Hans Von Spakovsky, Joe Mantegna, Dr. Sebastian Gorka and Fox’s Kevin Corke joined WMAL on Friday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, May 25, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C NORTH KOREA SUMMIT IS OFF:

• North Korea pleads with Trump to reconsider ‘extremely regrettable’ cancellation of summit
• Trump’s call for ‘action’ with video they claim shows the demolition of a nuclear test site after urging U.S. to rethink summit cancellation, offering to meet ‘any time, any way’ (Daily Mail) — North Korea released fresh images of what it says was the demolition of a nuclear test site on the same day it expressed regret over President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a June 12 summit with ruler Kim Jong-un.  North Korea on Friday said it was still willing to talk to the United States ‘any time in any form’ after Trump’s announcement, a decision Pyongyang described as ‘extremely regrettable’. North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister said Kim had been preparing for the talks and expressed surprise at the cancellation.  ‘The abrupt announcement of the cancellation of the meeting is unexpected for us and we cannot but find it extremely regrettable,’ Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister, said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency. ‘We again state to the US our willingness to sit face-to-face at any time in any form to resolve the problem,’ Kim added. President Donald Trump on Thursday called off his planned June summit with Kim Jong Un, blaming ‘open hostility’ from the North Korean regime and warning Pyongyang against committing any ‘foolish or reckless acts’. In a letter to Kim, Trump announced he would not go ahead with the high-stakes meeting set for June 12 in Singapore, following what the White House called a ‘trail of broken promises’ by the North. In his Friday statement, First Vice Foreign Minister Kim said the North Korean leader had been preparing for the summit to go ahead. ‘Our Chairman (Kim Jong-un) had also said a meeting with President Trump would create a good beginning and had been putting effort into preparations for it,’ Kim said.
• North Korea says it is still willing to meet with the US after Trump canceled next month’s summit with Kim Jong Un
• Pompeo: The US was fully prepared for summit, but received no responses from North Korea
• Democrat Nancy Pelosi saying “Kim Jong Un Must Be Having a Giggle Fit Right Now”
• Pelosi also calls Trump’s letter to Ung a “Valentine”
• Pelosi mocks Trump, says Kim Jong Un is the “big winner” after Trump cancels North Korea summit
• North Korea was no-show for summit planning meeting in Singapore last week, White House reveals.

5am– D/E      TECHNOLOGY & SURVEILLIANCE:

• A couple says that Amazon’s Alexa recorded a private conversation and randomly sent it to a friend (Business Insider) —  A couple in Portland, Oregon, say that speakers in their home powered by Amazon’s Alexa smart voice assistant recorded a private conversation and sent the recording to a person in their contacts. A woman named Danielle says she and her husband got a call two weeks ago from the contact, who told them to immediately unplug all their devices because he had heard their conversation in his home 176 miles away in Seattle, KIRO-TV first reported. She said he proved it by providing details about the conversation, which was about hardwood floors. Amazon told the news station: “Amazon takes privacy very seriously. We investigated what happened and determined this was an extremely rare occurrence. We are taking steps to avoid this from happening in the future.” “I felt invaded,” Danielle told KIRO-TV. “A total privacy invasion. Immediately I said, ‘I’m never plugging that device in again, because I can’t trust it.'”
• Facebook accused of conducting mass surveillance through its apps. Company gathered data from texts and photos of users and their friends, court case claims. (Guardian) – Facebook used its apps to gather information about users and their friends, including some who had not signed up to the social network, reading their text messages, tracking their locations and accessing photos on their phones, a court case in California alleges. The claims of what would amount to mass surveillance are part of a lawsuit brought against the company by the former startup Six4Three, listed in legal documents filed at the superior court in San Mateo as part of a court case that has been ongoing for more than two years. A Facebook spokesperson said that Six4Three’s “claims have no merit, and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously”. Facebook did not directly respond to questions about surveillance. Documents filed in the court last week draw upon extensive confidential emails and messages between Facebook senior executives, which are currently sealed.

