Daily Caller’s Saagar Enjeti, Washington Post’s Scott Allen and Raheem Kassam joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Europe will require carmakers to install speed limiters from 2022. London (CNN Busines) New cars sold in Europe from 2022 will have to be fitted with systems to limit their speed. Under new safety rules agreed by the European Union, all new vehicles are required to have “intelligent speed assistance” systems as standard equipment. The EU rules don’t mandate specific technology for the systems, which can be temporarily overridden by the driver. Some carmakers have already developed ways of using GPS or cameras to detect posted speed limits and make sure vehicles adhere to them. European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska said in a statement that 25,000 people are killed each year on European roads, with the vast majority of accidents being caused by human error. “With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced,” she said. The rules, which also mandate crash data recorders and reversing cameras, were hailed by safety advocates. But others raised concerns over the risk of drivers becoming complacent and less focused on the road conditions. The European Automotive Manufacturers Association also has concerns about the technology. It warned last year of “many infrastructure-related issues holding back its widespread application.” It said that road signs are not standardized across Europe, making speed limits difficult to detect. Digital maps lack speed limit information for many roads, and the data is not always current.

5am – D/E     PARENTS SAYING “NO” TO GIFTS AT THEIR KIDS’ BIRTHDAY PARTIES. (NY Post) — Children’s birthday presents are joining chain restaurants, American cheese and diamond engagement rings on the growing list of millennial casualties. Space-starved moms and dads are saying “thank you, next” to physical gifts, requesting their guests make charitable donations, give money or simply offer nothing at all. These proud, party-pooper parents say it helps them cut down on clutter and keeps their kids grateful for the toys they do have.

6am – A         BORDER NEWS:

• CBP commissioner visits El Paso border, says immigration system at ‘breaking point.’ Border hits ‘breaking point’ in El Paso, CBP commissioner says. (Fox News) –  The nation’s top border security official said Wednesday that the border is at its “breaking point” during a visit to Texas, where as many as 1,000 migrants crossed into the U.S. and there are not enough agents to respond. “That breaking point has arrived this week at our border,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan said along the border. “CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest border, and nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in El Paso.” McAleenan said the Border Patrol is on pace for over 100,000 apprehensions and encounters with migrants – mostly from Central America seeking asylum in the U.S. On Monday, agents encountered an estimated 4,000 migrants border-wide, he said. In February, more than 76,000 migrants were detained, the highest number in 12 years. hat figure includes more than 7,000 unaccompanied children. More than 36,000 migrant families have arrived in the El Paso region in fiscal year 2019 compared with about 2,000 at the same time last year, according to CBP data, the El Paso Times reported. The influx is posing new challenges for border agents.
• Almost 40,000 children will be taken into federal custody this month, US border official says
• Pentagon transfers $1 billion to help build Trump’s wall despite congressional backlash (The Hill) —  The Pentagon has moved ahead with its plan to transfer $1 billion from its accounts to help build President Trump’s border wall, despite congressional backlash and the possibility that the Defense Department will lose its ability to move dollars between accounts in the future.

6am – B/C     TV RATINGS:

• MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Loses Half-A-Million Viewers After Implosion Of Collusion Conspiracy. (Daily Caller) — MSNBC host Rachel Maddow lost half-a-million viewers in just one week after special counsel Robert Mueller’s report indicated that he did not find enough evidence to support collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC delivered monster ratings for the network, cementing the cable host as the left-wing foil to Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Maddow consistently finished 1st or 2nd in overall cable news ratings over the past year, sometimes garnering more than 3 million viewers. But according to The Daily Beast, Maddow’s show dropped 500,000 viewers in just one week after the Mueller report dropped. “Maddow, who has consistently vied for the first or second top-rated cable news program, was sixth on Monday evening, down almost 500,000 total viewers from the previous Monday, as was MSNBC’s second top-rated program in primetime, ‘The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell,’” The Daily Beast reported.
• Fox News dominated cable news ratings on 03/26:

Primetime 8-11PM/EST (average):

FNC: 3,341,000 total viewers; 585,000 in 25-54 age demo

CNN: 798,000; 220,000

MSNBC: 1,824,000; 271,000

Total Day (avg):

