Mornings on the Mall 08.27.18

Gordon Chang, Joe diGenova, Trevor Matich, Saagar Enjeti, ABC’s Rick Klein and Michelle Malkin joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, August 27, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Reflecting on the passing of Sen. John McCain:

• John McCain will be buried at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. on Sept. 2 after a week of memorial services, his family announced. McCain died Saturday after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.
• A WEEK OF TRIBUTES TO SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: John McCain will be laid to rest on Sunday, Sept. 2 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. after a week of services celebrating his life and legacy … McCain died at age 81 on Saturday after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He will be buried next to Naval Academy classmate and close friend Admiral Chuck Larson. The Arizona senator is scheduled to lie state in the Arizona State Capitol on Wednesday and Capitol Rotunda on Friday. Before his burial and Annapolis, McCain will be celebrated at a national memorial service at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., that Saturday.
• McCain To Lie In State At U.S. And Arizona Capitols
• McCain will become just the 31st person to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda since 1852.
• His body will lie in state in the Rotunda of the Arizona State Capitol on Wednesday, which would have been his 82nd birthday.
• A memorial service will take place at the North Phoenix Baptist Church at 10 a.m. PT on Thursday.
• McCain will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda for a public viewing between the hours of 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• His funeral service will take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral.
• He’ll be buried in Annapolis, Maryland at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery.
• Trump rejected plans for a White House statement praising McCain
• SCHUMER: The Senate, the United States, and the world are lesser places without John McCain. Nothing will overcome the loss of Senator McCain, but so that generations remember him I will be introducing a resolution to rename the Russell building after him.
• What’s next: How John McCain’s Senate seat will be filled

5am – D         Trump Tweets About Explosive Clinton Email Story, Warns He ‘May Have To Get Involved.’ President Trump in a Saturday series of tweets accused the FBI of ignoring “tens of thousands” of “Crooked Hillary Emails” during the Clinton email investigation and warned that he “may have to get involved.”“Big story out that the FBI ignored tens of thousands of Crooked Hillary Emails, many of which are REALLY BAD,” Trump tweeted. “Also gave false election info. I feel sure that we will soon be getting to the bottom of all of this corruption. At some point I may have to get involved!”

5am – E         FL SHOOTER:

• FBI agents searched the Baltimore family home of the suspected gunman who opened fire at a Florida gaming tournament Sunday, killing two before turning the gun on himself and dying from a self-inflicted wound
• A DEADLY GAME: Armed FBI agents searched the Baltimore townhouse home of the father of the suspect in a deadly shooting at a Florida video game tournament as they looked for a possible motive in the attack … Witnesses said the suspected gunman, David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, was angry after losing at a  Madden 19 NFL tournament at a restaurant in Jacksonville, Fla. He is believed to have opened fire event at the Chicago Pizza restaurant and bar in The Jacksonville Landing, killing two people before turning the gun on himself and dying from a self-inflicted wound. In addition to the dead, 11 other people were injured — nine of them with gunshot wounds. Katz, whose vehicle was located and impounded by investigators, is believed to have stayed somewhere locally on Saturday night before the shooting.
• FBI swarms family home of Jacksonville Landing gunman David Katz. Heavily armed agents late Sunday have entered the upscale Baltimore townhouse that belongs to the father of the gunman who opened fire during a Madden 19 NFL tournament at a restaurant in Jacksonville, Fla., killing two and injuring 11 before killing himself. David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, was believed to have fired shots during the event at the Chicago Pizza restaurant and bar in The Jacksonville Landing, Sheriff Mike Williams said at a news conference. Williams did not speak about a possible motive. An FBI spokesman, Dave Fitz, confirmed agents had gone to the upscale townhouse home. But he did not immediately release any other specifics, citing an ongoing investigation. The agents could be seen inside the home Sunday evening near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. They wore bulletproof vests and carried long guns. Reporters who gathered outside did not see any authorities carrying any bags of evidence outside. Katz has been described by witnesses and people who knew him as a gamer who erupted in anger after losing the event. Katz died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he shot multiple people, police said. In addition to the dead, 11 other people were injured — nine of them with gunshot wounds.

