Cal Thomas, Washington Examiner’s Jim Antle, Amb. John Bolton and National Review’s Jim Geraghty joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C   DEMS SWEEP KEY RACES IN VA: GOVERNOR, LT. GOV, ATTORNEY GENERAL AND DELEGATES: WHAT HAPPENED?

• Democrat Ralph Northam defeats Ed Gillespie in race for Va. governor closely watched by national parties, AP reports. Washington Post – Breaking: Northam, the state’s lieutenant governor, won against the former Republican National Committee chairman in a contest largely overshadowed by the Trump administration’s tumultuous first year. As the nation’s only competitive governor’s race this year, Virginia’s contest was seen as a measure of whether swing-state Republicans could survive Trump’s unpopularity.

5am – D         MCDONALDS NEWS:

• McDonald’s is bringing back the dollar menu. (Circa) – Four years ago, McDonald’s scrapped their dollar menu and sales started to slide. After watching Burger King and Wendy’s make gains with their own value menu items, McDonald’s has seen the light and has announced it would roll out a new value menu in 2018. It’s a revamped version of the dollar menu and there will be items that will cost $1, $2, and $3. According to Bloomberg, the original McDonald’s dollar menu was very popular with customers but franchise operators complained it stretched margins too thin. To address these complaints, the new menu’s pricing will be different from its predecessor. Almost 100% of the company’s franchises have already signed-up to carry the new menu, according to Bloomberg.
• Customers have finally taken one of McDonald’s biggest problems into their own hands: App tells you if McDonald’s ice cream machine is down. An app called “Ice Check” allows customers to see which McDonald’s currently have functioning ice cream machines.  Broken ice cream machines are a top McDonald’s customer complaint. McDonald’s is supposed to replace its ice cream machines with a new model that fixes problems.  For years, McDonald’s customers have complained about the chain’s often broken ice cream machines. A free app called “Ice Check” allows users to check and see which nearby McDonald’s have functioning ice cream machines. The app relies on users to mark machines as “on” or “off” in the app when they visit McDonald’s, saving others the annoyance of showing up to a McDonald’s craving a McFlurry, only to find the ice cream machine “broken.” “I came up with the idea for the app around a year ago, after a late night Oreo McFlurry craving went unfulfilled due to the ice cream machine being down,” Raina McLeod, the creator of the app, told BuzzFeed. News broke that McDonald’s would its ice cream machines across the US earlier this year, awakening hope that the fast-food giant would finally be able to reliably serve up late-night McFlurries across the US.  According to The Wall Street Journal, the old machines require a nightly cleaning cycle that can last four hours. When machines are being cleaned, they can’t serve ice cream.  The new machines are supposed to fix that problem. However, a McDonald’s representative confirmed to Business Insider on Tuesday that the chain still hadn’t rolled out the new machines in stores — making the app even more necessary.
• Ex-Trump bodyguard used to go on secret McDonald’s runs for Trump: report. President Trump’s longtime aide and former bodyguard Keith Schiller used to go to McDonald’s for Trump when the White House chefs couldn’t get his burger just right, Politico reported Tuesday. Schiller, who left the White House earlier this fall, reportedly used to make secret runs to the McDonald’s on New York Avenue in D.C. to pick up a quarter-pounder with cheese, no pickles and extra ketchup, along with a fried apple pie, for the president. Schiller’s McDonald’s runs for Trump traced back to the campaign, when he would reportedly stop by a location near the Marine Air Terminal in Queens while Trump waited in his limo. Trump’s morning order was often an Egg McMuffin, while he opted for two quarter-pounders and a large order of fries later in the day, according to Politico. Trump’s predilection for McDonald’s has been reported before — he celebrated clinching the Republican presidential nomination in May with McDonald’s and a Diet Coke. Schiller, who had worked for Trump in New York since at least 1999, left the White House in September amid reports he was unhappy in the position.

