Mornings on the Mall 01.22.19

 Saagar Enjeti, Mark Mix, John Lott and Jim Geraghty joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

 

5am – A/B/C             COVINGTON CATHOLIC MEDIA COVERAGE:

• NY TIMES: After Viral Video, Families of Covington Are Swiftly Circling to Protect Their Boys
• Covington is famous for its community’s fierce devotion. To cheer on their classmates at sporting events, students at times paint their faces and bodies blue.
• A video on the school’s YouTube channel also depicted some students with their faces and bodies painted black.
• After the video emerged on social media and The New York Times contacted the diocese for comment, the school’s video was removed from YouTube. The diocese did not respond to request for comment.
• NY DAILY NEWS: SEE IT: Covington Catholic High students in blackface at past basketball game
• CNN COLUMN: Why Trump’s MAGA hats have become a potent symbol of racism
• BEN SHAPIRO: So the courageous firefighters who couldn’t be bothered to properly find or analyze a video from two days ago are on the case, digging up everything a bunch of high school boys who aren’t these boys did years ago. So much journalisming.
• PATRICIA HEATON: 1. I’m seeing what I believe to be sincere apologies  from some journalists and verified media persons regarding their lack of professionalism in rushing to judgement re the #CovingtonCatholic situation. (THREAD)
• JAMES HASSON: Here is Nathan Phillips referring to the Covington kids as a “lynch mob,” which is patently absurd and slanderous based on all of the video evidence. He has continued to smear these kids even after his initial account was disproven. Here’s some context on his background
• MYSTERY…  Twitter suspends account that helped ignite controversy over viral encounter
• CNN’s Briggs: MAGA Hat ‘Caused an Overreaction’ by D.C. Protesters (VIDEO)
• TRUMP: Looking like Nick Sandman & Covington Catholic students were treated unfairly with early judgements proving out to be false – smeared by media. Not good, but making big comeback! “New footage shows that media was wrong about teen’s encounter with Native American” @TuckerCarlson

5am – D         PELOSI’S RACKED UP SOME PRETTY HEFTY TRAVEL BILLS. (Daily Caller) — Pelosi’s trip to Italy and Ukraine from July 30 to Aug. 6, 2015, cost the Air Force $184,587.81, according to documents released Saturday under a 2015 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit by Judicial Watch. Her delegation was made up of nine other members of Congress, including Democratic Reps. Anna Eshoo of California and Marcia Fudge of Ohio. Four family members, including Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, were on the trip. The delegation dined at restaurants including James Beard American Restaurant in Milan, where a five-course meal cost up to $190, according to Fine Dining Lovers. The lawmakers also toured the Vatican and met up with Italian dignitaries, including President Sergio Mattarella and then-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, according to their itinerary.

5am – E         NOW A TRUMP 2020 FLAG IS RACIST! Jordan superintendent reviewing display of Trump banner at basketball game. (Star Tribune) — Michael Walker posted on Facebook a photograph of fans in Jordan with a Trump flag draped over the legs of four front-row spectators. The boys basketball coach for Minneapolis Roosevelt High School questioned on Wednesday why young fans at his team’s road game in Jordan prominently displayed a flag promoting the re-election of President Donald Trump during Tuesday night’s contest. Michael Walker posted on Facebook a photograph of fans on the Jordan side of the gym with the flag draped over the legs of four front-row spectators. The message read: Trump 2020 Keep America Great! Several other young fans sitting nearby were wearing clothing patterned after the American flag.  “I coach a predominantly black inner city high school team,” Walker wrote on his Facebook posting. “We go out to a rural area in Jordan, MN and this is there. Please explain how and why this is appropriate at a high school basketball game?” Walker included a slew of hashtag phrases, among them #critical questioning, #blackandproud and #blackmenmatter. Walker, who is black, also is the director of his district’s Office of Black Male Student Achievement. School District Superintendent Matt Helgerson released a statement Wednesday afternoon expressing “regret that Roosevelt players and their coaching staff, fans and community were made to feel uncomfortable, as it is always our intent to graciously host our opponents.” Helgerson said district personnel are “reviewing this matter and collecting information [and] working cooperatively with the Minneapolis School District and Roosevelt High School in our review and response to this event.” Bridget Kahn commented on the Roosevelt coach’s Facebook posting wrote that the flag belonged to her and was used by students as part of a long-planned USA blackout theme night.

6am – A/B/C ‘Tidying up with Marie Kondo’: How do you neatly fold and store gender biases? (USA Today) – Netflix’s “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” has people in a frenzy to clean up their spaces and throw out half their belongings, but the show ‘ exposes something else: a gender divide in tidying up. While Kondo’s KonMari method may require equal responsibility when it comes to tidying up, the burden of the physical act of decluttering and the emotional labor that comes with keeping a house orderly ultimately (and unfairly) falls back on the woman in the household, episode after episode.  “I think women in our society are a lot more oppressed than we like to think – sexual assault and harassment are ubiquitous, we work and earn outside the home, getting paid one-third less than similarly situated men, yet are expected to do most of the unpaid household work and emotional labor when we get home,” says Sheena Wadhawan, a diversity consultant and the deputy director of EverydayFeminism.com. “Cleaning the house was definitely – wasn’t my priority, but it would definitely be hers,” Ron Akiyama says of his wife in the second episode of  “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” In almost every episode with a heterosexual couple, the woman expresses how she feels that the “mess” is her responsibility to fix. The men, on the other hand, don’t come across as apologetic, nor do they take accountability for how the home got to its untidy state. Kavita Daiya, director of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at George Washington University, says that happens because women internalize societal expectations about a woman’s place in the home. “Even when women are educated, and whether they’re stay-at-home or working mothers, the show reveals that women have internalized social norms and expectations about gender that mark women as primarily responsible for domestic lives, domestic chores and family – in a way, the men in this show are freed up from these responsibilities for the most part,” Daiya says. The eight-episode series kicks off with the Friend family – Kevin and Rachel, a couple with two kids whose five-year marriage is seemingly being wedged apart by finances and cleanliness.

6am – D         COVINGTON CATHOLIC:

• Journalists and Celebs Rush to Delete Tweets Slamming MAGA-Hat Kids. (Mediaite) — Anti-Trump activist Ed Krassenstein deleted a neutral tweet contemplating the intentions of Nick Sandmann, the young MAGA student accused of smirking at a Native American. His brother, Brian Krassenstein, deleted a tweet calling the students “bigoted.” The New Republic‘s Jeet Heer deleted a tweet arguing the MAGA hat-wearing teens were “racist.” CNN’s Bakari Sellers deleted a tweet suggesting the kids should be “punched in the face.” Hollywood’s Patton Oswalt deleted a tweet linking to a critical thread that didn’t go so far as doxx the teens but identified alleged culture problems at the school. Oswalt did leave up subsequent retweets maintaining his opinion that they were at fault. CNN’s Ana Navarro deleted a tweet calling out the “Asswipe” parents of the students for teaching them “bigotry” and “racism.” She tweeted an additional post with the full, unedited video of the teens, maintaining her support for Native American vet Nathan Phillips.
• S.E. Cupp @secupp:  Hey guys. Seeing all the additional videos now, and I 100% regret reacting too quickly to the Covington story. I wish I’d had the fuller picture before weighing in, and I’m truly sorry. 10:26 AM – Jan 21, 2019
• Jamie Lee Curtis @jamieleecurtis: There are two sides to every story. I made a snap judgment based on a photograph & I know better than to judge a book by its cover. I wasn’t there. I shouldn’t have commented. I’m glad there wasn’t violence. I hope theses two men can meet and find common ground as can WE ALL! 10:19 PM – Jan 20, 2019
• Reza Aslan @rezaaslan Jan 19: Honest question. Have you ever seen a more punchable face than this kid’s?
• Kathy Griffin @kathygriffin Jan 20: Ps. The reply from the school was pathetic and impotent. Name these kids. I want NAMES. Shame them. If you think these fuckers wouldn’t dox you in a heartbeat, think again.
• Trump Jr. calls on Twitter to ban Kathy Griffin calling for ‘doxing’ of teens. “Conservatives have been banned from @Twitter for much less!” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted. “Attempting to dox minors is surely a violation of twitter policy?” Trump Jr. tagged Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in his accusation.

• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Looking like Nick Sandman & Covington Catholic students were treated unfairly with early judgements proving out to be false – smeared by media. Not good, but making big comeback! “New footage shows that media was wrong about teen’s encounter with Native American” @TuckerCarlson 9:46 PM – Jan 21, 2019

6am – E         NFL will consider making pass interference calls reviewable, after Rams-Saints gaffe. The officiating debacle acknowledged by the NFL at the end of Sunday’s NFC title game in New Orleans, which prompted widespread criticism from fans, players and coaches over what many deemed an outcome-changing call, could lead to a significant rule change. The league and its competition committee plan to give consideration in the offseason to making pass interference calls subject to instant replay review. “It will be discussed at length along with additional fouls that coaches feel should be subject to review,” one person familiar with the league’s inner workings said Monday. A high-ranking official with one NFL team confirmed that making pass interference reviewable will be considered, adding: “And there will be discussion on [replay] review of calls and non-calls.” Any change would have to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 team owners. The competition committee has been staunchly opposed in the past to making judgment calls such as pass interference reviewable by replay. But the outcome Sunday in New Orleans, which sent the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl, might be enough to change some minds. It represented one of the NFL’s worst officiating nightmares, with a Super Bowl berth being determined in part by a blatantly missed call, as conceded by the league. An obvious pass interference penalty against the Rams went uncalled late in regulation and they beat the Saints in overtime. So the Rams, not the Saints, will meet the New England Patriots on Feb. 3 in Atlanta. And the NFL must deal with the fallout from one of the most glaring officiating blunders in its history.

6am – F         JUDICIARY COMMITTEE DEMOCRAT FLOATS PERJURY PROBE OF JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH (Daily Caller) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, a freshman member of the House Judiciary Committee, told constituents the panel will likely investigate Justice Brett Kavanaugh for perjury. “There’s no question [Kavanaugh] committed perjury during the confirmation hearings and so forth,” Neguse said when asked if the justice might be impeached. “I think the Judiciary Committee is likely to take that up.” A conservative opposition research group obtained and disseminated video of Neguse’s comments. The congressman was not specific as to which of Kavanaugh’s statements might rise to the level of perjury. Democrats have put forward various theories as to how Kavanaugh misled the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings: One theory, which NBC News advanced, held that he lied concerning when he first learned about the allegations of Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate who accused Kavanaugh of drunkenly exposing himself to her at a party. In response to questions from lawmakers during his second confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh said he first learned of Ramirez’s claims from The New Yorker, the venue in which her story appeared. NBC subsequently recovered text messages revealing the justice and his allies were discussing Ramirez’s allegations before the story’s publication, prompting charges of perjury. However, Kavanaugh told Senate investigators before the hearing that he learned Ramirez was searching for witnesses to corroborate her story well in advance of The New Yorker story’s publication, thereby belying the perjury charges. The NBC report was stealth-edited, and a correction was never issued.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – SAAGAR ENJETI – White House Correspondent, The Daily Caller – discussed the latest White House news: Trump on MLK / Trump reacts about Covington Catholic / latest on shutdown negotiations.

