Mornings on the Mall 08.29.18

Joe Concha, Cal Thomas, Richard Pollock and Tom Bevan joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A         SOURCES: CHINA HACKED HILLARY CLINTON’S PRIVATE EMAIL SERVER. (Daily Caller/Richard Pollock) — A Chinese-owned company penetrated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private server, according to sources briefed on the matter. The company inserted code that forwarded copies of Clinton’s emails to the Chinese company in real time. The Intelligence Community Inspector General warned of the problem, but the FBI subsequently failed to act, Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert said during a July hearing. A Chinese-owned company operating in the Washington, D.C., area hacked Hillary Clinton’s private server throughout her term as secretary of state and obtained nearly all her emails, two sources briefed on the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The Chinese firm obtained Clinton’s emails in real time as she sent and received communications and documents through her personal server, according to the sources, who said the hacking was conducted as part of an intelligence operation. The Chinese wrote code that was embedded in the server, which was kept in Clinton’s residence in upstate New York. The code generated an instant “courtesy copy” for nearly all of her emails and forwarded them to the Chinese company, according to the sources. The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) found that virtually all of Clinton’s emails were sent to a “foreign entity,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, said at a July 12 House Committee on the Judiciary hearing. He did not reveal the entity’s identity, but said it was unrelated to Russia. Two officials with the ICIG, investigator Frank Rucker and attorney Janette McMillan, met repeatedly with FBI officials to warn them of the Chinese intrusion, according to a former intelligence officer with expertise in cybersecurity issues, who was briefed on the matter. He spoke anonymously, as he was not authorized to publicly address the Chinese’s role with Clinton’s server.

5am – B/C     TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES:

• FLORIDA
• FL GOV RACE: TRUMP VS. SANDERS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE: President Trump’s favored candidate, GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis, defeated state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in Florida’s Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday after riding the wave of the president’s enthusiastic endorsement to victory. Meanwhile, the Bernie Sanders-backed Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum pulled off a major upset in defeating a half-dozen rivals, including former Rep. Gwen Graham, in the Democratic primary …  The president repeatedly had implored voters to support DeSantis over Putnam. Trump offered his congratulations on Twitter. DeSantis and Gillum will face each other in November’s general election. If he triumphs, Gillum would be the state’s first black governor.
• U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, endorsed by President Trump, won Florida’s GOP gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. In November, he will face Bernie Sanders-backed Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who pulled off an upset victory in Florida’s Democratic primary.
• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump  11h11 hours ago: Such a fantastic win for Ron DeSantis and the people of the Great State of Florida. Ron will be a fantastic Governor. On to November!
• FL SENATE RACE: In the state’s closely-watched Senate contest, Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday easily won the GOP nomination. He faced a challenge from perennial candidate Roque De La Fuente. Scott, who is term-limited as governor, is set to face incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in what surely will be one of the most closely watched Senate races in November. Nelson ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 11h11 hours ago: Congratulations to Governor Rick Scott of Florida on his conclusive Republican Primary Win. He will be a great Senator!
• ARIZONA: Republican U.S. Rep. Martha McSally and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema won Arizona’s Senate primaries Tuesday and will battle in November to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake.
• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump:  7h7 hours ago Martha McSally, running in the Arizona Primary for U.S. Senate, was endorsed by rejected Senator Jeff Flake….and turned it down – a first! Now Martha, a great U.S. Military fighter jet pilot and highly respected member of Congress, WINS BIG. Congratulations, and on to November!
• WOMEN ROAR IN ARIZONA: U.S. Reps. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona won Tuesday’s U.S. Senate primaries in the state, and will face off in November to succeed retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake … Their victories assure that Arizonans will elect their first female U.S. senator in November. In the Republican primary, McSally defeated former state Sen. Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. On the Democratic side, Sinema defeated attorney Deedra Abboud. McSally, a former Air Force colonel considered the favorite of the Washington establishment, played up her allegiance to President Trump while competing against two outspoken conservative contenders: Ward, who had lost to the late Sen. John McCain in a 2016 primary, and Arpaio, the illegal-immigration opponent pardoned by Trump last year after being convicted of criminal contempt of court.
• Trump, who notably has supported a series of candidates in recent months, stayed away from any Arizona endorsements – but congratulated McSally after her victory. Meanwhile, Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, was being projected by FOX News to keep his reelection hopes alive by defeating former Arizona secretary of state Ken Bennett in the Republican primary.
• OKLAHOMA: tulsa businessman, political novice Kevin Stitt wins GOP primary for Oklahoma governor. Tulsa mortgage company owner and political newcomer Kevin Stitt has won the Republican nomination in the race to become Oklahoma’s next governor. Stitt defeated former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, who helped oversee a revitalization of the state’s capital city that included landing an NBA basketball team, in Tuesday’s primary runoff. Stitt touted his experience growing his company, Gateway Mortgage Group, into one of the nation’s largest privately held mortgage companies. He boosted his campaign finances by lending himself nearly $3.3 million, about half of the $6.5 million he received ahead of Tuesday’s primary runoff.

5am – D         INTERVIEW – JOE CONCHA – Media reporter, The Hill

• CNN is under fire for refusing to retract a report on the infamous Trump Tower meeting, even after Lanny Davis, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s lawyer, admitted being an anonymous source and recanted the story
• Joe Concha  @JoeConchaTV Aug 27: Very difficult to see how CNN can continue to stand by its July 27 Michael Cohen/Trump Tower story given its own formerly-anonymous source is now openly admitting to lying about it on the network.

 5am – E         Alan Dershowitz: Robert Mueller ‘gearing up’ to subpoena Trump. Lawyer Alan Dershowitz suspects special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of federal prosecutors is preparing to subpoena President Trump. “I do. I think they’re gearing up for what will be a difficult legal battle,” Dershowitz, a fierce critic of Mueller’s federal Russia investigation, said during an interview Tuesday with CNN. Dershowitz’s comments follow a CNN report Monday in which Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lead personal attorney, said he hasn’t heard from Mueller’s office in nearly three weeks as the two sides negotiate terms for a possible presidential voluntary interview as part of the ongoing Russia probe. Dershowitz was asked Tuesday whether the radio silence could indicate Mueller’s team may be considering another means of obtaining Trump’s testimony. “I suspect they have come to the same conclusion I came to several weeks ago that the tactic of the Trump team — I have no inside information on this — but the tactic of the Trump team is to make the Mueller team an offer they can’t accept so that in the end there will be no sit-down and the Trump team can say, ‘Look, we made them an offer. It’s their fault. They didn’t accept it,’” Dershowitz said. “I suspect that Mueller is onto this tactic and is now looking forward to filing some kind of a legal action, compelling the president to appear in front of a grand jury,” he continued. “You can’t compel the president to sit down with the special counsel, but you can compel him to come in front of a grand jury.”

6am – A/B/C NY Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon requests room temp for debate against Gov. Andrew Cuomo be set to 76 degrees. Per CBS-2: Nixon spox said it is “notoriously sexist when it comes to [cooler] room temperature, so we just want to make sure we’re all on the same page here.”

• Cynthia Nixon battled with Andrew Cuomo over temperature for debate room: report (The Hill) — An aide for New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon (D) reached out to the host of an upcoming debate with Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to pre-empt any effort to chill the room, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Rebecca Katz, a top strategist for Nixon’s campaign, emailed WCBS-TV last week asking that the temperature at the debate on Wednesday be maintained at 76 degrees, according to a copy of the message obtained by the Times.  The newspaper reported that Nixon’s team has accused the New York TV station, which will host Wednesday’s debate, of meeting the governor’s demands in order to secure rights to the event. Nixon’s camp is reportedly concerned about the temperature of the room, because Cuomo has a habit of making public appearances in cooler conditions.  Katz said she had not yet heard back from WCBS-TV, which declined to comment to the Times. Cuomo’s campaign, meanwhile, said it never weighed in on the room temperature. “Unlike Cynthia Nixon, the Governor has more important things to focus on than the temperature of a room,” Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith told The Hill.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist – discussed consumer confidence popping in August to highest level since October 2000.

