Cal Thomas, Eli Lake, Susan Ferrechio, Mark Krikorian and Joe Concha joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C   NEW CA LAW FORBIDS EMPLOYERS TO ASK YOUR PREVIOUS SALARY. A new California law that went into effect on Monday forbids employers from asking job applicants about their previous salaries. It also requires California employers to give potential employees a pay range for the job they’re applying for.

5am – D/E     TUCKER’S LIST: Tucker Carlson shares his list of “What We Know to Be True” as we enter 2018.

1. Wars almost never make countries richer or happier, and should be avoided accordingly.
2. Reading the internet all day does not make you smarter.
3. Sending more texts and emails does not make you more productive.
4. You have an absolute right to say what you think is true. Other people may not like your views. Tough luck.
5. Friendship is more important than politics. So are sports, dinner, church, dogs, and most hobbies.
6. Attacking people because of their skin color is wrong. This is always true, no matter what the color is.
7. The beginning of wisdom is understanding how little you can control.
8. Gender is not a social construct. It’s a biological reality. Men and women are inherently different, and not interchangeable. Pretending otherwise isn’t just absurd and anti-science. It’s also a surefire way to make healthy relationships impossible and devastate society.
9. Animals are closer to humans than we think, and people are closer to animals.
10. No matter how many public safety agencies government bureaucrats invent, when it comes down to it, you’re responsible for yourself and your family. Best to know that and prepare ahead of time.
11. The only immutable law is the law of unintended consequences.
12. New and improved electronic devices rarely improve your life. Often they enslave you.
13. No text message or social media post is ever worth interrupting a meal with people you love.
14. The US government has only one duty, securing the well-being of American citizens. Yet relatively few people who work for the government actually believe that.
15. Charity begins at home. Before you send a check to fight malaria in Congo, or sponsor a Syrian refugee to come to Minneapolis, ask yourself why so many of our fellow Americans are living on the street or dying of drug overdoses, and what you can do to help.
16. Laws change. Customs and beliefs change. Human nature never changes.
17. Any food that makes your mouth water is likely bad for you.
18. History happened, whether you like it or not.
19. Want to make the world better? Raise decent children, preferably a lot of them.
20. In the end all that really counts is relationships with other people. No matter how successful you are, if your kids hate you, you’ve failed.

6am – A/B/C WHAT DACA DEAL WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY?  

• Wednesday: WH, Congressional leaders to begin talks: Bipartisan DACA talks set to commence with White House
• Donald Trump: DACA Amnesty Activists Will Be ‘Falling in Love’ with Republicans.   Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: Democrats are doing nothing for DACA – just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start “falling in love” with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS. 10:16 AM – Jan 2, 2018
• Trump has signaled in recent days that he would support a measure to protect undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors in exchange for wall funding and other stiff border security measures that Democrats have ardently opposed. “The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc,” Trump tweeted Friday morning. “We must protect our Country at all cost!”
• (@MarkSKrikorian): “It’s a bad sign that @SecNielsen didn’t mention chain migration, lottery, or E-Verify as part of possible DACA deal, only “border and immigration enforcement measures”. (ABC News) –  Congress is considering three options, including citizenship or permanent legal status for people who were temporarily shielded from deportation, Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in an interview.Asked whether the president would support citizenship, she said, “I think he’s open to hearing about the different possibilities and what it means but, to my knowledge, there certainly hasn’t been any decision from the White House.”  The options being considered by Congress include permanent residency, residency for a certain amount of time — perhaps three or four years, subject to renewal — and citizenship, Nielsen said. “It will be interesting to see where (Congress) can get comfortable with what they mean by what is a permanent fix but the idea would be that you move away from a temporary status,” she said.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated Columnist – joined WMAL from Dublin, Ireland and discussed Sen. Hatch retiring and gave his 2018 political preview.