FNC: 1,808,000; 332,000

CNN: 553,000; 157,000

MSNBC: 950,000; 50,000

6am – D/E/F  Teen boys rated their female classmates based on looks. The girls fought back. (Washington Post) — Yasmin Behbehani had just walked into her third-period health class when her friend asked her if she had seen the list. “There’s a list of the girls’ names,” her friend Nicky Schmidt, a fellow senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland, said. “And we’re ranked.” Behbehani didn’t want to see the list, or know whether she was on it. She had spent the past four years recovering from an eating disorder, working hard to avoid comparing herself with others, she said. But by her sixth-period class on that Monday earlier this month, a text message appeared on her phone with a screenshot of the list, typed out on the iPhone Notes app. It included the names of 18 girls in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, ranked and rated on the basis of their looks, from 5.5 to 9.4, with decimal points to the hundredth place. There, with a number beside it, was Behbehani’s name. A group of male students in their program created the list more than a year ago, but it resurfaced earlier this month, through text messages and whispers during class. One male classmate, seeing the name of his good friend Nicky Schmidt on the list, told her about it, and within 24 hours, dozens of girls had heard about the list. Lists like this one had silently circulated among teen boys for generations, and it has happened in more recent years at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, too, the students said. But it was happening now, in the era of the #MeToo movement. Women had been standing up to harassment in workplaces and on college campuses and the high school girls, who had been witnessing this empowerment, decided they weren’t going to let the issue slide. They felt violated, objectified by classmates they considered their friends. They felt uncomfortable getting up to go to the bathroom, worried that the boys might be scanning them and “editing their decimal points,” said Lee Schwartz, one of the other senior girls on the list. “Knowing that my closest friends were talking to me and hanging out with me but under that, silently numbering me, it definitely felt like a betrayal,” Schwartz said. “I was their friend, but I guess also a number.” But there is power in numbers, too. Dozens of senior girls decided to speak up to the school administration and to their male classmates, demanding not only disciplinary action in response to the list but a schoolwide reckoning about the toxic culture that allowed it to happen. “It was the last straw, for us girls, of this ‘boys will be boys’ culture,” Behbehani said. “We’re the generation that is going to make a change.”  That same Monday, a group of girls reported the list to an administrator, who encouraged the students not to talk about it around school, Schmidt said. The next day, the girls learned that after an investigation, school officials decided to discipline one male student with in-school detention for one day, which would not show up on his record. Bethesda-Chevy Chase’s principal, Donna Redmond Jones, said an investigation revealed the list was made during school hours, and that “there was definitely discipline applied,” in line with the district’s code of conduct but that she could not give any more information because of privacy concerns.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – SAAGAR ENJETI – White House Correspondent, The Daily Caller – discussed the latest White House news and President Trump’s Hannity interview.

• Trump vows to release FISA docs now that Mueller probe is concluded, slams ‘treasonous’ FBI
• Trump open to call for 2nd special counsel: Report
• Trump won’t discuss Mueller pardons yet but says “scam” hurt many
• Trump: FBI officials committed treason in Russia probe
• Trump to take Michigan ‘victory lap’ at first rally after Mueller report

7am – B         2020 NEWS:

• Stacey Abrams: We Can’t Assume Barr’s Summary of Mueller Report Is Accurate
• Stacey Abrams Shoots Down the Biden Rumor: “You Don’t Run for Second Place”
• Andrew Yang ‘self-conscious’ about his wang. (Washington Examiner) — Upstart 2020 candidate Andrew Yang has seen his campaign grow dramatically in the last month, but that is not the only size he has been preoccupied with. Yang, 44, a serial entrepreneur and Democratic candidate for president known for unique and sometimes bizarre policy positions, recounts in a book he published last year that he was self-conscious in his youth about whether he had a small penis. “Hey, Yang, what’s it like having such a small dick? Everyone knows Chinese guys have small dicks,” were among the painful taunts from his middle school classmates. He recalled: “I became quite self-conscious. I started wondering if I did indeed have a small dick.” Perhaps mercifully, Yang offered no further detail.

