Sidney Powell, Byron York, Joe diGenova, Washington Post’s Dana Hedgpeth, Joe Concha, Mark Levin, White House’s Mercedes Schlapp, Steve Moore and guest co-host Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer joined WMAL on Monday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, March 25, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and guest co-host Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C/D/E     MUELLER REPORT REACTION:

• Mueller finds no proof of Trump collusion with Russia; AG Barr says evidence ‘not sufficient’ to prosecute. (NBC News) – Special counsel Robert Mueller found no proof that President Donald Trump criminally colluded with Russia and reached no conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr told Congress on Sunday, while also announcing that he found insufficient evidence to pursue the matter further. The bombshell findings were contained in a letter that Barr sent to lawmakers summarizing Mueller’s report and that was made public. Barr quoted Mueller’s report, which he said stated: “(T)he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
• AG William Barr on Mueller’s report: “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel’s investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction of justice offense.”
• President Trump: “It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia, the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. There was no collusion with Russia. There was no obstruction, and none whatsoever. And it was a complete and total exoneration.”

6am – A         INTERVIEW — SIDNEY POWELL- a former federal prosecutor and veteran of 500 federal appeals, is the author of “LICENSED TO LIE: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice.” She is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research.  Powell reacted the findings of the Mueller report.

• Mueller finds no proof of Trump collusion with Russia; AG Barr says evidence ‘not sufficient’ to prosecute. (NBC News) – Special counsel Robert Mueller found no proof that President Donald Trump criminally colluded with Russia and reached no conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr told Congress on Sunday.
• DERSHOWITZ IS UNHAPPY WITH MUELLER’S REPORT: DERSHOWITZ ON FOX: I’m probably the only one critical of Mueller… it was a cop out… a report out that was ‘on the one hand, on the other hand’…

6am – B/C     2020 DEMS, SCHIFF AND NADLER RESPOND TO MUELLER REPORT:

• GILLIBRAND: “The Mueller report must be made public. All of it,” Kirsten Gillibrand says. “It is not often that I agree with Richard Nixon, but he was right to say that the American people have a right to know whether their president is a crook.
• Beto O’Rourke comments on the Mueller report: “I’m glad that that report has been turned in. I’m looking forward to reading it. I’m looking forward to every American who so chooses to be able to read it as well.”
• Sen. Kamala Harris on Mueller Report: “That report needs to be made public, the American people have a right and a need to know.”
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Mueller Report: “Everyone needs to get a chance to read the Mueller Report. It needs to be made public, all of it.”
• Cory Booker @CoryBooker 15h15 hours ago: The American public deserves the full report and findings from the Mueller investigation immediately—not just the in-house summary from a Trump Administration official.
•  “I don’t want a summary of the report I want the WHOLE DAMN THING!” Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to a rally in San Francisco.
• ON ABC THIS WEEK: Adam Schiff Still Believes There Is ‘Compelling And Incriminating’ Evidence Of Collusion
• House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler: “President Trump is wrong. This report does not amount to a so-called ‘total exoneration…”

6am – D         INTERVIEW — BYRON YORK — chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner – reacted to the findings of the Mueller report.

• Byron York: Trump, falsely accused of collusion, faces new onslaught of obstruction accusations. (by Byron York/Washington Examiner) — A reasonable reading of Trump-Russia special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings is that President Trump was falsely accused of conspiring or coordinating with Russia to fix the 2016 election. The same goes for people around Trump who were also falsely accused. “The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election,” attorney general William Barr wrote in a letter to Congress Sunday. “As the report states: ‘[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.'” Mueller made clear that he not only considered conspiracy charges in connection with the election but also looked into whether there was some sort of coordination between Trump and the Russians, which Mueller defined as an “agreement — tacit or express — between the Trump Campaign and the Russian government on election interference.” Mueller did not find any such agreement. “The evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference,” Mueller wrote, according to Barr.

