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Mornings on the Mall
Monday, February 19, 2018
Host: Dan Mandis
5am – A Trump supports changes to gun background checks, urges ‘insecure’ Oprah to run in 2020 (Fox News) The White House revealed on Sunday that President Trump would support a push to improve the nation’s system of background checks for would-be gun buyers, days after the shooting massacre at the high school in Parkland, Florida … White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump spoke on Friday to Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn about a bill the Texas Republican had introduced alongside Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., which would “improve federal compliance with criminal background check legislation.”
5am –B/C US Army drops grenade throwing as a requirement to graduate because new recruits can’t throw far enough (but do they mean women?) (Daily Mail) The United States Army will no longer require recruits to show they can throw hand grenades 25 meters because many of them can’t throw the explosive far enough, it revealed on Friday. The Army says that starting next summer it will remove the requirement from its Basic Combat Training because it takes too much time to teach enlistees to throw grenades at an adequate distance. The new policy was reported by Military.com.
5am – D A Leader of California’s #MeToo Movement Has Been Accused of Sexual Misconduct (Time) California Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, the head of the Legislative Women’s Caucus and a leading figure in the state’s anti-sexual harassment movement, is accused of groping a male staffer from another lawmaker’s office, according to a report published Thursday. The incident occurred in a dugout after a softball game in 2014 and now is being investigated by the Assembly, Politico reported. Daniel Fierro didn’t report it at the time but in January mentioned it to his former boss, Democratic Assemblyman Ian Calderon, who reported it to Assembly leaders. Fierro, who was 25 at the time, said after the game Garcia stroked his back, squeezed his buttocks and attempted to touch his crotch
5am – E Dems: Bill Clinton too toxic to campaign in midterms (Politico) Democrats are looking to embrace the #MeToo moment and rally women to push back on President Donald Trump in the midterms—and they don’t want Bill Clinton anywhere near it. In a year when the party is deploying all their other big guns and trying to appeal to precisely the kind of voters Clinton has consistently won over, an array of Democrats told POLITICO they’re keeping him on the bench. They don’t want to be seen anywhere near a man with a history of harassment allegations, as guilty as their party loyalty to him makes them feel about it.
6am – A Nikolas Cruz: ‘We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know.’ (Sun Sentinel) Nikolas Cruz was immature, quirky and depressed when James and Kimberly Snead took him into their Parkland home. But he was pleasant and seemed to be growing happier, they said. How the 19-year-old turned into a killer still baffles them. We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know,” Kimberly Snead told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in an exclusive interview Saturday. “We didn’t see this side of him.” “Everything everybody seems to know, we didn’t know,” James Snead said. “It’s as simple as that.”
6am – B White parents agonizing over whether to allow their children to wear a Black Panther costume in case they are accused of ‘cultural appropriation’ (Daily Mail) White parents are trying to make sure they are not culturally appropriating when they take their children to see Black Panther over the weekend, especially if those children want to dress up like the main character – superhero T’Challa, AKA the Black Panther. Some parents are worried that allowing their children to wear the Black Panther masks or costumes could be considered cultural appropriation, or even black face. In a New York Times op-ed published Tuesday, author Kwame Opam pointed out that many parents are trying to toe the line to make sure they aren’t accused of being racially insensitive.
6am – C Students plan to walk out of schools to protest gun laws (USA Today) Students across the country say they are planning to walk out of schools in protest in the aftermath of the shooting this week in South Florida. The pleas and demands from young voices who survived the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., have brought new pressure to an old debate: gun-control laws. A walkout in South Florida on Friday and rally in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday helped anchor support, and other protests are planned in coming weeks, including one that would mark the 19th year since the Columbine High School massacre.
6am – D/E Republicans to use Pelosi against vulnerable Dems in midterm elections (Fox News) Republicans are set to use the unpopularity of House Minority Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch attacks on vulnerable Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections. A political ad from the Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, slammed Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WVa., by showing images of him with Pelosi, The Wall Street Journal reported. Another ad from the House Republican campaign released on Wednesday says “thanks” to Pelosi for her eight-hour speech on the House floor advocating protections for the so-called Dreamers – immigrants who were illegally brought to the country by their parents.
