Allum Bokhari, Chris Shorter, Jill Turgeon, Chuck Thies, and Larry Kudlow joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, March 20, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

5am – A/B/C Joe diGenova tapped to join Trump legal team

• Trump Considers Reshuffling Legal Team as He Takes On Mueller More Aggressively (New York Times) — President Trump’s legal team was poised for a shake-up on Monday, according to two people briefed on the matter, as he openly discussed firing one of his lawyers, another considered resigning and a third — who pushed theories on television that Mr. Trump was framed by the F.B.I. — joined the roster. Mr. Trump has weighed aloud in recent days to close associates whether to dismiss his lawyer Ty Cobb, who had pushed most strongly a strategy of cooperating fully with the special counsel investigation. The president reassured Mr. Cobb that he had no plans to fire him, according to a person who spoke with the president late Monday, in part to prevent a narrative that his team was in disarray after The New York Times began making inquiries. Mr. Trump’s lead lawyer, John Dowd, has contemplated leaving his post because he has concluded that he has no control over the behavior of the president, the two people briefed on the matter said. Ignoring his lawyers’ advice, Mr. Trump has reverted to a more aggressive strategy of publicly assailing the inquiry that he initially adopted in the weeks immediately after the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, was appointed. Now the president has begun attacking Mr. Mueller himself.

• Trump hiring former federal prosecutor who’s argued FBI framed president (The Hill) — President Trump is hiring longtime Washington lawyer Joseph diGenova, who has suggested that the FBI is seeking to frame Trump, to his legal team. “Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Joe diGenova will be joining our legal team later this week,” Jay Sekulow, a counsel to the president, said in a statement. “I have worked with Joe for many years and have full confidence that he will be a great asset in our representation of the President.” The hiring was first reported by The New York Times, which wrote that diGenova is unlikely to take a lead role on the team, but that he would add an aggressive presence. The president is increasingly signaling he intends to go in a different direction with his legal strategy, and this weekend began attacking by name special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump’s lawyers had previously advised him not to attack Mueller. Adding diGenova suggests Trump wants to go more on the offensive, given diGenova’s past statements arguing that investigations of Trump are meritless.

5am – D         Tech News:

• WOMAN KILLED BY DRIVERLESS UBER (Bloomberg) — Uber Technologies Inc. halted autonomous vehicle tests after one of its cars struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, in what is likely the first pedestrian fatality involving the technology.
• MORE SHOPPERS PREFER TO INTERACT W/TECHNOLOGY INSTEAD OF HUMANS (Yahoo) — For example, about 85 percent of those surveyed want to be able to check prices at price scanners instead of having to ask a store employee for pricing information. Seventy six percent of overall respondents rated an in-store app that will provide personal recommendations as important. “It’s not that they don’t want any service at all, but what consumers increasingly want is to be able to control the service they are looking for,” Farla Efros, president of HRC Retail Advisory, told Reuters.

5am – E         Holder: Sessions needs to ‘have the guts’ to say no to Trump (The Hill) — Former Attorney General Eric Holder says that Attorney General Jeff Sessions needs to “have the guts” to say no to President Trump. Holder criticized Sessions at an event at Georgetown University on Monday, days after Sessions fired former deputy FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who had been a subject of frequent criticism from Trump.

Eric Holder @EricHolder

Analyze McCabe firing on two levels: the substance and the timing. We don’t know enough about the substance yet. The timing appears cruel and a cave that compromised DOJ independence to please an increasingly erratic President who should’ve played no role here. This is dangerous

The former Obama administration official said that Sessions may have rushed to fire McCabe at Trump’s request. The dismissal came just two days before McCabe was eligible for his pension.

