Cal Thomas, Cabot Phillips, General Jack Keane, and Jim Roope joined WMAL on Wednesday!
Mornings on the Mall
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese
5am – A/B/C Trump vs. Amazon: Is this a battle worth having?
- @RealDonaldTrump: I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy. Amazon should pay these costs (plus) and not have them bourne by the American Taxpayer. Many billions of dollars. P.O. leaders don’t have a clue (or do they?)!
- Jeff Bezos Has Lost More than $16B After Trump’s Attacks on Amazon (Time) — ‘The president criticized Amazon saying that we are giving a subsidy to Amazon’. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos once offered up one of his rockets to shoot Donald Trump out into space. Over the past week, Bezos could be wishing that had actually happened—because tweets by President Trump bashing Amazon appear to be costing Bezos billions of dollars. Bezos is the world’s richest man, with a net worth estimated over $100 billion since the start of the year. Bezos’s wealth is based largely on the price of Amazon stock, and as shares soared in early 2018 his fortune grew by more than $30 billion. As of Monday, March 26, Jeff Bezos’s net worth stood at nearly $130 billion, according to both Forbes and the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Yet one week—and four Amazon-related Trump tweets later — Bezos’s net worth is down to $114 billion, Forbes estimates. In a dismal day for stocks in general, Amazon shares dropped an especially steep 6% on Monday. Over the past week, Amazon’s stock price has dropped by around 10%, subtracting roughly $16 billion away from Bezos.
5am – D FEMALE SHOOTER AT YOUTUBE HQ (Daily Mail) — Shooter hated YouTube: Iranian animal rights protester, 39, who shot three staff at video giant’s HQ before killing herself, had a vendetta against ‘dictatorial’ site for censoring her videos and not paying her. The woman who opened fire on three people before killing herself at YouTube’s California headquarters has been identified as a frequent user of the site who was furious with the company for their ‘dictatorial’ new policies. Nasim Aghdam, 39, shot a man and two women with a handgun when she stormed YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno on Tuesday afternoon. Aghdam was a prolific YouTuber who had ranted online against the company’s new policies and accused them of censoring her videos. Witnesses say Aghdam was wearing glasses and a scarf when she managed to walk onto the YouTube campus and open fire on employees in what police believe is a random shooting. Law enforcement officials had initially said the shooting was being investigated as a domestic dispute after early indications suggested she had shot her boyfriend. Aghdam, who was a self-described animal rights activist and ‘vegan bodybuilder’, had a significant online presence with multiple YouTube channels and social media pages. In a video that Aghdam posted back in January 2017, she vented about her content being censored. She also said that her YouTube channel, which had more than 5,000 subscribers, used to get many views but claimed she started getting less when the company ‘filtered’ her videos. Aghdam’s YouTube channels and social media pages were all removed in the hours after the shooting. Her father Ismail Aghdam said she had told family members that YouTube had stopped paying her for content she posted on the site. YouTube video creators can earn money from advertisements, but for various reasons the firm sometimes ‘de-monetizes’ channels meaning clips don’t run with adverts.
5am – E Campus Craziness:
- George Washington University event aims to combat ‘Christian Privilege’ (The College Fix) — George Washington University diversity workshop to be held four days after Easter. Just four days after Easter, George Washington University will host a training session for students and faculty that teaches that Christians — especially white ones — “receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country.” The April 5 diversity workshop is titled “Christian Privilege: But Our Founding Fathers Were All Christian, Right?!” Hosted by the university’s Multicultural Student Services Center, the event will teach that Christians enjoy a privileged, easier life than their non-Christian counterparts, and that Christians possess “built-in advantages” today, according to its online description. The workshop will also discuss how Christians receive “unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country.” The “Christian Privilege” workshop is one of 15 “free training opportunities” offered through the center to “equip students and staff with the necessary skills to promote diversity and inclusion in the different environments,” according to its website. Other workshops offered through the center focus on “heteroesexual privilege,” “cisgender privilege,” “abled-bodied privilege,” “socio-economic privilege,” “unconscious bias,” and more.
- Christians and white people get ‘unmerited perks,’ live ‘easier’ lives, George Washington University seminar says (Fox News) — George Washington University is hosting a seminar on combating “Christian privilege” in America. According to an event description, students in a 90-minute training session will learn about ways American Christians receive things they don’t deserve and are not worthy of getting: “How do we…acknowledge that Christians receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country?” The Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC) at GWU is hosting “Christian Privilege: But Our Founding Fathers Were All Christian, Right?!” Thursday as part of its “Excellence in Leadership Seminar,” as first reported by The Christian Post. According to the website, MSSC Associate Director and LGBTQ Resources Director Timothy Kane will discuss how American Christians have “easier” lives and get “built-in advantages over non-Christians” as well as making “room for all religious and secular identities on an equal playing field.” But the Christian privilege seminar doesn’t just focus on one religion, it also singles out a race: white people. Students will learn about “white privilege specifically” and the “role of denial when it comes to white privilege,” the event description says, adding they will be able to list examples of Christian privilege and learn three ways to be an ally with non-Christians.