6am – E         GOP REACTION:

• Trump’s personal attorney  Rudy Giuliani calls for a full and complete investigation into where collusion claims originated
• Jim Jordan Wants Anything Related To Mueller Probe To Be Public — ‘Release It All.’ “If he is going to release all of the information, then I want all of it released,” Jordan said on ABC’s “This Week.” I want those 302’s. I want the conversations between Bruce Ohr and Christopher Steele, the guy who wrote the dossier, Glenn Simpson, the guy the Clinton campaign hired to put the dossier together, I want all those conversations that Bruce Ohr had with Glenn Simpson and Christopher Steele. Those notes from the FBI, I want all that made public…”

6am – F         Heckler Calls Jerry Nadler ‘Loser’ at Mueller Report Press Conference. A heckler called House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) a “loser” during a Sunday evening press conference in New York City. Nadler called for Attorney General Bill Barr to testify on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on alleged collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government during the Sunday press conference when a heckler interrupted him several times. “You guys are a bunch of losers! Good job, dirtbags, good job!” the heckler shouted. The heckler interrupted the Democrat congressman several times during the press conference, including once when a reporter asked whether the Barr letter gave him any concern about how “the parties would move forward.” “You’re behind, Nadler! You’re not gonna move forward!” the heckler shouted.

7am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former US Attorney to the District of Columbia – analyzed the findings of the Mueller report.

• Mueller finds no proof of Trump collusion with Russia; AG Barr says evidence ‘not sufficient’ to prosecute. (NBC News) – Special counsel Robert Mueller found no proof that President Donald Trump criminally colluded with Russia and reached no conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice, Attorney General William Barr told Congress on Sunday.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – DANA HEDGPETH – Washington Post reporter – discussed the potholes and sinkholes causing commuting nightmares in the D.C. area.

• SINKHOLE ON GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKWAY: Hedgpeth: George Washington Parkway’s northbound lanes to be closed through the weekend after sinkhole forms. FROM NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: Sinkhole below GW Parkway appears to be caused by a broken storm water pipe deep below ground. This is unrelated to the road surface or condition of the GW Parkway. Once we know how long the void is & associated risk we’ll determine extent of continued road closure. #VATraffic. Updated at 10:00 a.m. Saturday: Crews worked through the night to repair the sinkhole on the George Washington Parkway, officials said. They said additional work was needed, including on the drainage system, but they were hopeful the road would be open to at least some traffic by Monday.
• DC POTHOLES: Potholes have hit D.C. particularly hard this year, and the complaints are mounting. (Washington Post) — Potholes have struck the Washington region particularly hard this year, according to a Washington Post analysis of about 20,000 pothole complaints logged by residents over the past five years. The increase has meant delays for frustrated motorists waiting on crews to smooth the affected streets.
• BW PARKWAY POTHOLES NIGHTMARE: Potholes cause troubles along B-W Parkway in Maryland. (By Dana Hedgpeth/March 12) — Potholes along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Maryland are causing troubles for vehicles on the heavily traveled road. On Tuesday, two incidents related to potholes were reported along the parkway. Brad Freitas, a local traffic reporter, gave a description of driving on the parkway’s southbound side near Route 32. He called it “like driving on Swiss cheese.” And on Monday, at least two vehicles were on the side of the road with tire problems and that followed another traffic-created problem along the stretch of road that is riddled with potholes.
• Gov. Hogan: Park Service ‘simply not up to the task’ of maintaining the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. (By Luz Lazo/Washington Post/March 20) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday that a state takeover of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway is the only “viable long-term solution” to fixing the pothole-ridden highway and bringing relief to the hundreds of thousands of commuters who use the route between Washington and Baltimore. Hogan (R) is asking the state’s congressional delegation to support a transfer of the National Park Service’s portion of the parkway to the state. In turn, Hogan says, the state will make significant upgrades to the worn-out road — chief among them adding up to four toll lanes. “We have reached a breaking point, with potholes, congestion, crashes and debris creating driving conditions so hazardous that the speed limit between Routes 197 and 32 had to be lowered to 40 miles per hour,” Hogan said in a letter to the state’s congressional delegation Wednesday. “These conditions are unacceptable for Maryland commuters.”
• Van Hollen urges immediate work on Baltimore Washington Parkway to fix problems that slowed speed limit. (Baltimore Sun/March 15) — U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen is asking the National Park Service to take immediate action to fix problems with the Baltimore Washington Parkway that have slowed traffic to 40 mph. The park service has scheduled repair work to begin in late summer, but Van Hollen calls that timeline unacceptable and asks for it to begin earlier. “It is an unsafe situation that needs to be remedied immediately through expedited action by the National Park Service and its federal partners,” Van Hollen said in the letter. Van Hollen said the poor road conditions are causing congestion, crashes and debris on the road.

