AEI’s Michael Auslin, Heritage’s James Carafano, Washington Post’s Karen Heller, John Adams, Gen. Jack Keane and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, April 7, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C   U.S. fired 50+ Tomahawk missiles at Syrian airbase where chemical weapons attack originated from. RIGHT MOVE?

• The US has launched a missile strike against Syria, targeting al-Shayrat airbase close to Homs, from where it said this week’s sarin nerve gas attack on Khan Sheikhun was launched.
• The Pentagon said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from warships USS Ross and Porter in the eastern Mediterranean in the early hours of Friday morning, Syria time.
• Donald Trump said the strike was a direct response to the chemical weapons attack that killed more than 70 people
• Six dead in strike: Syrian army. Reports from Homs province said the airbase was destroyed, and SIX PEOPLE KILLED. Some reports said senior officers had evacuated the base before the airstrikes happened.  Reuters reports a statement from the Syrian army, which says the missile strikes killed six people and caused “big material losses”. The army accuses the US of “blatant aggression” against the airbase, and says its response will be to continue to “crush terrorism” and restore “peace and security to all Syria”.
• As the missiles were launched from two US warships in the Mediterranean, Donald Trump was in Florida, where he has been hosting the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at his Mar-a-Lago resort. After news broke of the strike, Trump broke off from the meeting (and a dinner of steak and carrots) to address reporters on the military action. Initial plans for a live televised address to the nation reportedly had to be scrapped due to technical difficulties of broadcasting from the resort. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/apr/07/us-syria-response-d
• Russia condemns the U.S. missile strike on Syria as “aggression against a sovereign state. ” Donald Trump’s Syrian airstrike ‘significant blow to US-Russia relations’, says Kremlin.  While Moscow has labelled the strikes “an aggression” and warned that they were “a significant blow to Russian-American relations, which were already in a sorry state”, the US earlier caused confusion with conflicting messages over whether Russia had been informed in advance about the attack on the airbase.
• Sen. Ben Cardin reacts to strike on Syria.  U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin said Thursday night that the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base sends a “clear signal that the United States will stand up for internationally accepted norms and rules against the use of chemical weapons.” However the Maryland Democrat emphasized that Congress needs to be consulted if the Trump administration were to take stronger military action. “It is the President’s responsibility to inform the legislative branch and the American people about his larger policy in Syria, as well as the legal basis for this action and any additional military activities in that country,”  Cardin, a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said in a statement.
• McCain and Graham statement: “Unlike the previous administration, President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action.”
• Senator Rand Paul @RandPaul 7h7 hours ago: While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked.
• Hillary Clinton supports Trump military action in Syria against Assad’s air force— “the cause of most civilian deaths.”

5am – D         Nunes News:

• Nunes steps aside from Russia probe. (Politico) — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) will temporarily step aside from an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including interactions between Moscow and the Trump campaign. The move comes as the House Ethics Committee announced that it is investigating allegations that Nunes may have mishandled classified information. With the Ethics Committee now formally involved in the dispute, Nunes could no longer oversee the Russia probe, although he will remain in place as chairman of the Intelligence Committee. The Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation will be taken over by Reps. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.). In a statement, Nunes blamed complaints filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics over his decision to brief President Donald Trump on intelligence intercepts of conversations between Trump campaign aide and Russian officials during the election. “Several left-wing activist groups have filed accusations against me with the Office of Congressional Ethics,” Nunes said in a statement Thursday. “The charges are entirely false and politically motivated, and are being leveled just as the American people are beginning to learn the truth about the improper unmasking of the identities of U.S. citizens and other abuses of power.”
• Reports in unmasking controversy were detailed, had info about ‘everyday lives’ (Fox News) – The intelligence reports at the center of the Susan Rice unmasking controversy were detailed, and almost resembled a private investigator’s file, according to a Republican congressman familiar with the documents. “This is information about their everyday lives,” Rep. Peter King of New York, a member of the House Intelligence committee said. “Sort of like in a divorce case where lawyers are hired, investigators are hired just to find out what the other person is doing from morning until night and then you try to piece it together later on.” On the House Intelligence Committee, only the Republican chairman, Devin Nunes of California, and the ranking Democrat Adam Schiff, also of California, have personally reviewed the intelligence reports. Some members were given broad outlines.

5am – E         Senate GOP triggers nuclear option to break Democratic filibuster on Gorsuch. Washington (CNN) The Senate Thursday triggered the so-called “nuclear option” that allowed Republicans to break a Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. The chamber is now expected to vote to confirm Gorsuch Friday around 11:30 a.m. ET. The controversial changes to Senate rules, made along partisan lines, allows filibusters of Supreme Court picks to be broken with only 51 votes rather than 60. The actions Thursday capped more than a year of tension over an empty Supreme Court seat, with both parties taking action that led to an outcome neither party wanted. It was a situation loaded with nuance, procedural twists and Senate history — not to mention a spot on the nation’s highest court — and a standoff that reflected a peak in polarization following a deeply divisive presidential election.

