Joe diGenova, Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, Susan Ferrechio, Bruce Klingner & Larry Kudlow joined WMAL on Tuesday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C   TEACHER TELLS STUDENTS MAGA IS A NAZI SLOGAN: In this video the teacher appears to order her students wearing Trump shirts to turn them inside out. She didn’t want her students wearing these shirts for the same reason ‘you cannot wear a swastika to school’.

5am – D/E     NORTH KOREA NEWS:

• North Korea detonates 6th nuke… “most powerful ever…” …”far more destructive” than Hiroshima or Nagasaki… 6.3 magnitude quake…
• Trump tweet: “the United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.”
• HALEY: Kim Jong Un ‘is begging for war’
• MATTIS: We don’t seek ‘total annihilation,’ but we’ve got the option.
• U.S. Urges Fuel Cutoff…
• South Korea predicts another ICBM test is imminent

6am – A/B     HURRICANE HARVEY NEWS:

• Mnuchin: Congress must tie Harvey aid to raising debt limit. WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday called on Congress to combine a $7.9 billion disaster relief package for Harvey with an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, saying it was time to “put politics aside” so storm victims in Texas can get the help they need. “The president and I believe that it should be tied to the Harvey funding. Our first priority is to make sure that the state gets money,” he said. “It is critical, and to do that, we need to make sure we raise the debt limit.”
• Mom warns others after son is electrocuted in Hurricane Harvey’s floods.
• JJ Watt’s Hurricane Harvey fundraiser has now surpassed the $17 million mark. J.J. Watt started an online fundraiser Sunday to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey with a modest goal of $200,000. On Friday, the amount donated surpassed his updated goal of $17 million. His new goal: $20 million. Watt tweeted as the outpouring of support surpassed the $14 million mark, thanking those who donated for their generosity. He also said he will leave the fund open and see how high the total can go. On Saturday, he announced that the fundraiser had reached $17 million and shared a video of himself and numerous helpers unloading nine semitrailers of supplies donated for Houston relief.
• Toxic waste sites flooded in Texas, EPA says.
• HARVEY: Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Sunday estimated damage from Hurricane Harvey at $150 billion to $180 billion, calling it more costly than epic hurricanes Katrina or Sandy and fueling a debate over how to pay for the disaster.  Despite being in a flood plain, the state did not require flood insurance and approx. 80% of residents didn’t have it.  Should taxpayers be on the hook now?  If your house burns down and you don’t have insurance, your neighbor doesn’t pay you.
• TRUMPS TO HOUSTON/NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER: U.S. President Donald Trump took up the mantle of “comforter-in-chief” in a visit to storm-wracked Houston as he played with children and served up food to evacuees from Hurricane Harvey, the first major natural disaster of his eight months in office.

6am – C         “Waffle House Index” shows Harvey’s strength. (CBS News) — Craig Fugate, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, invented the “Waffle House Index” as a way to assess a storm’s impact at a glance. The tongue-in-cheek coinage derives from the breakfast chain of the same name that is famous for being open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Under Fugate’s index, a Waffle House restaurant switching to a limited menu is a bad sign; if the restaurant closes, it means conditions are dire. The index is also intended to give a general sense of how fast a community will recover from a natural disaster. On Thursday, the chain tweeted that six locations in Houston were closed due to tropical storm Harvey, illustrating the storm’s devastating impact on the city and its surrounding areas.  But 34 Waffle houses in the area remained open, serving up eggs, coffee and waffles, and giving locals a place to recharge.

6am – D        DACA NEWS

6am – E         KESHAWN JOHNSON REMOVES SON FROM NEB UNIV. The younger Johnson had enrolled at NU in January, a semester early, in hope of playing in 2017. He returned home to Calabasas, California, Tuesday after what the elder Johnson called a joint decision among himself, Nebraska coach Mike Riley and the Huskers’ athletic department. Keyshawn Johnson Sr. wants his son to “mature” for six months before considering a return to the school. “You’re in college now,” Johnson Sr. said. “You’re an adult. You’re not a kid. You take a look at it from afar and let me know how important it is to you.” “You’ve watched — on Instagram, on Facebook, on Twitter — everything’s a big party,” Johnson Sr. said. “You just want to get to college to party, but you don’t understand: You’re playing college football. It’s a business. And it’s a serious business. If you want to become successful — make it to the NFL — you’ve got to embrace it. You’ve got to own it. You don’t make it to the next level by cruising. There’s no cruise control. “There’s no ‘Mike Riley is good friends with Keyshawn, so his son’s automatically going to play.’ That’s not the game. That’s not why he went to Nebraska. He went there to work his tail off. To have an opportunity to be successful. But when you don’t do that — and you squander that — what are you going to do?”

6am – F         RIP STEELY DAN AND BURNING MAN GUY:

• WALTER BECKER OF STEELY DAN IS DEAD: The entertainment world is mourning the loss of Walter Becker, the Steely Dan guitarist, bassist, and cofounder who died Sunday at age 67. Becker’s longtime musical collaborator Donald Fagen said in a lengthy and heartfelt statement, “Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard College in 1967. … He was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter. He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny.”

