Mornings on the Mall
Friday, November 8, 2019
Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese
Executive Producer: Heather Hunter
Stafford GOP’s Adela Bertoldi, Matt Schlapp, Prince William GOP’s Bill Card, Fairfax GOP’s Tim Hannigan and Loudoun GOP’s Lou Cironi joined WMAL on Friday morning!
5am – A/B/C Bloomberg appears ready to enter 2020 race – and Dem aide thinks it’s ‘just what the doctor ordered.’ (Fox News) – Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appears to be seriously considering entering the 2020 race for president. Bloomberg is expected to file paperwork this week designating himself as a candidate in Alabama’s March 3 Democratic presidential primary, Fox News has learned. He had announced earlier this year that he would not seek the party’s nomination. But in a statement obtained Thursday by Fox News, Bloomberg political adviser Howard Wolfson said the billionaire businessman was worried the current crop of Democrats seeking the White House was “not well-positioned” to defeat President Trump.
5am – D IMPEACHMENT NEWS:
- Democrats discussing multiple articles of impeachment against Trump. (ABC News) – House Democrats have considered drafting as many as three articles of impeachment against Pre sident Donald Trump, as they prepare to take their Ukraine impeachment inquiry public next week after a month of closed-door depositions, according to multiple sources familiar with the deliberations.
- State Dept. official flagged Hunter Biden’s ‘conflict of interest’ in Ukraine, testimony shows. (Fox News) – George Kent, a career official at the State Department, told House investigators conducting the impeachment inquiry against President Trump that he raised concerns about Hunter Biden’s lucrative service on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company — but was told that it wasn’t appropriate to discuss the matter because of the health struggles of Biden’s eldest son, Beau. According to a transcript of his Oct. 15 closed-door deposition released Thursday, Kent confirmed that he had no “direct knowledge” that U.S. aid to Ukraine was ever connected to the opening of a new investigation against the Bidens concerning their business dealings there. “I did not know that at the time,” Kent testified. “And when I was on a call with somebody on the vice president’s staff and I cannot recall who it was, just briefing on what was happening into Ukraine, I raised my concerns that I had heard that Hunter Biden was on the board of a company owned by somebody that the U.S. Government had spent money trying to get tens of millions of dollars back, and that could create the perception of a conflict of interest.”
- SNOPES ACCIDENTALLY CONFIRMS THAT DEMS HAVE TRIED TO IMPEACH EVERY REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT SINCE EISENHOWER. (Breitbart) – The fake, far-left fact check site Snopes accidentally confirmed that Democrats have sought to impeach every elected Republican president since Dwight D. Eisenhower. Naturally, while confirming this, the garbage fire of fake news that is Snopes rated what is “mostly true” as “mostly false.” The claim is: “Have Democrats Tried to Impeach Every GOP President Since Ike?” The U.S. has had six republican presidents since Eisenhower left office in 1961: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. The claim is wrong on its face because Democrats made no effort to impeach Ford. While a handful of Democratic lawmakers have introduced articles of impeachment against five of the last six Republican presidents, in most cases these efforts weren’t taken seriously by the party at large. Nixon and Trump have been the only Republican presidents since Ike who have faced a serious threat of impeachment.
- Whistleblower’s lawyer sends cease and desist letter to White House: report. (Fox News) – A lawyer for the anonymous whistleblower who filed a complaint with the Inspector General over President Trump’s July phone call with Ukraine’s president sent a cease and desist lawyer to the White House Thursday, demanding Trump stop attacking his client, according to reports. The letter, written by attorney Andrew Bakaj, asks White House counsel Pat Cipolloneto to advise Trump of the “legal and ethical peril in which he is placing himself should anyone be physically harmed” because of Trump’s or his surrogate’s actions, The Hill reported.
5am – E CBS FIRES ABC LEAKER: CBS News sparks outrage for reportedly firing ex-ABC News staffer who leaked Epstein bombshell. CBS News is facing heavy backlash for reportedly firing the ex-ABC News staffer who leaked footage of ABC News anchor Amy Robach exposing how the network killed the Jeffrey Epstein story. Journalist Yashar Ali cited “two sources with knowledge of the situation” who claimed ABC News executives “believe they know the identity” of a former employee with access to the viral footage, in which Robach claims her network “quashed” her reporting on Epstein, and that they suspected the leaker was working at CBS News. According to Ali, executives at both networks were in contact throughout the process and the CBS staffer has since been fired. The reported collaboration between the two networks and firing of the CBS staffer were widely criticized on social media. “CBS fired a staffer for… a story that was embarrassing to ABC?” Republican pollster Logan Dobson asked.
6am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – BRIAN KILMEADE – co-host of Fox & Friends and author of new book “SAM HOUSTON & THE ALAMO AVENGERS”
- ABOUT BOOK: SAM HOUSTON & THE ALAMO AVENGERS will take you into the fight for Texas that followed the massacre of ~250 Texans by the Mexican Army in 1836. Among those killed in San Antonio were American legends, Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett. General Sam Houston managed to rally a small army, defeat Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, and secure Texas’ independence in only one-month’s time. Gen. Houston’s successes were by no means limited to the battlefield. Gen. Houston went on to become one of the first two individuals to represent Texas in the Senate, and is the only American to be elected Governor of two separate states (Tennessee & Texas).
6am – D INTERVIEW – ADELA BERTOLDI – Chairwoman of the Stafford County GOP – analyzed Tuesday’s election in Virginia and discussed how party divisions in Stafford is increasingly changing.
6am – E/F Kamala Harris Proposes A 10-Hour School Day. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris introduced legislation intended to align the school day with the traditional workday — 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. — to reduce the burden of childcare, and to authorize $1.3B annually for summer programming access.
