Heritage Foundation’s Bruce Klingner, Daily Caller White House Correspondent Saagar Enjeti, and best-selling author Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer joined WMAL Thursday!
Mornings on the Mall
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese
Executive Producer: Heather Hunter
5am – A/B/C ‘Our most fundamental values are under attack’: Democrats issue bleak July Fourth statement (USA Today) – Happy Fourth of July – or maybe not. The Democratic National Committee’s annual Fourth of July statement reflects its long-standing tensions with President Donald Trump. While hailing the nation’s founding ideal of equality for all, DNC chairman Tom Perez said in the statement, “we recognize that America’s founding promise remains out of reach for too many families.” Adding that “everywhere we look, our most fundamental values are under attack,” Perez referred to problems surrounding low-paying jobs, health care, immigration, injustice to people of color and members or the LGBTQ community, a recent Supreme Court decision on public unions, and the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
5am – D Affirmative action: Trump ‘to scrap’ college racial bias policy (BBC) – The Trump administration is set to roll back the Obama-era policies promoting diversity in universities, known as affirmative action, US media report. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions revoked 24 guidance documents on Tuesday, many involving race in schools and affirmative action recommendations. It comes as Harvard University faces a discrimination lawsuit alleging it limits admissions for Asian-Americans. In 2016, the US Supreme Court had ruled in favour of affirmative action.
5am – E Attorney: Strzok may not comply with House subpoena (CNN) – Embattled FBI agent Peter Strzok may not comply with a House Judiciary Committee subpoena requiring that he appear for a second round of questioning early next week, his lawyer told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday. The committee had issued the subpoena for Strzok earlier on Tuesday. Asked on “Cuomo Prime Time” whether his client will comply with the subpoena, attorney Aitan Goelman said, “My client will testify soon, somewhere, sometime. We just got this subpoena today, so I don’t know whether or not we are going to be testifying next Tuesday in front of these two particular House subcommittees.”
6am – A LGBTQ actresses slam Scarlett Johansson’s trans role (Page Six) – Scarlett Johansson is under fire for her next project with “Ghost in the Shell” director Rupert Sanders. The actress is set to star in the crime biopic “Rub & Tug,” based on the real life story of Dante “Tex” Gill. Gill was a trans crime boss of the 1970s who ran several illegal massage parlors. In real life, Gill lived his life as a trans man, which led a lot of folks to inquire why a trans actor wasn’t considered for this role. When the website Bustle reached out to Johansson’s representative for a statement about the vocal concerns, it was sent this response from the actress: “Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”
6am – B Jim Jordan responds to claims he knew about Ohio State doctor who sexually abused wrestlers (Washington Examiner) – Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Wednesday issued fresh denials that he knew about claims wrestlers he coached more than two decades ago at Ohio State University had been sexually abused by their team doctor, and that he failed to prevent such action. “We knew of no abuse, never heard of abuse. If we had, we would have reported it,” Jordan told reporters at a Fourth of July event in Ohio on Wednesday. “And if, in fact, there’s problems, we want justice for the people who were victims obviously.” “As I said, we’re happy to talk with the folks who are doing the investigation. But nothing — I mean, things they said about me just were flat out not true,” he continued, referring to a probe Ohio State launched into Dr. Richard Strauss, the accused doctor, in April.
6am – C Diversity Leaders: Starbucks’ Anti-Bias training lacking, needs ‘racial equity overhaul’ (Breitbart) – In a report authored by Heather McGhee, president of progressive think tank Demo, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Sherrilyn Ifill, the two diversity advisers say the coffee giant should introduce civil rights audits and increase racial sensitivity training for its executives. Ifill said following the report’s release: Our report lays the groundwork for Starbucks to review and strengthen its existing policies to prioritize racial equity and the dignity of all customers. We hope companies across industry will use our recommendations as a blueprint for transforming their anti-bias and inclusion practices, and that they will engage people inside and out of their corporations to ensure everyone can enjoy their services free from fear of discrimination.
6am – D Texas mother arrested for allegedly selling young children (Fox News) – A Texas mother has been arrested for allegedly selling her young children. Esmeralda Garza, 29, was arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officials on Friday after she allegedly sold her 7-year-old boy to two men, KRIS-TV reported. Garza was also in the process of selling two other children – a 2-year-old girl and a 3-year-old girl – as well, officials said. The arrest occurred after DPS officers executed a drug search warrant, according to KIII-TV.
6am – E New York Times reassigns reporter in leak case (New York Times) – Ali Watkins, the New York Times reporter whose email and phone records were secretly seized by the Trump administration, will be transferred out of the newspaper’s Washington bureau and reassigned to a new beat in New York, The Times said on Tuesday. Ms. Watkins, 26, had been the subject of an internal review by The Times after revelations that she had a three-year affair with a high-ranking aide on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which she covered for several news organizations before joining The Times in December.