 

6am – A/B/C Science says men may be better at directions than women. A new study from UCSB reveals that men may have better navigation skills than women. New study says men are better at navigating directions – they’re more eager to take shortcuts while women prefer to stick with the familiar route. Who is better at directions – men or women?

6am – D         INTERVIEW — HANS VON SPAKOVSKY —  former counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Justice Department, former commissioner for the Federal Election Commission from 2006 to 2007 and senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation — discussedthe ways in which the Obama DOJ was meddlesome (going after journalists, prosecutorial discretion, etc) versus when he was in the DOJ.

6am – E         ‘Racist’ Trump Pardons First Black Heavyweight Boxing Champion.  Trump pardons late boxer Jack Johnson after “racially-motivated injustice”: “He was treated very rough, very tough.”   (Daily Caller) — President Donald Trump pardoned the first black heavyweight boxing champion Thursday. Jack Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury in 1913 of transporting a woman across state lines. Johnson was convicted for violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for “immoral” purposes, and served close to one year in prison. The pardon comes after Johnson’s great-great niece had been pushing for a posthumous pardon. Actor Sylvester Stallone was also a huge advocate for Johnson’s pardon and joined Trump in the Oval Office for the pardon announcement. Johnson was charged due to racially motivated injustice, Trump said and hopes this pardon will help “to correct a wrong in our history,” ABC News reported. “I am taking this very righteous step, I believe, to correct a wrong that occurred in our history, and to honor a truly legendary boxing champion, legendary athlete and a person that, when people got to know him, they really liked him and they really thought he was treated unfairly,” Trump said.

6am – F         AVENATTI NEWS:

• Polling Proves That The Longer Michael Avenatti Speaks, The More Popular Trump Gets

• Stormy Daniels: I Want to Depose Trump and Giuliani. The porn star is asking a federal judge to revive her high-profile lawsuit so she can put Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani under oath.
• AVENATTI, FOR SOME REASON WEIGHS IN ON NORTH KOREA: Tweet: So we are foregoing a chance at a historic resolution to a nuclear crisis because we object to someone we know being called a “political dummy”? Are you kidding me? So much for that self-appointed Nobel peace prize. #NoLeadership #Pathetic #Basta

 

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE MANTEGNA – co- host of the NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT

• The “150th Anniversary of “National Memorial Day Concert 2018”, a host of celebrities honoring our men and women in uniform who have sacrificed for our country! The 29th annual broadcast of the NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT airs live on PBS Sunday, May 27, 2018, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m., before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, as well as to our troops serving around the world on the American Forces Network.

7am – B         Trump’s call for ‘action’ with video they claim shows the demolition of a nuclear test site after urging U.S. to rethink summit cancellation, offering to meet ‘any time, any way’ (Daily Mail) — North Korea released fresh images of what it says was the demolition of a nuclear test site on the same day it expressed regret over President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a June 12 summit with ruler Kim Jong-un.  North Korea on Friday said it was still willing to talk to the United States ‘any time in any form’ after Trump’s announcement, a decision Pyongyang described as ‘extremely regrettable’. North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister said Kim had been preparing for the talks and expressed surprise at the cancellation.

7am – C         No amount of alcohol, sausage or bacon is safe according to cancer experts (The Mirror) — Even small amounts of processed meats and booze increase the risk of a host of cancers outlined in World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) guidelines updated every decade. No amount of alcohol, sausage or bacon is safe according to a new global blueprint on how to beat cancer. Even small amounts of processed meats and booze increase the risk of a host of cancers outlined in World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) guidelines updated every decade. The respected global authority has unveiled a 10-point plan to cut your risk of getting cancer by up to 40%. Brits have been told to banish favourites such as ham, burgers and hot dogs from their diets by experts who say they are a direct cause of bowel cancer. Processed meats also cause people to be overweight which can trigger many more cancers.

