Joe diGenova, Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski, RealClearPolitics.com’s Tom Bevan and Senator David Vitter joined WMAL on Monday.
INTERVIEW — SENATOR DAVID VITTER – R-LA, Chair of the Senate Border Security Caucus and Deputy Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Immigration Subcommittee
INTERVIEW – TOM BEVAN – Executive Editor, Real Clear Politics
INTERVIEW — NIELS LESNIEWSKI — (Neels Les-new-ski) –Roll Call reporter, covers the Senate
Mornings on the Mall
Monday, July 27, 2015
Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor
Executive Producer: Heather Smith
5am – A/B/C Attorney General Loretta Lynch faces potential minefield with Hillary Clinton email investigation. The latest controversy over Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system while secretary of state is not only a possible drag on her presidential campaign, but it also creates a potential headache for Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The inspectors general for the State Department and intelligence community on Friday disclosed that an internal review of Clinton’s system concluded some emails contained classified information and that the inspectors general had sent a non-criminal “referral” to the Justice Department over the matter.
5am – D Bloody Sunday Senate Session:
Senate pushing ahead on Ex-Im controversy
McConnell Angers Conservatives By Blocking Defunding Planned Parenthood, Kate’s Law
Senate blocks Lee’s vote to defund Planned Parenthood
Sen. Orrin Hatch scolds Sen. Ted Cruz for saying Senate leader lied about Export-Import vote
Hatch, other Republicans hit back at Cruz for accusing McConnell of lying. Leading Senate Republicans swung back at Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday after the Texas Republican accused Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of lying to his caucus over the process for handling the proposed federal highway bill. “We serve the people, not our own egos,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a 39-year veteran of the chamber, said in remarks delivered as the 2016 Republican presidential candidate sat nearby waiting his turn to speak.
5am – E Iranian leader tweets graphic of Obama with gun to head. (Fox News) — Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme religious leader, has apparently tweeted a picture of President Obama holding a gun to his head, in response to Obama saying the U.S. could still use military force if the recent nuclear deal with Tehran fails. “US president has said he could knock out Iran’s military. We welcome no war, nor do we initiate any war, but …” reads the tweet Saturday that appears to come from a legitimate Khamenei account. It also includes a silhouette image of Obama putting a handgun to his own head. The tweet follows an international deal reached earlier this month in which Iran has agreed to significantly curtail its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of billions of dollars in sanctions.
6am – A/B/C Ann Coulter: Trump Could Win The Election. (Daily Caller) — In a D.C.-based radio interview, best-selling author Ann Coulter Friday defended GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump and believes he could be a “nominee who could win” the election. “Trump is different. We have been lied to for thirty years about immigration. That’s why Trump is striking this chord. He’s attractive. He’s tall. He’s hilariously funny. I think he could be not only a nominee who could win but a third party candidate who could win,” Coulter told WMAL Friday. She admitted in the interview she has reversed her stance on opposing candidates who were not governors. The “Adios, America!” author told WMAL a third party candidate would “be fantastic” considering the current Republican field for president.
6am – D New California: Mass Immigration Turning Virginia Blue. (Breitbart News) — A remarkable transformation is underway in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The birthplace and final resting place of George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson—and once one of the most reliably-red of red states—is being rapidly turned into a progressive stronghold. These changes are not the result of an inside agency, or a natural evolution in political thinking, but rather the result of one of the most impactful yet least-discussed policies of the federal government. Each year the federal government prints millions of visas and distributes these admission tickets to the poorest and least-developed nations in the world. A middle-aged person living in parts of Virginia today will have witnessed more demographic change in the span of her life than many societies have experienced in millennia. A census study entitled “Immigrants in Virginia,” released by University of Virginia (UVA) researchers, documented the phenomenon: “Until 1970, only 1 in 100 Virginians was born outside of the United States; by 2012, 1 in every 9 Virginians is foreign-born.”