 

6am – A/B/C ABC7 investigates teacher shortages in the D.C. area. WASHINGTON (ABC7) — ABC7 News asked DC metropolitan area school districts what their level of teacher vacancies are. Here are the latest answers supplied by school officials:

• DC Public Schools: 27 vacancies out of around 4,000 teaching positions, Special education holds the most vacancies and Average tenure is 7.4 years / Note: DCPS currently has around 900 teachers working without current certification, as reported here.
• Montgomery County Public Schools: 680 vacancies out of more than 12,000 teaching positions, Special education, computer science, technology education and math hold the most vacancies and Average tenure is not tracked
• Prince William County Public Schools: 65 vacancies out of 5,821 teaching positions, Special education holds the most vacancies and Average teacher tenure not available
• Loudoun County Public Schools: 68 teaching vacancies out of 6,754 teaching positions, Special education holds the most vacancies and Average tenure is 8.17 years
• Charles County Public Schools: 83 teaching vacancies out of 2,080 teaching positions, Elementary art teachers holds the most vacancies and Average tenure is not tracked
• Arlington County Public Schools: 7 teaching vacancies out of around 2,800 teaching positions, Special education holds the most vacancies, Average tenure is 8-10 years, Prince Georges County Public Schools. Numbers to be revealed to school board before released to the public
• Stafford County Public Schools: Numbers to be revealed to school board before released to the public
• Fairfax County Public Schools: 102 teacher vacancies out of more than 15,000 teaching positions and Special education and elementary teachers hold the most vacancies, Average tenure is 9 years

6am – D         INTERVIEW – GORDON CHANG – Daily Beast columnist,  author of “The Coming Collapse of China” and “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World”

• Trump cancels high-level North Korea visit by Pompeo. President Trump on Friday said he has asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to put off his planned visit to North Korea and accused Pyongyang of slow-walking efforts to dismantle its nuclear program. Trump wrote in a tweet that a high-level visit is not appropriate at “this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Pompeo was scheduled to make his fourth visit to North Korea next week to follow up on a framework agreement Trump reached with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The decision marks a rare admission from Trump that North Korea’s denuclearization is not going as well as hoped. Trump proclaimed after his meeting in Singapore with Kim in mid-June that North Korea is “no longer a nuclear threat.”

6am – E         COHEN ATTORNEY BACKTRACKS ON CLAIM THAT TRUMP HAD ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE OF RUSSIAN HACKING. (Daily Caller/Chuck Ross) —  Lanny Davis says he does not know whether President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of Russian hacks of Democrats. Earlier in August, Davis said his client, Michael Cohen, had information linking Trump to the hacks. Now he claims that he merely had an “instinct” about what Trump knew. Lanny Davis, an attorney for Michael Cohen, is backtracking from his stunning claim that President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of Russian hacking efforts. During interviews on Tuesday and Wednesday, Davis laid out a grave allegation against Trump, saying that Cohen had information that would be of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller, including about Russian hacking of Democrats’ emails. In an interview Tuesday with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Davis said Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump, has “knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr. Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on.” An in an interview Wednesday, Davis said his client “has information that would be of interest to Mr. Mueller in his probe of a conspiracy to corrupt American democracy, very similar to the indictment of the 12 Russians.” Davis’s allegations, if accurate, would have had significant ramifications for the Mueller investigation, which is probing whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election. Trump has denied knowing about hacks of Democrats’ emails before they occurred. But Davis is now telling The Washington Post that his comments were merely based on “instinct” and not direct knowledge about what Cohen knows.

6am – F         New Mexico compound suspects allegedly planned to attack Atlanta’s Grady Hospital.  (CNN) A handwritten document titled “Phases of a Terrorist Attack.” Talk of confronting and attacking “corrupt” institutions, including Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital. Jokes about dying in jihad. An underground stash of weapons and ammunition. New court documents revealed these and other details in the case against five adults who lived in squalor with 11 starving children in a ramshackle New Mexico compound. In a case infused with allegations of abuse and terrorism, prosecutors this week asked a judge to reconsider an order granting bond to all five adults arrested at the compound.