6am – A         Facebook News:

• Edward Snowden: Facebook is a surveillance company rebranded as “social media”
• Obama Campaign Staffer Says Facebook Allowed Them to Harvest Masses of Data
• Facebook, Establishment Media Spar over Data Obtained by Cambridge Analytica

6am – B         ‘Build The Wall and Keep the Damn Drugs Out’: Trump Slams Dems’ Inaction in Opioid Speech (Fox News Insider) — During a speech introducing the White House’s latest strategy to combat the opioid epidemic, President Donald Trump called for building the border wall with Mexico to “keep the damn drugs out.” Speaking in Manchester, New Hampshire, which has been heavily impacted by the opioid deaths in recent years, Trump laid out several ways to fight the epidemic. There, in the state’s largest city, drug overdoses were up 23 percent through the first two months of the year versus 2018, according to WMUR. At the same time, the outlet reported that overdose deaths were down 27 percent. Trump said 90 percent of illicit drugs come into the United States via the Mexican border. “Eventually the Democrats will agree with us and we’ll build the wall to keep the damn drugs out,” he said. Trump praised Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) and his father, former Gov. John Sununu (R-N.H.), for their proactive stance on the war on drugs.

6am – C         More kids should get weight loss surgery, Harvard scientists insist (Daily Mail) — More children should be having weight loss surgery, Harvard University researchers are now advising. A new study sought to quantify how many obese children, teenagers and young adults undergo this type of surgery and found that the numbers are very low – coming to less than one percent. Of the 20.6 percent of children between 12 and 19 who are obese, many will join the 38 percent of adults who suffer through the condition later in life. The study authors said that operations like gastric bypass are ‘underutilized’ and call for more children to undergo the surgeries in order to keep them from a lifetime of severe obesity. ‘We can’t have pediatric cancer go untreated,’ she says by way of comparison, ‘it can lead to death,’ says study author Dr Fatima Stanford of Massachusetts General Hospital. ‘Obesity is the same, but we see it as a lifestyle choice rather than a disease condition,’ she says. Obesity has become America’s biggest medical battle in recent years, as an epidemic sweeps up a third of the nation’s citizens – of all ages.

6am – D         DC lawmaker Trayon White made similar statements prior to anti-Semitic conspiracy theory video (Fox 5) — D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) issued an apology Sunday for statements made in a video posted on social media, where he alludes to a popular conspiracy theory that a well-known Jewish family controls the weather. This, despite having made similar remarks in the past as well as controversial posts on social media. The Washington Post reports White uploaded a video on Friday morning where he is talking as he drives through downtown D.C. and comments on a burst of snow he saw. “It just started snowing out of nowhere this morning. Y’all better pay attention to this climate control,” White said according to the video on the Post’s website. White continues, “It’s climate manipulation and D.C. keep talking about ‘we are a resilient city’ and that’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man. Be careful.” The Rothschilds are a well-known European Jewish banking family and have been the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in which people claim the family and other Jewish people control events around the world for their personal gain, according to the Post.

6am – E         First Day of Spring to Bring Snow to DC Area (NBC Washington) — The first day of spring will look more like the middle of winter in the D.C. area. Tuesday morning will start with cold rain, but as the temperature drops, that rain will turn into a wintry mix in the afternoon. The mix of rain and snow will continue through Wednesday. Between 3 and 6 inches of snow may fall on D.C. and southern Maryland between Tuesday night and throughout Wednesday. Areas north and west of D.C. can expect from 6 to 10 inches. Snow totals will depend on the temperatures. For Tuesday, temperatures will be low enough for it to snow, but it might be too warm for snow to accumulate. The best chance for accumulation will be Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, Storm Team4 says. Several school systems north and west of D.C. have announced closures Tuesday, but more delays and closures will be likely Wednesday. Travel issues are possible on Wednesday, too. Storm Team4 says there’s a chance we could get more snow this week than we’ve had all winter. The National Weather Service declared a winter storm watch for Washington, D.C. and many counties in Northern Virginia and Maryland. The weather will improve Thursday and Friday before another chance for cold rain arrives Saturday night.

