Father Frank Pavone, Joe diGenova, Marjorie Dannenfelser and Amber Athey joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, May 20, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C W BRADFORD WILCOX: The happiest wives in America. Who are they? Women at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, that’s who.

5am – D         HUNTER BIDEN NEWS:

• Trump: Biden’s son should face probe over China business deal. President Trump says Joe Biden should be investigated over a conservative author’s allegations that his son Hunter Biden pocketed millions from the Chinese government in a shady business deal. “One-hundred percent. It’s a disgrace. And then he says China’s not a competitor of ours. China is a massive competitor of ours. They want to take over the world,” the president told Steve Hilton of Fox News Channel’s “The Next Revolution.”
• COCAINE PIPE FOUND IN CAR HUNTER BIDEN RENTED, THERE WAS NO PROSECUTION: Breitbart News has exclusively obtained a heretofore unreported-on police report from days before the 2016 presidential election that describes how a cocaine pipe that authorities determined was used to smoke cocaine was found in a rental car returned to an Arizona Hertz location in the middle of the night. Also found in the vehicle were several personal effects of Hunter Biden, then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son, like two of his DC driver’s licenses, multiple credit cards, and personally identifying information like a Delaware Attorney General badge and a U.S. Secret Service business card that police said bore his name. Hunter Biden, according to the police report, had rented the vehicle from a location in California with the intent to return it to the Prescott, Arizona, location, where it was discovered the morning after it was dropped off with the drug paraphernalia and Hunter Biden’s personal effects inside.

5am – E         PROLIFE BILLS NEWS:

• MISSOURI BILL PASSED ON FRIDAY: Missouri House Passes ‘Most Comprehensive’ Pro-Life Legislation. Following Alabama and Georgia, another one of the strongest pro-life bills in the nation heads to governor in Missouri! He is expected to sign it soon. The Republican-led Missouri House passed a pro-life bill Friday that protects unborn babies from abortion at eight weeks of pregnancy and asserts the state is a “sanctuary of life.” The state House voted 110-44 to approve the legislation that makes no exceptions for rape or incest but allows abortion past eight weeks in the case of a medical emergency. The bill recognizes that “God is the author of life,” and declares Missouri “and all of its political subdivisions are a ‘sanctuary of life’ that protects pregnant women and their unborn children.”
• RI ABORTION BILL: Radical Abortion Bill Fails in Rhode Island A bill that would have expanded unlimited late-term abortion in Rhode Island failed in the state Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
• LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: Louisiana’s Democrat governor takes major stand for unborn children, signals support for ‘heartbeat’ bill.  Speaking with media last week, Edwards voiced his support for similar legislation making its way through the Louisiana State Legislature. “In eight years in the legislature, I was a pro-life legislator, 100 percent with the Louisiana Right to Life,” he said, according to WAFB-TV. “When I ran for governor, I said I was pro-life and so that’s something that’s consistent.” Louisiana’s bill — which is nearing final passage — would “prohibit the abortion of an unborn human being with a detectable heartbeat.” The bill is similar to laws recently passed in Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Alabama. Louisiana’s bill includes abortion exceptions for pregnancies that pose a “serious risk” to the mother’s health, but not for for rape or incest.
• PRESIDENT TRUMP ON ABORTION BILLS: Trump tweets he is “pro-life” with “three exceptions” days after Alabama passes restrictive abortion ban
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump  As most people know, and for those who would like to know, I am strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions – Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother – the same position taken by Ronald Reagan. We have come very far in the last two years with 105 wonderful new….. 11:37 PM – May 18, 2019
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: ….Federal Judges (many more to come), two great new Supreme Court Justices, the Mexico City Policy, and a whole new & positive attitude about the Right to Life. The Radical Left, with late term abortion (and worse), is imploding on this issue. We must stick together and Win…. 11:37 PM – May 18, 2019
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump ….for Life in 2020. If we are foolish and do not stay UNITED as one, all of our hard fought gains for Life can, and will, rapidly disappear! 11:37 PM – May 18, 2019
• PLANNED PARENTHOOD REACTION TO PROLIFE BILLS: Planned Parenthood President: ‘Terrifying’ Pro-Life Legislation. The president of Planned Parenthood reacted Friday to the sweeping pro-life legislation taking place recently in a number of states by calling it a “terrifying time for women in America.” Leana Wen, M.D. @DrLeanaWen  This is a terrifying time for women in America. We will fight in Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, and everywhere else politicians interfere with medical care, because women’s healthcare is healthcare and healthcare is a human right. States such as Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri have all passed measures that severely restrict abortion, one of which could lead to a review of the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.
• Sen. Mitt Romney: “I don’t support the Alabama law” effectively banning abortion. Washington (CNN) Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney said Sunday he does not support the recently passed Alabama law that would ban abortions with few exceptions, going further than legislation in any other state. “I don’t support the Alabama law,” Romney told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, said that while he is against abortion, he favors exceptions “for rape and incest and where the life of the mother is at risk.”
• 2020 DEMS ON ABORTION:
  • Meghan McCain chides Amy Klobuchar over late-term abortion stance. “I don’t think it should be that hard to say I’m not for late-term abortion in the third term. I don’t think it should be that controversial to say,” Meghan McCain said to Amy Klobuchar.
  • Democrat Bernie Sanders supports unlimited abortion, allowing babies to be killed up until the moment they are born
  • Stunning Admission by Hardcore Pro-Choice Gillibrand: Abortion is a  ‘Life and Death’ Decision
  • Buttigieg defends the freedom to abort third trimester babies after parents have already “chosen a name or purchased a crib.”
• SNL’s Leslie Jones leads the charge against Alabama’s abortion ban in the SNL season finale.  Jones tears into Alabama abortion law: ‘You can’t tell me what to do with my body.’
• PENCE / ABORTION: Speaking at a commencement ceremony in his home state of Indiana, Vice President Mike Pence said he was proud of the Trump administration for standing “without a apology” for the “sanctity of human life.” Dozens of graduates walk out in protest of Pence commencement address.