7am – C         Emergency pothole repairs set for BW Parkway, Md. senator says. (WTOP) — Relief is on the way for commuters who have been dodging all the potholes that recently have turned the Baltimore-Washington Parkway into a virtual moonscape. In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the National Park Service said it will close portions for the parkway for two nights this weekend for enhanced patching: From 7:30 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday, the southbound parkway will be closed from Maryland routes 198 to 197. From 7:30 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday, the northbound lanes on that same section will be closed. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who called the situation “unacceptable,” told WTOP on Wednesday that the emergency work comes after discussions between Maryland’s congressional delegation and the park service. “They have informed us that they will begin emergency contracting procedures,” Van Hollen said. “They will make this a priority and get the job done, so that we can go back to having a reliable, safe BW Parkway.” These enhanced patch repairs will involve a different material and approach, the park service said, and will improve conditions until a larger repaving project — previously scheduled to begin in the fall — gets an expedited start in April. In that first phase, the parkway will be repaved from Maryland 197 to 198. In the summer, crews will begin repaving the parkway from Maryland 198 to 175. This second phase will also involve repaving access ramps in both work areas. Van Hollen had written a letter to the park service, after hearing from many motorists who couldn’t believe how bad the road was. He and other public officials said the situation was unsafe.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – SCOTT ALLEN – Sports reporter, Washington Post – previewed the Washington Nationals’ 2019 season ahead of Opening Day.

• Nats come back in a new season post-Harper, what do we have to look forward to?
• So, uh, how much will all that fancy new food at Nats Park cost? (Washington Post/By Scott Allen) — The Nationals welcomed media members last week to sample many of the new concessions available at Nationals Park this season, and while the prices of the food items on display weren’t advertised, it was easy to surmise that they wouldn’t come cheap. Fans craving a steak sandwich, lobster roll or chilled peanut salad while taking in a Nationals game in the coming months are in luck, as those nontraditional ballpark items can now all be had, but they’ll cost $18, $17 and $12, respectively. Following the lead of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, who boasted the lowest-priced concession items of any major pro sports team when they opened Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2017, several other teams have introduced more family-friendly food options in recent years. Last season, the Orioles began offering small, medium and large sizes for soda, beer, french fries and popcorn, and special kids size hot dogs for $1.50. The Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins are among the other baseball teams to lower prices for items, including hot dogs ($4), popcorn ($3) and beer ($5), at select concession stands this year. While the Nationals continue to offer plenty of traditional ballpark fare in the $5 to $10 range, the team has no immediate plans to introduce discounted concessions.
• Your Guide to the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day. (NBC Washington) — Baseball’s back! The Washington Nationals are gearing up for Opening Day on Thursday, and we’ve got everything you need to know to take yourself out to the ballgame. The Nats will face off against the New York Mets; first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Read on for a heads-up on weather, the newest food and drinks, a new backpack policy and more. Will you need to lug an umbrella with you? Good news: You’ll have a perfect spring afternoon for Opening Day. Anticipate temps in the low 60s with all sunshine, Storm Team4 Meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts said. Make sure to grab your sunscreen.  When should you get there? The Center Field Gate will open two hours before the game, granting access to the Center Field stands and the Center Field concourse area. On Thursdays, Fridays and weekends, so does the Budweiser Terrace area. That means you can enter as early as 11:05 a.m. on Opening Day. All other gates will open an hour and a half hour before first pitch. Who’s the starting pitcher? Max Scherzer will be starting off the day for the Nats, the team says. “Scherzer earns his fourth Opening Day assignment in five seasons in D.C. to face the Mets’ Jacob deGrom, a meeting between the top two finishers in voting for last year’s NL Cy Young Award,” the Nats say.

7am – E         SMOLLETT UPDATE:

• Smollett damage control seen in internal email from Foxx’s office as she defends ‘alternative prosecution model’  (Fox News) — An internal email from the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, obtained by Fox News on Wednesday, asked assistant state’s attorneys to dig for any examples to bolster Foxx’s claim that the dropped charges in the Jussie Smollett case weren’t as uncommon or shocking as they seemed. The email read in part, “We are looking for examples of cases, felony preferable, where we, in (exercising) our discretion, have entered into verbal agreements with defense attorneys to dismiss charges against an offender if certain conditions were met…” The email added, “Nobody is in trouble, we are just looking for further examples of how we, as prosecutors, use our discretion in a way that restores the victim…”
• Jussie Smollett hoax charges dropped, but federal investigation, lawsuits could be next. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is also considering suing the actor to recoup some of the money the city wasted on the lengthy investigation, according to reports, though Weisberg thinks that is unlikely to actually happen because the city would have to re-litigate the entire case in civil court.
• Chicago police release files in ‘Empire’ star Jussie Smollett case, day after charges dramatically dropped
• Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx defended her decision to Fox 32 Chicago: “When we look at similarly situated people charged with this offense, without a background, I think in this case, justice was, um, appropriate…  He was availed to an alternative prosecution model that anyone without these riches, without this fame, would also be availed to.”
• TMZ: “We’re told there are a number of people on the ‘Empire’ set who share the view that staged the attack and are shocked by the lack of consequences … and don’t want him back on the show.”