• Cal Thomas: Try a little tenderness in 2018 (Fox News) — DUBLIN, Ireland — “Try a Little Tenderness” is a song written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods. According to Wikipedia, it was first recorded on Dec. 8, 1932, by the Ray Noble Orchestra (with vocals by Val Rosing). Probably these names are as unfamiliar to us today as the demonstration of tenderness is in our modern political culture.

6am – E         ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant loses $3,200 for pronunciation of ‘gangster’ vs. ‘gangsta’ (Fox News) — A contestant on “Jeopardy!” lost thousands of dollars over his pronunciation of the word “gangsta.” The long-running game show saw one of its more uncomfortable moments during a New Year’s Day broadcast in which a contestant named Nick Spicher answered a question using the “er” sound at the end of the word rather than the “a” sound. In the category “Music & Literature Before & After,” he was prompted with the answer, “A song by Coolio from ‘Dangerous Minds’ goes back in time to become a 1667 John Milton classic.” The answer was a reference to the book “Paradise Lost” and the song “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Nick responded with, “Gangster’s Paradise Lost.” The contestant initially was awarded $1,600 for the answer. However, host Alex Trebek had the unfortunate task of breaking the news to Spicher a few minutes later that the judges had reviewed his response and could not let him keep the points. Additionally, because he got the answer wrong, an additional $1,600 was taken from his score, meaning the flub ultimately cost him $3,200. This dropped him out of the lead. “Our judges have reevaluated one of your responses a few minute ago, Nick,” he said. “You said ‘gangster’s’ instead of ‘gangsta’s’ on that song by Coolio, so we take $3,200 away from you. You are now in second place.” Speaking to TMZ, Coolio joked that this should be a lesson to “white people” that the “er” will “always get you in trouble.”

6am – F         Winner To Be Drawn From Hat Thursday for VA’s 94th District House Race. (WMAL) — WASHINGTON (WMAL) – The winner for Virginia’s tied 94th District House seat is scheduled to be picked out of a hat Thursday unless a court intervenes, according to the chairman of the Virginia Board of Elections James Alcorn. The drawing was originally scheduled for last Wednesday but was postponed after Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds said she would challenge the tie with Republican Delegate David Yancey in court. GOP House Leader Kirk Cox criticized Democrats for causing what he called “politically motivated delays.” Simonds blamed Yancey for the delays and said he made an end run around the rules because he didn’t like the results of the recount. Originally it looked like Yancey won by 10 votes, but Simonds was declared the winner by one vote after a recount. Then a three-judge panel said a disputed ballot that had not been counted was a vote for Yancey. That left the race tied. Both sides have fought for this seat because the winner could determine which party controls the Virginia House of Delegates.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – ELI LAKE – columnist for the Bloomberg View

• ELI LAKE: The West can help Iranians take back their country
• Tens of thousands of people have protested in Iran. (Washington Post) Anti-government protests in Iran, where demonstrations of political unrest are rare, have left at least 20 people dead — and do not appear to be subsiding. Since Thursday, tens of thousands of protesters have formed the largest outpouring of government opposition since the volatile 2009 presidential elections. The scale and ferocity of the protests had clerical leaders in Tehran struggling Tuesday to respond to what is likely the most serious internal crisis the country has faced this decade. Iran has a powerful security force, but leaders have not yet called on the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia, who flattened the 2009 demonstrations by killing dozens of protesters.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner

• Infrastructure, welfare reform, and immigration are on Congress’ agenda for 2018.  (Washington Examiner) – With tax reform in the rearview mirror, the Republican-led House and Senate in 2018 have a packed schedule ahead of the midterms, and will attempt to tackle immigration reform, infrastructure spending, welfare reform, and healthcare legislation.
• Wednesday: WH, Congressional leaders to begin talks: Bipartisan DACA talks set to commence with White House (Politico) — Democratic and Republican congressional leaders will meet Wednesday with top White House officials as they attempt to hammer out a deal to avert a government shutdown and resolve an impasse on immigration. The meeting, confirmed by two sources familiar with the planning, was initially expected to include President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, but a White House spokesman said legislative affairs director Marc Short and budget director Mick Mulvaney would represent the president.
• Hatch announces retirement. Senator Romney?  (Politico) — Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator, announced Tuesday he will not seek reelection in November. The move sets the stage for a likely run for his Utah seat by former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
• Romney, who is formerly a governor of the state of Massachusetts, changed the “location” in his Twitter account from Massachusetts to Holladay, Utah.
• Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, will not seek re-election in November, telling the Washington Examiner that he wants to focus exclusively on working with President Trump to pass a massive infrastructure bill before he retires.
• AXIOS: House Republicans keep announcing 2018 departures. There are now 18 retiring Republicans and 7 Democrats. 25 retiring representatives is higher than the average in the last five election cycles.
• ON CONGRESS’S PLATE

• Fund government by 1/19
• Defense / non-defense caps
• Extend CHIP
• Flood insurance
• DACA / the WALL
• Obamacare stabilization
• Disaster relief
• Address FISA expirations
• Lift debt ceiling

7am – D         MEDIA NEWS:

• Trump To Dole Out ‘Dishonest And Corrupt’ Media Awards Next Week
• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!
• The president vented in late November that a contest should be held for the worst political coverage, excluding Fox News. He added that the winner of such an award should get a “fake news trophy.”  Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!
• JOURNALIST REACTIONS TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S TWEET LAST NIGHT:
• Daily Mail’s David Martosko ‏@dmartosko 11h11 hours ago: I’m hoping there will be a red carpet so my @DailyMail overlords can decide whether @DanaBashCNN or @KatyTurNBC “wore it best.”
• Business Insider’s Josh Barro ‏@jbarro: 11h11 hours ago: I actually think this sounds fun. Some good-sport reporters should go collect their awards in person, like Sandra Bullock and Halle Barry have done at the Razzies.
• CNN’S OBSESSION WITH TRUMP’S GOLFING: ON TUESDAY: White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended President Trump’s golf outings: ‘It’s the Press That Has an Issue With His Time on the Course’.  CNN Revisits The Super Important Big White Truck Story.

7am – E         Trump brags: I have a “much bigger” nuclear button than Kim Jong Un.

• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MARK KRIKORIAN – a nationally recognized expert on immigration issues and serves as Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)

• Wednesday: WH, Congressional leaders to begin talks: Bipartisan DACA talks set to commence with White House    
• Donald Trump: DACA Amnesty Activists Will Be ‘Falling in Love’ with Republicans.  Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: Democrats are doing nothing for DACA – just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start “falling in love” with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS. 10:16 AM – Jan 2, 2018
• With new year, California becomes ‘sanctuary state’ (Fox News) – California became a “sanctuary state” Monday, as a bill that Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in October officially took effect.

