Thank you to @T_S_P_O_O_K_Y for co-hosting with @VinceCoglianese on @WMALDC this morning! #dc #dmv #motm pic.twitter.com/TkpSoFmvIm
— WMAL DC (@WMALDC) June 10, 2019
Joe diGenova, Rich Valdes, Maria Keffler and guest co-host Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer joined WMAL on Monday!
Mornings on the Mall
Monday, June 10, 2019
Hosts: Vince Coglianese and co-host Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer
Executive Producer: Heather Hunter
5am – A/B/C MEXICO TARIFFS UPDATE:
- TRUMP ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH MEXICO: TRUMP TWEET: I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico. The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended. Mexico, in turn, has agreed to take strong measures to … stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border. This is being done to greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States. Details of the agreement will be released shortly by the State Department. Thank you!
- PELOSI ‘DISAPPOINTED’ OVER TRUMP’S DEAL WITH MEXICO — ‘THREATS AND TEMPER TANTRUMS ARE NO WAY TO NEGOTIATE’ (Daily Caller) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi derided President Donald Trump Saturday for leveraging potential tariffs to convince Mexico to strengthen its border as more “threats and temper tantrums.” Pelosi, who has been engaging the president in a war of words all week, suggested there was little diplomatic gain in the brief stand-off or the deal itself, the Washington Examiner reported. After saying he would impose a 5% tariff on imports if Mexico did not act to fortify its border with the United States and prevent further illegal border crossings, Mexico agreed after a flurry of negotiations and Trump declared victory Friday night. After saying he would impose a 5% tariff on imports if Mexico did not act to fortify its border with the United States and prevent further illegal border crossings, Mexico agreed after a flurry of negotiations and Trump declared victory Friday night. ut it was no victory according to Pelosi. “President Trump undermined America’s preeminent leadership role in the world by recklessly threatening to impose tariffs on our close friend and neighbor to the south,” Pelosi told reporters. “Threats and temper tantrums are no way to negotiate foreign policy.”
- Mexican military begins arresting migrants riding ‘The Beast’ train to US border. (Washington Examiner) – Mexican military deployed throughout the country as part of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s vow to do more to apprehend migrants headed to the United States, have officially begun targeting foreigners who have hitched rides aboard a freight train known as “The Beast” to get to the U.S.-Mexico border, local media reported Sunday. Mexican National Guard held up the “La Bestia” train in an unpopulated area near Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, a city north of the Mexico-Guatemala border, where migrants have been crossing into the country. The operation marked the first of its kind since López Obrador and President Trump reached a deal late Friday, in which the U.S. would hold off on tariffs against Mexican imports if the government did more to prevent people from traveling through the country.
- NY TIMES SPIN: NYT Tries To Pour Cold Water On Deal… Mexico Agreed to Take Border Actions Months Before Trump Announced Tariff Deal (BUT Mexico Clearly Hasn’t Done Squat So Far…): “WASHINGTON — The deal to avert tariffs that President Trump announced with great fanfare on Friday night consists largely of actions that Mexico had already promised to take in prior discussions with the United States over the past several months, according to officials from both countries who are familiar with the negotiations. Friday’s joint declaration says Mexico agreed to the “deployment of its National Guard throughout Mexico, giving priority to its southern border.” But the Mexican government had already pledged to do that in March during secret talks in Miami between Kirstjen Nielsen, then the secretary of homeland security, and Olga Sanchez, the Mexican secretary of the interior, the officials said.”
- TRUMP RIPS NY TIMES COVERAGE:
- Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: Another false report in the Failing @nytimes. We have been trying to get some of these Border Actions for a long time, as have other administrations, but were not able to get them, or get them in full, until our signed agreement with Mexico. Additionally, and for many years,…. 8:26 AM – 9 Jun 2019
- Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 24h24 hours ago: …..Mexico was not being cooperative on the Border in things we had, or didn’t have, and now I have full confidence, especially after speaking to their President yesterday, that they will be very cooperative and want to get the job properly done. Importantly, some things…..
- Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 24h24 hours ago …..not mentioned in yesterday press release, one in particular, were agreed upon. That will be announced at the appropriate time. There is now going to be great cooperation between Mexico & the USA, something that didn’t exist for decades. However, if for some unknown reason…
- Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 24h24 hours ago …..there is not, we can always go back to our previous, very profitable, position of Tariffs – But I don’t believe that will be necessary. The Failing @nytimes, & ratings challenged @CNN, will do anything possible to see our Country fail! They are truly The Enemy of the People!
