Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Amber Athey, KT McFarland, Bill Gertz and Timothy Parlatore joined WMAL on Tuesday!

5am – A/B/C Democrats are Doomed: Two Polls Show Support for Trump Among African Americans at 34%. (PJ Media) — In what one can only describe as “disastrous news” for Democrats, two different opinion polls find that, among African Americans, support for President Trump is in the thirties. This number has been rising more or less constantly from a year ago, when it was in the mid-20s. Rasmussen Reports explains on Twitter that one of the biggest differences between them and most other polling organizations is that they look at likely voters instead of at voters in general. “All American Adults don’t vote. A portion of Registered Voters also don’t frequent national elections. That’s why we invest the extra $$ to ask political questions to only Likely Voters,” Rasmussen explains. “And we do this using techniques to assure privacy – just like in the voting booth.” In other words, their polling mimics actual voting as much as possible. And yes, the result is that Rasmussen concludes that support for President Trump among African Americans is at 34 percent.

5am – D         DON MCGAHN TO TESTIFY:

• Judge rules Don McGahn must comply with House impeachment subpoena. “When DOJ insists that Presidents can lawfully prevent their senior-level aides from responding to compelled congressional process and that neither the federal courts nor Congress has the power to do anything about it, DOJ promotes a conception of separation-of-powers principles that gets these constitutional commands exactly backwards. In reality, it is a core tenet of this Nation’s founding that the powers of a monarch must be split between the branches of the government to prevent tyranny.” — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
• Mark Levin blasts McGahn ruling, calls judge a ‘disgrace.’ “She’s a radical leftist and this is truly outrageous,” Levin said on his radio show. If McGahn wanted to assert executive privilege to avoid testifying as part of the House impeachment inquiry, U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled, he would need to appear before Congress and do it himself, likely on a question-by-question basis. “Now, this is what you need to understand, a president must be able to have legal advice. Must be able to have legal advice without Congress interfering,” Levin said. “Whether it’s an impeachment proceeding or any other proceeding. Otherwise, there’s no balance of power because the House of Representatives, unless there’s a criminal investigation, is not subject to any subpoenas.” “If a president can’t turn to a lawyer for legal advice, then it’s a disaster,” Levin added, saying the ruling would be appealed. Supreme Court grants emergency stay blocking subpoena for Trump tax returns. Between the lines: A Supreme Court ruling on the case would likely not come until mid-January, AP notes. If House Democrats are planning to vote to impeach Trump by the end of the year, as they have signaled, the tax return investigation will likely not play a role.

5am – E         George Papadopoulos Officially Announces Run For Katie Hill’s Vacated House Seat. (Daily Caller) – Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos announced Monday morning during “Fox & Friends” that he is officially running for Democrat Katie Hill’s former House seat. Papadopoulos spent 12 days in prison in 2018 after being convicted of lying to investigators about his contact with Russians during the 2016 campaign. He filed for a House run at the end of October and officially launched his bid Monday for the California House seat. “When I go and talk around the districts, the state, the country, they tell me we need a candidate to represent the community that has an ‘America First’ agenda at heart that supports the president,” Papadopoulos, a Republican, said.

6am – A         ‘SNL’ comedian Pete Davidson says he’s done performing at colleges: ‘You can’t say anything.’ Davidson told the magazine that doing college shows is no longer worth the risk of losing money or getting backlash for saying something potentially offensive. He was asked by Tommy Dorfman what it’s like doing comedy in such a “hyper-sensitive” world. “It makes doing college [shows] really hard,” Davidson said. “I refuse to do a college after this year ’cause it’s like, you’re just setting yourself up for trouble… Comedy is just, like, getting destroyed. Standup’s about to be about, like, sneakers. Like, ‘Hey, everyone like sneakers?’ You can’t talk about anything. You can’t. The second you open your mouth and have an opinion, you lose money today. And I don’t think that’s a safe place to live in.”

