Daily Caller White House correspondent Saagar Enjeti, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, The Hill media reporter Joe Concha, and Washington Post Sports reporter Roman Stubbs joined WMAL on Tuesday!

 Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Fired FBI agent Peter Strzok sets up anti-Trump Twitter account; GoFundMe page seeks $150G (Fox News) – Fired FBI agent Peter Strzok took his anti-Trump rhetoric public on Monday, setting up a defiant Twitter account as a GoFundMe page sought to raise $150,000 to cover his “legal costs and lost income.”  Strzok, who played a lead role in both the Russian meddling and Hillary Clinton email probes but became a political lightning rod after the revelation of text messages critical of Trump, wasted no time blasting the administration and House Republicans in his new social media account.

5am – D ‘That’s not okay:’ Twitter users slam Disney as it selects STRAIGHT actor Jack Whitehall to play the first gay character in The Jungle Cruise (Daily Mail) – Disney has come under fire after selecting a straight actor to play the studios’ first ever openly gay character.  British comedian Jack Whitehall was selected to star as Emily Blunt’s gay brother alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in Disney’s The Jungle Cruise.

5am – E Here’s how many paid vacation days the typical American worker gets (USA Today) – As summer heats up, workers across the country are enjoying some well-earned time off. People who take vacations report higher productivity and are more likely to get a promotion or a raise.  But compared to employees in other nations, Americans take significantly fewer days off.  One reason for this is that American companies offer fewer vacation days. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 76 percent of private industry workers (who make up 84.7 percent of all workers) receive paid vacation days. After one year of employment, these workers were granted 10 days of paid vacation, on average.

6am – A/B/C Latest Omarosa Accusations:

• Omarosa claims Melania Trump’s ‘I don’t care’ jacket was a ‘style rebellion’ to ‘hurt’ her husband (People) – First Lady Melania Trump‘s controversial fashion choices — from her p****-bow blouse to her “I really don’t care” jacket — were actually “style rebellions” intended to “punish her husband,” former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman alleges in her new book. In Unhinged, due out Tuesday, Manigault Newman specifically claims that the first lady was trying to make President Trump “look foolish” when she wore a Zara jacket emblazoned with the words “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” on her way to visit separated children at an immigration facility in Texas.
• Omarosa says she taped phone calls with Jared and Ivanka: report (Washington Examiner) – Ousted White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman recently told friends and associates that she recorded private phone calls between herself and White House senior advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner – President Trump’s daughter and son-in-law. One of those conversations took place Dec. 14, the day after Manigault Newman, who worked as director of the Office of Public Liaison, was informed by White House chief of staff John Kelly she was being fired.  Trump and Kushner expressed their condolences over the news and said they were surprised to hear it, according to Politico.
• EXCLUSIVE: Trump campaign says Omarosa came to THEM asking for work after leaving White House – and $15,000 per month offer was not ‘hush money’ but fell apart when they learned why she was fired (Daily Mail) – Omarosa Manigault-Newman wasn’t offered a $15,000-per-month job with Donald Trump’s re-election campaign in early 2017 to keep her quiet, a high-ranking campaign official said Monday. Instead, according to a second highly placed source in Trumpworld with direct knowledge of the episode, the disgraced former West Wing aide came to the campaign asking for work.

6am – D Fired FBI agent Peter Strzok sets up anti-Trump Twitter account; GoFundMe page seeks $150G (Fox News) – Fired FBI agent Peter Strzok took his anti-Trump rhetoric public on Monday, setting up a defiant Twitter account as a GoFundMe page sought to raise $150,000 to cover his “legal costs and lost income.”  Strzok, who played a lead role in both the Russian meddling and Hillary Clinton email probes but became a political lightning rod after the revelation of text messages critical of Trump, wasted no time blasting the administration and House Republicans in his new social media account.

