Cal Thomas, Charlie Spiering, Eli Lake and guest co-host Hans Von Spakovsky joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Hans Von Spakovsky

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C SHUTDOWN CUT THE CONGRESSIONAL PERKS AND PAY?

• DEM INTRODUCES BILL TO SHUT DOWN CONGRESSIONAL GYM BECAUSE RYAN IS USING IT “I introduced a bill to close the Congressional gym during a government shutdown,” Foster tweeted Sunday. “[Speaker Ryan] continues to use it during the #TrumpShowdown as federal workers face uncertainty over the holidays. The only task we have right now is ending the #TrumpShutdown.”
• OCASIO-CORTEZ SAYS CONGRESS’ SALARIES SHOULD BE FURLOUGHED DURING SHUTDOWN. During the next government shutdown, Ocasio-Cortez called for congressional salaries to be furloughed. Currently, congressional pay is except from being furloughed during a government shutdown. “It’s completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Have some integrity.”

5am – D         Second Migrant Child Died in U.S. Custody, Say Feds. ASSOCIATED PRESS — An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died in government custody early Tuesday, said U.S. immigration authorities, marking the second death of an immigrant child in detention this month. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release that the boy died shortly after midnight Tuesday. The boy showed “signs of potential illness” Monday and was taken with his father to a hospital in Alamogordo, New Mexico, the agency said. There, he was diagnosed with a cold and a fever, was given prescriptions for amoxicillin and Ibuprofen and released Monday afternoon. The boy was returned to the hospital Monday evening with nausea and vomiting and died there just hours later, CBP said. The agency said the cause of the boy’s death has not been determined and that it has notified the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general and the Guatemalan government.

5am – E         N KOREA ORDERED TO PAY $500 MILLION TO WARMBIERS: Warmbier was a University of Virginia student who allegedly stole a propaganda poster while in North Korea back in January 2016. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor by the state for the alleged crime in March of that year. Warmbier was released with the help of U.S. President Donald Trump in June 2017, but Warmbier, 22, died a week after his return.

 

6am – A/B/C NYT PIECE ADVOCATES TRACKING CREDIT CARD PURCHASES OF GUN OWNERS: The NYT piece, authored by Andrew Ross Sorkin, noted that a number of mass shooters purchased their weapons and ammo using credit cards. Banks are required to alert federal authorities to purchases exceeding $10,000, but there are rules preventing them from seeing precisely what goods users are purchasing.

6am – D INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist – discussed falling stock market, angry Trump tweets and how Trump is doing with his conservative base.

6am – E         CHRISTMAS MESSAGES:

• Defense Sec Mattis taped a XMAS message to troops the day before he resigned.
• President Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Tuesday wished Americans a Merry Christmas. In a video posted on the official White House Twitter, the president said he and his wife are “truly thrilled to wish every American a very Merry Christmas.”

6am – F         Amazon’s Echo smart speakers went down across the country on Christmas Day, with thousands of people reporting that the company’s artificial intelligence assistant Alexa appeared to have gone on a festive break.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – CHARLIE SPIERING – White House Correspondent for Breitbart News – discussed the latest on the shutdown, the president’s schedule on Christmas and predictions for next year.

7am – B/C     CREEPY KEVIN SPACEY

• KEVIN SPACEY’S WEIRD VIDEO: Kevin Spacey is breaking his silence with a bizarre video, and he seemed to time its release to right when news broke that he will face a felony charge tied to a sexual assault allegation.
• SPACEY FACING FELONY ASSAULT CHARGE: Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said Monday that Spacey, 59, was scheduled to be arraigned on a charge of indecent assault and battery at Nantucket District Court on Jan. 7, after a Dec. 20 public show-cause hearing where clerk magistrate Ryan Kearney issued a criminal complaint.

7am – D/E SHUTDOWN CUT THE CONGRESSIONAL PERKS AND PAY?