6am – B/C     POLITICO: Biden’s senior Latina adviser quits in frustration. A senior Joe Biden campaign staffer in charge of outreach to Latino, African-American and women’s groups has quit her post, telling two allies she was frustrated over her lack of input and with the presidential candidate’s immigration rhetoric. Vanessa Cárdenas, the most senior Latina Biden staffer, had been serving as national coalitions director since the campaign formally announced its existence April 25. She resigned last week and has since changed her bio on Twitter to say she was “formerly with @joebiden.”  Cárdenas did not return a call or text message, but two friends familiar with her thinking told POLITICO that she felt the campaign wasn’t heeding her advice on immigration as she tried to reach out to Latino groups that have had longstanding concerns with the former vice president’s rhetoric and record stemming from the Obama administration. “The campaign is just hyper-focused on whites in Iowa and African-Americans and it placed less value on Latino outreach,” an immigration activist and friend who spoke with her told POLITICO. […] At a South Carolina event on Thursday, Biden ended up in a widely publicized clash with Carlos Rojas, an immigration activist with the group Movimiento Cosecha, who wanted the candidate to pledge to halt deportations. “No. I will not stop all deportations. I will prioritize deportations, only people who have committed a felony or serious crime,” Biden told Rojas. Rojas then told Biden that he had volunteered for the Obama-Biden campaign in 2008 but became disenchanted with the Obama administration because “over those 8 years, there were 3 million people that were deported and separated from their families.” “You should vote for Trump,” Biden cut in. The exchange, which occurred after Cárdenas had quit, underscored her concerns with the campaign, a second friend told POLITICO.

6am – D         CONAN THE HERO DOG:

• Donald Trump honors hero dog Conan in the Rose Garden. White House flip-flops on gender of ISIS-fighting hero dog Conan
• AMBER ATHEY: Media Unleashes Criticism After Trump Brings Hero Dog To White House. The media went after President Donald Trump on Monday during Conan’s visit to the White House, attacking him for a litany of reasons, including making jokes to the press and not standing close enough to the dog.
• CNN political contributor Joan Walsh appeared to feign surprise that President Trump didn’t sexually assault the military canine that visited the White House: CNN’S Joan Walsh @joanwalsh: I am being slammed for my Conan tweets by MAGA and I do want to apologize: Conan is actually a female dog, God bless her. So I’m especially shocked Trump didn’t…well, you know.

6am – E         EDDIE GALLAGHER NEWS:

• Pres. Trump defends his decision to vindicate Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher when asked about the firing of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer: “I have to protect my war fighters…it’s about time”
• Navy SEAL Gallagher to retire from active duty, no review board, thanks to orders from Trump.  (Fox News) – Eddie Gallagher, the Navy SEAL at the center of a high-profile standoff between President Trump and some top officials in the Navy, will retire from active duty and will not take part in a review board over his conduct in 2017 while deployed, a Navy spokesman said late Monday. Gallagher, a highly decorated SEAL who received two Bronze Stars with V for valor, was acquitted of murder in the stabbing death of an Islamic State militant captive but was convicted of posing with the corpse. Lt. Cmdr. Clay Doss, the Navy spokesman, said there will be no additional information due to privacy concerns. The announcement was not a surprise. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said earlier that he was given a direct order by Trump to allow Gallagher to retire without losing his status as a Navy SEAL.
• Trump Tells Allies He Wants Absolved War Criminals to Campaign for Him. (Daily Beast) – Fallout from the clemency cost the Navy secretary Richard Spencer his job, but a former Pentagon deputy chief backs the ousted official. If Donald Trump gets his wish, he’ll soon take the three convicted or accused war criminals he spared from consequence on the road as special guests in his re-election campaign, according to two sources who have heard Trump discuss their potential roles for the 2020 effort. Despite military and international backlash to Trump’s Nov. 15 clemency—fallout from which cost Navy Secretary Richard Spencer his job on Sunday—Trump believes he has rectified major injustices. Two people tell The Daily Beast they’ve heard Trump talk about how he’d like to have the now-cleared Clint Lorance, Matthew Golsteyn, or Edward Gallagher show up at his 2020 rallies, or even have a moment on stage at his renomination convention in Charlotte next year. Right-wing media have portrayed all three as martyrs brought down by “political correctness” within the military. “He briefly discussed making it a big deal at the convention,” said one of these sources, who requested anonymity to talk about private conversations. “The president made a reference to the 2016 [convention] and where they brought on-stage heroes” like former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, who refused to execute detained civilians ahead of a devastating Taliban attack.