6am – E ISIS News:
Assad admits Syrian army has a manpower shortage and has ‘given up’ defending some areas. (Independent) — Bashar al-Assad has admitted to the Syrian people that he could no longer control the whole of the country, but denied his army was collapsing in the face of groups such as Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra. In a speech broadcast on state television, the Syrian President said his forces would win the four-year-old civil war, but acknowledged that he lacked the manpower and had given up attempting to control large parts of Syria in order, he said, to safeguard regime strongholds. “We are not collapsing. We are steadfast and will achieve victory,” Mr Assad said in an address to local officials in Damascus. “Defeat does not exist in the dictionary of the Syrian Arab army.”
Turkey and U.S. Agree on Plan to Clear ISIS From Strip of Syria’s North. (NY Times) — BAGHDAD — Turkey and the United States have agreed in general terms on a plan that envisions American warplanes, Syrian insurgents and Turkish forces working together to sweep Islamic State militants from a 60-mile-long strip of northern Syria along the Turkish border, American and Turkish officials say. The plan would create what officials from both countries are calling an Islamic State-free zone controlled by relatively moderate Syrian insurgents, which the Turks say could also be a “safe zone” for displaced Syrians.
“Jihadi John” Fears “Jealous” Terrorists Will Kill Him, Leaves ISIS. Britain’s notorious terrorist Mohammed Emwazi – known as Jihadi John – is on the run in Syria fearing the Islamist regime is going to kill him. Kuwaiti-born Emwazi, from west London, is said to have been terrified by the publicity after he was identified as the murderer of British and American hostages. He may have joined a less well-known jihadist group somewhere in Syria, to try to keep a low profile. The Mirror reports that Emwazi is scared that “jealous” members of Islamic State may attack him, as well as being frightened of the British and US special forces hunting for him in the Middle East. The extremist is wanted for the gruesome killings of journalists and aid workers Stephen Sotloff, James Foley, David Haines, Alan Henning and Peter Kassig.
Kurdish pop star takes on ISIS with beauty, song. (Fox News) — She’s been likened to Shakira and Lady Gaga, but Helly Luv, the Kurdish pop star who is using her striking beauty and vocal talents to tell the world about her people’s fearless fight against ISIS, is an original. The 26-year-old sensation whose real name is Helen Abdulla sings about war, dead bodies and revolutions, but her grim subject matter is aimed at promoting peace through victory over the black-clad terrorist army and ultimately, an independent state for Kurdistan. In “Risk it All,” the video of which has more than four million hits on YouTube, a midriff-baring Luv dances as she sings, “Put your guns up in the air; your guns up in the air.”
7am – A INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia
WSJ: Hillary Clinton Sent Classified Information Over Email While at State Department, Review Finds
Attorney General Loretta Lynch faces potential minefield with Hillary Clinton email investigation. The latest controversy over Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system while secretary of state is not only a possible drag on her presidential campaign, but it also creates a potential headache for Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The inspectors general for the State Department and intelligence community on Friday disclosed that an internal review of Clinton’s system concluded some emails contained classified information and that the inspectors general had sent a non-criminal “referral” to the Justice Department over the matter. Lynch and her department must now determine what to do next — including whether to open a criminal investigation — and whatever she decides will be under intense scrutiny, especially by Republicans on Capitol Hill. The purpose of notifying the Justice Department was to inform the FBI of “a potential compromise of classified information,” not to seek a criminal probe, spokeswoman Andrea Williams said. In a recent memorandum to the State Department’s Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy, the inspectors general said a review of Clinton’s emails revealed “hundreds of potentially classified emails within the collection.” Williams said the intelligence community found four emails out of a batch of 40 that it reviewed containing classified information, though they were not marked as such.
Clinton, congressional Benghazi panel at odds over appearance date. (Reuters) – Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign said on Saturday the former secretary of state will testify on Oct. 22 before a House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attacks, but a spokesman for the panel said no date had been set.