- Sen. Ron Johnson: Trump leveraged tariffs ‘brilliantly’ in gaining border deal. (Washington Times) — Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, said Sunday that President Trump negotiated “brilliantly” with Mexico by securing a border-security deal days after threatening to impose tariffs. “In general, Republicans understand tariffs are attacks on American consumers, and we don’t want to see them in place long term, not do I believe President Trump does, either,” Mr. Johnson told “Fox News Sunday.” “He’s using tariffs as leverage in trade negotiations, and I think he used them as leverage in this situation brilliantly, quite honestly.” Mr. Trump announced Friday he would suspend his threat of a tariff starting at 5 percent and rising as high as 25 percent after reaching an agreement with Mexico on border security. That deal includes deploying 6,000 National Guard troops with a focus on its southern border to stem the tide of illegal immigrants crossing from Central America on their way to the United States, as well as expand a program keeping asylum-seekers in Mexico as they await the results of their cases.
5am – D Hillary Clinton: ‘You cannot read’ Mueller’s report without concluding obstruction ‘occurred’ (Fox News) Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said on Saturday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report clearly showed that obstruction of justice “occurred” during the Russia investigation. “If you take the time to read the Mueller report, actually read it … you come to two inescapable conclusions,” she said while speaking at her alma mater Wellesley College. Those conclusions, she said, were that Russia conducted a “sweeping” attempt to interfere in the 2016 election and that “obstruction of justice occurred.” “You cannot read the report, chapter and verse, fact after fact, without reaching those conclusions,” she said, according to a video posted by The Hill.
5am – E HOUSE DEM HEARINGS ON MUELLER REPORT THIS WEEK:
- President Trump says it’s “case closed.” But House Democrats have scheduled hearings this coming week on Robert Mueller’s report. On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing entitled, “Lessons from the Mueller Report: Presidential Obstruction and Other Crimes.” The panel’s ranking Republican argues it’s a “mock-impeachment inquiry” instead of a proper oversight hearing.
- Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Monday’s hearing is meant to analyze episodes of possible obstruction in the Mueller report.
- The House Intelligence Committee also plans a series of hearings about Russian interference in the 2016 election, to explain the difference between counterintelligence and criminal investigations. A hearing Wednesday will feature Stephanie Douglas and Robert Anderson, who are each former executive assistant directors of the national security branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Chairman Adam Schiff, D-California, has focused on Trump’s exposure to foreign influence for negotiating a real-estate deal in Russia during the campaign. Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen has been imprisoned for charges that include lying about the project to Congress.
- Trump lashes out at Democrats for calling “sleazebag” Watergate lawyer John Dean to testify:
- Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 11h11 hours ago: For two years all the Democrats talked about was the Mueller Report, because they knew that it was loaded up with 13 Angry Democrat Trump Haters, later increased to 18. But despite the bias, when the Report came out, the findings were No Collusion and facts that led to……..
- Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump ….No Obstruction. The Dems were devastated – after all this time and money spent ($40,000,000), the Mueller Report was a disaster for them. But they want a Redo, or Do Over. They are even bringing in @CNN sleazebag attorney John Dean. Sorry, no Do Overs – Go back to work! 6:50 PM – 9 Jun 2019
- Case opened: Democrats begin public airing of Mueller report. WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says it’s “case closed.” But Democrats are just getting started with Robert Mueller. House Democrats have scheduled a series of hearings this coming week on the special counsel’s report as they intensify their focus on the Russia probe and pick up the pace on an investigative “path” — in the words of Speaker Nancy Pelosi — that some of them hope leads to impeachment of the president. In doing so, they are trying to draw the public’s attention on the allegations that Trump sought to obstruct a federal investigation and they want highlight his campaign’s contacts with Russia in the 2016 election. And they will lay the groundwork for an appearance from Mueller himself, despite his stated desire to avoid the spotlight . The hearings will focus on the two main topics of Mueller’s report, obstruction of justice and Russian election interference. The House Judiciary Committee plans to cover the first topic at a Monday hearing on “presidential obstruction and other crimes.” The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday intends to review the counterintelligence implications of the Russian meddling. Mueller said there was not enough evidence to establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he said he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction. On Tuesday, the House has scheduled a vote to authorize contempt cases against Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Donald McGahn for failing to comply with subpoenas from the Democratic-controlled House. Barr defied a subpoena to provide an unredacted version of Mueller’s report, along with underlying evidence. McGahn, who is frequently referenced in the report, has defied subpoenas to provide documents and testify before the House Judiciary Committee.
