Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, Steve Moore, Daily Mail’s Francesca Chambers and guest host Hans Von Spakovsky joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Hans Von Spakovsky

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS COULD BE MORE DISGRUNTLED THAN EVER: SURVEY. (Daily Caller) — An education survey found public school teachers are more unsatisfied with their work, with a majority who would not recommend their careers to others. EdChoice, an organization that supports school choice, released its sixth annual Schooling in America survey earlier in December. The teacher portion of the survey asked 777 public school teachers between Sept. 25 and Oct. 7 their opinions on standardized tests, school choice policies and their professional experiences through online interviews. It did not include private school teachers. Nearly 75 percent of public school teachers, classified in the survey as non-promoters, would not go out of their way to recommend their careers to others, or would even discourage it, according to the findings. Co-author Michael Shaw referred to a 2012 MetLife Survey, which found public school teacher satisfaction hit the lowest in the last 25 years at the time of the survey. But the EdChoice findings “indicate teacher satisfaction may be even lower since 2012,” Shaw said, the Watchdog reported. Over 70 percent of surveyed teachers wanted increased salaries. They trusted students and principals more than parents, union leadership and the Department of Education at the state and national levels.

5am – D         ARE THE RUSSIANS & CHINESE LISTENING TO YOUR CALLS?

(The Hill) — The Homeland Security Department last year found “anomalous activity” consistent with use of cell site simulators near the White House and other sensitive buildings. Driving tests suggest that cell site simulators are positioned near the buildings of federal agencies and high technology defense contractors. Foreign intelligence services are presumed to be responsible. Yet the Homeland Security Department said it does not have the technical expertise or resources to find these cell site simulators.

5am – E         Prolific streaker has stripped down at more than 500 sporting events. (NY Post) — A British man who has streaked at more than 500 events around the world has only been arrested a handful of times and convicted of a crime at least three times. Mark Roberts, 53, of Liverpool, has run naked in front of spectators at the Super Bowl, the Olympics and during a Wimbledon match, among many other events. He told Sky News in an interview published Wednesday that he streaks to “create something visual for people to laugh at.” Roberts, whose first streaking incident occurred at the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament in 1993, said he only does the act during breaks in the action so as not to disrupt the play on the field. “People have trained for years to reach these finals, and I fully appreciate that,” he said. “I’m not out there to scupper their chances or take anything away from them.” Roberts, who is a painter and decorator by day, told Sky News that Golden Palace sponsored him to commit one of his most daring acts — streak during the Super Bowl. He attempted the feat in 2004 at Super Bowl XXXVIII, which was being held at NRG Stadium in Houston.

6am – A/B/C Trump And First Lady Melania Greeted With Thunderous Applause By American Soldiers In Iraq. After a secret 11-hour journey aboard Air Force One, President Trump arrived in Iraq on the day after Christmas in a show of support for the U.S. troops stationed there. The president also took the opportunity to inform U.S. service personnel about his recent decision to pull American forces out of Syria. Trump – who was accompanied on the trip by first lady Melania Trump — said the U.S. mission in Syria was to strip the Islamic State terror group (ISIS) of its military strongholds, not to be a nation builder. He said that’s a job that should be shouldered by other rich nations — reiterating his America First policies and an ideology that challenges America’s roles as global cop. “I made it clear from the beginning that our mission in Syria was to strip ISIS of its military strongholds,” Trump told troops at Al Asad Air Base, west of Baghdad. The president said the U.S. presence in Syria was never to be “open-ended,” and that Turkey has agreed to eliminate ISIS remnants.

6am – D         Chaos Continues in Investigation of Alleged Election Irregularities in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. The membership of the state board investigating allegations of election irregularities in North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District race could be dramatically altered if the state legislature overrides a gubernatorial veto of an election reform bill it passed this month. On November 30, the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement (NCSBE) refused to certify the results of the November 6 election in which Republican Mark Harris won the race to represent North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District by 905 votes over Democrat challenger Dan McCready. Though the election boards in all eight counties that comprise the district certified the win, only the state board has the legal authority to certify the election so that the U.S. House of Representatives will seat the winner. The initial allegations of election irregularities focused on the absentee ballot collection conduct of Leslie McCrae Dowless, a former Democrat hired by the general consultant to the Harris campaign to undertake get-out-the-vote activities in Bladen County. The state board initially scheduled an evidentiary hearing on December 21 to consider the allegations. That hearing has been rescheduled for January 11.

6am – E         Sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey includes video evidence, Massachusetts State Police report says. The sexual assault case against actor Kevin Spacey reportedly includes a Snapchat video of him touching the front of the alleged victim’s pants, according to a Massachusetts State Police investigative report. Spacey is facing a count of indecent assault on a person over the age of 14 for allegedly groping the teenage son of former WCVB news anchor Heather Unruh at a Nantucket bar in 2016. The State Police report, which has been filed with a criminal complaint in Nantucket District Court, gives the first detailed account of Spacey’s alleged actions at The Club Car bar and restaurant two-and-a-half years ago. And it includes the first official statement that there is documentary evidence of Spacey touching Unruh’s son. “[Unruh’s son] said the whole thing was embarrassing and has not had a ‘profound emotional effect’ on him. [He] told his friends about it and makes jokes about it because that is his way,” Trooper Gerald F. Donovan wrote in his report, though family believe this may be a coping mechanism. “[He] called the police because he doesn’t want what happened to him to happen to anyone else.” Spacey could not immediately be reached through a phone number listed on court paperwork. MassLive has reached out to his attorney Bryan Freedman for comment. The criminal complaint was issued against Spacey on Dec. 20 and he is scheduled for arraignment on Jan. 7 in Nantucket District Court.