8am – A         BREAD-SLICED BAGELS ST LOUIS STYLE — Is Alek Krautmann a Food Genius or Criminal?? (WMAL) — Apparently People Slice Bagels Like Bread In St. Louis? Alek Krautmann is a St. Louis native but is a Program Coordination Officer at NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration in the Washington D.C. Metro Area. He generously brought bagels to work one day and posted a photo of the uniquely sliced bagels. “Today I introduced my coworkers to the St. Louis secret of ordering bagels bread sliced,” he tweeted. “It was a hit!” Little did he know, he would enrage the social media universe! A style of slicing bagels as you would a loaf of bread — aka bread-sliced or the “St. Louis” way as he alleges — has caused OUTRAGE among a lot of people this week. Everyone from Sen. Chuck Schumer to Bill Kristol were upset. Even the Twitter account for CHIPS AHOY responded. #Bagelgate has people arguing about the St. Louis bread scene.

8am – B/C     TRUMP AND COMEY RESPOND TO MUELLER REPORT IN TV INTERVIEWS:

• TRUMP: If GOP had done this to Dems or Obama, a hundred people would be jail and it be considered treason
• TRUMP: we can never allow this treasonous illegal takeover happen again….
• TRUMP: I don’t want to talk about pardons now
• TRUMP says he’ll release info about FISA at the ‘right time’
• ON NBC, Comey refuses to currently accept Mueller found no evidence of collusion
• In an exclusive interview with Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News, James Comey discussed Robert Mueller’s conclusions. Comey says the whole point of a Special Counsel was to prevent political appointees, like Bill Barr, from making that very decision

8am – D         INTERVIEW – RAHEEM KASSAM – Global Editor-in-Chief of HumanEvents.com @RaheemKassam @HumanEvents

• British PM Theresa May told Conservative MPs she will resign after a Brexit deal is delivered. Theresa May announced Wednesday she will step down as Britain’s prime minister if her twice-defeated Brexit deal is finally passed in parliament, marking a last-ditch effort to persuade Conservative lawmakers to back her. May told the influential backbench 1922 committee in a closed-door meeting that she is “prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to secure a smooth and orderly Brexit.”

8am – E         ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• MSNBC’S ARI MELBER IS OBSESSED WITH THE LATE R & B SINGER AALIYAH: R&B singer and actress Aaliyah still lives on through her popular music and on MSNBC after her untimely death in 2001.
  • MSNBC’S ARI MELBER COMPARES BARR’S 4 PAGE LETTER TO THE R&B SINGER AALIYAH: “She needed the letter to express herself, 4 pages only” “But this is a lot bigger than just someone’s feelings” – Ari Melber quotes Aaliyah’s “4 Page Letter” discussing the Barr summary
  • FLASHBACK: MSNBC’S ARI MELBER IS KINDA OBSESSED WITH AALIYAH: Ari Melber ‏@AriMelber “Age is more than a chronological fact.” @KamalaHarris coming *very close* to the great Aaliyah while telling @jimmykimmel that “older” candidates can run like anyone else. 9:01 PM – 19 Mar 2019
  • FLASHBACK: ARI MELBER makes an Aaliyah reference when talking about the travel ban in March 2017
• CARDI B DEFENDING HERSELF OVER PAST CLAIMS OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITY: So I’m seeing on social media that a live I did 3 years ago has popped back up. A live where I talked about things I had to do in my past right or wrong that I felt I needed to do to make a living. I never claim to be perfect or come from a perfect world wit a perect past I always speak my truth I always own my shit. Im a part of a hip hop culture where you can talk about where you come from talk about the wrong things you had to do to get where you are.