6am – A/B/C REPUBLICAN REP. AMASH CALLS FOR TRUMP’S IMPEACHMENT:

• Rep. Justin Amash: President Trump engaged in ‘impeachable conduct’
  • Justin Amash’s tweet: @justinamash  Here are my principal conclusions:
• 1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
  2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
  3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
  4. Few members of Congress have read the report. 3:30 PM – May 18, 2019

• Mitt Romney rejects call to impeach Trump. Sen. Mitt Romney on CNN says that a case for obstruction, or even impeachment, against Trump “just isn’t there…I don’t think there are the full elements” for an obstruction of justice case.I don’t think impeachment is the right way to go.”
• @RashidaTlaib: .@justinamash come find me in 1628 Longworth. I’ve got an impeachment investigation resolution you’re going to want to cosponsor
• Sen Elizabeth Warren speaks in Bedford, NH: “Congressman Amash made the point in his statement that he felt uneasy about this fundamental question about who do we owe our loyalty to? And on this, I could not be stronger… I believe that we need to bring this impeachment action.”
• In tandem with GOP Chairwoman, GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy calls Justin Amash’s impeachment call of Trump “disturbing.”
• President Trump responded to a Republican House member’s call for impeachment on Sunday, calling the lawmaker a “loser” who seeks to make headlines.
  • Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Never a fan of @justinamash, a total lightweight who opposes me and some of our great Republican ideas and policies just for the sake of getting his name out there through controversy. If he actually read the biased Mueller Report, “composed” by 18 Angry Dems who hated Trump,….
  • Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump  19h19 hours ago: ….he would see that it was nevertheless strong on NO COLLUSION and, ultimately, NO OBSTRUCTION…Anyway, how do you Obstruct when there is no crime and, in fact, the crimes were committed by the other side? Justin is a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents hands!

6am – D         INTERVIEW – FATHER FRANK PAVONE – National Director of Priests for Life – reacted to the push for pro-life bills on the state level.

6am – E         Commencement speaker and billionaire Robert F. Smith will donate an estimated $40 million to pay off the student debt for the 400 students graduating at the historically black, all-male Morehouse College.

