Mornings on the Mall 04.22.19

Politico’s Daniel Lippman, Joe diGenova, Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer and The Federalist’s Sean Davis joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, April 22, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C ROVE THINKS BERNIE HAS A SHOT: Karl Rove breaks down why Bernie Sanders could win the 2020 nomination

5am – D/E     MUELLER REPORT FALLOUT:

• DEMS DIVIDED ON COLLUSION, SEEKING TRUMP IMPEACHMENT: Leading Democrats appeared divided whether to pursue impeachment against President Trump after last week’s release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted report, which found no evidence of collusion and did not draw a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice … Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chair of the House Oversight Committee, signaled that Democrats are not yet concerned about the possibility of “Russia fatigue” and warned ominously on Sunday that “the Russians aren’t getting tired” and are “attacking our electoral system every single day.”
• Nancy Pelosi Plans Monday Meeting On Mueller Report: ‘Congress Will Not Be Silent.’ (Huffington Post) – The House speaker called the redacted report a “grave matter” and described its release as “disrespectfully late.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) organized a meeting with House Democrats scheduled after the Easter weekend to discuss what to do next in response to the release of Robert Mueller’s long-awaited redacted report. Pelosi asked for the conference call to take place on Monday in a letter to Democrats. In her letter, Pelosi described the special counsel’s findings as a “grave matter.” The speaker also said the nature in which the Justice Department released the findings was “disrespectfully late” and “selectively redacted.” “The Caucus is scheduling a conference call for Monday to discuss this grave matter, which is as soon as our analysis and this Holy Season’s religious traditions allow,” Pelosi said.  “Congress will not be silent,” she concluded.
• President Trump stepped up his attacks against special counsel Robert Mueller over the weekend, claiming Mueller’s recently released report “was written as nastily as possible” by “true Trump Haters.” In a string of early morning tweets on Saturday, Trump lashed out at Mueller, calling him “highly conflicted” and once again declared the special counsel’s investigation ”the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. political history.”  On Sunday, the President tweeted that the Mueller report was “a hit job.”  Trump added in a separate tweet that Democrats’ investigations into him and his administration would cost them in the 2020 election.
  • Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Apr 19 Statements are made about me by certain people in the Crazy Mueller Report, in itself written by 18 Angry Democrat Trump Haters, which are fabricated & totally untrue. Watch out for people that take so-called “notes,” when the notes never existed until needed. Because I never….
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Apr 19: …agreed to testify, it was not necessary for me to respond to statements made in the “Report” about me, some of which are total bullshit & only given to make the other person look good (or me to look bad). This was an Illegally Started Hoax that never should have happened, a…
  • Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Apr 19: ….big, fat, waste of time, energy and money – $30,000,000 to be exact. It is now finally time to turn the tables and bring justice to some very sick and dangerous people who have committed very serious crimes, perhaps even Spying or Treason. This should never happen again!
• DEM CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT: Days after the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian election interference, top Democrats are making it clear they’re open to pursuing impeachment against President Trump even if the effort is likely to be unsuccessful. Three Democratic committee chairmen discussed the possibility on Sunday political talk shows, emphasizing that a decision won’t be made overnight.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to hold a private conference call Monday with fellow Democrats and the potential impeachment of President Trump will be raised. Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee warns Democrats it would be a political mistake to try to remove the President from office.
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren has called on the House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump: “Mueller put the next step in the hands of Congress”: Elizabeth Warren  @ewarren: The severity of this misconduct demands that elected officials in both parties set aside political considerations and do their constitutional duty. That means the House should initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States. 1:05 PM – 19 Apr 2019
• ROMNEY ON MUELLER REPORT: Romney says he’s “sickened” by Trump’s behavior in Mueller report. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Friday that he is “sickened” by the behavior described in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, including the actions of President Trump.  “I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President,” Romney said in a statement posted to Twitter.
• MUELLER AMBUSHED AT EASTER MASS: Reporter ‘ambushes’ Robert Mueller outside D.C. church after Easter service 
• MIFSUD LIKED TO FBI & WAS NEVER CHARGED: (Daily Caller) – Special counsel Robert Mueller alleges in his report on the Russia investigation that Mifsud lied to the FBI about the timeline of his contacts with George Papadopoulos, the Trump campaign adviser whom the FBI claims was the catalyst for the bureau’s collusion investigation.
• SERGEI MILLAN SAYS HE IS VINDICATED BY MUELLER REPORT: (Daily Caller) – Sergei Millian, who has been identified in news reports as a major source for the Steele dossier, claimed to be ‘totally exonerated’ after the release of the Mueller report. Millian accused Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson of waging a ‘smear campaign’ against him. Despite the bold claim, the Mueller report said that Millian refused to meet with investigators.
• OLD GRAY LADY MOVES EVER SO SLOWLY… Mueller Report Likely to Renew Scrutiny of Steele Dossier: …some of the most sensational claims in the dossier appeared to be false, and others were impossible to prove. Mr. Mueller’s report contained over a dozen passing references to the document’s claims but no overall assessment of why so much did not check out.
• BYRON YORK: You are not going to believe this, but the New York Times says the Steele dossier is not true.

