Cal Thomas, Brian Darling, Adam Thierer, Fred Barnes and Saagar Enjeti joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Recap The Daily Caller’s interview with President Trump:

• Saagar Enjeti ‏@esaagar STANDBY: @TheDCVince and I just completed an exclusive interview with @POTUS in the Oval Office. Topics incl Woodward, Kaepernick, Neil Armstrong, Mueller, Declassification, Access Hollywood, NBC, the Catholic Church, and more. Stories to come on @DailyCaller…
• NEW: @TheDCVince and I asked @POTUS if he thought MUELLER was interfering in the election. “I view it as an illegal investigation,” he says. Asked what he thought of him when he interviewed him “I liked him, but I didn’t give him the job.”
• TRUMP MOCKS CHUCK TODD’S CALL FOR PRESS TO ‘FIGHT BACK’
• TRUMP tweet: Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd of Fake NBC News said it’s time for the Press to stop complaining and to start fighting back. Actually Chuck, they’ve been doing that from the day I announced for President. They’ve gone all out, and I WON, and now they’re going CRAZY!
• TRUMP, in TheDC Exclusive: “He’s sleepy eyes Chuck Todd, he covers me very dishonestly, I mean you watch his show, it’s like he gets angry at people if they say I’ve done a good job. And they won’t appear on the show again.”
• EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP SAYS ‘CONFLICTED’ MUELLER IS LEADING ‘AN ILLEGAL INVESTIGATION’
• EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP SAYS HE’S ‘AMAZINGLY ALONE’ IN QUESTIONING DEFENSE PACTS
• EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP CRITICAL, BUT SAYS NIKE’S KAEPERNICK DEAL ‘IS WHAT THIS COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT’
• EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP SAYS BOB WOODWARD HAS ‘A LOT OF CREDIBILITY PROBLEMS’ “It’s just another bad book. He’s had a lot of credibility problems,” Trump declared, adding, “I probably would have preferred to speak to him, but maybe not. I think it probably wouldn’t have made a difference in the book. He wanted to write the book a certain way.”  …”It’s just nasty stuff. I never spoke to him. Maybe I wasn’t given messages that he called. I probably would have spoken to him if he’d called, if he’d gotten through. For some reason I didn’t get messages on it.”
• Trump specifically denied that senior aides, such as former National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, were removing papers from his desk, saying “that’s false,” that “it’s just made up” and that “there was nobody taking anything from me.”

5am – D         Jon Kyl, Former Senator, Will Replace McCain in Arizona. (NY Times) — WASHINGTON — Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona on Tuesday appointed former Senator Jon Kyl to fill the seat left open by John McCain’s death, elevating a well-liked former Republican lawmaker who is acceptable to both Mr. McCain’s admirers and forces loyal to President Trump. Mr. Kyl, who served three terms in the Senate, spoke at a service honoring Mr. McCain in the Arizona State Capitol last week, but he has also been shepherding Brett M. Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court appointee, through the Senate. “It’s not the time for newcomers, and now is not the time for on-the-job training,” said Mr. Ducey at a news conference in Phoenix. But in tapping Mr. Kyl, Mr. Ducey has effectively put the stature of Mr. McCain’s seat ahead of the political imperative of keeping it in Republican hands: For now, the former senator has only committed to serving until the start of the next Congress, in January. Mr. Kyl has indicated he would consider staying in the seat longer, until 2020, when a special election will be held to fill Mr. McCain’s unexpired term, the officials said. But he made clear at the news conference that he will not seek to run again. That would leave the seat open and could trigger a fiercely competitive primary. However, the election this year for the other Arizona Senate seat, the one being vacated by Jeff Flake, could also shape calculations. Should Representative Martha McSally, a Republican, lose to Representative Kyrsten Sinema, Mr. Kyl could step aside to make way for Ms. McSally’s appointment.

5am – E         WOODWARD BOOK:

• Trump’s top staff trashed him in private, according to Bob Woodward’s new book “FEAR.” (Axios) — Top Trump White House staffers like Jim Mattis and John Kelly privately trashed their boss as incompetent, even viewing him as a threat to national security, Bob Woodward reveals in his forthcoming book, “Fear.” The big picture: Backbiting and blind quotes are a norm for a White House, and many claims from Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” didn’t survive close inspection. But Woodward has reported on presidents for decades — with even Trump reportedly wanting to be interviewed.
• Highlights from the book, per CNN and WashPost snippets:
• Potential national security incidents:
• After Trump left a meeting with Defense Secretary James Mattis on North Korea, Woodward recounts, “Mattis was particularly exasperated and alarmed, telling close associates that the president acted like — and had the understanding of — ‘a fifth- or sixth-grader.'”
• Former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn and former staff secretary Rob Porter repeatedly stole or hid documents from Trump’s desk, including a draft letter that would have withdrawn the U.S. from a trade agreement with South Korea: “I stole it off his desk,” Cohn told an associate. “I wouldn’t let him see it. He’s never going to see that document. Got to protect the country.”
• “After Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad launched a chemical attack on civilians in April 2017, Trump called Mattis and said he wanted to assassinate the dictator. “Let’s fucking kill him! Let’s go in. Let’s kill the fucking lot of them,” Trump said, according to Woodward.”
• POTUS addressed Woodward book in an exclusive Oval Office interview with @TheDCVince and I. He specifically denied anyone took papers off his desk, blamed disgruntled employees said of Woodward “he’s had a lot of credibility problems”

6am – A/B/C KAVANAUGH /// DAY 1 RECAP AND TODAY IS DAY 2 OF THE HEARINGS:

• PREVIEW DAY 2: Another contentious day is expected on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the confirmation hearings for President Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh enters its second day. Tuesday’s hearing was marked by political theater from Democrats, outbursts and protests as Kavanaugh vowed to be impartial and open-minded on the high court
• POLITICAL THEATER OF THE ABSURD: Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday vowed to be a “a neutral and impartial arbiter” if confirmed to the Supreme Court, after a chaotic first day of hearings on Capitol Hill amid political theatrics and protests from Democrats … “If confirmed to the Supreme Court, I will keep an open mind in every case,” Kavanaugh said. “I will do equal right to the poor and to the rich. I will always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American rule of law.” Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings are set to continue through the week. Testimony is scheduled to resume Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. ET. Democrats, in their opening remarks Tuesday, sounded the alarm about Kavanaugh’s past work in Republican politics, including as a lawyer in George W. Bush’s White House. Protests from Democratic lawmakers and demonstrators delayed the formal start of proceedings by more than an hour. Within moments of Tuesday’s confirmation hearing kickoff, top Democrats tried to sideline the session with a rapid-fire string of objections concerning access to the nominee’s records.  The spectacle underscored the political nature of the confirmation hearings, coming two months before the midterms and as some senators gear up for a possible 2020 presidential run against President Trump. Several of those senators led the charge Tuesday in objecting to Kavanaugh.
• RECAP OF DAY 1: DEMS ORCHESTRATE INTERRUPTIONS DURING DAY 1 OF THE KAVANAUGH HEARINGS:
• Brett Kavanaugh hearing repeatedly interrupted by Dem objections, protests
• “I move to adjourn!” Cheers break out as Democratic senators object at the beginning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing.
• Booker: “I appeal to your sense of fairness and decency, your commitments you’ve made to transparency.” Grassley: “Senator Booker… You spoke about my decency and integrity and I think…you are taking advantage of my decency and integrity…so…”
• Sen. John Cornyn: “This is the first confirmation hearing for a Supreme Court justice I’ve seen basically according to mob rule. We have rules in the Senate. We have norms for decorum.”
• Sen. Tillis asked: “I’m reviewing a tweet by NBC that said ‘Democrats plotted coordinated protest strategy over the holiday weekend all agreed to disrupt and protest the hearing, sources tell me.’ And, subsequent, ‘Dem leader Chuck Schumer led a phone call, and committee members are executing now.’ So, I just want to be clear: none of the members on this committee participated in that phone call or that strategy before the documents were released yesterday? Are you suggesting that this allegation is false?”  Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) admits that the Democrats’ eruption at Kavanaugh’s hearing was actually planned days ago.
• DEM FUNDRAISING: SASSE SLAMS BOOKER FOR FUNDRAISING DURING THE HEARING: “This stuff will make us sicker, not healthier,” Sasse tweeted. “Sending out fundraising emails DURING A HEARING about opposition to a Supreme Court nominee is not the job of a Senator. It is cynical play-acting for a political base.”
• PROTESTERS: Protesters were escorted out of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing just minutes after it began this morning.
• Far-left activist Linda Sarsour and others arrested at Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing after causing a major disruption.
• DAUGHTERS: Kavanaugh Daughters Rushed Out ‘Hot’ Hearing… Ted Cruz, speaking now, apologizes to Brett Kavanaugh for the fact that his daughters have to endure the “circus” around his confirmation.
• WHITE SUPREMACY GESTURE: Social media users falsely accuse ex-Trump official of making ‘white power’ gesture at Kavanaugh hearing (Fox News) — A former Trump administration official was accused by liberal activists on Tuesday of being a white supremacist over an unintentional hand gesture she made during the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  Zina Gelman Bash, a former Kavanaugh clerk who now works in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s administration, was attacked by liberal activist on social media for holding her hand in an “OK” gesture as she was sitting behind Kavanaugh. Many on social media believed it was a so-called “white power” hate symbol. “What fresh hell is this!!!??? Kavanaugh’s assistant Zina Bash giving the white power sign right behind him during the hearing? This alone should be disqualify!!!” Amy Siskind, president and co-founder of the female advocacy group New Agenda, wrote in a now-deleted tweet. She later backtracked, saying that her comment became “a distraction,” though urged the media to ask Bash about the gesture, noting that “it’s not a natural resting position.” The conspiracy didn’t slow down even after some pointed out that Bash had a Mexican mother and a Jewish father, while her grandparents only narrowly escaped the Holocaust.
• HANDSHAKE: Today’s “controversy”: Kavanaugh declines handshake from father of murdered Parkland student
• Brett Kavanaugh “turned his back,” says father of Parkland victim who tried to shake his hand (Washington Post) — It happened in the middle of a contentious meeting taking place in a country whose political divide seems to grow deeper by the day. As the room broke for lunch during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a man approached the judge from behind and was able to get his attention. Kavanaugh turned to look at the man, who later identified himself on social media as Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jaime Guttenberg, one of the 17 people killed in the Parkland school shooting in February, as he stuck out his right hand. He appeared to say, “My daughter was murdered at Parkland.” Kavanaugh gave the man a look but declined to shake his hand. It is not clear whether he heard Guttenberg’s introduction, though the two were standing within a few feet of each other. Another man, who a White House spokesman later said was a security guard, had come to Guttenberg’s side by that point.
• Parkland father: Kavanaugh “turned his back to me” at hearing (The Hill) – The father of a student killed in the February school shooting in Parkland, Fla., said Tuesday that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh refused to shake his hand when he tried to introduce himself at his Senate confirmation hearing. Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, tweeted that he tried to meet Kavanaugh and shake his hand during a break on the first day of Kavanaugh’s hearings. “Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended,” Guttenberg said. “Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg’s dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.”

