Ashley Carter, Joe diGenova, Steve Kastenbaum, Chuck Thies, and Larry Kudlow joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Post-Florida school shooting: Are Our Boys “Broken”?

• USA TODAY: After 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz was accused of gunning down 17 people at a Florida high school last week, comedian Michael Ian Black started a thread on Twitter that sparked a vitriolic debate about the role of gender in gun violence. It began with the tweet, “Deeper even than the gun problem is this: boys are broken.”

5am – D         RUSSIAN MEDDLING AND MUELLER INDICTMENTS:

• Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: “The indictment charges 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian companies
• Trump suggests Obama did nothing about Russia election interference despite Obama implementing sanctions
• Trump asks why Obama didn’t ‘do something about Russian meddling’

5am – E         President Trump endorses Mitt Romney (The Blaze) — President Trump tweeted about the announcement from Mitt Romney, once his greatest critic, that he would be running for the U.S. Senate seat for the state of Utah.

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: @MittRomney has announced he is running for the Senate from the wonderful State of Utah. He will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement!

6am – A/B/C To What Extent Should Children Decide The Gun Control Debate?

• CNN announces town hall with students, parents affected by Florida school shooting (CNN) — The school shooting in Florida this week has sparked a renewed call for lawmakers to take action, and some of the loudest voices demanding change are not even old enough to vote. The tragic event, which occurred Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, is one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern history. Seventeen people — 14 students and three teachers — were killed and many more injured. Now, led by the students, this South Florida community is demanding answers on how this could have occurred and are asking what steps will federal and state authorities take to prevent this from happening again. To help facilitate the discussion, CNN has announced it will hold a nationally televised town hall with the victims’ classmates, parents and community members. “Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action” will air live at 9 p.m., ET, on Wednesday, February 21 at the BB&T Center.
• Florida shooting survivors announce March For Our Lives on March 24 in support of gun control: “We’ve been hearing is that it’s not the yet time to talk about gun control…so here’s the time we’re going to talk about gun control, March 24.”
• Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor to politicians accepting NRA money: “You’re either funding the killers, or you’re standing with the children.”
• Florida school shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez on President Trump’s tweet: “The FBI were some of the amazing first responders who were helping us get to safety and the fact that he wants to discredit them in any way… it’s not acceptable

6am – D         INTERVIEW – ASHLEY CARTER – the At-Large Representative for the DC State Board of Education – discussed the D.C. Schools Chancellor using his position to get his child into a coveted D.C. school

• ASHLEY’S STATEMENT: “While, I can understand any parent wanting the best for their child, the way Chancellor Wilson went about doing so was wrong. He was fully aware of the correct process and policies concerning transferring schools and continued, anyway, to break procedures that he wrote and helped to put in place. When our leaders believe they should get preferential treatment and they can circumvent the laws and policies they set for others, they are not serving the city to the best of their ability. For that, I believe Chancellor Wilson should resign.  From what I have seen from this and other recent incidents, I believe we need more transparency across DCPS, we need to address the failures in oversight that continue to plague our students, and need to take a critical look at how our government as a whole is working for the people of the District.”

• 5 DC Councilmembers call for resignation of Schools Chancellor following school lottery scandal. (Fox 5 DC) –  WASHINGTON – Five D.C. Councilmembers have called for the resignation of D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson following a school lottery placement scandal.
• D.C. Auditor Says Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson Should Be Fired. (Washington City Paper) – Independent D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson says schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson should resign or be fired. “If you cheat, you’re fired. If you lie, you’re fired. Period,” Patterson said in an interview Saturday with the City Paper. “He needs to be fired. You can’t be the head of the school system and cheat. There are school children out there for God sakes.”
• D.C. Deputy Mayor Resigns Over Improper Transfer For Schools Chancellor’s Child. (WAMU) — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has accepted the resignation of her deputy mayor for education and scolded Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson after he was allowed to transfer one of his children to a different school in violation of an order from the mayor.