6am – A/B/C Trump says he will put military along US-Mexico border (The Hill) — President Trump said Tuesday he wants to deploy U.S. troops to guard the southern border until his proposed wall is built, a move that could significantly escalate his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. The president told reporters that he has been discussing the idea with Defense Secretary James Mattis, arguably his most trusted Cabinet adviser. “Until we can have a wall and proper security, we are going to be guarding our border with the military,” Trump said during a meeting with Baltic state leaders, with Mattis sitting at his side. “That’s a big step. We really haven’t done that before, or certainly not very much before.” For the past three days, Trump has vented his frustration about the lack of progress in building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, one of his signature campaign promises, along with what he sees as “weak laws” against illegal immigration. The president’s latest proposal comes as he faces mounting pressure from his base to secure a policy win on immigration after lawmakers ignored his plea for $25 billion in wall money. Trump received just $1.6 billion for border fortifications in a recent government funding bill, and most of that money cannot be used to build new portions of the wall. The president has previously suggested that the Pentagon could redirect funding to pay for the wall, but such a move would require congressional approval that the president would likely not receive. The White House said in a Tuesday evening statement that Trump and his team discussed “the mobilization of the National Guard” as part of a new border strategy, but provided no further details. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security, which is tasked with guarding the border, declined to comment.
6am – D INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist – discussed the Central American Migrant Caravan making its way to the United States, Mexico’s and President Trump’s response to it, and the ongoing controversy between David Hogg and Laura Ingraham
- Mexican Government: Migrant Caravan was Previously Unimpeded Yearly Event.
- Mexico announces it is ‘disbanding’ marching ‘caravan’ of immigrants as organizers lash out at ‘bully’ Trump and vow to continue push towards the U.S. border.
- Trump Threatens Foreign Aid To Honduras Over Caravans.
6am – E US suspects cellphone spying devices in DC (AP News) — For the first time, the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged the existence in Washington of what appear to be rogue devices that foreign spies and criminals could be using to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages. The use of what are known as cellphone-site simulators by foreign powers has long been a concern, but American intelligence and law enforcement agencies — which use such eavesdropping equipment themselves — have been silent on the issue until now. In a March 26 letter to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that last year it identified suspected unauthorized cell-site simulators in the nation’s capital. The agency said it had not determined the type of devices in use or who might have been operating them. Nor did it say how many it detected or where. The agency’s response, obtained by The Associated Press from Wyden’s office, suggests little has been done about such equipment, known popularly as Stingrays after a brand common among U.S. police departments. The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the nation’s airwaves, formed a task force on the subject four years ago, but it never produced a report and no longer meets regularly. The devices work by tricking mobile devices into locking onto them instead of legitimate cell towers, revealing the exact location of a particular cellphone. More sophisticated versions can eavesdrop on calls by forcing phones to step down to older, unencrypted 2G wireless technology. Some attempt to plant malware. They can cost anywhere from $1,000 to about $200,000. They are commonly the size of a briefcase; some are as small as a cellphone. They can be placed in a car next to a government building. The most powerful can be deployed in low-flying aircraft.
6am – F After tripling original goal, McCabe will end legal defense fundraiser (CNN) — A fundraiser for fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s legal defense fund will stop taking donations at 7 p.m. ET Monday after it tripled the original $150,000 goal. The GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $530,000 as of Monday morning, far surpassing an updated goal of $250,000. More than 12,000 people donated to the campaign, which was created on March 29. McCabe said in a statement the support has “left us stunned and extraordinarily grateful.” “I never imagined that I would need to rely on this type of assistance,” McCabe said in a statement. “However, as reports of additional (Office of Inspector General) investigations, congressional oversight hearings and misleading information about the circumstances of my firing have continued to emerge, the need for substantial resources for a legal team has become clear.” According to the GoFundMe page, the donations will be transferred “to a more formal legal defense trust.”
7am – A INTERVIEW – CABOT PHILLIPS – Campus Reform – discussed the ongoing campus craziness going on around the country and the recent example of this occurring at George Washington University with its upcoming discussion on “Christian Privilege”
7am – B ‘Fake News’ News:
- A new study suggests fake news might have won Donald Trump the 2016 election (Washington Post) — President Trump has said repeatedly that Russian interference didn’t matter in the 2016 presidential campaign, and he has suggested — wrongly — that the intelligence and law enforcement communities have said the same. His overriding fear seems to be that Russian interference and the “fake news” it promoted would undermine the legitimacy of his election win. The study from researchers at Ohio State University finds that fake news probably played a significant role in depressing Hillary Clinton’s support on Election Day. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed but which may be the first look at how fake news affected voter choices, suggests that about 4 percent of President Barack Obama’s 2012 supporters were dissuaded from voting for Clinton in 2016 by belief in fake news stories. Richard Gunther, Paul A. Beck and Erik C. Nisbet, the study’s authors, inserted three popular fake news stories from the 2016 campaign into a 281-question YouGov survey given to a sample that included 585 Obama supporters — 23 percent of whom didn’t vote for Clinton, either by abstaining or picking another candidate (10 percent voted Trump, which is in line with other estimates). Here are the false stories, along with the percentages of Obama supporters who believed they were at least “probably” true (in parenthesis): Clinton was in “very poor health due to a serious illness” (12 percent) Pope Francis endorsed Trump (8 percent) Clinton approved weapons sales to Islamic jihadists, “including ISIS” (20 percent) Overall about one-quarter of 2012 Obama voters believed at least one of these stories, and of that group 45 percent voted for Clinton. Of those who believed none of the fake news stories, 89 percent voted for Clinton.
