Hans Riemer, Joe diGenova, Trevor Matich, Sarah Westwood and Sebastian Gorka joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, August 28, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C   ARPAIO PARDON CRITICISM:

• President Trump has granted a Presidential pardon to ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt after he disobeyed a federal judge’s order to stop racially profiling individuals suspected of illegally entering the U.S.
• Ana Navarro: Trump pardoning Arpaio “a slap in the face to the Latino community”
• Jorge Ramos: Trump ‘defending racism’ by pardoning Arpaio. Univision’s Jorge Ramos on Sunday said that President Trump is “defending racism” by pardoning former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. “By pardoning Arpaio, President Trump is defending racism,” Ramos told CNN’s “State of the Union.” Ramos, who famously confronted Trump about immigration at a press conference during the presidential campaign, said his suspicions about detecting racism from Trump in 2015 were correct.
• GOP lawmaker breaks with Trump on Arpaio pardon: He pardoned someone who ignored Bill of Rights. (The Hill) — Multiple GOP lawmakers spoke out on Friday against President Trump’s decision to pardon controversial former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a frequent Trump critic, tweeted that Trump had pardoned a government official “who ignored [the] Bill of Rights.” Justin Amash @justinamash: Arpaio was convicted of defying court order to stop violating #4thAmendment. It’s a pardon of a govt official who ignored Bill of Rights.
• Ryan breaks with Trump: I don’t support pardoning Arpaio. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) disagrees with President Trump’s decision to pardon former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.  “The speaker does not agree with the decision,” Ryan’s spokesman Doug Andres told The Wall Street Journal. “Law-enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon.”
• Arizona’s largest newspaper on Arpaio pardon: Racism isn’t just ok with Trump, “it’s a goal” – (The Hill) — Arizona’s largest newspaper issued a scathing rebuke of President Trump’s decision to pardon former Maricopa Counter Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday, calling the action an “insult” and a “slap to the Latino community.” The Arizona Republic’s editorial board argued that the pardoning of Arpaio is a sign that Trump is not backing down from his populist, tough-on-immigration stances. The editorial calls Trump’s Friday pardon of the controversial former sheriff an “insult” to the Latino community, as well as the legal community. “The vast majority of Latinos in Arizona are not undocumented, yet they all fell under heightened scrutiny as Arpaio honed his image,” the editorial reads. “The pardon was a slap to those who worked through the judicial system to make Arpaio accountable, too. It robbed the people hurt by his policies of justice – even before a judge could mete out a sentence,” the piece continued.  Arpaio was found guilty of racially profiling Latinos, and was convicted last month of criminal contempt for disobeying a judge’s order to stop the practice. “By pardoning Arpaio, Trump made it clear that institutional racism is not just OK with him. It is a goal,” the publication’s editorial board wrote.
• McCain hits Trump: Pardoning Arpaio undermines Trump’s claim he respects rule of law (The Hill) — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Trump over his pardon of former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday, arguing it “undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law.” “Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders,” McCain said in a statement. “The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”
• WaPo’s Rampell: Arpaio Pardon ‘A Direct Attack on Our Constitution’ and Judicial Independence. (Breitbart) — On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell argued President Trump’s pardon of former Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio (R) is an attack on the Constitution and the independence of the judiciary. Rampell said, “If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind that law and order was code for making it easier to harass people of color, this is confirmation. I would also point out that this is a direct attack on our Constitution and on the independence of our federal judiciary. You remember, there was a lot of concern during the campaign about the fact that he attacked a judge of Mexican descent, Judge Curiel, right? … This is so much worse. Because the crime that he is being pardoned for is effectively not following the Constitution. Because a judge determined what his officers were doing was harassment, was discrimination. He refused the court’s order. And this is Trump saying to the public, ‘You know what, I agree. We shouldn’t listen to what judges say.’”