6am – E         Trump motorcade driver stopped after gun found in his possession (The Washington Times) — The driver of a vehicle for President Trump’s motorcade was detained briefly Monday after security agents found a gun in his baggage, the Secret Service said. The gun was discovered during a security screening of the vehicle in a parking lot across the street from Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida. The man, who was not identified, told authorities that he forgot to leave the personal firearm in his personal vehicle before entering the van that was to be part of Mr. Trump’s motorcade, according to pool reporter Jordan Fabian of The Hill. The driver was scheduled to be operating one of the press vans. The Secret Service said the man was a staff-contracted driver, and that a background check determined that he owns the gun legally. “The incident was investigated by the Secret Service and our partners at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and resolved,” the agency said in a statement. “At no time was any Secret Service protectee in danger or impacted. All Secret Service security measures worked.”

6am – F         Scoop: Skirmish in Beijing over the nuclear football (Axios) — On Thursday Nov. 9, when President Trump and his team visited Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Chief of Staff John Kelly and a U.S. Secret Service agent skirmished with Chinese security officials over the nuclear football. I’ve spoken to five sources familiar with the events. Here’s what happened, as they describe it: When the U.S. military aide carrying the nuclear football entered the Great Hall, Chinese security officials blocked his entry. (The official who carries the nuclear football is supposed to stay close to the president at all times, along with a doctor.) A U.S. official hurried into the adjoining room and told Kelly what was happening. Kelly rushed over and told the U.S. officials to keep walking — “We’re moving in,” he said — and the Americans all started moving. Then there was a commotion. A Chinese security official grabbed Kelly, and Kelly shoved the man’s hand off of his body. Then a U.S. Secret Service agent grabbed the Chinese security official and tackled him to the ground. The whole scuffle was over in a flash, and the U.S. officials told about the incident were asked to keep quiet about it. Trump’s team followed the normal security procedure to brief the Chinese before their visit to Beijing, according to a person familiar with the trip — but somebody at the Chinese end either didn’t get the memo or decided to mess with the Americans anyway.

7am – A/B/C JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – discussed Mueller Indictments of Russian internet organizations and the FBI handling of the Florida school shooting

7am – D         INTERVIEW – STEVE KASTENBAUM – Correspondent in Pyeongchang, South Korea – recapped the Olympics and discussed some controversies

7am – E         Fergie’s NBA All-Star Game national anthem confuses, amuses.

• FERGIE: SORRY ABOUT THE ANTHEM … But I Tried My Best!! Fergie has finally broken her silence on last night’s botched NBA All-Star Game’s National Anthem … saying she was trying to take a risk, and it clearly didn’t pay off. The singer tells us, “I’ve always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA. I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.”

8am – A         Interview – CHUCK THIES – political strategist and former Mayor Vincent Gray campaign manager and close friend/adviser to Gray – discussed the D.C. schools chancellor controversy, and the latest news on D.C.’s mayoral election

• 5 DC Councilmembers call for resignation of Schools Chancellor following school lottery scandal. (Fox 5 DC) –  WASHINGTON – Five D.C. Councilmembers have called for the resignation of  D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson following a school lottery placement scandal.
• D.C. Deputy Mayor Resigns Over Improper Transfer For Schools Chancellor’s Child
• DC MAYORAL RACE: The city of Washington, D.C., will hold a general election for mayor on November 6, 2018. A primary election may be held on June 19, 2018. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election is March 21, 2018.

8am – B/C     Is Media Using Children To Promote Gun Control?

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” @larry_kudlow – discussed how President Trump needs a stronger dollar policy and how tax cuts will help in the midterms.

8am – E         NYT VS YOGA PANTS

• NY TIMES: Why Yoga Pants Are Bad for Women
• NYT Opinion tweets that women shouldn’t wear yoga pants, Twitter explodes in PURE RAGE
• DAILY CALLER: Encouraging Women To Stop Wearing Yoga Pants Is A Horrendous Take