6am – F         Trump prepared to hit China with $60 billion in annual tariffs (Washington Post) — President Trump is preparing to impose a package of $60 billion in annual tariffs against Chinese products, following through on a longtime threat that he says will punish China for intellectual property theft and create more U.S. jobs. The tariff package, which Trump plans to unveil by Friday, was confirmed by four senior administration officials. Senior aides had presented Trump with a $30 billion tariff package that would apply to a range of products, but Trump directed them to roughly double the scope of the new trade levies. The package could be applied to more than 100 products, which Trump argues were developed by using trade secrets that China stole from U.S. companies or forced them to hand over in exchange for access to its massive market. The situation remains fluid, and Trump has previously in his presidency backed off economic threats at the last minute. But he has shown a recent willingness to unilaterally impose tariffs — even amid objections from advisers who fear starting a global trade war and economists who warn such actions could ultimately hurt U.S. businesses.

7am – A   INTERVIEW – ALLUM BOKHARI – senior technology correspondent, Breitbart News – discussed the ongoing controversy between Facebook and analytics company Cambridge Analytica, the relationship between the Trump campaign and Cambridge Analytica, the Obama 2012 campaign use of social media data, and more

• Obama Campaign Staffer Says Facebook Allowed Them to Harvest Masses of Data.
• Congress pressing on Cambridge Analytica: The British data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica is facing massive scrutiny.
• Facebook hires digital forensics team to audit Trump campaign data firm

7am – B         INTERVIEW – CHRIS SHORTER – Director,  DC Department of Public Works – discussed the steps D.C. is taking to prepare for the upcoming potential snowfall

• DC region braced for ‘biggest snowfall in 2 years’ (WTOP) — Tuesday is the first day of spring, but the weather is going to feel much more like winter though. While Tuesday will see mainly rain, Wednesday could bring one of the biggest snowfalls in almost two years to the D.C. area. There’s predictions that the biggest snowfall in two years will sweep across the D.C. region starting Tuesday night. Throughout Tuesday, the first day of spring, there will be widespread rainfall. “Rain will be likely to fall throughout the day as temperatures fall into the mid-30s,” said Storm Team4 Meteorologist Chuck Bell. “As things turn colder, a long period of rain/sleet and sleet/snow will be possible this afternoon into this evening.” Bell said that most of the D.C. area will just stay wet most of Tuesday, although the Shenandoah Valley could see sleet and snow start to accumulate before sunset. Most of the D.C. area is under a Winter Weather Advisory from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday. A Winter Storm Watch is in effect from late Tuesday night through Wednesday night. The situation could drastically change moving into Wednesday. Some areas could see as much as 10 inches of snow throughout the day

7am – C         Opening ceremony of Cherry Blossom Festival moved to Sunday because of March for Our Lives (Washington Post) — Because of the crowds expected in Washington for Saturday’s March for Our Lives anti-gun-violence rally, officials have moved the opening ceremony for the National Cherry Blossom Festival to Sunday. “Based on reported crowd estimates, road closures, and recommendations provided by city officials and agencies, this decision has been made in careful consideration of our ticketholders and performers,” the festival’s organizers said in an announcement Monday.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – JILL TURGEON – Loudoun County School Board Member (Blue Ridge District) – discussed a proposed Loudoun County School Board gun violence in schools resolution, what the resolution actually does, and what we should do to address school security

• Loudoun School Board To Vote On Gun Violence In Schools Resolution (WMAL) — The Loudoun County School Board’s scheduled to vote Tuesday on a gun violence prevention resolution. The resolution includes statistics on gun violence in schools, information about what LCPS is doing to keep kids safe, and asks legislators on all levels to come together to taken action to cut down on gun violence. “We do need to state that we stand against gun violence in our schools,” board member Beth Huck said at a meeting March 13. But board member Eric DeKenipp said President Donald Trump’s already proposed a number of measures to keep kids safe in schools, and the authors of the resolution need to reconcile those measures with what’s in their resolution.