6am – A/B/C U.S. fired 50+ Tomahawk missiles at Syrian airbase where chemical weapons attack originated from. RIGHT MOVE?

6am – D         INTERVIEW – MICHAEL AUSLIN – Asia expert, Resident scholar at American Enterprise Institute and author of new book “The End of the Asian Century: War, Stagnation, and the Risks to the World’s Most Dynamic Region” (Yale University Press, January 2017)

• BIO: Michael Auslin, author of “The End of the Asian Century: War, Stagnation, and the Risks to the World’s Most Dynamic Region” (Yale University Press, 2017), is a resident scholar and the director of Japan Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he specializes in Asian regional security and political issues. Before joining AEI, Dr. Auslin was an associate professor of history at Yale University. A regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and National Review, his books include “Pacific Cosmopolitans: A Cultural History of U.S.-Japan Relations” (Harvard University Press, 2011) and the forthcoming “The End of the Asian Century: War, Stagnation, and the Risks to the World’s Most Dynamic Region” (Yale University Press, 2016). He has advised both the US government and private business on Asian and global security issues.
• President Trump is hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping (she jeen-peeng) for the first time at his Mar-a-Lago resort. In a brief statement before the two leaders sat down for dinner Mr. Trump says he is looking forward to a long and positive relationship with China.
• Trump welcomes ‘friend’ China’s Xi for talks. US President Donald Trump has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to his Florida resort for their first summit. (BBC) — Mr Trump said the two men had “developed a friendship” as they sat for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago retreat. The American leader is expected to press his counterpart for action on North Korea, and Mr Xi to seek assurances on Taiwan. Mr Trump has said the summit “will be a very difficult one”. Last year he accused China of “raping the US”. During the election campaign, he said massive trade deficits and job losses could no longer be tolerated. But at dinner on Thursday, it was all smiles, with the leaders’ two wives, folk singer Peng Liyuan and First Lady Melania Trump also in attendance. The meeting was, however, largely overshadowed later by a US airstrike on an airbase in Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack.
• As the missiles were launched from two US warships in the Mediterranean, Donald Trump was in Florida, where he has been hosting the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at his Mar-a-Lago resort. After news broke of the strike, Trump broke off from the meeting (and a dinner of steak and carrots) to address reporters on the military action.
• CHINA AND NORTH KOREA: One of the most urgent issues for the US is North Korea, which is trying to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the west coast of the US with a nuclear device. It fired a medium-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, the latest in a series of launches. Although Beijing has condemned this and previous missile tests, it has so far been reluctant to isolate its neighbour, fearing its collapse could spawn a refugee crisis and bring the US military to its doorstep. Mr Trump is expected to call on Mr Xi to arm-twist North Korea into halting its nuclear programme by denying it access to banking institutions.

6am – E         Donald Trump Jr. talks about running for governor of New York. (NY Post) – Donald Trump Jr. wants to run for political office, telling members of an elite gun club that he could set his sights on becoming governor of New York. Don Jr. spoke to members of the F6 Labs gun club in Hicksville, NY, and, when asked about his political ambitions, said he would love to follow his father, President Donald Trump, into office. A guest at Tuesday’s meeting told Page Six, “Don Jr. said he is interested in running for office, such as governor of New York, but the position of mayor of New York would be less interesting to him.” Don Jr. added that he didn’t want to be one of 100 Senators, nor a member of Congress.Campaigning alongside his father made him think about his future, with him saying, “Do I want to be behind the scenes and be a mouthpiece and fight back against crazy liberal media? Maybe.” Don Jr. joked that he missed the intensity of the presidential campaign: “Going back to doing deals is boring after 18 months. The politics bug bit me.” Since his father was sworn in, he and his brother Eric have taken over the Trump Organization.While Don Jr. didn’t indicate when he’d run, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is up for re-election in 2018, although he’s been named as a possible presidential candidate for 2020.