7am – B Entertainment News;
Snoop Dogg Detained in Sweden on Suspicion of Drug Use, Vows to Never Return. Snoop Dogg Arrested In Sweden, Slams Police For Racial Profiling. Snoop Dogg said he was the victim of racial profiling after he was briefly detained Saturday night in Sweden on suspicion of illegal drug use. The rapper documented the encounter in a series of videos posted to Instagram Sunday. “I don’t know what country we in but they sweatin’ us,” the visibly frustrated rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, says in the first of five expletive-laced videos, apparently taken on the roadside after police pulled over his vehicle.
Olivia Munn, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender do table read of ‘The Big Lebowski’. MONTREAL, July 26 (UPI) — X-Men: Apocalypse co-stars Olivia Munn, Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender took part in a hilarious table read of the 1998 Coen brothers comedy The Big Lebowski. Also helping out in Friday’s Just for Laughs Festival event in Montreal were Patton Oswalt, Dennis Quaid, Mae Whitman, Mike Judge, Martin Starr and T.J. Miller, People magazine reported. The celebrity reading was organized by director Jason Reitman and it took place in front of a crowd of about 1,300 people. One of the funniest moments came when Munn, who was supposed to portray Bunny, accidentally read a line meant for Lawrence, who was playing the role of Maude, and completely confused the cast.
7am – C Shanghai plunges 8% on worries Beijing is ratcheting down inflows. (MarketWatch) — China stocks suffered their sharpest daily percentage decline since 2007, as worries mount that authorities are pulling back on measures to prop up the market. The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -8.48% ended down 8.5% at 3,725.56, its second-straight day of losses and worst daily percentage fall since February 27, 2007. China’s main index is up 6% from its recent low on July 8, but still off 28% from its high in June.
7am – D INTERVIEW — NIELS LESNIEWSKI — (Neels Les-new-ski) –Roll Call reporter, covers the Senate
Niels covered the unusual Sunday session
Cruz Calling McConnell a Liar Likely to Linger
Senate Votes to Revive Export-Import Bank, Keep Obamacare
Despite Rebukes, Ted Cruz Doubles Down on Charge McConnell Lied
7am – E Kenya bids ‘welcome home’ to President Obama. Kenya has been anticipating a visit since Obama was elected. Obama is first sitting U.S. president to visit Kenya. White House says corruption concerns kept Obama away until now.
President Barack Obama arrived Friday in Kenya, the ancestral homeland that has waited impatiently for a visit from the U.S. president since he was first elected to office. Air Force One touched down just after 8 p.m. local time, with Kenyan TV stations carrying every minute of his arrival live. In downtown Nairobi, hundreds lined the streets, cheering and shouting as the presidential motorcade roared past.
Obama lectures Kenyan president on gay rights. (CNN) – President Barack Obama on Saturday lectured Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta about his country’s gay rights record. “When you start treating people differently not because of any harm they are doing to anybody, but because they are different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode,” Obama said at a joint press conference with the Kenyan leader in Nairobi. “And bad things happen.” Under Kenyan law, sexual activity between men is illegal and punishable with a maximum imprisonment of 14 years. Many Kenyan leaders had encouraged Obama not to discuss gay rights on his first trip to the country as President.
8am – A INTERVIEW – TOM BEVAN – Executive Editor, Real Clear Politics
TOPIC: POLLS and 2016 NEWS
CNN/ORC poll: Trump elbows his way to the top. (CNN) In the first national telephone poll since Donald Trump earned rebukes from Republican leaders over his comments about Senator John McCain’s military service, the real estate mogul has increased his support among GOP voters and now stands atop the race for the party’s nomination. The new CNN/ORC Poll finds Trump at 18% support among Republicans, with former Florida governor Jeb Bush just behind at 15%, within the poll’s margin of error.