7am – E         Parkland News:

• Parkland Student In New Ad: ‘What If Our Politicians Weren’t The B**** Of The NRA?’ (Daily Wire) — In a new ad promoting the pro-gun control March for Our Lives set for Saturday, Parkland student and gun control activist David Hogg accuses politicians of being the “b****” of the National Rifle Organization (NRA). “What if our politicians weren’t the b**** of the NRA?” asks Hogg. Over 5 million Americans are active members of the NRA and rely on the organization to advocate for their gun rights protected under the Second Amendment. “What if we stood up as Americans and fought for our freedom and our children’s lives,” the student asks. The ad also includes a clip of NRA-endorsed President Donald Trump suggesting the age for handgun ownership be upped to 21 and slamming politicians who disagree with such a policy as “scared of the NRA.”
• MARCH FOR OUR LIVES (WTOP) — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser teamed up with pop superstar Justin Timberlake in a social media video promoting Saturday’s “March For Our Lives” protest movement. The video, posted on Timberlake’s social media accounts Monday, features the District’s mayor and the musician talking in support of the march against gun violence and asking others to join. “It’s been so inspiring seeing young people out there owning their voice and getting ready to own their vote,” Timberlake said in the video. Bowser said she plans on being at the march, which is scheduled to begin noon Saturday on Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown D.C

8am – A         INTERVIEW – CHUCK THIES – DC Political analyst – discussed the ongoing DC schools scandals, Mayor Bowser’s culpability in those scandals, the DC mayoral race filing deadline, and the anti-Semitic comments by DC councilman Trayon White

8am – B         Trump to hire lawyer who pushed theory DOJ framed Trump (CNN) — President Donald Trump will hire an attorney to join his personal legal team who has alleged the President is being framed by a group of FBI and Justice Department officials, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The longtime Washington attorney, Joseph diGenova, is expected to join the President’s legal team at a time when Trump is taking a more aggressive approach to publicly dealing with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, lobbing a series of attacks against Mueller on Twitter over the weekend. The New York Times first reported on diGenova’s hiring. “Former US Attorney for the District of Columbia Joe DiGenova will be joining our legal team later this week. I have worked with Joe for many years and have full confidence that he will be a great asset in our representation of the President,” Jay Sekulow, counsel to the President, told CNN. A source familiar with the plans said diGenova will join the legal team, in part, to engage with the media and actively defend the President.

8am – C         James Comey’s book, not yet released, has already hit Amazon’s bestseller list (LA Times) — Former FBI Director James Comey’s book doesn’t come out until next month, but it’s already climbing Amazon’s bestseller list. “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” scheduled for release by publisher Flatiron Books on April 17, was ranked No. 2 overall on Amazon’s bestseller list as of Monday morning, trailing only “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” a satirical children’s book that imagines Vice President Pence’s pet rabbit as gay. Comey’s book shot up the retailer’s bestseller list over the weekend, CNN reports. It had been ranked at No. 15 on Saturday morning before hitting No. 1 the following day. The spike might have been due to a series of tweets from President Trump, who fired Comey last May. Trump was reacting to fallout over Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions’ dismissal of deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe on Friday.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – LARRY KUDLOW –  – former CNBC Senior Contributor and soon-to-be former host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm BUT soon-to-be the Director of the National Economic Council – discussed his new job with the White House as Director of the National Economic Council, his opinion on the outlook for economic growth in the coming months, and our economic relations with China

8am – E         Shooting Investigation Underway at St. Mary’s Co. High School (NBC 4) — A shooting investigation is underway at a high school in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, the sheriff’s office confirms. The shooting happened Tuesday morning at Great Mills High School in Great Mills, Maryland. Multiple injuries have been reported. A Twitter post from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office asked parents not to report to the school due to the incident, but to go to a high school in nearby Leonardtown instead. The school is on lockdown, and the incident has been contained, St. Mary’s County Public Schools says. Parents of students at Great Mills High School are being told to report to Leonardtown High School to receive information or pick up their child. Great Mills is about 60 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. The shooting comes four days before the national March for Our Lives, a rally for student safety inspired by last month’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida.