Mornings on the Mall 04.16.20: Ronna McDaniel, Brian Darling, Diane Schindlbeck, Todd Gilbert

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Hosts: Vince Coglianese and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

RNC’s Ronna McDaniel, Brian Darling, Michigan Conservative Coalition’s Diane Schindlbeck, Virginia House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert joined WMAL on Thursday!

5am – A/B/C Sources believe coronavirus originated in Wuhan lab as part of China’s efforts to compete with US. (Fox News) – EXCLUSIVE: There is increasing confidence that COVID-19 likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory not as a bioweapon, but as part of China’s effort to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States, multiple sources who have been briefed on the details of early actions by China’s government and seen relevant materials tell Fox News. This may be the “costliest government coverup of all time,” one of the sources said. The sources believe the initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human, and that “patient zero” worked at the laboratory, then went into the population in Wuhan. The “increasing confidence” comes from classified and open-source documents and evidence, the sources said. Fox News has requested to see the evidence directly. […] Speaking to “The Story” Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remarked: “What we do know is we know that this virus originated in Wuhan, China. We know there is the Wuhan Institute of Virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was. There is still lots to learn. You should know that the United States government is working diligently to figure it out.”

5am – D/E     FISA Bombshell: Russian Intelligence Knew Christopher Steele Was Investigating Trump During 2016 Campaign. (Daily Caller) – Two Russian intelligence operatives were aware as early as July 2016 that former British spy Christopher Steele was investigating Donald Trump, according to newly declassified information in footnotes from a Justice Department report on FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign. Footnotes from that report also said a member of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane team investigating the Trump campaign received evidence in January 2017 that Russian intelligence might have targeted and collected information on Steele’s firm, Orbis Business Intelligence. The footnotes, released by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson on Wednesday, provide further indications that Russian operatives fed disinformation to Steele that ended up in his infamous anti-Trump dossier. The FBI relied on Steele’s salacious report to obtain authorization to wiretap Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide.

DECLASSIFIED BY GRENELL… LETTER FROM ACTING DNI RIC GRENELL TO SENS. CHUCK GRASSLEY & RON JOHNSON…

6am – A         MICHIGAN PROTESTS:

• Thousands surround Michigan Capitol in protest of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders
• Michigan Gov. Whitmore to citizens concerned about her overreach: “Guys, it’s snowing outside. It’s not like you’d want to have freedom right now anyway.”
• Michigan judge directs healthcare workers to arrest COVID-19 patients
• RELATED STORY IN ILLINOIS: Judge Forces McHenry County, Illinois Health Dept. to Provide Names of All COVID-19 Patients to Police.
• Four Michigan sheriffs won’t enforce Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s overreaching executive orders, will ‘apply common sense’ instead
• Covid-19 checkpoints targeting out-of-state residents draw complaints and legal scrutiny
• Tucker Carlson asks New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy where he got the authority to nullify the Bill of rights when he banned religious services in his state: “I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this… The science says people have to stay away from each other.”

6am – B/C     NY JUICING THE DEATH TOLL?

• FLASHBACK ON TUESDAY: NYC’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 10K with new tally of home deaths
• NYC Adds Nearly 4,000 People Who Never Tested Positive To Coronavirus Death Tolls. (Daily Caller) – New York City added nearly 4,000 people who never tested positive for the coronavirus to its death toll Tuesday, bringing coronavirus-related deaths in the city to around 10,000 people. The city decided to add 3,700 people to its death tolls, who they “presumed” to have died from the virus, according to a report from The New York Times. The additions increased the death toll in the U.S. by 17%, according to the Times report, and included people who were suffering from symptoms of the virus, such as intense coughing and a fever.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – BRIAN DARLING – president of Liberty Government Affairs and former Counsel and Sr. Communications Director for Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)