6am – A         INTERVIEW – DANIEL LIPPMAN –  reporter for POLITICO and a co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook – previewed what’s on the agenda in the week ahead in politics.

• FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD:
  • MONDAY: The president and First Lady Melania Trump will participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll.
  • TUESDAY: The president will participate in a photo-op with the White House News Photographers Association photo contest winners. He and VP Mike Pence will have lunch.
  • WEDNESDAY: The president and Melania Trump will deliver remarks at a prescription drug abuse and heroin summit in Atlanta.
  • THURSDAY: Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will have lunch.
  • FRIDAY: The president will deliver remarks at the National Rifle Association annual meeting in Indianapolis. He will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
  • SATURDAY: Trump will hold a political rally in Green Bay, Wis.
• Joe Biden expected to launch 2020 presidential campaign this week

6am – B/C     BORDER NEWS:

• DHS IDENTIFIES 3000 FRAUDULENT FAMILIES: (KVEO) – MCALLEN, Texas – U.S. Border Patrol has identified over 3,000 fraudulent family unit cases in the last six months. That is according to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan. He says the system is full and urges congress to act on current immigration policies. “It’s very clear that the cartel and smugglers know the weaknesses in our laws. They know that family units and unaccompanied children will be released with no consequences for their illegal entries.” McAleenan adds the Rio Grande Valley Sector has been the main arrival point for immigrants in the last five years. Stating U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended over 100,000 immigrants in March, the highest single month number in over a decade. ”Yesterday in one 24-hour period we had over 4,800 people cross our border. A new record for the modern era. Almost 1,000 of them crossed in just three large groups. 375 people in the largest of those groups.” Among other visits, Secretary McAleenan witnessed the McAllen Respite Center offering help to care for families. He says that DHS already has solutions in place. “At DHS we’re taking aggressive action to mitigate the crisis to protect vulnerable people in our custody by expanding medical care, creating temporarily facilities, improving transportation, using additional resources from DHS, and other departments throughout the federal government.”
• MEXICO VOICES CONCERN OVER ARMED MILITIA GROUPS AT THE BORDER:  (Reuters) – “These types of practices can drive human rights abuses of people who migrate or request asylum or refuge in the United States,” Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement, referring to “militia groups” in New Mexico.
• FBI ARRESTS LEADER OF MILITIA GROUP: The FBI on Saturday said it had arrested Larry Hopkins, the leader of an armed group that is stopping undocumented migrants after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border into New Mexico.
• TX RANCHER FORMING MILITIA SAYS “THIS IS A WAR” (NY Post) — Thirty Volunteers armed to the teeth patrol the hundreds of thousands of acres of ranchland near this city of nearly 5,000. And they are expecting an influx of smugglers this weekend. “We always have big traffic at Easter,” he said. “It’s a big smuggling week for us.” The land, cut by mesquite and cactus, lies nearly 90 miles from the Mexican border but only 4.5 miles from a US Border Patrol checkpoint.
• CONFUSION OVER BORDER LOCATION LEADS TO TWO US SOLDIERS BEING DISARMED BY MEXICAN MILITARY. (Newsweek) — Two U.S. Army soldiers sat in an unmarked Chevrolet Tahoe owned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the west side of an El Paso County, Texas, Colonia known as Las Pampas.

