Westwood One’s Bob Costantini, Heritage Foundation’s James Carafano, Fmr. DOJ official Robert Driscoll, Liberty Government Affairs’ Brian Darling, and Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Merkel fires back after Trump says Germany is ‘totally controlled’ by Russia (The Hill) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday fired back at President Trump‘s claim that Germany was controlled by Russia, saying that it is “united in freedom” and makes independent policies and decisions.  “I have experienced myself how a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union,” Merkel said, referring to her childhood in communist East Germany, according to Reuters. “I’m very glad that today we are united in freedom … because of that we can say that we can make our independent policies and make independent decisions.”

5am – D Paul Manafort thinks he’s being treated like a ‘VIP’ in jail, special counsel says (CNN) – Paul Manafort’s complaints about his life in jail backfired spectacularly Wednesday. After weeks of him saying he couldn’t prepare for his late July trial behind bars, a federal judge ordered the former Donald Trump campaign chairman to be transferred to an Alexandria, Virginia, detention facility minutes from DC.  For almost a month, he has lived in a VIP unit at a rural Virginia regional jail two hours from Washington, where he’s retained some conveniences of the outside world.  “It is surprising and confusing when counsel identifies a problem and then opposes the most logical solution to that problem,” Judge T.S. Ellis wrote about Manafort’s requests in his order to move him out of Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia.

5am – E ‘Unmasking Antifa Act’ includes 15-year prison term proposal (The Hill) – The “Unmasking Antifa Act of 2018,” legislation introduced in the House, carries a potential 15-year prison sentence for those caught engaging in behaviors typically associated with the “antifa” movement of anti-fascist activists.  Under the act, anyone “wearing a mask” or in disguise who “injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates any person … in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege” would be subject to a fine or up to 15 years in prison.

6am – A INTERVIEW – Bob Costantini – Westwood One News correspondent – discussed Trump’s NATO trip

6am – B Ivanka Trump: Paid family leave is an investment in America’s families – It deserves bipartisan support (Fox News) – In September 2016, when then-Republican presidential primary candidate Donald J. Trump called for a national paid family leave plan, pundits called it “a striking departure from GOP orthodoxy.” Indeed it was.   But over the past 21 months, we have witnessed conservatives building a majority in support of this important policy.  In conversations with members of the GOP, there is burgeoning agreement on the intrinsically conservative nature of a national paid family leave plan.  Social conservatives underscore paid leave as a way to forge more tightly bonded families and protect infants and parents at their most vulnerable.

6am – C Miami man with no arms charged with stabbing Chicago tourist (WSVN Miami) – A homeless Florida man with no arms has been charged with stabbing a Chicago tourist.  Miami Beach police say 46-year-old Jonathan Crenshaw held a pair of scissors with his feet and stabbed 22-year-old Cesar Coronado just after midnight Tuesday. The Miami Herald reports that Crenshaw is a popular fixture in the area, known for painting on canvases along a trendy spot in South Beach.

6am – D INTERVIEW – James Carafano – National Security and Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation – discussed the fallout from the NATO summit         

6am – E Live Reaction to President Trump’s Press Conference during NATO Summit

6am – F Anti-Trump FBI Agent Faces Grilling (Fox News) – Embattled anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok is set to testify publicly for the first time on Thursday before House Republicans investigating bias at the nation’s top law enforcement agency, just one day after his former lover at the FBI, attorney Lisa Page, ducked a congressional subpoena … GOP leaders are expected to grill Strzok at a joint session of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees beginning at 10 a.m. ET.

7am – A INTERVIEW – Robert Driscoll – former deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division – discussed Peter Strzok’s upcoming public testimony    

7am – B Papa John’s founder resigns as chairman after using N-word on conference call (CNN) – John Schnatter, the founder and public face of Papa John’s pizza, has resigned as the company’s chairman after it emerged he used the N-word on a conference call in May.  Papa John’s (PZZA) said in a statement late Wednesday it would appoint a new chairman “in the coming weeks.”

7am – C Reaction to Trump Presser in Brussels     

7am – D/E INTERVIEW – Brian Darling – Founder of Liberty Government Affairs – discussed Kavanaugh’s upcoming confirmation hearings in Congress

8am – A INTERVIEW – Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer – best-selling author of “Operation Dark Heart”            

8am – B DC News:

• Majority of D.C. Council moves to overturn tipped-wage ballot measure (Washington Post) – A majority of the D.C. Council on Tuesday backed repeal of a ballot measure approved by voters last month that would force businesses to pay more to servers, bartenders, bellhops and other hourly workers who depend on tips.  Seven of the council’s 13 members co-introduced a bill that would overturn Initiative 77, which was passed by 56 percent of District voters in June’s primary election.

• DC is first US city to establish ‘enviornmentally-friendly’ bank (WUSA 9) – D.C. just became the first city in the U.S. to establish a green bank, and it could lead to the future of changing the U.S.’s impact on the climate.  Green banks offer help to consumers who want to use energy-saving power, such as using solar panels to save on their electricity bills, but have trouble affording it. The upfront costs of these projects can turn people away from going through with it.

8am – C How 20-Year-Old Kylie Jenner built a $900 million fortune in less than 3 years (Forbes) – Kylie Jenner sits at a dark-wood dining table at her mother’s home in Calabasas, California, flicking through display options for a forthcoming pop-up shop. The youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner industrial complex needs to decide how to showcase products by her Kylie Cosmetics makeup company. She taps her black iPhone X with a silver glittery nail and turns the screen around to show a coterie of employees a vending machine.    

8am – D Kavanaugh Latest:

• Colbert, NARAL mock Brett Kavanaugh for being named Brett (Washington Free Beacon) – Late-night host Stephen Colbert and abortion advocacy group NARAL have both gone after Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh for being named Brett.  Colbert, a fierce critic of the Trump administration, joked Tuesday night on “The Late Show” about playing a drinking “game” that involved pouring himself a drink every time his glass was empty as he watched Trump’s announcement of Kavanaugh.

• Brett Kavanaugh accumulated thousands in credit card debt from buying Washington Nationals tickets: Report (Washington Examiner) – Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh accumulated credit card debt from buying baseball tickets, a new report says.  Kavanaugh reported incurring between $60,000 to $200,000 in credit card debt in 2016, the Washington Post reports. He additionally reported having the same amount of debt in 2006, the year he joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

8am – E Rep. Jim Jordan is now attacking CNN for reaching out to his former staffers and interns (Vox) – Rep. Jim Jordan is on the attack — first against the former Ohio State wrestlers who say he turned a blind eye to rampant sexual abuse while an assistant wrestling coach at the university, and now against the media outlet reporting on a story.  Jordan attacked CNN on Twitter Wednesday, calling the organization “fake news” and “desperate” for contacting his former staffers and interns.