Fox’s Leland Vittert, Daily Caller’s Vince Coglianese, Washington Examiner’s Sarah Westwood, J. Christian Adams and Fox’s Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, May 12, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Men spend more on Mother’s Day than on Valentine’s. Think you’re the most important woman in his life? Think again! Survey shows men spend more on Mother’s Day than they do for Valentine’s. (Daily Mail) –  Figures show men spend 68 per cent more on Mother’s Day than on Valentine’s.  Men spend more money on Mother’s Day than they do on their lovers on Valentine’s Day, research has revealed. Males are so worried about impressing the most important woman in their lives that they fork out 68 per cent more cash on keeping their mother happy on her special day than they do on romantic gifts for their partners. A quarter of men even admit they would rather see their favourite football team lose than see their mum disappointed. And 17 per cent of British males would rather be stood up on a date and 11 per cent would rather be late to their own wedding than let down their mother.

5am – D         American University’s Racist Bananas Update:

• You Should See the Lists of Demands From American University Protesters: (Weekly Standard) – In response to an alleged hate crime, students would like exam exemptions, a tuition freeze, and a new curriculum, just to name a few. ctivists blocked roads and a tunnel in the center of the American University campus on May 5, shutting down both ingress and egress. Even more distressing was the administration’s complete capitulation to the demands from the very moment the protesters set up their blockade. Here are the students’ three demands, encapsulated on a protester’s poster in diction that suggests the protester didn’t learn much in freshman English:
  • For the remaining of the semester, the Bridge [a campus coffee house] will become a sanctuary for people of color.
  • All POC [“people of color”] students get extensions, and should not be penalized for already scheduled finals after the incident.
  • A separate investigation team based out of the university (composed of a group of non-biased expert contractors) that can investigate cases of racism and discrimination brought against the institution of American University.
• Hey Washington Post, maybe don’t jump to conclusions until we know the facts? (Washington Examiner) — The Washington Post’s editorial board is pointing a finger at President Trump after American University reported finding bananas scrawled with racist messages hanged around campus from little nooses. The banana incident, which was reported last week, comes not long after Taylor Dumpson, a junior, became the university’s first African-American female student government president. It’s unclear who is responsible for stringing up the produce, and the university is still investigating the matter. Nevertheless, despite the paucity of details, the Post’s editorial board went ahead this week and hinted Trump may be partly responsible. The Post would do well to exercise greater caution.  For starters, there has been no shortage of fake hate crimes since the Nov. 8 election where the so-called victims have been the perpetrators. Newsrooms have done great damage to their credibility by rushing to report or comment uncritically on these incidents. A Muslim female student at the University of Louisiana, for example, claimed in November that two white men wearing Trump hats ripped her hijab from her head and stole her wallet a day after the Nov. 8 election. Her claim was widely reported as fact until local police announced that the woman had fabricated the entire story.  In May, St. Olaf College’s president, David R. Anderson, revealed in a campus-wide note that an incident involving an African-American member of the student body finding a racist note was based entirely on a fabrication. The note, which received a great deal of uncritical media attention, “was not a genuine threat,” he wrote, adding that the student who supposedly found the letter was motivated by a “strategy to draw attention to concerns about the campus climate.”

5am – E         VOTER FRAUD EXECUTIVE ORDER:

• Trump signs executive order launching voter fraud commission.  President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to launch a commission to review alleged voter fraud, a White House official confirmed to Fox News, after months of claiming voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election. The order, titled “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity,” would establish a bipartisan commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, to review alleged voter fraud and suppression. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has investigated voter fraud in Kansas, will serve as vice chair.
• DNC chair Perez: Voter fraud probe is a “Trump-sponsored propaganda factory” (The Hill) — Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez blasted President Trump’s signing of an executive order to create an “election integrity” commission, calling it a “Trump-sponsored propaganda factory.” “Donald Trump shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the word ‘integrity,’” Perez said in a statement. “This commission is nothing but a Trump-sponsored propaganda factory for justifying the GOP’s broader voter suppression efforts and nursing the president’s wounded ego after the lost the popular vote.”