7am – A INTERVIEW – MATT SCHLAPP – chairman of the American Conservative Union – shared his thoughts on the Virginia election, Bloomberg jumping into the 2020 race and discussed his “Prison CPAC” event this week.
- Want to watch the first-ever policy event taking place in a prison? You can view the entire program by watching their livestream link: https://foundation.conservative.org/live/
- Prison CPAC: “Second Chances” was held yesterday inside SCI Chester, a medium-security prison with a focus on programs on achieving post-incarceration stability and successes, how-to demonstrations, and policy discussions of importance to those who are incarcerated. *Tune in TODAY for day 2 of Prison CPAC: “Second Chances,” taking place at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Use #PrisonCPAC to join the conversation on twitter.
7am – B/C INTERVIEW – BILL CARD – Prince William County GOP Chairman – discussed Tuesday’s election in Prince William and the latest news on the Prince William Sheriff race.
- Democrats take control of Va. legislature, 2 DC-area county boards. Va. Assembly races:
- In District 40, in parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties, Democrat and Army veteran Dan Helmer won against Republican Timothy Hugo, taking 53.32% of the votes against Hugo’s 46.58%. In 2017, Hugo won by just 99 votes. He was the last Republican representing any part of Arlington, Fairfax County or Alexandria in the assembly or in Congress.
- In District 50 in parts of Prince William County and Manassas, Democratic Socialist Lee Carter appears to have beaten Republican Manassas City Councilman Ian Lovejoy. “I’m really looking forward to governing this commonwealth as a majority of Democrats for the first time in 23 years,” he said.
- In Prince William County, Democratic Del. Hala Ayala appears to have fended off a challenge in District 51 from former Del. Rich Anderson. Also in part of Prince William County, Democratic Del. Danica Roem, the state’s first openly transgender delegate, appears to have won reelection in District 13, while Del. Elizabeth Guzman appears to have narrowly beaten Republican D.J. Jordan in the 31st District.
- In parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties, the 13th District seat held by retiring conservative Sen. Dick Black has been called by The Associated Press for Democratic Del. John Bell. He faced Republican Loudoun County Supervisor Geary Higgins, who said he would follow in Black’s footsteps; President Donald Trump endorsed him in a tweet earlier in the week.
- All of the county’s top offices are on the ballot this fall, including the election of a new Board of Supervisors chairman to replace Corey Stewart. Democrat Ann Wheeler, a former county social services chair, appears to have won the race to succeed retiring Corey Stewart, a Republican. She topped John Gray, who branded himself as even more conservative than Stewart.
- UPDATE: GOP incumbent Glen Hill apparent winner in sheriff’s race, opponent still mulling a recount. UPDATED: Sheriff Glen Hill is the apparent winner of Prince William County’s closest race, but his Democratic challenger Josh King had yet to concede the contest Thursday afternoon. “We have not yet made a decision on whether to pursue a recount,” King campaign manager Katie Baker said in a text message Thursday afternoon. When the last ballots were finally counted late Wednesday afternoon, Hill was ahead of King by 775 votes. That’s too big a spread to allow King to request a free recount. If King decides to petition a judge for a recount anyway, it will cost an estimated $4,000, according to Matt Wilson, spokesman for the Prince William County Office of Elections.
- FLASHBACK: LOCAL VA SHERIFF RACE: Democratic megadonor George Soros invests in another Northern Virginia race: (Washington Post) – A political action committee funded by George Soros has given $50,000 to a candidate for sheriff in Prince William County, the latest in a string of contributions by the Democratic megadonor aimed at pushing criminal justice reform in Northern Virginia. The donation to the campaign of Democrat Josh King follows more than $1 million in spending by the Soros-aligned PAC that helped tip Democratic primaries for prosecutor in Arlington and Fairfax counties to progressive challengers in June. King is also running on a progressive agenda as he takes on Republican incumbent Glen Hill in November’s general election. King is promising to divert more offenders from incarceration, increase the diversity of the sheriff’s office and end the Prince William County jail’s controversial agreement, known as 287(g), to help the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency with immigration enforcement.
7am – D/E Donald Trump Jr. blasts ‘The View’ hosts for Joy Behar’s ‘blackface’ and Whoopi Goldberg comments on Polanski. (Fox News) – Donald Trump Jr. after appearance on ‘The View’ triggers hosts: ‘I don’t think they like me much anymore.’ Donald Trump Jr. appeared on “Hannity” Thursday night to talk about his wild appearance earlier in the day on ABC’s “The View,” saying “I don’t think they like me much anymore.” Host Sean Hannity asked him why “he even bothered” to appear on the show. “You know, every once in a while you got to try. You gotta try to speak to everyone. Hopefully, they listen,” Trump said. “In that case, they didn’t.” Donald Trump Jr.’s appearance on “The View” Thursday made headlines as he clashed with nearly every one of the co-hosts. He was supposed to be discussing his new book, “Triggered,” but the left-leaning daytime show is no fan on his father, President Trump. The atmosphere was hostile from the beginning as co-host Joy Behar rattled off a list of President Trump’s mishaps and controversial moments. Click here for more. After his “View” appearance, the president’s son flew to Birmingham, Ala., where hundreds of fans lined up to purchase copies of his book during his first book-signing event.
8am – A/B/C INTERVIEWS – TIM HANNIGAN – Fairfax GOP Chairman and LOU CIRONI – GOP Precinct Operations Chair for the Loudoun County GOP – discussed the Virginia election and how the GOP can prep for 2020.
8am – D/E INTERVIEW – BRIAN KILMEADE – co-host of Fox & Friends and author of new book “SAM HOUSTON & THE ALAMO AVENGERS”