7am – D         MORGAN FREEMAN / HARVEY WEINSTEIN:

• Morgan Freeman’s SAG lifetime achievement award under review following allegations of sexual misconduct   via @latimes // After Morgan Freeman was accused of inappropriate behavior by eight women, SAG-AFTRA said Thursday that it is reviewing “corrective actions” relating to a lifetime achievement award the union gave the 80-year-old actor in January. “These are compelling and devastating allegations which are absolutely contrary to all the steps that we are taking to [ensure] a safe work environment for the professionals in this industry,” read a SAG-AFTRA statement. “Any accused person has the right to due process, but it is our starting point to believe the courageous voices who come forward to report incidents of harassment.” The response came just hours after CNN broke a story in which numerous women described how Freeman subjected them to unwanted touching and lewd, sexual comments. Freeman released the following statement after the story was published: “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.”
• Morgan Freeman: VISA Pulls Marketing As Sexual Harassment Fallout Continues (Deadline) – Morgan Freeman and VISA have enjoyed a long relationship over years with the actor appearing in many of the credit card’s commercials as well as featured as a voiceover artist in its spots. After today, following allegations that surfaced from multiple women about sexual harassment and untoward behavior by the 80 year-old actor, VISA is stepping back.
• Morgan Freeman apologizes after multiple women accuse actor of sexual harassment (Fox News) — Morgan Freeman issued an apology to “anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected” following an explosive report containing claims of sexual harassment from eight women. The veteran actor, 80, told Fox News on Thursday, “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.” Eight women told CNN on Thursday that Freeman made suggestive comments about their appearance and inappropriately touched them.
• Eight women accuse Morgan Freeman of inappropriate behavior. They say it happened on movie sets, at his company and in interviews.
• Harvey Weinstein set to turn himself in for sex-crime charges. Harvey Weinstein is expected to be arrested in New York on Friday after an inquiry into allegations that he sexually assaulted numerous women. Harvey Weinstein set to turn himself in on sex crime charges in New York. Harvey Weinstein is expected to surrender to authorities Friday to face sex assault charges in connection with attacks on multiple women. The fallen Hollywood honcho is expected to be charged with preying on Lucia Evans, who told investigators that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004, and at least one other accuser, sources said. His attorney Benjamin Brafman declined to comment Thursday. Evans told The New Yorker she was an incoming college senior trying to break into the film business when she met Weinstein at a nightclub. The movie mogul invited her to the Miramax office. Soon after she arrived for the daytime meeting, Evans said, Weinstein pulled her head down to his crotch. “I said, over and over, ‘I don’t want to do this, stop, don’t,’ ” she told the magazine. “I tried to get away, but maybe I didn’t try hard enough. I didn’t want to kick him or fight him.”

7am – E         DOJ / FBI NEWS:

• White House lawyer Emmet Flood attends two classified Justice Department briefings with lawmakers on a confidential intelligence source (CNN) White House lawyer Emmet Flood attended the start of two classified Justice Department briefings with lawmakers on a confidential intelligence source, adding to Democratic concerns that White House staff were taking part in the briefings on classified information that was related to the Russia investigation. Flood and White House chief of staff John Kelly attended the start of the briefings before leaving. Their attendance was just one of the many twists that accompanied the remarkable back-to-back briefings between senior Trump administration officials and two different groups of lawmakers. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Flood and Kelly were there to “facilitate meetings” between the Justice Department officials and Congress and that both men left the meetings “after making brief comments.”

• Grassley Defends Whistleblower Law, But FBI Agents Want Assurances That Legal Fees Are Covered If Dept. Retaliates (Daily Caller) — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley disputed claims Thursday that a congressional subpoena would be necessary in certain cases for a government employee to give lawmakers testimony about wrongdoing while being ensured appropriate legal protections from their agency. “I want to clear up a few things. I have been seeing reports that individuals within our federal law enforcement agencies want to talk to Congress about problems they have seen on the job. But, the reports say these individuals want to be subpoenaed by congressional committees, rather than coming forward voluntarily,” Chairman Grassley said in a floor speech. He went on to say, “There is a perception that without a subpoena, they have no legal protection against retaliation for cooperating with Congress. That is nonsense and a misperception that has been fomented by FBI and DOJ leadership for many years.”