5am – D         INTERVIEW – RAY STAGICH – Senior Radio Meteorologist, The Weather Channel on Hurricane Harvey

• HURRICANE HARVEY:
• President Trump to visit Texas on Tuesday. (Politico) – President Donald Trump will visit Texas, which continues to be pulverized by Hurricane Harvey, on Tuesday. “The President will travel to Texas on Tuesday. We are coordinating logistics with state and local officials, and once details are finalized, we will let you know. We continue to keep all of those affected in our thoughts and prayers,” the White House announced Sunday afternoon.
• The National Weather Service says 27 inches of rain is expected in the Houston area over the next four to five days.
• Houston is flooded — and the water is still rising.  (CNN) — A difficult, years-long recovery likely lies ahead for Houston after Tropical Storm Harvey tore through the nation’s fourth-largest city this weekend, swelling bayous and stranding residents on rooftops. The storm dumped more than 24 inches of rain on the city over a 24-hour period. Rising flood waters have prevented rescue teams from reaching some areas — and the water is not yet done rising. The full extent of the devastation was still unknown on Sunday as darkness fell. Tens of thousands of people have called 911 for help, forcing Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to ask emergency responders to give preference to those in immediate life-threatening situations. Harvey will linger over Houston for the next four to five days, said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen, who labeled Harvey a “one-in-1,000-years-type of event.” The National Weather Service forecasts another 27 inches of rainfall in the Houston area over that time.

5am – E         TILLERSON NEWS:

• Scoop: Trump frustration with Tillerson rising fast (By Jonathan Swan / Axios) — There’s a ticking problem with Rex Tillerson, and it’s growing louder by the day, according to officials inside and close to the White House. President Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated with his Secretary of State. One time recently, after Trump had returned from a meeting on Afghanistan, a source recalled Trump saying, “Rex just doesn’t get it, he’s totally establishment in his thinking.” Tillerson’s jaw-dropping comments on TV today will likely only worsen their relationship. Fox News Sunday moderator Chris Wallace asked Tillerson about Trump’s response to the racist carnage in Charlottesville. Tillerson replied: “I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values or the commitment of the American government, or the government’s agencies to advancing those values and defending those values.” Wallace asked the obvious follow-up question: “And the president’s values?” “The president speaks for himself,” Tillerson said.
• Tillerson on Trump’s Commitment to Defending US Values: ‘The President Speaks for Himself’

6am – A         BUSY FRIDAY NIGHT/WEEKEND AT THE WHITE HOUSE:

• Trump under fire over epic Friday news dump. Both GOP senators from Arizona criticized his Joe Arpaio pardon, and Chuck Schumer accused Trump of using Hurricane Harvey as a shield.  (Politico) — It was a Friday night news dump like rarely seen before: President Donald Trump’s administration announced a series of polarizing decisions that had been under discussions for weeks, just as a hurricane bore down on the Texas coast.
• President Trump has granted a Presidential pardon to ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt after he disobeyed a federal judge’s order to stop racially profiling individuals suspected of illegally entering the U.S.
• Ordered military to revert to pre-June 2016 transgender policy. Trump signs directive banning transgender military recruits.  (CNN) President Donald Trump on Friday directed the military not to move forward with an Obama-era plan that would have allowed transgender individuals to be recruited into the armed forces, following through on his intentions announced a month earlier to ban transgender people from serving. The presidential memorandum also bans the Department of Defense from using its resources to provide medical treatment regimens for transgender individuals currently serving in the military. Trump also directed the departments of Defense and Homeland Security “to determine how to address transgender individuals currently serving based on military effectiveness and lethality, unitary cohesion, budgetary constraints, applicable law, and all factors that may be relevant,” the White House official said. The White House official who briefed reporters on the memo on Friday evening declined to say whether current transgender troops would be allowed to remain in the military under those policy guidelines.
• Gorka gone. Sebastian Gorka rejects White House statement saying he didn’t resign: “Someone wished to spin this”  Gorka to return to Breitbart News.  Sebastian Gorka says he is joining former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon by returning to Breitbart News, Politico reported Saturday. The news comes just one day after Gorka left President Trump’s administration.  Gorka will be returning to the publication where he was once national security editor, reuniting him with Bannon, who also left the White House earlier this month. “I will be working with you, with Steve, with the Breitbart crew,” Gorka said on an interview on SiriusXM with Breitbart editor Matthew Boyle. Gorka announced that he was resigning from his position as special assistant to the president Friday night, although White House officials disputed the report and said he did not resign.
• Sarah Westwood‏ @sarahcwestwood Aug 25: “How disapponting,” Sebastian Gorka tells me of latest WH statement saying that he was fired. “I resigned.”