6am – F         Kanye West’s ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ opera was a loud flop. (NY Post) – Kanye West is continuing to alienate fans. Attendees were disappointed by the artist’s only performance of “Nebuchadnezzar,” his first-ever opera, on Sunday. The hourlong gospel-take about the longest-reigning king of Babylon started late, had rough acoustics and didn’t sell out, the audience reports. A livestream of the opera on the platform Tidal was delayed over an hour, with West instead playing older songs on repeat — a move one watcher referred to as “the most Kanye thing ever.” Those there in person to see the show live at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl had to wait in real time: Although the show was slated to begin at 4 p.m., it didn’t start until 6:14, USA Today writes. And when it did start, it was a scream. After waiting double the performance’s length for the show to begin, West presented the opera by bellowing and moaning — to show the struggle of King Nebuchadnezzar. He then narrated the performance from his annotated Book of Daniel from the sidelines, only making an appearance on stage for the final bow.

7am – A         Rudy Giuliani consulting firm eyed in federal subpoenas, report says. (CNBC) – Federal subpoenas have been issued seeking information about the consulting firm of Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, a new report said Monday. The Wall Street Journal reported that Giuliani Partners is one of the entities named in the subpoenas issued to potential witnesses in a case that appears to involve possible money laundering, obstruction of justice and campaign finance violations, as well as other crimes. The subpoenas, which went out to people with ties to Giuliani, “suggest that prosecutors are looking closely at the work of Mr. Giuliani himself, according to people familiar with the matter,” the Journal reported. The newspaper also reported the subpoenas seek materials related to two pro-Trump groups, America First Action and America First Policies. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, which is conducting the investigation, already is prosecuting two of Giuliani’s associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who are charged with campaign finance crimes. Giuliani, a former New York mayor who previously headed that same Manhattan federal prosecutors’ office, has not been criminally charged.

7am – B/C     2020 NEWS:

• BLOOMBERG ORDERS DECAF COFFEE –WHAT???
  • Dan Merica @merica And so it begins. His order: A decaf coffee.
  • ‘And so it ends’: Democrat 2020 Michael Bloomberg orders Decaf Coffee At First Bus Tour campaign stop gets dragged by a bipartisan farewell to out of touch Bloomberg’s presidential hopes
  • Lachlan Markay @lachlan And so it ends.
  • Alex Thomas @AlexThomasDC he’s disqualified on this alone
• 2020 DEMS RIPPING ON BLOOMBERG FOR JUMPING IN: Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren blasted billionaire Michael Bloomberg for launching his White House bid with a $37 million TV advertising blitz, accusing him of trying to buy American democracy.
• Sen. Warren: “Michael Bloomberg is making a bet about democracy in 2020: He doesn’t need people, he only needs bags and bags of money … If [his] version of democracy wins, then democracy changes — and it’s going to be about which billionaire you can stomach going forward.”
• Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg claims that “climate change” was a cause of the Syrian Civil War

7am – D         INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Former Deputy National Security Adviser for President Trump and author of upcoming book “Revolution: Trump, Washington and “We the People” (Hardcover – February 25, 2020)

• KT discussed why she went away from the Trump Administration, what she makes off the continued war on the administration and what has happened with the NSC: Don McGahn, what happened with Bolton, Mike Flynn, Fiona Hill / impeachment inquiry hearings.
• Judge rules Don McGahn must comply with House impeachment subpoena
• KT knew Fiona Hill and talked about what she thought of last week’s hearings.

