Mornings on the Mall 01.24.17

Brad Blakeman, Sen. Ben Cardin, Larry Kudlow and guest host Sarah Westwood joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Sarah Westwood

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C   President Donald Trump to meet with Detroit Three automakers.

Detroit Three CEO’s will get an opportunity to press their case on jobs and regulations in meeting with Trump. (Detroit Free Press) — WASHINGTON — Moving quickly on a promise to spark job creation in the manufacturing sector, President Donald Trump will meet with the CEOs of the Detroit Three automakers on Tuesday morning at the White House. At his first full press briefing Monday, new White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made note of Trump’s plans to hold a breakfast meeting with representatives of Fiat Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. No specific agenda was released for the meeting at the White House, but Spicer said the general theme is a discussion of how “to bring more jobs back to the industry.”

5am – D         Q & A with Sarah Westwood / Recap Sean Spicer’s Monday White House briefing.

• SPICER ON CROWD SIZE – On Saturday, in a brief statement from the same podium, Spicer slammed the media, accusing reporters of knowingly minimizing the attendance at Friday’s inauguration before offering a series of statements that were not true.
• Trump Administration Unveils ‘Skype Seats’ for Press Briefing Room 

5am – E         Taylor Swift Questioned On Her Feminism:

• Daily Beast: Taylor Swift’s Spineless Feminism: The pop superstar endorsed the women’s march in a simple tweet, but after staying remarkably silent during the election, many saw it as opportunism—and far too little, far too late.
• Huffington Post: Taylor Swift Tweets Support For Women’s March But People Aren’t Buying It. The conversation surrounding Swift’s feminism continues.

6am – A/B/C Federal workers fume over Donald Trump’s vows to freeze hiring and shrink the government.

• Revenge of the bureaucrats: Federal workers fume over Trump’s vows to freeze hiring and shrink the government. President Donald Trump is setting himself up for a messy clash with the country’s 2.1 million federal employees as his administration quietly preps plans to cut the size of the government workforce. As one of his first acts Monday, Trump signed an executive order freezing most federal hiring. His team is also fine-tuning plans to shrink several agencies focused on domestic policy, according to sources close to the transition. Now, the president is about to find out how much power these maligned workers have to slow or even short-circuit his agenda.
• Rep. Barbara Comstock breaks with Trump over federal hiring freeze. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) on Monday broke with President Donald Trump on his executive order instituting a government-wide hiring freeze. The two-term congresswoman represents a moderate northern Virginia district, including Loudoun and Fairfax counties, which is home to thousands of government employees. “The federal budget cannot be balanced on the backs of our federal workforce,” she said in a statement. “I don’t support this type of across-the-board freeze and think it is better to look at priorities and areas where appropriate cuts can be made and where we can consolidate efforts or identify unnecessary costs that can be eliminated.” Although she lauded the executive order’s carve outs for military, public safety, and public health sectors, she said General Accounting Office research shows hiring freezes in Republican and Democratic administrations cost more in the long-run. That’s due to “staffing problems, or problems in recruiting or disruption of key government operations and required services to the American people,” she said.

6am – D         White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer waged a five-year Twitter feud against Dippin’ Dots. (NY Daily News) — Before White House Press Secretary began fudging facts, he was fighting…Dippin’ Dots. Starting in 2010, the man who would become the top spokesman for the President of the United States devoted scoops of tweets to attacking the beady frozen treat known as the “Ice Cream of the Future.” Sean Spicer kept his cream conflict going for five years — stretching through his tenure with the Republican National Committee. On April 7, 2010, Spicer — then working for Endeavor Global Strategies, a PR firm he cofounded — let it be known to his Twitter flock: “Dippin dots is NOT the ice cream of the future.” In September 2011, after Spicer had joined the Republican National Committee as communications director, he brought back the issue, writing: “I think I have said this before but Dippin Dots are not the ice cream of the future (sic).” Two months later, Spicer shared a Wall Street Journal story about Dippin’ Dots filing for bankruptcy. His resentment seemed to melt for a few years, until September 2015. By then, he had advanced to become the RNC’s chief strategist. Spicer, possibly at a baseball game, tweeted: “If Dippin Dots was truly the ice cream of the future would not have run out of vanilla.” He tagged the Washington Nationals in his post. A little over a year later, Donald Trump would tap Spicer as the next White House Press Secretary. Dippin’ Dots on Monday tried to cool tensions with White House press secretary Sean Spicer. “We’ve seen your tweets and would like to be friends rather than foes,” CEO Scott Fischer wrote in an open letter Monday. “After all, we believe in connecting the dots.” Spicer responded: Sean Spicer ‏@seanspicer 7h7 hours ago: “Sorry for the delay How about we do something great for the those who have served out nation & 1st responders”

6am – E         CONGRESS NEWS:

• Mike Pompeo Sworn In as CIA Director After Senate Confirmation
• Senate committee approves Tillerson for secretary of state. (CNN) Former ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson won the backing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Monday to be secretary of state when it voted 11-10 to send his nomination to the full Senate. A final confirmation vote by the full Senate is expected next week.
• Democrats request another hearing for DeVos, Trump’s education pick, before confirmation vote
• DeVos will not have 2nd confirmation hearing. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Betsy DeVos will not be required to attend a second committee hearing as the U.S. Senate considers confirming her as President Donald Trump’s secretary of education. The chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. — announced the decision Monday afternoon. The committee is expected to vote on DeVos’ confirmation early next week.