8am – B         ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• Jennifer Lawrence Admits To Becoming ‘Huge A**hole’ To Avoid Fans In Public. (Daily Caller) — Jennifer Lawrence admitted that she has become a “huge asshole” to avoid fan interactions in public in an upcoming interview on PBS. “Once I enter a public place I become incredibly rude,” the 27-year-old actress shared in a clip posted on Twitter Tuesday from her appearance alongside comedian Adam Sandler on the seventh season of “Variety Studio’s Actors on Actors” series.
• SIR RINGO: Beatles drummer knighted in UK honors list.  Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is set to receive one of the British monarchy’s highest honors. The Fab Four member and Bee Gees guitarist Barry Gibb have been selected for knighthood, Britain’s Cabinet Office announced late Friday. The two musicians will join an A-list crew of rockers who have received the title in the past, including Starr’s bandmate Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Elton John and Van Morrison. “It’s great!” Starr, 77, said in a statement after learning Queen Elizabeth II had dubbed him worthy of knighthood. “It’s an honor and a pleasure to be considered and acknowledged for my music and my charity work, both of which I love. Peace and love. Ringo.” Ringo, whose real name is Richard Starkey, earned the honor for his services to music, according to the Cabinet Office.
• Seth Meyers says Golden Globes opening monologue will likely focus on sexual misconduct in Hollywood. Seth Meyers says that his Golden Globes opening monologue will likely focus on sexual misconduct in Hollywood, but zingers aimed at President Trump aren’t off-limits. “With the monologue, as far as talking about anything in the news right now, it seems like this year more than ever Hollywood has its own internal politics that obviously deserve to be talked about,” Meyers tells People magazine in an interview published Tuesday.
• Dave Chappelle says Louis CK masturbation allegations made him laugh: ‘Them women sound … weak’ (The Blaze) — Comedian Dave Chappelle took aim at allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against fellow comedian Louis C.K. — real name Louis Szekely — during a Netflix comedy special that aired Sunday, saying that he thought the circumstance was comical. At least five women accused Szekely of sexual misconduct in November, including several allegations of public masturbation. During the “Dave Chappelle: The Bird Revelation” special, Chappelle admitted that he found allegations against Szekely funny. “I shouldn’t say this, but f*** it, [Szekely’s] allegations were the only one that made me laugh,” Chappelle quipped. “It’s terrible, I know it’s terrible,” Chappelle continued. “I’m sorry, ladies … At the same time, you know what I mean … they took everything from Louis, it might be disproportionate, I can’t tell, I can’t tell, this is like where it’s hard to be a man.” Singling out one of the accusers by her allegations, Chappelle joked that the woman in question had a “brittle spirit.”

8am – C         College banishes 14 words and phrases to start the New Year, including ‘nothingburger’ and ‘covfefe’ (Washington Examiner) — For more than 40 years, Lake Superior State University in Michigan has published an annual list of banished words. This year, the university is banning a few words with political spin.

Samples from the list include the words “nothingburger” and “covfefe,” along with the phrases “fake news” and “gig economy.” In case you’re not familiar with the now-banished terms, here are a few definitions from Lake Superior State.

• Nothingburger: Says nothing that “nothing” doesn’t already. I’ll take a quarter pound of something in mine.
• Covfefe: An impulsive typo, born into a 140-character universe, somehow missed by the autocorrect feature.
• Fake News: Once upon a time stories could be empirically disproved. Now “fake news” is any story you disagree with.
• Gig Economy: Gigs are for musicians and stand-up comedians. Now expanded to imply a sense of freedom and a lifestyle that rejects tradition in a changing economic culture. Runs a risk of sharecropping.

The list also goes after some older terms like “tons” and “hot water heater”:

• Tons: Refers to an exaggerated quantity, as in tons of sunshine or tons of work. “Lots” would surely suffice.
• Hot Water Heater: Hot water does not need to be heated. “Water heater” or “hot water maker” will keep us out of hot water.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – JOE CONCHA – Media Reporter, The Hill

• Trump To Dole Out ‘Dishonest And Corrupt’ Media Awards Next Week
• CNN Repeatedly Revisits The Super Important Big White Truck Story
• Girl Power: Hoda joins Savannah in a post-Lauer era on Today Show

8am – E         Trump wants ‘Deep State Justice Dept’ to probe Huma Abedin. (NY Post) – President Trump on Tuesday suggested the Department of Justice “must finally act?” to investigate longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin after the State Department last week released emails belonging to her, including some marked classified that were found on her husband’s laptop. “Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols,” he wrote on Twitter. “She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others​.” The State Department last Friday released parts of 2,800 emails that belonged to Abedin but were recovered by the FBI on the laptop of her husband, former Rep. Anthony Weiner, during an investigation into his sexting with a female high school student. ​The discovery of the emails, ​some marked as classified, prompted former FBI Director James Comey to announce in October 2016, just weeks before the presidential election, that he would reopen the probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server.