7am – E         Woman buys Cameo from Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath to break up with boyfriend. (NY Post) — This breakup was a little Sugar Ray-coated. But turns out, it was all a joke. A woman who didn’t want to dump her boyfriend on her own found a crafty way to get out of the dirty deed: hiring someone else to break up with him for her. But Cheyenne didn’t have just anyone shatter her now-ex boyfriend Brayden’s heart. She used personalized shoutout app Cameo to get Sugar Ray’s frontman Mark McGrath. And no, he didn’t recite the lyrics to the band’s 2001 hit “When It’s Over.” Instead, McGrath, 51, who is still sporting his signature frosted tips, delivered a very upbeat performance in a video that runs more than two minutes long, which now has 575,000 views (and counting) on Twitter. “She wants you to know you mean a lot to her. You mean the world to her,” he says in the video. “But she’s having difficulty staying in this long-distance relationship.” McGrath said he understands how hard it is to date while on the road and let Brayden know he completely empathizes because it’s sometimes difficult for him and his wife, beautician Carin Kingsland, 45. “Cheyenne is trying to let you know, Brayden, it’s very, very tough for her to stay in this relationship,” he continued. “She still cares about you a lot. You never know what the future may hold and she still wants to be friends with you.” The singer also let Brayden know that Cheyenne hopes he does well on his thesis. “Probably not the best timing, Cheyenne, when he’s doing his thesis,” McGrath scolded. McGrath ended his man-to-man with a frank “Life goes on.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – BILL GERTZ – National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times and author of new book “Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China’s Drive for Global Supremacy” – discussed the latest about China and his new book.

• ABOUT HIS BOOK: Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China’s Drive for Global Supremacy. Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China’s Drive for Global Supremacy details the failure to understand the nature and activities of the dangers posed by China and what the United States can do in taking needed steps to counter the threats.
• THE CHINA THREAT:
  • GERTZ: Pentagon races to end China’s dream of military domination in space. The United States and China are rapidly building space warfare capabilities as part of a race to dominate the zone outside Earth’s atmosphere. Bill Gertz takes a deep look into the race to build infrastructure in the stars.
  • GERTZ: U.S. intelligence agencies believe the missile has already been deployed, based on its appearance during the Oct. 1 military parade in Beijing, where it was the centerpiece. A total of 16 DF-41s were showcased and Beijing officials at the time boasted that the new missile will be a key element of China’s efforts to confront the U.S. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the Chinese missile test. A Chinese Embassy spokesman did not return an email seeking comment on the missile test. Separately, China watcher Henri Kenhmann, who operates the blog East Pendulum, reported a possible missile test was carried out around 6:30 p.m. in China on Friday, based on announced air closure zones. The missile was likely fired from a launch center in northwestern China and landed in a remote region of the Gobi Desert. “The impact zone is similar to those of previous DF-41 trials in December 2016 and November 2017 and January and May of 2018,” he tweeted.
• Hong Kong elections: Chinese media attempt to downplay results. (BBC) — Chinese state media outlets have attempted to downplay the results of Hong Kong’s district elections, which saw the pro-democracy camp score a landslide victory. The government had been hoping the election would bring a show of support from the so- called “silent majority” opposed to the protests. Instead, it saw some significant pro-Beijing candidates lose council seats. Chief Executive Carrie Lam has acknowledged public “unhappiness”. In her first public appearance since the results, she said she recognised that people were concerned over “deficiencies in governance, including unhappiness with the time taken to deal with the unstable  environment”. However, she offered no new concessions. ‘No need to over-interpret the victory’ Reaction from state media outlets has ranged from making no reference at all to election results to overt claims that “tampering” had taken place. However, the report also said there was “no need to over-interpret the victory of pan-democrats”. The Global Times’ editor Hu Xijin, known for his outspoken comments, mentioned on Chinese social media site Weibo that the pro-Beijing camp had failed, but added that the district council elections were on a very “local level”.

 

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – AMBER ATHEY – White House Correspondent at The Daily Caller – discussed the latest White House news.