7am – E         INTERVIEW – JOE CONCHA – The Hill’s Media reporter

• Media reaction to Mueller report explodes. (The Hill) — Media reactions exploded in response to special counsel Robert Mueller issuing his report to Attorney General William Barr late Friday afternoon. Anticipation had built for weeks around Mueller issuing the confidential report for an investigation that began in May 2017 shortly after President Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey. Journalists and pundits tweeted their perspectives on the end of the investigation that has oftentimes dominated news cycles for much of the Trump presidency.
• Joy Reid: Mueller Report Conclusion ‘Feels Like The Seeds Of A Cover-Up.’ MSNBC host Joy Reid said the Mueller investigation conclusion “feels like the seeds of a cover-up” during a Saturday panel discussion on “AM Joy.”
• ‘In plain sight’: Counter-intelligence expert Malcolm Nance lambastes Barr claim that there was ‘no collusion’
• CNN FORCED TO ADMIT THIS IS GOOD NEWS FOR TRUMP. (Daily Caller) — “Let’s be specific. This is really good news for a lot of people around Donald Trump. Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Jerome Corsi, the writer who had a draft indictment presented to him by Mueller’s office and they decided not to go forward with this. Let’s be fair here. There has been a lot of suspicion around certain people. And a lot of negative things have been said and imputation of criminal activity. Mueller has said, ‘I am not proceeding.’ There is no better news to receive than you are not being indicted by the United States government.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MARK LEVIN — “The Great One” — WMAL host from 6 to 9 pm and host of Fox show “Life, Liberty & Levin” – reacted to the findings of the Mueller report.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – MERCEDES SCHLAPP – White House Director of Strategic Communications @mercedesschlapp – reacted to the findings of the Mueller report.

• President Trump: “It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia, the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. There was no collusion with Russia. There was no obstruction, and none whatsoever. And it was a complete and total exoneration.”
• President Trump: “It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it’s a shame that your President has had to go through this.”
• Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani calls for a full and complete investigation into where collusion claims originated

8am – D         INTERVIEW – STEVE MOORE  – former campaign economic advisor to President Trump, economist at The Heritage Foundation and author of book “Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy”

• Trump Taps Conservative For Federal Reserve Board. President Donald Trump announced Friday morning that he will nominate Heritage Foundation economist Stephen Moore to the Federal Reserve board of governors.
  • It is my pleasure to announce that @StephenMoore, a very respected Economist, will be nominated to serve on the Fed Board. I have known Steve for a long time – and have no doubt he will be an outstanding choice!   — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2019
• NY TIMES: Stephen Moore Would Be a Loyalist, not an Expert, at the Fed

8am – E         BARBARA STREISAND IS SO HAPPY THE MUELLER REPORT CAME OUT THIS WEEKEND:

• Barbra Streisand Clarifies Comments on Michael Jackson: ‘I Feel Nothing But Sympathy’ for Accusers. (Mediaite) — Barbra Streisand came under intense criticism overnight for comments she made about the Michael Jackson scandal after watching Leaving Neverland. In an interview with the Times of London, Streisand said, “You can say ‘molested,’ but those children, as you heard them say, they were thrilled to be there. They both married and they both have children, so it didn’t kill them.” Today Streisand put out a statement––obtained by the Washington Post––clarifying her initial comments: “Streisand said in a statement provided to The Post on Saturday afternoon that “to be crystal clear, there is no situation or circumstance where it is OK for the innocence of children to be taken advantage of by anyone.”
• Here’s what Barbara Streisand said about Michael Jackson molesting KIDS:
  • “His sexual needs were his sexual needs”
  • “You can say molested but those children were thrilled to be there”
  • “It didn’t kill them”
  • She also blames pedophilia on DNA. Sickening.
• REACTION:

• W. Jackson (Virginia Candidate for U.S. Senate. Pastor. Marine Corps Veteran) @ewjacksonsr Mar 23: Barbara Streisand on Michael Jackson’s molestation of children: “His sexual needs were his sexual needs, coming from whatever childhood he has or whatever DNA he has…” The left has decided that pedophilia is a “sexual orientation” just like any other.
• Ash Dylan ‏ @AshDylanLit Mar 22: How to Piss Away A Career in One Interview: The Barbara Streisand Story