6am – D/E     SRI LANKA TERROR ATTACKS UPDATE:   

• Sri Lanka blames domestic militant group for deadly bombings. (Fox News) – Sri Lanka blamed a local militant group called National Thowfeek Jamaath for orchestrating Easter Sunday’s coordinated bombings that killed more than nearly 300 people, marking the country’s deadliest day of violence since its civil war ended a decade ago. Sri Lanka took drastic steps Monday to crack down on new potential terror threats by blocking social media and arresting more than a dozen after a series of suicide bombings allegedly carried out by a domestic radical Islamic group ripped through its capital on Easter Sunday. The country’s health minister said the attacks, which killed at least 290 and injured more than 500, were carried out by seven suicide bombers from a local militant group named National Thowfeek Jamaath. Experts cited by The New York Times said the group promotes an Islamic terrorist ideology. Police said 13 suspects in connection with the bombings have been arrested. “These attacks appear to be quite different and look as if they came right out of the ISIS, Al Qaeda, global militant jihadist playbook, as these are attacks fomenting religious hatred by attacking multiple churches on a high religious holiday,” Anne Speckhard, the director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, told the Times. All of the bombers were Sri Lankan citizens, but authorities suspect foreign links, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said at a news conference. Six nearly simultaneous blasts took place in the morning at the shrine and the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotels in Colombo, as well as at two churches outside Colombo. Two more blasts occurred a few hours later outside Colombo — one at a guesthouse, the other near an overpass.
• Sri Lanka bombings death toll rises to 290 in ‘brand-new type of terrorism.’  (CNN)At least 290 people are now known to have died in a coordinated attack on churches and hotels on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka, in what officials have called a “brand-new type of terrorism.” Police have arrested 24 people in connection with the suicide bombs, which injured at least 500 people, in the worst violence the South Asian island has seen since its bloody civil war ended 10 years ago. Authorities were facing accusations that they had failed to act on a warning received ten days before the atrocity that an Islamist group was preparing an attack.
• BuzzFeed News editor takes heat for suggesting Trump would be more outraged if Sri Lanka victims were white. (Fox News) – A BuzzFeed News world editor faced backlash Sunday for taking a swipe at President Trump while tweeting an article about the attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter. “Suspect we’d be hearing a lot more outrage from Trump and co. if the Christians killed in Sri Lanka were white,” Miriam Elder tweeted with a link to BuzzFeed News. Elder’s tweet, as The Washington Examiner reported, received many more comments than likes or retweets. It had received nearly 3,000 replies, 70 retweets and 170 likes as of Sunday evening. Many of the commenters asked why the BuzzFeed News world editor would politicize the terrorist attacks. When contacted by Fox News, BuzzFeed News responded: “No comment from us.” Trump on Easter morning offered condolences to the people of Sri Lanka. The president tweeted about the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, saying “we stand ready to help!”
• Americans Confirmed To Be Among Dead In Sri Lanka Easter Bombings. (NY Post) – Several US citizens were among the at least 207 people killed in a series of devastating blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Two Americans — both dual citizens of the US and UK — were among 11 foreign nationals that Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry confirmed were dead. US Secretary of State Pompeo later sent out a statement saying, “While many details of the attacks are still emerging, we can confirm that several US citizens were among those killed.”
• Sri Lankan government BANS Facebook and Whatsapp access ‘to prevent spread of false information’ after terror attack. (Daily Mail) – The government of Sri Lanka blocked its citizens from accessing social media and messaging apps today in the aftermath of a series of co-coordinated terrorist bombings which killed more than 200 people. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Viber, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger were all either inaccesible, or operating so poorly as to make them unusable, following the ban.  This morning eight explosions at churches and five star hotels killed 207 including five Britons, and wounded 450, at sites in and around the capital Columbo, and on the east coast. Hours later a ninth improved explosive – a six foot pipe bomb – was found at the country’s main international airport during a routine patrol, and disposed of safely. The government declared a curfew with immediate effect after the morning’s devastation.
• TRUMP ADMIN REACTION: Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: 138 people have been killed in Sri Lanka, with more that 600 badly injured, in a terrorist attack on churches and hotels. The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka. We stand ready to help!
• US State Department warns of possibility of more attacks in Sri Lanka. Pompeo: Attacks in Sri Lanka Show ‘Brutal Nature of Radical Terrorists’ 
• New explosion rocks Colombo church targeted in Sri Lanka Easter Day massacre. (MSN) — Another explosion has been heard near a church in Sri Lanka targeted by the deadly Easter massacre. There are reports of a new explosion in a van near the Colombo church, where bomb squad officials were working to defuse a bomb. It comes as Sri Lankan police also today discovered 87 bomb detonators at the main bus station in the country’s capital of Colombo. Footage of the scene circulating online show a fiery blast sending debris rocketing down a street. In footage from streets nearby, people can be seen fleeing in panic from the area around St Anthony’s Church. It comes the day after the Easter bomb blasts tore through churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, killing at least 290 people, and wounding about 500 more. Warnings had been circulated that there could be more bombs after the major attacks yesterday.

6am – F         BETO LOSING CAMPAIGN STAFF: Two top aides to O’Rourke leave campaign: report. (The Hill) — Two aides to former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) have reportedly departed his 2020 presidential campaign, an O’Rourke spokesperson told BuzzFeed News on Saturday. Becky Bond, a top adviser to O’Rourke, and her deputy, Zack Malitz, have both left the campaign. The two worked on O’Rourke’s competitive 2018 Texas Senate bid against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Chris Evans, a spokesman for O’Rourke, said Bond and Malitz were staffers on a “temporary” basis and didn’t respond to questions about the reasons they left the campaign, BuzzFeed News reported. Bond told BuzzFeed News in a statement that it was “time for us to move on to other challenges.” “Launching a presidential campaign without a big staff or even a campaign manager was no easy feat and it took everyone pitching in. We’re proud to have been part of the team of deeply dedicated staff and volunteers who nearly pulled off a historic upset in the 2018 Texas Senate race and broke records launching Beto’s campaign for the presidency,” Bond added. Evans said in a statement to BuzzFeed News that Bond and Malitz will volunteer for the campaign.

7am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – reacted the Mueller Report and the Dem hysteria.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER – a CIA trained former senior intelligence officer and the New York Times best-selling author of ” Operation Dark Heart.” @T_S_P_O_O_K_Y ‏ — analyzed the Sri Lanka Easter terror attacks.

7am – E         Jussie Smollett’s Brother Claims Actor Is Having Nightmares Over Alleged Attack. (Daily Caller) — Jussie Smollett is reportedly experiencing night terrors over the alleged attack that occurred earlier this year. The “Empire” actor’s brother wrote an op-ed for BET titled “What If Jussie Is Telling The Truth?” in which Jojo Smollett defends his brother’s story and claims that he is “violently awakening from night terrors, following the assault.” Jussie alleged in January that two men sporting “Make America Great Again” hats attacked him and yelled racist and homophobic slurs at the actor, who is gay. “Within less than three months, his life has been turned upside down as my family and I have witnessed him endure unrelenting attacks to his character and reputation,” Jojo wrote. “To define this experience as unjust would be an understatement.” Weeks after the alleged incident occurred, Smollett was arrested for allegedly staging the crime, but Smollett has stood by his story and his family has his back, as Jojo made clear in this op-ed.  “We can’t ignore the desire among the far-right to criminalize whole sectors of the country, which they either refuse to accept or feel are natural political opponents,” Jojo wrote.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — SEAN DAVIS – co-founder of The Federalist and former chief investigator for Sen. Tom Coburn – reacted to the Mueller Report fallout.