As part of the request, prosecutors on Friday cited not only the death of three-year-old Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj at the remote site but also plans by the defendants to attack law enforcement and “specific targets such as teachers, schools, banks and other ‘corrupt’ institutions.” The dead boy’s father, Siraj Wahhaj, 40, and his partner, Jany Leveille, 35, have been charged with abuse of a child resulting in death, a first-degree felony with a penalty of up to life in prison, according to court documents. They were also charged with conspiracy to commit child abuse, also a first-degree felony. The couple and three other adults — Wahhaj’s sisters, Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhannah Wahhaj; and Lucas Morten — were previously charged with 11 felony counts of child abuse. ‘The one-time terrorist’ The 13-page motion filed Friday said items found at the compound included the “Phases of a Terrorist Attack” document. The handwritten document contained “instructions for ‘The one-time terrorist,’ instructions on the use of a ‘choke point,’ a location ‘called the ideal attack site,’ the ‘ability to defend the safe haven,’ the ‘ability to escape-perimeter rings,’ and ‘sniper position detection procedure,’” according to the court filing.

 

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former US Attorney to the District of Columbia

• Senior DOJ staffer Bruce Ohr to testify before Congress on August 28th
• Trump steps up attacks on Sessions and hints his days as attorney general are numbered
• Attorney for Michael Cohen backs away from confidence that Cohen has information about Trump’s knowledge on Russian efforts
• WAPO, CNN’s JOSH DAWSEY: Lanny Davis, Michael Cohen’s lawyer, tells the Post on the record that he was saying things he did not know to be true.
• Trump Tweets About Explosive Clinton Email Story, Warns He ‘May Have To Get Involved.’

7am – B         Document: Nancy Pelosi Will Destroy Trump Presidency with over 100 Investigations If Dems Win House. A spreadsheet reportedly circulating among House Republicans details over 100 potential investigations into President Donald Trump that Democrats will launch if they win the November elections. They intend to impeach him — or, at best, cripple his presidency. The document, reported by Axios on Sunday and hinted at by HuffPost on Friday (which put the number at a mere 52 investigations), is said to have Republicans “getting ready for hell,” as Democrats will use oversight to create gridlock, or worse. Axios reports that some of the investigations, based on requests for inquiries made by Democrats while in the minority, include:

President Trump’s tax returns

Trump family businesses — and whether they comply with the Constitution’s emoluments clause, including the Chinese trademark grant to the Trump Organization

Trump’s dealings with Russia, including the president’s preparation for his meeting with Vladimir Putin

The payment to Stephanie Clifford — a.k.a. Stormy Daniels

James Comey’s firing

7am – C         D.C. Airport Catches First Illegal Alien Using Facial Recognition Scanning. A Congolese national attempting to pose as a Frenchmen to enter the U.S. illegally had his plan foiled when a D.C. airport’s facial recognition scanner confirmed the man’s identity did not match his passport, officials said. The instance marked the first time a facial biometric scanner was used at an airport to assist federal officials in spotting a fraud, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials announced Thursday. The 26-year-old illegal alien had arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and handed over a French passport to CBP officers. But when CBP officers deployed the biometric facial scanning technology, they found the Congolese national’s identity did not match his French passport. Officials say the man became nervous when agents asked him to undergo a secondary screening. When officials searched the man, they found a card inside his shoe identifying him as a citizen of the Republic of Congo. Officials say the man’s identity is being withheld while authorities investigate further. The biometric scanner program began August 20 at Dulles International and had been in operation for three days when the scanner noticed the impostor. Casey Durst, CBP’s Director of the Baltimore Field Office, said in a statement:

7am – D         INTERVIEW – TREVOR MATICH – WMAL’s Redskins Analyst – recap Redskins game

• REDSKINS LOST: Denver Broncos 29 – 17 Washington Redskins
• Redskins call ugly defeat at hands of Broncos a ‘wake-up call’
• Redskins HC Jay Gruden impressed with Adrian Peterson’s debut. Former Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson made his debut with the Washington Redskins on Friday night where he put up a solid performance in his limited action. It appears to have left a strong impression on head coach Jay Gruden, who voiced after the game that he was encouraged by Peterson’s hard running style that he displayed against the Denver Broncos defense, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “I saw a big guy running pretty hard really,” Jay Gruden told reporters. “He had a five-yard average I believe, had a couple good bounces, and, you know, the thing I like about some of his runs is they look like they’re like gains of ones [yard] and he’d fall forward for a gain of three. The first run of the day I thought it was a three-yard gain and he ends up second and three. . . . I was impressed with Adrian and the way he ran.”