6am – F UK reportedly tells Trump he cannot meet with Brexit architect Nigel Farage (Fox News) – The U.K. government has reportedly told President Trump he must not meet Brexit architect and former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage when Trump visits the U.K. later this month. The U.K. Daily Telegraph, citing a source within the British government, reports that 10 Downing Street made it clear that Trump “must not meet Farage” during his working visit to the U.K. on July 13. Trump has embraced Farage, who is also a Fox News contributor, and called him “the man behind Brexit” during the 2016 campaign.
7am – A Stormy Daniels’ DC Strip-Club Appearance: All the details you were afraid to ask (Washingtonian) – The show will finally go on. “Pretty stoked about this DC booking,” Stormy Daniels posted to Instagram last week, along with a photo in a black lace bodysuit, her neck dripping with strings of black crystal beads. It was an image from a club card. After weeks of delays, “All Things Revealed”—a two-night event at the Washington strip club Cloakroom—was rescheduled for early July. As is often the promise with Daniels, the porn star who says she had an affair with Donald Trump, “more information” would be “coming soon.” Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing Trump to invalidate the non-disclosure agreement she says prevents her from detailing their affair. She’s also suing him for defamation over a tweet in which he called her account of being threatened to keep quiet a “total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools.” Both cases are ongoing, but plans for Daniels’ upcoming DC stand show that the otherwise adverse parties have at least one thing in common: a shared antipathy for the press.
7am – B/C INTERVIEW – Bruce Klingner – Heritage Foundation – discussed Pompeo’s trip to North Korea
7am – D Protester’s climb shuts down Statue of Liberty on July 4 (WTOP) – A protest against U.S. immigration policy forced the evacuation of the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July, with a group unfurling a banner from the pedestal and a woman holding police at bay for hours after she climbed the base and sat by the statue’s robes. The woman and at least a half-dozen demonstrators who displayed the banner were arrested, while the climb forced thousands of visitors to leave the iconic American symbol on the nation’s birthday.
7am – E ‘Happy Resistance Day’: Hollywood apologizes to the world for Trump on 4th of July (Breitbart) – “To every country on the 4th of July. We’re sorry about our president. He doesn’t reflect all of our views — and we hope you know that the majority of us are ashamed,” wrote former Netflix talk show host Chelsea Handler. “We will rally each other and come back to the world one step at a time. #novemberiscoming #alsosorryabouthotdogs.” Left-wing documentary filmmaker Michael Moore offered a politically-charged message to his six million Twitter followers, “Happy Resistance Day! The revolt continues, some 242 years later. C’mon, people! Let’s finish this!”
8am – A INTERVIEW – Saagar Enjeti – Daily Caller White House Correspondent – discussed latest White House News
8am – B Hot dogs: How America lost and regained its national pride (Fox News) – It’s universally known that many Americans love a good hot dog in the summertime. That’s why George Shay, the Chairman of Major League Eating, tells Fox News that in 2001, when Takeru Kobayashi took the Famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Mustard Belt back to Japan, it was “in many ways a black eye on our nation and I feel that it affected the national mood.” On top of that, it’s also universally known that Americans love a good underdog story. “No one thought Kobayashi would ever be beaten,” Shay explains. “The Nathan’s hot dog record was 24/25 before that. Kobayashi ate 50. No one thought he could ever be beaten, but then Joey Chestnut — nothing more than a boy really — stood in California, and said, ‘I will come to the aid of my nation,’ and he did.”
8am – C Rescuers race to drain water inside Thai cave before rains (Fox News) – With more rain coming, Thai rescuers are racing against time to pump out water from a flooded cave before they can extract 12 boys and their soccer coach with minimum risk, officials said Thursday. A firefighter who has been working on draining the water said that levels in parts of a passage leading to a chamber where the boys and the coach were found on Monday after missing for 10 days was still flooded all the way to the ceiling, making diving the only way out.
8am – D Results Matter: President Trump tops Obama in approval numbers at same point in his presidency (Gateway Pundit) – President Trump’s approval rating on his second Independence Day is at 48% with likely voters. And that is with 90% negative coverage from the far left mainstream media. And after a month of anti-ICE protests by Democrats President Trump jumped 10 points with Hispanics in the recent Harris-Harvard poll. On Barack Obama’s second Independence Day — despite a fawning media — his approval rating was only at 45%.
8am – E Walmart takes heat as it removes ‘Impeach’ Trump shirts (Yahoo) – Walmart on Tuesday removed shirts and other gear from its online marketplace bearing the phrase “Impeach 45” after supporters of US President Donald Trump lambasted the retail giant on social media. Walmart nixed the items after images of jerseys and baby gear with the anti-Trump slogan went viral on social media. At midday, the phrase #BoycottWalmart was trending on Twitter.