6am – F         The Cops Blew Robert Kraft’s Hooker Investigation From The Beginning. (Hot Air) – So the warrant was found to be flawed and the camera placement was deemed too intrusive. But they then messed up a third time. During the five days that the cameras were in operation, they were pulling over everyone leaving the spa and examining their identification, supposedly on the pretense of a traffic stop, but in most cases, there had been no traffic violation and no tickets were issued. In reality, the cops were doing it so they could match up the names and addresses of the people with the video being recorded inside. But the judge ruled that there needed to be a traffic violation in order for the stop and subsequent collection of ID to be valid.

7am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former US attorney to the District of Columbia

• AG Bill Barr tells Fox News public must know if officials ‘put their thumb on the scale’ in Russia probe. In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Attorney General William Barr explained that he is trying to get to the bottom of whether or not “government officials abused their power and put their thumb on the scale” during the early stages of the Russia probe. “I’ve been trying to get answers to the questions and I’ve found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and some of the explanations I’ve gotten don’t hang together, in a sense I have more questions today than when I first started,” Barr told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer in an interview set to air Friday on “America’s Newsroom.”
• MSNBC’s Wallace airs “disclaimer” before showing “potentially dangerous” Barr interview
• FACE THE NATION: Rep. Adam Schiff says impeachment proceedings against President Trump could be a “tool” to get information and evidence that the administration is blocking from Congress
• JAMES COMEY: The AG should stop sliming his own Department. If there are bad facts, show us, or search for them professionally and then tell us what you found. An AG must act like the leader of the Department of Justice, an organization based on truth. Donald Trump has enough spokespeople.
• GOWDY: FBI HAS PAPADOPOULOS TRANSCRIPTS THAT ARE POTENTIAL ‘GAME-CHANGER.’ During an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Gowdy indicated he has seen FBI transcripts related to Papadopoulos that contain potentially exculpatory information on the question of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. “If the bureau’s going to send in an informant in, the informant’s going to be wired, and if the bureau is monitoring telephone calls, there’s going to be a transcript of that,” Gowdy told host Maria Bartiromo. “Some of us have been fortunate enough to know whether or not those transcripts exist. But they haven’t been made public, and I think one in particular is going — it has the potential to actually persuade people. Very little in this Russia probe I’m afraid is going to persuade people who hate Trump or love Trump. But there is some information in these transcripts that has the potential to be a game-changer if it’s ever made public.”
• Judge orders release of transcripts of Flynn Russian contacts. (The Hill) –  The judge presiding over former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s case on Thursday ordered federal prosecutors to release transcripts of the Flynn’s conversations with Russian officials. District Judge Emmet Sullivan also ordered the release of a transcript of a voicemail left for Flynn that purportedly “could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation,” according to one court document. That voicemail apparently refers to a message left for Flynn’s attorneys by one of President Trump’s personal attorneys, reminding Flynn of the president’s “warm feelings” for him after the former administration official started cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Sullivan additionally ordered that federal prosecutors also make public parts of the redacted Mueller report that relate to Flynn. The judge, a Clinton appointee, gave the Department of Justice a May 31 deadline for all of those documents. The release of the previously hidden documents would disclose even further details into Flynn’s own contacts with Russians and what Mueller found during the course of his investigation. The judge has similarly ordered he be given the audio of the voicemail in question, as well as that of calls between Flynn and Russians, opening the door for Sullivan to publicly release them. Flynn has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI about his contact with the Russian ambassador. He has not yet been sentenced and has been cooperating with federal investigators since his December 2017 plea. Sullivan’s order came shortly after prosecutors agreed to unseal some documents in Flynn’s case, revealing more details about his cooperation with the special counsel’s investigation.
• FLYNN FILING SHOWS ADMIN CONSIDERED REACHING OUT TO WIKILEAKS AFTER PUBLICATION OF CLINTON EMAILS. (Breitbart News) — According to the filing, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn told investigators that it was only after the email dump on October 7, 2016, that Trump campaign officials discussed reaching out to WikiLeaks.
• BAKER VIEWED THE DOSSIER SKEPTICALLY BUT IT WAS USED ANYWAY  (Daily Caller) — Former FBI general counsel James Baker said Friday he viewed the Steele dossier “skeptically” and was “concerned” about the veracity of the document when the bureau received it before the 2016 election. But despite those concerns, Baker was one of the FBI officials who reviewed the Carter Page surveillance warrant application, which relied heavily on information from the dossier.