• TRUMP & PENCE MAKE SURPRISE VISIT TO MLK MEMORIAL: Much of the criticism centered on the fact that the president had no public events scheduled for the holiday on Monday, despite the fact that the White House will often keep events off of the schedule for security reasons or just to make them a surprise.
• TRUMP REACTS TO COVINGTON CATHOLIC COVERAGE:
• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump  Looking like Nick Sandman & Covington Catholic students were treated unfairly with early judgements proving out to be false – smeared by media. Not good, but making big comeback! “New footage shows that media was wrong about teen’s encounter with Native American” @TuckerCarlson 9:46 PM – Jan 21, 2019
• TRUMP v PELOSI: Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 12h12 hours ago: If Nancy Pelosi thinks that Walls are “immoral,” why isn’t she requesting that we take down all of the existing Walls between the U.S. and Mexico, even the new ones just built in San Diego at their very strong urging. Let millions of unchecked “strangers” just flow into the U.S.
• CONGRESS: BILL TO END THE SHUTDOWN DESTINED TO BE SHUT DOWN: Amid the headlines about BuzzFeed and the Covington students-Native Americans encounter, there is still a partial government shutdown going on, one month and counting … The Senate Appropriations Committee late Monday unveiled legislation that would provide $5.7 billion for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and fully fund the federal government through Sept. 30. The 1,301-page bill is the latest bid for a breakthrough that would end the partial government shutdown that has dragged on for about a month. However, it is doubtful the legislation will reach the usual 60-vote threshold needed for bills to advance in the Senate. Both houses of Congress are scheduled to be back in session Tuesday, but senators — who will be given 24 hours notice ahead of any vote — have yet to be recalled to Washington. House Democrats, for their part, plan to push ahead with votes on their own legislation to re-open the government and add $1 billion for border security — including 75 more immigration judges and infrastructure improvements — but no funding for the wall.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – MARK MIX – President of National Right to Work Committee and National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

• Socialist Manassas-Area Delegate Wants to Repeal Right-to-Work Law. Virginia is among 27 right-to-work states — a fact that business leaders often point to with pride. The General Assembly’s self-described socialist member is sponsoring legislation to repeal the state’s right-to-work law, which says employees can’t be forced to join a labor union. Del. Lee Carter, a democratic socialist inspired by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, has filed House Bill 1806, which could force workers in Virginia to become union members and pay union dues as a condition of their employment. Virginia is among 27 right-to-work states — a fact that business leaders often point to with pride. Carter’s bill aims to change that. “Repealing it is bigger than just the actual technical changes that it would make,” said Thomas McIntire, Carter’s legislative aide. “It sends a signal to workers in Virginia saying that your voice matters.” In right-to-work states, a workplace where employees are represented by a union is considered an “open shop”: People can work there

7am – D         COVINGTON CATHOLIC:

• Drum-Banging Indian Nathan Phillips Was in the News 4 Years Ago, Telling an Eerily Similar Story. Phillips made nearly identical allegations nearly four years ago in a case involving students from Eastern Michigan University.  Take this story from WJBK-TV in Detroit from April of 2015 and see if it sounds familiar to you. “An Ypsilanti man says he was trying to teach a few students dressed in American Indian theme party about respecting Native Americans,” the station reported. “Not long afterward, Nathan Phillips said that an interaction with party-goers and students turned ugly.”
• CNN’s ERIN BURNETT: New video showing what led up to a viral confrontation between a Native American elder and a Catholic School student – DOES IT RAISE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS?

7am – E         Colbert Says Fox News’ Bret Baier and Family Were Hospitalized After ‘Bad’ Car Crash: ‘They’re Going to Be OK’ (Mediaite) — Bret Baier was meant to appear on Stephen Colbert‘s Late Show for an interview Tuesday night, until the Fox News anchor was involved in a major car crash while on vacation with his family in Montana. Colbert revealed the crash on his show Monday, ahead of an interview with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “We just found out that [Baier] and his family were in a car accident in Montana,” Colbert said. “Bad, like, jaws of life to get him out of there. They’re all in the hospital but they’re going to be OK. And we just want to say: we hope you’re doing better.”

Colbert continued: “Bret’s message to everyone out there, is: They’re going to be okay, thank you for your thoughts and prayers for him and his family, and please, wear your seatbelt. It makes a difference.” Baier tweeted earlier Monday: “Don’t take anything for granted – every day is a blessing – and family is everything. It’s always good to remind yourself of that – before something does it for you. #countyourblessings.”