6am – E         GOP REPS SAY DISCREPANCY BETWEEN OHR, PAGE, SIMPSON TESTIMONIES (Daily Caller) — Reps. Darrell Issa and Matt Gaetz highlighted discrepancies between DOJ official Bruce Ohr’s Tuesday testimony before Congress and the testimony given by Lisa Page and Glenn Simpson. Ohr appeared before the House oversight and judiciary committee’s to face questions about his role in the FBI investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign. Ohr served as a conduit between salacious dossier author Christopher Steele and the FBI. The DOJ official’s wife also worked for the dossier commissioning firm Fusion GPS while the investigation proceeded. “In the first hour of testimony, and it’s either Bruce Ohr is lying or Glenn Simpson is lying,” Gaetz told reporters Tuesday, continuing “in another circumstance, it’s either Bruce Ohr is lying, or Lisa Page is lying.” Gaetz was supported later by Issa, who confirmed the Ohr discrepancy with Simpson’s testimony and said, “There’s also some ambiguity between Ohr and Lisa Page. We will have to go back to the loop to find out which one of them is able to change their story or face perjury.”

6am – F         AVENATTI CLAIMS TO NOT BE A CELEB. HOW HUMBLE?!

•  MICHAEL AVENATTI: To the press – pls stop calling me a “celebrity.” I am not one. I am a 18 yr lawyer that has successfully fought on behalf of Davids vs. Goliaths in complicated cases across the nation, including many involving constitutional law. I first started working on FISA issues in 1996.
•  JOE CONCHA: In a related story, Mr. Avenatti is prominently featured today in Vogue, which includes photos by famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz

7am – A         INTERVIEW – RICHARD POLLOCK – senior investigative reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation @rpollockDC

• POLLOCK’s Exclusive: SOURCES: China Hacked Clinton’s Private Email Server
• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump  7h7 hours ago: Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone!
• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump  10h10 hours ago: Report just out: “China hacked Hillary Clinton’s private Email Server.” Are they sure it wasn’t Russia (just kidding!)? What are the odds that the FBI and DOJ are right on top of this? Actually, a very big story. Much classified information!

 7am – B/C     TRUMP vs GOOGLE:

• YESTERDAY’S TWEETS: President Trump said in a tweet that Google’s search engine had “rigged” news story search results to show mostly “bad” stories about him and other conservatives. He later criticized Facebook and Twitter. He says Google is prioritizing left-leaning outlets and warns that the situation “will be addressed.”
• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump:  20h20 hours ago: Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of….
• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump:  20h20 hours ago ….results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!
• TRUMP WARNS GOOGLE in comments in Oval Office warns Google, Twitter and Facebook, they are treading on very troubled territory.
• Kudlow says White House may regulate Google after Trump accused it of being rigged against conservatives.  White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday said that the administration is “taking a look” at potentially regulating Google, following President Trump’s tweets criticizing the search giant. Kudlow’s comments were in response to being pressed by reporters on if, in light of the president’s comments, the administration is considering imposing regulations on Google.

7am – D         Times Square Intersection Cordoned Off After Bees Swarm Hot Dog Cart. (NBC NY) — A Times Square intersection was cordoned off after a swarm of bees engulfed a food cart, videos shared by social media users showed. A video taken around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday showed bees swarming above an intersection near the Hard Rock Cafe, at Broadway and West 43rd Street. An umbrella on top of a nearby hot dog cart was almost entirely covered with the insects, another video showed. A beekeeper from the city carefully removed the bees from the umbrella with a vacuum, while some stray bees made their way to the façade of a nearby café, video showed.

7am – E         ARETHA FRANKLIN LIES IN STATE IN A SOLID GOLD CASKET (Daily Mail) — The Queen of Soul’s body arrived in a shining gold casket at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in her Detroit, Michigan, hometown on Tuesday morning for the start of her two-day public viewing. Franklin was transported to the museum in a vintage white LaSalle, passing by as many as 200 of her fans who had slept on the sidewalk and were already lined up to be among the first to pay their respects to the singer.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – TOM BEVAN – co-founder and publisher of RealClearPolitics @TomBevanRCP – recapped Tuesday’s primaries in Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma.