6am – B/C     MTV VMAs Highs and Lows: Katy Perry Kicked Off A Politically Charged 2017 MTV VMAs. (LifeZette/Heather Hunter) — If you had any hope the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards was going to be different than nearly every other recent awards show and somehow avoid political commentary and unnecessary drama, your hopes were dashed quickly on Sunday night. MTV’s favorite presidential candidate loses an election, so it hired Hillary Clinton’s favorite gal pal and performer Katy Perry to serve as host for this year’s awards show. She then set about telling political jokes, such as “You know what brings us all together and finally unites us? It’s music, right? And tonight the best artists are going to give it their all because even in the apocalypse, we deserve a great soundtrack!” After Perry’s opening monologue, she threw it to Paris Jackson, the only daughter of Michael Jackson, to kick off presenting the awards.  Before Jackson presented the nominees for Best Pop Video of the year, she too took a moment to get political.

She noted all of the “diversity” at the award show and discussed how they should use their power to bring change and followed up with an impression of Donald Trump’s pronunciation of “huge.” “Let’s leave here tonight knowing that… We must show these Nazi, white-supremacist jerks in Charlottesville and all over the country that as a nation with liberty as our slogan we have zero tolerance for their violence, their hatred, and their discrimination,” Jackson passionately told the crowd. “We must resist.”

6am – D         INTERVIEW – HANS RIEMER – At-large council member in Montgomery County, MD

• PURPLE LINE TO BREAK GROUND MONDAY
• County Council member Hans Riemer noted the project has been debated for decades and he’s excited for it to move toward construction. He said when he first ran for the council in 2006, he sent a mailer to residents that he would help get the Purple Line built or “die trying.” He may be able to deliver on his campaign commitment, but still has some concerns. “I still say, ‘I won’t believe it until I ride it,'” Riemer said. “You never know what’s going to happen. Projects like this are often dealt major setbacks all the way up until the point of opening.”
• Purple Line groundbreaking scheduled for Monday, featuring Elaine Chao and Gov. Larry Hogan
• MD to break ground on Purple Line light-rail project
• The Purple Line, previously designated the Bi-County Transitway, is a planned 16.2 mi (26.1 km) transit line[4] to link the Maryland suburbs of Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton, all in the Washington metropolitan area.[5] The line would allow riders to move between the Red, Green, and Orange lines of the Washington Metro transportation system without needing to ride into central Washington, D.C. The project is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). On October 7, 2011, the proposed light rail line received Federal Transit Administration approval to enter the detailed engineering phase, which, according to The Washington Post, is “a significant step forward in its decades-long trek toward construction.”

6am – E         PODESTA GROUP SUBPOENAED BY MUELLER: Special Counsel  Robert Mueller issued grand jury subpoenas seeking testimony from public relations executives who worked on a lobbying campaign organized by Paul Manafort, including the Podesta Group. The Podesta Group, co-founded by former chairman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign John Podesta, was one of six lobbying firms who worked on Manafort’s campaign between 2012 to 2014 to get the Ukraine into the European Union, NBC News reported.

Podesta Group retroactively files more DOJ disclosures for pro-Putin work. (DC Examiner) — The Podesta Group belatedly filed several new disclosures with the Justice Department on Aug. 17 related to work the firm completed between 2012 and 2014 on behalf of a pro-Russia Ukrainian think tank. Back in April, the powerful Washington lobbying firm run by Clinton ally Tony Podesta filed a document admitting its work for the pro-Russia European Centre for a Modern Ukraine may have principally benefited a foreign government. New disclosures revealed dozens of previously unreported interactions the firm made with influential government offices, including Hillary Clinton’s State Department and the office of former Vice President Joe Biden, while lobbying on behalf of the center. Embattled ex-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort failed to disclose his extensive lobbying efforts on behalf of the center at the time as well. Anyone lobbying or doing public relations on behalf of foreign governments is required to register as a foreign agent in compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The Aug. 17 filings include short-form registration statements for six Podesta Group employees and an amendment to the firm’s registration statement that includes a list of political contributions made by relevant employees throughout 2013. A review of those donations shows both parties received cash from Podesta Group lobbyists.