7am – D/E     HIGHLIGHTS OF MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG’S FOX TOWN HALL AND SNL SKETCH ON HIM:

• This Saturday on SNL, Paul Rudd played Pete Buttigieg as guest on The View: “I may only be 37 years old, but I do feel like I represent everyday Americans. I’m just a Harvard-educated, multilingual war veteran Rhodes Scholar. I’m just like you”
• Pete Buttigieg Gets Standing Ovation at End of Fox News Town Hall. (Mediaite) – Pete Buttigieg received a standing ovation from the crowd at the end of his Fox News town hall in Claremont, New Hampshire Sunday night. The South Bend, Indiana Mayor and 2020 presidential candidate drew raucous applause throughout his town hall with Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, particularly when he dismissed President Donald Trump’s tweets: “I don’t care,” Buttigieg remarked when asked how he felt about the missives.
• Buttigieg pitches four tax hikes during answer on the deficit:  Higher marginal income tax rates…. “A reasonable wealth tax”…. “Financial transactions tax”…  Closing “corporate loopholes”
• ON TRUMP TWEETS: “How would you handle Trump’s insults and the tweets and all of that?” Pete Buttigieg: “The tweets are… I don’t care.” *HUGE OVATION*
• ON LATE TERM ABORTION: Buttigieg defends the freedom to abort third trimester babies after parents have already “chosen a name or purchased a crib.”
• RIPS ON FOX DURING FOX TOWN HALL: In Fox News town hall, Buttigieg calls out Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham as ‘not always there in good faith’
• JEFFERSON NAME: Buttigieg doubles down on saying Things Named After Thomas Jefferson Should Be Renamed…. he MAKES ANOTHER DIG AT LAURA INGRAHAM
• GAME OF THRONES PANDERING: Chris Wallace gives Mayor Pete a softball and Mayor Pete panders to Game of Thrones fans

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MARJORIE DANNENFELSER – President of the Susan B. Anthony List – reacted to the rise of prolife bills across the country.

8am – B/C     ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• GAME OF THRONES FINALE: Game of Thrones’ series finale left some plastic water bottles onscreen. First a coffee cup, now a couple of water bottles. First it was a coffee cup, now it’s a bottle of water. (The Verge) — Poor Game of Thrones just can’t catch a break. Just a couple of weeks after some eagle-eyed fans discovered a forgotten coffee cup in a Game of Thrones scene, a couple of misplaced water bottles have appeared. The bottles, seen in screenshots below, pop up a few times over the course of several minutes. The first time is at 46:19 on HBO Now, and then a few minutes later. One is tucked just behind Samwell Tarly’s foot in the photo below. Another water bottle can be seen just behind Ser Davos’ chair, in-between him and Gendry. It’s understandable that long, strenuous meetings about the future of Westeros would leave anyone a little parched, but people clearly forgot to throw the bottles off camera once the director yelled “action!” Although it’s not as glaring as the abandoned coffee cup, one would imagine Game of Thrones’ editing team going through the finale with a fine comb. Game of Thrones is the most scrutinized show on television. Its fans are known for finding these things, and they’re already on to this goof.
• ‘Game of Thrones’ comes to an end – and fans dump on the finale. (Fox News) — The much-anticipated series finale of “Game of Thrones” aired on HBO on Sunday and many “GoT” fans were not impressed. Without giving up spoilers (that’s a warning), some fans unhappy with who ultimately wound up on the Iron Throne. Other fans online have called the finale the “worst episode of the entire series.” Some are grouping end of “Thrones” with “The Sopranos” and “Lost” as among the worst TV finales of all time. It looks like a petition demanding that HBO remake the final season “with competent writers” will likely get many, many more signatures.
• ARNOLD GETS KICKED: Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked in the back during South Africa visit. (The Hill) – A man in South Africa assaulted former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after he rushed the “Terminator” franchise star. Video posted on Twitter showed a man rush past the 71-year-old’s security and land a jumping kick on Schwarzenegger’s back before guards swarmed the man, detained him and carried him away. Despite the man’s running start, the former governor appeared uninjured by the attack and later posted a video of himself greeting fans on Twitter while adding in a subsequent message that he thought he had been “jostled by the crowd.” “Thanks for your concerns, but there is nothing to worry about. I thought I was just jostled by the crowd, which happens a lot,” he wrote. “I only realized I was kicked when I saw the video like all of you. I’m just glad the idiot didn’t interrupt my Snapchat.” @Schwarzenegger:  Thanks for your concerns, but there is nothing to worry about. I thought I was just jostled by the crowd, which happens a lot. I only realized I was kicked when I saw the video like all of you. I’m just glad the idiot didn’t interrupt my Snapchat. 11:18 AM – May 18, 2019
• ELTON JOHN DEFENDS STRAIGHT ACTOR PLAYING HIM. (Breitbart News) — When asked by interviewer Dan Wooton about claims from some progressive critics that a homosexual actor should have been chosen for the role, John reportedly waved his hands and responded: “That’s all bullshit, I’m sorry. “If people don’t like it, review-wise, or it doesn’t make one dollar, it’s the movie I wanted to make and that’s all that counts. I can look back and say, ‘You know what, I love it. I can live with it’.”
• KIM & KANYE NAME 4TH CHILD – “Psalm West.”: And well, the wait is officially over — Kardashian West just revealed their fourth child’s name, along with a sweet picture of the tiny tot. Not surprisingly, the child was given a name just as distinctive (if not more) than the three siblings he joins: North, 5, Saint, 3, and Chicago, 1.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – AMBER ATHEY – White House correspondent, The Daily Caller – discussed the latest WH news/Trump tweets (Amash/Mayor Pete/Iran/media,etc).

