Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Jonathan Fahey, White House’s Victoria Coates, ESPN’s Carol Maloney and Nicole Wittman joined WMAL on Thursday!

5am – A/B/C Battleground: 7 in 10 say US ‘on the edge of civil war.’ (Washington Examiner) – Partisan political division and the resulting incivility has reached a low in America, with 67% believing that the nation is nearing civil war, according to a new national survey. “The majority of Americans believe that we are two-thirds of the way to being on the edge of civil war. That to me is a very pessimistic place,” said Mo Elleithee, the executive director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service. And worse, he said in announcing the results of the institute’s Battleground Poll, the political division is likely to make the upcoming 2020 presidential race the nastiest in modern history.

5am – D/E     GOP lawmakers storm closed-door impeachment session, as Schiff walks out: Republicans push for public testimony from whistleblower after storming closed-door impeachment session. Hours after dozens of Republicans stormed a closed-door deposition in a secure area and disrupted Democrats’ Trump impeachment inquiry, top House GOP leaders pushed Democrats for more transparency, including public testimony from the whistleblower at the center of the probe. In an initial letter Wednesday to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, Republican lawmakers Jim Jordan of Ohio, Devin Nunes of California and Michael McCaul of Texas pushed for the whistleblower to come out of hiding so that his or her “sources and credibility” can be “fully assessed.”

6am – A/B/C A Georgia sheriff put ‘no trick-or-treat’ signs in yards of sex offenders. They’re suing. A group of sex offenders is suing the Butts County sheriff over signs he put up last Halloween. They claim the notices in their yards violated their constitutional rights. A group of registered sex offenders in Georgia is suing a county sheriff’s office for placing signs in their front yards warning residents not to trick-or-treat at their homes on Halloween. Butts County Sheriff Gary Long’s office placed the large white signs in the offenders’ yards last Halloween and had plans to do it again this year, but the federal class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Macon, Georgia, hopes to stop it. The posters include images of two stop signs, the “no” symbol plastered across a Halloween bag and the message: “WARNING! NO TRICK-OR-TREAT AT THIS ADDRESS!!” According to the lawsuit, one deputy told an offender he could be arrested if he removed the sign before Halloween night.

6am – D         Texas Gov Announces Investigation Into Case Of Mother Transitioning 7-Year-Old James Younger Against Father’s Wishes. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced an investigation into the case of a 7-year-old whose mother plans to transition him to a girl against his father’s wishes. Abbott tweeted that the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is looking into details of James Younger’s case. A judge is expected to make a final verdict in the court case Thursday.

6am – E         House Ethics Committee Investigates Katie Hill For Alleged ‘Sexual Relationship’ With Staffer: “The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Katie Hill may have engaged in a sexual relationship with an individual on her congressional staff, in violation of House Rule XXIII, clause 18(a). The Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), has begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations,” the committee chair and ranking member said in a joint statement.

6am – F         Strasburg stars as Nationals rout Astros 12-3 for 2-0 Series lead. The right-hander outdueled fellow ace Justin Verlander, overcoming a shaky start to give the Washington Nationals a 12-3 win over the Houston Astros and a commanding 2-0 lead in the World Series. Game 3 is Friday night when Aníbal Sánchez opposes Houston’s Zack Greinke in the first World Series game in the nation’s capital since 1933.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JONATHAN FAHEY – the independent candidate for Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney https://www.jonforfairfax.com

• Fahey is running to become Fairfax County’s next commonwealth’s attorney, positioning his campaign as a continuation of the legacy left by the office’s previous occupant, Ray Morrogh.  A veteran prosecutor who worked for Fairfax County for 35 years, Morrogh was first elected to serve as the county’s commonwealth’s attorney in 2007. He had not faced a challenger until Steve Descano, a former federal prosecutor like Fahey, declared his candidacy last November. Fahey argues that Fairfax County has no need for the progressive criminal justice reform policies that Descano championed on his way to defeating Morrogh in the Democratic primary on June 11.

7am – B/C     BIDEN NEWS:

• BIDEN CAMPAIGNS IN SCRANTON, PA: Biden’s home town is Scranton, PA. He held a rally there. 300 people turned up.  Yikes.
• Scranton Times reporter Jeff Horvath @jhorvath: Looks like there’s about 300 seats here inside the Cultural Center for #Biden. #Scranton
• Biden way ahead of the pack in new national poll. A new national survey shows Joe Biden enjoying a 15-point polling lead over his nearest rival for the 2020 Democratic nomination — bolstering the former vice president’s White House bid amid emerging threats from other primary contenders and scrutiny over his son’s foreign business dealings. Thirty-four percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters prefer Biden as the party’s pick to take on President Donald Trump in next year’s general election, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS and released Wednesday. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren ranks second with 19 percent support, followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 16 percent.
• Joe Biden launched his Latino coalition today but forgot to register the web address. Biden, who spent the day campaigning across Pennsylvania and Iowa, announced “Todos Con Biden,” a “national network of Latino supporters” working to help elect the former vice president earlier on Wednesday. But there’s one problem.  The Biden campaign failed to purchase www.todosconbiden.com, or even lock down the @TodosConBiden Twitter handle before announcing the new effort — prompting the president’s reelection team to do what it does best: troll.  But there’s one problem. The Biden campaign failed to purchase www.todosconbiden.com, or even lock down the @TodosConBiden Twitter handle before announcing the new effort — prompting the president’s reelection team to do what it does best: troll. Now, the Trump campaign is using www.todosconbiden.com to mock the former vice president, with a landing page that says in both English and Spanish, “Oops, Joe forgot about Latinos.” The page also links out to the president’s own Latino outreach coalition “Latinos for Trump.” And the @TodosConBiden Twitter account, in the possession of the Trump campaign, has already begun posting unflattering counter messaging targeting Biden.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – VICTORIA COATES – White House’s Deputy National Security Advisor for MidEast and North Africa

• Trump announces ‘permanent cease-fire’ in Syria between Turkey and Kurds; lifts sanctions on Ankara.  President Trump announced Wednesday that conditions have been met between Turkey and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces for what he called a “permanent cease-fire” between the two sides and that the United States was lifting sanctions on Ankara that were implemented following the invasion of northern Syria. Speaking at the White House, Trump said that while a “permanent cease-fire” will be tough to maintain in the volatile region, he hopes it will last and end the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds. Trump delivered the statement amid bipartisan criticism over his recent decision to pull back U.S. forces from northern Syria, opening the door for Turkey to launch a military offensive. The president said that nearly all U.S. troops will be leaving Syria but some will remain to safeguard oil fields there. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally who vehemently opposed the president’s troop-withdrawal plan, said he prayed the cease-fire will hold and pleaded with Trump on Wednesday to listen to his military commanders and not “policy-shop civilians” regarding the ongoing conflict in Syria.

7am – E         INTERVIEW – LARRY MICHAEL – Voice of The Redskins – discussed what to watch for in Redskins-Vikings game tonight.

• Riding high after their third win in a row last week, the Minnesota Vikings and their 5-2 record will be taking on the Washington Redskins team on Thursday night inside U.S. Bank Stadium.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – CAROL MALONEY – host of The Carol Maloney Show on ESPN 630 (in studio) – discussed the Nats being the Astros 12-3 for 2-0 Series lead.

8am – B/C     HALLOWEEN NEWS:

• Bed Bath & Beyond pulls controversial black jack-o-lanterns from shelves. Retailer Bed Bath & Beyond have removed their black jack-o-lanterns from store shelves after receiving complaints that they were a form of blackface. News 12 reports that the all-black pumpkins with two white eyes were on display at a law firm in Nyack, New York as decoration for Halloween. Community members complained and the law firm Feerick Nugent MacCartney removed them. The firm said they did not mean to offend anyone. “We understand that someone complained about them and so once we got word of that we immediately took them down,” Mary Marzolla, a partner at the law firm, told News 12. Wilbur Aldridge with the NAACP said that the black jack-o-lanterns are “an extreme lack of sensitivity.”
• TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO HOST HALLOWEEN WITCH HUNT PARTY”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – NICOLE WITTMAN – running for Loudoun Commonwealth attorney https://nicolewittmann.com

• Loudoun Co. prosecutor Jim Plowman is becoming a judge leaving the Loudoun County Commonwealth attorney open. Wittmann has been with Plowman for nearly 15 years and has served as his Chief Deputy. Wittmann faces Leesburg attorney Buta Biberaj, a Democrat, in the election for Commonwealth’s Attorney on Nov. 5.
• VA STATE SEN. DICK BLACK wrote at TheBullElephant.com: “Buta Biberaj is running for Commonwealth’s Attorney. She is a criminal lawyer who defends rapists and child molesters in her practice. Biberaj defended a man who tried to rape his female co-worker late at night. He masked his face and attacked her. With one hand clutching her throat, he forced his other hand down her shirt. She fought back and bit him savagely. He was convicted using DNA evidence from the blood-soaked crime scene. After trial, Biberaj was angry because the victim watched the defendant being handcuffed and led off to prison…. Buta Biberaj is also a hyper-partisan Democrat. She is massively funded by George Soros, who is fighting for control over prosecutors. Her entire mail schedule is funded by George Soros, and her Republican opponent can’t match George Soros’ money.”