• Burning Man festival-goer who died after running into the flames of a blazing effigy has been identified. (Daily Mail) – Married Oklahoma man, 41, who emigrated to Switzerland and flew back for the eclipse and his first ever Burning Man, is identified as festival-goer who died after running into a blazing effigy. Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, from Oklahoma has been identified as the man who died at Burning man. He evaded several rangers and security guards to leap into the Burning Man effigy on Saturday night. Aaron was pulled from the burning structure and treated on scene before being airlifted to a burn center. Approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

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

• DACA: Trump may leave DACA in place for six months to allow Congress to act. President Trump has tentatively decided to leave the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program intact for six months to give Congress time to find a legislative solution, aides said Monday, a delaying tactic likely to please neither side in the bitter debate over immigration. Aides cautioned that Trump could change his mind before Tuesday, when the White House says he will announce whether he will keep the Obama-era program going, or expose to deportation about 800,000 immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children. As of Monday, it was unclear whether Trump will firmly commit to ending the DACA program after six months, begin allowing existing work permits to expire or simply revisit the matter at that time.
• Attorneys general from New York and Washington state have threatened to sue if Pres. Trump ends DACA. Attorneys general from New York and Washington state have threatened legal action against the White House amid reports that President Trump will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program Tuesday. Attorneys General Bob Ferguson of Washington and Eric Schneiderman of New York issued statements today condemning the expected policy change, which Trump has been considering for months.
• MENENDEZ TRIAL: >> Menendez Trial Set to Begin With Tensions High and Washington. (NY Times) — NEWARK —  For the first time in 36 years, a sitting United States Senator is facing a federal bribery trial, one that comes as a bitterly divided Congress reconvenes amid the unrelenting turbulence of the Trump administration. Since his indictment more than two years ago, Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence, and last week he reiterated that. “I am going to be exonerated,” he said in a brief interview on Wednesday with reporters following a rally protesting President Trump’s immigration policies. Mr. Menendez is charged with 12 corruption-related counts, including six counts of bribery and three counts of honest services fraud.
• Judge Rejects Menendez’s Request To Delay His Corruption Trial Because He’s A Senator (Daily Caller) — A federal judge in New Jersey rejected Sen. Bob Menendez’s request to allow breaks in his criminal trial in order to fulfill his Senate duties, excoriating the senator for seeking “special treatment.” Menendez’s lawyers filed a motion requesting that his upcoming criminal trial take recesses any time the senator is needed in Washington on official business. They argued that forcing the senator to leave an ongoing trial to attend to congressional business would violate his due process rights. “A trial taking place during a session of Congress risks involuntarily denying Senator Menendez his rights to due process and confrontation, unless he elects to forego his constitutional duty to cast his vote on critical issues pending before Congress so that he can be present in the courtroom,” his lawyers argued. U.S. District Judge William Walls appeared irritated by the request in a Friday order dismissing the motion.
• COMEY: Comey Decided He Wasn’t Going to Refer Hillary For Prosecution Long Before FBI Investigation Was (Katie Pavlich/TownHall) — According to new transcripts released by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday afternoon, former FBI Director James Comey made the decision not to refer then Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for prosecution long before ever interviewing key witnesses. Members of the Committee allege Comey made the decision months before FBI agents were finished with the criminal investigation into her mishandling of classified information during her time as Secretary of State.  The transcripts were revealed in a letter sent to current FBI Director Christopher Wray, in which lawmakers are demanding an explanation and more documents surrounding the case

7am – B         SCHOOL / TRAFFIC NEWS:

• ‘Terrible Traffic Tuesday’ in DC region ushers in season of heavy congestion. (Fox5) –WASHINGTON – It’s the day after Labor Day — and you know what that means — it’s ‘Terrible Traffic Tuesday!’ The infamous day is known to be one of the worst days for commuting in the D.C. area. Highways in the region traditionally experience heavier than usual congestion beginning the Tuesday after Labor Day — the day most students and workers get back to their regular schedules. In our area, traffic is typically at its worst during the morning and evening rush hours and regularly causes backups along the metro areas of Interstates 95, 495 66 and 270. Transit commuters should expect trains and buses to be extra crowded and wait times to be longer.
• School year opens in Maryland with enrollment surge in Montgomery County. (Washington Post) — More than 160,000 students are heading back to school Tuesday in Montgomery County as the sprawling suburban district outside Washington projects another year of record enrollment. The first day of classes in Maryland’s largest school system arrived later this year, following Labor Day for the first time in more than a decade as a result of a new state mandate. Neighboring Prince George’s County, with the state’s second-largest system, will open schools Wednesday with 132,000 students. Schools in Arlington and Alexandria are also reopening Tuesday. Classes have already resumed elsewhere in Northern Virginia and in D.C. Public Schools.
• TEACHER TELLS STUDENTS MAGA IS A NAZI SLOGAN: In this video the teacher appears to order her students wearing Trump shirts to turn them inside out. She didn’t want her students wearing these shirts for the same reason ‘you cannot wear a swastika to school’.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — LT. GEN. JERRY BOYKIN – Executive Vice President, Family Research Council – discussed the SPLC.

