of a retraction demand, NBC News has quietly edited the Internet edition of a segment that aired on the highly-rated “Today Show” in which anchor Andrea Mitchell claimed Juanita Broaddrick’s rape accusation against Bill Clinton had been “discredited.” After receiving the legal letter, penned by Broaddrick’s attorney and son, Kevin L. Hickey, NBC removed the word “discredited” from the network’s Internet version of Mitchell’s video report, Broaddrick and Hickey told this reporter. However, NBC did not make any indication of the edit in the video or on the webpage that hosts it. Nor did NBC fulfill Broaddrick’s request, which she says was communicated in the letter, for an apology from Mitchell on the “Today Show” as well as an acknowledgement on the show and on NBC’s website that there is no information that Broaddrick’s story has been discredited.  Instead, a staffer from NBC informed Hickey that the “discredited” statement had been removed, Broaddrick and Hickey said.

6am – E         METRO NEWS:

• Federal judge orders further study of Purple Line, delays start (WTOP) A federal judge canceled government approval of the Purple line citing ongoing problems with Metrorail. In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said Maryland must do another study projecting anticipated Purple Line ridership that takes into account the potential impact of declining Metrorail ridership and safety issues. “We are deeply disappointed this ruling puts the Purple Line in jeopardy,” said Maryland Secretary of Transportation Pete K. Rahn in an email.
• NTSB: Metro should have fixed tracks before derailment outside East Falls Church station (WTOP) Federal investigators looking into last week’s derailment outside the East Falls Church station found an entire stretch of tracks with crumbling rail ties that should have been fixed years ago and rails that were nearly 2 inches too far apart. National Transportation Safety Board investigators also said Metro officials weren’t conducting inspections frequently enough. The Federal Transit Administration said the findings are consistent with its own investigation, which found “systemic safety deficiencies in the maintenance and repair” of tracks. In preliminary findings released Wednesday afternoon, the NTSB said the tracks were 1 and 3/4 inches farther apart than Metro’s standard (59 inches rather than 57 and 1/14 inches), and there were no effective cross ties holding the rails together for more than 30 feet of track. Metro’s standards require no more than 10 feet between effective cross ties, which would have meant 12 working crossties in the area.
• DC Metro Transit Cop Appears in Court for Allegedly Trying to Assist ISIS (ABC) A veteran police officer with one of the nation’s most prominent transit systems appeared in federal court today in connection to charges that he tried to help ISIS. Authorities believe that officer Nicholas Young, while working for the Metro Transit Police Department in Washington, D.C. — a community he swore to protect — was trying to assist ISIS operatives find more ways to communicate in secret. Young, thin and bearded, appeared briefly in court in Alexandria, Virginia, this afternoon, arriving in handcuffs and wearing what appeared to be pants from his police uniform and a white T-shirt.

7am – A/B/C   INTERVIEW — JOHN FUND

TOPIC: Trump has been suggested we could see a “rigged election” but could there be an element of truth in his comments? More and more, we are seeing Democrats trying to give felons the right to vote and overturning voter ID efforts in states, etc.

• Voter ID and the Real Threat to Democracy

• DHS may increase protections for voting systems to thwart hackers

7am – D         INTERVIEW — LT. COL TONY SHAFFER

IRAN

• US sent plane with $400 million in cash to Iran

• Justice Department Officials Raised Objections on U.S. Cash Payment to Iran. Some officials worried about message being sent but were overruled.

ISIS in DC METRO

• DC transit police officer charged with aiding ISIS

7am – E         HARRY POTTER NEWS

• J.K. Rowling and James Patterson top Forbes’ list of highest-paid authors: James Patterson nabbed the top spot, marking his third consecutive year at the top of the list. His estimated $95 million in yearly earnings more than secured him the lead. Patterson’s sum is nearly five times that of the runner-up Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid series), who brought in $19.5 million, about the same as third-placer J.K. Rowling.
• Potter script sells more than 2 million copies in 2 days. NEW YORK (AP) — Not even “Hamilton” can keep up with these numbers. The script to the London stage production “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two” sold more than 2 million print copies in North America in its first two days of publication, Scholastic announced Wednesday.
• Penn Study: Reading Harry Potter Makes You Less Likely to Vote for Donald Trump. A study by a Penn professor, published in a peer-reviewed journal, says reading Harry Potter lowers one’s opinion of the Republican nominee

8am – A         INTERVIEW —  ELIZABETH SCHULTZ

• Supreme Court grants emergency order to block transgender male student in Virginia from using boys’ restroom