7am – E         Latest on the Florida shooter

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW — SAAGAR ENJETI – White House Correspondent, The Daily Caller

• TRUMP TWEET ON MCCAIN: Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump: Aug 25: My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!
• BRIT HUME responded: Brit Hume ‏@brithume  Aug 2: Brit Hume Retweeted Donald J. Trump Still not a kind word about McCain himself.
• NORTH KOREA: Trump cancels high-level North Korea visit by Pompeo. President Trump on Friday said he has asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to put off his planned visit to North Korea and accused Pyongyang of slow-walking efforts to dismantle its nuclear program.
• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Aug 24 I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula..
• Donald J. Trump ‏ @realDonaldTrump Aug 24 …Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!
• LANNY DAVIS BACKTRACK: Josh Dawsey ‏@jdawsey1:  13h13 hours ago: Lanny Davis, Michael Cohen’s lawyer, tells the Post on the record that he was saying things he did not know to be true.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — RICK KLEIN – Political Director for ABC News – discussed Sen. McCain’s passing, push for renaming Russell building and what could happen to McCain’s seat?

8am – D         INTERVIEW — MICHELLE MALKIN — syndicated columnist and Host of “Michelle Malkin Investigates” on CRTV.com

• New Mexico compound suspects allegedly planned to attack Atlanta’s Grady Hospital. (CNN)A handwritten document titled “Phases of a Terrorist Attack.” Talk of confronting and attacking “corrupt” institutions, including Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital. Jokes about dying in jihad. An underground stash of weapons and ammunition. New court documents revealed these and other details in the case against five adults who lived in squalor with 11 starving children in a ramshackle New Mexico compound. In a case infused with allegations of abuse and terrorism, prosecutors this week asked a judge to reconsider an order granting bond to all five adults arrested at the compound.

8am – E         RIP ROBIN LEACH

• ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’ host Robin Leach dead at 76. Famed TV host Robin Leach has died in Las Vegas. He was 76. The journalist, who rose to fame in the ’80s as host of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” died Thursday night after suffering a stroke late last year, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where Leach worked as a celebrity columnist. “Despite the past 10 months, what a beautiful life he had. Our Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Uncle and friend Robin Leach passed away peacefully last night at 1:50 a.m,” his family said in a statement released via friend John Katsilometes’ Twitter account. “Everyone’s support and love over the past, almost one year, has been incredible and we are so grateful. Memorial arrangements to follow. With love, Steven, Gregg and Rick Leach,” the statement continued.
• Neil Simon, Broadway’s Master of Comedy, Dies at 91. NEW YORK (AP) — Playwright Neil Simon, a master of comedy whose laugh-filled hits such as “The Odd Couple,” ”Barefoot in the Park” and his “Brighton Beach” trilogy dominated Broadway for decades, has died. He was 91. Simon died early Sunday of complications from pneumonia surrounded by family at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, said Bill Evans, his longtime friend and the Shubert Organization director of media relations. In the second half of the 20th century, Simon was the American theater’s most successful and prolific playwrights, often chronicling middle class issues and fears. Starting with “Come Blow Your Horn” in 1961 and continuing into the next century, he rarely stopped working on a new play or musical. His list of credits is staggering. The theater world mourned his death, with actor Josh Gad calling Simon “one of the primary influences on my life and career.” Playwright Kristoffer Diaz said simply: “This hurts.” Simon’s stage successes included “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” ”Last of the Red Hot Lovers,” ”The Sunshine Boys,” ”Plaza Suite,” ”Chapter Two,” ”Sweet Charity” and “Promises, Promises,” but there were other plays and musicals, too, more than 30 in all. Many of his plays were adapted into movies and one, “The Odd Couple,” even became a popular television series. For seven months in 1967, he had four productions running at the same time on Broadway: “Barefoot in the Park”; “The Odd Couple”; “Sweet Charity”; and “The Star-Spangled Girl.”