6am – F         Strong storms peel off roofs, cause damage throughout area. WASHINGTON (WUSA9) – Damage and flooding is being reported across the D.C. metro area Thursday after a line of severe weather passed through. The severe weather blew the roof off a residential building at Washington View Apartments on Stanton Road in Southeast, D.C. The debris crushed several cars and knocked out the power. Police are on the scene and have closed roads in the area. No injuries have been reported. The storm damaged 36 apartments, forcing 104 out of their home, said Nicole Peckumn with D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Strong winds also peeled off parts of the church roof next to Gonzaga College High School in Northwest. Photos show a large chunk of the St. Aloysius Church roof gone. Several roads near the school are closed while crews clean up debris from the roof. Emergency crews had to help rescue three people stuck in their car after water overflowed onto Brock Bridge Road in Laurel. The spot typically floods after heavy rain, Prince George’s County Fire official Mark Brady tweeted. In Bowie, a massive tree sliced into a house on Victoria Heights Drive. Sky9 was over the scene, which appeared to show most of the damage to the garage. No injuries were reported.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JAMES “JIM” CARAFANO – Vice President for the Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at The Heritage Foundation – shared his analysis of the U.S airstrikes in Syria.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW — KAREN HELLER — National General Features writer for The Washington Post

• Karen interviewed Rickles last year / “Don Rickles was politically incorrect before it was incorrect.”
• Discuss his legacy in comedy
• DON RICKLES: Donald Jay “Don” Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Best known as an insult comic, his pudgy, balding appearance, and pugnacious style led to few leading roles in film or television; his prominent film roles included Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) and Kelly’s Heroes (1970), and beginning in 1976 he enjoyed a two-year run starring in the sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey. He received widespread exposure as a popular guest on numerous talk shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Late Show with David Letterman, and later voice roles in films notably included playing Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story series. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for the 2007 documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – JOHN ADAMS –  a former federal prosecutor, a White House lawyer under President George W. Bush and a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas AND currently the presumptive Republican nominee for Virginia Attorney General

• Adams secured the Republican Party’s nomination for Virginia Attorney General last week.
• Senate GOP triggers nuclear option to break Democratic filibuster on Gorsuch. Washington (CNN) The Senate Thursday triggered the so-called “nuclear option” that allowed Republicans to break a Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. The chamber is now expected to vote to confirm Gorsuch Friday around 11:30 a.m. ET.

7am – E         You need to make $80,273 per year to live ‘comfortably’ in D.C., report says. (Washington Post) — The good news: It’s still not as tough to make ends meet in D.C. as in San Francisco, New York or San Jose, according to a new study. However, you will still need to earn $80,273 per year to live “comfortably” in our nation’s capital. GoBankingRates, the financial website that conducted the study, scrutinized the cost of living in the United States’s 50 most-populous cities and came up with the $80K figure — and a working definition of “comfortable.” According to the study, a DC resident needs to earn $80,273 a year to live comfortably. That means $40,136 would go toward necessities; $24,082 for discretionary spending and $16,055 would go to savings. This went down by $2,831 from 2016, when the study said you needed to make $83,104 to live comfortably in DC. The study shows that DC residents have a median income of $70,848, which is $9,425 below the amount needed to live well in the area.  According to the GoBankingRates study, the most expensive cities to live comfortably in are: 1. San Fransisco, CA at $110,357; 2. San Jose, CA at $87,153; 3. New York, NY at $86,446; 4. Oakland, CA at $80,438 and 5. Washington, DC at $80,273.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – GENERAL JACK KEANE — retired 4 star General, former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army, Chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and a Fox News Military analyst. – shared his analysis of the U.S airstrikes in Syria.

8am – B/C     Calls on Syria airstrikes

8am – D         INTERVIEW — BRET BAIER – ANCHOR of SPECIAL REPORT on FOX NEWS CHANNEL – discussed the airstrikes on Syria.

8am – E         Real-Life Clowns Aren’t Smiling About the It Movie. (Gizmodo) –The latest trailer for It, based on Stephen King’s novel, has made several clowns forget to turn their frowns upside-down. You’d think clowns would be better at laughing things like this off. MEL Magazine interviewed several real-life clowns after news that the It trailer had broken records to become the most-viewed trailer ever, and they were none too happy. They said the upcoming movie is taking a toll on their business by encouraging kids to fear clowns instead of enjoy them. They even have proof! Roger Fojas, a 48-year-old clown, claimed there was a “considerable drop in traffic” on his Yelp page after the trailer came out. However, that pales in comparison to their biggest claim: They say it’s more proof that there’s anti-clown sentiment in the United States. They say there’s a growing fear and hatred of clowns, along with the belief that they’re “not cool,” largely perpetuated by the media. For example, you’ve got movies like the original It miniseries, Poltergeist, and Killer Klowns From Outer Space. The Clowns of America International condemned the character of Twisty in American Horror Story: Freak Show. Then, of course, there was the 2016 trend of pranksters dressing as creepy clowns and scaring kids in the woods. One clown said he had the cops called on him during that time, even though he was walking to a gig. “We just experienced a nice break from the scary clown meme from last October,” professional clown Nick Kane says. “And just when things are starting to normalize, the It trailer comes and it’s like, ‘Here we go again.’”