ZOGBY: Trump Leads In New Zogby Poll. Riding a wave of non-stop publicity, a new poll this past week shows mogul Donald Trump solidly in first place among likely Republican primary and caucus voters nationwide. The new Zogby Analytics poll of 256 likely voters was conducted online July 22-23 shows Mr. Trump leading with the support of 20% of those polled.
GALLUP: Sanders Surges, Clinton Sags in U.S. Favorability. PRINCETON, N.J. — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ favorable rating among Americans has doubled since Gallup’s initial reading in March, rising to 24% from 12% as he has become better known. Hillary Clinton’s rating has slipped to 43% from 48% in April. Overall, 44% of Americans are able to rate him today, up from 24% in March. Clinton’s favorable rating has slipped slightly among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents since April, falling to 74% from 79%. This partly accounts for her overall decline in favorability among the public. The other factor is a drop among non-leaning independents, from 44% to 36%, while her image among Republicans and Repullican leaners is essentially unchanged at 14%.
8am – B “Why you’re more likely to die in July” (Men’s Health) — It’s a bad month to get sick. That’s because in some hospitals, death rates spike in July. In fact, patients are between 4 and 12 percent more likely to die than they are in other months, according to a review from the University of California. The reason: Even doctors have their first day on the job. And in teaching hospitals, all the new M.D.s start on the same day: July 1. (Reduce your chances of needing to visit a hospital in the first place with The Better Man Project, the new book from the Editor in Chief of Men’s Health. You’ll find more than 2,000 small ways to improve your health every single day.) Fresh out of medical school, the incoming class of residents—a quarter of the hospital’s doctors—is brand new to treating patients. At the same time, all the other trainee docs move up a level when the new crew rolls in: The second-year residents are scrubbing in on their first surgeries; the third-year residents are taking on a new set of responsibilities; and so on. “It’s a huge jump, overnight—and you’re the same person!” says study author John Q. Young, M.D. The rookies are closely supervised, Dr. Young says, and hospitals have safeguards in place. But still, it’s inevitable that the huge turnover will affect patients. “The team providing your care is going through a transition,” Dr. Young says. “There’s been a drop in experience. People are in new roles. Your care may be somewhat less organized.” That may result in fatal mistakes: A separate study from the University of California found that deadly medication errors increased by 10 percent in July. And other research has found that complication rates after surgeries are higher than in other months.
8am – C Naked man spotted several times in Ashburn. ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Authorities in Loudoun County believe the same man has exposed himself on several occasions over the past three months in the Ashburn area. The most recent occurrence was early Sunday morning. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office says a naked man was seen walking in the area of Ashburn Road and Louisa Drive. He was spotted again about a half-hour later. On July 23, the sheriff’s office says a naked man jumped out in front of two women who were running. One of the women reported that she’d seen the same man in the same area two days earlier. People also reported seeing a naked man on July 12 and in April.
8am – D INTERVIEW — SENATOR DAVID VITTER – R-LA, Chair of the Senate Border Security Caucus and Deputy Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Immigration Subcommittee
SANCTUARY CITIES: Piecemeal immigration reform bills target ‘sanctuary cities’ (MSNBC – JULY 21) — A piecemeal approach to immigration reform is gaining bipartisan momentum in Congress, with some proposals going so far as penalizing cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration policies. Legislation has already been introduced – with more on its way – to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” that have enacted laws designed to provide a safe haven for undocumented immigrants. Sen. Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, is rolling out legislation that would strip funding for cities that defy federal immigration officials. He is calling for mandatory minimum prison sentences of five years for repeat offenders who enter the U.S. illegally. Sen. David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, has already introduced an amendment that would also block federal funding for sanctuary cities. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a similar measure as early as Thursday.
His thoughts on the Senate’s unusual Sunday session
– Cruz Calling McConnell a Liar Likely to Linger
– Senate Votes to Revive Export-Import Bank, Keep Obamacare
– Despite Rebukes, Ted Cruz Doubles Down on Charge McConnell Lied
TOMORROW: Larry Kudlow