6am – E Judge makes stunning decision in Muslim compound case after charges of racism (The Blaze) – In a hearing Monday, a New Mexico judge found that suspects in a bizarre child abuse case were not a danger to the public, and released them on bond.  Defense attorney blames Islamophobia.  Two Muslim men and three women are charged with 11 counts of child abuse each after police raided their compound in New Mexico and discovered 11 malnourished children living in squalor.

6am – F Crash outside UK Houses of Parliament treated as terror incident, police say (CNN) – A car crashed into security barriers outside the UK’s Houses of Parliament during rush hour Tuesday morning, injuring two people. The driver, a man in his late 20s, has been arrested on suspicion of terrorist offenses.  The man’s car collided with several cyclists and pedestrians, before crashing into the barrier, shortly after 7:30 a.m., police said.  The crash is being treated as a terrorist incident and counter terror police are leading the investigation, police added.

7am – A INTERVIEW – Saagar Enjeti – White House correspondent, The Daily Caller – discussed latest Omarosa accusations and White House news 

7am – B Representative Keith Ellison denies abuse allegations about ex-girlfriend (New York Times) – Ahead of Minnesota’s primaries on Tuesday, Representative Keith Ellison has denied allegations that he had emotionally and physically abused a former girlfriend, including once trying to pull her off a bed while yelling obscenities at her.  The allegations surfaced on Saturday night in a Facebook post published by the son of the ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan. The post referred to a two-minute video that the son, Austin Monahan, claimed showed Mr. Ellison “dragging my mama off the bed by her feet.”

7am – C Union calls for firing of Metro GM after claims of special treatment for white nationalists at rally (FOX 5 DC) – A union that represents Metro workers has called for the transit system’s general manager to be fired after they say special accommodations were made for a white nationalist rally in Washington, D.C. over the weekend.  ATU Local 689 President Jackie Jeter said that employees are disgusted after the union claimed preferential treatment was given to white nationalists attending the Unite the Right rally in the District.

7am – D/E INTERVIEW – Tom Fitton – President of Judicial Watch – discussed Strzok’s firing

8am – A INTERVIEW – Joe Concha – Media reporter, The Hill – discussed media reaction to Strzok firing and Omarosa accusations         

8am – B Trump signs McCain defense measure, doesn’t thank McCain (CNN) – President Donald Trump thanked multiple members of Congress involved in passing the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act at a signing ceremony at Fort Drum, New York, Monday, with one major exception: the senator for whom the bill is named.  “We would not be here for today’s signing ceremony without the dedicated efforts without the dedicated members of Congress who worked so hard to pass the National Defense Authorization Act,” Trump said, namechecking Republican members of Congress including Rep. Elise Stefanik, who spoke briefly and represents the district containing Fort Drum, as well as Don Bacon, Dan Donovan, Joe Wilson and Martha McSally.

8am – C Source: Aretha Franklin is in hospice care (CNN) – Aretha Franklin is in hospice care at her home, a source close to the 76-year-old singer told CNN’s Don Lemon.  Word of the “Queen of Soul” being gravely ill was first reported by Showbiz 411.  Showbiz 411’s Roger Friedman told CNN: “She has a great family, she’s surrounded by love, and the world is sending prayers. All further announcements will be made by her family. We just want to send love and prayers.”

8am – D INTERVIEW – Roman Stubbs – Washington Post sports reporter – discussed emerging University of Maryland football scandal  

8am – E Omarosa claims new tape shows Trump campaign staffers discussing racial slur (Politico) – A new recording released Tuesday by former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman appears to feature a discussion between three Trump campaign officials strategizing over a response to an embarrassing remark by the president that Manigault Newman claims was a racial slur.  The recording appears to show Manigault Newman, along with Trump campaign aides Katrina Pierson and Lynne Patton, discussing during the 2016 campaign how to respond to something inappropriate the president said, although they do not specify on the tape what word or words he used. Manigault Newman has alleged that there is a recording of Trump using the n-word from his time hosting NBC’s “The Apprentice” and that that is what she, Pierson and Patton were discussing.