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist — discussed the Kavanaugh hearing and Woodward’s new book.

6am – E         KAEPERNICK / NIKE:

• Nike stock falls amid furor over Colin Kaepernick ad. (AP)  – NEW YORK — Why do it? Nike has touched off a furor by wading into football’s national anthem debate with an ad featuring Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback who was the first athlete to kneel during “The Star-Spangled Banner” to protest police brutality against blacks and hasn’t played a game since 2016. The ad copy reads: “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.” The ad, part of Nike’s 30th anniversary “Just Do it” campaign, has outraged many. Online, people threatened boycotts and posted videos and photos of shoes set on fire, Nike gear thrown in the trash, and swoosh logos cut out of products. Its stock closed down more than 3 percent Tuesday.
• Market analysts are scared to comment on Nike’s stock drop. They’re scared of being accused of racism for saying it was a bad idea to hire Kaepernick. Nike shares fell more than 3% on Tuesday after the company announced a new ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick — the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem.
• TRUMP ON KAEPERNICK / NIKE: In interview, TRUMP (surprisingly) defends NIKE’s Kaepernick ad campaign as an expression of free speech, while also (unsurprisingly) noting that a major Nike store is located in a Trump bldg: “Nike is a tenant of mine. They pay a lot of rent.”

6am – F         MUELLER WILL ACCEPT WRITTEN ANSWERS:

• NYT: MUELLER WILL ACCEPT WRITTEN ANSWERS FROM TRUMP: The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, eased up slightly on his demands to question President Trump in the Russia investigation, a shift that came as the president’s lawyers, who have advised him against sitting for an interview, are fighting his desire to answer investigators’ queries. Mr. Mueller will accept written answers from Mr. Trump on questions about whether his campaign conspired with Russia’s election interference, Mr. Mueller’s office told the president’s lawyers in a letter, two people briefed on it said on Tuesday.
• Special counsel Robert Mueller responds to Trump’s team, with their discussions focusing more on written questions for the possible interview with the President (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have responded to the latest proposal from President Donald Trump’s legal team regarding a possible interview with the President, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The discussions for a possible presidential interview are continuing. The focus of the letter was an emphasis on written questions for the President, according to one source. Another source said Mueller’s letter stated the written responses would pertain to questions regarding potential conspiring between Trump associates and Russia. The response left unresolved the issue of an in-person interview and questions regarding Trump’s time in office, the source added. The response was received on Friday, three-and-a-half weeks after the President’s lawyers submitted their last offer. Trump’s team hasn’t responded to the latest Mueller proposal.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – BRIAN DARLING – Founder of Liberty Government Affairs,  Former Sen. Rand Paul Communications Director and Counsel and a former senior fellow in government studies at The Heritage Foundation.