6am – F         Pelosi: Trump’s Wall Has Gone From Cement to a ‘Beaded Curtain.’

Current House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) joked to USA Today about how President Donald Trump’s border has gone from a massive concrete structure to nothing more than a “beaded curtain” and blasted his rhetoric about immigrants. “First of all, the fact … that he says, ‘We’re going to build a wall with cement, and Mexico’s going to pay for it’ while he’s already backed off of the cement – now he’s down to, I think, a beaded curtain or something, I’m not sure where he is,” Pelosi said. “He talked about terrorists coming in over that particular border, which wasn’t so. He talked about people bringing in diseases and all the rest of that, which wasn’t so,” she continued. “He’s using scare tactics that are not evidence-based, and it’s wrong.” She further criticized Trump for the current government shutdown that started just before Christmas over funding for a wall: “But one thing’s for sure, the first week of January, we will be passing legislation to open up government.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW – LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER – a CIA trained former senior intelligence officer and the New York Times best-selling author of ” Operation Dark Heart.” @T_S_P_O_O_K_Y ‏

• Discuss Trump’s surprise Iraq trip and media’s reaction
• Thoughts on whether withdrawing from Syria is a strategic mistake or a good idea

7am – B         MIGRANT BOY UPDATE:

• FATHER OF GUATEMALAN BOY WHO DIED REFUSED MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR SON: The father of the Guatemalan child who died Christmas Eve denied further medical treatment from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents after the child vomited following an initial examination from doctors, a spokesman from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on a call to reporters Wednesday.
• CDC ASKED TO INTERVENE: A DHS official told reporters that “literally dozens” of sick migrants are being transported to hospitals across the border each day and that growing numbers of children showing illness are present in border patrol custody. “We’re doing dozens of hospital trips every single day with children that have fevers or manifest other medical conditions,” CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told CBSNews Wednesday morning.
• HUNDRED BEING RELEASED IN EL PASO: One-hundred-eighty-six more migrants were released in downtown El Paso, Texas by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Christmas Day, reports the CBS affiliate there, KDBC-TV. That came after approximately 400 were released in the southwest Texas city in the two days before Christmas.

7am – C         Study: Drinking alcohol, coffee linked to living past 90. IRVINE, Calif. — People who drink moderate amounts of alcohol or coffee and are overweight in their 70s live longer, according to a study. Researchers at the University of California Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders started a study in 2003 to see what makes people live past 90 years old. “More than 1,600 people have enrolled,” according to the study’s authors. “Because little is known about people who achieve this milestone, the remarkable increase in the number of oldest-old presents a public health priority to promote the quality as well as the quantity of life.” Participants in the 90+ Study who drank moderate amounts of alcohol or coffee lived longer than those who didn’t.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – STEVE MOORE – former campaign economic advisor to President Trump, economist at The Heritage Foundation and author of new book “Trumponomics:Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy”

• Dow surges more than 1,000 points, its biggest point gain in history, recovering from days of losses
• The stock market’s super day comes after retailers posted the best holiday shopping season in six years. A whopping $850 billion was spent over the Christmas season (via WSJ)
• S. holiday shopping season best in six years: report

7am – E         BALTIMORE BUYBACK:

• The rocket launcher was traded for $500, and police have reached out to the military and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to trace its origin. Rocket launcher among 1,000 firearms turned in at Baltimore gun buyback. The rocket launcher was traded for $500, and police have reached out to the military and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to trace its origin. Police spokesman Detective Jeremy Silbert says the unloaded rocket launcher was turned in Monday, Dec. 17.
• Baltimore woman using city gun buyback to ‘upgrade to a better weapon’. The Baltimore Police Department collected more than 500 firearms Monday as part as a buyback program that pays residents anywhere between $25 to $500 for their unwanted weapons and high-capacity magazines.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — Francesca Chambers – Senior White House Correspondent, Daily Mail

• DAILY MAIL: Donald and Melania Trump make a surprise visit to Iraq to wish troops a Merry Christmas after being criticized for failing to visit a war zone for the first two years of his presidency

8am – B/C  BORDER WALL NEWS:

• Trump says he wants to visit border wall before State of the Union. Trump, speaking with reporters during an unannounced trip to Iraq, said he planned on “going to the wall” for a “groundbreaking” event before his State of the Union address, which will be held in late January.
• ICE released hundreds of migrants in Texas before Christmas — and is planning to release hundreds more. The Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement released hundreds of migrants seeking asylum into El Paso, Texas, just before Christmas — and they’re scheduled to several many more on Wednesday. CNN’s Nick Valencia reported that ICE plans to release more than 500 more migrants seeking asylum in the same city on Wednesday, but with more cooperation with local aid organizations. They will also be released in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
• Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asks federal disease-control authorities to examine ‘uptick’ in sick children crossing into S.

8am – D/E     TRUMP IN IRAQ / MEDIA REACTION

• President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq.
• MSNBC panelist attacks President Donald Trump for visiting American troops in Iraq just moments after news broke that Trump made the surprise visit: “Look, I think it’s important that the president goes and visits the troops, but he’s doing this backwards.”
• CBS, NBC Slam Trump’s Visit to Troops in Iraq: Took Him Long Enough
• CNN: Trump Is ‘The Grinch’, ‘Stole Christmas’ from the Troops in Iraq
• CNN Decries S. Troops in Iraq Who Had Their MAGA Hats Signed By Trump
• Melania Trump gets mocked for wearing Timberland boots while visiting the troops