5am – E         Omarosa took her 39-person bridal party to the White House for a photo shoot that surprised aides and security.  Omarosa’s West Wing bridal adventure highlights broader dysfunction. (Politico) – The former ‘Apprentice’ star’s photo session at the White House did little to help the reputation of the Office of Public Liaison, where she is a senior aide. One Saturday in early April, Omarosa Manigault caused a stir in the White House. The “Apprentice” villain turned senior White House official brought members of her 39-person bridal party to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for an extended wedding photo shoot, catching fellow senior aides and some security officials by surprise in her bridal attire. The visitors loudly wandered around, looking to snap photos in the Rose Garden and throughout the West Wing, according to four current and former White House officials. While it’s unclear whether she received formal permission for the photo shoot, at least some lawyers and other senior aides were not briefed in advance, the officials said. They quickly banned Manigault, director of communications for the Office of the Public Liaison, from posting the pictures online, citing security and ethical concerns. The incident — which created buzz in the West Wing for weeks — did little to help the reputation of the Office of Public Liaison, seen by some White House officials as one of the most unruly and under-utilized operations in the West Wing, according to eight current and former White House officials and advisers.

6am – A/B/C WHAT WAS THE TRUMP EFFECT ON VA RACE?

• VA GOVERNOR: Democrat Ralph Northam defeats Ed Gillespie in race for Va. governor closely watched by national parties, AP reports
• NIGHT BEFORE ELECTION: ROBOCALL from Pres. Trump is going out to Virginia voters tonight endorsing Gillespie for Gov.
• Trump blasts Gillespie over Va. loss: He ‘did not embrace me or what I stand for’. The Hill – “Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for. Don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!” Trump said.
• Jake Tapper: Democratic Win in Virginia Shows ‘A Rejection of President Trump’. Mediaite – “It has to be seen to a degree as a rejection of President Trump, who is the strongest prevailing political figure in the country,” said Tapper, responding the Democrat gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey — where former US ambassador Phil Murphy won.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist – discussed results of elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere.

6am – E         Starting today, Twitter is giving everybody the ability to tweet 280 characters. The day has come: Twitter, after years of forcing users to express themselves through its signature 140-character limit, is doubling that length for everyone’s tweets (save for those in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese). The company began to test these longer tweets in September with a few users, though it was first rumored to be considering extending the character limit almost two years ago. The big moment: Will this fundamentally change the nature of Twitter? The character limit has been iconic and it’s even led to the “tweetstorm” as a workaround for longer thoughts and ideas that can’t fit in one tweet (which Twitter filed to trademark in 2015), along with other creative solutions like screen shots of longer messages.

6am – F         Bob Menendez juror interrupts deliberations to ask judge, “What is a senator?”: Report.  A juror taking part in the bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., interrupted deliberations Tuesday to ask the presiding judge for the definition of a senator. U.S. District Judge William Walls denied the juror’s request for a transcript of the closing argument from Menendez’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, in which he argued that Menendez never pushed through legislation to help a friend, per Bloomberg and CNN. Instead, the federal judge instructed the jurors to rely on their individual and collective memories to define the role of a senator and remember important points from Lowell’s final address.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JIM ANTLE – Washington Examiner’s politics editor

• BIO: W. James Antle III is the Washington Examiner’s politics editor. He was previously managing editor of the Daily Caller, associate editor of the American Spectator and senior writer for the American Conservative. He is the author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?
• TOPIC:  Analysis of the Democratic victory of VA races: Governor, Lt. Gov, Attorney General and many delegate seats
• ANTLE: Democrats rebuke Trump by electing governors in Virginia and New Jersey

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – AMB. JOHN BOLTON – Former UN Ambassador – Asia trip