• Joe Concha @JoeConchaTV 11m11 minutes ago: Bret Baier, his wife and two sons were involved in major car accident in Montana on Monday. Car flipped over on an icy road, he and the family were hospitalized as a result. Good news is that everyone is expected to be OK.
• Released a statement: “After a weekend of skiing with my wife and two boys in Montana, driving to the airport Monday morning on icy roads, we were involved in a major car crash. Thanks to a man driving by named Zach who stopped and helped, we were able to climb out of the flipped car. And thanks to the first responders and Montana Highway Patrol – we made it to the hospital quickly. We are very grateful to all of those who helped us out. My advice to everyone is to always wear your seatbelt and to count your blessings everyday. I tweeted this out as we left the hospital banged up, but alive. — ‘Don’t take anything for granted – every day is a blessing and family is everything. It’s always good to remind yourself of that before something does it for you.’” —Bret Baier, Anchor & Executive Editor, FOX News Channel’s Special Report

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JOHN LOTT – President, Crime Prevention Research Center and author of “The War on Guns”

• TOPIC: Lott was previously targeted by Buzzfeed in the most bizarre way
• John Lott: BuzzFeed and me – The incredible thing the site’s CEO did using my name without permission: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/john-lott-buzzfeed-and-me-the-incredible-thing-the-sites-publisher-did-using-my-name-without-permissiojohn-lott-buzzfeed-and-me-the-incredible-thing-the-sites-ceo-did-using-my-name-without

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – JIM GERAGHTY- senior political correspondent of National Review. @jimgeraghty

• Geraghty: Upholding a Narrative Backfires on the Mainstream Media
• Journalists and Celebs Rush to Delete Tweets Slamming MAGA-Hat Kids
• CNN COLUMN: Why Trump’s MAGA hats have become a potent symbol of racism
• ‘The Media Wildly Mischaracterized That Video of Covington Catholic Students Confronting a Native American Veteran; Journalists who uncritically accepted Nathan Phillips’ story got this completely wrong.’
• Washington Post: The Catholic Church’s shameful history of Native American abuses

8am – D         MLK DAY / TRUMP & PENCE VISIT MLK MEMORIAL / 2020 CANDIDATES MADE THEIR VOICES HEARD

• TRUMP & PENCE MAKE SURPRISE VISIT TO MLK MEMORIAL: Media outlets and left-wing commentators slammed President Donald Trump for not celebrating Martin Luther King Day just hours before the president made a surprise visit to the MLK Memorial in Washington, D.C. Much of the criticism centered on the fact that the president had no public events scheduled for the holiday on Monday, despite the fact that the White House will often keep events off of the schedule for security reasons or just to make them a surprise. The president made a surprise visit to the MLK Memorial on Monday morning and observed a moment of silence during a wreath laying. “Good morning, everybody. Great day. Beautiful day. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it,” the president said before returning to his motorcade. The visit, albeit brief and lacking any substantial speech about MLK’s legacy, debunked the narrative that the president wasn’t doing anything for the holiday.
• 2020 CANDIDATES ON MLK DAY: TRUMP IS A RACIST:
  • Sen. Bernie Sanders at MLK event in South Carolina: “It gives me no pleasure to tell you that we now have a President of the United States who is a racist.”
  • Senators Booker and Sanders speak at the SC NAACP’s annual “King Day at the Dome” rally.
  • Senator Kamala Harris delivers remarks and takes questions at her alma mater, Howard University, following her announcement this morning that she will run for president.
  • Kamala Harris: “There are so many powerful voices who are trying to sow hate and division among us,” Sen. Kamala Harris said after announcing her 2020 run for president. “We have got to reject that.”
    • Emily Zanotti @emzanotti 13h13 hours ago: Dude, you called the Knights of Columbus an “extremist” group and harassed a nominee over his Catholicism.
• AOC ON MLK DAY:

• AOC on millennials and social media: “We’re, like, the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change…”
• Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): -Government should determine how well people live, Wants “moral technology”, People striving to be highly successful is bad and A world that allows billionaires is “immoral”