Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, Daily Caller News Foundation Editor-in-Chief Christopher Bedford, DC Metro Union president Jackie Jeter joined WMAL on Wednesday!
Mornings on the Mall
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Hosts: Tony Shaffer and Vince Coglianese
Executive Producer: Heather Hunter
5am – A/B/C Trump, seeking to calm political storm over Putin summit, says he misspoke (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump tried on Tuesday to calm a storm over his failure to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, saying he misspoke in a joint news conference in Helsinki. Trump stunned the world on Monday by shying away from criticizing the Russian leader for Moscow’s actions to undermine the election and cast doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies, prompting calls by some U.S. lawmakers for tougher sanctions and other actions to punish Russia. “I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t,’” Trump told reporters at the White House, more than 24 hours after his appearance with Putin. “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.’”
5am – D/E Sleeping Giants’ anonymous founder unmasked; top ad writer behind boycott campaign targeting Breitbart, Ingraham (Daily Caller) – The founder of Sleeping Giants, a left-wing activist group that has targeted right-wing voices with boycott campaigns, has managed to keep his identity a secret, even as his own group has become a major political player among liberals. Until now. Sleeping Giants was founded by Matt Rivitz, an award-winning ad copywriter based in San Francisco, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has found.
6am – A/B/C Trump, seeking to calm political storm over Putin summit, says he misspoke (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump tried on Tuesday to calm a storm over his failure to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, saying he misspoke in a joint news conference in Helsinki. Trump stunned the world on Monday by shying away from criticizing the Russian leader for Moscow’s actions to undermine the election and cast doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies, prompting calls by some U.S. lawmakers for tougher sanctions and other actions to punish Russia. “I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t,’” Trump told reporters at the White House, more than 24 hours after his appearance with Putin. “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.’”
6am – D INTERVIEW – Cal Thomas – syndicated columnist – discussed fallout from Trump-Putin summit
6am – E ‘Old Man’ from ‘Pawn Stars’ cuts son out of his will (Page Six) – Richard Harrison may have loved his sons equally, but he won’t be paying them all. “Old Man” Harrison of “Pawn Stars” fame put his son Rick, who also appeared on the show, in charge of his estate, but cut his son Christopher out of his will entirely, The Blast reported. Harrison’s original will named his wife, JoAnne Harrison, and three children, Rick, Christopher and Joseph, as beneficiaries, but he amended it in 2017 to exclude Christopher.
6am – F Cuomo Latest:
- Winklevoss twins donate $130k to Cuomo after getting state approval (New York Post) – The Facebook-famous Winklevoss twins donated $100,000 to Gov. Cuomo’s campaign — and less than a month later, state authorities approved their cryptocurrency exchange, campaign-finance filings show. And once the Department of Financial Services gave the stamp of approval, the twins chipped in another $30,000 for the governor’s re-election.
- Cuomo donor made 69 tiny donations to campaign (New York Post) – A donor with ties to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign gave small-dollar contributions to the two-term incumbent almost six dozen times, as the longtime pol faces continued criticism for his reliance on big-dollar donors. Queens resident Christopher Kim donated $1 or $5 to Cuomo’s campaign 69 times over three days as the filing deadline approached. All told, he gave just $77, records show.
7am – A INTERVIEW – Sean Spicer – author of “The Briefing: Politics, The Press, and The President” and former White House press secretary – discussed his new book and Trump’s walk back on Putin summit comments
7am – B/C Obama warns of ‘politcs of fear and resentment and retrenchment,’ never mentions Trump by name (WUSA 9) – Former President Barack Obama warned of an increasing “politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment” in what he called “strange and uncertain times” during a speech in South Africa on Tuesday. At an event honoring the 100th anniversary of South African political leader Nelson Mandela’s birth, Obama described the recent political environment as protectionism and “barely hidden racial nationalism” in the West and authoritarianism in developing countries.
7am – D James Comey calls on voters to support Democrats in midterm elections (Breitbart) – Fired FBI Director James Comey is urging Americans to support Democrat candidates in the midterm elections this fall. Comey criticized GOP lawmakers in a tweet Tuesday evening for what the former law enforcement official views as a reluctance to oppose President Donald Trump’s policies. “This Republican Congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the Founders’ design that ‘Ambition must … counteract ambition,’” tweeted Comey. “All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall. Policy differences don’t matter right now,” added the fired FBI director. “History has its eyes on us.”
7am – E Papa John’s founder John Schnatter says resignation ‘was a mistake’ (ABC News) – The founder of Papa John’s said he made “a mistake” when he agreed to step down as chairman of the company’s board last week amid “mischaracterized” reports about his use of a racial slur earlier this year. In a letter addressed to members of the company’s board, pizza chain founder John Schnatter said board members pressured him to resign without “any investigation” and based its decision on “rumor and innuendo.”
8am – A INTERVIEW – Christopher Bedford – Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Caller News Foundation – discussed Trump’s walk back on Putin summit comments
8am – B/C INTERVIEW – Jackie Jeter – President of the DC Metro Union – discussed Metro union’s threat of a strike
8am – D Washington Post: Trump says defending tiny NATO ally Montenegro could lead to World War III – President Trump, who rattled U.S. allies at a NATO meeting last week, voiced concern in a television interview broadcast Tuesday night that sending troops from the alliance to defend an “aggressive” Montenegro could result in World War III. Trump was asked about Montenegro, which joined NATO last year and has a population smaller than the District of Columbia, during a Fox News interview with host Tucker Carlson. Carlson pressed Trump on the purpose of the alliance, which was originally created to prevent the Russians from invading western Europe and calls for member nations to come to the aid of any ally that is attacked. “Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack?” Carlson asked in the interview, which was recorded Monday following Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
8am – E Trump, seeking to calm political storm over Putin summit, says he misspoke (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump tried on Tuesday to calm a storm over his failure to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, saying he misspoke in a joint news conference in Helsinki. Trump stunned the world on Monday by shying away from criticizing the Russian leader for Moscow’s actions to undermine the election and cast doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies, prompting calls by some U.S. lawmakers for tougher sanctions and other actions to punish Russia. “I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t,’” Trump told reporters at the White House, more than 24 hours after his appearance with Putin. “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.’”