• Trump arrives in China for talks on trade and North Korea
• Trump attempted to visit DMZ during South Korea visit. (Washington Examiner) — President Trump attempted to make a surprise visit to the Demilitarized Zone on Wednesday during his visit to South Korea, but his helicopter turned back due to bad weather. The White House had initially said Trump would not visit the 2.5-mile-wide strip of land that separates North and South Korea. However, reporters traveling with the president in Asia this week said press secretary Sarah Sanders summoned them early Wednesday morning in Seoul to accompany Trump on the previously unscheduled visit to the DMZ. Most U.S. presidents have visited the location during visits to the area. Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have already paid separate visits to the heavily fortified Korean border this year.
• NEW: Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Trump’s feelings about aborted DMZ visit: “He’s actually pretty frustrated.”
• Trump press secretary Sarah Sanders wears army fatigues for president’s failed mission to the DMZ – after soldier took pity on her for being cold
• TRUMP DINED WITH THE TROOPS IN SOKO: “I had a choice of having a beautiful, very fancy lunch and I said no, I want to eat with the troops and we ate with the troops,” Trump said about his lunch at Camp Humphreys. Trump visited the military base instead of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). “It’s becoming a little bit of a cliché, frankly. And that’s why he’s going to be down at Humphreys,” a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters last week.
• Trump Skipping ‘Cliche’ visit to DMZ. (NY Post/Oct 31) — WASHINGTON — President Trump won’t be checking out the demilitarized zone on the border of South and North Korea during his trip to Asia next month. “The president is not going to visit the DMZ,” a Trump administration official told reporters Tuesday. “We just had Secretary Mattis there last week,” the official said. “We had Vice President Pence there earlier this year. Secretary Tillerson was there. It’s becoming a little bit of a cliché, frankly.” Trump leaves Friday for a 12-day Asia trip with stops in five nations: China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and the Philippines.

7am – D/E     DEMS SWEEP KEY RACES IN VA: GOVERNOR, LT. GOV, ATTORNEY GENERAL AND DELEGATES: WHAT HAPPENED?

• Democrat Ralph Northam defeats Ed Gillespie in race for Va. governor closely watched by national parties, AP reports. Washington Post – Breaking: Northam, the state’s lieutenant governor, won against the former Republican National Committee chairman in a contest largely overshadowed by the Trump administration’s tumultuous first year. As the nation’s only competitive governor’s race this year, Virginia’s contest was seen as a measure of whether swing-state Republicans could survive Trump’s unpopularity.

8am – A         OTHER ELECTIONS ELSEWHERE:

• MARYLAND ELECTIONS:
  • Democrat mayors win in Annapolis, Frederick.
    • ANNAPOLIS:  Democrat Gavin Buckley wins Annapolis mayor’s race. ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Democrat Gavin Buckley has unseated Republican Mayor Mike Pantelides in Annapolis
    • FREDERICK: Michael O’Connor ousts McClement in Frederick city mayoral race. Democratic Alderman Michael O’Connor won the mayoral race in Frederick’s general election when a supporter alerted him that Republican Mayor Randy McClement was in the building.
• NEW JERSEY GOV: Democrat Phil Murphy wins New Jersey governor’s race — succeeding deeply unpopular Chris Christie. Vox – Democrat Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive and Democratic Party operative, has won the New Jersey governor’s race, beating out Republican Kim Guadagno, who is currently serving as Christie’s lieutenant governor.
• NYC MAYOR: De Blasio wins second term as New York mayor. The victory made him the first Democrat since Ed Koch to be returned to City Hall for a second term and rewarded a campaign in which he ran sharply to the left.
• NJ election: World War II vet, 93, wins upset for Tinton Falls mayor. TINTON FALLS – World War II veteran Vito Perillo scored one of the biggest election upsets of the day, defeating incumbent Mayor Gerald M. Turning. The 93-year-old, who served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater, got 53 percent of the vote compared to Turning’s 46 percent. The margin was 2,449 to 2,146. Perillo said he wore out two pairs of shoes going door to door for his campaign. His hard work paid off.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – JIM GERAGHTY – National Review