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW – DR. SEBASTIAN GORKA  – FOXNews National Security Strategist, NYT Bestseller author of “DEFEATING JIHAD” and Fmr deputy assistant to President Donald Trump

• North Korea pleads with Trump to reconsider ‘extremely regrettable’ cancellation of summit

8am – B/C     CLINTON NEWS:

• Clinton backs Cuomo, tries to rally embattled NY Dems at convention. (Fox News) — Hillary Clinton on Wednesday formally backed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the gubernatorial race, as she tried to unite scandal-scarred Democrats at their state convention.  The endorsement for Cuomo comes as he fights to ward off a challenge from the left in the form of activist and “Sex and the City” actress Cynthia Nixon.  The party is also still reeling from the resignation of Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who stepped down earlier this month amid allegations he assaulted four women he dated.  Clinton did not mention Schneiderman during remarks at Hofstra University, but took repeated swipes at President Trump and urged Democrats to turn out to back Cuomo — who she said would stand up for progressive values and against the Trump administration.
• “If you believe that standing up for evidence and reason and respecting the rule of law is critical to our democracy, you’ve got to vote for Democrats.” Hillary Clinton addressed attendees at the New York Democrats Convention
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo tells Hillary Clinton: “You talk about carrying a torch? You carry the torch. “…You’re an inspiration, you’re a crusader, you’re pioneer, and we are so grateful you’re a New Yorker.”

8am – C         Rachel Dolezal, white woman who posed as black, accused of welfare fraud. SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A former NAACP leader in Washington state whose life unraveled after she was outed as a white woman pretending to be black has been charged with welfare fraud. Rachel Dolezal, who legally changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in 2016, was charged this week with theft by welfare fraud, perjury and false verification for public assistance, Spokane news station KHQ-TV reported Thursday. She illegally received $8,747 in food assistance and $100 in child care assistance from August 2015 through November 2017, court documents said. This news surfaces after Dolezal was the star of her own documentary on Netflix documenting her life and her family. An investigation started in March 2017 when a Washington state investigator received information that Diallo had written a book. The investigator reviewed Diallo’s records and found that she had been reporting her income as usually less than $500 per month, court documents said. A subpoena for her self-employment records, which included copies of her bank statements, showed Diallo had deposited nearly $84,000 into her bank account between August 2015 and September 2017, without reporting it to the Department of Social and Health Services. The money came from authoring her memoir, “In Full Color,” speaking engagements, soap making, doll making, and the sale of her art, according to the case file.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – KEVIN CORKE –  White House Correspondent for the Fox News Channel  @kevincorke – discussed the latest White House news: President Trump making the Commencement Address today at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, North Korea pleading with Trump to reconsider ‘extremely regrettable’ cancellation of summit and the latest on the White House sinkhole.

8am – E         Evicted 30-Year-Old Update:

• 30-year-old evicted from parents’ home must leave by June 1. SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – A court order says a 30-year-old upstate New York man who was evicted from his parents’ house must move out by noon on June 1. State Supreme Court Justice Donald Greenwood signed the order on Thursday.
• Pizzeria chain offers job to 30-year-old New York man evicted by parents. (CBS News) — A 30-year-old New York man who’s being evicted from his parents’ home may finally have some luck coming his way. After hearing about Michael Rotondo’s personal woes, one national pizza chain decided to offer him a job. After months of ignoring eviction notices and offers of cash, Rotondo was ordered by a state judge on Tuesday to move out of his parents’ house in upstate New York. He has to leave by June 1, according to a court filing reviewed by CBS News.  Part of the reason Rotondo says he hasn’t left for a new place is because he’s jobless. But Andrew Steinberg, chief operating officer of the quick-service pizza chain Villa Italian Kitchen, wants to take a chance on him because he knows millennials have it “tough out there.” “At Villa, we feel for millennials, across the board,” Steinberg said. “With that said…Michael, hey dude. We are offering you a store-level gig, complete with extensive training to get you up to speed, at any one of our 250 locations worldwide.” Steinberg’s offer also comes with a “signing bonus” of sorts as an extra incentive.