6am – F         MAYWEATHER VS MCGREGOR: Mayweather dominates McGregor in late rounds, improves record to 50-0. LAS VEGAS (AP) — Floyd Mayweather Jr. put on a show in the last fight of his spectacular career. Conor McGregor didn’t do so badly, either. Mayweather figured out a 50th opponent Saturday night, letting McGregor have the early rounds before stalking him late and leaving the mixed martial artist defenseless and exhausted on the ropes in the 10th round. It was a smashing end to a career that earned Mayweather more money than any fighter before him — including an estimated $200 million for his last bout. “I think we gave the fans what they wanted to see,” Mayweather said. “I owed them for the (Manny) Pacquiao fight.” Mayweather battered McGregor around the ring in the later rounds, finally stopping him at 1:05 of the 10th with a flurry of punches that forced referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• Joe’s thoughts on the criticism about ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio getting a pardon from President Trump
• Podesta Group Subpoenaed by Mueller…   Podesta Group retroactively files more DOJ disclosures for pro-Putin work

7am – B         CONFEDERATE NEWS:

• CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MARCH: >> ‘Civil Disobedience’ March From Charlottesville to DC Will Demand Trump’s Removal. Protesters are planning a march starting from Charlottesville, Virginia to Washington, D.C. to fight white supremacy and demand that President Trump be removed from office. “The March to Confront White Supremacy” will spend ten days starting on Monday, August 28 travelling to the nation’s capitol and then occupy it with non-violent demonstrations.
• JEB STUART: – The confederate J.E.B. Stuart statue in Richmond has been vandalized.  (AP) A Confederate monument has been vandalized in Richmond, Virginia. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the J.E.B Stuart statue on Monument Avenue was vandalized either late Friday or early Saturday. A contractor hired to clean the statue said pine tar was splattered on the monument. The worker with the company Envirowash said the tar will come off. Richmond police say it appeared two cans of pine tar had been dumped on the statue.
• UVA Jefferson Statue Vandalized, Revolutionary War Statue Decapitated. The University of Virginia has cleaned up a vandalized statue of Thomas Jefferson and is investigating the crime, which occurred last weekend. The statue was apparently doused with red paint the day before UVA’s Black Student Alliance presented a list of “demands” that included taking down Confederate plaques on campus and teaching students about the relation between Jefferson and white supremacy, the Daily Progress reported.
• Orpheum theater won’t show ‘Gone With the Wind,’ calling film ‘insensitive.’ MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “Gone With the Wind” will be gone from The Orpheum’s summer movie series, the theater’s board said Friday. The Orpheum Theatre Group decided not to include the 1939 movie about a plantation in the Civil War-era South in its 2018 Summer Movie Series after feedback from patrons following the last screening Aug. 11. “As an organization whose stated mission is to ‘entertain, educate and enlighten the communities it serves’, the Orpheum cannot show a film that is insensitive to a large segment of its local population,” the theater’s operators said in a statement. Memphis’ population is about 64 percent African-American. The historic theater in Downtown Memphis has shown the movie for decades, but this year’s event “generated numerous comments,” leading to the decision.

7am – C         Drinking Lots of Coffee Could Be Making People Dumb, Study Claims. (Entrepreneur) — Consuming too much caffeine? It could be hindering your success.  While it might feel like that morning cup of Joe is helping you be more productive and successful every day, that might not be the case. At least according to recent research. The study by the blog Best Mattress Brand, which analyzed more than 1,000 college students, found that students who drank more coffee had lower GPAs than students who drank less of the caffeinated beverage.  According to the data, students who didn’t drink any coffee had average GPAs of 3.43, while those who consumed one cup of coffee every day had an average 3.41 GPA, those who consumed two had a 3.39 GPA and students who drank five or more had GPAs of 3.28.

7am – D         HARVEY HITS HARD

• STREETS TURN INTO RIVERS…..Harvey Brings Catastrophic Floods to Houston; at Least Five Reported Dead
• At least five deaths and more than a dozen injuries have been reported in the aftermath of Harvey, the hurricane that tore across the Gulf Coast of Texas over the weekend.
• On Sunday the powerful system, now a tropical storm, pounded the region with torrential rains that were expected to continue for days, causing catastrophic floods, according to the National Hurricane Center.
• The public hospital for Harris County, which includes Houston, began evacuating patients after flooding disrupted its power supply.
• The National Weather Service forecast rainfall of 15 to 25 inches through Friday, with as much as 50 inches in a few areas.
• President Trump to visit Texas on Tuesday. (politico) – President Donald Trump will visit Texas, which continues to be pulverized by Hurricane Harvey, on Tuesday. “The President will travel to Texas on Tuesday. We are coordinating logistics with state and local officials, and once details are finalized, we will let you know. We continue to keep all of those affected in our thoughts and prayers,” the White House announced Sunday afternoon.
• FEMA administrator: We’re setting up to be in Texas ‘for years’
• CNN anchor tries to tie Hurricane Harvey to climate change — then scientist shuts him down
• HUFFPO EDITOR ATTACKS TRUMP: HuffPost’s Lydia Polgreen: Trump’s ‘Tweeting About This Storm as If It Was a Reality Show’ Unfolding

7am – E         INTERVIEW – TREVOR MATICH – WMAL’s Redskins analyst and former Redskins snapper – Recap Bengals v. Redskins preseason game. Leading the Bengals’ offense down the field in the final minutes, down six points, quarterback Jeff Driskel looked impressive on a sequence of read-option plays. He made gains of 14, 10 and 9 yards, as well as a 30-yard toss to an open Kermit Whitfield on a crossing pattern. Eventually, however, Washington decided to send heat. Driskel was stuffed behind the line by a blitzing Will Blackmon, then made a poor throw to a corner of the end zone to end the game, a 17-23 loss.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — SARAH WESTWOOD – White House reporter for the Washington Examiner

• BUSY FRIDAY NIGHT/WEEKEND AT THE WHITE HOUSE:

• Trump under fire over epic Friday news dump. Both GOP senators from Arizona criticized his Joe Arpaio pardon, and Chuck Schumer accused Trump of using Hurricane Harvey as a shield.  (Politico) – President Trump has granted a Presidential pardon to ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
• Ordered military to revert to pre-June 2016 transgender policy. Trump signs directive banning transgender military recruits.
• Gorka gone. Sebastian Gorka rejects White House statement saying he didn’t resign: “Someone wished to spin this”  Gorka to return to Breitbart News.
• REPORT: Trump frustration with Tillerson rising fast

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — DR. SEBASTIAN GORKA – former deputy assistant to US President Donald Trump

• Gorka gone. Sebastian Gorka rejects White House statement saying he didn’t resign: “Someone wished to spin this”  Gorka to return to Breitbart News.

8am – D/E     MTV VMAs Highs and Lows: Katy Perry Kicked Off A Politically Charged 2017 MTV VMAs. (LifeZette/Heather Hunter) — If you had any hope the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards was going to be different than nearly every other recent awards show and somehow avoid political commentary and unnecessary drama, your hopes were dashed quickly on Sunday night. MTV’s favorite presidential candidate loses an election, so it hired Hillary Clinton’s favorite gal pal and performer Katy Perry to serve as host for this year’s awards show. She then set about telling political jokes, such as “You know what brings us all together and finally unites us? It’s music, right? And tonight the best artists are going to give it their all because even in the apocalypse, we deserve a great soundtrack!” After Perry’s opening monologue, she threw it to Paris Jackson, the only daughter of Michael Jackson, to kick off presenting the awards.  Before Jackson presented the nominees for Best Pop Video of the year, she too took a moment to get political.