• TRUMP CAMPAIGN SAYS THE MEDIA IS ITS ‘BIGGEST OBSTACLE’ IN 2020. (Amber Athey | White House Correspondent) — President Donald Trump’s campaign is taking stock of his opponents in the 2020 presidential election, but it’s not the Democrats they are worried about. Instead, senior campaign communications officials say the media is the “biggest obstacle” to the president’s reelection. During a Daily Caller visit to the official campaign headquarters in Northern Virginia, the officials spoke of their reelection strategy, the messaging on Democratic candidates, and their relative optimism about Trump’s chances in 2020. The Daily Caller wasn’t the first media outlet to take a tour of the HQ — a peek at the organization’s guest book revealed that the campaign had already met with The Hill, NPR, and Fox News, among others.

• TRUMP went on a rant about the media this morning:
  • Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump  1h1 hour ago: The Failing New York Times (it will pass away when I leave office in 6 years), and others of the Fake News Media, keep writing phony stories about how I didn’t use many banks because they didn’t want to do business with me. WRONG! It is because I didn’t need money. Very old
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump  1h1 hour ago: ….fashioned, but true. When you don’t need or want money, you don’t need or want banks. Banks have always been available to me, they want to make money. Fake Media only says this to disparage, and always uses unnamed sources (because their sources don’t even exist)……
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump  1h1 hour ago: The Mainstream Media has never been as corrupt and deranged as it is today. FAKE NEWS is actually the biggest story of all and is the true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! That’s why they refuse to cover the REAL Russia Hoax. But the American people are wise to what is going on…..
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump  1h1 hour ago: ….Now the new big story is that Trump made a lot of money and buys everything for cash, he doesn’t need banks. But where did he get all of that cash? Could it be Russia? No, I built a great business and don’t need banks, but if I did they would be there…and DeutscheBank……
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 1h1 hour ago …..was very good and highly professional to deal with – and if for any reason I didn’t like them, I would have gone elsewhere….there was always plenty of money around and banks to choose from. They would be very happy to take my money. Fake News!
• AMASH IMPEACHMENT: Rep. Justin Amash: President Trump engaged in ‘impeachable conduct.’ President Trump responded to a Republican House member’s call for impeachment on Sunday, calling the lawmaker a “loser” who seeks to make headlines.
• TRUMP WARNS IRAN TO NEVER THREATEN THE US AGAIN: Trump tweeted hours after a rocket landed less than a mile from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, the first such attack since September. An Iraqi military spokesman told reporters the rocket appeared to have been fired from east Baghdad, which is home to several Iran-backed Shiite militias. Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump  If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again! 4:25 PM – May 19, 2019