- Monmouth: Most Americans think “fake news” involves editorial decisions (HotAir) — A new Monmouth University poll shows a majority of Americans see “fake news” not as an issue of facts, but an issue of opinion and editorial decisions. More than 3-in-4 Americans believe that traditional major TV and newspaper media outlets report “fake news,” including 31% who believe this happens regularly and 46% who say it happens occasionally. The 77% who believe fake news reporting happens at least occasionally has increased significantly from 63% of the public who felt that way last year. Just 25% say the term “fake news” applies only to stories where the facts are wrong. Most Americans (65%), on the other hand, say that “fake news” also applies to how news outlets make editorial decisions about what they choose to report. “These findings are troubling, no matter how you define ‘fake news.’ Confidence in an independent fourth estate is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Ours appears to be headed for the intensive care unit,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
7am – C ‘Fork Amnesty Day’ at Duke allows students to return stolen silverware (Fox News) — Duke University, one of the wealthiest private universities in America, has a theft problem of epic proportions. The Durham, North Carolina-based university, which had an endowment of $7.9 billion in 2017, has seen students “borrow” — or steal — more than 20,000 pieces of silverware and 15,000 cups from the dining hall in the Brodhead Center, Aris Morton, the assistant director of retail operation for Duke Dining, told The Chronicle. To help solve the problem, Duke Dining is teaming up with the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee to host “Fork Amnesty Day” Tuesday, in which students are encouraged to gather the stolen forks and cups and place them in the dish return. Although they are allowing any guilty students to return the stolen goods scot-free, Quinn Steven, co-chair of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee, said there’s no punishment for taking silverware in the first place. Fork Amnesty Day is their way of a “fun awareness campaign” in hopes that some of the items would reappear in the food hall. While they don’t know exactly why forks are going missing, Steven said she thinks most students are just getting their food to go. “I think it’s mostly convenience,” she told The Chronicle. “I don’t think there’s anything malicious going on or any secret plot.” Because so much silverware has been stolen, Duke Dining had to re-order supplies twice last semester and once this semester.
7am – D More on Trump vs Amazon
7am – E Mueller News:
- Special Counsel Robert Mueller told President Trump’s attorneys last month that he does not consider Trump to be a criminal target in his investigation of Russian actions during the 2016 campaign, the Washington Post reported Tuesday night (Fox News)
- A Dutch lawyer has become the first person sentenced in Robert Mueller’s investigation. Alex van der Zwaan has received a 30-day prison term and a $20,000 fine. It comes about two months after van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about his contacts with former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates and a person that the FBI has assessed as being tied to Russian military intelligence. (UPI)
- Special Counsel Robert Mueller was given the green light to investigate President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his work with the Ukrainian government as well as claims Manafort colluded with the Kremlin, according to court documents filed late Monday. A newly disclosed Aug. 2, 2017, memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein shows that Mueller was authorized to go after Manafort on multiple fronts in an investigation that has resulted in criminal charges against 19 people and three Russian companies. (Fox News)
8am – A INTERVIEW – GEN. JACK KEANE – retired 4 star general, former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army, the chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst. – discussed President Trump’s decision to put military troops on the southern border and President Trump’s inclination to pull military troops out of Syria
8am – B/C INTERVIEW – JIM ROOPE – Correspondent in California on the latest about the Youtube shooting – discussed the latest on yesterday’s shooting at the Youtube Headquarters in California
8am – D Daily Caller’s new documentary on the Deep State hosted by our very own Vince Coglianese
8am – E MyPillow Ignores Liberal Outrage, Refuses to Pull Ads from Laura Ingraham’s Fox News Show (Breitbart) — MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has taken to Twitter to assure customers that he will not be pulling his advertising from Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show despite the liberal outrage over her feud with anti-gun Parkland kid David Hogg. As one company after another rushed to announce an end to advertising on The Ingraham Angle, Lindell stepped forward to tell the world that he won’t abandon Laura. In a tweet seemingly aimed at Sean Hannity, the company’s CEO and founder insisted, “I did not take my advertising down from @IngrahamAngle and @FoxNews, nor do I intend to. @seanhannity.”
Mike Lindell @realMikeLindell
I did not take my advertising down from @IngrahamAngle and @FoxNews, nor do I intend to. @seanhannity