6am – A Ohio bakery awarded $11 million in libel lawsuit against Oberlin College over alleged racial profiling. (CNN)An Ohio jury has ordered Oberlin College to pay $11 million to a bakery which said it was libeled and wrongfully accused of racially profiling students. The case stems from the November 2016 arrests of three black Oberlin students at Gibson’s Bakery and market near the college’s campus in Oberlin, Ohio. One student, Jonathan Aladin, was accused of attempted robbery for allegedly trying to “steal wine or otherwise illegally obtain wine” from the bakery, according to a defamation lawsuit. He would eventually confess in a written statement to buying alcohol illegally. Two other suspects, Cecelia Whettston and Endia J. Lawrence, were arrested and accused of misdemeanor assault, court documents state. After that, Oberlin staff members tried to discredit the family-owned bakery, the lawsuit says. Oberlin College staff — including deans and professors — and students engaged in demonstrations in front of Gibson’s Bakery following the arrests of the three students, the lawsuit stated. The suit also said Oberlin Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo and other college staff members “handed out hundreds of copies” of a flier to the community and the media stating that Gibson’s Bakery and its owners racially profiled and discriminated against the three students. The court documents include a copy of the flier, which included the words “DON’T BUY.” “This is a RACIST establishment with a LONG ACCOUNT of RACIAL PROFILING and DISCRIMINATION,” the flier read, according to the lawsuit. The flier also listed 10 of the bakery’s competitors and urged customers to shop there instead.
6am – B/C AOC CHALLENGER CONFRONTS HER AND SHE LITERALLY RUNS AWAY:
- Potential Ocasio-Cortez Challenger: AOC Wants a ‘New Soviet Republic’ A Republican from New Jersey who plans to move to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district to run against her in the 2020 election blasted the congresswoman’s policies as “misguided” in an appearance at a Queens GOP club Thursday. Rich Valdes, a conservative radio producer who previously worked for NJ Gov. Chris Christie, told about 100 people at the Queens Village Republican Club Thursday evening. “AOC – All Out Crazy – wants to establish a new Soviet Republic. I believe in capitalism over socialism. Her misguided policies don’t represent the district,” he told the crowd.
- AOC ‘runs away’ from opponent Rich Valdes at Puerto Rican Day Parade. US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned tail on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to avoid a potential Republican challenger as they both marched in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday, her political opponent said. Talk-radio producer Rich Valdes told The Post that he tried to challenge the freshman Democratic congresswoman to a debate on the merits of capitalism versus socialism when he spotted her near West 47th Street. But Ocasio-Cortez “cut her handshaking short, jerked her hand back and jetted to the other side of the street,” Valdes said.“She literally ran!” he said. “I thought this was a good time to try and get a response but I honestly only saw the back of her head as she trotted across the street.”
6am – D/E SAD! IOWA POLL FOR DEMS:
- DES MOINES REGISTER: Iowa Poll: Joe Biden leads, followed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg
- Beto O’Rourke on his bad poll numbers: “We’ve never been guided by a poll before. If you were to look at the Texas Senate race the first couple of months after we were in, no poll was going to say that we were going to win that” Narrator: Beto still lost
- Bill de Blasio Shrugs Off Not Registering on Important Iowa Poll: ‘It’s a Poll of 600 Iowans’
- AWKWARD: Eric Swalwell: “I will be bold without the bull” Audience doesn’t even respond….
6am – F David Ortiz in stable condition after being shot in Dominican Republic. (Boston Globe) — Retired Red Sox star David Ortiz was shot in the Dominican Republic Sunday, and a suspect has been detained by police, according to Dominican officials and the Red Sox. Dominican National Police Director Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte said Ortiz was at the Dial Bar and Lounge in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, around 8:50 p.m. when a gunman who had gotten off a motorcycle approached from behind and shot him at close range, according to the Associated Press. Ortiz was taken to a medical facility where he underwent surgery, and his condition was stable, Bautista said. Ortiz’s father, Leo Ortiz, told reporters early Monday that his son was out of danger. The elder Ortiz said he spoke to the doctor who operated on his son, and that no damage was done to his major arteries or organs. He said his son was expected to make a complete recovery. He also said he did not know the motive behind his son’s shooting. ‘‘He is out of surgery and stable; he is resting,’’ Leo Ortiz said, according to the AP. ‘‘Big Papi will be around for a long time.’’
7am – A INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – Legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – discussed the upcoming House Dem hearings on the Mueller Report and Hillary’s claims that obstruction occurred.
- Democrats begin public airing of Mueller report. WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says it’s “case closed.” But Democrats are just getting started with Robert Mueller. House Democrats have scheduled a series of hearings this coming week on the special counsel’s report as they intensify their focus on the Russia probe and pick up the pace on an investigative “path” — in the words of Speaker Nancy Pelosi — that some of them hope leads to impeachment of the president. In doing so, they are trying to draw the public’s attention on the allegations that Trump sought to obstruct a federal investigation and they want highlight his campaign’s contacts with Russia in the 2016 election. And they will lay the groundwork for an appearance from Mueller himself, despite his stated desire to avoid the spotlight.