• Discuss the Kavanaugh hearing and how the Dems kept trying to stop Trump’s SCOTUS nominee’s first day of hearings
• Another contentious day is expected on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the confirmation hearings for President Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh enters its second day. Tuesday’s hearing was marked by political theater from Democrats, outbursts and protests as Kavanaugh vowed to be impartial and open-minded on the high court

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – ADAM THIERER — works with Regulatory Transparency Project and is a Senior Research Fellow with the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

• TOPIC: Preview the tech giants hearings on Capitol Hill on Wednesday
• Facebook and Twitter executives are expected to be on the hot seat in two congressional hearings Wednesday as lawmakers grill them about alleged political bias on their social media platforms and efforts to prevent foreign parties from meddling in the November midterms

7am – D         INTERVIEW — FRED BARNES –  executive editor of The Weekly Standard – discussed Jon Kyl, Former Senator, Replacing McCain in Arizona.

• Cindy McCain tweet: John Kyl is a dear friend of mine and John’s. It’s a great tribute to John that he is prepared to go back into public service to help the state of Arizona.
• Fox’s Chad Pergram ‏@ChadPergram  17h17 hours ago: Jon Kyl was the GOP Whip for a number of years. He also served as Kavanaugh’s escort or “sherpa,” as the Senate sometimes calls it, when taking Kavanaugh around to meet with senators. Kyl is conspicuously absent at today’s confirmation hearing.
• Washington Examiner’s David M. Drucker ‏@DavidMDrucker  17h17 hours ago:  Jon Kyl led the opposition to New START (nuclear treaty w/ Russia) that was signed under Obama. He is a Russia hawk & an old school GOP hawk, in McCain’s mold. But Kyl’s relationship w/ the GOP base was always better than McCain’s.
• Jon Kyl, Former Senator, Will Replace McCain in Arizona. WASHINGTON — Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona on Tuesday appointed former Senator Jon Kyl to fill the seat left open by John McCain’s death, elevating a well-liked former Republican lawmaker who is acceptable to both Mr. McCain’s admirers and forces loyal to President Trump. Mr. Kyl, who served three terms in the Senate, spoke at a service honoring Mr. McCain in the Arizona State Capitol last week, but he has also been shepherding Brett M. Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court appointee, through the Senate. “It’s not the time for newcomers, and now is not the time for on-the-job training,” said Mr. Ducey at a news conference in Phoenix. But in tapping Mr. Kyl, Mr. Ducey has effectively put the stature of Mr. McCain’s seat ahead of the political imperative of keeping it in Republican hands: For now, the former senator has only committed to serving until the start of the next Congress, in January.

7am – E         ‘Cosby Show’ star after being photographed working at grocery store: ‘Every job is worthwhile.’ A former actor on “The Cosby Show” said he hopes the “job shaming” he experienced after being photographed bagging groceries leads to a reevaluation of “the dignity of work.” The Daily Mail originally shared photographs of actor Geoffrey Owens working as a cashier at a New Jersey Trader Joe’s. Fox News later picked up the story.  Owens told “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts on Tuesday that he felt like he was being “job shamed” and was “really devastated” at first. But the devastation passed when he got an outpouring of support from all over the world, Owens said on ABC.  “My being the ‘Cosby’ guy who got shamed for working at Trader Joe’s, that’s going to pass,” Owens said. “But what I hope doesn’t pass is this re-thinking about what it means to work, the honor of the working person and the dignity of work.” Owens told Roberts that he hopes there is a “reevaluation” around the working class following his experience. “A reevaluation of what it means to work and a reevaluation of the ideas that some jobs are better than others, because that is actually not true,” Owens said.  “There is no job that’s better than another job,” he continued. “It might pay better, it might have better benefits, it might look better on a resume and one paper. But actually, it’s not better. Every job is worthwhile and valuable.” Owens played Sondra Huxtable’s husband, Elvin, on five seasons of the hit sitcom “The Cosby Show” from 1985 to 1992. He still acts and directs, but after more than three decades in the industry, he picked up the job at Trader Joe’s to help his family. He even wore his red name tag from the grocery store chain during Tuesday’s “Good Morning America” appearance. Owens said he was very grateful for all the support he received from the acting community and beyond. Dayna Steele, a U.S. House candidate in Texas’s 35th District, took to Twitter on Saturday to offer a new headline for Fox News’s story.

8am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – SAAGAR ENJETI – White House correspondent, The Daily Caller — recapped The Daily Caller’s interview with President Trump .

8am – D/E     Recapped Day 1 of the Kavanaugh hearings.