• On the SPLC’s website, you can still find conservative organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), American Family Association (AFA), ACT for America, and the Family Research Council (FRC) featured on their infamous “Hate Map.” The same “Hate Map,” recently republished by CNN, was cited as the inspiration for the 2012 shooting at the FRC. The shooter, whose goal was to “kill as many people as possible,” told investigators that he targeted the Family Research Council after finding it on the SPLC’s Hate Map. In 2017, FRC is still listed as a “hate group” on SPLC’s website.

7am – E         HURRICANE IRMA UPDATE:

• Hurricane Irma strengthens as it heads toward Leeward Islands, upgraded to Category 4, NHC says. FL Gov Scott declares state of emergency as #HurricaneIrma grows to Category 4 storm. Hurricane Irma strengthens; Florida and Puerto Rico prepare. (CNN)Hurricane Irma strengthened to a Category 4 storm Monday, churning west in the Atlantic Ocean and prompting emergency declarations in Florida and Puerto Rico. Although Irma’s path remains uncertain, the possibility it could threaten the United States led Florida Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency in all 67 counties in his state.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — SUSAN FERRECHIO – chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner

• TOPIC: CONGRESS IS BACK: Congressional To-Do List: FEMA Funding, Debt Ceiling and Tax Reform
• Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Meadows: Don’t Tie Harvey Aid to Debt Ceiling. Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows is a fiscal conservative, and even he doesn’t want Republicans attempting to attach Harvey aid for Texas to the debt ceiling, the North Carolina representative told The Washington Post. “The Harvey relief would pass on its own, and to use that as a vehicle to get people to vote for a debt ceiling is not appropriate,” Meadows told the Post. “We’re going to fund Harvey relief without a doubt, but I think it just sends the wrong message when you start attaching it to the debt ceiling.” Lawmakers return from summer recess next week and have until Sept. 29 to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a federal default.
• Mnuchin: Congress must tie Harvey aid to raising debt limit. WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday called on Congress to combine a $7.9 billion disaster relief package for Harvey with an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, saying it was time to “put politics aside” so storm victims in Texas can get the help they need. “The president and I believe that it should be tied to the Harvey funding. Our first priority is to make sure that the state gets money,” he said. “It is critical, and to do that, we need to make sure we raise the debt limit.”
• House Sets Date For Vote On Harvey Relief. (Daily Caller) — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Monday that the House will vote on an emergency funding package for Hurricane Harvey relief Wednesday morning. The short-term funding bill, which appropriates funds for disaster response, has proven politically contentious in the days following the Category 4 Hurricane. The White House requested that Congress appropriate $7.85 billion Friday to help the 436,000 people that have been forced to rely on the Federal Emergency Management Agency for aid in the days following the record flooding.
• New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez Trial: New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez will be sidelined next month in facing what could be career-ending criminal trial. The third-term New Jersey senator, who recently served as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, goes on trial in Newark on Wednesday on charges of 18 counts of fraud and bribery.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — BRUCE KLINGNER – former CIA’s deputy division chief for Korea and a senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center

• North Korea detonates 6th nuke… “most powerful ever…” …”far more destructive” than Hiroshima or Nagasaki… 6.3 magnitude quake…
• Trump tweet: “the United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.”
• HALEY: Kim Jong Un ‘is begging for war’
• MATTIS: We don’t seek ‘total annihilation,’ but we’ve got the option.
• U.S. Urges Fuel Cutoff…
• South Korea predicts another ICBM test is imminent

8am – D         INTERVIEW – LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm and author of “JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity”

• TOPIC: CONGRESS IS BACK: FEMA Funding, Debt Ceiling and Tax Reform
• Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Meadows: Don’t Tie Harvey Aid to Debt Ceiling.
• Mnuchin: Congress must tie Harvey aid to raising debt limit. WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday called on Congress to combine a $7.9 billion disaster relief package for Harvey with an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, saying it was time to “put politics aside” so storm victims in Texas can get the help they need. “The president and I believe that it should be tied to the Harvey funding. Our first priority is to make sure that the state gets money,” he said. “It is critical, and to do that, we need to make sure we raise the debt limit.”
• Trump’s meeting with tax negotiators kicks off fall reform push. (Politico) — When President Donald Trump sits down Tuesday with tax reform negotiators from his administration and Congress, they’re hoping it will mark the start of a final push to get legislation to Trump’s desk before the year is through. Agreement on a plan to cut taxes for individuals and businesses, along with more fundamental changes to the tax code, would allow the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees to start putting meat on the bone with legislative language. The major issues to settle remain how low to push tax rates, particularly for corporations; whether and how to pay for most of the package; and if parts of it will have to be temporary to comply with budget rules. Senior members of Trump’s administration have been pushing an ambitious timetable for tax reform for months, suggesting a detailed plan would get through the House in October and clear the Senate by November. Tuesday’s gathering will be the first time Trump has joined the “Big Six” negotiators, who began meeting in late April. The group comprises House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Sept. 1 that the meeting shouldn’t be taken as a sign that a plan is nearing completion.

8am – E         Vince envisions how the meeting with Mattis and Trump went down about North Korea.