- Hillary Clinton: ‘You cannot read’ Mueller’s report without concluding obstruction ‘occurred’ (Fox News) Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said on Saturday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report clearly showed that obstruction of justice “occurred” during the Russia investigation. “If you take the time to read the Mueller report, actually read it … you come to two inescapable conclusions,” she said while speaking at her alma mater Wellesley College. Those conclusions, she said, were that Russia conducted a “sweeping” attempt to interfere in the 2016 election and that “obstruction of justice occurred.” “You cannot read the report, chapter and verse, fact after fact, without reaching those conclusions,” she said, according to a video posted by The Hill.
7am – B/C LGBT/GAY PRIDE NEWS:
- Gillibrand Works Gay Bar to Celebrate Pride. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is making sure everyone knows how seriously she takes LGBT pride month and did so by working a gay bar in Des Moines, Iowa to show her support. The Democrat presidential hopeful worked The Blazing Saddle Friday, mixing and serving drinks and wearing a rainbow shirt reading, “Love Is Brave.”
- Whose idea was this?’ Twitter mocks Joe Biden MERCILESSLY for posting Obama BFF bracelet. National Best Friend Day was Saturday, so naturally, 76-year-old former vice president and current presidential candidate Joe Biden sent out a picture of a BFF necklace.
- Happy #BestFriendsDay to my friend, @BarackObama. pic.twitter.com/JTd1t7NtyL — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 9, 2019
- DAVID AXELROD dunks on BIDEN: This is a joke, right?
- Some U.S. embassies still hoisting rainbow flags, despite advisory from Washington. (Washington Post) — Since the State Department began rejecting all embassy requests to hoist rainbow flags outside the mission buildings during LGBTQ Pride Month this year, some U.S. diplomats have been finding ways to defy, or at least get around, the new policy. The facades of the U.S. missions in Seoul and Chennai, India, are partially hidden behind large rainbow flags, while the embassy in New Delhi is aglow in rainbow colored lights. The website for the embassy in Santiago, Chile, shows a video of the chief diplomat raising a rainbow flag last month for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The Vienna embassy’s website features a photo of a rainbow flag flying below Old Glory on a mast jutting from the building, a statement by Diplomats for Equality and a story about a professor lecturing on the visibility and growth of LGBT rights.
7am – D INTERVIEW – RICH VALDES (Val-Dess) — GOP challenger to AOC, known to our audience as Mark Levin Show’s “Mr. Call Screener”
- His website http://theRichValdes.com and Twitter @RichValdes
- Potential Ocasio-Cortez Challenger: AOC Wants a ‘New Soviet Republic’ A Republican from New Jersey who plans to move to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district to run against her in the 2020 election blasted the congresswoman’s policies as “misguided” in an appearance at a Queens GOP club Thursday. Rich Valdes, a conservative radio producer who previously worked for NJ Gov. Chris Christie, told about 100 people at the Queens Village Republican Club Thursday evening. “AOC – All Out Crazy – wants to establish a new Soviet Republic. I believe in capitalism over socialism. Her misguided policies don’t represent the district,” he told the crowd.
- AOC ‘runs away’ from opponent Rich Valdes at Puerto Rican Day Parade. US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned tail on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to avoid a potential Republican challenger as they both marched in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday, her political opponent said. Talk-radio producer Rich Valdes told The Post that he tried to challenge the freshman Democratic congresswoman to a debate on the merits of capitalism versus socialism when he spotted her near West 47th Street. But Ocasio-Cortez “cut her handshaking short, jerked her hand back and jetted to the other side of the street,” Valdes said. “She literally ran!” he said. “I thought this was a good time to try and get a response but I honestly only saw the back of her head as she trotted across the street.”