8am – B         TODAY IS EARTH DAY. HAPPY EARTH DAY!

• Monday is Earth Day and the annual celebration to support environmental protection is being marked around the world.  The event is described as the biggest secular holiday on the planet. In Los Angeles County, buses and trains will be free in hopes of encouraging people to leave their cars at home.  There are festivities, including concerts, exhibitions and educational forums scheduled from coast-to-coast.
• FLASHBACK: Earth Day Co-Founder Killed And Composted His Girlfriend. Here’s something horrifying about the self-described co-founder of Earth Day: He murdered and composted his girlfriend. Environmental activist and self-proclaimed Earth Day co-founder Ira Einhorn had a dark side. Einhorn was found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend and stuffing her “composted” body inside a trunk, NBC News reported in 2011. Helen Maddux broke up with Einhorn after five years of being together. Enraged, he threatened to throw Maddux’s belongings onto the street if she didn’t come by to get them. She went to Einhorn’s apartment to retrieve them on Sept. 9, 1977, but was never seen again. Maddux went missing after going out to the neighborhood co-op to buy tofu and sprouts, Einhorn told police several weeks later. However, 18 months later, authorities searched his apartment after neighbors complained that a “reddish-brown, foul-smelling liquid was leaking from the ceiling directly below Einhorn’s bedroom closet,” NBC News reported.
• Washington state could become first state to allow human composting. Washington state lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that would allow residents to take part in “natural organic reduction” of human remains, citing in part research that said careful composted human remains could be safe for use in a household garden, reports said. The Seattle Times reported that Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s office on Friday said he did not review the final legislation. Inslee– who is running for president– has been active on Twitter since the state Senate and House of Representative passed bill 5001, but did not mention the bill in any posts. The bill reportedly passed easily and had bipartisan support. The report pointed out that the measure has been several years in the making. There was a trial that involved six backers who agreed to organic reduction. The results were positive and “the soil smelled like soil and nothing else,” the report said.

8am – C         KATE SMITH CONTROVERSY:

• Kate Smith was one of the biggest star on radio. Smith aka The First Lady of Radio, was an American singer, a contralto, well known for her rendition of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”. She had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s. Smith became known as The Songbird of the South after her enduring popularity during World War II.
• The family of singer Kate Smith is reportedly “heartbroken” that the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Yankees have stopped using her iconic recording of “Gold Bless America” at their games.  The song was pulled from rotation and the Flyers covered a statue of the singer, who died in 1986, because of two songs with racist lyrics she recorded early in the 20th century.  Smith’s family said they were just two of thousands of songs she recorded, written by someone else, and they didn’t reflect Smith’s beliefs.

8am – D         Seth Moulton, Massachusetts rep and Iraq War vet, jumps into 2020 presidential race. (Fox News) — Add Rep. Seth Moulton to the large list of Democrats running for the White House. The congressman from Massachusetts and Marine veteran who served four tours of duty in Iraq announced his candidacy for president on Monday morning. “I’m running because we have to beat Donald Trump, and I want us to beat Donald Trump because I love this country. We’ve never been a country that gets everything right. But we’re a country that, at our best, thinks that we might,” the three-term congressman said in a video as he launched his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

8am – E         Kanye West Sells ‘Church Clothes’ at a Steep Price. It’s Easter, and Kanye brought the church to Coachella. But of course, if Yeezy hosts a service for the people of God, he expects everyone to be in their Sunday best — Sunday Service sweats and socks. On weekend two of Coachella 2019, Kanye not only brought his choir and his fam to “The Mountain” for worship, he also brought some merch with him. This includes sweaters that read “Holy Spirit” on the front and “Sunday Service The Mountain” on the back. And the price tag on these shirts are unbelievable. The musician’s self-proclaimed “church clothes” were available for purchase during his morning performance.  The collection was made up of neutral colored items bearing various god-fearing slogans, including “Holy Spirit,” Trust God” and Jesus Walks” on a pair of socks. Prices for sweatshirts ranged from $165 to $225 and the socks were $50. Online reactions to the church merch were mixed.