Curious about today’s topics on The Larry O’Connor Show? Below are a few stories on the radar. Be sure to listen to The Larry O’Connor Show Monday – Friday 3pm – 6pm on WMAL.
David J. Shulkin: Privatizing the V.A. Will Hurt Veterans (New York Times)
It has been my greatest professional honor to serve our country’s more than 20 million veterans. Almost three years ago, I left my private sector job running hospitals and came to Washington to repay my gratitude to the men and women who put their lives on the line for our country.
I believe strongly in the mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and nothing about my political experience in Washington could ever change that. I also believe that maintaining a strong V.A. is an essential piece of the puzzle that is the United States’ national security system: We can only expect our sons and daughters to risk their lives and fight for our freedom if we can keep our promise to care for them when they return home broken, injured or traumatized. There is no excuse for not holding up our end of the bargain. The mission set forth by President Abraham Lincoln to care for those who have “borne the battle” is a sacred duty that I will remain committed to always. [Read More]
Extreme vetting: State Dept. to demand tourists’ social media history (The Washington Times)
The State Department will publish new rules this week that would require most visitors and immigrants to the U.S. to turn over their recent social media histories, carrying out one of President Trump’s key security enhancements from his extreme vetting executive order.
Travelers would also be asked to list previous phone numbers, email addresses and international travel during the previous five years, and to detail any immigration problems they’ve had, whether with the U.S. or elsewhere. They’ll also be asked about potential family connections to terrorism.
And in a striking human rights move, would-be immigrants from countries where female genital mutilation is prevalent would be directed to a website ensuring they’re aware the practice — common in some African countries — is illegal in the U.S. [Read More]
President Trump phones Roseanne Barr after successful ‘Roseanne’ premiere (USA Today)
President Trump may have recently bashed the Oscars and Oprah Winfrey on 60 Minutes, but here’s one show he can get behind — one that centers around a fictional supporter of his, played by a real-life one: Roseanne. So much so, he reached out to the show’s co-creator and star, Roseanne Barr, to congratulate her on the stellar premiere.
Tuesday’s hour-long block of the sitcom’s revival averaged 18.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That’s a 10% increase over the 16.6 million viewers documented for the series finale, which aired in 1997.
The White House confirmed to the Associated Press that Trump placed a Wednesday night phone call to the actress behind the brazen Roseanne Conner.
“It was pretty exciting, I’ll tell you that much,” the comic told Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos by phone Thursday morning, saying she was touched by the gesture. [Read More]
Newly uncovered text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page suggest a possible coordination between high-ranking officials at the Obama White House, CIA, FBI, Justice Department and former Senate Democratic leadership in the early stages of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to GOP congressional investigators on Wednesday.
The investigators say the information provided to Fox News “strongly” suggests coordination between former President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, and CIA Director John Brennan — which they say would “contradict” the Obama administration’s public stance about its hand in the process.
Page texted Strzok on Aug. 2, 2016, saying: “Make sure you can lawfully protect what you sign. Just thinking about congress, foia, etc. You probably know better than me.” [Read More]
Parkland activist David Hogg is calling for a boycott of Laura Ingraham’s advertisers after the Fox News host made a comment about some of his college rejections, which he openly discussed in an interview with TMZ.
“David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.)” Ingraham tweeted along with a link to a DailyWire story about the rejections. [Read More]
Colorado school district hopes to switch to four-day-a-week schedule, rather than five (ABC News)
Beginning in the next school year, students in a Colorado district may only be attending class four days a week instead of five.
School District 27J has formally submitted its application for the new calendar to the Colorado Department of Education. The district hopes to hear a reply in June, said Tracy Rudnick, public information officer of 27J.
“They have not turned down any other school district that has had applied,” Rudnick told ABC News today, adding that there are 98 other districts in Colorado who have adopted the four-day school week. “We are pretty confident that it’s going to go through.” [Read More]
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