6am – F Illegal immigrant faces deportation after allegedly crashing into ambulance and killing toddler (Fox News) An unlicensed illegal immigrant who allegedly crashed into an ambulance and killed a 3-year-old boy on Sunday is facing deportation, immigration officials said. Jose Duran Romero, 27, believed to be from El Salvador, was charged with driving while intoxicated, without a license and failing to reduce speed in a deadly ambulance crash on Saturday in North Carolina. Immigration authorities issued a retainer on Romero and said he will face deportation if he is released from local police custody, WXII-TV reported. He is currently being held without bail.
7am – A/B/C Trump criticizes FBI for failure to probe tip on Fla. shooter, says ‘too much time’ spent on Russia probe (Washington Post) President Trump late Saturday night criticized the FBI for failing to act on a tip that might have prevented the recent massacre at a high school in Parkland, Fla., and said the bureau was devoting too much time to its investigation of his presidential campaign. “Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter,” Trump said in a Tweet. “This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign — there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!”
7am – D Students plan to walk out of schools to protest gun laws (USA Today) Students across the country say they are planning to walk out of schools in protest in the aftermath of the shooting this week in South Florida. The pleas and demands from young voices who survived the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., have brought new pressure to an old debate: gun-control laws. A walkout in South Florida on Friday and rally in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday helped anchor support, and other protests are planned in coming weeks, including one that would mark the 19th year since the Columbine High School massacre.
7am – E Nikolas Cruz: ‘We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know.’ (Sun Sentinel) Nikolas Cruz was immature, quirky and depressed when James and Kimberly Snead took him into their Parkland home. But he was pleasant and seemed to be growing happier, they said. How the 19-year-old turned into a killer still baffles them. “We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know,” Kimberly Snead told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in an exclusive interview Saturday. “We didn’t see this side of him.” “Everything everybody seems to know, we didn’t know,” James Snead said. “It’s as simple as that.”
8am – A/B/C Laura Ingraham Really Wants LeBron to Stop Talking About Politics: ‘Shut Up and Dribble’ (Mediate) Fox News’ Laura Ingraham isn’t too keen on NBA superstars blasting President Donald Trump, it would appear. And if you are someone who jumped straight to the NBA from high school, she’d really appreciate it if you kept your political comments to yourself. Highlighting LeBron James’ recent UNINTERRUPTED video piece in which the Cleveland Cavs star said Trump doesn’t “give a fuck about the people,” Ingraham blasted the multi-time world champ for “his barely intelligible take.” After snarking that fellow superstar Kevin Durant also had something to say during the podcast about Trump’s racist comments — she made sure to use air quotes there — Ingraham then finished her mini-monologue by essentially saying James should keep his mouth shut.
8am – D US Army drops grenade throwing as a requirement to graduate because new recruits can’t throw far enough (but do they mean women?) (Daily Mail) The United States Army will no longer require recruits to show they can throw hand grenades 25 meters because many of them can’t throw the explosive far enough, it revealed on Friday. The Army says that starting next summer it will remove the requirement from its Basic Combat Training because it takes too much time to teach enlistees to throw grenades at an adequate distance. The new policy was reported by Military.com.
8am – E White parents agonizing over whether to allow their children to wear a Black Panther costume in case they are accused of ‘cultural appropriation’ (Daily Mail) White parents are trying to make sure they are not culturally appropriating when they take their children to see Black Panther over the weekend, especially if those children want to dress up like the main character – superhero T’Challa, AKA the Black Panther. Some parents are worried that allowing their children to wear the Black Panther masks or costumes could be considered cultural appropriation, or even black face. In a New York Times op-ed published Tuesday, author Kwame Opam pointed out that many parents are trying to toe the line to make sure they aren’t accused of being racially insensitive.