6am – A/B/C How The Media Got It Wrong On Reporting About Comey’s Firing.

6am – D         Interview – LELAND VITTERT – co-anchor America’s News Headquarters, Fox News Channel

• Leland will co-anchor America’s News Headquarters this weekend live from Jerusalem to preview President Trump’s upcoming trip overseas.  He’ll also be presenting an exclusive trip to the Syrian border with the Israeli army as they conduct anti-Isis intelligence raids.
• Trump is leaving for Saudia Arabia on Thursday and then he’s going to Israel on Monday.
• Trump to Visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and Vatican in First Foreign Trip. (NBC) – President Donald Trump’s first foreign trip since entering office will take him to Israel, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia later this month, a senior White House official confirmed to NBC News. Trump will end his trip in Brussels with a visit to NATO on May 25, followed by a meeting at the G7 summit in Sicily.  Trump’s first stop in Saudi Arabia will be vital to that effort. White House officials told reporters that Saudi leaders will bring together Arab leaders to craft a breakthrough down the road on Middle East peace, as well as develop a long-term plan to cut ISIS funding and get those in the region to contribute more to the fight.

6am – E         CRITTER NEWS:

• Myth busted: People smell as well as dogs. (AFP) — MIAMI: People’s sense of smell is just as sharp as those of rats and dogs, a US researcher said Thursday, calling for an end to a century-old “myth” to the contrary. Rutgers University neuroscientist John McGann reviewed research and historical writings he says led to the misconception that human’s sense of smell is inferior, according to the report in the journal Science. “For so long, people failed to stop and question this claim, even people who study the sense of smell for a living,” he said. “The fact is the sense of smell is just as good in humans as in other mammals, like rodents and dogs,” he said. Humans have long been believed capable of detecting about 10,000 different odours. In fact, the number is closer to one trillion, McGann said. A 19th-century brain surgeon and anthropologist named Paul Broca provided the origin of the myth about humans’ poor sense of smell, the Science report said.
• Cal Poly Professor Argues Squirrels Are Subjected to Racially-Charged Media Bias. (Breitbart) – An assistant professor at California State Polytechnic University argues in a recent academic research paper that eastern fox squirrels are subjected to a “gendered, racialized, and speciesist” form of media bias. Teresa Lloro-Bidart, an associate professor of liberal studies at Cal Poly, argues in a recently published postmodernist research paper that eastern fox squirrels are on the receiving end of racially-charged media bias.  Lloro-Bidart claims that she worked towards such a conclusion by analyzing the coverage of eastern fox squirrels through “feminist posthumanist,” and “feminist food studies” lenses. Lloro-Bidart contends that eastern fox squirrels, which is the most populous species of tree squirrel in North America, are on the receiving end of such bigotry due to several factors, most notably, the “western, modernist,” framework by which humans interpret their behaviors and actions.

6am – F         Town Hall Outrage:

• Town Hall Outrage Turns From Health Care to Comey Firing. (Roll Call) — Lawmakers hear from constituents about Trump’s dismissal of FBI director. Town hall audiences on Tuesday shifted their outrage from the Republican health care bill to the firing of FBI Director James Comey. Many of the questions were centered around health care and the vote last week by Republicans to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law and a number of Republicans had to defend the plan. But when many attendees in town halls asked about Comey’s firing by President Donald Trump, Republican members gave more tepid responses to the development on Tuesday evening. In Iowa, Republican Rep. Rod Blum walked out of a town hall meeting in Cedar Rapids after boos and people yelling “do your job” in response to Comey’s firing, KWWL reported. “I think it was probably time for Comey to go,” Blum said. “The FBI has been way too involved in politics on both sides of the aisle.”
• Woman accused of stalking congressman because of health care vote. (WMC) — A woman found herself behind bars after she followed a congressman from an agricultural meeting, according to Weakley County Sheriff’s Department. Wendi L. Wright, 35, faces charges of felony reckless endangerment after investigators said she trailed Congressman David Kustoff and his aide, Marianne Dunavant, down Highway 45 in Weakley County on May 8. “What she was saying was more cursing at the congressman and his aides,” Sgt. Marty Plunk said. “But, I think the basis of all of it was a health care vote that he had cast that she was upset with.” Recently, Kustoff voted to repeal Obamacare and replace it.  “It’s almost not worth it, having insurance,” Kustoff told WMC Action News 5 last year. “It’s catastrophic.” Kustoff and his aide were leaving the meeting at University of Tennessee at Martin. Investigators said Wright’s actions made Kustoff and his aide believe they were going to be forced off the road. When the Congressman’s car stopped, Wright got out of her car screaming. She also started hitting the windows of the Congressman’s car, according to investigators.

7am – A         Interview – VINCE COGLIANESE – Editor in Chief, The Daily Caller – discussed the Comey firing fallout and chatter about Merrick Garland.

• DAILY CALLER: The Case For Merrick Garland As FBI Director
• Mike Lee: Merrick Garland for FBI head

7am – B/C     Calls on whether Merrick Garland would be a good replacement for FBI director.

7am – D         Interview – SARAH WESTWOOD – White House correspondent, Washington Examiner – discussed the fallout of Comey’s firing and the White House reaction.

7am – E         American University’s Racist Bananas Update:

• You Should See the Lists of Demands From American University Protesters: (Weekly Standard) – In response to an alleged hate crime, students would like exam exemptions, a tuition freeze, and a new curriculum, just to name a few. ctivists blocked roads and a tunnel in the center of the American University campus on May 5, shutting down both ingress and egress. Even more distressing was the administration’s complete capitulation to the demands from the very moment the protesters set up their blockade. Here are the students’ three demands, encapsulated on a protester’s poster in diction that suggests the protester didn’t learn much in freshman English:
  • For the remaining of the semester, the Bridge [a campus coffee house] will become a sanctuary for people of color.
  • All POC [“people of color”] students get extensions, and should not be penalized for already scheduled finals after the incident.
  • A separate investigation team based out of the university (composed of a group of non-biased expert contractors) that can investigate cases of racism and discrimination brought against the institution of American University.
• Hey Washington Post, maybe don’t jump to conclusions until we know the facts? (Washington Examiner) — The Washington Post’s editorial board is pointing a finger at President Trump after American University reported finding bananas scrawled with racist messages hanged around campus from little nooses. The banana incident, which was reported last week, comes not long after Taylor Dumpson, a junior, became the university’s first African-American female student government president. It’s unclear who is responsible for stringing up the produce, and the university is still investigating the matter. Nevertheless, despite the paucity of details, the Post’s editorial board went ahead this week and hinted Trump may be partly responsible.

 

8am – A         Interview – J CHRISTIAN ADAMS – president of The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) and former election lawyer in the Voting Rights Section at the U.S. Department of Justice.

• Trump signs executive order launching voter fraud commission.  President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to launch a commission to review alleged voter fraud, a White House official confirmed to Fox News, after months of claiming voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election. The order, titled “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity,” would establish a bipartisan commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, to review alleged voter fraud and suppression. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has investigated voter fraud in Kansas, will serve as vice chair.
• DNC chair Perez: Voter fraud probe is a “Trump-sponsored propaganda factory” (The Hill) — Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez blasted President Trump’s signing of an executive order to create an “election integrity” commission, calling it a “Trump-sponsored propaganda factory.” “Donald Trump shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the word ‘integrity,’” Perez said in a statement. “This commission is nothing but a Trump-sponsored propaganda factory for justifying the GOP’s broader voter suppression efforts and nursing the president’s wounded ego after the lost the popular vote.”
• Christian formerly worked at the Dept of Justice… what are his thoughts on the firing of FBI Director Comey?