• An Election Night That’s About as Bad as It Can Get for Republicans. (National Review / by Jim Geraghty) — This morning I wrote, “if Ed Gillespie loses, some Republicans will want to blame Trump, and he’ll deserve a share of the blame, but it’s a pretty limited share.” That assertion may need revision, with not merely Gillespie and the rest of the statewide ticket losing, but the Republicans in the Virginia state legislature getting demolished. At this hour, Republicans are in danger of losing control of the House of Delegates, where they entered Election Day with a seemingly comfortable 17-seat margin. Corey Stewart and the Trump-ified faction of the Virginia GOP will insist tonight’s dismal defeat stems from Gillespie’s alleged Establishment squishiness, while northern Virginia Republicans will argue it’s because Gillespie sounded Trump-like with his hard-edged focus and ads on illegal immigration and crime. They may both have a point, as Gillespie’s getting the worst of both worlds: The margins in red rural counties are about the same as 2016, but the turnout is “meh” and Republicans are just getting crushed in the suburbs. It’s not just the ones closest to Washington, D.C.; Northam is beating Gillespie by about a 20-point margin in Loudon and Prince William Counties. But the key lesson of the night goes far beyond Gillespie. Right now, the Republican party’s brand in Virginia is dirt. Throw in the failure to make New Jersey even remotely competitive, and tonight is about as bad as it can get for the GOP – a sense of déjà vu from the results across the country 2006 and 2008. Democrats are, no doubt, energized by their daily outrages of the Trump era. Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration should feel slapped in the face, and even more pressure to accomplish as much as possible between now and Election Day 2018.

8am – D         VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES DEM SWEEP:  Democrats are on the verge of taking over control of the Virginia House of Delegates. There are still a handful of races from yesterday that are too close to call — their outcome will determine if the Democrats have wiped out the overwhelming GOP majority in the House. One of the Democrats’ wins yesterday .. puts DANICA ROEM in the House. She defeated longtime Republican incumbent Bob Marshall.

• Dems unseat GOP in slew of Va. delegate races. Democrats had flipped seats in at least 14 districts
• Danica Roem will be Va.’s first openly transgender elected official after unseating conservative in House race. Virginia’s most socially conservative state lawmaker was ousted from office Tuesday by Danica Roem, a Democrat who will be one of the nation’s first openly transgender elected officials and who embodies much of what Del. Robert G. Marshall fought against in Richmond.
• In the 32nd District, Republican incumbent Tag Greason, who was first elected to the Loudoun County seat in 2009, was defeated by Democrat David Reid
• In the 51st District, which covers parts of Prince William County, Democratic challenger Hala Ayala, a former cybersecurity specialist at the Department of Homeland Security, defeated Republican incumbent Rich Anderson.
• In another upset, Lee Carter, a Navy veteran and self-described Democratic socialist, unseated Republican Del. Jackson Miller, a member of GOP leadership in Richmond, in the 51st District
• And in the 31st District, Democratic challenger Elizabeth Guzman bested Republican Scott Lingamfelter, who was elected to the seat in 2001.
• Democrat Kathy Tran carried Virginia’s 42nd District, picking up a seat that’s currently held by the GOP. Republican Del. David Albo
• Democrat Donte Tanner beats Hugo in a squeaker in the 50th District delegate race. Democrat Donte Tanner appears to have won the 50th District delegate seat by beating Del. Tim Hugo, the third-ranking Republican in the Virginia House of Delegates, by just 68 votes. With 100 percent of the vote counted, Tanner, a U.S. Air Force veteran and owner of a Centreville-based defense contracting agency, beat Hugo with 50.11 percent of the vote. Tanner was one of two African American candidates in Prince William-area delegate districts to win their elections Tuesday. His win, coming at the end of the night, marked a full Democratic sweep of Prince William-area delegate races. The race will likely go to a recount since the candidates were separated by less than the margin required for a fully funded recount. Tanner’s campaign manager Alex Vuskovic said Tanner was “over the moon” with excitement about the win. “He’s just ecstatic. We knew this was going to be close, but holy moly,” he added.
• Democrat Chris Hurst, a former TV news anchor whose girlfriend was murdered on live TV in 2015, won his race for Virginia’s House of Delegates on a platform to reduce gun violence.

8am – E         LIBERALS WILL BE SCREAMING HELPLESSLY AT THE SKY LIKE DERANGED LUNATICS:Thousands of anguished libs in Boston and Philadelphia will be taking part in scream fests on Nov. 8 to commemorate the anniversary of Donald Trump’s election. Liberals in other cities around the country are likely to step up to the crazy plate as well as the big day draws near.