8am – B         ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• Bradley Cooper ‘was not expecting’ conservative outrage over his #DNC attendance (EW) Bradley Cooper’s appearance in the audience at last week’s Democratic National Convention rankled some right-wing movie enthusiasts. Scores of his Republican fans (ahem… former fans) derided him for showing support for the Democratic party after having portrayed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in American Sniper, with some even calling for a boycott of his films. For his part, Cooper says he was taken aback by the intense response, and he spoke a little about his surprise on The Late Late Show with James Corden on Tuesday night.
• Clint and Scott Eastwood: No Holds Barred in Their First Interview Together (ESQUIRE) Think your old man is a ball-buster? Try being the son of Clint Eastwood. And then try making a name for yourself in the family business. This month, as Clint and Scott Eastwood go head-to-head at the box office, father and son sit down together for an interview for the first time.
• Ozzy Osbourne undergoing ‘intense therapy’ for sex addiction (EW) Ozzy Osbourne is opening up about the demons that caused his decades-long marriage with Sharon Osbourne to fall apart earlier this year. “Over the last six years, Ozzy Osbourne has been dealing with a sex addiction,” a rep for the Black Sabbath singer tells PEOPLE exclusively. In May, Sharon, 63, and Ozzy, 67, announced they were splitting after Ozzy’s four-year-long affair with his former hair colorist, Michelle Pugh, was revealed. Earlier this month, however, the longtime spouses said they were fighting for their marriage of 33 years, and Ozzy told Good Morning America things were “back on track”.

8am – C        

Police: Woman killed in London knife attack was American (USA Today)

The woman stabbed to death in an attack on a street in the British capital was American, police here said Thursday. Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley identified the suspect as a Norwegian national of Somali ancestry. He said police had so far found no evidence of radicalization or anything that would suggest that he was motivated by terrorism. Five people were injured in the attack — their nationalities are Australian, American, Israeli and British, Rowley said.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — JAKE TAPPER — Anchor, “The Lead” and “State of the Union” on CNN

2016 NEWS:

• A Critical Newt Gingrich Says Donald Trump Can Reverse Slump. (WSJ) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a staunch Donald Trump ally, offered the Republican presidential candidate some tough love on Wednesday morning, calling his behavior “very self-destructive” and urging him to pull out of a “slump.”  Mr. Gingrich, speaking on Fox Business, criticized Mr. Trump’s recent controversies – including his dispute with the Khan family and his declining to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan in his upcoming primary– comparing the candidate to a star quarterback who has thrown a ton of interceptions.
• Mike Pence Splits With Donald Trump on Paul Ryan Endorsement. Gov. Mike Pence, aligning himself with the Republican establishment rather than his running mate, broke with Donald J. Trump on Wednesday by endorsing Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s re-election bid, a day after Mr. Trump roiled the party by declaring that he was not yet ready to support the speaker.
• Clinton uses props to rip Trump at tie factory stop. Hillary Clinton criticizes Donald Trump for profiting off foreign labor. COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Hillary Clinton is criticizing Donald Trump’s use of outsourcing at his companies, part of an effort to undercut the business record that has formed the basis of his presidential pitch. “What kind of man does business by hurting other people? I am just so determined that we are not going to let him do to America what he has done to small business,” she told several thousand people gathered at in a high school gymnasium on Wednesday afternoon. Clinton highlighted Trump’s use of outsourcing to manufacture some of his branded products, arguing he’s profited from the same foreign labor he now blames for killing U.S. jobs. Most of Trump’s branded neckties, shirts and suits are made abroad, in China and Bangladesh, as are the bulk of the products sold by his daughter, Ivanka.

IRAN

• US sent plane with $400 million in cash to Iran. Justice Department Officials Raised Objections on U.S. Cash Payment to Iran. Some officials worried about message being sent but were overruled. (WSJ) – WASHINGTON—Senior Justice Department officials objected to sending a plane loaded with cash to Tehran at the same time that Iran released four imprisoned Americans, but their object

8am – E         Yes We Khan: Activist Starts Fund to Draft Khizr Khan to Run for Office in Virginia (MIC.com) Khizr Khan’s speech at last week’s Democratic National Convention made him a political sensation and sent sales of pocket copies of the Constitution skyrocketing. Now, donors on the fundraising site Crowdpac want to make Khan — father of a Muslim American Army captain killed while serving in Iraq — an elected official himself. Tom Keefe, the veterans’ activist who started the Crowdpac account, praised Khan for speaking out against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric in the name of his late son, Capt. Humayun Khan. Keefe says the elder Khan’s willingness to take on the GOP presidential hopeful shows he’d be a great public servant if he pursued an open seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. As he wrote in his just-launched Crowdpac appeal:

We need more candidates like Khizr Khan, not Donald Trump, to run for office in America. Mr. Khan is someone who has achieved the American Dream and made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Donald Trump couldn’t even name a single sacrifice he has made. Help draft Khizr Khan to run for state delegate in the 58th district in Virginia. He would be the first-ever Muslim American to hold this seat.