• DEM INTRODUCES BILL TO SHUT DOWN CONGRESSIONAL GYM BECAUSE RYAN IS USING IT  “I introduced a bill to close the Congressional gym during a government shutdown,” Foster tweeted Sunday. “[Speaker Ryan] continues to use it during the #TrumpShowdown as federal workers face uncertainty over the holidays. The only task we have right now is ending the #TrumpShutdown.”
• OCASIO-CORTEZ SAYS CONGRESS’ SALARIES SHOULD BE FURLOUGHED DURING SHUTDOWN. During the next government shutdown, Ocasio-Cortez called for congressional salaries to be furloughed. Currently, congressional pay is except from being furloughed during a government shutdown. “It’s completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Have some integrity.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – ELI LAKE – Columnist, Bloomberg View — discussed whether withdrawing from Syria is a strategic mistake

8am – B/C  OCASIO SUGGESTS JESUS WAS A REFUGEE:

• Ocasio-Cortez says Jesus was a ‘refugee’ in Christmas tweet (Fox News) — S. Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. wished her Twitter followers a Merry Christmas Tuesday by referring to the newborn Jesus as a “refugee.” “Joy to the World!” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “Merry Christmas everyone – here’s to a holiday filled with happiness, family, and love for all people. (Including refugee babies in mangers + their parents.)” Mary and Joseph are not depicted as refugees in the Nativity story. According to the Gospel of Luke, Joseph brings the pregnant Mary to Bethlehem so that he may enroll in a census ordered by the Roman emperor Agustus. The couple are forced to take shelter in the stable where Jesus is born due to a lack of room at the inn.
• Joy From Giving Lasts Much Longer Than Joy From Getting, Study Shows. CHICAGO — In this season of giving and getting, the findings are in. It is more blessed to give than to receive. According to two new studies conducted by researchers with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, giving to others rather than to ourselves makes us happier. Have you ever noticed that your enjoyment in a repeated activity or event decreases over time no matter how wonderful it is? When this happens, you are experiencing what researchers call hedonic adaptation. The joy of having our own desires met is always fleeting. Perhaps surprisingly, however, giving to others creates a more lasting happiness. “If you want to sustain happiness over time, past research tells us that we need to take a break from what we’re currently consuming and experience something new,” says study co-author Ed O’Brien, of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, in a release from the Association for Psychological Science. “Our research reveals that the kind of thing may matter more than assumed: Repeated giving, even in identical ways to identical others, may continue to feel relatively fresh and relatively pleasurable the more that we do it.” In the first experiment, 96 college student participants were given $5 each day for five days. The students were told to spend the money on exactly the same thing each day. Some of the participants were randomly assigned to spend the money on themselves, while some were assigned to spend the money on others — maybe an online donation to the same charity each day or even cash placed in a tip jar at the same café.

8am – D         Second Migrant Child Died in U.S. Custody, Say Feds. ASSOCIATED PRESS — An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died in government custody early Tuesday, said U.S. immigration authorities, marking the second death of an immigrant child in detention this month. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release that the boy died shortly after midnight Tuesday. The boy showed “signs of potential illness” Monday and was taken with his father to a hospital in Alamogordo, New Mexico, the agency said. There, he was diagnosed with a cold and a fever, was given prescriptions for amoxicillin and Ibuprofen and released Monday afternoon. The boy was returned to the hospital Monday evening with nausea and vomiting and died there just hours later, CBP said. The agency said the cause of the boy’s death has not been determined and that it has notified the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general and the Guatemalan government.

8am – E         Parents Of Young Kids Awoken On Christmas Morning By 6:45, Survey Finds. LONDON — You may be off for the holiday, but if you’ve got kids, you’ll likely still be up and at ’em at the crack of dawn. A new survey found that parents of young children are most likely to be awoken bright and early by the excited little ones on Christmas Day. More specifically, those with kids between ages two and six were typically awoken no later than 6:45 in the morning. And one in six parents will find themselves jarred awake in the middle of the night by children who are simply too excited about Christmas to sleep. On the other hand, if your children are now teenagers, you’ll be much more likely to sleep in. The survey of 2,000 parents, commissioned by United Kingdom bedding company Happy Beds, also found that teens were least likely to wake up before their folks. Just 15 percent rise and shine before 7 a.m.