• TURKEY PARDON: TODAY AT 2PM: THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY participate in the presentation of the National Thanksgiving Turkey. The White House on Monday revealed the names of the two feathered contenders who will vie for the title of National Thanksgiving Turkey — Bread and Butter (via Politico)
• CONAN THE HERO DOG: Donald Trump honors hero dog Conan in the Rose Garden.
  • White House flip-flops on gender of ISIS-fighting hero dog Conan.
  • AMBER ATHEY: Media Unleashes Criticism After Trump Brings Hero Dog To White House. The media went after President Donald Trump on Monday during Conan’s visit to the White House, attacking him for a litany of reasons, including making jokes to the press and not standing close enough to the dog.
  • CNN political contributor Joan Walsh appeared to feign surprise that President Trump didn’t sexually assault the military canine that visited the White House: CNN’S Joan Walsh @joanwalsh: I am being slammed for my Conan tweets by MAGA and I do want to apologize: Conan is actually a female dog, God bless her. So I’m especially shocked Trump didn’t…well, you know.
• CHRISTMAS TREE: First Lady Melania Trump welcomes the White House Christmas tree.
• DON MCGAHN:  Judge rules Don McGahn must comply with House impeachment subpoena
• ANIMAL CRUELTY LAW:  YESTERDAY: Trump signed into law a new federal ban on animal cruelty, called the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act
• PRESIDENT’S SCHEDULE:  Tuesday, November 26, 2019:
  • 12:30 PM – THE PRESIDENT has lunch with the Secretary of State
  • 2:00 PM – THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY participate in the presentation of the National Thanksgiving Turkey
  • 3:15 PM – THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart the White House
  • 7:00 PM – THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks at a Keep America Great Rally in Sunrise, FL
  • 9:05 PM – THE PRESIDENT arrives in Palm Beach, FL

8am – D         INTERVIEW – Timothy Parlatore – a former Navy officer, is a lawyer representing Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher

• Pres. Trump defends his decision to vindicate Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher when asked about the firing of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer: “I have to protect my war fighters…it’s about time”
• Navy SEAL Gallagher to retire from active duty, no review board, thanks to orders from Trump. Eddie Gallagher, the Navy SEAL at the center of a high-profile standoff between President Trump and some top officials in the Navy, will retire from active duty and will not take part in a review board over his conduct in 2017 while deployed, a Navy spokesman said late Monday. Gallagher, a highly decorated SEAL who received two Bronze Stars with V for valor, was acquitted of murder in the stabbing death of an Islamic State militant captive but was convicted of posing with the corpse. Lt. Cmdr. Clay Doss, the Navy spokesman, said there will be no additional information due to privacy concerns. The announcement was not a surprise. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said earlier that he was given a direct order by Trump to allow Gallagher to retire without losing his status as a Navy SEAL.

 

8am – E         ‘He picked the wrong house’: Bodybuilder, 82, fights break-in suspect. (Fox Baltimore) — Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) – An 82-year-old woman found herself in danger after she says a man broke into her home – until she turned the tables on the intruder. Willie Murphy says she was getting ready for bed Thursday night, just after 11 p.m., when a man began pounding on her door.  “He was outside and saying, ‘Please call an ambulance,’ saying, ‘I’m sick, I’m sick,’” she said. She called the police, but wouldn’t let him inside. That, she says, is when he became angry. “I hear a loud noise,” she said. “I’m thinking, ‘What the heck was that? The young man is in my home. He broke the door.” What the suspect likely didn’t realize is Murphy is an award-winning bodybuilder who works out at the YMCA almost every day. “He picked the wrong house to break into,” she said. Murphy says it was dark, so she was able to hide as the suspect walked through her house. She acted quickly and grabbed the closest thing she could find. “I picked up the table, and I went to work on him,” she said. ‘The table broke.” “And when he’s down,” she continued, “I’m jumping on him.” She says, once the suspect was injured, she ran and grabbed a bottle of shampoo – and started pouring it on him. “I grabbed the shampoo,” she said. “Guess what? He’s still on the ground. In his face, all of it, the whole thing.” “I got the broom,” she continued. “He’s pulling the broom. I’m hitting him with the broom.” Finally, officers arrived. The man was sent to the hospital and Murphy was applauded by first responders. “The officers that came wanted to go on my front porch and take selfies with me,” she said. Friday, she returned to the YMCA and got a hero’s welcome. For the record, Murphy says she can deadlift 225 pounds. She hopes this story inspires people of all ages.