8am – B         ILLEGAL MOM SUES FOR $40 MILLION: Toddler from Guatemala died after falling ‘gravely ill’ at Dilley immigrant facility. (Houston Chronicle) — A law firm has accused the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of denying a toddler girl from Guatemala the medical care that could have saved her life during a nearly three-week stay at an immigrant detention facility near San Antonio. The child was identified as 21-month-old Mariee, according to a timeline compiled by the Washington-based Arnold & Porter firm representing the girl’s mother. The girl died on May 10 after spending six weeks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania hospitals. The Houston Chronicle first reported that the child died in early August, but her identity and medical history were not then known.Her illness began with triple-digit fevers and chronic coughing, congestion and diarrhea during her confinement, the firm wrote. Mariee was by all accounts healthy when she and her asylum-seeking mother, Yazmin Juarez, were detained after crossing the Rio Grande River on March 1. The 20-year-old mother fled the violence in her Central America homeland with her daughter. The two were transferred to the Dilley facility, officially known as the South Texas Family Residential Center, within four days of crossing the U.S. border. There, Mariee’s mother saw sickly kids “coughing constantly” at the facility about 60 miles southwest of San Antonio. “No one was treating them,” the mother recalled in the law firm’s account of events. The mother said that she saw some of the children leave the facility in “severe medical distress.” Like the other children, Juarez’s lawyer R. Stanton Jones said Mariee became sick. “While there, Mariee contracted a respiratory infection that went woefully under-treated for nearly a month,” Jones said in his law firm’s account. “After it became clear that Mariee was gravely ill, ICE simply discharged mother and daughter.”

8am – C         RUSSELL SENATE BUILDING NAME:

•  Renaming Senate office building after McCain sparks GOP backlash. (The Hill) — A push to rename a Senate office building after the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is facing political headwinds on Capitol Hill from Republican lawmakers. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) are working on a resolution that would rename the Russell Senate Office Building, named in honor of former Democratic Sen. Richard Brevard Russell (Ga.), after McCain. But the proposal is facing skepticism, and in some cases outright opposition, threatening to inject partisan fighting into the chamber’s bipartisan mourning. “Senator Russell was a well respected man from the South and up here too,” said Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), adding that he was “a man of his time.”
• McConnell stalls effort to name Senate building after McCain. (NY Post)- WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Tuesday stalled an effort led by Sen. Chuck Schumer to quickly rename a prominent Senate office building for the late Senator John McCain. McConnell announced he’d form a bipartisan “gang” to examine best ways to honor McCain’s legacy in the Senate, though he declined to mention Schumer’s idea to rename the Russell Senate Office building after the Arizona Republican. “It’s a further tribute to our colleague that there’s no shortage of good ideas,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. He mentioned two other possibilities to honor McCain: naming the Senate Armed Services Committee room for the late chairman or adding a portrait of McCain to the Senate reception room. “I’d like to put together an official group that can elaborate and bring together ideas from current members, former colleagues, and friends,” McConnell said. “It will be bipartisan as only befits John’s legacy.”

 8am – D         REPLAY: INTERVIEW – JOE CONCHA – Media reporter, The Hill

• CNN is under fire for refusing to retract a report on the infamous Trump Tower meeting, even after Lanny Davis, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s lawyer, admitted being an anonymous source and recanted the story
  

8am – E         GOP REPS SAY DISCREPANCY BETWEEN OHR, PAGE, SIMPSON TESTIMONIES (Daily Caller) — Reps. Darrell Issa and Matt Gaetz highlighted discrepancies between DOJ official Bruce Ohr’s Tuesday testimony before Congress and the testimony given by Lisa Page and Glenn Simpson. Ohr appeared before the House oversight and judiciary committee’s to face questions about his role in the FBI investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign. Ohr served as a conduit between salacious dossier author Christopher Steele and the FBI. The DOJ official’s wife also worked for the dossier commissioning firm Fusion GPS while the investigation proceeded. “In the first hour of testimony, and it’s either Bruce Ohr is lying or Glenn Simpson is lying,” Gaetz told reporters Tuesday, continuing “in another circumstance, it’s either Bruce Ohr is lying, or Lisa Page is lying.” Gaetz was supported later by Issa, who confirmed the Ohr discrepancy with Simpson’s testimony and said, “There’s also some ambiguity between Ohr and Lisa Page. We will have to go back to the loop to find out which one of them is able to change their story or face perjury.”