8am – B         ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• Steve Harvey Confirms No Pop-Ins Memo, Was Sick Of Being “Ambushed” By Coworkers. UPDATED with Harvey quotes: Steve Harvey confirms to Entertainment Tonight that he wrote the No Pop-Ins memo, explaining he just “didn’t want to be in this prison” of his office anymore. “I could not find a way to walk from the stage to my dressing room, to sit in my makeup chair, to walk from my dressing room to the stage or to just sit and have lunch without somebody just walking in,” Harvey tells ET‘s Kevin Frazier. “I’ve always had a policy where, you know, you can come and talk to me — so many people are great around here, but some of them just started taking advantage of it. “Look, man, I’m in my makeup chair, they walk in the room. I’m having lunch, they walk in, they don’t knock,” he continued. “I’m in the hallway, I’m getting ambushed by people with friends that come to the show and having me sign this and do this. I just said, ‘Wait a minute.’ And in hindsight, I probably should’ve handled it a little bit differently. “I just didn’t want to be in this prison anymore where I had to be in this little room, scared to go out and take a breath of fresh air without somebody approaching me, so I wrote the letter.”
• Trump trolls Rosie O’Donnell for months-old ’fire Comey’ tweet. (The Hill) — President Trump on Thursday resurfaced an old tweet from Rosie O’Donnell calling for the firing of FBI Director James Comey, mocking his longtime feud with the television personality.  “We finally agree on something Rosie,” the president tweeted.

8am – C         White House: “Oh My God, For The Billionth Time” Spicer Is Not Being Fired. (BuzzFeed News) — Sources tell BuzzFeed News that press secretary Sean Spicer has drawn President Trump’s ire, and that Trump is sounding out aides and friends about replacing him. The White House pushed back hard on reports that Spicer’s job is in danger. The reports of Sean Spicer’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, the White House said on Thursday. “Oh my god, for the billionth time no,” an administration official told BuzzFeed News when asked about the swirling reports that President Trump was sounding out aides about replacing the controversial press secretary.  Spicer, one of the most recognizable figures in the Trump administration, is currently on Naval reserve duty during one of the most tumultuous news cycles yet of the young administration. The official noted that Spicer is finishing up 20 years with the Navy, is set to retire soon, and has been incredibly busy over the last six months.  If Spicer had foregone Navy duty because of the stunning firing of FBI Director James Comey, then the story would have been that Spicer skipped military duty, the official argued.

8am – D         Interview – BRET BAIER – Anchor of Special Report on Fox News Channel, weekdays at 6 pm – discussed the fallout of Comey’s firing.

• BRET will be anchoring a special weekend edition of Special Report live on Sunday at 8 pm

8am – E         Successful Conservative Show Cancelled on ABC:

• Was Tim Allen’s show canceled for being too conservative? Conservatives in Hollywood are rare, even fewer find a successful mainstream career outside of Christian-based movies and small cable shows. Despite having the third-most watched show on ABC, Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing with conservative, blue-collar, and Christian-based humor has been canceled after six successful seasons, reported Deadline. Last Man Standing was the staple of ABC’s Friday night lineup, averaging more than 8 million viewers per episode in its sixth season, behind only Grey’s Anatomy and Modern Family.
• Tim Allen Comedy ‘Last Man Standing’ Canceled By ABC After 6 Seasons. It was considered the perfect sitcom for the Trump era, hitting ratings highs in its sixth season. But that didn’t save Last Man Standing from a cancellation today. ABC has opted not to renew the longtime Friday 8 PM anchor for Season 7 despite the fact that the blue-collar sitcom was ABC’s second most watched comedy this season with 8.1 million viewers in Live +7, only behind flagship Modern Family (8,7 million). It was the third most watched ABC scripted series overall behind Grey’s Anatomy and  Modern Family.