7am – E An author lost her book deal after tweeting about a Metro worker. She’s suing for $13 million. (Washington Post) — Natasha Tynes, an award-winning Jordanian American author who lost a book deal following claims of online racism, is suing her publishing house for $13 million. The lawsuit, filed in California on Friday, alleges that Rare Bird Books breached its contract and defamed her, causing “extreme emotional distress” and destroying her reputation. In 2018, Tynes contracted with Rare Bird to distribute her upcoming novel, “They Called Me Wyatt,” about a murdered Jordanian student whose “consciousness” inhabits a 3-year-old boy with speech delays. The book, written over four years, was set to be released this month. That changed in May, when Tynes became the subject of a national and international news story. On the morning of May 10, the World Bank communications officer and mother of three tweeted a photo of a black female Metro worker who was breaking the D.C. region transportation agency’s rules by eating breakfast on a train. “When you’re on your morning commute & see @wmata employee in UNIFORM eating on the train,” Tynes tweeted. “I thought we were not allowed to eat on the train. This is unacceptable. Hope @wmata responds,” she wrote. By 10 a.m., less than 30 minutes later, Tynes had deleted the post and apologized for the “short-lived expression of frustration,” according to court documents. But the fuse of public outrage and ostracism had already ignited. Tynes took the additional step of contacting the agency to ensure the employee would not be disciplined (and the complaint notes that no action was ever taken against the transit worker). Then, she spoke to Rare Bird executive Robert Jason Peterson and explained that, “having not grown up in the United States, the issue of race had not even occurred to her when she made the tweet.” Peterson, the filings said, reassured the writer and told her he did not blame her. “You’ll get through this, we’ve got your back,” he allegedly said to Tynes just before noon. Hours later, Rare Bird released a statement, calling Tynes’s tweet — which it described as the policing of a black woman‘s body — “something truly horrible.”
8am – A INTERVIEW – MARIA KEFFLER – a former school teacher and parent whose children attend Arlington Public Schools — discussed how Arlington is seeking feedback from parents on their new plan to change the policy on transgender and non-binary students. The school system has given parents from May 28 until June 11 (tomorrow0 to provide input on the policy in a public survey form online, before the board votes to approve the policy implementation.
- DAILY CALLER report: Arlington Public School Parents Deplatformed Over Petition To Pause New Transgender Policy. Virginia parents concerned about the implementation of a new transgender policy in their public school system gathered more than a hundred signatures within hours of posting a petition to delay the policy online, but it was quickly shut down by the host website. “The content of your petition violates our Terms of Service,” an email from Care2 obtained by The Daily Caller stated. “It has been removed and we will not host it on our site.” A parent started the petition to demand Arlington Public Schools pause implementation of the new policy in order to allow more time for parents to vet it and give feedback. “We are asking for inclusion, impartiality, and equal consideration in the policy implementation,” a copy of the petition obtained by the Caller said. (The parent asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.) More than 150 people signed the petition after it was posted on Wednesday, but it was shut down the following day. It’s not clear what terms the petition violated, although it is clearly a liberal site. Care2 has not responded to multiple inquiries from the parent who started the petition, she told the Caller. Care2 did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Caller. The policy in its current form requires schools to embrace a student’s chosen gender identity, by allowing them to use the bathroom and locker room of their choice, to dress according to their preferred gender, and to be addressed by their preferred pronoun. Students will be allowed to join the sports team of their preferred gender and to stay with students of their preferred gender on overnight trips. The school also reserves the right to keep their child’s preferred gender secret from parents. A small group of parents began organizing in opposition to the policy after they stumbled upon the school’s plan to implement it earlier this year. The school has been working on the policy with a local transgender activist group since at least September 2018, but it was shrouded in secrecy until the parents learned of its development in March of this year and began demanding more information, including through freedom of information requests. They are concerned the school is wrongly assuming control of what political ideology their kids are taught, and denying them control over the safety and wellbeing of their kids at school. The petition listed three key concerns about the policy: that the school will hide information from parents, that students of the opposite sex will be allowed to share facilities with their kids, and that girls’ sports will no longer be fair because of the potential inclusion of biological boys in their competitions. “We ask that you delay the vote to ensure due process and a transparent, fair, fully vetted, and un-biased policy that protects ALL of APS students,” the petition said. The school system has given parents from May 28 until June 11 to provide input on the policy in a public survey form online, before the board votes to approve the policy implementation.
8am – B WASHINGTON POST: More Washingtonians say drivers are bad than say the same of cyclists, walkers, scooter riders, poll finds. Nearly 6 in 10 Washington-area residents say drivers frequently violate traffic laws in the region, more than say the same about pedestrians, bicyclists or electric scooter riders, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll. Perhaps surprisingly, drivers are more likely to fault other drivers as scofflaws than they are to complain about other road users. And while frequent cyclists are critical of drivers, they are nearly as likely as drivers to say their fellow cyclists often break the rules of the road. Overall, the poll finds 59 percent of Washington-area residents say drivers violate traffic laws very often or almost all of the time, compared with 49 percent who say the same of bicyclists and 48 percent of pedestrians. Scooter riders receive slightly less criticism in the region overall, with 43 percent saying they violate traffic laws very often or more.
8am – D/E MEXICO TARIFFS UPDATE: TRUMP ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH MEXICO