6am – F         Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton collapses during State of the State address. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is recovering after collapsing in the middle of his State of the State address on Monday. “Tonight, Governor Dayton briefly fainted after speaking for about 40 minutes,” his chief of staff, Jaime Tincher, said in a statement released on Twitter. “He quickly recovered, walked out of the Capitol, and returned home. EMTs joined the Governor there, and performed a routine check. He is now spending time with his son and grandson,” the statement continued. At his seventh State of the State address, Dayton, 69, fell in a heap at the podium as legislators raced to his side. Video of his speech shows the governor pausing for several seconds and reaching for a water bottle before slurring his speech and appearing to faint.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – BRAD BLAKEMAN – was a member of President George W. Bush’s Senior Staff having served from 2001-2004 as Deputy Assistant to the President for Appointments and Scheduling, Vetting and Research, Correspondence and Surrogate Scheduling AND currently a professor at Georgetown University

• Looking ahead to the first 100 days and how an administration comes together

7am – B         Minimum Wage News:

• Leggett vetoes $15 minimum wage in Montgomery County. (Washington Post) — Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett on Monday vetoed legislation that would have made the wealthy county the first jurisdiction in Maryland to require a $15 minimum wage. Leggett (D) said boosting the wage to the level embraced by national progressive activists, including former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), would harm Montgomery’s economy and its ability to compete for jobs in the Washington region. The only locality that has adopted a $15 minimum is the District of Columbia, which will require employers to pay that wage by 2020.   “I remain concerned . . . about the competitive disadvantage [the bill] would put the County in compared to our neighboring jurisdictions,” Leggett said in a letter to Council President Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda).
• DC tastes McDonald’s of the future. WASHINGTON – McDonald’s started opening redesigned restaurants that feature kiosk ordering and table service through the D.C. region this month. Dubbed “Experience the Future,” McDonald’s began to roll out the updated restaurants late last year and picked D.C. as one of the initial markets. The Washington region now has 10 “Experience the Future” McDonald’s locations either open or set to open by the end of January. Another 15 will open by late spring.
• The only locality that has adopted a $15 minimum is the District of Columbia, which will require employers to pay that wage by 2020.

7am – C         Famed snake trackers from India latest weapon in Florida war on pythons. What Judas snakes, snake-sniffing dogs and even hunters from around the globe have struggled to accomplish may finally be pulled off by a pair of singing snake catchers from India: solving the riddle for finding Burmese pythons in Florida’s Everglades. In just two weeks this month, the two tribesmen from Southern India, working with the University of Florida, caught 14 pythons. That included a monster 16-foot female holed up in the ruins of the old Nike missile base on Key Largo. For perspective, consider last year’s second Python Challenge, an annual contest to draw attention to Florida’s python problem. The hunt attracted 1,000 hunters, most of them amateurs. Over a month, they managed to bag just 106 snakes. The year before, hunters snagged 68. “If we fall anywhere in that range, I’m going to be really happy,” said UF biologist Frank Mazzotti, who heads a team of researchers investigating pythons and other wildlife. The pilot project, being funded by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, is also relatively cheap: just $68,888 for two tribesmen and two translators for two months.

7am – D         Q & A with SARAH WESTWOOD – White House Reporter for the Washington Examiner – discussed Sean Spicer’s presser.

• SPICER ON CROWD SIZE – On Saturday, in a brief statement from the same podium, Spicer slammed the media, accusing reporters of knowingly minimizing the attendance at Friday’s inauguration before offering a series of statements that were not true.
• CAR MANUFACTURING – President Donald Trump to meet with Detroit Three automakers. Moving quickly on a promise to spark job creation in the manufacturing sector, President Donald Trump will meet with the CEOs of the Detroit Three automakers on Tuesday morning at the White House.
• TRUMP HIRING FREEZE – Federal workers fume over Donald Trump’s vows to freeze hiring and shrink the government. President Donald Trump is setting himself up for a messy clash with the country’s 2.1 million federal employees as his administration quietly preps plans to cut the size of the government workforce.
• Trump Administration Unveils ‘Skype Seats’ for Press Briefing Room 

7am – E         SNL Writer Suspended For Tweet on Barron Trump:

• ‘SNL’ writer suspended following ‘inexcusable’ Barron Trump tweet. Katie Rich, a writer for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” has been suspended for a joke she made about Donald Trump’s son Barron Trump. According to The Washington Post, Rich, who has been writing for “SNL” since 2013, has been suspended from the show indefinitely for her tweet, in which she wrote that Barron, who is 10, “will be this country’s first homeschool shooter.” The tweet drew swift backlash, including a petition calling for Rich to be fired from the show. After a few hours, Rich deleted the tweet and temporarily deleted her Twitter account. She issued an apology Monday afternoon. “I sincerely apologize for the insensitive tweet,” she wrote. “I deeply regret my actions & offensive words. It was inexcusable & I’m so sorry.”
• Chelsea Clinton defends Barron Trump . . . then uses him as a prop to wallop his dad. The 10-year-old son of President Donald Trump has been mocked by thugs who suggested he’s autistic. One SNL writer even said Barron would be “the country’s first homeschool shooter.” In a social media post on Sunday night, former first daughter Chelsea wrote: “Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does — to be a kid. Standing up for every kid also means opposing POTUS policies that hurt kids.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW — SENATOR BEN CARDIN – (D-Maryland)

• Ben Cardin: I will not support Tillerson for secretary of state. Washington (CNN)Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, said he does not support Donald Trump’s secretary of state pick, Rex Tillerson, hours before a Senate committee is set to vote on his confirmation, citing Tillerson’s potential conflicts of interest and his position regarding Russian aggression. “I will not be supporting his confirmation for secretary of state,” Cardin said on CNN’s “New Day.” “During the confirmation hearings he raised me many questions as to whether his business interests would compromise his ability to speak out for US leadership on human rights and good governance.” Cardin also noted a number of his Democratic colleagues have shared similar views on the nomination.
• TRUMP HIRING FREEZE – Federal workers fume over Donald Trump’s vows to freeze hiring and shrink the government. President Donald Trump is setting himself up for a messy clash with the country’s 2.1 million federal employees as his administration quietly preps plans to cut the size of the government workforce.

8am – B         TRUMP/CONGRESS NEWS:

• Mike Pompeo Sworn In as CIA Director After Senate Confirmation. Pompeo, a Republican congressman representing Kansas, was confirmed by a vote of 66-32 after Senate Democrats forced a three-day delay. Pompeo was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence just after 9 p.m.
• Senate committee approves Tillerson for secretary of state. (CNN) Former ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson won the backing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Monday to be secretary of state when it voted 11-10 to send his nomination to the full Senate. A final confirmation vote by the full Senate is expected next week.
•  Democrats request another hearing for DeVos, Trump’s education pick, before confirmation vote
• DeVos will not have 2nd confirmation hearing. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Betsy DeVos will not be required to attend a second committee hearing as the U.S. Senate considers confirming her as President Donald Trump’s secretary of education. The chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. — announced the decision Monday afternoon. The committee is expected to vote on DeVos’ confirmation early next week.
• Chad Pergram ‏@ChadPergram: Expect cmte votes today for Wilbur Ross to be CommerceSec & Elaine Chao for TransportationSec
• Trump’s HHS nominee returns to Capitol Hill:  (ABC News) — Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and spearhead the administration’s healthcare reform, will return to Capitol Hill Tuesday for his official confirmation hearing.
• The White House phone comments line is down, but not it’s not permanent. On Monday, people noticed that the White House’s phone line for comments was down, and a voicemail greeting directed people to instead make contact through Facebook or email. According to the press office, it’s not a permanent change. There are plans to get the phone line back up soon, though there is no confirmed time yet. For now, Trump aides are focused on getting acclimated. “We’re still learning how to work our computers,” press assistant Giovanna Coia said by phone.
• WRONG NUMBER: DC sandwich shop receiving dozens of calls from people trying to call White House. WASHINGTON – Phones at a Dupont Circle deli will not stop ringing, but callers are not looking for a sandwich. They want to leave a message for President Donald Trump. The phone number for Bub and Pop’s (202-457-1111) is just one digit off from the number for the White House Comment Line (202-456-1111). Recently, people encouraging others to call the White House have mistakenly shared the deli’s phone number on social media. “I think it was 50 or 60 phone calls today,” said Arlene Wagner, co-owner Bub and Pop’s.

8am – C         D.C. cab driver calls John Elway his favorite QB, discovers Elway is in his cab. John Elway was in D.C. for the presidential inauguration, and at one point, he had occasion to take a taxi from the Capitol Hill area. His cab driver’s garb made it clear that he was a big Pittsburgh sports fan, and so the conversation, not coincidentally, turned to the identity of the man’s all-time favorite quarterback. The driver made the right call: John Elway. The thing was, he had no idea that the former Broncos great was in his backseat at the time. A friend of Elway’s who was in the taxi with the ex-quarterback and his wife posted the amusing video on his Facebook account Friday, the day of President Trump’s inauguration. In it, a driver who identifies himself as Sam Snow says that Elway is his all-time No. 1 because “he’s a great quarterback.” His second choice is Tom Brady — “even though I can’t stand him” — then a pick befitting his loyalties, Ben Roethlisberger (who himself wears a No. 7 jersey in honor of Elway, his childhood hero).

8am – D        INTERVIEW —  LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm and KUDLOW’s new book is “JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity”

• Kudlow says everyone missed the fact that Trump’s inaugural speech was very optimistic

8am – E         Oscars: The Nominations List (Updating Live): The 2017 Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and take place at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood. ABC will broadcast the show live on Sunday, Feb. 26, starting at 5:30 p.m. PT.