• Trump threatens to adjourn Congress to make recess appointments. (Washington Times) — President Trump threatened on Wednesday to take the unprecedented step of adjourning Congress with his executive powers so he can make recess appointments of stalled nominees. Speaking at the daily White House coronavirus task force briefing, Mr. Trump said his administration has been hamstrung by a lack of personnel because Senate Democrats have held up nominees. He criticized the Senate and House for holding “phony” pro forma sessions instead of adjourning, which prevents him from making recess appointments. “If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress,” Mr. Trump said. “The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis. It is a scam, what they do.” Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, but an adjournment requires consent from both parties.
• McConnell pledged to ‘find ways’ to confirm critical nominees prior to Trump’s adjournment threat. (Washington Examiner) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell talked with President Trump about confirming nominees critical to fighting the coronavirus epidemic hours before Trump threatened to take the unprecedented step of adjourning Congress to make recess appointments. “Leader McConnell had a conversation today with the president to discuss Senate Democrats’ unprecedented obstruction of the president’s well-qualified nominees and shared his continued frustration with the process,” a McConnell spokesman said. “The Leader pledged to find ways to confirm nominees considered mission-critical to the COVID-19 pandemic, but under Senate rules will take consent from Leader Schumer.”

6am – E         WHO FUNDING:

• The head of the World Health Organization says the U.N. agency regrets President Trump’s decision to halt funding. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls the U.S. “a longstanding and generous friend,” but says the global community should be unified in a common struggle against a dangerous enemy. “When we’re divided,” Tedros said, “the virus exploits the cracks between us.”
• AP: China didn’t warn public of likely pandemic for 6 key days. In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations. President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data.
• REASON: How China Corrupted the World Health Organization’s Response to COVID-19.The World Health Organization (WHO) put out questionable guidance on how to deal with the coronavirus, it was slow to communicate the magnitude of the threat, and it whitewashed the Chinese government’s early handling of the crisis. […] “A phenomenal collective action by the people of China to this response” is how Bruce Aylward, head of the joint WHO-China mission, described China’s handling of the outbreak on February 25, 2020, a day after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praisedChina’s “rapid response,” which he claimed “changed the course of this epidemic.” The WHO also praised China for releasing the virus’s genome while neglecting to mention that it took them at least 17 days to do so. It didn’t report human-to-human transmission until late January—even though Chinese doctors suspected it at least a month earlier. Although the extreme lockdown of Wuhan likely saved thousands of lives, WHO scientists weren’t allowed into Wuhan until 3 weeks after the outbreak first came to light, leaving open many questions about measures the government took in the interim. Meanwhile, the WHO praised the country for its supposed openness.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – Diane Schindlbeck with Michigan Conservative Coalition and owns a small business in West Michigan 

• RECAP PROTESTS IN LANSING: Thousands surround Michigan Capitol in protest of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders
• Michigan Gov. Whitmore to citizens concerned about her overreach: “Guys, it’s snowing outside. It’s not like you’d want to have freedom right now anyway.”
• Michigan judge directs healthcare workers to arrest COVID-19 patients
• Four Michigan sheriffs won’t enforce Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s overreaching executive orders, will ‘apply common sense’ instead

7am – B/C     BIDEN NEWS:

• Biden talked about COVID-9 yesterday (yes, COVID-9, not COVID-19)
• TRUMP CAMPAIGN STATEMENT ON JOE BIDEN REFERRING TO “COVID-9”: The Trump campaign released the following statement after Joe Biden said, “There’s more than one, one, you know, coronavirus. This covid-9 is one strain of that.” “Joe Biden masquerades as the guy with all the answers on the coronavirus but then he demonstrates quite clearly that he has no idea what he’s talking about.  He is still the same guy the Obama White House had to apologize for during the swine flu outbreak of 2009.  Ol’ Joe has lost his fastball, if he ever had one to start with.” – Tim Murtaugh, Trump 2020 communications director
• Major Democratic Group Received $100,000 in Chinese Government-Linked Tech Firm Stock:  (Washington Free Beacon) – American Bridge reported the six-figure gift on its most recent tax forms. A prominent Democratic group poised to spend millions backing former vice president Joe Biden received $100,000 in the form of stock shares in the Chinese technology giant Baidu from an anonymous donor. Baidu, like many Chinese technology companies, is closely affiliated with China’s ruling Communist Party. American Bridge, an opposition research group founded by liberal operative David Brock, reported the receipt of the 450 shares in late 2018, a gift that was disclosed in its latest tax filings. The multinational internet services company acts as China’s Google and operates under a degree of state party control. The gift was valued at $101,037, according to the organization’s Form 990. It is unclear whether the group sold the stock or opted to retain it in the hope share prices would rise. Brock’s group is preparing to spend at least $50 million against Trump. The nonprofit’s sister group, the American Bridge PAC, recently partnered with the pro-Biden super PAC to form a $175 million joint venture. The PAC has already poured seven figures into the 2020 elections. But this six-figure gift to American Bridge is raising concern among experts who argue that Baidu is beholden to China’s communist regime to a greater extent

• Joe Biden Has Yet to Face Single Question on Sexual Assault Allegations. Joe Biden has been asked 81 questions in over two hours worth of media interviews since a former staffer in his U.S. Senate office accused him of sexual assault three weeks ago. He hasn’t fielded a single question about the allegation. Biden has sat for 10 interviews with major news outlets since March 24, when his former aide, Tara Reade, accused him of pinning her against a wall and penetrating her with his fingers in 1993 when she was a staff assistant in his office. None of Biden’s 10 interlocutors have asked him to comment on the allegation. On Sunday March 29, for example, Biden sat for a wide-ranging nine-minute interview with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press during which he was asked about the coronavirus response, sanctions on Iran, whether Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) should drop out of the Democratic primary, and President Donald Trump’s approval rating—but not Reade’s allegation. He also managed to avoid questions about Reade’s allegation from George Stephanopoulos the following Sunday, a primetime interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, an appearance on NBC’s Today Show with Craig Melvin, and two interviews with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “It’s legitimate to talk about” allegations against Joe Biden. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday night said the Democratic Party should discuss the recent sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden, a charge the presumptive nominee’s campaign has denied. AOC told Politico that her team and Joe Biden’s campaign are having “policy conversations,” though a source familiar told Axios that AOC and Biden have not yet spoken directly. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told Politico Playbook on Wednesday that her team and former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign are having “policy conversations,” and a source familiar told Axios that AOC and Biden have not yet spoken directly.  Why it matters: The freshman representative hasn’t endorsed Biden, and in a New York Times interview published Monday, Ocasio-Cortez said the “process of coming together should be uncomfortable for everyone involved.” She told Politico “it’s incredibly important that we support the Democratic nominee in November.”

• DCNF: Hunter Biden Still Listed As Board Member Of Chinese Company He Pledged To Resign From In October, Business Records Show. Hunter Biden received wall-to-wall media coverage and praise from his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, in October when he announced he would resign from the board of a Chinese private equity firm by the end of the month. But six months after Hunter Biden pledged to relinquish his position with BHR Partners, no evidence has surfaced to prove he actually followed through on his promise. Hunter Biden’s lawyer, George Mesires, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in early November that his client had resigned from BHR’s board, but he did not provide any evidence of his departure from the Chinese private equity firm at the time.
• Stacey Abrams on VP: “I would be an excellent running mate. I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities. I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.“
• Warren endorses Biden as Democrats unite for the fall. Elizabeth Warren endorsed Joe Biden on Wednesday morning, the third big endorsement for the former vice president this week as Democrats unite for the general election. “We’re all in this together now,” Warren said in a prerecorded video posted on Twitter. “And now, it’s up to all of us to help make Joe Biden the next president of the United States. Let’s get to work.”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – Virginia House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah)

• ON WEDNESDAY: Virginia Gov. Northam announced he will be extending Executive Order 53 for two more weeks expiring on May 8. 
• House Republican Leadership Statement on Governor’s Executive Order Extension. House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, Republican Caucus Chair Kathy Byron, R-Bedford, and Republican Caucus Whip Jay Leftwich, R-Chesapeake,  issued the following statement: “Virginians are an industrious and creative people. In the weeks since all this began, we’ve seen some amazing efforts to improvise, adapt, and overcome. Businesses that have even the smallest ability to continue to serve their customers have been creative and found a way to keep the lights on — and keep their customers and employees safe at the same time. “Hundreds of thousands of Virginians are hurting right now. They’re scared, and they need something to hold on to. People need hope. They need to know that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, that this nightmare is going to end.

7am – E         PELOSI STOPPING SMALL BIZ FUNDING:

• Pelosi congratulates Senate Dems for blocking crucial small business aid
• ON WEDNESDAY: President Trump: “Congress must replenish the Paycheck Protection Program immediately. The Republicans want to do it. They want to do it immediately. They want to do it now. And the Democrats are stopping it.”
• Small-Business Aid Funds Run Dry as Program Fails to Reach Hardest Hit. Lawmakers remain at odds on how to replenish a lending program meant to help companies and workers weather the coronavirus pandemic. (NY Times) — WASHINGTON — A new federal program to help small businesses weather the coronavirus pandemic is running out of money and falling short in the industries and states most battered by the crisis, risking waves of bankruptcies and millions of additional unemployed workers. Funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, an initiative created by the $2.2 trillion stimulus law enacted last month, could be exhausted as early as Wednesday night, meaning that the Small Business Administration would have to stop approving applications. As of Wednesday evening, more than 1.4 million loans had been approved at a value of more than $315 billion, according to the Small Business Administration. But congressional leaders and the Trump administration have failed to reach agreement on adding hundreds of billions of dollars to replenish the program, hamstrung by a dispute over whether to carry out sweeping changes to how it allocates loans to businesses across the country. Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and Jovita Carranza, the head of the Small Business Administration, urged Congress to approve additional funds, as the demand “underscores the need for hardworking Americans to have access to relief as soon as possible.”
• ‘A Weak Person, A Poor Leader’ — Nancy Pelosi Explodes On Trump. (Daily Caller) Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement Tuesday night, ripping into President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus. The letter, addressed to her Democratic colleagues, contains a number of bullet points attacking Trump and blaming his actions for “endangering lives” and hurting the economy. “The truth is that Donald Trump dismantled the infrastructure handed to him which was meant to plan for and overcome a pandemic, resulting in unnecessary deaths and economic disaster,” her letter read. Pelosi goes on to accuse Trump of telling his “most loyal followers that the pandemic was a hoax and that it would magically disappear.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – RONNA MCDANIEL – Chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) — discussed virtual campaigning, Bernie dropping out/Biden being presumptive nominee, the President’s response to COVID19, she’s from Michigan – what does she make of Gov. Whitmer? and her thoughts on the Democratic push for mail-in voting.

8am – B/C     SPORTS NEWS:

• SPORTS / CALIFORNIA: LARGE GATHERINGS NOT IN THIS CARD THIS YEAR: The mayor of Los Angeles says large gatherings like sporting events or concerts may not resume in L.A. before 2021. Eric Garcetti says public health officials have made clear that “we have miles and miles to walk before we can be back in those environments.” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio echoed those sentiments, saying sporting events in his city will be among the last things to return.
• ON CNN: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) said Wednesday that mass gathering such as sporting events and concerts will likely remain canceled for the rest of the year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
• Gavin Newsom Says Large Gatherings ‘Not In The Cards’ At The Moment — Football In California Appears To Be In Jeopardy. Gov. Gavin Newsom: “The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine…
• Dr. Anthony Fauci promotes fan-free return for sports. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert and one of the faces of the United States’ fight against the coronavirus, says the only way professional sports will happen this summer is by holding events without fans in attendance and by keeping players in hotels. “There’s a way of doing that,” Fauci told Snapchat’s Peter Hamby as part of a weeklong interview series. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put [the players] in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveilled. … Have them tested every single week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family, and just let them play the season out.” Fauci, who specifically addressed a question about an abbreviated baseball season and the start of football, said he thought there would be enough interest from fans to watch games, even if they could not attend.

• NFL: The NFL is contingency-planning for the potential of games in empty or partially filled stadiums and for a possibly shortened regular season, sources say, even while remaining hopeful of (and focused on) a full season in stadiums filled with fans….
• PGA: The PGA Tour is expected to resume play without spectators on the course this summer, in what could be the first return of several golf tournaments, including the Masters, that were put on hold by the coronavirus. The PGA is expected to make official this week that the tour will pick back up in June with the “Charles Schwab Challenge” at Colonial in Fort Worth.

8am – D         LOCAL IMPACT:

• DMV:  18,729 Coronavirus Cases Diagnosed in DC, Maryland, Virginia. More than 18,000 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus and more than 616 people have died from the disease across the capital region of D.C., Maryland and Virginia, health officials say. The virus has infected a broad range of people, from an 8-week-old baby boy to elderly nursing home residents. The number of known coronavirus cases in the District, Maryland and Virginia stands at 18,765 on Thursday, with 10,038 cases in Maryland, 6,526 in Virginia and 2,201 in the District. The number of virus-related deaths was 413 in Maryland, 197 in Virginia and 73 in the District, for a total of 683 fatalities.
• Here are some of the most significant recent developments as the region responds to the pandemic of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease covid-19:

• • Virginia’s shutdown of nonessential businesses will extend until May 8. The closure of hair salons, movie theaters and other non­essential businesses had been set to expire next week before Gov. Ralph Northam (D) extended it, and his stay-at-home order remains in place until June 10.
  • D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) extended a public health emergency until May 15 that had been set to expire after April 24, requiring residents to continue staying at home, banning gatherings of 10 or more and keeping schools closed through the new date. The mayor’s order also requires people to wear masks or face coverings at hotels, during taxi and ride-share trips, and when selling food.
  • Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who already had renewed his business ban for 30 more days until May 10, on Wednesday ordered residents to wear masks when they go to stores.
  • The District, Maryland and Virginia reported a record high of 93 confirmed coronavirus deaths Wednesday. In addition, Maryland reported 64 probable covid-19 fatalities that have not been confirmed by a lab test.

8am – E         Candace Owens talks about being stopped at Whole Foods in DC for not wearing a mask

• On her social media, Candace Owens says she was surprised when they confronted her at Whole Foods this week for not wearing a mask
• Candace Owens @RealCandaceO: WOW. Just had a police officer called over to me and my husband at Whole Foods bc we were not wearing masks. We come to this @WholeFoods EVERY DAY. Apparently beginning yesterday, it is now illegal to come in without a mask. Total deaths in D.C from Covid? 69. WTF if going on? https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1250130325356888064
  • Cheri Jacobus @CheriJacobus: Replying to @RealCandaceO: Do you know any of the 69 or their loved ones, you heartless, desperate, attention-seeking, TrumpCultist? https://twitter.com/CheriJacobus/status/1250196014960709640
  • Ben Stiller @RedHourBen: A pandemic. https://twitter.com/RedHourBen/status/1250250717895569408

• Coronavirus Cases at D.C. Whole Foods Highlight Risks Facing Grocery Workers. A cluster of infections at the store in the heart of trendy downtown Washington is not an isolated episode, as the nation’s grocery workers increasingly fall ill. WASHINGTON — An outbreak of coronavirus infections at an upscale Whole Foods in the heart of the nation’s capital has focused attention on the plight of grocery store workers deemed essential to stay on the job during the pandemic but increasingly falling ill to its ravages. The Whole Foods near Washington’s trendy Logan Circle told employees on Wednesday that a worker had contracted the virus, one of at least six, but that the store would not close, according to a report by WUSA, a local CBS-affiliated station. Instead, managers would order a deep cleaning with workers staying on the job, according to an email sent to employees that was obtained by the station. Workers were free to take leave without penalty through the end of April, the email said, but it would be unpaid.